Post by Use on Mar 30, 2009 14:04:31 GMT -5
Staff Application
- online username; Use
- real life age Thirteen.
- experience
mirrorcat.proboards.com - Administrator
xxnitika.proboards.com - Moderator
teeter-totterz.com - Moderator - reason to become staff?
I feel that becoming staff, or at the very least a "helper" on here would not only help out the site, make it more organized (such as doing the odd-jobs like returning advertisements), but also hopefully boost activity. I've found that the more members online shown, the more members we roll in. And it helps even more when that online member is a staff member, because it makes the user feel more secure and not afraid to ask questions if they see so many moderators online. - rp level
I would rate myself as advanced. My examples are below:What got him in to this mess? It was question the male started rolling around in his head ever since Rhyten joined him. Not that he wasn't grateful for Rhyten's company, he was glad that a strong warrior decided to join a side. Neutrality would get you no where. But things were changing rather quickly.
For one, the newcomer had stepped closer to their area, bubbling thoughts right off the bat. But not before Rhyten got a say in things. Then, sound came from behind him. Turning his head, he saw that it was Rhyten. Like a statue had come back to life. Obviously he had finished his thinking, and now he felt he had to respond to everything at once, Vexen proposed. How did this meerkat work? He couldn't answer that question. Vexen turned to Rhyten, having an inquired expression on his face, showing some surprise at the words he was hearing.
"I would gladly do your entrance ritual but I'm not sure now is appropriate for mob business considering there are others here."
The words were fine. They were understandable. But why so shy about it? In the past, meerkats would crave to show off their skills to a mob, and welcome all strangers to watch where they ranked. Was Rhyten afraid? Afraid of what? It all didn't make sense to him. His head hurt just thinking about it. He was so used to simple things. Simple things that a normal meerkat would think about. Like survival skills. The male just knew how to survive.
All he did was think about things, never put it in to actions, or words. He studied things, mostly. He picked up on actions, emotions, anything he could watch. It was in his nature to be cautious, and that's partly what made him still alive today.
But there was something layered, thick in between the lines of Rhyten's words. What that some sort of arrogance? Annoyance? He could barely scrap it out, but yet it was there. Deep inside the words. This male might be too cocky for Vexen to enter in. He had the feeling that just because he had skill, he could disrespect elders, mob leaders.
A huff escaped his maw, so hushed it was barely audible. He had enough of this young one. He even envied him at times. But the only reason he stayed there, was because Rhyten gave somewhat decent advice. It was better if they saved it for another time.
"Hello, Vybrant. I'm Rhyten. And Vex, if I may call you that---don't be rude; not only is Marani a female but that's no way to recruit members. Call me young and reckless, but I'm not stupid by any stretch of the imagination as I'm sure I have made clear." It was made by Rhyten, also with a smile.
The male was going no where on Vexen's friendship list. In fact, it was dropping rather quickly. But it would be foolish to proclaim this to the world. It wouldn't cause anything good to happen. Just probably make the male before him go in to a lash, and try and knock down someone even more.
So, what was the best way to respond to this? How could he somehow put it in to words that disrespect was not tolerated by Vexen? 'I just did.' He shook his head, but his eyes grew full of concern. For this male's health. How come this male wasn't already killed? Did he pass any other mob before? He would've easily been taken by the old mob Vexen was traveling with. By their reckless leader. He had to teach him, somehow, not to go down that idiotic path.
"What does gender matter, dear boy? We are all equals right now, and this is reality. Marani and I…" He glanced back at her, with no signs of clear emotion. His eyes were clouded with deep thought and hesitation. "We had some sort of mixed history together. When you've been through what I have with that female over there, then you do indeed have permission to talk to a meerkat that way."
He took a step forward to the male, his muscles rolling in his back in his spine, as he came closer to Rhyten. It wasn't really an intimidation factor, more of a gesture.
"And members. I'm not obsessed with gaining them. They choose their path, and I do not question how wise their decision may be. If they choose to not follow under my rule, then I do not torture them with karma. I let them be." He coughed, sputtered almost, clearing his throat. Gosh, it was getting tedious. They were entering the warm season, and that meant it was very hard to survive. Infections and diseases are sure to come. A cough, could indeed lead to death.
