Dreaming With Your Eyes Open

Viva's legs grew tight in anticipation.

Her steel blue eyes cut across the snow and landed on the stranger's own hungry expression. It would be easy for her to stomp him into the mountain on his side. She was quick for her size; however this Shinlai was acting very strange. She had no way of knowing how he would react, and besides this, he was much smaller then her. With his slim figure and lanky limbs, he was probably far quicker on his feet then she.

Viva glanced towards Zeke, remembering his prescense suddenly. He appeared to be watching tensely, not having uttered a word nor moved an inch since this new Lai appeared. She wasn't sure if the purple male would help if Pip or the human got attacked; and she couldn't rely on him to do so. Viva's back fur bristled as she let loose a low growl. Her barrel chest and deep throat made it sound much louder and dangerous then she meant it. This pleased her.

She wanted to attack now, get this over with and finally take a nice nap, although as the human scrambled a top Pip's back, Viva could tell the fellow Light Shinlai was planning something. To any Light user, her stance, eye contact and concentration proved the fact obvious. However this new threat didn't appear to be a Light Lai, nor did he seem to notice what she was planning.

Viva felt her tracing orb reach the top of the mountain. It created a small hallow of light, easy enough to see in the dark.

“No.” She heard Pip growl. She chuckled in her head at the little Lai's brave words. She had certainly grown up since they had last met.

"No?" Viva witnessed his jowls tighten just beneath his mask, "Fools!" He roared, rising onto his back feet. Viva's legs tightened and she leaned forward in that second. "You would shame yourself by bowing to their metal? We should die only by the teeth of our fellows."

He launched himself forward, claws extended. Viva roared and pounded her heavy antlers into the dangerous lai's side, knocking him down. She threw a knowing look towards Pip. If the young lai was going to try anything, now was the perfect time; while the male was down and confused.

There was only seconds to react.

((I should have waited for Bunny, but I wanted to get this out there quickly))

“I die by no one!” She snarled back at him as he was struck by Viva, the energy buzzing through her fur was released with a loud ‘wompf’, an explosion of pure white light lit the clearing and surrounding forest, shards of knife like ‘hard light’ branched out from her, shredding leaves and anything too close to her and her charge. Birds that had been blinded by the flash of light took off, but many fell screeching, back down to earth unable to see where they were going. In the midst of all this, Pip had turned and fled, following the orb trail Viva had conjured.

She had essentially released chaos into the forest. Sparks of light still lingered in the air, singing anything they came into contact. The light shards had done more damage than she had intended, many small birds and animals killed by it. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She whispered as her long legs propelled her across the uneven ground and up the mountain. “I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have done that. I can’t control it. Shouldn’t do it if I can’t control it.” She berated herself, over and over again, briefly hoping that her parents had seen the flash. She was tiered and felt exceptionally weak, carrying a human and loosing most of her energy in the blast had took its toll quickly.

But she still didn’t slow down, eyes fixed on the hollow of light Viva had left her. She wasn’t going to stop until she reached it, hoping that the big female would slow the blue male down even more. “Are you...okay?” She asked the human girl, her throat felt ragged and dry and her head was fuzzy and lightheaded, her feet began to drag, scuffing her feet and cutting them on small rocks as she reached the hollow, almost collapsing from the exertion.



((I am terrible at describing what just happened. Have a lame animation explaining https://i.imgur.com/u20LE.gif 8D ))

(( Sokay, Ms. Bunzy Bun hasn't replied in a while... I'll message her on tumblr; and get her butt over here.))

Hallow heard growling snarling commotion coming from not far off where he had decided to lazily watch the world pass by. As usual his curiosity got the best of him even though he mumbled to himself to stay out of it he got to his feet heavily. With a large shake, he dislodged the leaves from his thick white fur and padded as quietly as he could in the direction of what sounded like the beginings of a fight. He stayed in the shadows as best he could considering his size and caught the glimpse of a familar blue lai (Rayner) the others he didn't recognize so much.

