Archive | August 29, 2012

Delfugiaran Bunnies, a story for the Bunny Safari

For [personal profile] clare_dragonfly‘s prompt

There were planets where you set down, built the first houses, and spent your four years of prep playing house like you were in the burbs back on Earth.

There were planets where you barely got the house up before the storms the weather satellites hadn’t seen nor predicted blew over you, and you spent four years just trying to survive and get enough built so the colonists coming after you wouldn’t die.

There were places where Murphy’s Law seemed to be in full effect, you lost half the team, but somehow managed to present a colony that looked tidy enough, so tidy the company was left asking “so what was the problem again?”

And then there was Fuge.

The Delfugiara was an M-class planet off the “beaten path,” inaccessible enough that the prep team was given a six-year stint instead of the normal four, Earth-like enough that they were sent down with a double team and livestock in sleepers, enough to get not just a colony but a town ready for the long-termers. It looked to be a Suburb Hop type of stay, what Marcel called Old McDonald’s Farm. They built their houses and their barns, thawed out their animals, and laid their fences.

And then the Taigups showed up.

Taig got to name them, because he brought the first one one, and Taig was three, Marcel and Stiggie’s son from their last stop. It looked sort of like a bunny, but the only place Taig had seen rabbits or hares was in picture files, so it was a Taigup, after, Siggie assumed, his father’s Marciup (an antelope-like creature on Tanner Three).

The Taigup liked the warmth of the house, about five degrees warmer than the surrounding area, which was in early-spring. It turned out it – and then the three others Taig brought home in quick succession – liked not only the warmth, but the lack of natural predators; their three-year-old would stand for them eating any number of things, but not His Pets.

They’d wondered at the lack of other small omnivores or herbivores. There were Taigups in the brush, but not massive numbers – enough to allow for reproduction over the number that were eaten by larger omnivores and the few big carnivores – but no mice-analogs, no dog-analogs, no badger-analogs. Nothing but Taigup.

When they came back to the house after a long day of Terradjusting to find sixteen Taigup where they’d had four, and the same the next three days as they spread them out like Free Kittens in a box, they began to understand.

“We’re going to have to get used to Taigup stew,” Marcel decided, as they pushed a box of the things out into the wilderness for the carnivores to eat. “Or we’re going to be drowning in bunnies.”

“I don’t think we can eat that fast.” Stiggie picked up a Taigup as it split itself into two. “Well, at least we can teach Taig exponential growth.”

(I was going to call it Welsh Taigup, even though that’s cheese, but I decided to go with something that actually involves bunny).

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/396804.html. You can comment here or there.

Entering Kitty Town, a story for the Rabbit Safari

For [personal profile] lilfluff‘s requested continuation of Down in Kitty Town, from then January 2012 Giraffe Call

Irena sank into the cushions of her seat, letting the slow hypnosis take over as a team of Agency cover-preppers worked on her. Her body was already beginning to change. By the time she woke up, her personalty would have been shifted as well. She cursed her supervisor sleepily. She always came back from these missions with a desire to scratch the linoleum and a month of panicked nightmares.

~

Rrrina woke up in a crate. How had she… oh. Her Master. Her stupid, mean, heavy-handed Master had gotten bored with her. “I’m sick of Siamese.” Like she was a slipcover or something. She’d yowled and screamed, so he’d sedated her. Her butt and back hurt; he’d beaten her, too. She wouldn’t be sorry to see the back of him, if only it didn’t mean she was in a crate again.

Where was she going? She touched the bars of the crate cautiously – sometimes they went zzap – and peered out. A cargo hold, hrrm. Next to her, a human slave cried in her pen. On the other side, three dogs slept fitfully.

“Awake, are you?” The man looked wrong somehow, something ill-fitting about his coverall, more so than it should be, something about his hat or his gloves that didn’t look right. Rrrina backed up until she hit the wall of her cage, hissing. “Easy, easy.”

The handler knew what he was doing. Those gloves went all the way up his arms, and he had no qualms about tipping her out of the cage and grabbing her collar from behind. Rrrina wasn’t sure how he got the restraints on her; she was tumbling, she’d been grabbed, and then she was hogtied. “Easy.” He patted her shoulder. “Don’t bite me, kitten, I’m the good guys.”

She showed him lots of teeth but didn’t bite. “Let me loose. I’m housetrained.”

“Not until we’ve gotten you off the plane. Come on.” He picked her up easily. Far too easily for a human. Far too easily for most Tuathan. She fell limp in his arms. There was no way she was getting away from him.

“Where…?”

“Kitty-town. Now stay quiet, and nobody will notice we’re stealing you.”

Kitty-town. Stealing. Rrrina really wanted to fight, she really did, but something, something kept her quiet.

Deep, deep inside her cover personality, Irena wondered if Miles had arranged this. If he had, she was personally going to shit on his face when she got home.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/396563.html. You can comment here or there.

Ask A Crew Anything: “Yep,” + Yolanda

The Addergoole crew that calls itself “Yep” includes the following:

Arnbjorg – this tall, intimidating blonde cy’Doug daughter of Aelfgar was with Jamian for her first three years of Addergoole. She shows up here. She is in the 6th Cohort

Dyfri – this slender mer-creature is a beast in the water, but weak on land. He is in love with Evie, and probably always will be, but the best she will allow him is friendship.

Evie – this tall, slender elk-Change girl with golden eyes has never recovered from her time as Calvin’s Kept. She is defensive and reticent, but learning to speak to people.

Dyfri and Evie show up here.

Reese – This hermaphroditic squirrel, Kept by Efrosin h’ first year, has an attention span worthy of h’Change, but also has a vicious streak of cunning to match. Blonde, slender, and rather attractive, this 7th Cohort is loyal to its friends but trustworthy for no-one else.

Reese shows up here.

Eluned – this short, pale redheaded 9th Cohort, Evie’s Kept for the year, can seem as fluttery as her Change. Some of that is likely due to her Keeper, however.

Yolanda – to fill out the 8th Cohort, I offer Dyfri’s Kept from Year 8. Since she’s a complete blank slate, in addition to asking her questions, feel free to suggest physical or emotional description, Changes, innate powers, or anything else.

And now you may ask Yep anything!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/396333.html. You can comment here or there.

Countdown to Addergoole Year 9: Your Call

52 ?? Days To 52 Weeks

Okay, Guys, what do you want today?

Want a character description?

Want to ask someone questions?

Want to know something about the school?

Want more Character Development Meme?

Ask, and you shall receive.

Don’t ask, and nobody receives anything 😉

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/396091.html. You can comment here or there.

Addergoole: The Web Page (Countdown to Addergoole)

As we get closer and closer to September (eep), I realize I need to get together a web page for this thing!

So, I know the original page had its flaws. What do you want to see in Addergoole: Year 9 for ease of following?

Be kind, please. Mean comments will be cried on.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/395937.html. You can comment here or there.

Weekend, and a writing lull

Last week was immensely busy for me at Day Job, and then I topped it off by taking a 4-day weekend, 2 days of which involved company, and the other two of which involved recuperating.

Thus, my writing has been very slow for a week or two, and I’m just now getting my brain back into Writing Mode.

I’m still here, though.

How’s everyone else?

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/395534.html. You can comment here or there.

Fitness/Weight Loss Day 2

Yesterday: 167.6/166.6 (variation over 4 weighings)
Today: 167.4
With Oli-Kitten: 173.8 lbs

Yesterday I
* wrote down all points
* Walked 1.6 miles
* fell over exhausted

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/395337.html. You can comment here or there.