|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:29 am
"I don't distinguish between the two." Kalevi shrugged. He didn't see the point in making such distinctions. He saw what he saw. What did it matter if he saw it because he was looking for it for the tribe, or for himself? Nothing, that was what.
"What do you do," he asked, turning the question back around on her, "to kill the time?"
He had seen her with kits, and knew she was a Teacher. But from across the lake, he couldn't tell what time she spent teaching, and what she spent with other foxes because she wanted to be with them. Because she enjoyed their presence.
And he had no idea at all what she did when she was out of the osasis. Out of sight.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:41 am
Inwardly, Furii was beaming. Although she was sure there had been other times, this was the only distinct semi-personal question she could remember him asking. And it made her happy.
"I play with the kits," she began. "Sometimes I advise the kits that are now grown, and sometimes I do like you and just watch the world go by. But when the Oasis makes me feel claustraphobic..." she shrugged. "I wander the desert. Sometimes alone, sometimes with an old tribe member or two." She meant the would-be members of Khur, but if he didn't ask she wouldn't explain.
"My favorite times to explore are sunrise and sunset. The whole world changes color then." She looked down, vaguely embarrassed by the admission, but busied herself scratching a pattern in the mud. "When is your favorite time to scout?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:47 am
He watched her turn away again. He hadn't said anything to hurt her this time. Embarrassment? Over her favorite times to explore? He didn't understand it in the least, but he wouldn't push it. He had learned at least those basic manners even in his old tribe.
And there was Furii, speaking of something similar. "Old tribe meber?" The way she said it made it sound significant, but he wasn't sure how. He frowned slightly in thought as he watched her, and waited for her reply.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:54 am
She nodded, inwardly grinning so wide it felt like she was going to pop. She couldn't keep it from her face, but at least it came out (she hoped) looking normal, not like hyper madfox.
"From Khur, the tribe I would have been Elder of. When it desintigrated and I found Solarie, I brought some of my members with me. Suna, for example," she said with a light shrug, referencing the brown and deep red fox just because she was the first one that popped into her head.
"What about you? Do you ever see or think about or be with any of your old tribe members?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:58 am
Kalevi nodded, as if the name meant something to him. Maybe he actually had heard it before. Maybe he would know her by sight, if not by name. But right now, the name was meaningless.
"I've never seen any of them since the tribe broke up. They might all be dead now." It would give him a certain pleasure if they were: at the end, there had only been one of each element left. And the meddling elder. All his enemies. He would celebrate, not mourn, their deaths.
He didn't believe it though. They, like he, were the last of their kind. That meant the strongest of their kind. In a tribe that had sought to kill itself for generations.
No. None of them would die that easily.
"Who else came with from your old tribe?" he asked, not wanting to think about his enemies much more. So long as he never saw any of them alive again, he would be happy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 4:53 pm
"I hope they are," Furii commented quietly, watching his face curiously; he seemed lost in his thoughts, and even if he didn't notice, his eyes were rather expressive, and he looked...troubled. The thought bothered her.
She answered his question easily, listing off another couple of members that had followed her there.
"I'm sorry your last tribe was so terrible," she said quietly after a moment. "I hope this one proves better for you." Inwardly, she promised herself she'd do whatever she could to make that happen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:05 pm
He nodded along at the next list of names, unable to place any of those, either.
He was surprised to hear Furii wished that his old tribemates were dead, and he spent a moment staring at her curiously. Why? It shouldn't matter to her one way or the other, if they were alive or not.
He shrugged at her last comment. "No one has tried to kill me in this tribe yet." So he supposed that meant it was better.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 10:11 pm
"Always a plus," Furii said with a goodnatured roll of her eyes. "That's first on my criteria for a place to live," she teased.
"You looked like you wanted to ask me something," she said after a moment, looking back at him. "What was it?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 11:20 pm
"There was no choice in my tribe." He shrugged: he had been born into it, raised that way, and unable to leave (had he even wanted to). He hadn't exactly minded: the way Elemuntum had been was simply a fact of life.
"Why do you care," he asked, "if my old tribemates are alive or dead?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 4:47 pm
Furii considered the question, considered lying, then decided to just tell the truth.
"Because you do," she answered simply, watching him carefully for his reaction. "Of course." she added, a small chuckle escaping her lips, as if it should've been obvious to him. Maybe it would've been to a normal person, but Kalevi was...
Different. And still, she liked that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 4:51 pm
'Because you do. Of course.' He simply stared at her, unsure what to make of that reply. None of it made sense to him. If she had said 'because they're tough, and I don't want to have to fight them', or something like that, he would have understood, but this...
This was different.
"I see," was all he could reply with, as he tried to sort it all out in his head.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 5:22 pm
No he didn't. "No you don't," she said, yawning and lay down slinkily, tail flipping steadily behind her.
She rest her head on her paws and tilted her head to look at him, one eye slightly slitted to keep an eye on him.
"But that's alright. You might get it some day." And she would be there when--and if--he did.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 6:10 pm
He just nodded, not caring to argue with her.
He closed his eyes to relax, and nap in the shade of one of the palm trees, to sleep through the hottest part of the day. That was part of the reason for what happened next...
A coyote, a giant (perhaps even mutant), hungry coyote stalked through the desert, looking for prey to fill the hole in its belly. It spotted two shapes near an osasis, and, not caring what they were, it lunged for them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 6:40 pm
Furii had been napping too, content with the silence between them--and secretly a little happy that he was comfortable enough with her to let his guard down--when a feral growl reached her sensative ears.
Her black eyes snapped open and she was on her feet in a second, barring her teeth at the beast that was approaching them. It was huge--Furii had never seen a coyote or a wolf so big.
And it was coming for them.
"Kalevi," Furii hissed. When he didn't wake, she growled, but she couldn't take an eye off the monster for even a moment lest it win the upper hand.
"Kalevi!" she barked, loud enough that he was started from his sleep. "Look."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 6:45 pm
He only appeared to still be asleep with her first call: his eyes were still closed, but his ears were pricked, listening for any sound. You didn't survive Elemuntum by being a light sleeper.
He picked up something large, heading their way...When Furii commanded him to open his eyes.
His instincts registered it before his conscious mind: something huge, predator, dangerous, heading their way--he lunged for it, the same moment it lunged for them, it going high, him going low.
The monster coyote managed to score his back, but Kalevi darted in, and tore at its neck. Not enough to kill it instantly. But enough to wound it severely, and slow it down. Enough so that he'd be ready for its next pass.
He made sure to keep himself between it and Furii (he didn't know how good of a fighter she was, and now was not the time to find out), and simply watched it, looking for an opening, seemingly unaware of the blood slowly dripping from his back, and down his sides.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
