[ORP] Teetering on the Edge of META

[2un3ear]

((Have a new B'alam? Have a B'alam interested in meeting new-to-the-world B'alam? Join us!))

((Ipsen is currently exploring the rocks cliffs above the Ring of Fire/ Fire Tribe Capital. He just woke up, so he know nothing of the world's current events.))

Beams of orange light bounce of the jagged rocks. An early morning steam glows in the sun and rolls down the side of the mountain. The sky for a second appears green, then the grey of night is lifted away from the orange warmth of the sun and a brilliant blue stretches awake across the open sky. There are no clouds. The wind is slow and smooth.

Groups of song birds stir one another awake with their alerts of finding delicious food. Chirping back and forth, they give life to the entire mountain side.

A perfectly still, wet, green nose twitches to life. The movement is subtle. It takes a slow calm inhale.

There is a lot of moisture in the air. There is the smell of fresh green leaves, globes of pink sweet flowers, grubs, food for birds, dry red dirt, clay, sulfur, fish, sweet, salty, savory smells. The wet green nose exhales, and inhales again. The same smells again, settle in the thoughts of a blue and orange B'alam. Some smells are close, some are far. The B'alam exhales, and inhales again. Exhale. Inhale. The first smells of his life are now secondary. He focuses on his breath. It fills his muzzle, moves down his forward and flicks into his ears.

He listens. The first sound he hears is of distant water. Slowly, the sounds he hears move close and closer to his own body. The pulse of the nature sounds like running water, ocean waves lap in the distance, the pull of salty, fishy wind moves from the coast and towards him. Birds chirping, dirt and sand being moved by the wind. The inhale and exhale of the mountainside mirrors his own breath.

Before giving into the temptation of opening his eyes, the B'alam focus again on his breath. Inhale. Exhale. It moves down his neck, runs through his shoulders and down his spine. Slowly, every muscle in his body begins to awaken. His hips, arms and legs, his ankles and toes spring to life. Aware of his body, he notices the subtle difference in feeling between tense muscles, and relaxed muscle. Tense. Relax. Tense. Relax. On his last exhale as an inanimate pile of muscle and fur, Ipsen Sudorpaw gently opens his eyes. He is awake. He is here, and he is very much alive.

He takes his first breath as Ipsen Sudorpaw. Inhale. Exhale. His eyes flutter, adjusting from the darkness of nothing to the colorful light of existence. He sees the blue sky, the grey rocks. He sees more and more colors than he's ever had time to imagine.

Time. Imagine. The calm confident first moments of life are brought to an abrupt end with these two words. Time. Imagine. The B'alam is aware of these words and of their meaning. While just becoming aware, he has a full understanding of language, and is thus immediatly catapulted into the complex questions that language was created to answer.

Why am I here?

The green nosed, blue and orange B'alam begins to raise his head. It feels heavier than he expected. Expected... another thought provoking word, he thinks. Tempted to give into the feeling of exhaustion, the B'alam beings to lower his head back down.

Time... Imagine... there is no time to be tired. There are answers that need questions. Questions that need answers...

I feel I have horns and I have been woven into the Fire Tribe, why? I see fur decorated with color of wind and water on my limbs, why? I seek the feminine spirit of Nantlil, where is she?

The presence of energy shoots through his laying down body. His paws feel ready for pressure, his toes and tail feel ready to balance him. He pushes down, puts his focus on his spread toes and heavy paws. His elbows and knees bend, and he lifts off the ground, slowly raising his head last. First looking at his feet, amazed at how hard working they have already proven to be, Ipsen then looks out ahead of him. Where has the Grand Weaver woven him?

Standing for the first time in his life, Ipsen savors the moment. He pauses, and looks straight ahead of him for what feels like hours. The wind gently kisses his check, twirling the fur on his checks in small circles. The humidity encourages him to move slow, seeping through his fur and making his hot skin feel cool. He looks straight forward. He savors the quenching feeling of blinking. A smile, his first smile, appears. It is gentle, it is patient and kind, like a treat for letting go of the anxious feelings he felt before. There will be time to answer those questions. All we have is time.

Brining his focus back to his breath. Ipsen takes a deep inhale, and a purposeful exhale. He relaxes his neck and lowers his head. A satisfying dog-like-shake starts from his shoulder and moves down his spine. His tail flicks the nervous energy out and away from his body and mind. The roar of a strong lion-like yawn fills the corner of the mountainside where Ipsen was woven. "HERYOAAWN." A sky blue tongue flops out over his pearly white fangs in the midst of this satisfying yawn. He smiles again. He can open his mouth wide, very wide. He must be a good hunter. Filled with guilt from his first feeling of vanity and ego, Ipsen bows and stretches his legs forward, giving thanks for what he has in the moment. His bright yellow-orange horns tilt towards the ground in the midst of his stretch. His blue tail, flecked with orange ribbons that remind one of flames, curves over his back.

Ipsen licks his lips and begins to take a wider survey of the area where he was woven. He feels ready to explore.

((976 words))  

[2un3ear]

Before Ipsen is a clear blue sky, dotted with moving specks, flying creatures far in the distance. He is on the edge of a step drop off. The mountainside is made from hard, warm, red grey rock. It smells humid. He takes a step forward and looks down and over the edge of the drop off. At the bottom of the cliff off is lush vegetation, the beginning of a tropical forest. The rock down there looks much softer.

On the fringes of this tropical environment, the ledge where Ipsen stands is much dryer, and hot than what the land below looks like. He turns around. The mountain appears to be quiet narrow, though very tall. He can not see the top. The rocks and ledges are large and have a lot of spaces between them. There could be any number of caves on this mountain. Ipsen takes a step up hill. Perhaps he can find a cave system to travel through, rather than testing the boundaries of his physical abilities by scaling the mountain up or down.

