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 Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 10:52 am
 Laika found herself sitting at the edge of the small water hole by her den. It was hardly deep enough for her to stand in and get her belly wet, and housed no fish for her to eat, but it worked as an admirable mirror for how clean it was. Tilting her head, she examined her pink fur and soft sea green eyes, finally taking note of how pretty she was. At least, to her she was pretty. She hadn’t taken a look at herself in a long while, and had not known how much she had grown.
She didn’t feel like she was any older than her first memory, however. Once a puppy, always a puppy. Her boundless energy remained in tact and though she knew a lot more about the world now, she was still curious. Standing, she stretched and, tail wagging furiously, looked around for something to do. Despite her love of companionship, her perfect nest had been found in a rather isolated area. Bounding out from the small shelter of the rocks and solitary tree, she shook her fur and greeted the day with a happy bark.
Now all she needed to do was find someone to play with.
Eusi rounded the hill with an extra sprint in her step, her ears tilting towards the left where she heard a bark. It didn't sound like the wild dog was in trouble, or hurt, so she didn't necessarily hurry towards the area. She took her time, jogging around the hilltop a few times and getting her blood pumping before she laid down at the top, tucked her tail and legs in close to her body, and pushed herself off.
She rolled, and rolled, and rolled.
Her laughter was only half a second behind her fast-movin body. Eusi's eyes were tightly shut so nothing would fly into them. She couldn't see where she was going, but she hoped she wouldn't run into anything really hard. It would be best if she could just slow down and roll to a gentle stop. And that's exactly what ended up happening.
She ended on her side, her back to the small water hole and the nest she had no knowledge of. With a giggle she pushed herself up to a sitting position, eyes slowly adjusting to the new area. She was dizzy; it would be interesting to see how well she could walk when she tried.
Laika turned around and spotted a wild dog rolling down a hill. Blinking, she trotted back toward the water hole, walking around it and coming to stop near the wild dog. Tail wagging excitedly, Laika barked a happy greeting as she bounded over to the wobbly dog. She wondered if she was very dizzy. Though the pink wild dog had lived around this area for a while now, she had never rolled down this hill like that.
“That looks fun!” she said exuberantly, “why did you do that? Were you just bored? You look too old to be playing like that! I like it though, because I like to play! Would you like to play with me? I haven’t made a new friend in a while! I have a lot though, but it’s always nice to make new ones.” She nodded sagaciously, “What’s your name? I’m Laika!”
She grinned, her tail still moving in a blur. Sitting down in front of the dizzy looking, older wild dog, she tilted her head expectantly.
Eusi giggled dizzily, seeing double of mostly everything. She blinked, trying to focus, as she saw a bright pink form bound up to her and start talking. She nodded at first, trying to catch her breath and regain some sense of dignity, though she knew by now all was lost.
"It is fun. I was bored, you're right." Though she gave a comical, indignant look at the remark of her age. "Too old? My dear, you are never too old to roll down a hill for some fun." She gave the young one a wink, smiling at the seemingly boundless energy. "I'm Eusi, it's nice to meet you Laika. Wanna roll with me again?"
Tongue hanging out of her mouth, Laika nodded eagerly.
“I’ll roll with you!” She yapped, bouncing up and chasing her tail in a tight circle excitedly, “we’re at the bottom of the hill though! We need to go back up to the top! Do you want to go back up to the top with me? I’ve never been there, though I just live right here. Isn’t that weird? There are lots of things I haven’t done, though. I like to fish! Come on, let’s go up the hill!”
The pink ball of pure excitement toward the hill, bounding up it and losing speed about half way. Sitting down, wagging her tail, she looked back and waited for her new friend to catch up to her. She didn’t seem to need any more than a name to consider someone a friend.
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Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 10:54 am
 Wow. This was a new height of energy that Eusi had never, ever seen before. How one little wild dog could have such a happy, bursting-out-of-her-bubble personality was just...mindboggling. Just watching made her feel exhausted. Wait, did that make her seem old?
