How to Capture a Fartmoodle
Chapter 10:
"How to mount a turtle"
Edit 1
By: Nellie Tobey
There Gremlins did not have a portal in the suburbs of the town, so travel needed to be made through the closest portal. It was still a great distance for a Gremlin, and two Pixies to make in a day, so preparations had to be made.
If Steve had visited the area before, he could zip and whoosh himself and Tooty there, but BrewMinister informed him that even if FlutterBait could manage it, that particular method of Pixie travel was not compatible with Gremlin magics.
*** At some point BrewMinister had tried this out in the old country with a certain regal Pixie, but upon 'popping' into the designated destination, was over-come with such dizziness, that the Gremlin could not maintain a form long enough to travel any further than a few feet from where they arrived. Anything with a cervical spinal curve made BrewMinister nauseous and that happened to be every creature that the Gremlin knew how to form. ***
After denying the Owlets again the chance to join on the mission, the troupe of three headed out before dawn. BrewMinister had led them through the portal to a wide fast river that could flow downstream to the town below. Steve eyed the water nervously. "How are we going to get there again?"
Tooty was staring upstream watching for their rides. "Turtles Steve, they aren't that scary!"
BrewMinister patted Steve on the shoulder. "These aren't the snapping kind like where you come from. These reptiles are friendly."
"I think I see them Minister, " Tooty backed away from the sandy bank that spilled into the otherwise inaccessible river. On either side of the bank were sharp cliffs of dirt and tree roots, where time had eroded away the soil. It looked as if much of this fast river might have the same trim along the waters edge.
Steve slowly stepped behind their Gremlin guide. "I'll just see how you two do it." Minister let out a slight giggle, and walked up to greet the two turtles who plowed their way into the sand with the large paddle appendages. The two heads raised up to greet BrewMinister, and the Gremlin bowed to them.
"First things first Pixies, these turtles need you to promise there will be no Pixie magics used on the journey downstream." Tooty looked curiously at Minister, and Steve was still slightly frozen in his place. "You see, the wildlife here only knows our magic, and they don't want to be ....", Minister conferred in silent gazes with the turtles for a moment, "startled by any unexpected events."
Tooty bowed to both turtles, and gave her belly salute to signify her promise. Steve stepped forward finally and did the same. He gulped saying, "On our honor."
*** The turtles at this point, had never really sensed fear from the gremlins, and were quite confused as to why such a magical being would be frightened. They discussed it much on the journey downstream, and came to the conclusion that perhaps the nervous one was afraid of offending BrewMinister. The Gremlin had been known to scare a bear away from a fresh salmon if there was sufficient cause. ***
"Wait..." Steve watched BrewMinister guide Tooty into the right way to sit balanced on the rounded shell of one of the turtles. "There's only two?"
BrewMinister made a gesture toward Steve, and Steve could swear the two turtles were laughing, or at least smiling at him. "Tooty can ride on her own FlutterBait, you will ride with me." Steve wanted to be slighted, but was also very grateful.
Minister helped Steve slide up toward the head of the shell. It wasn't near as slippery as he first imagined. BrewMinister changed into medium sized water snake, and wrapped around Steve to keep him in place. "I think maybe we should be making sure Tooty is safer first..." Minister held up the snake head and thisped out, "Tooty is unafraid, and on the river, fear is what is most dangerous FlutterBait."
Tooty pondered this, as her turtle used those strong flippers to make it's way back into the water. Steve shivered a bit from the feeling of BrewMinister coiling tightly around his legs as their turtle heaved into the water to follow her.
At first the water was lazy, and did not move very quickly. Steve imagined it would have been faster to walk, or to carry Minister between them to the town.
"This isn't so bad," Steve looked over at Tooty who was actually lounging on the back of her turtle. BrewMinister tasted the air, and shouted over to Tooty. "The fast part is coming YoungOwl, you'll need to sit properly for this part!"
Steve felt the coils wrap again around him. "Fast part?" Steve watched Tooty bracing herself on all fours, and tuck her wings tightly to her back.
