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 Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 6:17 pm
 Crouched and hidden in the thick brush, Nimhglas watched the lizards a few feet away with fascination. They were fighting over a female, and he was entranced. He'd spent all day laying in this one spot until the local animals were unaware of his presence, in hopes he'd see something interesting, and he had not been disappointed. Right in front of his nose, nature was dancing out its rhythm, as it had a million times before.
The tiny battle ended and the lizards left to attend to their own needs, and Nimhglas stood up, very satisfied. Now to find some new entertainment. He strolled along in the fading light of the evening, practicing his humming. He had been taught by a tone deaf lion, and he reveled in the off-key notes that created beautiful dissonance. There was grace in disharmony, he felt, and what better way to express it than with a warbling flat minor?
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 7:53 pm
Kafil sighed as he walked halfheartedly back toward his home after a long day of unsuccessful hunts and general unproductive-ness, staring intently at the ground as he went. There was too much going on right now for him to even think straight, something he rarely had a problem with. Ordinarily his thoughts were clear, sharp, deliberate, but recently they had been muddled and cloudy, eluding him.
"This shouldn't be this difficult." He growled at himself, flinching as he saw a lizard scurry across his path. He swatted at it irritably but missed, shaking his head. "I should be happy..." He glanced up and noticed that there was another hyena not too far off and hesitated. Should he go talk to him? That was what Loko o Ka would want...
"You there." He called, barely louder than his normal voice. "Hello, stranger." He tried his best to sound cheerful, but he barely managed to stop sounding irritated.
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 8:02 pm
Concentrating on the tune he was constructing, Nimhglas only registered the voice a few moments after he heard it. He peered out over the landscape, scanning slowly for the source as he rotated, but seeing nothing but empty grass. But finally he turned to face behind him, and spotted the brown hyena. Ah! He relaxed, pleased at the discovery. Thank goodness it wasn't another ghost, he'd wearied of being haunted.
He grinned toothily and tried to pose in an amicable way, to show he wasn't a threat. The other male's voice carried hints of annoyance, perhaps because Nimhglas was on his land. He must make appeasement. "Stranger, yes," he greeted, and as always the words were filtered through his skewed perspective of the world. "All things are strange until met, and then are known. This one is Nimhglas, and he meets the annoyed one warmly."
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 8:30 pm
Kafil approached him slowly, also trying not to appear threatening. He blinked at the other male, slightly puzzled by the way he spoke. It was not as though he wasn't used to hearing hyenas speak this way, as there were at least two in his pack who had odd ways of talking, but he usually did not encounter strangers who did such things. Most of the strangers he met were slobbering idiots.
"Uh, my name is Kafil." He said with a shrug, trying not to think too much about the fact that he had referred to him as the annoyed one. "It's nice to meet you." It wasn't really. It wasn't really nice for him to meet anyone, but he had to be polite if he was going to see about recruiting him. First impressions and all that.
"Do you live near here?" He still didn't sound friendly, though he really was trying. He wasn't used to making small talk. "I mean, I do and so does my pack." He doubted that anyone would take up an offer from him, but he had to try. Maybe his daughter would be pleased that he had tried, at least?
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 8:42 pm
Sniffing curiously, Nimhglas hesitantly inched closer to this new person, trying to get a better feel for him. It had been a while since he had conversed with another, and much longer since he'd known another hyena. This one seemed at home in this place, and his words confirmed it, this was his territory. His words and body language seemed to contradict each other, but that only made Nimhglas more interested. What sort of secrets did this fellow hold?
"Live? Life is where it is. These paws have known many grounds. Born in wetlands, taught in twilight." He twitched his nose, pondering the other's phrasing. "Kafil says 'my pack', claims possession. Owner of pack, friendly to strangers, does he not feel wary of dangers?" He hadn't known pack or pride leaders who weren't eager to chase off unknown predators. This got more and more unusual.
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 9:01 pm
This certainly was a philosophical hyena, perhaps he would be interested after all. Or not. He was even less predictable than the other hyenas he had met recently.
