Withered Spirits (open)

[Hafalong Rambling]

To the casual observer, the young wolf wandering the desert may have seemed to be arguing with himself. This, of course, wasn't anything odd. Most who might be observing this might chalk it up to dehydration, which was the partial truth.

As it was, Tiatsu Keeper was not arguing with himself, although the reason for his argument was over water. His argument was with the floating specter of a wolf he'd never known before he'd come here. The specter's fur was shriveled, his form was thin and ugly, and his eyes had long been pecked out by birds. As it was, Tiatsu would have much preferred to have drawn in a more appealing spirit (like his mother, who'd drifted off once more), but it seemed that all the desert had to offer were creatures like this wolf had become.

I suppose this is what it means to have a "withered spirit," Tiatsu thought bitterly. He glared at the disgusting figure.

"Why should I trust you to help me find water?" he asked, his mouth dry, "From the looks of things, you couldn't find any yourself!"

Right, right, hissed the other spirits, the one's who'd met the same, awful fate as the one Tiatsu was speaking to.

I have lots of time to wander, said the spirit, and fate found me water after I'd died, near to here, little pup, near to here!

Tiatsu scowled at being called a "little pup," feeling like he'd outgrown the title by quite a bit at this point. He lifted a wing to shield his eyes from the blinding sun and peered around. He didn't see, smell, or hear any signs of water anywhere.

"Yeah, right," he muttered, "Trying to drag me to the grave with ya, eh?" He marched through the specter's body, disregarding it's moan of discomfort. He'd find water himself, or, at the very least, find a more reliable looking spirit.

Several miles from where he'd left the specter, Tiatsu finally decided it was time to call it quits. He lay beneath the scattered shade of a lone tree, spreading it's sparse leaves over the hot sand. His dry tongue lolled out of his mouth, and he was panting heavily. The barrier he'd set up in his head to keep the multitude of spirits from clouding his vision fell away, and now all he saw was misty forms, all he heard was moaning, dry voices, their final cries for water forever echoing in this vast, empty place.

What a way to go out, he thought, Not even all too creative... closing his eyes, the young one sighed. Despite all the groaning and wailing around him, he dropped into a relatively easy sleep.

When one finds oneself forever surrounded by the dead, the idea of death becomes less scary. Such thought Tiatsu as he lay in this barren wasteland, dreaming of his brother, and his mother, and of withered spirits, reaching out with cracked paws, speaking with dry tongues, and trying to take him with them to the grave.

[Gypsy]

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[atrb=background,http://i50.tinypic.com/34z0jf9.jpg] Ug...it was hotter than she had expected it to be. Her black silky fur was not helping in the least with dispelling the heat. A tall, slender sennyo moved through the dry heat, part of it was just to feel the sensation of rough travel once again. She was beginning to grow restless in a pack.....so she had set off in a nameless direction before the sun had even risen that morning. Blue morpho butterfly wings were fluttering occasionally to give her a breeze in the still, dry heat of the desert. Her antennae were twitching and swerving on her head. She would not had come this far into the desert with out knowing that there was a storm comming....it was just taking longer than she had anticipated. Her dainty paws were covered in dust from her day's excursion. Her tail was held as high as it could be, given the suffocating air. In her velvety maw there were a few odd looking tubrs. Obviously she had dug them up recently, now she was just looking for a spot to enjoy them. Cold blue eyes fell upon a lone tree not to far off, with out thinking to check for others, she strode with confidence towards the lonely tree. Only when she got closer did she notice a young male laying, still underneath. Great. She had to share her shade with a dead guy. Upon closer inspection though, she noticed that he was in fact breathing. Having a mouth full off fat roots, she only made a soft growl to announce her pressence. She was loathe to ask permission to share the tree, but she was not going to walk any further until the blasted rain got there.

[Hafalong Rambling]

Tiatsu awoke with a jump, snorting in surprise and sucking sand up his nostrils, which made him sneeze and cough as he scrambled to his paws, slipping twice and having to stand again. After sneezing several more times to clear his nose and forcing his vision to clear, Tiatsu was finally able to acknowledge the wolf before him.

