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 Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:32 am
She had to find some stuff to put in her sacheal. That was the only reason she was out and about today. She would usually stay in her cave and prepare her herbs-hang them upside down and grind them into powder if needed or just strip the leaves off the plants. But she had run out of things to do at that moment and had to go get some more herbs. Some bark from that lovely twisted tree that got rid of coughs.
She padded along, her otter skin bag bouncing off her chest as she went. She rounded a few trees; spotting the lovely tree in the distance. She gave a pleased yelp, speeding over to the tree and rubbing her cheek against it in appreciation for the gift it would bring. She then stood on her hind legs and hooked her teeth under a chunk of the bark and started to tug on it with a growl.
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:53 pm
Elphaba had been spending the warm hours of the day in the shade of a local tree. She had recently scared off a few hyena from a zebra carcass and was feeling partially pleased with herself as she chewed on a leg she managed to drag away. By now, it was there to keep her busy and entertained as she watched the heat rise from the prairie. Her tail swatted the flies that were lured by the meat, and she occasionally rolled one her side to let the dust cool her side.
As she chewed on a bit of exposed bone, she heard the sound of bark cracking, and she looked up at the tree and wondered if it would break. It looked sturdy, but who knew about trees. She liked to think she did, but they had their own agenda. Rising, she pulled her meat with her, only to catch sight of a tail of blue from beside a bush. Dropping her meat, as she doubted anyone would come get it in time before she swatted them away, she circled about and spotted a little wild dog pulling on the bark. It looked energetic, if not simply enjoying it’s day doing what she gathered was collecting the bark for something. The satchel about the dog’s neck suggested as much, but she couldn’t gather what the bark was for.
Feeling a bit light hearted, she went over and behind the small female as she worked on the tree, and lifting her body up, set her paws above those of the wild dog’s further up the branch and dug her sharp claws into the tree. There, she pulled hard and ripped the loose piece the dog was going after. It was sure to caught the dog a fright, but it would be a lesson learned to not be so absorbed in your work. If Elphaba hadn’t fed, she would not be adverse to dog meat, despite it’s taste.
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 3:45 pm
She was debating the proper dosage for a dog her size and decided she just might as well get as much as she could in one trip and just make the decision from there. She tugged on the bark, her sharp teeth not much help for the tough bark. She started to scramble at it, when a shadow crossed her vision. She looked up, seeing red claws. She stopped, staring upwards with wide brown eyes; her brain taking a moment to decide what it was really seeing.
Her head fell backwards, her mouth opening, to see the red lioness above her. Bark managed to fall down upon her, into her open mouth and making her cough. She quickly scrambled away, not sure on the intentions of the stranger. She simply sprang into a thick bramble, quickly turning around and sticking her pink tipped snout out from the foliage. She stared out uncertainly at the lioness as dark and blood. Her auburn eyes looked too the bark that sprinkled the ground and she involuntarily coughed to get the pieces out of her mouth. She didn't need this medicine.
But she did need it in a way. She was running low. She eyed the lioness, then the ground, then the lioness again... not sure what to even say.
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:16 am
It should have been expected that the small dog would rush off, and she stood with her claws on the tree as the little female rushed off, tucking herself inside the shrubbery, but not without a degree of wariness and curiosity to peek her own nose out and watch. From the gesturing of her head, she could take that she wondered what she was doing, and was on edge, prepared to run if Elphaba’s true intentions were to eat her. “Now if I was going to eat you, I could have done it when I was practically on you. Do you not agree?” She said, letting her claws dig into the bark, sharpening and flexing them as she arched her body down before letting go. She decided to take a few steps away, though still remaining the shade, and sat down, flexing her paws in the dirt as she stretched. “I thought you wanted some bark, but if you were playing, then by all means, don’t let me trespass upon your fun.” She pointed out, and then eyed the bush. “…and if you want to flee from danger, don’t go near bushes that have my meal nearby.” To this, she gestured with her muzzle to the zebra leg that was in the next shrub over, collecting flies though less rank now that it had been dragged through the dirt. It seemed the little dog was so absorbed that it didn’t take into account the world about it.
Yawning, Elphaba flopped down on the grass, bits of dirt and pollen rising about her in a small cloud before it settled, and she set her paws out, watching the small dog as she rested. It was much too hot to go out, and she was much too full at the moment to spend time chasing after the wild dog. Her heart had always been in the way to not chase and eat what wasn’t needed.
