Hidden Tree A Mirrored Image

Note: This is before the two personalities decide to rename themselves to Kasai Kage
Alos note that Burn and Hotei are having serious issues with control of their body right now.
Thread Dated around 1/23/2013

What am I doing here?

Burn snarled forcing his working legs to a stop. The black wolf closed his eyes growling silently at himself.

I can't stay there. It's..just too much.. And none of them like me.. Hotei argued snarling back at the air alone.

It doesn't matter if they don't like you. Besides there's the one woman.. Burn turned his muzzle in the other direction trying to turn and head back to Jessie and the alpha. But the black wolfs head was yanked upwards by an invisible force keeping him from fully turning around in his tracks.

Jessie... Hotei's heart began to ache. He did love the gray fea, but that was the very reason he had to leave her. Hotei would cause too much trouble if he stayed in the pack. The weaker half of consciousness began to lose control of his body to Burn who took a few steps back the way he'd come. Until Hotei stopped him once again.

That's why we can't go back. She needs to have the pack. She needs to be happy with them. Everything would turn to hell if we went back..Especially with you and the white brute. Hotei pleaded to Burn who'd stopped moving again and thought of Ice. The new boss back at Swift River. How he hated the ignorant wolf. His annoyance of the white man would surely heighten is Burn were to head back. Burn realized dimly that Hotei was right. If they were to head back Burn probably wouldn't be able to stop himself from challenging Ice at every corner. All that would do was break the pack apart from the inside. Then Jessie wouldn't know what to do.

Hotei regained control of his body while Burn thought about Ice. Then he turned himself back around and continued to force himself away from the few members of his family that were left.

We won't be happy by running away and finding another family to live with. Leaving them will make us just as bad as Indru. Burn argued weakly no longer wanting to argue with the all too kind side of his personality.

No we might not ever be truly happy for a long time, but at least the pack will survive while we are gone. It won't crumble as we try to live fitfully with Ice. Jessie will be happy, she will..find.. another.. to make her happy perhaps.. Maybe Ice.. With that Burn snarled and stopped their traveling. Just the thought of Jessie being close with Ice sent him into a fury. The same thought sent Hotei into a sort of depression.

Hotei... Haven't we always been alone... Alone among the shadows dancing alongside the flames? Forget them, as I did after the fire took our first family away. Hell.. Those Swift River wolves were never family to start with. Hotei whimpered at Burn's snarls and forced himself forward again.

Unwittingly the confused dark wolf had been traveling right for the place where the memories hurt him the most. The Hidden Tree. His birthplace. As soon as Burn noted the area Hotei released a whine that turned to a low sad howl. He didn't want to be alone forever. He wanted to be with a pack. The burnt males heart screamed. Hotei wanted to go back but knew he could not."Why does everything have to be this way...." Burn was silent as Hotei took over staring at the den which looked so tiny now.

(This post was last modified: Apr 09, 2013, 06:47 PM by Hotei.)

Pitching you a curve ball.

Unlike Hotei, a man he'd never met nor knew the name of, Skittles had very little problems. If it wasn't for his being emaciated, mostly out of his mind, and possessing social skills so corroded they rivaled a child, he wouldn't have any problems at all. He'd happened upon a nest of infant squirrels in a hollowed-out trunk, and as he ate the last of them, he felt the need to mark that it was he who'd taken them. It was a rare find, and one that filled his belly full of cheer. It wasn't often that he got to eat red meat. He lifted his leg and marked the spot until he felt that he'd done an adequate job. This catch would surely keep his stomach happy for the next hour, two hours, if he was lucky. For a loner, this was as close as he'd get to the belly-filled stupor and drowsiness of a pack-hunt. He found he'd splashed not only the tree trunk, but an area of long grasses next to it. He felt pleased with his handiwork and began to circle the still-wet grass. Once, twice, and then turned and began to orbit in the opposite direction a full five turns. At last satisfied that he'd smashed down the grasses into a comfortable bed, he bent his front into a play-bow, and then let his haunches follow. Immediatley and on-cue, his eyelids began to feel heavy. He allowed himself a yawn. Mid-yawn, his ears suddenly perked up at a nearby sound. What was this? He rose and looked at his bed beneath his paws. And then looked towards the sound. Bed. Sound. Sound. Bed. He felt indecisive, but at last decided that he'd gotten himself so worked up in the decision making that he no longer felt tired. His feet worked themselves and he found himself trotting forwards towards the noise of a nearby howl. Upon arrival, he didn't see much of anything. Until he saw a great black thing with four legs, a snout, two ears, a tail, four paws, and one, two, three strands of fur. No, there were actually four, five.... Skittle's head began to move back and forth like a bobblehead as he got caught in the process of counting the number of individual hairs Hotei had. "One pawsand fourteen tailsand one...", his mouth worked without his knowing, saying aloud the fictional number he was counting. After all, even if wolves could count, there's no way Skittle's mind could have gone past twenty. But still he tried. He stood still, his gaze fixated on Hotei, as if in a trance. #552002

