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 Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 12:36 pm
 It was harder to navigate in the mountains than it has been in the plains. Damu often found himself stumbling over rocks and tufts of grass or running into bushes and trees that littered the ground. He hated bothering others to help him get around, so he just treaded carefully, paws sliding across the rock and gavel. His steps were weary and unsure.
He hated this place, but he was afraid to leave it. He could not leave the mountain himself, and even if he could, he was vulnerable. He was sure he would like this area better if he could just see. Damu just gave a frustrated noise, tripping over another stone in his path. He hadn't known where he was and no idea how to get back to the central area of the pack. He could hear the stream, but it tended to echo. It sounded like it was coming from every direction and it made him dizzy.
He tried not to let the panic overtake him, even as he felt it well up in his chest.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 12:46 pm
For the most part Chumani had spent much of his adult life on the move. In his youth he'd been born in to a pack and been taught to be super protective of the inhabitants. But in his adult life he'd spent much of his time traveling alone mostly aimlessly. A lot of his travels he'd come across challenges which alone were hard. Namely being muscled out of a meal by a pride or pack of others. Chumani had learned what it meant to be a scavenger. Patience mainly.
Over time the wild dog had found him self retreating further and further in to the mountain terrain. There were less here than on the plains. It made meals harder to come by too but Chumani preferred his isolation. Isolation made one a little grumpy when company happened. Some one shuffling about alerted the male and had him on all fours to investigate.
It didn't take long to find a lone wild dog stumbling about the terrain. The fact that this wild dog might be blind never crossed Chumani's mind. He just watched the other for a moment before barking out.
"One so clumsy probably shouldn't travel where there are so many hazards." His tone was quite matter of fact. Not an ounce of amusement or aggravation.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 1:01 pm
Damu immediately flinched back from the sound of another. He fought the whine in his throat, but the panic rose higher, suffocating him. "I'm, I..." Damu stuttered out, he tried to shift back, fear gripping him. He lost his sight by trusting another. Now that he could see, it was far more frightening. He tried to search out the source of the voice with his eyes.
He couldn't tell exactly where the other was, especially with the river roaring in the background.
He was afraid and alone and he didn't know what to do. He shouldn't have left home - leaving his mother's side was silly choice, and he wished he was back by her side. "I'm sorry?" he decided on saying eventually - he didn't know what else to say.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 1:17 pm
This male didn't seem to be a threat and as far as Chumani could tell he seemed to be alone. Why waste an ambush on a faceless rouge such as him self? Chumani approached feeling that harm would not descend upon him.
"Don't be," He barked, "Are you a traveler or ?" It still wasn't clicking with Chumani that this was a blind wild dog or that the other was frightened. So Chumani thought nothing of approaching closer.
"I live here my self. Don't see many new faces travel this far in to the mountains. I can tell you if you're looking for something to hunt you'd do better where you came from."
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 1:36 pm
Damu scrambled backwards a bit as the other moved closer, but the rock he had tripped over earlier forced him to land on his bum. His eyes went wide in a mixture of fear and shock. "Um, um... I live by the, um.. river? But I'm lost. All these rocks feel the, the same."
He took a few calming breath, eyes glancing around again, trying valiantly to find the other again, but he couldn't place exactly where the other was standing - just that the footsteps were closer and so was the voice.
"Oh, oh no I can't hunt," he frowned, ears folding back. He was useless that way.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 1:43 pm
Chumani tilted his head and took a seat. Something was weird about this other wild dog but he couldn't put his paw on it.
"Sorry you seem tense. I'm not here to hurt you." Chumani lifted his head a bit higher, "You live by the river? Are you alone .. . Are you with some one?" He couldn't see such a nervous wreck of a canine being alone. It wouldn't make sense.
"I don't mean to be invasive. I just don't get a lot of conversations. But you seem tense. Should I leave you be?"
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 1:56 pm
"Not alone, no," he shakes his head a bit, but it was disorienting, so he ceased immediately. "With my mother and grandmother, and a few others. We are a small pack. I think we, hm... I think we might live higher? Than this?" He couldn't tell. He couldn't tell up from down anymore, and it was confusing.
"I just wanted to be alone, but I got scared," he confessed quietly. He gave up trying to find where the other dog was, touching a rock with his paw - the one he had tripped over more than once. He was still trembling, the panic still trying to rise, but it was going away, blessedly.
"No! No, don't leave, please?" his teeth clenched and he gave a sort of closed mouth panting - hyperventilating? He shrunk back after a moment. "Um, oh." He tried to make sense of it. "I, um. Can you help me. I can't... I can't find my way back. The earth is confusing and the wind keeps carrying the, um, the sounds. It's hard to follow..." Those were the senses he relied on in the plains. He might have gone in circles, but everything felt the same and sounded the same. Everything smelled unfamiliar and familiar all at once with the wind pushing scents in circles around the trees.
It was hard.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 2:07 pm
"So there is a pack in the higher reaches of the mountains. I don't believe I have ever had the pleasures of meeting anyone from such a pack." It was strange to hear all this time higher up there was a pack. Though, Chumani really hadn't been living in the mountains too long he figured he'd run in to the hunting parties. They must have been very good about keeping a low profile. Some packs and prides did that to keep their people safer. Or it could be true that their pack had a different resource of food in their own lands. It really wasn't any of Chumani's business either way.
"You're lost?" Chumani couldn't believe that. Something really wasn't right here. "How did you get lost? Shouldn't you know these lands if you've lived here?" There was no way that he could leave this other wild dog alone after hearing how scared he was. The white and blue wild dog sighed and nodded.
"I can promise to stay by your side while we search for your people." The guard dog in side of him would never let some one asking for help go unheard.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 2:22 pm
Damu frowned. It wasn't hard to get lost when you couldn't see. "Everything feels different... From this direction? I might have been here before? I don't know," he confessed. He felt a great relief that the other would help him.
"I'm not exactly sure where we are..." he mumbled. "I'd be able to tell if we were closer. I'm not supposed to be too far from the river, but I got annoyed... Mom was fussing," he winced. He could practically hear the scolding, especially that he left without someone that could help him back.
Damu hesitated. "Can you come closer? I can't tell where you are," he spoke shyly, ducking his head a bit.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 2:53 pm
It was obvious now that this canine was hard of seeing. The canine ablidged and came closer in to view.
"Well.. you don't have anything to fear now. I'll get you back to where you came from. The river you say? That isn't to far off. Just keep close," Chumani couldn't help but feel a little sorry for this wild dog even though he knew he probably shouldn't.
"Were you born near sighted?" There was no need to beat around the bush on the subject as far as Chumani was concerned.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 3:13 pm
At the nearness, Damu was able to stand and move a bit closer himself. He brushed against the other lightly, just to make sure he was there. He was afraid of getting lost again. If the other got too far away, he would surely panic.
"No, I had my vision when I was young... younger? It started to go away when I was travelling. I found my mother just as it, um, well, left. Everything is dark all the time, but not... always?" He could sometimes see shapes and movement, but there was a limit, and he could at the moment.
He paused a moment. "Ah, thank you. For helping me, I mean. My name is Damu,"
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 3:26 pm
So he was blind. This made all of his mannerisms make sense. Why hadn't he asked the question earlier? Ah well at least Chumani could help at the very least.
"So you're a blind." Chumani paused, "Well I am always happy to help those that are in need. My names Chumani. I have also been traveling but fortunately for me my sight has stayed with me." Socializing wasn't something he was good at. It been so long since he'd stopped to have a simple conversation with another let alone help some one out.
"My name's Chumani."
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