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 Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 4:34 pm
Maia looked. Oh, poor things. They were scared stiff! She knelt down to investigate further, though. Maybe they'd calm down like the fireflies had? "So these are salamanders?" she asked. Red little lizards?
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 4:37 pm
"Mm-hm," Toby replied, "There are brown ones too. I mean, there's all different ones all over the world but we'll only find red or brown here."
The lizards remained still until Toby crouched too and nudged one gently with his finger. It quickly skittered away. "There's all kinds of myths about salamanders."
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 4:56 pm
"Are these the ones that live in fires?" Maia asked. She watched the salamander dash off. "I thought I'd read something about them. She watched the remaining salamander. "It's a tiny thing, for there to be so many stories."
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 5:11 pm
"Well, supposedly. They don't, though. If they run out of a fire it's because it was built over a place where they were hiding," Toby said with a smile. He chased the little one out with his finger, even though it seemed a little reluctant. He didn't want to crush it when he put the rock back, which he did as soon as it was out of the way. "I've never seen one not in or under something."
Dari shook his head. "Me neither."
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 5:17 pm
"I figured that," Maia smiled at him. "Something that liked heat wouldn't hide somewhere damp and cool." She stood, looking around. "This looks like a good place to stop for lunch, actually. Want to set up here?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 5:21 pm
Toby's brain completed the phrase "set up here" as "set up camp" and he felt a little twinge inside. It was only for a moment, though, and easy to ignore.
"Sure," he said, nodding. Presumably Maia was hungry, and he could always eat. He pulled the pack from his shoulder and started handing out food. He'd already tapped into his water bottle a bit.
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 5:56 pm
Maia took her sandwich and began to unwrap it. She looked around and smiled at Toby after a moment. "Do you think we'll see anymore animals?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 5:58 pm
Toby shrugged. "I dunno. If we're quiet and still, maybe."
It was a short while later when Dari, slightly hunched, spoke to the ground... to the group, but facing the ground. "Deer at ten o'clock."
Toby lifted his eyes and looked back and right of Dari. There it stood, majestic and wild, watching them curiously.
"Don't move fast," Toby said as he slowly raised a hand to point, "but look."
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 6:47 am
Maia looked up slowly. She spotted the deer. Oh, it was beautiful. It was watching them though, and sudden movements would probably frighten it, since Toby had warned her. Were there more deer in the forest?
"It won't let us come near?" What did deer eat, anyway?
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 1:46 pm
"No," Toby said quietly, "They're very shy. Skittish." At first he thought, how had Maia never seen a deer? But there really weren't many deer on the beach, were there?
"I only see the one," Dari said, still not turning to look at the deer.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 1:54 pm
So they were like most things that hadn't been domesticated. Maia smiled in understanding, still watching the deer. "It's watching us back," She observed.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 1:58 pm
"It is," Dari said, stuffing a marshmallow into his wrist. "They aren't used to humans. They don't know what we are or why we're here, but of course we're a potential threat."
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 2:04 pm
Maia's attention veered from the deer to Dari. "There aren't any others?" she asked. It made sense, though. Maybe the other deer could see them and we're staying away.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 2:06 pm
"Oh, there are. Over that way." He lifted a hand to the left, "I just can't see them."
Well, screw it. Toby rose slowly and the deer tensed. He took a picture with his phone and then cooed in a soothing voice, feeding the deer nonsense about being a 'nice werewolf' and offering it a slice of bread. Predictably, the deer picked up and ran off in the direction of its supposed family. "Eh, ah well."
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 2:10 pm
"It wasn't convinced," Maia said, after a moment, watching the deer dart off. She frowned slightly. "You knew it was going to run away," she accused. He'd said they were skittish!
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