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 Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:57 pm
 Bounding after a strange little bug with a glowing backside, Risasi was perfectly content. He had been playing all afternoon, and had wasted the evening in pursuit of this unfamiliar critter. It chirped and fluttered, it's sticky looking legs clinging only briefly to rocks and grass before it flitted away, never letting Risasi get too close. As the sky darkened he had come to discover it had a flowing bottom, which was absolutely fascinating.
Panting, tired for the long hunt, he watched as it buzzed away once more, this time not landing again for quite a while. He debated following it, his legs feeling heavy. It was probably a better idea to just turn back and head for the den. His parents weren't overly fond of the little ones being out at night, anyway. Since he was the youngest, he doubted they would make an exception for him.
Turning around, he scanned the horizon for a familiar tree or rock, but was surprised to see there was nothing he could follow. Turning in a slow circle, he realized he had never been to this place before, and did not know how far he had come from his home. It might have been hours of walking for all he knew, as wrapped in the game as he had been. Sitting down, regulating his breathing with heavy sighs, he tried not to panic right away.
He couldn't be lost. He had never been lost before, and had prided himself on the fact. An apt adventurer, he had been all over the plains around his den. All he had to do was walk until something familiar appeared, and then he would find his way home. He could not have been that far out of his regular play grounds, anyway. Nodding to himself, he got up and, with a determined step, headed off. There was no telling if he was going back or further out, but he had faith that his instincts would guide him.
Almost an hour later, he was less certain. Surrounded by darkness, feeling exposed and vulnerable, the cub sat down to catch his breath, whimpering softly as he gazed around.
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:51 pm
It was late in the evening. The moon was a high-up crescent and stars punched sparkling holes in the black sky. It really was a beautiful night. No, it was too cold...Well, it wasn't really cold. It was sort of warm. There was a slight breeze every now and then. Maybe she'd go find a nice ratel burrow to curl up in? No, then she'd be too hot...
Oboé felt a frown tug at her lips and she quirked a brow. Maybe she'd just forget about doing anything at all and just continue walking? Hmm...That was a pretty good plan. Oboé relaxed her face and smiled, continuing along her own path through a rather long stretch of dead bushes. But she was out of the dead bushes sooner than she thought. However, no sooner than she had gotten out did she find herself wanting to go back in.
There was a little, fuzzy sort of creature just in front of her.
"Oh!" Oboé felt herself exclaim quietly. She lifted her paw in a strange half-gesture of shock, or maybe disgust. It hadn't noticed her yet...But what was it? Squinting her eyes as if to help her get a better look at the animal (even though she could see it perfectly), Oboé stared at it for a while. Then she decided it was a cub. Things weren't so odd once she decided that. But what kind of cub was it? She'd seen her share of leopard cubs, and it certainly wasn't that. It wasn't a wild dog pup, either. Could it be...a lion cub? Looking as though she forgot anyone was in front of her at all, Oboé pointed her chin to the sky as she thought.
Had she seen lion cubs...? Lions used to come watch her and her troupe dance...But had they ever brought their young? Oboé frowned once more in displeasure at not being able to remember. But surely if she HAD seen a lion cub before, this cub in front of her wouldn't be so hard to identify. Finally coming to a conclusion (whatever that conclusion was), Oboé looked back down to the cub and spoke.
"Excuse me...cub," she said. She paused for a moment, wondering if she wanted to ask what species the cub was, but ultimately, that was all she said.
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 6:46 pm
Risasi sniffled and cast another woeful glances around. He was surprised to see a pink leopard sitting not too far up, its head turned toward the sky. Swallowing hard, mustering his courage, he kept himself low as he crawled toward her, hoping to move carefully around her without drawing her attention, each step as careful as if he were walking on thin ice. Keeping his eyes on her, he was surprised when she looked down at him, halting dead in his tracks.
He looked puzzled as she addressed him as nothing more than a cub. Usually animals were more than eager to point out his mixed blood to him, recognizing him simply because they could not identify him as any one breed. Flattening himself against the ground defenselessly, he stared up at her with huge, nervous eyes, his ears flat against his head.
Quiet for some time, he thought she was going to say more to him and, as polite as he was, thought it best to wait. Nothing more came from her, however, and he began to feel like he was obligated to speak now. Late for his turn, he panicked a little bit as he searched for the right thing to say, not wanting to anger or annoy what could be a good creature to ask for directions back to his den.
