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 Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 11:17 pm
The young, silver fawn had grown up. With long, pointed horns and firm hooves, Kukuru had grown to become a young adult. He was no longer the fawn he once was, and was now tall, fit and muscular.
Yet, Kukuru did not refer to himself as a 'Klipspringer'. Instead, he had been raised by another family... and learnt the ways of wild dogs. He was, in fact, in denial about being 'prey', and saw himself as a 'dog with horns and hooves'.
Still, he was happy. He had left his brother, Makuu, sleeping near the densite, and had gone off to forage for food. Kukuru was still unsure of what he could and could not eat. As a 'predator', he should be out hunting wild rabbits, but the young Klipspringer found himself nibbling on grasses and rock-plants instead.
He bent down, finding a greener patch, and began to chew.
One, two, three. One, two, three.
Every bite he took told Kukuru that he was turning his back on his wild-dog ways. He was a dog, wasn't he?
Wasn't he?
He just hoped nobody would discover him. Eating grasses. How shameful.
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Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 11:50 pm
 On-X shook his head, his ears flopping. He meandered away from his pack to think of a name for himself, and for something to do. He stopped for a second to brush some dust out of his eyes.
He looked up again to see a light colored prey animal. Could it bee the same that he saw with Ban? Hmmm... no, this one had horns.
He was bored, so why not hunt, then a voice played in his head. A memory.
"you must never harm another living soul unless it is for food."
He shook his head. It wasn't for food, so he couldn't do it. It was a rule to his pack. He'd follow then, no matter what.
X sat down and started to think of another name for himself. X may sound cool, but it started to sound weird to him, only being called X, or On-X. He also waited for the prey animal to notice him and run away, like a lot of other prey animals did.
X shook his head and sighed. He just couldn't come up with anything! It was nerve-wreaking for him.
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:31 pm
Kukuru heard the sound of footsteps behind him, and he flinched.
Sprung!
The grey male shifted to look behind him, and his azure eyes locked with a pair of blazing red ones. A strange, canine creature sat nearby... he looked like a wild-dog, but with a scruffier mane and a different build.
Kukuru leant forward to sniff the scent of the hyena on the wind... and boy, what a strange scent it was. Yet, it was strangely familiar...
He'd smelt this scent before. It was a distant scent, one he'd caught on to one day, in his fawn days...
His fawn days.
What were they, exactly? Kukuru didn't know. The memories of his days as a youngster were wiped clean from his mind... all he remembered was a warm voice... a 'mother', perhaps, and her sleek grey coat. He also remembered the few distant scents outside the den... and his brother, beside him. Always sleeping.
And a name, a name which he couldn't get out of his head.
Cha...Chachi...
The klipspringer shook his head. Was was he thinking about?!
He was a wild dog, after all. He had no 'mother' anymore... just the warmth of his wild-dog family, and his brother, Makuu. He knew nobody else as family.
He might as well go and talk to this stranger... after all, he looked canine. And he didn't want the stranger to go telling others that Kukuru, the 'wild-dog', had been out eating grass.
Straightening, Kukuru decided to speak out to the hyena.
He quivered a little, his confidence slipping away... Kukuru, of course, was naturally timid. He did not fear being eaten, but feared instead that the predator would tattle about his grass-eating habbits.
"Ah... excuse me, Mr Stranger, sir..." he gulped, and looked around nervously, "Could you forget what you saw here today? I'm not meant to eat grass... I'm a 'wild dog', after all."
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 12:45 am
X shook his had as another odd name entered and exited his mind. He gave a light experated sigh and looked at the prey animal again. Maybe he'd ask the Seer to name him, later.
He shifted onto his other paw, just realizing that he was pushing most of his weight onto one of his light blue tipped paws.
The hyena snickered a little as the light grey prey animal zoned out, he could have so much fun right now, but he decided to leave it alone.
"Wild Dog?" he asked. X chuckled again, thinking the klipsringer had gone mad. "You're but a prey animal. Aren't you... well, supposed to eat grass?" On X said, stanging up and walking a bit more towards the grey animal.
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:07 pm
"A prey animal?" Kukuru shot the hyena a concerned look, "Are you sure that your head's screwed on correctly? I mean... well," he paused, not knowing what to say, "Isn't it obvious that I'm a predator?"
It was true that he had attempted to try the taste of the grass. And it was true that he had actually liked the taste. He had horns, and hooves, as well. So, why, one might ask, did Kukuru claim to be a wild dog?
"Well... I may not look like a wild dog," he proclaimed, his eyes flashing with determination, "But I am a wild dog. Maybe not in looks, but in spirit!"
He nodded briskly, once, twice, as if he were agreeing with himself. Then he hesitated, and leant down to the hyena's side.
He didn't feel threatened at all. To Kukuru, this hyena was just another canine. Just like him! A canine.
"So... what's your name?" he blinked, and tilted his head thoughtfully, "It seems to me that you're thinking hard about something."
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:26 pm
"I'm pretty sure my head is in the right place, but it seems yours is not, but I won't get into that," On-X stated.
X bushed his mane getting the sand out of it. The sand was falling into his eyes, and that annoyed him to no end.
"In spirit, eh? I guess that's a good enough reason to call yourself a wild dog," X stated. "Grass doesn't agree with me though..." he said. He tried grass once, before he joined a pack. His stomach was upset for a week! He shook his head off the thought.
"If you give me your name, I'll give you mine," X said with a light chuckling sound coming from his throat.
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:32 pm
Kukuru stepped back.
"Ah," he said, shaking his head with a smile, "You tease me. You're right... I should have given my name first. It's only right. Well, I'm Kukuru."
