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 Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:24 pm
BARRRUUUMM
The sound of the thunder echoed clear across the forest, shaking the trees, and forcing the clouds to dump their water supplies. Things definitely weren't looking up today, and hadn't been for quite some time, which had forced Zephyr into a freshly duh muddy hole in the ground, she wasn't very happy with the current situation. Not only was the thunder vibrating in her ear drums and forcing her heart to beat a billion times a second, but her beautiful white coat was now stained a filthy brown!
"I could put leaves to coat the inside of this tunnel! Then I wouldn't have to worry about the mud! Yeah - that's what i'm gonna do get some leaves!"
Before the Shakaiyo could even place one trembling paw outside of the burrow's confines another clap of thunder rang through the air and sent her scurrying further backwards into the hole.
"OK no leaves, no leaves ..."
Her light blue eyes quickly began scanning the suddenly ominous darkening environment around her, there had to be something here, something she could use to prevent at least some of her discomfort...
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Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 8:41 am
 For the first time in a long time Seyton had failed to sense the storm approaching. He had finished eating some nuts and berries before wandering to a nice bed of grass and curling into a ball, intending only to nap for a short while. He had awakened to the sound and feel of rain, which had caused him to sit up quickly and shake his fur out. Muttering to himself, Seyton started walking in search of shelter when the first crack of thunder split the air. His body froze and his heart raced, his eyes wide and terrified for the mere seconds it took for the lightning to flash, before he started to run.
Seyton was terrified of thunder and with each crash, he would freeze momentarily before bolting off again. He wanted shelter of any kind, but he was too panicked to properly look for any. The mud on the ground stuck to his paws and fur, but he couldn't have cared less in that moment. The mud would bother him after the storm had passed, and only for as long as it took him to find a stream to wash it off in. For now, his sole concern was shelter, but after nearly seven crashes, he was too wildly terrified to think at all and finally just squeezed himself under a tree root, where he buried his face under his tail and whined softly, his whole body shaking.
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Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:45 pm
For a moment, it seemed the rain had actually begun to lighten up, and the female stole the opportunity to run out of her hole and back out into the forest in search of something to keep her clean, or some new form of shelter.
The mud was beginning to dry onto the female's silky white fur, at just about the time the rain began to further it's assault, and pour down onto the forest with all it's might. Luckily she was no longer in the open area of the forest and had at least some tree cover to protect her from the worst parts of the storm.
'Shelter, shelter, gotta find something .. anything .. LEAVES I could use some leaves! Cover the inside of the hole, and then cover it with sticks!
No - no that's not gonna work, the mud is just going to make the leaves all icky too.'
Zephyr became so involved in her own thoughts she didn't even notice the whimpering going on only a few yards away, instead she continued her scan of the area, looking for something that could provide a more accurate living space for the night.
"AH hah! I knew i'd find something! It was only a matter of time, patience is a virtue after all! That's what I always say!"
The Shakaiyo basically skipped over to her newly found shelter, it was a large amount of rocks, overhanging a nest some other animal had obviously abandoned.
"Their loss is my gain!"
The female quickly began to make herself comfortable in the nest, prying with her paws in certain areas to make the nest more comfortable for her to lie in.
It wasn't until after she'd laid down and gotten adjusted that she began to hear the whimpering.
At first the ideas that ran through her mind were simple, maybe a Mother had a nest nearby and her pups were just whimpering to whimper, or maybe she was hearing things! No that was too illogical!
But then, what could it be?
The question of the unknown noise left the Shakaiyo unable to relax and enjoy her new found shelter, instead her entire body practically forced her up and into action.
Sighing heavily to herself the female, perked her ears and followed the whimpers as best she could, unaware, and slightly fearful of exactly what it was she might find. But her fears were soon answered as she discovered what she proposed to be the answer to her expedition's question.
There he was, a slightly larger Shakaiyo, with a deep reddened fur curled up into a ball under a nearby tree root. Her first instinct was to turn and run, you could never be too careful when out in the wild these days - but her second instinct won over all, this Shakaiyo was in need of assistance and she couldn't turn her back on that!
Instead the female quietly stepped forward to within a few feet of the male, and shivered as a chill ran through her body, she quickly shook it off though, and nudged a tiny bit closer before mouthing those simple words...