"I would prefer the name Vexen, if you may, Rhyten. It's not that we don't have a strong allegiance with each other, you are a fine warrior indeed. You have integrity, skill, and physical attributes of an excellent warrior. But I prefer to be called what my elders have dubbed me." He finished, finally. And took a heaving sigh, shifting his weight to the one that said her name was Vybrant.
She continued to talk, and he took this time to study her body. It was in fine shape, and she actually groomed her fur. When cast in the right light, she seemed like a suitable meerkat. He was mistaken, when he first judged her as she entered the cave.
As he heard her speak, however, giving an intonation on the word "all", he held back a disgusted moan. Perhaps he had misjudged her the second time. She was, after all, a young adult. Like Rhyten. Why was he expecting these meerkats to be so mature? They certainly weren't entitled to.
He caught her eye as she looked at him, and he grew self-conscious. Stiffening, he gave an expression that seemed to look like, 'What, you were expecting a graceful reply from me?' Many mistook his actions as unmannered and displeasing, but Vexen simply didn't feel obliged to make a response. There were so many meerkats out there who would go on their hands and knees in politeness to impress someone, and the male didn't wish to follow that flowing trend. Foolish? Hardly. You shouldn't let your emotions show, unless it's absolutely vital. Don't speak, unless the information is needed. That's the code the male lived by, and he intended to follow it.
"Oh well, the way of a loner is to wander, and that is what I believe brought me here. I had been exploring through these caves, and I actually found one filled with jewels, but the way I had come was... uh, unreachable, and when I heard your voices I squeezed somehow through a crack and I found myself here." Vexen nodded at her words. It was hard to get hear for most, but meerkats had a very easy access. Some empathy seemed to sift through his eyes as he gave another curt nod. He liked her train of thought. Just going with what her body told her to go. A loner is to wander. He could relate to that.
A shuffling interrupted his thoughts, as he turned his head to a new direction… the entrance. It was Regal. He could hear her hushed whispers as they echoed down the cave. But they were mumbled and rushed, so he couldn't make out what she was saying. She was speaking to someone, though. She wasn't the one that striked him as one who talked to themselves.
But there was something odd about her tone. As if she was worried. Like a whisper that's never meant to be mentioned. There was another figure too, right? But his eye sight drained there, as light from outside starting casting it's reign inside, ruining his night vision. Now, he couldn't make out the bodies anymore than he used to.
He turned his head back, focusing on Vybrant, interested in what her next move was.
"Anyway, glad to meet you all."
The male was surprised by her almost flirtatious remark. Not quite flirtatious, maybe she wasn't even doing it on purpose, but he found it sounded somewhat attractive, like she was trying to impress him. Like Rhyten always tried to do and thought Vexen never noticed.
This made him curve his frown in to a somewhat slanted half-smile. It wasn't a full smile, but almost a smile like acceptance of this creature. Sure, she could be in his presence for now, I guess…
"Comforting to see another competent female in our midst. However, Vybrant, did you say our name was? However Vybrant, I am afraid you are going to be meeting another close meerkat now. She goes by the name of Regal, gave birth to a pup, apparently, mob leader. Whether her mob is respectable is another matter." He finished, not exactly poking fun at Regal, but explaining that she had some lustful issues. She couldn't get enough of a male who agreed to "give it to her". He was actually surprised she didn't start having lots of litters before now.
Meerkats physically matured around their second year, so why not?
'Probably didn't have a male who was insane enough.' His mind argued, and he had to agree with it. But he heard footsteps, and before he could finish his thought, Regal had come and dropped a pup.
The small child had an exiled mark atop his forehead, which looked quite recent actually, and a somewhat mutant marking on his right eye. But besides this, the pup looked terrified. It brought back memories of when he was in his old mob. He was a young adult, around Rhyten's age, roaming this very savannah with such a bad bunch. In truth, he was afraid. He was afraid of killing those who crossed his path (which was a standard practice and rule), but also fear of getting killed for messing up, or "failing" a task.
