It's Just Like Swimming, But Without The Water

[Therdde]

Part One

Characters (In Order of Appearance):
Therdde – Male Duck
Chesmu – Male Cougar
Tse – Male Bison
Darau – Male Wolf
Paoro – Female Cougar
Lotus – Male Wolf
Dichali – Male Bighorn Sheep

- Unknown Lands (2) -

Nearly an hour before dawn, Therdde had just begun to awaken. His sleep was fitful, interrupted often by the symptoms of his illness. His mind is troubled with the feeling of unease that refuses to fade away. He has come to recognize what is happening as part of the illness, similar to things Paoro and Dichali have experienced, but that doesn't make them any easier to cope with. Once sleep leaves him, he picks himself up, unsteadily, onto his feet and looks around, fighting against the occasional visions of treachery incarnated.

Chesmu is lying directly in front of the rock, staring at it, finding no true meaning in the markings aside from the fact that he is failing the group. He can't even figure out pictures of animals on a rock? He's pathetic, indeed. He just stares onward.

The majority of the group seems to still be resting, or standing guard. Good. They'll need the energy for the trek back. Therdde makes his way, still unsteadily, towards Chesmu. The vote yesterday resolved issues, but brought more to light. Stopping a 'safe' distance away from the male cougar, the duck asks, "Have you slept at all?" His tone is surprisingly mellow, especially compared to every other tone he has used with Chesmu thus far.

Chesmu has not. All he's been doing is keeping an eye out and feeling sorry for himself. That and wishing he could just look at this rock and everything makes sense! This cure is out there, and they've got to find it! "No... I haven't slept." he says. "Too busy trying to think about this."

Therdde does not like Chesmu. At all. He finds the male cougar crass and unpleasant. But they're in this together, whether Therdde likes it or not. "None of us have found a solution yet, Chesmu. Thinking about it isn't going to help if we don't have what we need to decipher it. What we need is to focus our energy where it'll do some good." At least, the duck believes that, right now. No telling what he'll believe when the illness begins affecting his thinking process more directly again.

Chesmu looks over to Therdde carefully. He'd be blind not to know the duck doesn't like him, honestly. But he's not about to pursue that course of thought. Instead he wonders if the duck has any ideas on what they can do. "You have any ideas? I'd love to know where to start looking for a way to understand this little puzzle of ours." That and he's getting tired of staring at the rock. He'd much rather make sense of it.

Therdde likewise keeps his own personal feelings to himself. Chesmu accepted the results of the vote. Nothing else matters, so long as the general peace is kept. "I still think we need a dog, or something else that has seen these symbols before, and often. You and I have no way of understanding them. No one here does. We need something that spends a lot of time in close proximity to the kinds of creatures who make these symbols." Something domesticated, in other words. At no point has Therdde gotten a close enough look from a good enough vantage point to realize that the symbols are vague likenesses of animals. Being so close to the ground as he is, or otherwise up higher, his perspective is not as good as some of the other animals in the group.

Chesmu thinks about this... "A dog... or a cat." One of those weaker, smaller animals that the humans are fond of keeping. "That would be a bit of a journey to find man. And to come back. That is a lot of time spent. There’s got to be a better way. Wouldn't want to go off that far only to come back and find everyone is gone... or worse."

"Do you have a better idea?" Therdde's tone is not harsh, but he couldn't even begin to imagine who could translate these symbols into something they could use. The duck takes a broken breath, looking up at the large, currently useless rock. For at least the tenth time, a voice inside his small head tells him, 'You're running out of time.'

Chesmu looks over at the duck, then back at the rock. "Unfortunately, I don't, which means that time will be pretty scarce if we're lucky. Might want to talk to Paoro about this possibility. Wouldn't want to worry her by leaving without her knowing."

Therdde has no intention of leaving before the newly elected leader of their makeshift tribe. He still believes they /need/ to be in this together, or else none of them will succeed. It's the only reason why the tension the group has recently experienced plays so heavily on his mind. Sitting down again, the mallard says, "I'm not going anywhere."

Chesmu just stares at the duck a moment. If anyone were to be able to cover that sort of distance in any decent time, it would have been him. "Then I don't see how we're going to find someone who can read this rock."

