Post by Pavane on Jun 13, 2012 19:09:18 GMT -5
Ikuna - male wolf of Ute
Kachina - female cougar of Amaranth
-Cluster of Fir Trees-
To be honest, Ikuna probably shouldn't have chased that deer quite so far. In his defense, the stag had an obvious limp; enough so that it seemed even a lone wolf could take him down, when Ikuna encountered the deer on an early-morning patrol. Bringing it back to the rest of the pack would have posed a challenge, particularly the further Ikuna chased the creature, but... well. There were other reasons why he continued the hunt. The sheer pleasure of hunting large game again; the restlessness born of the tensions around his pack. Ahiga and the pups. Brutal and Grim, still around. His niece Althaea, absent more often than not. The awkward nature of lurking on Cerulean's land; a welcomed guest, but only a guest. Ute doesn't belong there, but dogs still infest the place where Ute belongs... belonged? Too many things to think about, and not enough answers. So, instead, Ikuna chased the deer, as it proved surprisingly fleet despite its injury and fled through Cerulean's land and past, to a place he's never been before. Still he chases it, now in the bright of approaching noon; the deer, foamed with sweat, stumbling along, and Ikuna open-mouthed to pant as he runs after.
With the thick scent of fir trees in the area any scents here are muffled and mangled it seems. Kachina is settled within the branches of one old tree, the branches thick and curved at strange angles which allows the feline to relax to some degree. The scent of deer fills her nose, blood also caught and this makes her head lift. Her gaze flicks one way and then another while she takes in another breath. The movement catches her attention and she shifts to rest in a crouch, her tail flicking a few times as she watches and waits.. Her form tenses and then she leaps downwards going to try and get hold of the deer, forepaws gripping for the shoulders and her turning to bite down upon the base of the skull, a deep snarl escaping her while her eyes close and ears slick back.
A flying fury of golden fur from above, and Ikuna scrambles back from it, half falling to the soft needles before he finds his feet again and veers away, back the way he came. The deer is not so lucky; he bellows out as claws rake his shoulders, then bugles his own final salute as cougar-jaws find their mark and bite down hard. His body shudders and falls, eyes rolling up into his skull. It seems his flight from one predator only led him to another. Cougar trumps wolf, today.
Kachina bites down rather hard and gives her head a hard shake to the side to break the neck if possible. When the deer is indeed dead she lets go and a bit of blood runs down from the side of her maw. Her gaze snaps around and she looks over towards the wolf. Ears flicking back and a few snuffle escapes her. For a few moments she is silent before a faint cuff escapes her. "Ikuna?.." The scents does remind her of the wolf she was down in that howl with so long ago..
Cougar speaks to wolf, today. Ikuna hasn't gotten far; the burst of adrenaline only took him a few lengths before his tired legs made their presence known again, and besides. There was that rumor of a cougar. It stretches the bounds of probability that the cougar who showed up just happens to be - yet she knows his name. Ikuna stops, and turns around again to look at the cougar before him. His nose twitches as he takes in her scent, his eyes flit over her form. She... she could be. Yes, she could be. Slowly, he walks a few steps toward her. "Yes."
Kachina could be in deed! She doesn't look that different, other then well growning up that is! Her tail flicks and she slowly shifts, stepping away from the now dead deer and gives herself a good shake. "Its been some time hasn't it?" Some time indeed! "I take it this was your deer I managed to get?"
Time enough for a pair of youngsters to grow into a pair of adults. Ikuna smiles at that, and nods. Time enough for other things to happen as well, and he lets out a sigh before perking an ear at the question. "Ha. I'm not sure I could have gotten it anyhow. That deer was a tricky one." For all the good those tricks did it, in the end! Ikuna takes another few steps, and looks at the dead deer, then back to Kachina. He smiles. "It's yours now."
Kachina looks amused for a moment, or at least that is what is looks like! "Ikuna.. I won't be able to eat it all." This said with a slight grin. "How about I take some for myself and you can have the rest?" Her tail flicks around a few times. "How have you been?"
Well, cougars are far bigger than wolves! So, clearly, they eat more. Ikuna does return the grin, though, ducking his head a moment and peering sidewise at Kachina. "All right. I suppose it can be both of ours." Cougar and wolf, together again. Such a strange pair they make. At the question, Ikuna sighs. "I'm not sure, anymore. I was good, but... there was trouble in my pack, and... this past winter, we were attacked by dogs. So now... I just don't know."
Kachina chuckles softly and nods as she settles down next to the deer for the moment at least. Yes they would make a strange pair to anyone wandering around! There is a faint glance around as if looking for something, though soon enough she looks back to him and blinks. "Attacked by dogs?.." A faint hum escapes her. "When all did this happen?" Not like she knows!
