A Home...for now {Open}

[yoko]

"Oh! Thanks," he smiled brightly, accepting the gift. Another prey animal. He leaned in and gave it a tentative sniff. It smelled even different from the fish and the bird! How did Kyran identify these things? He'd make sure to find out before hunting these things again. In the meantime, he wanted to distinguish this creature from the others until he learned the proper name for it. "A Wriggly," he announced. "That's what I'll call it until I can ask Ebony about it." Gratefully, he took what was left of the creature. If Kyran had already eaten some, it had to be okay. It tasted alright, not so good as the bird or fish, but he knew Kyran had gone through the trouble of catching and sharing it so that made it even better. "So...have you seen those things? The ones that made all that noise last night?" Occasionally that night, a terrible screeching sound was made, accompanied by the rustle of leaves high above them. Mike wasn't scared by them, only a little startled and even a little annoyed. Why couldn't they be quiet and sleep like everything else did at night?

[Kitsune]

A Wriggly? It was certainly interesting. The only problem Kyran had with naming things was it gave another level to the prey animals. It made them seem a little less like prey. Still it would make it easier to identify what you were hunting. "Sounds good to me." Screeching last night? Kyran hadn't heard anything at all. He was quite a deep sleeper so that must be why he hadn't heard anything. He would have to stay up tonight to see if he could hear the noise. "I didn't hear anything, actually." Kyran replied to Mike after a moment of thinking on it. "Where they noise like the bird made? Or different." Now he wished he wasn't a light sleeper so he could discuss these things better and maybe even try to find them. "Also what do you want to do today? I thought maybe we could do some swimming and maybe exploring, or whatever."

[yoko]

Mike shook his head. "It sounded a lot worse than anything I'd ever heard." It surprised him that the canine could sleep through that, but then maybe he'd been dreaming the whole thing. It definitely sounded like it was coming from outside himself though. He supposed it didn't matter. Whatever the noise had been, he'd gotten enough sleep and it had stopped now. Mike smiled at the question. Swimming sounded like a good suggestion. Maybe there were games they could play with water. Only in the swallow places though. "Yeah, let's go swimming. And then maybe we could visit the Blue Plain?" He wasn't sure if Ebony would be busy or not. Taking care of a large group sounded like a lot of work.

[Kitsune]

"Yeah, maybe we could go there." Kyran said hesitantly. He really wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to go. Mike seemed to really like Ebony and all but Kyran really wasn't so sure if he wanted to go anywhere or not, or well he wanted to go places. He just didn't know if he wanted to meet new faces yet. He did his best to make sure Mike didn't pick up on his discomfort so he started wagging his tail. We might have to walk along the bank for a little bit, either upstream or downstream to find a good place to swim." He couldn't remember where the place had been but perhaps Mike knew of a good place. He didn't really care how far it was, after a long walk would help him shed the last bit of drowsiness he had, and get his blood pumping. It was better to be worked up before he went swimming and he also kind of wanted time to digest his food. Swimming with a full stomach made him feel sluggish and uncomfortable.

[yoko]

Mike hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary from Kyran and so he padded along happily to the river. Hearing the soft rumbles of the water, he realized that he was actually pretty thirsty and as soon as he reached the edge, he crouched down and began to lap the cool water up. While he was down there, he realized that the water was actually moving a little faster here than in the other places. He lifted his dripping chin and stuck a paw beneath the surface to test it. "This isn't a good swimming place," he said. "Maybe we should go further that way, because that's the direction the water wants to take us anyway." he gestured with his tail.

[Kitsune]

Kyran followed along behind Mike and it seemed that Mike got thirsty in the mornings as well because the first thing he did was start drinking water. He kept on getting amazed by how similar they both were. It could be because they were both about the same age though. He wasn't thirsty so he just kind of stood there while Mike drank. Downstream did seem like a good place to start and he incline is head in agreement, Yeah, that makes sense." Kyran started back down the bank, and he noticed he couldn't see any fish in the water. Maybe they were sleeping? Did fish sleep, and where would they sleep? For that matter how did they live underneath the water? He had seen animals that went underwater but they always came back up out of it, and he didn't think they stayed underneath there. Anyway it really didn't matter but maybe he could figure it out someday.

[yoko]

As they walked to find a calmer place, Mike asked Kyran, "So have you met others like me? Felines, I mean? Were any of them as big as you or do we only get smaller?" He kept glancing at the water as they went and finally it seemed that they had come to a place where the river was wide and slow and weak. Mike dipped a paw in and purred slightly. "I think this is it. What do you think?" The water was clear and a little blue and it smelled good. He could see the bottom from the bank, but he'd already been warned that that wasn't a good judge of how deep it was. Mike glanced over Kyran. He was big, but not as big as Ebony had been. Would he really be able to pull Mike out if he went under? He was pretty sure the reverse was impossible.

