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 Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 6:03 pm
 Kai was starting to find himself extremely tempted to stay with the Akiiki Chibale. It was comfortable here, and felt homey -- and that was precisely the reason he felt obliged to leave. And so he did, without warning or hullabaloo, slipping quietly away before the dawn and moving his way up the river.
He still had plenty of time before he was supposed to meet Verdauga, and there was much exploring Kai felt he needed to do. He'd met many wolves so far on his travels, although only a few would remain memorable, and he could say there were only two he would miss. Well...perhaps only one.
But never mind that, he was a loner now, a vagabond with a higher purpose, and he could not stray from his calling now that he had finally found it. Feeling proud of himself, Kai veered away from the water's edge for the first time since he had left Kapu'Moana, and struck out for adventure.
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Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 7:11 pm
 Kai was not the only one who strayed from water. Alkos, too, deviated from paths that would lead to it, although for different reasons. Rushing rivers, gurgling streams, and even still pools were enough to make him dizzy and as uncoordinated as a newborn pup. His sight had been lost, and with it had gone his family, friends, and all he had known. He was left to depend on his other senses, which, frankly, weren’t that fond of water without reliable eyes. He was always paranoid about drowning in a shallow pool of water, where he would certainly be capable of saving himself by merely standing, but being unable to do so because he couldn’t find the ground with the bewildering water was sloshing every which way and all left to hear would be the roaring in his ears. It was such a shame he had to drink nearly every day.
Oh, there was always the option of staying still. Getting to know the land so he wouldn’t have to tread with such uncertain, timid little steps and knowing where he could find a puddle of some sort to safely drink from whenever he felt like it. But, really, where was the fun in that?
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Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 7:18 pm
Kai's ears and nose twitched; he became aware of the presence of another wolf, and immediately swelled in pride. He was getting very good at this! It wasn't the sort of thing that most wolves would be particularly proud of, the ability to sense another before running headfirst into them...but for Kai, it was a sign of immense personal growth, and he was proud all the same, though he likely wouldn't be boasting this particular fact to anyone.
"Hello?" He called, turning a slow circle, scanning the area for other life. It was so much quieter here, away from the constant sound of the water, and Kai realized quite suddenly that he -- who had always grown up near the rush of waves and, recently, of streams -- had never heard such silence before in his life. It frightened him. "Is somebody here?"
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Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 9:30 pm
Alkos had been so concerned with keeping himself upright and on level land that he jumped with surprise at the voice and, ironically, did the one thing he tried to prevent: tripped over his own paws.
“Yes, someone’s here,” he called back in an irritated voice, although he tried to check himself at the last moment. It wasn’t as if it the wolf – male, from the sounds of it – had done it on purpose, and this he kept in mind as he picked himself up and shook the debris from his pelt. A few leaves still clung to his fur, but those he failed to notice, and he instead pivoted his ears, in search of the one who had spoken.
He remained tense and wary, for his blindness was obvious, and prone to get him into unwanted dangers in this eat or be eaten world.
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Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 9:34 pm
"Oh, apologies!" Kai said, coming across the wolf in time to see him fall; he looked at the other, a little baffled by his actions, clearly having never met a blind wolf before. "Are you alright? I didn't mean to startle you." He smiled, a good-natured, easy grin that would be utterly lost on the other, and wavered a moment, desperately wanting to come assist the other and brush off the debris in his pelt but not wanting to be intrusive.
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Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 9:00 pm
”It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m fine,” Alkos replied quickly, feeling as awkward as he ever did. Ever since his first few days alone after his blindness came, there had been an odd rise of wolves who were either cruel and mocking, nervous and quick to leave, or overly helpful and full of sympathy. The blue male’s reply was natural, that of a wolf who wanted to help, but to Alkos, it only seemed as if the male had only said that because he pitied him. He had yet to notice the male hadn’t caught on to his disability.
“I’m sure you didn’t,” he said, not the slightest bit of sarcasm in his voice. He turned towards the male’s general direction and for a moment, it seemed as if he were challenging the other with a stare, but his eyes seemed distracted, and wandered without a single thing to settle on.
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Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 9:08 pm
"Sorry again," Kai said, quailing a bit beneath the stare -- and then realizing, far too late, that the eyes were looking at nothing. He was for a moment at a loss for words, not quite sure what the appropriate response was, and glad now that the other wolf could not see him and his slack-jawed attempt to form an appropriate expression.
At least, he hoped the other wolf couldn't see him.
"Ah...my name is Kailani," he said, after a moment, because it seemed the thing to do. "But you can call me Kai, if you'd like."
