Welcome to Gaia! ::

((All are welcome to post...once we get enough people we'll come up with some kind of posting order, but I won't be too a**l about it so long as chaos doesn't break out))

Jazovac has been a free hyena for more days than he can count without growing impatient with the process, the numbers rolling through his head. Days have blurred together, and he is uncertain exactly how long ago it was that he shook himself free of his mother's care and set off out on his own, following his own path, following his own paws. The freedom has, altogether, been an attractive thing, but he dislikes it also; it gnaws at him, like a vicious beast growing inside of him, and he knows only part of it is the hunger.

He's not so hungry just now, but he isn't comforted by the thought.

He pauses, rolling back onto his haunches to stare up at the mid-day sky; it blazes down on him in heat, and he muses that he probably should be somewhere else, anywhere but here, before the full afternoon sun burns the sand and scorches his paws. He casts a glance around himself, seeking shade, and finds nothing of use. Annoyed, he scratches at an ear and tries to decide what exactly it is that he's looking for. Company? He doesn't know what he'd do with it if he found it. Food? He's not hungry. Shade? Fine, a waystation, a place to rest for the intermittent periods between wandering--but where is he going? What is he going to do once he gets there? He doesn't know, and the knowledge burns in him like barely-contained rage.

Somehow, the idea of striking out on his own had seemed so much more romantic before he'd actually done it.

Annoyed at himself for having no plan, he rocks back up onto his paws and strikes forward yet again, without hope, abandon, or plan. His nose twitches, occasionally, seeking out the scent of something--anything--to break up the monotony, but he can discern nothing amidst the swirling clouds of dust that clog his senses.

((...hope that was ok....))

Dozing in the scant shade of a stunted tree, Lilah didn't notice the distant strangers. It was thirst that awoke her. There was a muddy puddle beneath the tree when she fell asleep, but to her disappointment it had dried up while she slept. She snorted irritably, stirring up a puff of dust, and got to her paws.

Lilah had been on her own for as long as she could remember, and was a pretty good scavenger. Though a diet of bugs, rats, and bones wasn't too tasty, it kept her going well enough. The only problem with such sparse food was the constant low-grade hunger gnawing at her belly... just enough to annoy her, not enough to hurt.

Squinting in the bright glare, she trotted out from under her tree. She jogged with her muzzle close to the ground, sniffing around for small animals and bugs. The faint scent trail of antelopes lay on the ground, but she ignored it -- she would never be able to take down an antelope, and the handy vultures would inform her if another predator made a kill.

Crunching down a locust, Lilah sighed, remembering the days when she had had good meat. The memory of her family was gone now, but the taste of fresh meat remained. Lilah was so intent on her foraging that she didn't notice the strangers, off in the distance.

Dathedar let out a yap, pouncing forward eagerly. He could tell, by now, that it was only another cub. He was still young, and the thought that there may be older, vicious enemy hyenas never once crossed his mind.

His senses pivot to focus on the approaching Dathedar, the yelp breaking the annoyed buzzing silence in his head. He closes the distance between them, eyeing the flowered hyena with intense distrust, stopping a few yards away and standing up, taller, ears perked forward aggressively, but there is perhaps a slight softness in his eyes. He considers speaking, decides he has nothing to say, and waits instead to be approached. He is, for the moment, utterly unaware of the female approaching.

Crouching behind a low dune, Lilah stared at the cubs. She was fascinated. They didn't seem too aggressive... and what was that? The flowered cub didn't know the other... two more loners, then. That meant she didn't have to worry about an enraged mother chasing her off. Curiousity overcoming her fear, Lilah switched her tail eagerly, wanting to dash out like the flowered cub and introduce herself.

Wait, I have more dignity than that, she thought. Besides, that funny patchy looking cub looks kind of angry. She crept closer, ears straining forward to catch their conversation.

Dathedar flashed him a smile. It was obvious that the other was scared.
"Dathe... Dathedar." He said, tripping over his words slightly.

She was alone again. Rejected from yet another pack because of her....Mutation.

She padded quietly across the dusty savannah on tired, blistered paws, continuing her search for a home.

Her normally black fur was coated in a layer of grey dirt, making the wandering Hyena look more like a moving dustball than a dog.

She sighed and staggered to a stop, scanning the horizon for any sign of life. Her ears and antennae perked up as she noticed what appeared to be the forms of Hyena cubs in the distance.

She began walking again, this time with a destination in mind: Meet the cubs.

Dathedar growled, his ears flattening agitatedly.
"I'm from... Er..." He swung his nose behind him, his eyes quickly scanning around for any signs of his pack territory. "Er... Zat way." He stuttered, unsure of what to say.