"A-Are you OK?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 8:49 pm
Completely oblivious to his surroundings due to the overwhelming terror of the storm, Seyton failed to notice Zephyr as she darted around. His face was buried into his side, tail and fur fluffed as full as possible in response to his high running nerves, and his ears were pressed flat against his skull in a desperate attempt to block as much of that loud, terrifying noise as a Shakaiyo possibly could. The only sound he could hear outside of the thunder he was trying not to hear, was the sound of his own whimpering over top of the rain.
Or at least, that was all he had heard until a voice reached him. Under normal circumstances, Seyton would have snapped at anyone who even came near him and he certainly would never show such a vulnerable side of himself willingly. However, with the flash that heralded another boom, Seyton's only reaction was a yelp and an attempt to burrow deeper into himself. He let out a long, low whine and shivered before he muttered to himself the 'answer' to Zephyr's question.
"Am I alright? Am I? Do I look like I'm alright? Stupid...freaking...angry clouds..."
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:32 pm
The female barely heard the spiteful words the runt - well he was bigger than she was but he was still a runt! - had spat out of his mouth, due to her full attention being on the storm at hand, the rain was steady falling, the night was getting dimmer, and the thunder seemed to be getting louder if that was even possible!
Catching herself before she could rise into a panic in front of this new found Shakaiyo, Zephyr straightened herself to the best of her abilities at the moment, and glared down at the helpless little pup hidden under all that bramble.
"Well actually I wasn't going to say anything, but you look pretty pathetic hidden under that rock like that! And I wouldn't so much blame the clouds for all of this, i'm sure our bodies can share some of the blame, I mean, we do have extra sensitive hearing, which doesn't help with those LOOOOOOUUUUD thunder strikes, and we have thick fur too, and it gets heavy after a while of carrying around all that water weight -"
Zephyr went on for another 3 or so minutes describing every aspect on why the clouds weren't to blame, and she honestly could have gone on and on, if not for the strike of thunder that sounded just behind her, sending the Shakaiyo into a fit of panic.
Within a split second she was scooting this red Shakaiyo over and claiming part of his shelter as her own. A quick tint of red covered the female's face and she quickly offered up her name to avoid the inevitable comments to come.
"I'm Zephyr by the way, a-and i'm terribly sorry if I offended you with my comment earlier, you just caught me off guard! Oh goodness I hope you can find it in you to forgive me!"
Zephyr quickly stretched out her right paw and slammed it gently on her face covering her face in embarrassment and quite a bit of mud.
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:46 pm
Seyton hadn't meant for his muttering to be overheard, let alone responded to with a lecture about thunderclouds and hearing capabilities. A part of him was tempted to turn around and bite this irritating vixen, but the rest of him was entirely uninterested in fighting in the middle of a thunderstorm, thank you very much. He knew when to fight his battles and when to hold a grudge. His mentor taught him that very well indeed.
Yet, when there appeared to be no end to the fmale's yapping, he started to get annoyed. While a distraction was nice, an irritating one was entirely unwelcome. So she wasn't afraid fo thunder, good for he---
What the.
Seyton's head lifted sharply as mere moments after a crack of thunder, there was a fuzzy weight pushing him out of his shelter. His red eyes stared incredulously at the intruding female before narrowing sharply with distaste. Her attempt to distract him and lay out the peace train didn't fly with him eiether.
"You have some nerve, calling me pathetic," he snarled. He would have said more, but a flash of lightning set his ears back and his hackles up. For a moment, he bared his teeth at the sky before turning back to his unwanted companion.
"Just keep your lectures to yourself," he growled, adjusting so he was covered by more of the root and rock that she'd pushed him out of and settling his head back on his paws. His eyes were still angry, but as irritated as he was, having company on a storm like this one made it a little less daunting.
Besides, not even he was cruel enough to send a Shakaiyo off on their own to find other shelter during a storm, even if he was there first.
