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 Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 12:03 am
 Kamiya was smart enough to recognize that she had been given bad information. The loner had lied convincingly enough, but Kami was enough of a tracker that she knew to trust her nose before the words of anyone -- especially of a shifty stranger.
So, the orange-and-black wolf had set off, following the trail again. It led her through a long, winding path, and grew alternately fainter and stronger as she trotted along, before dying out completely at a shallow creek. Here Kamiya paused for a long drink, lifting her eyes to the sky. It was growing dark, and she should probably be making her way back to the others before they grew restless and came looking.
But she didn't.
Instead, she delicately lapped at the cool stream water and then rolled back to her haunches, contemplating her options. Very soon, her path would overlap with the blue wolf's, and she needed to know precisely what she planned to do once she saw him.
She wanted to go home. That was the truth of it, deep in her heart. As ashamed as she was of the realization, Kamiya just wanted to go back to her nice, quiet life she'd once had. The outside world was entirely too erratic and filled with idiots for her tastes.
But, unfortunately, she couldn't go home empty-handed, or she'd be banished or killed for her trespasses. Knowing her luck, the rest of the scouting party were lying dead someplace and it'd all be blamed on her if she dared show her face to the alpha. No. If she was going to go back, it needed to be with the prince in tow.
And here he was, so near to her grasp. Another day's travel, perhaps, before she could find him, and subdue him or wheedle him, whatever it took.
...So why was she hesitating?
The petite wolf sighed, flopping to her belly. Once, this small body had barely contained the adventurous spirit that dwelled within it. Once, she had been feisty, and powerful, and eager to see the world. And, once the world had been laid in front of her, all she wanted was to leave. How pathetic!
Thus consumed with her sparring thoughts, she was quite oblivious to the world around her as she lay on the spring's bank, a conspicuous patch of orange gleaming in the sun.
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Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 12:30 am
Oblivious or not, Kamiya would have had to be blind, deaf and dumb to not to know they were there doing this.
"They" being a very screechy squirrel and his dearest wolf friend.
"This" being running beneath a flock of birds like fools.
With his fluffy tail and ability to appeal to Thable's sense of (undeserved) pride, the appropriately titled "Ran Squirrel" had stuck with his destined companion's son as a means of survival. In spite of that, he had no qualms about acting as if he was better off on his own. "Can't you even catch a bird?! Your mother would have been able to catch a bird!"
"Oh, really? My mother can fly? She sure never taught me!"
"You can't teach skill, boy! She was born with her talents! You're just your father's son, that's all you are!"
It hurt Thable's neck to turn his head and rip the ungrateful, furry little b*****d off his shoulder. He tossed him to the ground like yesterday's trash, never once slowing in his rush to keep up with the flock. That ache was nothing compared to the damage inflicted on his ego, and even if it had been, the smug sense of self-satisfaction he got looking back, seeing that jerk cursing his name was worth it.
One day, Thable would learn that if one must associate with squirrels, if one must chase high-flying birds, then one needed to learn to do this while keeping their eyes in front of them. Else one might find themselves running into a tree.
So, long story short, they had chased down some birds for nearly twenty minutes only to have him run into a tree. That was the squirrel's story and he dared not deviate from those details when he told it later. And he would, indeed, tell it later. Over and over and over again once they found Ran.
"You don't even know if those birds were Aleu's," Thable complained.
"All birds are Aleu's birds!"
"I don't think you know anything about shaman."
"I know everything about shaman! I was there, boy! Through everything! Where were you?! Not born yet! That's where! Back when that girl had potential before -- before that lazy, no-good father of yours!"
Thable rolled his eyes (but with them being a solid purple, it was hard to tell). The water was close by and he desperately needed to wash his bleeding face. He noticed Kamiya when he got there, but didn't care enough to pay her any mind before he'd dunked his head in.
The insufferable squirrel was right behind him, tangent and all. "Oh! Oh! And now you ignore other wolves?! Your mother would be ashamed! Absolutely ashamed! I didn't raise her like this and she didn't raise you like this! But oooh that Ekundu and his--"
Splash!
Thable had lifted his head from the spring, reared his paw back and sent the fuzzball flying. He didn't even wait for him to "land" before he turned to Kamiya. "Hey there, sweetie."
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Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 12:44 am
Kamiya jolted to her paws at the sound of oncoming creatures. She was oblivious, not comatose -- and the badgering comments between them rang shrill in her ears, even if she couldn't quite make out the words as they approached.
