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 Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 8:20 pm
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The nightmare he had tonight was peculiar in that he felt as if he was sitting in on something extremely private. Which, of course, he figured birthing was. Adam's dream self writhed with the extreme awkwardness as he witnessed a silvery female give birth to . . . Good God, how many of them were in there?! He counted six healthy pups, all mixtures of silver, green, and red, as they . . . slid out. Auuugh. A few even had horrid faces plastered upon them! The wolf crooned softly and nudged them closer, but he hardly felt a mother's tender care in her. Worse was the dark presence he felt encroaching now upon her: a ghastly visage with gleaming red eyes, a slitted horned helmet, a hoarde of goblin faces painted upon his dreadful fur, a blood-red jewel clutched within the claw of a necklace. It - he lifted head and gave a terrible howl -
- which ended his strange nightmare, leaving Adam in the wolf's equivalent of a cold sweat, panting and with pinned ears as if the sound was still echoing in them. What . . . what on Telk was that? Who was that? Ever since he became a full-fledged seer, his dreams had been becoming more and more lucid, to the point that they either elated him or frightened him near tears. Not that he would ever reveal that to anyone, no siree!
When he couldn't sleep because of strange, sometimes frightening dreams, Adam would sit up - careful not to disturb Kalama if they hapepend to be close - and hide himself away to a place where his back could be against something solid. There he would close his eyes and extend his awareness to the other creatures, letting their thoughts and instincts wash away the stains of the nightmare. It was a cleansing, peaceable process, and sometimes he learned from the creatures he sat in on. It was like floating in a dream on its own almost - and if he sat there long enough, the last dredges of the previous nightmare would leave him be. So it was that Adam found himself resting his back upon the outside of the den they were using for the moment, darkened eyes closed as he let his mind simply wander where it wanted into the land beyond.
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Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 8:26 pm
 Shiva peered around, letting pale green eyes adjust to darkness before leaving the temporary den she was keeping while between packs. Part of the wolf wanted to move on; part of her wanted nothing more than to lay back down and sleep the night away.
No. She had to move. Unsure of why, the young female pulled herself forward, clearing the mouth of the den easily. It felt moist out, and she wondered briefly if rain was coming, or if it had already gone. Her nose prickled with the welcome scent of fresh earth, churned gently by water falling from heaving, and she smiled.
But the wolf was far from happy lately. Things were happening and she was a part of them. She was still unsure of where she had come from, or where her parents had gone. It wasn't that she was unhappy with her human father. The big problem was that she felt abandoned by her Varg kin, and it was a continued feeling over her short life span.
It had been a long time since she had seen other wolves, and in fact, a good lot of them recently had been ones to attack her and shove her in the dirt. Was it her power as a Seer, or the fact that she was abandoned and left to be raised by a human?
Still, she wasn't completely in the mood to search for her parents. For some reason they had left her, and she feared that she wasn't ready to come to terms with that just yet.
Shiva sighed heavily as she abandoned the den she had been in for the past few hours. Why did she wander? It was true that she had saved a life or two, but she had also put her own on the line more than once, and those wolves were still out there. She hoped with a heavy heart that she would not meet those wolves again any time soon.
Retreating inside herself, the spotted wolf let her mind wander outwards, to softly caress over any life that might be out there. For the moment, it was the only calming respite she had from her fears. This would, at least, keep her aware of anything that may harmfully wander her way.
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 10:17 am
Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream, just a . . . nightmare. Even in the solace of darkness with his mind wandering far from his body, Adam could feel himself tremble slightly in the warm night. Should he tell Kalama in the morning about it? Mm . . . no, maybe not. She'd probably just make fun of him again or something, or ask just how colorful these pups were, the parents, where they might find them in hopes to recruit them - or better yet, she'd just shrug it off as one of his weirdo powers going into imagination land again and move on in the conversation. Who else could he talk to?
Arina? No, he wouldn't want to start off a reunion with a nightmare, not if it meant waking her up in the middle of the night. Venda? Adam was afraid that contacting her might instigate another spasm of pain for the poor seer. Romulus? But he hadn't seen him in forever . . . It'd need a ton of explanation, since the adult had last seen him as a wayward pup. His consciousness veered to the side with its own inward sigh, considering the option of just not talking about it at all. Who knew, maybe seers could have false vision -
The probe paused when it sensed a softness. Someone was awake! He realized that, by its very nature and the way it seemed to caress what came its way, that it had to be another wolf, another seer at that. Surely not a vicious one, surely not . . . But how to approach? 'Eeeeer. Uuuuum. Hello?' he called to the other mind. Well, it was the closest thing he could imagine to "calling" with mental powers that he could get.