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 2:49 pm
She stared out at her, her brown eyes looking up and down at the lioness before she dared to even speak. She took a tenative step out from the bushes. "I suppose not!" She said quietly. "You didn't eat me then and you may not eat me now!" She said, looking to the tree's base and heading to it. If the lioness wanted too she'd attack her, and Ana would run and hopefully get away.
She padded up to the bark pieces, which were not conveniently in little pieces and began to go through them, picking out the smallest pieces. "I am sorry about intruding on your meal site"! She said, looking up between pieces. She pulled the otter bag from around her neck and put it on the ground carefully. Reaching inside the pouch, she pulled out a pouch also made of leather and untied it slowly, sniffing the contents to make sure it was what she was looking for.
She started to tuck a few of the pieces into her pouch-keeping a wary eye on the lioness. "I did need the bark... thank you for helping me.
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:02 pm
The lioness lingered in the shade, her head up but her body flat, the only animate part of her body being the occasionally flicker of her tail and her moving eyes. She watched with interest as the wild dog padded to the tree and very respectfully, though respect brought on by fear, started to fill her sack with little pieces of bark.
“What are you then? Healer, herbalist, some form of helper or dye maker?” Her voice carried, deep and heavy as the rising hot air. "I'd say a very awkward plant eater but the otter about your neck suggest otherwise. Did you kill that otter yourself or did you hunt it down for the purpose of keeping it as a little bag." Her eyes narrowed on the sack, looking at the dead like creature. There was a air of distaste in the way that Elphaba looked at blue dog.
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 5:04 pm
Ana was very proud of her otter sack and was sort of displeased at the lioness's look at it. She stopped what she was doing and looked down at her medicine bag. She smiled softly, remembering her past. "I am a healer... medicine dog... my mother was one also... her mother before. Otter bag is a symbol of status... means I am healer. When Mother passed on her knoledge, she gave me bag..." She reached down with her nose and softly touched the otters feet with it.
"Only thing left of my family... all dead... all gone." She said, her speech now a bit jarbled. She did that sometimes, falling back to her past way of talking. Using mostly gestures and only the words needed; she was slowly getting used to normal speech. "This bark is good for coughing, for lung sore." She flipped a bark piece over to show both sides of it. "Ran out... needed more/"
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 7:56 am
Elphaba only gave a “Hmmm” of consideration as the other spoke, still eyeing the bad. She had a natural distaste for animals that killed each other, and she found that culture was no excuse. Why not find something else as a sign of status instead of killing a animal and carting it about your neck just for a status symbol? It wouldn’t do. “You should find something else to serve as an heirloom. Do you intend to pass that bag on to your children because of tradition? It’s not very right to have an animal carried about your neck just because you find it reminds you of your mother. If you wanted that, why not carry her body about you? I’m sure whatever family that otter came from would not like to see their family member stuffed with bark as little as your family would if I slaughtered you now and used you to carry my meals. You’re an herbalist. Find a plant to suit your needs instead.” She said, looking away to yawn. The red lioness was a firm believer of not killing animals unless one had to, and then showing the respect to the corpse. The zebra leg she had came off a sickly animal to which she took from a pack of hyena. It meant the lioness ate very little and not that often, but afterwards, she tried to put the body someplace where it would not be bothered and could decompose in peace. She knew the way of the world and that letting a body go to waste was not a good thing, but there was something in carrying pieces of it’s body that bugged her just as animals who thought themselves superior to another because they could digest them.
“Does someone you know have a cough?” She said, continuing conversation.
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Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 4:15 pm
She was not sure if she was so trusting of this lioness already. She sort of gave a hurt look, very hurt in fact. It was not her fault in how she had become what she was-she had no say. She was raised that way and that was the way she was. Her mother and her grandmother before her... it was her way. She nuzzled the bag around her neck, not sure how to explain things further to the lioness. It was not just a status symbol, it was a sign that she was one of the healers from her pack. "Is what it is." She said, looking away for a moment.
It took her heartbreak and pain and fear for her to be allowed to bear the sacred otter healing bag... Her mother had even gutted the creature and managed to tan the skin without Ana's knowing of it. She lifted a paw and put it to her chest. "Spirit won't know where it am without it!" She said, looking concerned at even the thought.
