Jinx
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Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 4, 2022 5:12:36 GMT -6
Jinx walked up to the shore. She wished she had gotten a better look at whatever it was, so she would better know how to tempt it to come back to her. She glanced around and saw something on the ground. She knelt to investigate and found a half eaten fish! Oh no, she must have interrupted the creature's dinner. It had probably been hunting fish, not her, and had caught something - but Jinx had scared it away. She felt bad. She picked up the fish and approached the rock where the creature - she was now thinking of it as a cat, but it could even be a bear cub, who knew - had disappeared. She knelt on the ground and held out the fish. "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you off, I won't hurt you..."
Lillai stayed in the water, of course, and waited. She peeked above the water, trying to see where Jinx had gone.
[Jinx: 1 6/20
Lillai: 5 1/5
Dry Season 26
TBB 11/15]
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Jinx
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 4, 2022 5:57:49 GMT -6
It took some coaxing, and waving the smelly fish around, before she even got to see what the critter was. It peeked out, and she was surprised to see that it was in fact a cat of some sort. It was gray and streaked, with the cutest tufts of hair. "Aww, hey there, cutie! Look at you. Did you hunt this fish? I bet you did. You're a mighty hunter!" Jinx held out the fish toward it, but it was still too skittish to take it from her. It leaned forward and sniffed intently, wanting it badly, but she was still too close right now. Jinx held her position for a little bit, then leaned forward, which caused the cat to step back, and placed the fish down on the ground. Then she leaned back to give it more space.
In the water, Lillai waited impatiently, ready to demand a full story from Jinx whenever she decided to come back!
[Jinx: 1 7/20
Lillai: 5 2/5
Dry Season 27
TBB 12/15]
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Jinx
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 4, 2022 6:06:00 GMT -6
After a few moments of consideration, the lynx inched forward to grab hold of the fish and dart further back into the shadows to eat it in peace. Jinx let the cat go, all the while thinking about how she could entice it even closer, but without giving up any fish that she might want to keep herself. So she tried to win it over with her company instead. She sat down on the ground and hummed softly, then sang a song, getting the cat used to her voice. She was trying to lure it out with friendship but this wasn't working too well, since it stayed sitting in the shadows, watching her intently with wide eyes.
In the water, Lillai started to grow bored with waiting and she was able to swim around, looking for something interesting to occupy herself with. She sought out shiny things, like smooth stones or shells, something to keep her interest.
[Jinx: 1 8/20
Lillai: 5 3/5
Dry Season 28
TBB 13/15]
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Jinx
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 4, 2022 6:11:31 GMT -6
Jinx decided to give up, for now at least. She was at a loss for what else to do. While it was a cute critter, and Ashe might like it for around the barn and keeping the mice population down, she was here for fish and dragons. She was going back to her fish-dragon, and would keep looking for more fish. If the cat followed them and joined their hunt, then that would be great. If it didn't, then she would have a cute story.
She walked back into the water, splashing in the shallows. This alerted Lillai and the tat lung came swimming back to her. She had been successful in finding a shiny, a small round black thing that might be worth something but might also be food. Lillai hadn't decided yet, maybe Jinx would better be able to decide. She brought it to the human for her to look at, and Jinx stooped to pick it up.
[Jinx: 1 9/20
Lillai: 5 4/5
Dry Season 29
TBB 14/15]
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Jinx
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 4, 2022 6:20:53 GMT -6
Jinx took the tiny black thing in her hand and looked it over. She could be wrong, but this looked like a pearl! "Where'd you find this, Lillai?" She asked, amazed. How the fish was able to find something so small, but rather valuable. It was more than just a rock or a shell! "This isn't just a rock, it's a pearl! A black pearl at that. What an awesome find!"
Lillai was pleased that Jinx was happy with this. She swam in circles to show her happiness and excitement, and nearly jumped out of the water. She didn't know how she had found it, she thought it had been inside something else she was playing with but she couldn't be sure. She'd just taken a look at it and knew it would be interesting for Jinx to have, so Jinx should have it. Rather than eating it herself, though it was quite tasty looking. It was barely a bite!