Therdde didn't mean ever. He meant he's not going anywhere until Paoro and possibly the rest of the group awakens. Of course, he doesn't realize that he may have been misunderstood. After all, it was Chesmu who said they, or he, shouldn't leave without consulting the cougaress. He blinks a few times, then finally responds. "We'll find someone... I hope."

"We must, for the good of you who are sick." he says. There’s little to nothing for Chesmu here. He's healthy and happy... Well, healthy anyway. "I can only imagine all of you would like your lives back. Must have dropped many things to find this cure."

The ram left his family. Paoro left her tribe, which is even worse because she was the matron of that tribe. Therdde doesn't know much of Lotus's story, but Lotus joined them even before he was ill. Therdde did not leave anyone behind, per se. It is far from mating season for ducks, and though they travel together and tend to congregate in large groups, they aren't very family-oriented. It doesn't change the fact that he's alone now, with none of his own kind and surrounded by creatures who would normally love to have such an easy target in their midst. Therdde never makes eye contact with the cougar, but after several moments of silence, he says, "It hasn't been easy..."

Chesmu shakes his head. "No, it hasn't been easy at all." He looks over at the rock. "Before this, I was nothing but a wandering cougar alone in the wild. I had nothing to do with anybody. I was originally *hunting* Dichali when I learned about the disease."

That's enough to get Therdde to look at Chesmu, for quite some time. Therdde has been with Dichali ever since the ram grew ill, and while he isn't stupid, he never saw and he definitely didn't smell Chesmu, that day. "You didn't seem very cautious about eating ill meat. What stopped you from attacking?" It could have been Keegan's presence, sure, but it's not like another predator was going to stop a hunt. Of course, Therdde imagines they're talking about the day when they first started searching for Paoro.

Chesmu will indeed prove him wrong. "The raven ruined the plan. He got to talking about the illness. Too many eyes on Dichali. No way I would have come after him if there were so many creatures aware of a cougar taking a sick ram away. Sick or not, once alerted, I'm sure Dichali could have defended himself." That was a hard day. He wound up hunting something else.

The raven? Wha... Oh. Therdde isn't entirely sure how to process this, except that he tells himself to avoid conversations with Makya in the future, especially in situations where he might potentially be in danger. Finally, with the slightest hint of humour in his tone, he says, "Well, forgive me for being grateful for your failure..." He can't blame any predator the need to eat, but he's not exactly going to offer himself or one of his companions up as a meal, and he wouldn't have gotten as far as Paoro without Dichali's help, in all likelihood.

Chesmu chuckles. It may yet prove to benefit Chesmu that he *didn't* manage to eat Dichali that day. It was curiosity that brought him into the group, then a selfish desire to capitalize off the cure, now he's back to curiosity and the genuine desire to help. And help he shall. "When you go into the air... how does it feel?"

Currently? Like he's going to crash into the ground at breakneck speed at any single point in time. he figures that isn't what Chesmu means, though. "Physically? I don't know how to explain it so you'd understand. It's almost like... Swimming without the water. Wind helping to lift you up, controlling your direction with your wings..." Mentally, though? When the duck learned to fly, there came with it a sense of exhilaration, and fear, and freedom, and safety... And being it the air still inspires a few of those things, even if they're not as pronounced at they were when he was younger.

Chesmu tries to imagine this. Cougars aren't crazy about water... but Chesmu likes air okay. It's nice to breathe and all. "I doubt a cougar could appreciate that feeling. Maybe climb a tree or two."

Therdde will never know how it feels to cover a large distance of land in a few minutes, running. And walking is tiresome for him. So slow. Unlike Chesmu, though, Therdde has never really thought about how movement feels for other species. He ponders it, vaguely. "I guess... You've probably leapt from one spot to another, before... That time, when you're airborne... That's probably the closest you could come... If you could just stretch it out..."

- Time Passes -

At the Unknown Lands, Tse bellows.

Dawn is growing nearer. Therdde has stopped talking entirely, lost in confused and occasionally delusional thoughts. It's all he can do to remain still until those periods pass, sitting near Chesmu near the rock and facing in that directions, though his eyes generally remain closed. Forging the superficial friendship with this cougar has at least served to calm him, somewhat. It has convinced him that Chesmu has no honestly ill intentions, which Therdde had doubts about ever since the male cougar began following them.

