[GAME] Hide and Seek... Again! - Open!

[mouselet]

Farraginis moved on to another area. As he searched, he had an odd feeling that he'd done this before.

Augh, he'd already checked this region! What a waste of time!  

[Talencia]

Delighted at his find, he left the onions alone, having decided he didn't much like their smell after all. It was very... well, kinda tangy. It made his nose tickle. He got some distance away, paused with one paw in the air, and went cross-eyed. He wrinkled his face, angled his ears backwards, twitched his whole body, then gave an explosive sneeze.

"ACHOOOO!" The echoes died away, and the male looked infinitely mortified. "Pardon me," he said, ears canted in dismay. How humiliating! Oh no, he most definitely did NOT like onions, no sirree! Hoping to escape any further notice, he slunk close to the ground and slipped into a grove of trees. Whew. Now if only his nose would stop itching!  

[Usafi Tukufu]

Talencia

Desya paused, catching an unusual scent. He raised his head, nosing the air. His eyes were half-closed as he focused on the scent, with his whiskers spread to draw the scent close to his twitching nostrils. Yes, there was... something. What was that? He padded in a apparently random direction, head raised, eyes slitted, hardly looking where he was going. However, he deftly stepped over twining tree roots and detoured around a clump of bounders. Yes, something different... but what?

As it turned out, he'd found a patch of wild onions! He wasn't entirely sure if he liked the scent or not, and put his head down to examine them. In doing so, he caught a glint of something bright among the green. Why, was that... a token?!

It seemed like things were looking up for Desya - Two gold tokens?! What luck! But just as it seemed he could have reached for it, a dark paw shot out of under the brush and grabbed it, a giggle errupting from the leaves. It was the leopardess! She jumped out and onto a branch, grinning and wagging a paw at him. "Tut, tut, share the golden wealth!" She flicked it off into the bushes to land somewhere else, then dove off to hide in a new spot.

OOC: This is entirely my fault - I forgot to consider what would happen if someone found two or more golden tokens, so I had to make a surprise choice(Surprise for me) on what to do with this one. To keep things fair, for now we'll go with one gold token per person. If another week goes by, though, and the tokens and leopardess remain stubborn, then we'll change it. Sorry about that! sweatdrop

First number set is the token's new location, second set is the leopardess'. If the leopardess' numbers match another set of numbers for a token, the token will trump the leopardess' unless it's gold. Then that'll be one lucky seeker... xd  

[mouselet]

Farraginis looked up in surprise as the leopardess showed herself long enough to confiscate Desya's second gold token and hide it (and herself) once more. Huh, that guy must be a lucky leopard, to find two! He hoped he'd be able to find one of the gold tokens himself.

He was so distracted, that it took him a few moments he was searching yet another area he'd already been to. Curses!  

[Talencia]

Ugh, as if he hadn't been embarrassed enough by the sneeze, the leopardess had scolded him for a rule he hadn't been aware of! And his lovely token had gone poof. Mortified beyond words, the normally mellow leopard skulked in the shadows, staying out of the light and trying to avoid the other players. His face felt hot, and the cool of the deeper darkness beneath the trees was welcome. Now where was that vine tunnel? He could use a place to hide after this fiasco. Taking a deep breath, he prowled in the darker places, considering trying to find that sneaky leopardess and give her the edge of his tongue for this. (Not that he ever actually would, of course.)  

[mouselet]

Here! This was definitely an area he hadn't checked before. Unfortunately, it too was empty. Farraginis sighed. Why oh why was this game so difficult?  

[Talencia]

Desya laid in a cool, dark shadow for some time, watching a line of ants move back and forth, some carrying bits of leaf or petals. His brows raised as he watched an entire group of them carrying a flower, stem and all, towards their unknown destination. His mind taken from dwelling on himself, he rose to his paws and followed them, padding slowly beside the living line, intrigued by their strength and tenacity. Over every obstacle, they persevered in finding food and hefting it home. He couldn't imagine lifting something that much bigger than himself, as big as a small elephant, probably! Much less then dragging it home on his back for an entire colony to eat. Their industry was a rebuke to his mortification. So the game had changed, so what? He could and should press on. He sat beside their home, a large bump in the ground with a hole in the middle. Ah, the lessons this world could give one!  