"Well, it is partially my pack. I am one of several leaders." He explained, pausing to think. Had Nimhglas just rhymed? Had it been on purpose? He doubted it, but he wouldn't put it past the odd hyena. "I do not fear any dangers out here. I have a quick mind and a strong body." He was surprised at himself, he ordinarily did not even get close to bragging about himself. Why did he feel the need to do so now? Perhaps it was his new position of power, maybe it was his need to prove himself to his daughter and therefore to others as well?
"My pack... Er, the pack that I am in..." Kafil corrected himself, "Is a group of intellectual hyenas. Not unlike yourself. If you wanted to, I'm sure the others would take you in." He nodded, "But, uh, you don't have to or anything." He added, not wanting to come on too strongly. "It's just, you sound like you would fit in, maybe."
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 9:19 pm
Nimhglas pondered this, standing still but swaying absently from foot to foot as the music still ran in the back of his head. "Kafil fears not the grasses then, no wariness in him. These are his grasses, for he walks them, in his quick body and strong mind. Such a fine body and mind, then. Why then does he say light and think gloom? Annoyed Kafil is annoyed. This one begs absolvance if it offends, it is afflicted and gifted with half truths."
He wasn't sure what to make of such an offer to join their pack, from a hyena that didn't really look happy to see him. Was this some sort of game? Speak the opposite of feeling? What a fascinating idea. "To take it, to merge with one?" He smirked. "So soon not a stranger. To fit in? Is there a Nimhglas shaped hole? Is it green? Kafil offers freely, and so the green embraces warmly, but this one's feet might object. They wander, see."
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 9:45 pm
Kafil could not help but smile a bit as he listened to the other hyena talk. There was just something about him that managed to put the ordinarily cranky hyena in a somewhat decent mood. That was certainly a rare trait. "I'm just trying to be polite." He shrugged, "Annoyed, yes, but not at you. There's a lot going on in my life right now."
"Merge, what?" Kafil had to stop and think about what he was saying. "Fit in, yeah. Er, there are plenty of holes in the mountain, and some of 'em have grass outside." He offered hopefully, "Kind of green holes that you could fit in, yeah. Caves." He added to clarify. "You wander? Yeah, lots of us do." He shrugged again, a sign that he was thinking. "We all wander around looking for members, for food, stories, knowledge, but we all eventually come back. It's nice to have a home to come back to."
What was he saying? Kafil didn't know anything about a home, or a family for that matter. His heart sank again as he remembered why he was here in the first place. Would he ever be good enough for his daughter? He hoped so, but couldn't be sure exactly what it would take to show that he really was a good hyena, that he was truly sorry for making the mistake of leaving.
Kafil fell silent for a moment, lost in his thoughts, before snapping back to reality. "Um, yeah. So, if you want a home, we'll give you one. Or not. Could just be a friend of ours if you want to."
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 10:06 pm
"Caves!" Nimhglas barked joyfully, suddenly thrilled. "Absence of rock in rock, unexplored depths without light. What secrets do the stones hold, underground where the air is cold?" He'd heard of caves from other travelers, and they sounded as mystical and mysterious as his swampland home far away. He'd put them on his list of things to experience in his life, and now an opportunity had presented itself. "This one would glory at the caves, embrace, acquaint with, if it suits. If it pleases."
But the brown male's blue mood had him sympathetic, and he quirked a head. "Are there many people shaped holes in your pack? Do you mourn their emptiness?" He clucked a tongue, trying to encourage. "Holes fill, it is natural. Friendship offered is gladness, and this one offers likewise, though if there be a green hole is unseen." His heart swelled earnestly, forging an immediate kinship with this other hyena. Any creature was his brother who wanted to be.
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:13 am
Kafil jumped slightly at his sudden enthusiasm. Were caves really that exciting? Sure, they were great for shade, but that's all Kafil really used them for. "If you want you can come see them with me." He nodded, "I was just headed back there. We're working on some tunnels too." He added, "They're not done yet but when they are it'll be great." He wasn't too enthusiastic about the tunnels himself, but he had to acknowledge the fact that they could be useful. If the pack ever came under attack, it would be easy to maneuver around in unexpected ways and get an advantage over the enemy.
