Dog Days [Kadar]

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There was not a ripple to be seen on the surface of the water. The trees were still in the absence of wind, and the air was just the same, and quiet with the exception of faint, lazy birdsong. All in all, a very peaceful and pleasant afternoon.

What a fantastically boring afternoon it is, Ayiti thought sullenly to herself. She cast one white-toed paw lazily into the water and swirled it around. Ripples spread from where the surface was disturbed and she looked up, intruiged at how the water swirled, but then it stilled, and she flopped her head back onto the ground with a disgusted sigh. "Not three months ago I would've given anything for it to be summer," she muttered to herself, rolling onto her back in the grass, with her paws dangling lazily in the air. "And now that it's here, there's nothing to do.  If I had known it was going to be this warm and no fun, I never would have wished for it in the first place." She knew, of course, that it didn't matter whethter she liked it or not or what she thought of summer at all, it was going to be here no matter what, but it was more enjoyable to complain about it than to think about the fact that there was nothing to do.

She was about to go on moaning about it some more, and probably would have spent the whole afternoon that way, when an abrupt movement at the corner of her eye, accompanied by an explosive splash caught her attention. She sat up, shaking a few stray grass blades from her fur. The lake was still and calm again, with no sign of whatever had made such a stupendous splash. Ayiti' brow furrowed into a slight frown and her ears perked forward. "What the..."

Suddenly, something shot up from the other side of the lake. Ayitit glimpsed its pale, glistening body as it caught a bug neatly in its gaping mouth and hit the water with the same gigantic splash.

"Fish!" Ayiti jumped to her paws, her voice rising in excitement. "There are fish in the pond!" without a second thought, she was in the water. She ignored the chilliness lapping at her belly and instead stared into the shallows. Sure enough, where her shadow fell on the water, little shapes darted away. Ayiti bared her sharp teeth in a ferocious grin. Finally, some fun! She wondered vaguely what fish tasted like before plunging her head underwater.

However, it was not nearly as easy as she had thought. The fish in Nyspoli's pool were clever, and what's more, they were used to silly wolves coming into their pond to look for a tasty snack. And Ayiti was no great fisher. Several hours passed in futile attempts before Ayiti finally sat down in the cold water of the shallows, soaking, frusterated, and utterly fishless. "I wish Kadar were here," she sighed dramatically and looked up at the cloudless sky. "He's my brother," she told it. "He'd have an idea on how to catch them."

She had a mind to go and look for him, but she was tired, and the sun was getting low in the sky. By the time she went all the way back to the family den or wherever he was and fetched him back to the pool, it would surely be dark. So she simply heaved a sigh and stayed in the pool, casting a dirty look at the fish that swam casually just out of her reach.

OOC: It's summer here and very hot, and I had wanted to do a thread with Ayiti and Kadar, so have a very silly fish post. :3
Muse: Doing good! Ayiti muse is always strong.
Tags: @kadar

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Everything seemed peaceful today, despite the chaos that had happened not to long ago. His pack had been disbanded and along with it was his father. Loosing him was harder than the young male would like to admit. However, he couldn't dwell on that right now.

Ayiti had gone wandering alone and Kadar needed to know where his only remaining sibling was. He didn't want to lose anymore family. His mother and his sister were quickly becoming the most important wolves in the world to him. Ayiti's scent was distinct, as was every wolf Kadar came to know, so it wasn't terribly difficult to follow her. They hadn't left Kadar's birth home, probably because he would have much difficulty navigating new areas. Kadar knew where most of the rocks and trees were in the Oriens. He had traveled across these grounds so many times that he had memorized them.

The smell of fresh water and fish came rushing in to the young male's nose and he knew he was getting close to Ayiti and the pool. His pace slowed to a more leisurely level so he would not walk straight in the water (something that he had done in the past). He could hear the water lazily swirling around and wondered if it were the fish or his sister. He heard a soft thump. It sounded either like someone laying down or a bird falling from the sky. The latter seemed more plausible. He imagined birds to be quite small from the way they sounded. He was in ear shot of Ayiti now but he doubted that she could see him yet. Kadar's ears and nose were exceptionally well developed and could hear and smell things from much father away than wolves that could see.