[mouselet]

Well, this time he was certain he hadn't checked this area yet! The leopard looked determinedly, but still came up empty-pawed. Oh well. He'd just have to check the next one. And the next one! And on and on until he or someone else found the leopardess.  

[Talencia]

Desya slipped over to the other male who was playing. He did try to stay out of sight of everyone else, but seemed less disconcerted than he had been. "Did you know they'd be reshuffling things?" he asked quietly, "Or that we'd have some tokens taken away?" He was still a bit baffled about that, but he was willing to do with the flow. It didn't bother him that someone else would find the gold token he'd stumbled on. After all, the more the merrier. He just felt slightly unsettled still, knowing the rules he wasn't aware of might rise up to bite him again.

He padded aimlessly, still trying to stay out of sight of most others. His dignity was still bruised, and he was thinking hard about his reactions. It wasn't their fault, after all, that he'd sneezed, nor that the token had been snatched from him by this trickster of a leopardess. Noone had mocked him or pointed and sniggered. No, he couldn't rethink his idea to stay here. He just needed to find his niche. He was beginning to think that playing this game wasn't his niche at all. Tail low and dragging, he kept on his half-hearted search.  

[mouselet]

"No, I wasn't told much about this when I agreed to play," Farraginis answered the other male. He felt a bit bad that the other had had his prize taken away, but there was something to be said for fairness as well.

He gave a shrug and continued searching. What else could he say? What had happened, had happened and there was no changing it.

He searched yet another area. Still nothing. Where were those tokens?  

[Talencia]

It was a free game, after all, and no constraints had been put upon him to play. His ego had gotten the better of him, but no more. Feeling more settled, he chose to climb another tree, hopefully one he hadn't climbed before. He explored the branches before climbing up just as high as he could, peeking his head above the jungle canopy. Butterflies fluttered breezily up there, and the view was breath-taking. Hmm. If he did stay here, he wondered if he could choose a home that had this kind of view.  

[mouselet]

Another direction, another bit of searching, and still nothing. Farraginis wondered if perhaps the reason he hadn't found anyhting lately was the fact that his examinations had gotten progressively scantier as the game wore on.

Oh well. If he somehow overlooked a token, someone else would surely find it.  

[Talencia]

Having inhaled the lovely air above, he climbed back down carefully. Surveying the area from above, he leapt from branch to branch, tree to tree. He was graceful, but solid muscle as well, so that when he landed on a branch, it swayed, sometimes scattering blossoms or leaves. In this way, he made a circuit of the area as best as he could, weaving through the upper level of the jungle. Perhaps he'd be able to find something, if he kept his eyes peeled.

The brown token was hard to see, and he nearly bypassed it. It moved when he landed on the branch, though, drawing his eyes to where the branch met the tree. Was that... he quickly glanced around, wary that he'd get in trouble again. Still, he hadn't found a brown token yet, so surely it'd be alright?  

[mouselet]

Farraginis moved down the grid in a straight line, picked another spot at random, and began searching. Then he stopped and paused.

Curses, he'd once again chosen a spot he'd already checked! Augh, why did he keep doing that?  

[Andranis]

Talencia

Having inhaled the lovely air above, he climbed back down carefully. Surveying the area from above, he leapt from branch to branch, tree to tree. He was graceful, but solid muscle as well, so that when he landed on a branch, it swayed, sometimes scattering blossoms or leaves. In this way, he made a circuit of the area as best as he could, weaving through the upper level of the jungle. Perhaps he'd be able to find something, if he kept his eyes peeled.

The brown token was hard to see, and he nearly bypassed it. It moved when he landed on the branch, though, drawing his eyes to where the branch met the tree. Was that... he quickly glanced around, wary that he'd get in trouble again. Still, he hadn't found a brown token yet, so surely it'd be alright?

Sayen padded over to Desya, smiling at him. "It looks like fate decided to smile on you after our sneaky friend sent the gold token elsewhere! Congratulations on finding another one!" She looked to the others searching, including the gecko. "This means there are two brown tokens left! We're winding down now, and the gods are smiling at us! Soon we'll be down to trying to find just our sneaky friend!" Sneaky, indeed. She'd moved very fast... Sayen found a spot to sit down and wait, anticipating the locating of the tokens. She couldn't wait, and this was creating so much buzz and activity! Now if only more would join the search...