She could, however, make out a flash of orange pelt, and traced its trajectory, seeing before the others did just where this was going to end. And then it did. She winced a little at the dull 'thud' that resonated softly in her ears, and just shook her head.
Further proof, then, that every single wolf in this entire big world was a raging idiot. It was surreal. It was, in fact, a little like gods were conspiring just behind some thin veil to throw the most absurd situations at her, just for giggles.
She considered taking off before the other approached her, but ultimately decided against it. Instead, she held her ground, touched perhaps by some deep-seated morbid curiosity to see just how ridiculous her life could become.
She remained seated, patiently and silently watching the charade. She smiled, a bit, when the squirrel went flying -- she couldn't help it, it was funny -- but her expression sobered when the wolf acknowledged her.
Sweetie?
Gods above, that was even worse than Sunspot.
She glanced over her shoulder, verifying that he was, in fact, addressing her, and then looked back at him with a cocked brow, her own vibrantly blue eyes sizing him up with an entirely unimpressed and moderately smug expression. "Hope your squirrel can swim," she said, dryly.
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Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 12:59 am
Those eyes of his, courtesy of a grandfather he'd never met, stayed with her like his gaze was some kind of loyalist only abandoning post when the subject of a certain (possibly drowning) squirrel arose. He turned not his eyes but his entire head in the direction of the waters. Merely habit after one too many instances of his cousin complaining.
"I can't tell where you're looking!" she'd criticized. "It's creepy!"
Creepy. Hmph. Not exactly high on the list of things he was striving for.
Thable spoke in a tone that was nothing if not sure. "He's not mine," he told her. He really didn't know if the devil squirrel could swim or not. "But I have no idea. If he stays under too long I'll go get him."
Since he had to; Ran would cry if he found her only to come baring news he'd let her squirrel flounder and die horribly.
"You know how squirrels are," Thable carried on. Shortly thereafter he sneezed out the blood and water that pooled in his nostrils."He's hard to put up with, but we're on a mission."
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Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 1:03 am
She did not, in fact, know how squirrels were, but she decided to keep this to herself. Instead, she allowed her eyes to stray over the water, half-interested in the proceedings. She wasn't sure if the water was even deep enough to properly drown in. Then again, it was a squirrel. She'd heard it only took a small puddle to drown an imbecile, if he didn't have the sense to lift his head.
Drowning was a common cause of death for the wolves in Kapu'Moana. Mostly just for the ritual sacrifices, though.
But never mind that. She returned her gaze to the other wolf, watched the blood spray from his nostrils. Charming. "A mission?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 1:16 am
"Yes, we're going to--"
We're going to repopulate the forest with more orange wolves. Isn't it fate that I met you?
For better or for worse, the line hung in the air, as incomplete as the look-alike squirrel without his shaman. The very same squirrel that flung himself out of the spring and onto the son of "his" shaman, clinging to his face with those sharp claws of his.
Thable wasn't sure if the high-pitched chattering was the equivalent of a growl or if he was being cursed in some squirrel-only language. He'd worry about that when his more immediate problem was resolved; namely, there was a squirrel clinging to his face. He jerked back and rapidly tossed his head from one side to the other. Smooth. Real smooth.
When at last he'd freed his precious meal ticket (creepy eyes or no), Thable planted his paw on the back of the fallen squirrel, pressing him into the dirt. He went on as if none of it had just happened. "Like I was saying..."
Like he was saying... err...
Note to self: Remember what you were saying before using the "like I was saying" line.
"What's your name?" he tried instead.
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Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 1:24 am
It was genuinely baffling. Like the fallout of some awful accident, like the remains of a forest fire, so tragic and yet, somehow, so fascinating.
He was a bit like Mars, she decided. Mars, except without that clinging flower odor and the occasional inexplicable commentary.
"I think you were telling me what the mission you were on was," she said, her brow still arched, hint of a smirk upon her thin maw. She shifted her eyes to the squirrel, taking a moment to see just how thoroughly unimpressive the tail became once waterlogged, and then looked back up to the other wolf. "Kamiya."
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Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 1:38 am
"I'm--"
"We're looking for a shaman," Ran Squirrel curtly divulged. These detours were gnawing on his last waterlogged last nerve. The only thing that annoyed him more was the idiot to blame for them. (And the one that annoyed him more than that was said idiot's father.) "We don't have time for you to try and flirt with this girl!"
Thable scowled and considered drowning him of his own accord. Alas, mother really would bawl when they found her. (The idea Ran could really be dead hadn't crossed his mind; she was a shaman and she could heal herself. Duh.) "Kamiya then. We're looking for a shaman that looks like this squirrel."
