Monster History, Lesson 6
Long Tail looked puzzledly at his mate. "I beg your pardon?"
"I said, how are we going to get there? Safely, I mean. We do have to travel through the Mans' village, after all," Lithe stated matter-of- factly.
"I hadn't thought of that yet," Long Tail reluctantly admitted. "I was thinking of bringing it up at the next meeting for a brainstorm."
Lithe scowled. "Long Tail, we don't have that kind of time! We have two days to evacuate everyone! Every little bit of time we have counts!"
Long Tail cringed from being so accurately chastised. "Okay, love." He put on his best 'sad puppy face' and asked piteously, "Will you help me?"
Lithe sighed. "You can be so brilliant sometimes, but other times you can be so pathetic. All right, I'll help you."
The plan they came up with was fairly simple: sneak to the island in small groups. They would send the weaker ones like children in first with one or two stronger Mons, because it would be easier to sneak in unnoticed in the beginning and get harder later. When they proposed this plan to the village, they also decided who would go in what group. Despite her protests, Lithe was scheduled to go with the first group because of her pregnancy. Long Tail, Sharp Mind, and Silent Wind were scheduled to go last, also against their various family members' wishes.
They also decided that they'd only take whatever they could carry on their backs, since they could make pretty much anything they wanted in their new residence. They were encouraged to take only things that they could not replace, such as a handmade sculpture from a mate or some other such sentimental thing. It would make traveling quicker, quieter, and easier if they kept their luggage light.
The sun was down. Long Tail had caved into Lithe's request that he escort the first group, which consisted of mostly children with a couple of adults. Trying very hard to keep the kids quiet, many of whom were scared of the dark, was easier said than done. But he and the other adults had to keep them quiet; it would expose them if they weren't as silent as possible.
"Okay, kids," Long Tail whispered, as comfortingly as he could, "let's go to our new place. But you won't get to go if you're not as quiet as a mouse. You understand?"
Completely used to requests of this nature, the kids nodded. "Alright! We ready?"
More nods, with a few enthusiastically whispered "Ready!"s from the braver ones, answered his question. Long Tail nodded and slunk off, with a menagerie of tiny Mons behind him.
As Long Tail carefully led the first group to the special new place in the twilight, he began to wonder about some new changes in him. First of all, he was far more aware of temperature changes than he used to be. He also seemed capable of clinging to things in a way none of the others were, save for the two scouts he had taken with him. Could it have something to do with the new world? Stop it, he told himself. You've a more important task at hand.
He stopped to help a furry four-year-old over a large rock and let the others get a little ahead to a more stable area. But through a stroke of unfortunate timing, a Man and his son were coming down the slope, making a bee-line for Long Tail and the toddler. Long Tail's honed senses picked up on this, and he did the only thing he could think of.
He shoved the toddler into a large gap between the rocks and put himself on top of the youngster, and then willed himself not to be seen.
At the time, it made sense to Long Tail to do so, but later he would marvel at his luck and stupidity. He would later swear that the human looked right at him and didn't notice him. In fact, reflecting to himself, it was as though he'd never even been seen at all.
The rest of the first group's travels went without a hitch, but the incident on the rocks left Long Tail perturbed for the rest of the night. Even as he said goodbye to Lithe and escorted the second group, he puzzled over it the back of his mind. How could simply willing himself not to be seen possibly have worked? He'd no idea what happened, and he wouldn't for some time.
Due to the near-flawlessness of the first two groups, everyone thought that the other two would go as impeccably. However, that assumption proved exceedingly wrong.
Short chapter, I know. But I have a long author's note for you (As if that makes up for it! ). Anyhow, the other night I was reading my first MI fic, Stuck in the Human World, and I thought, "Whoa. My writing has really improved. This is so pathetic in comparison to what I could do now!" And then I thought, "What if I were to rewrite and repost it?" So I wanted to ask you guys if that'd be okay. I'd essentially rewrite and replace the chapters in order, keeping the same basic plot, but improving the narration, imagery, and characterization as much as I could. So tell me in your reviews what you think of this proposition, as well as what you think of the chapter!
Also, I realized that I'd promised a sequel to Stuck in the Human World in the form of an MI/Harry Potter crossover and hadn't yet delivered it. I am working on it, but have been significantly delayed by the fact that it is proving to be an exceedingly complex story. I'm working with the already- complex Harry Potter premise, adding the Monsters, Inc. characters, and throwing in quite a few characters of my own in this vast network of events. Plus I've been busy with a dozen other things, including college- level band and an advanced English class. So it'll be quite a while before you see that one, and I may do a shorter sequel first to set up some of the characters and what's happened in the intervening time. I just felt I owed you an explanation.
