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Coming Clean

2/19/2017

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​An appointment was made for the next day at the meeting hall of the city's officials. Those officials would be in attendance along with the girls' parents and both sets of twins.
As had been revealed to the twins earlier, the challenge was for a suitor to journey to The Old City and bring back a predetermined treasure. This might be a gem or an ancient tool or weapon or even a modern device only recently manufactured by the eccentric residents.
Now the city officials gave our young heroes more and necessary information. One of the eccentricities of those residents was that they had nothing but enmity for intruders and were not hesitant to attack and kill them.
"In fact," Calcite, the city's head official told them, "it is their habit to ambush new arrivals before they even get to any of the cities."
He looked at them closely. "You are the first travelers in a generation that were not ambushed at the very campsite you claim to have used.  Would you like to offer an explanation for that?"
Both young men shook their heads slowly. Neither would be the first, without agreement, to reveal their simple strategy.
"Perhaps we were just lucky?" suggested Gypsum.
"Or maybe they have decided to abandon that custom?" offered Feldspar.
"Grrr. I do believe there is more to your story than you admit."
The girls' father, Pyrope, felt the time was right to apply a little pressure.
"Feldspar, Gypsum, you both seem like very acceptable young men. But it is clear that you are not telling all there is to tell.  Which means that you may not be entirely trustworthy. We could never allow our daughters to go into a marriage with men they—or we—might not be able to trust completely."
It was clear that a speech of that length was an unaccustomed task. He uttered a brief growl of discomfort and rubbed his lips were they rubbed against his magnificently long tusks.
The twins exchanged glances, shrugs, and a few guttural sounds that meant nothing to the others, but were clear communication between the twins.
They agreed that no harm would be done by revealing how they had avoided the ambush. Feldspar yielded to Gypsum, who promptly yielded back to his older brother.
Feldspar explained briefly that the two had been suspicious of the campsite, found the evidence, and how they had fooled their would-be assailants.
Although Calcite and Pyrope expressed grudging admiration, the twin girls and their mother, Azurite, were much more extravagant in their praise.
"We have had others that expected the ambush, but they chose to prepare and then fight, never knowing what size of force might come against them" gushed Beryl.
"Although most of those did survive and make their way here, they were severely damaged," added Topaz.
"Your solution was much more practical. How did you come to think of that?"
Gypsum answered. "In Groakpod we were taught that avoiding an attack was better than defeating one. Especially if we had no idea what form that attack might take."
Beryl looked with pleased pride at the adults.  "They have already proven themselves as intelligent. That is one part of the trial we need not include."
"Granted," offered her father, "Although they will need to demonstrate it again simply to succeed with the trials that judge the heart and the body."
Calcite added, "So now that we know that these young men are smart, let us agree to what trials they must face to win the privilege they desire."
And so the negotiations began.  
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Getting Acquainted

2/10/2017

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One possible problem might have emerged, but chance favored the young couples.
It might have happened that Beryl preferred Gypsum while Topaz favored Feldspar. That would have presented a dilemma resulting in either the abandonment of the courtship, or a dictatorial declaration by the girls' father to acquiesce to the males' preferences. Which might have resulted in a mutiny in his own household.
Fortunately, Topaz found Gypsum's slightly leaner and speedier frame the more appealing of the two while Beryl was absolutely enthralled by the mighty musculature that Feldspar's physique revealed.
Other than the slight difference in the ruff at the neck and the spiral of the one horn, both females were identical and identically stunning. Their pelts were a very light brown with bright golden highlights mixed thoroughly throughout, giving them an appearance of blonde.
The small feminine noses on the ends of their delicate muzzles were a tan color our heroes had never seen before. They were captivated.
That very afternoon the four went strolling through the town. This was a custom observed universally on Kylrock. It announced that the suitors had made their choices. The other females would not be kept waiting in suspense, and any local lads that may have had ideas about the blonde twins would turn their attentions elsewhere.
As they strolled, they chatted. The young men followed their genetic predisposition and allowed their companions to dominate the conversation. They were pleased to discover that though the young women could keep the conversation going, neither insisted on filling every second with gossip or empty chatter. Periods of silence were allowed their turn. Only a few minutes into the walk each women had brazenly put her hand into that of her companion. This startled the young men, for according to the customs of Groakpod it was too early in the relationship for such familiarity.
But they had encountered other differences already in other towns from their hometown customs, so they did not pull away. They noticed, too, that none of the people they passed seemed at all scandalized by the contact. They seemed to barely notice, although one of two of the older female citizens smiled knowingly at the sight.
The leisurely stroll around and through The City took almost two hours. During that time Beryl and Topaz, with teasing insistence, coaxed Feldspar and Gypsum to tell them more about themselves and their journey.
With only a show of reluctance the young men obliged and described only some of what they had encountered and accomplished.
By prearranged strategy, each twin made sure to praise the courage and competence of the other as they related their stories.
The women made no secret of their admiration and heaped compliments upon their suitors. The men responded with their own compliments and very soon the atmosphere surrounding the four became so affectionate that breaking taboos might have resulted.
Fortunately, at that same time they arrived back at the ladies' home and, with teasing quick caresses of long nails upon the rough fur of the male arms, the twin girls disappeared into their house, leaving behind the echoes of soft happy laughter. The doorway was then filled by their parents.
The second step of the courtships could now begin.


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    The story: This serial is about the "mascot" shown at the top of these pages. There are actually two of them, identical twins, Feldspar and Gypsum.
    The people call themselves Riotori, and their planet is Kylrock. The twins have been journeying for hundreds of miles, across many hazards, in search of mates. Please visit the archives to read their whole story.



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