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 Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:17 pm
We sing and stamp our feet, as Akoth the raindancer does. She laugh-sings, "Ki-ye, ki-ye, a-yi-yi-il," and we follow her.
Banjoko danced with halting steps, tossing his head back and whispering the words to his mother's song. His little voice sounded awfully loud in the great big empty of the plains.
We sing a-yi-yi-ki, and whoop our war songs to keep the great amber cats away.
Banjoko let out one pitifully lonely war-whoop.
We stand together to show the rogues that we are one, we are one!
Banjoko had no one to stand with, but he made a fierce face at the wilderness anyways. The little cub sat down with a sigh. The ritual was finished. In the end it hadn't helped, but the urge to stick firmly to the traditions had not yet left him. Unfortunately for Banjoko, all of his obedience had amounted to nothing. Once his newborn's dark fur had faded, his bizarre coat patterns were revealed. The clan didn't allow odd ones any more, not after its old queen had run rogue. Banjoko looked gloomily at his mud-encrusted paws. His mother had done her best to cover up his coat. Even now, days away from the old clan, his fur was completely hidden beneath the dirt.
Oh, if only old Akoth had taken him as her apprentice! With her protection the clan wouldn't have cast him out. Banjoko had sung her songs faithfully, but she said he was too thoroughly normal to follow her. In time, he might develop whatever 'it' was, but as a cub poor Banjoko was hopelessy mundane. Too bad! If he were to be cursed with funny colors, at least he should've gotten some fey talents to go with them. Unfair! Busy feeling sorry for himself, Banjoko was oblivious to his surroundings. A giant amber cat could have crept through the long grasses to ambush him and he would never have noticed.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:41 pm
The grass swayed and parted slightly for the young female, the tall blades masking the mauve coat if she crouched down low enough. Dark vermilion eyes scouted everywhere, in partial hopes of a small snack. A sigh escaped her as her pace slowed to a stop. So far, anything she had attempted to catch had managed to escape from her. It didn't help that no matter in what setting she hunted in; Sauda's coat stuck out so badly.
She stretched, preparing to go scout for food again when a sound hit her ears. Or, rather, someone's soft singing voice did. With the thought of having nothing better to do, she followed the sounds to the source.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:50 pm
Alone in his circle of stamped-down grass, Banjoko spotted the mauve hyena quickly. Well, sort of quickly. Eventually, anyways. The muddy cub bounced to his feet, yelping in astonishment. The stranger had snuck up on him! Terrible! Too bad! He snarled fiercely, baring nubby fangs.
"Get 'way, weirder!" he shouted, his tail whipping from side to side in agitation. "Get 'way! 'orrible thing! Get 'way!" She would fall on him, her and her awful weirder clan! Close to panic, Banjoko rolled his eyes and snapped his jaws like a mad thing.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:06 pm
Pseudo-glowing mauve eyes widened at his reaction, making sure to keep enough distance so she wouldn't be bitten. He looked like a hyena, so why did he smell like dirt? Sauda winced at the names, ears laying against her skull. The words brought up bad, bad memories.
The mauve cub still stayed crouched, though she had tried to look as non-threatening as possible. "Don't mean harm."
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:16 pm
"Go, go, go!" Banjoko was exhausted from his wandering, and all the prancing and posturing was wearing him out. He wanted to fall back and rest, but he couldn't! She would attack him, bite him. The dirty cub moaned in fear, shaking his head. No, no! What a horrible thing, to meet a horrible hyena-creature out here. The clan was right. This place was full of horrible horrible horrible horrible things. Banjoko felt more homesick than ever.
With a few more vicious snaps and feints, Banjoko finally sat back on his haunches. His thin sides heaved as he tried to catch his breath. Why had this ugly female come to him? Too bad! Too bad! Sunk in despair, Banjoko wailed out his sorrow in between gasps. All his noise would probably draw one of the legendary amber cat down on him. He didn't care! Better lunch for a cat than to die at this tricky female's poison fangs! The little male yowled and howled and cried most pitifully. He wanted his clan so much it hurt, his heart knotting and thudding with a dull and ugly throb.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:31 pm
Sauda continued to watch him, now. Why was he so afraid of her? Although she remained tensed incase he found new strength, the mauve cub watched the other curiously.
Although, his reaction mimicked her previous clan's when her 'beautiful' fur had grown in. Her own mother had snapped at her when she tried to eat! No sooner had her mauve fur grown in, did she get rejected. And a new hate for her own color had grown. Eyes narrowed at the ground, wanting the feeling of rejection to go away.