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 9:00 pm
WELL! If that wasn't the worst come back in the world, she gave up on what was! After all, she had never said she wasn't pathetic or that she had no faults of her own, she'd just called it as she saw it, but in the same breath, she might be just as offended if he were to say it to her ... A sunken feeling swelled in the Shakaiyo's heart and for a split second she wanted to request forgiveness again, but from the look on his face, and the worry pasted all over him, now might not be the best time. Instead, she would sit here and weather this storm, with this unknown Shakaiyo - that she knew nothing about - that seemed to be angry - and liked to be mean. As the list filled up, the female's overactive brain finally came back from it's break and snapped into action, what was she thinking? This was dangerous - or was it safe?! Safe that she was out of the storm, but dangerous that she was with some unknown Shakaiyo! The situations immediately began playing through her mind and none of them were all that pretty, but what could she do? She was stuck here, at least for the moment anyway. The female took note as the red male plopped his head on his paws. He didn't seem all that dangerous... just kinda grumpy... But what could have made him so grumpy? Surely it wasn't the rain, that seemed to make him fearful, not all sourpuss.. As Zephyr stared down the Shakaiyo noting his every movement, every tail swat, eye blink, and even breath she became more in touch with the fact that he couldn't be all that dangerous. As she took notes of his body language the one thing that stuck out were those evil eyes, and to be honest they were starting to spook her a bit! Picking up one of her paws, Zephyr plopped it gently down on the male's head and ruffled his hair with it, hoping to get some sort of positive reaction.
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Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 4:08 pm
Seyton's red eyes remained half open, keeping an eye on the female even as he flinched away from the thunder as it crashed, his tail fluffing out with each crach, the fur between his shoulders raising with every flash of lightning that passed as the two Shakaiyo merely huddled close together and stared at one another. Seyton wasn't sure how long it was that the female just sat there and stared at him, but he didn't say anything about it, merely watching her as closely as she watched him from behind half-hidden eyes. As her paw lifted, his eyes followed it, lifting his head even as she plopped the muddy limb on his head and ruffled his hair.
There was a long and awkward silence as Seyton just stared at her, his fur flattening as his fear was overcome by confusion and shock. He had absolutely no idea how to respond to this situation, since it was not one he'd ever found himself in before. There were only two Shakaiyo who knew of his weakness to thunderstorms - three now that he counted Zephyr - and those two Shakaiyo had completely different handling techniques for Seyton when it came to said storms. For the most part, Seyton never allowed a Shakaiyo near him now and was pretty violent when all was told, so there was never really a chance for someone to ruffle his hair. His mentor and pseudo parent had been a harsh male whose influences made Seyton the anti-social and angry individual he was now. That Shakaiyo had always been cruellest during the storms, because he hated them too. In truth, that Shakaiyo had fuelled Seyton's fear of them.
Then there was Seridus, whose aloof nature and respectful aires had kept him from being the hair ruffling type. Since these were the extent of his relationships with other Shakaiyo...unless he counted that other female - which he didn't, thank you for asking - he seriously had no idea how to respond. She wasn't being violent, that much was obvious to him. So to respond violently would be pointless. Finally, he just opted to let his confusion be known.
"What are you - " Was about all he managed before a crash of thunder had him burying his face under his forepaws and shutting his eyes. His tail had puffed out again and his whole body gave a shudder of distaste before he peeked an eye open up at Zephyr and finished the statement rather weakly, "-doing?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 10:05 pm
The silence was actually rather deafening. Well the silence coming from the male beside her anyway, the storm was a whole other story entirely! But she was trying to not let it have it's effect, in fact, she felt somewhat calm for once, maybe it was the company of another Shakaiyo that was helping her anxiety? She wouldn't know, it had been so long since one of her own had actually even tolerated her presence.
As she sat there staring back at this male, she couldn't help but try to pass of a small smile, in hopes that maybe it would melt that icy glare he was throwing at her, but so far no dice, but she wouldn't give up, it was how she was. As the red male spoke up and actually questioned her doings, she found herself yelping just as quickly as he began shaking. Immediately the female threw her tail over her face and hid behind it, whimpering pathetically.
'What are you doing?'
The words somehow managed to float above all of her yelps and have themselves heard, and for a moment, the female pushed aside her bushy tail to check the forest around her, everything was still there, she was safe. Slowly she let her tail fall to her side, and her whimpering stopped.
"I- I was just trying to lighten your mood, you seemed a bit tense, and when I was younger -"
The female stopped for a moment, closed her eyes and shook her head, no, she wouldn't go back to those days.
"It used to have a calming effect on me. I'm sorry! Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to, I was only trying to make you feel a bit better!"