A Sennyo, black fur, blue wings, mouth full of some kind of rooty substance, stood just within the ring of shade. Tiatsu regarded her with a mix of apprehension and excitement. He was still a bit traumatized by the knowledge of his mother's murder, and it had caused a general dislike towards Sennyos, but the tubers in her mouth called his attention, and his dry tongue was about ready to fall out of his mouth. Time to swallow his fears and start trying to survive.

"Er... hi...?" Tiatsu said, his voice cracking. Somewhere in that space between hearing with his ears and hearing in his head, the voice of his mother spoke.

Remember your manners, she said in a sarcastically mothering voice, greet her properly, invite her into the shade. Be nice and maybe you won't die, there was a bitter chuckle after that. Speaking of dying always made Dust laugh these days, something Tiatsu didn't understand.

"Um, would you, uh, like to come under here, Miss, ah..... Miss..?" Tiatsu gestured with his paw towards the sparse shade. A dry leaf tumbled to the ground, and another patch of precious shade, however small, disappeared.

There was an exasperated sigh from the voice near his ear.

Shove over kid, it said, and a second later, Tiatsu was cast into limbo.

It was only the second time Dust had done this, and she still had trouble adjusting to her son's body. She blinked a few times, then, aware that her voice might come from his mouth, coughed, trying to work out how to use his voice.

After a few experimental coughs, she heard a change. Adopting a humbler position, Dust spoke.

"I'm sorry, Miss, I'm a little bit drowsy from the heat," said Dust. Her son's voice, her son's body, the only thing she changed was his manners, "Let me begin again. My name is Tiatsu Keeper, it's very nice to meet you. Would you like to come further in under the tree? It's a lot cooler under here," she/he gave a polite and cheerful grin, shifting aside to make more room. Somewhere in her subconscious, Dust was aware of Tiatsu screaming at her for messing up his persona.

Grinning a quirky grin to herself, Dust ignored him. She planned on eating one of those tubers before she gave him his body back. He had no idea what it was like not being able to taste anything, and she was going to use his taste buds as much as she could.

More screaming. He actually seemed scared. Some part of her felt like this was justified. Let the brat float in limbo for a bit, remind him that this wouldn't even be happening if he hadn't been born. After all- no Tiatsu and Apollo, no Bezdomny, no Bezdomny, no death, no death, no need to cast her son into limbo. That bitter spot still remained in her heart that resented her sons for being born, that resented herself for letting them be born.

But that was enough of that. Time to cast off the unhappy thoughts. She was going to eat a tuber, then relinquish the body back to her son. A simple plan, by all means, if the dry, ugly spirits of the desert chose not to interfere.

[Gypsy]

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[atrb=background,http://i50.tinypic.com/34z0jf9.jpg] Gypsy watched with mild amusement, mixed slightly with annoyance, at his rude awakening. Had he really not been paying that much attention? Oh well, she supposed to heat had something to do with it. He seemed to have trouble figuring out what to say. He tripped over his words. The callous sennyo considered for a moment how easy it would be to convince him to leave the shade all to her. She also considered flirting with him, it had been a while since she played with a male. The past year had made her...less inclined to want to mess around though. She just stood there, quietly, waiting for him to actually gather himself enough to speak to her like a normal wolf. Then as suddenly as she thought it, there was a change in the male. It actually made her eyes narrow with suspicion. Something was wrong here. At the invitation though, she came further into the shade, moving so that the gnarly trunk was between her and the oddity. She reached up to her full height, craning her neck to set the tubers in a small crevice of the tree, wanting to keep the dirt off them for now. She kept a wary eye though, she didn't want her treat stolen from her unless she willingly relinquished it. Which, as things were going, she was not sure she would. " Keeper, huh?" She finally said, her voice elegant and smooth, despite the heat, "Why are you out here in the desert, you do not seem....suited for it." Her eyes scanned his body, pausing on the parts that mattered the most to a shallow female. Her mental diagnosis didn't last long, nor did her gaze linger. He seemed to young for her to be interested. The blue baubles of her antenna twitched a little and flickered in a certain direction, causing her head to turn and look over that way. There. The clouds were coming into view...it would be about an hour before they reached the sad little tree they were huddled under.

[Hafalong Rambling]

Dust looked longingly at the tubers, and "heard" Tiatsu's tiny voice telling her to hurry up. She shushed him mentally and returned to her conversation with the Sennyo.

