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 Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:20 pm
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 Soft, lush fur warm against his side and back. Paws kicking; noses burrowing. A thriving pack all in a slumbering pile. Whole, together.
The mass of fur is all wrong as he awakens hours after sunrise. Silky puppy fur wars with smooth feathery pelts. Neither are as he remembers; neither are as he is. A coat of contradiction: dense and course along his back and tail but soft along his head and down his ribs. "Only a memory," he sighs as his ears swivel and flatten.
The memories -- too vivid, too real to be mere dreams -- cling to his woken mind and he is, once again, left restless and in pieces. He is no lone wolf; he needs a pack. And these puppies that he has wandered upon will not do. He frets momentarily about leaving them but they are not truly puppies any longer; eaglehounds are barely smaller than he is and sanddogs only appear young. They shall be fine on their own. As they were before he happened upon them.
He rises and the last phantom anchor to his life before is left only his head. Inside his chest, he feels his heart constrict. The strings of his heart go taut, pull, guide him. He dearly hopes it is to his pack, no matter who that may be -- mother or father, brother or sister, love or child. The loneliness is far more than he can bear. And despite being born here in the swamp this lifetime, he cannot help but find it jarring. He is wolf reborn and it is nothing like the home he remembers.
"Today, I will find you," he tells himself; prays to the Motherfather that it will become true. And he moves onward. He has to find someone. Just one someone who is like him. |
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 2:38 pm
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Her family was a curious and quaint thing. A distant mother, an angry father... a grandmother more inclined to her rabbits than her family. Everything else was a hazy notion, a concept she didn't have. It had left Keepsake wanting of... something. Not a family, perhaps, but just other kin. Kin to speak with, trade stories with... even just a laugh!
It had taken the delicate doe some time to work up the nerve to leave her childhood home. There were no teary farewells, but at the same time, nothing to hold her back but her own nerve. Absolutely, incredibly exciting!
...But also extraordinarily terrifying.
Ears perked to everything around her, Keepsake ventured through the swamp. Slowly but surely, it changed before her. Dense undergroves gave way to more open skies, and the world was her oyster. Despite the nerves threatening to burst from her chest, Keepsake just knew there was something out there for her. Today was the day.
And there! There, in the distance, was her fellow kin! Brightening up with a smile she couldn't contain, the pale doe attempted to hurry through the murk, desperate to make contact with someone else.
"H-hello! Excuse me! Do you have a moment?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 10:51 pm
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"H-hello! Excuse me! Do you have a moment?"
A voice rings out towards him and he turns, opens his mouth to speak and--A vision. An absolute vision has appeared. He feels his mind go blank and, momentarily, he forgets how to speak or even move. He can see only this doe. Has the Motherfather answered his prayers?
"Y-yes," he croaks, after an alarmingly agonizing silence where he has done nothing but stare. The skin beneath his fur heats in a blush of mild pink to fierce red and he is so very glad his coat is so dense. How mortifying if she were to see him blushing at the mere sight of her.
He gives his body a shake to alleviate the nerves. The dense fur ruffles in the movement, poofs, then flattens as he moves forward to meet her. Swallows to keep his throat from drying or his voice from sounding like an overgrown frog; tells himself silently, left right to remember how to move even as he swears his knees quake, threaten to make her think him nothing but a fool.
"Ahem, yes, for you," at least his voice sounds assured and kind; if perhaps a little starstruck.
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Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 5:57 pm
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When the buck stopped and turned her intense gaze on her, Keepsake couldn't help but gasp aloud. More than kimeti, this buck looked... well, far more intense than even her extraordinarily strict parents. But there was a wildness to the stranger- an ethereal quality she couldn't quite name. Mouth slightly agape, the pale doe found herself entirely at a loss for words. So long she had longed to speak with someone outside her family, and now...
"I-I'm so sorry," she laughed, airy and light as her cheeks flushed, "I suppose I've been so excited to meet someone new, I didn't plan anything to say! I hope you weren't headed anywhere important." Keepsake paused, and her ears dropped.
"B-but if I'm keeping you from anything, please, don't hesitate to leave!"
Oh, motherfather, this wasn't going well at all. This intimidating buck was staring at her, and she looked like a fish out of water. Only a fish out of water would probably fair much better than her. Shuffling uneasily, she continued, in way of explanation.
"I haven't met... kin beyond my family, and they're a bit much for me sometimes! Except my sister, she's very kind. S-so I'm just," again, that nervous laugh burbled up,
"I'm very excited to meet you!"
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Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 6:32 pm
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Even her voice is lovely; it reminds him of pastel spring flowers swept up into a wafting breeze. He stares, intent, as he listens to her words and takes in the way the soft cascade of hair frames her face. The lightness of her eyes against the angled horns is quite captivating for a kimeti. And while he thinks her beautiful, he sees nothing that sings brethren; indeed he feels his hopes begin to wilt.
How nice it must be to have family, he thinks, as she speaks. Wonders at a reality where he awoke entangled in a pile of brothers and sisters and cousins and--one day. One day.
