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 Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 3:36 pm
Mati yawned. His body was heavy from lack of rest, eyes half shut as he fought off sleep again.
No time. There was no time!
The grey adolescent pulled himself to his feet and trudged away from the rocky den he called home. It had been days... weeks... since his last real peaceful night of sleep. Everynight, the same dreams. Every day, the same questions. There was one thing he knew for sure; something was going to happen.
Someone was going to die.
Mati stumbled over a scrub bush and jerked back to reality. He had to keep moving, keep going... there was so much blood! And hyenas. Bastards. His lip rose in a weak snarl, though no sound came. They would pay.
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:25 pm
As the saying went: 'You're only as old as you feel.' An adult now, Gzifa was, but she definiately felt anything but that when she intentionally jumped in the puddles passing rains had passed. The sky was still grey, so it might rain more, but as long as there was no thunder...
"One!" Splash!
"Two!" Splash!
"The--" her voice cut off, ears perking. Ooh. Another one? Like her and Khima? It had been a while since she'd met another of her kind, and her tail wagged excitedly.
"Hey! Hey!"
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 6:23 pm
Keep walking. One paw in front of the other, just across this dry arid wasteland... Matima cast a glance up at the sky and thanked the gods for a cloudy day. So much easier to travel without the heat, that was for sure. He had to get to that one dog. Kasi... Kisso... Kish --
-- His head jerked up, eyes scanning the landscape fearfully for the owner of the voice. His gaze fell on a female dog; he sniffed at the air, but he was downwind and couldn't catch her scent.
Cautiously he altered his course to intercept hers. Tired blue eyes flickered nervously from side to side, then settled on her. Strange. She looks so fa --
-- Khima's muzzle split in a broad grin, a strange mottled female walking next to him. The landscape was wet, glistening as though just drenched, but the sun was forcing its way out --
"Khima." Mati practically fell into sitting position. He managed a slow smile, his tail wagging weakly. "You know Khima!"
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 6:39 pm
If Gzifa had been brighter, she'd have probably found that weird. Not to say she was stupid, just... not as thoughtful as one who traveled as much as she was should have been. To her, it wasn't out of the ordinary some stranger immediatly knew this.
"Uh, yeah," she chirped happily. Another from of Khima's? "He's not here, though." Which she guessed was obvious since he, you know, wasn't there, but. "He'll prolly be back pretty soon, though!"
She smiled brightly at the stranger.
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:22 pm
His disappointment was sharp, but he shoved it aside. His white-tipped tail swayed back and forth, blue eyes no longer clouded with exhaustion. He hadn't seen any of his siblings in... in forever!
"You... " Mati hesitated and started over. "I mean, when was the last time you saw him?"
Mati didn't -think- Khima was part of this other vision. There were a bunch of other Wild Dogs he didn't know, there; one black and white. He only had one name - Kisho. Or something. He doubted this girl would know... but her smile was infectious. Unable to help himself, he grinned in response.
"Did he join your pack, or something?" Really. What were they doing all the way out here, anyways?
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:34 pm
Pack? Gzifa laughed at the thought of it. Only if packs were able to consist of wild dogs. "Uh, not exactly. Me and Khima are traveling together," she informed him. "I saw him last this morning."
Where he was now she had no idea, probably out getting food. Either way, he'd definately be back time the sun started going down, if not before then. "Are you a friend of his?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:37 pm
For a moment his tail drooped, his face darkening like a cloud over the sun. It was apparently too much to ask for that his vision stem from this girl and her pack. Seeing as there -was- no pack. At the mention of Khima, however, his tail picked up pace.
"Oh, well... I don't know if you'd call us friends exactly." Mati explained. "Cuz I haven't really seen him in... oh, ages!" Really, the last member of his family he'd spent any time with was Mama and Keilantra. "We're brothers though, you know!"
Maybe... maybe that was synonymous with friend? He hoped so. "Are you his friend?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:43 pm
Gzifa looked confused up until he had finished. If he wasn't a friend of his, why was here? And being away from someone still made you their friend! Turned out he was something just as good as a friend: A brother.
"Ah! Really?" The female sounded absolutely delighted. For quite a while, she'd been anxious to meet Khima's family, and vice versa. Sadly, she couldn't go back to her own. She didn't think about that for the time being. It was too bad she wasn't going to meet all his family at once, but one less brother was still an accomplishment!