Darau rolls over in his sleep, his tongue lulling lazily out the side of his muzzle as he kicks into the air, obviously dreaming about chasing something or other as his stomach grumbles into the air. He's been drifting in and out of sleep for some time, unable to keep his mind quiet enough to get a solid rest until now.

Chesmu is still eying that rock. Though he and Therdde had arrived at a potential move forward. All he has now to do is to try to convince Paoro that it is a good idea, and pray there isn't any significantly lost time.

Dozing lightly in the early morning, the sun beginning to grace the horizon with its warming light, Paoro awakens to a sound she's only vaguely familiar with - it sounds like either a buffalo or a moose bellow, she can't be too sure which. It echoes against the butte, seeming to come from some distance to the north. Her ears prick forward, curiosity drawing her quickly out of her nap, wondering the reasons behind the call. Perhaps they'll figure it out on the way back, if they intercept him. Rolling onto all fours, she turns to the rest of the group. "It's time to move out, before the sun gets too overpowering." Waiting only a few brief moments before turning and padding away, she begins to retrace their steps back towards more familiar terrain.

Lotus wakes up about the same time as Paoro. From his agitated expression, it's evident that the wolf did not experience a very pleasant slumber. Nightmares; precisely why he hates this whole sleeping thing. When the cougaress begins to move, Lotus instinctively rises and begins to follow, although in his confused and drowsy state, he can't really figure out why. Where is he, anyway?

Therdde glances to the sound of Paoro's voice. With a deep breath, the duck draws himself to his feet, spreading his wings out to keeps his balance, as he has been awfully unsteady ever since he woke up. Flying long distances is going to be out of the question until this current bout of dizziness passes, so Therdde makes his way towards Dichali, intending to make the trek back towards common lands with his long-term companion. The ram has gotten more sleep than any of them, and has been awake for almost as long as Therdde, but the illness is wearing on him, so he has largely kept himself from the group.

Darau startles up and mumbles something about bunnies before realizing where he is. Almost automatically, much like Lotus his body gets up and starts to move following the moving figure in front of him. Letting out a huge yawn and shaking himself out before he really starts to wake up.

"Paoro, the duck and I believe we're going to have to find an animal familiar with... Man." Chesmu proposes. It gives him a bad taste in his mouth. Man has always been rather intrusive, haven't they?

"We'll cross that river when we come to it," Paoro replies simply, continuing to pad with her eyes looking directly ahead. "Hopefully we won't be forced to deal with those who serve Man in order to progress from here. Besides," she adds, glancing back once at the unusually-marked stone, "I doubt any of those who would sit at the laps of two-leggers would know anything about such mystical symbolism. It's beyond even our mental capacity, how could it be within theirs?"

Therdde has all but forgotten his earlier conversation with Chesmu, at least consciously. After a brief, polite talk with the ram who is feeling the strain of being away from his own kind as well as his symptoms, Therdde hopes up onto Dichali's back. He nearly falls off immediately, spreading his wings once more until he regains his balance, at which point he sits. Once he is certain the mallard has his balance, the ram falls in like behind the others.

[Therdde]

Part Two

- Unknown Lands (1) -

Darau naturally adjusts his stride to be beside Lotus, yet again, though he stays quiet in the early hours, his vision adjusting to the light.

Dawn is arriving, and a lone bison stands against the sun's rays, making a perfect portrait of the midwest. He is the likely source of the distant bellow, but the reason why is not yet apparent, if there even was one - or simply an early-morning wake-up call to his fellow prairie inhabitants.

Therdde looks ahead as the group travels. It isn't long before the bison comes into his sight. As spaced out as he was earlier, the bellow hardly registered in his conscious mind, and he doesn't yet connect the distant sound with this creature. He does make note of it, though, "Another creature searching for the cure?" His comment is made to no one in particular, simply anyone within earshot. Therdde wouldn't be surprised if that's the case, but if it is, he hopes the bison may have heard something new that the group doesn't know yet.

Lotus snaps out of his apparent trace to look at Darau as the other wolf moves up next to him. "Hello." He greets with a weak wag of his tail. He's easily distracted, however. When the bison comes into view, the wolf slows down a bit. Bovines are high on his list of creatures to stay away from.

