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 Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:06 pm
The midday sun beat down upon the land of Di'jai without mercy, making the normally humid forest even more so. Among this heat, two travelers stopped to rest along the eastern bank of the Sidewinder. Both were adult male Dragonflies, journeying together from their home in the Asfiernas Mountains. One of the two was a pale blue in color, and clearly not at all happy with the current weather conditions. The other, dark indigo, seemed less put off by the heat and more so by the discomfort of his companion.
As though seeking relief from the humidity, the blue one suddenly dunked his body into the icy waters of the river. Surfacing with a smile, he exclaimed brightly, "Come on, Orient! Come in the water!"
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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:01 am
 Tsurugi had hiked through the sweltering heat of the Di'jai forest for nearly three hours. He had woken up that morning with one goal set in his mind: Reach the Sidewinder before mid-day, when the sun was at it's peak. The reason for this miniature quest was simple. Tsurugi had gone the entire summer without a single swim, and this depressed him slightly. For, you see, Tsurugi absolutely loved to swim. There was somthing about it that just enthralled him.
Finally completing his hiking expedition, Tsurugi lay in the cool, crystal clear water of the Sidewinder and streched his limbs. Lowering himself deeper, he imersed his entire body in and swam across to the other shore and back. This feels great! thought Tsurugi. The feeling lasted shortly however, as a large mass landed atop him while he swam under the surface. Loosing his breath, he sprang to the surface and gulped in a few fresh breaths. "What in the name of all that's unholy!?" He shouted,eyes still blurred.
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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 2:26 pm
((Sorry for the slight god-moding, Pat, but I couldn't find another way to phrase this.....))
At the sound of a shout, the powder blue male scrambled out of the water as though he'd been bitten. The dark one, Orient, raised an eyebrow, a silent What? hanging in the air between them. Whipping their heads back towards the river, the two saw that a black and green Dragonfly was sitting in the water, sputtering and blinking water out of his eyes.
The pale blue male was at the shore in an instant, obvious concern marring his features. "By the ice! Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I didn't even see you there! I mean, I guess that makes sense seeing as I jumped into the river with my eyes closed, but that's no excuse! I'm really sorry! Are you alright?" he rambled nervously while he looked the stranger over for injuries.
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Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:00 am
As Tsurugi's eyes cleared, he saw that the origion of the assault came from a light blue dragonfly like himself, and that it was obviously not intentional by the way the dragonfly kept apologizing. "Ah, it's alright, it was clearly an accident" said Tsurugi. "It's nice to see creatures like myself every so often, it makes me feel assured that I'm not the only one of my kind. What would your names be, if you don't mind me asking?" He pluralized the word due to the fact that he saw that the light blue dragonfly was not alone, but acompanied by yet another one of his kind, this one with star markings on his deep colored coat. (I can't tell if Orient's fur is dark purple, or a mixture of black and blue. I assume purple by the font color he speeks with.)
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Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:35 am
((Yep. Orient is a really dark purple. ^_^))
Breathing a sigh of relief, the powder blue Dragonfly nodded. "Thank goodness," he muttered softly while running his mind over the words of the stranger. That's right! He has asked for their names! "Oh! Right! I'm sorry! My name's Kanki and-"
"-It's rude to ask for another's name without revealing your own," interrupted the deep purple one. His voice was low and soft, as though he did not use it often.
Quickly, Kanki whapped him gently with his tail before turning back to the green one. "That's Orient. And don't mind him - he thinks himself very proper," he explained with a shrug.
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Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 11:57 am
"Oh, it's no problem. I should have offered my name in the first place. I'm Tsurugi," he replied. Paddeling to the shore the others were on, Tsurugi got out of the water and shook himself dry, sending flecks of water in all directions. Stretching and yawning, he advanced towards Orient and Kanki and asked "So, what brings the two of you to the Sidewinder?" Tsurugi mentaly noted that Kanki seemed to be omiting a plesant cooling aura and chuckeled to himself, thinking of how he would be a good frind to have on one of the ever present hot summer days of Di'jai.
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Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:18 pm
Kanki nodded, smiling. "Nice to meet you, Tsurugi!" Orient nodded as well, dipping his head in an informal bow. Looking back to the icy waters of the Sidewinder, Kanki explained, "Well, Orient and I live up in the Asfiernas Mountains. The cave we live in is unnaturally cold, so it's perfect for me, but every once in a while, we like to stretch our legs on a little journey."
"We're headed for the sea, actually," Orient elaborated, once again in his low, soft voice.
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 1:27 pm
"I'm not sure where I live. Well, to put it more clearly, I'm more of a nomadic Dragonfly. I go and sleep wherever I please." Tsurugi thought for a moment and then said "Though I havn't always been like this. I once had a small hollowed out tree, very cozy. But that was a while ago."
Tsurugi's ears perked up a little at the mention of a specific word that Kanki had mentioned. "The sea you say? I don't believe I've ever seen it before. I've heard of it before from others a while back, though. It's quite large you know."
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:09 pm
Kanki nodded energetically. "It is! The sea is huge!!" he exclaimed, excited, as he nodded his head to a faraway memory.
