Tuesday, July 7, 2009, noon EDT -- Misty's Training Glen
:: Of course I did! :: I got the impression of an "are you stupid?" glare.
:: I thought perhaps if the 'Hanover' part didn't work in my favor, the 'Goodhue' part would. ::
I shook off a vague feeling of deja vu and began looking about for animal tracks, using my "lightfoot" flight techniques so that I didn't disturb the traces or obliterate them with my Arachnos Chuck Taylor knock-offs. About half an hour of searching later, I found fox tracks from what appeared to be a vixen and her kit, and the real gem of the search, a bit of fox fur. I carefully reached to pick it up.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009, noon EDT -- Misty's Training Glen
:: Of course I did! :: I got the impression of an "are you stupid?" glare.
:: I thought perhaps if the 'Hanover' part didn't work in my favor, the 'Goodhue' part would. ::
I
shook off a vague feeling of deja vu and began looking about for
animal tracks, using my "lightfoot" flight techniques so that I didn't
disturb the traces or obliterate them with my Arachnos Chuck Taylor
knock-offs. About fifteen minutes of searching later,
I found fox tracks from what appeared to be a vixen and her kit, and
the real gem of the search, a bit of fox fur. I carefully reached to
pick it up.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009, noon EDT -- Misty's Training Glen
:: Of course I did! :: I got the impression of an "are you stupid?" glare.
:: Not that it did me any good. ::
I
shook off a vague feeling of deja vu and began looking about for
animal tracks, using my "lightfoot" flight techniques so that I didn't
disturb the traces or obliterate them with my Arachnos Chuck Taylor
knock-offs. About ten minutes of searching later,
I found fox tracks from what appeared to be a vixen and her kit, and
the real gem of the search, a bit of fox fur. I carefully reached to
pick it up.
"Hmm," I said, rubbing it between my fingers. "Nice russet tone. Classic Vulpes vulpes fulva. I know you'd prefer Vulpes vulpes japonica, Chiyuki-san, but this is what we have available." I got a mental impression of a resigned snort. "Your tails will be prettier, you know." The impression shifted to a bit of vain acceptance. Nice, that. "So glad you approve, Inari-hime."
I took a toe of my sneaker and traced a quick circle in a small clearing and traced a Star of David within it, placing a bit of the fur at each point. I pulled the magatama off over my head and placed it in the center, being careful not to disturb the lines. I centered myself and began a quick paternoster asking for either permission or forgiveness for what I was about to attempt. Besides, I'd need the protection of the Big Guy if I managed to succeed and not just look silly, but somehow pissed off the entity I was going to try to talk to. Amateur magick (with a "k," it's the "real deal," as it were) was risky, after all.
I pulled out an aromatic cigar from the last time my brother had stopped by and placed it in amongst some stones set up as a fire ring. The summer so far had been fairly wet, so I thought I could handle it if things went wrong after I used my lightning techniques to light it. The circle prepared, I began to "chant."
"Brother Wokwses, please forgive me if I unwittingly offend you, and please accept this offering of tobacco. I seek to aid your cousin, trapped within this bead..." I spent the next few minutes offering my bargain and laying out what I hoped to accomplish. As I finished, I noticed that the smoke from the cigar had gathered together, and the butt was entirely ash. which swirled up into the cloud of smoke, leaving nothing in the fire circle but a smoky silhouette of a fox, which nodded at me and turned to the magatama. Wokwses, or his avatar, picked up the jade bead in its mouth by the thong, stepped from the circle, looked at me over its shoulder, and began to walk into the woods.
I followed the local fox spirit, thankful that he seemed benign and not as ready to tear me to pieces as other entities that could ignore a mystic circle like that would have been. We passed along a game trail, and I paused as we seemed to be nearing a road. I drew closer to the wispy fox-cloud and saw that he was at the side of the road, where a fox kit cowered next to the remains of what I took to be its mother, which had been hit by a car.
Wokwses dropped the magatama, nudged the kit, which seemed to fall asleep, and then went to nudge the corpse. A silver mist rose from it and in turn nudged the kit in one last maternal gesture, before it bounded into the woods and disappeared. Wokwses stood by the sleeping kit and looked at me and then the magatama.
Taking my cue, I placed the thong over the kit's head. Wokwses nodded and then seemed to "talk" at both the kit and the bead holding. He seemed to stiffen for a moment and made a swipe at the jewel, which disintegrated into a shower of motes, which flowed and settled against the kit's fur. I got an impression of a dominance display from the smoky fox towards what I took to be Inari, before the smoke began to dissipate.
