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 Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 2:46 pm
 Tail flicking in irritation, Tumai strained her neck back as she examined the tree. She had been chasing a bird across the Savannah, but now it had escaped her through a method she considered cheating. The hunt began some distance back, when the female had spotted the bird sitting on a rock. It seemed to have noticed her and flitted away, landing the grasses not too far from its original position. Tumai had sniffed her way after it, every time she got to close the bird flitting away again.
Finally they had reached a drier, less grassy area of the plains and the bird, apparently concerned now that its limited cover had vanished, took to flight. Tumai had no way of following it, though she watched its path diligently. It had landed in this tall tree, in front of which Tumai had planted herself resolutely. She had no intention of hurting the little thing, but was curious as to why it had decided to end their little game so early. Wanting to be friends, and perhaps play again, the friendly, timid wild dog waited patiently for the bird to appear again.
She did not bark or make her presence known, imagining the bird was aware that it had been followed. Instead she sat quietly, trying her best to stay friendly and positive, even though she was getting bored and her mind was telling her the bird did not want to be friends with her. It was always disappointing, spending the day alone, and because this, sitting and waiting for a stranger to talk to her, was better than that she remained.
She was almost certain that her diligence would pay off. Almost.
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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 7:17 pm
Bored... bored... bored. That was about all that summed up Zaarafani's mood that day. She had already done everything that needed to be done. Eaten. Had a drink. Gone exploring on her own. Really, she wasn't used to being... lonely, so to speak. She made her own way for the most part, never interacting with other creatures, unless she intended to eat them.
She had been on her own essentially since her pack died, she had gotten used to it. Still, there were times -not that she would ever admit it- that she missed having other wild dogs around. Never enough to activley seek out her own kind, but enough to make her consider it.
Never for very long, but who was counting? She had never really had any more than... apathy towards anything other than her own health anyway. And even that tended to be scarce. So, imagine her suprise when she spotted another female of her own species.
At first, she nearly forgot how to communicate entirely, it had been so long. But then she noticed that the other female seemed to be rather intent about... something or other. Oh well.
So, Ani just kept walking, out of the bushes, past the other wild dog... and going on her merry way. Without saying a single word, even though the two females practically brushed shoulders.
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Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:10 pm
Tumai blinked as a yellow wild dog appeared suddenly. Smiling timidly, she opened her mouth to greet the other, then shut it as the yellow dog moved straight past her. Blinking, attention drawn from the tree completely, she turned after the dog, watching her move slowly away.
Giving the other the benefit of the doubt, Tumai decided she had simply not spotted the grey wild dog, who had been sitting rather rigidly and might have just blended into the background. Tail wagging cautiously, Tumai carefully followed after the yellow animal, head low, body language languid yet not too free.
Hurrying her step, she caught up to the wild dog and, clearing her throat, fell into pace beside her.
"Ah... hello there," she said quietly, clearing her throat again and speaking louder, "I saw you walk by, and thought you looked sad, so I... I didn't want you to think I was ignoring you or anything like that. I'm sorry if you thought that, though. My... my name is Tumai."
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Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:27 pm
Zaafarani blinked, caught a little by suprise. She had thought that she had managed to completely ignore the other creature. Well... not ignore so much as not entirely accept the existance of. But the other animal was much more persistant that Ani... ever was. Period. Which was something she wasn't all that accustomed too.
It took her a moment to find her voice -though she had been tempted to not say... anything at all, actually. But she didn't really want to be rude, it wasn't fair when the other creature had been trying to be friendly. Plus, she was a fellow wild dog after all.
"Ah... I..." Ani collected herself slowly, not quite sure exactly how to express herself. She wasn't used to talking, "Zaafarani... is... my name. Ani. Sorry, I thought you were... You looked busy." That seemed at least semi-normal, she supposed.
As for the sad comment... she wasn't really sad, though she supposed that looking bored and looking sad may have been easy to confuse. Or maybe she was pondering. Pondering was good.
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Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:49 pm
Tumai nodded, her timidity lifted slightly once she got a response. Smiling, eyes friendly and warm, she shook her head, "I was just watching for a bird... it was silly game I was playing... uh... nevermind."
Saying it out loud, she realized how silly the whole thing had been. Blushing under her fur, she sighed slightly and decided she would have to try harder to be a little more acceptable. Having been alone for some time now, she was unused to conversation, though not in the same way as her new acquaintance. She was normally too shy to engage others, more than once scurrying off when another animal addressed her. Why she had gone out of her way to speak with this wild dog, she was unsure.
