The Tangle “Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

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Blossom was, categorically, a very good kid. But, as every teen was wont to do at some point, rebellion was only a hop skip and jump away from rationality.

So, she waited until @Boone wasn’t looking and @Reverie was doing her own thing, and she slipped away. Clumsily, sure, and maybe she giggled the entire time, but away she went at a bound. Like a doe, across the wide space, and into a tangled mess of a place she was sure to get lost in.

She’d be home before anybody even noticed! Until then, there was an intersection of scents here, one from the Taiga she has traversed with her mother, the other smelling of salt and brine so similar to the shore they’d lived at for some time.

Her smile wavered. Oh, Father would find them later, she rationalized, but as time kept turning, she began to doubt her predictions as correct.

Oh well, she had more interesting things to do. Like staring cross-eyed at the stickbug standing on the bridge of her muzzle, wobbling back and forth.

briars shook, their thorns brandished out towards the world. miette marched right under their long spines with ease. she was an adventurer! a traveler! a trespassah chaser -- in what world would thorns stop her?

she was sourly picking the thorn that had embedded in her paw when she heard giggling. placing her foot down carefully, miette zoned in on the source -- a blonde babe near her age, with a bug perched upon her nose.

she drew to her full height -- which, all in, was scarcely remarkable. halt! who be goin' dere? miette liked to believe her tone was authoritative. state your name and your purpose, de two of you. she motioned to the suspect and her insect comrade. i be sobeille, of saffique.

Authority was something Blossom had never come up against, besides the gentle parenting of her mother. The girl turned slowly to lock eyes with the other child, offering her a smile and a wag of her tail.

Hello! She chirped, steadily turning her face so the bug wouldn’t be unseated.

I’m Blossom! I’m from that way! The stickbug jittered in time to her words and she giggled to see it, crossing her eyes.

I’m exploring, and I think he’s just a bug. But what if…he wasn’t? What would they do then?

the girl's head turned like a doll's. perched upon her nose waddled a stickbug: miette's level gaze fell upon him. he waved one thin limb in reply. if he spoke at all, she heard nothing.

this blonde thing was prettier than miette. the flaxen silk of her fur, the petalesque and rosy flash of her eyes! miette refused to be swayed by her coquettish features or soft smile.

okay, blossom from 'dat way'. she searched for ways in which to impose she was the boss here. i am going to eat de bug! and so, she reached for it greedily, jaws wide.

The girl, Miette, came at her with her jaws wide.

Blossom merely blinked, her reaction time fully abysmal, until the girl’s mouth was right in front of her nose. For a moment, she thought she could smell fish. And that made her throw her head back, scrabbling back a few steps.

The poor stickbug, unsecured, was spontaneously thrown into the sky like a test pilot. It vanished into the thorns, Blossom staring owl eyed at where it had gone.

Do you see where it went? She whispered, watching the bushes to see if the little pilot had come back to them.

And what did you do that for? Not accusing by any means, not even a pout sat on her features. Just genuine curiosity.

this girl’s reflexes were woefully slow! hah! were all landlubbers like this? miette pulled back, dusting off her pelt as she watched the bug fly off into the thorny eaves.

blossom seemed unoffended. miette did not know what to make of this. no. ‘e flew off. a wistful sigh exhaled from her muzzle. cuz i wanted to. don’t you ever just do what you want to?

Blossom stared blankly, then tipped her head to the side.

You…almost bite people…just because? She reached up with her paw to rub her chin.

I never thought about doing that. She didn’t really like to bite anything, truth be told. But Miette seemed happy enough doing it.

Yeah, but I just dance when I want to do something. Never thought about biting.

i not bite you. miette cut in with a thorough shake of her head. i bite de bug.

as blossom rubbed her chin, miette finally extracted the thorn from her paw. she spat it out, envisioning herself as a mutineer pirate -- with blossom as her ... hmmm.. prisoner! no, that wasn't very exciting, and she didn't fit the whole prisoner vibe. first mate? no, that honor was firmly astera's. miette pondered for a moment before her eyes lit up. concubine! blossom could be the concubine!

you dance? dat sounds silly. miette could not imagine conquering her enemies with dance moves. show me. mebbe if things get real bad, you can dance people to death.

Had Blossom had the ability to read minds, she would have gladly accepted the title of concubine despite not knowing in the slightest what that meant.

Then, she lit up like a star at Miette inviting her to dance. She glanced around them, the itty bitty clearing, trying to envision what she could do with the space.

My momma taught me! She hummed a little melody, letting it become a songbird’s tune from her chest. Then, she swirled around Miette on light feet, like a woman’s swishing skirts, preforming small hops and twirls before she was twirling away to dance through the clearing.

Her momma was a good teacher, she thought to herself as she spun to the tune of her own making.

blossom's gaze flitted about their small enclave. sunlight peered down through branches of bramble, illuminating each light step she took forth:

bemusement stole over miette, who had never heard such a song breathed to life. it reminded her of the hum of the ocean -- distant first, then carrying pitch and timbre until it was blossom's own melody come to life.

and the way she moved! even the thorns seemed to give way, their sharp ends bowing to each graceful arc.

miette followed, the rough-shod oliver to blossom's nureyev. dat makes you move funny. 'ow do you and your mom beat up trespassahs by dancin'?

Blossom laughed at that, not a mean sound, barely more substance than a summer breeze. She did a twirl around Miette, slow so she could see the steps.

We don’t do that, silly! She whirled onto her hind paws, wavering there for a second, before she fell back to earth, still dancing.

Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet. Why beat someone up when you can talk to them, learn from them!

this girl! miette was mesmerized by the way she moved, as if sea-song flowed through her. though each step Blossom took was measured, miette had no hope in matching them. it was as if she were a heavy tortoise, and blossom the most ornate and delicate bird on the wing.

no! dat makes no sense. she thought of the bad guys in stories. you couldn’t just dance them away! you just let trespassahs in your ‘ome? what if dey are bears? she pulled close as blossom twirled to the ground, her face twisted in incredulity.  ’ow you gonna be talkin’ to de bears if they come up to you? dey don’t want to TAWK. dey don’t want to dance! dey gonna cut you an’ your mumma up and eat you.

A blink, one, then two, then she swirled into another aerial.

Well, then we’ve got Boone! He’s big and strong, if they’re meanies! She chirped, like a bird. Her steps slowed, until she was merely swaying in place, still humming below her breath.

What do you do for fun if you don’t dance, Miette? I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t dance or sing or go find flowers! Oh, and flowers were such a favorite! Positively dizzy with the idea of flower bouquets in her den, she swanned over onto her side, then her back, staring up at the sky through the tangle of branches.

all this movement made miette dizzy. the whirls and twirls of blossom’s dance took her across the small clearing.

what a boone be? and more importantly, could sapphique secure one too? how hard were they to catch?

she plodded after the pirouetting form of her new forest-nymph interest. what did she do for fun? oh! tons of things. her gaze sparked with a smile. i swim! an’ i hunt, an’ sometimes me an’ astera go explorin’. she puffed out her narrow chest while blossom sailed past on nimble feet, sinking to the forest floor with her gaze skyward. 

an intrusive thought made its home in miette’s heart. hearing her mother’s scolding voice somewhere in her mind, miette ignored it — and set the stage for her next move.

Blossom frowned at the sky.

Hes…some guy? My momma likes him, and he’s nice, so he stays around. Proudly, she puffed out her chest, then rolled onto her side to glance up at Miette.

Oh, you swim! I can swim! Badly, but she could! She drummed her paws against the ground. Ever spritely, she bounced back to her feet, though it only took her a few moments to sink back onto her haunches.

I like exploring too! Case in point, she was here!

boone being revealed as a male ended miette's interest. there were not many males that qualified as 'interesting' in her life.

blossom, however, intrigued the girl with her whirlwind moods and dashing feet. it was as if she never stood still. miette was reminded of a riptide -- coming and going in mercurial lashes against the hardened edges of the world.

already, the dancer was on her feet, then sitting again. miette's impish idea transcended into something better as blossom mentioned she could swim. not as good as miette, she bet. i know a pond not too far from here, cuz i esplore a lot. miette informed blossom with a broad gesture of her paw towards a hidden path in the tangle. it be dis way.

For one, single, blissful moment in time, Blossom thought about stranger danger.

But that was quickly discarded. Strangers, as she believed, were always friends. Sometimes they could be mean, but she would win out with her personality in the end. She quickly moved to her feet, eager as ever, with a tail wagging a mile a minute.

Okay!

She immediately began trotting the way Miette had pointed, humming a small tune.

miette never thought about danger.

she rose, padding along behind the skipping blossom. she marveled at the girl's energy -- and as she sang to herself, miette ignored the intrusive thought that commanded she push the girl down while her back was turned.

snappish then, miette cleared her throat. it be dis way. she ducked under a snarl of bladed thorns, leading charge towards the sound of trickling water.

a few minutes later, and they were in a small clearing not unlike the first -- only, this one featured a small tributary pond. miette had discovered it a few weeks before: one side was flanked in reeds, but the other had a tumble of broken rocks that made for good jumping platforms.

watch dis. miette suddenly crowed, sprinting towards the water to cannon-ball into it.

Miette ran past her and sprang into the air like a bird. Blossom’s mouth dropped open into a gasp, her eyes going big, watching the other girl soar through the air.

When Miette resurfaced, she’d find Blossom cheering, mouth wide and smiling as she danced in place.

That was amazing! She crowed, carefully picking her way to the edge of the rocks to lean down and look Miette in the eye.

How’d you jump that high?? Oh, oh, could you teach me?! My momma says I’m a fast learner! If she had the hands, she’d have been clapping and wolf-whistling.

a splash, a splatter — a gurgle of sounds as water rushed to her ears and senses.

blossom’s distorted face peered from above.

miette broke the water with a gasp, grinning wide as she padded back to blossom. is easy — watch. the girl waddled from the water sopping, crawling now towards the rock’s summit.

she’d noticed blossom hadn’t gone in. you just run and jump — your turn!

but she did not wait for blossom’s company in the deep below. miette sprung from the stone with a shriek, diving artfully like an otter into the cold’s depths.

Miette was confident in such a way it took Blossom’s breath away. The boldness she carried, it was sure something to behold. Her owlish eyes stared between the other girl and the water, before she audibly swallowed.

Then, she backed up, took a deep breath, and charged.

In flight, she released a whoop of loud laughter, before she crashed into the water. Bubbles tickled her nose, and she had to remember not to giggle. Pushing back up to the surface, she sneezed out the water in her nose, then smiled at Miette.

That was easy!

splashing in the water, one could think the two girls were good friends having the time of their life in the glinting waves.

but miette was overcome with a dark thought as blossom's head disappeared under the tow.

she wondered what the bubbles might look like as they fought to reach the surface, if she held blossom there. what would her voice sound like as water flooded her lungs?

what would her eyes look like?

but the reverie was dashed as the girl's head resurfaced. the impulse faded, replaced by a dark annoyance. miette cracked a smile and splashed water towards blossom. dat was easy. she asserted, twirling in the shallows. bet you won't do it again.

in the end, these were budding impulses that the girl was too young to act upon. without experience, she lacked a practiced confidence that might later serve her better.

that night miette dreamed of blossom’s eyes cupped in the crook of her palms.