TENNESSEE

"Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play"

A shattered chrysalis that gave the illusion of gold lay a few feet away from a rusty red babe. He was new to the world, freshly hatched and unsure of himself. Everything was misty and foreboding. The rusty red creature held his tail in his paws as he gazed around. Nearby he heard the forlorn sound of some thing. He didn't quite know what but it sounded pitiful. It scared him and intrigued him at the same time. He could run but he didn't want to, he wanted to see, to know. With his tail still clutched in his small paws he went towards the noise in the mist. Pale eyes bulging to try and see better. Soon he happened upon a tiny red thing... A little rat. Teeth were yellow, crooked, ugly and its tattered fur was filthy and unclean. It was tiny and young like him and all alone.

He did not know but it was a cave rat pup. Abandoned by its mother... Or perhaps its mother had been killed. Either way, it would receive no more care on its own.

The red babe did not know this, no. He was just intrigued and as such wanted to touch the creature. He reached out a paw and tried to give it a pat but was met with a his as the red pup scuttled backwards. Confused he tried again and was met with similar results. That wasn't working. He stopped, upset with the results. A huff came from his mouth as he looked around.

What would help gain the pup's trust? He cast around and find a scuttling beetle. Would that work? Quickly he reached out with a paw and grabbed it. This time when he reached out with his paw and offered up the prize the rat at first hissed but then considered the offering. With grimy paws it snatched the beetle and ate it. It's red eyes, matching the ruby horn on its forehead, stared up questioningly at the offerer of the beetle. It's primitive brain trying to comprehend what happened.

The rusty newborn giggled, happy that he'd made some progress with the pup. Even more progress when the pup snuffled at his paws. Eyes roaming upwards to silently ask for more. Or... That's what he thought. He shook his head and said, "No mores! But I can getcha mores! C'mon!" He turned and began to walk away, waving a paw for the pup to follow. For a moment it stared at him but then, deciding that perhaps she would get more beetles if she played along, went on behind him.

Suddenly the cave didn't seem as lonely as they trudged around, searching for more food.

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

451
Open
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6/10

When the chrysalis cracked, that's when she stirred. It was dark. It was cramped. Yes, she was most distinctly uncomfortable. Her thoughts drifted to her dreams. Wonderful dreams... but then the chrysalis cracked some more. She wiggled.
An egg came to mind, and she smiled to herself. She was hatching into life! Was she a bird, then? She pushed herself against the wall of the egg, a paw coming before her eyes. Oh. So she wasn't a bird? Well, never mind that, perhaps the dreams were wrong and everyone hatched! Either way.
At last it burst open and she tumbled onto the ground with a roll and a hiccup. She blinked, the shards of stone rather large around her. It seems she hadn't disturbed anything.
Green eyes looked all around her, searching the world. She sneezed.

Something... strange... turned within her, and all of a sudden she felt a strong urge to do something. It was a cave devoid of life, and she was lonely.
Several small green sprouts sprung up around her, and she looked at them in confusion.

And then. And then.
A stranger! Both rat and lemur were larger than her, even if only slightly, and she tilted her head slightly to look up at them. She blinked, sitting surrounded by her sprouts, and then opened her mouth to try and speak. Nothing came out.
She tried again. And again. Finally, at last, she managed something.
"H-hello?"

This is speaking.
tag: @Tennessee
notes: My first post, woo! Saving up that magika yo. And casting spells. Poor Inima, her magic is going to be utterly confusing for her at first. Also this post is terrible. <<

TENNESSEE

"Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play"

Along they walked in the misty tunnel, he in front and she slightly behind. Her grimy claws clicked on the ground while his four claws were slightly less noisy. His nose snuffled along the ground as he tried to track something else. Another beetle or a worm or something for his companion to eat. He didn't want her to leave. Oh no, she was his only friend at the moment. It was by sheer luck that he managed to find something hiding underneath a large stone. It was iggly and wriggly, it was a worm. He uprooted it and turned to give it to his rat-friend. She wasn't nearly as hesitant as before and quickly gobbled up the worm. Pleased, the rat pup half-closed her eyes and wagged her long tail back and forth.

Tenn didn't know how he knew but he did know that she was happy which made him happy too! He clapped his forepaws together as he smiled down at her. "That fill ya up?" The rat said nothing. It only tilted its head to the side and wrinkled its nose. "'Course it did!" As if he knew exactly what she had been thinking. He waved a paw again. "C'mon! Let's go 'splorin'!" He walked on and the rat pup, thinking she would be fed again, followed him.

It was by chance that he heard that sound of another voice. He turned his head and looked over to the sound. Why, there was a tiny dot of a creature! It looked to be the same color as himself! Judging by the hair color on his arm and the color of fur on the little thing. Where they the same sort of animal? Perhaps they were! Did that mean something? Were they related? Was he supposed to go to her? With a happy little clap he shuffled right over to the newborn and sat in front of her. "Howdy! Are ya my kinfolk?" His voice was happy, cheerful even, as he questioned her. He didn't quite know what kinfolk was but it was something that made him all giddy inside so he hoped she was.

