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Post by Shadowcat on Jul 24, 2009 12:33:19 GMT -6
As the night approached, many animals were already in their homes or where getting ready for sleep. Others, were just waking up, preparing for the hunt. The sun had nearly finished it's path across the sky and there was little light to see by. The air was beginning to cool; a relief to the those who had endured the blistering heat of the day. Things were changing, as they always did around this time. Day to night, and night to day, everything was flipped around. With all that was going on, it would have been hard to spot the small figure trotting across the horizon.
If one happened to notice and paid a little more attention, they would have realized that it was a fox. A small, grungy looking fox. It's reddish fur was covered in dust and dirt and it slouched as it continue on it's way. It's black eyes and slightly drooped ears were so completely unaware of their surroundings it was madden. The animal never seemed to notice when a cricket chirped or a moth flew by through the air. This animal was either blind to it's surroundings, or had a death wish. For something so small to walk in such a forsaken place without even a glance to check for predators..... One might be lead to wonder the intelligence of such a creature. Didn't it at least know that it was walking in herd territory?
Perhaps it was too distracted by it's thoughts. If one could see into the mind of the pitiful looking little animal, they would see that was not the case either. In fact, Sandhya's mind was nearly blank as she wandered, not even paying attention to where she was going. Vague thoughts tapped at the back of her consciousness. Images of the land made their way from her eyes to her mind. But she paid little attention even to these things. Her narrowed eyes watched only enough to make sure she didn't suddenly fall into a hole or step on a snake, but she cared nothing more for her surroundings. She was walking aimlessly. Wandering without a reason, as she often did. The fennec fox never stayed in the same place for two nights. She didn't have a place she felt like she belonged. She didn't care for where she stayed. Traveling was more fun anyway.
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Post by Darkscale on Jul 24, 2009 13:08:12 GMT -6
A large black wolf was spread out on the dusty ground near a watering hole. His body was being used like snow shoes, to prevent himself from sinking into the apparently dry ground. Beneath the thin layer of dust that covered most of the watering hole’s edges was a deep mix of water and thick mud. A death trap for most animals that didn’t know it existed. But the wolf knew better, it was after all, his land. Filtiarn stretched his neck out to its fullest and took small, quick drinks from the large puddle. The rains wouldn’t be here for another month at least, and even then it would be very little, so the water level would always be at a mere puddle depth, not coming up much higher than the belly of a full grown wolf.
Behind the wolf was a hyena, his head tilted very avian like to one side while he observed his herd Fang. He was still on dry ground at the very top of the watering hole; not daring to come down and drink while Filtiarn was still doing so. It was out of respect, and fear of the large wolf that the hyena waited. He seriously didn’t want to become a carcass out here because he chose to make his leader angry just days after being accepted into the group. Suddenly, the hyena jumped back as the wolf shot out of the hole with the speed of a fleeing hare. His ears were perked up and his nose held high as if scenting the air. The hyena followed his Fang’s example and quickly learned why the great wolf was so alert; there was a stranger in the land.
Filtiarn turned his head toward where the scent was coming from, a faint scent of a fox, something he hadn’t smelled since he left home. In the distance he could see the small form of the offending animal, and although he wished to have more herd members, the dominating side of him wished to show all who entered just who was boss here. Fisi, the hyena, held his tail up in the “boss” signal but was quickly reprimanded by Filtiarn, who disapproved of the hyena’s bullying ways. “NO!” he snapped, his ears bent back and lips curled in a snarl. “I’ll handle this, we don’t want to run her off. Just let her know I own this land.”
Fisi dropped his tail, but didn’t wipe the snarling smirk he had off his face. The two herd members slowly approached the newcomer, both with their heads high and tails in the neutral position, which was straight out the back and down some. The fox was near enough now that Filtiarn could see she wasn’t paying any attention to her surroundings, a big mistake in her case.
He stopped walking and turned his head to look over at Fisi, who took the hint and stopped as well. Slowly, so that the sudden movement wouldn’t alert the fox to their arrival too soon, he tilted his head up and let out a howl of warning. In plain, it said. “You are trespassing”
He then lowered his head and raised his tail to show he was the herd leader. “I am Filtiarn, Fang of the Black Sun herd, you are on our land...Identify yourself and be welcomed or turn around and be on your way.”
