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Post by 0 on Sept 7, 2017 0:43:15 GMT
Summer blazed across the desert. The pronghorn's mouth hung open in a breathy pant, hoofs beating against the dust and sand as she roamed the heated lands. This was new territory. She must have taken a wrong turn.
Instead of the rolling sand dunes she found her dark eyes met by flat lands with gentle slopes. Dry plants dug their roots deep into the dusty soil, branches and leaves stuck with spines that threatened to poke her should she wander too close. As far as the eye could see there was nothing but these prickly plants huddling close to the ground. What little wonder she could feel was ruled out by the overblown heat that wavered before her eyes.
When at last she spotted something that could cast shade in the light of the midday sun, the antelope hastily picked up the pace, sliding into the shadows as she collapsed onto the ground, sides heaving, the heat hardly washing away from her burning body. The jagged outcrop rose into the sky behind her, and the pronghorn leaned her head against the cool stone with a gasp, blearily watching the horizon between the bloated leaves of an aloe. She couldn't even summon the strength then to take a nip of the rubbery leaves, nauseated by her trek in the blazing sun. Her ears hummed as the heat whirled around in her head, tired and unaware that a small trickle of water was flowing down the wall just on the other side of the rocks to which the aloe clung.
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Post by Spiral Dancer on Oct 4, 2017 12:42:38 GMT
The desert is a harsh place to find yourself in. You are either fast enough to reach the nearest shade before the Sun hits it's highest point, or find yourself sprawled on the sand just pleading that a snake to find you and end your misery. Such is the daily struggle of a peculiar critter who appears to be out of it's element in this hostile plane. While lizards, snakes, the occasional mammal and insects are a common sight, a orange painted hare isn't. I'm not talking about a rabbit with a light orange pelt, but of one that appears as if it got dipped in to a bucket of vivid orange paint that humans use to paint their walls with. It's definitely a peculiar animal to see.
As the day progresses so does the need for shade and the little critter pauses it's search across the desert to find some much needed shade and refuel. Using it's long legs it quickly darts across the scorching cracked earth until salvation appeared itself in it's wooden brown eyes.
With a bounce it jumps in the shade, just on the other side of the rocks which obscure it's vision of the pronghorn. Smiling it lifts itself up to sit on it's hind legs and give it's ears a good shake of the dust with it's front paws. After another good shake it twirls to drink some much needed liquid that is ticking down from the rock formation.
Ahhhh Finally he can relax. While he probably has the harshest job out of all the others, he can't complain, simply cause he loves running in open planes, deserts and sea shores were the best places to do so.
Deciding to take a nap, the critter uses some of the rocks to propel himself upwards and on to a low hanging branch of the tree cause he doesn't want to sleep on the earth where anything can just eat him up. On weary paws, he makes his way up the branch until he finally spots the exhausted pronghorn resting on the other side of the rocks.
Well shit. Looks like company. Is it hostile?
The curious critter nudges forward, twitching it's nostril as if they held the ultimate "good-or-bad" detector. However, he leaned a bit too far forward and, as clumsy as he was, threw himself off balance which ended up in him tumbling off the branch and on to the pronghorns shoulders.
Crap.
His eyes quickly dart to spot the animals eyes and intentions as he lays there, sprawled on his back unable to correct himself fast enough if the antelope chose to move.
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Post by 0 on Oct 4, 2017 16:53:15 GMT
The pronghorn sat with her mouth open for a while, sides heaving as she waited for some of the warmth to wash from her muscles. With all the time she'd been spending in the deserts lately, she was beginning to wish that she was a Sonoran pronghorn, instead of from the northern prairies. But there had to be an end to all the dust and sand somewhere.
With a final heavy breath, her head finally began to clear, and her stomach started to settle. She leaned her head over to try a piece of aloe. As she took a nip from one of the strange smooth leaves, the thick juice slid very slowly down her throat, sticking to the roof of her mouth, and the antelope's brow began to wrinkle at the bitter taste, the fleeting feeling that she might choke if she took too much. A second later she felt something drop onto her shoulders.
In an instant, the pronghorn had bolted upright with a startled call, stumbling forward on legs still shaky from her long run, her head whirling from the sudden liftoff. She reared partway to throw whatever it was off her back, just in case the initial standing hadn't, and her eyes turned hastily around as she spun awkwardly, positioning herself in a way that allowed her to look back, but where she still might be able to run away.
It was orange, it had fallen from a tree branch into just the right spot...she thought at first it was a cougar, and her legs carried her away from it another meter or so, before she realized just how small it was--and a moment after recognized those large, flared ears as those of a hare. The pronghorn tossed out her front legs, throwing up a bit of dirt, and slowly began to walk back, although she stopped with her body only halfway in the shade now, eyeing the hare curiously.
