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 Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 2:39 am
 The days of spring were numbered. Already the air was stagnant with humidity and sweat drenched the short fur of his coat. He found himself confined to trek the shoreline of a cool rushing stream -- forward and back -- hooves re-tracing steps to make a shuffle of tracks. It was a blessing that his mind was not bothered to remember his surroundings for though he traveled the same path, there was something new to explore at every pause. (He was clueless to the fact he had examined the same mossy log seven times already.) As it was now the buck had stopped. His front hooves perched in the running water as he bent down to study the kimeti looking back at him. It was not his original intent. He had seen a glitter of something hidden beneath the wet surface and then, as he was wont to do, gotten terribly distracted by something else all together. There was an elegance to the way the waves made the kin melt and dance under his gaze and he was completely entranced by it. Yet even as he stared, he was slowly losing focus on what was in front of his face and drifting into the thoughts in his head. He was confused. That was not at all new. However the fact it made him still -- he tended to amble with even less direction when he was thinking -- was a feat in itself. Then again perhaps that always happened when one found that their mother was an owlcat.
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 10:13 am
Shadow Lark was lost. Again. He knew he'd marked a special trail for himself, carving a slight mark into the soft bark of the spring trees. It was just that he couldn't find his way. Was someone changing his marks? Did another Kin want him lost? Perhaps they'd discovered his hidden treasure and wanted him gone so they could take all his shells for themselves!
He stuffed his snout onto the bark of one tree and found nothing. No mark. He tried another. No mark. He shuffled louadly through bushes, flitting from tree to tree. Shadow Lark was growing more and more frantic.
He had a sort of trail in his mind; the marked tree, second bend south in the river, another marked tree, north to a pile of rocks, and then arrive at the pond. When he'd made the trail he was so sure he'd be able to get back along it. Now he wasn't so sure.
Shadow Lark was so lost in his frantic search he hadn't noticed the nearby buck. He'd reached the end of the treeline, and was frustratingly pounding his hooves into the ground. "I know it was here!" He shouted to no one in particular.
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 12:48 pm
Thump. Thump. Stomp.
The vibrant red buck's ears flickered and he lifted his head to look towards the trees. It sounded like a slow-and-steady stampede. Or a very large, very heavy, flopping fish. That would be a sight.
With a slow turn, hooves and forelegs sloshing the water, he turned around and found himself disappointed that it was only a kimeti, like himself, that was causing drama. It was momentary as he took in the buck's words.
"What was here?" he asked.
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 2:11 pm
Shadow Larks's ears perked up, and his head snapped around as he stared at the other kimeti. He was shocked for a second, and he tried to remember what he was doing. "I... I was looking for a mark. On a tree. I made the mark so I could find my way but it's gone."
His attention shifted between the trees and this new buck. Could he be trusted to help? Or should he just give up and come back tomorrow? There were acres and acres of woods to look in, and he could be a long way from where he thought he was...
"I made a mark like this," he made a scratch in the sandy bank with his hoof; a circle and a set of two horizontal lines above and below. He waited, hesistant to offer more information. They're only a few shells, he tried to reason to himself. He's not going to steal them. Shadow Lark dipped his dirty hoof into the water and decided to wait for a response.
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 3:06 pm
It seemed a strange thing to look for until he mentioned finding his way. That would explain it. And how could he not understand when he so often lost direction. A mark, however sensible, did not seem the best idea -- "How?"
He did not explain the question but it was rather lost when the other buck began to scratch a mark in the sand. He took a step forward and examined the mark. It looked vaguely familiar, his head titled. "I saw that somewhere," he nodded with a proud smile.
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 10:51 am
His ears perked up, and he flapped them in excitement. All of his paranoia was simply forgotten for the moment. He wasn't lost after all! In fact, he was surely on the right path, since this Kimeti had seen his marking!
"You did? You did? Where?!" He was practically prancing around like a colt, leaping and bounding in an overestatic joy. It was a moment later that he realized he'd forgotten to introduce himself. Then again, the other buck hadn't introduced himself either.
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 11:17 am
His proud nod that, yes he had, was quickly lost. In its place a frown pulled at his mouth and his brow creased, "Where what?" he asked.
