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 Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 7:39 pm
 Tamu had been wandering the lands for what felt like ages. The dark hyena had left her family's embrace after deciding that she wanted to explore the world on her own. She wanted adventure, romance, action and all that great stuff of fairy tales. But in the past month since she had left her home, she had faced nothing but hunger, thirst, exhaustion and most of all loneliness.
A heavy sigh escaped Tamu's maw as she padded through the dry grasses. The sun was setting and the cold of night began to envelope the savanna. She continued on, since she preferred night travel anyway. Her coat made it hard to travel in the hot sun during the day, so she kept her wandering to the evening and early morning hours.
The naive young female caught the scent of water in the air and she began to salivate from the thought of taking a long drink of the cold, refreshing liquid. Her pace quickened as she neared the large pool.
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Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 10:49 am
Unfortunately, that specific water hole was already being used. And he wasn't the friendliest of hyenas, but then, in his family, no one was. He had to admit, he was tired of it; the infighting, the favoritism. It made him want to spit.
His ears perked up as he heard another creature approached. He assumed it was someone from back home, needing to drag him back to that hell hole. Feh, there was no reason for him too; it wasn't like his mother really care about him anyway.
Feeling tightness in his chest, he was ready to bark a 'leave me alone!' command to whomever passed by, but it certainly wasn't what he was expecting.
He felt himself choke for a moment, swallowing back his bark before he could let it escape.
Honestly? He was more taken aback that it was a hyena with such a bright mane. And being a stranger to boot. He almost never came across anyone he didn't know.
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Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:22 pm
Tamu didn't bother to look around the small pond before shoving her face into the refreshing water and taking a long few laps of it. She smiled contentedly when she had her fill, then sat down with a heavy thud and finally took in her surroundings.
She felt embarrassed immediately, that another hyena was there and that he had seen her so ungracefully taking her drink. Her large ears swiveled in his direction and she cocked her head curiously.
Like Mbezi, Tamu was taken aback. But she was taken aback by this creatures lack of color. Her mother, her brother and her had bright colors; and although her father was dark as well, she always assumed he was an oddball.
"Um...hello?" She spoke out softly, smiling a half, unsure smile in his direction. Her little tail wagged back and forth, brushing up a cloud of dust around her butt. She really had no idea of the proper way to greet someone, so she just smiled brightly and looked at him quizzically.
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Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 5:08 pm
He felt like he should snap at her, but her quiet approach to a greeting continued to throw him off. He wasn't used to 'hellos', esepcially in his home pack; everyone knew who his mother was. It was an irritating thing to live with.
"Er. Um. Hi," he grunted, unsure as how to approach this situation. He felt his shoulders hunch a little, which was quite uncommon for him. He almost felt inadvertently corner into this situation, even if had only been a chance meeting.
What should he say? For some reason claiming that this watering hole was his pack's wouldn't be smart. It wasn't, really. Even though they didn't have any real water holes in the graveyard, they had no way of claiming and protecting them. But he had to say something more than just 'hi', otherwise he would just look stupid.
"Er, nice water, huh?" Yeah, that was classy.
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Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 8:25 am
Tamu felt herself relax a little when he began to speak. He had a bit of a menacing appearance, but when she knew he wasn't going to outright attack her, she felt safer. As he spoke she giggled lightly.
"Um.. Yes, it is. It's very... refreshing." She said with another giggle. She found him endearing for some reason, he was cute in the way he didn't know what to say to her. Although she too was unsure about how to keep this odd conversation going.
"Um... My name is Tamu! Who're you?" She asked, tilting her head to one side and blinking a few times. She wanted to approach him, to get closer and hear him better. But she wasn't completely clueless, and one thing she knew to never do was approach someone you didn't know. Especially if they lived in such a dreary place.
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Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 7:44 pm
"Erm." Hm. How should he reply? He didn't think that it would be a bad idea to say his real name, but then he didn't know if it would hurt him, either. He wasn't really in the best terms of home, but he still felt just loyal enough to be wary.
Ah, hell. Who cared anymore?
"Name's Mbezi," he said a little gruffly, though it was more because he wasn't used to being so social than not wanting to share his name. It was very...new to him. Usually it was attack and ask questions later, but it certainly wasn't that way this time.
"'M from around here," he replied, mildly proud of that fact. He was a tough hyena, that was certain. "What about you" he asked, curious, since he normally didn't see strangers near this watering hole.
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Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:18 pm
Tamu smiled as he spoke, hoping that his gruffness was only because he was nervous or didn't know what to say. She could tell he wasn't used to being spoken to, at least not in a civil manner.
"Oh, me?" She said with a bit of a shrug. "I'm not really from anywhere. I sleep wherever I can and just kind of... roam around. I'm a rogue." She nodded, a little sad in her answer. She didn't like being a rogue, her mother the only one she saw frequently.
"Are you part of a pack?" She asked, tilting her head to the side with a bright smile. Her life was so boring and she loved hearing about other creature's stories, especially one so tough looking as this new hyena.
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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 8:05 am
"Er, yeah," he replied, not sure how much to say. But really, what was there to say? He nodded back behind him, where it obviously wasn't the loveliest of lands. He had been raised there, and it didn't bother him in the slightest.
"I live back there, in my mom's pack," he said, though he never really liked how his mother had treated him. Bah. "In the elephant graveyard," he added on, wondering how she'd react to that. Not like any elephants wandered in there to die anymore. Too bad, cause then there'd be a lot more food to eat and a lot less fighting over what scraps were brought in to eat. This rag-tag group weren't the best hunters, that was certain.
