Encounters of The Fur Kind [cerkowah]

cerkowah

The more he listened for a few moments, the more certain Drokhan was that he had only imagined something being there. It wasn't until a scent he'd never encountered before touched his nose, that he realized that he had in fact known something was there. He scanned the undergrowth, curious as to what was about to saunter out to greet his sight. It wasn't until movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention did he realize that he'd been looking in the wrong direction entirely.

The fox tilted his head to the side, his large ears strained forward as he looked over this creature that had popped from the foliage. He had never seen anything like this creature, and what it was exactly perplexed him wholly. The scent told him that it - whatever it was - was male. He blinked, both eyes, despite the right being clouded and sightless, focused on the being tracking his every movement.

Drokhan noted that it was fluffy, and appeared to be much more fur than actual being, and while this wasn't particularly odd in the fox's mind (as foxes were quite the thickly furred species as well, often appearing more fluff than fox, especially in certain seasons more than others, and some individuals more than others), he did think that the fact that the thing's paws seemed to be the only things sticking out of the fur. Its tail seemed to be a pillar of fur, perpetually puffed. Everything about it was round or rounded in one way or another, and this, Drokhan thought, was quite interesting.

He realized that for everything he noted on this strange creature, that it seemed to be noting something about him. They were both looking at each other with an intense curiosity. The fox followed the others' gaze, curious as to what he was looking at. Something besides him? Perhaps he'd glimpsed a fish flash in the water - this he could explain fully, but the glance behind, back into the forest was perplexing to the narrow-faced fox. Was there something back there? He couldn't see anything, nor had he scented anything beyond the solitary creature that was now padding to the water's edge.

It sat down, close to the water, but giving it its space. Drokhan guessed this was perhaps from a desire to not get one's paws wet, and he instantly came to the conclusion that perhaps this male, whatever he was, was possibly a little finicky in nature. "Greetings," it spoke and nodded in greeting. It surveyed for a moment, before looking back at him. He was rather taken back by the vibrancy of the creature's eyes, which were a startling yellow hue, far brighter than any he'd seen on anything else. His own eyes were a rich color of hazel flecked with a honey-hued amber, with clearly only one that had any decent sight at all. The other was good for shapes, and majority colors, but it wasn't much for detail.

Drokhan dipped his head politely, as he spoke in a soft voice, "greetings to you as well." He was quiet for a moment, debating if he wanted to be brash, or keep himself from stepping on territory that may offend the other. He decided to keep himself polite until he could tease out what the other's reaction may be to a blatant question such as 'what are you, exactly?' Despite the desire to ask this, he would save it. "How are you on this fine day by the stream? Who may I have the pleasure of talking to? I myself go by Drokhan, if you're curious." The fox let his tail twitch slightly, showing a hint of how curious he was.

cerkowah

Drokhan was acutely aware that this creature was observing him for every bit that he was observing him. Like the other, Drokhan noted their stark differences, and almost found it comical just how opposite they were to each other. Long and thin, short and round. Angular, and curved. It made the encounter all the more interesting for Drokhan, and he wondered if the other felt the same. They certainly seemed to have the same level of curiosity for each other, the fox judged.

His ears twitched as the other spoke, after brightening up. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Valentin," the fox dipped his head respectfully. "If I may... Inquire, without sounding rude... May I ask what you are? I've never happened upon another like you and I'm quite the curious individual, you see..." He trailed off slightly, unsure of what else he should exactly say. He had other questions of course, but at what point was it simply too rude to ask upon the first meeting? Perhaps later on in the conversation - he certainly wanted to know what the other kept glancing around at, and kept following. He was certain there was nothing around him, and so it made him wonder if this thing, this thing named Valentin, was an individual who saw things that weren't there.

Drokhan had encountered individuals like that before. The madness of the mind was nothing that was surprising to him - it seemed to be quite common when life was so harsh as it was for all animals. Of course, he was sure somewhere there was something where life was easy, but for the forest dwellers, he knew of no such things personally. He was fine with it, but he knew that at some point things could certainly take a toll on the mind of an individual, and warp it to where it worked against them.

He wouldn't allow himself to make such presumptions just yet, but he would certainly keep it tucked away for safekeeping, to see if he could put the puzzle together before he simply had to give up and just ask. A thought occurred to him - had the other ever met a fox? Or was he the only one experiencing that awe and slight confusion of happening upon a new creature entirely?

