|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2024 2:13 pm
Minke 1 The rains had ended half a hour ago, leaving the world wet and moody. It had been a bit rougher than normal, the heavy drops making loud noises on the roof of the house while Minke and his father had sat inside, listening to it over their different hobbies. At first, it had been peaceful. Not much different than any other Matori rainfall. Ballas was sat at the kitchen table, repairing the net he used to catch fish for himself and, when she was home, his wife. Sometimes Minke would help him, even as far as preparing the fish for a meal. Though he didn't eat animals himself, the hybrid had nothing against others who did, so long as they respected the animal and only took as much as they could eat. Which his family, having been farmers for generations, understood. While his father was busy with the net, he was on the floor, a bowl of freshly picked beans in front of him he was busy shelling. He expected the rain to be finished when he was done. But when he had looked up, it was still raging against the sides of the house. He started to worry about the tiny colonies of animals in the tidal pools a little walk from the house. He didn't want to return to them to find they had washed away in the overflow of water. He fidgeted around the house, irritating Ballas. As soon as the rains stopped, he was out, making his way at a fast walk toward the pools.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2024 3:22 pm
Auli'i 1 Minke wasn't the only one restless today. Auli'i was pacing the living room floor, the rain the only thing stopping her from bolting out the door. Houses were unnatural. No one was meant to be locked indoors for days on end but here she was, at the last day of her imprisonment. All for what? Because she had a tiny cold? She could still get up and move around, clearly it wasn't that bad. But they had disagreed and forced her to remain in the house until it was cleared up. Now her sentence was finally up, allowing her to finally go back outside where she belonged. If only it wasn't raining. She could hear one of her father's chuckling at her and she turned towards him with a glare, only making the other one tut at her for the reaction. It was hardly funny. She needed out!
As soon as the rain let up enough to allow the sun to shine through, she was out the door, barely hearing the yell from behind her. She didn't care enough to focus on the words. Didn't they know it'd been long enough? They couldn't legally keep her locked away any longer!
Now to see what Minke was up to.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 30, 2024 3:09 pm
Minke 2 The sand squished underneath Minke's feet as he nearly ran across it at the fastest walk he could go at without tripping and falling on his face. Had he been wearing his sandals, he could only imagine the extra trouble he would have had. Or the sand between his toes and crunching painfully underneath his heels. As it was, he had had enough forethought to put his boots on and the sand stuck to them as they quickly became wet from the terrain. His eyes stared straight ahead so that he almost didn't see the bright girl who darted suddenly in front of him. He jumped back with a gasp, nearly falling over in the soft ground. "Wha..." the hybrid breathed out, blinking a few times at Auli'i. Than moved to go around her, his eyes already looking past her to the sides of the tidal pool he could see in the distance. At least where he assumed it was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 30, 2024 3:14 pm
Auli'i 2 A small smile had appeared on Auli'i's face when she had spotted the pale hybrid, his steps much quicker than usual. She paid it little mind as she ran to catch up to him, expecting him to notice her right away. He didn't, only kept walking forward, his pale eyes locked onto the horizon. She couldn't see anything. And, judging by previous encounters, she doubted he could any better than she at this point. His eyes were clearly getting worse. Still, he seemed to know where he was going, his mission so important as to ignore her presence. The Hapuna huffed and moved, darting in front of him so he was forced to stop. She stood there proudly, hands on her hips, preparing to deliver a scolding when he suddenly started to move around her.
"Hey!" she yelled, waving a hand in front of his face. "Hello! Hi! What's so important you decide to be rude to me?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2024 5:32 pm
Minke 3 "What?" Minke rubbed at his eyes, as if he couldn't believe she was standing there in front of him when it had only been seconds before that he had looked at her. Or, rather, his eyes had looked at her. His mind was elsewhere. As it still was as he grappled with his senses. What little social skills he had had were promptly ignored. "I don't have time," was all he responded with, trying to move around her, again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2024 6:27 pm
Auli'i 3 But Auli'i was stubborn and refused to budge, moving with him so she was constantly blocking his path. She didn't like being ignored. Lowering her strongest glare at him, which was hardly intimidating when he towered over her easily, she gave another huff and punched her fists into her hips. She would have leaned over him, like she'd seen disgruntled older ladies do before, had it not been for his height. It would be impossible without making her look silly.
"Excuse me! I was talking to you! You could spare a second to say hi, at least."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 1:19 pm
Minke 4 That finally got the desired reaction. Minke stopped trying to go around the Hapuna, instead standing still and looking down at her with surprise in his pale eyes, as if he couldn't quite believe she was still there. "Hi," he said obediently, not really thinking about what he was saying or doing, his eyes blinking still in confusion, his mind still focused on seeing if the small pod of Piplit were still okay.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 1:24 pm
Auli'i 4 A triumph grin spread across the girl's face and she straightened her shoulders, her eyes flashing. "That wasn't so hard, was it?," she couldn't resist scolding. When he didn't respond, which wasn't unusual, Auli'i watched him a few seconds, noticing how he was fidgeting more than usual, looking around her to something in the distance. "Got a bit of cabin fever, too, huh?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 4:30 pm
Minke 5 Why wasn't she stepping aside? Didn't she get what she wanted already?