Ikuna comes to the other side of the deer from Kachina, the difference in their sizes almost comic - for all Kachina is a small cougar, and Ikuna, a large wolf. He puts a paw on the carcass, then pauses. "Late in winter, when the ice was fragile and the snow hadn't quite melted." The wolf sighs, closing his eyes for a long moment as he thinks back on that time and frowns. "They're still there. We've... been with Cerulean. Anoki's pack."
Kachina tail twitches a few times, an it is indeed the size different between these two! So much for her being a mighty cougar. But don't let that fool you everyone..rawr.. A forepaw lifting to scratch at her neck a few times. "I'm sorry for that Ikuna.. So very sorry.." She frowns at the thought and shakes her head. So the dogs are still there hum? There is a faint moment of her pondering before she blinks. "Anoki's here.. Or right I ran into that wolf the other day whom sai they was related or something."
Ikuna sighs again, and shakes his head. "Stuff happens, I guess." As Lessons, according to some of the wolves of his pack. Skahla talked about the Spirits as... parental, almost, but in that case, why has Ikuna only heard them mentioned when something bad is happening? Why doesn't anyone ever blame the Spirits for a sunny day, or say the Spirits must have helped for Ahiga and Tala to fall in love? (If the Spirits are involved there, it's probably just with Ikuna. To make him be a test with how he wants- but never mind that.) Ikuna lowers his head to bite-tug at the deer's skin, then lifts it again. "...Rockfall, I think," he says. "He's... a Cerulean wolf. I don't know much else about him, but... he mentioned you." Another tug at the deer, exposing meat, and Ikuna stares at it a moment before asking, "How have you been?" Maybe it'll be happier news.
Kachina ponders this for a moment and nods, a forepaws slides across the ground in front of her and she eyes the ground. "Yes.. I suppose stuff does happen.." Her ears slick back, eyes closing and a soft breath escapes her. "I hope everything turns out well for you and your pack soon Ikuna." With her?.. She chews on her lip, eyes flicking around. "Well...I'm out on my vison quest for all the female cougar's of my tribe." She swallows a moment. "I..well..I still see things, been seeing a lot of things since leaving the mountains."
Ikuna nods softly at Kachina's well-wishes for his pack. So does he, though he's not even sure what shape that well might take. His ears perk as the cougar starts to answer his own question, and her expression for that response makes him frown slightly, bent tail lowering even as he considers on the words. A vision quest seems not so bad of a thing, and he simply nods to that. As for the seeing-things... Ikuna is quiet for a moment, then sighs. "My brother says Ute's spirits are supposed to watch us and teach us. I haven't ever... seen a spirit. Not like you, or like Anoki. But... well. Have you seen any spirits like that? Watching spirits, teaching spirits... good spirits?"
Kachina tilts her head head, a curious glance offered to Ikuna at the comment on 'good' spirts. "Well, yes I've seen one at least." She is quiet for a moment, and takes in a soft breath. "It was my father, his dead you see and he came to see me before I started this quest. But I've seen other ghosts, ones that are trapped here instead of moving on. Like something is keeping them here for what ever reason." She makes a few at the thought. Like the animals that had them trapped in that hole, but she won't bring that up to Ikuna knowing it wouldn't do anything but worry him. After all its not like he can see them! "Have you seen Anoki recently?"
Ikuna listens with perked ears to Kachina, and nods. There's something for him to think on, there. An actual good spirit... in with all the others, trapped. Like how Chewy was trapped. Why don't those good spirits do something about that? Are the bad spirits too strong or something? He's not so happy with spirits, lately, and so perhaps he's a little bitter as he says, "I suppose he told you it was important and you'd learn a lesson or something." At the question of Anoki, he tilts his head. "I haven't seen him since... last fall, I guess. Tala and Ahiga saw him over the winter, but... we haven't any of us seen him since we came to Cerulean. That's... sort of our own fault, I guess."
Kachina smiles softly. "Well, I suppose you could say that to some degree. But a ghost can only do so much. They can talk and tell you something but I haven't met one yet that can do any real harm to anyone." After she says this she grows quiet, a slight frown crosses her face. If she knows this then why is she running? Perhaps she needed something to remind herself. A slight nod iss een, and she glances to her paws. "I was hoping to see him at some point. I have questions about being a seer and well no one in my tribe has this..gift that I know of at least."
