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Topic: ><Chill Out>< (Katariina) (Read 276 times) |
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Breeze
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I am not thinking right now. That should explain everything for you.
 
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><Chill Out>< (Katariina)
« Thread started on: Apr 6th, 2007, 5:33pm » |
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~Overnight, the world had frozen over. She could feel it even before stepping outside into the pale, cold morning. Her den was snug and warm, her body wrapped around itself and various dead leaves and other litter she had gathered for warmth. She was sleeping one second; then a sharp wind found its way into her den, and the cold woke her from her peaceful slumber.
The sun was only just rising, but the forest glistened. She blinked a few times before realizing what it was. Ice. A fine layer of ice coated the trees, making them a slippery mess. Indeed, she heard very few birds, and any that were singing to the morning were lower in the trees, where less ice had dripped to coat the branches. Even their feet, it seemed, could not get a grip.
But she was higher up, and so she soon realized she was faced with a problem. She could see the ice layering the branches out before her den. But she had no idea if her claws would be able to dig into it; it looked far too smooth for her to be able to get a grip. The marten frowned, rising reluctantly from her warm "bed", stretching and yawning briefly before padding over to the branch.
She reached a paw out tentatively, and met cold, solid ice. The frown deepened, the fur on her back bristling slightly. There was no way she could get a grip on the ice. If she stepped onto it, there was a very good chance she would slip right off, and who knew what would happen after that. At the same time, however, the marten didn't want to stay in her den until the sun melted the ice; it was obviously going to be cold, and there was a good chance the sun wouldn't do anything to the ice at all.
So she had a choice to make, and make it she did. As casually as possible, the marten stepped out onto the ice. At first, she stayed on the branch; then, with little grace, the marten slipped and fell off the branch. She fell, then flopped side-first onto a branch below her. The marten scrambled with her claws and hung briefly by her front limbs before tumbling off that branch as well. Birds soared out of the way as the marten landed on another branch... And this time stayed, as she landed belly-first.
Well, she wouldn't be hunting that morning. Pain lanced through her stomach from the abusive treatment, and laying with her legs and head dangling off the branch, the marten found she really didn't feel like moving. She was barely staying on the branch as it was; any attempts at moving from her uncomfortable position would result in another fall. Fur bristling with discomfort, the marten glanced around, straining her neck to see how far she had fallen. Not too far; enough to hurt, but not enough to break anything. She had gotten lucky.
However, she didn't plan on moving until her body stopped aching; otherwise, she probably would break something when she fell. Staying as she was and looking quite silly, the marten looked around, wondering if anyone else was sharing her misery.~
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Breeze -- Wind's Way of Whispering
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RedFox
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Hi! My favorite north american mammal is the red fox!
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Re: ><Chill Out>< (Katariina)
« Reply #1 on: Apr 7th, 2007, 10:59pm » |
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-Snare, the playful ermine, decked out in his white winter coat, walked playfully along. He loved the cold. Romping and juming about, he suddenly slipped and ran headfirst into a tree. He looked up in pain and saw a marten hanging in a quite unusual position on an icy branch. He stared, cockling his head from left to right, waiting for it to move. He looked higher and realized that the marten had fallen and was in pain. He wagged his tail politely but did not do anything to ease the marten's pain, mostly because he didn't know what to do. Now, the cold was getting through his fur, and he ruffled it up in a futile effort to keep warm. He shivered, and fell into a lump of white fur on the ground.-
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Breeze
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Re: ><Chill Out>< (Katariina)
« Reply #2 on: Apr 8th, 2007, 8:14pm » |
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~Hanging precariously from the branch, Katariina could do nothing but watch. It was both out of boredom and for her safety; being deaf, she knew from experience that she was at a severe disadvantage. A ridiculously hungry predator could come around, see her, and attack her before she even knew he was there. She had learned to constantly be on the look out.
There were no starving wolves or eagles coming after her, however. Instead, there was an ermine, looking quite cheerful. Katariina watched him with interest, as it had been a long time since she had seen another mustelid. She then couldn't help but smile as he slipped and crashed into the tree. It appeared that all mustelids were clutzy in this place.
Then the ermine spotted her. She smiled calmly at it, acknowledging its polite "greeting", but otherwise could do very little else. Her smile became a frown when the ermine randomly fell over, puffing up like a porcupine. Immediately she wondered what was wrong, and wanted to make sure it wasn't something that could harm her as well.
There was one problem, though. She was still hanging from the branch. With a sigh of resignation, the marten wiggled her body, trying to move backward so she could grasp the branch, and perhaps pull herself up. Instead, she slipped face first straight off the branch. With a surprised squeak, the marten clawed and grabbed at the passing branches, and finally managed to grasp one that still had bare bark. The branch dipped low from the sudden weight, then cracked, swinging toward the base of the tree as if in a classic comedy movie.