[Jinx: 1 10/20
Lillai: 6 0/5
Dry Season 30
TBB 15/15]
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Jinx
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 11, 2022 4:32:17 GMT -6
Once Jinx had the precious pearl pocketed safely, she started back for the water again. She started walking through the shallows, net in hand, and she noticed the feline on the shore was following her, but at a distance. That was okay, she thought to herself. The enileaf might learn to trust her that way, the longer it spent with her, the more it might trust. Bonus points if Jinx could find something to feed the feline with as well, to entice its interest in her even further. So she tried not to look in that direction, even if the motion was distracting.
Jinx and Lillai moved on, looking around for fish or other shiny things like that pearl Lillai had found for her. "If you see any more of those..." Jinx told her, looking at the shadow of her fish under the water. The ring glowed softly, green. "Be sure to let me know! Don't swallow them, choking hazard!"
[Jinx: 1 11/20
Lillai: 6 1/5
Dry Season 31
TBB 1/15]
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Jinx
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 11, 2022 5:04:26 GMT -6
"What is choking?"[/b] came the unexpected reply. Jinx frowned to herself, second guessing her choice of words. But, no - choking was what she had met. Then she realized, though smart, this fish might not know everything there was to know yet, especially when it came to human terms.
"Choking is when you swallow something too big and too hard for your throat and it gets stuck there. It closes off your breathing, too, which is bad. So be careful of what you eat, alright?" Jinx explained, feeling like she was a lecturing parent. She didn't want to be! But class was in session, she supposed.
Lillai took this information in and decided that she did not want to do this choking thing, it sounded quite unpleasant. She didn't point out that she breathed through gills, which was different than Jinx's way of breathing. She assumed choking must affect both kinds!
Then came the next question. "What is hazard?"
[Jinx: 1 12/20
Lillai: 6 2/5
Dry Season 32
TBB 2/15]
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Jinx
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 11, 2022 6:29:15 GMT -6
"Oh. Uh, Hazard means 'danger'. If something's hazardous to your health, like choking is, then that means that it's a danger to your health. Your life, sometimes."
That made sense to Lillai, the way Jinx had used it. Just adding to the vocabulary! With no more questions to ask at the moment, she continued swimming onward, and Jinx started walking after her. The sound of the water sloshing around her boots cut through the companionable silence, but it didn't distract Jinx from her thoughts. She let her mind wander while her eyeballs were trained on the water below her. She walked on, pausing every time there was a shadow that looked like it might be a fish. It never was - at best, it was a piece of seaweed waving, but normally it was nothing. Lillai swam around, darting forward, then falling back, and exploring the deeper areas that Jinx's boots wouldn't allow for without taking in water. She was still drying off!
[Jinx: 1 13/20
Lillai: 6 3/5
Dry Season 33
TBB 3/15]
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Yang
Flea Market Artist
Posts: 1,001
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Post by Yang on Mar 12, 2022 0:40:01 GMT -6
Not far off, a large, plummage-covered, wayward bird, stepped gingerly around the ground. Head parallel to the ground in hopes of spying a treat to snack on, the birds' feathers ruffled, before its' head raised in a periscoping-fashion. Hidden, beady eyes scanned about the area and its immediate surroundings, spying not only a few scattered movements of other wild creatures within the brush, but also the two-legged and its' companions. The group and their active sounds was surely close enough, that any other animal who was right-skittish, would've fled in an instant. This one however, with a grown-and-founded confidence within its' soft-edged, shadow-blended dark plumage, found the others little more than a distraction. The chiryma carried on, head lowering from its periscoping scanning, returning instead to look closely for any easy snacks and scores that could potentially be tucked away under loose rocks, lose dirt, and stones.  |
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Jinx
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 18, 2022 0:28:12 GMT -6
Jinx was too busy scanning the water below her to notice the newcomer at first. Rocks and pebbles caused her feet to slide around and this particular area was a little slippery. She continued on, however, and kept her eyes peeled as best as she could while also paying attention to her feet. And in the back of her mind, as always, the feeling she was being watched. She'd thought it might go away once she'd connected with the feline creature that had, presumably, been watching her before.
This time, the feeling was there, but in the way of something glancing your way and following, but not outright staring. Jinx had had enough experience with both to know the difference, but both were mildly unsettling.
Lillai swam along. It was kind of lonely in these waters, which seemed mostly empty. She vaguely knew that this wasn't the right time for fish to be plentiful, but she still was surprised that she was the only one here.