BrewMinister toggled the snake head toward Steve. "I hear your quite skilled at kiss the frog..." Steve blushed a bit, "Think of this as hugging the turtle."
"That is in NO WAY helpful Minister!"
All that came from BrewMinister was a loud stuttering : "hizzz, hizzz, hzzz"
*********************
Tooty had managed to ride the turtle quite gently, Minister had translated to her when they arrived, and was welcome to ride whenever she needed. The turtle Steve rode was shaking it's head vigorously, mouth full of his foot. Steve spittering and sputtering water.
It hadn't been far into the weaving and bobbing of the water, before Steve had paniced and opened his wings. The air swept himself up and out of BrewMinisters grasp. The turtles had to bridge so that the Gremlin could climb up with Tooty. Steve's ride then dove upstream to fetch Steve, and carried him gripped in it's mouth the rest of the way down river.
BrewMinister smacked Steve on his sides a few times to help cough up some water. "You FlutterBait, I have no idea how you managed to win with the Frog."
Tooty wanted to ask, but seeing the misery Steve was in, walked over to help dry some of the water from his wings. "Is it far to the human house now?"
Steve realized that they had arrived a bit later into the outskirts of the small span of houses than planned. The sun had already been up for a fourth of the daytime. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ... " Tooty was gently using a swath of hankerchief to wipe his wings. She blushed when he looked back at her.
The turtles blinked at BrewMinister, then at the two Pixies, and made their way back into the water.
"It's ok Pixie, I've been told you don't have these fast rivers where you are from." Tooty cocked her head sideways at this.
BrewMinister, now back in the green toadish form, winked very heavily at her.
"No, we really don't." Steve opened a pocket in the skirt in horror. "My notebook!" A shadow fell over him, almost visible to the other two. "I'll have to start all over...."
The still fishscale clad Gremlin, now done with the delays already thrust upon the mission, grabbed Steve by the arm and pulled him up onto his feet. "We can give you all your answers about Gremlins again when we are done with this."
*** At this point there was a much agreed consensus among the Gremlins that the notebook should be somehow altered, as Steve had come to some awkward conclusions that they were not to happy to share with the other tiny folk. One being that the process of urination produced the special brew, which they discovered was a bodily function none of them possessed in the way Steve had described. The Owlets had become very adept at sneaking in to look at the notebook while FlutterBait slept. ***
They approached the grey two story house on the end of the road marked, 'Stout Ave'. The children were in the fenced back yard as the adventuring scouts had reported. The little clan of three slipped in through the gap at the gates hinges.
The two children, both with shoulder length hair, t-shirts, and jeans were swinging each other on a tire roped to a large Maple branch.
Steve sighed in disappointment. "How do we tell which one is a girl human?"
BrewMinister huffed. "What is it with you flying folks, why does it matter?"
Tooty sensed some tension coming from Ministers now feathery ferret form.
"Well the picture has a child with a frilly pink dress and a giant bow, in most of our observations that's a female human." Steve started to consider he may be treding on unstable ground.
"What Steve means, Minister, is that in our area they are easily told apart from one another, and given the picture we had of that fairy thing, it would likely be a female that would want to hold on to me."
BrewMinister still had a grim look, but then darted toward the children. "So what does it mean when they look like this?"
Steve considered before answering. "Well in that form, we can't really say. They all sound and look alike at that age, unless they wear specific cloths."
The Gremlin put short little arms up in the air in frustration. "How very observant!"
Tooty listened to the darker haired child, tell the other "I am done pushin'. It's my turn to swing!"
The lighter haired child held tighter to the rope suspending the noxious smelling rubber, and gave the other a big pouty smile. "One more time, please?"
Darker haired child got a mischievous twinkle in it's eyes and grabbed the rope above the lighter haired child's hands. "I'm gonna twirl you till you fall off!" And the tire began swinging wildly with the lighter haired child giggled uncontrollably.
Minister watched the lighter haired child grow a funny look, and it started yelling, "Ok! Ok! Stopppp!!!!"
With that the darker haired child jerked the tire to a stop, and lighter child fell out onto the dirt. At first the child whimpered and then it got up, and stomped away.