The uncanny resemblance hadn't been something he wanted to dwell much on. When your mother had an army of butterflies, your alpha had no eyes and your best friend was a squirrel - any squirrel - you learned to just take things at face value.
Speaking of... Man, his face hurt.
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Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 1:43 am
"I can see how a shaman could prove useful," she remarked, dryly, and gestured vaguely toward the other's subtly-swelling maw.
Flirting? Is that what was happening here? Oh, my. That was...unfortunate. Awkward. Also hilarious. "So you're keeping the squirrel with you as a reference, in case you forget what the shaman looks like...?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 6:26 pm
"No, the squirrel is her... friend." Thable dared to try the word and of course it didn't feel right; he sounded like he'd uttered the name of his worst enemy. "She's my mother," he said, though it was unclear why he felt it necessary to reveal that tidbit of his personal life. "Her name is Ran. Mine is Thable."
He shook his head again and sprayed the land to his left and his right with tiny specks of blood. "She really shouldn't be out here by herself. Neither should you. Are you alone?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 7:26 pm
Well wasn't he just the most charming thing in the whole world. She glanced at her chest, which now had a fine spray of mucous-laden blood, on it, and her nose wrinkled.
This was ridiculous. This was like Chou, all over again, but without the funny accent. Why were all these damn wolves out looking for people? Herself included, she thought with a bit of annoyance. Well, never mind that. So long as he didn't start in on some snow-bear nonsense...
Was she alone? "Not anymore," she said. The grin that had been upon her maw widened by a few degrees.
"So...the shaman is incapable of being out alone," she said, somewhere between achingly sarcastic and genuinely curious -- the verbal equivalent to picking at a scab. "So the squirrel and the tree-slayer are out to protect her?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 4:29 pm
That blow to the head hadn't knocked the common sense out of him; Thable knew sarcasm when it hit him in the face just like that tree had. He'd dealt with worse, lately, with the squirrel.
...Which you would think would have stopped him, but it didn't.
"Yes, princess," he mocked. "That's what I said. If you think being a shaman makes you capable of taking care of yourself just because you are one... you obviously haven't met that many." Not that he had (only three, in fact), but details -- who needed those (when they went against your side)? "She's a runt and way too nice. Being out by herself is a serious hazard."
The squirrel had righted himself and climbed his way up onto the wolf's back. "Which is why--"
Thable talked over him. This group was just overflowing with maturity. "Why don't you help us find her? Maybe she can fix those open wounds of yours. You know, the emotional ones that make females like you act bitchy to perfectly nice males like me?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 4:57 pm
What a way to talk about one's mother, she thought. But, then, she had to respect his honesty. And, to be fair, she hadn't met many shamans at all. Just the one, actually, and she'd had her doubts as to its...authenticity.
The comment that followed afterward, however, made her laugh aloud. Well, he had a pair on him at least. "Females like me, huh?" She shook her head, rising to her paws and stretching, eyeballing the unconventional duo. Then, surprising herself a bit, she shrugged. "I happen to be looking for someone, myself. I'll come along with you, if you promise to help me, after?"
Not that she really needed the help of a drowned squirrel and some sunset-on-paws, but it had occurred to her after her run-in with Wren that the prince may not be alone, and thus might need a bit of...subduing...to bring him around.
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Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 4:07 pm
What Kamiya needed was a seer, not a shaman; a wolf capable of telling her this new companion of hers had a "free-love" vagabond of a father and an emotionally stunted mother whose squirrel would be more useful in combat. Those in his pack who could have taken an interest in him and taught him much of anything hadn't; Thable had the spirit to fight, but not the skill. If Kai had bodyguards, he'd be no good to Kamiya.
Yet she would have never guessed it with the way he grinned. No one would have. He grinned like a wolf knowing he was about to take on the world and win. "Of course, Princess. I'm a fair wolf."
Anything to have company other than the damn squirrel.
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Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 11:15 pm
Kami's standards had lowered, perhaps, in her time out in the world. Months with the idiot and the stoner had worn her down enough that, really, he didn't seem half-bad. He wasn't a diseased, overgrown rat, for example. He wasn't looking for snowbears or talking at great length about sea-wolves or dragging around some scraggly bear hide.
All things considered, he was one of the more presentable wolves she'd allowed herself to spend time with.
"Kamiya, please. Or Kami." Her ears flicked a little. She wondered, vaguely, if the others were missing her yet. She kind of hoped they were. "So. Where to?"
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