"Yes, Keeper," she said, "I'm not to sure of the origin's of the name myself, but it's a name, and it's better than not having one, eh?" the laugh that issued from the young wolf's mouth astounded Dust. He had such an airy, carefree laugh. She half expected he'd have the same dry, bitter chuckle as she'd had. "As for what I'm doing out here..." here came a pause. Why was Tiatsu out here? The shapeless mass that was her son's conscious only returned her questioning mind with a smug smile, staying silent, as though saying "Work it out yourself, bitch." It seemed Tiatsu's mother obsession was wearing off pretty quick.

"It was just a spur of the moment decision, and not one of my best spurs either. I've been wandering around for hours looking for water," another laugh, well, more of a chuckle. Dust liked this, she liked it a lot, "And lo and behold, a little storm appears to be coming. I suppose the best thing to do would have been to turn around and catch the rain,"

There was an uncomfortable squirming coming from Tiatsu. He was beginning to become restless, watching her mess up his entire personality and way of talking. He was beginning to regain control of a few functions, shifting his wings and hitting his tail against the tree. He couldn't feel the sharp pain of it, but Dust could, and she stifled a yelp. She tried not to let any of the signs of their struggle show on the outside, and tried to keep up a light conversation.

"So, ah, what brings you to these parts?" Dust asked. Tiatsu had readjusted her voice for a moment, so that for a half a second, two seconds at the most, Dust's true voice sounded, then she got a hold of herself again, "I mean, black fur... it can't be the most comfortable experience. At the very least I balance out the black and white in my fur... but you must be dying," and of course, Dust gave a soft chuckle after speaking death. Tiatsu sprang forward, simultaneously trying to shove his mother back, getting caught somewhere between There and Not There. On the outside, the body froze for a second, with nothing conscious inside of it, then Tiatsu grabbed hold again and-

Taking a deep breath, he watched his mother pouting from behind the Sennyo, angry at being cheated out of a meal he was almost certain he'd lost anyways.

"I'm sorry that I froze up for a moment, Miss, I just thought I saw something...." he should his head, "Er... so, as I asked before, what brings you here?"

[Gypsy]

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[atrb=background,http://i50.tinypic.com/34z0jf9.jpg] She looked back at him with a guarded expression. Something was wrong, he was not there it seemed. Was he fighting with himself? Or was he just mad? Great. Just what she needed. She was not a fan of being questions, however it seemed that was how the conversation was going. " I was bored." Her response was aloof at best, her ears perked forward as she heard a distinct female laugh come out of the male's mouth. Odd. As soon as it had come it had left. Then, after a moment of eerie pause, at which she looked around with mild uncertainty, the male was back to bumbling. Strange. Yes, that was the word....Strange. After obviously lying to her face, he asked her again, why was she here? He must not have been listening. "I was bored, so I went for a walk. I'm only here because that storm. I don't wander into deserts unprepared." She emphasized the ground with her nose, then likewise she had gestured to the horizon. Her eyes held a note of distaste. He was stupid. Or had a death wish. She bent her willowy legs beneath her as she sat, upright, waiting for the storm and acknowledging the fact she would have to pass the time with the whelp. Her feathery tail silently floated behind her, further showing that there was no measurable breeze just yet.

[Hafalong Rambling]

Tiatsu looked out towards the horizon as well, hoping the storm wouldn't batter the little tree to badly. He thought it would be awful, being wet, and then in the middle of a desert. Images of boiling in his own wet fur flashed across his mind, and he shivered.

"I suppose that would be a good idea, coming prepared..." Tiatsu said, "I'm not very good at preparation, though. I once flew over a canyon for a week before realizing where I was. I ended up wandering all over without any idea where the hell I was lookin' for a dead lady" He shook his head. It seemed silly, now that he said it that way... He shrugged.

"I suppose we all have our strong points though, eh? That's just not one of mine," he waved a paw dismissively, brushing away the past. And either way, he'd kind of already found the "dead lady," hadn't he?

And that "dead lady" was glowering at him from behind the Sennyo, trying to get him to make a few faces back, trying to get him to seem like a true idiot. He suppressed a smirk. He lived with Bezdomny, though, and he'd learned to master his expressions. He wasn't going to be made to look like any more of a fool than he already did.