BrewMinister nodded satisfactory and pointed. "We should start with that one. We can try the other one if this one proves incapable."
Steve contemplated but then said nothing but, "Ok."
Tooty flew over to the child, now digging it's feet into the ground to push itself around in the swing. "HEY, LOOK AT ME!"
The child slowed a bit, but didn't seem to acknowledge Tooty's presence. She tried again. "CHILD! HERE I AM!!!"
The child slowed some more, but only stared at the entrance to the house where it's sibling had exited.
Tooty waved to Steve to fly up next to her to discuss what they should do. "It's not working Steve.... They just ignore me... They aren't like the adults."
Steve went to pull out his notebook, but remembered it was gone. A dark blue glow came over him. The child gasped, waving its hand in front of it, not far from where Steve hovered in the air. Tooty realized what was happening. "Steve, you need to make me glow."
Steve took a deep breath and spouted, "Tooty, you couldn't make a cow fart on a windy day!"
Tooty smiled, and started to laugh. "Was that supposed to make me angry? I don't like all that stink remember?"
Steve remembered the day in the supermarket. "You've been amazing me since the day I started teaching you our ways, and I don't ever want to stop being there to see your succeed."
Tooty almost fell out of the air from forgetting to flap her wings. A slow ultra violet glow started to come from her. "Really?"
Steve nodded and watched the child start to focus on Tooty. "Your make every day worth fighting for."
Tooty's hair illuminated a bright green, her skin speckled with bright purple specks, and the child's hand leaped forward and snatched her from in front of Steve.
*********************
Steve landed next to BrewMinister and followed the child as it carried Tooty into the house. She could easily vanish and slip from it's grasp, but she was too busy avoiding looking at Steve.
Steve grabbed Minister's attention. "How did you know that was the one we needed?"
Minister grunted. "From what you have described to me, your definition of female just needs to be brave, adventurous, and terrifying." Steve closed his mouth tight, Minister slipped one last thing in before they jumped in through the open door. "And who says I picked that one because I thought it a female?"
Chapter 10:
"How to mount a turtle"
Edit 1
By: Nellie Tobey
There Gremlins did not have a portal in the suburbs of the town, so travel needed to be made through the closest portal. It was still a great distance for a Gremlin, and two Pixies to make in a day, so preparations had to be made.
If Steve had visited the area before, he could zip and whoosh himself and Tooty there, but BrewMinister informed him that even if FlutterBait could manage it, that particular method of Pixie travel was not compatible with Gremlin magics.
*** At some point BrewMinister had tried this out in the old country with a certain regal Pixie, but upon 'popping' into the designated destination, was over-come with such dizziness, that the Gremlin could not maintain a form long enough to travel any further than a few feet from where they arrived. Anything with a cervical spinal curve made BrewMinister nauseous and that happened to be every creature that the Gremlin knew how to form. ***
After denying the Owlets again the chance to join on the mission, the troupe of three headed out before dawn. BrewMinister had led them through the portal to a wide fast river that could flow downstream to the town below. Steve eyed the water nervously. "How are we going to get there again?"
Tooty was staring upstream watching for their rides. "Turtles Steve, they aren't that scary!"
BrewMinister patted Steve on the shoulder. "These aren't the snapping kind like where you come from. These reptiles are friendly."
"I think I see them Minister, " Tooty backed away from the sandy bank that spilled into the otherwise inaccessible river. On either side of the bank were sharp cliffs of dirt and tree roots, where time had eroded away the soil. It looked as if much of this fast river might have the same trim along the waters edge.
Steve slowly stepped behind their Gremlin guide. "I'll just see how you two do it." Minister let out a slight giggle, and walked up to greet the two turtles who plowed their way into the sand with the large paddle appendages. The two heads raised up to greet BrewMinister, and the Gremlin bowed to them.
"First things first Pixies, these turtles need you to promise there will be no Pixie magics used on the journey downstream." Tooty looked curiously at Minister, and Steve was still slightly frozen in his place. "You see, the wildlife here only knows our magic, and they don't want to be ....", Minister conferred in silent gazes with the turtles for a moment, "startled by any unexpected events."