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"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

357
@Inima
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6/10

Howdy! Are you my kinfolk?

His coloration was certainly similar to hers, and he looked a lot like her. But when she looked at her tail, it was less fluffy - smooth, short fur. She wondered what she looked like to this stranger, and tilted her head at him. They could be - kinfolk? She didn't know the word.

"I d-don't know," she said, her voice still childish and small. She pawed at her ear, trying to take care of an itch. She looked at the little rat at his feet. The word came to her, slowly. "I'm not a l-lemur," she said decisively, looking at his face. Not quite in his eyes, more around his snout and towards the bottom of that, too.

She hesitated, caution filling her. Finally, she figured her way around the words she wanted. "Um, I c-could be, though." She smiled, flicking her tail with a hesitant hope. A friend would be good. Kinfolk. Whatever that meant.

He used strange words and had a strange accent, but he was nice and he was the first person she had met here. She did feel a certain camaraderie with him. They could be best friends. Kinfolk. Siblings. All those words.

She tilted her head in a way that the rainbow moonstone caught the light, the gem that looked so fragmented shining with a bright and pure light, perhaps right in the lemur's face. Or even in the cave rat's, she was so small.

That brought a question to her mind, and she frowned with an intense focus, trying to figure out what she wanted to say. The words didn't come easily, and she spoke with uncertainty. "Why are you so..." She trailed off, trying to think of how to politely phrase it, something in her feeling like it would be rude to ask it so bluntly. "U-um, rather, I'm quite small." She looked at the lemur, her new friend, with some confusion. "I'm not sure, if I even had..." She trailed off briefly, forgetting the word, then brightened once she remembered it. "A q-question!"

The little one shook her head, then. "No, I do," she clarified, "What's your n-name?"

This is speaking.
tag: @Tennessee (the only ten I see)
notes: ah yes this post is much better. I am becoming used to my darling <3

TENNESSEE

"Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play"

Didn't know? She wasn't a lemur? What was a lemur, anyway? That was he? Quickly the little newborn to glance over his rusty-furred body taking an extra long look at his tail his feet and pawing at his muzzle. Then he looked at her own gray-ish fur with the rusty streaks, it was so like his! His muzzle was longer than hers but that was probably just because he was bigger! Her tail was quite long and though they had a few aesthetic differences it was all the same! "Aww, that don't mean nothin'! We were both hatched up here an' we both sorta look the same. I think that means we are kinfolk!" He clapped his paws and begin to sing in a voice quite deep for a child, "You're a cat an' I'm a lemur! Don't make no difference with our same demeanors!" He laughed after his little impromptu song and glanced first at the cat and then at his rat who was scratching her ear with a paw, not caring about anything that was going on.

"It's all relative, really." Or something like that? He could be big and she could be small. It didn't matter to him! "Maybe it's cause you're the lil' sister an' I'm the big brother!" Well, that seemed to make more sense. Perhaps she would always be small because she was younger than he was. Of course, at the mention of a name he took on a frown. A name? Why, he hadn't thought of that but now that she mentioned it... It all seemed to fall into place. "Hmm... I think..." He stroked his chin with one paw as he thought and slowly began to come up with a name. "Ten... I... See... Ten-I-See... Tennessee! Yahoo! Boy-howdy I think that's my name!" He rose to his paws and put one forepaw at his waist, raised his tail into the air dramatically and he bowed to the lady before him. "My name is Tennesse, ma'am." He raised his eyes to look the little cat before him, a grin on his face. "Oh!" Losing all of his gentlemanly facade he grabbed the rat sitting next to him and held her at his chest while it squirmed and hissed vehemently, protesting the touch. "An' uh... I think... Well, I dunno what to call her but ain't she a sweet?" The hissing and spitting that the rat was currently doing was quite the contrary to his words.

"What's yer name?"

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

415
@Inima
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7/10

She found herself rather delighted with his song. A song! For her! Well, kind of. But she liked it. She waved her tail, and started purring. Her purr was lyrical, a humming noise rather than than the vibrarion that typical purring was.
Don't make no difference our same demeanors.
She wanted to continue the song, but no music came to her. So she moved the tones of her humming purr, finding herself making music that way. She trailed off from excitement, her eyes wide with surprise and joy.
So what if she wasn't a singer? She was an instrument!

All relative... hm. He had quite a strange logic, but she liked his logic. He was her friend. And anyway, he was the big brother and she was the little sister! That's the way it was meant to be, she decided. She curled her tail daintily around her feet, nodding firmly in agreement.

And then he had figured out his name. Tennessee. She liked the name! It was a good name. "I like your name," she said aloud, voicing her thoughts. The words were calmer, more confident, perhaps because she was so certain of the fact that Tennessee was a good name.