"So, um... how bad to you suppose the storm'll be?" he was attempting to keep the conversation going. The idea of sitting in silence with another wolf for any length of time made him feel uncomfortable. It was even more awkward when the other wolf was a Sennyo and a girl. As long as there was conversation, he could deal.

[Gypsy]

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[atrb=background,http://i50.tinypic.com/34z0jf9.jpg] Obviously he had a habit of making poor decisions. She wondered why he was still alive, perhaps he had someone or something looking out for him. She glanced up at the sky, as if to ask it 'Why?' She was not even sure this kid would be worth playing with. If anything he seemed uncomfortable to be around a female. Pity. Dead lady? That caused a brow to arch. What was he talking about? For a moment his behavior earlier floated back into her mind, but she pushed it aside. She really didn't care. He did ask her a question though....she sighed expressing her exasperation with this encounter.She turned her head toward the horizon and brought her antennae in front of her head, they bobbled a little. "It won't be that bad....enough to get you out of the desert if you go the correct direction." There was a cold smirk on her maw.

[Hafalong Rambling]

Tiatsu looked around. The correct direction, and he could get outta here? The idea sounded nice but...

"I don't have a very good sense of direction..." he said, "So finding the right way to go would be impossible..." He could feel the white side of his face turning a soft pink beneath the fur, although he wasn't sure why he was so embarrassed by that. Lots of wolves had a bad sense of direction, right? It wasn't anything odd.

"Um... so..." Tiatsu shifted from one paw to the other, running out of ideas, "Uh... what's it like... er, ya know, bein' a Sennyo?" he asked, "Ya know... long lives... uh... butterfly wings? Is it, uh... is it interesting? You've probably met a lot of people..." He trailed off, wondering if it had been rude of him to ask. However, it was a bit late to take it back now, and he let the question hang awkwardly in the air, waiting for a reply.




((OOC: Sorry for the crap-tastic post, I just woke up a little while ago, and my brain is only half-functioning, I think XD))

[Gypsy]

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[atrb=background,http://i50.tinypic.com/34z0jf9.jpg] A bad sense of direction was not all this pup was missing it seemed. A slight breeze picked up, causing her feather-light tail to waver a little. His lack of tact was astounding really. However, she didn't care too much, she hardly ever cared anymore. "What's it like being a sennyo?" She looked at him as if he were a snot-nosed pup, with a look of mild disgust and supirotity. "Just like being any other wofl....I prefer fruit and fish to meat though...been many places." She looked at her back, fluttering her wings slightly, "My wings are useless, aside being just for show. At least you can fly." There may have been thinly veiled contempt there, it was hard to tell over her icy voice though. She looked over the horizon, figuring if she kept talking it would keep him from asking anymore prying questions, " Most all the wolves I've met have died. I never stick around long enough to get attached. Wolves are like trees, you always see them but never really bother to pay attention to them unless they grab your interest some how, stand out from the rest." She looked at the tree they had shelter under. It was unique in the fact it was the only one really out here.

[Hafalong Rambling]

"Huh, sounds kinda-" Tiatsu halted. He was going to say something along the lines of "boring," or "Suck-tastic," but he wasn't sure how the Sennyo would react to that, "Interesting." he decided on.

He tried to imagine a world in which he didn't really notice the wolves around him. Face after face, fading into darkness... he shivered. It sounded awful!


"Well, I guess you and I are opposites, then..." he continued, "I can barely go anywhere without noticing other people. When I was still a puppy, every person I met, I instantly decided was my friend! I was a super spaz," he chuckled and shook his head, "It didn't matter who or what, I always talked to whoever I could."

He sighed, lost in memory, then jerked back to reality just as quickly.

"Oh, er... but, ya know, that's all past now. It was fun while it lasted. And I s'pose that some people just don't like making connections. Not every wolf is the same, and that's why I like talking to them. I like seeing what other people are like."

Again, he lapsed into silence, and then, again, he spoke.

"Ya know... I've only ever met three Sennyos in my whole life- one, I only half paid attention to. The other... well, I guess he's like my dad now, and then there's you," He wagged his tail, "Congrats, on being Sennyo number three! Whoo!" he gave a cheesy grin, hoping to lighten the mood of the place a little bit more.






