Disorder (Kujo)

[Hannibal]

"I'll hunt us something soon, Graham. Quit complaining," Hannibal said quietly to his companion, giving a slightly sharp look to the african wild dog beside him. They were walking along the forest edge just in the shadow of the mountains where they had first entered the territory belonging to Airila, though not quite where they had met Arche at the border. The wolf and his friend had completed their circuit of the border in a day and a half or so, meeting Calantha along the way; the coyote had been a pleasure, and Graham had been completely stricken with her.

As their radically different-sized feet padded along, Graham's long legs going much faster than Hannibal's, there was a strange feeling that came over the wolf, giving him pause. He glanced down at Graham and frowned, stopping where he was at the edge of the trees and waiting a few beats--it was not long before his canine companion burst into a relentless barking, the loud noise nearly hurting Hannibal's ears even as it warned him of the impending danger.

He moved further away from the trees with a quick, slightly frantic pace, then laid down in the grass, falling gently to one side only a few seconds before the tremors began. Graham, seeing that his friend had laid down, quickly moved to the wolf's side, though he did not touch Hannibal as his body convulsed on the ground violently, his legs paddling the air as his jaws snapped open and shut of their own accord. The seizure rolled his yellow eyes back into his head, showing only the whites.

It was short, as they often were, and the painted dog watched as Hannibal's movements ceased, except for the heavy breathing that often followed such situations. Graham's attention was only vaguely focused on his surroundings, though his brown eyes scanned the area before him briefly every few seconds while he awaited a return to consciousness from his friend. There was no imminent danger that he saw, though it was always possible that someone could be lurking in the trees.

As Hannibal returned to his body, he groaned softly--out of confusion rather than pain. The disorientation that accompanied his detrimental health problem was unfamiliar every time, and he hated the dysphoria. The postictal period usually lasted only a few minutes, and while Hanni chose to roll onto his chest and lay sternally, he was unable to see or sense anything during that time, and had he gotten up, he would have suffered wobbliness and ataxia, so he did not bother. Nor did he try to speak, as he knew Graham would not understand, if he even managed to get any sound out. Luckily, the two had been through this dance before, and an easy, calm familiarity came despite the nature of the situation.

Words || 482
Tags || Kujo
Notes || I figured this would be a good way for the two to meet, so Kujo can immediately feel horrible and bad for him. xD Feel free to have him witness all or part of the seizure, either way is fine.

[Deleted]

Something was wrong with him. Kujo could not understand what was going on with him, but at the same time, he did. The light of his eyes, his father, had fallen ill, and the thought of loosing him had crippled Kujo to the core. He had stopped eating almost completely, and he had lost a considerable amount of weight. The once healthy, shiny glow that he had in his face and pelt had faded, and now his bones were seen poking through his opalescent fur. Many things passed through his head--Arche was back, but his mother was not. He had never blamed Arche for the demise of her mother, and he never will. But he wished that Arche would have come back with her as well. The thought of having him back brought joy to his heart, but at the same time, it left a bittersweet taste in his mouth, because he wanted to see his mother walking next to him. And now, he would loose his father too. He did not know for how long he could manage, but the thought of living without his father was too much for him. He was weaker every day, and he had forgotten what feeling happiness even felt like.

Everyday, he brought herbs to his father, and he tried everything in his power to bring him back into shape, but nothing that Kujo had tried had worked. Every day that passed, he saw him sick and it was making him sick as well. His head was now lowered as he walked inside of the forest that divided the mountains from the mainlands, hoping to clear his mind for a while. His stomach was rumbling and twisting on his insides, but the thought of eating or hunting made him sick and nauseous. However, his thoughts were interrupted when a scent entered his nostrils. Lifting his head up, he saw another pack member twitching and flailing on the ground, and it made Kujo immediately dart towards the fallen male. He arrived and he saw a strange, smaller canine next to him, and Kujo was starting to panic. "Sir! Sir! What is going on?! Are you okay!?" he said, whining and circling the male, trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