“Are you...okay?” Laila could hear the exhaustion as it slowed Pipistella's voice. She could feel he Lai beneath her as the exertion took its told, slowing down her limbs. "Y-yeah," she stammered.

As soon as they made their way to the cave. Once Pip collapsed, she slid off her back, taking the opportunity to soothingly stroke Pip's head. After some of her mask studies, she'd picked up a few things like where Lai liked to be scratched, petted, and rubbed. Sometimes the mask edge irritated the skin beneath the fur, particularly where the antlers came out, and Laila knew a gentle circle motion with her fingers as well as some ointment made out of moisturizing plant leaves helped the most.

She smiled softly at the Shinlai. "Thanks. You saved me. Umm...my name's Laila, by the way."

Zeke stood in silent watching the events unfold before him he knew Rayner didn't like humans much, and Zeke himself was not always in the mood to be around them, but he would never hurt one unless it first bothered him.. And the young like shinlai felt familer to him.. "Crap" he said softly. Rayner knew zeke was a fellow darkblood and probably would expect him to side with him, but he found this situation differant for some reason.

He also knew rayner had gotten into the game he had caught so maybe he was overwhelmed by hunger. Then the big flash of light hit Zeke's eye and he let out a small growl cause it had hurt, but once it was over he was dazed slightly looking around to see the other light shinlai had now rammed into Rayner knocking him down. This bothered him because Rayner was his friend, and he didn't even really know these other shinlai around him.


He looked and saw the orb that was in the woods the smaller shinlai and human decided to follow, and he decided then he would follow too, but stealthly leaving rayner alone, and he knew he may have regreted that. Then he took off bringing shadows around him hoping that the light shards would not touch him with the darkness shrouded over. 15 feet behind the shinlai and human he could she her slowing down so he guessed that big blast of light energy had worn her out. This was his chance to catch up, and even though he knew his hunger was catching up with him, he decided to run faster to do this he had to release the darkness around him. Giving away his element of surprise, but for that he did not care he just wanted to know why this shinlai being so small would wanna protect a human when it seemed she could not protect herself.

(oh gosh I was a little lost... with all the posts, but I hope i didn't do anything too confusing I was just trying to get back in! I got your message frap, but I didn't have enough time to respond but i wish I had made the time!!! :p sorrry :( )

((that's right! You should be sorry! I shall shake my tiny fists at you rah rah rah rah ))

Pip's blast of light hit Viva directly in the side, sending the big lai thudding to the cold ground. The raw skin on her left paws bled now, having already been cut open from her travels. Her chin and jaw were also slashed open, however her thick fur managed to shield her from any other serious damage. The blast left the area darker, and Viva stunned. Her wide eyes stared in the direction she knew her house was.

She had never seen light used with such force, aside from lightening. However, THIS... this had not been lightening. Pip had released sheer energy from her body as a weapon. The maroon shinlai huffed in awe; for such power to come from such a young shinlai... Viva was glad she has chosen to stay on her side.

Standing slowly, blood trickled from Viva's left side of her jaw and paws. She shook slightly, in an attempt to rid her self of the ringing in her head. That blast certainly did a number.

Suddenly, Viva realized why the clearing had gotten darker. Pip's blast had wiped out her fireflies... Viva lowered her head to view their tiny bodies when her line of site came across the male lai... the one she had slammed into the ground. She eyed him, waiting for him to stand.

She wouldn't let him find Pip and the girl.

Rayner could almost feel himself taking down the small light shinlai, his claws raking her flesh before he got to the human girl. But his expectations were dashed when he felt something hard hit him in the side. It was the other light shinlai, the larger one. He hadn't been expecting that. He fell to the side hard, landing with a grunt on the ground.

The blow had winded him, but before he had a chance to retaliate they were both hit by a brilliant flash of light. Something he would never have expected from such a small female. And certainly not a light shinlai. Light was supposed to be one of the weakest elements, in terms of physical damage. Lucky for him, Viva seemed to have accidentally shielded Rayner from the worst of it, but he felt the stinging rays of light prick at his skin, and the brightness was so extreme that he was temporarily blinded by it.