"Sure, let's go back up to the top! You're not going to roll up from the bottom, are you?" she yipped, trotting up the hill to catch up at a slower pace. She made it in one trip. Slow and steady, after all. "Fishing is fun," she commented. "And fish are good for you. Do you fish in that little waterhole? Or in a river somewhere?"
“My dad showed me where a bigger watering place was, so that’s where I go to fish. Though it’s kind of far. Whenever I get a big one I keep the bones and go show him! He doesn’t seem to like it though, because they smell at that time. But I think my nose is more sensitive than his, and I don’t mind it. He’s a lion, but I don’t know if they smell the same way we do. He smells weird! But that’s not what I meant. Hey, you made it up before me!”
She bounded up the rest of the way, having taken a good rest. She laughed and did another small circle at the top of the hill, looking down excitedly. She didn’t wait for instructions, imagining falling down a hill was not all that difficult. She leapt, putting a lot of power into it, and landed halfway down the slope, bringing her limbs in gracelessly as she forced herself into a tumble. The fall was fast and she was dizzy when she came to a stop at the bottom, with the help of a tree.
“WHOA.”
Eusi laughed. "That's sweet of you. Lions do have different noses than us, and they do smell odd." She wasn't going to question the fact that she claimed he was her father. If it were her, and a little cub of a different species was wandering around with no sign of parents, she would take it in, too. In that, it was rather respecting of the lion to do something like that.
"I did. You were too busy talking, silly!" she teased lightly, turning in a half circle to face the hill once more. Though she didn't have the opportunity to explain how to roll down a hill the right way before Laika jumped at the opportunity. Eusi winced as she watched the younger dog land and tumble down. It looked like it hurt.
"Are you alright? I was about to explain, and maybe show you how to roll so you didn't hurt yourself..."
Laika sat up, swaying as her head span. She was grinning, though, her heaving side moving with a laugh rather than panting for air. She shook her head, mouth open wordlessly for a moment as she gathered herself. That had been ridiculously fun, and she was having trouble finding words to express it.
“That was AWESOME,” she barked suddenly, her voice exploding forward, “I mean, it was SO COOL. I went leaping over the thing and then I fell and I rolled, did you see?! It was like whoosh and I got dizzy, but it’s okay because it’s funny to try to see when everything is moving!”
She ran back up the hill as she spoke, yipping happily. She wobbled and swayed, but she made it up, “show me how you do it!”
Eusi laughed again, shaking her head. What a silly, odd pup Laika was.
Awesome? That would not have been the word that she would have used to describe such a thing. "I saw. I was scared at first for you; I thought you would hurt yourself." She gave a half-smile. "But its kind of fun getting dizzy, isn't it?"
"I try and do it more safely, that's one thing. But I tuck myself in like this..." she laid down on her side at the edge of the hill and curled her tail in between her hind legs, which she scrunched up to her stomach with her front paws. "And then I just roll myself off!" And with that, she was down the hill, going faster and faster and faster towards the bottom. She was so fast that once she left the hill itself and went to the flat ground again, she kept going.
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Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 10:56 am
“I don’t get hurt very easy, I don’t think. I don’t mind it, anyway! It’s just a feeling, that everyone feels, so I don’t think I should be mad or sad about it. I try not to hurt myself, though, because even if I don’t get upset about it… it still hurts,” she grinned, her tail smacking the ground and smushing the defenseless grass beneath.
Laika watch with interest as Eusi moved to show her how to roll down properly. Soft sea green eyes fixated on her every movement, Laika did not blink as Eusi laid down, and then started to roll. Barking eagerly, Laika much preferred the way this roll worked, because it meant more time spinning and less time sailing. And though jumping was always fun, she didn’t need to waste a hill side for it. Following the example set before her, she rolled down after Eusi, rolling onto the flat ground and splaying her legs out once she came to a stop.