Because Gzifa had never really learned of personal space, she stepped forward and nuzzled him in a way that would have been if they were younger. Since they weren't, it was probably embarassing.
Gzifa just looked at it as saying hello. "Yeah, I would hope! Otherwise I'd get sick of traveling with every day, wouldn't you think?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:11 pm
Mati froze when Gzifa nuzzled up against him, but he could feel his face growing hot. His cheeks must be burning red, even under his fur! The grey male scrambled backwards, face lined with confusion.
"I - ... well, I mean -- Aren't you... ?" Weren't she and Khima together? How could she just... just, act like that? Mati cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly, though kept his eyes on the mud at Gzifa's paws.
"Yeah, really. We are."
She made a point there. But still, you didn't have to be friends to travel together, just willing to put up with their company in exchange for protection. Right? It was nice if you were friends, not essential. At least, that's what he thought.
Seeing as his gaze was focused solely on her feet, it was hard not to notice all the mud that coated her fur. He glanced furtively around and spotted the nearby puddles.
"My Mom always hated it when I played in the mud, you know." He finally met her eyes again and grinned. "I used to come home coated. Me and Khima both!"
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:16 pm
"Aren't I what...?" Her head tilted to the left and her ears hung that way. They were strange, more limp than those her siblings had almost to the point of her being flop-eared after crossing through a storm as she had.
To Gzifa, everyone was of equal importance. Friends. Siblings. Why did people have to rank how much they cared about others? She had never understood it, not that she'd tried to.
She looked starry-eyed at the mention of a little Khima covered in mud. Aww! "My mom would be upset if she knew," she admitted. "Khima will be happy to see you, it sounds like."
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:11 pm
"Uh... " Mati blinked at her. Wasn't it obvious? Well... if she didn't know what was going on, maybe nothing WAS going on. Realizing his mouth was hanging open, he shut it with a snap.
"I was... just going to say -- " JUST SAY IT. Matima struggled for words for a moment longer. "Aren't you and Khima together?" It all came out in a rush. Hopefully she understood it, because he didn't think he could ask again!
God, this was so embarrassing. He didn't want to pry into his brother's life! But... he didn't want Khima to fall in love with a girl who would just, well, nuzzle every stranger!
"Oh! Oh, yeah, I hope so." He gave a weak smile. "I haven't seen him in so long, you know. It's... strange."
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:17 pm
The answer was simple and quick, and sounded slightly confused, "No."
Gzifa was not the type to dislike anyone, especially not the family of her traveling partner, but this male before her was seeming more and more... out there by the second.
Obviously, she and Khima weren't together, he was out somewhere. Hadn't she told him that? If they were together, he'd be with her, and then he wouldn't even have to ask, right? They'd be together when he got back, obviously.
"Strange...?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:25 pm
"Oh." Mati could hear the blood rushing in his ears. This was so awkward. "I didn't mean to bother you! I was just... just wondering, and I -- I thought, um... that ..."
What did he think?
Rather than finish the thought, the male just bumbled his way to silence and stopped. Great first impression THIS was. She'd probably tell Khima all about how he was a first-rate idiot.
"Yeah, strange." Mati glanced at her curiously. "It's like... well, almost like meeting someone for the first time, just you know what they'll look like." He rolled one shoulder in a shrug and wagged his tail. "I'm not sure what to expect, that's all."
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:30 pm
Gzifa didn't understand that at all. Even if she was away from her siblings for years, she could never feel that way seeing them again. But, maybe she could help anyway. "Uh... He's really nice, and he likes exploring."
There. Crisis adverted.
"Are you sick?" she pressed. The stumbling before led her to believe so. Because this was Khima's brother, and Khima never acted like that.
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:55 pm
That sounded like the Khima he'd grown up with. Nice, and they always explored together. Maybe he hadn't changed that much? Not that those two bits of information helped him out too much, but still.
"I guess maybe he's not that different." But that didn't really make him feel better. It almost felt like he was meeting a brother he'd abandoned...
"No, not sick." He grinned at her, tail moving at a frenzied pace as though to prove his words true. "Just really tired is all."
Seriously, what was he supposed to say? Oh, yeah, I've been having these dreams when I'm awake and asleep, and they keep telling me someone is going to die. Rubbish. Who would believe that? Mati wasn't even sure -he- did.
He hoped Khima didn't have this stupid illness too.
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