Letting out another roar of fury, he scrambled to his paws, shaking his fur and snapping his head left and right. The prickling light shards and Viva's blow had slowed him down, but they had also served to further aggravate him. He aimed his head in the direction Viva's scent was coming from, and opened his mouth, panting as he tried to decide what to do next. She could still be a threat. But then, he smelled the blood coming from her, and knew that she was injured.

This fight was still fair, after all. He turned slowly, pinpointing the direction in which Pipistella must have run with Laila, and another shinlai too. Zeke. "The game is on." He laughed, shaking the spots out of his eyes. He would have to get around Viva, but now he had the advantage of speed. This wasn't over yet.

"Thanks. You saved me. Umm...my name's Laila, by the way." The girl said, rubbing just behind her mask, at the base of her horns.

Pip snorted slightly. “What else could I do? There was no reason for him to hurt you.” She said, lifting her head a little and rolling onto her stomach. She wasn’t quite ready to get up and move around just yet, but now she had stopped running, she’d have more chance to recover her energy. But it would be a good half hour until she had enough energy to run.

“I hope my parents saw the flash. I’m not a fighter but mum and dad would be able to handle him easily.” She muttered, lifting her head a little higher and staring out towards the cave entrance. She snorted as she picked up on something else, running footsteps, much too light to be either of her parents or the light female. The blue one? Or was it the other male that had been in the clearing? With a grunt she pushed herself to her feet, twisting about so she could face the newcomer head on.

“Who goes there? What do you want?” She snarled out, not moving away from Laila and wondering why they didn’t just leave them alone.

The blue male lashed out enraged. Luckily, he seemed to have been blinded by the flash and just missed the raw area of her jaw. In a second, Viva debated on using her healing skill, to heal her paw pads. She needed to be able to run she realized, as the blue lai looked in the direction of the mountain.

However, this skill took time to take effect... She knew wouldn't be able to heal her jaw, nor her ankles as she would have to concentrate strictly on her paws. With a huff, Viva rolled onto her back. White light seemed to glow from her left feet. Satisfied with her work she rolled back onto her feet. Now all she had to do was wait.

With a deep growl, Viva addressed the dangerous lai," What the hell is wrong with you?!" She roared, clearly bewildered. " I don't trust humans as much as the next lai, but that girl was doing nothing!"

Viva's eyes glowered in his direction. She was glad her element wasn't an emotional one, otherwise her new found anger would surely be getting the best of her during the healing process. Suddenly, Viva's eyes grew wide. Of course! Between the lack of game in the area, and this lai's element; this was probably aiding to his irrationality! *Some Shinlai are just bad, Viv* Taggerung's voice rang in her head, rational as always,*You can't help them.*

Viva's eyes lowered; maybe this was true... but she couldn't help but try. She knew this mountain better then anyone, and she prided herself on being crafty. Viva made her tracing orb disappear and hoped that Pip had enough energy to create her own light source now. Without the moon, they all might as well be blind. Now, without this tracking orb, the hasty blue lai would have nothing to track... except her.

"Forget it! I have more important things to attend to!" She lied through her teeth," You'll never be able to find Pip and the girl in your state, I know this mountain better then Lai or human, and you're too slow to follow me!"

Viva ran towards the base of the mountain, climbed up, and headed east, rather then west, where her hovel sat; with her little friend in it. She rubbed her jaw raw onto nearby rocks and trees.

*Follow me!* She screamed in her head. *Come on!!*

Seeing the young shinlai could barely stand to even face him, it made him feel sorry for her. Noticing she really cared for the small human. So Zeke looked around the entrance of the cave, but did not enter as to not startle them he stood at the entrance as he acknowlegded them.

“Who goes there? What do you want?”

