Now here was a beautiful place! Arayne had found the pools while searching for prey in the jungle, but all thoughts of hunting had been abandoned as she explored the falls. Bright streams of water cascaded from moss-covered cliffs into tranquil pools, shallow enough for her to walk and play in. They provided welcome relief from the humidity and heat, and she took a puplike joy in splashing about and sending minnows and tadpoles darting for cover. As she chased a silver fish through the pools, she misjudged the depth and fell into a deep section, submerging past her ears and emerging soaked, sputtering, and laughing. She could forget the troubles of the past few days in these waters, cooling her aching paws and sipping the cool water.

She paddled to the edge of the pool and slogged out, her coat plastered to her sides. Having to hunt for herself was taking it's toll, she was beginning to appear a bit skinnier, but so long as she stayed in the warmer climates through the winter she should be okay. Besides, she figured, if it got too hard, she could just hook up with a pack for a while. But hopefully, she could avoid such responsibilities for now. She shook herself out, then hopped onto a large rock, laid down, and started licking the remaining water off herself.

ooc: Crappy first post, will get better. For some reason any muse I had for him decided to vanish. /:

He would watch from his roost as a wolf played around in the pools of water below, not a youngster but also not quite an adult. He was chilling on his back in a nearby tree, munching on some berries. The wolf as of no concern, it couldn't climb up and grab him, and even if it did he could easily out climb it. Poor things didn't have thumbs. He would notice though that the place grew silent after some time, did the wolf leave or did it decide to take a nap? He rolled over on his side, holding the end of his tail, moving it side t side below his chin as he watched the wolf below lick itself. "Your quite a playful one." He would chuckle, dropping his tail t grab a handful of berries, shoving them into his mouth. "normal. talk. think. you."

Arayne looked up as a jovial voice broke the quiet, then blinked as a small berry bounced off her nose. The most peculiar creature she had ever seen was sitting in the branches above her, watching her with a amusement, although it seemed more benign than contemptuous. Arayne's bushy tail started wagging as she laughed, standing up and stepping back so she didn't have to crane her head to see him. "When I'm an old fart, I'll slow down, but while I'm young, I'll play whenever I get the chance." She tilted her head. "I've never seen an animal like you before, aside from maybe a raccoon, since you both have striped tails." She looked up at him with an expression like a curious pup. "Are you some sort of squirrel-raccoon?"

It was a rather silly title, but those were the only animals she could think of that matched his appearance, right down to his striped, bushy tail and clever paws. She wished her paws could hold things. It was also wonderfully refreshing to meet someone who wasn't immediately going "Get off my territory this" or "I'll beat you into the ground" that.

The young woman's words brought light laughter to the man, such a way of thinking, it was wonderful! Most would just sit around or cause trouble non-stop, this girl knew where it was at. She would quickly jump into the topic everyone wanted to know with him, what was he. Her question though was interesting, she asked if he was some sort of squirrel raccoon, that was a new one. Others were just clueless. With another berry being plopped into his mouth the man would shift, turning his body and pushing himself up so he was standing on his hind limbs, a clawed hand gripping a branch to keep him steady while he brought to other over his chest and did a mall bow. "What you come across today mi'lady is a unique creature, I Zoboomafoo a one of a dying species. A ring tailed lemur." He stood back up, flashing a grin at the woman below. "normal. talk. think. you."

He stood on his hind legs, too? Arayne could managed the feat, but only for a few moments and certainly not when standing in a tree. She giggled quietly as the creature bowed, introducing himself. "Zobomafoo the ring tailed lemur." she repeated, wagging her tail. "No, I can't say I've seen one of your kind before." Arayne's home had been temperate and forested, but hardly tropical. It was sad to hear that he was from a species that was slowly going extinct, but if he didn't seem too depressed about it, she wouldn't mention it.