THANK YOU JACCY

(This post was last modified: Mar 13, 2013, 03:57 AM by Corinna.)

XD

The scent of urine threw the two personalities out of their argument and brought the mournful wolfs attention back to the present. The scent wrinkled his nose, achingly male flavored, and Hotei brought his head up to look for the source. A brightly furred male with yellow tinted fur to match his piss was staring at Hotei not too far away. What the... Hotei sucked up the ache in his heart deciding that dealing with another stranger might take his mind off things. Burn simply looked to the male with disgust and let Hotei take the lead.

Padding forward Hotei watched the male curiously keeping his body neutral. Then he smelled the mark that the male had left, gaining immeasurable knowledge on the wolf in front of him just by scent alone. Older five year old, male, malnourished but healthy, eating mainly vegetables and fruits.

"Really... it smells like fruit juice...." He gave the male a raised brow then added his own scent to the tree declaring his presence in the area. Then Burn sneered at the male. What will he do now? Hotei shrugged unwilling to get into a fight. He hoped the male would be friendly. Slowly the ache in his heart ebbed as Hotei watched the reactions and movements of the male. He seemed to be counting something. How high can this guys even count to? The two personalities wondered together watching the male still cautiously.

(This post was last modified: Mar 12, 2013, 07:22 PM by Hotei.)

More curve in the curve ball?
The "boss" bit is a mini play on WolfQuest, heh.

The thing with many fur strands that was the color of the night came closer. Skittles didn't notice at first, but when he did, his tail began to wag, half with anxiety, and half with happiness. Even if it was the end of the world, Skittles' tail would still wag, finding some drop of goodness to be happy about in any great calamity. In a way, it made him a good friend. But mostly, it just made him an idiot. When the thing marked where Skittles had marked, Skittles began to understand that it was the same species, that it was asserting some form of dominance, and ... that it was asserting some form of dominance. Immediately, Skittles fell to the ground, collapsing on his paws, and swiftly rolled over, exposing his soft and bony underbelly. His tail tried to hide his less desirable parts. After a moment, he gathered up his back paws with his front paws, and began to rock, waiting, having forgotten what he was waiting for, and merely trying to entertain himself. After a few rocking-chair motions, he remembered what it was that he was doing, exposed his underside again, and implored the wolf with a pleading facial expression. "I'm not the boss. You're the boss.", he whined anxiously, hoping that the examination could come to an end. "Let's form a pack together.", he was rolling onto his feet now, using his head as part of his leverage in the process to rise. He had deemed it time enough to wait, and now folded his ears back, hopeful for an affirmative answer. He cringed and then added "You're the boss. I'm not the boss. You can be the boss.", tucking his tail to a lowly submissive position, as if not adding that very proposition that Hotei could be the boss was a major insult. He was never one to sit still for very long, and now, he was digging at his ear with his back paw, making the face of a thousand itches. When he was done, he licked his ear findings from his back paw - after all, food could not be wasted - stood again, and shook. This sent tiny droplets of grass and urine scent every which direction. #552002

THANK YOU JACCY

Shadow Edit: Removed an extra </span> tag and </center> tag in your credit line that was breaking the board layout. You don't need it there. =)

(This post was last modified: Mar 13, 2013, 03:49 AM by Corinna.)

Lol.. I see that. <3 Haven't played WQ in a long while

A laugh bubbled out from Burn's jaws as the male immediately submitted to him. Hotei felt bad for the wolf but continued to watch as the yellow male began babbling nonsense. There was clearly something off about this wolf. Though he didn't scent like sickness so this must be his normal personality..weirdness..crazy..like us sometimes.. For one reason or another the black wolf felt secure around this guy. Secure in knowing that his actions might be completely random. Just like his own might appear completely random to others at times.