'My name is Zeke, and don't worry I haven't come to hurt you. Do you care if i enter?" he said as gentle as he could.

(short post pfft)

"Girl is a threat." Rayner replied, the fur on his neck fluffing up defensively at her roar. His vision was returning now, and with it he could see the white points of her sharp teeth in the glow of distant light. His confused mind took this to be reinforcement that Viva was an enemy. Against his rational, she had sided with the girl. Had she been brainwashed? Maybe, it was too hard to tell. His chest felt like the air was being constantly sucked out of it, a growling tornado in his belly filling him with panic and anger.

If the girl had somehow taken over Viva's mind, she might do the same to Zeke. He had to find her, and eat her quickly! Turning towards the mountain again, he tried to figure out how to get to the place where the light was... When it went out. No! His vision was gone again, he had no idea where they were now.

Turning back to where Viva had been, he let out a yell, "Stop!" She couldn't leave now, he would never get there in time to help Zeke if he couldn't see.

He stood up and stumbled after her. Normally, he would have been fast enough to catch up with her fairly quickly, but now, without his eyes, he had to use his element to keep from running into things left and right. The concentration that required slowed him down significantly, and he had to work hard to keep up the pace. "You can't... Run." He rammed his shoulder into a tree, and let out a yip of pain. Now his words came in pants, as he scrambled and tore at the earth to catch up. "I will... I will catch you." Rayner could only assume that Viva was going where she had claimed. He just hoped they would get there soon, before exhaustion made him too weak to fight.

Viva looked back, surprised at how far back the male was trailing. She had been more then certain his lean frame could push him forwards faster... Yelps and growls pounded behind her, followed by the sound of cracking branches and tumbling rocks.

She was taking him up a winding path directly at the edge of the mountain side. The glow beneath her right feet illuminated the path beneath her just enough for her to make out the old tracks she knew she would find. Her jowls stretched across her face, her teeth gleaming in the darkness.

"You're falling behind, boy!" she roared over her shoulder. She had to make sure he kept pushing... they were so close!

Finally, the trees began to thin just ahead, sending a relieved feeling down into Viva's stomach. She crouched and pounced over the ledge before her, leaping into the round valley below. A perfect haven filled with young buck caribou and tons of small game. With a deafening thud, the animals raised their antlered heads in surprise. Their tall ears pricked forward and many of them bolted.

One brave buck stood his ground and lowered his antlered head; a challenge to the threat hiding in the shadow of the cliff. Viva's lips lifted above her teeth as she smiled widely. Her massive form slunk into the dim light of the stars. The buck did not have enough time to turn tail and run before Viva had her strong jaws wrapped around his soft neck. She shook her game, cracking its neck.

A rustling just above the cliff edge and she knew it was time.

She didn't often share this secret hunting ground with other lai... it would have been hunted out long ago. However, she knew this was the best way to get sense into the hungry male following her.

She waited for him.

(I was wondering if I could join I followed this thread from the beginning it sounds very exciting)

(( Go right ahead ! ♥ ))

Jagter was hunting caribou when the bright flash startled all the game away. "Curious what was that flash?" Jagter was certain that it couldn't have been lightning he dicided to take a look at where the bright flash had happen. When he happen upon the area he could see small dead fowl laid strewn in a small area. "My Gosh what caused all this?" he thought. He looked around and found the tell tale tracks of shinlai and it had looked like a scuffle had broken out. "Must have been a hell of a fight." Jagter had found two large tracks and a smaller set of tracks as well as human tracks. "Hmmm this person could be in trouble." he mummbled. Jagter had followed the tracks until he happen upon a small shinlai and young woman as he made his way closer to see clearly he had stepped on a twig making an loud snap.

Laila carefully stood, ceasing her rubbing of Pip's head to stand protectively in front of the little Lai who just saved her life. Zeke's voice seemed calm enough. He wasn't insane like that other blue Shinlai who'd tried to eat her. She hoped. Cautiously, Laila crept forward a bit and called to him. "Yes, you can come in... but if you prove to be a threat, I'll have no choice but to fight you. I'm not letting you hurt my new friend, here."

