[PRP] Lost (Chenza/Hivu)

[Freodwyn]

Chenza the wild dog surveyed her surroundings, and noted the strange trees surrounding her. Where did all of these trees come from? It wasn't as if there was a watering hole to spawn them; they were just everyone in this place.

"That's the last time I decide to wander in a different direction than usual..." she said to herself. She wasn't particularly worried about getting back to her pack; she just had to turn around and walk back, right? And back was behind her...yeah. She wasn't lost. She just didn't know where this place was.  

[Atheare]

Msuluhivu looked down upon the strange new creature, she had never seen a wild dog before. Actually, she had only met leopards, a lion, and a cheetah, basically, she was familiar with felines. She was completely unfamiliar with the short tail and longer snout, it was quite intreguing. Jumping down from her perch in her tree, she landed in front of Chenza, smiling.

"Hello, I'm Msuluhivu, but Hivu for short, and if you don't mind me asking, what are you?" She always did have a habit of introductions first, possibility of danger later.  

[Freodwyn]

Chenza blinked in surprise. These trees were scary things indeed, if strange creatures could fall from them at seemingly random times. The creature seemed smaller than a big lion, though it was a lot like a lion in some ways. Chenza was slightly afraid. After all, it had come from the magic trees that grew without a watering hole! Who knew what mysterious powers the creature had?

"A pleasure to meet you, Msuluhivu-but-Hivu-for-short," the wild dog said. "I am a wild dog named Chenza." It was best to be polite to strange creatures from trees.  

[Atheare]

She chuckled, "You're funny Chenza, its nice to meet you too." She said, still giggling. "A wild dog huh? I've never heard of those before, I'm a leopard" She said, puffing out her chest happily. "Can wild dogs climb trees?" She asked, eyeing the slender limbs Chenza had, wondering how such tiny things could support anything at all. "I love to climb trees personally." She said flexing her claws absent mindedly and clawing a nearby tree.

"Or are you runners?" She asked, "I met a cheetah once and he ran real fast, but he couldn't climb. He was very funny though, like you! Maybe funny creatures run and the rest of us climb?"  

[Freodwyn]

"A leopard," Chenza repeated quietly, making a mental note of it. "I've never heard of a leopard before either. It looks like leopards have...very sharp claws," she said, her voice shaking a little as she watched the leopard claw the tree. "And you can climb trees? I've heard of things climbing trees, but I wouldn't dare try it myself. I'd get scared the second I left the ground."

"Runners? Oh no, I couldn't run as fast as a grown cheetah. But I have a loud bark that I've been practicing," she said, beaming at the very thought of it.  

[Atheare]

"Yes I suppose we do have sharp claws," She said, picking up her right paw and looking at it, observing her claws as she flexed them. "You don't seem to have much of claws at all yourself," She said, looking at Chenza's feet. "Oh yes, I climb trees all the time, its so enjoyable..." She said, grasping the tree with her claws and pulling herself onto one of the low branches. "See? And its much easier to see things from here." She said before jumping back down.

"A bark? Like the bark on a tree? I've never known it to be loud before, though I suppose it could be loud if it wanted too..." She said, looking carefully at the bark on the tree nearest her.  

[Freodwyn]

"I suppose it would be easier to see things from there," Chenza said. "Though a tall rock would be easier for me to access than a tree. Even if I did manage to get up a tree, I'd be scared of falling the entire time I was up there."

The wild dog snickered. "Well, I suppose the bark on a tree could be loud if someone really scratched it hard, but that wasn't the kind of bark I was talking about. This was the kind," she said before she hunched her shoulders back and let out a loud, "GRRRAOARF!"

"I don't know why that's called a bark, as it doesn't really sound like a tree's bark at all."  

[Atheare]

"Really? I've never really been scared of falling..." She said, strictly land creatures sure were strange.

She jumped at the sound of the loud bark, she had never heard that sound before. Fur bristled slightly from shock, she said, "That was um, really loud." She said, "I've never heard that kind of noise before, let me try." She said, standing, taking a deap breath and letting out a loud "REAAAAWR!"

