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 Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:37 pm
  Entering the salt marsh was both a refreshing and troubling change of scenery for Entangled. She had been born in one of the densest portions of Matope, nested in moss and unaware of the sun's presence for nearly a week. Out this way, it was all open space and tall grass. This was preferable in the way of motion, for the most part, for she was somewhat phobic to being caught among roots and bramble.
The downside came in the way of mud. She'd only just come in and she was already up to her knees in it. She still had to mind her step, lest she find it sucking at her hooves, but once she found a stable bank to walk upon, all was fine in the world. The long reeds near the water tickled her legs as she passed, red eyes cast warily for any sign of armor plating. With luck, she could collect her samples before night fell and brought forth the crocodiles. Mud - check.
The crane, Singled Out, moved easily through the shallows on his slender legs, practically gliding past his companion. Entangled scoffed at him under her breath, all too envious of his showing off. Once she reached the end of her embankment, however, she paid him no more mind. She turned and tore free some of the copious collection of reeds nearby, disturbing small white-winged insects that tickled her nose before finding a new place to rest. These reeds she flung wide into the water, and watched as they took up with the current and began to drift out and away. Inwardly, she did a calculation, wasting little more time in beginning to wade into the brackish liquid. A mouthful of water was what she took - not to drink, but to judge.
Singled Out, meanwhile, was striding slow, but purposeful after the small fish he could barely see in the tea-colored water. Soon, soon -- oh, a frog! Forgetting his post, he quickly made way to the amphibian he saw struggling into the weeds. Too easy. His neck darted out, his beak clamping onto the creature mid-leap. And that was when he came face to face with the eyes.
Entangled spat water as an ungodly screech pierced the air along with the sounds of flapping. Damn the bird! She wheeled, pulling herself back up to the sand for a better vantage.
She had told herself that this day would probably come, the one in which Singled Out was snapped up by a predator and leave her life for good. Still, if she could manage to be of a help, she would do what she could.
Singled Out had blown out his feathers to make himself more than twice his actual size, wings splayed and neck arched back. The eyes and the kimeti to it got a hiss.
"Oh," Said Entangled.
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Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 2:15 pm
For the longest time, the eyes did not move. Moments passed before their glow slowly extinguished, then revived. Moments more - then from some point just below the eyes did a clipped, high voice issue, pronouncing:
"Jumpy, innit."
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Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 2:53 pm
From what she could tell, Singled Out wasn't wrapped in the coils of death just yet. She could hardly see beyond him, but there were a set of coals that burned from a dark place just under his wing. With his bluff called, Singled Out clacked his beak and very swiftly carried himself away from the kimeti's direct presence, ignoring her words and, once he had gone some distance, began to pace and squawk irritably at her.
Entangled had enough evidence now, words coupled with the approximate size of eyes, to safely assume Singled Out had just bumped into another kimeti.
"Quiet, bird," She reprimanded him firmly, weary of his noise all too quickly. The tone seemed to work to snap him out of his show and, fearing the cold wrath of his doe (which would probably have consisted of no more than a splash of water, really), he stopped and took to pointedly and irritably picking at his feathers, preening himself in order to console.
"Salutations, sir or madame. Is this your staked territory?" Entangled called, trying to squint across the water at whatever lay there.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:36 am
Salutations. This was a strange one - a verdict she felt qualified to deliver after having idly watched her for the past few minutes, picking carefully through the muck, tossing reeds into the flow, sticking her muzzle into…well, at least she hadn't seemed to swallow. A strange one - and her little bird too.
She considered her course of action, slowly passing her gaze over the sleek, green figure in the distance. This doe was certainly after something, and having come all the way out here to sit in the middle of nowhere precisely in order to get away from her own strange one, she wasn't sure she was keen to find out what that was. Decisions, decisions. But she finally did rise from her haunches, discreetly shaking off the wet that clung to her pelt. Sir or madam - such courtesy deserved a proper reply, at least.
Weaving easily through the familiar grasses, she said, "Not particularly."
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Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 3:50 am
"Good. The concept of property is a delusion, mostly harbored by males who seek to verify themselves in ways material and physical." It was a compliment, really. And it seemed to be enough to warrant Entangled's approach in turn, meeting Weep more or less halfway through the stretch between them.
"Let's dispatch the formalities. My name is Entangled. As you've no doubt garnered, I'm a visitor to this portion of the swamp. My comrade is Singled Out, or Target, if you prefer. I can tell you're already disregarding his sulking and I must warn you that his psychological profile will drive him to revisit you once he realizes that he's being ignored. You can apologize to him or see what he comes up with - your choice."
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 2:11 am
A brow-ridge raised just slightly at the green doe's statement - it sounded not unlike (that is to say, it sounded exactly like) one of the socialist platitudes that her dear sister Summer Fades would airily declare to no one in particular on the cusp of dragging them both into trouble, say, by destroying the carefully cultivated flora within an area declared under said delusional concept, and then having to run very fast when the delusional buck in question objected violently to her political leanings.
The corner of her mouth might have quirked up a tad, if it weren't for the fact that, naturally, her dear sister Fade and her energetic activities had been the very reason for her solitary sojourn. Might it be too much to hope…Entangled (she inclined her head to acknowledge the information) shared only Fade's philosophical beliefs and not her aptitude for alarming situations? Perhaps. At least, she (scantly) consoled herself, the obvious intelligence slathered over her words and spilling out of her bright red eyes ensured that if she was in for trouble, it would surely be articulate.
Oh well. She cast a wry eye at the crane before turning back to his companion, "I'm not in the habit of apologising for minding my own business, so I suppose I'll have to take my chances. Saddened Eyes, call me Weep. No doubt I'm to ask what brings you here?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:56 am
Entangled reserved her judgement of Saddened Eyes -Weep- for the moment, not having enough facts to be certain of anything aside from that a) she was a doe and b) she may or may not live here, but she seemed realistic.
"I agree with you. If I were to materialize the state of his ego, I should say it has great surface area, but it lacks in volume. It's good for him.
You're not required to ask anything of me, Weep, but that would be an intuitive venture. To answer the potential question, I'm researching."
Entangled paused, watching the other female's face to see if it registered some recognition to the term.
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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 12:18 pm
Ah. A researcher. The tension in her frame ebbed a little. Few in the swamp turned to science, and certainly the researchers she'd met had all been strange in their ways...but scientists tended too towards more sense than socialists (albeit to be fair to socialists, Fade was a lousy example) and so far Entangled did seem sensible enough - at least for Fade to continue the conversation:
"To further intuit, should I ask what might you be researching?"
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