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 Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 10:26 am
It was one of those days that left you feeling drained and lazy. The weather was extremely warm, and extremely humid thanks to the building clouds overhead. They almost seemed to be curdling angrily, building up and trapping the heat of the sun under their thick and fluffy vapor. It was almost like a greenhouse effect. Suzaku, for one, was miserable.
She was lying sprawled on her back, growing lanky hind legs splayed to one side with her left forepaw, while the right front leg stayed tucked a bit to her chest. It seemed like no matter how much panting she did she couldn't relieve herself of the discomfort of the weather. ~A swim would be heaven right about now...~ She thought, whining audibly with rare complaint.
The three traveling companions, Helaku, Akamu, and herself, Suzaku, had been searching for some moons now with no solid luck yet. Suzaku was starting to grow out of her pup limbs, and could see changes coming for Helaku as well. ((At least he's listed on the growth log, I didn't know if you were gonna say ye or ne, so I'm trying to keep eet vague!))
They could be searching right now, but today Akamu was off somewhere, possibly hunting, searching, or socializing with some of the other wolves he'd met.... and Suzaku for one did not feel like trekking around in this heat. She'd rather relax and try to stay cool, and with no wind whatsoever that was prooving quite difficult. She wished Helaku and, or Akamu would come back so they could take a swim or something. This was horrible! XP
Helaku had passed most of his day running after unsuspecting rabbits and pouncing on a couple of bugs that lazily crept about on the forest floor. It was a hot day, that much was true, but the joy of moving around, being free was what kept him up and able to move through the heat. His tongue lolled out of the side of his mouth as he panted from overheating. Normally, he would have kept on moving and just ignored the heat. Yet it was growing hotter and hotter by the second it seemed. A swim would be good, he thought to himself.
So, trudging along despite the heat, Laku made his way towards his adopted sister. Her scent had become so familiar that he didn't have to sniff twice to know in what direction to head if he wanted to see her. She wasn't too far away so that made him happy. Less distance, the quicker he could get to Suza and the quicker he did that, the more time they would have to swim. Naturally, the femme seemed to have a thicker coat than him and surely she would want some way to escape the hotness of the day.
Finally, he reached his destination and, to his delight, found Suzaku sprawled out on the ground. "Hey Suza," he panted. "Hot isn't it? Maybe we could go for a swim.. if there's a river or something nearby, that'd be good.. right?" He was just throwing out his idea randomly, as if it hurt to be hot and he needed to cool off.
In truth, Akamu had seperated himself from the pups for solitude's sake, to think more about what had happened- or hadn't happened.. it was all a fuzzy blur to him- in his dreams last night. The adult had been disoriented when he woke, and decided to move off a little ways to try and sort things out.
Not that it had worked very well.
So now he was rejoining his young friends, as aware as Suzaku was that the two were beginning to show signs of growth. He was proud of them, in a way. Except for his presence recently, the pups had survived, packless, in the forest without falling to disease, malnourishment, or other predators. It was a special wolf that could accomplish that when she was merely a pup.
"Yes," He speaks up, having overheard a bit of their conversation. Like them, Akamu was suffering in the heat. His fur, unnaturally thick for a wolf born in the West as he had been, was creating a personal hothouse for him, and the adult was almost constantly hanging his jaw open to cool himself. "A swim sounds like an excellent idea."
If she already didn't know better she'd swear Helaku was a mind-reader, but that was impossible, wasn't it?
His approach reached her ears before it reached her nose, the air was sitting kind of stagnantly, and she knew he was in the area. She didn't really worry much.
Lazily she would look at him, turning her head to a side to do so as if the idea of moving took great effort.
"It's more than hot, it's sweltering." She sighed softly, watching the spring-colored pup who was panting overhead.
"... if there's a river or something near by, that'd be good.. right?"
"..."
Amazingly enough her sluggishness disappeared rather abruptly, enough so that she could suddenly pounce at her adopted brother, yapping her head off almost with gratitude and joy. :3
"A swim would be the BEST!"
With a happy whine she moved away again, but her tail didn't stop the hyper wag that it had taken up, and her legs didn't stop moving as she circled Helaku with her sudden burst of boundless energy.
Helaku wagged his tail as Akamu entered the group once more. The adult's presence had always made him happy and glad the two had met. As the days went by, Laku found himself looking up to the other male as sort of a father-figure. The pup also found himself feeling a growth in his bones, feeling a bit taller every day. Was he growing? It sure seemed like it. He wondered if Suza was growing too.. she was older, so shouldn't she be growing before him?
Yet he didn't have much time to think it over as his adopted sister pounced on him. It came from out of no where and it was so unsuspected that Laku let out a shocked yelp. But his surprise didn't last for long as playfullness took over him twice in one day. Rising to his paws, tail wagging, he pounced on her back then ran over to Akamu, standing by the sandy male and looking over at Suzaku.
"Come on! I'll race you to the river!"
Suzaku grinned, an expression that was more goofy than her usual smile, but also common when she was feeling extremely playful. She still missed her brothers, but felt like they were getting closer to finding one another than circumstances actually wanted to let her believe. She hadn't had a chance to notice Akamu's strange behavior, she grinned and pounced at Akamu as well in greeting, nipping at his ear, then Helaku's with a smirk. "You're on!"
Akamu smiled quietly down at Helaku, the reserved expression widening slightly when the young male was 'attacked' by his sister. As Laku had begun getting more attacked to Akamu, looking up to him, so Akamu had been getting attached to him- Laku and Suzaku both.