It was just about time for him to return to the mob with a failed task of killing a meerkat, when the leader himself was killed. Havoc reigned. Who would be the new leader? There was no second in command! They decided to brawl, whoever was the strongest and survived, could be leader.
But as the frantic screams and outrages of the fight were nearly beginning, the young and timid male ran.
Ran until he couldn't see his footsteps anymore. Until he literally crashed, because his body couldn't uphold himself. So, staring back at this pup, he could possibly connect to what he was facing, and how he was feeling. As he listened to Regal's words, he realized she could possibly care less with what the pup did. And Vexen couldn't see why. The pup looked brutally strong for his age, and he was large, which was always a rare, good sign to see.
So, should he go and take the pup? Adopt him in to his mob? A smirk upheld his face. Why do that to this pup? Why give him the good life? No one ever did that for him. No one ever said, "Hey, buddy, what's your name? Vex? Yah, nice name, no, I don't think you're spiteful. I'll adopt you." Instead, they laughed.
But there was another reason why Vexen didn't want to adopt this pup. He had no idea how to care for one. It's not like he watched females give birth and such. In fact, he would step out when those matters came. He had only seen another pup once, and they still were unusual to Vexen. Of course, this whole thing was ridiculous. All you had to do was feed it, right? But Vexen wasn't the sort that leaned towards taking those kinds of unknown risks. He wasn't ready for this time of commitment.
How could he lead a mob when he had to commit to a pup and care for it? So he eyed the small youngling, with a sort of sadness and empathy, but that was all. The male couldn't relate past that.
-- On Mirror Cats-----------------------------------------------
The morning rose before any one was expecting it. Or perhaps they were, just not the Asiatic female standing before them all. Perhaps, each bear before her was counting the hours until the sun would rise once again, and the perilous night would be over. Or perhaps those hours were bets. Bets on what time she would leave. But nothing of that sort ran through Scout's mind right now. In fact, close to nothing ever ran through Scout's mind. She did most things based on her instincts. The only things she did that barely crossed her mind was speech, and on rare occasions, bear calls. She had never, in the entirety of her life ever attempted a bear call. There were three reasons the female composed of reasonable explanations for not making a bear call.
One. She did not live in a family group. She was a mere loner who had named herself. She even named herself after a rank she was in a clan of deer. Deer that now, after her recent encounters with species like herself, would be eaten by her own kind. Did Scout think about the irony that was possessed here? Of course not. After all, the female had more important matters to attend to.
Two. Her voice was not the right nature for even attempting a proper bear call. It almost always came out wrong, and wasn't even close to sounding beautiful, let alone acceptable. She had heard bear calls before, but those bears were strong, fit, and handsome regardless of their past. Those calls seemed right, but her fear was that you had to look like them in order to produce such quality. At this stage of the game, Scout did not. Since she took on her own life the instant she was six weeks old, no one had taught her proper care of her fur, or anything else of her body. It was just this one bear that reminded her of herself that she had met long ago in Nitika. That one bear, the only one who didn't look at her strangely, that one bear that was the first person to treat her with respect, taught her how to properly take care of her nails. And then that bear scampered off, never turning back. They were in mid conversation as well, and the bear just took off running. It tore Scout's small, grey heart to pieces.
Three. The day the bear ran away was the day Scout stopped thinking of the possibilities.
The female shook her fur out rather dramatically, stancing herself appropriately and taking the necessary precautions. She felt her hind leg struggle to get the right position to hold her weight. It could lead to a fatal death of her leg was in the wrong position. But that was not on the female's mind. Nothing was, in fact. Nothing at all. Impossible, you say? You don't know me, the narrator, or Scout. But if you did, you'd know. Yes, you would indeed know, that everything is possible if you have just a grain less of ignorance.
But it was something like a grace to see this motion happen. No, I'm not talking about the grain of salt that I talked about earlier. No, we're moving on to an entirely different subject. Scout, remember? Yes, now, where did I leave off? Oh, yes. She was attempting to stand. But wait, you say. You saw her move and stand before? No, my dear friend. She walks around in a sluggish motion. She only thinks she's walking gracefully. Ironic? You wish. But what was marvelous about this sight that you and I are experiencing right now is that Scout is attempting to stand. Scratch that, she is now indeed standing!
