(CLOSED) ONCE UPON A TIME

[tarotcards]

Who: Souji Seta (tarotcards) & Vietnam (hoasen)
When: Backdated to 03/16
Where: Downtown - School
What: Just how hard could story telling be?? | Job: Meet and Greet
Rating: None

[ Souji's patience has always been insanely high. There are little things that bother him or set him off, so when he's given a job to look after a group of rowdy kids, he takes it with open arms. He already has the experience of having to look after a bunch of hyperactive children and he honestly does enjoy the company, but it's a little physically demanding when he's dragged by a bunch of kids by the hand and they want to use him as a jungle gym. Luckily after a few hours of that, they get tired of that and demand a story instead. That's good for him because he can finally sit down but at the same time... ]

Tell us a story!

Give us any story!

Hurry, hurry! We're getting bored!

[ ... He doesn't really know any great stories off the top of his head. He'd probably have to make this up as he goes but maybe the other poor caretaker beside him can help. ]

... Know any good fairy tales?

Comments

[hoasen]

[She's a patient person too, so perhaps this is a good partnership when it comes to being surrounded by children. But really, there's only so much one can say when it comes to background stories.

Souji is quite popular though! He does look tough, so they probably just want to climb all over him.

But when it's time to share a story, Vietnam does note that if they do not deliver a good one, they'll be in trouble. Souji and herself managed the kids in groups, but now they sit here? All of the students, sitting right in front of them. This will either be a success, or a total disaster.]

A-ah...I am unsure what fairy tales are in this world, so I will have to check on which you have. [She starts to think.] Something heroic? What about Puss in Boots?

[tarotcards]

[ There are enough kids here to trample them over in a stampede so it is probably wise to make sure that they tell a story that'd find entertaining for the next while. Souji knows a bunch of myths and legends, but he's not sure if that'd... be good here. Talking about a bunch of gods going around giving birth to who knows what to who knows who in who knows where is proooobably not the best thing to start telling a bunch of kids about. So he appreciates it when Vietnam thinks of something and he can't help but smile at her suggestion. ]

Puss in Boots, huh? That's a pretty good story.

[ He only vaguely remembers details about that. He never read it in detail but he does know it's about a cat that helps its owner through its trickery or something like that? ]

What's a puss?

Ahy does it need boots?

Is there action and adventure in the story?

How about romance?

Ewww, no one wants that!

[hoasen]

[She could appreciate Souji wanting to tell them myths and legends. All stories have a source, including fairy tales. Myths and legends themselves are the beginning of those, before stories started diverging. And these children need to learn.

She thankfully remembers a good bit of it, thanks to her big brother France telling it to her. Vietnam is relieved that Souji took to the suggestion well. Now it's just seeing if the children would like it.]

My partner here thinks it is a good story too. Alright, I will answer the questions first. A puss is a cat! And it is a special cat, hence the boots. There is action, adventure, and even a bit of romance in this story. It is quite an epic.

[tarotcards]

[ He knows that learning about myths and legends are important, it's part of history and what people used to believe in, but at the same time... he's not sure if he wants to tell a bunch of grade schoolers how Zeus literally went around banging everyone and everything that he could find. ]

[ As Vietnam answers their questions, Souji manages to spot his little carrier in the background, just lounging around behind the group of children. When she makes eye contact with him, he makes a silent motion of jerking his chin upwards to signal it for come over. Luckily, Cream-san is an obedient cat and makes her way over to him, where he picks her up and places on his lap. She will make a good visual for the kids! ]

There's a lot of things in the story, even magic, monsters, and princesses. [ A few of the kids go 'blehhhh!!' at the last one and he just gives a small smile. ] But there are also knights too.

[ And that gets a few interested looks. He actually can't remember if there are knights or not but it's okay if they add some in, right? ]

The story starts when a group of brothers got gifts from their father, who just passed away. The first two brothers got to keep the house and some animals, but the youngest only got a cat, just like this one. [ Souji pets his carrier a bit. ] So of course, the two older brothers chase out the youngest because he only had a cat and he had to live on his own. He was sad about it but little did he know that the cat he got was magical and could actually talk.

What did it say?

How magical was it?

Could it fly?

Ohh, did it fly and talk?!

[hoasen]

[That's...a fair point, Zeus was not exactly the best role model for a mythical god. Heck they have a few legends here themselves, and some of them are questionable role models.

Vietnam watches as Cream-san is now the actor of this story! What a good idea, Souji!

But it's true, they can totally embellish when these kids don't know any better! Besides, knights are in there, but every story needs a princess.]

