Only a Ratt....(Open!)

[ratt]

Ratt laughed."Please, I`m showing you something, you`re not moving in."She said, dashing out in front of him and waiting for him to follow."Come on. Stay close or you`ll get lost."

[tin]

Tin nodded, moving carefully to follow her. Her nest was quite a unique place, which amazed him at how these blankets he brought her yesterday had evolved in such a archetechtural way. "This is just out of those blankets I brought you yesterday?"

[ratt]

Ratt nodded."Yeah. Of course, there are a couple more blankets and pillows, but it`s all blankets or pillows, no wood or steel or cement. If you jump on top of this thing, it`ll cave in. It`s very hard to get them to form these arches and tunnels and rooms, but rat spirits learn it from early on. Turn left." She called over her shoulder, taking a left turn ahead of him and scurrying down that tunnel."My mother once told me that her family, way back when the egyptians were around and rat spirits were the ones who aided human civilization in their archetecture, our family and many others helped to build the pyramids and even the maze that the romans used to trap the minotaur. Turn left then immediatly right, then immediatly left."She said, scurrying through a twisting part of the maze of her nest that had many offshoots as far as the tunnels were considered.

They ended up in a large room made out of blankets and pillows that had a large pile of treasure in the back. Ratt skittered in and sat on the left side."This is my treasure room. I stole all of these from witches, humans in the human world, river spirits...any thing my old master wanted me to. He`d ask for specific things, but I`d steal that and more, so I got to keep the more as keepsakes. He always told me I had an eye for pretty things."She said, lifting up a golden goblet with runes etched into it and decorated with gems.

[tin]

Tin followed her. It was quite a maze in there. Crawling through there he listened for her directions. "Wow. That would be quite an accomplishment," he said, heading after her. Making the turns he was directed to make, Tin came out into the large room. "Wow... This place is even more amazing now," he said, taking a seat carefully.

"You have quite the family history in architecture," he said, looking at Ratt. His eyes flicked to the golden goblet. "I'm surprised Yu-Baaba hasn't found out about this. I've only been up to her office once or twice," Tin said, smiling.

[ratt]

Ratt grinned."Even if that old witch knew, she`d NEVER be able to find this place. Like I said, this nest is a maze, and I visit each chamber daily, so my scent is so strong in it, nothing can decifer where I sleep, eat, store things...or what`s just a dead end. Architecture is a rat spirit`s true forte, it used to be all we did....but...then the prince sold himself and all of us into slavery for the other spirits once the humans started to get scared by us...and now we have no government, no live culture, no writing style, and no control over our own lives. The reason why were now used for gaurding and slipping into tight spaces is because the spirit community believes that because we worked so closely with humans, that we`re not to be trusted to work that closely with spirits because we might stab them in the back by leaking their secrets to the humans. That`s also why I have to stay down here most of the time, and why no one but yourself really talks to me except to help me get a bath arranged or something menial. It`s also why our nests are now mazes. They used to not have walls or ceilings, because we trusted everyone to trust us and not rat us out....no pun intended. You can tell a rat spirit`s position by looking at their nest. The more complex it is, the more he feels untrusted. The worst case senario is if they cover up or hide the front door...like I do. It means that they don`t feel trusted at all by their master."She explained, streaching.

Ratt looked around, and sniffed the air, then picked through her treasure and pulled out a pretty whistle. She looked it over a few times, tapping it with her claws, her giant ears standing up and even leaning forward to listen to the object better."Oh, also...my kind taps things and listens to the sound because our hearing is VERY good. We can tell what the problem is with something, like a wall or a furnace, and we can tell if it has any magical purpose, just by the sound it makes. That`s why, the first day you came down here, I was tapping on the pipes connected to the furnace, to hear their complaints and assess their problems. Anyway. Take this. When there`s no one around, blow it, and whisper a command, then turn away. Do NOT look at what your command relates to, like, if you say, scrub the floor, get out of that room and do not look at the floor until the whistling stops." She instructed, handing him the whistle."I have no use for it. It`s a Statue`s Whistle....and it summons statue spirits to do the command you ask. They move very fast, but if someone or something looks at them, they turn to stone. It`s to protect them...because you can`t kill stone...and, stone supposedly can`t kill you. BUT, if you look at them too much after you summon them to do your bidding, they get kinda mad...and if they really want to, all you have to do is blink or look away for one second, and they can get you. Wanna see one of them? If I summon them to show you their trick, they won`t get upset if you look at them, because you need to in order to see that they do turn to stone when you look at them."She said, smiling lightly.