Katariina didn't miss the opportunity. She grabbed onto the trunk as the branch hit. It smacked her body, but being a small branch, she figured the most she would have was bruises. Besides, she noted with relief, at least now she was on safe, sturdy "ground". Satisfied, the marten quickly scrambled backwards down the trunk and landed softly next to the ermine, wincing at the pain jolting through her body. She would be sore for days. No sleeping in trees until spring, she decided.~
"Hey... You okay?"
~Thankfully, the pain was mellowing her voice, and the marten wasn't nearly as loud as she normally was. Regardless, her voice was slightly above average volume, something the marten was oblivious to as she observed the pure-white ermine before her.~
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Breeze -- Wind's Way of Whispering
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RedFox
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Hi! My favorite north american mammal is the red fox!
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Re: ><Chill Out>< (Katariina)
« Reply #3 on: Apr 9th, 2007, 10:59am » |
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"Yes, just very cold." -Snare was very cold. At this moment he got up again, to get his blood flowing and to keep warm. He dashed to and fro in the icy air, and came to a panting halt by the marten.- "Now I'm not. As long as I keep moving." -Snare jumped up as high as his little legs could bring him. He was met with a knock on the head.- "Ow..." - He rolled into his lump again for a minute. He quickly got up, and became hyper again, literately jumoing off the trunk of the tree. He flipped and rolled and finally stopped and said to the marten- "All done. Should keep warm for at least an hour."
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Breeze
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Re: ><Chill Out>< (Katariina)
« Reply #4 on: Apr 11th, 2007, 7:59pm » |
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~Katariina had forgotten how hard conversation could be. For as she watched the ermine, trying to catch his words, it ended up being rather difficult. The ermine was in an awkward position, after all, and it was hard to read words when the animal's mouth was sideways. The most she caught was that he was cold. She frowned; certainly he was used to the cold? He had white fur and everything.
The female really didn't know what to think when the ermine suddenly bounced around. She watched with confusion, then became more baffled when he said something in between panting. She completely missed his words; unfortunate, really, since she had a feeling he had been explaining his strange actions. Then she wondered if he was just crazy when he hit his head and fell over again.
His acrobatics were rather impressive, but all the same Katariina could not see the point. Regardless, she backed up to give him some space... And a clearer path for her to run if he was truly a lunatic. At last, though, he stopped, and she was able to actually read most of what came out of his mouth. Something about... Keeping warm for another hour? She rapidly wished she hadn't missed his last words; nothing coming out of the ermine's mouth made any sense.
Oh well. She decided to shrug it off and pretend she knew exactly what was going on.~
"Uh, right. I'm Katariina. Who are you?"
~Well, perhaps her first "sentence" wasn't much for pretending, but she wasn't about to make up some reaction that may have nothing to do with what he had been doing. Something general worked in every situation, and since jumping off tree trunks was a little weird, she was sure her words fit. She just hoped he didn't jump around again, or this conversation would be quite difficult.~
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Breeze -- Wind's Way of Whispering
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RedFox
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Hi! My favorite north american mammal is the red fox!
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Re: ><Chill Out>< (Katariina)
« Reply #5 on: Apr 11th, 2007, 10:16pm » |
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"My name's Snare, hi Katariina, I'm just cold again, but I won't go crazy again for at least another hour, like I said."
-Snare groomed himself quickly and then wondered something - could this animal who he had never met and knew nothing about be deaf? He shrugged it off. She would've told me already. Besides, I talk too much anyway,He curled up and peeked out every once in a while through his thick, white fur. He became tired in less than 20 seconds and got up and was about to go crazy again, but then remembered his promise to Katariina about not going hyper. He fell and landed with a thump. He quickly forgot about it and quickly asked- "So, what are you? Where do you live? Do you have a mate? Do you like the cold? Am I being hyper? Well, of course I am, but you'll get used to it after a while. I guess I'm bored and tired of living alone, but I got used to that too, just like you will most probably get used to me talking and being hyper like right now." -He said it rapidly. He wanted to go crazy again, his thick fur was once again failing him. He looked into the cold sky and shivered.- "Did I shiver? I didn;t mean to shiver, I winter cold nights all alone and I have thick fur and I'm going hyoer again so I'll stop." -He, once again, said it rapidly, this time, it was on purpose. He wanted to see if she was deaf.-
OOC: How do you make such long posts? I can't, maybe I'm not being too descriptive. 
