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 Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:33 pm
It didn't make much sense to Shadow Lark to hear the other kimeti say that he found his own reflection more interesting than shiny things. He had always loved collecting shiny things. But perhaps other kin were different. There was certainly nothing wrong with it, it simply meant there would me more treasures for him. All for me, all for me... The voice of greed started singing in his head.
"Around here?! He was getting antsy again, filled with excitement and unable to sit still. If he couldn't find his old treasure, he'd find something new!
You're lost. Why are you so upset?
Why am I so upset? Why? Why? Why am I so upset? The dark little voice in his head started nagging, repeating the question over and over. He could feel it there, dancing on his brain, pulling his ears, prodding his snout. Why are you so upset, Shadow Lark? Why are you soooooo upseeetttttt?
"I... I... I..." His ears started twitching, and he broke out into a fine beady sweat. He was losing it. He was losing it and he had no idea why. A simple question had sent him off the deep end and brought back that voice. "
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Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 7:49 am
Travels in Circles had never met such a kimeti. It almost seemed like the buck must have more than one kin inside him -- but bucks did not have babies. There was something odd about this Shadow Lark, though what, he had no idea. However standing seemed to do much more harm than good, if his twitching ears and the sheen of damp fur were any indication.
With the utmost care -- or rather that ever present sense that nothing bothered him at all -- he made his way to the buck. He smiled and nudged Shadow Lark in the ribs, before nodding his head in some direction and ambling off. The stream still rested to his side as he began to forge a path. Who knew, maybe it would lead to something that helped this buck?
"We shall find it then..." he said out loud. He thought it best to keep to himself that he really had no idea what it was he was looking for.
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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 1:27 pm
Shadow Lark snapped back to reality in a flash after being nudged by the other buck. He wasn't sure if he should be offended, or angry or not, but mostly he just felt... grateful. He had come out of his panicked fervor, and he could think clearly -- sort of.
"We shall find it then," the other kimeti sounded confident, but Shadow Lark wasn't so sure that they would. In fact, he was starting to be sure that he would never find the mark or his cache again. He would be disappointed, but he'd trade all of the shiny things in the world to not have to deal with the voice again. It mocked him, berated him, drove him mostly crazy until he didn't know who he was anymore. He was a messed up Kimeti, he knew. Very very messed up.
"Do you really think so?" Shadow Lark questioned aloud. For a moment he wasn't sure if he had spoken it or if the voice had, but he figured he couldn't do much more harm by continuing to speak. "Or are you just trying to be nice? He followed Travels as he began to walk the length of the river, scanning the mass of trees with an unsure gaze.
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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 3:57 pm
"Eventually," he decreed, his response very near to automatic. It was likely swallowed by the second question and he found himself frowning lightly. He thought it very strange that would one try to be nice. Would it not be easier to simply be nice to begin with? He tried to think of something not nice but found all he could think of were crocodiles and as he wasn't a crocodile...
He gave his head a firm shake, finding that he had talked himself into circles. "Have I been mean?" he questioned the other buck.
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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:20 pm
Eventually. Eventually. He repeated the words in his mind silently, and Shadow Lark waited, tense, for the voice. When no one answered him, he let out a desperate sign of relief. Travels was a little ahead of him, so he picked up the pace to keep up. So far, they were finding nothing.
"Have I been mean?" The question took Shadow Lark off guard. He thought about it for a few quiet minutes before he made his decision. No, Travels in Circles had been rather nice to him. Nicer than most kin were when they realized he was crazy.
"No. You've been really... nice." The trees around him were starting to look more and more familiar. Was he getting closer after all?
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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 5:18 pm
"Well then, no, I wasn't trying to be nice," he returned with a grin. He felt quite proud of himself, that was almost seamless logic. Perhaps his mother would have been proud of him.
He stopped his wandering and looked at his surroundings. Once again he found his interest turning and he ambled towards a tree -- it seemed familiar to him though he did not remember it. ...what was he looking for again? Some mark.
"What did the mark look like?" he asked to remind himself.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:13 am
Shadow Lark shook his head in confusion of the other buck's logic. He guessed that made sense... Sort of. He scanned the trees after Travels did, just to double check and make sure he wasn't missing the mark. So far he'd seen nothing, but he had a good feeling that they were proceeding in the right direction. He smiled at the thought of all the little shells he'd buried. So shiny, so tiny, so beautiful.
So lost was he in his own mind that he nearly stumbled into Travels, who had stopped in front of him. The other buck looked confused, for a moment. And then he asked, "What did the mark look like?" Shadow Lark was starting to wonder if the other kimeti had something wrong with his head too. No no, he's not nearly as messed up as you are, Shadow Lark. Not nearly as messed up as you.
"Uh, like this..." He looked around for a soft patch of soil, and found a stick to make a mark with. Two sets of lines above and below a circle. He glanced anxiously at the trees around him, expecting the mark to jump out at him at any moment, and shout, I'm here, I'm here! Look at me, you silly, I'm here!