Ikuna frowns, considering on that. It all comes back to that, doesn't it? These ghosts can't be the Spirits that get talked about, because those Spirits are far from powerless. Isn't it the Spirits that are supposed to bring these lessons down? They have the power to make packs of dogs and sick wolves! If the Spirits are doing all that, then... how can anyone call them kind? It would be a different thing if they were just... watching. If they could hear, and maybe whisper advice. Spirits like those, perhaps Ikuna could believe in. After a while, Ikuna sighs, and drags his attention back to the present conversation. "Cerulean's over by where the two rivers meet." He points, then hmms. "I don't know what they'd think of a cougar, though. But if I see Anoki... or maybe his sister. She's some kind of seer too."
"Spirits or ghosts can bring words of wisdom to us but they can't harm us. At least none that I have seen." Kachina offers as her gaze lifts up towards he sky waching it a few moments before a soft breath escapes her and she looks over to Ikuna watching her friend?.. "Ikuna, try not to lose hope. Its not good when one loses it." Kach has lost so much, her mother, brother, an to some degree herself, its sad really. A slight nod is seen. "Thank you, perhaps I could find them.. An I can understand why they might not like cougars."
"Hope, huh?" asks Ikuna, and shakes his head slowly. "I've still got my pack. We'll figure something out. It's just... I see them looking at me sometimes, like... I'm supposed to have answers. And I don't, not really. Skahla wanted us to know about the Spirits, and... I don't even know that." He almost-laughs. "I'm here talking with you about them, because... I don't even know. Because I am."
Kachina offers him a slight smile. "Ikuna.. There are many different spirits around. I see one that have died, so why couldn't there be more? If Skahla wants you to know about spirits then ask him, or some other wolf in the pack that might know about which ones he is refering too?" She stretches while shifting up onto her haunches. "An there's nothing wrong with talking to me. I may see dead things but I'm not crazy." Though she does wink when saying that.
Ikuna sighs. There's that slight urge to say it's not that simple, but then... it kind of is that simple. Whether he believes in them or not, Ikuna himself has said that the spirit-stories teach good things. Even a dead spirit can do some good. Kachina would certainly know that part of things! He looks up at her, and offers a smile. "No, nothing wrong with talking to you. It's... nice to see you again."
Kachina smiles a moment and nods. "An its nice to see you again too.. I wsn't sure if you'd even remember me, or well want to after everything that happened." It took a long time for her to get past that, an too some degree she will never be over it. "Ikuna, if there is anything that I can do to help you or your pack please let me know.. An I mean /anything/.." Like trying to take one a pack of dogs. She may not be as big as most cougars but she is still a cougar, all muscle and with claws and fangs. As for the dogs she would take them on with her friend without a second thought.
Ikuna leans forward, to bump his nose gently against Kachina's cheek, right near those fierce feline jaws. As he did before, when they were both much smaller. "How could I not? You... were probably what kept me sane, back then." He smiles, bittersweet, then nods slowly at her offer. "I'll... have to think about it." Even with a cougar... some of Asku's stories of battle and heroism had cougars in them - and cougars, defeated by packs of wolves. Perhaps dogs could do the same. "Ute is living near the waterfall, now. If you come there, or near Cerulean... be careful." He smiles slightly. "There are puppies this spring, and... we're extra protective, these days." Between the kidnappings when Ikuna and Anoki were young, and the threat of the dogs this spring... oh, yes, both wolfpacks might well snarl first and ask questions later.
Kachina offers him a soft smile, head turning to bump her nose against his cheek a moment. "I suppose we did help one another then." Seems she helped him more so though. "Alright, I understand. An I will try not to bother anyone. I wasn't expecting to come this far it just sort of happened.." As she went running like a race horse after the last encounter with a certain ghost. Her gaze turns to where she has been told that Anoki could be found. "Perhaps I will go and try to find Anoki and speak with him later on."
A cougar can pass time in solitude far more easily than a wolf, after all. Ikuna smiles, and nods. "You said... it was some sort of a vision quest thing?" he asks, before lowering his head to start eating before it gets cold. He's rather hungry after the long hunt, after all... even if he's not the one who caught the deer, in the end. Then again, wolves are used to sharing in the hunt.
Kachina nods while looking at the kill eyeing it a few moments before she shifts and goes about ripping into one of the haunches that she has chosen for herself. "Yes, we go on and try to find a path for ourself so to speak. Many meet a spirit, or something that 'shows' them what path they are to choose and sometimes they return home to the tribe and then sometimes they do not."
Ikuna eats as he listens, delaying his reply to eat another few bites and to consider on what the cougar said. He nods. "I suppose that makes sense. Ute doesn't really do anything like that... well. Mostly." He sighs. "Wachiwa... went out looking for spirits, but... the dogs found her instead." He frowns, and lowers his head to tear off another chunk of meat, fierce-wolf taking it out on the carcass.
