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 Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:34 pm
 Tamotsu hummed quietly to himself, picking through brush and thinking. The little kit had grown, a lot! For a normal fox he was big, as tall as their kind got. If that wasn't enough he was also board, with an expanse of muscled chest that made others eye him a bit warily at first. It didn't last long though, his cheerful and gentle nature always shone though amd warmed others to him with little effort.
Today Tamo was pondering what he wanted to do. This forest was a nice one in terms of shelter, close to the edge of a mountain where several bolders had created lean-tos and small caves. The downside was less vegitation, which meant less food and prey. He considering whether the trip to the more plentiful areas was worth it versus having to live and sleep more in the open.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:42 pm
 Caolan had left the Kousetsu lands some time ago, having failed to find the solitude he sought in the snow-covered land. Now he was wandering again, but not like Mother--he was not exploring for the sake of it, but rather searching for a place where he could settle down in peace and quiet, somewhere where he could be left in peace, away from his family, away from tribes, away from everything.
It was the very lifeless desolation that had drawn him to this spot--if there wasn't much food around, likely there wouldn't be many foxes, either. However, he saw someone else had had the same idea. But rather than turning away, he slowly approached--this fox, at least, he could stand.
"Hello," he greeted Tamotsu, slightly surprised by how large the red fox had grown. It must have been a while since he had seen him last, if he had grown up in that time.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 8:06 pm
Tamo's ears flicked to the side as sound came drifting over to him, warning him of an approach. He turned his head to see the traveler, for who else would suddenly appear in this desolate land he'd been inhabiting for the past week? It took a second for the connection to be made in his head; it had been a long time since Tamo had seen his quiet friend, since he was a kit.
"Cao, hi," he greeted, a warm smile spreading on his face. Unlike most foxes who greeted long-lost friends with shouts of joy, running, and overly affection gestures, Tamo knew Caolan was a fox who enjoyed his peace and quiet. He didn't quite understand why the distant male had so few friends when not all foxes were loud or obnoxious, but he came to the conclusion that Caolan must just prefer it like this. As far as Tamo knew he was one of the privileged few allowed to be within the company of the loner.
Rather than run up to him Tamo waited for Cao to reach him. His course would cross right where Tamo was sitting, and it allowed Cao to decide how much he wanted his personal bubble invaded today.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 8:35 pm
The welcome smile surprised him. When was the last time someone had been glad to see him? Arian had been glad to see him go (and he was glad to see the end of his sister as well), but that was something entirely different.
He stopped a short distance away from Tamo--closer than he would get to most (to be honest: to any other fox), but it was still further away than most foxes would stand to one another.
"Hello, " he repeated, because it seemed like the appropriate thing to say, but he could hardly remember--Mother's lessons about manners and proper behavior had been so long ago, back when he was a kit. "How are you?" That was one social nicety he could remember, at least.
He hardly ever put this much effort into being polite, which translated (in his mind, at least, because of Mother's teachings) into effort put in to making the other stay around. But Tamo was an exception like that.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 8:50 pm
Tamo bit back a chuckle. He found Cao's traits to be endearing most times, all the more so because he actually tried around Tamo. He could sympathize with how hard it was to be social when you desired your own company the most, and appreciated the effort Cao put it. Sometimes Tamo wondered just why Cao did make that effort, now more than ever since they'd been apart so long.
"I've been well. Wandering, by myself mostly. Not many strangers willing to look after a kit, but I'm used to taking care of myself. Still wandering now, to be honest. Nowhere special has caught my eye." That last sentence made Tamo frown in thought. Why hadn't he found a home yet? It wasn't like he hadn't come across a dozen or so places that would have been lovely. None of the spots had felt......right, and that was unusual for the easygoing male.
"And you," he asked, smoothing the frown from his face. It wasn't like it was a matter of any consequence, and seeing Cao again was most important than worrying over silly trivia.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:04 pm
Caolan nodded in understanding--he had hardly found anywhere he wished to call home, either. Even in snowy lands, a place he had thought no fox would want to be, there was an entire tribe there. Perhaps he should find it disheartening how hard it was to find a home, but he didn't, not really--he was away from his family at least, and that outweighed all the rest.
"The same thing." He shrugged lightly, not too bothered with his lack of success.
But that was hardly proper conversation. He should add something, try to keep things going--he knew that Tamo didn't mind the silence, any more than he did, but Mother's lessons were too deeply ingrained to allow him to let the conversation drift off into silence so quickly.