Laughing, dizzy, she did not attempt to sit up, “That was even better! I like this game! You’re very smart for coming up with it! Thank you for showing me it! Do you want to be my sister? Or cousin. You’re too old to be my daughter, though. I don’t have a mom!”
This was true. How very mature of Laika to think like that about pain, when the feeling is such a strong one in every living being.
Oh yes, Eusi was a dizzy dog when she finally spread out her legs and pushed herself up into a slight standing position, half sitting on the ground because she needed to refocus. But there was a silly grin on her face as her eyes went cross-eyed in front of the younger girl. "See? Told ya. The thing with this one is you get really, really dizzy." She giggled.
"I'd like to be your sister. I don't have any other siblings." What a sweet offer; she had only thought those she had met would be considered friends; the males might even grow into mates, at best (though she certainly wasn't counting on some of them). But replacement, adopted family members? The thought had never crossed her mind. She'd like that. "Yeah. You could be my little sister." She nudged Laika's shoulder affectionately.
Laika nodded vigorously, grinning back at her new sister. She was adopted a brilliant family, and was very happy with this new addition. She wondered if she should have them all meet each other, but decided it was up to them. She knew not everyone could get along as well as she did with others, and she was used to her friends having other things to do. She didn’t want to impose a family on anyone else: she had enough love for everyone, and was more than willing to be whatever her family needed her to be for them.
“I have a sister that looks like a lion and leopard! She’s younger than me, but she’s a… I forget what the word is. She has pictures in her head that she doesn’t know where they come from. And then my other sister is a leopard, and she has pink fur like me! Hers is darker, but she’s really nice. And you’re my sister that taught me how to roll down a hill!”
She grinned, happy to have remembered them all, despite there being relatively few. She was never going to forget anyone she made friends with, like she was forgotten by her own family. Not that she believed that, since she was of the mind that she had simply never had a family. She was not sad by it, because she had never learned that it was a sad thing to be. All she knew was she had grown up on her own, and that there must be others out there just like her. It was just normal. The only thing she needed to do was find her own family and she would be happy.
“I’m glad!” she said, nuzzling Eusi unabashedly. She wasn’t shy about affection, “I think you’re fun!”
Eusi hadn't really had any other family besides her father, and he had passed on almost a year ago. She had no memory of a mother, or siblings. Her father had raised her well and she loved him very much. But she still thought it could be interesting to have a younger sister--one so brightly colored, as well, compared to her dark coat.
"Really? I have never heard of a breeding like that. Does she look more like a lion or a leopard?" How did Laika meet these characters? A father who's a lion, a sister who's a mix. Another sister that's a true leopard...and now with a true sister (at least, species-wise) of a wild dog. Eusi herself.
She laughed at the nuzzling, returning them happily and with a teasing smile. "I like you too, Lai-Lai."
“I don’t know! She has a long tail, and after I met Oboe I guess that’s something all leopards have. She doesn’t really look like Apollo or Mito, and they’re the only lions I really know. Mito if my dad, I don’t think I said that? And Apollo is my brother! I think he likes Oboe, but that’s okay because we’re not blood family, and they’re not brother and sister to each other. Just to me. And then I have my other brother, who’s a wild dog too! I haven’t seen him in a while though… and I miss him. Oh! I’ve never heard that nickname before!”
She wagged her tail, looking back at the hill suddenly, as if her attention had been drawn by something. There was nothing there. She spoke, however, without recognizing that her eyes had wandered elsewhere, “my dad calls me a little flower. But I like Lai-Lai! I don’t know if I could come up with something for your name, though. But I think I’ll probably forget your real name if I tried to give you a different one.”
She laughed and shook her fur randomly, finding herself less dizzy now. She was struck suddenly by the idea that Eusi had been doing something before they started playing, or that she might have somewhere else to be.
“Where were you going when you rolled down the hill?”