Kachina looks to Ikuna curiously a moment while she listens to what is said, a faint hum escapes her and she soon nods while pondering this. "I'm sorry for yout packmate.. It is not a common thing but it seems many in my tribe have done it in some fashion for many moons now actually. Its a tradition that cotninues on because of it I suppose." A slight shrug is seen.
Fierce-wolf slows in his eating, and Ikuna nods. "That's the way of traditions, I suppose. They go on for as long as enough people believe in them." He smiles somewhat. "Whether it's your tribe, or my pack... or whatever other pack or tribe. The ways... aren't the same, but I think it's interesting to hear about them. To know how other people live... maybe there's something to be learned there."
Kachina smiles a moment and nods. "That is true.." She offers with a soft tone escaping her after gawning on more of the deer. "Some traditions are good to continue are all." This said with a soft tone at the thought. "An it is interesting to hear about what others consider traditions."
"I suppose that's another thing I should find out." Ikuna smiles a little. "Ute's own traditions. I never paid much attention as a puppy," when he was even around the pack, never mind that long unwilling absence, "and now... well. I almost know as much about cougar traditions as I do wolf ones."
Kachina smiles a moment and nods, her forepaws stretching an she shifts up onto her paws while giving herself a good shake. "Well I'll be glad to tell you what ever I possible can about the cougar ones that I know at least." This said as she grins a moment. "Though when it comes to stuff about wolves, well I'm not that sure."
"No, I don't suppose you would know much about wolves." Ikuna shakes his head, grinning somewhat. "Or about dogs, for that matter." He sighs, but the smile comes back again soon enough. "What stories do cougars tell about the earliest of days? Wolves talk about Alpha and Beta living together, but... that doesn't seem a very cougar sort of idea."
Kachina tilts her head and pers at Ikuna curiously. "Alpha and Beta?" She questions curiously as she settles to her haunches, a ear twitching forward and back while she takes in a slight breath. "An I don't know much of anything about dogs."
"Alpha and Beta were the first wolves, or so the story goes. He was first, but he was lonely, so she came..." Ikuna trails off, then suddenly leaves his story to change topics. "When cougars choose mates. Is it always just a male and a female, or... have you ever heard about two males, being together like that?"
Kachina ponders this an nods a moment. "I see.." She says while thinking. A curious glance offered over to Ikuna. "Cougars don't tend to take mates.. At least not normaly. There is one male living with the tribe at the moment. I think that is what my father and mother left to start out on there own." A curious glance is sent his way. "Two males together? I don't think I've ever heard of it before."
"Oh," says Ikuna, as Kachina's explanation of how things are among cougars startles him from his own thoughts on the matter. It is an interesting thing, and his expression becomes considering as he stores that information away. It can't all the comparative sociology, though, and soon enough she's answering the question he actually asked. His face goes mostly expressionless, and he nods. "All right."
Kachina peers at Ikuna a few moments. "Why did you ask that?" She's clearly curious over this. Well the thought never crossed her mind before so now she is wondering!
"Nothing," says Ikuna, with a shake of his head. Surely it must be nothing, for it seems nobody's ever heard of such a thing. It's just his own strangeness. Maybe something broke inside him. It doesn't matter; Ahiga and Tala still accept him, so what more does he need? The young wolf rises to his feet, and smiles. "I should get back to my pack. It was good seeing you."
Kachina doesn't know any other way after all. A nod of her head is seen and she smiles to him. "Alright.. I enjoyed speaking with you Ikuna, it has been too long. I hope to do so again soon." She noses the kill and winks at him. "I think we made it light enough that you should be able to get it back for your pack. Of you like I can help you out for a bit."
Ikuna smiles, and nods. He nudges at the splayed limbs of the half-eaten deer, pushing them together to make a bundle he can effectively drag. Cougar appetites are mighty indeed, and it's far lighter now than it was. Before he picks it up, he pauses. "I... don't know where Ute will be, in the seasons to come, but wherever it is... I'll keep an ear perked for you. If you want to come with me a ways now, you can. It's up to you." Then, he lowers his muzzle and makes further conversation impossible by picking up the deer for the journey back home. Perhaps he did go further than he should have... but he can't find it to be sorry.
Kachina may not be as big as other cougar's but she still eats like one! With a smile she nods. "Well I hope we figure out a way to keep in touch." She noses at the deer and chuckles. "I don't see why not, for a way's at least then I'm thinking a nap is in order." With a belly full of deer its not surprize! She follows after him, offering a few comments now and then along with helping drag the kill when needed.