Indeed! Well, he didn't know how magical, and he was so poor that he even considered eating it! [She gasps along with all the others, wow.]

But the cat overheard all of this, and so tells him in a very serious voice: "Do not be so concerned, my good master. If you will but give me a bag, and have a pair of boots made for me, that I may scamper through the dirt and the brambles, then you shall see that you are not so poorly off with me as you imagine."

[tarotcards]

[ Souji cracks a smile and gasps along with the Vietnam and the kids. Just you watch, he's going to add tons of unnecessary detail to the story so the kids can enjoy it a lot more. ]

Did the master give him the boots and bags?

Not right away. He was pretty skeptical since how much could a cat could do? Well, a cat can do a lot if you just let it. Over the next while, it did everything from catching mice-- [ He grabs onto the front two paws of the extremely patient Cream-san and motions her catching something in her paws. ] --to playing dead.

[ And then he gently lays Cream-san on her side. ]

After that, the master saw how clever the little cat was so he finally got him those pair of boots and shoes.

[hoasen]

[Souji is so good at this, his embellishments are even exciting her. If he wrote this story, she's sure it would be very popular. It's turning into a rather epic reading of the story.

Cream-san is also very cute, she hopes the kids would love the cat.]

The cat was finally rewarded with the things he asked for, so he was going to do his best for him. He put on his boots, and slung the back around his neck. It's time for his first plan.

So he went to find a place that had many rabbits. He placed some bran and greens into the bag, and held it open by the drawstrings, and used one of his popular tricks: playing dead. The idea was he wanted the young rabbits to come investigate the food, since they were still innocent. They do not understand such trickery yet.

[tarotcards]

[ Cream-san is a cat who likes to think that she's magical so this is actually perfectly fine with her. Souji is going to have a blast with this. He makes sure to act out parts to Vietnam's retelling as well, having Cream-san continue to play dead during the part with the rabbits. ]

And when one of the little rabbits decide to look into the bag, he pounced and closed it shut! [ Souji picks up his cat and has her leap into the air but arrives on Vietnam's lap. Hopefully she's not afraid of cats or anything because he's giving her a chance to act and play with Cream-san, and he'll set her there if Vietnam doesn't mind. ] Now he finally had some food but he didn't decide to take it back to his master just yet. Instead, he had an even better plan: he decided to go off the palace and ask to talk to the king.

[hoasen]

[Cream-san is perfect for this role...and she definitely likes cats, so she's happy to have Cream-san sit on her lap. Excitedly, she starts to stroke Cream-san's fur as soon as she settles down on her lap.]

He was directed to the king, and there he presented the king with the gift of he prey!

"Sir, I have brought you a rabbit from my noble lord, the Master of Carabas." [She turns bows in front of the children and helping Cream-san do the same.] Ah! Master of Carabas was the name the cat made up for his master, giving him an air of nobility.

[tarotcards]

[ Cream-san purrs as she pets her and follows along with whatever Vietnam wants to do. She knows she's going to get some sweet snacks out of this so this is very much worth it. ]

The king was quite pleased with the gift and thanked the cat, telling him to pass on the message to his master.

[ And the kids who have been quiet so far... ]

But why did he take it to the king?

Now the master is going to starve!

And what kind of name is Carabas?

[hoasen]

[Cream-san is a true cat carrier of the modern time. Doing this for delicious snacks. Genius.]

Carabas, hmm. I suppose it just sounded different. There is a reason why he took it to the king, and do not worry, his plan will ensure that the master will not starve. It did take some time, but the master was already used to this kind of life. So our cat had to really take some risks. Do not worry! The cat is clever.

Let's see...

He did it again, but this time in a grain field. This time he caught many partridges! Once again, he presented these to the king. The king, in like manner, received the partridges with great pleasure, and gave him a tip. The cat continued this for a couple of months. See how he's taking his time? [Cream-san, look clever!]

[tarotcards]

[ She may be a carrier and her function is to be a link between her owner and the network, but she's a cat first and foremost. She think about food and acting like she's the most important thing around, so she raises her head, looking sharp! ]

Why can't he do this any faster, though?

Well, he wanted to make sure that the king trusted him and get on his good side. Sometimes, it takes a while before that can happen, so the cat had to be patient. He couldn't rush for his master. So, months later, when he knew that the king and his daughter, the most beautiful princess in the entire world, was riding along the riverside, he--

Wait, what were they riding?

Was it something cool?

... He was riding a dragon.

[ ... Yeah. ]