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 Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 10:53 am
As the sun was setting, many creatures were bedding down for a night's rest. But there was an exception, a dark-pelted cheetah whose waking hours were just beginning. Kasi preferred the night, roaming exclusively in the relative darkness save when a contract required otherwise. Loping through the savannah grasses, her keen eyes were always moving, always searching. But for what?
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Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 2:59 pm
 Kizuka had been waiting for the sun to vanish before emerging from her den. it had been a long day, the den she had dug for herself not deep enough to hide completely from the reaching rays of the afternoon and evening. Yet they had eventually crawled back and she was allowed out of the dark hole, greeted and welcomed by a cool night.
She left the den and wandered out into the open savannah, stretching as she went. Her yellow eyes swept the area, two shining, ethereal orbs haunting the darkness as she prowled slowly forward, her body low and her instinct forcing her to move through the shadows of the clouds above. She spotted something running toward her.
Crouching down into the grass, she tried to blend into the darkness. She was not there, after all. Nothing that was not meant to see her could, and she knew it. So there was no fear in her body as she watched what appeared to be a cheetah moving closer, despite the fact that she was crouching in its path.
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Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 5:37 pm
A slight movement in the grass ahead of her was all the warning Kasi got, but it was enough. Slowing first to a trot, then a walk, she approached the spot carefully, ready to flee at a moment's notice. When she saw the maker of the movement, she smiled. Just a wild dog, an adolescent female at that...relaxing, she decided it might be nice to chat. "A good night, isn't it?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:40 am
Kizuka watched the cheetah approach, her yellow eyes unwavering as the other female slowed and then approached with a friendly air. Perhaps there was something else around that had drawn the cheetah's attention. The phantom sat up slowly, looking around and frowning when she saw nothing else.
Her ears perked and her head snapped back to the cheetah when she heard it speak. It was talking to her, unless it had an invisible friend with it, and that was impossible. Kizuka moved in shadows because she was one of them, a silhouette sliding across the ground. No one paid her any attention. At least, not normally.
Blinking, wondering why this stranger could see her, she bowed her head and said nothing. She was not used to talking, and did not know if she understood it enough to try and reply. Yes, she knew what others were saying, for the most part, but she did not quite get all the ins and outs of pronouncing the sounds like they did.
"Yes..." she offered carefully, the word coming slowly and with extreme thought, "it... is."
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 11:06 pm
Hermit, the cheetah's mind offered instantly, and she nodded slightly in agreement with herself. The uncertain look, the way the wild dog's jaws moved as she awkwardly formed the words...definitely not the type for much social contact. She made a mental note to tread carefully, for long months of solitude could do strange things to the mind. "Am I interrupting anything? I certainly didn't mean to, just out for a nice run." She smiled, hoping to put the stranger at ease. "My name is Kasi."
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 10:52 am
"Kizuka..." she offered quietly, yellow eyes softening a bit. This Kisa could certainly see her, and that told the solitary wild dog that there was meaning in this meeting. It was her belief that she was only visible, distinct from the shadows, to those she was meant to interact with. One of them, or both of them if they were lucky, was meant to benefit from this interaction.
"I wasn't..." she looked around, then back at Kasi. Her eyes were deep and curious, and she did not shy away from staring at someone openly, "doing anything. Sorry to stop your run..."
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Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 8:34 pm
Now the staring, that did make Kasi somewhat uncomfortable. What allowed her to keep her usual friendly demeanor was the knowledge that Kizuka likely didn't know she was staring, being unused to social interaction. Loners could be like that, sometimes. Shaking her head, she smiled again. "It's alright, really. I was thinking of taking a breather soon anyways, so...really, you did me a favor." Looking up, she noticed and lamented the lack of clouds. Stars were lovely, yes, but Kasi found the Father and Mother's approval in a well-executed kill the most beautiful of all. "So what brings you out here?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:04 am
"I only..." Kizuka said, following Kasi's gaze to the sky, "come out when it's dark... I don't like the sun... it hurts my eyes. And no... no one can see me, in the light."
She watched the stars for a long moment, absorbed. They, and the moon, where often the only light she saw, and to her they were beautiful. Almost too bright, she couldn't stare at a full moon for long, and clouds were nice when the moved over to cover it. This moon, however, was soft and slender. She watched it impassively.
"You can see me, though," she said, her words coming out with slightly more ease, "I should be glad. Kasi. You must have something to teach me... or me to teach you... but I don't know what."
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:50 pm
Something to teach...this thought silenced Kasi for a long moment. She wasn't much of a teacher, making her way from contract to contract as she did. This Kizuka spoke of the ability to see her as if it were something special...did she believe herself imperceptible to normal beings, perhaps? "I...don't know what I could teach, honestly," she admitted. "My knowledge is very specialized."
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Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:35 pm
"Sometimes it... is unclear," she said smoothly, eyes returning to Kasi from the sky. She did not smile at the cheetah, though her voice was intoned with a soft song similar to that of a smirk. She nodded her head, her bright yellow eyes flickering in the darkness.
"You do have knowledge, though?" She asked, the very tip of her tail wagging imperceptibly back and forth. Though she was quiet and her lifestyle forced her to be lonely, she had a deep thirst for knowledge, and this cheetah, a creature she had very little experience with, could tell her something about a flower and she would be thrilled.
On the inside, of course.
The impassive wild dog blinked, "I can teach you of the shadows, if you would like. But they hold a power few can master. Even I have limited use of them, for nothing more than shelter."
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 3:02 am
Kasi's interest was piqued at this. "If you have knowledge of how to use the shadows that I do not, I could...share some of what I know," she offered. "However..." Her brow furrowed as she eyed the wild dog. "It can be a heavy burden for the pure, much as your knowledge sounds like it might be."
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 2:52 pm
Kizuka nodded slowly. She smiled peacefully, though the effort was so small, it was near impossible to notice save through really close observation, in broad day light. Since neither were available or happening, it looked as though she were as impassive as ever.
"True," she said, though she hardly sounded surprised or concerned, "and there is no telling... if the shadows will accept you..."
She drew a deep breath, "they can make you invisible... if you travel by them alone... and no one will trouble you... or hurt you... the day is lost... the shadows claimed my eyes... light is unbearable... that is the price."
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Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:58 am
Having used her own dark coat to blend with the shadows countless times, Kasi nodded. "I use the shadows in a similar way. However, the price is that of death should I betray my kin...I am forever bound to my family." She closed her eyes a moment. "The Father always sees...the Mother always knows. Should I endanger my family, they will not hesitate to strike me down." Opening her eyes, she smiled, tail curling about her paws. "But on the other paw, they will protect me as they are able. They are family."
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Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 9:50 pm
Kizuka's yellow eyes lowered at the mention of family. Hers had been murdered in the effort to save her, she knew, though the murderers were gone from her mind. She knew they were hyena, but she would never be able to track them down. She listened the Kasi speak, though, tail wagging listlessly behind her.
"That sounds... strange... but comforting, I think... because you are always with... someone. Or their essence... I guess..." she frowned, feeling a pang of loneliness, "I'm sorry... I should... return to the shadows..." she felt her eyes burning, and didn't want to be seen any more.
The shadows were a good place to hide her emotions.
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 1:21 am
Kasi felt a pang of sympathy at the young wild dog's reaction. She didn't remember her blood parents, but it didn't matter to her--the Mother and Father were her parents now. Others were not so lucky however, and for that she pitied Kizuka. Slowly she nodded. "I shall let you do so, then...I hope the shadows treat you well." Turning, she loped off into the night.
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