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 Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 12:50 am
 Kamiya wasn't sure what she was doing anymore, and it bothered her.
She'd left Kapu'Moana with the plan of adventuring, exploring, seeing the world and experiencing everything she had never gotten a chance to do before. But, now that her journey had taken her this far, she was beginning to think she hadn't been missing out on much at all, and was starting to feel more and more homesick.
The only thing was, there was no way she could go home now, not after she'd separated from the others -- god knows if they'd even survived -- and been gone without explanation. No, if she showed her face there right now, she'd surely be demoted to the lowest slave rank, if not volunteered for the next ritual sacrifice.
Unless, of course, she could find the prince.
The idea had taken hold a few days ago, when they had picked up that other wanderer -- the odd one, that smelled like flowers -- and since she had thought of it, Kamiya had fixated upon it. It was simple enough, in concept. She'd just have to find Kailani, convince him to come back to the pack with her, and then she would be richly rewarded. She might even be promoted to the head explorer title, and then she could do all the experiencing she wanted.
Yes...that was the plan.
Now, the only question in her mind, was its execution -- and how, precisely, she would convince her two rather odd travel companions to come along with her. She was tempted just to leave them entirely, but something kept her from it -- a sense of misplaced honor, no doubt, or a niggling feeling that they might prove useful -- and so, instead, she had to decide how to approach this diplomatically.
At the moment, the orange-and-black wolf was sprawled in a patch of sunlight, her blue eyes half-lidded as she lay deep in thought. She just had to find a way to convince Marion and Mars to help her look for Kai...and then the rest of it would fall into place afterwards. She was sure of it.
Deep in her thoughts, Kamiya continued to sunbathe, quite oblivious to the world around her.
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Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 8:43 am
 Lost again! Hadn't taken him long, not in this wide and often tree-less land. Many plains, yes, even caves and underground dens that reminded him somewhat of home, but there was nothing like the trees he longed to return to. Nothing at all like that seemingly endless and sprawling landscape of greenery and other color. Just nothing at all . . .
It was odd, still being homesick for a pack that obviously looked down upon him and his sister, the wolf he searched for now - even while branded as an incompetent that needed to prove himself in an even more ludicrous mission to the north. His mind was ever bent on that journey, but his heart was ever bent to find Jun. And now, to top it all off, he was lost yet again. This land was so unfamiliar to him, Chou couldn't help but feel a sense of quiet indignation. It was like his pack never wanted him to return in the first place at this rate.
Wouldn't have surprised him if so.
Thankfully he found a forest in time and happily snuck into the tight trees, forcing himself to not brush up against them and leave ore of his scent behind. Immediately the long-eared wolf became t ease as he moved under the mottled shadows, sniffing both familiar and unfamiliar scents of this particular area. There were . . . wolves, yes. Not just passing through, but nearby - their scent was strong. Three of them, he made out. Would it be best to stop and ask for directions, he wondered? Hmm . . .
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 1:46 pm
 "Hey!" From the surrounding greenery came a deep and authoritative bark, followed by...from the sound of it, the falling of a young tree. Shortly after this ruckus, a big, ruddy wolf pounded her way into Chou's line of sight, covered in burrs and tastefully accessorized with a balding, odd-shaped little bearskin blanket. She was sniffing Chou out, and when she turned to spot him, she revealed a face freshly smeared with blood and gristle. Her brown eyes sharpened and she barked again, bounding to close the distance between them to midway between 'standoffish' and 'friendly'. Would you look at this sucker! Colored like a giant butterfly wing! Perplexity superseded some of her knee-jerk territoriality, and she stared with her tail waving like a standard and her head cocked comically, too caught up in thinking to speak. When words finally came to her, they did in forms far less delicate than butterfly wings. "You're traveling too!"
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 2:17 pm
In Marion's wake, another loud, bright adventurer of sorts came bursting through the greenery. He could easily have been a sibling to the wolf in front of him, despite having no relation, and he was utterly amused that the next wolf they'd come across was also orange and black.