Kadar took in the smell of the summer air. It was hot and dry. His fur stuck to his body. "The pool would be a good way to cool off," he thought to himself. It would be like killing two birds with one stone. He'd check on Ayiti and take a quick dip.

Kadar had to guess that he was within hearing distance of Ayiti. His nose was good but not good enough to bring him exactly where he wanted to go. He could tell that she was here currently and had probably been here for several hours judging by the varying degrees of scent freshness. "Ayiti," he said in a slightly louder than normal volume. He knew that she knew of his disability and needed some help getting exactly where he wanted to go. He knew she would say something back so he could get a general direction for her location and then his nose could do the rest.

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@ayiti

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Ayiti gasped and whirled around, sending a sparkling spray of water droplets. "Kadaaarrr!" It was like he had known she had needed his help.

She romped toward him, sloshing water up to her belly and higher, her jaws split in a terrifyingly happy grin. "Kadar! Kadar, there are fish in the pool! Can you believe it? Fish! Mum never told us a word about fish in the pool- I just saw them today- did you know they can jump out of the water?" she slipped on the bank a little bit, but soon she was right up next to Kadar, dripping in pond water, seaweed, up to her legs in mud, and talking a mile a minute, completely blissful. She touched her nose to his shoulder as she usually did to let him know she was next to him, though he didn't need it (she hadn't stopped talking about fishing or how boring it had been before that the entire climb up the bank). "Do you want to help me catch one?" she bounced a little on her paws. I've been trying all day and haven't even gotten close."

She took a moment to look him up and down quickly with a twinge of concern. Things had been rough, to put it mildly, on the little family after the Zakur pack had disbanded. More so after Kadar and Ayiti's father, Chaika, had passed. It had come abruptly and dealt an awful blow. Ayiti had told herself for weeks and weeks that her father simply wasn't dead, that they were all mistaken, that any minute he would come back through the entrance of the little den she and Kadar and Annabelle shared and it would all be all right. She still told herself he would be back, sometimes, at night when she couldn't sleep and missed his big furry warmth on the other side of her and the times when she and Kadar had slept right between Chaika and Annabelle. The lie had gotten harder and harder to believe, however. She had taken to throwing herself at the woods and fields of the Oriens and the pursiut of adventure. The adrenaline rushes of her mini escapades greatly helped to take her mind off of subjects best left alone. But Kadar had very different approaches of things than she- and she knew that their father's death had devastated him and more. Her brother had largely kept his grief to himself, though. It was hard to judge how he was. She had found distraction today with the fish, and hoped that he would as well. She resolved to distract him for the remaining part of the day and let her concern pass.

"C'mon!" she pressed her sopping fur against his side and took a few steps forward, in an effort to guide him to the water's edge. She knew this routine very well- Kadar had gotten adept at getting himself around, no doubt about that, but sometimes it was difficult for him to pinpoint exact locations. She had every faith that he would get it in time- his senses of smell and hearing were already far greater than hers- but for now she served as an aid when he needed. "You've got to help me- I have to catch at least one!"

OOC: Do we know exactly what happened to Chaika? I just realized there isn't a set story for that yet, is there?
Muse: Still good. :>
Tags: @kadar

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"Kadaaarrr!' Kadar's expression widened as his sister called his name. He wasn't expecting her to be so excited to see him. He heard water sloshing and splashing. Before he could really tell what was going on, Ayiti was right near him telling him about fish in the pond. She touched her nose to his shoulder to let him know where she was and that she was next to him though he didn't really need it. His sister hadn't stopped talking since he had arrived. He knew what fish smelled like but obviously had no idea what they were as he couldn't see them. They were sea creatures but how big were they? Did they have teeth? Could they walk on land? Ayiti said they could jump out of the water. She was talking too fast for him to really respond but the idea of catching a fish was terrifying. Ayiti seemed bound and determined to do so, however. She could see them and if she wasn't afraid, he wasn't afraid.