Paoro's ear swivels absentmindedly as she sights the large herbivore in the distance, as though pondering how best to approach without him immediately attacking the obvious predator she is. She glances around, her eyes falling on the duck as he speaks. "Perhaps. You might be the best candidate for finding out, if so," she mildly suggests, hoping the duck can still fly, as the buffalo is still some distance off.

Darau's eyes bug out and his tongue instantly rolls out of his muzzle as he spies the bison. Since their group members are off limits as a source of protein, the huge animal looks simply delicious at this point. Darau nudges lotus and nods towards the distant animal, but then remembers Lotus's state of mind with a frown as his tongue slides back into his head. There was no way they were taking that thing down...unless the cougars wanted to help! Then Therdde speaks up and all hopes of breakfast are dashed, “With my luck, probably..." He mumbles.

Chesmu keeps an eye on the buffalo. His stomach growls, but he holds himself back from going insane just with the idea of so much meat. "Paoro... what shall we do from here?"

Therdde had forgotten that once acted as this group's liaison to herbivores. It seems rather like a lifetime ago, and that one little attempt at diplomacy was shattered early on. For a moment, he stares at Paoro, clearly concerned. Once it dawns on him that, oh yeah, herbivores are generally made skittish by the presence of predators, and especially large groups of predators. Finally, he nods, and chances a glance at Chesmu. He keeps himself from saying what he wants to regarding keeping Chesmu away, and instead stands up on Dichali's back. "I'll be back." If he even manages to leave. The ill duck jumps, but it takes him a relatively long time to gain any altitude, before he flies in the general direction of the animal in the distance, hoping he manages to keep in the air until he reaches it.

"We will wait for Therdde to exhibit his immense usefulness once again. And you would do well to keep your tongue in check until the bison is convinced that you are not a threat, as well," Paoro chastises, settling down on her haunches to wait.

The bison's head lifts, nostrils flaring, at the arrival of the predator-heavy group, snorting a sharp exhalation as a bird makes his way over to his proximity. "Who are you?" the massive beast booms in a voice that sounds only a notch above thunder.

Therdde is flying rather low to the ground by the time he comes in close proximity to Tse. Landing is really a matter of simply no longer moving forward and quite literally falling about a foot to the ground, which is every bit as graceless as it sounds. There's still a fair distance between himself and the bison, but not enough to inhibit conversation. Especially not with as loud as Tse insists on talking. After a moment's silence to allow his head to clear of that booming voice, Therdde says, "My companions mean you no harm, let me assure you." Therdde glances back to the group, to make sure none of them have advanced. "Many of us have fallen to the illness spreading through the land, and we are simply in search of a cure." Making sure the bison knows that his group poses no threat is the first step, and the step Therdde was unable to get beyond the last time he tried representing the entire group.

Chesmu crouches and watches the duck do his thing. He'll give Therdde credit, he gets a good job done, provided Chesmu himself doesn’t ruin it. His tail lashes, not at all hiding his interest in the creature.

"Your companions certainly do mean harm, just not at this particular moment. Otherwise, they would not be alive right now," Tse rumbles his response, blinking dark eyes slowly as he considers the duck. "That you would walk with them gives me reason enough to tolerate their presence, however." He pauses, considering this news. "I have not heard of this illness. Apparently, my herd is even more isolated than we imagined."

Darau breaths and controls his hunger, now ignoring it as best he can so as not to be a problem. But to the wolf they were just wasting time here. "Paoro, I fail to see how that thing is going to help us. We've lost too much time already and we're no closer to understanding the marks than we were when we first left the pond." Darau was getting grumpy.

"Would you suggest we simply walk up to Man and beg for his assistance?" Paoro retorts, keeping her eyes focused on the bison. "He is likely to know more of this area than we are, certainly more than Man's lapdogs, and thus more likely to know where the cure might be found."

As the group travelled further, it seemed that more and more creatures had heard of the illness. The duck had honestly intended to do little more than make sure his group could approach the bison. Paoro, after all, if the leader here. Not Therdde. The news that the bison has heard absolutely nothing of an illness stalls Therdde, though, as it strikes him as being odd. "You are of these lands, then?" The bison certainly isn't searching for a cure if he's never heard of the illness, and Therdde couldn't imagine why anyone who was not searching for a cure would be in the area, unless they lived here. As such, his may qualify as a Stupid Question, but his thought processes take time, these days.

