Lost and Found?

[RandomWiktor]

The Story So Far...
Following the grasslands fire, Xochitl, Calfuray and Antiman find themselves seperated from recent soundermate Kiernan. Keirnan, meanwhile, as found himself in the company of a very vexing younger boar who may be of interest to Antiman. The group finally re-unites... but what now?
Origional Thread

Last Two Posts:
___Kiernan smiled as Calfuray approached, grunting as he sniffed at her snout excitedly, tail twitching behind him and ears perked for both the sake of happiness and alertness. The two sows had at least quieted down a bit now that they were closer, and he could smell Antiman making his way through the trees silently, clearly having also thought of the possibility of predators. The pickings in Gallop Free were quite slim at the moment due to the monumental destruction of the fire, and the onslaught of winter. Even now as Kiernan greeted the sow, he could see his breath rising in twin coils of steam from his nostrils, and worried about foraging once the ground froze solidly. It seemed like this winter might largely involve fighting off wolves and eating carrion.
___"Pleased to see you as well, Calfuray! And you as well, Xochitl," he added as quietly as he could to still have the approaching sow hear him. "I was concerned with the fire and predators, but ah - you're all clever and self sufficient!" He winked, though quickly frowned at the question that followed.
___Resaj was just now catching up, clattering clumsily through the underbrush as he'd managed to get a tangle of thorns around his snout and tusks. Throwing his pied head this way and that, grunting and squealing in agitation, he stumbled into view then stopped dead, tail raised alertly and eyes wide. He could smell Antiman approaching and wondered why Keirnan wasn't spiriting his sows away from the opponent, but was too nervous to say anything. So instead, he smiled as best he could with brambles lassoing his snout, and said, "Pleased to meet you!" to the sow. Kiernan only rolled his eyes.
___"That would be Resaj. He's my.... friend." He said the last word uncertainly and heavily, heaving a sigh of resignation. If he said anything else, the sensitive, clingly little boar probably would have been deeply offended. In fact, he could dimly make out the excited prancing of its hooves against the soil when it heard his words, and sighed once more. Oh god. Now I'll never get rid of him. And speaking of boars that he wasn't likely to get rid of, where was Antiman allready? Sniffing the air, he confirmed that the boar was nearby. Forcing a smile, he said in his best upbeat voice,
___"Ah, and Antiman has come with you! Glad to smell that he escaped unscathed as well."

((Ungh, my posts are SO f'ing short lately. I'm really sorry. I don't know WHAT is wrong with me.))

[RandomWiktor]

~Calfuray and Xochitl both homed in on Kiernan, sniffing at his snout and clearly pleased to be reunited once more. Xochitl broke off the greeting after a short while, happy just to see that he was alive and well. Calfuray however, overly exuberant as to be expected, sniffed at him for quite some time before realizing how silly she was acting and giving him some space with an embarrassed snort. Xochitl rolled her eyes, smiling knowingly as she turned to watch the newcomer approach.

"Oh yes, quite clever. So clever we got lost."

Calfuray let out a light laugh after speaking, while Xochitl showed her amusement with a silent grin. However, her attention was stolen by the rather odd boar that was struggling his way to their position. Had she been at the farm, his coloring would not have been odd at all -- She had seen albinos there, after all. However, after living in the wild for some time, she knew that the male's colors were not only almost nonexistent in the wild, but extremely dangerous.

Then when he acted distinctly social despite the situation, and Kiernan seemed rather aggravated, she couldn't help but wonder. This boar seemed distinctly unlike someone Kiernan would like; indeed, he seemed positively clingy, becoming overly excited when Kiernan called him a friend. Kiernan seemed annoyed enough by Antiman's presence; what was he doing with another boar?

Maybe he is attractive to boars too. She find it quite difficult to suppress the laughter that wanted to follow the thought, but managed. Her silly grin made it quite clear that some highly entertaining thought was going through Calfuray's mind, though.

Xochitl quickly noticed and gave Calfuray a weird look. The sow was too busy suppressing her laughter though, and so Xochitl turned her attention back to Resaj and the rather annoyed Kiernan.

"Yes, we met up with him a while ago. It is wonderful that we are all all right."

She turned her attention briefly to Resaj, trying to look friendly without being too interested. She wouldn't want to start any rivalries, after all, especially not so soon after being reunited.

"And it is nice to meet you as well."

