Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hirana did alright in the dark. His coat was fit for it, really. Blue eyes were wide as he turned his head this way and that. Something about tonight felt really off. He was on high alert as he wandered away from the group he had joined to hunt for himself. While being in a pack was fine, the way he operated didn't allow him to eat very often. He always made sure the rest of the pack had enough food and ate first. When that happened, he got left with very little.

Hiragna wasn't a greedy man, but he was a hungry man right now. Sighing heavily, he picked up the pace to track down the herd of zebra he remembered from this morning. His stomach rumbled as he moved quickly until he came across a watering hole. Panting slowly, he slowed down and blinked when he saw someone at the same watering place.

Now to crouch down and watch what she did. Letting his ears flick this way and that, he stayed on his belly to watch her. She was a .... very pretty little thing. She wasn't quite an adult, but he'd seen females her age pregnant before, so she must be breeding age. Still. He didn't know if he should approach her as a pup or an adult. This caused him to frown.

[OOC: Logged the rest on Skype]

Hiranga really knew nothing about the shapes of the stars. The dark peltd male only knew that there were stars in the sky thanks to the dead. He believed the stars were the souls of loved ones and great ones watching over everyone. Impartial, unjudging, but making sure things turn out the way they are meant. LIke the gods, do.

His ears flicked this way and that as she spoke and arched a brow. She knew he was here? She had sharp senses. That was good. Stretching himself out as he got off his stomach, he nodded to her and made his way closer.

"It's a good night, I guess. The stars are always there." He wasn't being aggressive or sarcastic, just matter-of-factly. He always saw the stars. Unless it was raining, but that went without saying. Still, he glanced up at the sky again and then back down to her. "By yourself, little one?"

Taigi's tail wagged a bit as the stranger stood up. Ah, he blended in so well! If it weren't for his scent she wouldn't have noticed him at all. Even though she had been raised in the darkness, her eyes were no better at night than any other wild dog raised during the daytime. She had come to learn how to rely on her sense of hearing instead of her eyes, as well as her nose to tell her what was around.

"They are," she agreed with a grin. "Sometime they do disappear, but they always come back the next night. The question made her nod just a bit, although she cocked her head to one side.

"Not anymore. I'm Taigi," she said with a little bob of her head. "What's your name?"

So she had a thing for stars. Interesting. That was new for him, honestly. Then again, the blue male didn't meet many others... of any species. He kept to himself more often than not. Letting his tail flick back and forth lazily, he dipped his head a little.

"I'm Hiranga. Far from home, Taigi?" She looked like she belonged to a pack. Well taken care of, sharp of mind, but maybe not of up to par on hunting and tracking as he was. Then again, he knew she wasn't. She was younger than him. That's not to say she wasn't good at it, it was just stating his age and experiance made him better than her. Though, what did that matter in the long run when he was interested in one thing?

Now that he was this close to her, he could tell she was an adolescent. Though, a big one, so she was nearly an adult. Interesting, interesting.

"Pleasure to meet you, Hiranga," she said politely. Although spacy at times, she was a very pack-oriented girl and loved making new friends. Her father had taught her how to be polite to new dogs, and she wanted to make sure she made a good first impression.

"Not terribly far...maybe three or four days walk back to where the sun rises." She had been sticking close to the pack so she wouldn't have to walk for weeks on end just to get home. She wanted to find a constellation that would be easily seen from her pack, after all. "I'm a slow walker, though. My father says I stroll rather than walk," she said with a little laugh. "So perhaps just two days if I really put some pep in my step. Do you have a pack?"

"I do not have a pack. I had something of a pack not too long ago... A group of vagabonds, I suppose you could say. Misfits gathering in hopes of finding somewhere to belong. Eventually, no real leader emerged and everyone slowly trinkled until only I was left." She seemed to be interested in him. He could end up using that to his advantage, couldn't he? With a flick of his tail, Hiranga stretched himself out again.

He slowly started to circle her, but not in a threatening way. He needed to move about if he wanted to keep his mind straight, on an innocent coversation. "Why are you this far away from your pack? Wandering from home for a few days?"

Taigi gave a little 'ah' of understanding, although she couldn't help but feel badly for the older wild dog. To her, pack was everything. It's where she felt safest, happiest, like she didn't have a care in the world!

"I'm on my star quest," she explained as Hiranga started to circle her. She took it not as a threat, just as a way to keep his paws busy. She was like that, too, although it usually ended in a horrible distraction on her end.

"Once I find my constellation, I'll be able to return home and put it on the wall with the others in my pack," she explained wagging her tail happily. "Then I'll be an adult!"

Star quest? He looked at her like she was crazy. He'd never heard of a star quest, nor any pack that really looked into them. "...Aren't they all the same, stars? Just say you found one and go home. It is what I would do." His tail flicked again as he sat down again before scratching at one of his ears. As he did, his tongue lolled out and he seemed pleased witht his.

Snorting a bit when he was done, he watched her. "Ah, who am I to ask, anyway. I know nothing about stars. They aren't terribly interesting to me. They're always there."