Poofie
Long Tail looked puzzledly at his mate. "I beg your pardon?"
"I said, how are we going to get there? Safely, I mean. We do have to travel through the Mans' village, after all," Lithe stated matter-of- factly.
"I hadn't thought of that yet," Long Tail reluctantly admitted. "I was thinking of bringing it up at the next meeting for a brainstorm."
Lithe scowled. "Long Tail, we don't have that kind of time! We have two days to evacuate everyone! Every little bit of time we have counts!"
Long Tail cringed from being so accurately chastised. "Okay, love." He put on his best 'sad puppy face' and asked piteously, "Will you help me?"
Lithe sighed. "You can be so brilliant sometimes, but other times you can be so pathetic. All right, I'll help you."
The plan they came up with was fairly simple: sneak to the island in small groups. They would send the weaker ones like children in first with one or two stronger Mons, because it would be easier to sneak in unnoticed in the beginning and get harder later. When they proposed this plan to the village, they also decided who would go in what group. Despite her protests, Lithe was scheduled to go with the first group because of her pregnancy. Long Tail, Sharp Mind, and Silent Wind were scheduled to go last, also against their various family members' wishes.
They also decided that they'd only take whatever they could carry on their backs, since they could make pretty much anything they wanted in their new residence. They were encouraged to take only things that they could not replace, such as a handmade sculpture from a mate or some other such sentimental thing. It would make traveling quicker, quieter, and easier if they kept their luggage light.
The sun was down. Long Tail had caved into Lithe's request that he escort the first group, which consisted of mostly children with a couple of adults. Trying very hard to keep the kids quiet, many of whom were scared of the dark, was easier said than done. But he and the other adults had to keep them quiet; it would expose them if they weren't as silent as possible.
"Okay, kids," Long Tail whispered, as comfortingly as he could, "let's go to our new place. But you won't get to go if you're not as quiet as a mouse. You understand?"
Completely used to requests of this nature, the kids nodded. "Alright! We ready?"
More nods, with a few enthusiastically whispered "Ready!"s from the braver ones, answered his question. Long Tail nodded and slunk off, with a menagerie of tiny Mons behind him.
As Long Tail carefully led the first group to the special new place in the twilight, he began to wonder about some new changes in him. First of all, he was far more aware of temperature changes than he used to be. He also seemed capable of clinging to things in a way none of the others were, save for the two scouts he had taken with him. Could it have something to do with the new world? Stop it, he told himself. You've a more important task at hand.
He stopped to help a furry four-year-old over a large rock and let the others get a little ahead to a more stable area. But through a stroke of unfortunate timing, a Man and his son were coming down the slope, making a bee-line for Long Tail and the toddler. Long Tail's honed senses picked up on this, and he did the only thing he could think of.
He shoved the toddler into a large gap between the rocks and put himself on top of the youngster, and then willed himself not to be seen.
At the time, it made sense to Long Tail to do so, but later he would marvel at his luck and stupidity. He would later swear that the human looked right at him and didn't notice him. In fact, reflecting to himself, it was as though he'd never even been seen at all.
The rest of the first group's travels went without a hitch, but the incident on the rocks left Long Tail perturbed for the rest of the night. Even as he said goodbye to Lithe and escorted the second group, he puzzled over it the back of his mind. How could simply willing himself not to be seen possibly have worked? He'd no idea what happened, and he wouldn't for some time.
Due to the near-flawlessness of the first two groups, everyone thought that the other two would go as impeccably. However, that assumption proved exceedingly wrong.
Short chapter, I know. But I have a long author's note for you (As if that makes up for it! ). Anyhow, the other night I was reading my first MI fic, Stuck in the Human World, and I thought, "Whoa. My writing has really improved. This is so pathetic in comparison to what I could do now!" And then I thought, "What if I were to rewrite and repost it?" So I wanted to ask you guys if that'd be okay. I'd essentially rewrite and replace the chapters in order, keeping the same basic plot, but improving the narration, imagery, and characterization as much as I could. So tell me in your reviews what you think of this proposition, as well as what you think of the chapter!
Also, I realized that I'd promised a sequel to Stuck in the Human World in the form of an MI/Harry Potter crossover and hadn't yet delivered it. I am working on it, but have been significantly delayed by the fact that it is proving to be an exceedingly complex story. I'm working with the already- complex Harry Potter premise, adding the Monsters, Inc. characters, and throwing in quite a few characters of my own in this vast network of events. Plus I've been busy with a dozen other things, including college- level band and an advanced English class. So it'll be quite a while before you see that one, and I may do a shorter sequel first to set up some of the characters and what's happened in the intervening time. I just felt I owed you an explanation.
Poofie