Tooty bowed to both turtles, and gave her belly salute to signify her promise. Steve stepped forward finally and did the same. He gulped saying, "On our honor."
*** The turtles at this point, had never really sensed fear from the gremlins, and were quite confused as to why such a magical being would be frightened. They discussed it much on the journey downstream, and came to the conclusion that perhaps the nervous one was afraid of offending BrewMinister. The Gremlin had been known to scare a bear away from a fresh salmon if there was sufficient cause. ***
"Wait..." Steve watched BrewMinister guide Tooty into the right way to sit balanced on the rounded shell of one of the turtles. "There's only two?"
BrewMinister made a gesture toward Steve, and Steve could swear the two turtles were laughing, or at least smiling at him. "Tooty can ride on her own FlutterBait, you will ride with me." Steve wanted to be slighted, but was also very grateful.
Minister helped Steve slide up toward the head of the shell. It wasn't near as slippery as he first imagined. BrewMinister changed into medium sized water snake, and wrapped around Steve to keep him in place. "I think maybe we should be making sure Tooty is safer first..." Minister held up the snake head and thisped out, "Tooty is unafraid, and on the river, fear is what is most dangerous FlutterBait."
Tooty pondered this, as her turtle used those strong flippers to make it's way back into the water. Steve shivered a bit from the feeling of BrewMinister coiling tightly around his legs as their turtle heaved into the water to follow her.
At first the water was lazy, and did not move very quickly. Steve imagined it would have been faster to walk, or to carry Minister between them to the town.
"This isn't so bad," Steve looked over at Tooty who was actually lounging on the back of her turtle. BrewMinister tasted the air, and shouted over to Tooty. "The fast part is coming YoungOwl, you'll need to sit properly for this part!"
Steve felt the coils wrap again around him. "Fast part?" Steve watched Tooty bracing herself on all fours, and tuck her wings tightly to her back.
BrewMinister toggled the snake head toward Steve. "I hear your quite skilled at kiss the frog..." Steve blushed a bit, "Think of this as hugging the turtle."
"That is in NO WAY helpful Minister!"
All that came from BrewMinister was a loud stuttering : "hizzz, hizzz, hzzz"
*********************
Tooty had managed to ride the turtle quite gently, Minister had translated to her when they arrived, and was welcome to ride whenever she needed. The turtle Steve rode was shaking it's head vigorously, mouth full of his foot. Steve spittering and sputtering water.
It hadn't been far into the weaving and bobbing of the water, before Steve had paniced and opened his wings. The air swept himself up and out of BrewMinisters grasp. The turtles had to bridge so that the Gremlin could climb up with Tooty. Steve's ride then dove upstream to fetch Steve, and carried him gripped in it's mouth the rest of the way down river.
BrewMinister smacked Steve on his sides a few times to help cough up some water. "You FlutterBait, I have no idea how you managed to win with the Frog."
Tooty wanted to ask, but seeing the misery Steve was in, walked over to help dry some of the water from his wings. "Is it far to the human house now?"
Steve realized that they had arrived a bit later into the outskirts of the small span of houses than planned. The sun had already been up for a fourth of the daytime. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ... " Tooty was gently using a swath of hankerchief to wipe his wings. She blushed when he looked back at her.
The turtles blinked at BrewMinister, then at the two Pixies, and made their way back into the water.
"It's ok Pixie, I've been told you don't have these fast rivers where you are from." Tooty cocked her head sideways at this.
BrewMinister, now back in the green toadish form, winked very heavily at her.
"No, we really don't." Steve opened a pocket in the skirt in horror. "My notebook!" A shadow fell over him, almost visible to the other two. "I'll have to start all over...."
The still fishscale clad Gremlin, now done with the delays already thrust upon the mission, grabbed Steve by the arm and pulled him up onto his feet. "We can give you all your answers about Gremlins again when we are done with this."