Lotus breaks away from his fright at the large beast, and moves around to circle the bison. His eye moves carefully around the around, checking for others of its kind that might be around, although his intentions are not of hunting. Occasionally, he glances at the duck whose name he can't recall right now, hopeful that he will make some progress with the creature.

"This is the furthest north any of my herd have been," the bison answers. "We do not like straying too far beyond our source of water in such a dry, barren land." His eyes roll towards the wolf as it begins to circle around him, the move taken as aggressive no matter what Lotus' true intentions. "I'd knock that off if I were you, wolf, lest you become intimately acquainted with my horns and hooves."

Darau pins his ears back and huffs to himself, settling down until the duck returns.

Therdde misses Lotus's movements, as he is facing the bison. However, when Tse speaks to one of his group, he turns to look. Of course, if Chesmu isn't going to ruin this, someone else would. The mallard practically looks defeated already when he looks back to Tse, though a portion of that is unsteadiness caused by his sickness. Voicing the question that has been on all of their minds, he says, "How much do you know of the large rock, not far beyond here? Are there any legends surrounding it?" Therdde doesn't have time to beat around the bush. None of them do. Especially since all of them are growing impatient and, as a result of that impatience, are more likely to do something at any moment that would ruin relations with this creature.

Paoro's ears prick at the mention of water. Perhaps they might not have to retreat entirely after all...not only could they be rehydrated - the herd permitting - in the location this bison speaks of, it's much more likely that any possible cure will grow at such a fertile source, as opposed to the bleak scrubland they've encountered thus far. She doesn't wish to startle the already perturbed bison, however, and is surprised when the waterfowl doesn't ask about it himself. But his question is just as valid, being what they came for, after all.

Lotus quickly stays himself the moment the bison speaks to him. He forgot how touchy those things are; never mind that he's a wolf, and that doesn't help. Scowling to himself, the one-eyed wolf sits down and looks away from Tse. What happened? He used to do so well at going unnoticed. He's losing his touch. All is wrong in the world.

"Aye, there are." The bison stamps a foot as though to punctuate his affirmation. "There is one thing about the rock that my herd holds particular stock in. A tale that's been passed down from my father's fathers is that our ancestors had lost their way in the desert, and were close to death from a lack of water and nutrition. They stumbled across the great rock bearing many inscriptions, and one of them portrayed what looked like a herd of bison flocking towards a source of water, heading towards the south. Our ancestral herd followed the way the migration pointed, and soon found a hidden oasis, which allowed them to produce progeny that would lead to the herd as it is now. We believe that the carvings were placed there by some higher power to guide our ancestors to their salvation." He shakes his massively wooly head. "Perhaps it will lead you to yours."

Chesmu looks over at Paoro. "If you were cured today... this instant... and only you... what would you do?" It is a curious question, but he wonders. If the group were all still sick except their leader... what would she do? Stay and help the group... or return to her life?

Darau peers over to Lotus as he sits and turns, which makes Darau smile. Can't blame a guy for his instincts. He's only half listening to the rumble of the bison before them, taking the time to look over to Chesmu, his mind now utterly confused as to what to think of the cougar. It was then that he heard the Bison speak of the rock, and his full attention was on the large animal.

Therdde didn't actually know what the markings on the rock were until now. His perspective when looking at the markings never allowed him to see any detail that would make the marking out to be animals. However, he may have just gotten the answer to his question and the Paoro's unspoken question in one fell swoop. Speaking once more, he says, "I appreciate this information, more than you can know. I do have one more request. The members of my group... We're not accustomed to the climate here... Use of your water source would be highly appreciated, and in exchange, my companions will not threaten any of your herd." The bison could do extensive damage to any one of his companions. Granted, the lot of them together could probably take him down, even with the majority of them being ill, but against all of the bison's herd... None of them would stand a chance of walking out of here. He wants to make sure the bison realizes they mean him no harm, so hopefully he will pass that on to others they may meet along the way, and an avoidable confrontation won't break out.

"Assuming I had found the cure, or could still find it, I certainly wouldn't hold it back from the rest of you, not to mention the rest of the creatures of these lands," Paoro responds to the other male, her ears swiveling back towards the bison as he utters his spiritual diatribe. "But regardless, it appears we may be one step closer." Therdde is indeed proving his worth.

