The babysitter { Lucan }

[• p i •]

Larulla the molebabe was not at all interested in being babysitted. That was for the little babes, not older dibbuns like herself. She should be trusted! Well sure, the last time she had been left to her own devices she had decided to flavor the recorder's tea with a bitter plant she had found lying around the Abbey grounds, but still! Just because of a few little pranks, they thought that she had to be watched every second! Or at least, her uncle Rundle seemed to think so. She didn't see why he couldn't just watch her, but he was busy being part of the mole digging crew, making basic repairs and dealing with anything the other abbeybeasts needed. He was fun, too, with all his stories and pranks and all. Would her 'babysitter' be like that? Or would they be like the creatures in the library - always telling her to shush and be quiet? If that happened, she would just run off.

Which was kind of what she was doing now, just in case the worst should happen. She was dabbling her paws in the pond, splashing and waving her paws about as she hummed in a bass hum. They wouldn't look here first, so she could probably be here by herself for a long while yet. She didn't want to get into mischief just yet - that was only if she couldn't think of anything fun to do. And right now, she had the idea that she should try fishing. She grabbed a curvy shaped stick from the bank, and wandered around, looking for some sort of string to catch fish with. (She hadn't thought of bait yet. She figured that the fish would like her "string" if it was more interesting than regular string.)

"Burr hurr, wut cud oi use fer moi stringer, hurr..." She pondered aloud as she shuffled along the bank. Looking up, she spotted a long reed dangling into the water. Eagerly, she shuffled toward it. It was just the right length for her to wave in the water for a fish. If she caught a fish, then she would have caught a meal for supper, and then no one would make her take a bath then, oh no! She'd be at the spot of honor in Great Hall!

She reached the edge of the bank and reached out for her reed, not realizing just how far over the water she was until she fell forward, letting up a splash. Although she was only in a few inches of water, she still splashed about ridiculously, calling out, "Help, or oi'll be drownded!"

((Thought Gruffen might as well be the "hero" or something. XD))

[Lucan]

Gruffen strode up the stairs from Cavern Hole and into the Great Hall, peering anxiously into corners and scratching his snout in consternation. He was certain he had scoured the entirety of the Abbey's interior in his search for his young charge. His good friend, Rundle the mole, had asked him to keep an eye on his niece, Larulla, for the duration of the morning. Rundle had instructed him to meet up with the infant molemaid at the dormitories, but when Gruffen arrived tere he was greated by absolutely nobeast. He had spent the past half an hour in a gradually worsening state of anxiety; it would be a fine thing, would it not, to have to inform his friend that not only had he not kept his word and babysat the molemaid, but hadn't even been able to find here in the first place!

Well, the Abbey's interior was a Larulla-free area at the moment. The next logical step would be to explore the grounds. Gruffen stepped out into the bright sunlight, almost immediately bumping into a hurried-looking mouse in the garb of an Abbeybeast. "Yow, sorry, Br'er! Say, y'havent seen a wee molemaid runnin' around th' place?" The Brother shrugged silently to indicate his ignorance of the matter, and scurried off, the frayed hem of his green habit flying behind him. Gruffen cast an eye over the grounds, and tried to decide where a mishievous Dibbun was most likely to go. The answer came to him easily; the Abbey Pond, of course, on a hot day like this any Dibbun would be raring to paddle about in the water, and, Dibbuns being what they were, possibly attempt to wrestle a greyling into submission, thus earning glory, admiration and the right not to go to bed. Gruffen sped off towards the Pond, his faithful staff clutched in one paw.

As he got nearer to the Pond, the blinding glint of the sun off the still surface of the water resolved itself into a clearer image, and a gruff yet plaintive cry reached his ears: "Help, or oi'll be drownded!" Gruffen saw the molemaid splashing about helplessly in a few inches of water, and it took a decent amount of effort not to fall about laughing at the ridiculous spectacle. Instead, the Northlander strode purposefully to the edge of the water, bent down, and scooped up the molemaid. "Well noo, Ah sees ye fancies yersel' a waterbeast!" he chuckled, setting the flustered Dibbun down on dry land. "Leave th' sailin' t' th' otters an' th' shrews, lassie, jes' yew stick ter dry land like a sensible molechild!"

[• p i •]

Larulla knew she wasn't in any real danger, but she really just didn't like water, and now it was all over her clothes, so that meant she was wet, and if she was wet, then that meant that it was like a bath. She hated baths, like any respectable Dibbun. And so she splashed around in the hopes of either getting it off of her or, more likely, making it to shore (despite shore being only a short distance away). She suddenly felt herself get lifted out of the water by a pair of strong paws and heard a gruff voice with a strange accent - stranger than the accent associated with her kind, the moles. She looked up to see a large hedgehog carrying a tall staff looking down at her with a kindly expression.

"Burr, I bain't be a wat'r beaster, zurr!" She protested at his claim, crossing her short arms across her chest indignantly. She looked up at him somewhat defiantly. "Who're you, zurr? You'm speak funny-loike." She asked. She didn't recognize him, really - she didn't pay much attention to too many of the other adults who didn't generally care for the babes. So he could have been anyone, but she would have thought she would have remembered his funny accent.

[Lucan]

Gruffen laughed unrestrainedly at the tiny molemaid's huffy remark about his accent. "Burr hoo, 'tis no funny-loiker aways a-speaken' than yurr own, likkle 'un!" he responded cheerily, managing a passable impression of Molespeech. During his travels he had met with all manner of creatures, many of whom had fairly confusing accents and speech patterns. Apart from his native Northern accent and the quaint Molespeech, Gruffen prided himself on being able to imitate the pompous mannerisms of hares, the nautical parlance of otter crews, and even some Sparra dialect, all of which came in very handy when he was relating one of his stories. "Ah'm given tae unnerstan' yer the dastardly wee beastie Ah'm tae be babysittin', aye?" the hedgehog added, squatting down so that he was at eye level with the Dibbun.

