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 Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 7:51 pm
 Lysander was not having a good day hunting by any stretch of the imagination. The water was cold, the fish were hiding, and the silt had been stirred up to where he could hardly see. Grousing to himself, he headed for the shore. He'd try again later. With a splash, the cream-tinted otter emerged from the river, shaking himself like a canine as he exited the water. His stomach rumbled in protest; he'd been honestly looking forward to a tasty fish. Oh well. He'd just have to find something else with which to divert himself. But what could that be? The male plopped himself down on the river bank and screwed up his brow while he thought hard about the possibilities of something amusing to do on a chilly day.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:03 am
Billy was wandering around the Oasis, now that all the communicators had been fixed, looking for a new task to under take. He'd already sketched out plans to improve the garden Kimberly had started before they'd arrived and added ideas to bring some fruits and vegetables into it--in hopes of avoiding the task of ever having to fish. Now he wasn't sure quite what to do. He hadn't morphed and his glasses kept sliding down his nose. His overall pockets were loaded with screwdrivers and wires and batteries, scraps of paper and pencils, but he was feeling a little bored with plans he wouldn't be able to actually pursue until the cold of winter waned. His ears twitched as he neared water, a splash making him tense. He couldn't morph in case he was seen (just one of many rules of Zordon's that he still took careful care to keep) so he crouched down and watched as the cream otter slipped up onto the bank. Standing up, he neared the otter. "Salutations!" he called out, belatedly wondering if he shouldn't be building a translator so people could understand him.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:06 pm
Wide-eyed, Lysander snapped his head to the side to see where the voice was coming from. A larger otter- one he'd never met, but that didn't mean much- had appeared. He didn't seem hostile, but Lysander couldn't help but wonder if he'd wandered into another's territory. Best to be polite. "Er, greetings!" he called back, rising to his paws. "I'm not intruding on anything, am I?" Because if he was, he'd leave right quick. Lysander only had a modest den himself, but he knew he wouldn't want strangers coming in uninvited.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:19 pm
"Negative, although I do believe the probability of an otter or other animal leaving in these parts would be worth looking into." He trailed off musing over the thought before shaking his head, glasses slipping down his face. "I don't think this spot belongs to anyone, it's far enough from the den I share that I can't put any claim on it."
Pausing, he seemed to realized he was going off on somewhat of a tangent. "My apologies. I've forgotten my manners. My name is Billy, may I inquire as to yours?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:53 pm
Lysander nodded at him. "I'm Lysander, and I'm glad to know I'm not trespassing." Billy had a very formal way of talking, he noticed; he sounded exceptionally well-educated. Must have had posh parents, but at least he wasn't too hard to understand. Maybe he just took things seriously. Certainly if his den was nearby, he'd be concerned about the presence of a probable predator. "I can't say I know a thing about probabilities; but then, I've never been in this area before."
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:11 pm
"Probabilities are rather useful in certain endeavors one might choose to undertake. I find them quite helpful when I need to know the risk or danger something might involve," he gave a nod, remembering the times he'd managed to calculate the probability of ending up in a trashcan depending on the route he took through the school hallways or home. Definitely useful.
"I find the area quite nice in this vicinity. At least the time I have been here, we haven't run afoul of anything." He gave a grin knowing that really it'd be more likely for something ran afoul of him and his friends, not they'd ever hurt someone without reason. But it gave him the confidence and knowledge that probability deemed he likely didn't have to worry too much about intruders or predators.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:32 pm
The wheels of Lysander's brain twitched a little as he comprehended what the elder said. "Ah, I can see how they'd be useful then, if they tell you how likely you are to run into trouble. That'd be a thing worth knowing!" Billy, more than anything else, seemed very smart. Intelligence was a trait certainly worth having, especially when you lived anywhere near predators. Thankfully, he did not. All he lived near was a turtle, and that was an agreeable creature. And, in this new acquaintance's case, it seemed like he had more than just himself to look out for... " So you're not living here alone?I mean, y'said 'we'." Perhaps there were more otters in the immediate vicinity, and it might do him good to meet some- or at the very least, be aware of who they were. If he fished in this spot again, that would be a very smart thing to keep in mind!
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:43 pm
Billy gave a nod, "I did. I reside with two friends. Kimberly found the den and made it livable. It was awhile before Jason and I came along. I regard it as splendid luck we managed to find each other again." His blue eyes seemed to gloss over as he once again attempted to contemplate how they had managed to land in the same area with such a large gap between them but he suck the equations and symbols away--now wasn't the time and it hardly mattered much anymore.