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Post by Shadowcat on Jul 24, 2009 14:18:45 GMT -6
The little fox hadn't noticed the two animals approaching her. Or rather, she didn't really care. At least some part of her was aware of their presence, but she did not act on this knowledge. When a howl echoed through the night, she neither seemed surprised, nor worried, nor interested in the slightly. She kept walking, not skipping a beat, as if she hadn't heard anything. It was only a full second after the wolf finished speaking that the fox looked up, still trotting along. "Just passing through," she called out to him, her black eyes stealing a glance at him before looking ahead of her again. She walked a few more steps, then stopped and looked back at the black wolf. She had intended on continuing on her journey, then thought better of it. He might get angry if she didn't at least give him her name. She was fast and had been in plenty of fights before, but he was much bigger than her.
As the fox really stopped to take time to take in his appearance, she thought once again of continuing without a second thought, stubborn as she was, but came to the same conclusion. She hated stopping in the middle of... wherever she was, just to explain herself to the wolf, but what little self-preservation she had wouldn't allow her to act so recklessly. This time, at least, for when she laid eyes on the smirking hyena, she let out a remark directed at it.
"What are you gonna do? Eat me?" Sandhya said flatly. Her tone wasn't overly rude, and it was clear it was not a challenge, but more of a slightly humorous statement. Without giving him time for a response, she looked back to the black wolf. The fox sat, curling her fluffy tail around her as she spoke. "Name's Sandhya. I'm just passing through this land. I'm not gonna steal your food," here she paused and glanced around, noticing the lack of edible items, "or whatever." Her tone was that of a statement, showing she didn't mean disrespect by hinting at the lack of food.
She then waited for him to speak, flicking one of her large ears. The same ear was left bent down slightly, sitting at an odd angle as the canine's pointed face tipped in the same direction by a quarter inch. Her back bent slightly and her eyes narrowed uncomfortably as if sand had blown into them. This posture, along with her filthy fur, made her quite a sight. Like a large rat that had just been used as a chew toy.
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Post by Darkscale on Jul 24, 2009 15:59:16 GMT -6
Filtiarn chuckled at the fox’s quick reply that she was only passing through, and stamped his right hind foot on Fisi’s left forepaw when he started to walk forward at the remark of him eating her. “I might, would be a such a waste of meat if you were just passing through....Not much out here if you hadn’t noticed” Fisi seemed to ignore Filtiarn’s hints to let him deal with the situation, and so was quite surprised to find himself on the ground in a cloud of dust in a blink of an eye. “I said no! Please forgive my young friend, he is used to being in charge..” Filtiarn was now using his forepaws to hold Fisi down by the neck and shoulders. The poor hyena was chest and face first into the dirt with his hind end stuck up in the air; he looked like an Ostrich with its head in the ground.
Fisi tried to mumble an apology to the fox, but was unsuccessful under the weight of his Fang, and his words were drowned out in the wind. The wolf let the hyena up slowly, turning back to the fox with a small smile on his lips. “Well, it’s nice to make your acquaintance Sandhya, my friend here is Fisi, and you know my name...Where do you hail from?”
Fisi shook off the dust that had gathered on him and barked out a laugh. “Don’t worry about the food around here, not much to steal anyways....Sorry bout that earlier, I just don’t play well with others..” The hyena laid down and watched the Fang smirk in his direction. It wasn’t often that he met new animals in his travels, most of them had been other hyenas and lions. But that was back in the other world he left behind. Now this world had new lands to explore and many possibilities for animal contacts.
“Yes, he doesn’t play well with others at all, bit of a bully really.” The old wolf walked a little closer to the fox before laying down as well, watching the bats take to the sky above them. It was such a nice night, yet many dangers existed in this hollow, many of which were much more dangerous at night.
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Post by Shadowcat on Jul 24, 2009 17:14:02 GMT -6
Sandhya watched without expression as the scene between the wolf and hyena unfolded. When the younger animal ended up face down with his rump in the air, a muscle on her face twitched in amusement ever so slightly, but said nothing.
Her eyes trained on Filtian as he spoke, the rusty colored animal lifted her hind foot to her ear, the one that had been sitting at such an odd angle, and began scratching. When she answered his question, again, after a pause, she was still scratching which made her voice sound a bit garbled. "No where, really," she answered in a more casual tone. "I lived out in a desert when I was young. Came to this land, traveled ever since." Resting her paw back on the ground, the fox stared at it a moment, then began licking it.
Filtiarn and Fisi spoke again, but Sandhya said nothing. She wasn't one for much conversation. She looked at the other two, as if waiting for them to say something else. Suddenly, she shook her head, leaving a dust cloud around her. She scratched at her ear again, which had been in the same lop-side position, then chewed vigorously at a spot on her back. "Stupid fleas," she muttered to herself. The female snorted in frustration.
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Post by Darkscale on Jul 31, 2009 15:42:49 GMT -6
Fisi shot Filtiarn a few glances of curiosity and concern; this animal was definitely a character. The fox seemed more than slightly detached from the situation, almost like she had no real worries about where she was or who she ran into, or what would become of her. It made the hyena a little uneasy and because of this, he let a moment pass between them while the fox chewed on herself in an attempt to be rid of the irritating fleas. But once she had finished, Fisi got up from his position and muttered to Filtiarn on his way by. “I’m going to dig a pit, see you when the Sun comes up”. Filtiarn nodded, but didn’t take his eyes off the sky as he felt the presence of his comrade slowly disappear. Fisi had a habit of taking his sweet time in leaving when he thought he might overhear something interesting. But tonight he didn’t linger, which brought into the mind of the old wolf that he could possibly feel threatened in some way by this newcomer. Or perhaps Filtiarn was just not paying any attention to the time and just didn’t realize how late it really was.
Filtiarn finally yawned and looked down from his star gazing to rest his eyes on the fox. Part of him wanted to invite her into the clearing for the night so that she would be protected a little by the many thorn trees that littered the area. But the other half of him was simply saying ‘let her go, she is already most of the way out’. The battle of the decisions had now begun, and the wolf was feeling that he might lose his own war with a stalemate. He stood up quickly and started shaking violently, throwing off the dust that covered his black fur. Filtiarn then stretched his legs out so that the tired feeling would leave them. Tilting his head to the left so that it popped his neck, Filtiarn spoke through his stretching routine. “So where are you going to bed tonight? Here in the hollow or on the outskirts?”
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Post by Shadowcat on Aug 2, 2009 17:49:29 GMT -6
Finished chewing, the fox blankly watched the young hyena leave. She paused, looking at nothing in particular. She looked as if she were spacing out again, not even thinking about any specific thing. It was only when she yawned that she seemed to snap out of it. She hadn't even realized how tired she had been until now. But it wasn't just her mind; even her body felt worn. It was unlike her to go to sleep until very, very late at night, not long before sunrise. She often only slept a few hours as well until she eventually crashed and slept all day. Now, however, as she looked up at the stars, she wondered just how long she had been walking today. Didn't I... start at midday? She thought, surprise flickering across her face as she realized just how long she had been wandering aimlessly for.
Sandhya looked back at Filtiarn as he spoke. She looked a little unsure of how to answer, then seemed to go back to being distant from the rest of the world. "Who knows," she said, giving a slight shrug. "As this is your land, I'll sleep somewhere outside of the borders." The rust colored creature yawned, speaking again in the middle of the action. "Just not sure where." She looked tired, but the tone of her voice might have implied that she didn't plan on finding somewhere to rest any time soon.
Before she had time to think or say anything else, the fennec's large ears picked up a quiet rustling sound that other animals might miss. Her head quickly snapped in the same direction, her black eyes resting on a large beetle walking across the ground. The canine seemed suddenly alert. Her eyes followed the insect's every movement, and the fox held herself differently, as if she could spring at any moment. She licked her muzzle as her stomach told her she needed that small morsel of food. She thought better of eating something in a territory that did not belong to her, but her stomach protested by seeming to twist. Sandhya thought no more of the matter; she reached forward, fast as lightning, with a paw, holding the beetle still long enough for her to lock her teeth around it. The smaller creature had no chance; Sandhya's teeth crunched right through it. It was a sound some would find disgusting, but a sound to her that meant food.
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Post by Darkscale on Aug 21, 2009 17:21:51 GMT -6
Filtiarn smirked when the fox made the suggestion of leaving the area in search of a place to rest; she really was just passing through. “You can rest here if you so desire, just be sure and leave before Fisi returns in the morning, or he will assume you are part of the Herd.” he said, finally finished with stretching out the stiffness. Sandhya seemed more than distant to him, and it was bothersome really as he had expected a more sane and talkative creature to wander in. Though with the surrounding area being no better than the Hollow itself, how could any truly sane creature exist, not even he was fully sane. The night was now full blown, sending odd noises and strange smells into the air that made Filtiarn quite uneasy. Suddenly, as if to add to his paranoia, a beetle chose to come out of hiding just at that moment. Sandhya pounced on the small being, making it a meal faster than Filtiarn could identify the species, which humored him greatly.”See you have already made yourself at home? Now if any other creature had decided to make a meal out of something that doesn’t belong to them, they would not be breathing any longer...For you, I’ll make an exception, seeing as I am quite tired and have no interest in eating you.”
He turned away and started to head back toward where Fisi had vanished not too long ago. Fisi was in a ‘den’, something he dug out each night in different areas of the clearing. He and Filtiarn only slept in the same area on very cold nights. Other times they picked separate areas to bed down, so that Fisi’s snoring and kicking didn’t bother Filtiarn, who said he would slay the Hyena if he missed another nights sleep due to it. “The clearing is this way if you wish to stay, if not, there should be a cave on the outskirts there. If you hurry, you might get there before a bear does, they won’t bother you if you have the cave before they get there.” he called out over his shoulder as he left. In no way did he expect her to follow him, in truth, he knew she would leave and head out to the cave so that she was well out of their territory. But then again, she might decide that it was too far a walk; either way she needed to make up her mind before the “Night Prowlers”, as Fisi and Filtiarn called the creatures that came out at night, decided to come their way.
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Post by Shadowcat on Aug 22, 2009 11:36:48 GMT -6
At his words, the little creature sat once more, turning her head away. A slight glance at Filtiarn out of the corner of her eye and a pause was as close to a thanks or apology as he was going to get. "You wouldn't want to eat something like that anyway," she said after a moment. "It's not even a mouthful for you." Sandhya's right ear twitched at some distant sound, or perhaps out of embarrassment for not controlling her stomach. Well, it doesn't really matter. He didn't get me for eating that beetle, so no harm done, she thought, any chances of her choking up an apology long gone.
"A herd..." Sandhya said aloud, even though it was a little late to be making any comments about that subject. She looked from the black wolf to the darkened sky. "Can't imagine myself ever in a herd...." She spoke of the concept as if it were from some foreign land and she didn't understand it one bit. The corner of her mouth twitched in a brief smirk as she looked back at the wolf. Her, in a herd; it was such a ridiculous thought. "Nope. More of a loner." She knew Filtiarn had been poking fun at Fisi and probably wasn't trying to hint at her staying with his herd, but the idea amused her. "I can't imagine what the hyena would have to say about that," the fox remarked, sounding even more amused. Having nothing more to say on the matter, however, she let it drop.
As Filtiarn called out his offer whilst walking away, Sandhya sat and thought. It wasn't like her to accept hospitality, or keep in contact with anyone for too long, but considered accepting the offer. She weighed her options as she glanced over her shoulder, looking in the direction she had come. I don't much like bears.... Stupid creatures.... Sandhya thought. It would probably be safer to rest closer to these two larger animals as well, so long as they didn't decide to make her into a meal. Pretty sure I don't taste that good, though. She made her decision in a matter of seconds, running to catch up to the larger canine.
"I'll just stay here then. If I go to the edge of your land and continue from there, it will have wasted my time passing through. If I had wanted to take the extra time to go around, I would have done it," the fennec said, the last sentence more to herself as she slowed to a trot. "I'll just leave before sun-up." More likely, she'd probably leave late in the middle of the night. One never could tell when Sandhya would decide to start moving again.
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Post by Darkscale on Oct 12, 2009 16:55:54 GMT -6
Filtiarn nodded as he continued to trot through the trees, avoiding their savage branches every so often by ducking or jumping. The clearing was now in view and sure enough, the Hyena was deep into a hole in the ground, with only his ears and tail sticking out above ground. As comical as it would be for the wolf to suddenly “walk over” the sleeping Fisi, forcing the beast to wake with a start, Filtiarn instead walked around him and chose one of the many pre-dug dens that were in the area. He was about five yards away from Fisi at the moment and it was with a heavy sigh and a fatherly tone, that he whispered to the Fox before laying his head down for sleep. “Good Night”
Fisi stirred ever so slightly, twitching his ears in the direction of the wolf’s words. He didn’t raise his head up, but he did tilt his nose up toward the sky so that his voice would carry out of his hole. “Good Night to you too....” he said quietly, though his tone was laced with skepticism, as the wolf never really said goodnight unless he was sure it would indeed be a good one. Normally things died on his “goodnights”. Fisi stretched his legs out one last time, being sure to give his toes a good long spreading as well, for they would be stiff by morning due to the cold air. The Hyena then curled up into a tight ball, hiding all parts of him deep into his den to shelter them from the night.
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Post by Shadowcat on Nov 29, 2009 16:39:32 GMT -6
Sandhya said nothing when Filtiarn wished her a good night. She merely gave a quiet, "Mmm" to let him know she heard him. She wasn't quite sure what she should respond to that with, nor did she feel like responding, so she didn't. She was slightly amused by Fisi's tone when he replied to Filtiarn, but she said nothing then either.
Sandhya looked around at the many dens for a moment. Much too roomy, she thought, noticing none were small enough for a fennec fox to fit cozily into. She gave a small sigh, as if to say well then, I'll get to it, and she began digging. Only a moment later, however, she stopped. The rusty colored fox stared at the ground a few feet away. She quickly skipped over to it and began digging once more, her feet looking like creamy colored blurs due to their speedy work on the ground. It didn't take long before the hole was beginning to get deep. It was about this time that Sandhya stuck her head in it, her large ears squishing flat to her head. Her jaws locked around the small rat and quickly crushed the spin and neck with a snap. Feeling a rare flicker of respect for authority, when she removed her head from the hole, she threw the rat to the ground a few feet away, should Filtiarn want it. If the wretched hyena went for it... well then, Sandhya would just have to snatch it back before he could sink his teeth into it.
Having found what she had sensed and heard, Sandhya went back to the den she had started on. Mere moments later, she had dug a burrow deep enough to satisfy herself. It was only about two feet into the ground, angling a few feet back, but it would have to do. She curled up in the back of the den, covering her nose with her tail. Before she could begin to sleep, however, she felt a few fleas bite her fluffy tail. She gave an irritated growl and a sharp, quiet, bark. Sandhya chewed fiercely on her tail until the fleas stopped.
"You stupid creatures!" Sandhya hissed at her tail. "Just you wait, fleas. When the sun's up again, I'll go cook you in a desert. Or maybe I'll freeze you in the arctic waters up north. Or maybe see how long you can you can hang on with the river current shoving against your filthy hides!" The fox snapped, the last few words increasing in volume slightly while being covered with a dark tone. Now grumpy, the little creature shut her eyes tightly and tried to sleep.
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Post by Darkscale on Nov 29, 2009 23:13:18 GMT -6
Filtiarn heard a slight scuffle and raised his head up in alarm to see what could be making the ruckus. But it was only the she fox, who had found and killed a rat, then chucked it in his direction for him to eat it. The wolf made no move to fetch the beast, instead, he just laid his head back down with a grunt and snorted into the dirt quietly. It was obvious that he had no intentions of eating the rat and would let the fox have it if she really wanted it. Fisi had also raised his head up to see what was amiss, and the sight of Filtiarn letting the rat just go to waste, made the Hyena question his leader’s sanity. Slowly, he raised up to approach the offered food, keeping his eyes on the now laying fox. But when she started attacking her tail, Fisi dropped down low to the ground to keep from being noticed. It worked.
Again he stood up and started toward the rat, glancing back and forth between the rat and the fox. The one he was ignoring though and should have had his eyes on the whole time, was his Fang, who was now glaring at him with disgust. In a blur of movement that would have startled the most battle hardened of bears, Filtiarn jumped up with a snarl and started toward the Hyena with his teeth bared. He pinned the young animal to the ground and snatched up the rat quickly. In response to the wolf’s quick reflexes, Fisi yelped and rolled over to expose his belly in submission. Filtiarn didn’t reply in words to Fisi’s actions, he just carried the rat over to his den and dropped it into the hole. Now it didn’t matter if the fox had offered the rat to Filtiarn out of respect or just to show that she didn’t like having so many small animals bothering her while she tried to sleep. The end result was the food being tossed into a hole to use as bait for bigger prey tomorrow.
“Go to sleep Fisi...Now” he snapped, and slid into his den on top of the rat to prevent the Hyena from taking it once he slipped off.
FINISHED.
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