Curtains gestured to William to stay down, then laid down in the grass & slithered over the #crest of the hill. Below, the army of Ironton was encamped.
William wriggled up next to him.
"We need to go a different way," Curtains said.
"But not just yet," William said.
#vss365
Tagvss365
"What that orange sea enemy?"
"That's not a sea anemone. It's a #fungus."
"But I can see it."
"You can see it, but it's not in the sea. It's in a tree."
"It not fun so it a enemy. It a tree enemy."
"OK. OK. It's a tree enemy."
#vss365
He snorted awake under the sakuras. Sake had made him sleepy, but somehow he'd awakened in time for the last rays of the sun to make the blossoms blush even more. A fox laughed at him from the shadows. He nodded thanks and raised his cup.
"Kanpai, kitsune-sama!"
#vss365 #trope
David took the Better Angels to the Menagerie. He followed as the girls fanned out in twos & threes to point excitedly at the unusual creatures. All it took was a bit of music for them to come together in perfect #unity — if only that worked for the rest of us, he mused.
#vss365
Light filtering in the window gave him a splitting headache. Still seeing double, he explored his head with fingers: crusty & sore but the bleeding had stopped. Chains rattled as he failed to get to his feet. Subsiding, he heard the laughing cry of a #rail, mocking him.
#vss365
Curt reached a dead end against a cliff. As surrounding guardsmen drew closer through the brush, Curt turned ready to make a final #stand.
"Heads up," William said, dropping down next to him.
"What are you doing here, boy?"
"Rescuing you," William grinned. "C'mon!"
#vss365
"Not leave me!" she said, holding up her arms. "Please #take me too."
I crouched down on one knee and she threw herself against me, sobbing. I kissed her forehead.
"I'm sorry, little one," I said. "I can't take you this time. But I'll be back."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
#vss365
"Are you going to #go?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"You know it's getting late…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"They won't have any of the good ones left if you wait too long."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"Look! Would you rather I just went?"
"I thought you'd never ask!"
#vss365
Lifted on a towline, William sprang to the top of the wall.
"Shoot!" cried the #warden.
A pair of soldiers raised their crossbows, but were struck from the side by one of the prisoners & their quarrels discharged harmlessly into the air.
"Run, boy!" the prisoner called. #vss365
Orrie & Clara visited a tea-shop across from the hotel. After perusing the delicacies at length, Orrie ordered a #slice of Madeira cake.
"It's not castella, but will do in a pinch."
"Travel is broadening," Clara said, declining. "But one must ensure it isn't widening."
#vss365