"It would be very unkind of me to leave," he attempts to soothe her nerves. He smiles, in a manner he hopes he reassuring, and then extends a hoof outward, bowing low to the great beauty. It is then he spies her tail -- a fur laden, sweeping tail not unlike a wolf's -- and his heart nearly bursts. She has the tail similar to a wolf, nearly the same as his own! Could it be that she, too, was a wolf? Could she be his soulmate?
He rises, swallows the rock of uncertainty, "As it happens, my lady, I have no where to be. I may even surmise today's goal was to meet you." Oh, how he hopes it is her the Motherfather has intended him to find. The other lone wolf in need of a pack. Please, let it be her.
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 4:06 pm
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Keepsake nodded gladly when the stranger said he had nowhere to be, delighted to have found such pleasant company for her first meeting. He was rather intimidating on the surface, but it seemed looks were not everything to this stranger. After all, her own family was lovely and fair, but not of the kindest hearts in the world. Even her own mother, with the most beautiful hair and softest eyes was born with a heart of ice. How Keepsake had turned out so soft and loving, she would never understand.
Her cheeks heated in surprise at the comment as to destiny guiding them to meet, and the pale doe could not help the delicate and nervous laughter which bubbled from her. While instinct told her to turn away her blush, for it revealed her weakness and uncertainty, Keepsake felt (be it true or no) a connection to the stranger. Her first new friend in this wild world.
"Well. I hope my presence proves to not disappoint you," Keepsake offered demurely, sitting down to enjoy the other's company. A smile still on her lips, she motioned for him to- hopefully- sit down with her.
"Please, sit! Tell me about yourself- what is your name? I mean, if you don't mind! I'm just... so excited to meet a friendly face!"
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 6:00 pm
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The flush of her cheeks shines through her short, white fur and he feels a flutter of wings -- gentle slopes of swooping swallows, serrated angles of ravenous ravens -- ruffle in his chest. Warmth flares at her laughter, delicate like butterfly wings, and he feels a great desire to speak more words that shall tinge her skin warm scarlet. A tendril of concern wonders if that would mark him disingenuous...
He cocks his head, ears swiveling back, "Your presence has already proved to be a marvelous stroke of luck, my lady," he attempts to reassure her. While his voice is soft and sincere, there is an underlying firmness that would warn anyone against arguing otherwise. He hopes the words are only politeness; it would be unkind for such a lovely and sweet doe to think otherwise.
"The name the Motherfather has graced me with is Heritage," he provides as he sits next to her. The course bush of his tail curls around his hooves and he images paws, large and ending in claws, instead. It is still strange, ever so strange, to be half-wolf in body. An oddity to commiserate over in the future, though, for this doe surely feels the same out-of-bodiness he does at times.
"There is not much to say, for I was born alone and have been searching the swamp for family," the word slips out rather than the word that frequents his mind -- pack -- and his eyes widen ever so slightly. A non-subtle cough; perhaps he should not have said that. "May I ask your name?" he asks, in hopes, it shall distract her a bit from his potential faux pas.
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 2:43 pm
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There was an odd tone to the buck, but perhaps Keepsake was overthinking it. Her own father was gruff and unkind- sure, Heritage was a bit rough around the edges, but there was a kindness there as well. It wasn't the terse distance of a kin disgusted with his family- just... a struggling soul, like her own. Perhaps it was like he suspected, and destiny had in fact drawn them together today.
"I... find it humorous, in this conversation of destiny, our names feel so similar. I'm Keepsake, b-but you can call me Keep if you'd like. It's a bit easier off the tongue," She stammered, uncertain of herself with her first introduction. She did not have Heritage's power, but rather, was a subdued and nervous energy. Perhaps growing up alone had forced him into confidence, rather than being surrounded by beautiful does who had no care in the world but themselves.
"I hope that you find them someday, Heritage. Loneliness... it's a terrible thing, isn't it?" This, at least, Keepsake understood. Perhaps it was a different kind of loneliness than spending your life alone, but being surrounded by a loveless family was a misery in its own right. She offered the buck a sympathetic smile.
"You're too kind a soul to be lonely."
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 4:28 pm
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"Keepsake," he tries the name out, tentative and slow, almost precise in his enunciation. Keepsake and Heritage, he thinks, on a lark and finds to his surprise that it sounds quite harmonious. "It is pleasantly strange to find that the first kin I meet has a name so akin to my own. Synonymous and synergetic," he muses aloud. To himself, he wonders if it is a sign. A resplendent doe the Motherfather is shining a honey light onto to beckon him close. The wolf in him is more on guard; it could be a trick.
He nods, "I, too, hope to find them someday, Keep." The nickname sounds like a sour note to his own ears and he winces; "Keepsake," he corrects. "It does not seem right to call you, Keep," he attempts to explain, not wishing to seem that he is disregarding her offer to use a nickname. And then because, he thinks too much and he fears offense, he begins to blunder.
"That is to say, you're not to keep," he seems to realize a second later that, that could be rude, "unless you want to be kept, that is. Only that you are not mine to keep," (and goodness isn't that worse to say), "Not that I wouldn't like to keep you," he rushes to defend. And Motherfather, would it not have been easier to have walked off a cliff?