Antiman, meanwhile, had finally arrived upon the group, and was entirely unsurprised by Kiernan's seeming discomfort with the other boars. It was the reason Antiman tried to keep to the fringes of the group when they were around, something he was doing at that moment. He was close enough so they didn't have to shout to him, but far enough to show that he was no threat to Kiernan. Granted, he wasn't a threat in the first place, but it was the thought that counted.

"Good to see you are well, Kiernan. And nice to meet you..."

"Resaj."

Antiman gave Xochitl a thankful glance, then bobbed his head at Resaj in greeting.

"Resaj. A pleasure to meet you."

He became silent shortly thereafter, alert for predators. They would have to be fairly stupid to go after such a large group, especially with three grown, health males, but animals were desperate during the winter. They may try anything after the fire. The sows, meanwhile, were too interested in Kiernan and his new friend to bother being half as alert as Antiman. The boar expected it; it was the main reason he kept watch. Let them enjoy the reunion in peace.~

((It's okay; my posts are a little weird today, so...))

[Kiernan and Resaj]

___Kiernan regarded Antiman reservedly with a forward flick of his ears and a low snort. Though he was never pleased to see another boar about, Antiman was probably a good part of the reason why his sows were still safe, and that much he was grateful for. Unlike Resaj, Antiman was useful - calm, alert, intelligent, and protective. Even now, he was stepping back to monitor the situation instead of making noisy, giddy, predator-attracting greetings. The same could not be said for Resaj, who much to Kiernan's infinite disapproval was suddenly much too cheerful to see Antiman. Shouldering past with his tail twitching excitedly and head raised to sniff at the newcomers, the piebald boar stood between the larger males with a moronic grin plastered across his upturned muzzle.
___"Wow, so you two live together? That's so cool!" He looked back and fourth between the two. "I thought I was going to see a big fight when I smelled two boar around the same sows, but now I see that it's not an issue." He tilted a dark eye toward the two sows. "So, does that mean you two are also...?"
___Kiernan wasn't sure how to react to what Resaj was suggesting. The scope of the young male's misunderstanding was apparently quite profound, and the boar didn't know if he should laugh or be offended - though the best thing to do would probably be to gently explain the actual situation. Gentle and sensitive weren't really Kiernan's strong suits though, so after a sharp breath, he finally just uttered a very succinct, "... No," then directed his attention away from a very deflated and perplexed looking Resaj and back to the two sows.
___"Well I'm sorry that I was unable to find you sooner. I hope things haven't been too difficult?"

[Antiman Xochitl Calfuray]

((I definitely just had an "OMGKARMA!" moment. Wow, I'm pathetic. And I almost put "Catahecassa" instead of "Calfuray", which is just... Not right. xD ))

Antiman's attention was not on the group; though he noticed that Kiernan was giving him a somewhat grateful look, he didn't give it any worth. He had protected his friends, who just so happened to be in Kiernan's sounder. To him, there was no reason to be smug or even think he had earned more respect. He was still a boar, and an odd one at that.

Though not quite as odd as the newcomer. Antiman couldn't help but focus on the male, ears flicking back and eyes narrowing slightly with confusion. He wanted to politely correct the boar, inform him that in fact they didn't live together and Antiman spent most of his time outside of the sounder, but then the male threw him for another loop with his next comment. Did the sows also... Live together? Well right they were in a sounder...

Oh. Antiman wanted to laugh at himself. He should have figured it out, out of all of them. Instead he just smiled at Kiernan's blunt response and contemplated approaching the poor confused boar.

Xochitl and Calfuray, meanwhile, recognized the similarities between Antiman and Resaj's scents, and knew exactly what he was implying. Calfuray snorted softly with amusement, eyes sparkling and ears forward, while Xochitl just rolled her eyes. At least Antiman wasn't an idealistic piglet like Resaj evidently was.

Kiernan was speaking, though, and Kiernan was of more interest than Resaj by far. Smiling, Xochitl bobbed her head in encouragement.

"Oh, no, all has been well. I think the fire has spooked most predators too, and we haven't been bothered at all. Or at least I haven't."

Calfuray was quick to recover her composure.

"Neither have I."

Antiman, figuring that he was quite obviously okay and not in the conversation anyway, took a few steps toward Resaj. He stayed in the fringes and was more focused on his surroundings and any potential threats than any of the boars, but regardless he spoke.

"So where are you from?"

He was sure that the response would be far from succint and logical, but he was prepared for that. His main goal was to distract Resaj before Kiernan finally got sick of him and gored him. Kiernan didn't seem the type, but then, Resaj was a bit, ah, unique.