Kujo tried to calm down and after what seemed like an eternity, the male was now laying on his chest and was quiet. "Sir?" Kujo spoke once more, hoping that the male was in fact alright, and everything was part of a health condition or something. Breathing in and out, he sat down, waiting for the stranger to speak and to gather strength to do so as he observed the other canine in confusion. He was smaller and filled with brown, black and white patches all over his body. He had never seen any animal like this, and his mind was already trying to make sense of the situation. What is a wolf doing with him? What type of canine is he? Sighing to calm himself down, he kept his eyes open to see if the male needed any help in waking up or standing up.


words: 525
Hannibal

[Hannibal]

Graham had been keeping an eye on his companion as well as the environment when suddenly a stranger rushed into the clearing, causing the dog to jump. As he ran around frantically, clearly confused by Hannibal's seizure, Graham barked loudly at him, always keeping his tall but tiny body between his friend and the potential danger. The painted canine had never been watching over Hanni when anyone had come by during an episode, and concern and fear filled the poor creature as he did the only things he knew how in order to keep the wolf away from his friend.

Hannibal slowly came to, the sound of Graham's bark causing a headache to wash over him. He was still disoriented, but his vision was slowly returning to him--the wolf could see vague shapes of trees and the shadow of two animals that had to be Graham and... who was there? Slight panic caused the large male to lurch to his feet, darting forward with momentum and nearly crashing into Graham, who sidestepped with a yelp. It took only seconds for Hannibal's ataxia to tangle his feet, and he crumpled to the ground again, laying on his side and panting as he worked himself up over his confusion.

In only a few moments more, Hannibal was able to stand, albeit shakily, and he shook his head slowly, blinking to clear his mind. Graham had rushed back to his side, and stood protectively with his shoulder touching the underside of the wolf's chest, his tall ears perked forward and his brown eyes staring pointedly at the strange wolf who had stumbled upon the scene. "Graham... how long..." Hannibal said softly, his voice wavering with the effort. He wanted to know how long the stranger had been there, but it didn't matter.

He was there now, and had clearly seen something; he looked frantic and disturbed, and that could only mean that he had witnessed the epileptic episode that had just transpired. It was unfortunate, but at least Arche knew about his disorder and this was not the end of his freshly-found home life. "I... apologize," Hannibal croaked in a quiet voice that he had intended to be much louder and had not managed. He was unable to take in details of this new wolf yet, as he still was very much confused from his ordeal, but he needed a calmer energy to fully recover, and the high level of stress radiating from the wolf was unhelpful. "I'm... fine. But I will... need you to... relax. Will explain," he added between heavy breaths, as though he were now also having a panic attack. Graham barked in agreement, never letting his eyes leave the other wolf in the clearing even as he comforted Hannibal with his touch.

Words || 477
Tags || Kujo
Notes || OH POOR KUJO BABY

[Deleted]

The moment Kujo was going through was incredibly difficult to understand. He had never seen anything like this and he was confused; he didn't even know what kind of herb he could maybe bring him so that he could feel better. Maybe he had to ask him what was going on so that Kujo could understand better and maybe bring him the plant he needed to improve. He debated whether or not he could bring him a white poppy to make him more relaxed, but since he didn't know what was the problem at hand, he decided to stay still and let the stranger explain himself. He sat down and breathed in and out, and tried to make his rapid-beating heart slow down.

However, Kujo's extremely altruistic nature overwhelmed him. He wanted to know what was going on, because there was something weird and concerning happening, and Kujo had no idea what to do. He was nervous and distressed, and no matter what he tried to do, with that thing's constant barking he could not think straight. He tried to understand what was going on but he was just too confused to process anything. The male, between gasps, told Kujo to calm down and that he needed Kujo wait because he would explain everything. So Kujo closed his eyes and took a deep breath and attempted to calm down his stress so that the stranger could recover from whatever had happened to him. The canine's unstoppable barking was creating a headache in Kujo, making him growl softly and lower his ears. "Hey," he spoke to the barking canine, "don't worry. I will not hurt him. Quite the opposite--I'm freaking out because I want to help him and I don't know how." His voice sounded annoyed, but he had no intentions to sound like that. Sitting down, he waited for the stranger's response in silent distress.

