The morning air seemed to linger in the misty parts of the pack lands, lingering silently over the lake in an uncharacteristic swirl. A small dusty figure sighed at the sight, missing the sunshine that normal days provided. Foggy days were so dreary, and sad. They made Ban want to curl away and sleep.
Her brother, at the other hand, ran at the edge of the largest lake that the pack lands ran around. He had already made one circuit.
"Tiki!" She called before he could make another start another lap around the lake.
The blue hyena balanced mid-step, and swiveled his ears towards the sound of his name. He was panting heavily from his run, though he figured he would cool down soon.
The pink tongue lapped lightly at the air, characteristically notable of cooling down.
With a small huff, he padded towards the sound of the voice through the fog.
"Yes?" he questioned, with a small tilt of his head, upon reaching his sister.
"Tiki..." She repeated with a small pout. "You go to the borders a lot, don't you?" she asked. The smaller blue male gave a small nod, a small indication of his answer. Of course, he didn't go often, but it was enough. He hesitated a step back, wondering about the question. It was sudden, unexpected. "You'll take me with you, won't you?" Ban asked, sweetly.
Ban was always nice about her questions, and Tiki knew he shouldn't be afraid of the questions - his brain was already hardwired to note that females were the dominate of the Hyena species. "When?" He questioned lightly. He didn't want to take her - it was dangerous! But, if she wanted to go. He knew Father wouldn't let her passed the inner lands, anyhow.
Father was strange like that, always looking upon Ban with such sad eyes. 'She has her soul...' he once had said, though Tiki was sure he didn't mean for his pups to overhear. 'Like a Goddess Reborn...'
Tiki gave a small shift, and orange eyes looked upon Ban curiously, wondering why his father would say such a thing, but he watched her purple eyes brighten and dazzle.
"Can we go now? Before father gets back and the fog clears?" She asked in a whisper. With a small nod and a few steps, the siblings made their way towards the borders of the pack lands.
Tiki was extremely nervous, glancing through the fog as he lead his sister on. She was much stronger than he was, so he wasn’t worried too much about that. Ban didn’t like to be alone, and he would hate for her to wander away. She was stunning and he knew how much their father adored her.
He had seen the male looked wistfully at his sister. He looked terrible sad and somber when he looked at her, and treated her like the jewel of his life.
Tiki wasn’t jealous or anything. In fact, it made him much more protective over his sister. He walked slowly with her, even though she want to go faster. She ran circled around him, trying to get him to speed up.
He hoped dearly that the fog cleared and they would be spotted.
“Come ON!” She urged, finally, snarling at her brother. She was getting tired of waiting for Tiki’s slow pace. He seemed to be lagging on purpose! How annoying, she huffed at him, only smiling when he finally sped up.
The center of the pact was a long ways away from the border. They had a large territory filled with mountains, rivers, and lakes, though they shared it with many other creatures. Ban looked up at them curiously as they wandered by.
The prey animals barely acknowledged them, since they were so small. Just pups wandering about. It was dangerous even being around the prey beasts, she had been told. They could get startled and run! But Tiki was very patient, leading them around the herd and ever closer.
The two pups stopped at a small stream. The fog was starting to lift with the sun rising higher into the sky. Tiki was anxious not to get too far. “The border’s not too far from here,” he told her. “But why do you want to go to the border anyhow? It’s not interesting and it’s not safe!”
“It can’t be both, Tiki! It has to either be boring and safe, or interesting or not! That’s what an adventure is~” she giggling, racing past him.
“W-wait!” He called after her, speeding up. “We’ll get in trouble, Ban!” He was so worried that he was nearly shaking. He didn’t want to get closer to the border. “Come on, lets go back. Please?” he asked, trying to catch up.
She only giggled and tried to run faster. He was much slower than her, especially after the running he had done earlier to burn off some extra energy. “But Tiki, you said it was boring! Why can’t I see it!” She skipped further ahead, leaving her brother in the dust.
“No, Ban! Come back!”
And it was a good thing that he was shouting at her, since someone else heard. “Ban, Tiki,” a voice called out. Ban froze, tensing up. She stopped running at once, skidding to a stop. Tiki nearly ran into her, but instead he stumbled to a stop next to her. “What are you two doing this far from home?”
It was Leini, a kindly older dog. She was nice, but she was one of the clan leaders. She could tell their father. “Um, Miss Leini… We just wanted to see the borders?” Ban stuttered, looking up at the dog shyly. Leini gave her a small smile. “It’s nothing interesting, darling. You see the same here what you would see out there right past our borders.”
Leini nudged the pups back towards the inner part of the lands. “The borders are simply there as a reminder that we live here, and so no other pack tries so move in! Though we would welcome more members if another decided to wander by…”
She smiled at them and nudged them again. “Go on now. We don’t want to lose you two. It’d be hard to find you out there!”
Both pups nodded, running back in the direction their father’s den was located. They would have to save this adventure for another day…