I'm sorry it's so short! I hit a bit of a wall with what to write!

cerkowah

The fox swished his tail and he perked up. Well, at least he hadn't offended the strange creature before him. Offending him wouldn't do Drokhan's curiosity any sort of good, and so he knew he must keep on this individual's good side. Of course, he wasn't so selfish as to only want information from him, but that, of course, would be a major foundational factor in anything this might become.

"Well I'm certain that you do get that quite a bit. I've been around here for a few months, and while I know I haven't seen everyone, I've never seen another quite like you. Do you know if there are others, or if you are the only one of your kind? I've yet to met another fox myself, which is quite strange. We're just as bad as rabbits, sometimes." He chuckled at the last part. He tilted his head and nodded. Cat. What was a cat? And did that mean that his mother was also a cat, or was their interbreeding much like that between dogs and wolves?

'Well,' Drokhan decided. 'Whatever a cat is, it must have been half of what Valentin looks like.'

He thought further for a moment before stating, "it sounds like she was from the mountains." He wondered if that explained the fluffy coat and the grey-hued fur, or if that was obtained from the 'cat' part. Were both parts technically cat, or well... Whatever the cat equivalent of 'canine' was, as wolf-dogs were fully canine, but part wolf and part dog? His ears twitched, and he looked at the other fully. "Well that's certainly a shame," Drokhan commented. He swished his tail thoughtfully before he finally asked the question that had been nagging at his mind since he first started observing this half-cat named Valentin. "Again, don't think of me as rude, I beg you... But what were you looking at in the bushes?"

cerkowah

He listened with his head tilted to the side. Humans? What were humans? "Ahh... Were humans the two-legged things that use to walk around?" That must have meant that his mother had been old, Drokhan decided. He himself had never known anyone that had seen humans, but his father had once told him of their existence, and how they'd built things with their flexible paws and forced other creatures to be subservient to them. He had even said that it was because of the two-leggeds that dogs even existed since they had changed the blood of the wolf within them to something different. Drokhan at the time hadn't really believed the stories, but now... Now he wondered how true they had been.

He'd known that his father himself had never seen one, but his grandfather had, as the old greyed fox had told him once. Drokhan pondered at how strange it was that individuals three generations prior to himself had seen creatures that he had come to think of as largely mythologized. He'd seen the ramshackle structures, but most were in states beyond repair, and he'd assumed that that had been the extent of humanity's reach and prowess. It had never occurred to him that some of the other things might very well be true about them. He suddenly found himself quite gracious that they were no longer around - if they could build things a thousand times his size, and take other creatures from their homes, and move them a thousand horizons away, then he didn't dare think what they could have done if something hadn't stopped them in their tracks.

"Well, I suppose that that is fair. I'd imagine if they were still around, they'd be so old that they'd be dust," he meant this humorously, of course. "I'll admit that I never knew what a cat was before. I know I don't know everything, but it is always a joy to learn something new." He flashed a toothy grin and swished his tail. "It throws some off. My pelt isn't even the brightest - my father was a bright one. Brighter than the brightest orange leaves at the time that they change colors. I'm rather dull compared to him, I must admit. But I do suppose he's dead by now, so it's a shame you couldn't see his vibrancy. I'm sure he wasn't the only one of that color though. So, I'm sure you'll stumble upon another when there are more foxes in the area." He found himself rattling on a bit, and eventually rounded off his statement just to silence himself and let the other speak.

Drokhan shook his head and stated, "no, sadly I've never been there myself. But I've heard tale of them before. I've heard that they're massive things, like teeth rising up into the sky. They're made of rock, with forests and meadows on their flanks, until they get so high that there's nothing but rock and snow. I've heard that you can see the massive birds - eagles I believe they're called - circling the tips of them. I've heard that there are creatures there that can snatch those massive birds right from the sky, and eat them." He did his best to describe what he himself had heard, although he was painfully aware that he did not do the description that he had gotten justice. The one he'd heard had made the mountains sound terrifyingly beautiful, filled with wonders and dangers almost beyond imagination.

That angular, narrow head tilted to the side when the cat answered. A bird? Somehow Drokhan didn't believe this, but he didn't press further. He decided that he would watch, to figure out if his suspicions were true. He didn't think Valentin less for it - if he had a mental affliction, well that was just fine with Drokhan. He'd encountered others who were far more unsettling. Although, he considered, perhaps the cat didn't have an affliction? He'd never encountered another that had imaginary friends, but he remembered as a kit how he had played make belief and conjured playmates for himself. Could it be possible that a grown individual could also do this? He wasn't sure, but given two options, he decided to see which would pan out to likely be true. Drokhan knew at some point, he would figure it out - nothing stayed hidden forever, especially from the prying eyes of a fox.