"Yes, lots of holes and not quite enough hyenas. Not yet." He thought for a moment, "Not exactly mourn, but we do want them to be filled some day." Another small smile crossed his face as he mentioned friendship. Nobody had ever offered to be his friend before, it was a nice feeling.
"I extend friendship to you also." He bowed his head respectfully, "You seem to be a pleasant companion, full of riddles and curiosity."
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 5:09 pm
Very satisfied with the instant friendship, Nimhglas pranced lightly in a circle. The muse of music was never far from his mind, so he tended to lapse into rhythmic motion by default. "Tunnels... caves that travel. For a pack that wanders." He approved, it was a fine idea. Though, the only tunnels he'd seen were the small ones made by rodents, and it took some doing to imagine ones large enough for hyenas to pass through. "The pack mimics the meerkat, far underground. Making holes and filling holes." He found this very amusing.
"Riddles, yes. What can be caught but not thrown? The world is riddling, and this one is curious." His mind drifted back to what the other hyena had said earlier, about the things his people traveled to obtain. "Grumpy one's pack possessive wanders for stories? Seeking the unsaid words? What stories do they stalk in the long grass? And knowledge as well? Do you store it in corners?"
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 10:12 pm
Kafil couldn't help but laugh. He had never thought of the fact that his pack seemed to be behaving like meerkats, but in a way they were. "Well the meerkats do know how to stay out of trouble, yes? Not a bad animal to be like. They keep each other safe, hide in the holes when they need to and then come out when it's clear." He watched with interest as Nimhglas danced around. That was yet another thing he wasn't used to but somehow it didn't seem so strange. Kafil doubted that anything this hyena could do would surprise him any more.
"Caught but not thrown?" He shrugged, "Sickness?" Kafil wasn't sure if he was right, but supposed it was worth a shot to answer the riddle given to him. "A scent?" He smirked, "We store it in our minds. Knowledge can be folded and squeezed into small places, so we can fit a lot in these skulls."
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 11:11 pm
Nimhglas nodded, as Kafil had given the answer to the riddle that he'd originally been given... sickness. But then again, "Is the answer the important part?" he pondered aloud. Sometimes he took much more enjoyment from the wondering after a solution than from finding it. Ah well, he supposed it didn't matter. He was happy just to ask the question, to hear it put out into the air for others to wonder.
The comment about knowledge made perfect sense to him. Afterall, only so many thoughts could be held at once, so they surely must take up space, but so many things could be remembered, so they must be very small. Folding made sense. He danced slowly nearer to Kafil and snapped his teeth teasingly at him, though nowhere near his actual skin. "The less grumpy one's pack possessive has many fascinations. This one should see those caves someday, oneday. Not this day, he fears. The shadows change, the feet urge motion." His restless spirit was picking up momentum. As interesting as this hyena was, he'd just had the longest conversation in months, and needed to have some privacy and space soon, to recover.
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Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 5:41 pm
"The answer is as important as the question, but no more." Kafil wondered about this for a moment, "Yes, two parts of the same whole. Answer is no good without it's question, but an question leaves a sense of emptiness if unanswered."
"It would be a pleasure to have you there." Kafil was slightly disappointed that he would not be joining him at the current moment, as he quite enjoyed his company, but the fact that he would see him again gave him something to look forward to. "The caves are not far from here, they are between the two mountains over there." He nodded in the correct direction. "Simply tell the others that you know Kafil, perhaps share some of your riddles with them, and they will know that you are a friend." He smiled, "I look forward to your visit, friend."
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Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 5:55 pm
Marking the mountains and land around them in his memory so he could find them again, Nimhglas bowed low to the brown hyena. "This one may travel there on another day, if the senses align, carrying stories to put into little holes for the good of the meerkat pack. Maybe the pack can spare a few for the green poison to take with him as well." He always loved to hear a new tale or several dozen, if he could get the teller to suffer him.
Stretching out, he gave one last grin to Kafil and galloped off in the opposite direction on his uneven legs, and blended in with the plant life in time. He would need to hunt soon, but he would do so away from the pack territory so as not to impose. Maybe tomorrow he would find more small animals to watch, but after such a fun conversation, the mating habits of lower creatures would pale in comparison.
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