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 Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:02 pm
 Hitomi had gone to see the wasteland.
Well, not really. It had been on the path of her roundabout journey around the Realm, and she stopped to drink it in. Padding away from the green of the forest, she hit a small plain. Then there was no grass, and the temperature kicked up noticeably. The next breeze carried sand into her muzzle and hair.
Somewhere across this vast mass of sand, there was a village, the one that her father came from. He didn't say too much about it, and honestly she had never asked. It seemed like a sort of sore subject with him... And still there was a child of theirs named for it. Granted, it was not a child well loved.
As she mused it over, she encouraged the sand ahead to bubble, delighted as it swirled up to life. Usually her ability was limited, but with so much loose sand to work with now... No wonder why Gaara preferred it. Damn, it was hot though. She continued to watch the sand mold, making a small archway to walk under. After a few minutes, there was furniture, and she lounged upon a sand-made couch, building up a pseudo room. Some poor lizard had been unearthed from its hovel and she was murmuring a small apology even as it skittered off into the distance.
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:15 pm
 Being born and raised within the desert did not spare one from its wrath. His paws were already blistered and scorched from the burning sands, and the shimmering mirages had already begun to try and fool his mind. He could not accurately say how long he'd been wandering for, for even his more complex thoughts had withered and faded. Water was his primary concern now, and the once-elegant male found himself rasping for breath. What had happened to his master, his siblings, his mother...? He didn't even know if they still lived. Worse yet, he had disobeyed the command to stay and wait--but his master had been a timely man, and when he had not showed... Well, it was either stay and die, or attempt to locate some sort of nourishment for himself. Staggering as he went, his golden eyes narrowed briefly as an unexpected shape began to form in the distance. Why, it almost looked like a palace of sand... but the bright crimson confused him, made him waver even as he nearly tripped over his own feet. He didn't understand, but instinct drew him towards the splash of color, caring little about his filthy state for now. Perhaps there would be water--better yet, perhaps it was someone who knew what had happened to his tribe...
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:30 pm
On and on the lizard moved, but as her jade gaze followed it along it caught on something else. Something was moving out there on the sands, something that looked vaguely like an animal. Hitomi perked, sliding to the edge of her couch, grunting at the heat it put on her to shift. In all this black she felt something like a furnace when it touched her, but somehow it was loose enough not to be TOO hot.
Was someone out there? She didn't waste much time sliding off the furniture, hitting the sand with a semi-graceful bounce before beginning to trot her way over. A desert-dweller! A native, perhaps? Someone interesting to talk to, hopefully. She was getting a little tired of just talking to flowers and lizards and whatnot.
But as she got closer, she could make out the fact that it was another kitsu, as well as the poor state of him. And her pace grew a little quicker. "Hey! Just keep coming! There's some water nearby!"
Really, what else could someone from the desert be looking for? Maybe if they had a motivator, she wouldn't have to watch them keel over and die. She kinda considered herself something of a humanitarian... kitsutarian.
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:01 pm
That disorientating brightness was suddenly beginning to weave, and Temeraire had to pause for a moment. His tongue felt like sandpaper, and though it was undignified, he panted from the heat and squinted through the burning rays of the sun. It was someone, not just a hallucination... Or was it just a carefully woven image by his own faltering senses?
Water nearby... With a low groan, the malnourished creature forced his feet to move again, knowing if he stopped again that he might not be able to convince himself to keep going. He needed a sip, just one, please let this not be some cruel apparition formed from his desperation. Just one step after the other, that was all that mattered.
His hair left strange patterns in the sand as he stumbled closer, trying to speak several times and only managing a dry rasp. "Where...?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:24 am
"Just ahead." Actually, quite a ways ahead if she recalled. Jeez this guy looked miserable, though. The desert hadn't done him well, and she couldn't really make out the color of the things he wore on his legs, so sand-bitten they were. And his hair had been the only thing that had managed to attract her attention in the first place- stark white where the rest of him would have blended perfectly with the dunes.