It had seemed right at the time. Now she wondered if she looked weird and creepy. Frowning, confused by her own thought process, she shook her head again, "it's nice to meet you, Ani! Where are you off to?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:30 pm
Ani blinked a little, watching the other wild dog. A game? She hadn't played games since... well, since she was old enough to know better. Well, not know better. Since she had been taught to ignore the games of children and learn to fight like a responsible adult wild dog. Or at least she thought that had been her pack's reasoning... she really didn't care any more.
"Ah... well, games are nice, I suppose." If the other female wanted to play games, Ani didn't really see the issue with it. They were free, and alone, they had to do something to pass the time. Chasing birds seemed to be as good an option as anything else was. Not one she would do herself... too much running and sweating for her taste, but to each their own.
But then there was the odd question... where was she going and what was she doing? "It's pleasent to meet you also. I'm... well... Me personally ... well... I was thinking of going to see my old pack..." She mentioned absently, "But then I remembered that they're all dead... or missing I suppose. So I'm going no where. You?" Perhaps Tumai had a more interesting destination in mind.
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Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:09 am
Tumai frowned. She hadn't anticipated such a depressing answer, and didn't quite know how to react to it. Should she apologize for asking? For the loss? Ani did not seem too upset about it, but Tumai was beginning to pick up on the fact that this yellow wild dog did not make her emotions as obvious as many of the other creatures Tumai had met. Or even as she, herself, did.
Looking around, she shrugged her shoulders and decided to just follow the flow of the conversation, rather than dwell on something she didn't understand. Or at least, that was what her mind told her to do, and what she believed her voice would follow through with. When she opened her mouth, however, she found herself betrayed by her own innate confusion.
"I'm not going anywhere," she said, developing within herself a false sense of security and relief before pressing on, "what happened to your old pack that they all died or went missing?" It was a blunt question, and one she had no right asking. Heart fluttering, she felt her head go bleary as she struggled against the embarrassment of being so insensitive. And yet she did nothing to fix the situation, "I've never had a pack, so I'm not sure what it's like to lose one. I can't imagine it's very nice."
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 1:04 pm
Ani nodded. So this female didn't have anywhere to go either... nice to know that not all of their kind had been in packs their entire lives. Zaafarani had left hers as soon as she could, and when she finally looked back, there was nothing to go home to.
"They were warriors." She said, not entirely sure how else to describe them, for all they had ever done, so long as she had lived among them, was fight. Fight and never look back. "They didn't lose very often... but I suppose you fight enough battles, you lose enough members, that eventually you all get wiped off the map. I figure there were so few of them left by the end... they were either pecked off by enemies one by one, or were forced into exile from their land... Couldn't say, I wasn't there. I couldn't stand them. I left."
Bunch of inbred lunatics, the whole lot of them, "Packs weren't so great... I can't say I miss them, but I wouldn't say they all deserved to die either. But they really should have seen it coming." She really didn't care... but she supposed she did get lonely sometimes. All of her comrads were long gone.
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:06 pm
"Oh..." Tumai said, lowering her eyes. She did not like hearing about fighting and dying, her heart fluttering as she thought about wounds and blood. She was fairly faint of heart, her legs feeling wobbly as she swallowed down her reaction. Not looking at Ani, afraid that she might embarrass herself somehow, she cleared her throat.
"I'm sorry to hear that, but if it was their way of life, I'm sure they were proud in the end. I don't mean to say that you can't feel like you do, but I do think family is important. And even if you don't like them, I think it's important to honor their memories, or at the very least know that they died for what they believed in."
She sighed, having neither a pack nor a family. All she had were ideals, and she knew she had no right to vocalize them. She knew nothing about true familial relationships, nor did she have any understanding of packs. Of course she knew there could be cruelties, yet she had to believe there was honor or pride or something like love keeping them together. If not, why would they consider themselves a unit?
"I'm alone too much, I think. I've been looking for a pack, or at least companionship, but I'm too shy most of the time. I'm afraid of rejection as much as I am being accepted. But I think finding what might be left of your pack, or at least learning what happened to them, would be a good thing, right?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:26 am
"If I ever joined a pack again..." Ani said offhand, "It wouldn't have been mine. They were mostly racist inbred nut-jobs... that's why I left." She didn't lie about her feelings towards the pack. She didn't see the point, "I never even knew who my parents were... they split us up, at birth. Believed the whole pack should be a family. Which is fine I guess... But I hated it. That's why I left. I..." Why had she gone looking for them? Really? She couldn't put her paw on it, "I guess I just wanted to know what happened to them... but they're all gone now."
She glanced over at the other female and shrugged, "Packs can be good or bad I guess... Gives everyone... something in common. Something to fight for, or in our case... someone to hate." Which really had just caused a lot of pointless fighting. Ani had already fought in a war by the time she was a juvinile. No one was left out. If you were a pup, you took messages from battlefeild to commander, if you were a juvinile, you brought around medicine, or dragged the wounded off the feild. Plenty of children died that way. It was considered an honour.