As the older canine questioned her about stars, Taigi whined softly and turned a quick circle. "Oh no no no! Stars are always changing and moving! Sometimes they just disappear, poof! During the night they race across the sky, and sometimes they even make pictures! That's what I need to find, my own special picture in the sky!"

She jumped over to his side, pressing up against him to make him look up into the dark night. "Look! There...that bright, bright star? Do you see it?"

Her excited explanation had both brows raised and his ears alert. Hiranga hadn't been expecting that kind of reaction. It was puzzling and amusing at the same time. Still, as she spoke, circled and whined, it did little to change his mind about stars. He'd always seen them there, in the sky. He never noticed pictures. Quite often, he was busy eating and hunting to really look at them. Ah, well. That's what he gets for not growing up in a protected environment like hers.

When she pointed out a star to him, he looked up and glanced about. "...They all look pretty bright to me, so I fail to see which one you're talking about, honestly."

Taigi wagged her tail as she waited for Hiranga to say 'yes, yes there it is, and the lovely lion in the sky is amazing!', but instead the dark male didn't spot the constellation. She gave a soft huff before reaching forward with her paw, making little dots in the dirt as her mother had to explain how the stars made pictures.

"There," she said, motioning to the spots on the ground. "The larger spots are the brighter stars, the smaller are the dimmer. And when you connect them like so..."

She connected the dots, making little lines in the sand, until the rough shape of a lion rearing on its hind paws appeared, the bright star she had made reference to making a bright, burning eye.

"Now do you see?"

He watched her draw in the dirt , glancing up at the sky to see exactly where she was seeing this picture. Maybe this girl just had a really good imagination. Or simply perhaps Hiranga wasn't cut out for stars. Because he somehow still didnt' see it. It unnerved him he couldn't see something someone else could. Especially someone this much younger than him.

So, with that in mind, he just nodded. "I see it now, yes. Though I wouldn't be able to spot it out by myself."

Taigi waited anxiously for him to respond and, when he did, she gave an excited yip. "Ah, good! Well, that's what I need to find. One of my own, that no one else has seen. So I need to travel to find new stars," she explained, wiping the drawing out in the dirt with her paw. "Ah...that was fun," she added, grinning at her companion. She hadn't been able to talk about stars with anyone for quite some time, and when she did they never saw what she was talking about. He made her feel like she was home.

"So you just...live out here?" she asked, looking around the empty plains. She shivered just a bit at the thought and moved to huddle next to Hiranga again, nuzzling her head against his shoulder. "Doesn't it get lonely?"

She glanced up at him, purple eyes unable to hide the sorrow she felt at that thought. She had grown up with a large family and always had playmates. She couldn't bare to think about living alone.

So they had to keep finding pictures no one else had found? What happens when they find them all? Does that generation go off finding new worlds or something? This pack seemed very funny to him. "I do live out here. Not here, just... Anywhere."

The nuzzling came out of no where, and he almost stopped her. But, she was still young. It was her nature to seek comfort when she wasn't feeling happy, he supposed. Pack life sounded like it softened one up quite a bit. His ears flicked back and forth, unable to figure out if he liked how close she was or not and then just shrugged a bit.

"At times, but I find it better than being with others. Rare is it I find a clash of opinion, or have to deal with a lot of noise while I'm trying to sleep in late."

Taigi nodded slightly, frowning just a bit. If he lived on his own then did he have a family? He must have a mother and father, at the very least.

"Where are your parents?" she asked. "Do you have siblings? Pups of your own?" He was certainly old enough to have a little litter, but she wasn't positive he did.

"My parents died." Was all he was going to say on the subject. He didn't like talking about them. He had no siblings to speak of, he had been an only pup to them. ".....No to the rest of it."

For him, the conversation had turned grim and he just moved away from her and let his ears pin back against his head. He didn't want to stick around, really, for her apologies either. Or for her to feel sorry for him. Hiranga didn't want pity. "I'm going to be off. I have food to secure beforeI pad back to where I'm staying."

When Hiranga answered her, Taigi knew she had brought up a bad topic of conversation. She crouched low, sorrow and apology written in her body language. She watched the older wild dog move away and a little whine escaped her. She couldn't imagine living life without family.

"Wait...let me help?" she asked quietly, moving to follow him. "I...I dont' want you to go away feeling badly. There must be something I can do to cheer you up."

"No, I'm fine. Really." He turned to look at her again and just shook his head a bit more. "I'll see you around." Seeing how she was cowering in apology was enough for him to just want to stay away for right now. His tai flicked to show her that there were really no hard feelings.

"If you're still here, I'll find you sometime tomorrow." With that, the dark blue dog trotted off without another word. He was wary.

Taigi rose to a seated position as the older wild dog trotted away. He disappeared into the darkness, blending in well with the inky night, leaving her alone with only the stars for company. She whined softly and moved over to a nearby tree, the only thing out here she could count on to offer something to lean up against as she slept.

She rested her head on her paws as she laid down, looking up sadly at the sky. She really didn't belong out here. No one seemed to like her very much, and those that did she usually chased away by saying something she didn't know was rude or impolite. Oh well...she'd find her star soon and she could go back home to her family. With that thought in mind, she curled up with her back to the tree to try to sleep.

FIN