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((OOC: Three players should be plenty so I'm changing the thread to private now))

Wildfire-storm was walking dreamily through the swamp, following one of his familiar paths without really thinking much about where he was going. The black clouds of mosquitoes that rose when he disturbed their stagnant puddles didn't seem to bother him at all, not even when some landed on his ears. A quick flick and they were sent flying, or he could wait until they flew on their own accord, fat with blood.

He hadn't slept in... how long? It didn't really matter, but he should probably find a place to rest before he fell asleep walking. Or was he already dreaming? It wasn't the first time he had wandered the swamp in a state between wakefulness and dreaming, and he rather enjoyed what it did to him, but it hadn't been like this in the past. Not at all. He told himself that he was just wandering like he used to, but if he was completely honest he had avoided sleep recently. See, some nights the dreams would come, some night they wouldn't, and if he kept on like this they would surely come to him whether he liked it or not.

Wildfire-storm might not really notice the winged pests of the swamp, or the rotting plant parts that were crushed under his hoves. However, this didn't mean that he was entirely oblivious to the world. Besides, life-pulse was making quite the scene as she desperately tried to get away from the mosquito-cloud.

"Stop that! Get! Leave me alone! Go away! Get away from me, you filthy blood-suckers! Perhaps you want to suck the melody out of Mother Swamp, too? Well it's too late for that!"

The bout of frantic yelling managed to get through his current state and jerk him from the not-quite-dreaming. He shook his head and walked cautiously towards the source of the desperate voice. Her behaviour puzzled him, but a sharp p***k in one of his sensitive ears gave him a painful reminder that even small creatures could hurt a large kimeti.

"It's no use fighting the mosquitoes," he said softly, "But I've found moving away can sometimes help. And standing head to tail with a friend."

A swipe of his tail started to clear the area around her ears, and he soon settled into a rhythm that would hopefully keep winged pests at bay. The coarse hairs at the tuft of his tail were good for fly swatting, but it could be hard to reach some places. Back-forth, back and forth. He was reminded by the story about how the kimeti got their long tails, but before he could follow that train of thought the doe spoke to him.

"Life-Pulse," he said, not yet comfortable with using her nickname, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Wildfire-storm." He didn't share his own nickname, not just yet. Usually he could be a bit reserved when meeting others, but is dreamy state of mind made him relax and let what happened happen.

"You are glowing," he said slowly, noticing the intricate markings around her eyes. Too late he recognised that this might not be the best way to start a conversation. He shook his head, but not because of blood sucking insects this time. "Forgive me... I haven't slept properly, dreamt properly lately."

Wildfire-storm relaxed slightly as Life-Pulse giggled, and she might notice the change if she paid attention. No harm done then, and the story she told was an interesting one. Light and music. Memories from another time. Disturbing dreams.

"The dreams come, and then they don't," he said, closing his eyes and enjoying the slight breeze from her tail as she returned the favour. Perhaps he should tell her the sometime. "I get dreams I haven't had since before I broke free from my sac. Fire. And yet there is something else there that wasn't present before. Good or bad, I don't know."

He understood what she meant when she said the music was gone. Something was missing, or changed, but he wouldn't have called it music. On a whim he stretched his neck and called out to see if he could catch the attention of his scatterbrained little companion.

Tender Leaf slept fitfully, curled tightly as a new-hatched foal to fit within the dry hallow beneath a particularly large mangrove root. She dreamt unsettling and shifting dreams, one blending into the next, disorienting.

Her limbs trembled as she woke, pale eyes fluttering open at the sound of another Kimeti's voice. She staggered to her hooves, knocking her head on the overhanging root, uttering a soft grunt of pain. The voice had seemed quite nearby... She was shaking in earnest now, both fearful and eager to encounter one of her own kind. The moon-colored doe had grown up largely in solitude, which could account for her retiring, even timid, nature.

She hesitated for a few moments, then proceeded as quietly as possible. She had a nervous, almost twitchy way of moving, her ears craning this way and that as if always wary of danger. In moments she was watching the companions through the underbrush, imagining them as dear friends and longing to enter into that comfortable society. Yet, shyness kept her still, watching and listening with intense concentration, unable to bring herself to speak.

As the two waited for something to reply to Wildfire's call, Life-Pulse heard a soft rustle in the underbrush. She swivelled her ears around to focus on the sound and peered in its direction. For a moment she thought she saw a flash of white, but the next it was gone. Light must be playing tricks on my eyes. She decided she was just seeing things and turned back towards the buck just as his companion arrived.

Life-Pulse, curious of the little bird, cautiously turned to face it. It's brilliant feathers striped red and gold danced before her eyes. "Such a pretty little thing," she said softly, as she stretched her neck forwards, snuffling at the bird.

Tinder apparently did not appreciate being sniffed. The little bird fluffed up to try to look intimidating and started to chatter irritably at Life-pulse. The new doe's ungraceful fall startled Tinder and the bird almost fled before deciding that this new swamp goat was safe. The whole ordeal resulted in a rather awkward jump and the bird started to preen as if to say 'I totally meant to do that'. Wildfire-storm ignored the bird's antics and focused on the pale doe instead.

"Good day to you," he said, nodding his head politely, "I'm Wildfire-storm. Mosquitoes bothering you too?"

The sensible tone the other Kimeti took seemed to calm the white doe somewhat. Her ears still flicked from side to side, and her eyes scanned the surrounding undergrowth for danger, but at least she was no longer visibly shaking.

"I'm Tender Leaf... nice to meet you, both of you." Leaf could hardly maintain eye contact with the others, but she answered the buck's question with relative calmness. "Mosquitoes, ah yes, well, just a bit."

She scuffed one of her front hooves shyly on the leaf-littered ground. "I-I'm alright. Clumsy." Leaf sounded embarassed. Once upright and stationery, she had a reasonably graceful appearance: slender limbs and lithe form, like any other young doe. "Just... Clumsy sometimes."

She took a deep breath and gathered her courage before elaborating, "Something new is going on, so I've been a little nervous lately." Along with impressive falls, Tender Leaf seemed to have mastered the art of understatement.

Having made this pronouncement, she looked down at her hooves bashfully, then bent and rubbed away a smudge of dirt which marked her foreleg when she fell.