[OrP] Lost

[Flayre The Pyro Girl]

Nudge had been wandering around the area near his cave, thinking. He'd been secluded in his cave for a while, and needed to reassert his dominance over the area.

So he was wandering, patrolling the edges of his territory, gouging his arks where the trees had healed over them. Around midday, he found he was hungry, and headed to the long pond that edges his territory. He leaped in, and dove after a fish that wasn't quite quick enough to escape. He surfaced with his meal crunching between his teeth, and noticed a form at the edge of the water, drinking.

He gulped down the fish before calling loudly, "You there! Who are you?"  

[phoenix kiss]

The imperious tone in the other kimeti's voice startled the other kiokote. Thankfully, the kimeti hadn't seen her; despite her bright coloring, Windjammer was standing in a dense thicket of reeds that hid her from view.

She had been in the Swamp for long enough that her hooves were beginning to ache from being submerged in water all the time; they were getting soft around the edges, and her coat was often quite liberally splattered with mud. The heat was bearable, because the plains had been hot -- the humidity was something she'd learned to deal with, though some nights she wished for the dry vastness of her homeland.

She had picked up a hoof to begin walking over to the other kiokote -- not expecting to see one this far into the swamp! -- when the kimeti issued his challenge. Steeling herself, Windjammer ventured out of the thicket of reeds, slipping up next to the smaller kiokote, and then blinked at both of the others. "Have we intruded?"  

[SilverShieldwolf]

The voice startled him from his short nap. He opened his eyes slowly and turned to look for the voice. It appeared to belong to another buck, who probably was the one who marked the area. Stepping out from the shadowy area, Nights Glory went to the waters edge.

His silver maw opened with a yawn as he stared at the kiokotes. He had heard stories of them, but this was his first meeting. "Greetings," he called out to all three standing at the water.  

[Flayre The Pyro Girl]

Not just one, but three intruders in his territory! The sheer indignance made his normally sharp tone even sharper. "Yes, you have intruded! This area is clearly marked as mine; how could you have missed them?" His miniature rant was caught short when he actually looked at two of the newcomers. They were not Kimeti; they were some creature he had never seen before. "Better question: what are you? And who are you?"  

[phoenix kiss]

Windjammer is unfailingly polite. It is both a great boon and one of her biggest flaws -- and it seems to go against typical competitive kiokote mindset. Perhaps she is so polite simply so she can be the best at it.

The kiokote looks as though she'd like to give the indignant buck an earful. She draws herself up and glances to the blue kiokote (what were the odds?) and then stomps a hoof on the ground. "We are newcomers to your territory. If there were signs placed we did not see them and did not mean to intrude onto something private."

She shakes her head. Windjammer can hardly keep still at any time. This is no different -- another slight shift of hoof sends watery mud striped up her forelegs. She sighs. "This swamp is much thicker than our homeland."

She tips her head towards Acorn, "If you are lost -- I am lost as well."  

[Flayre The Pyro Girl]

Nudge drew up at the tone in the second not-Kimeti's voice. He loathed having someone point out his shortcomings, and failing to maintain the area he called his was most assuredly a failing. "My apologies. I have been remiss in assuring that the marks have been kept clear." The apology is grudging, and more formal than friendly. But Nudge is not a friendly sort of buck. Which might explain why he hadn't heard of Kiokote before now.

"From the plains, you say? Whyever were you out there? And what brings you here, now?" For all that he's not a hi-how-are-you buck, Nudge is abominably curious, and always willing to pay attention, if he gets what he wants from the situation. And it might be beneficial to be a tad more friendly to these new visitors. After all, it was--curse it all--his own fault for not keeping the marks clear.  

[SilverShieldwolf]

"Did I hear you say you are lost?" Nights asked the two females. He stamped his hoofs in the ground before him, his eyes turned towards the buck. "I have heard of them before. A legend of some sort told long ago. At least it had sounded like a legend."

He moves towards Acorn. "Wonderful to meet you. I am Nights Glory," cocks his head and dips his neck down in a bow. "Where are you heading?"  

[phoenix kiss]

Windjammer swivels her ears towards Acorn, curious -- but not quite curious (or bold) enough to ask her to divulge what seems to be private information. Instead, she stomps a hoof; a moment later flicks her tail against her flanks, a moment after that twitches an ear, and then turns around in a full circle. The mud that has splattered on her legs and even across her flanks seems to be a telltale sign of her inability to sit still.

After a moment she seems to realize something, and then glances first to Nudge, then to Nights Glory. "My manners." That much is said to herself, a little chidingly. "My name is Windjammer. Perhaps you wouldn't mind showing us around? I am no healer and we know nothing of the swamp except that it is damp and the home of the kimeti."  

[Flayre The Pyro Girl]

"There are many things that heal in the swamp, but just as many harm. Be careful what you choose as healing aid." He remembers quite well the scar on his back left foot, a cut that wouldn't have festered if he had taken the proper precautions and swaddled it in leaves. "Be wary of the green berries that grow near the cypress trees. They cause delusions if one is not fevered, but if you mix them with black mud and cover the injury, it should heal."

It makes him itch between his shoulders, but if he can help, he will. "I have some leaves of healing paste at my home. I will give them to you, and tell you where to find the items if they will aid whatever it is you need aid with." It's the extent of his kindness, and he turns abruptly from the area, heading back along his trail, away from the pond and these newcomers.  

[SilverShieldwolf]

Nights walks to the side of Windjammer. "I am not skilled or knowledgeable with plants, but I can help you find your way back to the others perhaps." A nod of his head for them to follow the other buck, he waits to see if they will. He remembers a time when he got lost and met some not so nice kimeti. That is when he decided he would help any who needed it.

He glanced to Acorn. "What kind of illness are you seeking to cure?" If he could learn something new he would do his best to learn as much as possible. Besides be truly curious, he wanted to learn more about the kiokote then what the stories always said.  

[Flayre The Pyro Girl]

"Do you suppose swamp plants would survive where you come from? Obviously, they flourish here, but your area is much different?" Nudge spoke over his shoulder as he led the odd group to his home. "I don't know if my paste will work on aching. It works best on injuries like cuts and such. I have heard that there are Kimeti who work more with plants to make medicines. I do not have that desire."

He stopped in front of the cave he had claimed as his home. "Please, be welcome. I'll fetch the leaves, and you can see if the paste works on your Ache."