Welcome to Gaia! ::

Dusty Sunset approached the swamp with a wary caution. He was scared of the place, simply put. He disliked the smells. The sounds made him jumpy. He'd once almost been eaten by a wild caiman while exploring here, and though that was not a recent memory, it was on his mind. He had to enter, though. He was feeling drawn to the swamp, tugged by some invisible string.

He'd woken this morning with a half-remembered dream on his mind, and the overwhelming need to enter the swamp and find... something. He wasn't really sure what he was looking for, though that didn't bother him. What bothered him was this antsy, distracted feeling. Dusty was a generally happy Acha. Today, he didn't feel like himself. So he stood on the edge of the swamp, at dusk, willing himself to gather the courage he needed to enter the creepy place.

One step. Another. Three steps. Four. His hooves were getting wet with the slick mud that seemed to coat most of the swamp. He had no idea where he was headed, he only knew that he needed to go there. Why was he feeling so anxious and worried? He'd been feeling... strange. Ever since he'd met up with that pretty doe the other night. He tried to ignore his racing heart as he wandered slowly into the dark swamp.

Dusty's ears were held back in fear of the swamp, as he tried to make sense of the strange noises. He wasn't used to this bizarre place, and it was giving him the creeps. His pace slowed even more until he was barely moving through the wet terrain, simply frozen in place. He felt shame wash over him as he tried to lift one foot. If anyone else saw him right now, they'd make fun of him. He'd be the laugh of the town, unable to move through the dark swamp at night because he was terrified.

He thought he heard strange noises approaching him, and he felt his heart skip a beat. Please don't let it be a caiman, Dusty silently pleaded. Please. Please please please don't be a giant kin-eating reptile... He rotated his ears in curiosity, trying to pinpoint the origin of the noise. The swamp was filled with bird and insect noises even at night, though, and he was finding it impossible to pick one sound from another. Briefly he wished he'd brought Ruthless, his cat, with him. She wasn't afraid of anything.

"...Hello?" Dusty called quietly to the darkness. With any luck, no one would respond. With any luck, he was only hearing giant bugs and night-birds and not crocodiles or things that wanted to eat him.

He jumped as the doe practically manifested in front of him in the dark. His manners failed him as he stared, mouth agape, at the kimeti standing before him. A real. Live. Kimeti. It was his first encounter with the species, and he felt a little nervous. Then again, he was already pretty nervous about being in the swamp. Alone. At night.

"Both. Kind of. I think." He finally managed to ramble. "I'm scared of the swamp. And the dark makes it worse." Dusty knew he sounded like an idiot, but he couldn't help it. Was this fate? Had he wandered into the swamp on this night to meet this magical being?

Her presence both soothed and agitated him. Her voice was quiet, misty, insubstantial. It wrapped around him like a tender, spring breeze over sands. She was enchanting, though he couldn't have said why, if asked. Her smile was long and wide, almost reaching the point of being scary. Why did you come here? She seemed like something from a dream. Briefly he wondered if he was truly in the swamp at all. Perhaps he was really asleep on warm sands, far from here.

"I had to," Dusty found himself saying. "I had the feeling I needed to come here. maybe to meet you." He considered telling her his name, but she hadn't asked, and he felt uneasy saying more until she said more.

Dusty found himself wondering why he was there at all. Did all Kimeti look like her? Were they all glowing, mytical, slightly frightening? Or was she special? He didn't know much about the swamp dwellers at all. I know a place where the moon breaks through. That sounded pretty good him. Perhaps the bright light from the sphere in the sky would put him at ease.

He got the strange feeling that she knew why he was here, even if he didn't yet. Or perhaps he did, and he didn't know it? His thoughts drifted back to the doe he'd recently met. He'd liked her a lot. But Acha weren't the type to settle down, and he doubted they'd see much of each other anymore. It was slightly sad, he thought. He tilted his head in submission, and prepared to follow the doe through the swamp. "I'm Dusty Sunset," he announced.

Lull in sunlight. It seemed a strange name to him, but so did most names. It was not his place to question the divine dreams of other kin. Nor was it his place to understand them. He let those thoughts drift away as he took in the sight of the moonlit swamp. It was almost beautiful, the way the moon gently blessed the wet land with her touch. He stood, quiet, peaceful, as he absorbed the stillness and tranquility around him.

"What reason would that be, if I may dare to ask?" Though Dusty wasn't quite sure that she wasn't going to harm him, he felt curiosity stir inside him. At the very least this would go amongst his best stories to tell; his first encounter with a Kimeti, and a magic one at that! He wasn't 100% certain that magic was the correct term, though.

She was looking at him strangely, and he wondered if there was something he was missing. She spoke, asking a question he found puzzling. Legendary? Did that mean that all of the swamp dwelling kimeti didn't appear to be made of shadow and glow? He thought that the shadowy appearance would explain why he'd never before met a kimeti, but perhaps she was special. Legenday. What did that mean?

"I don't know what that means," he admitted sheepishly. "Does that mean you're magic?"

Blessing expecting fathers or mothers? He wondered if perhaps that was the reason he'd been compelled to come here. Was he soon to be a father? He had recently had a fling with a pretty doe. He supposed it was possible. As he thought about it, he tilted his head. She could bless his babies, if he was to have some. But what would it cost him? "I may have kits soon," Dusty felt the need to inform her. But maybe she already knew that. "If I asked for your blessing, what would you ask in return of me?"