[PRP] Heroism (Taboo and Sigmundr)

[Geyser Eelborn]

His canyon was a marvelous thing, all stripes and bright colors. Against the golds and oranges of his home, Taboo stood out quite a bit. Black as a raven, red as a pear, purple as...something...that was ridiculously, ludicrously purple. Ahem. Grey as granite, too. It made him stand out pretty much anywhere except at sunset. Camouflage was easy enough for everything else in the area--the grasses were brown (except in spring), the trees were brown, the birds were brown, the lizards were brown, the ground was brown. The water was murky; the fish were brown. Or, if Taboo were in a poetic mood, they were...a stygian brown, deep and ancient. Lizards were pebbled with the hues of a lazy sun, birds were speckled with the earth o'er which they flew. Something, something, something.

So everything was camouflaged. But, funny thing about camouflage--it only actually works if there's nothing to distinguish you from your background. Like, say, having incongruous spots. Or having a texture that isn't quite right. Or, y'know, moving. There was a moving patch of grey, brown, orange, and gold down below, that if it were not so active, might have a reasonable chance against the sandstone. The darkly-colored wind cat dove down to investigate. Too big to be a coyote, too small to be a bear. Texture was all wrong for both lizard and cat. So, what gives? "Identify yourself!" he barked from the air.

CaliWolfe

Taboo, be nice! Sorry about that. xP

 

[CaliWolfe]

Sigmundr often wished he had wings. He dreamed of flight and soaring across a sky of dreams and pleasure. Of catching an updraft of wind and tasting the clouds as he flew. Birds were what gave him the inspiration for such a dream but he had never, ever, encountered a flying cat.

He paused briefly to stare in amazement with his blackened eyes as such a beast flew overhead. Like a black raven to stand out against the canyon of browns, grey and dirt, it amused Sigmundr greatly to watch as it flew. He almost felt the need to beg and ask where he too could get such brilliant wings, but a feeling inside told him that he was crafted to not have any. He was cursed to walk and walk so he shall.

"I am Sigmundr!" He announced to the stranger. "Who are you?!" He called in an equally loud tone.

Geyser Eelborn

 

[Geyser Eelborn]

As he got closer, the strange creature's appearance grew more apparent. It appeared to be a B'alam covered in scales, with one scale grown into a gnarled, tree-like horn on its head. His head, correction--it was a tahtll, all right. He actually had a pretty interesting appearance, all told--he looked like he could've come from the desert. But it still wasn't an appearance he was particularly used to. A different tribe, probably. But what tribe could look like a lizard? Heat tribe? That would make the most sense to him. Some sort of element. But, no, wait, heat would be fire, wouldn't it? So what--

Neh. Not important. Not when he had a stranger wandering through his canyon. Funny thing, the stranger's proud announcement back to him and answering call simultaneously made his fur bristle and a grin spread across his face. True, he was a-bristling, but still, he couldn't help but sort of like Sigmundr the Scaly-Butted. He landed on the ground and folded his wings against his back. He kept his claws slid out in case Sigmundr attempted to ram him with that horn. My, but that thing was magnificent. Like one of the twisted trees on the canyon rim. He looks like he belongs here.

Taboo hid a scowl and pushed that thought from his mind, along with the smile on his face. No. Taboo had awoken here, and this was Taboo's place. He belonged here. "I am Taboo," he said. "I can't say I've seen you here before, Sigmundr. New to this world, are you?"

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

Geyser Eelborn

I'msosorry! I thought I had replied to this months ago!

Sigmundr held a silly grin of glee on his face, even when Taboo seemed hostile against him. "New enough." He told the winged male. "I haven't traveled this far out before! Ha, ha! I wasn't expecting to see a flying creature such as yourself!"

Just as Taboo was impressed by Sigmundr's horn, Sig was impressed by Taboo's wings. He looked like a bird, all colored so proper, maintaining whiskers on his face. The ground and gold light triber had the envisioned idea that the other, darker colored male, belonged to a flock of birds and was their leader perhaps. Or was there entire colonies of bird-like cats? As they were an entire colony of his unicorn-horned cats. He seemed jolly at these thoughts and did not hide his glee.

"Is this place your home? I did not mean to intrude or anything."  

[Geyser Eelborn]

Taboo had to hide a snort. He had rather hoped that this newcomer would turn out to be a little hostile--it fit in, somehow, with his perception of the stranger. Sharp horn, looking like this land, he had to an interloper trying to intrude or take over, right? But to his disappointment, it just turned out that Sigmundr was...eh, friendly. Naive, even! He had no idea what was going on, and he seemed just as curious about Taboo as Taboo was of him. He could not help but notice, for example, that Sigmundr kept staring at his wings. Feeling self-conscious, Taboo flickered them, shifting his wings and letting his feathers perk up and then back down again.

He had just...woken up with them. Nothing special, nothing fancy. Hey, the stranger probably knew how that felt--all those scales, he must've woken up with them. "Yeah, this canyon's my home," he replied. "Been here since I woke up for the first time. No one else here, but I actually like it that way."

Sigmundr's attitude was...ugh...infectious. His ears told him that his own tone of voice had been, while dismissive, not actually harsh or rude, just a casual statement of fact. He decided to change the subject. "Never seen Wind Tribe before, Sigmundr? I haven't met many of my kind. Not a lot of them down here on the ground." They preferred to stay up in the sky. Hnh. Good riddance to the lot of them. Cowards.

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

"Oh!" He exclaimed with a hint of cheer in his voice. "Well, I suppose so long as you like being alone then I suppose you don't really have a need to leave this place." He muttered to himself.

Sigmundr liked traveling. He liked talking to new people. Granted, he had only awoken recently and met a mere handful of strangers but he did indeed enjoy encountering each and every one of them.

"Can't say I have!" He sat down, tired with standing. If there wasn't that many of them on the ground then it was something of a wonder that the light B'alam had managed to run into Taboo at all. With a tilt of his head he decided to ask another question, "So you're not interesting in meeting other's like you? Why's that?"

Geyser Eelborn