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 Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:03 pm
 Risasi was sitting by a small watering hole, lounging on the rocks as the sun beamed down at him. It was his favorite kind of bathing: being near water without having to actually go in it. The sun was much nicer, and felt better against his fur than a rough tongue or a dousing of water. Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the sky.
A bird was circling, and he instinctively thought of the wild dog he had met but a few days ago. After discovering he had been used to steal a shiny rock, Risasi had run home to apologize to his parents who, in their understanding way, did nothing to chastise him. In truth, he knew they hadn’t understood, and thought he was just upset over some game. But the way they had soothed him had made him relax.
The next day he had returned to the tree where it had all happened, and the shiny rock had been there, nestled in brush. He had found it through the scent of it, and had called to the bird once it was in his paws. After some complicated dialogue, not knowing how to talk to birds, he had been forgiven and even allowed to keep the stone.
He wore it now on his wrist, strapped down by strong, thin vines.
The wild dog has stayed in the area for the past couple days, but had not dared go back to the tree. Even now, he'd never felt so bad in his life. He couldn't get the cub and the rock out of his head, no matter how hard he tried. It bewildered him... he was never the type to sit and brood about things for days on end. But here he was, mooping around like someone had died.
His ears tilted back, he approached the water hole. Huni was too focused on the ground to see the cub lounging on the other side. If he had seen him he'd have turned and ran, no matter how thirsty he was. His nose dipped into the water and he started to lap slowly, eyes half lidded.
Risasi drew in a deep, calm breath as he lounged, bringing his thoughts away from that day only until a familiar scent came to him. It matched the one that was still lingering on the rock around his wrist, and he identified it right away. Rolling onto his paws, he looked around until he spotted the brown wild dog as he wandered closer. Silent as the dog reached the water, he only moved when he heard the lapping of water.
Creeping closer, he half considered turning and running. But, somehow, that didn’t seem right. He need to speak with this wild dog again.
“Hi,” he said quietly, realizing he did not know the other animal’s name.
Huni blinked and glanced up when the cub approached him, catching his scent before he heard him. His ears flattened even more and he crouched down slightly. Eyes flickered from Risasi to behind him, wondering if he should run or stay... but if the cub was wanting to speak to him, he might as well stay...
He cleared his throat and focused his attention on him. "Ah... Hey..."
“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Risasi said stiffly, looking at the ground. He spoke with the typical cadence of a child doing something his parents told him to do, “I didn’t mean that you were a bad person. I just got… upset.”
His eyes fell on the rock at his wrist, and he held it up, offering it to the wild dog, “I went back and the bird let me keep it. You can have it if you really want it. I know you said you thought it was pretty and that you wanted it real bad. I don’t have to keep it, and at least you wouldn’t be stealing it this time.”
Risasi was a good cub and, even as he spoke, he began to forgive Huni for their odd meeting from before.
“I don’t remember if I told you, but my name is Risasi.”
His ears slowly rose until they had fanned forwards. He blinked at him, looking suprised and confused. He'd never, ever had someone... give him something before... Dumbfounded, he just gapped at the cub. "I... I uh.. well... I couldn't, I mean... it's yours now... Ya should keep it." Nodded, not looking as anxious anymore. He smiled a bit, appreciating the gesture even if it didn't seem quite right to accept it.
"Nice... to have met you. My name is Huni..." Nods, sitting more relaxedly.
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:13 pm
“Huni is a cool name,” Risasi said, offering a small smile. Sitting down, he sighed and decided things were alright now. Nodding to himself, his smile broadened.
“Do you mind if I ask you a question?” He didn’t really wait for permission, feeling that the question was, in itself, enough to get him permission, “why do you like to steal stuff? You said you have to do it, but I’ve never felt that way. The only things I have to do are eat… and sleep. And whatever my mom and dad say. But you’re an adult, so you don’t have to do that, right?”
He tilted his head curiously, putting his paw down. He’d offer the rock again later, if he felt like Huni still really did want it.