She stopped talking when she heard the snap, a hissing breath releasing from between her teeth. "Get in here, now. Before some one sees you." She prayed it wasn't the big Lai.

“My name is Zeke, and don't worry I haven't come to hurt you. Do you care if i enter?" The male asked, his voice gentle and unthreatening. Laila moved in front of her. "Yes, you can come in... but if you prove to be a threat, I'll have no choice but to fight you. I'm not letting you hurt my new friend, here." She said, Pip held back a snort, the male was bigger than the both of them, but she was impressed at the human’s courage. "Get in here, now. Before someone sees you."

Pip sighed deeply, moving a little further back into the cave, a small spark lighting up and floating in the middle of the room, enough to see each other’s faces, but not enough to draw attention. She flopped down on the ground, breathing heavily and trying to calm down, her heart was beating franticly and blood was rushing in her ears.

“What was with that guy?” She asked Zeke, glancing over at him briefly. “The blue one? Laila hadn’t done anything, just kept to herself, and then he tries to attack us?” She said, agitation rising as she spoke.

Rayner paused to catch what Viva was saying. He hadn't been called 'boy' in nearly twenty years. So she thought he was slow. Another wave of anger rocked his body, and he pushed forward with new found determination, bulldozing any small trees that got in his way. He ignored their whipping branches, and bent his head down so that his mask would better protect his head and neck.

"-Show you who's falling behind." He grumbled, following the sound of her voice as he rushed forward. He would not be mocked today, not without repercussions. Before he knew it, he had reached the place where Viva had come, and continued forward, nearly stumbling right off the ledge. Dirt and a few rocks dislodged from the place and crumbled down the side, nearly taking Rayner with them. He scrambled back, and opened his mouth to take in all the scents around him.

Immediately the scent of blood caught his attention. Not Viva's blood, but that of game. His hunger overcame him, and he moved forward, sliding down the side of the cliff. He dug his claws into the soil, trying to control his descent, and jumped down once he got close enough to where the wind told him the ground must be.

He turned, facing the direction where the scent came from. A rumble sounded from his stomach, and drool began to drip from from his mouth onto the ground. In that moment, the human was forgotten. "Meat." He breathed, and slowly gravitated towards the smell, weary in case Viva decided to attack him for coming too close. His side was still sore from where she had hit him, no doubt it had bruised heavily.

Jagter raised his hand "Hey I saw something unusal are you okay?" he asked. Jagter looked past her and saw a small shinlai laying down.
"I mean no harm I do not wish to fight; I just wanted to know if someone was in trouble." Jagter put his bag down and walked toward the girl
"Are you hurt?" he asked looking at the girl trying to see if she was hurt in anyway.

He watched as the small human girl stood up in front of the shinlai to protect. This he found very brave and admirable of a human that was smaller than he to say she would stand up to him not knowing what could happen! But this was a good trait not most humans would have towards a shinlai, and he liked this about the girl.

"Yes, you can come in... but if you prove to be a threat, I'll have no choice but to fight you. I'm not letting you hurt my new friend, here."

"Thank you, but I won't be a threat. Unless something happens where I need to protect myself from you! Though I can tell you two won't be a problem espically as this shinlai used a lot of energy back there" he said still as gentle and unthreating as he could. With that there was a snap outside as he was entering the cave. "Get in here, now. Before some one sees you." as she said that he rushed in hoping it wasn't Rayner who had caught up with them. He wasn't particually found of how rayner was acting right now.

As he got farther in the cave he saw that the shinlai was now breathing frantically from the events. That had passed and he walked over and sat a few feet away from her, and watched as the spark of lighting came just enough to see everyone's faces.


“What was with that guy?” She asked Zeke, glancing over at him briefly. “The blue one? Laila hadn’t done anything, just kept to herself, and then he tries to attack us?” She said, agitation rising as she spoke.

