Besnik
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It escaped the Kelvic’s notice that the group of four had diverted from the rest of their companions to head up the mountain until he realised that the others were already gone as they stepped into the jungle. As soon as he’d stepped ashore, Besnik had taken in a deep breath with a huge grin, glad as scents other than that of sea and salt assaulted his senses. The scent of the island shore was different to any other place he’d been, but that was to be expected; especially, he realised, as humans probably hadn’t set foot here in a long while. Even the most barren places he’d travelled to still had the occasional traveller pass by, leaving a trail of their own no matter how faint. “This is better than being cooped up on the boat,” he spoke as they joined the path through the trees. The canine within him wanted to bark and run in circles, failing that to shout out in human form and sprint. He suppressed it, though for a short while looked fairly on edge as though he could take off at any moment; they had a quest to go on and he wasn’t a careless pup anymore. He had some sense of self control.
Even so, he was able to ignore the strange feeling that coursed through him as they made their way through the jungle. He hated being confined, and though a boat was fairly open there was still a sense of being stuck in one place in the middle of a large stretch of water. The sheer fact that there were no walls here, which he knew of, was enough to reveal the excited glint in his eyes. Besnik was glad to have Charm with them, suspecting that with her age came experience that would be helpful in the challenges they could come across. He was also grateful that Miles was in their small group, as he’d enjoyed hunting with the other and had wished to befriend him further. He sent a grin in direction of the man, tilting his head in a question of how the other felt about where they were. The animalistic action may go unnoticed by the human, but he was well enough accustomed to their ways to understand that instinctual signs he knew weren’t known by men.
The Kelvic turned his attention to the woman with them, Ayatah he believed her name was. He hadn’t had the chance to speak with her and wondered what her story was, why she was with them and where she’d come from. His inquisitive side, much like a lot of his more flamboyant characteristics, was being suppressed. Perhaps he’d eventually have the chance to converse with her, get to know if she was a pleasant person. As juts of dark rock began to emerge from the ground, a reminder that they were in fact on a mountain rather than a flat jungle trek, the feeling that sent a shudder down his spine grew stronger. He frowned uncharacteristically as he looked around them, then took in a couple of short breaths with his mouth partially open, as though tasting the air. His expression quickly took on surprise, then a nervous suspicion, as he realised what was wrong. “Where are the animals?” he whispered in a much quieter tone than usual. Had he been in dhole form, his tail would have been tucked right up beneath him and his ears flat against his head. It wasn’t natural that they hadn’t seen anything, far less so that even with his sense of smell there were no traces.
The imbalance of nature was the first time the canine realised that something truly frightening could be happening on the island. He looked at the others, wishing to know what they thought about the lack of living creatures and if it worried them as much as it did him. Nonetheless, they pressed on through the hot jungle. Sweat soaked him and for once he was glad that he’d not given in to the urge to change forms. Not only would it not have been useful, but his near orange, thick fur would have made travelling in the heat nearly impossible. Luckily his stamina was maintained between forms and barely a drop of the sweat could be contributed to weariness. In fact, a long walk was something he’d not been able to do on the boat and something that made him feel even more cooped up. Being able to stretch his legs was a nice change, although he kept pace with the others. Ayatah, he noticed, stopped every now and then. Though he could press on, he always lingered a little. The thought of leaving anyone behind to face whatever this jungle had to offer alone didn’t exist as a possibility in his mind.
Ahead, Charm came to a sudden stop. Besnik stopped beside her, then swivelled to look behind as the other woman’s scent drew fairly close. He stepped aside, realising she’d almost walked into him, and then looked at the polished slab of rock before them. Ayatah began to theorise on what the script upon it could mean and he narrowed his eyes in concentration. “R…Rem…em…Remem…ber,” he mumbled to himself, tilting his head as a look alike of any confused canine, trying to read the word, “…Ah! Remember.” He nodded, both proud that he’d been able to read it and glad it’d been written if Common, the only language he could read in, no matter how poorly that skill was executed. Suddenly Ayatah’s musings made much more sense. “Perhaps someone intended to come back, or marked this as they had no map?” He thought again, wondering why anyone would write this, “or it could be some sort of warning, maybe telling others to remember what happened the last time someone was here.” He grimaced a little. If only they had more information about the previous travellers, it might be a bit easier to figure out. He shrugged and looked to the others; he wasn’t the intelligent one in the group, so they probably had a better idea of what to do next.
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||Besnik|| ||4 years|| ||Kelvic|| ||Bondmate - Valo||
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