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 Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 12:40 pm
  "Like, I'm telling you, Mar, it was so this way! I woke up and it was there! All bright and shiny and colourful. They're so rare but it was like this one wanted to find me. It's got to be the one. It has to be!" Kalpana, the young wild dog trotted at a hasty pace across a stretch of open land, her head up, searching the sky with her bright green eyes. "It was somewhere around here..."
"How could you lose a rainbow, Kal?" Marakl asked, tongue lolling from the side of his mouth as he trotted after the much slimmer and lightweight species. All this fast walking tired him out but he wasn't one to complain. After all, following the lithe canine often meant adventure and that certainly did well to make life interesting.
"I didn't lose it!" She insisted, pausing to wait for him to catch up. "I just--ooooooo~! Mar! Look!" She shoved past him, heading towards a small outcrop of shrubs; twisted and crackling under the powerful sun. "Look at that!"
The young male padded over to stand beside her, sticking his square, blunt muzzle to the ground.
"Shiiiny." Kalpana continued softly.
"What is it?"
"You don't know? It's a rainbow bug!" The dog gave the large, shiny beetle a nudge, tipping it onto its back, legs flailing as it tried to right itself. "Oops...sorry mister bug."
"Oh, look, he's up again." The dark-pelted hyena sat back on his haunches and watched as his friend tracked the beetle across the ground, fighting back a yawn as he took the opportunity to rest his paws.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 8:40 am
 Hawera hardly spent any time with her family these days. That was just fine with her. She was busy. She had things to do. Important things! Right now, those important things involved lying very still in the shrubs, observing the unusual beetle that had been flying around. It was very shiny. She wondered why. To attract a mate? Hawera would have liked to see the beetle courting, but the only thing those colors seemed to be attracting today was attention from a couple of loudmouths. Hawera sat still, hoping they would go away, but when the wild dog started smacking the beetle around, she stood. "Hey!" Hawera yelped, shaking leaves and twigs from her fur as she stomped towards the pair. "I was watching that bug."
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:13 am
The sudden voice had both wild dog and hyena leaping backwards in surprise; their faces both a picture of shock and fur bristled.
It was Marakl, surprisingly, who came around quicker than his canine counterpart. He hadn't seen another hyena in the longest time. In fact, not since his youth when he'd teamed up with one to search for monsters. And now, all of a sudden, there was one just in front of them; all black, white and pink and apparently very good at hiding.
"A hyena!" He blurted, in no way answering her question. "Hello!" Then his tail wagged fiercely and he dived forwards to meet her, almost crushing the bug as he did so.
Kalpana - who had heard Hawera's question - dived forwards on her stomach and placed her paws protectively around the probably terrified insect. She didn't want to get into trouble for squishing someone's friend. "Hello!" She added then, with a lop-sided but perhaps nervous grin. "Sorry! We were looking for rainbows and then we saw this and--"
"--Where did you come from?" Marakl interrupted. "Are there others close by? I'm Marakl! Who are you?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:43 am
It was gratifying to see the two of them so intimidated, but they didn't stay that way for long. Too bad. She was hoping they would just run off and go harass bugs somewhere else, but that didn't look like it was going to happen. Hawera sighed, bracing herself as the black and purple hyena dove for her.
And now the dumb wild dog was putting its paws all over the bug. The poor thing would probably flee as soon as she let it go. Hawera would never get to observe its natural behavior now! She was annoyed, but knew from long experience that other people tended not to care about her important observations. She would just have to come back another day and hope the beetle was out then ... assuming she hadn't found a more interesting beetle to watch, of course.
"I'm Hawera. I'm on a trip, collecting information." Okay, so trips usually had a start point and a destination, but Hawera wasn't about to say she just wandered around like a vagabond. She was a scientist. "I don't think there are any others close by. Unless you two come from a pack?" She eyed the pair suspiciously, wondering if they were about to fuss at her for coming onto their territory.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:57 am
"A trip? That's so neat!" Marakl gushed. "Are you searching for something special? That's what we're doing right now!" Or, all the time in fact, since they weren't very good searches and the very thing they were looking for was unreachable even to the gods. "Me and Kalpana, that is. Well, it's her quest, but I'm helping." He indicated the wild dog who was busy being distracted by the bug. It had crawled up onto her paw now and was attempting to walk up her leg, though it seemed to be having a hard time of navigating over fur.
"A...pack?" Marakl echoed, thinking. "Weeeell, we do have a pack. A small one. There was me, Kalpana and her sister Marzi and then grump-face Atreyu. They're around somewheres but they're not so keen on Kalpana's quest so we leave them behind sometimes." His tail picked up pace again. "I've not seen a hyena since I was little! I thought they'd all gone running some place and I'd missed out on the note." He wrinkled his snout thoughtfully. "Wait! What are you searching for? Can we help?" He bounced on his paws a little and turned his head to see if Kalpana agreed.
By this time, the wild dog was going cross-eyed trying to focus on the beetle crawling along her snout.
"Kalpana?!" Marakl yelled enthusiastically.
The wild dog startled again, her eyes sidling back to the hyenas. "I think it likes me!"
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 6:06 am
This was ridiculous. Hawera would almost have preferred them to be your typical pack guards, hostile and grumpy. These two were ... well ... she sighed again as the beetle crawled onto Kalpana's snout. "Very interesting," she said wearily. Yep, her observations were ruined for the day.