She'd never seen a hare with such a bright orange pelt before. How in the world did it survive like that? Even in the desert where many things were some shade of orange, but hardly anywhere near THAT vivid.
"What in the world are you doing?" the pronghorn asked, ears curling back. Despite her words, her tone was wrinkled with weariness and a clear unwillingness to argue for long.
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Post by Spiral Dancer on Oct 4, 2017 19:45:18 GMT
At the haste reaction from the other mammal, the rabbit was thrown off it's back and on to the dusty earth on to his chest with a loud thud. Ow. Quickly picking himself up he prepares to bolt away if the much larger animal charges at him. The plan however backfired when the mighty beast slowly approached him and he froze out of fear. Gulping hard he backs away a few paces, not wanting to be too close to the much larger animal that can easily crush him. At the question his mouth opened to say something but then closed. What can he say? It was his fault that he was so clumsy and fell on the antelopes back causing it to jolt in panic.
Lowering his tall ears the hare turns around and hops around the rock where he vanishes for a short moment.
Carefully walking on his hind legs, he makes his way back to the antelope. Holding in his front paws is a dry leaf and on it some of the water that tickles from the other side of the rock. Putting it down in front of the pronghorn he backs away a few paces and gestures towards it as if he's giving that as a apology. Even tho from the moment he put it down all the water just sprawled outwards and the leaf only has some residue wetness.
"Um..."
He finally mumbles, sitting on his hind legs and scratching his cheek.
"Sorry about that, just wanted to take a nap on one of the branches and well....kinda slipped"
He said in his light and cheerful sounding voice.
"And um...was kinda curious as to why a lonely antelope was laying about, I thought you guys traveled in herds?"
He tilts his head to the side, his wooden brown eyes glinting in the shade.
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Post by 0 on Oct 4, 2017 20:23:55 GMT
The pronghorn quirked a brow as the hare seemed to hesitate, then disappear around the other side of the rocks. Whu--...she watched him go, but didn't make any move to pursue him. Instead, she looked down and around at herself once he had vanished. Was there something else on her, or was she just that scary-looking to the smaller animal? Well, she supposed she couldn't blame him: she HAD thrown him off like a bucking bronco...although it was his fault for falling on her!
The pronghorn wondered whether she should see where the stranger went, but instead she prepared to lie back down in the shade. Before she could take on step forward, however, the hare returned--walking on his hind legs, no less! The antelope's mouth cracked open an inch as he strode forward, carrying something in his front paws like he was half monkey or something! Desert hares must be even weirder than their coats suggested.
Her eyes drifted to the leaf as it was lain down--water! Water poured out from the leaf's surface, not so much soaking the dry dirt underneath it as settling on top of it, the soil being so hardened from the desert air that it was less than porous. But where had he gotten it? Her ears were still pounding from the heat, so she had yet to hear the gentle trickle of water on the other side, but she now understood that there must be something nearby.
The pronghorn lowered her head quickly to sip up the meager helping, pulling her ears forward to listen to what the hare had to say. So, he had wanted to take a nap in the branches? Yep, she concluded; desert hares truly were strange ones.
After only a few seconds all the water was gone, either slipping into cracks between the caked earth or gone down her throat. She lifted her head and took a few steps to the side, craning her neck around as she began to search for the water.
"Uh...," she said, when it was her turn to speak. She bit her lip in hesitation, for what the hare spoke was true. Truthfully, she admitted, "It's kind of a long story." She wasn't so sure whether she wanted to say anything more than that.
She started to step around the rocks--there! Wow...right there. So close. She felt foolish for having missed it in the first place.
The pronghorn stepped forward and lowered her head to the small trickle, taking a few quick gulps before settling into a long sip. The water was warm, but cooler than the air, and she could feel the liquid as it practically soared down to her stomach. The stream was shallow and small, and it was hard to get her fill in a short amount of time, but once she was done she lifted her head and released a satisfied sigh. That was so much better....
"What about you?" she finally returned, sandy eyes resting on the hare should he be within view; herself, she began to move deeper into the shade, folding her legs under her so that she could continue resting.
She tried to think of what to question; the hare seemed so strange that she didn't know where to begin. His color? His climbing a tree? His walking on two legs?
She ended up just letting the question hang for the hare to interpret as he willed.
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Post by Spiral Dancer on Oct 5, 2017 13:50:43 GMT
He tilts his head to the left a bit, his fluffy ears rolling over and dangling over his puffy face in a show of confusion and curiosity. I suppose the question he asked hit some kind of a personal wound and thus the antelope just used the classic "It's a long story" line. He can help but be curious about the story of the pronghorn but decides that for now he'll let it be. He watched as the antelope went on her little search for the source of the water and he smiled. The heat must have given her head a whirl.
