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 Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 11:09 am
 Sinzia heaved a terrific sigh as he padding his way across the savannah. He was in a bad mood. If course, this was generally the case with the ill-mannered chronic liar, considering he could never find anything to do with himself. It felt like he was always bored or lonely. Or, on the very bad days, both at once. It drove him made, because he was a distinctly lazy creature and was not about to go out of his way to occupy himself.
So he wandered around looking for people that might offer him an interesting story. Even if he had to create most of it for himself, it would be worth it. When he was with someone else, making them believe whatever he wanted them to, he felt powerful and in control. It was more than enough justification for the effort he needed to expel in order to attain that position.
It wasn't that he was a particularly malicious person. Most of the time, his stories were harmless. Outrageous and fanciful, but never intended to hurt. It was only if he grew to dislike his company that he turned his imagination on them, and even then it only worked if they let it. He lied because he could, and stopped lying when it couldn't work any more. And that was it. He had nothing else to do with himself, and in his fantasies he could at least feel important.
Dragging his feet, he mulled this way of life over as he flopped down under a bare tree. He heaved another sigh and fell over, sprawling out on the floor and, with a yawn, shutting his eyes. Maybe sleep was a good way to waste the hours. It had worked in the past.
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 11:28 am
 "What the hell do you want?" Marakl huffed.
He was lying on his belly, legs curled against his chest, staring udown the length of his snout. On the end of his nose was an insect. Not a pretty insect, like a butterfly, but a long-bodied thing with lacy wings and huge eyes. It stared back at him as if daring him to make a move.
Marakl snorted and the insect's wings were trapped in a tornado that shot it up into the air.
The hyena laughed and with a jolt, tumbled onto his side.
But the bug was back, buzzing insistently in front of his nose. "Grrr, what the hell is wrong with you? You want to die or some-ink?" And with a long growl he snapped at the insect, hoping to crush it in his teeth.
He missed and the insect wheeled away on an air current, seemingly content that it had annoyed the hyena so much.
"Pah...stupid bugs."
A sound reached the hyena's ears then, the sound of a dull thud. It reminded him of Atreyu settling himself for the night. But...was that lion really here?
With a snort, he decided that it might be fun to annoy the lion and, with a swish of his tail, loped off in the direction of the sound...only to find it was not Atreyu at all.
It was a hyena.
A big hyena.
An adult male hyena.
Marakl held back a moment, looking at the other nervously, hoping that he was concealed by the undergrowth around him. What should he do now? Go introduce himself? Well...why not?
With a grin he stepped out into the open and gave a short yip. "Oi, you! It ain't sleep time."
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 11:40 am
Sinzia snorted discontentedly and opened one eye, scanning the area lazily before shutting it again. He sighed, having spotted the little hyena but not gaining much interest in him. He groaned and rolled over, sighing. And then it occurred to him that the little hyena had spoken, and that he should return the favor. Hadn't he just been looking for someone.
Hauling himself to his feet, the male hyena, eyes still closed, yawned tremendously and sighed. He was very good at going to sleep, and even a few moments of resting with his eyes shut was enough to send him into a drowsy, lazy haze. Blinking, he finally looked at the pup again, smacking his tongue against the roof of his mouth groggily.
"Why isn't it sleep time?" he asked, shaking himself. A cloud of dust lifted off of his brown and yellow fur, his mop of a forelock falling in front of his eyes as he settled his head with an even gaze on the stranger. He grinned, "who says? I sleep around now every day, because I'm so busy at night I don't have time to sleep. It would be very bad for a lot of folks if I took time off to sleep when, say, hyena like you do."
Stretching his front legs, he arched an expressive eyebrow, "who are you, anyway?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 12:08 pm
The little hyena clearly didn't like to have his question answered with another question. He wrinkled his little nose and took a step closer.
"Because it isn't." He stomped a paw and shook the tuft of hair from his eyes. "Its sunny and its nice and...what's the point of sleeping when you could do all sorts of stuff?" Like eating bugs...or trying to, at least. "Night? What is there to do at night? Its dark and...well, dark! Stupid. You'll bumble around in the dark and knock your lights out."
He laughed, a high-pitched, uncontrollable laugh that shook his little frame. His laugh was cut off, however, by the hyena's next comment.