Moving uphill, he pokes his head in between the near by boulders, checking the dark crevices for an entrance to the caves.

((198 words))  

[2un3ear]

Ipsen doesn't find anything in the rocks. He leaps to a new rock and looks around it, again there is nothing. He jumps to a third walk, searches, and again finds nothing underneath the rock. He looks up uphill, ahead of the rocks, and starts to see a thin, lightly used path appearing out of the dust. Faint paw prints dot the sand and dirt on the rocks in front of him, leaving a bread crumb around the mountainside.

He very briefly hesitates, and then starts to careful bound forward. He feels stronger and more awake the further he runs, and the faster her runs. He breaks through the wind, moving faster and faster. His movements are smooth, his whiskers are pushed back by the wind. He feels like he is running towards someone. The path abruptly ends at a steep drop off. Ip slides to a quick stop. This cliff is steeper than the last. He thinks, maybe I went the wrong way.

((165 words))  

[Stormie Koi]

" The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire. "
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Life. Existing. It was something not many got to experience but
she- she had been chosen to be brought into a world to explore. The form of
the small female was placed hidden in one of the small caverns off the far
side of the warm land. The smell of salt filled the cavern from the near sea,
her limbs curled together in a small circular shape- almost perfectly place.
The lioness almost seemed place there by nature, her form gently sleeping
as the small of her stomach rose and fell with each of her beginning breaths.
It was soft- her sounds silent. You wouldn't know she was alive and not a
painting if her body didn't rise and fall with each breath. Delicate red markings
painted her face with an ornate curve as it reaches the soft dove grey ears
that sat still as death. Her fur was sun kissed- the color a peach that only
seemed to be in the sky during sunset when pinks danced along with soft
pastels. It was a contrast to the grey and red tones that danced over her
form. It reflected the inner soul that the woman held. Soft... strong... beating.

Eyes shifted open, slits at most as for a moment she observed her blurry
surroundings. Dark, grey stones covered most of her vision. Warmth danced
over her form- a natural occurrence due to her being of the fire tribe. This was
unknown until she moved her head some, the slight movement poking one
of the delicate horns into her shoulders. Tired, her muscles mumbled in
protest, wishing to sleep more and for a moment she considered to do so.
How much she wanted to rest more on the warm stone, inhaling the smell of
the sea. The thought alone made her curl up some more, her tail swishing
forward to rest against her face. The red danced for a moment, almost a
distraction. It was almost like the small tassels placed on the end of chinese
swords- used as a distraction. It shifted some more but as she laid, trying to
sleep once more, her mind denied her such rest. It caused a loud audible
sigh to escape her maw. Alright, alright.... A small
thought of defeat in her need to be lazy. It was just so cozy in the cavern,
she didn't want to leave.

Once more the ruby eyes peered open and her head rose from hiding behind
the fan of fur. The soft pink nose twitched some,taking in the smells. It was
earthy yet clean smelling. It seemed the cavern connected to a place near
the sea, for a breeze pulled through cooling the area- much to her
displeasure. The warmth... Huoyan craved it. Wanted it inside of her body for
so long but, in that moment, she knew she couldn't rest anymore. It was
time to get up and see what this was. What she was, where she was. There
was a slight confusion- like when you nap really hard and your mind is
somewhat confused. But there was no recognizing where she was- but she
wasn't much to be intimidated. Well, at least in the moment.

Muscles bended and moved, creating her slinky form to get up from the
caverns floor as soft pink pads brushed the ground. Tired, her muscles felt
exhausted but slowly, she was realizing she was going to have to move more
to stretch them out. Slowly, the small paws of the female stretched out in
front of her and her tail moved up into the air, muscles flexing as once more
her eyes closed. A yawn escaped the females maw, a soft sound escaping
as the lioness soon rose back up. Stretching out her back legs, she slowly
begun to move forward. Each step was small, measured but a small prance
was in it as well. A light almost danced in the air, her eyes fluttering quiet. It
was a silent magic that filled her being and she couldn't her lips that pulled
back into a smile that exposed some of the white fangs. It was so new, so
amazing . . .

Finally, light broke through and she was from the hidden cave with a female
wiggles through the close rocks. Orbs focused on everything quickly- hyper
focusing on each and everything. Birds danced around the sky but there were
sounds from bugs and water- it was almost overwhelming as for a moment,
she forgot to breath. For a moment she was stuck in awe before finally,
curiosity got the best of her and she allowed her eyes to glanced around
some. Before long, Huoyan allowed her feet to pull her up a path of soft
sand. They were quick trots, something to warm her blood and get her heart
pumping. It was amazing, the power she felt rolling through the muscles of
her shoulders and legs. How strong was she ? How fast was she ? What
could she do ? It was all an amazing thought.

Reaching the top, she slowed and soon came to an edge. Looking down,
ruby orbs shifted over the scenery below before a sound caught her attention.
Movement, feet that were heading towards her ? Shifting her eyes quickly to
the source, she looked towards the path she had came from and soon
towards an option to hide and observe from. This was new- a slight panic
rising in her chest as she shuffled forward. Pouncing on a rock, she soon
ducked behind it and lowered her form to the ground as she listens. Soft grey
ears flicker some before finally, she caught the smell of the other creature
but not only that- it was like sensing him. It was an interesting feeling.
Nothing romantic or anything such as that but more that he was similar to
her. The question was, if he truly was similar or if he was a danger. Ears
flared back on her head, ruby hues fluttering some as she thought. What
action to do ? Be defensive seemed the best route but she also wasn't sure if
she would survive anything if she was being defensive.



[ 1,021 words ]
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