Scout struggled, heavy breaths in and out as her leg shook violently behind her. She felt the muscles that were used to crawl around before now used in an entirely different matter as well as nature. Her eyes still remained on the male. The sloth bear. Well, she might as well use his name while she was thinking. Vasu. She seemed to be listening intently on his words, but her eyes betrayed this motion. His words seemed to swirl together, and clash. They seemed to swerve in to each other clumsily as he spoke, even though she knew his words probably sounded much more proper than she could every accomplish. What the female was really doing was looking at how he held himself up. But, not to betray her actions, she decided to speak.
"You like to grind them? They're stubs, now. What a shameless way to live." Her voice seemed to be mumbled slightly because of her concentrating, but that didn't really bother her much, as it usually would. Usually, Scout would try and fit in. But at this precise moment, she could care less.
The Asiatic bear stared deep and hard at the position of his legs, how each one was bent. She started with his front right leg. It was turned inward. Her puzzled expression was quickly masked as the male's words swirled together in a violent rush. Still, didn't that look uncomfortable? Nevertheless, Scout copied this motion. She slowly turned her right paw in front of her and inward. Surprisingly, it seemed to click in to place; it held her up exceptionally well. She focused on his next paw. His left front one, this time. It was balanced very much like the one she copied previously. It was bent, but faced towards her, or frontward, as some preferred to call it. The two legs were spread apart, and formed almost a triangle position. Was that the secret? Was that how the whole body was held up so well? There was so much she was missing. Wow. Scout copied the motion almost effortlessly. It wasn't hard at all, as if it was made to be there, as if she was made to stand up properly. Which she was, but don't tell her that!
Now that her front legs were in a comfortable position, she decided to study this "Vasu's" face. He wasn't looking at her, as she would've expected. He just looked down at the sand. What did he enjoy about sound so much? It's composition was absolutely atrocious, and it only hurt your claws. Yet, there the male went, staring at the sand again. Scout almost wanted to shout something, something to surprise him and look up, yet she refrained. She listened to Vasu as he talked. She noticed his head as it turned slightly in disbelief of her actions. This made the female smile. What could she say? No one looked at her normally. She might as well embrace this feeling of skepticism.
She heard Vasu, about how he told that he was named by his parents.
"Parents".
That one word.
Amazing. It moved, Scout.
It brought back memories.
Memories, that probably shouldn't have been brought back.
"Parents."
Scout ignored his almost rhetorical question of "Weren't you?" She didn't feel like she had to answer it. So, she didn't. Was it so hard to believe that she named herself? Still, the female wanted to desperately imagine what her father would have named her if things were different. If she was born mentally stable. If she was the right weight. What then? What would be her name? Would her father take pride in her? A slight purr shook her body at the thought she thought next. Would she remain by his side and then take his place when the time came? She closed her eyes then, trying to picture it. She strained her mind, wracked her innards, desperately trying to reveal this. But she gave up. A small gasp and she was breathing heavily again from the strength that was used. The Asiatic bear couldn't picture what it would be to live a normal life.
Ever.
Even though the female lost all interest in Vasu's comments after he said that special word that made her think, he of course wanted to go on. She listened to his words with jealousy. Her eyes didn't show any sign of contentment, because there was none. Still, she refrained from growling. What good would that do? She decided the best way to go was to use sarcasm. It flowed effortlessly out of her mouth, before she even realized what she was saying.
"My, aren't you special. Bright, you say? Golly, what an accomplishment. Excellent? Yes, you sure are excellent if you can climb a tree and eat fruit. What a great name, hun. Vasu, wowee." Her voice was filled with fake enthusiasm, probably to cover the jealousy of him having parents. As much as Scout would like to forget her past, comments like these just came back to haunt her of it. She wished she could forget about the floods, the rain, and just remember the deer that took her in. The deer that saved her sanity. The deer who taught her how to live peacefully with the nature and storms. How to be quick on her feet. How to bound like them. The deer. They were her family. They should've been.