"Well, I am not sure.. I actually know that shinlai. He goes by Rayner and I have never seen him act out like that!" he responded to her first question. "It seems though he doesn't like humans at all, maybe something happened in his past? And when you tried to protect her it really ticked him off." he could tell she was getting agitated. "I would try, and calm down now though and rest incase he finds his way here, and if he does I will try and talk some sense into him." he said reasuringly.

A red mask poked through the brush and peered a top the rocky over hang. The male shinlai's body slid down into the valley landing just feet away from the buck that lay before him now. Viva's large body slunk into the shadows as quietly as she could. The soft glow from her right feet and the scent of her blood her only give-aways.

She lay her head down on her large paws, watching the lai ravage her catch. Her stomach growled obnoxiously, begging for a taste. She knew she should eat soon. The last time she got this hungry was in the desert with Taggerung... and she almost ate a small human girl. That was the darker side of Viva... she hadn't seen that side in a long while; but she knew it still existed.

With a swift strike, Viva's left un injured paw thudded atop a small hare, which she promptly crunched on whole.

Once Rayner was certain that he wasn't in any immediate danger, he grabbed the meat and dragged it a little ways off. Even though Viva hadn't followed him, he growled and snapped at imagined shadows, movements in his mind. He bent over the caribou and bit down, tearing off a hunk of meat. He had eaten some of Zeke's catch, but never had the chance go get more than a few bites down.

Now he took advantage of the opportunity, and wolfed it down, bones and all, to quench his ravenous hunger. It was probably the fastest he had ever eaten such a large animal, and it took all his strength not to immediately choke it back up. But he managed to keep it all down, and sat very still for a few long moments, breathing in and out slowly.

It was amazing what a difference food made. As the nutrients filled his system, the storm within began to calm. He no longer felt the intense need to attack anything that moved, and his mind began to clear. Not all at once, but slowly. As he cleaned the blood from his fur, he realized that Viva must still be around. He still couldn't get past the idea that she could be a potential threat, but her scent was on the food. If she had really left it for him, there might be some things he ought to rethink.

Moving cautiously, he stood up, and turned around, using the wind to pinpoint where she had gone. It took him a moment, but soon he recognized her scent and headed towards where she was, and something else. A small animal. Rabbit? He didn't take the time to think about it properly, but stopped a little ways away.

"Uh- hm... Comrade?" He called out. Rayner didn't know Viva's name, so he tried something neutral. "Are you there?"

Laila resumed a normal stance, no longer finding herself needing to protect Pip. She brushed her clothes down, cleaning a few strands of Shinlai fur off of her clothing. She took one long strang and twisted it around the black necklace cord around her neck which seemed to be made of Shinlai fur itself. She smiled softly at the boy's concern.

"Are you hurt?" He seemed genuinely concerned so she shook her head. "No, I'm fine. The light attack exploded outward so it didn't hit me, just everyone and everything else." A shudder ran down her spine at Zeke's comment about how Rayner didn't like humans at all.

"I didn't do anything to provoke him... I even have friends who are Shinlai. All I do is study, and make masks. I don't see why he'd see it as grounds to attack me, even if hates humans."

(((I doodled it!: http://holyfrap.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4vrhq4 )))

Viva raised her head. She had gotten so intent on munching on her little rabbit, she had forgotten to pay attention to the male. His red mask stood directly above her. A straight line of thick shadows covered her body.

She wondered if the lai knew how close he actually was to her. He stammered out a greeting, calling her out as his comrade.

She spit out a bone in response, which landed just between the lai's feet. She realized any rash movements was probably a poor idea; but her temper had not cooled with the situation. She still could not trust this Shinlai. With a huff, the tall female stood in the shadows, rising above the males head. She tried not to look too menacing under the dramatic lighting; and even as she stepped out, she regretted the expression the mask gave her.

The two Shinlai stood very close together now. If there was one thing Viva didn't have, it was respect for other lai's space.

"Hello"