He brightened, and kicked his back legs into the air for a bit, feeling excited that he was meeting someone new. The feelings of being a fawn rushed back to him. Energy pulsed through his body.
A new canine! A strange... looking canine, but a canine, no doubt about that!
"And your name is?" he grinned, "You know mine now."
Then he paused, and went a little red. The reason he had talked to the creature in the first place was to silence him about telling others about his... 'grass eating habbits'.
"About the grass..." he muttered, "Do you think you could... keep that a secret? Don't ever tell anyone that I... touched it."
He swallowed, and looked concerned. He was a dog, and dogs shouldn't eat grass. Right?
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:47 pm
"Name's X, though I'm changing it," X said, shaking his head lightly. This prey animal... err... 'Wild Dog' sure was strange, X mused in his thoughts.
"The grass... Right... I'm not one to tell..." he said. Who would he tell anyone, Ban? He doubted lightly that she would care. He doubted anyone in his pack would care either.
"so where are you headed, Kukuru?" X asked. His blazing red eyes looking at the Klips.
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:58 pm
Kukuru's head tilted to the side once more, and his eyes glittered with curiousity.
"Changing your name?" he asked, puzzled, "Really? You can change your name?"
He paused, then looked away.
"I... I'm looking for someone. I don't know who. But I know that they're out there, somewhere. The person who gave me my name. Someone from a long, long time ago."
He muttered this darkly, then stopped speaking for a minute. His eyes glistened sadly, but within a minute he was back to his old self.
"Thankyou for not telling. It means a lot to me," he nodded, "I don't know what I'd do if my family found out about it."
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 10:08 pm
"Yeah," he said. "My name is mine." His ears flicked lightly. "I named myself, and I'm going to rename myself now," he said. Even if hios mother did name him, he was a pup so he didn't remember.
"You're looking... for your mother?" X asked. He seemed to be the only one thsat wanted to keep his mother away.
"Of course," X said. "I wouldn't tell anyone. It's your secret, so it's not mine to tell," he said with a light chuckle and a smile on his face. What would be the point of telling anyway? It didn't seem important to him.
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 10:24 pm
"My mother?" Kukuru echoed darkly, then turned away, "I don't know. She abandoned me. Why should I look for her?"
His shoulders sagged, and he felt bitter. But then, this dog said that he had named himself. Did this mean that he didn't have a mother, either?
Looking up, Kukuru wondered whether he should ask. It seemed private.
And he didn't want to probe deep into another's past. It wasn't his business.
"Still," Kukuru sighed, "You're right. I'm looking for someone. Maybe she's my mother. Maybe she isn't. I don't know. All I know is that she was there, and now she isn't there anymore. She left my brother and I, a long time ago. And I think about her a lot."
He paused, then looked at On X. Enough talk about his 'mother'. What did the hyena care, anyway? And he didn't even know X well... Kukuru guessed he just wanted to unload his emotional baggage, and so changed the subject.
"Well then, X," he said, trotting closer, "When you change your name, let me know. I can't go calling you 'X' when you're no longer 'X', now. Can I? Do you live around this area, or are you a wanderer?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 10:36 pm
"My mother abandoned me as well," X said, shaking his head solemly. He paused for a second then his mood changed. "Ah, why worry about problems when there are good things waiting ahead?" X said.
"I don't really 'live' anywhere," X stressed the word 'live'. "But I do travel with my pack. So yes, for the time being, I do live around here..." he said.
And Idea popped into X's mind suddenly. "How 'bout you name me, so I don't have to dwell on it, and you know what to call me?" X suggested.
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 10:42 pm
"Ah, really?" Kukuru jolted back in surprise. He hadn't expected the hyena to answer the question he had been too scared to say, "Then, I suppose we're alike, in a way, aren't we?"
There was a silence, and Kukuru swayed as a wind picked up. Then, he shifted his gaze to meet X's red eyes.
Yes, he did seem like a strong soul. He travelled, huh? Kukuru found himself admiring the hyena, but couldn't see himself doing the same. He was a bit of a homebody, himself.
The next words of X astonished him.
"I... name you?" he asked, a little scared, "But, we've only just met. And a name is an important thing to have. I don't know the world enough to have a good choice of a name, either..."
He looked away, embarrassed. How could he decide on such an important thing? He was humbled that the canine had offered, but...
Could he really give someone a name?
"How... would you describe yourself, X?" he asked, trying to think of something that may reflect on X's personality.
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 10:55 pm
(( :pokes Kin: You have my full consent to name him, since I'm at a dead end ^^;; ))
"Yeah, in a way we are," X said, with a light smirk, resisting the urge to chuckle.
He leaned into the breeze, letting his mane blow against his face.
"Yes. You name me," X said mocking him lightly.
"I'd rather have you name me, then be called by a letter for the rest of my life," X said.
The Klipsring was strange, but he didn't read into his actions too much. "Well, I suppose I look on the bright side of things," X said. He really did, most of the time.
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:12 pm
(( XD I don't knooooow, Seaki! I really don't know! ))
Kukuru tilted his head in thought, as he usually did when he was thinking hard.
"Let's see, X..." he screwed up his eyes, and searched his mind for words he knew, "You follow a pathway to adventure. 'Kinjia', meaning 'path'."
He paused, shaking his head. Maybe that wasn't a satisfactory choice. He chose again, nervous.
"You look on the bright side of things, eh? 'Koza', maybe? Or, you 'make things brighter'. Takata?"
He shook his head, annoyed with himself.
"It's hard to think," he laughed, "Feel free to disregard these. I'm trying my best, here, X! Plus, I really think your new name should begin with that letter."
He wrinkled his nose. Names... names with 'X'...
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