"Hold on. I'm gonna help you get there, okay? You may feel a little dizzy." She didn't usually just whip out her ability around others, but here in this vast stretch of sand it would be wasteful not. This was kind of an emergency. So she focused her chakra down, having the sand beneath the both of them rise up in a sort of personal dune before they went as if on a wave across the desert.
In the meantime, the redhead was stepping closer to the other kitsu. A female? She couldn't sniff for the sand on her muzzle, and what sort of male would keep their hair so long? The dry voice hadn't helped with the distinction. "You're gonna be okay now. When we get to the grassy area, you may have to walk. Can you do that?"
But she really didn't know just how okay he was going to be. Though there was a desert-dweller's blood in her, she had never experienced anything like dehydration or starvation.
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Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 10:20 am
Help? But in just that instance, he felt the ground lurch beneath his feet, and his legs wobbled dangerously before they collapsed. Coughing and choking on sand, he managed to pull his head up to stare blearily at the ground now rippling by. Even now, his body flinched away from the rough, burning sand pressing under him, not wanting anything to do with it.
Perhaps that was why he was able to nod with more energy than he had when the mention of grass was mentioned. Scrubs? An oasis, perhaps? he could walk to that, nodding faintly.
"I'll... be fine, miss.... Thank you..." He closed his eyes wearily for now, knowing better than to let himself collapse like he wanted to. Some water first, then he could risk rest.
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Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:37 am
"Alright." Dealing with a liar, huh?
Soon the sand would give way to sparse grasses, but with some difficulty Hitomi was still able to pilot them along. They were spilled like water from a glass across the sparse terrain, stretching the area of sand that Hitomi could manage to control. It put them still in the midsts of the plants that clung in low, tight patches, but ahead there were signs of a richer foliage... and trees.
"The water should be just through the start of the trees there." Hitomi offered, hovering near the other in case she would need help. If need be, she could carry this kitsu. Her gourd of sand was much more heavy than a body could be.
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Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 10:18 pm
Temeraire grit his teeth with discomfort as they came to a jerky, jolting stop, feeling scruffy plants n** admonishingly at his sore body even as he forced himself up on his feet. Dazed as he was, he took the time to survey these bizarre surroundings with cautious curiosity, having never before seen the likes of some of these greens... but his mysterious female rescuer brought his attention back to important things, and he offered a feeble nod of his head before he limped towards the clearing.
She was true to her word, the sound of running water reaching his ears before the quiet stream came into view It was all the foreign kitsu could do to force himself to drink slowly, knowing it'd be foolish to gulp too much too fast, and make himself ill. Even his aching paws were dipped into the water, and he tiredly swiped at his face as though that would help restore some clarity to his thoughts. Only then did he turn to look at the female, his bow deep and, he hoped, with some of the elegance he was known for.
"I am deeply grateful for your kindness... Thank you." He said tiredly before he would sit, knowing that hydrating himself slowly was the best plan of action he could take right now. Had it not been for her aid, who knows if he'd have even managed to find water at all?
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 12:19 am
Hitomi had taken a seat nearby to simply keep watch over the other as she drank. When Temeraire turned to her, ears would perk slightly but nothing more. It was the bow that got her eyebrows arching, such a formality foreign to her eyes. She was almost uncomfortable for it.
"Don't worry about it." She dismissed, not unkindly. "Think you'd like something to eat, too? I bet there's a wild patch of berries around here that could tide you over. Might be a little tart this time of the month, but it's better than nothing."
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 2:42 pm
"Eventually." He nodded slightly, not sure how his sustenance-deprived system would handle the sudden influx of both food and water. "I think it wise that I take it slow, for now..." Still, it would be clever of him to note that there might be food he could search for after he'd rested some, and after another small sip of water, he'd turn again to the female.
"I'm Temeraire. May I inquiry as to who you are...?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 3:34 pm
Temeraire- it was a strange name. She couldn't tell if it fit him, looking as ragged as he was now. Even the gold that he bore was tarnished by sand, and she hadn't yet noted it.
"My name is Hitomi," She replied easily enough. Then, "What were you doing out in the desert? A place like that could swallow you whole..."
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