Sauda inhaled softly, her expression relaxing before looking at the tired other. "Why?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:47 pm
Banjoko swallowed his cries with a gulp and glared at Sauda through bleary eyes. No one was coming to save him. No cats had come to eat him, either. He was on his own. "Why what?" he asked sullenly. She must be toying with him. Well, Banjo had never managed to beat either of his sisters, but he would give this stranger a good chomp and no mistake! She would be sorry she'd tried anything. Remembering that the stranger probably had venom in her ugly purple mouth, Banjo whimpered. If he'd had more energy he would have started wailing again, but he was completely worn out. "Get off, you ugly, hor'ble purple," he muttered. He couldn't meet her eerie red eyes. Weird, dead, bloody eyes. She was truly the most hideous thing Banjoko had ever seen.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:05 pm
"The names and judging. Why?" She pressed again, anger flickering. The names had started to eat at Sauda's limited patience, and her eyes narrowed slightly with anger burning behind them. In the back of her mind, she knew it was wrong to take it out on Banjoko. But the anger constantly swirled in the back of her mind, waiting to be released. Hurtful names only spiked the flames.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:16 pm
"Hor'ble, ugly purple!" Banjoko shouted. He was doubtless pushing his luck, but he didn't care. "Nasty bleedy-eyes weirder. I'll bite 'ee!" He bared his teeth, uttering a feeble growl. The female was angry, Banjoko could see that. Well, he was angry too! The urge to kneel and obey the larger, more powerful hyena was strong, but Banjoko wasn't going to kowtow to some ugly she-freak. No, not him! He had his pride. He was a freak too, but he had standards! Thinking of his own sad deformity made his chest tighten up again, but Banjoko didn't have time to feel sorry for himself. Right now he needed to focus on the monster currently talking to him.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:39 pm
While listening to his insults, Sauda let out what could've been interpreted as a sadistic laugh. "I know." She let out a softer sadistic chuckle. "I know my own badness. My badness causes me lonliness." Somewhere in the back of her mind as the anger cooled off, a small thought entered her head. Why was she staying near him, when he really didn't seem to want her company?
She spaced out slightly, the thoughts drifting across her mind. As soon as the word 'bite' registered, Sauda's muscles clenched again and she watched the other pup carefully.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 9:24 am
Sensing the female's increased tension, Banjoko cooled off slightly. He watched the ugly beast through slitted eyes. Nasty thing. And why was it still bothering him? Too bad, too bad! The cub grunted in annoyance. "If you know yer so bad, why don't 'ee do somefin bout it?" he demanded. She almost sounded as though she were proud of being a bad nasty ugly thing. "Why don't 'ee cover up yer ugly ole fur? Hurts my eyes to look at 'ee!" Banjoko held out one crusty paw to display his own covering of dust and mud. The nasty mauve creature must not come from decent folk. Surely she would have been taught to hide her offensive markings, were she raised by good clanspeople.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 9:42 am
After hunting out in the grass, her body was slightly tired. She wanted to sit down, but not now. Not with this male. Perhaps later, when she wasn't near anyone, she would take a light nap... She returned her attention to the cub that--even though she didn't even know the name of--was insulting her. "Why?" She looked down at his paw, noticing the dirt caked in it. "I like me, even if no one does." Sauda took a closer look at him, noticing the dirt and mud was all over him. "Why the dirt?" The question was only to ease curiousity, but she really didn't expect an answer.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:58 pm
Banjoko snorted derisively. Well, of course nobody else liked her. That was obvious. "Makes m'self brown." Also obvious. This ugly freak sure had a talent for stating the obvious. He frowned at her, wrinkling his lip back over one blunt fang. The female would have to be blind to miss his disgusted expression.
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 3:44 pm
Vermilion eyes narrowed slightly at his expression. "If you cover your self in dirt, your just like it-" She paused, stamping one of her front paws on the ground for emphasis. "-ugly, and let everyone walk on you."
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 9:07 am
If the she-freak thought Banjoko would be injured by her barbs, she was dead wrong. Banjo didn't much care what some freak had to say. He did what he could to blend in with normals, and if the dust and mud didn't quite do the trick, well... too bad! That was just Banjoko's lot in life. Not fair, not at all, but that was just the way things were. He sniffed haughtily. "May be mucky, but least 'm not proud of bein' some ugly weirdo."
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