"There's even a tribe in the snow," he added shortly after. Not quite the most interesting fact ever, but at least it was something. He was rusty and out of practice, having been away from Mother and her enforced lessons, and Tamo and actual pleasant conversation, for so long.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:22 pm
"Hmm," Tamo hummed in his throat, staring upwards in the direction of the mountain in whoes shadow they were sitting in. He wasn't much of a climber himself, but he was willing to bet there was snow up there. The concept of foxes living in such conditions was interesting, for the sake of the knowledge more than the desire to do anything with it.
"I couldn't see myself living in snow, it's harder to get around." And that was true; with his large and heavy body none but the hardest crusts on snow could hold him, and beating a path through the white stuff only to have it constantly covered was a tiring concept.
"I've heard of a tribe that exists in ruins where the mountain meets the ocean, met someone born there who left the area. I haven't come across an actual tribe though. Barren basins containing sparse pine forests don't seem to popular," Tamo said, chuckling a little. They way he described the land was accurate, which made him feel a tad silly. Why did he pick such a barren place to settle in for the winter?
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:42 pm
Mother had tried to tell him some about the tribes, but he hadn't retained that much, as evidenced by his surprise at the snow tribe. But that he had remembered once he had met them; the tribe Tamotsu was talking about didn't sound familiar at all.
"Human ruins? Did you hear any more of what the ruins or the tribe were like?"
He found ruins interesting--they had a peace he was hard pressed to find elsewhere. He hadn't realized it the first time, when he had gone to that abandoned church with Mother and her clan, but when he had returned on his own, then he could see it.
He doubted he would find the same peace in ruins that had a tribe living in them. But something still prompted him to ask.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:55 pm
Tamo frowned, trying to recall what Airashi had told him about his old home. "I believe he said it was a...a castle. Stone. He said it was very old, so I imagine any of the original wood is rotted." Tamo paused, then remembered something. "The he, by the by, is the friend I met who came from the tribe. Airashi." He doubted Cao was really interested in the name, Tamo only mentioned it to prevent any confusion in the future.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:09 pm
Caolan nodded. "I've never seen a castle in person...Mother told stories about them. But that's not the same."
He had never heard of this Airashi, but that was hardly surprising--he didn't know much about foxes beyond his own family, and even that was a knowledge he could do without. He couldn't so much as name the current elders of the tribes--beyond Mother and Uncle Ari, the latter of whom he had never met, but was planning to avoid on principle, due to his membership in the family.
Really, it wasn't the name that interested him, it was something else.
"Do you have many of them? Friends, I mean."
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:29 pm
Tamo shrugged his broad shoulders lightly. "'A few. I've been in places that are fairly devoid of life, so it's not often I come across others. Airashi is the only one I'd call friend though. He stuck around the longest, we traveled together for about a week. The others were more acquantiances, didn't stick around for more than a day."
An idle part of Tamo's mind wondered if he was talking too much. Granted between him and Cao, Tamo usually did most of the talking. And Cao did ask him the question. He just didn't want to start babbling unwittingly.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 11:07 pm
"A week?" he asked, tilting his head curiously. Somehow, he had always thought that it took longer to form friendships.
Yet, on the other hand, here he and Tamotsu were: in total, they had spent perhaps three or four days together, over the course of multiple months. And yet Caolan still thought he would consider Tamotsu a friend. If anyone asked. Not that they would.
It was interesting what he was learning from Tamotsu, really...
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 11:18 pm
Tamo nodded. "We were heading different ways. I was still a kit when I last saw Airashi, he wasn't too happy to set me back to wandering on my own again. But he wanted to go over the mountains and I was content here." A week usually was a short amount of time to know someone, but he and Airashi had hit it off pretty well. Airashi said it was that cheerful nature of his, which garnered a chuckle from Tamo in response.
"I'm being rude though, talking all about myself. Did you meet anyone new? It's been awhile since we last saw each other."
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 12:13 am
"I don't mind." Of course he didn't--it was interesting to hear about what Tamo had been doing. Who he had been meeting...
"I haven't met anyone else; I've just been wandering. Not with Mother and her clan," he quickly clarified. Really, he hadn't seen any family since he had left the clan. For which he was grateful.
"Who else did you meet?" he asked, curling his tail around his paws, starting to settle in some.
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 12:34 am
Tamo thought about it for a moment. "No one else in this area. Getting here I met an odd Phim, a blind male, and this regular fox and Daeva couple that were constantly bickering but seemed strangely happy, like that was how they normally talked. The female kept muttering something about cave curses and the Daeva just rolled him eyes like he was humoring her," he said, recalling the moment with a chuckle. "I saw another male running by as well, but he didn't stop to chat. Just kept moving. Those are all the foxes I can remember." For a moment Tamo wished he had something more to add, to make the story interesting. He seemed to live a dull life sometimes.
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