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 Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 2:17 pm
Wildfire-storm stayed silent while the does talked and the only noise heard from him were chirps and chatter from the bird on his back. When Tender Leaf mentioned what was bothering her he perked his ears. His strange dreams, Life Pulse's lack of music, Tender Leaf's increased anxiety... It all boiled down to one thing.
"Something has changed in the swamp," he said in a slow solemn voice, "I think we're all feeling it."
He stomped in the mud with one of his forelegs.
"I don't know if it's good or bad," he continued, "But when I sleep the dreams are often strange or disturbing. And even when I don't sleep I sometimes dream those dreams... Something has changed and I don't know if it's good or bad."
He trailed off and looked at the does.
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 11:53 am
Life-Pulse couldn't help but stare at the almost luminescent doe before them. She might have been gawking, but she woulnd't have been able to stop herself. Flicking her tail back and forth to the sound of the bird's chirps, she took a step forward, head held low almost examining the Tender Leaf as she cleaned her foreleg. Wildfire-storm's voice, once more, brought life-Pulse tumbling back into reality. Realizing what she was doing, and how rude she was being, she straightened up and roughly shook herself off. What's going on? I.... couldn't seem to control myself.... that was so.... not me...
Life-Pulse sat down, hard, and attempted to clear her mind by shaking her head again, as if trying to get rid of morning dew that settles in her coat.
Having calmed down a little, and finally regained some sort of thought-process, the doe looked up to see what she had missed.
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 5:28 pm
As Life-Pulse came nearer, Tender Leaf drew back a little, although she seemed to have calmed down considerably. She listened to Wildfire's words attentively, almost unaware of the other doe's gaze.
"Changed, yes. But I'm not sure how. It's.... different." In a small voice she added, "I don't know if it's bad, but I don't really like it."
Tender Leaf looked at Life-Pulse curiously as she shook, sat, then shook again. "Are you alright?" It occured to her that she was mirroring back the words spoken to her moments before. Everything was so strange lately, so very strange.
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:28 pm
The arrival of Tender Leaf seemed to have started to upset the delicate balance and scattered the brief illusion of normality they had shared while chasing away the bugs. Life Pulse was behaving erratically but while her strange actions registered Wildfire-storm felt himself slipping, sliding, unable to react.
A breeze picking up, a hint of smoke teasing his nostrils. Wildfire-storm relaxed into the familiar dream, feeling an invisible wind caress the fur on his back. He knew what was coming, and yet it was as if he dreamed his first dream for the first time. But suddenly the pleasant trance between dreaming and waking was interrupted by a doe screaming in anguished joy or joyful anguish.
He woke with a jolt, confused and not sure if the screaming doe had been one of his companions.
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:52 pm
Lfe-Pulse managed to regain her focus, and now that her eyes had cleared she could pay attention to what was going on around her. She heard something about a difference in the world of Matope, and perhaps an arguement over good or bad? Something along those lines...
Tender Leaf asked her how she was and she meekly replied, "Yeah... I think so... Sorry about that... I... I've never seen such a clear coat, but it was so rude of me to stare. I'm sorry." All the while, she had been shuffling one of her hooves and watching the little patterns being created in the mud. "I have a hard time focusing lately... been acting kinda weird... Sorry..."
The doe looked over at Wildfire-storm, just as he dozed off. His eyes slowly slid shut and she watched his expressions change as the dream progressed. Mere seconds, maybe a minute passed, and only silence surrounded them for that time, but then a scream tore into the quiet, reverberating inside of Life-Pulse's ears almost painfully. She bowed her head so close to the ground that she was almost touching it. She squeezed her eyes shut and her ears pressed back against her skull in an attempt to dull the sound.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:31 pm
“No offense taken, no not at all.” Tender Leaf's reassurance was genuine, and her expression gentle as she looked at the embarrassed doe. “It happens sometimes of late, that the strangeness in the swamp makes us act oddly-” She didn't seem at all offended, her tone was closer to sympathy. Having often been the one to do something socially awkward, she had a clear understanding of Life-Pulse's current feelings.
Nevertheless, she quickly exhausted her burst of outgoing speech, lapsing into silence as Wildfire-storm drifted off. She chuckled softly, glancing at him as his eyelids flicked with the beginning of a dream.
Suddenly, a loud scream, harsh and painful, tore through the swamp. Tender Leaf bolted, disappearing into the relative security of the undergrowth in a pale streak. Before the terrible sound had ceased to ring in her ears, she was crouched under a dense bush, invisible but for the trembling that shook the leaves around her. The doe's heart pounded in her chest, and her eyes were wide and wild with fear.
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:27 pm
It took a few moments for Wildfire-storm to notice that the two does seemed affected too.
"You..." he said, "You heard it too? I thought... It was like my dream, but then it changed. Did you smell anything?"