"When we were traveling to find a home suitable for Kanki, we reached the sea once before," Orient explained softly.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Kanki said, "Yeah! It was awesome! I mean, I knew that all rivers eventually reached the ocean, but I'd never really thought about how huge something would have to be to hold all of the water in the world! It was just this mighty force of nature! Blue as far as the eyes could see!" he marveled.
Then, taking the time to backtrack his thoughts, he realised that Tsurugi had said that he'd lived in a tree. "You lived in a tree once?" he questioned, curious. "What made you decide to leave it?" Since Orient and himself had gone to such lengths to find their home, Kanki couldn't imagine abandoning it for any reason.
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:47 pm
"Well, I didn't really have a choice", shrugged Tsurugi. "There was a fierce forest fire a whiles back and my tree and all that I owned burned down. But I'm just glad to have gotten out in one piece." Tsurugi winced at the far off memory and brushed it aside, attempting to think of only the here and now. "Well, if you're off to the sea, would the two of you mind if I acompany you on your journey? I'd love the chance to see the ocean with my own eyes." Tsurugi was awaiting the responce when a realization fell over him; these two dragonfly were more than just friends, they were lifetime partners. He begrated himself for not realizing this sooner, and was completely ready to hear that the two wanted to make the journey alone.
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 2:45 pm
Kanki opened his mouth, about to say something when, incredibly swiftly, Orient's dark purple paw was on Kanki's light blue one. Shutting his mouth with a snap, Kanki nodded, blue meeting gold as their eyes locked in silent communication for but a breath.
'Huh? What's wrong?'
'You were going to ask about the fire.'
'Yeah .... is that bad?'
'He is still hurting over losing his home to it. Don't hurt him more by bringing it up more than necessary.'
'Oh .... right.'
'It's alright, love. I know you didn't mean it.'
The second passed as quickly as it came and Orient stepped forward, leaning his and Kanki's bodies together gently, each counting on the other to remain standing. If either pushed too hard, the two of them would topple. A second of this came and went and then the two were standing on their own again.
"We'd love to have you join us. It has been a good while since we've seen our last fellow Dragonfly," he said warmly, though his voice held just a slight edge. This bitter edge was explained when he continued with, "However, let there be no misunderstandings, should you choose to travel with us. Kanki is my heart's mate - the one just for me. If this upsets you, in any way, you are free to take your leave of us now."
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:41 pm
As a second passed by, a few things happened so suddenly, Tsurugi wasn't sure if he had seen correctly. It was aparent that Kanki was about to ask about the fire, that was for sure. However his partner had silenced him and stared into his eyes with such loving furiosity, it almost seemed as if they held a private conversation within their own minds. It wasn't impossable, thought Tsurugi, for he had seen other dragonflies with special abilities, but Tsurugi decided not to question it. It seemed that if this were the case, and he was in either of their positions, he would want to keep it a secret.
"Oh, I had just reached that conclusion just a few seconds ago," said Tsurugi. "No, I have no problem what so ever with your partnership. Love is a fickel thing, and will have its way with anybody's heart it chooses. You seem to be happy with one another, and thats all there is to that," continued Tsurugi, noding his head. "Thank you for inviting me, I think I will partake of this journey with you."
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:58 pm
At Tsurugi's words, Kanki's blue eyes lit up happily and he wagged his tail into Orient's. "Yay!" he cried, running over and touching tails with the green one. "We'll have so much fun! It'll be great - you'll see!" he said happily.
Orient's golden eyes seemed to soften and a graceful smile crossed his face at Kanki's joy. Then, turning back to Tsurugi, he asked softly, "Are you going to be okay traveling right now? We're just going to follow the Sidewinder, but we can stop for the day if you'd like to begin fresh in the morning."
"Yeah! We don't know how much you journeyed today before meeting us and we'd hate to tire you out on our first day together!" Kanki added.
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Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:51 pm
The excitement of Kanki and his reaction rubbed off on Tsurugi, and he started to feel a mounting anticipation for seeing the azure ocean. "Oh, I hiked for nearly three hours today, but that quick dip in the river relaxed me greatly, so I have no problem for traveling more today. After all, it's still only around noon. There's still plenty of daylight left, so I'm ready when you are." A slight chill ran up Tsurugi's back as he talked, for Kanki still had his tail touching his. "Wow, your chilling powers seem to increase with your emotions. That's pretty cool." Tsurugi chuckled at his pathetic joke.
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Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:54 pm
A light chuckle in his tone, Kanki replied with, "Great! We'll set off now then!" With that being said, he turned around to face Orient and the turned around to face the Sidewinder. Confusion rippled across his face and he looked in all directions, searching for something.
Sighing softly, Orient gently caught his love's face with his paw to focus him. Once certain of his attention, Orient allowed his paw to linger on Kanki's cheek for just a breath before gracefully pointing in the direction the two had come from. "We came from that direction," he murmured softly.
Erasing the longing in his blue eyes at Orient's touch as quickly as it appeared, Kanki chuckled nervously and began to walk in the opposite direction, following the Sidewinder downstream. "H-heh. O-of course, Orient. That means we're going this way. Follow me!" he exclaimed while he began to lead the group, making marching motions.
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