((OOC: And another bad post. This week, I just can't end stuff ^_^;; Suddenly Tiatsu is a game show host XD))

[Gypsy]

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[atrb=background,http://i50.tinypic.com/34z0jf9.jpg] Interesting was one way to put it. Maybe the kid had some tact afterall. Her ears folded back a little as a warm breeze pushed past them. She was tapping a foot now, not knowing how much longer she could stand the company. Opposites in more ways than one.... She was only half paying attention now. He held no interest to her aside being obnoxious. Though her mind did wander back to how he was acting before...that was something to note. Perhaps she should ask. She decided to wait for a moment to speak.... Not that she could get a word in edge wise with the whelp....did he ever stop talking? Then he brought back up her breed. She raised a thin brow at him. This kid had met three sennyos? Now that was interesting, she could not remember the last time she had seen another of her kind. He was what two? She was terrible at judging ages these days, "You've met two others? Where?" She glanced around, half expecting one to show up.

[Hafalong Rambling]

Tilting his head to one side, Tiatsu considered the Sennyo. She seemed curiously interested in his interactions with the Sennyo race.

"Well... one of them... well, I didn't really talk to him much. I think that was around the Taiga... you know where that is, right? I don't remember his name. I was, um... well, I didn't really like Sennyos at the time... oh! But the other Sennyo is the one I mentioned earlier. He's like my father, by the name of Bezdomny? Or is it Kelev?" He shrugged, "He's... kind of confusing, and he... well, it's a long story, but my brother trusts him, so I don't mind him too much."

Now he noticed his mother. She had drifted away again, but had come back, and was now scowling at the mention of her murderer. There was a time when he would have scowled too, but his mother... well, she was being something of a bitch just then, and he was actually glad that she was dead.

He's doing more for me and 'Pol than you ever did, he thought viciously. Dust growled at him, and he tensed himself. She wasn't going to squeeze herself into his body again.

"Umn... do you not see other Sennyos very often? I mean, I suppose you guys are kind of few and far between, but... ya know, you must talk to others sometimes, right? Some kinda... Sennyo Reunion or somethin'?" He gave a half shrug, "I dunno, there's gotta be-"

He muffled a cry of distress under his paw as Dust tackled his conscious. Perhaps he had gone too far, telling her that Bez was a better parent than she had ever been, but it was true. He told her this in his head, although he doubted she noticed.

Ingrate! Ingrate! You awful little freak! I should have left you in that cave to die! I should have strangled you and left you to the sea birds! she was shrieking whatever came to mind, all the ways he could have died, all the things she did for him. She had died protecting him, but he ended up with the Sennyo who'd done it anyways.

The cuts inflicted across Tiatsu's conscious were awful, but he kept himself from giving his mother the satisfaction of seeing him react. The best she got was to see his eyes watering.

"Ah... s-so..." he tried to keep his mind off of the mental abuse he was being subjected to, "Um... do you remember the last Sennyo you talked to? I always thought it'd be fun... having someone of the same species that you weren't related to to talk to. However, I haven't met another mutt like myself other than my brother," Another shrug, another awful cut to his conscious mind. If he passed out, he knew his mother would take over his body again, and chances were she wouldn't let go.

He looked out towards the faintly cloudy sky. As soon as the storm came, he could drown out the sound of his mother. He really hoped it would come soon!









((OOC: Sorry for the mixed up post ^_^;; It's a little confusing, even to me, so...))

[Gypsy]

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[atrb=background,http://i50.tinypic.com/34z0jf9.jpg] Her tail twitched at the mention of the other sennyos. No, she had never met any recently. She must have always just missed them, she had spent some time in the taiga, but evidently not enough to see another of her kind. Not that she wanted to....the more she thought of it...the more she was glad of it. Of course he had to ask her stupid questions, she scoffed, "A reunion? Right. Like we are all related." There was a shred of bitterness in her voice. " The last sennyo I met was my mate. As soon as he found out I was pregnant, he left me. Haven't really tried to find other sennyos since then." She ended her rant with a growl, then lifted her head up to the tree nook to grab a tuber to munch on. She lowered herself to the ground to make it easier to eat, holding the food in her forepaws. She looked back up at him when he started twitching and studdering...."What the hell is your problem? You were acting like this earlier when your personality changed.....what gives?" Why beat around the bush when you can burn it down? Her ears twitched as a distant rumble of thunder came to them. The air seemed to be cooling off...the storm was nigh.