"I'm pretty sure one of us would have to be female to start a pack buddy..." He gave an amused smile then gestured for the male to stand at ease again. This guy is definitely no threat.. but he's interesting too. The two opposing minds agreed. One side worried for the quirky characters thin body while the other half enjoyed the interaction with another wolf other than his light half. Both wolves enjoyed this stranger.

"What's your name mister sir...So that I don't call you fruitcake all the time." He looked down to the male then turned his gaze to the forest not wanting to frighten the guy. The sapling tree's were quiet as no breeze was around to disturb them. Grasses and viburnum bushes littered the area which was quickly turning to green covered land again. Succession was occurring in the area that was once burned by the great fire. The scar across the land healing itself over time.

The man seemed more pacified, calm, and perhaps even happy now. He must have just been lonely. like Skittles was. But now that they were together, they could no longer be lonely, because neither of them was alone, now. Skittles had always been good at making folks happy. "We can find a female. She can be yours and you can be the boss of all of us. And we can have lots of food to eat. I'm very hungry.", he rolled to his feet, stood, and shook. He lifted his head to the sky "Does any female want to join our pack?", he howled quickly. He earnestly hoped it was that easy, but in reality, things didn't really work that way. In his head, this was the easiest route to finding a home, and far, far easier to him than joining an existing pack, which for some reason, never seemed to work out well. As if a bashful lady, he blushed, and flopped onto the ground again. He held all his feet up in mid-air, and wrapped his front paws around his backs to hold them, rocking himself, rather like a teenage girl kicking her feet above her head on the phone. "Skittles." Now that the embarrassment was over, he rolled back onto his paws. That, and because he now felt bored with the topic of himself. "I'm gonna follow you.", he added lightly. "Where are you going?"

THANK YOU JACCY

The yellow male "Skittles" asked if they had a female to join them. Skittles rambled on about Hotei being the boss and having a female then of hunger. The mention of food got the burnt wolfs stomach churning. He was hungry too, but probably not as hungry as this poor fella. Burn scoffed at the wolf Heh well too bad we'll never have a female, for the one that would be with us is in another pack. A pack we cannot go back to. Which sent Hotei's mood down the metaphorical drain again. They wouldn't be able to sleep next to sweet Jessie anymore. Never to inhale her wonderful scent. Not unless they somehow met again someplace in Lore. Perhaps while she is out on a hunt? Hotei whimpered then let Burn use their body. Having no muse to control himself, to will himself to do much of anything.

Burn at least could fiind something to do. As the yellow furred male once more rolled to his back all bashful and shit, the dark wolf scented the wind once more thinking of going rabbit hunting. He growled approvingly at the males words when Skittles said that he was going to follow them. Not like Burn cared much. At least there would be someone else to talk to. Hotei though felt bad for the guy. He didn't mind Skittles following but he had to at least tell him that they weren't going to make a pack."Sorry buddy, but I have a female in mind that I would take to my side. However she lives in another place that I can no longer go to. So a packs not going to happen. We can however get a meal if you would like. There's a rabbit warren over that way..." Burn pointed his nose in the direction the rabbit smells were coming from Maybe they could try to dig them up or something. He wouldn't mind getting another meal into his stomach.

"A part from that if you still feel like following me I'm headed South someplace.. You're welcome to join me, it's rather boring talking to myself most of the time.." He grinned amused at the thought. Any other loner that might come across them would find two crazies. One who does random shit and one who talks to himself. All they needed to join their band to complete the psycho party was that black joker Rhysis. Burn growled wondering how that bastard was doing. Well he hoped. So that they could meet again.

The man talked of a female that he knew, which was perfect, as Skittles had been informed that they required one to form a pack. To Skittles, all of this was unpersonal, just a side quest, and a female some item that could be obtained, perhaps with more side quests. He would happily follow the quests to whatever end. But now he had a goal : acquire a female for the man.

"Why can't she come with us?", he questioned. It was a simple question, but full of depth. Why couldn't the woman come? Or, alternatively, why couldn't they get her to come? He implied that the situation was simple, and need not be complex.