If her spirit guardian abandoned her, what would she do? She'd die!
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Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:43 pm
The dust fell off her stomach as she rose from her spot, and she gave a shake of her body to rid herself of a few pebbles. Her eyes gleamed at the dog, and she turned her body and made her way past the dog. “It never is what it is. If you think that way, you’ll always be lead, and if you are always lead by others, by tradition, by old thinking, then things won’t change and nothing turns out better. It’s lazy for you to just let things be as they are when you look like you don’t feel like it should be that way. If you’re just going to waste it, there no point in you having a life. I might as well just eat you.”
Elphaba paused near a shrub and looked at her, eyes bright at the threat, but reached out and daggering her paws into a rotting hide, pulled a zebra leg from the shrub towards herself. With a lack of grace, she flopped back down on her stomach and throwing her paws about the animals’ limb, started to inspect it. “….spirits. Honestly. I assume that something terrible will happen if spirits can’t find you? What a horrible fear tactic to place on the weak minded.” She huffed, before biting into the leg and ripping a piece before chewing upon it.
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 3:27 pm
It made perfect sense to Ana. It was what she was grown up with and what she learned in her time with her trainer. She made a small sad face, looking down at her pack and just nestling it tighter against her chest. It was her heritage and her past and she could never bear to leave it behind. She lifted her head high and in her most strong willed voice spoke:
"I think what i think and you think what you think." She said simply, not really wanting to go any further with this conversation. Nothing the lioness said would change her mind. She took a few tenative steps back and sat down-ready to run if the lioness was really going to eat her.
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Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 8:38 am
For all the simplicity in the words, it was a powerful statement, and Elphaba smiled. “Now that is brave statement.” She said, and as requested, let the subject drop. There was no point in waging such a small battle anyways. Instead, she decided that chewing on a zebra was not the best thing to do in front of present company. Still, she wondered.
“Are you hungry?”
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Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 12:10 pm
Ana sat and mulled about what all her things meant to her. Each individual packet in her otter bag meant something. Each one tied with a different knot depending on what it contained. Each one special in scent, taste and weight. As a medicine dog, she had to know this-it was her life and her love. She looked up at the lioness, her odd colored eyes soft in thought. She could not blame this lioness for not understanding. They were different. That was how they were raised, how they were born, how they were in entirety.
She lifted her ears as the lioness questioned her and she shook her head slowly. “No… but appreciate the gesture!” She said, her pale pink nose wiggling. She for one, was not hungry at this moment but she did not eat food that was dead for a certain amount of time. She was an omnivore as it was, so a lot of her time she eat berries and such when needed. “Not hungry… just doing job.
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Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 8:24 pm
Licking her jaw, she turned to look over her shoulder at the little wild dog. She seemed generally upset by what Elphaba had said, and while she wasn’t the type to be overly concerned about what other’s felt about her, she also checked herself not to be too closed minded. She usually had a more accepting nature to creatures other than her own kind.
Rising to her feet, she turned about and while the pup was looking at her otter bag with a look that seemed to say she was justifying having it, that she could never part with it, but still felt guilt, the lioness came over and looked down upon her. “You have pride for your job. That is nothing to be ashamed about. Just consider things, that is all. I’m not your teacher and you do not have to take what I say to heart. I was just seeing why you kept it, but I can see it’s not out of some cruelty to others smaller than yourself. Your expression says as much. That is good. Just don’t let yourself find yourself pulled by religion and family without double checking if it’s right, and maybe have it that you don’t keep the tradition of the pelt when you have pups. I’d hate to see a bunch of dead otters used in some sort of useless ritual.” With that, she turned and started to use her paw to kick up some dust.
“I don’t suppose I’ll see you again, but I’d like to know your name. Who are you?”
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Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 6:43 pm
Ana gazed at the lioness as she came near and sort of sat up a bit straighter. She didn't want to see weak and inferior in anyway... The lionesses words were true, she was proud of her job and heritage. She gave a nod. "Teach only one child... bag pass onto them if still in good shape." She said, lifting it up with her paw to show how well she took care of it. "Mothers was bad shape... made new one." She said with a sad smile.
She sat and watched the lioness play with the dust. "Anastasia..." She said softly, like the sound of her own name was rather startling.
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