[• p i •]

Larulla stared at the hedgehog as he laughed and then spoke back to her in a tone that sounded like her own molespeak. She had never met a beast besides a mole that could actually speak in understandable molespeak without getting tongue-tied. That was somewhat impressive, she had to admit. But he was making fun of her! Why was he making fun of her? She wrinkled her nose at him, not sure if she liked him or not. He seemed somewhat funny, but at the same time, she didn’t like being made fun of. His accent was weird, what was she supposed to say to that?

Then he asked she was the one he was going to be babysitting. She looked up at him and nodded guardedly. “Burr, oi’m a’guessin’ so, zurr. Moi name be Larulla. Do 'ee knowen moi nuncle Rundle?” She asked, wondering how this hedgehog came to be her babysitter. She had certainly never seen him around before, and was curious as to what he was doing at the Abbey. She assumed he was a traveler since she had never seen him before. Either that or else she just hadn’t seen him, but that was unlikely. She would probably have remembered his voice if nothing else if she had seen him in the Abbey.

She hoped he wasn't going to be boring.

((Sorry for the fail reply. D: I'll try to keep up from now on! Feel free to send me PMs so I'll reply sooner!))

[Lucan]

"Well Ah'm right pleased tae meet ye, Larulla," Gruffen replied warmly, extending a scarred forepaw to shake the molemaid's digging claw. "An' mah name's Gruffen. Ah come frae up North, far 'way from here. Where Ah come from, practic'ly everybeast speaks like this; hedgehogs, mice, squirrels, falcons, eagles, the lot, Ah tell ye." The hedgehog winked conspiratorially. "It's a big wide world out there, an' there's lots o' strange beasts wiv even strangers ways o speakin' than you or me."

Gruffen straightened briefly from his squatting position and arched his back, wincing as the bones of his spine clicked back into place. It was the soft living that was to blame, he thought. He was getting out of shape, laying about all day in this Abbey. Still, he was getting on in seasons; it might just be time to start thinking about settling down. Just thinking about it, mind.

The hedgehog sat down on the grass and plunged his paws into the cool water of the shallows, sighing contentedly. "Certainly Ah knows yer uncle, miss. Ol' Rundle's a good frienda mine. Ah've met him sev'ral times when Ah was comin' through Mossflower country in seasons past, an' we've shared a good few drinks tergether sinca Ah settled here back in midwinter."

(Don't worry about it xD)

[• p i •]

Larulla hesitated to shake the big, scarred paw of the hedgehog, but after a moment she saw him smiling and decided he couldn't be all that bad. She took his paw in hers, and shook it as firmly as she could, which wasn't very hard at all. Nothing like this big beast's grip. Although she was trying to be cool and act uninterested in him (in the hopes that would leave her to her own devices), she couldn't help but widen her eyes when he said that every beast talked like he did, and there were falcons and eagles. She had only heard of those, but he had actually met one of those giant birds? That was a very impressive feat to a dibbun who'd never seen anything more than the Abbey.

She watched him straighten, and decided to ask her questions. "Burr, thur be heagles 'n falconburds whurr you'm be from, zurr?" She sat next to him as he dipped his feet in the water. After her most recent water experience, she refrained from doing so, but she was still curious about his experiences. He seemed interesting, even if he was supposed to hold her 'captive.' She might as well be entertained if she was going to be watched over. "Oi've never seen a big burd loike that afore..." She mused aloud, then put a paw to her mouth, not realizing she had spoken her thought aloud.

[Lucan]

Gratified by the Dibbun's reaction to his words, Gruffen turned to his face his charge, grinning inwardly. This babysitting lark might not turn out to be so difficult; all he had to do was tell his stories. The younger residents of the Abbey had been suitably impressed by the hedgehog's tales of exploring distant lands, encounters with mysterious beasts and skirmishes with bloodthirsty foes, and this molemaid seemingly wasn't going to be the exception to the rule. Of course, while he had been to all these places and seen many strange things, Gruffen felt it was best to liberally add spice when narrating his recollections, as is the wont of all master storytellers.

"Oh aye, eagles 'n' falconbirds, 'n' kites 'n' corbies, 'n' crows 'n' magpies, 'n' owls! Aw manner o' mighty creachers!" the hedgehog replied expansively. "Once, many many seasons ago, Ah came across a whole flock o' th' falcons when Ah was climbin' th' Northern Mountains. Braw, canny beasts they are, fast as lightnin' in th' sky!" Gruffen settled into a more comfortable position on the bank as he warmed to his tale. "They make their nests high up in th' crags, where nae beast can climb. Two o' them had tae carry me in their talons, 'cos Ah was a big heavybeast back then tae!" The hedgehog laughed. "Most terrifyin' thing Ah've ever seen, aw' th' world stretching out far 'neath mah paws. Ah had tae keep mah eyes shut, Ah was tremblin' sae hard even th' falcons were shakin'! So they carried me tae the peak o' the highest mountain o' th' North tae meet their King, a mighty eagle called Hamish McGraw." He paused briefly, and continued in a hushed voice. "Oh he was a bigbeast, aye. As big as this here Abbey, maybe bigger! When he stretched his wings they blotted oot th' sun an'the sky. His eyes were like twin gold fires! An' when he saw 'is warriors carryin' me up he let oot a mighty screech, like thunder roarin'! An' he said..."

Gruffen leapt to his feet, his expression ferocious, and boomed: "Ach, 'tis a braw day when a King need nary move a feather but 'is dinner comes flyin' up tae 'im! Ah'll feast on hedgepig tonight!"