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 Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 10:25 pm
 It was a nice day in the swamp. Not exactly the kind of day that Biting Wind would hope for -- he always liked a breeze... But a nice day nonetheless. It was sunny, there were just enough clouds scattered across the sky that it wasn't getting too hot, and despite the lack of gusts, there was always a possibility.
The buck had ventured into the world on a mission -- he needed food. While he might normally have Rough Earth with him, or send her out to find something for him, today he was feeling a bit aloof and had encouraged her to find her own adventures for the day. Not only that, but he was not craving much meat in his diet today... he didn't exactly need his eaglehound to find him a few plants, he was certainly more than capable of finding some tasty leaves for lunch on his own.
As it was, he had found a nice rock to arrange his salad on. He had pulled some longer green leaves, a few small green leaves with rough edges, a couple of pinky-red berries, some thin sleek green grasses, and just a bit of moss. It looked, if he did say so himself, quite nice. He also managed to find a bit of honey to drizzle on top of some of it. He smiled at his concoction, and settled down to eat his lunch and watch some of the clouds roll slowly across the sky. How nice it was to be lazy sometimes...
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:25 am
 Here? Or was it... Here? Or maybe...
Misted Topaz sighed loudly, walking a path that she really didn't know at all. And she was walking alone. Reflect had wanted to spend a day to herself, and so the brown Kimeti had wandered off on her own. And in her wandering she had followed a line of bushes that had been filled with sweet berries.
The only problem was, after eating her fill, she had no idea where she was.
It wouldn't be all that much of a problem, except Misted Topaz was easily tired out--a side effect of so often being lazy. Still, she trudged along the path, clear, white eyes scanning left and right until her gaze fell upon another Kimeti.
She wasted no time in running towards it- him-and skid to a stop next to his rock, panting softly.
"Where am I?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:19 am
Biting Wind had finished most of his salad when he noticed a sort of tingling in his throat. It wasn't bad, just there, and annoying. The brown buck considered moving closer to the water source nearby, but that would require movement, and he was almost done with his lunch; besides, perhaps some more food down his throat would help as much as water might. He could deal with a bit of tingling-tickling for a bit until he finished, at least, if the rest of his food didn't help.
But as he took more bites of his salad, he noticed the tingling starting to get worse. Perhaps he needed some water after all... As he had just about resolved to move himself a bit, however, he noticed the sound of running nearby and looked up to see a doe headed his way, just before she skidded to a halt next to him, spraying a bit of dirt on his coat and causing the air to cloud with a bit of dust. She was tired from her sprint, panting as she asked him where she was.
"Where are you?" He repeated the question, adjusting his head to look from where she had once been to where she now was, blinking. Aah. He coughed slightly and his head nodded a bit as he said, "You're lost," more in his own realization than in any sort of comment to her. He sighed, which made his throat rattle and his tingling slightly agitated for a moment before he decided to stand and stretch his legs a bit. "Well..." Biting Wind looked around him, wondering how exactly to describe where she was.
"You're in what I might call a berry grove." He smiled a bit and turned, shaking to get some of the dust off his coat as he moved to the source of water to take a drink; what was once tingling was now itching, and he badly hoped that water would remedy the feeling. He took a few sips, which seemed to at least cool his throat of a burning he hadn't noticed was there, and sort-of soothe the irritation. He turned to face the doe again, steady eyes watching her carefully.
"But I think a better question is, where do you need to get to?" He smiled just a bit, curious, and waited to see what she'd have to say.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 6:16 pm
Misted Topaz stared at the buck while he talked and though, nodding for no real reason until he said she was in a berry grove. She peered around, while he shook the dust off, and then trailed after him when he went to drink, just watching with wide eyes.
He asked a question but the doe didn't actually hear it, she was suddenly aware of having been rude. And Reflect had taught her better than that! She waited until he finished speaking, only catching the last two words "get to" and, instead, replied with a rather bright, "By the way, I'm Misted Topaz!"