Well, this was true. Leopards--from what she heard, anyway, as she had never met one before--did have long tails. Every cat had long tails, of course. But leopards didn't really have any tuft of hair at the ends like lions supposedly did. Eusi was thankful for her bushy one. It kept her nose warm when nights were cold.
"Who's your older brother?" she asked out of curiosity. "Where has he been so you haven't seen him in a while? And I just made that nickname off the top of my head. Glad you like it. I should tell your brothers and sisters so they'll call you Lai-Lai too," she teased.
"Don't worry about a nickname for me; my name's too short to think up an even shorter-name for it," she replied with a laugh. It was hard to get anything but letters out of 'Eusi.' She didn't think it was worth the time to try.
"When I rolled down the hill? I was going down, of course."
“I don’t know if he’s older than me. I never asked him. I met him and he was the first new brother I made. He said he didn’t have a family, but now I don’t know where he is. Maybe I should go look for him? I think I remember where we played. He was fun! We played tag and when swimming, but I fell down. He should know about my nickname now!” She grinned, tail still wagging.
“Yeah, you were going down! It would have been harder, trying to go up. But I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going for food or to meet a friend and that I kept you from it. I have this thing, people tell me, where I just talk and distract everyone from what they’re doing. I guess it’s true, too, because I do that a lot. I am hungry though.” Full of non-sequitur thoughts, she sighed looked at her tummy, “I’m sitting in ants again! I’m always sitting in ants. I don’t know why.”
"Well that's fun," she said with a smile. "Glad you have such a good brother."
Eusi laughed at that, though. She laughed hard. The poor girl; she did like to talk. About everything, too. Any thought that came into her mind she instantly said aloud. Which must cause some problems, she would imagine.
"No, I was just rolling for the fun of it. But if you're hungry, we can go see if we can't find some food somewhere. I'm sure we could go fishing. You could even show me how you fish," she offered. "But first, stop sitting in ants." She latched onto the extra scruff on Lai's neck and dragged her away from the ant pile she was sitting in.
"They're not that hard to avoid. Just don't sit in little raised cones of dirt. That's where the ants live."
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Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 10:57 am
“I guess I never look before I sit,” Laika giggled. She left herself be dragged, used to it now after Mito had done it so many times. She often found her scruff in jaws, for better or worse. Shaking herself again, she rid her coat of the clinging ants, turning in a few tight circles as she tried to look behind her and make sure they were all gone.
Stopping suddenly and whipping back to Eusi, she barked a laugh, “I haven’t actually been hunting in a while! I fish a lot now. Maybe we could go hunting? Or fishing, if you wanted to fish, I don’t mind! I like fishing. Mito had to pull me out of the water because I fell once, but I wasn’t hurt or anything. I once caught a really big fish! But not as big as what you can hunt. But why would you need something that big? I mean, me. Why would I? Because I don’t eat very much, anyway. Do you like hunting? Or ants?”
She looked around, trying to spot many things at the same time. She wanted to find a watering hole, while at the same time she searched for something to hunt.
"Well, if we go fishing, you're taking a bath while we do so." She made a face." One, ants are no fun to have crawling all over you. And two, having a bath won't hurt. I kind of need one too." Eusi thought for a moment.
"We could do both," she offered. "We could hunt something first, and if that doesn't fill us up, we could go fishing and then clean ourselves up. I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to find a good watering hole to splash around in. No, I don't like ants either. And I hunt for medium sized things, because I'm not that big though I like eating a lot. Food is just so good." She laughed.
"What are you in the mood for? Rabbit? Squirrel? Bird?"
“Okay!” Laika said, in general. She bounded off then, as if some decision had been reached. She turned back when she noticed Eusi was not following. Trotting to her, she licked the older wild dog on the nose and tilted her head, “Are you coming? We’ll go hunt! I know where some rabbits live!”
