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 Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 11:20 am
 Rishabh the Rhino was pretty even tempered, for a con-artist and a fraud, but he wasn't a babysitter. Especially not to full grown hyenas who seemed to be completely hopeless. Fortunately for him, he had seen some other hyenas a few hours ago, so he could just drop this one off and she could join their herd. Or pack. Whatever they called it. It wasn't important to him. "Come along, Isi," he said to the hyena lass who was following him faithfully. At least she had stopped trying to graze. "We're going to find you some friends." Isipayisi followed at Rishabh's heels, and tried to remember what "friends" meant. She was sure she knew that word. It was important. It was probably one of those ones that meant something. Like Rhino. Rhino meant a thing shaped like Rishabh. And Hyena. Hyena meant a thing shaped like her.
Maybe it was one of the tricky ones, like Food. For Rishabh, food meant that green stuff on the ground, but for her, food meant dead things. Hopefully friends was just a shaped something, like Rhino and Hyena, and not something tricky like Food.
Friends. Rishabh had friends; they were also Rhinos. They were both Friends and Rhinos. Were all Friends Rhinos? she wondered. At last, there was one of the hyenas. A male, by the looks of it. Rishabh snuffed at him importantly as he and his one-hyena entourage approached. "You there, hyena! I've found one of your kind wandering about, and I've come to return her. This is Isipayisi."
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Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 11:41 am
Mka's days had been peaceful lately. Well, as peaceful as could be expected with both his sister and son sniping at each other. There hadn't been many clients, and Mka' was taking advantage of the quiet to relax a bit. Or at least, to try to.
He had left his family behind and was taking a brisk stroll. Nothing like a bit of exercise to warm up the body and mind. He might not have any puzzles to solve right now, but he wanted to remain sharp. There would be clients again soon enough ... and, most likely, trouble.
The rhino approaching didn't immediately register as something peculiar, although Mkaguzi did alter his steps to take him out of the huge animal's path. He was a bit perplexed when the thing turned and seemed to be heading towards him. Not alarmed, yet - it wasn't charging - but perplexed. The hyena blinked when the rhino called to him. He had never spoken to a rhino before.
"Hello," Mka called back cautiously. He looked at the female hyena accompanying the rhino. Stranger and stranger. She was a pretty hyena, although she looked as perplexed as Mkaguzi felt. And what was she doing with a rhino? "You won't be returning her, as she isn't mine," the hyena said slowly. "But I would be glad to make her acquaintance." He smiled at Isipayisi. "I am Mkaguzi." This whole situation was intriguingly bizarre. Perhaps the rhino and hyena had a case for him!
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Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 6:31 pm
Rishabh harrumphed at the male. "Well, Mkaguzi, she certainly belongs with you more then she belongs with me. I don't have time to be looking after a hyena with amnesia all the time! Do you know who I am?"
Rishabh didn't seem to care if the hyena knew or not, cause he was going to barrell on and tell him. "I am an Oracle! I am, in fact, possessed of the clearest Sight ever known among Rhinos and I am the guide of my herd! I have more important things to do then look after Isipayisi, here. You are like her; you can at least keep her fed. I'm giving you this task. Try and take care of her."
"Hello, Mkaguzi," Isipayisi said politely. She remembered that when meeting someone new, one was supposed to say, 'hello.' And then you were supposed to ask something.
What were you supposed to ask? She would think of it. It was on the tip of that pink thing in her mouth. The thing that moved food around and let you talk. Tongue! Rishabh said it was called a tongue.
"How are you, Mkaguzi?" she said, once Rishabh's lecture was done, quite proud for remembering, but still unsure if this Hyena was a Friend or not. It was probably up to Rishabh.
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Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 7:35 pm
Mkaguzi had encountered many strange situations in his life (including a lioness who wanted to mate with him - yikes) but he had never been lectured by a rhino about its oracular powers. His analytical brain noted the comment about Isipayisi's supposed amnesia while the rest of him boggled for a moment.
It was tempting to point out that if the rhino did in fact have powers, he could probably use them to find the hyena's real family and return her to them. Mkaguzi decided against it on the basis that he liked himself as he was, without any holes in his hide or big heavy footprints stamped across his back.
"Er. Well, I shall do my best to get to the bottom of this," Mka said. If he thought of this as a case being dumped in his lap rather than some kind of babysitting job, it was all right. Surely it wouldn't take long to deliver this hyena back to wherever she belonged. He turned to the hyena herself, smiling more confidently now that he felt himself on familiar ground. "I'm well, thank you. How are you, Isipayisi?" The whole situation felt a little absurd, but if Isipayisi was determined to be polite despite the strangeness then Mka would return her politeness in kind. It was important to put people at ease, after all.
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 8:43 am
Rishabh harrumphed on more time, then said, "Well, I'll just leave you to it then. Good-bye, Isipayisi. Be good for your new friend here."
And the Rhino started to trot away.
Isipayisi nodded good-bye to Rishabh. She was supposed to Stay. She remembered that one. But what were you supposed to say when another Hyena said 'how are you?' She would remember, if she tried.
What she ended up doing was sitting there and looking at Mkaguzi for several long minutes, until she finally said, "I don't know."
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Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 8:53 am
When he was in his element, solving riddles and clues, Mkaguzi was sure of himself. He was polite, confident, and kind. Being social for its own sake had never come naturally to him, though. He was always too busy with something-or-other to spend time making small talk with no goal in mind.
There was a goal here - to figure out where Isipayisi had come from, and return her there - but left on his own, Mkaguzi was starting to feel a bit helpless. It was difficult to talk to a witness - or victim, or whatever she was - that just sat and stared at him in utter befuddlement. Were amnesiacs usually this confused?
