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Post by Epesi on Jun 9, 2008 16:40:32 GMT -5
Her attempt to cheer everyone up doesn't seem to have worked as Nita hoped; now that the moment of inspiration has passed, she's starting to think it was a bad idea. She looks over her shoulder to see if they're even following her, and sees Kenai catching up with Koda on his back, looking a little confused. Denaik doesn't seem to be with them.
Nice going, Nita. She slows to a stop and turns to face Kenai, disappointed. "That...didn't go as I imagined it." Her face burns with embarrassment -- or maybe that's just from running. "Um, we lost Denaik..."
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Post by Kirchy on Jun 9, 2008 16:54:05 GMT -5
Kirchy hesitated before nodding. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew she would never make it to the salmon run on her own. "Sure, that'd be great," she said, giving Denaik a small smile. "My name's Kirchy, by the way."
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Post by Koedi on Jun 9, 2008 17:04:40 GMT -5
"Yep. Lost Denaik and the raccoon." I said to Nita. I let Koda slide off my back and I continued. "We should probably go back for them. So what was that about?" I inquired.
_____
"Nice to meet you, Kirchy. So they went this way then?" I started walking to the right where Kirchy had pointed.
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Post by Kirchy on Jun 9, 2008 17:21:43 GMT -5
Kirchy nodded. "Yep," she said. "I'm guessing you were playing tag." She smirked slightly.
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Post by Koedi on Jun 9, 2008 17:23:40 GMT -5
"Well, it wasn't tag as much as it was "Catch me if you can!"" Noting the smirk, I added," Hey, I wasn't involved in the game. I was just a spectator who got caught up it in. And I happened to lose them."
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Post by Epesi on Jun 9, 2008 17:32:43 GMT -5
Nita winces. "I don't know...I just thought everyone would feel better if we had a little fun." She starts to walk back toward the place they left Denaik. "I guess it was a little too spontaneous, though."
Remembering something, she looks at Kenai seriously. "Kenai, we need to talk about what happened back there." She looks up ahead for any sign of Denaik, wondering if there will be time to talk before they find him. He can't be too far away.
---
Groggily, Footpad sits up and looks around. What's he doing on the ground? He looks up at the branches above. Did he fall out of a tree?
As his head clears, it comes back to him -- he fell asleep on that one bear's back. So how did he end up here? He looks around in disbelief, then panic, then annoyance. He's been ditched!
"Why that...of all the..." Muttering to himself, he climbs a tree for a better look. No sign of them, but from up here he can see disturbed foliage. Climbing along branches, he follows the trail until he hears voices -- one he doesn't know, but the other he recognizes as that edgy stranger. He follows the sound.
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Post by Kirchy on Jun 9, 2008 17:56:08 GMT -5
"Ah," Kirchy said slowly. "Maybe you should run faster next time."
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Post by Koedi on Jun 9, 2008 18:02:00 GMT -5
Denaik rolls his eyes at the new cub. "Let's just get back to them..."
____
Koda and I followed Nita through the trees. "What do you mean, "what happened back there?"" I wasn't too sure what she was getting on about, and I hoped it wasn't serious.
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Post by Kirchy on Jun 9, 2008 18:12:17 GMT -5
Kirchy smirked and walked with Denaik. "Whatever you say."
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Post by Epesi on Jun 9, 2008 18:28:39 GMT -5
"I mean when Denaik asked how you and Koda met. Why didn't you just tell him something? I don't know what he must think..." She's a little frustrated, but more concerned than angry. "Do the other bears...do they know? I need to know what's safe to talk about at the salmon run."
---
Footpad catches sight of Denaik and Kirchy just as they're leaving. He follows them through the branches, but doesn't announce himself -- he wants to listen to whatever they might say in case it helps him figure out why he was dumped back there. And what happened to the other three? He tries not to shake the branch too much to keep the rustling down.
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Post by Koedi on Jun 10, 2008 6:18:29 GMT -5
"I don't know know if they know." I snapped back. "And it was Koda speaking about how we met, not me. I didn't want him to give anything away."
Koda kept silent, knowing that he had almost said something and he hoped that they would stop fighting...
___
"Are you sure they went this way? I mean, I don't see or hear them..." Denaik was definitely starting to think that this was a bad idea after all. He should have just stayed with the raccoon.
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Post by Epesi on Jun 10, 2008 7:13:21 GMT -5
Nita looks at him incredulously. "You don't know if they do?" She has more to say about that, but she puts it aside for the moment as the next part is about Koda. Her anger rises as Kenai seems to be passing the blame. "But he didn't. You stopped him. All you had to do then was tell Denaik your version, but instead you had your little whispering fit. Great job, Kenai, now he'll definitely think you have something to hide. And you left me to clean up your mess...as usual."
---
Listening in, Footpad guesses that Denaik got left behind, too. The raccoon wonders how they gave him the slip. He was awake -- but then, he was straggling at the back of the group last time Footpad saw him. Maybe he was so busy moping he didn't notice.
The raccoon can't see the others from his perspective, either -- the trees are too dense. He'll have to trust this new cub's word, like Denaik.
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Post by Koedi on Jun 10, 2008 12:04:24 GMT -5
I was speechless at the remarks that Nita had just made. It was true that I could have just told Denaik my story, but I wasn't sure at that time what to tell him. I didn't know if I could trust him with the truth, as I hadn't known him for more than a few hours.
"Well, I do have something to hide. I don't want all the bears to know that I used to be a hunter. Do you know how dangerous that could be?"
___
Still not seeing the other bears, I was unsure that the cub had pointed us in the right way. "KENAI?...NITA?....KODA? You there?!" I yelled, hoping they could hear me.
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Post by Kirchy on Jun 10, 2008 12:26:30 GMT -5
Kirchy flattened her ears and looked around worriedly. "I-I'm sure they went this way," she said. "They must have turned off and went in another direction." She kept looking around, trying to see if she could spot any other bears.
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Post by Epesi on Jun 10, 2008 13:34:04 GMT -5
Nita is exasperated that Kenai seems to have missed her point -- she never said to tell Denaik about being human, just how he met Koda -- but moreover, she's taken aback by his paranoia. "Dangerous? And what about me? They came to the wedding, they met my father, my whole village. You trust them with my life, but not yours?"
At that moment she hears Denaik calling for them. She's reluctant to answer -- she's not finished yet. It looks like this conversation will have to be put on hold, but she waits to see if Kenai has anything to say first.
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