Kachina - female cougar of Amaranth
-Cluster of Fir Trees-
To be honest, Ikuna probably shouldn't have chased that deer quite so far. In his defense, the stag had an obvious limp; enough so that it seemed even a lone wolf could take him down, when Ikuna encountered the deer on an early-morning patrol. Bringing it back to the rest of the pack would have posed a challenge, particularly the further Ikuna chased the creature, but... well. There were other reasons why he continued the hunt. The sheer pleasure of hunting large game again; the restlessness born of the tensions around his pack. Ahiga and the pups. Brutal and Grim, still around. His niece Althaea, absent more often than not. The awkward nature of lurking on Cerulean's land; a welcomed guest, but only a guest. Ute doesn't belong there, but dogs still infest the place where Ute belongs... belonged? Too many things to think about, and not enough answers. So, instead, Ikuna chased the deer, as it proved surprisingly fleet despite its injury and fled through Cerulean's land and past, to a place he's never been before. Still he chases it, now in the bright of approaching noon; the deer, foamed with sweat, stumbling along, and Ikuna open-mouthed to pant as he runs after.
With the thick scent of fir trees in the area any scents here are muffled and mangled it seems. Kachina is settled within the branches of one old tree, the branches thick and curved at strange angles which allows the feline to relax to some degree. The scent of deer fills her nose, blood also caught and this makes her head lift. Her gaze flicks one way and then another while she takes in another breath. The movement catches her attention and she shifts to rest in a crouch, her tail flicking a few times as she watches and waits.. Her form tenses and then she leaps downwards going to try and get hold of the deer, forepaws gripping for the shoulders and her turning to bite down upon the base of the skull, a deep snarl escaping her while her eyes close and ears slick back.
A flying fury of golden fur from above, and Ikuna scrambles back from it, half falling to the soft needles before he finds his feet again and veers away, back the way he came. The deer is not so lucky; he bellows out as claws rake his shoulders, then bugles his own final salute as cougar-jaws find their mark and bite down hard. His body shudders and falls, eyes rolling up into his skull. It seems his flight from one predator only led him to another. Cougar trumps wolf, today.
Kachina bites down rather hard and gives her head a hard shake to the side to break the neck if possible. When the deer is indeed dead she lets go and a bit of blood runs down from the side of her maw. Her gaze snaps around and she looks over towards the wolf. Ears flicking back and a few snuffle escapes her. For a few moments she is silent before a faint cuff escapes her. "Ikuna?.." The scents does remind her of the wolf she was down in that howl with so long ago..
Cougar speaks to wolf, today. Ikuna hasn't gotten far; the burst of adrenaline only took him a few lengths before his tired legs made their presence known again, and besides. There was that rumor of a cougar. It stretches the bounds of probability that the cougar who showed up just happens to be - yet she knows his name. Ikuna stops, and turns around again to look at the cougar before him. His nose twitches as he takes in her scent, his eyes flit over her form. She... she could be. Yes, she could be. Slowly, he walks a few steps toward her. "Yes."
Kachina could be in deed! She doesn't look that different, other then well growning up that is! Her tail flicks and she slowly shifts, stepping away from the now dead deer and gives herself a good shake. "Its been some time hasn't it?" Some time indeed! "I take it this was your deer I managed to get?"
Time enough for a pair of youngsters to grow into a pair of adults. Ikuna smiles at that, and nods. Time enough for other things to happen as well, and he lets out a sigh before perking an ear at the question. "Ha. I'm not sure I could have gotten it anyhow. That deer was a tricky one." For all the good those tricks did it, in the end! Ikuna takes another few steps, and looks at the dead deer, then back to Kachina. He smiles. "It's yours now."
Kachina looks amused for a moment, or at least that is what is looks like! "Ikuna.. I won't be able to eat it all." This said with a slight grin. "How about I take some for myself and you can have the rest?" Her tail flicks around a few times. "How have you been?"
Well, cougars are far bigger than wolves! So, clearly, they eat more. Ikuna does return the grin, though, ducking his head a moment and peering sidewise at Kachina. "All right. I suppose it can be both of ours." Cougar and wolf, together again. Such a strange pair they make. At the question, Ikuna sighs. "I'm not sure, anymore. I was good, but... there was trouble in my pack, and... this past winter, we were attacked by dogs. So now... I just don't know."
Kachina chuckles softly and nods as she settles down next to the deer for the moment at least. Yes they would make a strange pair to anyone wandering around! There is a faint glance around as if looking for something, though soon enough she looks back to him and blinks. "Attacked by dogs?.." A faint hum escapes her. "When all did this happen?" Not like she knows!