"I..." he began, his voice so small it barely rose from the grass, "I'm sorry if I disturbed you... I was just walking through here... I'm going home."
He did not mention, for the moment, that he had no idea where that home might be. He had not assessed the situation well enough to be certain that she was friendly, and he did not want to appear any weaker than he had already presented himself as. Forcing himself to sit up, he puffed out his chest a bit in order to regain some manner of pride, doing his best to hide the shudder that ran down his spine.
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:28 pm
After a few more moments, Oboé completely forgot about wondering what species the young cub was. Even if she had remembered, she'd probably end up convincing herself it didn't matter since she didn't care about things like that.
Oboé felt her ears stand up at his tiny voice. She didn't hear him at first, but his voice escalated eventually. He was so cute, she thought. With his little paws and tiny face...Aww...
Oboé felt herself smiling as she watched him, looking like she wasn't paying much attention to anything he was saying. The cub puffed out his little chest and seemed to put on a proud air. Oboé stifled a giggle and narrowed her eyes in amusement. Unfortunately, such an expression in the darkness of a night could be mistaken for a menacing look. Oboé wasn't aware of this, however, and continued to smile.
"Home?" she echoed, not taking much notice of his apology. She blinked slowly in silence, as if pondering the word. Then she stood, reaching a paw up to wipe her face. "And where might that be?" she asked in a motherly tone. She then turned a bit and began to slowly walk away, her eyes staring up at the trees around her. It really was a lovely night. But then it occurred to her...
Cubs shouldn't be out at night by themselves. That was quite dangerous, wasn't it? And cubs were normally with their families at this time of night, snuggled safely in a...a...A den? Yes, a den. So why was this cub out, then? He spoke of a home, so certainly he had a family to go back to. But if he wasn't at home, wasn't with company, and out alone at NIGHT...Could that mean he was...
Oboé turned her head to look over her shoulder, her golden ornaments catching a glimmer of moonlight. "Are you lost, Cub?" she asked curiously.
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 11:58 pm
Risasi shrank back as she looked at him through the darkness, unable to tell if she was scowling or smiling at him. Still, he had to maintain his pride now that he had established it, so he did his best to stand his ground, while at the same time drawing himself into a tight ball. It was difficult, at best, to look tough while simultaneously recoiling in fright. And he was failing.
Yet she continued to speak to him, which was mildly comforting. He cleared his throat and spoke up a bit louder than before, though his voice cracked with the effort, "Yeah, home. But I'm not sure..." he began, in answer to her question, but he cut himself off as she began to walk away. He did not know if he was supposed to follow her, so he remained rooted to the ground.
And then she turned her head back to him, and he could not hide his trepidation. Sinking low to the earth, his legs and tail curled tightly against his body, he was nothing more than a blue ball of fur with a head attached as he watched her. He did not know what he hoped to accomplish by hiding in the grass, considering she knew exactly where he was, but he somehow felt safer in this position than sitting with his small chest puffed out.
"My name is Risasi," he said, rather solidly considering how fearful he looked. He was ruffled that she had been able to pinpoint his plight so quickly, and had simplified the situation into so short a statement, "and I'm not lost. I just... don't really know where this is, compared to... where home is. But I'm pretty sure I'll find my way soon."
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Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:08 pm
"Ahh, you don't know where This is, either?" Oboé asked, sounding slightly down-hearted. She sighed, a frown hinting at her features. She turned and began to walk away once more, nodding her head in an almost reassuring manner. "When one does not know where one is, one must find out." she said simply with a shrug of her broad shoulders. A cool breeze swept over her and jingled her golden ornaments.
"Risasi..." she said after a moment of silence, as if testing the name on her tongue. "Did you name yourself?" she asked interestedly without turning around. She had no idea if he was following or not. But she continued to walk into the trees all the same.
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Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:38 pm
Risasi looked puzzled. Her words made sense, for the most part. It was perfectly reasonable to find out where you were, if you didn't know. But that was the difficult part, he was quickly learning. She did not seem any more aware of her surroundings than a fish in a vast pool of blue.
But at least those jangling things she wore were pretty. They distracted him from his immediate plight and, for some reason or another, made him feel a bit more comfortable in her company. They were whimsical, enchanting, and he wondered, rather profoundly for one so young, if they reflected her personality.
