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 Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 10:30 pm
 Nata wasn't quite sure how she had ended up where she was, but it was a very bleak sort of place. The ground was dusty, the bushes were scragglely, and there were shadows everywhere. Nata found it rather depressing.
She kind of wanted some company - even a grumpy feline, just to talk to and keep the gloom away. Unfortunately, there was no such critter - so Nata treaded her path alone, humming nonsense to keep her spirits up and sending up puffles of dust every time she took a step.
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Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 10:39 pm
 Fulathela was sniffing around outside of the Mava'Bunda lands and hoping to find some dinner. So far he hadn't come across a single solitary creature. While that was good for pack security it was horrible for his grumbly tummy. Thankfully Thela was behaving, Fula thought he might be hungry too. Whatever the reason, it was a nice reprieve from chasing him all over the gods' green... or not so green earth.
Then, low and behold! Carrion! Oh sweet delicious food! How could this get any better!? He'd even beaten the vultures to it! He immediately dug in. A few minutes later his ears pricked as he heard, was that humming? Thela immediately departed, fleeing in the direction of the sound. Ugh.
Quickly chasing Thela from shadow to shadow he barreled into another hyena as he finally caught his shadow that had just merged with hers. He stomped on his newly returned shadow with irritation then peered at the hyena he'd knocked down. Hello hello, he'd never seen her before.
"Hey, sorry 'bout that. My stupid shadow almost got away again." She looked like a nice enough hyena, maybe she'd like to share the carrion he'd found...
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Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 10:49 pm
Nata had met enthusiastic males before, but none of them had ever bowled her over like that.
"Oh, it's ok, I was just walking and humming, nothing really to interrupt. Did you say that your shadow got away again?"
Nata didn't know that shadows could get away. She thought they were pretty much stuck to whatever they were a shadow of, whether a hyena shadow or a tree shadow or a mountain shadow. Sometimes shadows moved even if you weren't moving though, so she guessed that they could leave if they really wanted.
Maybe her shadow was just comfortable attached to her feet, and it didn't need to run away.
"Does your shadow get away a lot?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:06 pm
Fula let out a puff of air that stirred his mane out of his face. "Yeah, the annoying twit. Say, I haven't seen you around here before. You're not of the Mava'Bundi." He sat down and stared at her to make sure he'd never seen her before. Nope, she was new. He didn't sense any threat from her, and with how calmly she'd taken being bowled over he didn't think she'd be interested in a big fight.
"You're kinda coming right up close to our lands, so don't go any further that way unless you're planning on joining." He pointed with his nose towards the Elephant Graveyard. "But anyway, I've got some carrion over that way if you want to share. I'm scouting around and I'm starving." He pointed in a different direction this time. Maybe if he got the female to come with him, Thela wouldn't flee again. Maybe.
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 8:34 am
"I am kind of hungry," Nata admitted when he mentioned the carrion. She hadn't had to much luck scavenging the last few days - the last thing she had was a half-eaten hare carcass, and it hadn't been very filling.
"What's a Mava'Bundi? And how does your shadow get away from you? My shadow never got away from me. Maybe it wants too and its just stuck? What are you scouting for, any how? More shadows?"
Nata didn't know anything about this area, and thought maybe escaping shadows were commonplace, or a nuisance. Maybe they were even a threat?Could shadows even do anything to the things they were shadows of?
Nata wished the stars were out. Things always made more sense when she could watch the stars.
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:04 am
"Mava'Bunda is the name of the pack I belong to. And I'm scouting for more members and watching out for silly lions and stuff. I've never met anyone else with a wandering shadow, that I know of. But Thela's just a brat, don't be too interested in him he might become part of your shadow again. He likes attractive females."
Fula led the way towards his untouched carrion. When he saw it again he was relieved that the vultures were still circling and not touching down. He hated vultures, they liked to take what he'd rightfully stolen or found.
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Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 9:37 pm
"Who's Thela? Is that your shadow? Carrion sounds delicious."
Nata completely missed out on the compliment. She was too distracted by the thought of food - and the idea of someone else's shadow becoming part of her shadow. She didn't think she could take care of two, now that she knew sometimes they could get away.