[Jinx: 1 14/20
Lillai: 6 4/5
Dry Season 34
TBB 4/15]
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Jinx
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 18, 2022 0:53:42 GMT -6
Suddenly, movement. Out of the corner of her eye. It was more of a shadow falling than anything else, something dark moving after them. For a moment, she thought her own dark thoughts were manifesting in a cloud, or perhaps nature felt the same and brought some clouds. But the sun was still shining on the water around her, sparkling and giving the impression that it was a beautiful summer day. Not quite yet! But if it wasn't the sun being covered by a cloud, then it had to be something else... Jinx paused in her steps, the water stilling at her feet. Lillai sensed the difference, not hearing her splashing around anymore, and turned to go investigate her. She swam around the girl's feet to try and see what was up with her. From her position, it just looked like the human turned off, like a stone statue. She was standing so still! Did she see something?
[Jinx: 1 15/20
Lillai: 7 0/5
Dry Season 35
TBB 5/15]
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Jinx
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 18, 2022 0:59:57 GMT -6
But no, Jinx hadn't seen the thing yet. She knew something, or someone, was there. Somewhere. And it knew she was there, too. Hopefully it wasn't a monster that was after her fish... Her tat lung, more specifically! She felt like she could defend herself, and if Lillai stayed by her, she could defend her pretty well, too. But Lillai was usually the 'bigger fish' when comparing anything they'd encountered. If something was big enough to want Lillai... Jinx might not be big enough back.
Of course, if it was big enough to want Lillai, then Jinx would have noticed it before now, she reminded herself. This had to be smaller, to keep itself hidden so well. Jinx allowed her eyes to scan side to side, checking her peripherals. Out of the corner of her left eye, she saw the shadow move again. Slowly, she turned her head that way to get a better view. But slowly - so the thing wouldn't know.
[Jinx: 1 16/20
Lillai: 7 1/5
Dry Season 36
TBB 6/15]
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Jinx
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 18, 2022 1:06:08 GMT -6
She had her head fully turned and her eyes on the prize in no time. She saw, then, why it felt like she was seen without being watched. There was indeed a creature there, but the creature was preoccupied with hunting for its own food. It looked like a mass of black feathers. She figured the trunks at the bottom were legs though she couldn't be sure until she got a little bit closer. How strange. She watched it for a couple of moments, watching it peck along the ground, looking for seeds and bugs and who knew what else. Maybe it also ate fish and that was why it was by the water? Or maybe the bugs were more plentiful here? She had so many questions. Like, was it as soft as it looked?!
Lillai below her rippled a fin above the surface to try and get her attention. It worked! Jinx looked down suddenly, as if snapped out of a trance.
[Jinx: 1 17/20
Lillai: 7 2/5
Dry Season 37
TBB 7/15]
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Jinx
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 18, 2022 1:24:21 GMT -6
Jinx remembered she wasn't alone, she wasn't on the run right now, and so far no one had tracked her here. No one knew her or where she'd come from. She was with Lillai, a companion that was soon to be a trusted one at that. She sighed softly, snapping back to the present. "Sorry about that, I thought someone was following us," She admitted. The ring glowed a soft green, and she knew Lillai had understood. Understood the words, of course, if not the meaning. But it was a simple enough statement she doubted there would be issues.
"Why would someone follow us? IS someone following us?"
Jinx couldn't puzzle out how the magic worked, but the voice she heard was feminine and beautiful, even though the fish itself seemed to make no noise. And it wasn't like a ribbon that would translate thoughts that she could attribute her own mind 'hearing' whatever voice she wanted to.
[Jinx: 1 18/20
Lillai: 7 3/5
Dry Season 38
TBB 8/15]
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Jinx
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by Jinx on Mar 18, 2022 1:38:17 GMT -6
This was like an actual voice, surely passing through the air and not being translated just in her mind! So weird when there were no barks or growls to be translated.
"Someone is there. A bird. I think it might be following us, but not like a person that would follow us. I think it wants food. It looks soft... Fluffy. Hungry." Jinx dragged her gaze away from her sapphire fish and over to the dark mound of feathers. It was looking at her now, concerned because she was making noise. And as she looked, the feathers began to rise, making the bird seem even bigger and puffier than before. It must be alarmed that she made eye contact with it! Oops. She hadn't meant to startle it. She quickly looked away, feigning disinterest.
"A bird is after our fish?" Lillai asked, worried. Not that they had actually caught much to defend, but any threat to their task at hand was unwelcome!
[Jinx: 1 19/20
Lillai: 7 4/5
Dry Season 39
TBB 9/15]
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