He must have missed part of the conversation. He had told the other buck where he had seen the mark: somewhere. Had he lost something else, then?
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 11:46 am
Where what? the words echoed in his head, causing a painful kind of confusion. He stopped prancing around and lowered his ears in a kind of defeat. Maybe he'd heard him wrong? That was definitely it.
"Where did you see the mark? It's really important to me. To find it." His eyes slowly scanned the tree line, a growing despair falling over him. He might have to start looking again. On his own. He might have to search the entire forest to find one lightly scratched mark. Next time he'd be more careful, and plan a better trail.
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 12:05 pm
Travels in Circles tilted his head. My but this buck was all over the place. From stomping and shouting to bounding to confusion and despair. He wasn't sure what to make of him. Not that he had time to.
"Somewhere," he said once more. "I'm sure I said that. Out loud. To you." Perhaps he was hard of hearing? He'd have to speak louder next time.
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 12:32 pm
Somewhere. Shadow Lark stopped in his tracks and stared, openly, blankly at the other buck. Was he trying to be cute? To be funny? He'd seen it somewhere, but he didn't know where? Or maybe he didn't remember where.
"Oh." The words sounded hollow even to his own ears.
Oh.
Oh...
Oh.
They seemed to echo in the silence between them. He waited for a moment, scanning the trees. Turning his attention to the red buck, he attempted a friendly smile. "I'm Shadow Lark."
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 12:52 pm
That did not seem an appropriate name. Mood Swing, Many Moods, Moody, all seemed much more apt. Then again he had no reason to believe the Motherfather would not give a kin the right name and he didn't want to be insulting...
"You don't look it," he stated blandly. It took him a moment to think of introducing himself, so concerned was he with trying to reconcile the name with the buck. "I am Travels in Circles." And didn't that explain everything?
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 2:16 pm
You don't look it. He wondered what that was supposed to mean. Shadow Lark thought about it for only a few seconds before the other buck offered his own name in return. Travels in Circles? That was certainly an odd name! He was going to ask about the name when another thought hit him. What was Travels in Circles doing out here?
"Whatcha doing? Out here, I mean. Before I interrupted, what were you up to?" His own search was temporarily forgotten. Maybe he wanted to play a game?
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 3:02 pm
"Watching the kimeti in the water," which was to say his own reflection. Reminded of his previous task, he once more bowed his head to look at himself in the water's surface. It however had lost some of it's charm and he returned his attention to Shadow Lark.
"And you?"
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 3:25 pm
"Watching the Kimeti in the water." Shadow Lark wasn't following along until the other buck looked longingly into the rushing water, and then he understood. He'd heard legends of kin falling in love with their own reflections. Although he was starting to get the feeling that this Travels didn't know it was his own reflection he was admiring.
The buck's next question had Shadow Lark almost in a fit of laughter. What was he doing? Hadn't he just explained that? Unable to contain himself, he did start to giggle. And then he stopped when he saw the sincere expression on his new aquaintance's face. It was like talking in circles. Suddenly his name made sense.
"I was looking for treasure," he tried explaining again. He pawed at the ground, indicating the marking. "The other day when the heavy rains came, I found a little pond. It was swelled up from all the extra water, but I was thirsty. I went to take a drink and I noticed something shiny in the bottom. I dug it out, and made a pile of these pretty shells. But I couldn't carry them all back home, so I buried them and left marks so I could get back to them. Only now I can't find my markings."
He wondered if that was too much information. Nervously he pawed the ground and tried to ignore the nagging feeling that he'd overshared and left the other Kimeti out of the conversation. That seemed to happen to him a lot; he either had too much to say, or very little.
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 3:39 pm
He would have laughed if anyone told him he loved his reflection. He did not. Truthfully he knew the reflection was of himself but it seemed so very odd to say that he was watching himself and he was a kimeti. Although upon the first time ever he saw his reflection, he'd thought he had a brother that looked like him!
Travels began to nod along with the other buck's words, "There was something shiny here but the kimeti in the water was more interesting." He was not one for treasure for he always lost interest in things -- until he found it once more and thought it new.
"You're lost," he added and then paused, "why are you so -- upset?" It made no sense to him. He found the best things when he was lost.
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