But the carrion really sounded great. Everything sounded delicious when you were as hungry as Nata was.
"I don't know about joining a pack if there are a bunch of silly lions around. I've only ever met grumpy ones, and I haven't had much luck with packs."
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:25 pm
"Don't worry too much about Thela, you'll just encourage him. And there aren't any stupid lions in our pack. Just hyenas an' slaves. But I personally don't have one. The lions typically leave our area alone. But occasionally a really dumb one will hover around uselessly till a scout sets 'em straight." Fula trotted over to the delicious, perfect carrion. Mmm.
He made sure to leave her a fair share of the good bits. He could be a gentleman, despite what Thela whispered and tried to make him do. Thela certainly was not a good example to follow. He's learned that one early. "So what exactly are you doing around here anyway? It's a pretty desolate area unless you're looking for trouble or the Mava'Bunda."
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 8:16 pm
"I won't encourage him then. I don't want him to keep running away on you. It's probably really irritating."
Nata would have to keep an eye on her own shadow. She didn't want it to start behaving like Thela and running away from her. She didn't know what it was like not to have a shadow but she didn't really want to know, either.
Nata started chowing down on the remnants of a leg. Leg meat was tough, sometimes, but filling.
"Oh, I wasn't really going anywhere or looking for anything. I was just following the stars. That's how I always get where I am going, when I get there. What're the slaves for? Do they hunt or something?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 8:47 am
"It is irritating. And the slaves help out with whatever we need." He said after chewing and swallowing. "So you trust the stars to lead you to your destiny or something?" He took a big bite out of the shoulder. What a weird way to decide where you're going. Eh, each to their own he guessed.
He personally would never trust the stars to lead him to destiny or anywhere for that matter. They were tricksy and liked to hide behind clouds. That, and then went in circles as the seasons passed, so he'd always be going right back to where he started. Circles were no fun.
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 9:11 pm
"No, I don't think they care a lick about me. But they always seem to know where they're going, even if it is a really big circle. So I figure if I follow something that knows where it's going, I'll end up somewhere that someone thinks is worth going. They brought me here, anyway, and now I have dinner."
Nata's logic was perfect, as far as she was concerned. After all, wildebeest herds seemed to know where they were going and when she was little her family had followed them and they usually got somewhere worthwhile. Somewhere with lots of wildebeest. A coincidence? Not likely. It was because the wildebeest knew what they were doing.
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:06 pm
"Yeah I don't think the stars care at all. Though it sounds like you have pretty good luck, not to mention a pretty face, so you must find wandering pretty easy." Fula took another bite and specifically didn't listen to Thela's dark mutterings about what exactly they should be doing to Nata right then. Stupid horny shadow.
"Well you'd be welcome in the Mava'Bunda. The view of the stars from the top of the elephant skeletons is really cool. It's almost like being a part of them."
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:24 pm
"Um, thank you." Nata guessed that was a compliment. She wasn't quite sure.
"Why are there elephant skeletons? Do you guys eat a lot of elephant? What's your pack like, aside from the slaves and the stupid lions and all?"
Nata wasn't necessarily opposed to the idea of joining a pack, she just wasn't sure she wanted to. It wasn't like she could just wander off if she joined a pack, and wandering was . . . well it was what she did. She didn't know another way to live.
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:39 pm
"You're welcome." Fula said with a grin. "I don't know many of the pack members 'cause I'm new myself and I'm a scout, so I'm in the rogue lands around our borders a lot. But all of the hyena's involved aren't huge fans of lions. And there's a bunch of elephant skeletons 'cause we live in the Elephant Graveyard. When I'm home I live in an elephant skull." Fulathela thought that was pretty awesome.
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:37 pm
"I guess the elephant doesn't mind," Nata said. "Was that a joke I just made?"
Maybe being around other hyenas would be good for her. She'd have to ponder. It wasn't often she did things like make jokes.
"Do you think it would be ok if I visited for a bit and see if I liked it? I don't want to plunk myself down with out being sure. And I haven't met anyone but you so far. How are the other hyenas?"
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