Mesmerised, Mars stared at the patterns on the unfamiliar male's coat. "Whoa, it's like... like a wolferfly..." he breathed, eyes wide and bright. He'd managed to grab a mouthful of his favourite herbal supplement when he'd gone to track down his brother and his downer was becoming a bit of an upper again. not too much at once, no, that led to nightmares of epic proportions. Just a little, now and again. He'd not have any for a while now, unless he was lucky, so he hadn't wanted to miss out on a last chance.Mercury was, as usual, on his brother's heels. He never wanted to be left behind, though sometimes he wished he didn't get so fearful when he thought of them going their separate ways. They'd grown up together, had always gone on adventures together, and even if Mars could be a bloody pain in the rear these days, he didn't want to give up on his brother's company.
Looking around him, though, he wished for a brief second that he wasn't right by Mars' side right this second. Four wolves, every one of them some shade of orange. Could a guy feel more outta place...?
The quiet male, disconcerted and overwhelmed, hung back from the others.
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Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 2:06 am
Oh, for godsake... Kamiya rolled to her belly, ears perked up, eyes narrowed. She could have heard Marion a mile away; there were whales with more subtlety. "Way to wake up the whole forest," she muttered, pressing her body up from the damp grass, shaking herself unhurriedly. Best to see what trouble the others were getting themselves into...there was hardly enough sense between them to fill a walnut.
Kamiya was not overly pleased with having been interrupted from her sunbathing, and was intent upon taking this out on whoever crossed her path first.
But, what was this? The scent of another wolf -- one she didn't recognize -- wafted through the air, and she hesitated a moment before pressing on.
She pressed through the trees just in time to hear Mars's brilliant assessment, and rolled her eyes. "What are all of you -- " she stopped, abruptly, eyes landing upon the butterfly-marked wolf, and she stared at him with bright, critical eyes for a long moment.
"Oh." Her head tilted, and she glanced between the very odd group of wolves that had gathered here -- probably the most conspicuous group of wolves imaginable, unless they were trying to hide inside of a sunset -- and then focused her gaze back upon the stranger. "Now, now...this is interesting," she said, with a confident smirk -- part of her hoping that he would put up a fight so she could expend some pent-up energy.
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Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 7:45 am
"Nani . . .?" So much for not being spotted. The forests here were so dull in comparison to his far southern home, he did stick out painfully. More mud next time, he noted with a small sigh. Definitely a lot more mud.
Standing before him in various levels of emotion were four wolves, all but one with some version or orange. Two males, two females - if the loud, burr-covered one could still be called so. He was easily outnumbered and at least one of them looked as if it would take only to be sat upon to get pinned down. And the first wolf he spotted was not confidently smirking in a way that made his hackles stiffen. Perhaps stopping for directions had been a bad idea . . .
Still, it would be remiss of him to lose his manners. Who knew, it might help his situation.
He bowed his head but kept his eyes turned upward to view them. "Ohayou," he greeted them, and the rest of his words contained an odd accent, if slight. "I mean no harm upon my intrusion. I am a passerby looking for directions to the north." A translator, a messenger, a laborer he was. A navigator, not so much.
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Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 7:32 pm
Marion's eyes narrowed quizzically at the vagabond's little speech - not so much at his accent, or his politeness, as at the fact that he needed directions to simply head in a direction. It was SO inconceivable that she kept her loud mouth shut for a moment, choosing instead to do some low-intensity gawking at this traveler who needed directions to North. Even with her obliviousness, she was unwilling to barrel into that subject directly, because it was impossible. If you knew what north was, you knew WHERE it was. Good god!
"You're not really intruding," she replied with a rather surprising, slightly girlish pleasantness, "this land isn't claimed, and we don't even live here. Where are you going up North?" She eyed him, much less pleasantly, eager to see how her attempt to indirectly solve the "directions to north" mystery panned out.
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 3:53 pm
"North, right, like, yeah" came Mars' eloquent reply. "That's like... up, right?". Mars' grasp of geography could, at times, be as good as his grasp of reality. Still, it seemed a bit odd to just be heading north on its own - usually people were more specific about where they were looking for. Was the wolf being shifty? Uncool? What were his motives. A slight slip of paranoia began to eat at the edges of the happy bubble Mars was in: usually a sign of a one way trip to a bad trip.
With a shudder the young male sat down and busied himself trying to chew a flea out of his coat - anything to distract him from the creeping pessimistic world-view which was totally conspiring to kill his good mood.
Mercury sighed internally as he watched Mars, knowing the 'signs' of, likely, unpleasant evening ahead. He really hated being his brothers keeper though he wasn't sure what was worse - the highs or the lows. At least the lows generally kept him out of trouble...