"And what's that supposed to mean, huh?" After a moment of frowning he answered hesitantly. "Name's Marakl. Who're you? You look...weird."
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 12:26 pm
"I won't bumble in the dark," Sinzia said with a shrug, not missing a beat, "because I can see in the dark, better than I can even during the day. That's why I do my work at night. Because I'm the only one around here that can."
He grinned, liking the way the pup kept coming at him. He was spunky, that was for sure, and chased off that heavy, lingering feeling of boredom that Sin had been battling against. Shrugging his yellow shoulders, the adult hyena shook his head dismissively.
"You just can't see in the dark, can you? So of course you would have to sleep then, just like every one else. I'm sure being normal isn't that bad though, right?" He grinned at the laugh, chuckling and shrugging again, "I don't mean anything at all."
He frowned, not particularly taking to being called weird looking. He squinted at the cub critically, drawing closer. "Well, you look small. My name is Sinzia, but most folks call me Sin." He huffed, blowing dust at the pup before withdrawing his face and looking away indignantly.
"Well, Marakl, since you've gotten me up I might as well talk to you. What are you doing out here, and on your own no less?" he dropped his voice, "Don't you know there are dangerous creatures about?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 12:50 pm
He stomped on the dust cloud blown in his direction and narrowed his purple eyes. "I like being normal and I ain't small. I'm young. Younger than you, old man." He poked his tongue out teasingly. "And what's so amazing about the dark that you think seeing in it is so amazing?"
He glared up suspiciously. "Ann~nnd, what are you up to in the dark? What work does a hyena have to do anyways. I do work and I can do that perfectly fine in the light."
Sinzia. Sin.
Marakl. Mar.
So this was what all creatures did? Shorten their names for easy-ness? Why did anyone have a long name in the first place, then? If he ever got to name someone he'd give them names with no more than three letters. A lot more convenient.
"I'm looking for stuff." He wasn't going to elaborate on what 'stuff' was, not now in any case. "And yeah, there's always danger, but I gots my pack. Mar and Atreyu take care of all the daring stuff. I just get to be look out till my paws grow."
He lifted a heavy ear. "Besides you're on your own, ain't yah?" He sniffed. "Ain't no difference 'cept I can hide better than you, cos you're big and I ain't."
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 1:01 pm
"I'm big and old? Well, I'm just a mess, aren't I?" He scoffed, watching the puppy as he spoke. Clearly, this little guy had no problem with voice his opinion about anything. tilting his head, one large ear flopping awkwardly while the other hung toward the ground. He grinned.
"I fight crime at night. Puppy nappers think they can get away with it, because so many creatures are asleep when the darkness falls. But I'm not. I stay awake to protect puppies even younger than you are, small fry, so you should be thanking me and not giving me a hard time."
Puffing out his chest, he raised himself up proudly, his heroism clearly evident in his glorified posture. he held this position while he spoke, his voice affected by how pompous and important he had made himself, "there are monsters in the dark, little guy, that you can't even imagine. And the only reason you don't see them, or they don't see you, is because I stop them."
He grinned reaching out his paw and giving Mar a little push, to assert the fact that Sin was, in fact, a strong enough dude. Of course, he didn't need much strength to topple the young male. The point remained the same, with Sin towering over the pup.
"I can afford to be on my own, because I can take care of myself. I don't have to hide, like you do. But you... you're not so lucky."
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 1:08 pm
Puppy nappers?
He looked up, falling silent for the first time since his jaw had first swung open. There were things that liked to steal pups. "But...why?" He voiced his thoughts out loud. "Who'd want a lot of pups about the place all chattering and stuff? Damn, that'd be annoying, wouldn't it?" He wrinkled his nose. "So that means you gotta protect me, yeah? Or is it only at night? So I could get puppy napped right now and you'd just watch it happen?"
He grinned and his tongue lolled from his mouth. However, he had to admit that the hyena certainly looked strong. Maybe he could beat up the dark monsters.
"Well if that's true it's a good job my fur is dark. I hide good in shadow, especially with my eyes shut." He paused. "Say...could you maybe...show me one of these monsters? I could set it on Atreyu. That'd be a laugh! He ain't a pup but it'd be awesome if they could take him away. His mope face bugs me."
He shook his head and the large ears flapped around his face. "Ah, well I'll be bigger one day."