"Well, I," she said, stretching one leg out before her and bowing in return, "am Arayne Na'Varra, escaped princess of a land far away from here." While she never intended to go back, she still harbored a small amount of pride over her royal bloodline, although she was not nearly as arrogant as some.

ooc: I'm so sorry for the wait! I never got a notification for this. /:

He would give a small nod of his head as she repeated what he told her, then telling him she had not seen someone of his kind before. Yes, of course, he should have known. His kind wasn't really around, very few, that's way he said he was of a dying breed. If only he could find a woman, explain the situation and hopefully she be willing to give children to bring their numbers up. Instead of staying on that topic the girl would introduce herself as Arayne Na'Varra, an escaped princess. The man would laugh at this, slapping his knee before walking along the branch he was on. "I don't care what you were, and surely no one else would. Openly telling people that will get them on your bad side." He meant it in a light manner, not trying to upset the woman. He just found it foolish to announce your old rank, as if you wanted somebody to bow to you or be more respectful, anything that would make them behave differently. If that's what she expected, she would be very wrong. "You say a land far from here, what kind of land? Forest, dessert, plains, human ruins?" He would question curiously, hopping onto a new tree, climbing along a branch closer to the woman but still above her. "normal. talk. think. you."

(I wasn't aware there were notifications, sorry D:) Arayne pouted as the lemur laughed at her. "Well I hardly expect anyone to kiss my feet when I tell them," she huffed, mildly insulted. Sure, she had no title anymore, but what was wrong with taking a little pride in her lineage? Embarassed and glad to change the subject, she craned her head to follow his path as he walked through the branches. "Deep forest," she responded wistfully, "Lots of moss and overgrowth. And lots and lots of human ruins." In such a wet, temperate environment, stone tended to degrade and weather quickly, but she loved the old ruins. When she leaned against the ancient stone walls, she could still feel their strength, their timeless presence. The ruins had felt safe to her, a place of refuge, anchored firmly by gravity and vines. She tilted her head. "What about you? What sort of land did you come from?" He was a tree-dweller, so he obviously came from a wooded area, but that "lots of trees" was still a rather general form. "Speech"

Zabu would raise a brow when the woman told him where she came from, deep forest with lots of moss, overgrowth, and human ruins. It sounded like a beautiful place to be, and even though others saw the humans' ruins as horrible, he thought they were quite interesting and beautiful after they had served their purpose. Over his years of traveling the man had come across many types of terrain, but none quite like his homeland, which the girl asked about. A smile would show as he looked down to the woman, a light sigh escaping his lips as he looked up to the sky. My kind mainly stuck to an island not far from the mainland, a lot left on rafts though due to humans destroying our home. Deciduous forests, dry scrub, humid forests ad gallery forests. Places like that we ranged in, I mostly stuck to the gallery forests along rivers.? He would grin, thinking about his old home. "normal. talk. think. you."

She tilted her head curiously. "How'd you make rafts?" Those hands had something to do with it, she'd bet. She could see him tying together branches and vines with ease. "And were there humans around when you left? I assumed they died out, since I never saw any back home." The twolegged creatures were nothing more than myth in her kingdom, all she could recall was that they had prehensile front paws like Zabu, no tails or fur, and had destroyed themselves in some manner. They rarely crossed the wolf's mind. "Sounds interesting," she replied when he spoke of his home. It sounded amazingly varied, making her own forest home seem rather boring by comparison. "What sort of other animals were there?" she asked. "Were there unique ones like your species, or just run-of-the-mill things, rabbits and deer and such?""Speech"

His attention would refocus on Arayne when she asked how they made rafts, simple, the hands really helped. ?What you do is get some logs together that will float, then with some vines from tees you tie the logs together tightly so they don't float from ya, then bam! You got yourself a raft.? He would tell her with a wink, sitting back so that he was leaning up against the trunk of the tree he was up in. When she asked if humans were there when he left Zabu would give a slow nod of his head. ?I'm surprised you know of them, mostly wolves your age have never even heard the name for them. But yes, they were there when I left long ago, they were destroying our home so I had no choice.? His tone would change a bit, going from happy to a bit saddened to mention it, he would quickly get back to his good tone though. ?There are many special species there, all kids of shapes, colors, and sizes, definitely different from your common rabbit and deer.? "normal. talk. think. you." Awesome table by WolfEyez <3

She listened attentively as he described the process of raft-building. She figured she could get the logs together with her mouth and her paws, but tying the vines would be out of the question. Her ears went forward proudly as he spoke of her knowledge of humans. "I've never seen one, though, although if they're as destructive as you claim they are, perhaps that's a good thing." The sudden onset of sadness in his tone, wasn't missed, and she felt a pang of pity for the quirky lemur. The forests and mountains she had known were all pristine and undisturbed, she had never had to deal with loss of her home. A wistful look came into her eyes as he described the animals of his home. "I'd love to visit an island like that one day," she said. "I'll bet you there's a few within swimming distance of the mainland." She'd have to try her paw and swimming one day, although the idea of meeting a shark or other dangerous animal in the water sent a cold chill her spine. She had only seen a shark once before, after a storm had flung it's corpse up onto beach one season. The stark black-and-white body, dead eyes, and huge toothy mouth had terrified her as a yearling."Speech"