She stood upright, grinning brightly, "I didn't mean to get you dirty or interrupt your meal. I just dunno how to get home from here."
Head cocked to one side, she continued on, not letting the buck get a word in edge-wise, "By the way, are you okay? You weren't eating those leaves on that rock, were you?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 7:29 pm
The startled doe didn't reply to his question. She was apparently so distracted, or confused, or whatever it was to actually hear or answer his question. Instead, she decided to introduce herself. She was standing tall, and grinning, and clearly quite proud. Misted Topaz was a pretty name, and he would have said so, except that she was already beginning her next sentence.
Biting Wind began to shake his head, and was going to say that her interruption was absolutely no trouble at all, but she was continuing on without really giving him the chance. He of course had no problem trying to help her home, but the essential problem remained -- he didn't know where her home was. He would have said that, as well, but she apparently had no intention of letting him talk much, despite her beginning the interaction between them. He was beginning to wonder if she had heard his first question at all, or was somehow trying to distract him from something. He peered around just a bit to make sure that there wasn't something that he was missing.
As if on cue, he coughed at her question to him about the leaves he'd been eating. The water hadn't seemed to help much past when it was flowing down his throat, now that he thought about it. The itching sensation was giving way to the burning, and it was growing to be much more than a mild irritation. He attempted to clear his throat before he replied, but that didn't help, and made him cough again before composing himself.
"I... I was, but I'm sure that I'm fine." He tried clearing his throat again and drank some more water before looking back at her. "Or I'll be fine soon." He tried to clear his throat again, ending in a small cough. "Why do you ask?" As if he wasn't starting to get the hint already...
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 8:48 pm
"Well..." Misted Topaz started, brow furrowing in thought. "Reflect told me how to fix it! I think." She stepped backwards and then turned away, pausing to turn back with a bright grin, again, "I'll be right back, 'kay?"
And with that she wandered off--she was sure she saw a particular flower on her run over. As she searched, she realised she hadn't asked the buck's name, and quietly scolded herself; that was rude, too. Sighing, she shuffled one hoof around in the dirt, tail sweeping up a cloud of dust without even noticing, and, after another moment of standing there, she continued walking.
Only this time she took care to note exactly where she was going!
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 9:40 pm
This doe... she was an odd one. She didn't exactly answer his question, but she seemed to pretty much know what was going on without him saying anything. Fix it, eh? Well, it was worth a try, he supposed, as his throat gnawed at itself again and he turned to get some water for his throat. Even that, however, was starting to prove ineffective; he actually began to wonder if the water wasn't somehow making it worse? He couldn't exactly tell... He knew, by now, that he was either having a reaction to the leaf, or it was somewhat poisonous. Judging by the doe's claim that someone told her how to "fix it," he came to the conclusion that the plant itself was not okay, it wasn't just him.
Clearly, he needed lessons in what not to eat... perhaps he needed Rough Earth around after all...
Biting Wind took a few steps away from the water and peered about, looking for Misted Topaz. He wasn't sure exactly where she had gotten to, but he realized that perhaps he should have gone with her? After all, she was already lost -- how tragic would it be if she ended up just getting more lost? For both of them, really, he thought as his throat began to seem to swell a bit and he took a slow, deep breath. This wasn't exactly good news. He was tempted to call for her and see if she was close, but he wasn't sure that she would hear anyway... Wind walked back to the pool and took a few more sips of water, desperate for some sort of soothing for his throat, then took a few steps back again to watch for the doe.
"Misted Topaz?" He called a bit, though his voice was not nearly as strong as it had been. "Please don't get lost again," he pleaded very quietly to himself, hoping that it would come true either way. He should have followed...
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:17 pm
It only took another moment for Misted Topaz to spot the brightly coloured flowers, growing in a large patch just off the worn path. She bounced over and took up a large mouthful, ripping it from the ground and dashing right back to the buck, moving as quickly as she could.