[tin]

Tin examined the whistle as he listened intently to Ratt explain it's purpose. "Why would you part with something so helpful?" He looked to her curious when she had finished explaining it uses. For him, it was odd recieving a gift, so this was indeed quite a conundrum on what to do with it... other than say thank you of course. But what was he to give her in return? Friends gave each other gifts... and he wanted to give her something. But what? She could steal anything she wanted. What could he give her that had a high value between friends?

Accepting the gift he smiled to her. "Thank you, Ratt. I really don't know what to say," he said, looking to her and then back at the whistle. "I'd really appreciate it if you showed me what it did."

[ratt]

Ratt grinned."Then blow it. Oh, and whisper "Show us your power". Then just close your eyes and wait."She said, drumming her claws on the floor almost happily.

[tin]

Nodding at the directions, Tin brought the small whistle to his lips. Blowing on it, he then paused before whispering "Show us your power". He waited a moment for the magic to happen.

[ratt]

The whistle began to vibrate and carried out a soft tune. In the center of the room, a statue of an angel suddenly appeared once Tin and Ratt happened to blink at the same time. The statue had it`s hands covering it`s eyes as if crying. The next moment they both blinked at the same time, the statue changed so it`s hands were by it`s side, it`s face unstained by tears, and it`s eyes staring directly at Tin. It had sharp fangs protruding from it`s closed mouth, and it`s eyes had a slightly demonic quality to them, showing that if the statue wanted, it could and would kill.

Ratt sighed.{Tin....close your eyes...now.}She said, closing her eyes in turn. When Tin closed his eyes, there was suddenly no sound, and before long, a hand came to rest on his shoulder, starling his eyes open, and returning sound to him.{Hello.}A voice spoke, unseen from behind him. When he turned to look at the hand, it instantly went from flesh to stone before his eyes, and the statue stood frozen, looking peaceful and nice behind him. Ratt opened her eyes and yawned.{See? It turned into a statue when you looked at it...or, in this case, him. That statue`s name is Aezikil. Which is supposed to be their language for "One with a severed wing". Their language was discovered in an old roman-style castle, which was evidentally owned by a blind man who fell in love with a statue woman. The statue beings cover their eyes so they don`t look at each other and freeze each other, so they made simple symbols for letters, ones they wouldn`t mess up in their blindness. They still live with humans....only no one notices because there`s always someone looking at them, until after the area has closed down and is barren, then they get up and move about. This guy`s a friend of mine, actually.}She said, then smirked at the fact that the statue`s left wing had a crack in it, making it "severed".

[tin]

Tin shook his head in amazement. "Wow! Thank you Ratt," he said, looking at her, smiling. It stunned him that she had all these little magic devices. The only other person he knew that had things like this was Yu-Baaba. Knowing he had to keep this whistle a secret from her, Tin decided he would have to keep it well hidden from her somewhere in his uniform. Otherwise someone else might find it if he kept it upstairs in their quarters.

[ratt]

Tin smiled."You`re welcome my friend. Now....close your eyes and tell him he`s dismissed."She said, closing her eyes. When he had done what she instructed him to, the whistle stopped it`s whistling. When they opened their eyes, the statue was gone. Rat smiled."You`re welcome to go and pick out another item, if you`d like. But only one more...then I have to kick you out so I can move them all into another room...it`s nothing against you, it`s just I have to make sure no one can find my treasure and make off with it all...and so I move it around every three days, and it`s due for a moving."

[tin]

"That's a lot of moving. I really like the whistle," he said, tucking it into his pocket. Getting up from his current seat he looked towards the door. "I probably should be going back to my duties. Yu-Baaba is probably inspecting everything," Tin said, laughing at the mental image. It really wouldn't surprise him.

[ratt]

Ratt frowned."Please....take something else before you go." She said, indicating the large pile of treasure with her paw.

[tin]

Tin shook his head. "I really couldn't. I wouldn't know where to start if I looked," he said, looking at her.

[ratt]

Ratt raised and eyebrow."Then why don`t you help me move them to another room? Maybe you`ll find something you like in the move."She suggested, picking up a couple trinkets, including an ornate sealed tube, a fancy mirror, and a large tapestry with glittery butterflies stitched to it.