Oh, well. There was always tomorrow. Unless - Hawera felt cold at the idea - these two tried to tag along to 'help' her. Hawera was grumpy at times, but she wasn't mean. She didn't want to crush their poor dumb feelings by shouting at them.
"What's your quest for?" she asked, ignoring Marakl's question about her mission. With any luck he would forget his offer and just blather on about whatever silly thing he was looking for.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 6:15 am
Kalpana's tail thumped enthusiastically against the ground and when she spoke, she was careful not to dislodge the poor insect clinging to her face. "We're looking for the kingdom at the end of the rainbow! I saw one this morning but it disappeared."
"I'm not sure she actually found one." Marakl replied, covering his mouth with a paw to prevent his friend from hearing. Unfortunately he was speaking so loud the whole effort was pointless.
"I did too!" The wild dog insisted. "It was so pretty! I wouldn't imagine something as pretty as that." Though it was very likely that she would, since she even seemed to dream about the things. "There's this story, you see, that my father told me. That if someone is lucky enough to find the end of the rainbow, they can be granted any wish they desire! The land itself is supposed to be pretty amazing, too. Lots of water and green trees and flowers." She sighed.
"Did you see the rainbow today, Hawera?" Marakl asked, cutting off Kalpana's reverie.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 6:26 am
The kingdom at the end of the rainbow?
Oh, gods. Hawera's paw twitched, the urge to face-palm almost overwhelming, but she managed to keep still.
"I saw it," Hawera said. She wanted to inform them about what rainbows actually were, but she didn't know herself. She had never bothered to study from. Intuition told her that they had something to do with rain in the air. It also told her that they didn't have any fantasy kingdoms attached to their ends.
"Rainbows are pretty, but I don't think they come from kingdoms," Hawera said, her voice gentle. She didn't want to be mean to Kalpana, but she couldn't let talk of magic rainbow kingdoms slide without commenting on it.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 6:34 am
At Hawera's confirmation of seeing it, Kalpana shot a glance towards Marakl and stuck her tongue out at him briefly. The dark-pelted hyena gave a small huff and sat down heavily on the ground.
"Okay, okay, you were right." He admitted, wondering - momentarily - where the beetle had gone. It had been working its way up to the top of Kalpana's head a moment ago but now--had it fallen down? His purple eyes tracked across the ground but he couldn't see anything there.
And then:
"Wh-what?" Kalpana's eyes had widened in disbelief. "But--but--but." Her face had become pleading. "What do you mean? They must do! They're so pretty and magical and my father said..." She trailed, hardly daring to believe there might be truth in Hawera's words. If they weren't magic then what were they? Surely something had to be making them and where else but a beautiful place filled with wishes and wonder?
"Wait, how does your dad know about them anyway? Did he ever go to one?" Realisation was beginning to dawn on the slow-minded hyena.
"Well...no...but he must have known someone who did!" She turned back to Hawera. "...Right?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 1:52 pm
Well, sheesh, She hadn't meant to trample on this poor dumb wild dog's dreams. Hawera had little patience for foolishness, but she wasn't cruel. If people wanted to be silly, well, she didn't care, as long as they didn't get in the way of her important observations!
"Hrmm..." It took a moment for Hawera to think of something to say. She had just been watching a beetle, she hadn't expected to have to deal with a half-hysterical wild dog! "Well, maybe they do have magic," she said grudgingly. "If you believe they do." Spitting out the absurd words was like pulling out porcupine quills. Difficult, and it hurt! Well, Hawera had done her best to soothe poor dumb Kalpana. No one could say she hadn't.
She looked over at the hyena hopefully. He was a hyena too, so maybe he was smart ... right? Maybe? Well, maybe he could at least get Kalpana to calm down.
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 4:20 pm
Kalpana was sniffling quietly, trying to come to terms with what the female hyena had said. Could it really have been true? Could her father have been mistaken? Was it all just some...some fake story?! By this point she looked to be close to hyperventilating, her eyes wide and dilated, her ears pinning back against the thick fur of her neck.
Marakl, looking suddenly worried, bounced back to his paws at Hawera's next words, backing them up so as to calm his companion down. "See, Kalpana? It might not all be so bad."
"If...I believe they do?" The wild dog echoed. "I...maybe."
"We won't give up, Kal." The hyena continued, throwing his purple-eyed gaze back to the other hyena. Eeeee, a hyena! After all this time! One was really right there next to him. Next to him. He could hardly believe it. He edged a little closer, snuffling curiously at the air again. Hyena's did smell different to lions and wild dogs! He wondered, briefly, if he smelt different, too, or whether spending a lifetime around lions and dogs had changed him.
"Maybe...maybe we should find my dad." Kalpana finally finished, blinking as she realised Marakl wasn't paying any attention. "Hey, you; listen!"
"Wha-? Oh, yep! Great!" He smiled and his tongue lolled from the side of his mouth. And then, he realised he wasn't actually sure what she had said. "Uh, sorry, what?"
"My dad. We should go find him and ask."
"Okay!" Andf the hyena was in his paws and looking eagerly between them. "What about you, Hawera?"
"She can come too!" The wild dog yipped, taking off with an unrestrained burst of energy. "Let's go!"
And so; they did.
/fin
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