With brown beady eyes he watched as she returns and plops down to rest once again. It's rare to have a companion during his work and it feels good to talk to someone rather than wait for the collector to appear every few months or so. With a smile he hops a bit closer towards her and plops down to sit on his hind legs.
"What about you?"
He hears her ask, prompting him to look up at her. What about him? He tilts his head once again and think for a moment. What should he say? He can cover many topics regarding that question. Should he start at how he met the man with the mask? Why he runs across deserts for him? The origin of his unusual pelt color?
The critter smirks and lowers himself to lay on his belly.
"Well...I'm just a crazy hare who runs across deserts, searching for whatever the masked man needs"
He's aware that his response will only spark more questions but he'll leave it at that. Then something snapped in him as he remembered his task for the moment.
"Oh! I just remembered! have you seen a horned lizard around by any chance? It has spikes on it's head, looks like a rock and all that. I'm supposed to find one till the next half moon."
He wrinkles his brows in a thoughtful expression. He's been running around his area for weeks and he still hasn't spotted it...maybe it's the wrong area?
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Post by 0 on Oct 5, 2017 15:21:44 GMT
The pronghorn wrinkled her brow at the answer given to her by the hare. It was even stranger than the things she personally had questions for.
What the frig was a "masked man"? Was it...another one of those spiritual things, like what the horse had tried to tell her about? And why would he simply allow himself to be bossed around thusly, anyhow?
The hare was on to asking another one of his own questions before she could continue with any of those. The antelope was shaking her head before he had even finished describing what he was looking for.
"No," she said. "You're the first animal I've seen in a while. 'Sides from bugs, I mean." Wait--were bugs even animals?
She fell silent for a moment, until she remembered-- "Oh! But I heard a rumor some time ago. Supposed to be caves somewhere in the desert where a big lizard lives. I've never found them or seen it, though."
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Post by Spiral Dancer on Oct 6, 2017 10:31:02 GMT
He doesn't expect anyone to jump on the wagon and understand his position or loyalty to this masked man. He and the rest of the colorful brigade have their own reasoning for why they do what they do. And besides, the man doesn't order them to do anything, they do it out of their own accord. Sure it might look like slavery but each of them is free to just walk away and nothing will happen.
A light frown fell on his puffy face after hearing that about the no-lizard situation. Well dung! He'll have to keep running across the dry earth until he trips over one then.
Hearing the rest of her words made the hare let out a small chuckle.
"Bugs are as interesting as us, so they can be a great companion. Least that's what my brother says" He smiles as his thoughts are taken over about images of his blue colored brother who is a expert at bug catching. It's been a long time since he's seen him, or the rest of the brigade. He'll have to tell Yellow about it cause she's the only one that can organize a get-together.
After hearing about the cave his face brightened up, ears shooting up. Brown eyes twirl to look towards the South as he remembers there being a underground cave system that way, (even if all his eyes can see is flat barren ground) If not he'll have to have a chat with Red, the cave dweller is sure to know a thing or two. Smiling, he returns his attention back to the antelope
"Well, when traveling the desert that tends to happen...not see a animal for days if not weeks. Gets lonely if you can't entertain yourself"
The orange colored critter got pretty used to the solitude life, his only companions is the occasional vulture get-together around a recent carcass, or a insect as the antelope put it.
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Post by 0 on Oct 6, 2017 22:49:05 GMT
The pronghorn unfolded her front legs as the hare continued to talk, stretching them out in front of her. Her breathing had calmed down significantly, and even the pounding in her ears was finally starting to go away. She ached to get going again, but she was starting to feel the soreness in her muscles now, which seemed keen on cramping up as she lay on them.
Perhaps she should take a hint and enjoy the break, at least until the heat of the day had fizzled a little. The evening couldn't be TOO far away, right?
"Bugs as companions?" the pronghorn echoed, wrinkling her nose with something of a smirk. It wasn't so much a look of disgust as one of disbelief; the idea to her sounded positively preposterous! Who would want to hang out with a bug? She couldn't imagine them being very fun.
She nodded dimly in agreement to the hare's statement describing just how empty the desert was. She'd begun to notice that after weeks' worth of trips into the places.
The pronghorn would allow silence to fall after the hare had spoken, should he allow it, as well; if not, she'd pull her ears forward and listen to whatever else he had to say, nodding on occasion to show that she was still listening. She wasn't really the talkative sort, and she hadn't much on her mind at the moment to bring forth any questions; despite the peculiarities that the hare showed, she didn't feel enough of a curious impulse to ask him all about them.
After a while, however, the pronghorn remembered that she was technically a little lost. "Oh, uh...," she began, hesitating briefly; she wasn't entirely sure whether she wanted to remain lost or not. Well, what would it hurt to ask? It wasn't as though she was obligated to follow any directions that the hare might be able to offer her. After that moment of thought had passed, she continued, "You wouldn't happen to know where any sand dunes are around here, would you?"
