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 Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:12 pm
 The day had started dull. No problems had arose, and Leini was restless. It had been a while since she had just walked. Luckily the packlands were large. A yawn crossed her maw, and she stretched, taking one backward glance at her mate, Machungwa, before trotting away from the center-lands.
She would just patrol the borders for now, yes. There weren't many Guardians within the pack, nor hunters. In fact, the pack was the barest of a pack, though there were plenty of pups. In fact, the Sheikh's mother just had a litter of thirteen. It was a large litter - she didn't know if she could do it herself.
It took her a while to reach even close to the borders, but she finally made it when the sun sat above her in the sky, signalling noon. She noted one of the lakes, one of the two that bordered the packlands. The rivers were easy enough to cross, but slightly annoying.
Despite this, Leini changed her direction, staying roughly parallel to the border of the pack.
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:32 pm
His last watering hole, however, had been four or five days back, and he was parched. The damp smell promising much wetness drew him on. He wasn't terribly concerned over tracking into someone's territory. They usually let him know if they were finicky about it, and if they owned the land but didn't challenge him, it didn't much matter anyway, did it? Head down, tail dragging, he kept up his steady trot. It lacked the bounce he might have had at one time, when he was younger. Life wasn't so much of an adventure anymore, though. It had become one long trial to be endured, a path of survival. Meal to meal, watering hole to stream, day to evening, week to month. Time had begun passing him unnoticed, making his life into one dusty horizon that was never quite reached. He was growing weary of it, but what else was there for him?
Another scent met his nostrils, though, causing him to stumble in his rhythmic pace. He stopped himself from falling nose-first into the dirt and looked about himself. The sun was directly overhead, making it easy to scan for whomever it was... whoever this was that smelled so familiar. A shimmer that might have been water glimmered along one horizon, but there... not far from it. Movement, light against the steady yellow of grassland. He squinted, ears pricking up finally. Not just light... white and grey. Splotched. His heart quickened in his chest, and the angled his paws into movement towards that spot of movement. He never left his trot, but he might have sped it up a bit.
When at last he was near enough for a polite announcement, he gave a cross between a bark and a yip. He couldn't help it. It was half friendly introduction and half hopeful rejoicing. For he knew that form. He knew that pattern. Could it be? Could he be so lucky? "Leini?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:47 pm
The two-toned female swiftly turned her head in suprise. She didn't expect to hear her name, not so far out in the lands. Her eyes glazed slightly in confusion and she turned her head where she had her the yip - the call that so obviously belonged to a dog.
Her dark nose twitched for the scent, picking up only a faint scent, as the wind blew in the opposite direction, against her favor really. Hesitantly, she stepped out of the lands and made her way towards the excited yip. Who would know her name..?
"Dakarai?" She questioned when she spotted him, narrowing her eyes a bit to get a better look. "It is you. Njozi, Dakarai..." her own shock stopped her normally intellectual speech.
She stepped closer, she couldn't believe it. Dakarai! Her brother. She hadn't seen her siblings in so long. So long. It almost ached. Her nose twitched to take in the males scent, assuring herself that he was, in fact, her brother. "It's really you!"
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:59 pm
It was! It was her! He surprised himself by surging towards her, nosing her all over in joyful exploration at seeing her grown. His paws grew light once more, and he bounced around her like a puppy, tail high in the air with excitement. He nuzzled, licked, and panted his happiness at meeting her after so long, making how he felt glaringly obvious. He'd found his sister!
"Leini! It's been so... so very long!" He paused in his ecstatic greeting to ponder just how long. He couldn't remember who had left first of the two of them. He knew that they weren't the only two to have strayed from the family group, though. "How have you been? Where are you going?" For after all, his life was nothing but a series of ambiguous destinations. Unknowingly he assumed that she was as much a wandering soul as he was. Even so, he did note that she looked well-fed and in much better shape than himself. He flicked his ears in consternation at being so raggedy and scruffy. He must look a mess to her.
He settled down as his burst of energy faded away as quickly as it had come. He was far from puppy age now. They both were. Instead, his haunches hit the ground with a puff of dust and his tail slowed significantly in speed, though it still waved his feelings. He let his tongue loll out in a smile at her. His sister. His heart swelled at the thought, and the sensation of being alone faded into the back of his mind. It sure felt good to find family again. More than he would have guessed, in fact.
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Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 6:57 pm
Leini gave a small yip, and with his excited nosing she could not help but do the same. "Oh, oh, It has been so long," She shook her head sadly, though a happy light within her eyes, tail wagging furiously with the untold amount of joy. Her body practially quivered.
It had been a long time. She had grown greatly, seeing two of her own litters grow, her second to near adulthood and nearly with a family of their own - on of her sons, in fact, made her a grandmother through adoption. "Oh, I've been very well of late - but not everything in my own past has been great." She said, more sedate then the excited moments she displayed before. "What about you? How were your past days?"