He ducks his head, chin tucked closed to his chest, "It is better, I think, that I call you Keepsake." And then, because he really should shut up, "What is your family like?" Perhaps it'll distract her a little bit from how big a fool he is.
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:30 pm
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"That's entirely fair," Keepsake agreed, nodding at the unpleasantness of the nickname on someone else's tongue. She had thought a nickname might be fun, but no. Most certainly not. Keep was a wild doe with a strong temper, not the delicate thing who sat here, immersed in this conversation.
At the bit of stumble, Keepsake could not help but giggle, turning to mask the laughter behind her hair as best possible. Despite the kindness of Heritage, Keepsake was still embarrassed. Shy. It was so difficult to let her guard down, to be silly and just genuinely enjoy the company she kept. No games, no challenges, nobody trying to get into her head.
...And oh. There was the question to her family. Keepsake's smile faltered, and a slightly haunted look took her eyes. She looked away, unsure of how to proceed along this conversational track.
"...Mother was distant. Cold. She was fair and beautiful, and nothing seemed to impress her beyond herself. I don't know that she registered a thing like love once in her life."
She sighed.
"And father. Father was a fury boiling just beneath the surface, never happy, never smiling. He found fault in everything we did, for not seeking justice as much as he did. The swamp has its rules and expectations, and we could never meet them. I..." Ever so slightly, Keepsake's lip quivered.
"I don't think they were ever happy."
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:56 pm
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The giggles make his skin warm and yet he thinks it worth the embarrassment he feels to hear a sweet sound. One that ends all too soon and he is alarmed when he looks up to see her smile crack, her eyes dim in a manner that reminds him of unpleasant memories. And then she turns her face from him.
Perhaps he is mistaken, he thinks, as he pulls from his dreams and past life memories, but were not families good? He remembers warmth, affection mingled with love; he remembers inviting yips, rough tumbles that dissolved into nap piles. That isn't to say he thinks there is never bad. He does remember discipline and argument, brief periods of fierce longing -- wolves did not always stay together, he knew that -- that could drive one mad. No family was always all good but it should have been mostly good; it should have been pleasant to remember. (Shouldn't it?)
"That," he frowns, "sounds like a terrible existence. It is lucky you do not take after them; happiness and love are grand gifts, ones you have the chance to experience." (He doesn't know how right he is nor how wrong.)
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 7:04 pm
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"I'm very glad I don't either," she laughed again, trying to shake the melancholy from her being. This was a fortuitous and happy meeting, not one to be tainted by her own sad memories. Instead, Keepsake forced a smile, and shrugged slightly in response.
"Perhaps in that way... you're lucky not to have been born near your family. Not that I think them bad, in any way! But you had the chance to form your identity entirely by your own being. Especially considering how good of a kin you seem to have become," she added, her smile softening a bit to something more natural. Despite her misgivings, this was... easy. Comfortable.
"So when you find yours, I hope they meet your expectations in ever way. And exceed them!" It was a truly genuine and heartfelt wish- for no one else to resent their family as she had.
"...You'll probably be better off than me hunting for them, honestly. I'm not all that great at finding other kin, if you hadn't guessed that by you being the first I found!"
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Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2015 9:50 pm
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Even as she attempts to shake the melancholia away, her words shake the gloom onto him. It is undoubtedly a very wolf-like move; any canine wet from rain clouds would shake and, without fail, splash its companions.
It is not a word he has associated with himself. Lucky. He does not speak, merely thinks it, and still the bitter pang with a splash of acidity permeates his mouth. (It is the taste of dandelions and limes.) Alone; different. A youth spent feeling wrong and in pieces. He does not understand the luck of that but he swallows the harshness down. Ever so slowly, he nods -- maneuvers his mind around the times when days felt suspended in gray bleakness -- because he did form his own identity; all on his own and without guidance. (But he shouldn't have had to.)
"I trust in the Motherfather's wisdom; my family shall be what I need." After all this time, he has little expectations except that he finds them and they welcome him home. No more, no less. And to stop trusting the spirit of the swamp now -- he isn't sure he could go on.
"You may be right," he says, after a time filled with thought, and then with a soft bemusement, "although I believe it was you who found me."
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Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2015 3:21 pm
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"I suppose it was, wasn't it," Keepsake mused, regarding Heritage with a more earnest smile now. He was odd, certainly, but odd in a way she very much liked. It was not the restrictive disdain of her father, nor the emotional distance of her mother. He felt more of a true and free soul than any she had ever met (though that wasn't saying much.) Surely, surely he would find the peace he so desperately sought in his family. Maybe they'd have fluffy ears and tails, like him! The thought made something inside of her bubble with delight. He was too kind a soul not to find solace in this world.
"You've very much been a delightful first step into the world outside of my home, Heritage. I hope any other kin I meet in my travels are half so delightful as you've been today. It would be a great kindness on the part of the Motherfather for me to experience such luck." She paused a moment, then once more giggled, her ears ducking back as she did so.
"And perhaps on your part too! If I may be so bold as to call myself enjoyable company, anyway."
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Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2015 7:25 pm
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