She noticed his chin lifting up, and she muffled a chuckle. This guy was blowing himself way out of proportion. Did he realize what he was even doing? Thinking he was higher than her, just because he felt that he was wiser than her and had a higher rank currently? What an odd male he was being today. Well, this was just like normal males. Always thinking that females would just be okay with this nature. Maybe they did, who was to say? Scout never witnessed this even before, a male and female encounter, but maybe it was expected of females to love this nature. Give them what they want. Even those with wrong intentions. If that was so, then refusing to accept this "know-it-all" nature of her future leader, why, was she rewriting history?
She shook her head slightly, and focused on how his back leg was positioned. It was bent slightly, almost shifting it's weight towards the front paws and it was facing towards the front legs. Although this pose was most uncomfortable, Scout obeyed this odd command-like position. It stayed uncomfortable, but she continued to look at his other back leg. The final one. If she could sweat, it would have filled up her fur. It would have been pouring out and splashing on to the ground. Enough to fill a lake. Her black fur did not in the least help the situation either. At least the weather was partially cloudy. Scout had to be reminded of the positives about this.
But she finally did it. She plopped that other leg in the right position, and then, a click almost seemed to happen.
She could stand. Properly! Like she was supposed to. Like she should've been taught to in the beginning. A cub's lesson, perhaps, but it made all the difference to Scout. She noticed Vasu's chin wasn't lifting up, and this annoyed her to an extent. It also pleased her, and made her smile her crooked smile. That was just Vasu, the stuck up leader who though her as an abnormal. Perhaps that was what she truly was, but she wasn't going to let that spoil her fun.
She ignored Vasu's comments about being typical, as they didn't really concern her, and she didn't really care what he thought about that matter. She judged someone by what she saw, not by what others saw or experienced. Or even said, for that matter! To Scout, actions speak louder than words. Scout remembered back when her deer clan were patrolling, one deer told a story (or so Scout thought, for she could not understand deer and their language was very abrupt and complex) about a foolish fawn. She was beating a poor newborn. When he caught her hurting the new born, he was furious, of course, who wouldn't be? But the fawn said she was just "Feeding him." The deer used the words, "Your actions speak so loud, I can not hear what you're saying," and punished her.
Perhaps that would be a lesson to all of us. Perhaps that was a lesson that all bears needed to hear, but no one listened, no one cared, no one was told it. Except for the rare occasion of those who were raised elsewhere, like Scout.
Vasu asked what she had to offer to this group.
"I'm swift. I'd be a damn good hunter." She shrugged as she made this point, because in reality, she was fast. She had learned that from the deer that took her in. But what would she hunt? She refused to hunt deer. She also wasn't pleased about hunting salmon, because they were hunted off by predators. However, Scout would gladly hunt badgers. She saw too many salmon lives being taken by them. The female would also hunt coyotes… if they had enough members in the family group. A shudder seemed to run up and down Scout's spine at the mention of coyotes. They were feared by all the deer, and all their lives she ran from them. She saw many friend's lives taken by coyotes. But now, now Scout was stronger. She wasn't a deer any longer. She was a bear, a bear who could beat those coyotes to the end.
A fierce glow struck Scout's eyes as she stared at Vasu. He had no idea what was in store for him if he accepted this offer. But she felt that Vasu was taking her for granted. After all, he refused her submission earlier. What did he want now? She could tell he thought of her was inferior. Inside, she knew he had more rank. She knew he had more experience, but she felt the offer was about to change.
She smiled slightly at his upright chin, but caught herself and represented a stone expression. Her shoulders moved and it all seemed to fit perfectly with each other as she walked, like a normal bear, up to Vasu. Scout wasn't accustomed to the ranks and laws, how you should stay away and respect your leader. She was used to the deer rituals.
"What will you do for me? You don't expect me to pull all the weight, now do you?" She sniffed, and turned her back on him, and walked back to her space. When she turned around, she was back to the regular Scout again. She laughed softly as his chin lifted up looked more ridiculous than ever, now.
"Might want to lower that chin of yours. You can get some cramps, you know." She eyed him warily. Not even realizing that her skepticism was shared with Vasu towards her.
--- On Nitika - other?
I would only like to take the job of an "underdog". I feel that life for me will become too busy if I commit to roleplaying. Thank you for looking.