Ikuna comes to the other side of the deer from Kachina, the difference in their sizes almost comic - for all Kachina is a small cougar, and Ikuna, a large wolf. He puts a paw on the carcass, then pauses. "Late in winter, when the ice was fragile and the snow hadn't quite melted." The wolf sighs, closing his eyes for a long moment as he thinks back on that time and frowns. "They're still there. We've... been with Cerulean. Anoki's pack."
Kachina tail twitches a few times, an it is indeed the size different between these two! So much for her being a mighty cougar. But don't let that fool you everyone..rawr.. A forepaw lifting to scratch at her neck a few times. "I'm sorry for that Ikuna.. So very sorry.." She frowns at the thought and shakes her head. So the dogs are still there hum? There is a faint moment of her pondering before she blinks. "Anoki's here.. Or right I ran into that wolf the other day whom sai they was related or something."
Ikuna sighs again, and shakes his head. "Stuff happens, I guess." As Lessons, according to some of the wolves of his pack. Skahla talked about the Spirits as... parental, almost, but in that case, why has Ikuna only heard them mentioned when something bad is happening? Why doesn't anyone ever blame the Spirits for a sunny day, or say the Spirits must have helped for Ahiga and Tala to fall in love? (If the Spirits are involved there, it's probably just with Ikuna. To make him be a test with how he wants- but never mind that.) Ikuna lowers his head to bite-tug at the deer's skin, then lifts it again. "...Rockfall, I think," he says. "He's... a Cerulean wolf. I don't know much else about him, but... he mentioned you." Another tug at the deer, exposing meat, and Ikuna stares at it a moment before asking, "How have you been?" Maybe it'll be happier news.
Kachina ponders this for a moment and nods, a forepaws slides across the ground in front of her and she eyes the ground. "Yes.. I suppose stuff does happen.." Her ears slick back, eyes closing and a soft breath escapes her. "I hope everything turns out well for you and your pack soon Ikuna." With her?.. She chews on her lip, eyes flicking around. "Well...I'm out on my vison quest for all the female cougar's of my tribe." She swallows a moment. "I..well..I still see things, been seeing a lot of things since leaving the mountains."
Ikuna nods softly at Kachina's well-wishes for his pack. So does he, though he's not even sure what shape that well might take. His ears perk as the cougar starts to answer his own question, and her expression for that response makes him frown slightly, bent tail lowering even as he considers on the words. A vision quest seems not so bad of a thing, and he simply nods to that. As for the seeing-things... Ikuna is quiet for a moment, then sighs. "My brother says Ute's spirits are supposed to watch us and teach us. I haven't ever... seen a spirit. Not like you, or like Anoki. But... well. Have you seen any spirits like that? Watching spirits, teaching spirits... good spirits?"
Kachina tilts her head head, a curious glance offered to Ikuna at the comment on 'good' spirts. "Well, yes I've seen one at least." She is quiet for a moment, and takes in a soft breath. "It was my father, his dead you see and he came to see me before I started this quest. But I've seen other ghosts, ones that are trapped here instead of moving on. Like something is keeping them here for what ever reason." She makes a few at the thought. Like the animals that had them trapped in that hole, but she won't bring that up to Ikuna knowing it wouldn't do anything but worry him. After all its not like he can see them! "Have you seen Anoki recently?"
Ikuna listens with perked ears to Kachina, and nods. There's something for him to think on, there. An actual good spirit... in with all the others, trapped. Like how Chewy was trapped. Why don't those good spirits do something about that? Are the bad spirits too strong or something? He's not so happy with spirits, lately, and so perhaps he's a little bitter as he says, "I suppose he told you it was important and you'd learn a lesson or something." At the question of Anoki, he tilts his head. "I haven't seen him since... last fall, I guess. Tala and Ahiga saw him over the winter, but... we haven't any of us seen him since we came to Cerulean. That's... sort of our own fault, I guess."
Kachina smiles softly. "Well, I suppose you could say that to some degree. But a ghost can only do so much. They can talk and tell you something but I haven't met one yet that can do any real harm to anyone." After she says this she grows quiet, a slight frown crosses her face. If she knows this then why is she running? Perhaps she needed something to remind herself. A slight nod iss een, and she glances to her paws. "I was hoping to see him at some point. I have questions about being a seer and well no one in my tribe has this..gift that I know of at least."