Hannibal

[Hannibal]

Hannibal blocked out the stranger for now; he was confident that, should the stranger make any move to come closer or interrupt his calming process, Graham would make it apparent and prevent it if he could. Though the dog was not a fighter, he was fiercely protective of his companion and would do anything to keep him safe, even if it meant sacrificing himself.

The wolf began to take deep, calming breaths, closing his yellow eyes and standing awkwardly in order to keep his balance without thinking about it. Through his mind flashed images that often came unbidden to him in these times when his defenses were low: his mother with her uncontrollable rage, his months of traveling alone, the time when his father had been hurt trying to defend him. They came in pieces, all of them mashed together, and he ignored them as well as he could. His unconscious mind might assume them to be important, but his conscious brain dispelled that feeling immediately Logic and order came back to him as it always did, and when the dizzy feeling finally faded, Hannibal opened his eyes once more.

They immediately locked onto the other wolf in the clearing, noting the brightness of his fur and the continued distress he exuded. A very small, very careful smile came to the older wolf's lips, and he took the chance of shaking out his pelt--it happened smoothly, and he kept his balance easily enough now that he seemed to have recovered from his ordeal. Graham had stepped away, though only about a foot, and his eyes stayed trained upon Kujo, hardly blinking.

"Thank you for calming down," Hannibal said clearly, setting his rump on the ground as he muscles grew tired and the adrenaline drained from him. "I recover much more quickly when there are no distressed parties present." The words might have been insulting in a way, but it had been clear that the white wolf was very upset by what he had seen, and Hannibal was not one to beat around the bush or feign kindness--he simply didn't know how.

Graham pressed himself back to Hannibal's side as he spoke, and the wolf nuzzled the dog between his shoulder blades in a familiar way, the one act of affection that he had ever shown anyone. The painted canine sat himself next to his wolf companion and seemed much more at ease, now that the episode seemed entirely over, and Hannibal turned his attention back to the other wolf. "What you saw was a seizure," he explained without preamble, nodding his head. "I have suffered them since I can remember, and they are relatively harmless as long as I am not near a cliff or sharp rocks. Graham's barking alerts me to them, and he stands guard while I am... preoccupied."

He paused then to frown, feeling the need to continue for the sake of the other. "I am Hannibal, and Arche has welcomed me recently to the ranks of Airila. He is aware of my dysfunction," he added, in case this wolf's intention was to spread the rumor that Hannibal was unsafe.

Words || 540
Tags || Kujo
Notes || Woo finally interaction. xD

[Deleted]

Kujo observed the weakened wolf, trying to understand what was going on. But, at least, he sighed in relief when he began to speak. Kujo had never seen something like this, and he was surely overwhelmed, but he was really thankful that at least he had managed to calm down so that the wolf could recover even faster. The male began to speak, telling Kujo that he recovers much quicker when there are no distressed parties present. He then explained that what he had seen was a seizure, and that they were relatively harmless unless he was near a cliff or near sharp objects that he could harm himself with. He then introduced himself as Hannibal, and told him that Arche had welcomed him into the pack and that he knew of his "dysfunction." Kujo smiled at Hannibal before speaking quietly and calmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hannibal. My name is Kujo, and I also welcome you to our pack just like my brother did. Trust me, you are in a safe haven for your condition. I'll try my best to find something in nature that can help you ease the pain it may bring." 


