;;Suna no Oshiro

[;;Mouse]

Karma
Saisir la folie

“Sweltering, scorching, stifling, sultry…” The words rolled off the tongue like a lullaby. Easing into the air as gentle as a summer bird taking flight. These words cooed the atmosphere like a stubborn child. They had little effect, but they warmed the mind of the speaker. The vain attempts at warming the realm with mere words were a comfort to the mentality of one. Her brown eyes coming forth to stare out at the sand covered earth. Summer would bring roasting temperatures, but Winter had taken a firm hold and was holding tight. Certainly, there were much colder places than this, but the one who had stumbled into these sands was one used to the warmer climates. The slightest drop in temperatures sent chills dancing along her spine. Such a quiver shook her now as she gazed upwards into the night sky, wishing for sunlight. The crescent king looked her straight in the eyes, refusing her wish. The court of shimmering dots whispered amongst themselves, sniggering at the poor beast so far below them.

It was only but a few hours till sunrise and Karma had managed to wake up far too early. The moon above told her this. She had awoken stiff to the bone from the violent shakes that had kept her company through the night. Her sun tanned eyes fluttered and dropped frequently. Wolf she may have been, but she did not live up to the expectations. There were no night long romps under the full moon for this girl. Her body was already numbing from being idle. Her paws took to motion, more out of instinct than will. Each breath was a shard of glass until the internal heat of her body warmed it. “Mean weather…Mean to Karma.” Her words came out in a spiteful song, opposite to the caress it had once been.

Continuing her mindless walk, Karma came upon a perplexing sight. A river, if it could be called such. Ribbons of water branched in each direction, each coming from the same source. A ‘tree river’ as she called it in her mind. It was a spectacle too curious for her to ignore. Stepping lightly, she dipped her head to sample the nearest branch. Warm. How was water warm? Her head jerked back as she stared at the wonder. A cold desert and warm waters, what a strange place she had come to. The lights from above reflected in the clear liquid, dazzling her eyes with a light show. A smile began to grace her lips as she watched, suddenly swatting at the running fluid as she tried to capture the illumination in her paws.

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NOTES 441 words...Completely brain-dead at the moment {{Open
RANDOM FACT The title means 'Castle of Sand' in Japanese

[errance]

SoMBRE
COLD IS AN OPINION WORD.

***

Dense hair erupted from the follicles and enshrouded the ess with a gentle warmth, despite the unusually frigid winds soughing through the land. Yet an equilibrium existed within herself, and she felt not the warmth of her inner sanctums nor the ague of the outward. Neither good day, nor bad, would affect the night now cast upon the desert. It simply...was.

"Now, Sombre, philosophy never was your strong suit," she sighed, a visible permeation disrupting the air before her. The ivory ruff trailing around her neck wavered as the cranium shifted to express her displeasure. A smirk befell the features, but was soon banished as new thoughts arose to take the place of such humor. Enshrouded in thought, the maid mindlessly observed the area around her - and she delighted in its scarcity. The vegetation of the desert was sparse at its best, but a primeval beauty existed in simplicity. The river she knelt beside gave way to populations of various grasses and shrubs that generally faded into an empty desert as distance grew, with red mountains looming ominously on the horizon. Some thought that the ominous factor, in its entirety, summarized the desert. But here, especially, with the water bubbling tranquilly as it laughed across the rocks...ah, yes, this was beauty. Of course, it existed elsewhere, and she would always have to move on - she always did - but for now...

Her auditory sense interrupted her musings with the detection of a voice, and the cranium swiveled anxiously. The electric lenses were curious, an instant caution veiling them as she stood, joints popping, stance shifting to accommodate for possible attack. Encounters had never been one of her strong points, and if she could avoid it, she would. Cursing inaudibly to herself at her foolish inattention, the fea waited until the breeze supplied a scent.

Wolf-kind; female.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Male oppression was not something she wished to deal with at the moment. That was not to say this would be any easier. Perhaps just...lay low, and observe. Settling back down again, the foliage whipping across her face as the wind stirred once more, she watched as a fea, most likely in young to middle adulthood, emerged into her sights and tested the river water. Mottled head tilted, the gaze was confused by the joy the other exhibited. She wondered when she had last felt such happiness...

Realizing she had chuckled aloud at her own foul statement and could mask herself no longer, the dame arose from the sanctuary of whipping bends and foliage, making her presence known as she walked to the banks.

"The water has thermal currents underneath; a hot spring generating them from deep within the ground," she supplied softly, chords ringing as she spoke to the opposite. Her eyes sought another pair. "Hence the heat." She flashed a tentative smile (turning out more like a grimace), the ivories glinting as moonlit rays from above struck the solid surface. Sombre was blunt, abrasive at her worst, and often intellectually superior, making it difficult to generate a common conversation. She hoped that, in this new land, her first discussion with those sharing her blood would not be her last.
[/size]

[[word count;; 529 // muse is being unhelpful]]

[;;Mouse]

Karma
Saisir la folie

Her eyes, captivated by the radiance that performed a impromptu ballet just for her, had not the slightest clue that she was receiving company. They stared, entranced by the movement occurring in the depths of the liquid that slipped between her paws with each attempt to ensnare the enticing riches. These two orbs of sight were useless in her defense. Instead, it was left to her two posts that she was forced to rely upon to catch the minimal sounds announcing the approach of another. It was nothing but the hiss of protesting brush that called the alarm, but it was enough to alert her of another. Sadly, the she-wolf did not heed her own instincts to defend herself from a possible threat. Instead, she continued to watch the private show that came from the clear screen in front of her body.