"Going?" She asked. "I gave up travel with the birth of my second litter, brother," she gave a small smile, eyes sparkling with the thought of her sons and daughters, her young ones that have made her proud.
But, she paused. She knew her brother was traveling. She just stumbling across him - it wasn't fair! But she had to ask. "Do... Do you know where you're headed to next, Brother?" She asked softly.
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 2:02 pm
He let the question of his past slip by. It really wasn't something he wished to discuss at the moment. Sure, he'd had adventures, but mostly it had been such a long, lonely road, it wasn't something he savored. Besides that, he himself was distracted by her announcing two surprises. Firstly, that she had settled down! And second, that she had had two litters? Staggered, he stared at her with a silly grin. Oh, he knew they both were plenty old enough to have offspring, but it simply hadn't occured to him that his siblings would have nieces and nephews for him to meet. "Wow, you have a large family now? And territory?" His tail waved and his tongue lolled excitedly. "Did you join a pack? Or are you and your mate holding a small area on your own?" He wouldn't put it past her. She seemed so strong, so stable!
Her question about his destination echoed a bit hollowly though, in light of her own happiness. He shrugged carelessly, averting his eyes to try and appear nonchalant and light-hearted about it. His true feelings could be read in the lines of his body, though. His tail sagged slightly, his head dipped minutely lower, his ears drooped. "Oh, me? Eh," he shifted his paws as he spoke, gazing off in the distance vaguely. "I've got nowhere I'm going, really. Just... going." Despite his effort to mask his heart's thoughts, his voice betrayed him with a sad, tired trailing off on the last word. He brought his eyes back to her with a weak smile, feeding upon her happiness. At least she had a good life! How could he be selfish in light of that? His smile warmed with these thoughts, though it remained a bit wistful.
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Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 1:04 pm
"Hmm, it's still pretty small. I have 7 pups, from both litters," she informed him. "Though, three have left me, to go on their own adventure." She hated it, but they had the blood of a traveler in their veins, having come from a line of travelers, up to her own father, as far as she knew.
"Machu, my mate, and I - we held some territory for a while, up north. We came to the pack when my son fell in love with the Sheikh - one of the Leaders." She quirked a smile. Ade wasn't the leader, no, but they were mated. The pack worked oddly, after all. Hyena and Dog were equal here.
A small from crossed her maw when she heard her brother's response. "You could stay here for a while - until you get back on your paws, or something..."
She shifted, a pause. "I've missed you a lot, brother... I would be glad if you stayed here a while." She told him solemnly.
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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 8:28 pm
He listened with rapt attention as she quicly recounted the basic facts of her family and living arrangements. He nodded a bit as she recounted having held a territory. As he suspected. He knew it was in her. But to follow her son here? Such love. He smiled wistfully again, but was surprised by her next thoughts. Him, stay here? Right at first he resisted the idea. He didn't want to burden her and her pack. He was a drifter, after all, and usually packs weren't so fond of drifters.
But her second appeal had more genuine desire in it. She wanted him to stay. His expression was a bit taken aback by the idea, but his mind was already mulling it with rising hope. Perhaps... perhaps this was his path. No, his destination. To be with his sister and her family. Perhpas... to have a family of his own.
He regarded her with a growing smile. "I won't shame your offer by asking if you really mean it," he commented off-handedly, as if he were offered to come join a pack any ole day. His roguish smile though told just how grateful he was. "I suppose its about time for this old dog to take a rest," he continued, rising jauntily, tail waving a slow arc of pleasure behind him. "Maybe I'll stay longer than you meant me to, though," he teased her, nipping lightly in the direction of her nose but not quite touching it. "You'll regret asking me!" He knew she wouldn't, though. She seemed to feel as he did. Family was good, and it felt right to rejoin each other, to rebind the bonds of siblings.
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 7:21 pm
The red-eyes dog's heart felt warm at the comments. She missed having her family - longing for them when she disappeared as a pup to follow one of her brothers. She missed them all, suddenly alone after getting used to feeling a mass of bodies that were her siblings.
The ever-present reason of having children early. She blamed this greatly, but she had no excused for leaving her pup behind. It still made her chest ache in such an deep way.
But her brother was staying! The white tail wiggled in excitement, but she gave a teasing grin. "Ha! You'll sooner be sick of all the children running about." The smile said she was lying.
She adored all of the children - each and every one of them, even those not her own.
The smile softened. "I'm glad your staying, if only for a while, if only forever," she informed him with a small smile.
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 7:44 pm
He panted in canine pleasure, smile splitting his face and tongue curling to suit the expression. This felt good. This felt right. He gave a soft yip of puppyish excitement, then bowed before her. "Then lead on, sister-mine. Take me to your family. I can hardly wait to meet them all." His dancing eyes and relaxed body posture spoke of his sincerity.
This was going to be like coming home to a place he'd never known he needed. A home he'd always been waiting for deep in his heart.
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