She began talking with the flowers still in her mouth, the noises garbled and making not-even-a-little sense. Eventually she fell quiet and dropped the plants, stepping back and motioning towards them with her muzzle.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:37 pm
Thank goodness, she didn't take much longer at all after Wind's attempt to call to her to get back. She had a mouthful of flowers, and was quite speedy about her return. Just in case, the buck braced for another slide-stop, but luckily she controlled herself a bit better this time. He smiled to see her again.
And then she tried to say something. Apparently she wasn't realizing that talking through a mouthful of flowers didn't exactly... work... The voice was there, but the words were not, lost between the branches and leaves and roots and petals that she was carrying with her. He had not any idea what the doe was saying, and Biting Wind attempted to communicate this by shaking his head at her. He wasn't sure if it was him, or just her own finishing of whatever it was that Misted Topaz was saying, but she suddenly stopped her muffled chatter, and then drops the plants in front of him. He watched them fall, stared for a moment, and then looked up at her with a somewhat blank expression. She had stepped back, and motioned at the plants with her muzzle, apparently indicating that he should do something with them. Eat them, perhaps?
"Am... I'm supposed to eat them?" His voice was small and scratchy, and he gulped at the sound of it and immediately began to munch on one of the flowers. Once he'd finished that one, he started to eat another, then looked up at her with a still-bent head.
"How many do I have to eat?" His mouth was somewhat full, but his voice was not at all nearly as muffled as hers had been earlier -- he could at least understand himself, though his voice was still quiet. He wasn't even sure he was supposed to eat the entire flower, petals and roots and stem and all, but he was going to until the doe told him otherwise. She clearly knew more than he did, so he was sort of at her mercy.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:48 pm
Misted Topaz smiled when he ate the first one, nodding quickly. "Yeah! Well. You can eat them all. It'll make your throat feel better. Or you can eat just a few, that'll still help." She shrugged, sitting down with a little grunt.
"I think they taste kinda good, but Reflect says too many can make you sick." She paused, glancing away and then right back, eyes wide, "Oh, but don't worry. What I brought isn't 'too many,' it's fine if you finish them."
Misted Topaz was a bit scatterbrained, but she usually said what was needed to be said, and very rarely said what wasn't. At least... What she thought was needed.
Others might disagree.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 11:55 pm
She seemed so full of energy! She wasn't necessarily the bubbly type, but there was something in her demeanor. She liked to run, as she'd shown. She talked quickly, and about many things. It didn't bother Biting Wind, but it was such a surprise. He had never met another kimeti quite like Misted Topaz -- in a good way, at least. For now. He could see that she could perhaps not be the best companion for all moods. Though, really, he couldn't be sure -- there was also something soft about her.
He was thinking too much. He finished the second flower and decided to take a small mouthful to try to soothe his throat sooner, nodding and smiling with thanks as she sat down with a small grunt (that... was cute). He nodded slightly with a matter-of-fact expression when she said that she thought they tasted good -- they had a sort of fresh taste that he also liked -- but stopped dead and watched her with wide eyes when she said that too many could apparently make him sick. Sick?! He already had a sore throat, he certainly did not need to be coughing up later on top of everything else! At first she didn't notice, as her head was turned, but she suddenly seemed to have the same thought as him and looked back, eyes wide to match his, and reassured him that he would be fine to eat even all that she had brought him. Still, something about the situation made him eye the rest of the flowers warily.
Biting Wind finished his current mouthful and turned to take a drink of water, sighing a bit after. He looked back at Misted Topaz and smiled a bit. "By the way, I am Biting Wind." The buck bowed his head in introduction before again laying on the ground, and taking another (albeit smaller) mouthful of flowers. His throat, luckily, was indeed starting to feel better, thank goodness. Slowly, but surely.
When he'd finished another bite, he looked back at Misted Topaz, "So, how did you get lost over here?"
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