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Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 8:36 am
As the terror and adrenalin slowly faded away, along with the sounds of Zephyr's yelping, Seyton was surprised to find an answer to his question, considering how it had been so completely overtaken by the thunder. His red eyes gazed upon Zephyr for a long, silent moment before he looked away, his nose wrinkling a little bit as he thought her answer through. After another moment, he turned back to her and shook his head. "I'm not hurt."
It seemed important, somehow, to let her know that her actions hadn't caused him any harm. That seemed to matter to her at least, although he wasn't certain why. Just as he wasn't certain why she would try to make him feel better in any case, or why it mattered to her that he was tense when she was just as scared as he was.
Lightning flashed and Seyton quickly ducked into his paws, but the thunder rolled over at a distance. His fur stayed puffed and he quivered a bit, but a distant roll was far better than an overhead crack. Lifting his head again, the red-furred Shakaiyo took a long look at Zephyr before he raised his own forepaw and reached out, plopping it on her head. She said it calmed her, but it didn't work for him. Logically, it just made more sense for one of them to be calm during the storm, and her yelps were louder than his whimpers.
That was his reasoning in his mind as he did it. He hadn't really thought it through as a nice gesture, as such things were rather alien to him. It merely made sense to do it, so, he did it.
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 7:32 pm
The calming pat to the head did more for the Shakaiyo than she was willing to bet the male realized. Judging by the expression he still had glued to his apparent stubborn face, he wasn't even phased by it, he'd just done it merely to do it, but none the less it meant a great deal to Zephyr.
A small purring sound rumbled lightly down her throat, and the female immediately went silent once again, her head buried deep in her paws and her tail quivering in the rain. She hated when that happened, it really was embarrassing!
With a very muffled comment from beneath her paws, Zephyr wagged her quivering tail.
"Thank you."
But it didn't take long for the fear to subside, and her true colors to beam through once again. This male had her stumped, and it was driving her crazy! So many different scenarios could be going on here, of course some of them had been knocked out in her mind, by his simple patting gesture - Surely he couldn't be all that bad?!
Looking up from the paws the female curled her lips into a slight smile and finally asked the main question that was on her mind..
"So I don't think I ever caught your name...
and by the look on that face of yours, i'm guessing little red dude won't cute it."
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 9:37 pm
The female's purr startled him slightly, and his ear twitched as her head plopped down beneath her paws. Carefully, he pulled his paw away from her head, then eyed it as if it had done something mystical without his consent. Looking back at Zephyr, he saw her tail wag, and decided it must be a good sort of magic before he set his paw back on the ground and laid his head on it.
Looking at her, he watched how she seemed to relax, and decided that he had made the right decision after all. When she spoke again, he perked his ears forward, before narrowing his eyes at her. "I am not little," were the first words out of his mouth, before he shut it again.
Seyton fell silent for a long moment, before looking over to the side and mumbling, "It's Seyton."
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:36 pm
A puzzled look ran across the female's features for a moment as she studied the comment that seemed to have offended him. She hadn't meant to of course, she'd only been trying to get him to talk, and she hoped maybe he hadn't taken too much of an offense to it.
"OK but you certainly aren't the biggest Shakaiyo either so I guess i'll stick with an in between estimate!"
She giggled lightly, trying to keep her mind off the storm.
"Seyton eh?
That name doesn't seem fitting you! After all isn't Seyton supposed to be some mean scary monster thing?
You don't look all that scary to me."
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:43 pm
"Yeah well, I'm not a runt either," he barked, feeling rather scandalized, before snorting and shaking his head irritably.
It took him about ten blinks to figure out what she was on about, before he groaned. "Sounds the same, but spelled differently," he explained, with the exasperation of someone whose been saying that for a long, long time.
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Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 4:25 pm
Zephyr could do little more than giggle at his runt comment, she couldn't help it, she just ... found it funny, and he was actually putting up with her! Unlike so many others - which brightened her mood that much more.
She listened as he commented in a very monotone voice as though he were tired of the saying the same thing. She blinked a moment, taken aback by the comment, before she shrugged it off -
"I guess you get that a lot huh?"
She questioned quickly, "I can see why, i've never heard of another spelling so it's understandable other's wouldn't as well, but I wonder -"
She paused for moment contemplating her comment before making it-
"Has your name ever frightened anyone away before?
It'd be kinda funny if you did, especially if you didn't get to explain first!"
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