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 Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:19 pm
Chilled dew sparkled in the warming morning sun as it clung to the tips of the grasses. There was no breeze and the grasslands seemed silent, nothing moved or made a sound, as if everything was frozen in it's resting place. Soon enough, footsteps broke the everlasting silence as a chocolate colored wild dog made her way tiredly up a small hill that provided a sun-drenched warm spot for a little refreshment from the cool night.
Damalis sat back on her haunches,wrapping her tail loosely around her front paws and sighing deeply, inhaling the fresh, warm scents of the morning. The sun warmed up her fur and ruby eyes scanned the empty land before her, her ears laid back comfortably. What a nice way to start off the day.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:36 pm
Zinduka rolled over, and scratched his snout absentmindedly. A sliver of morning sun entered his eyes as he cracked them open. Morning already? He though lazily as he rolled up. It was amazing how fast time went when one slept, and he had slept well last night, despite the nagging doubts in his mind about the possibility of a sneak attack by some other animal. He had slept like a stone, most likely it was that he was so tired, too tired even to worry too much. Where he had been there was now a slight imprint of his body in the grass. Zinduka sniffed the air, smelling the comforting morning air.
The fear that had gripped him last night had left him, and his mind was now filled with thoughts of the day ahead. The world was wide open, he realized, wide open for him to explore. With no aim in mind, Zinduka wandered north, scanning the horizon for any other creature nearby.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:39 pm
Machungwa'kweu, or Kweu as her friend Motubawa prefered to call her, trotted over the wet grasses. Every few minutes she would look up into the sky and seem to watch something, though nothing was there, not even clouds. There was dried blood on her haunches from a run-in with a rather nasty tempered hyena two nights before, but if she recalled it she showed no sign. She hadn't even given the healing wound a moments notice in the time since she had gained it.
She was looking up at the sky again, so she didn't notice the other wild dog ahead of her.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:46 pm
Damalis's ears perked up as soon as she began hearing another set of footsteps near by. Not in any hurry, she pulled herself to her paws with a breathy sigh and began searching the land around her for the source of the disturbance. Her ears stood up cautiously and soon she was fully awake and aware that someone was growing nearer.
Catching sight of an orange colored wild dog in the distance, the fur on the back of her neck rested a bit, seeing that she was no threat at the moment. Sitting back down in the wet grass, a wide grin spread across her muzzle as she tried to look as friendly as possible in attempt to not scare the newcommer off.
"Hello, there!" She called out in a warm tone in the wild dog's direction, not at all aware that the two of them were not alone.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:52 pm
He hadn't spotted her; it was her voice that alerted him of her presence. Zinduka squinted his eyes and peered toward the direction of the voice, and spotted, standing in a distance, a dark brown creature. Another one of my own kind? Zinduka couldn't help but wonder. He sped up toward the direction of the creature; it had been awhile since he had been with another hyena, and that was still one of his siblings. No no, he slowed down again, the posture of this stranger was different, too different to be one of his own kind.
Zinduka hesitated, unsure of what to do. If he moved quietly, he could still get away without being detected...
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:57 pm
Kweu looked down from the sky when she heard someone call to her. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the wild dog. She paused, looking undecisive, her ears pointing towards her right, as if listening to someone.
"Yeah, I guess..." she mumbled and walked towards the dark dog. Her head jerked up, following a path across the sky for a moment before looking to her left. She searched the grass for signs of movement that would have sent her friend into flight.
"Who's there?" she asked, her voice light and breezy, though her tone was rather sharp.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:25 pm
Realizing that there was a sharp tone to the wild dog's reply, she relaxed a bit more to show off a more layed-back state. Ears layed back and tail curled back around her paws again, she nodded a polite greeting in her direction. "Peace, friend. I'm nothing more then a traveler."