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| « Last Edit: Apr 11th, 2007, 10:19pm by RedFox » |
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Breeze
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I am not thinking right now. That should explain everything for you.
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Re: ><Chill Out>< (Katariina)
« Reply #6 on: Apr 12th, 2007, 8:43pm » |
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((I just ramble a lot. I wouldn't worry about post length; it's about quality, not quantity, and some of my long posts are downright awful xP ))
~The conversation was rapidly becoming impossible. Katariina struggled to obtain the meaning from the ermine's next words, but he didn't seem to pause between sentences, and his lips flowed easily from one word to the next. She caught his name, and being cold, and something about being crazy, but still felt that she was missing something. Still, the female tried to keep calm, and forced herself to nod.~
"Great to meet you."
~She had barely finished the sentence before the ermine curled up, peeking out of his fur at her. She was beginning to become concerned, thinking that perhaps there was something wrong with the male and she should check on him. The female cautiously approached him, nose quivering. Well, he smelled okay, but still, animals normally didn't lie down for no--
The male suddenly leapt up, and with a surprised squeak Katariina leaped backwards out of his way, fur bristling. This ermine was far too random. He reminded her of the crazy red squirrel she had chased here, except less insane. Maybe he had some illness that would turn him crazy. Taking a deep breath and fur flattening, the marten forced herself to calm down... Then became completely and utterly lost when the ermine started to talk like a lunatic.
Light? Man? Cough? She caught the beginning of words, the ends, and then sometimes just a letter or two. Her fur bristled sagain as her entire body seemed to droop, eyes widening slightly as she tried desperately to translate the mess. When he paused to shiver, she almost sighed with relief, only to be brought through another bought of torture.
Finally she gave up, shaking her head madly. This was ridiculous. She might as well just leave the ermine. She was a solitary creature anyway. However, even as Katariina backed up, curiosity burned in her. She really wanted to know what the ermine had blabbered about. Something about a coughing man with a light sounded interesting, and perhaps a bit dangerous. Men had set fire to a forest last time; what would coughing men do? Indeed, she realized that the ermine's words may be valuable.
Suppressing a sigh, the female turned back to the ermine.~
"Sorry... Could you speak a little more slowly? It's hard to understand..."
~She wasn't outright admitting being deaf. Her pride as a lone, powerful "hunter" wouldn't let her do that. But admitting that he was hard to understand because he spoke like a lunatic? Surely even a creature that could hear him would do that. Yep. Sure they would. Katariina ignored the chiding feelings and focused her attention on the ermine, awaiting his hopefully slower response.~
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Breeze -- Wind's Way of Whispering
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RedFox
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Hi! My favorite north american mammal is the red fox!
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Re: ><Chill Out>< (Katariina)
« Reply #7 on: May 20th, 2007, 9:49pm » |
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OOC: I can't type much in this post, sorry. 
BIC: -Snare said more slowly "Sorry, that's the way I talk and I've always talked. You'll get used to it eventually. But for now, I'm hungry. I think I'll - Wait, you live here, where is a good spot to find prey?" Snare walked around the new friend he had made slowly and attentively awaiting a response. He tilited his head left and right while walking, and makes sure that he walks quickly. "Because I'm hungry and need to know where to find food. Hey! Do you want to become friends? I never had many friends..." Snare added.-
OOC: Yeah, sorry its so short, I had to type it quickly because I was about to leave, I may edit it later.
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| « Last Edit: Jun 10th, 2007, 10:21pm by RedFox » |
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Breeze
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Re: ><Chill Out>< (Katariina)
« Reply #8 on: Jun 22nd, 2007, 5:09pm » |
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~At last, he had slowed down. Katariina refrained from sighing with relief; that would look a little bit too suspicious, and distract her further from the conversation. Focusing on Snare, she noted his words, which while still spoken at a pretty quick speed, were at least comprehensible now. She almost groaned at his words that she would get used to it; he had no idea.
Then, however, he began to walk around her, and not particularly slowly either. Her fur flared up for a moment, then flattened a tad too much as she moved to follow his face, contemplating his question. It was pretty late in the season, so there wasn't much chance of getting prey. It was too cold for them to go out, and besides, the prey was perfectly aware that they would be especially eager to catch them to survive winter. However, if he was in the mood to travel, he could probably ice-fish at the lake, or even in the rivers...
He began to babble again, but this time while moving. Katariina gritted her teeth; okay, this wasn't a coincidence anymore. Unless Snare had a severe case of ADD, he was purposely doing all of this to make it difficult for her. But why? And how did he know? Surely her being deaf wasn't that obvious... Or maybe it was. Not many animals stared so attentatively when someone spoke, and got so confused when they spoke too quickly. She snorted softly at herself.
