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 Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 6:36 am
Night. A cold breeze whistles, and she follows its melody across the vast swamp. Perhaps this time it will lead her to what she is seeking.
Then the air is still. The kimeti closes her eyes and listens, but there is nothing.
No birds are here to sing their sweet songs, no insects are around to chirp. No other kimeti are wandering tonight, not when the moon is the thinnest crescent, hanging precariously in the sky.
Then suddenly the swamp-song picks up again, and she pricks up her ears..
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Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:13 am
He cocks his head from left to right and waits in his hiding place. His kindred spirit is before him in pale blue and white and he sees her ears pricking. He hears nothing. They are at the edge of the swamp where the change of the terrain makes its insidious creep onward. Here, the air is quiet and he is lulled into false calmness. Languidly he observes. Never is this exercise called stalking. And then he hears it, too.
Hauling himself up, he closes the distance between them. He joins her, not making an introduction, nor waiting for her to acknowledge him. He waits next to her, then walks forward, and looks back briefly before continuing in the direction where the song is. He can't ignore it and hears the beats echo in his blood.
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Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:05 am
Such insolence! Intruding into her private space so freely, and even walking forward, beckoning her over. This was her chase! Her prey!
But more than that, the fact that she had not heard his footsteps as he approached. That she had not noticed his presence. Her ears had never failed her before, and it was hard to swallow her pride.
Ignoring him, she listened instead to the wind rustling through the rushes, calling them closer to the edge of the swamp. Telling its messy tales as it grew more and more frenzied, losing its words here, and there, until it barely made sense.
Until now, the wind had been clear in its messages. Something was wrong.
But still she could feel the urgency of its shrill cries, urging them further and warning them, in turns.
Two lost little children.
In the-
Beware- , she- and... you
It is time.
When the wind died down again she turned to him.
"North," she says softly. "I am going to the north."
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:53 am
His easy grin deepens into a grimace. This compulsion wars against his uncommited nature. What once began as a passing fancy turns into an uncomfortable desire. His eyes shine with defiant glee. "North? Let's go." Analytical urges be damned! Northward he ventures, the swamp song chilling him to his core, taking note of the change of terrain, and falls into easy camaraderie with the other kimeti. She had an innate sense of direction about her and he for once, enjoyed her taking the lead. It would make for an interesting outcome he surmised.
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:11 am
'No questions asked' seems to be the rule with this stranger, and that doesn't sit too well with her, but at least they have a direction now-
North. The word has a bitter, gritty taste in her mouth as she says it, and almost immediately she regrets the decision. But she has a companion, at least, on this journey. Even if she doesn't particularly like following behind him.
Quickening her step, she catches up with him.
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:31 am
Every so often, he scratches a tree to mark their trail. As he continues to do so, he learns about the different trees in a backhand manner. The hours stretch and he continues with the blue one in silence with tell-tale signs of her feet crunching. He spies what looks like fruit and berries in this new terrain. They're on the verge of being overripe. Just a few more hours and they'll fall on their own and the other predators will swoop in. Small rodents were always game for lush gems. "Are you hungry? It might be poison."
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:13 pm
The land had changed pretty drastically. Gone were the swirly pools of mud that sucked your hooves in, and the wide, flat, open spaces. This part of the world was full of trees whose leaves seemed to be closing in on them, trapping them. Nevermind that it was night; this place would be dark even in the day. It unnerved her slightly to not be able to see the moon, save for a glimpse now and then between tree-leaves. A kimeti could die here, in the darkness, and never be found. And who knew what was hiding in the shadows?
It was then that his voice caught her attention and brought it away from her morbid thoughts. True- her stomach had been rumbling (she hadn't thought it'd be that audible), and she blushed in embarrassment when he asked if she wanted to eat. But her pride got the better of her, and she turned to stare at him. If kimeti had eyebrows, she would've raised one.
"You're offering me poison?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 10:57 am
He smiles his first true smile, a grin so big the ends barely eclipse his smiling slit of eyes.
"We're in this together aren't we?' With his smile still on his face, he looks up to the sky. An ancient language he had still yet to decode. Yes, they help with navigation but he had a feeling they could and WOULD answer some of the unsettling unease he and the other doe feel in these new lands. Titalling and elusive, the sounds beckon them and with each step they become closer and age in experience and days. He didn't recognize much, if anything at all. Eerie how they still hadn't chanced upon an animal.
After prodding the bush for a while, he nips off a berry and enjoys himself. If he were honest with himself, he'd concede the fact that he's having too much fun.
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 6:20 am
"We are, I suppose." She hadn't actually had a choice in it, but his presence beside her in this dark forest (though it was already beginning to thin out) was comforting.
What lay beyond this? They had been travelling along the boundary, and she felt her heart ache slightly for the swamp.
"What do you see, in the sky? Does it tell you if those berries are safe?"
But he was already eating them, and from the look of it, they tasted pretty good. Again her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it. Better to wait and see how they affected him- even if she hoped, for his sake, that they would be safe to eat.
"This place is surprisingly lifeless," she muses, "No wind, no water. I wonder how the trees survive."
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Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 11:13 am
Unease radiated from her very being. He really ought to assure her of his harmlessness but it's not like he could blurt out, "I'm safe" and it would assuage her concern in a flash. Life wasn't that easy and that sentiment was reflected in the foreign landscape.
His eyes slit down some more. "I haven't died yet, right?"
He hears her stomach vocalizing discontent. Sigh. Difficult, doe. "It won't kill you to eat. You've noticed the trees are still alive. I doubt they live off of poison so their offerings should be okay." Uncharacteristically, he nudges her on her shoulder scale. "Go." He waits for her to go in the direction of the fruit before he doubles back. He had news to share. Doom and Look-See should see this and they were the ones he wanted by him side when he crosses this new terrain. He knew the other doe would be fine.
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