Six thousand pounds of mammal lumbered through the forest, tusks doing well to mow through the thick stuff while her trunk pulled off mauled plants from them, stuffing them into and always gorging mouth. Insects that were keen on warm, humid spaces also seemed to be the worst about being parasitic. Flies and such nibbled on her, tail swatting with ears fanning away the body heat and any unfortunate insects. In the lower frequencies, she bellowed out noises to the world. From time to time the big beast would pause, leaning forward a bit as the vibrations of her own voice returned to her. Some hours of wandering "her territory" lead her back to the den she shared with a giraffe she called "Treasure." Gadanai stood just outside of it, tossing dirt onto her back while crimson eyes observed the trees that surrounded her and her home. There was a roar of her voice, a call to anyone who could hear that she was in the area and stood as a threat. A sharp trumpet followed as her trunk was flung up, blowing dust into a billowing brown cloud. Things had been far too boring as of late, even with the recent... joining... of the Merry Men. "Speech" Thoughts OOC: ooc Tag: @Akiya

Akiya was, as always, in the treetops. This time she was nestled in a cluster of flowering vines--beautiful things with brilliant red flowers and purple and white striped tendrils. A few golden oblong fruits were beginning to form, and if she could eat plants, she had little doubt that they'd taste delicious. More to her taste was the butterfly fluttering around the flowers she was lurking among, and hopefully by remaining still enough she would be in a good position to snatch it out of the air.

Waiting for the butterfly to land, she twitched her tail. It wasn't a deliberate, conscious motion, just something she did automatically whenever she was hunting. Finally the insect landed, folding up its wings, and Akiya darted forwarded and bit down hard. Removing the wings and the gem, she chowed down on fat, juicy insect.

Meanwhile, the wings went spinning downwards to the forest floor, brilliant iridescent blue gems. They'd be sure to catch attention, and if one looked upwards, Akiya would be easily spotted.

And she'd be completely unaware of how obvious she'd made herself.



tag @Gadanai

Not terribly far off, a ruffle among the trees barely managed to capture the large mammal's attention. Just in time, unfortunately, to see the glimmer of blue in the thick of green. She squinted hard as the flash of color vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Curiosity reeled her in, legs carrying her toward the trunk of a tree she guessed was closest to the unusual sight. At first, she inspected the ground below her and the surroundings on her own level. It was disheartening to find nothing. For no clear reason, the elephant cast a gaze upward by chance, finding the feline among the branches that had made a bit of noise moments ago. "Who are you, to enter my domain so unabashedly?" she said, trunk reaching up to snag the tail of the cat. "Come here!" The grab was to no avail. It seemed to swish right out of her range of grip, but she didn't lower her trunk or release her red eyes from the sight of the creature above. Gadanai snorted loudly and leaned against the tree, contemplating simply... pushing it right on over. Tentatively, she decided to wait for a response from the intruder. "Speech" Thoughts OOC: ooc Tag: @Akiya

[Sorry for the late reply; had a giant slug of schoolwork to get through.]

Once she saw the monster coming for her, it was too late to jump. All she could do was try to avoid getting grabbed by the creature--thankfully, that seemed to work. And that gave her time.

Akiya contemplated running, but rejected that option. No, she didn't know what this monster was capable of, so how could she run from it? For all she knew it could shoot fire or freeze her solid in the blink of an eye, or animate the very tree to strike out at her. She'd have to handle this more carefully. "I'm Akiya. I'm very sorry," she said, as politely and respectfully as possible. "I didn't know this was your place. I can leave."

Despite consciously deciding not to run, she couldn't help but shy away a bit from the monster below her. She might put on a polite face, but it was clear she was scared of the monster... and the monster could probably tell that. "Was... was that your butterfly?"

tag @Gadanai

When the unwise creature didn't run, but instead spoke those chosen words, something in her mind clicked. Gears seemed to switch from kill to catch. There was a rumble, not unlike a purr, as her trunk relaxed and she pressed it against the tree, the rest of it dangling awkwardly. As a result, the tree shifted very slightly - perhaps not noticeably - from the weight of the beast. An interest peaked within the red-eyed elephant, locking them onto the target with a piercing focus.

"You may stay, Akiya... your apology is accepted," she said, voice softened. "No, but this tree is mine."

Gadanai grazed her tusks against the bark of the tree, causing some to tear off and the tree to bleed. When done marking the tree, she reached her trunk back up toward the feline and grinned. "Come, ride upon my back and let us become friends."
_____________________________________________

tagged: @Akiya
ooc:

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Akiya wasn't stupid, but she was naive. So maybe it was inevitable that she'd trust the creature before her--not complete, but enough to obey it. Also she was pretty sure that if the creature wanted it could easily kill her, so there was that. Running, if she'd thought of it, would be pointless. Why run when you've got no chance of escape?

"Thank you!" she said as she started moving down the branches, towards the elephant's back.