Kujo then looked at the canine next to him, and a few questions began to bubble in his mind. "What about him?" he inquired with a sincere, curious tone while he looked at Graham. "I have never seen a creature like him. Where did you two meet? And uh, does he speak?" Kujo chuckled nervously, hoping that the creature would not still be mad at him or something due to the earlier events. The snowy wolf was indeed extremely curious about the strange pair, and he desired to know more about them. But, he didn't want to feel intrusive with his question, so he quickly apologized, just in case the male felt uncomfortable. "Of course, you don't have to answer, I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions." Kujo chuckled softly and wagged his tail vaguely, trying to show as much friendliness as possible to the pair. Sitting down quietly, he waited for the answers to all of his questions.

Hannibal

[Hannibal]

Hannibal was only slightly surprised to learn that this Kujo was brother to Arche; he supposed the pack would be comprised of at least some family, for that was the basis of all packs. What did not surprise him, however, was the kindness that the white wolf offered, as well as his acceptance. Based on the way he reacted when he saw what he did not understand and wanted only to help, Hanni was fairly certain that this stranger would help anyone he came across who needed it. "I feel no pain, luckily. Simply dysphoria, and some ataxia afterward. But I know little of herbs; perhaps there is something to help me," he said simply, offering no thanks, only explanation.

When Kujo's attention shifted to the dog, Graham perked his round ears atop his head and gave a short yip, as though that would explain everything. Hannibal smiled gently at him, then Kujo. "This is Graham. He is... I'm not sure what," Hennibal started, turning his head and shrugging. "We met a while back, when he was just a pup. I made the mistake of feeding him, and he decided to follow me. I'm still not sure why I didn't simply eat him, but I'm glad I didn't." That smile he held widened, and a small, rare chuckle came from his throat. "He understands, but does not speak. Anything he needs to convey I can typically understand. I think he may want to apologize from being so belligerent with his barking, but he was only protecting me."

Another yip from Graham confirmed Hanni's words, and the dog licked his companion's cheek lightly before settling himself on his chest on the ground, stretching his long legs out before him and lazily looking around, having become comfortable now that his friend was back to normal. Kujo apologized for being intrusive, and Hannibal again shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps you are being a bit intrusive, but I am not opposed to indulging curiosities. Besides, I'm not bothered by things that other wolves tend to be. There's no need to worry about offending me," he explained, curling his fluffy tail around his front paws.

Silence reigned for a few moments, and Hannibal reached out mentally to try and figure out what to say next. He was not used to social situations, and though he had connected instantly with Calantha, she had offered ways to expand upon the conversation. Kujo was curious, but did not ask much, and Hannibal was unsure of how to continue the conversation. After wracking his brain, he grasped the first thing he could. "Do you work a lot with herbs and plants? I recently met Calantha, and she touched upon the subject as well," he said finally, wondering vaguely if Kujo had even met the coyote; she had said that she was fairly new to the pack as well, and it was entirely possible that the two had not yet interacted.

Words || 512
Tags || Kujo
Notes || Poor Hanni is so awkward

[Deleted]

If there was something that Kujo hated, was feeling like he was being intrusive or that he was making someone uncomfortable with how he was. Kujo's ears flinched slightly backwards, feeling bad for making the wolf in front of him feel like that. However, Kujo tried to ignore the feelings since he saw that the wolf had been extremely polite and kind towards him, so maybe he was not that mad after all. The snowy wolf began to ponder about what plant would be able to help him in his condition, and only one came to mind--the white poppy. It wouldn't do much, but it would help him wonderfully when it came to the anxiety that came with such a condition. Kujo smiled softly at the masked wolf, before talking softly, not wanting to talk too loudly and make him uncomfortable. "I think that a white poppy flower may help you a bit," he then added, "it helps with pain if there is any, and it helps you relax and erases any anxiety you may experience during or after an attack. Really useful plant." Kujo wagged his tail softly; he felt useful in his area of expertise, and he was thankful that he was able to offer advice.