I sat on my heels, and waited for Inari to wake up. Atter all, the kit's tails were beginning to split out.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll
:: Of course I did! :: I got the impression of an "are you stupid?" glare.
:: I thought perhaps if the 'Hanover' part didn't work in my favor, the 'Goodhue' part would. ::
I shook off a vague feeling of deja vu and began looking about for animal tracks, using my "lightfoot" flight techniques so that I didn't disturb the traces or obliterate them with my Arachnos Chuck Taylor knock-offs. About half an hour of searching later, I found fox tracks from what appeared to be a vixen and her kit, and the real gem of the search, a bit of fox fur. I carefully reached to pick it up.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009, noon EDT -- Misty's Training Glen
:: Of course I did! :: I got the impression of an "are you stupid?" glare.
:: I thought perhaps if the 'Hanover' part didn't work in my favor, the 'Goodhue' part would. ::
I
shook off a vague feeling of deja vu and began looking about for
animal tracks, using my "lightfoot" flight techniques so that I didn't
disturb the traces or obliterate them with my Arachnos Chuck Taylor
knock-offs. About fifteen minutes of searching later,
I found fox tracks from what appeared to be a vixen and her kit, and
the real gem of the search, a bit of fox fur. I carefully reached to
pick it up.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009, noon EDT -- Misty's Training Glen
:: Of course I did! :: I got the impression of an "are you stupid?" glare.
:: Not that it did me any good. ::
I
shook off a vague feeling of deja vu and began looking about for
animal tracks, using my "lightfoot" flight techniques so that I didn't
disturb the traces or obliterate them with my Arachnos Chuck Taylor
knock-offs. About ten minutes of searching later,
I found fox tracks from what appeared to be a vixen and her kit, and
the real gem of the search, a bit of fox fur. I carefully reached to
pick it up.
"Hmm," I said, rubbing it between my fingers. "Nice russet tone. Classic Vulpes vulpes fulva. I know you'd prefer Vulpes vulpes japonica, Chiyuki-san, but this is what we have available." I got a mental impression of a resigned snort. "Your tails will be prettier, you know." The impression shifted to a bit of vain acceptance. Nice, that. "So glad you approve, Inari-hime."
I took a toe of my sneaker and traced a quick circle in a small clearing and traced a Star of David within it, placing a bit of the fur at each point. I pulled the magatama off over my head and placed it in the center, being careful not to disturb the lines. I centered myself and began a quick paternoster asking for either permission or forgiveness for what I was about to attempt. Besides, I'd need the protection of the Big Guy if I managed to succeed and not just look silly, but somehow pissed off the entity I was going to try to talk to. Amateur magick (with a "k," it's the "real deal," as it were) was risky, after all.
I pulled out an aromatic cigar from the last time my brother had stopped by and placed it in amongst some stones set up as a fire ring. The summer so far had been fairly wet, so I thought I could handle it if things went wrong after I used my lightning techniques to light it. The circle prepared, I began to "chant."
"Brother Wokwses, please forgive me if I unwittingly offend you, and please accept this offering of tobacco. I seek to aid your cousin, trapped within this bead..." I spent the next few minutes offering my bargain and laying out what I hoped to accomplish. As I finished, I noticed that the smoke from the cigar had gathered together, and the butt was entirely ash. which swirled up into the cloud of smoke, leaving nothing in the fire circle but a smoky silhouette of a fox, which nodded at me and turned to the magatama. Wokwses, or his avatar, picked up the jade bead in its mouth by the thong, stepped from the circle, looked at me over its shoulder, and began to walk into the woods.
I followed the local fox spirit, thankful that he seemed benign and not as ready to tear me to pieces as other entities that could ignore a mystic circle like that would have been. We passed along a game trail, and I paused as we seemed to be nearing a road. I drew closer to the wispy fox-cloud and saw that he was at the side of the road, where a fox kit cowered next to the remains of what I took to be its mother, which had been hit by a car.
Wokwses dropped the magatama, nudged the kit, which seemed to fall asleep, and then went to nudge the corpse. A silver mist rose from it and in turn nudged the kit in one last maternal gesture, before it bounded into the woods and disappeared. Wokwses stood by the sleeping kit and looked at me and then the magatama.
Taking my cue, I placed the thong over the kit's head. Wokwses nodded and then seemed to "talk" at both the kit and the bead holding. He seemed to stiffen for a moment and made a swipe at the jewel, which disintegrated into a shower of motes, which flowed and settled against the kit's fur. I got an impression of a dominance display from the smoky fox towards what I took to be Inari, before the smoke began to dissipate.
I sat on my heels, and waited for Inari to wake up. Atter all, the kit's tails were beginning to split out.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll