Post by malak on Nov 21, 2008 20:57:11 GMT -5
Field of Flowers
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Flowers are nodding in the breeze, their colors and scents enveloping everything around them. The colorful vegetation reaches for the sunlight, stretching as if being called to the glow and in the evening, the moon shines upon them until they shimmer with a silver light. The flowers seem to stretch for miles but that is only an illusion.
=================================== Exits ===================================
[East] to a Spring [Northeast] to the Pasture
[Northwest] to the Fields [South] to a Sparse Copse
[Southeast] to the Stream [Southwest] to a Stand of Wisteria
[West] to the Grasslands
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[DYN] Revan
[DYN] Malak
[DYN] Skylar
The cold winter has finally passed, but there's still a chill held in the air as spring slowly rolls in. In the fields outside the abandoned farm, only a few hardy flowers have survived through the frozen season, a few dots of colors poking up between patches of white snow. Prancing about in the area rather gaily, hopping up into the air before diving down towards a large clump of snow, is one of the dogs who's ended up meandering towards the barnyard, a friendly-looking Saluki who doesn't seem to have a care in the world. One can't tell from a distance whether the apparent purebred is just playing about in the snow or actually toying with some sort of game, perhaps a small rodent or wounded rabbit.
Malak has not spoken since they left the copse. He was angry when the hybrid escaped. Angry enough that he was easily pushed into disciplining even a fellow cougar, where he might have otherwise shown a little more mercy. With the escape of two more canids, Malak would gladly welcome the opportunity to hurt something. His thoughts are dark as he travels northward, revolving around how he intends to go about finding that dog and her wolf-master. The scent of dogs is still everywhere around him, but not as strong as it was to the south. They travel through here often, it would seem, and Malak keeps his eyes open, looking for any target on which to vent his aggression, though he has not spotted Skylar quite yet.
Revan shares in his brother's anger and frustration, but he does not allow it to paralyze or otherwise hinder his fine-tuned senses. If anything, it only motivates him to be all the more aware of any other canids that might inhabit this area; no point in hunting if one can't even prevent themselves from being hunted. Every pawstep is taken as a precision movement, and even his tail is kept carefully under control. All of the training he received as a younger cougar is coming into play here, and one might even describe his current stalking as machine-like. Revan intends on bloodshed, same as his brother, but he doesn't intend for it to be his own.
Skylar's nose suddenly twitches, the Saluki's play distracted by the heavy scent of wildness approaching. It's a pureblood, well-trained, bred-for-hunting hound, and so when the smell of predator is carried close, Skye is immediately on the alert, merry personality disappeared, ears pricked forward and stance erect in a warning to its absent Master of a potential threat nearby. Pale blue eyes immediately sight the pair of marauding mountain lions nearby, and the hound watches them carefully for their next actions.
Malak stops walking the moment that he lays eyes on the canine off in the distance, easily visible without the bother of trees or bushes. His claws flex, and he prepares for a chase, but he doesn't move just yet. The second he does, a chase will start, he knows, and at seeing this third canid in such a short period of time, he takes the moment to do everything he can to ensure that they will not be running directly into a group of dogs, or, worse, towards a human. He does not want to lose this mark as he has lost the last several, all to differing circumstances.
So what's the plan this time? There is still a good deal of canine scent in the area, and Revan is rather reluctant to go chasing yet another dog into no doubt deeper canine territory. He knows that his sprinting capability is at its peak performance, but he doesn't want to exhaust himself catching up to the canine, only to find himself attacked by several other canines, and he not being able to outrun them back to safety. There are always trees that he can use for immediate escape, but a rotating guard could ensure that he'd never be able to leave without being spotted and chased yet again. And the possibility of a tree being right there when he would need it... never a definite thing that he's willing to stake his life on. So as they move closer, Revan is keenly aware of what else is going on around them, bordering on near-paranoia. But not to cripple him. Only invigorate. Adrenaline is flowing, and he's ready for the chase.
As the stare-off ensues, Skylar makes no move whatsoever, save for the pale blue eyes tracing each and every movement the cougar brothers make. One can almost feel the tension in the air, all three of the animals poised to spring into a quick sprinting run at the drop of a leaf. But as neither of the felines has made any particularly aggressive motions towards the purebred, and there's no Man by its side to scare them off with his noise-making tree branch, the Saluki just...waits. Skye's normally chipper attitude is curbed, at least having the sense to keep quiet until it knows for sure what these cougars' intentions are. And the brothers don't even know of the Saluki's 'condition' yet.
It's true. They are simply too far into canine territory. It is impossible to determine where one might be waiting, just out of sight. Impossible to single in on any one scent. A chase would be beyond foolish, and, finally, Malak speaks. It is not often that Malak speaks with lesser creatures, but he failed to interrogate the hybrid, like he wanted, and there is much he needs to know. He could spend the following months carefully scouting canine territory, picking off the foul creatures who wander too far to hunt or drink, but he wants the one who attached herself to that wolf, and he doesn't want to wait months for that satisfaction. "Dog. We should speak, you and I." There is nothing friendly to his tone, but it is an act he has pulled before. It requires severe control on his part, to actually /speak/ with one of these animals, but he does it, without growling and without sounding /terribly/ superior, even if he has to speak much louder than normal to make sure he is heard.
And while Revan wasn't exactly expecting a full-speed chase, he wasn't exactly expecting his brother to suddenly request conversation with the canine. Not a bad idea, really, but it wasn't his original expectation of how this would turn out. He continues to watch for any signs of ambush while his brother speaks to the dog. Revan can still listen in, but his attention is focused on everything he hopes isn't there. More canines, waiting for their chance to try sinking their jaws into his neck.
Skylar's blue eyes remain trained carefully on the felines for several moments after one of them finally speaks, finally letting its perked, feathered ears drop. The sighthound's not spoken with one of their kind before - and the few it's encountered before have all been frightened off by his Man companion, so it's particularly careful not to let its guard down too far, even if they just want to chat. Nonetheless, its voice is as eerie in its mirthfulness as ever, perhaps moreso with the slight wariness underlying its tone. "Speak then, lion."
Malak is quick to come up with what he wants to say. "My brother and I are new to these lands. We need to know where your kind frequents, so that we can avoid any... Misunderstandings." In where they should plan their attacks. In how close to canine territory they can afford to venture. As long as one disregards everything that Malak is not saying, what he actually does say is not a lie. He has no need to lie to these inferior, enslaved beasts.
Skylar tilts its head slightly to the side, considering this request. "My kind? Dogs, you mean? Or Man's dogs, in particular?" The inquiries are not meant to frustrate, merely an attempt of the purebred to determine exactly what it is the cougars seek to know - and it would make sense that they would want to avoid Man's dogs in particular, as that would likely include Man as well. "I'm afraid I've only recently met a few others of my kin, if you were seeking more...I've spent many of the past moons, until recently, loyally serving my Masters on their hunts." The Saluki's referring to the time when Man returned to the area, but if these cougars are new, they likely won't understand the reference.
Only one species holds more of Malak's contempt than dogs. Men. Two-leggers. It is difficult to keep his anger in check as the nearby dog mentions them. Part of him can understand why dogs would bend their will to that of other animals. They're weak. It's the only way they can survive. The crime of men is far worse, in Malak's eyes, and he is quiet for a moment, before he can finally speak. "The men are gone, then?" Why else would the dog near them have recently stopped serving men, recently cast his lot in with others of his own kind? He does not appear injured or unwell.
Another consideration to keep in mind as well, Revan can't help but think, is that the wolf they saw with the dog earlier on wouldn't have been in this area if there really were men still around. Contempt of lupines aside, he does have to acknowledge that they share a fear of man with cougars alike. Granted, the wolf might have been fleeing toward a formerly unexplored and unknown location for her, but surely the dog would have been smart enough not to bring a wolf toward men?
Skylar's ear flicks back briefly, as though listening for any signals from his absent Master before answering. "I believe so." Skye certainly wouldn't mind their return, but on the other hand, if there are cougars searching them out, perhaps it's better if his two-legged friends aren't around. The Saluki peers back and forth between the brothers, ghostly blue eyes watching them closely. The well-bred canine doesn't feel comfortable around these two, and its antsy behavior reflects the feeling visibly, the hound shifting weight from paw to paw.
Malak is not up for a war with men. Such a war has to be waged from a territory they have already settled, and they don't have that. Men are too capable of bending wild and domesticated life alike to their will, and to be in a land surrounded by canids and try to battle men would be every bit as foolish as running into a large pack of dogs. The anger fades out slowly, and Malak says, "Where have you seen the dogs that you have recently, then? Any news you can offer would be greatly appreciated." And repaid by not taking Skylar's life, at least, not for now.
Skylar is at a decision point. The saluki doesn't know these cougars' true intentions, regardless of their stated ones, and canine intuition has the hound wary. But what is the nature of Skye's alliance with the new group of mutts it's met? Regardless, the dog isn't sure what can be lost or gained by merely telling the cougars what they want to know - perhaps Skye will mention it to his new friend, Rouge, as well, just to be on the safe side. "Most of the dogs I've seen recently have been staying around Man's old den, just north of here."
"Are there any other groups that you know of?" Malak never once bothers to restate his reasons for wanting to know. He knows what overemphasis of things meant to reassure lesser species can do to them, how it can put them on edge. For the fact that he seldom ever actually lies, he can be a rather convincing liar. If anything, he appears only to want away from here as soon as possible, after he learns what he needs to know, and some part of that is true as well. He does not want to be here, speaking with this canine.
Skylar shakes its slender head back and forth slowly. If anything can be said for a common tie between the speaking cougar and the sight hound, it's that neither of them are really comfortable communicating with each other, which isn't helped by the Saluki's loyalties to Man. As soon as the cougars know what they need to know, the dog will be just as happy to leave as they, no doubt.
Nothing unusual is being spoken between his brother and the dog, so Revan is still only half-listening, devoting the majority of his attention to their surroundings. He's seen a squirrel that took one look at the cougars and fled for its life, and a couple of birds fly overhead, but other than that they appear to be alone. Perhaps some would find all the color present here to be rather beautiful, but with the stench of canines all around, Revan finds it repulsive. There's nothing worse than the feeling of being deep in the middle of an infestation and not being able to do anything about it. At least.. not yet. Their time will come.
Malak stands there for a moment, thinking. There are dogs to the north. Dogs and wolves to the south. Should they head east, the direction those creatures from earlier were traveling, and wait to ambush them in hopes that they will be heading north to join the canids there? It does not take Malak long to decide that no wolf would get that close to a human dwelling. Whatever direction the other two intend to take, it will not be north. Refocusing his gaze on Skylar, he says, "Very well. Until we meet again." Oh, they will. Malak's current plans may be more important to him than seeing to the apparent dog infestation to the north of here, but in the long term, he has no intention to let it go. There is no bow of his head or anything else but a half-turn to the west added to the farewell that is not half and pleasant as it might seem, and which didn't seem too pleasant to begin with.
Skylar merely watches the pair of cougars as they turn to leave once again, blue eyes turning with them as Skylar ensures that they leave - and not in a direction that might eventually lead back to the barnyard. No, the hound has few ties to the forming dog pack, but it does have a friend there, and Skylar doesn't want to see her harmed. It can do that much, at least.
It is indeed frustration that characterizes Revan's expression and demeanor as he turns to follow his brother, still watching for any signs of ambush. Not until they are well clear of this loathsome territory will he feel at all at ease again. His thoughts no doubt echo his brothers. They *will* return, and bring wrathful judgment on these inferior species. And this dog in particular; he can't place a claw on it, but there's something.. wretched.. that just clings to the canine like a second skin. An aura of unholiness, as it were.
================================================================================
Flowers are nodding in the breeze, their colors and scents enveloping everything around them. The colorful vegetation reaches for the sunlight, stretching as if being called to the glow and in the evening, the moon shines upon them until they shimmer with a silver light. The flowers seem to stretch for miles but that is only an illusion.
=================================== Exits ===================================
[East] to a Spring [Northeast] to the Pasture
[Northwest] to the Fields [South] to a Sparse Copse
[Southeast] to the Stream [Southwest] to a Stand of Wisteria
[West] to the Grasslands
================================================================================
[DYN] Revan
[DYN] Malak
[DYN] Skylar
The cold winter has finally passed, but there's still a chill held in the air as spring slowly rolls in. In the fields outside the abandoned farm, only a few hardy flowers have survived through the frozen season, a few dots of colors poking up between patches of white snow. Prancing about in the area rather gaily, hopping up into the air before diving down towards a large clump of snow, is one of the dogs who's ended up meandering towards the barnyard, a friendly-looking Saluki who doesn't seem to have a care in the world. One can't tell from a distance whether the apparent purebred is just playing about in the snow or actually toying with some sort of game, perhaps a small rodent or wounded rabbit.
Malak has not spoken since they left the copse. He was angry when the hybrid escaped. Angry enough that he was easily pushed into disciplining even a fellow cougar, where he might have otherwise shown a little more mercy. With the escape of two more canids, Malak would gladly welcome the opportunity to hurt something. His thoughts are dark as he travels northward, revolving around how he intends to go about finding that dog and her wolf-master. The scent of dogs is still everywhere around him, but not as strong as it was to the south. They travel through here often, it would seem, and Malak keeps his eyes open, looking for any target on which to vent his aggression, though he has not spotted Skylar quite yet.
Revan shares in his brother's anger and frustration, but he does not allow it to paralyze or otherwise hinder his fine-tuned senses. If anything, it only motivates him to be all the more aware of any other canids that might inhabit this area; no point in hunting if one can't even prevent themselves from being hunted. Every pawstep is taken as a precision movement, and even his tail is kept carefully under control. All of the training he received as a younger cougar is coming into play here, and one might even describe his current stalking as machine-like. Revan intends on bloodshed, same as his brother, but he doesn't intend for it to be his own.
Skylar's nose suddenly twitches, the Saluki's play distracted by the heavy scent of wildness approaching. It's a pureblood, well-trained, bred-for-hunting hound, and so when the smell of predator is carried close, Skye is immediately on the alert, merry personality disappeared, ears pricked forward and stance erect in a warning to its absent Master of a potential threat nearby. Pale blue eyes immediately sight the pair of marauding mountain lions nearby, and the hound watches them carefully for their next actions.
Malak stops walking the moment that he lays eyes on the canine off in the distance, easily visible without the bother of trees or bushes. His claws flex, and he prepares for a chase, but he doesn't move just yet. The second he does, a chase will start, he knows, and at seeing this third canid in such a short period of time, he takes the moment to do everything he can to ensure that they will not be running directly into a group of dogs, or, worse, towards a human. He does not want to lose this mark as he has lost the last several, all to differing circumstances.
So what's the plan this time? There is still a good deal of canine scent in the area, and Revan is rather reluctant to go chasing yet another dog into no doubt deeper canine territory. He knows that his sprinting capability is at its peak performance, but he doesn't want to exhaust himself catching up to the canine, only to find himself attacked by several other canines, and he not being able to outrun them back to safety. There are always trees that he can use for immediate escape, but a rotating guard could ensure that he'd never be able to leave without being spotted and chased yet again. And the possibility of a tree being right there when he would need it... never a definite thing that he's willing to stake his life on. So as they move closer, Revan is keenly aware of what else is going on around them, bordering on near-paranoia. But not to cripple him. Only invigorate. Adrenaline is flowing, and he's ready for the chase.