Tse snorts at the duck's request, but at least he isn't denying it right away. "I may be well-aware of the damage predators can do, but my mate would not be pleased if she heard I left those needing help out to die when they could have benefited from what we do not own. You may visit the oasis, but you would be well advised to stay clear of my family. I will not hesitate to bash your heads in if you do not comply."

Dichali twitches his ears a bit. "I wonder..." he suddenly speaks up thoughtfully, "If this cure were something we could put into the water...maybe it could get to the creatures that way?" He shakes his head to dismiss his own thought though. "But we don't know what it would do to creatures who aren't sick," he mutters before looking a little unsettled by Tse's remark. The ram certainly knew how to zone out, didn't he?

That's not quite what Chesmu was asking Paoro. "If it were cured by something miraculous... not the cure... what would you do?" he asks. He wants some insight. "If, before we even saw the cure... you were no longer sick..."

Darau looks over to the ram and wonders out loud, "On the other hand, what if it's something like...a flower? Or any plant at all. How would we get it to everyone who is sick? We don't even know how far this thing has spread...

Therdde gives a solemn nod. "Of course they'll understand that. I assure you, it won't become necessary." If nothing else, this mallard seems to have a lot of confidence in his companions. "Thank you, again. I'll leave you be now." Although, probably not as quickly as he arrived. The duck is not entirely certain he can get himself airborne again immediately. He does turn, though, facing back to his companions.

"Assuming that the cure is still to be found, I wouldn't abandon you all, if that's what you're asking," Paoro replies, answering exactly what he's asking, despite her obviously-distracted state as she tries to listen to everything the bison and Therdde are saying. Her eyes never leave the duck as he turns back from the bison, wondering if he can make it back okay.

The bighorn watches his friend duck with some concern. It's rather strange how he could be so conceited when he was healthy, yet, now he seems to be so concerned with others all the time. It's possibly to the point he doesn't likely seem to have himself in mind very much, with how quiet and unbraggy his sickness had made him.

Chesmu looks at Paoro, and does something he rarely does. He smiles to Paoro, a genuine smile. "That makes me glad to hear. I hear you're... an important cougaress back home. I admire your loyalty." He looks back in the direction of the rock.

Darau stands back up as the duck starts to turn back towards them feeling as if they might have actually made some progress this time. He can't help but wag his tail and smile at the duck for such amazing diplomatic skills. He looks over to lotus and calls out to him, "Get back over here, I think we’re moving out soon!" Darau can't help but be excited.

Flying is actually the easy part. Even landing is not hard, though it requires some balance. But lifting off requires more energy. When Therdde finally decides to give it a go, it takes three separate times after he spreads his wings before he can bring them down strongly enough to allow him to get any altitude at all. This time, too, he stays low to the ground as he flies, his energy dissolving quickly due to a combination of activity and fatigue.

"I appreciate your kind words," Paoro replies in turn, bobbing her head at the other cougar before rising to her feet. "But I feel this new information may bring us ever closer to the cure. Let's go visit this oasis and see what there is to see. If we can't discover anything important, we'll rest there and regroup." It's a perfect substitute for their previous pond, being closer, even despite the buffalo herd's presence. She turns and searches for the butte against the horizon, and begins heading towards it once again.

Dichali peers over at Therdde, wondering if he should offer him a ride again. However, he just stays quiet for now and makes his way after Paoro. The good news was enough to allow him to focus less on the day's bought of dizziness, nausea, weakness, and random bouts of hallucination.

- Unknown Lands (3) -

Chesmu is heading alongside the group, deep in thought. After all that's happened, he sure has experienced a wide array of changes in his own attitude. And in his consideration of these changes, he finds himself getting lost in exactly why he is doing this. He's a loner. One who needs no one, wanderer of far and wide. And yet here he is, afraid to be left out of the group? He lowers his gaze to the ground, concerned about his own welfare in this matter.

Unbeknownst to Chesmu, similar thoughts were passing through Darau's mind as well. They were so close now he could smell it! But what would he do with it? Why had he even come? Would he try to take the cure back to the Lazuli Pack, and see if they would take him back, or continue on in search of this other 'desert pack'...so many questions, and the time to choose was getting closer and closer...