She bounded off again, barking and leaping over the grasses and rocks. She was not very subtle or graceful, and it was a wonder how she ever managed to hunt on her own. Even fishing was difficult, despite how often she did it, because she had to sit quietly in the water and not scare off the fish as they circled closer.
“Come on! They’ll run away if the day gets too old!” She didn’t know if that was true. Whenever she went by the rabbit den they weren’t there, but she seemed to recall that she only passed it in the afternoon. It did not occur to her that she was usually being very loud, and the rabbits were simply hiding.
Eusi shook her head and bounded after her new little sister with the endless amount of energy. "I'm coming. Rabbits sound good to me."
She followed, going more slowly and walking around any obstacles instead of bouncing over them. Too much energy that she didn't feel like expending right before a hunt. Although she wouldn't be surprised if Laika didn't even lose her energy with all this jumping around.
"Silly, hush. You'll scare the rabbits off!" Eusi rolled her eyes and nudged Lai-Lai when she got close enough. "If they run, we'll be stuck with fish instead of nice warm meat."
“Oh!” She yelped, the loudest sound yet. She ducked down, ears flat on her head. She giggled as she whispered, “Sorry! I’m used to being loud! I don’t even know when I am, really, but okay. Quiet. Is this quiet? I can’t go any lower.” She spoke softly, though her body seemed attached to her vocalizations. She crouched and moved awkwardly toward the rabbit den, her movement somewhere between a crawl and a crab walk.
“They’re over there, in that bush. See it? The big one. I know they live there, but they always leave,” she nodded, absolutely certain that the rabbits would be there for them to eat. Her stomach grumbled, and she tried not to giggle, “now that it knows we’re getting food, my stomach is talking!”
She moved toward the den, sniffing cautiously. It certainly smelled of rabbit, the scent near overpowering as she got closer. Nodding, she wagged her tail, stopping and waiting for Eusi. Her position was odd, her forelegs flat on the ground while her backside was high in the air. It was like she was bowing.
“Should I get them?” she asked. It was more than likely that if she went for them, they would not be eating rabbit.
"It's okay," Eusi giggled, whispering back. "Just be watching at the same time, okay? And you don't have to--nevermind." It was pointless; if Laika thought she could increase the lower tone of her voice by crouching, so be it. It was rather cute.
She saw the big rabbit between the bush, alright. It was a nice one that would feed both of them decently. She crouched low the ground as well, keeping her tail down and her eyes on the prey. "I see it. Crouch down to the ground (tail down!) and keep watching it. We'll surprise it and catch it that way. I'm gonna move over to the other side of the bush and then jump it. You keep watching and let me know if it moves. If it does, look at me and nod. I'll stop moving and wait 'til it stops again. Okay?"
With that she began to move over to the right, still watching the bush and the rabbit behind it.
Laika quickly lowered her butt, but the movement threw her off and she tumbled to the side. Her feet stayed beneath her, though, so she managed to keep from falling over and making a noise. She watched as Eusi moved away, not nodding for fear of ruining the plan by signaling too early. Drawing a breath, she focused as hard as she ever had on being still and quiet. It was actually difficult, and she wondered why some creatures did this all the time.
Tail wagging against her will, she kept her sea green eyes on the rabbit. It didn’t seem aware of them, but as Eusi drew closer its ears perked forward. Laika’s mimicked it, and she glanced around. She didn’t know if that counted as a movement. It hadn’t gone anywhere. She kept her head level, not nodding it up or down at all. The rabbit took a step and Laika nodded, but stopped when it did.
It was all rather confusing for her, and she hoped Eusi was able to figure it all out with more ease than her younger counterpart.
Eusi laughed silently at the small almost-topple of her little sister. She continued to move closer to the bush, and she neared the edge. She stopped when she saw Laika nod, eying the rabbit as it breathed heavily. The wild dog could see its ears twitch as it was trying to listen for potential predators. Also known as, Eusi and her sister. Well it was too late for that. They had spotted the rabbit and their stomachs were hungry for the meal.