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 1:17 pm
"Kid, those kind of guys that take pups don't let them chatter and be annoying. It's not like a game or a trip. It's a bad time. It's no joke. I'm a part of a very serious business. Sometimes those monsters even kill the puppies they take, and that's even worse for the parents. So. Yeah. Not really funny, is it?"
He looked down at Mar knowingly, like a teacher over a student, nodding sagaciously. He stopped his nod abruptly, however, to shake his head in the opposite direction, "no I wouldn't just watch it happen. I'd probably be sleeping, so I wouldn't even see it. It's someone elses job to take care of you brats in the day time."
He paused, looking sober, before grinning again, "I don't know any of them like friends. They're monsters, after all. So they're busy being... monstrous. They'd much rather fight than talk, and I really don't think you'd want to set them on anyone, if you cared for them even one little bit. Besides, what's an Atreyu?"
He sighed, enjoying himself thoroughly but doing his best not to show it. His idea of fun had trained him to be a very good actor, so he was believable in his speech and mannerisms. To the untrained eye, anyway.
"You'd best be getting bigger fast now. If those monsters have their day time scouts out right now, you could be in danger just talking to me," he said vaguely, looking wistful.
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:35 am
(( Sorry it so long for a resposne. I posted just as gaia died the other day and had to re-type ;o; ))
Something happened then. Marakl fell silent and that brattish look faded from his face. He was young and as it was didn't understand much about death and killing. However, he knew the word and it had his heart growing cold in his chest. Killing was bad. Very bad. His head sank between his shoulders very slightly.
"Well, you ain't sleeping now, are yah?" He sounded momentarily angry, but Marakl never much was one for anger and the emotion died soon after he'd spoken.
He brightened at the prospect of talking about Atreyu being taken by the monsters, however. Was it just a short attention span or was he able to shrug things off without a care in the world? "Atreyu is a mope-face." He replied. "All he does is complain and stuff. The only good thing about him is he can catch food. I don't do the hunting thing. Oh, he has treasure too. But he don't share with me or Mar - the other Mar - I dunno why she puts up with him. He ain't a propre pack member, not in his behaviour anyways. I think being kidnapped would show him a thing or two. And if he did get kidnapped we could steal all his treasure. Me and Mar, I mean." What he forgot to mention was that Atreyu was a fully grown male lion.
"Anyway, if you don't know any monster personally they won't ever think to come get Atreyu and save us from his mope-face." He wrinkled his nose. "Anyways...shouldn't pups have packs to protect them? You dun look like you're part of any pack."
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Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:20 am
sin watched as the young hyena seemed to grow affected by this story they were weaving together. The older hyena tried not to grin, though it was an epic battle that he truly thought he was going to lose. Keeping in character, however, he nodded solemnly as Mar considered things out loud.
"A mope-face? Sounds like a good reason for a monster to get him, I guess. Though, by your own admission you'll probably starve without him. I'm not sure the monster would be interested in him, so much as you, though. See, they don't go after treasure like you and I, or your Atreyu, know it to be. They go after bright little lives, full of potential. Those are the ones they take out of this world, and the ones I have to look after. Like you Mar's."
He frowned at the mention of being in a pack. It was true, he didn't have one, but it was a bit of a touchy subject for him and he was ruffled for a kid to blindside him with it. Shaking his head, he shrugged his massive shoulders.
"I'm not in a pack, because I couldn't bear to risk the lives of those I'd grow to love. It's better if I just move where the bad guys do, and stay detached from everyone else," he looked rather distant as he spoke. Though his story had no truth in it, he couldn't help but feel a certain kinship to this character he had created for himself. Of course, in reality he was shunned by packs because of his chronic lying, his mischief, and his laziness.
The little kid didn't have to know that, though.
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Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 10:10 am
He lifted an ear. "Starve? Nah, me and Mar have good noses. We can sniff out a good carcass for miles away." Though, silently he admitted that eating fresh food was far better than picking at carcasses already stripped bare by the stinking vultures. A shame really that the birds weren't tasty. They were tough, stringy and vile.
"Fulla potential?" He lifted his other ear now, looking up at this male with his bright purple eyes. What kinda potential could this adult see in him that would be so brilliant it would draw monsters to kill him? Maybe one day he could help slay them like this hyena apparently did. "Well, I dunno about that. I am a good lookout, and I have lots of stuff to say." He nodded his nose vigorously.