Ikuna frowns, considering on that. It all comes back to that, doesn't it? These ghosts can't be the Spirits that get talked about, because those Spirits are far from powerless. Isn't it the Spirits that are supposed to bring these lessons down? They have the power to make packs of dogs and sick wolves! If the Spirits are doing all that, then... how can anyone call them kind? It would be a different thing if they were just... watching. If they could hear, and maybe whisper advice. Spirits like those, perhaps Ikuna could believe in. After a while, Ikuna sighs, and drags his attention back to the present conversation. "Cerulean's over by where the two rivers meet." He points, then hmms. "I don't know what they'd think of a cougar, though. But if I see Anoki... or maybe his sister. She's some kind of seer too."
"Spirits or ghosts can bring words of wisdom to us but they can't harm us. At least none that I have seen." Kachina offers as her gaze lifts up towards he sky waching it a few moments before a soft breath escapes her and she looks over to Ikuna watching her friend?.. "Ikuna, try not to lose hope. Its not good when one loses it." Kach has lost so much, her mother, brother, an to some degree herself, its sad really. A slight nod is seen. "Thank you, perhaps I could find them.. An I can understand why they might not like cougars."
"Hope, huh?" asks Ikuna, and shakes his head slowly. "I've still got my pack. We'll figure something out. It's just... I see them looking at me sometimes, like... I'm supposed to have answers. And I don't, not really. Skahla wanted us to know about the Spirits, and... I don't even know that." He almost-laughs. "I'm here talking with you about them, because... I don't even know. Because I am."
Kachina offers him a slight smile. "Ikuna.. There are many different spirits around. I see one that have died, so why couldn't there be more? If Skahla wants you to know about spirits then ask him, or some other wolf in the pack that might know about which ones he is refering too?" She stretches while shifting up onto her haunches. "An there's nothing wrong with talking to me. I may see dead things but I'm not crazy." Though she does wink when saying that.
Ikuna sighs. There's that slight urge to say it's not that simple, but then... it kind of is that simple. Whether he believes in them or not, Ikuna himself has said that the spirit-stories teach good things. Even a dead spirit can do some good. Kachina would certainly know that part of things! He looks up at her, and offers a smile. "No, nothing wrong with talking to you. It's... nice to see you again."
Kachina smiles a moment and nods. "An its nice to see you again too.. I wsn't sure if you'd even remember me, or well want to after everything that happened." It took a long time for her to get past that, an too some degree she will never be over it. "Ikuna, if there is anything that I can do to help you or your pack please let me know.. An I mean /anything/.." Like trying to take one a pack of dogs. She may not be as big as most cougars but she is still a cougar, all muscle and with claws and fangs. As for the dogs she would take them on with her friend without a second thought.
Ikuna leans forward, to bump his nose gently against Kachina's cheek, right near those fierce feline jaws. As he did before, when they were both much smaller. "How could I not? You... were probably what kept me sane, back then." He smiles, bittersweet, then nods slowly at her offer. "I'll... have to think about it." Even with a cougar... some of Asku's stories of battle and heroism had cougars in them - and cougars, defeated by packs of wolves. Perhaps dogs could do the same. "Ute is living near the waterfall, now. If you come there, or near Cerulean... be careful." He smiles slightly. "There are puppies this spring, and... we're extra protective, these days." Between the kidnappings when Ikuna and Anoki were young, and the threat of the dogs this spring... oh, yes, both wolfpacks might well snarl first and ask questions later.
Kachina offers him a soft smile, head turning to bump her nose against his cheek a moment. "I suppose we did help one another then." Seems she helped him more so though. "Alright, I understand. An I will try not to bother anyone. I wasn't expecting to come this far it just sort of happened.." As she went running like a race horse after the last encounter with a certain ghost. Her gaze turns to where she has been told that Anoki could be found. "Perhaps I will go and try to find Anoki and speak with him later on."
A cougar can pass time in solitude far more easily than a wolf, after all. Ikuna smiles, and nods. "You said... it was some sort of a vision quest thing?" he asks, before lowering his head to start eating before it gets cold. He's rather hungry after the long hunt, after all... even if he's not the one who caught the deer, in the end. Then again, wolves are used to sharing in the hunt.
Kachina nods while looking at the kill eyeing it a few moments before she shifts and goes about ripping into one of the haunches that she has chosen for herself. "Yes, we go on and try to find a path for ourself so to speak. Many meet a spirit, or something that 'shows' them what path they are to choose and sometimes they return home to the tribe and then sometimes they do not."
Ikuna eats as he listens, delaying his reply to eat another few bites and to consider on what the cougar said. He nods. "I suppose that makes sense. Ute doesn't really do anything like that... well. Mostly." He sighs. "Wachiwa... went out looking for spirits, but... the dogs found her instead." He frowns, and lowers his head to tear off another chunk of meat, fierce-wolf taking it out on the carcass.