Therdde's hallucinations have been so minor, to this point, that he has scarcely noticed them, brushing them off as side effects of being overly tired or overstressed. As he continues to fly, slightly unsteadily and only a few feet above the ground, he glances once towards Chesmu. His earlier conversation, earlier all but discarded in his conscious mind, comes into play as the sickness takes hold of his mind again. All of a sudden, the low flying duck speaks up. "Hey Ches, you figured it out! Does it feel like I described it?" Should something strike him as unusual that a cougar has learned how to fly, even without wings? Yeah, probably. But it doesn't. It /does/ strike him as strange that none of his other companions has remarked upon the male cougar's newfound ability to fly, though.

Many, many pawsteps later, the frazzled group finally sights what appears to be a silvery, shifting something on the horizon, and their collective hopes are raised that this might be the oasis the bison mentioned. Even more steps later, and they can finally make out a clearer image of the lush oasis, as well as a few roaming bison, likely from the male's herd. Therdde's words strike her as odd, but not too odd, the cougaress beginning to feel as though she's in the middle of a dream, where nothing is expected to make complete sense. Indeed, Therdde's words sound as though spoken through water, and Paoro begins to feel as though she's in quicksand, slowly sinking and never quite getting any further than she currently is. But her body at least retains enough basic motor skills to keep her moving closer to the oasis, though she feels mentally like a sleepwalker.

Unlike Chesmu and Darau, Dichali knows exactly why he's here. Not only is he sick, but if they can find a way to spread whatever this cure is, they can save everyone. It was part of his personal, and somewhat odd, honor and duty to help out. He's attempted to help predators before the sickness even, because in his mind, there's nothing sadder than a predator that can't put up a good battle or chase. He blinks a bit at Therdde's remark and peers over at him before turning his attention back to Paoro.

Chesmu is astonished at how quick those who are afflicted drifted into their delusions. It was almost amusing, truly. And he figures they'd be happy in their delusions so long as first off, they aren't killing each other, and secondly, they're still moving. "It is going to be a long couple days." he says, patiently. To Therdde's clear hallucination, he says, in a rather wry tone. "Well... with persistence and a little bit of will..."

As soon as Darau spots the oasis he starts to pick up speed, it may not be food but water was a close second in this place. Therdde's strange words catch the wolf off guard but he just shakes his head, looking over to Chesmu with a 'what in the world?' kind of look. It didn't matter, they could rest now, soon everything would be ok...he hoped.

That's absolutely no kind of answer to his actual question. With little warning, paying no attention to the water that he could be at within moments, Therdde drops a foot or two and attempts to fly as close to Chesmu as possible. For a few seconds, as he miscalculates in his unsteady state, he nearly runs into the male cougar, but he manages to pull back in time. "You didn't answer me. How does it feel?!" Therdde's voice is much louder than it needs to be, as he imagines he is a fair deal higher in the air than he is, flying faster than he is, with more wind resistance for sound to get lost in. Not to mention the fact that Chesmu obviously didn't hear him the first time around.

Dichali jumps a little before looking at Therdde again. "Therdde," he wondered, "What are you yelling about over there?"

Chesmu actually yells out in surprise and wee bit of horror as the duck seems to dive at him! He hits the dirt to keep from being hit. "Therdde! Stop!"

Therdde blinks, allowing himself to drop to the ground just below his position. He ignores Dichali, rather focusing on his, and Chesmu's, sudden landing. They were so high up, too. "Don't worry about the landings. You'll get... used to... them..." Therdde's voice begins to trail off, as his own sudden inactivity allows him to think a little more clearly. "You weren't flying just now, were you?"

The sounds of distress reach into Paoro's mind and yank her out of her sleepwalking state, blinking widely as though startled out of a nap. Glancing around, she sees the normally calm-cool-and-collected duck divebombing Chesmu. She opens her mouth to try and get him to stop, but he settles down just as she does. A bit relieved at yet another crisis averted, she wonders how many more tragedies can be avoided before one sticks. They need to find this cure, and fast. In their distractions, they've actually finally arrived at the oasis, and Paoro turns her gaze to the myriad of flowers found along its edges. Which could it possibly be? There's no way she could test them all in time, and what if some were poisonous? The bison herd shuffles nervously, but none move to attack.

Dichali shakes his head and then instantly seems to regret it. He then leans his head down to sniff at the flowers. "Should some of us try one," he wonders curiously.