He was like the other night now, smiling and his tail thumped against the ground slowly. "Thanks. Risasi is pretty cool too, I think." Paused though, frowning slightly as he thought about the answer to his question. Why did he always feel the need to steal?
"I... don't really know. I guess it's mostly because of the thrill it gives me... It makes me feel alive. Gives me something to do."
“You’re bored? We could go hunting, if you need something to do. Or I could show you how to climb, like how my friend taught me!”
He frowned, thinking about that.
“Though, you might just use it to steal from another nest.” Despite himself, he grinned, realizing he had just made a joke and enjoying it a lot. Laughing, he smiled at Huni and shook his head, “I’m just kidding, but that was funny! But if you wanted to hang out, we could. It’s not good, stealing from people. It makes them sad. Or, I guess, like that bird, angry.”
His head tilted to the side. "Hunting?" Hunting didn't sound too bad... Though usually he just stole food from lesser creatures. "Well... That might be fun, just hanging out... Never really hung out with anyone before." Nodded, smiling.
"Never tried climbing... I promise I won't use it to steal, if I can even do it." He chuckled, moving a paw to ruffle the fur on Risasi's forehead.
“It’s fun!” Risasi said, about hanging out. He liked just talking to people, and learning their stories. Everyone had such an interesting past. Of course, it was difficult for him to find friends that did not immediately see him for his mixed blood. He was glad that this wild dog, at least for now, did not seem concerned with that.
Grinning up at him as he ruffled the short fuzz that was pretending to be a mane, Risasi nodded and made Huni’s task a bit more difficult.
“Okay! Then let’s find a good tree! There’s a big one just over there, and I can show you what I learned! I might not be very good at it, but you’ll probably do better than I do once you know how, right?” Happy to get the chance to help someone, even with something so simple as jumping into a tree, Risasi scampered a bit away, toward the tree he had already chosen.
“Come on!”
"Is it?" Huni had never really tried climbing, so he couldn't be sure. Still, he thought it'd be fun to at least try and to hang out with his new friend. "Well, I'll give it a go then." Chuckled and followed, tail wagging franticly behind him.
He stopped in front of the tree and glanced up and down it, head tilting to the side. It was rather tall, and for a moment he was self-concious... Dogs were not meant for climbing. At least he had the determination though... He would not let down Risasi again. He wouldn't give up!
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:17 pm
Risasi looked up at the tree and felt a wave of self-consciousness akin to the doubt Huni was experiencing in that moment. It was a funny picture, the two of them staring up at the intimidating tree, but Risasi was hardly thinking about that as he swallowed hard. He had climbed that other tree well enough, but it had been much smaller. This one might be biting off more than he could chew. But he was determined to show his new friend what he could do, and teach him how to do it too.
Drawing a breath, he took a step forward and looked at Huni.
“Okay! First thing is finding branches you can jump to. A lot of climbing is really just jumping, and then hanging on. At least, that’s how my lion friend did it. It was good, because I didn’t have sharp claws to dig into the bark, but I do now.” With that he demonstrated by leaping at the tree, gripping it like he was hugging it and shimmying up until he reached the lowest branch. Hauling himself up, he then bounced and clawed his way to a nearby one, in order to give Huni some room to follow.
"Ah..." He blinked slowly, trying to hide his intimidation. The dog watched the cub climb up, and after a gulp he attempted it himself. Of course, it would have worked better if dogs had sharper claws that could be extended... He jumped onto the trunk of the tree and ended up pretty much bouncing off of it, his nails scraping helplessly at the wood.
He coughed and sat up, blinking down at the ground shamefully. "Uhh... That didn't work out well..."
Risasi looked down thoughtfully. Now that he was up in the tree, he was not inclined to come back down. Climbing backwards always ended badly for the cub, for some reason or another. Hesitating, moving back and forth on the branch, he finally ended up staying put and calling down to the wild dog.
“DIdn’t you use your claws? Maybe that’s why I never see dogs in trees!” He laughed playfully, wobbling a bit on the branch before clinging on for dear life. Frowning, he moved backwards toward the trunk, where the branch was thicker.
“You should try again!”