Kujo then heard Hannibal ask him about how long had he been working with plants and herbs, and then he mentioned a Calantha that he had met. Kujo tilted his head a little bit when he mentioned her name, since he had heard about her being a coyote. However, he hadn't had the honor of meeting her quite yet. Kujo sighed before speaking. "Well, I have been working with plants and herbs for as long as I can remember. My mother used to be the pack shaman before she... before she disappeared with Arche," he stopped for a moment before continuing, "he came back, but... she never did. She taught me everything I know about plants and herbs... I think they remind me of her in every way." Kujo smiled softly at Hannibal before sitting down rather awkwardly. He then thought of a question to avoid the silence to drag on.

"And you?" he asked, "what brought you to Airila? Of course, if you don't feel comfortable then I don't mind if you do not share."

---

Hannibal Adorable Kujo is adorable

[Hannibal]

As he sat there, Hannibal took care to look as interested as he could in the conversation, despite the fact that he was unsure what the point was. Kujo was an odd cookie, almost as awkward as he was, and it seemed to be a useless interaction. When the white wolf mentioned the poppy as something that might help him, no memories were sparked, no knowledge gathered from the reaches of his mind. Hanni knew nothing of plants, beyond the fact that none he had ever eaten had tasted good, and this Kujo seemed to be intelligent when it came to the subject matter.

"Does this white poppy... impair you, in any way, when you use it?" the darker male asked, curious. "And how long does the relief last, if used? I can never predict my seizure, unfortunately, and nor can Graham except for the precious few seconds before they happen. If this poppy is going to affect my decision making or my clarity, I would rather not use it." Though he did not say it, the male was appreciating of this pack member attempting to help him. Kujo seemed to want desperately to be of service, after seeing the violence that was an episode in the larger male, but Hannibal simply wasn't sure there was anything that could be done to help.

He had suffered from the seizures for as long as he could remember, and while they left him unable to function for a small period of time, they were not painful, nor did he remember any of the thrashing or fly-biting--it was as if his consciousness simply turned off during a seizure, and returned him confused and dysphoric. Unless the seizures could be stopped entirely, there did not seem to be much use in trying plant remedies. But Hannibal appreciated the kindness all the same.

Talk turned to Kujo's missing mother, and though Hanni's expression did not change much, his eyes seemed to soften with pity. He did not understand what it was to feel loss for a mother--his own had been less-than-stellar--but he did understand loss, and there was no mistaking the sadness that now clouded the air. Even Graham, who had laid down at Hannibal's feet, seemed to notice the difference in atmosphere, and his ears fell to the side of his face, concerned. "I am glad you get to remember her in some way," was all the wolf said, nodding his head. He did not expect Kujo would take an apology any better than what he had said, and besides, it was not Hanni's fault that the white wolf's mother was gone.

Again Kujo spoke with a qualifier, as though he were asking a question that Hannibal would not want to answer, and he smiled a little. "Kujo, ask me anything you would like. We are pack mates, and if you need to know everything about me in order to trust me, I will tell you everything," he said lightly, for it cost him nothing to reveal bits of himself. Hanni did not believe in secrets, and he had nothing to fear when speaking to another Airila wolf in the lands he now called home. "I left home when my family life took a bad turn," he continued, not mentioning his own horrendous mother out of respect for Kujo's missing one. "I wandered for a few years, found Graham, and stumbled upon Arche at the border a while back. I'm sorry it's not a very interesting story."

He chuckled lightly at that, shifting his weight slightly for he was unused to sitting and having a conversation. Calantha had kept his attention well enough, but Kujo was not quite as interesting as the coyote--not that he wasn't interesting at all. "Do you use your plants and herbs to heal wounds as well as decrease anxiety? Wound care is the only use I have ever known of for plants, though I am woefully undereducated when it comes to which plants are which, and what the purposes are. I would love to learn," he added, wondering if the white wolf would mind teaching him.

Words || 720
Tags || Kujo
Notes || These two are both so awkward. hah.