Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was another hot, bright and beautiful day in the desert. The heat had never bothered Dusty Sunset, as he was an Acha, and damned proud of it. The landscape was what sometimes bored him. It was endless sand, day in and day out. Occasionally he'd find a nice little oasis, and have a drink and a nap in the shade of the trees. But usually he just wandered, to and away from whatever he pleased. He was a solitary buck, nothing tied him down. And today was just another day for adventures. He crested another sand dune and looked down around him, hoping that something would draw his attention.

A greyish blur. Far away, too far to quite make sense of. Was it a rock? A mirage? It appeared to be moving, so he decided to investigate. It could be another kin, a Acha, like him. Or one of the strange swamp dwellers. Or one of the plains things. Or one of the mountain lurkers! He raced down the hill towards the grey speck, his adventure for the day was found.

He slowed as he approached, and was both disappointed and excited in the same moment. He'd been hoping to meet a swamp dweller. Instead it was an Acha. Dusty tilted his head in curiosity as he walked closer. What was she doing? She had something she was burying, or uncovering from the warm desert sands.

"Hi there," he spoke quietly. "I'm Dusty." He supposed that was as good an introduction as any. If she shied away, he'd go and leave her be. If she talked, they might become friends. If she wanted to fight... Well, it had been a long time since he'd been in a good brawl. Curiously, he leaned down to inspect the thing she was playing with.

Dust of Gold and Coal. The name suited her, he thought. She was, after all, dusted with markings that were those colors. He decided he would just assume that's why she was called that, unless she told him otherwise. She seemed to size him up, and then asked if he needed something.

"What? No. I was just passing by. Traveling through, I guess. I saw you from over there," he indicated the top of the hill with a jerk of his horns, "And so I thought I'd come and see what was going on. I don't see many others wandering around. You like trinkets like that thing?." He was sort of rambling, but also curious. He'd do anything to make a cute doe smile and chat.

Loves shiny things. Typical doe. He smiled a little. It wasn't that he was judging her. He was making little notes to himself, things to remember about her. She was very excited, suddenly. He listened intently to her barrage of questions, then smiled when he had time to answer.

"I just kind of travel... around. Wherever I feel like going. Wherever there's something I want to look at, I go and look at it. And when I'm bored with looking at it, I find something else to look at." He wondered briefly if he was making any sense at all, but was willing to shrug it off if she didn't get it. Some kinds of kin just didn't get him, and that was just fine. "I don't usually find much interesting, he admitted sheepishly. "At least not shiny things like that. I sometimes meet other Acha. None of them as pretty as you, though."

He grinned at her cheekily as he thought about a story he could tell her. He had been to the swamp once or twice, though he'd never met any of the strange kin that supposedly lived there. His travels to the swamp were some of his least interesting stories, as nothing much had happened and he'd gotten bored and left. He wondered if he should ask her what kind of story she'd prefer him to tell. He was also quite good at making them up, if the need arose.

"You're welcome," he bowed his head. "What kind of story would you like me to tell, Dust? I have a story of the swamp, but it's not very interesting. It is a dark and creepy place, full of mud and fog and shadows. I haven't seen any of the swamp dwellers, either. I'm beginning to think the Kimeti are a myth."

Another Acha who thought the Kimeti were just a myth? He grinned at his good fortune. He'd seen some of the birds the doe mentioned. And he'd seen some of the other strange creatures as well; giant wasps, large moths and swans. Dusty had even had an encounter with a strange and dangerous creature he believed were called "caiman." Deciding that was a good enough story to tell, he watched a large bird go by, then turned his attention back to her.

She was inviting him back to her den? He would definitely take her up on that, with the sun boiling high in the sky above him. Usually he didn't have the opportunity to lay about in the shade. A den would be nice. "I'd love to accompany you to your den, if you'd be so kind. It would be lovely to be out of the sun for a few minutes. And food sounds wonderful. Shall I start the story on the way, or wait until we arrive?"

"Then a tale along the way," Dusty decided. He watched, curious as to what she was doing with the little shiny stone. It appeared she wanted to take it along with her. The mouth would be what he usually carried his things in however, it wouldn't allow for conversation. An idea grew in his head, for a bag made of vines that one could carry along with them. He stored it away for later, trying to decide where it would be best to start his story.

It's this way, she said, so he followed along beside her, reciting his tale. "It was a rainy day, a few moons ago, and I was bored. The desert sands were getting damp, and there's nothing worse than wet, sticky sand on the hooves. I wanted some adventure, so I made my way to the place where the sands meet the swamp. The swamp has a stranger odor when it rains, one I can't describe to someone who hasn't smelled it themself. "

"I crossed the border cautiously, there are many tales of disastrous swamp excursions. For a while, I didn't see anything but trees and vines and swamp. But after wandering for a few hours, I began to have the sense that I was being followed. The hairs on my spine stood on end, but I could see nothing that looked dangerous. There were no noises except for the eerie humming of the wetlands."