He took a deep breath and shook himself, sending Tinder flying. The little bird squawked indignantly and flew to perch in a tree instead of on the unpredictable Kimeti. The bird did not seem affected by the scream, just annoyed over being rudely forced to leave her walking perch.
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:36 pm
The ringing stopped eventually, and Life-Pulse was able to straighten up a little to figure out what happened. We were talking... I couldn't stop staring... then Wildfire-storm fell into a dream... and then there was a scream. What sounded like a doe. Why did she scream? Where is she? What's wrong? What's going on? Life-Pulse began a slight panic, her thoughts ran wild and her breathing quickened a little, but not enough to upset her confused body.
"You...You heard it too? I thought... It was like my dream, but then it changed. Did you smell anything?"
It was in his dream? But then why did we hear it? And where's.... Life-Pulse looks around, searching for the colorless doe as she responds to Wildfire-storm, "I heard it too. It was horrible, and sounded like she was in pain, or crying. Well, I think it was a doe's scream. But I didn't smell anything," the doe spots a shaking bush and figures it must be TenderLeaf in hiding, so she speaks out to it, "How about you Tender Leaf? You heard it too, right? Did you smell anything?" Life-Pulse rose unsteadily and mimicking Wildfire-storm, also shook off, in an attempt to calm her breathing.
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 5:07 pm
"I-I heard it, but I don't smell a thing." Leaf's timid tones came from the depths of the plant. "Do you... Do you think she's hurt?"
A moment later, Tender Leaf's pale face emerged from the shrubbery, followed, slowly, by the rest of her. She trembled visibly as she walked over to stand near the others, taking some slight comfort in their presence.
"Perhaps we ought to look for her." Leaf was torn between desire to help the screamer, if it was indeed another kimeti, and the devastating fear that whatever caused the scream might still be nearby. She hesitated, sidling a little closer to her leafy hiding-place, every muscle tensed and ready to flee.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 12:38 pm
"Smoke," Wildfire-storm whispered, "When I can feel the scent of smoke I know it's my dream. I think I need to dream."
His eyes still looked slightly glazed over, as if he wasn't yet truly awake, and his eyelids soon fluttered shut. Soon he was dreaming again. Dreams about weeping cranes, laughing foals, and blue skies without the safe ceiling of trees obscuring them. And weaving it all together, an oddly haunting tune sung by voices far away.
((OOC: Feel free to skip me. You can just assume that he's dreaming until I get back))
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Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 2:34 pm
Life-Pulse looked from Tender Leaf to Wildfire-storm, following the conversation, trying to make sense of the situation. Nothing made sense. They all heard a scream, but Wildfire said that it was in his dream. And only Wildfire smelled smoke. Tender Leaf came closer just as the buck drifted off once more.
"Perhaps we ought to look for her."
Nodding her agreement, Life-Pulse was thinking hard. The little cells in her brain were on overload, so she shook herself off one more time and replied, "Yes, I think so. She may be hurt or in danger. If in fact we did actually hear something that is real. Wouldn't make sense that we all imagined the same thing... but first," she glanced over at Wildfire again, "I think we ought to move him out of the open like this." She walked over to one side of the buck, steadying him from that side and beckoned the other doe over to help her. "Take his other side. I think we should lead him over to that mangrove," she nodded her head at a particularly large mangrove that had a sort of nook under some of its mangled roots, "We can nestle him in underneath to dream while we go out. I'm sure we can make him co-operate if we talk him through it. He may not respond but he should be able to hear us and move if we guide him. He should be safe until we get back."
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 1:49 pm
"Y-yes. Hiding would be good." Tender Leaf pressed against Wildfire's other side, helping Life-Pulse to guide him to a more secure spot.
"This is all so strange," the pale doe said softly, "I don't know what's real anymore, and what's a dream." She shifted her weight fitfully, disconcerted by the phantom scream and the strangeness in the air.
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 3:02 pm
Life-Pulse nodded along with Tender Leaf's commentary. It was becoming very difficult to tell the difference between the two. Reality and dreams did seem to be melting into one. It was all very confusing and difficult to process.
Upon arriving at the mangrove the troupe stopped and looked at the situation once more. "Now if we could just... snuggle him in up against this trunk..." She began making motions to settle Wildfire-storm down so he could ride out his dream somewhere safe.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:32 pm
Wildfire-storm seemed to dream as he walked, but he didn't resist the gentle guidance from the two does. As they stopped to figure out how to settle him down in the sheltering embrace of the mangrove he suddenly opened his eyes. Should one of the does look into his eyes they'd probably notice that he wasn't completely with them. There was something vacant about his gaze as if he was still caught up in his dream.
"I don't know if they're singing or crying," he said dreamily, "Is it important that I do?"
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