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 8:19 pm
She walked on, searching outwards for any signs of life, though she didn't expect to come across any. She was still buried deep inside her own thoughts when she felt another soul cross her own path. She smiled as the other wolf called to her, keeping a small giggle captured just behind her lips. He seemed awkward, as though he were channeling her own strange feelings towards other wolves.
"Hello~" she answered back, rerouting pawsteps to send her physical self across this wolf's path. It would be interesting to meet with another wolf. She hadn't met a single live non-prey animal since she had come into her adulthood, and she was chomping at the bit, so to speak, to make any kind of acquaintance possible.
Hmm, a mental shrug as she came closer to his position, giving away that she was unsure of how to proceed. She understood that the other seer had his back to the wall, but didn't probe far enough to figure why. Very quickly, she shielded her own mind, feeling strange at the notion that someone could see into her thoughts, and all at once not wanting to burden this other wolf with her own problems. All the same, she withdrew from his feelings, making the decision to let the conversation between them be just that, words, at first.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 12:06 pm
Whoa, it worked! It worked!! Perhaps if he was in a better, more energetic mood, Adam might have given a small victory dance. As it was, he allowed himself at least a small tail wag, even if the other presence couldn't tell. Heee. I really am a seer! Sometimes it took little things like that to remind him of that simple, profound fact. Even now it was still hard to encompass his mind about it.
'Hiya! Wow, this is really great, I haven't tried talking with someone else in a long while. Except Venda, that was a month ago or something. You don't know Venda, do you? She's a seer too, but sometimes I don't think she wants to be . . . Ohwait, you don't know me either, huh. Whoops.' Even when his mouth wasn't moving, he could be a chatterbox. It was also Adam's nervousness venting itself out. 'My name's Adam! I just became a seer. What's yours?'
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:28 am
The frustration of hearing and not seeing overtook the female, and she bounded to action, trying to ping his location on the radar in her mind. He seemed overjoyed, as a puppy might upon finding a new playmate, and it made her smile. She longed to be near another wolf who wasn't yet weighed down by the terrible things of the world. Far too many times she had come across a young wolf, already sunken down in their mindsets from the things life had thrown at them. It did nothing for her positive demeanor.
As if suddenly realizing she had physical voice, the spotted female let out a sharp yip, signaling her arrival. She had pounced through a bush and come face to face with who she hoped she had been communicating with. With a huge smile on her face she spoke then, quietly so as not to disturb any other wolfmind she may sense nearby. "No, I don't know Venda." the female giggled and took a short breath. "My name is Shiva."
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 1:04 pm
Adam was a little confused at first with the lack of a response. Had they lost connection somehow? Maybe she had fallen asleep? No wait, he still felt her presence - ah no wait, he could put a name to her now! Odd, though, her voice sounded different than earlier -
. . . At which point he belatedly noticed that his ears had instinctively pricked forward at the sound of a giggle. Adam's eyes flew open, looking embarassed that he hadn't figured out she was coming over at all - and mind, it didn't matter to him that he couldn't properly see, especially in this darkness of night. What caught his eye first was the bright splash of color that seemed to hover atop a tan, vaguely spotted form, and it was there that his lightless eyes focused upon. Adam pried himself away from the wall, tail wagging as well. 'Hiya, Shiva! I didn't think you'd find me. I forget seers can do that sort of stuff.'
Though Adam continued in the thought voice, since that was literally his only form of verbal communication since he was mute, he fell back into the habit of making his mouth move along with the thoughts sent. It was allowed him to hide his powers when with other wolves, as he had been self-conscious of them when he was younger. 'So, um, you can't sleep either? I had a horrible dream that someone was giving birth. And that's not supposed to be a bad thing, giving birth, but I had to watch it all, and it was weird, and I think I sensed a dark wolf nearby. It was scary . . .'
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Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 12:19 pm
What a strange wolf.
All at once, Shiva realized that she was very gifted. "You can't see me?" she kept to mindspeak, now aware that the wolf was also mute. She suddenly felt very self-concious, having ignored his words from previously, and thought to answer them. "It wasn't too difficult..." she explained sheepishly. She has used her abilites along with her sense of smell. But maybe he couldn't smell either? She had many questions; all of them seemed rude.
"That sounds.. terrible, she shook herself to rid her mind of the pictures he had given her of the dream - whether he meant to or not. "As for sleeping, I don't know. I haven't tried yet, I guess. I've been running for a while though, trying to reach the next pack.." She shot him an image herself, of her face as she had seen it in the river's reflection, smiling softly. If he couldn't see by natural means, the least she could do was give his mind a look-see.
She wondered if he had been a seer from birth, or if he had been taught the ways later in life. She still wasn't sure on how these things worked, and only knew what her human had taught her since pup-hood. Every stage in life had brought new challenges, a heightened strength in old abilities and a new set of abilities to learn. She was certain there was more to learn, now that she had grown to adulthood, and that was her reason for traveling south, back to the mangrove swamp, back to home.