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Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 5:18 am
Tamu leaned to one side, looking over him to see the lands he motioned to. She couldn't help the frown that creased her lips as she looked at the land. It was... ugly, to be frank. She was more one for open plains with lots of grass and plenty of watering holes. Although she hadn't really found a place like that just yet.
"It's.... verry nice." She said with a strained smile. She didn't like to lie, but she didn't want to insult his homeland. When he mentioned elephant graveyard, her ears perked up and she tilted her head to one side.
"Elephant graveyard? Really? That's so cool! Are there lots of bones? I bet there's tons. And they must be huge! Do elephants still come here? They're so weird. One time I saw-"
Tamu put her paw over her mouth, realizing she was rambling. "I'm sorry! I tend to talk a lot..." She said softly, lowering her head. Her mother always told her to watch for that, and she was getting better at stopping it.
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Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 1:59 pm
Mbezi was slightly bemused with how talkative she was. Frankly, he was the total opposite. Just keeping on a conversation this long was straining him. How else could he keep this going mildly interesting?
...wait, why did he want to keep this going?
Shaking those thoughts away from him, he shook his head. "Nah, no elephants come anymore. They probably stopped going there to die once my mom's pack moved in," he replied. "And it's full of bones. We leave the bones of whatever we bring home to eat there, so there's all sorts of things." His tail twitched behind him, intrigued that he could continue going without feeling too flustered.
"And it's a little drab, but we don't spend all our time there." He smirked. "Otherwise ya wouldn't of seen me."
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Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:50 pm
The little black hyena listened to him intently, her head nodding as he spoke. She wondered if he had a mate, a family, a life with lots of other hyenas and friends... Something she always craved but could never seem to find. She didn't ask, not wanting to be nosy.
"Oh that's so cool!" She said, her own tail wagging behind her. "I bet there's lots of interesting stuff. You must have lots of fun exploring your lands! Although I bet, since you've lived there you whole life, you know it all like the back of your paw."
She grinned at him, laughing a bit at his last comment. "Well I suppose I wouldn't have! I'm sure glad I did run into you, though, Mbezi. I hardly ever run into other hyenas, mostly just hang around with my mom." She made a face at this. Although she loved her mother, she was eager to go off and start a family of her own, or at least find a place where she and her mother alike were accepted.
"Has your mothers pack been here long?" Stupid question. But, she wanted to keep talking with him, and she just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
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Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 2:34 pm
His ears flicked forward, a little surprised that someone might care that much to ask. Usually they were labelled being reckless and dangerous, and while that was true towards lions, that certainly wasn't true towards hyenas. Mbezi's mom might want to drag ever abled-body hyena she could see in the pride, but as their 'rivals' had dispersed, life had become quiet. And boring.
"Ah, yeah, been here for way longer'n I've been around," he commented, never really thinking about it before. " 'N even before her, cause she just helped rebuild what was here before even then." He heard a bit in the gossip, though none of it had started from Mafa. A little from Tukutu, and probably a couple of the few original pack that were still here, at least as far back 'original' as when Mafa first rebuilt it. Old rats.
"Do you want to look around?" he asked, a little nervous. He hadn't ever thought about showing anyone anything before. "It's not pretty, but it ain't that scary, either."
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Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 5:30 pm
Tamu looked a bot surprised at how long their pack had been around. She had never had anything aside from her mother and brother, and she couldn't even imagine a big group of hyenas staying in one spot for so long.
At his offer, Tamu jumped to her feet, her tail wagging excitedly. "Oh yes, that would be lovely! And it's okay, I won't get scared! If I was here alone I would be scared, most definitely. But I'm with you! And you're really strong, or at least you look like you are. I'm sure with you here nothing bad will happen!"
Tamu smiled brightly, her eyes closing and her head tilted to one side. She bounded over to him, standing beside him. "So what can we see first?" She asked, bouncing a little in her stance, her excitement bubbling over into her legs.
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 11:29 am
His brain sorta shut down for the moment, if only because she was so excited. He wasn't used to excited, not at all. Well, at leat life wouldn't be a bit dull for the next short while! "Okay. We've got just a short walk 'til we reach the border of the pack; there isn't usually fresh water in there, and we have to leave to drink."
He lead the way, being a lot more careful than he usually was. Most of the scouts had become lazy things, and so he knew he didn't have too much to worry about personally. It was making sure that the commonplace dangers were more forward in his mind, making sure that this visitor wouldn't accidentally step on the wrong thing.
"Most of the skulls are pretty stable," he commented, feeling the comforting touch of dark dirt and nothingness under his paws once they got close. He wasn't used to the feel of grass, and he didn't think he'd ever get used to that tickled feeling.
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 6:01 pm
Tamu gladly trotted beside him as he began walking, nodding her head as he spoke. Had to travel away to find water? That didn't make a whole lot of sense to her. Why wouldn't they just make a pride around the water rather than far away from it?
The thoughts left her mind before she could speak them to her new friend, her attention brought to the bones beneath her feet. She stepped on a slightly loose skull, unable to tell the difference, as she knew Mbezi was. She slipped a little but found her balance quickly and continued on with a smile.
"This is so unusual. I never felt anything like this on my feet before!" She was examining the ground as she walked, not paying attention to what was in front of her. She was too fascinated with all the different bones beneath her pads.
She was completely oblivious to the fact that he was keeping his eye out for others, instead she continued to chat away happily. "So why don't you live closer to the watering hole back there, rather than having to travel to it when you're thirsty?" She asked, her mind returning to her previous thoughts as she balanced on a skull.
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