*** At this point there was a much agreed consensus among the Gremlins that the notebook should be somehow altered, as Steve had come to some awkward conclusions that they were not to happy to share with the other tiny folk. One being that the process of urination produced the special brew, which they discovered was a bodily function none of them possessed in the way Steve had described. The Owlets had become very adept at sneaking in to look at the notebook while FlutterBait slept. ***
They approached the grey two story house on the end of the road marked, 'Stout Ave'. The children were in the fenced back yard as the adventuring scouts had reported. The little clan of three slipped in through the gap at the gates hinges.
The two children, both with shoulder length hair, t-shirts, and jeans were swinging each other on a tire roped to a large Maple branch.
Steve sighed in disappointment. "How do we tell which one is a girl human?"
BrewMinister huffed. "What is it with you flying folks, why does it matter?"
Tooty sensed some tension coming from Ministers now feathery ferret form.
"Well the picture has a child with a frilly pink dress and a giant bow, in most of our observations that's a female human." Steve started to consider he may be treding on unstable ground.
"What Steve means, Minister, is that in our area they are easily told apart from one another, and given the picture we had of that fairy thing, it would likely be a female that would want to hold on to me."
BrewMinister still had a grim look, but then darted toward the children. "So what does it mean when they look like this?"
Steve considered before answering. "Well in that form, we can't really say. They all sound and look alike at that age, unless they wear specific cloths."
The Gremlin put short little arms up in the air in frustration. "How very observant!"
Tooty listened to the darker haired child, tell the other "I am done pushin'. It's my turn to swing!"
The lighter haired child held tighter to the rope suspending the noxious smelling rubber, and gave the other a big pouty smile. "One more time, please?"
Darker haired child got a mischievous twinkle in it's eyes and grabbed the rope above the lighter haired child's hands. "I'm gonna twirl you till you fall off!" And the tire began swinging wildly with the lighter haired child giggled uncontrollably.
Minister watched the lighter haired child grow a funny look, and it started yelling, "Ok! Ok! Stopppp!!!!"
With that the darker haired child jerked the tire to a stop, and lighter child fell out onto the dirt. At first the child whimpered and then it got up, and stomped away.
BrewMinister nodded satisfactory and pointed. "We should start with that one. We can try the other one if this one proves incapable."
Steve contemplated but then said nothing but, "Ok."
Tooty flew over to the child, now digging it's feet into the ground to push itself around in the swing. "HEY, LOOK AT ME!"
The child slowed a bit, but didn't seem to acknowledge Tooty's presence. She tried again. "CHILD! HERE I AM!!!"
The child slowed some more, but only stared at the entrance to the house where it's sibling had exited.
Tooty waved to Steve to fly up next to her to discuss what they should do. "It's not working Steve.... They just ignore me... They aren't like the adults."
Steve went to pull out his notebook, but remembered it was gone. A dark blue glow came over him. The child gasped, waving its hand in front of it, not far from where Steve hovered in the air. Tooty realized what was happening. "Steve, you need to make me glow."
Steve took a deep breath and spouted, "Tooty, you couldn't make a cow fart on a windy day!"
Tooty smiled, and started to laugh. "Was that supposed to make me angry? I don't like all that stink remember?"
Steve remembered the day in the supermarket. "You've been amazing me since the day I started teaching you our ways, and I don't ever want to stop being there to see your succeed."
Tooty almost fell out of the air from forgetting to flap her wings. A slow ultra violet glow started to come from her. "Really?"
Steve nodded and watched the child start to focus on Tooty. "Your make every day worth fighting for."
Tooty's hair illuminated a bright green, her skin speckled with bright purple specks, and the child's hand leaped forward and snatched her from in front of Steve.
*********************
Steve landed next to BrewMinister and followed the child as it carried Tooty into the house. She could easily vanish and slip from it's grasp, but she was too busy avoiding looking at Steve.
Steve grabbed Minister's attention. "How did you know that was the one we needed?"
Minister grunted. "From what you have described to me, your definition of female just needs to be brave, adventurous, and terrifying." Steve closed his mouth tight, Minister slipped one last thing in before they jumped in through the open door. "And who says I picked that one because I thought it a female?"
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