He snorted at the male's next comment. "Bleugh...boring! I don't like Atreyu all that much but without him there'd be no one to pick on. You must get bored when there ain't no monsters. Hm, well, I guess you could stay with me and Mar when you pass by. She ain't no hyena like us but she sure is awesome." He beat his stumpy tail on the ground at the thought of his odd, mother-figure of an alpha and leapt to his feet. "We ain't scared of no danger. 'Sides, you say the monsters are only attracted to little folks? Well, when I grow up there won't be any little folk in our pack. I'm a hyena, Mar's a wild dog and Atreyu is a stinky mope-face lion who won't ever get himself a girl. Girls have germs anyways." He cackled, tongue lolling.
"See?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:59 am
"Not a hyena?" Sin said, frowning thoughtfully. He hadn't thought that this pup would be in the company of other species. Tilting his head curiously, he flicked his large ear and grinned as Mar explained further. That certainly was a rag-tag group, and he wondered how they had come to form a pack. Not that he was about to ask, since he wasn't interested enough to sit through a story.
He had monsters to kill, after all. And he needed his rest for that.
"Girls don't have germs though, kid. No more than anyone else does," he grinned, eyes flashing, "girls, in fact, are very, very nice. But I think you're too young and small to really be ready to learn that just yet."
Slapping his tail against the ground, he grinned down at the youngster, "so, little dude, what do you say we have a bit of fun? We can go monster hunting, if you want, when it gets dark. And I'll teach you everything I know. I can't show you how to see in the dark, but your eyes will adjust well enough. Unless you're scared, or your... wild dog... doesn't want you out late. I can understand it, if that's the case."
"I'd be worried about a small fry like you, too."
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Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 5:47 am
“Nope.” Marakl replied. He didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong or unnatural with the little set up he had going. It suited him just fine and he loved Marzi dearly. In fact, if Sin had asked how they’d come to form a group he’d tell him that he didn’t know. He didn’t remember his mother – his real mother. All he remembered was Marzi and Atreyu. They’d just been there.
He made a face at Sin’s view on girls. “They ain’t.” Okay, so he hadn’t met many girls. In fact Marzi was the only girl he really knew well and she was alpha. However, until he had proof that they weren’t germ-covered irritants then his view was going to remain the same. “I ain’t gonna like ‘em even when I am grown up.” He huffed, not liking to be told that he was wrong. What did this Sin know, anyway? He didn’t have no friends cos of the monsters.
However, his expression changed again. His eyes lit up and a dopey, excited smile spread its way across his maw. He gave a little chuckle and bounced towards the hyena, his short tail wagging frantically. “Really? Monster hunting? Me?” To think that he could do something so daring, so exciting! “Me? Scared? Pah, I ain’t scared of nuff-ink.” He replied adamantly. “Dun worry about Mar, she’ll just howl if she needs me. ‘Sides, she ain’t got nuff-ink to worry about. I’m gonna be with you and you’re a…a…professional.” Insert wide-eyed, innocent face here as the hyena desperately sought to join this hyena on an adventure of a lifetime.
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Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 9:18 pm
"All kids say that," Sin grinned, surprised to find himself speaking truthfully. At least for a little while. He really did have an appreciation for the females of his species, or of any species, though, that didn't prevent him from using them just as he used any other creature. He just felt a little bit bad about it afterwards. And even then, never for too long. Frowning at himself, he found he was not too surprised that no one, female or male, hung around him for too long. He wasn't that great of a guy.
Or so he let everyone believe. And he would continue to let them believe that, until the time was right.
He grinned at the young hyena's reaction to his suggestion, his own tail wagging in response. Once he was consciously aware of it, however, he stopped it and cleared his throat, setting a stoic look over his yellow face. "Yeah, you. Unless there's some other kid hyena named Mar around here," he was specific on purpose, grinning before he echoed the youth's voice, "Not scared of nuff-ink, huh? Well, that'll come in helpful. Fear would really slow me down. So it's settled then."
He looked up at the sky, "you'd better get some sleep, if you want to take on night monsters with me tonight. It'll be dark soon, and I don't want a sleepy puppy on my paws. Though, that'd probably be pretty tempting for the monster, I think it'd be better for the both of us if we played this like a partnership. You're going to be on my team, right? So I'll need you sharp."
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