Minke shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his fingers twitching at his side as the pent up energy he was feeling built up. He needed to run, to see if things were alright. Why didn't she understand that? It seemed so obvious to him, after all that rain.
And than suddenly he was running. He wasn't sure how exactly he had done it, gotten around her, but he had. He looked over his shoulder to see her standing there before sprinting off after him. It didn't matter. He got closer and closer to the tidal pool, his boots sinking into the sand and nearly sending him falling to the ground multiple times. But it didn't matter. At last he had reached his destination and looked down, bending his tall frame down to better see the creatures swimming around underneath the smooth surface of the water.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 5:39 pm
Auli'i 5 Silence was her answer once more. Which, again, wasn't unusual for him. Minke spent most of their time together in silence. He didn't talk much to his other friend, either, from what she'd seen of them together, as well. But there was a difference this time. He was terribly fidgety, his arms nearly shaking and his mouth moving constantly, as he rotated between biting or licking his lips. She'd never seen him so agitated. At least not when there was only one other person in the area.
"What..." she started to say, making the mistake of looking behind her. In that split moment of distraction, he was off, the movement catching her as she watched him sprinting away from her. "Hey!" Auli'i yelled after him, before moving her body after him. He proved faster than her, always remaining ahead. Until he stopped by a tidal pool. The Hapuna came to rest beside him, leaning over with her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. "What's...Gotten...Into you...Today?" She got her answer when she opened her eyes and saw the pool. A small pod of tiny creatures were swimming around in it, one now and than popping up to stare at them before sinking back down. She crouched down to get a closer look at them. "Was this the rush?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 6:43 pm
Minke 6 "Yes." Quietly and slowly, Minke lowered himself down, placing the palms of his hands against the side of the pool. It was still wet from the rains, the world around the pool darkened. He inspected each little Piplit carefully, looking for abnormal movements or blood in the water. They all seemed to be doing fine. "I was worried the water might wash them away." A small smile appeared on his face, his lips parting slightly to allow a sigh of relief. "I am glad they are okay." But the more he watched them, the more his unease started creeping up, again. Something wasn't quite right. It didn't take long before the reason revealed itself as two new heads approached the surface fo the water, their features rippling. Blinking in surprise, the hybrid extended a hand to them, his fingers breaking the water.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2024 3:50 pm
Auli'i 6 Auli'i watched quietly as the Alol climbed one by one up the young man's arm to his shoulders, each one claiming a spot on each of his shoulders. The two were quiet for a while, the Hapuna watching the two on the Earthling while his eyes remained on the smaller creatures in the pool. "They aren't supposed to be here," she broke the silence after a few minutes, her voice soft.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2024 4:15 pm
Minke 7 "No. They aren't." The two went silent, again, Minke lost in his own thoughts. They hadn't been here a few days ago when he had visited the pool. He had never seen them here before, for that matter. They didn't look malnourished or mistreated, judging by their behavior, so they couldn't have been out here for very long. Had he have known, he would have braved the heavy rains to get them. Even if it meant sneaking out of the house when his father was busy or asleep, something that he had never done before. Minke didn't like to disobey his parents. Or anyone, for that matter. It always left a bad taste in his mouth to feel like a bad person and upset someone else. But to save an animal life, he would have done anything.
The two alol were nestled on his shoulders, the tail of one curled over the body of the other. They still seemed really young, not quite fully grown yet. He wished he knew who left them. Was it someone who knew he had been coming to this pool often to visit the piplit and knew he'd soon see the two newcomers and take them in? While he was grateful it was somewhere he could access them quickly, it still sent a wave of anger through him. It was still irresponsible. An animal was another life that too many took too lightly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2024 7:18 pm
Auli'i 7 This time, the constant long pauses didn't bother the Hapuna like they would have before. She didn't like when someone stopped answering or talking to her. It made her feel like they didn't like her, and that was the worst feeling in the world. To not be liked or wanted. She always had to break the silence with her own voice. Not this time. This time she let it stretch for as long as it wanted to be stretched. In the absence of conversation, she reached up a finger to stroke under the chin of one of the critters on the hybrid's shoulder. They looked so comfortable there, as if they had known him forever.
"Someone put them here," she said without thinking about what she was saying. Way to say the most obvious thing. She frowned at herself, putting her hand down to rest on her thigh. "Who would do that?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2024 6:28 pm
Minke 8 "Someone who doesn't care," was the response. Minke said the words quickly, with little of his usual hesitation or pauses, such was his anger at the situation. His usually quiet and calm voice even had a little edge to it. These were not animals who could survive out in the wild. What were people thinking, just leaving them here? Even if it was under the assumption that he would eventually find them, they could have wandered off on their own or been taken by a predator before he was able to get here. They didn't understand how to live wild.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
