Post by tain on May 9, 2008 19:43:50 GMT -5
Damp, hot, and smelling of eggs. It seemed like everywhere Tain of the Plains went was one of those three things.
The young she-wolf, the wanna-be alpha, was at a hot springs now. Or, at least, that was what it looked like. Tain could never be sure of these things, because her vocabulary and such was pretty limited. For all she knew, this was something entirely different and a Hot Springs was actually a type of rabbit.
She stopped a few yards away from the place to laugh at that picture. It was pretty funny. She imagined that a Hot Springs would be tasty, like once when she'd found a squirrel all cooked. It had been struck by lightning.
Of course, squirrels and rabbits didn't really taste the same, so..
Tain trotted a few feet more, having finished with this idiotic train of thought at long last. She now paused to examine the water of the springs.
First she tried a sniff, her yellow eyes staring at the water as she did. It made her sneeze, which she did, and back away. Eggs again, just like the field with the sunstuff in it. Only the sunstuff had been pretty, and this water was not.
It was yellow, like in streams when there was too much sun in them. Also, it bubbled, and was all gooey-looking with mud. Tain wouldn't drink this stuff if her life depended on it. It would kill her anyway.
She could, though, see herself in it. Tain thought she looked pretty funny, though. Her eyes were too big, and her nose was squashed very flat. Also, her ears were squished, too.
This was obviously not a reliable source of image. One would think that Tain would've known about it if she really did look this strange. Meikou or Mother or someone would've mentioned it, probably. Besides, she could smell fine out of her nose right now.
Anyway, Tain wasn't here to look at herself in the funny water. She was here to be an alpha! If only she knew exactly how one went about that..
Tain sat down next to the water, keeping her toes and tail carefully away from the edge, and thought about it.
Well, he black he-wolf she'd met last time she was here had said some stuff about it. Something to do with 'claiming' and 'empty' and 'wasteland.'
Wasteland, check. She was in the right place.
Empty..well, Tain didn't see any other wolves around. Also a check.
Claiming...
How did one go about that?
Tain tilted her head to one side and thought. It was a curious thing. Maybe being an alpha was more complicated than she'd thought after all. Claiming was not something she'd ever had to do before, mostly because there'd never been anything to claim.
Well, as far as she could see it, there might be several ways. Tain might have to go out and say she was claiming this Kamari place. Or she might just go around like she owned the place, which she would when she'd claimed it, and say she'd always been here and it was hers..
Well, okay.
It seemed like saying she'd claimed Kamari was best. After that she could do going around like she owned. That would work.
Tain got ready for a Howl again. She'd have to make sure everyone heard about this.
First she stood up and tried to look like she hadn't had to think about this at all. That involved mostly retracing her steps and coming in with head held high. Easy enough.
Tain turned tail and trotted back the way she'd come. Once she was sufficiently far away from the springs to make a difference, she turned around and raised her tail and head high.
The ground here was like glass. Tain tilted her head a bit to look at her reflection in it. It was pretty nice. Her head looked good held up.
Next step..go forward. Tain headed off in her usual wide stride toward the spring. She went a bit too fast, unfortunately, stopped, and did it over again so as not to look like an idiot. Almost stepping into the Hot Springs looked pretty silly, right before she was going to claim them for her own.
This time she managed to stride up to the springs, although a little slower than she'd like. Tain stopped, looked up, thought a moment, and did her Howl.
Hello! I am Tain of the Plains! I am alpha now! I have claimed this place, Kamari, for my own lands!
Right, that sounded okay. Now to make sure nobody else showed up..
None dare challenge me for it, because I am a mighty warrior, Tain of the Plains! I am the daughter of Zahor the Seer! My eyes are yellow!
Good. Now they knew who she was, what she was, and also a little useless information too. That should do fine.
Tain settled into a sitting position, right where she was when she got here, and waited for an answer. Presumably someone was going to say something back..although what, who knew.
The young she-wolf, the wanna-be alpha, was at a hot springs now. Or, at least, that was what it looked like. Tain could never be sure of these things, because her vocabulary and such was pretty limited. For all she knew, this was something entirely different and a Hot Springs was actually a type of rabbit.
She stopped a few yards away from the place to laugh at that picture. It was pretty funny. She imagined that a Hot Springs would be tasty, like once when she'd found a squirrel all cooked. It had been struck by lightning.
Of course, squirrels and rabbits didn't really taste the same, so..
Tain trotted a few feet more, having finished with this idiotic train of thought at long last. She now paused to examine the water of the springs.
First she tried a sniff, her yellow eyes staring at the water as she did. It made her sneeze, which she did, and back away. Eggs again, just like the field with the sunstuff in it. Only the sunstuff had been pretty, and this water was not.
It was yellow, like in streams when there was too much sun in them. Also, it bubbled, and was all gooey-looking with mud. Tain wouldn't drink this stuff if her life depended on it. It would kill her anyway.
She could, though, see herself in it. Tain thought she looked pretty funny, though. Her eyes were too big, and her nose was squashed very flat. Also, her ears were squished, too.
This was obviously not a reliable source of image. One would think that Tain would've known about it if she really did look this strange. Meikou or Mother or someone would've mentioned it, probably. Besides, she could smell fine out of her nose right now.
Anyway, Tain wasn't here to look at herself in the funny water. She was here to be an alpha! If only she knew exactly how one went about that..
Tain sat down next to the water, keeping her toes and tail carefully away from the edge, and thought about it.
Well, he black he-wolf she'd met last time she was here had said some stuff about it. Something to do with 'claiming' and 'empty' and 'wasteland.'
Wasteland, check. She was in the right place.
Empty..well, Tain didn't see any other wolves around. Also a check.
Claiming...
How did one go about that?
Tain tilted her head to one side and thought. It was a curious thing. Maybe being an alpha was more complicated than she'd thought after all. Claiming was not something she'd ever had to do before, mostly because there'd never been anything to claim.
Well, as far as she could see it, there might be several ways. Tain might have to go out and say she was claiming this Kamari place. Or she might just go around like she owned the place, which she would when she'd claimed it, and say she'd always been here and it was hers..
Well, okay.
It seemed like saying she'd claimed Kamari was best. After that she could do going around like she owned. That would work.
Tain got ready for a Howl again. She'd have to make sure everyone heard about this.
First she stood up and tried to look like she hadn't had to think about this at all. That involved mostly retracing her steps and coming in with head held high. Easy enough.
Tain turned tail and trotted back the way she'd come. Once she was sufficiently far away from the springs to make a difference, she turned around and raised her tail and head high.
The ground here was like glass. Tain tilted her head a bit to look at her reflection in it. It was pretty nice. Her head looked good held up.
Next step..go forward. Tain headed off in her usual wide stride toward the spring. She went a bit too fast, unfortunately, stopped, and did it over again so as not to look like an idiot. Almost stepping into the Hot Springs looked pretty silly, right before she was going to claim them for her own.
This time she managed to stride up to the springs, although a little slower than she'd like. Tain stopped, looked up, thought a moment, and did her Howl.
Hello! I am Tain of the Plains! I am alpha now! I have claimed this place, Kamari, for my own lands!
Right, that sounded okay. Now to make sure nobody else showed up..
None dare challenge me for it, because I am a mighty warrior, Tain of the Plains! I am the daughter of Zahor the Seer! My eyes are yellow!
Good. Now they knew who she was, what she was, and also a little useless information too. That should do fine.
Tain settled into a sitting position, right where she was when she got here, and waited for an answer. Presumably someone was going to say something back..although what, who knew.