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 Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 12:08 pm
Layshu [J] Layshu scurried along in the dark, her whiskers leading the way. Her fur was damp and a touch grimy. It was hard to keep clean in areas where the earth was still nothing more than churned mud. Nevertheless, Layshu pressed on. Survival instincts were strong in her, and the drab shades of her lovely brown fur easily suggested the bloodline of a wild rat. Perhaps from her father or his father before him. Of course, to Layshu one's origins didn't matter. A rat was a rat, and she was proud to be one. At the moment, her primary objective was to find food, which had been a difficult task since the great water. The maze of tunnels excavated by the wild rats were new to her, but tunneling around in the dark reminded her of the liberation she found briefly living in a Great One's sofa. The memory was deeply rooted in her heart, and it persisted as a faint, thrilling tickle in the back of her mind. The only regret Layshu knew was the solitude she found in the tunnels, but it was a matter she did not concern herself with frequently. Only in the waking hours did she miss sleeping in a heap of her companions. Only when she heard the scratching of distant claws did she think to find a friend. And when she found no one, she pressed on. Layshu always moved forward, ever toward the unexplored.
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:25 pm
The Ukeshu was beginning to think a number of very dangerous, uncomfortable things. It was funny, what desperation would do to a rat. He had always been an alpha of firm principles, and never thought any emergency would force him to abandon those ideals.
Yet now he was faced with massive population reduction...thousands of jask lying dead, tunnels buried by debris, rats running every which way...and even the domestic rats were loose and running about like fools. It was enough to drive any rat mad.
The Ukeshu prayed to the spirits to guide him, but in his heart he worried that no spirit was equipped to deal with this. When had a rat ever before dealt with such rampant extermination?
As it turned out, fairly often, and the Ukeshu was both troubled and comforted by the knowledge.
Pausing, the scarred alpha rat rose to his wide haunches and sniffed the air, beady eyes bulging slightly as his whiskers swept forward. Intruder.
Suddenly on-guard, he dropped to all fours and assumed a position of dominance, legs stiff and back arched as he walked forward. "Who goes there?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 11:16 pm
Layshu [J]Layshu froze, her nose and whiskers twitching frantically in the dark. She sniff-sniff-sniffed the faint currents of air that mingled her scent with the stranger's. There was no true wind in the tunnels, but far-off exits caused the air to shift just enough to support life. The female hunkered down in a defensive posture. She wasn't an out-right warrior, but being as adventurous as she was, it was only natural for the female to expect the occasional confrontation. Unfortunately for her, the only tussles she'd ever been in were play-fights with her sisters. But he didn't have to know that. The female felt small for only a moment, and then she recalled what it was to be a wild rat. Emboldened, she called out, "Layshu." The smaller rat paused for a moment, her ears straining in the dark. "And who are you?" Layshu stood her ground, hoping she sounded brave. Certainly running would not have helped, and it wasn't her nature to run, anyways.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:58 am
Layshu....his ears flicked back, trying to remember whether he knew anyone of the name. The scent was unfamiliar to him. More telling, his scent was unfamiliar to her. Although the Ukeshu was accustomed to having many colony members -- some of them his own progreny -- who were unknown to him, it didn't often happen that one of his own kind didn't know him immediately.
"You address the Ukeshu," he said, creeping forward on stiff legs, his fur standing on end. His bulk took up most of the tunnel, and his words had a certain growling quality. He clicked his incisors together. "You are unknown to me, Layshu. Who were your parents?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 11:00 pm
Layshu gripped the earth with her little toes to keep from backing up. Her nostrils flared with her breath. Layshu tried to keep calm, tried to bolster herself. She poked her nose forward in the dark and repeated, "I am Layshu." Her tone was firmer, a bit louder. Layshu was not one to run, but she could feel the heat of the larger rat. The click of his teeth sounded far more confidant than she felt. "My mother is Chur... I do not know m-my father," she answered. "What does it matter, Ukeshu? Who are your parents?" She turned the Ukeshu's question back toward him, as though somehow that would keep the two on "even ground".
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 11:52 pm
He laughed, then, clicking his teeth together in amusement. "My parents? I was born from cries of torment and the hot flow of blood. Where my roots lie don't matter. I am the Ukeshu, and I own the ground you walk upon."
She was spunky. He liked that in a female. Although it rarely lasted long...
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Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 4:50 am
In the dark, the sound of a stifled laugh was quiet audible. Layshu had felt tense, but Ukeshu's reply had struck her as nonsense. The implication had not been lost on her, however. She anticipated that he might take offense. Even so, laughter was the best remedy for fear, and it seemed Layshu came by such wisdom naturally. It was her reaction when matters were too grave, too serious.
"Forgive me, then, for trespassing; I do not know how to float in the air," she replied with all sincerity.
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