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Post by Spiral Dancer on Oct 7, 2017 11:42:21 GMT
Sand dunes? The question prompted the hare to straighten up and sit on it's hind legs. The question isn't what puzzled the hare but as to the reason why a animal that would most probably die in the sand look for it. He himself only managed to go 2 days before he was forced to turn around and go back. Is there something there? Lifting one of his front paws he will point towards the East
"It's about a 4 day walk that way. But, why do you wanna go there? There is nothing in the sand"
Well...apart from heat and death.
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Post by 0 on Oct 7, 2017 18:32:32 GMT
The pronghorn's eyes followed the hare's paw as he pointed off in one direction, her face hardly belying her disbelief when he told her just how far-- F...FOUR DAYS? --she was that far off-course?
"There's an oasis there," she told the hare. It was very small, a single tree and a single narrow pool of fresh water; easy to miss among the vast dunes, but not hard to find once you knew where it was--and one would want to know its location if they planned on staying in the rolling sand. "Some folks I know might be hanging around it."
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Post by Spiral Dancer on Oct 10, 2017 12:48:13 GMT
That's a lot of way to go for a "might" There are plenty of oasis just 2 or maybe even a day walk away from here but the hare doubts that the antilope would go to those ones since her friends might be at that specific one. Those folks of hers must be very special for her to go through all that desert...or perhaps it's her herd she's talking about? The hare though about it for a second before shaking it out. Lifting his beady eyes to look up at the bigger animal he speaks out
"If you're not in a hurry there is also a rest stop, but it's not really along the way...might set you back a day"
He pauses for a moment before adding
"Then again, will they wait for you?"
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Post by 0 on Oct 10, 2017 15:04:31 GMT
A rest stop? She wasn't so sure she would need it. She'd somehow managed to handle the desert alone for more than a month's worth of time, hadn't she? Then again, she would be taking a new route to the dunes...if she really wanted to she could just try to retrace her footsteps, find the old road to the oasis, but that would likely set her back more than just five days. If she wanted to get there, she didn't want to waste time like that--besides, going back the same way, seeing the same old things...it wasn't very fun.
The pronghorn's lips curled up at the hare's addition. "'Wait for me'?" she echoed, and started to laugh. She couldn't help it; the question made it sound like she was some straggler on an arduous journey across the barren wastelands, when all she'd really done was think west was east and take a few too many wrong turns in the desert.
After a moment she said to the hare, "They aren't. I'm just...visiting." She just wanted to get there, see what was going on; say hi, bye, and then be back on her merry way.
"What's this rest stop?" she asked, again without a firm decision set in her mind on whether she'd even follow through with the directions. Knowing where to go was only half the battle. Getting there, not to mention heading that way in the first place? That was a whole 'nother two-fourths.
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Post by Spiral Dancer on Oct 10, 2017 21:24:18 GMT
The hare tilted his head to the side, wondering why the antelope burst out laughing all of a sudden. Did he say something funny? Although he doesn't take much mind to it cause as long as she's laughing it means that she's enjoying herself and that's all that matters to the orange furred little critter. Hearing the explanation brought a smile to his puffy face. So she has friends all the way to the sand? He couldn't help the curiosity as to how she managed to make friends in such a land. Must take her months for a simple visit since that's not exactly the antelopes habitat...or is it? The hare gets his mammals mixed up more often than he'd like to admit. Well you would too if you're surrounded by nothing apart from the occasional reptile.
At the question the hare replied in his yippy voice
"If you head North-East you will come across great pillars of stone and in them is a crevice big enough for a gnu to slip in. It's cool and last time I was there it had a bit of water"
Does it still have water? He's not that sure on the matter since he's only been there once and the rainwater he drank was stored deeper in the crevice where it might be a tight spot for someone of the pronghorn's size. Still, if there was water he's sure she'll find a way to acquire it.
"If you're heading that way I can accompany you, since it's around my next searching area."
He smiled, lowering his tall ears so that he can give them a light brush with his front paws.
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Post by 0 on Oct 10, 2017 23:09:31 GMT
The pronghorn's stomach rumbled, and within a few seconds she had risen back to her hoofs. Her muscles were still a bit wobbly, but she could at least trot without much worry.
"Sure," she said, her mind somewhat settled in what was practically an instant. She was sure there was bound to be something edible along the way, if not around wherever the water was--or had been, assuming the summer sun hadn't completely dried it up. Better than taking anymore bites of that nasty aloe, anyhow. "How far away is it?"
Her eyes drifted to where the hare had originally pointed, and soon enough her body was directed roughly to the northeast, limbs carrying her forward without much of a word or even a glance back towards the hare. Out of the shade and back into the sun, the desert didn't waste any time in digging the harsh heat back under her thin fur.
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