Kachina looks to Ikuna curiously a moment while she listens to what is said, a faint hum escapes her and she soon nods while pondering this. "I'm sorry for yout packmate.. It is not a common thing but it seems many in my tribe have done it in some fashion for many moons now actually. Its a tradition that cotninues on because of it I suppose." A slight shrug is seen.
Fierce-wolf slows in his eating, and Ikuna nods. "That's the way of traditions, I suppose. They go on for as long as enough people believe in them." He smiles somewhat. "Whether it's your tribe, or my pack... or whatever other pack or tribe. The ways... aren't the same, but I think it's interesting to hear about them. To know how other people live... maybe there's something to be learned there."
Kachina smiles a moment and nods. "That is true.." She offers with a soft tone escaping her after gawning on more of the deer. "Some traditions are good to continue are all." This said with a soft tone at the thought. "An it is interesting to hear about what others consider traditions."
"I suppose that's another thing I should find out." Ikuna smiles a little. "Ute's own traditions. I never paid much attention as a puppy," when he was even around the pack, never mind that long unwilling absence, "and now... well. I almost know as much about cougar traditions as I do wolf ones."
Kachina smiles a moment and nods, her forepaws stretching an she shifts up onto her paws while giving herself a good shake. "Well I'll be glad to tell you what ever I possible can about the cougar ones that I know at least." This said as she grins a moment. "Though when it comes to stuff about wolves, well I'm not that sure."
"No, I don't suppose you would know much about wolves." Ikuna shakes his head, grinning somewhat. "Or about dogs, for that matter." He sighs, but the smile comes back again soon enough. "What stories do cougars tell about the earliest of days? Wolves talk about Alpha and Beta living together, but... that doesn't seem a very cougar sort of idea."
Kachina tilts her head and pers at Ikuna curiously. "Alpha and Beta?" She questions curiously as she settles to her haunches, a ear twitching forward and back while she takes in a slight breath. "An I don't know much of anything about dogs."
"Alpha and Beta were the first wolves, or so the story goes. He was first, but he was lonely, so she came..." Ikuna trails off, then suddenly leaves his story to change topics. "When cougars choose mates. Is it always just a male and a female, or... have you ever heard about two males, being together like that?"
Kachina ponders this an nods a moment. "I see.." She says while thinking. A curious glance offered over to Ikuna. "Cougars don't tend to take mates.. At least not normaly. There is one male living with the tribe at the moment. I think that is what my father and mother left to start out on there own." A curious glance is sent his way. "Two males together? I don't think I've ever heard of it before."
"Oh," says Ikuna, as Kachina's explanation of how things are among cougars startles him from his own thoughts on the matter. It is an interesting thing, and his expression becomes considering as he stores that information away. It can't all the comparative sociology, though, and soon enough she's answering the question he actually asked. His face goes mostly expressionless, and he nods. "All right."
Kachina peers at Ikuna a few moments. "Why did you ask that?" She's clearly curious over this. Well the thought never crossed her mind before so now she is wondering!
"Nothing," says Ikuna, with a shake of his head. Surely it must be nothing, for it seems nobody's ever heard of such a thing. It's just his own strangeness. Maybe something broke inside him. It doesn't matter; Ahiga and Tala still accept him, so what more does he need? The young wolf rises to his feet, and smiles. "I should get back to my pack. It was good seeing you."
Kachina doesn't know any other way after all. A nod of her head is seen and she smiles to him. "Alright.. I enjoyed speaking with you Ikuna, it has been too long. I hope to do so again soon." She noses the kill and winks at him. "I think we made it light enough that you should be able to get it back for your pack. Of you like I can help you out for a bit."
Ikuna smiles, and nods. He nudges at the splayed limbs of the half-eaten deer, pushing them together to make a bundle he can effectively drag. Cougar appetites are mighty indeed, and it's far lighter now than it was. Before he picks it up, he pauses. "I... don't know where Ute will be, in the seasons to come, but wherever it is... I'll keep an ear perked for you. If you want to come with me a ways now, you can. It's up to you." Then, he lowers his muzzle and makes further conversation impossible by picking up the deer for the journey back home. Perhaps he did go further than he should have... but he can't find it to be sorry.
Kachina may not be as big as other cougar's but she still eats like one! With a smile she nods. "Well I hope we figure out a way to keep in touch." She noses at the deer and chuckles. "I don't see why not, for a way's at least then I'm thinking a nap is in order." With a belly full of deer its not surprize! She follows after him, offering a few comments now and then along with helping drag the kill when needed.