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 4:20 pm
Alkos trained his ears on the male’s voice, making sure he was facing the right direction. Lately, he had taken to practicing, trying to appear as if he was a completely healthy wolf. It wasn’t going too well, with him having no one to tell him if he was doing a good job of it or not and being too embarrassed to ask for help (he hadn’t even mastered walking yet. The easy, fluid gait he once had seemed reluctant to return to him). He figured that by testing it out on complete strangers and judging by their responses on whether his disability had been noticed or not, he would be well off, but that didn’t work when he kept assuming that his blindness was something so obvious that even the color of his pelt told any and all who so much as glanced at him that he was handicapped, as he did now.
“Alkos,” he replied. “You could call me Al, if you’d like,” he added, more out of courtesy than anything. The nickname was not one he was particularly fond of, but other shortenings of his name, such as “Kos,” didn’t sound as nice. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kailani.”
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 4:23 pm
"And you as well....Alkos." He paused, fidgeting a little and feeling perhaps a bit intrusive. To lighten up the general awkwardness of the situation, he looked around himself, and looking for a new conversation start. "Do you, ah, live around here? I'm just a visitor myself, wandering a path through the woods...I'm very sorry if I've intruded."
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Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 5:55 pm
Alkos looked up at the male (or at least his general direction) out of habit, a bit startled by the question. He was rarely asked questions such as the one Kailani asked now, usually because many assumed he was too weak to belong to a pack, or even do a good job of defending one if he did belong to one. It raised his esteem some, but not by much.
“I’m just visiting, too,” he said, trying to make himself sound reassuring but making it seem as if he caught something in his throat mid-sentence instead. Well... at least he tried.
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Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 12:51 pm
"Oh," Kai said, catching that change in the other wolf's tone, and smiled a bit; the expression would come through in his words, even if the other couldn't see it. "It's a bit intimidating, for me at least. My old home, you would walk from one boundary to the other in a day, half a day if you had long legs. This, out here...so many ways to get lost...and, well, if you'd believe it I never learned to do much hunting, so....there you go." He shook his head. "But anyway. Say, Alkos, you fancy a bite to eat?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 11:40 pm
"Your old home sounds very... small," Alkos mused, trying to imagine what it was like. It had been a while since he had trotted along the edges of a pack, and when all one could see was black, distance seemed different than what it used to be. Everything seemed vast, yet limited at the same time.
"There is," he agreed, perking his ears curiously. "But you can't get lost if you've no destination. Are you in search of something?" he asked.
At the mention of food, his mouth parted slightly, as if he could already taste prey between his jaws. It was true he was hungry, as food was hard to come by, and what few he managed to catch himself were through luck.
"I can't hunt very well," he said. He was always fearful of crashing into something, and his steps were always erratic, full of sudden stops and sprints. For a moment, he felt depressed, that he could be handicapped so easily, and that he had never tried to regain his hunting skills during the time he had spent wandering with self-pity. But it was short-lived, for the very idea of two incapable wolves attempting to hunt, bumping into trees and pouncing on sticks on accident, was enough to make him snort with restrained laughter.
"But I'm willing to try," he added, in much better spirits. "Unless you had something else in mind?" he said, considering the possibility that perhaps the male had found a carcass close by on his way here.
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Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 11:01 am
"Me neither," he replied, somewhat gloomily, his nose wrinkled in annoyance at himself. "I mean, I've gotten better, I can usually manage a rabbit if he's older or was asleep when I came up on him..." he trailed off, realizing this probably wasn't helping, and cleared his throat. "But...roots, and certain plants. Naiad taught me how to live off the food squirrels eat, and some of it isn't so bad." He smiled. "And fish. The river's back that way," he tossed his head over his shoulder, "And I'm quite good with fish. I could teach you how, if you like?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:10 pm
Well. Plants had never been something Alkos would consider, but he wasn't exactly in a position to be choosy about his meals. He wondered who "Naiad" was, as he met only few who actually knew of plants. He didn't ask, though, and was content with assuming he or she belonged to the pack Kailani had left.
"Maybe the plants would be best," he said, suddenly nervous. He had never been a good fisher before, but now, just the mere mention of a shallow pond was enough to get him worried.
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 1:32 am
"If you want," Kai said, glancing about himself. "...Bit better with the fish, though. Where I grew up, there was this tidepool...spent half my days swimming about in it, catching fish and splashing around like a big blue otter..." He grinned, if a bit sheepishly. If Naiad knew all that...well, she'd likely get more than a little agitated at his fish consumption. The thought made him smile. "But plants. Yes. Here." He sniffed at the air again, and started forward, brushing past his new acquaintance. "I think...there's something sweet...." he touched his nose to the earth, inhaling the scent off the loam. "...Berries, maybe? This way...here..." He set off into the underbrush, distracted.
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