Ears perked back up attentivly as yet another stir in the silence caught her attention. She looked over her shoulder in the direction she thought the sound had come from, but saw nothing at all. With a slight shrug, Damalis turned her attention back to the orange wild dog and flashed her a friendly grin.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:35 pm
Another voice pierced the air, a sharper one this time. Who's there, it had asked; that was dreaded question Zinduka had been waiting for all along. He was sure it was aimed at him, and with a nervous twitch he prepared himself for what could potentially be next. Darn this black and white coat of mine, a thought passed in the back of the pup's mind, really stands out in the grass. Hardly an convient time for such a thought, but if he had to guess, Zinduka was sure that it was his fur color that gave him away.
Might as well answer, Zinduka pondered his current situation. The voice sounded authoritative, that and definately older. Trying to outrun the creature would be too risky; it would be far better to act submissive. "I come in peace," he finally said. It came out shaky, as Zinduka hoped it would.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:38 pm
Kweu glanced over to the other wild dog and frowned.
"I know. I wasn't talking to you. There's something over here," she replied, motioning with a jerk of her head to where she'd heard the sound. She was sure there was something there. Motubawa had said so and she always listened to him, except when he tried to explain why he wouldn't let others but her see him. He was an odd bird, that was for sure.
She watched as a small hyena pup walked out towards her. He looked so scared that her heart melted and her ears drooped for sounding so harsh.
"I'm sorry. Don't be afraid," she crooned softly, her tail wagging a little bit.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:45 pm
Damalis's eyes widened slightly, clearly a bit emberassed that she hadn't realized that the wild dog hadn't been speaking to her. Shaking it off briefly, she brought herself to her paws and padded swiftly down the slope of the hill, quickly spotting who the newcommher had really been talking to. She spotted the small black and white hyena pup and grinned, ears perked up curiously, for she had never come fave-to-face with this kind of creature.
"Hello there, little one." She stood a couple paces behind the wild dog, not sure if either was happy with her being there.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:54 pm
Zinduka approached the two strangers slowly, taking care to keep his ears tucked back, his tail low, and his voice soft. He had been correct in his guess that neither one was of his own kind, as he could now clearly see. Zinduka searched his memories for any creature he might have seen that was similar to the two standing before him, but nothing came to mind.
He looking from the orange face to the brown face and back to the orange face again. They looked friendly enough, and Zinduka noted with relief that both had softened their expressions. "hello..." He spoke the words softly, unsure of what to say next. "You are not like me... are you..." Well, that was as good a conversation starter as any.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 10:01 pm
Kweu slowly shook her head at the question.
"No, we're not. We're wild dogs and you're a hyena," she said, looking up to the sky, then lying down so that she didn't tower over the pup. She glanced to her left and nodded.
"Yes, I do believe introductions are in order," she said, glanced over her shoudler at the other female, then back to the pup.
"My name is Machungwa'kweu, but that's such a mouthful. My friend calls me Kweu. What are your names?" she asked her tail flipping back and forth, as an idle pup's would.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 10:08 pm
Damalis nodded, there was no need to repeat what Kweu had just said. She sat back on her haunches and sighed contently and nodded at the two of them. "I'm Damalis."
The fact that a hyena pup was alone out in the open surprised her slightly, it seemed no adults were around-- She thought for a moment for a resonable explination, but couldn't think of a thing. Curiosity got the better of her and she asked anyway.
"Why are you alone? Where is your family?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 10:26 pm
Zinduka nodded slowly at what Kweu had explained, trying hard to understand. The concept was new to him, not to mention that he had never seen a wild dog before. I guess they are just the other creatures that live on the land, Zinduka rationalized, thinking back to when he and his brother had had a similar conversation but about rabbits, it's like saying that they are rabbits, except that they are not... they are much too big to be anyways. Never call them rabbits, Zinduka made a mental note, they will most likely be very offending and make minced meat out of me.
"I'm Zinduka," He finally attempted at an introduction, "you can call me Zin... if you want." His tail had started to wag slightly, indicating that he was happy to make the acquantences. He tilted his head to one side at Damalis' question; oh where to begin. "Me and my brother used to travel together.... I don't think I have a family... except for him anyways. He was older... and he used to tell me we had a sister too... but I think he was just fooling with me. We got separated a few months ago." Zinduka wondered what more he should reveal, and after some moments of thought, offered up the abbreviated version of what had happened: "We... ah... had our differences."
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