And then he was holding up the rat, the rat he called sweet. Even though she was spitting and pawing and angry about being held. But she felt like... the rat could be nice. Her eyes glanced over the green sprouts, and the names of flowers flowed through her head. She looked back at the rat.
"Daisy," she said with that abnormal amount of confidence and clarity, "She seems... like a Daisy."

But then, at last, was it her turn to struggle. She made a face. Her name, her name. The word rose to her, in bits and pieces, and there was a long silence as she discovered it. But at last it was hers, and she was happy to have such a name.
"My name's Inima," she said happily, proudly. Inima the cat.

This is speaking.
tag: @Tennessee
notes: I'm bad about coloring my speech. hnnnf.

TENNESSEE

"Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play"

Ah, what a lovely sound she made! Not a singing really but a sort of humming that complimented his tenor tones nicely. Perhaps they'd have to make some songs again later. For now it was discovery time, discovery of their names and perhaps... Discovery on the way out. He didn't know how she felt but this tunnel definitely had some weird vibes going on. "Why thank-ya kindly, ma'am! I hafta say that I like it too!" It was his own special name and he loved it a lot! Would her name be like his? Or would she have a name that complimented his in its own way like her humming had?

Daisy? He held the squirming and hissing rat out in front of him where it finally fell still but its expression was hardly calming. Still, Tennessee managed to ignore the pup's glare and smiled at her. "Why, I think Daisy sounds mighty fine! An' look! She's calmed down! I think she likes it too!" The lumur put the newly-named Daisy back on the ground where she gave one final hiss and scuttled a short distance away to glare sullenly at the duo, pride injured from being held. "Aw, she jus' wants some more bugs! Then she'll be right as rain!" His attention turned back to his little sister as she tried to come up with her own name.

"Inima? Why, that's mighty pretty, lil' sister!" He nodded his head, completely sincere with his words. Just as he thought it complimented his own name quite well. Inima and Tennessee. "I think we'll be a nice lil' ole crew! You, me'n'Daisy all off an'-- Hey!" He bounced up and down on his paws, suddenly excited. "Would ya like t'go 'splorin'? Me'n'Daisy were lookin' for bugs on the way outta here! I'd love it if ya came with us, lil' sister!"

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

309
@Inima
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6/10

Inima felt a surge of pride. Tennessee really liked her names! Her name for little Daisy, and her name for herself. They were a 'nice ole crew', as he put it, indeed.

The cat stood up, nodding eagerly at the mention of exploring. Ohh, exploring! She was definitely up for that. A sudden stark urge came to her, to map out every inch of this world. For now, however, they were in a dark cave.

...A rather creepy cave. Inima finally had mind enough and time enough to note the mood. It felt uncomfortable, and she dearly wanted to leave. She moved closer to Tennessee, her fur standing on end with nervous energy. Oh no she did not like this at all.

So exploring would be good. "I w-want to l-leave this p-place," she said nervously, shifting uncomfortably. Oh, yes, it was definitely a nervous place. A nervous place indeed.

This is speaking.
tag: @Tennessee
notes: these posts are downright shameful

TENNESSEE

"Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play"

When the slightly younger newborn came closer to him Tennessee knelt next to her. One paw slid over her back to give her a reassuring pat. "Don't worry, we'll find a way out together! It's just a manner of walkin' on till we find the exit. C'mon!" He lowered onto all four feet and began to set off, expecting his sis to follow him along. Behind them both Daisy first only stared but then rose onto her paws and began to follow behind at a lagging pace, claws scuttling across the ground.

Tennessee smiled knowingly and as they went along he began to search under and behind rocks while steadily heading towards what he thought was the exit. "That's right. We'll just keep walkin' this way an' we'll be outta here in no time flat, yessiree." He just managed to nab another bug from underneath a rock and for a moment he stopped and held it out to Daisy. The rat pup, quite happy to be offered another piece of food, ran forward and took it from his paw. With a crunch it was down her throat. Her tail began to wag and instead of lagging behind when Tennessee took off again she walked right up beside him and Inima.

He made a turn to the right and continued forward, perhaps this would be the right way too?

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

228
@Inima
---
6/10

She felt reassured by her brother's overwhelming confidence. Yes, of course, they'd be out of there, no problem! Tenn knew exactly what he was doing. She followed along, checking back on Daisy to make sure the rat was still following them.

When Tennessee caught a bug, at first she was excited. But then she felt... sick. Daisy just devoured the bug, no thoughts for the life. She turned away, slightly, feeling ill from such disrespect of life.

She walked more slowly now, clearly unhappy about it. Eating another living thing was repulsive for her.

Her stomach rumbled unhappily, clearly wanting food. But she didn't want bugs. Or anything else, for that matter. She wanted to eat something... safe. Something that wouldn't be harmful. Her eyes turned to the plants, but she could tell they were alive. So what could she eat?

Faintly, Imina hoped they were going the right direction.

This is speaking.
tag: @Tennessee
word count: 151
notes: posts of doom. the lameness is palatable.