Huni whined and huffed in annoyance, frowning at the tree. Maybe dogs just weren't meant to climb... He sighed and stood, head lowered in determination. He could do it, and he would! Smirking, he backed up several steps... then went at the tree trunk running. The dog jumped at the last moment, back paws scraping against the rough bark. It was enough to propel himself up, it seemed. His front legs locked around the lowest branch.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the sharp claws to dig into the branch to help him the rest of the way. He dangled for a few moments, back legs kicking wildly. In the end he lost the battle with gravity and tumbled back to the ground with a yelp.
“Are you okay?!” Risasi called with a yelp, jumping back to the lower branch that Huni has just failed to climb onto. Balancing precariously, he considered leaping the rest of the way down, but was too afraid in the end. Sitting on the branch, he lowered himself as best he could and peered down at the wild dog below.
“Did you hurt yourself? Maybe climbing is a bad idea!” He said woefully, his claws digging at the bark of the branch helplessly. Tail swishing back and forth in furious agitation, the young hybrid sought a solution to both of their problems, and could not come up with anything. He did not know how to get Huni into the tree, and he did not know how to get himself out of it.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think it would be this hard!”
"Its... okay..." He muttered, laying on his back with his feet up in the air. His head shook as he rolled over, a bit dazed from the fall but otherwise alright. "I think... that maybe we should try again later. But in a much smaller tree..."
Huni looked up at the small cub, his vision clearing. "Are you okay?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:18 pm
“I’m…” Risasi murmured, moving from side to side as he picked up his effort to get down again, “I’m fine. I’m just… I’m not good with the getting down part yet…”
He moved to the trunk, remembering his hard learned lesson from his first tree climbing experience. It was a bad idea to climb face first while going down. So he put his back paws down first, searching for foot holds as he moved down. Eventually he stopped moving his legs, clinging with all of his claws and slowly sliding down with a piercing sound as he ripped at the bark. His grip didn’t hold, and he let out a yelp as he fell backwards.
Huni blinked, looking a little concerned. His head bent down as he stepped forward to sniff at him. "Hey... You okay? The dog licked at Risasi's forehead in a brotherly way, looking over him for any scrapes.
"I think we both need to work on coming down... yeah? I'm a bit tired and hungry though, so maybe we can try it again some other day, yeah?" Smiles, standing up strait again. "You're a good teacher. I'm sure I'll get it, with some practice."
Risasi sighed. His pride hurt more than anything else. Luckily, it hadn’t been that great a fall, and he hadn’t injured himself in anyway. Rolling onto his side, he looked up at Huni with a disappointed frown. He had wanted to be impressive, and he had failed. At least he had managed to climb the tree, he reasoned.
It was more than the wild dog had accomplished, after all.
“A smaller tree would be a good way to do it,” Risasi said, standing. His stomach growled, as if suddenly reminded that he was hungry, as well. Or competing for attention, now that Huni had mentioned his own hunger. Either way, Risasi was reminded that his parents would be hunting for the family soon, and he should be getting back to the den. Nodding, he smiled appreciatively, “You’re get it, I’m sure! My family is probably going to eat soon, so I should go home! But if you do climb a tree, I want to know!”
He bounded a bit away, stopping and turning back for a moment to tilt his head at the wild dog.
“Are you sure you don’t want the rock?”
The wold dog nodded, grinning happily. It was nice to have a new friend, since he didn't have many. He ruffled the cub's future mane with a chuckle. "Yeah, I'll come find you around here tomarrow, maybe... I'll let you know if I manage to climb... Mm, food..." He glanced away, distracted.
When the cub offered the rock again, he glanced down at it, seeming to ponder it... But in the end he shook his head, smiling again. "Nah. You keep it little guy. You earned it." And with that he turned and started to trot off in the other direction. "See ya kid."
Risasi beamed up at Huni, then down at the rock, and then back up again. It seemed he couldn’t be happier, his chest puffed out in a proud display. Wearing the rock like a badge of honor now, rather than a momento of a strange time, Risasi nodded and with a bounce in his step, turned for home.
“Bye Huni! See you later!” He called giddily over his shoulder.
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