Bah, who cared how he had found out. The point was that he was torturing her at that rate. The marten barely managed to catch Snare's words, and even then it was a basic gist. She still had no idea what he had said last time, and at that rate didn't care. She just wanted to end the conversation, as a headache slowly developed and her pride refused to let her end it.~
"You can try the lake or rivers... There may be some fish. Prey is a bit scarce here."
~She paused, mind spinning. What else had he wanted? Oh yeah...~
"And friends... I don't know. Maybe. I don't know you very well."
~And she wasn't growing to like him, with the way he kept moving and talking quickly. She knew it was just her pride making her grumpy, but shoved the thought aside. Snare could at least be nice about her being deaf instead of making it more difficult for her, right? Right.~
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Breeze -- Wind's Way of Whispering
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Snare
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Re: ><Chill Out>< (Katariina)
« Reply #9 on: Dec 21st, 2007, 10:18am » |
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Snare squealed with delight, and, forgetting to speak slower, burst out rapidly "YAY, we can be friends! Do you have friends? Do you like your friends? Do you like me? Do you like the cold? Are you deaf? I'm not deaf. But I think you're deaf. What does deaf mean anyway? Why does it sound like death? I'm cold are you cold? Do you like the warm weather? Do you wish it were warm? Am I being hyper again? I'm hungry, are you hungry? Can we hunt together? Are we friends? Where do you live? What do you do for fun? I like running around, do you? Hopping is fun too! I have a sister! Do you have a brother or sister? Do you have a mother or father? I like snow but its cold! Do you like cold snow? I feel bored." His jaws parted in a maniac-like grin as he eagerly awaiting Katariina's response.
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Katariina
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Re: ><Chill Out>< (Katariina)
« Reply #10 on: Dec 26th, 2007, 12:29pm » |
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~Oh goodness, there he went again. Babbling his head off, full-speed ahead for the hyper babble. At least he wasn't moving this time, and at that point she was beginning to understand his behavior. He didn't seem to be trying to make it difficult for her -- On the other hand, he just looked happy about something that he was babbling like a lunatic.
Katariina focused hopelessly on his rapidly moving mouth. Once again, she only caught a few words. Friends... Cold... Deaf... Brother... Hunt... Like... Running... Bored...
Well then. There was a babble that she would not be able to decipher very well. She thought quickly, trying to establish from his earlier behavior what he could be saying. Friends... Well, he must be excited about being friends. Granted, she hadn't said they would be friends, but Snare reminded her of a cub who would immediately latch onto friendship at the slightest opportunity. By not flat out saying no, she had solidified their friendship. Great.
Cold... He was babbling about the weather again, she guessed. Nothing major there. But deaf was more interesting, perhaps why she had been able to catch it. So he did realize it. Katariina's body sagged slightly with shame; she did hide it so pitifully. Quickly, however, she stood straight, head high as she looked at Snare. Yeah, she was deaf, but he didn't seem especially bothered by it, so there was no point to her moping.
Brother... She had no idea there. Maybe he thought he was her brother; he seemed loopy enough. Hunt, she didn't know either. She had told him where to hunt, after all. Perhaps he needed directions or assistance? He must be new if he asked about hunting grounds in the first place. Katariina didn't especially like the idea of helping him, being a relative loner, but a few hours of hunting wouldn't kill her. She may actually do better having someone around to hear things for her. Slowly, the marten found herself warming to an idea that she wasn't even sure he had presented.
Like, running, and bored perhaps made the most sense of all. He liked running, and he was bored, probably because he wasn't running. Katariina thought quickly. She wouldn't normally worry about his boredom, but if he was bored, soon he would start cartwheeling all over the place and be impossible to understand. Best to get him doing something so he wasn't bored. Perhaps hunting... Yes, that was a good idea. They could go hunting, he could be moving and no longer bored, and hopefully they could come out of it with a meal for the winter.~
"You're bored? I have an idea, then. Let's go hunt. There may be some scraps left where the wolves hunt -- If they bother us we can always flee to the trees and look for birds."
~She stretched, yawning and digging her claws into the soil, and then winced as pain shot through her body. Er, right. Falling out of trees, bruises, generally unpleasant. She sighed and hoped that there was some carrion, since hunting for birds would not be plausible when her body couldn't handle a yawn. Upon righting herself, she looked back at Snare.~
"And yes, I am deaf. That's why I want you to speak more slowly -- So I can understand you."
~She shrugged to show that she was offended. Annoyed, yes, but she wasn't about to kill him. Instead, she padded a few steps in the direction of the nearest clearing where she knew the wolves would often stop by. It was the first place she often stopped for food, and she turned to see if Snare would follow.~
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