[Kitsune]

"Well, I haven't really met any felines, I have seen others though, and most of the older ones were larger than me. I have seen a few smaller than you, though not by much." He really wished now that he had actually talked with the other animals he had seen rather than avoiding them. Then again if he had done that he might not have met Mike, and that wasn't really an idea he didn't want to entertain. "This water looks good," and with no pause he jumped off the bank. the water next to the bank wasn't very deep, barely going up to belly fur. "This spot is perfect because we can just walk in it and swim in it. It starts getting a little deeper the farther out we go and there really isn't any current so you should be good." Kyran cocked his head playfully, this was a perfect place, they could play and splash around, or swim. What could be better?

[yoko]

"Yeah, I've seen at least one smaller than me. You're the first canine I've met. Have you met older canines?" he asked curiously. Some water splashed his face as Kyran jumped right in. He was stunned at first, but then he let out a big laugh. He had to admire that kind of bravery. He stayed on the bank as Kyran explained about the water here. If it was at Kyran's belly then it might almost cover Mike's back That was okay though. So long as he'd be able to walk or paddle, he didn't seem any harm in following his friend's lead. Taking a few steps back and wriggling his bottom, Mike charged and jumped in right next to him, certain to return the splash he'd gotten earlier. He sank under briefly but quickly stood on his toes and breathed out his nose to get rid of the water there. Blinking his blue eyes open, he grinned at Kyran and began to paddle away."Can't catch me!"

[Kitsune]

"I have met one older canine but we kind of parted ways. She was the one who taught me how to hunt." Kyran thought back to his first friend Tsuki who had found him by waking him up. That must just be how he was destined to make friends. "Oh, I can catch you!" Kyran shouted slightly surprised by the sudden challenge, and he probably would have if his paw hadn't slipped forward as he took a step. Immediately he went face first into the water and we he got back up he was sitting down in the with water dripping of his face, with his ears down. "Just giving you a head start!" he proclaimed loudly trying to make up for his obvious accident. He let out a small sneezed and shook his head to get the water out of his eyes and his ears back up. That hadn't been very fun, although the water did feel nice on his fur.

[yoko]

Ahhh, so Kyran had an older mentor as well. The pale feline wondered where she was at, but he didn't pry. Mike had been paddling frantically when he heard the splash and he turned to see that most of Kyran was under. Could he swim that way? But moments later Kyran was sitting up, dripping in water. Not to be mean-spirited, Mike chuckled softly. He did look pretty silly with the fur on his face all drooping down. "Suuure you were!" Mike called back, paddling even further away. His plan was to make a wide circle around Kyran as he followed him. That way he wouldn't get any closer. The only problem was that his paws were much smaller and so he couldn't "dig" at the water as well.

[Kitsune]

"Well I do have a size advantage you know. I could step over you!" Kyran called out, then he playfully narrowed his eyes and he got up and acted as if he was going to jump. In reality he was just trying to get his tail in perfect position. He had a feeling that he could use his tail to splash Mike with water. With a sudden strike of his tail he did his best to flick the water in the same direction as Mike was. He didn't know if it would work or not so he lowered himself lower into the water so only his had and the top of his back was out of the water. Then he started creeping his way through the water towards Mike. He was pleased that this way he could get clean and play! Plus he had a feeling that Mike's fur was going to be a couple shades lighter once they were done and got out of the water. He could be wrong but he had a feeling most of Mike's fur was covered in dust.

[yoko]

Mike was splashed in the face once more and he laughed and cried. "No fair." Even as he used a wet paw to wipe his face, he knew that if he was still he'd be a sitting duck. So he began to move blindly in the opposite direction than he'd seen Kyran. For good measure, he waved his tail back and forth, slapping it against the water in splashes. Finally, his eyes cleared enough to see and he gasped at how close behind him Kyran was. So with a playful growl, he whirled around and struck the water with his foreleg as his last line of defense. He wasn't sure it would work or not, but if it didn't, he certainly wouldn't have time to get away!

[Kitsune]

"Fair, how's that not fair!?" Kyran protested right before he got hit in the face with a wave of water. "This is war!" He cried out as he fled a safer distance away. He really needed to come up with a better game plan, then he realized he did still have his tail, he had only waved it once. But what exactly would happen if he kept on wagging it? theoretically it would get water everywhere. He stood up and turned so his back was facing Mike and then he wagged his tail as hard as he could. he really had no idea how ell it was working. It was backfiring on him a little bit as he kept getting hit by water flying off of it, and really it was rather tiring. The water made his tail kind of heavy. He figured he had gotten enough water so he stopped and turned back around. Thankfully the water wasn't so deep that he couldn't site, so he sat down to see how well his idea had worked on Mike, if at all. It was basically the same tactic he had used before but this way it had more than just one wave of water.

[yoko]

"Then let's have a war!" Mike called back, laughing as his "enemy" fled. But he knew he had not yet won! Since the challenge was to catch him, it wouldn't make much sense for him to hurry after him and 'finish him off', so he kept his distance and rested his legs by letting his toes keep him above water. He had a bad feeling when Kyran turned around, but before he could turn and flee, waves of water from Kyran's tail washed over him. He closed his eyes and tried not to breath as his head was completely drenched. Then, figuring that getting away was better than standing there and taking it, he lifted his paws and began to paddle in the other direction. He didn't even stop when he heard the splashing stop and so he ended up with one paw on land before he dared to breath and shake his head dry. "Still haven't caught me!"