Rather than tell Zabu how she knew about the humans, the woman would explain that she had never seen one before, and thought it was a good thing since they sounded destructive. The man would only nod his head to this. They were indeed very destructive, taking more and more of his home, filling it with their stupid crap, poisoning the water, taking their food. Araye's voice would break his thoughts thankfully, bringing him back to the present. He'd listen as she spoke on how she would love to visit an island like he had described that there should be a few just a swimming distance from the mainland. "Ah yes, little lady. I have seen a few while traveling here, not very far and one or two quite a distance out." He would slowly nod his head, shifting his body to stand up but held the trunk of the tree while he made his way down. "How is your swimming miss Arayne?" He'd suddenly ask, turning around to face the wolf with his hands on his hips. "normal. talk. think. you." Awesome table by WolfEyez <3

She almost wiggled with excitement at the prospect of exploring an island when Zabu confirmed there were some nearby. She watched interestedly as he made his way down the branch, still impressed at his ability to keep a grip in the trees, then tilted her head as he suddenly demanded to know if she was a good swimmer. "Not to brag," she said, rolling her shoulders proudly, "but I've been able to swim since I was a pup." She wasn't so sure about crossing saltwater, though. Waves would be a factor, and predators. It was very different from playing in a forest stream. "Although...how far is the swim to the islands?" Her confidence wavered slightly. As good as she was (or claimed to be) she was a wolf, not an otter. A long swim, especially if it was against a current, could be dangerous. But if Zabu was aware of these islands, then they couldn't be too far, right? "Speech"

The lemur would chuckle at the woman, so, she was a good swimmer then, that was good. He would watch her body from his question, rolling her shoulders as if proud of her ability. At least she wasn't lying, all she needed was to be a decent swimmer to get to the islands... and able to carry him on her back since his kid didn't know how to swim. However, when she asked how far the swim was to the islands, it seemed her voice had wavered. She was probably wondering if it was far, that she couldn't swim that far. "I's not a far swim miss, I promise you that." e would give a small wave of his hand, trying to reassure the woman. "I must warn you though, there are rumors that sharks lurk in the waters off the shore, but we should be fine. I could make something to protect us if one decided to grow curious." Yes, if one decided to check them out, he had the hands to make a weapon, could stab it in the eye or face, that should keep it back. "normal. talk. think. you." Awesome table by WolfEyez <3

So there were sharks. The thought made her nervous, but maybe they could find a good shallow area to cross, or find a time of day that they weren't hunting. His use of "us" caught her by surprise, but the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. He seemed to need a way to get to the islands, and she wanted to be able to explore them but needed a guide and a protector during the swim. His idea of weapon sounded good to her. "Maybe a sharpened stick or something," she said, thinking. "A long one, so we don't have to get too close." She looked at the lemur with bright eyes, the prospect of a new adventure looming. "I want to stay on the mainland over the winter, but when it's spring, we should explore the islands." She nodded decisively, hoping the lemur would agree. This could be fun! (If he does decide to explore the islands with her, we'll probably have to wait to make the thread since she's stuck up north at the moment, or, if you don't want to wait, he can convince her to go earlier and we'll just say it took place before she left.)"Speech"

ooc: they can just meet up again in spring to explore. (:

Zabu would nod his head as the woman suggested a weapon, a sharpened stick. Yes, that could work very well. A long would would make a lo of sense, if a shark came too close they probably wouldn't have enough time to stab it and swim away, with a longer reach they would still have some distance. Arayne would bring up the seasons, wanting to stay on the mainland for winter but once it was spring they could give the little adventure a try. "Sounds quite alright to me miss, we could meet back in this area once Spring rolls by, I should be in the south where it is warmer or else I will freeze my butt off." He would chuckle, hopping a foot or two away before stopping and turning back to her. "Once Spring comes I will come here when the sun is at its highest everyday, I will see you then, yes?" The man didn't want to seem clingy or anything, but he really liked the idea of going to the islands. "normal. talk. think. you." Awesome table by WolfEyez <3