He trotted after her as she walked, trying to keep up while at the same time keeping an eye on her and on the lands around them. This direction was no more or less likely to be the right one for him than how he had been walking, so he was not too concerned about getting even more lost.
"No! My parents named me. Why would I name myself? Did you name yourself?" he paused, having skipped a step in this conversation, "what is your name?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:56 pm
There was a pretty-ish sort of smell ahead of Oboé. It was quite far away, she thought, but the smell was strong. She flicked her tongue across her nose as she walked, the wheels of her mind turning slowly.
Just a slight sniff of the air told her that the cub was scared nearly out of his wits. He put on a brave front for one so young. It was pretty impressive. Oboé felt her eyebrows knit together and she pondered how to cheer him up. She wasn't very good with cubs. Or was she? She'd never really been around them much. After a moment or two more of thinking, she decided to just treat him as she would another leopard. Things would be easier that way, wouldn't they?
"Your parents?" Oboé repeated in a surprised voice. "I see." she drawled. She stared up at the sky and examined the sparkling stars as she walked, not paying attention to what was in front of her. But even though she wasn't looking where she was going, she didn't falter in her steps. "Oh, yes," Oboé answered him, taking an unusually long time before giving her response. "my name is Oboé." she said in a sing-song voice.
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Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 3:21 pm
Risasi watched as the pink creature walked without watched where her feet fell, wondering how she managed to keep from tripping. He hoped they didn't wander too near trees, though he would warn her if they did, just in case.
"Obo..." he frowned, having been too abstracted by his thoughts to catch how she had pronounced her name. Swallowing, he decided he would change the subjects, and come up with a new name for her before the matter got too awkward for him, "why did you name yourself?"
He trotted beside her carefully, his fur still raised as his eyes darted from her and over the area around them every few moments. It really wasn't sitting well with him that he didn't know where he was, and even the conversation with a seemingly friendly animal was not helping to calm him. Trembling, he did his best to keep up with her and speak politely.
"What are you looking at?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:28 am
Oboé was having a very soothing, fun time walking through that wooded area in the moonlight. Even though she couldn't make up her mind as to how the weather made her feel, she decided it was a very enjoyable stroll. And what was more, she had company. It wasn't every day that she had someone other than her serval friend to walk with her.
"Well, because I had no name." Oboé said in reply, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. "Should I have just gone through my life nameless?" she asked with a laugh. It never occurred to her at that moment that most creatures are named by their parents. "I thought up my name shortly after joining a group of entertainers." she said, a smile audible in her voice. "I was very young then; younger than you." Oboé stole a glance sideways to look down at Risasi. At such a close distance, the warmth in her smile was very visible.
Oboé continued onward, the strange, sweet smell growing closer and closer. The smell brought back memories of a purple lion and Oboé smiled, despite the odd pang of longing she felt.
"What am I looking at?" Oboé repeated Risasi's question carefully, sounding unsure of what he meant. "What are you looking at?" she asked, turning her head to look at him as she walked. She followed his gaze left and right. "I don't see anything yet." she said lightly. Then, she tilted her head up to stare at the stars once more.
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 6:04 pm
"No, I guess not," Risasi said with a frown, wondering how someone goes without being given a name. The answer was slow in coming to him, and he did not verbalize the epiphany when it did hit. It was sad, his thought, and he did not want to assume anything, or say something that might upset this strange new companion, "it'd be hard having no name."
He smiled back at her when she looked back at him, growing more at ease with her as they wandered on. Still, when he looked away and saw that he still did not recognize anything around him, he could not ignore the anxiety that was mounting, tightening his muscles and burning his chest.
"I'm... I'm looking at you," Risasi answered honestly, puzzled by the question, "Mostly. I don't know what else I'm looking at. I... I don't know where I am." He said the last part quietly, more admitting it to himself than to her. He stopped abruptly, sitting down heavily and heaving a profound sigh that made his small body tremble.
"I don't know how to go home."
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 7:17 pm
"Ahh," Oboé sighed knowingly. "Once-familiar things usually become strangers during the night," She explained calmly. "Just as close friends sometimes do." She flashed a grin at the cub, her heart swelling with a strange joy each time she thought of how cute he was. She unconsciously decided she liked cubs more than adults.