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Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 7:02 pm
Wait, was she saying she hadn't ever slept before? What an odd thought, a sleepless wolf . . . It'd give you so much time on your paws to do whatever you felt, but would she ever feel tired? Or maybe he just heard wrong! That made more sense, yes, he had just misinterpreted it. 'I can kinda see you, just not normally,' Adam explained. 'Like in colors without the lines holding them. The brighter the better! Maybe it's the same to you if you look at a sunset or sunrise: how all those colors just kinda go together and make the prettiest of pictures, even though they all just blend together. It's like that sort of.' Really the description paled in comparison to the actual thing, but intangible concepts were always hard to grasp for him to begin with.
He cocked his head. 'So wait, you go visit packs?' he asked curiously. 'Just 'cause, or are ya lookin' for a place to stay?'
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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 10:04 am
Shiva waited patiently for the other wolf to sort his thoughts about her. She tried to keep her mind out of his business while he no doubt rambled to himself about things she had said. The female smiled when he "spoke" again. Sunsets were her favorite. "I understand." she confirmed after he was done. It was an interesting way to see things, that was for sure.
"I do, if I sense that I'll be welcome. I speak with pack members and share stories of my travels in return for a night's sanctuary. If they have news to pass on to a brother or sister pack, I offer to pass it on, and that's where I go next." she took a deep breath and let it slowly out again. That was the most she had said in mindspeak at once before. "What about you? Are you wandering, or is your home nearby?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 8:47 am
'Er . . . We kinda wander too,' Adam replied, motioning with a paw towards the sleeping form of Kalama not too far from them. 'I'm helping her, Kalama, find members of her old pack. They got overrun by this guy with a big mask and gleaming red eyes that she doesn't know the same of, and he said that "The Reign of Terror is coming" or something like that . . .' And then it hit him.
Goblin-faced. Metal mask, Horns. Gleaming red eyes. Dark aura. That was the same guy he dreamt about! Adam shuddered suddenly as his dreamt relived itself in snatches, fur stiffening until the episode passed. 'I-I . . . I dreamt about him tonight!' he continued, not the least bit concerned about looking foolish in front of another seer; he was already used to making himself look like an idiot in front of just about anyone, so after a while he had just started to take it in stride. 'That's why I can't sleep.'
Wait, why was he even bringing it back up? Honestly! The wolf shook his head a bit, forcing himself to return to the marginally better topic. 'My real home was burnt down when I was a pup. I don't know what made it, but it was pretty bad. I got separated from my family and have been looking ever since, but for the most part I try to help others more.'
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Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:56 pm
Shiva nodded as he 'spoke'. These events were all too surreal to her, and she wasn't sure why. She had been out in the world for a while now, and had heard tales of such a demon wolf who demanded tribute for safety, or... something. Could Adam be dreaming of the same monster? She shuddered at the thought of anything so ugly reproducing, as she too had seen him in the memories and scared eyes of others.
It was no surprise to Shiva when Adam indicated another wolf nearby. She had been able to 'see' the female from the beginning, her sleeping presence coming in as a soft and gentle buzz in the back of Shiva's mind. She smiled, wondering if Adam had learned these subtle things yet.
Her smile stayed as he confessed his attempts to help others more than himself. He was a wolf after her own heart, and she gently touched her nose to his in companionship. "My parents disappeared shortly after I was able to see and hear and walk. I don't know where they went, don't know if I have siblings or... anything. Something drew me into the swamp, where I found a human." She smiled a jagged smile then, remembering all that he had taught her. He had raised her, and made sure that she would live strong.
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 7:51 pm
He wasn't particularly sure what was weirder: the impulse of imagining a lick on the cheek rather than a nose-bump, or the fact that he felt a little crestfallen because he got a friendly nose-bump and not a lick on the cheek. The weird imagining had begun as an adolescent and had happened on several occasions - weirdly with only females. Kalama had attempted to explain it to him before, but it was still all confusing to the young adult. And a simple happiness wasn't supposed to be confusing! Growing up was weird enough in his circumstances without other odd things cropping up.
'I'm sorry they left you like that,' Adam said, ears tilting back sympathetically, his face screwed up as it usually was with strong disagreement; he was incapable of subtlety, Adam, which was a blessing and a curse. 'That's not right . . . But what's a human doing in the swamp anyway? And, um, what's a swamp?' Forest, check; mountains, check; plains, check. Swamp? Swamp not check. It sounded weird to him, and it conjured images of mud, or a place with lots of water. Maybe that explained the flower? He hadn't seen that type before, and that was something coming from a guy that had played Name That Plant with his sister as a pup. It was the only game those two could play together at the time.
'And, um . . . what's a human again?' he added sheepishly. As a seer it was impossible to not know at least a little about them, but specifics? Nope.
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