Mkaguzi rallied slightly, smiling at Isipayisi. "Well, you look fine to me." Fine as in healthy, of course. "What can I help you with?" Realizing that this question would just be greeted with another boggled stare, Mkaguzi quickly followed it up with another. "Ahem. I meant to say ... how long have you been with Rishabh?" If he could figure out where the rhino had met her, maybe he could find her family. Anyone related to her would certainly be distinctive-looking!
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Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 5:51 pm
"One day two days three days four days five days," Isipayisi recited. Rishabh had made sure she knew how to count, and what days and nights were. Also, water was important, and the yellow and black buzzy things were bad and they hurt when they flew into you.
Yellow and black buzzy things were called beez, and Rishabh had found her near some beez and rocks, not far from water.
"Rishabh found me under beez by some rocks. He said I was thirsty which he said was strange because the watering hole was not far away. Watering holes are full of water and water is for drinking," she added helpfully.
Isi still wasn't entirely sure what was missing - it could be other Hyenas, or it might be Food - but Rishabh had said they needed to find out things about her. She hoped Mkaguzi knew what they were supposed to be finding, cause other than the watering hole, she had no ideas.
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Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:31 am
When asking questions, it was important to listen to how people spoke as well as what they said. Mka listened carefully, watching Isi's face.
Unfortunately, there were no clues there. He saw nothing in her but blank, honest bewilderment. Used to speaking to the distraught, the angry, the envious, Mka did not really know how to react to such a bland, empty-headed hyena. Isipayisi was a puzzle in more ways than one.
Rocks and bees and watering holes ... well, the watering hole should be distinctive enough. If Isipayisi's family was near by, surely they would have to stop by at some point. Mkaguzi nodded decisively. "We should head to the watering hole, then. We may find your family there, or someone who knows you. Do you think you can find your way back?" The answer would likely be no, but it didn't hurt to ask.
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Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 3:16 pm
Erm. Isipayisi knew where the watering hole was, but whether she could find the beez or not was another story. Rishabh had made sure she could find where the water was, so she didn't get to thirsty again, but they hadn't been back to where the beez were since he first found her.
"The watering hole is over there," she said, and started trotting toward it. "I don't think the beez know me though, and they were the only ones when Rishabh found me."
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Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 1:36 pm
Mkaguzi began to trot after Isipayisi. Getting a look at this watering hole would be a good start. Too bad it had been so long. There likely wouldn't be any tracks or anything of use left. "How long will it take us to reach this watering hole?" Mkaguzi asked, glancing over at the pretty, empty-headed hyena. "If it's a long journey, I should tell my family where we're going. I don't want them to think I've disappeared." His sister would certainly be irritated at being left alone with his son for any length of time! Mka chuckled slightly at the thought.
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Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 9:45 pm
Isipayisi had to stop and think. "It's less then a day, but more then just a little bit? The sun will move by the time we get there, but it won't go down. What's a Family? Rishabh said it a few times too but he couldn't explain it. He said it was like a Herd so Family is probably a lot of Rhinos, right?"
She wished people would explain what they were saying properly when they talked. There were too many words to learn and she didn't know enough of them.
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 6:54 am
Mka nodded as Isi spoke, continuing to trot along beside her. The journey wouldn't be too bad. His sister and son would probably assume he was out hunting or investigating something-or-other. They shouldn't worry too much. Although Mka had always hunted with his sister in the past, things had grown rather ... strained ... between them since the arrival of Kuiba. Siri shouldn't mind his absence.
Thinking of his own somewhat dysfunctional family, Mka wasn't sure how to answer Isipayisi. The poor hyena was so clueless. He didn't want to confuse her further. "Well ... any animal can be in a family. So you can have a family of hyenas, or a family of rhinos, or ... anything. But usually there's only one kind of animal in a family." There, that was pretty basic. "Families are usually related animals, fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters. My family is my sister and my son." Mkaguzi always felt a bit ashamed at having a son and no proper mate, certainly with all the drama that the situation had caused between he and his sister, but he felt safe talking to this hyena about it. It was pretty unlikely that she would understand him, let alone judge him.
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Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:20 pm
"That's nice that you have a Family. I guess it makes more sense that Hyenas have Hyena Families and Rhinos have Rhino Families. That was they can eat the same Food."
Isi looked around back to Mka. "Why don't Rhinos eat the same Food as Hyenas? Grass makes me sick but it didn't make Rishabh sick. Food is difficult."
Isi decided not to ask what fathers, mothers, brothers, or sisters were. They were part of Family, so she was sure she would figure it out when Mka found her Family for her.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 11:59 am
This was really a pretty weird situation, but Mkaguzi was pleased that he was getting through to Isipayisi. She was confused, but she understood things once he had explained them in simple terms.
If she didn't know what something as simple as food was, he was going to have to do a lot of explaining.
Mka wasn't arrogant about his intelligence, but he did like sharing the things he knew. If he hadn't become a detective like his sister, he would have made an excellent teacher. He was warming to the challenge of teaching Isipayisi. "Food ... well .. some animals eat different food than other animals." He shrugged. He had never had to explain food before. "It's just the way we're made. Animals with sharp teeth eat meat, and animals with flat teeth eat grass and things." Mkaguzi hoped she wouldn't ask him why animals were made to eat certain kinds of food. That was a question he couldn't answer. It was one he had never even considered himself.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 1:57 pm
"I guess it would be a lot easier if everyone had the same kind of teeth because then they could eat the same Food and be the same Family, cause then Rishabh could have kept me with him if I could eat the same Food as him, even though I'm not a Rhino. What kind of teeth to Beez have?"
Beez confused Isi. They were very, very small, and when they flew at her it felt like they were biting her, but she didn't see any teeth. Also, the watering hole was getting closer, and she didn't want the Beez to try and eat her if she and Mka found them.
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