When Risasi stopped to sit, Oboé watched with her mouth open in a small smile. She tilted her head at his statement and then her smile vanished slowly.
"You don't?" she asked, seeming extremely surprised. She sat down in front of the cub and placed a paw on her chest, appearing very torn. She pressed her lips into a tight frown and her eyes wandered away from the cub. "But your home should be nearby." she said decidedly, dropping her paw from her chest and giving a stiff nod. She stood up, turned, and continued to walk. She began to hum a strange, haunting melody as she walked; a lullaby that she was used to hearing when she was a cub. It had frightened her when she first heard it, but the more she listened, the more she was calmed. The lullaby would always seep into her mind and pull the distractions and sad thoughts away, replacing them with a mystifying tune.
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Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:01 am
Risasi with large, tearful eyes, not understanding most of her comments and growing increasingly distressed at how confused he felt. Being lost made him lose his ability to comprehend anything, the unfamiliar terrain forcing his mind to shut down as anxiety set in. He was worried he might not see his parents again for a long time, and they would be mad at him when he came home. He tried very hard to be a good cub, and something like this was definitely liable to ruin that record.
He couldn't help but feel like she was teasing him with her theatrics, which only added to his misery. He nodded when she told him his home was nearby. It was something he wanted to hear, after all, even if it was coming from someone he found disconcerting and not entirely trustworthy.
Sniffling, he stood and followed her again, having no other choice and, being so young, feeling obligated to stay with the older female. He was drawn to a maternal being and, though she acted more like a cub than an adult, she was the closest thing he had to that at the moment. Even as she hummed a strange song that made him tremble, he was drawn to her out of a dire need for safety.
Trotting to keep pace, walking close to her legs with his head bowed, he swallowed hard in an effort to keep the torrent of tears he knew were close to being unleashed from exploding right then, "why do you have those things on you?" he asked, meaning the jangly chains he had been attracted to, "what do they do?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:37 am
The scent Oboé had been following was getting very close. Ears bending forward instinctively, Oboé's pace quickened just slightly. The voice of the cub snapped her out of her deep concentration, though. She bent her head to the left and stopped humming, wondering what he had meant.
"Oh," she exclaimed quietly once it came to her. "These. This." She nodded, motioning to her golden cascades of decoration. "This is my costume; my separate skin." Oboé said quietly. "When I wear this, I become a dancer." She made a white grin at him and then looked away. She wondered why he was so scared. From what she could smell and hear, there was no danger in any direction. Was it simply from being...in the dark? Or perhaps being away from his family had him scared? But Oboé didn't understand that. It was strange to her. "Aren't the stars nice? And the moonlight?" Oboé asked, trying to take his mind off his fear and hopefully get him to see the beauty of the night rather than the fear of it.
Oboé reached the edge of trees and slid under a branch, making her way out of the wooded area and back onto the open land. She lifted up the branch a bit to help the cub get out, even though he could probably make it out with ease since he was much smaller than she was. A vine was released from a branch in Oboé's movement and slapped her face as it fell. Oboé shrugged it off and wrinkled her nose in irritation.
Then her face calmed and she looked down at the cub. "Have you ever tasted a vine?" she asked.
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Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 2:35 pm
Risasi did not quite understand what she meant by costume or second skin, but he nodded all the same. He was vaguely familiar with dancing, his parents telling him about the art form on a couple of occasions, or a friend mentioning how the grass or sky was dancing. It wasn't difficult to assume that a dancer was someone who danced, though he could not imagine a leopard doing it like the grass did. He wondered if she needed the wind to help her or not.
"How do you dance?" he asked, not knowing if it was a complicated question or not. He wasn't as interested in the stars or moonlight at the moment, though he did glance up when she mentioned them just to make sure she knew he was listening to everything she said. He yelped as she was smacked in the face by the vine, about to ask if she was okay when she seemed to disregard the happening and turned to ask him an odd question.
"No, I don't think I have... I don't see why I would want to... they're not made of meat, so they're not food," he reasoned carefully, considering whether or not he would want to taste a vine. He decided that no, he would not, and tilted his head at her. He glanced around the area they had come into and, still not finding anything he knew, trembled, "where are we going?"
He moved closer to her, now that they had stopped, pressing against her leg and bowing his head.
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