The male was getting more and more used to this small group he was in, thinking of it more as his family every day that passed, though he didn't pass on the sentiments... not until he was certain the pups would welcome the information. The last thing Akamu wanted was to become alienated from the two pups because of stupidly placed words..
He chuckled, the dream from last night already almost forgotten. "A race, is it? I wonder which of you two will come out the winner of such a contest." The wolf ventured a smile again, tugging his ear back from Suzaku when she so playfully began to chew on it. That pup was never at a lack of energy when either of them was around, it seemed.
Helaku wagged his tail, looking from his adopted sister to his almost adopted father. One day.. maybe one day the pup would recognize Akamu as one to be trusted no matter what and have a bunch of faith in at all times. Perhaps that was today. Bouncing once or twice on all four paws, Laku gave a sudden jump forward.
"Come on Suza!" He started off slow, then smoothly went into a nice trot. Suza could have easily caught up if she wanted to. She knew where he was going: to the river. The other male could come too, and the yellow wolf wanted him to know that. "Come on dad!"
(( heart Akamu's an adopted daddy! ))
Akamu paused, frozen in place momentarily and preventing him from following the wolf pup to the river as quickly as he would have, when young Helaku called him his father. Something new turned over inside of him- flattery at being dubbed worthy of being Helaku's 'father'? Wonder at it?
Either way, the sand and earth colored wolf was happier than he had been in a long while. Family, it seemed, had found him again. Even when he had been looking in the opposite direction.
Shaking his head to rid himself of the minor palarysis, Akamu allowed himself a wider-than-normal smile, and began loping after Helaku easily.
((*resists urge to squeal and squish Laku happily* XD *plots fatherly things in the future* heart ))
((Goodness my brain just died. This post is kind of crappy. ^_^;; Night Tamiko! *sends post*))
He hadn't even been addressing her, but Suzaku's movement also stopped in surprise, the female blinking too shocked to otherwise react... Dad?...
A slow grin came across her maw, she quickly understood and followed after Akamu, starting to run.
As far as her feeling towards Akamu went she had long ago seen fatherly qualities, but she was torn. She didn't know if she'd see her parents again, and Seiryuu might not take well to finding out that she had adopted both males into the family. She didn't want to let someone elses' opinion affect her choices, but it was hard since this was her blood brother.
She'd worry about it later, right now she was with Helaku and Akamu. She was happy for her friend, for finding a father in Akamu, and he was a good wolf, so she'd gathered. He had a very good heart.
Running in itself helped a lot, as the excersize was creating a natural breeze as they went. Her howl broke the air excitedly.
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:28 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:30 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:31 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:32 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:33 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:35 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:40 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:43 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:57 pm
"Greetings to you as well." Admittedly, Akamu wondered briefly at the more formal sounding greeting fromt he female. Most of the wolves he had met- even strangers- had been highly familiar in their greetings, or in the case of one particular wolf, somewhat rude.
It was a nice change.
It seemed that the male's mood was influenced a little by Lavena's own high spirits, and Akamu returned her smile with a small canid smile of his own, pulling himself into a standing position. He lowered an ear in curiosity when she asked about his company... or lack thereof.
"Yes, I am alone.. You are as well, I assume?" Alas, though he knew that the season was closing in, the implied meaning of her question- that of asking after a possible special someone- was completely lost on him. "My name is Akamu. May I ask after yours...?"
After all, it was always good to know the names of who you met. It might serve you in good stead, later.
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 4:17 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 4:19 pm
((Ahh! Double post *dies* ))
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 4:55 pm
Not wishing to be rude by remaining standing as if he intended to leave soon- which he didn't- and honestly too relaxed to maintain it unless he was travelling, Akamu settled back onto his haunches as well, his tail lying carelessly to the side.
He chuckled quietly at Lavena's comment, remembering his closest friends, two adolescent wolves he had met as pups, one of which had adopted him as a father quite unexpectedly. The flattered Akamu had not argued.
"Your name is lovely," He complimented her, the manners he imposed upon himself surfacing again, though the compliment was far from required. He really did think it a pretty name. "And no, I am not from here. My pack and I were seperated some distance away, and I have wandered since." And only recently had he found his brother, for which he was grateful. Any family, anything that gave Akamu someone other than himself to focus on was good for him- he was far from the sort of wolf that liked to be on his own if he could help it.
"I must share your sentiments though.. I have not met many fully grown wolves during my stay in this area. I am curious, though.. are you from here?" Akamu's habit of not condensing his words with slang was quite apparent by this time. His voice was mellow though, and seemed to fit nicely with the habit.
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:19 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:34 pm
((*has ninjaed off and read Lavena's journal* ninja heart ))
Although he did not ... exactly... share the remorse Lavena showed when he spoke of his pack, he did, however, respond to her muffled show of remorse by lowering his ears to his skull briefly. He had not witnessed his packmate's deaths, and so still held out the hope that they yet lived... somewhere. That he could not find them was an unavoidable pin of regret in his mind, though, and he had not stopped looking where he could for them, even though he had agreed to join the pack of his brother.
They used to live there? Where then, did they live now? Ah, but that would be a rude question to ask as yet, he thought. Later, then. Besides, given the fact that Lavena was alone, and speaking of her pack in the former tense... assumptions could be made. He shifted a little and lowered his ears again, uncomfortable with the thought of death on so large a scale.
Akamu tilted his head a slight degree- a habit he'd retained from puppyhood- when he thought he saw something strange in Lavena's eyes... but no, it must have been his imagination.
"Ah, but a pup will most often tell the truth, unless they are very clever and very unhappy." He was moved to smile once more, his puppy friends- now grown a little- coming to his mind again. He truely was fond of them. "At least, that is what the puppies I have met proved."
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