She said she'd been trying all day and hadn't gotten close. They must be clever creatures. Perhaps they were experts on not being caught. Then, his sister stopped talking. The silence came with a small ounce of relief as he could now process everything that she said without having new information coming at the same time. Kadar had to think about this situation. How would one go about catching a creature that presumably couldn't be caught? The challenge was exciting and invigorating. He pondered how to catch such a creature, oblivious to his sister's concerned expression.

It was true that things were hard for Kadar's family. Their pack had disbanded, leaving them all to fend for themselves. This left Kadar feeling completely useless. He couldn't hunt to provide for his mother and sister, he couldn't fight to protect them, he couldn't do anything. He was dead weight to them. Kadar often thought of how much easier life would be on his family if he just left but he knew if he were to do so, he'd perish. Without the ability to see prey or enemies, he'd either starve or die in an ambush. It was really a lose/lose situation for the young male. He felt horrible for being such a burden on his family but at the same time he couldn't make the decision to die. It was something that Kadar spent his nights thinking about. What was he supposed to do for the rest of his life? Just rely on others to feed and protect him? Was he to stay with his mother his whole life like some mentally challenged wolf? As he aged, Kadar began to hate his blindness more and more. He knew now that he was different from other wolves. They could see the world around them and Kadar could only see darkness (or what other's had described to him as being darkness).

But these fish had given him a few moments to think about something else. They had given him an escape from thinking about things that wolves his age should never have to think about. His sister pushed her wet fur on his body to guide him to the water's edge. It was still difficult for him to find exact locations and he was grateful for his sister's help. The last thing he wanted was to walk too far and fall in the water with those unknown beasts. He walked forward with Ayiti's help. She told him that she wanted to catch at least one. If she wanted to catch a fish, they would catch a fish.

When they reached the water's edge, he could feel a distinct difference in the ground from where he was standing before. The bank was softer and wet. His feet mushed in the mud. It wasn't a pleasant sensation and Kadar lifted one foot to try and shake it off. There was a suction sound when he removed his foot from the mud and he wrinkled his face. He could not dwell on the ground, however. There were fish to catch. "Tell me what they look like. How do they move?" Kadar asked with curiosity and the type of tone that would suggest that he was on a mission. He needed to know as much about them as he could so he could figure out a way to catch them. Of course, it would have to be Ayiti that did the actual catching but being able to come up with the plan made him feel useful.

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Ayiti sloshed back into the water with a happy sigh, spraying it in all directions. The water was tepid, but it was cooler than the outside air. This is much better, she thought happily. It was boring before, but things were never boring with her brother. Kadar was here, and made everything better, and now the two of them could have some fun.

Speaking of which- she turned around, ankle-deep in muck- the water made a delightful slooshing noise when she disturbed it- to check if Kadar had gotten into the water okay after she had guided him to it. You never knew, she mused. There could be holes in the shallows he wouldn't see, or tangly weeds. Or snakes. Ayiti had never seen a snake, but they sounded dangerous. Mum had said they didn't have legs. How could something move around without legs to help it? She was opening her mouth to pose this new question to Kadar, but the look on his face as his paws encountered the pond mud made her laugh so hard she forgot all about the mysterious anomaly that was snakes.

"You look like you've eaten carrion!" She made a similar face herself, but remembered he couldn't see it and accompanied it with a rude noise to demonstrate what that face would probably sound like if it was a sound instead of a face.

There was a sucking sound as he pulled his paw back out, and Ayiti laughed again. It reminded her of the fish, and then he asked about them, almost exactly after she had thought it. She was both pleased at how she had remembered the fish and how they needed to catch them, and impressed at her brother for being magic and saying things when she was thinking about them. Like spring. Mum said it was like magic, too. Ayiti resolved to tell him about how he was magic after they had caught a fish.

"What do they look like? How do they move?"

Ah, yes, things were much better with Kadar here to help! "Um-" she chewed her tongue a bit as she tried to figure out how to describe a fish without colors and features. "Well... they're long and thin, like branches, but thicker sort of- and they move swish-y, from side to side." She wiggled from side to side to help her think of more things, splashing water again. "Oh! And they're really, really fast!"

OOC: Bringing this back for points and it was really cute. (Refrain: Liquid time is a wonderful thing)
Muse: Pretty good!
Tags: @kadar