Voice. An articulation that spooked Karma down to the core. Her paw stopped mid-swipe, crushing down on the smooth surface, disturbing the flow and causing the spray to dust over her confused expression. Eyes wide, her head turned quickly to view whomever had interrupted her cabaret of brilliance with words that perplexed beyond reasoning. There was a trace of an increase of breath with the way her chest began moving and she now tried to bring it under control. Her eyes gave her a clear view of this intruder and there were none of the signs associated with aggression, that was enough for her to take kindly to this new wolf. Besides, she was picturesque. A pallid wolven who wished to ease the loneliness that plagued the homely wolf that was she.

Slanting her head to the side, Karma took a moment to study the she-wolf who had appeared to explain the mystery of the water before turning to the subject matter itself. “So is it magic?” The words that had flown from the lips of the fair wolf had not a bit of substance to her. Perhaps this female was telling her the magic words used to create such a wonder. Perhaps this wolf could use it herself. A childish imagination ran ramped in the confines of her mind.

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NOTES 361 words...eww
RANDOM FACT In Idaho you cannot fish for trout from the back of a giraffe.

[errance]

SoMBRE
COLD IS AN OPINION WORD.

***[/center]


Stippled haunches, after a reassurance that there was not a threat to be found, sank into the sodden earth, squelching in protest as flesh came into contact with the clay known to this area. Her tail draped itself across the bank, its languid tip being caressed by the occasional spray of the waters. Eyes diverted to observe the absent drifting of the hind appendage, she waited for reaction, breath coming naturally as she absorbed the calamity of darkness. Somewhere in the distance, a desert bird twittered its discourse. The harks registered another rodent-creature stalking amongst the grasses, tiny squeaks and whimpers emitting as it noticed the two wolf-kind. Words rang at last from the gullet of the she-wolf, once more drawing her attention, and a husky laugh came from her own in reprimand.

Magic doesn't exist. "No, it's..." her convincing voice slowly died upon her tongue, and anxiously the lips were wet. A flash of red in the moon-washed land. Then it was gone. A thought came to her forefront during this brief period that she did not want to distort the reality; neither did she wish to crush any hopes of the supernatural the other might have. The spectral matron re-worded her statement, starting with a large inhalation as she prepared for a possible debacle. "As close as it gets," came the chords, and an assuring nod intended mostly for herself, a sense of finality completing her dialogue. Naught before had conjecture like that been an answer for her, yet perhaps a new age, one of hope and things impossible, dawned...?

Retreating from such debate, a blued paw traced nonsensical patterns upon the ground, digits leaving marks 'pon the soiled terrain. Think twice, speak once. The shutters fluttered closed, lashes meshing, masking the soul, then revealing again. Abruptly stopping contemplation, the globe ascended, crystalline pools unpretentious.

"What be your name, wolf?" [/font]

[[word count;; 312 // um, wow, no comment. we all know that's bad.]]

[;;Mouse]

Karma
Saisir la folie

What sort of answer was that? Either is was or it wasn’t magic. There were no grey areas when dealing with such things. Perhaps this femme really didn’t know the truth that was hidden below the entrancing tepid waters. If that was the case, she could have simply stated that fact rather than attempt an explanation. Then again, perchance, this wolf was looking for the magic that captivated the stream for herself and didn’t want Karma to know it existed. Such a magic would surly bring ecstasy to the one who claimed it’s power. That had to be it! Her mind locked on the idea as she imagined a world of inexplicable happenings. Her infantile soul adhered to such beliefs like a drug, a mask of all the menace in the world. As she thought, claws kneaded the sands below their severe grasp, the feeling a strange yet not unpleasant one to the she-wolf.

Spheres riddled with laughter as the white one asked a question of her own. “I’m not Wolf, I’m Karma.” body shifted, giving life back to the contracted and algid muscles. The other had sat down, yet Karma could not find a motive to do so herself. As lovely as the sands felt molded between her paws, she couldn’t imagine how terrible they would taste if she decided to groom herself. Conversely, she had forgotten it was these very grains that she had dreamt upon, imbedding granules into the deepest layers of her coat. “Are you someone?” Her inquiring timbre resonated through the air, but not her mind. The words that come from her lips had morphed during the transition from her mind, words changing ever so slightly to come with a different meaning. Yet at the same time, the meaning was exactly as she intended. A name separated one from being nothing more than a category. As she had said. Karma was not a wolf. In body, she was born as such, but in action and individuality, she was not a wolf but Karma.

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NOTES RAWR ;-; -no random fact....338 count