As the stare-off ensues, Skylar makes no move whatsoever, save for the pale blue eyes tracing each and every movement the cougar brothers make. One can almost feel the tension in the air, all three of the animals poised to spring into a quick sprinting run at the drop of a leaf. But as neither of the felines has made any particularly aggressive motions towards the purebred, and there's no Man by its side to scare them off with his noise-making tree branch, the Saluki just...waits. Skye's normally chipper attitude is curbed, at least having the sense to keep quiet until it knows for sure what these cougars' intentions are. And the brothers don't even know of the Saluki's 'condition' yet.
It's true. They are simply too far into canine territory. It is impossible to determine where one might be waiting, just out of sight. Impossible to single in on any one scent. A chase would be beyond foolish, and, finally, Malak speaks. It is not often that Malak speaks with lesser creatures, but he failed to interrogate the hybrid, like he wanted, and there is much he needs to know. He could spend the following months carefully scouting canine territory, picking off the foul creatures who wander too far to hunt or drink, but he wants the one who attached herself to that wolf, and he doesn't want to wait months for that satisfaction. "Dog. We should speak, you and I." There is nothing friendly to his tone, but it is an act he has pulled before. It requires severe control on his part, to actually /speak/ with one of these animals, but he does it, without growling and without sounding /terribly/ superior, even if he has to speak much louder than normal to make sure he is heard.
And while Revan wasn't exactly expecting a full-speed chase, he wasn't exactly expecting his brother to suddenly request conversation with the canine. Not a bad idea, really, but it wasn't his original expectation of how this would turn out. He continues to watch for any signs of ambush while his brother speaks to the dog. Revan can still listen in, but his attention is focused on everything he hopes isn't there. More canines, waiting for their chance to try sinking their jaws into his neck.
Skylar's blue eyes remain trained carefully on the felines for several moments after one of them finally speaks, finally letting its perked, feathered ears drop. The sighthound's not spoken with one of their kind before - and the few it's encountered before have all been frightened off by his Man companion, so it's particularly careful not to let its guard down too far, even if they just want to chat. Nonetheless, its voice is as eerie in its mirthfulness as ever, perhaps moreso with the slight wariness underlying its tone. "Speak then, lion."
Malak is quick to come up with what he wants to say. "My brother and I are new to these lands. We need to know where your kind frequents, so that we can avoid any... Misunderstandings." In where they should plan their attacks. In how close to canine territory they can afford to venture. As long as one disregards everything that Malak is not saying, what he actually does say is not a lie. He has no need to lie to these inferior, enslaved beasts.
Skylar tilts its head slightly to the side, considering this request. "My kind? Dogs, you mean? Or Man's dogs, in particular?" The inquiries are not meant to frustrate, merely an attempt of the purebred to determine exactly what it is the cougars seek to know - and it would make sense that they would want to avoid Man's dogs in particular, as that would likely include Man as well. "I'm afraid I've only recently met a few others of my kin, if you were seeking more...I've spent many of the past moons, until recently, loyally serving my Masters on their hunts." The Saluki's referring to the time when Man returned to the area, but if these cougars are new, they likely won't understand the reference.
Only one species holds more of Malak's contempt than dogs. Men. Two-leggers. It is difficult to keep his anger in check as the nearby dog mentions them. Part of him can understand why dogs would bend their will to that of other animals. They're weak. It's the only way they can survive. The crime of men is far worse, in Malak's eyes, and he is quiet for a moment, before he can finally speak. "The men are gone, then?" Why else would the dog near them have recently stopped serving men, recently cast his lot in with others of his own kind? He does not appear injured or unwell.
Another consideration to keep in mind as well, Revan can't help but think, is that the wolf they saw with the dog earlier on wouldn't have been in this area if there really were men still around. Contempt of lupines aside, he does have to acknowledge that they share a fear of man with cougars alike. Granted, the wolf might have been fleeing toward a formerly unexplored and unknown location for her, but surely the dog would have been smart enough not to bring a wolf toward men?