"Ahem... I'm not exactly sure what that was, but I think it was more of a roar, I guess leopards can't bark."  

[Freodwyn]

Chenza ducked down at the sound of the leopard's roar, her eyes darting around for the sign of the creature it sounded like. "Are you sure you're not a big lion? That's what it sounded like to me." But, at the statement that leopards couldn't bark, she grinned. "Wild dogs are the only creatures that can, as far as I'm aware, though I did meet a little lion once that can bark. Maybe she was part wild dog..."  

[Atheare]

"I'm pretty sure, but I met one once, and she had more fur on her head." She said, "And her tail was fluffy at the end." She said, sitting and flicking her tail so that it was wraped around her legs.

"Really? Thats neat, I always thought everyone could make the same sounds." She said, showing how unfamiliar she was with anything other than a feline. "A little lion that barks? How strange, I've never heard of one doing that before."  

[Freodwyn]

"Fur on head...fluffy tail at the end..." Chenza said. "Yeah, I suppose you aren't a lion. You've got a smooth tail. Wild dog tails are fluffy all around," she noted, holding up her tail for inspection. "And mine's juuuust long enough to escape me when I'm chasing it."

"I hadn't heard a little lion do that before either. Granted, I'd never seen a little lion before, so maybe they all can do it, and they're secretly hiding it from us all." Her eyes widened at the thought of this most interesting secret. "I don't think everyone could make the same sounds, though. We all have different voices, so we all sound slightly different."  

[Atheare]

"Yeah, you are fluffy all over." She said with a little laugh, "And I've never thought of chasing my tail, but I suppose I wouldn't need to since its so long." She said, flicking her tail again. "Why do you chase it?" She asked, cocking her head to one side.

"I guess they all could if they wanted to, or maybe the one you met was just special." She said, "or the only one who is willing to show it." She said, "Perhaps I shall ask the next lion I come to meet, see if he or she will bark for me." She said happily, "Yeah, I guess we all are different aren't we, there are so many different kinds of things in the world, I wonder what else there is."  

[Freodwyn]

Chenza paused in thought. Why did she chase her tail, anyway? It wasn't as if she caught it often enough for it to be a logical thing to do. "I guess I chase my tail because it's fun. Sometimes I get so hyper and full of energy, I can't help letting some of it out by chasing my tail. It's better than letting it out some other way."

At the mention of the barking survey, the wild dog grinned. "That sounds like a good idea! If they want to keep it a secret, they won't show you their bark. If they can't bark, they'll try and fail. If they can bark and don't want to keep it a secret, they'll bark for you. It sounds like something that will solve this mystery once and for all. As for other creatures...I don't know what else is out there. But I'm sure there's got to be as many different kinds of predators as there are prey animals. It's only fair, after all."  

[Atheare]

"I suppose chasing my tail would be fun if it wasn't so long that I would always catch it." She giggled, "After all, what fun is it to chase something that I can do this with?" She asked, raising her tail and lowering her head slightly and putting it into her mouth. Letting it go, she laughed, "Not much fun at all I would guess."

"Wow, I never really thought of it that way, I guess there isn't really a way around showing if you can bark or not when you put it that way." She said with a large grin. "Yeah, there should be tons of predators since there are so many kinds of prey." She said, "Otherwise there would be too many of those little guys running around and there wouldn't be any fun in hunting." She said, "They would be everywhere! There has to be some kind of balance."  

[Freodwyn]

"You do have a long tail," Chenza said. "That wouldn't be fun for chasing, but it would be funny to trick people into thinking it was a snake up in the tree." The wild dog grinned mischieviously. "I would have thought that if your tail was the first part of you I saw."

"Yeah, the overcrowding would be a problem if there were only a few kinds of predators. It would also be an uninteresting world if there were just a few kinds of things that swallowed up the diverse prey animals. There wouldn't be any variety after a while, and that would be boring." she said, appreciating the strange trees more as she thought about it. "Still, sometimes the familiar is a good thing too. Do you know the way to the edge of the strange trees, near the savannah?"