"I must thank you for not staring at me blankly and asking me to repeat myself. It isn't often I meet someone who seems to understand me," he chuckled in good-nature.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 3:04 pm
Lysander shrugged. "I'd be doing us both a disservice by staring; there's never a point in being outrightly rude. And while you use big words, it's not like they're awful ones, and it doesn't seem like you're doing it to put on airs. And besides, I've got a pup at home. If you can understand pup-speech, y'can understand almost anything!" He smiled warmly. "They say elders are wiser than the rest of us, and I've never had reason to doubt that. Are your friends the same way?" Billy wasn't too terrible to understand, but a group of three of them... that might be a headache!
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 3:14 pm
He couldn't help himself, he burst out laughing. "Negative. My friends sometimes have trouble understanding some of the things I say though I often think they do it in jest, almost a tradition of sorts. Before we came here, I had a friend that acted as my translator whenever I got carried away. I miss her," he gave a wistful sigh. Trini would be a sight for sore eyes and he hoped should she ever show up that Zack would be with her as well. Then they'd be complete, all of the rangers together again.
"A pup?" he tilted his head in mild examination of Lysander. "You look rather young to be starting a family," he murmured. That wasn't entirely true but Billy often felt older than some of those he met and he didn't think he was ready to start a family. Although perhaps the thought wasn't out of the question for certain friends of his.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 3:52 pm
Lysander flushed. "Oh no, she's not mine... I mean... not biologically she isn't. I just- well, neither of us is quite sure where her parents got off to. So whenever they come back, I'm raising her. And that's about all the family I think I'm ready for at the moment!" He wrinkled his nose a little; one pup was alright, with significant help from his neighbors. But more than that? That would be too many. "Though, to be realistic, I don't know if they're coming back at all. But maybe they will. Who knows? The reserve's a pretty big place, after all. Maybe they're just in one of the far corners- maybe your friend is, too. If the two of you found your friend who'd come before you- Kimberly, you said her name was?- perhaps your friend'll do the same." Lysander didn't have any friends in particular he'd missed, but he could imagine how it felt- especially if it was a certain kind of female friend. Was Billy missing his girlfriend? He wasn't going to ask. After all, they'd just met, and that would be far too forward.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 4:02 pm
"Oh," he gave a nervous smile for his bad assumption. "That is a very kind thing to do. Should you ever need help with her, we would be happy to help." Billy gave a nod knowing Kimberly would jump at the chance to help raise anything. Whether it be flower or otter, she'd probably raise a bobcat or a wolf if she found a cub or pup on it's own. "It is a rather large area and I doubt I've explored very much of it. It would be wonderful if her parents returned!"
He turned thoughtful as Lysander mentioned that his friend might show up. He didn't have the heart to reply that his friend was almost definitely not in the area, though he hoped in the future she would show up. How could he not hope his best friend would come? Instead he murmured a soft, "Perhaps she will," with a slight nod.
"I am sure you will do a fine job raising her," he changed to the subject to keep himself from pondering and to avoid the awkward air that might come if he didn't.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 4:20 pm
"I would hope so- I mean, I don't really know what I'm doing, but then again, who really does? Only thing for it is to try and learn from the others who've gone before." Lysander chuckled, thinking of his own parents. "I'm just hoping I turn out to be able to do half as well as my parents did. I don't have a single bad memory of them, so I guess you could call them a success?" Raising a child was really not something to be taken lightly; there were so many ways to mess it all up. Hopefully, he could avoid them. "When she's older and less nervous about leaving the den, I'll be sure to bring her by. This part of the river runs pretty slow, after all; it'd be a much better place for a little otter to learn to swim than the swifter water near my den. Although, and maybe this is just today, it doesn't seem to have the greatest population of fish. I was down there for a good while and didn't see a thing." He wondered if this was the trio's main fishing spot, and that was why the population was depleted. If so, he'd have to apologize for essentially attempting to raid their pantry.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 4:31 pm
"That sounds like your parents raised you very well," he nodded, remembering his own parents and how he missed them. He especially missed his father. "This is a quiet area and I believe a pup would enjoy it here. She may like Kimberly's garden and it would be a good place to learn to swim."
A small tingle of dislike shot down his spine at the mention of fish. "Ah. I," he coughed, clearing his throat, "Jason and Kimberly tend to do the fishing. I think they go a bit further upstream but I could check that the fish population here isn't dying out." He dug his paw into the ground a bit, shuffling a little as he took to move closer. Even with the mention that the source seemed depleted he wasn't keen on the possibility of finding one.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 4:39 pm
Oh dear. He had done something wrong. Or perhaps he was overreading Billy's reaction; after all, the otter wasn't a reserve native. If he was from the south, it was likely that he just didn't want to get into the water on such a cold day. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about at the moment; if they don't come back during the spring spawning season in a few months, then it might be problematic. But it's probably not worth investigating right now." He didn't want to imply that they'd overfished the area or had otherwise been irresponsible. Clearing his own throat, he changed the subject. "So your friend has a garden? I've never heard of an otter maintaining one before! What does she grow?"
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