Why did it even have to be that woman? What if he found another woman, any woman to come? Could he really walk up to a woman and ask her to come, or take her by force? All of this to avoid joining a pack, so he could have a pack, so he could have food, so he would live and not starve to death.

The man was talking about rabbits, now. Rabbits were hard to catch. They zipped, zagged, hopped, skipped, and frolicked. Merely trying to keep track of them gave him a headache from eyestrain. He could not catch rabbits, and he knew he had precious little energy left to go wasting on such small snacks. He did not want to admit that he was too far gone to be chasing rabbits. He knelt down and picked up a pinecone beside his foot, holding it in his teeth. He imagined himself eating it whole, and then pooping it whole, and he cringed.

He flopped over onto his back again and chewed on the pinecone, gnawing off little bits at a time with his front and back teeth, looking rather like an otter eating on its belly. It wasn't healthy, and it wasn't exactly food, but it could be eaten, and therefore, would theoretically give him enough nutrients to sustain himself.

"I'll come.", he responded to his new friend. "It's important not to give up on your dreams. You should go hunt.", he added, processing the other things that Hotei had said. His gaze was blank, as if he had not said anything at all.

"She can't come with us just because..." He answered simply not wanting to give out any more personal information about she or him. Then Hotei listened as the goofy yellow male as he followed slowly if any behind him.

Then all of the sudden the guy was talking about dreams. What dream? Have I ever even had a dream to start with? A dream of a family or of power? A dream of wilderness or of life? What is it to have a dream? To have something like that to strive for? All I've ever striven for was to be accepted. By family and pack...Even in the old days when it was just Hotei. The family was everything. But now.... Burn closed his eyes and shook his head. Rabbit hunting..Focus on that..

"Well apparently life says that I'm not allowed to have dreams buddy... Now does your skinny tail want food or not? You're going to help me whether you like it or not. So come on." Burn knew that the male was in dire straights. But if they worked together they would catch more than just one rabbit. Perhaps two or three, and Burn wasn't going to let this wolf starve. He and Hotei were planning on giving the poor guy their catch as well. To fill Skittles belly for at least a day. They didn't need it as badly as poor Skittles did.

"Go around to the other side of the warren. I'll scare them out and you catch one if you can.." He didn't ask so much as ordered the pale wolf. Burn just didn't want to waste any time as he settled himself into position at the one end of the warren.

The man didn't explain why the female couldn't come with them and thus create their pack together, so that Skittles wouldn't have to go through the hard process of joining one. For any other wolf, it would be an easy thing. For Skittles, it was like trying to ask the hottest girl in the school out on a date as the ugliest and most unknown kid: rejection. Skittles didn't understand why this simple thing couldn't come to pass, and he felt sure that Hotei was making things far more difficult then they need be.

"Then I'll find one.", he didn't complete the rest of his sentence. What he'd really meant was that he'd attempt to drag the next female thing he saw to Hotei to be his mate: even if that female thing happened to be an aged stick.

"If you weren't allowed to have dreams, you'd be dead. The dead have nothing but dreams - and no means to accomplish them. Might as well start accomplishing them now, so your unaccomplished aspirations won't be a burden to you when you die and have nothing else to do but dream about them. Everyone dies eventually.", he didn't mention how he might surely be next. He hadn't ever stopped to think about dying, really. He had meant to be encouraging, but not so scornful like a mother, nor had he meant to sound so very morbid. It was easy to do a lot of things you hadn't meant to do when you're hungry and don't have the brainpower for much else.

Skittles followed the man's eyes to where he had indicated and set off. No way in heaven was he going to put up a protest about getting fed. Food was food, and he certainly wanted to eat, and live longer. His steps directed his body to the place. He didn't realize how clumsy he was, nor how he had developed a gait of tilting from side to side as he walked, as if he were trying to stay on his feet while walking on a steep earthquake. He found the spot and stood there, feeling confused. What was he to do next? Oh, yes, they were catching flying squirrels. But how would they catch squirrels that flew? He had forgotten all about rabbits. If he were a flying squirrel, where would he dart off to? Why, someplace dark, with trees.

He positioned himself near a tree, hiding in the darkness, low to the ground. His muscles tensed with most of the energy he was able to spare, expectant of flying squirrels, buffalo, and unicorns all to come pouring out from around wherever Hotei was.