Skylar's ear flicks back briefly, as though listening for any signals from his absent Master before answering. "I believe so." Skye certainly wouldn't mind their return, but on the other hand, if there are cougars searching them out, perhaps it's better if his two-legged friends aren't around. The Saluki peers back and forth between the brothers, ghostly blue eyes watching them closely. The well-bred canine doesn't feel comfortable around these two, and its antsy behavior reflects the feeling visibly, the hound shifting weight from paw to paw.
Malak is not up for a war with men. Such a war has to be waged from a territory they have already settled, and they don't have that. Men are too capable of bending wild and domesticated life alike to their will, and to be in a land surrounded by canids and try to battle men would be every bit as foolish as running into a large pack of dogs. The anger fades out slowly, and Malak says, "Where have you seen the dogs that you have recently, then? Any news you can offer would be greatly appreciated." And repaid by not taking Skylar's life, at least, not for now.
Skylar is at a decision point. The saluki doesn't know these cougars' true intentions, regardless of their stated ones, and canine intuition has the hound wary. But what is the nature of Skye's alliance with the new group of mutts it's met? Regardless, the dog isn't sure what can be lost or gained by merely telling the cougars what they want to know - perhaps Skye will mention it to his new friend, Rouge, as well, just to be on the safe side. "Most of the dogs I've seen recently have been staying around Man's old den, just north of here."
"Are there any other groups that you know of?" Malak never once bothers to restate his reasons for wanting to know. He knows what overemphasis of things meant to reassure lesser species can do to them, how it can put them on edge. For the fact that he seldom ever actually lies, he can be a rather convincing liar. If anything, he appears only to want away from here as soon as possible, after he learns what he needs to know, and some part of that is true as well. He does not want to be here, speaking with this canine.
Skylar shakes its slender head back and forth slowly. If anything can be said for a common tie between the speaking cougar and the sight hound, it's that neither of them are really comfortable communicating with each other, which isn't helped by the Saluki's loyalties to Man. As soon as the cougars know what they need to know, the dog will be just as happy to leave as they, no doubt.
Nothing unusual is being spoken between his brother and the dog, so Revan is still only half-listening, devoting the majority of his attention to their surroundings. He's seen a squirrel that took one look at the cougars and fled for its life, and a couple of birds fly overhead, but other than that they appear to be alone. Perhaps some would find all the color present here to be rather beautiful, but with the stench of canines all around, Revan finds it repulsive. There's nothing worse than the feeling of being deep in the middle of an infestation and not being able to do anything about it. At least.. not yet. Their time will come.
Malak stands there for a moment, thinking. There are dogs to the north. Dogs and wolves to the south. Should they head east, the direction those creatures from earlier were traveling, and wait to ambush them in hopes that they will be heading north to join the canids there? It does not take Malak long to decide that no wolf would get that close to a human dwelling. Whatever direction the other two intend to take, it will not be north. Refocusing his gaze on Skylar, he says, "Very well. Until we meet again." Oh, they will. Malak's current plans may be more important to him than seeing to the apparent dog infestation to the north of here, but in the long term, he has no intention to let it go. There is no bow of his head or anything else but a half-turn to the west added to the farewell that is not half and pleasant as it might seem, and which didn't seem too pleasant to begin with.
Skylar merely watches the pair of cougars as they turn to leave once again, blue eyes turning with them as Skylar ensures that they leave - and not in a direction that might eventually lead back to the barnyard. No, the hound has few ties to the forming dog pack, but it does have a friend there, and Skylar doesn't want to see her harmed. It can do that much, at least.
It is indeed frustration that characterizes Revan's expression and demeanor as he turns to follow his brother, still watching for any signs of ambush. Not until they are well clear of this loathsome territory will he feel at all at ease again. His thoughts no doubt echo his brothers. They *will* return, and bring wrathful judgment on these inferior species. And this dog in particular; he can't place a claw on it, but there's something.. wretched.. that just clings to the canine like a second skin. An aura of unholiness, as it were.