Still, none of the crowd seemed able to actually deal with the stranger - what an odd bunch. Not at his best with social situations, Mercury was nonetheless polite and he came forward, now, to speak to the butterfly-wolf. "I'm sorry stranger, I could give you vague directions but if you are maybe looking for somewhere in particular I'd maybe be able to give you something more useful" his tone, as always, was mildly apologetic.
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Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 5:13 pm
Sometimes, Kamiya felt like burying her head in the sand and allowing herself to suffocate, just to evade the humiliation of those in her small party.
She could leave them, of course; the thought had even occurred to her once or twice. It was the sad truth that, beneath her aggravation, she was rather fond of the odd assembly -- especially because it afforded her an opportunity to be thoroughly authoritative. "North," she said, rather loudly in an attempt to speak over her companions, her head inclined toward the sky to check the position of the sun, "Is that way." She stepped alongside Mercury, agitated that a group of three wolves couldn't find it in themselves to answer an obvious question.
She paused then, brow furrowed. Part of her wondered how this odd stranger would react to such a barrage of directions.
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Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 6:05 pm
It seems he hadn't quite phrased his question so well now that he thought on it . . . Had being away from groups really impaired his clarity?
Honestly. He knew north and where it was. A slip of the tongue cost him an impression, and inwardly he reprimanded himself. Such was the problem with not having a specific location.
"My destination has no name, just a direction," Chou attempted to explain, which once it came out also did not seem very adequate. Third try. "A direction to snow bears, in actuality. I also seek a wolf with similar patterning to myself, only with no color. You have not seen such a wolf, have you?" he asked the collective group, highly doubting it. Jun might not have the same training as he did, but when alone she did not seek the company of strangers. More likely she continued to push herself northward, to the everlasting ice where she would blend in easier.
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Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 3:50 pm
Marion shook her head, mute but minutely prancing in the midst of her weird gathering. Now of course she wanted to see the wolf that looked almost like him, to say nothing of Snow Bears. She pictured Snow Bears and Sea Wolves fighting and almost yelled, utterly incensed at how little progress they were making. "Why do you want to see snow bears?", she asked, actually doing a bang-up job of not coming on too strong, if you ignored the blood-and-gristle look she was featuring today.
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Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 5:06 am
"Snow bears? Can't say we've seen any of those... or any wolf who looks like you" or any wolf much at all until this little gathering. It was only when Mars decided that he wanted some 'tail' that the pair would end up running into others. Mercury didn't know how Mars did it - his brother was a mess most of the time, running after 'faeries' or whatever his screwed up mind was thinking of at the time, and could barely hold himself together enough to hunt or sometimes even feed himself.
Put a female into the equation, though, and Mars seemed to be able to find them with no apparent effort. Mars was free with his affections and more often than not had been able to charm the girls (and sometimes males!) he found into 'having fun' with him but these days his charm offensive had just become, well, offensive. He was getting more and more twitchy and less relaxed each time he stuffed his mouth with whatever damn thing it was he took - those bloody little flowers. They'd ruined his brother, and he'd been unable to stop it.
He looked at his brother now, noticing his chatter had stopped.
"Whoooo snow bears? I think I saw a snow bear once?" Mars said kinda vaguely. "It was all big and white and, like, running across the sand". His smile was a little glassy as he eyed the stranger. "Say, you mean there are two of you, like, a shadow you but not you, right, kinda like all colour drained? I wonder what I'd look like with no colour. Maybe like Mercury hahaha?" his laugh was a little cruel, edgy, though he didn't really mean it badly - he was just trying, mostly, to hold it together.
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Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 4:09 pm
Kamiya stared between Marion and Mars, completely at a loss. What was this nonsense? Snow bears?
For godsake.
"Mars, shut up," she said, her voice sharper than she had intended. This was all just a little too much for the petite little thing, well-accustomed as she was to order and hierarchy. She may be sheltered and a little xenophobic, but dammit, at least she wasn't a rambling idiot.
She sighed. "We're probably not the best wolves to be asking such questions of," she said, a little wryly. "Although, if you're looking for someone, I can help you with that. I can track, well enough." When she wanted to. "But...snow bears," whatever the hell those were, "Are, I think, a bit beyond us all." She glanced back at the others and added, with more irony than perhaps was warranted. "Except for Mars, maybe."
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