Her bright eyes were watching closely, closely. Waiting for the right moment...there!
With a grin on her face, she pounced. It didn't take long for the breath to leave the poor rabbit, but it was a meal for two hungry dogs. She pranced out from behind the bush with a triumphant smile and rabbit hanging from her mouth.
Laika barked at the top of her lungs as she saw Eusi bounce on the rabbit. The barking only intensified when Eusi drew closer. She leaped around and bounced over to her, growling and yipping, bowing on her front paws and excitedly bouncing up. She exhausted herself in her joyous display, triumphant despite not doing anything for the hunt but now awkwardly. Still making noise, she ran forward and ran around Eusi.
“You caught it you caught it! It’s a big one! I didn’t know what I was doing, but you caught it so it worked out! I’ve only caught a few things on my own, but you’re much better than I thought! Much better than me though! But fishing is easier! We won’t have to fish if we eat this though! I haven’t had rabbit in a long time! Thank you, big sis!”
She wagged her tail and panted, finally running out of energy as the excitement waned. Sitting down, she couldn’t help but stare at the rabbit.
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Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 11:34 am
Eusi laughed, the meat still in her mouth. She dropped it on the ground and roughly ripped in it in half, giving the bigger chunk to her new little sister. Rabbits were fun to catch if you were in shape and good at tracking and keeping your focus. If not, it was a hated chore.
"Nah, not a big deal. Glad you like it, though." She tore into her own half, nosing past the soft fur and into the red meat. Soon there was blood in the grass and on her paws and muzzle. It was messy, this eating business.
Laika was not so careful about what she ate and how she ate it. She was ready to chew on anything, biting into the rabbit and tearing at it eagerly. It wasn't that she was hungry, per se, but that she enjoyed the game of getting to the flesh. Of course, it would have been easier on her if she had just gone for where her sister had torn it, but she wasn’t in the mood for thinking things through. Looking up at Eusi, tongue flopping in and out of her mouth as she struggled with a clump of fur, she grinned.
“It’s yummy! I’ve been eating a lot of fish, so I almost forgot what rabbits taste like! I hope we can hunt together again, soon! I’ll do more to help in it, I promise! I’ll catch you a rabbit! I’ll even catch two! The next time. I think my Mito is probably wondering where I got to, but I don’t want to go visit him yet. Though, he likes rabbit too. He likes to eat everything.”
She picked up the chunk of rabbit, speaking now with her mouth nearly completely full, “I’ll go show him!”
She was about to tell her sister that it might be a bit yummier if she actually ate the meat part, not just the fur, when she swallowed it and picked up her chunk. She was leaving? Eusi blinked, surprised. Well, if that's what Laika wanted.
"I'm sure you will. I'll be waiting for you to catch some of those. Be good to Mito, Lai-Lai," she added. "I'll see you later." Eusi gave her another smile before continuing to eat her own chunk. "Be careful," she said around the meat in her mouth as well.
“Okay!” Laika promised. She opened her mouth to speak and the rabbit fell from it, though she hardly seemed to notice, “If you come back here I’ll be here! This is where I live, so of course I’ll be here! And we can roll down the hills and I’ll catch the rabbits and it will be fun!”
She moved to nuzzle her sister, but it was a headbutt more than anything else. She pushed her head against Esui’s shoulder, rubbing it before bouncing away. She stopped and bounced back to recover the rabbit, grinned, and bounced off again. She had a very short attention span, and this seemed like her new goal, but she knew she would see her new sister again, and had no worries about leaving.
"Of course. It'll be our little playdate again," Eusi laughed. She nuzzled her sister back before she could scamper away after the headbutt, and watched as she skipped away with a smile on her face.
Oh, there was no doubt in her mind that they would somehow find each other again. Family had an odd way of turning up when you both wanted it and didn't expect it. She had the feeling that Laika would find her soon.
End!
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