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:40 am
Travels mumbled low, a sound much like a hum deep in his chest, as he tried to memorize the symbol before his eyes. He attempted to simply think of it as it was -- two lines above a circle above two lines -- but despite the utter simplicity of it, he found it fluttering away. The sudden urge to follow butterflies had to be tucked away; he doubted this buck would take kindly to being led off. Eventually he decided it looked rather like a hole with two fallen trees on either end... He looked up to examine the trees before his mind could wander away.
"I think I saw it somewhere brown," he said -- as if that was any help at all. Which considering how many trees had brown trunks, it wasn't. Still "brown" and "tree" where better than "somewhere". "Was there moss?" It was hard telling what that had to do with it but there was some wiggling idea. He had seen it, that he knew.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:12 pm
Shadow Lark's attention was upon the trees near him, he was hardly even aware of Travel's presence anymore. He wandered off a little bit, nosing trees and finding them bereft of any horn-carved marks. He trampled bushes, sent bugs and the like fluttering away in a disturbed panic. Nothing. Next tree. Nothing. Next tree. Nothing. Next tree. Did I check that one?
It was a few minutes before he realized he'd walked away from Travels, and he tromped back with a smile. This was starting to be fun. He kind of liked the other strange kimeti. Travels was staring into space, lost in thought. He spoke softly, almost to himself. I think I saw it somewhere brown. Was there moss?
He was caught off guard by the strange question, and he tried to think about it. He closed his eyes hard, and brought the tree to mind. Moss. Moss. Was there moss? Maybe by the bottom of the tree. And a purple rock.
"I think there was, actually." His smile broadened. "And a purple rock. Or flower. I can't really remember which." It was a rock, the voice taunted suddenly. Or wasss it the flower? Perhaps it was even a purple kin. You can't remember, can you Shadow Lark? You can't remember at allll.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:32 pm
He had not noticed Shadow Lark's absence, not even the tromping gait of his return had alerted him that the other kin had wandered. And as he himself wandered everywhere, it was doubtful he would have minded. He does, however, notice when the buck speaks and the smile. He must be feeling more assured that they will find the mark -- the hole with two logs.
"I saw moss sometime today," he nodded. The tracks he had tread ventured forward. "Purple...," he wondered. Had he seen that color today? Oh yes. "There's lavender," he frowned and turned his head in the opposite direction where more of his tracks led, "that way..." Well that was a problem. Moss in one direction, purple in another.
"Are you hungry?" he asked, seemingly out of the blue. The answer would determine the direction.
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:32 pm
Moss! That was good! Perhaps the other buck actually knew where he was going after all! Of course, any lead would be better than the current none that he had. Travels continued to lead, and Shadow Lark followed, and listened. "Purple... There's lavender." Well that was good too! Except that Travels had turned his head the other direction, and now looked confused. Perhaps his clues hadn't been as helpful as he'd thought. A wild goose chase, Shadow Lark. Wild goosey goosey goosey. You're never going to find that mark!
Shadow Lark decided to wait while Travels made up his mind. Either way was better than going around in circles on his own. He was growing to quite like this other kimeti. "Are you hungry?"
"Hungry?" Shadow Lark repeated the word in a questioning tone as he thought about it. He was hungry. But he only ate plants. And he was picky about what kind of plants.
"Sure. Absolutely. What did you have in mind?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:26 am
"Which direction to go," Travels in Circles answered seamlessly. With a pleased smile, he turned right about and began in the opposite direction. Moss had never been a very appealing meal to him, lavender was much more pleasant to eat. It made sense to him -- and perhaps him alone -- that if Shadow Lark was hungry that the only way to go was towards the lavender.
It really did not occur to him that the other buck might have wanted to something to eat now. He had long ago learned throughout journeys that being hungry was a hindrance and thus more often than not his stomach was neglected in favor of whatever he was searching for. It was usually his cat who demanded food; but as Guide was not with him today he wasn't likely to find a need for a meal until he found the hole with two logs.
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Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:59 am
"Which direction to go," Travels said matter of factly. It didn't make much sense to Shadow Lark, but he'd also always heard that each kimeti thought in his own way. If it made sense to Travels, then it didn't matter that he didn't get it. The other buck began to walk in another direction, and Shadow Lark followed. He was beginning to care less and less about his mark, and more about perhaps making a new friend. He didn't have many friends.
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 11:47 am
The turn around was invigorating and he seemed to move a touch more quickly -- a pace that made it seem as though he knew exactly where he was going (not that he did). He pictured the lavender he had seen earlier, doing his best to retain the other buck's drawing of the mark, as he let his hooves fall over the indentations of previous strolls.
Of all the things around him, he only vaguely noticed that his shadow was growing longer. The heat would cool then. That was good. It was much easier to find things when you did not want to nap, he always found. "We're closer," he felt compelled to say -- neglecting that they were closer to dusk, closer to the lavender...
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:06 pm
Shadow Lark continued to follow silently, lost in the terrible though that the voice might continue. How would he explain to Travels that he wasn't totally sure that the lavender was the clue? Would the other kimeti be upset? Would they get into a fight? As they walked, Shadow kept his nose alert, hoping to smell the purple flowers before he saw them.
"We're closer," he heard the other buck announce. He felt his heart flutter with anticipation. One step closer to his stash! He would certainly have to give Travels something in return for all of his help.
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