Where are you? Oh, why did you have to stop at that singing brooke? You look around, not able to remember which way you were following the music, simply wanting to find the others again and get back on safe ground. This place is open, almost desolate, and has the distinct mark of an area less traveled. After the creatures you've seen so far you know anything could live here; but you don't know if that creature will be as welcoming as the others. Sunlit Shadows was not always a friendly place, SeaCrest had been sure you saw that. You wish for her now, knowing that she could warn of danger, as something approaches. It's magnificent, beautiful, fierce, and you want only to hide and watch. But you're seen, for good or ill, and you try in vain to swollow the lump in your throat as is approaches.
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You stop just a few steps away from her, hoping that you're recieved as friendly. With your heart dropping from your throat to your stomach you watch as she studies you, eyes intently focused before nodding her head and speaking. Her voice snaps harshly, and you know instinctivly that she is a fighter.
"I am Swamp Death, traveller. Word has spread of your joirneys, and Songhue has asked that I greet you warmly."
"Th-thank you," you stammer, completly unsure of yourself. "I'm Leilani. Do you--"
"No, young one. You are welcome here. Come. I will show you the others."
With that Swamp death steps forward and nudges your arm, a tender jesture that makes you smile. She is rough looking, indeed she does resemble a swampland in the haze of midnight, but she still holds a tender heart. Battle has long sense strenthend her, but she can still love.
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As you look up from her you notice movent nearby, and with a start you notice another creature, doglike and fierce. He approaches slowly, his eyes glittering overbright as he pulls level with Swamp Death.
"This is Thunder," the radiyan comments in her harshly snapping voice. He nods, almost neutral as he studies you before replying in a voice that rasps like leaves over logs. "I'm glad to see a new face. I am from a different pack than Swamp Death, but we are close friends. We will show you the others so you may learn from all."
"There is a running joke," Swamp Death adds with a wry smile, "that if we were but the same species, Thunder and I would be mates."
You giggle here, the thought seeming cute to you, and absently put a hand on Thunder's shoulder as he turns away, petting him gently. He seems surprised at this, though not upset, and with a grin you do the same for the female. They are unused to outsiders, that much is clear, but they also seem to be strangers to such attentions. You can tell though that what they do have, their packs, are supremly close, and you envy them that.
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Just how close they are you don't know until a few more paces however, when with a start you see what seemes to be a living, moving marsh. With a little cry you take a step back, a beet red blush rising as the others laugh good-naturedly at your blunder. From behind a thicket and out of the muck of marshlife comes another radiyan, this one oviously male. With a friendly smile, Swamp Death steps forward with Thunder to greet this new friend.
"Hi Marsh Lights, this is Leilani. She's passing through and wanted to meet everyone."
"That and she wanted to show off the fact that she was the first to run across the human," Thuder adds with a rough laugh.
His reward is a playful tackle from Swamp Death and a great, booming laugh from the one called Marsh Lights. By his voice alone, you know him to be the pack leader, the ruler. With idle eye he watches the two friends playing, and you can't help but notice a spark of interest in them. He has affections for this female under this rule. A small smile tilting his mouth, he nods for you to follow and ambles reagally off in the general direction the others had been leading you. How interesting these creatures are! You follow eagerly, wanting to see more and meet everyone.
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Sponsors
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The land grows colder as you walk, your gaze straying randomly to Marsh Lights as he leads the way. He has the feel of great power about him, and greater authority, but something tells you it's a burden that weighs heavy upon his shoulders. Always must he live up to his title, and though he comes off as arrogent you think it's merely effort that's disguised. How hard it must be to know so much responsibility.
As the the mists from swamp and marsh begin to ebb, you notice another, colder one take their place, glinting steel grey and like so much ice against your skin. Marsh Lights seems uneffected by the chill, but goosebumps break out along your arms, and you grow tense from cold. If only the sun could penetrate this vapor, you know you'd warm up.
As you look around, trying to find a break where you might also find warmth, Marsh Lights comes to a sudden stop, causing you to stand as stiff and still as a frightened deer. Your eyes wandering, you manage to catch a small shifting movement up ahead; the vapor was alive! Choking down a breath, you stand as stone for a moment as you see thoughts flash through the radiyan's eyes, before you finally see recognition in them. In almost the same instant, another of his kind steps forth and your breath rushes out of you, causing you to sag slightly.
"This is Cold Vapor," Marsh Lights says by way of introduction. "He's--"
"Vapor!!" Startled, you look around to see the others rushing forward, both of them dripping in muck and wet and grinning from ear to ear. Swamp Death, however, has eyes only for the new male. And he, apparently, for her. With a slightly tinkling laugh that makes you think of so many thing in nature, he steps forward, dropping the berries that thirved in the area which he'd apprarently been gathering, and greeting her with what you assume would be called a hug as he draped his neck over her shoulders. There is a real spark here, not brotherly interest as you saw in Marsh Lights, and it warms you in this chilled area as the sun can not.
"He's a gatherer," Marhs Lights continues as Thunder starts to talk seriously with the two. "It's common for him to bring something special for Swamp Death, as she once saved his life. Their--friendship--has been growing ever since." With that he tosses his head and stamps his hoof, obviously annoyed at having been stationary for so long, and with a slight motion, beckons you to follow. You do, and have to hide a slight smile as the three others trail behind, at least one part of the two radiyans touching at all times as they listen to Thunder's ernest speach.
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As you hide your grin you turn a certain way towards the side, as of yet unable to face the others. They would make a cute couple, and you secretly hope for them. But even as this thought passes through your mind you hear one of them rushing forward. As you turn, you see Cold Vapor with a locket and a very pained look. With a shake of his head he stares as Swamp Death pulls level and refuses to speak to him. She doesn't even look at him. His eyes go blank as you watch, and then he turns hard on his paws and runs back the way you came. The poor male needs time to recover.
Thinder pulls level as well as you watch the devistated radiyan, and you turn your head as he simply says, "They were too different. She had the gentle instincts that females have, but he truly is gentle. He can be tough, sure, but he isn't that way at heart."
"What did you say to them," you mumble with a quick glance at Marsh Lights who had barely offered a glance to the three, and certainly had given none as Cold Vapor ran off.
"Simply that it wasn't right to wait any longer. There will be others soon, and they may come courting; or worse, they could wish to court be be prevented by the attentions of others. She is a very attractive radiyan. Only trouble can come from indesicion."
You nod quietly here, deep in thought over this matter of pack over self, and because of that you very nearly knock yourself over as you bump into Marsh Lights. He stands still as stone, listening intently to some sound that doesn't quite reach you. With a great bound, however, the source of his attention is revealed as another radiyan, one who rushes forward with a fierce body and an even fiercer light in his eyes.