"But I'm sure you'll find a good one... somewhere. I've been alone a long time too... I guess I started looking for... something. Something else. Besides... being alone." After all, being alone all the time did tend to grate on one's sanity a bit. But it was better than all that war.
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 1:00 pm
"I don't blame you then," Tumai said, frowning sorrowfully. As much as she hated the idea of family being hurtful, and packs being bad, she could not argue with history. She knew nothing about them, after all, so who was she to judge the matter at all? Shaking her head, she sighed, "I hope you can at least find closure on the whole thing, someday."
"Well, I've met a few friendly wild dogs around here," Tumai said hopefully, "it's a nice place, these lands. I might not know anything about packs, but there seem to be quite a few like us, without family units around them. I don't suppose I mind being on my own that much, anyway. A lot of freedom to move around, and meet those who are out doing the same thing."
She smiled, nodding, "we're just looking for our path, I think. I'm sure you'll find whatever it is you're looking for now when you're meant to. Just as I'll find a pack if I'm meant to. Or I'll continue with this wandering life. Chasing birds isn't so bad." She grinned.
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 3:08 pm
"No... no I imagine it isn't. I don't think anything... is meant to happen... but I figure wandering around... eventually, you find someone else." She hadn't really met many others. She never went looking dor them. She only came into contact at random, and when she did, it didn't usually last as long as this was. Most weren't that curious... or found her dull.
She supposed she was dull. Facial expression would probably help that. But that was more effort than Ani was really willing to put into... anything at all. Even the conversation she was in didn't particuarily interest, or disinterest her. Nothing ever did. Oh well.
"Maybe I'll find closure... maybe I won't. I don't think it really matters. At least I know they aren't there anymore." That was something, at least. Dead and gone from this world... or trying to be. The wild dogs she had known... they would have probably tried to 'die valiently' in battle on their own by now... and if they hadn't yet, that's what they'd be trying to do. Or perhaps they worked blindly as lion-assassins. Who knew? "I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for. At least you're looking."
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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 2:30 pm
"I suppose..." Tumai said thoughtfully, musing silently for a long time.
She didn't know what to think of this new acquaintance. She wanted to like her, of course. Ani seemed like she needed some friends, and Tumai was more than happy with the company she had been provided. It was enough to allow her to believe she had made a new friend, and so she was content. And yet she felt disconcerted because she didn't know if the yellow, impassive wild dog had any similar ideas. Maybe they were just two passing dogs making idle conversation, and that was it.
Tumai had to stop reading too far into things. Shuffling her paws, she shook her head and shrugged.
"It's nice talking," she said, not much for segues, "I'm glad to have run into you today. Your company is much better than that bug I was chasing," she laughed sincerely, shaking her head and sighing. Heart fluttering as anxiety set in, she offered a smile and diverted her eyes, "it's a nice day..."
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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 6:25 pm
"I don't..." Ani searched for the right words to say out loud, "It is a nice day out... and I'm glad... I met you. I don't exactly... go out of my way, to do much of anything..." She never had. It wasn't that she had any feelings towards the new wild dog yet... she didn't have any feelings at all really. Well, not any she had ever managed to tap into, considering she had been alone so long.
But it was certainly nice to meet another individual, "It's certainly... more exciting than being alone..." That was the only way she could think of putting it. Not that she didn't enjoy being alone. But still... interacting was good. Better than not doing anything.
"I'm not used to being around with... other dogs..." True enough. That was something she most certainly wasn't, "I'm sorry if... I'm... blunt..." She didn't know if that was the right word for it, but she didn't know if she had that right emotional skill-set for dealing with other animals. She hadn't done it for a long, long time, "I do... like... meeting you."
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Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:01 am
"You don't? Aren't you ever bored? I find myself looking for things to do, just to pass the time. That's why I end up doing silly things like chasing bugs and trying to talk to birds. Though, I'm not constantly energetic. I met this puppy that was a ball of pure energy, and she near drove me crazy. I don't think I'd like to live on either end of the spectrum. Too little or too much drive."
She tilted her head, "I don't mind blunt. It's better than when others try to be subtle or go out of their way to hide their meaning. I'm not really... sharp, I suppose, though I do my best. I wasn't taught much, growing up, so I don't know when people are lying or... being tactful. I'm confused a lot. But blunt is nice! At least it's clear."
She smiled, nodding. Content that they could at least be called acquaintances, "have you eaten anything today? Maybe we could find something to eat, and talk some more? I'm sorry if it's prying, but I would like to know what it's like, being able to not need to talk to others. Living alone, and being happy like that. So far, I've always been driven by a need to talk to others, even though it scares me most of the time."
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