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 Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2017 5:32 am
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It was quiet. No one was awake. No one except, perhaps, a cub or two...or three...or four.
The sun was not yet free of the horizon, it's very edge only just visible, bringing with it a pale band of grey sky that - soon - would illuminate into the bright, clear desert blue that was both beautiful and awful. Mother was snoozing and, with no father present, their chances of being caught and dragged back to the den before they'd had a chance to cause mischief was relatively low - especially with how loudly the dark female was snoring.
Kinasii had given her brother a rough shove - stirring him so that he rolled into one of his other sisters and through hushed giggles and whispers, she emerged from the den first, blinking rapidly in the early morning light. Her brother, Adramelek, yawned as he came up beside her, pausing to rub the sleep from his eyes.
"Stop yawning," the pale sister declared, "we're going to go on a hunt."
"What?" he shook himself and padded quietly after his sister who was already moving out and away from the den.
"A glory hunt!" she declared, "like in the stories. You're all with me, right?"
Lying on the bank of her personal pool, Croc-Aeon shifted against the sands, stretched out her short legs and gave a long, contented sigh. She spent most of her days around and in the water now, leaving only to stretch her wings and hunt when no one else was around to notice. It was a risky game she was playing, perhaps, but one that needed to be played. She was amongst her daughter's killers now, studying, judging.
Aeon was not sure what she had expected. Bloodthirsty fools, perhaps? Malicious killers? Calculated? Vicious? Merciless? So why did she not get that vibe from them? Or some of them, at least. It dawned on her that this might not be the best way to see their true nature. But how she could go about bringing out their killer instinct, she had not yet decided.
A couple of days ago she had sent her grandson out amongst them so that he could learn more about them and he had yet to return to report back. Soon, though, she knew. Soon he would be back.
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 12:49 pm
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Kinasii gave a wild grin and turned to face her siblings, setting her gaze on each of them a moment before explaining herself further. "There's a monster in the water. I heard some grown-ups talking about it the other day. Uncle Kafele tried to cough loudly so I wouldn't hear - but I did! I heard it all!" Or the only bit that mattered, it seemed.
"So what do you say?" she asked, bouncing on her paws as if she were about to explode with the prospect. It was clear that, even if they said no, she would be going - even if she had to do it alone.
"I really don't know about this," Adramelek started, siding with Proserpina, though he trailed off as if he'd given up the argument before it had even begun. Just because he didn't like the idea of it didn't mean he was going to wake up Mother to tell. He wasn't that kind of brother.
"Big also means slow," Kinasii replied, "we'll just be super quick and avoid being 'smooshed'. Easy."
"Easy," Adramelek echoed with a slight rolling of his eyes.
Kinasii was already moving away across the sand now, picking up speed so that the gold dust flicked up behind her.
Adramelek gave a small sigh, looked longingly back at the den, then moved after her. "Mother will be displeased if we all go get ourselves killed." Or maybe not. Nergui did seem to like their 'glorious deaths', though he wasn't exactly sure there would be much glory in this.
Ah, well, there probably wasn't even a monster, anyway.
---
The 'monster', meanwhile, was still stretched out, enjoying the peace and quiet of the early morning light. Very much unaware of what was about to unfold...
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Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 5:15 am
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Prosperina provided her sister with a long stare, even as Kinasii made to move away. She seemed determined to chase whatever she had in mind, even if the paler sibling could see several issues with this. Big didn't always mean slow, and their own uncle was proof of this... big could be very fast and very strong, so just what exactly was it that Kinasii was looking to hunt - if it didn't put up a fight, then there was nothing glorious about it anyway!
"I don't think she'll be displeased," Persephone finally responded with a hefty sigh. "She might even be grateful because she got rid of something embarrassing and stupid," she muttered. She quite liked the idea of a glory hunt, but she would have preferred she knew what she was chasing and whether or not the gains outweighed the risks. On this occasion, Kinasii's inability to provide any type of clarity wasn't helping with this... if they were chasing after a mere idea, then this could turn out very poorly.
Nevertheless, Persephone hoped she could at least talk Kinasii out of it before she did anything truly stupid. Otherwise...well, Persephone was just going to have to run for the cavalry and hope for the best!
Proserpina and the other paw, still didn't seem sold, but it was her own arrogance that pushed her to follow...if only so that she could say that she had told them so when it all went wrong. In a strange way, she almost took after her father in that respect...
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Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 1:06 pm
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Her siblings were soooo boring. Soooo careful! What was wrong with them all? Ha, she'd show them! Sometimes it was super fun to do something crazy and dangerous! After all, weren't they kinda...expected to cause trouble? Not like there was much else to do. "It's just down here," she called, and as she continued to lead the way it may have become clear what her idea was.
"The water?" Adramelek muttered, confused. What could be so fantastic down by the water? He had no intention of learning to swim or getting wet in any shape or form. Hot as the desert could be, sand stuck to wet fur and there was only so many sand-covered cubs that Mother would be willing to groom.
With a shriek of delight, Kinasii broke into a run - moving across the last stretch of ground as rapidly as her little legs would allow.
Across the way, the shape of the crocodile could just be seen against a backdrop of rocks that fringed that particular edge of the pool. The crocodile was unmoving, however, and Kinasii did not realise quite how close she was to it until the very last moment.
With a muffled squeak she pulled herself up short and sidled across to the cover of a small rock - probably not big enough to hide them all.
"What is that?" Adramelek said.
The crocodile did not stir.
"The monster!" Kinasii whispered in an excited voice.
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Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 1:59 am
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"It's a big lizard, like the ones that bury into the sand," Persephone observed with a tilt of her head. This was as close to accuracy that she was going to get on this occasion, her little cub mind could only recall those little lizards and right now, there were a fair few parallels with the crocodile. For a start, like those little lizards, the crocodile seemed perfectly happy to stay asleep...or at least in a neutral position where it seemed comfortable and unwilling to move.
"Huh..." Proserpina peered at the reptile, though she elected to keep her distance. So Kinasii had found herself a monster, and while Persephone seemed to have observed it was like the tinier versions of the lizards they often chased through the sand...she didn't recall those lizards having teeth so big that they sat outside of the mouth.
For all intents and purposes, this monster was just lying in wait for the moment that Kinasii got a little too close and then WHAM! Rest in pieces darling sibling, for Proserpina would not be providing assistance. She bowed her head briefly at the hypothetical necessity to mourn the loss, but concluded she was safe at this distance at least.
"It's not doing very much," Persephone said finally, padding a little closer, though she too seemed to prefer to keep some distance between herself and those teeth. "It's not being very monstery," she continued and tilted her head to the side. "Are you sure it's not just a really big lizard...?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2017 12:49 pm
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"No, no, no, it's definitely a monster!" Kinasii responded, though for all her bluster she did seem suddenly unwilling to go much closer. For a moment she wriggled with the discomfort of not knowing what to do. Go with her head? Or throw caution to the wind for a chance at a generous slice of glory?
"Adra, you go get a closer look."
"What?" the dark male's fur bristled, "why me?"
"You're outnumbered," Kinasii explained in a voice that made it sound as if it was a very reasonable argument. Three girls against the one boy. He ought to take the first step. Right? Hm...actually...maybe not. Wouldn't he be the one with all the glory then? Claiming that his sisters had just come along to watch? She didn't much like the sound of that.
Adramelek had taken a tentative step towards the monster and though he was clearly unwilling to go further, Kinasii leapt at him as if she meant to save his life. "No! I've changed my mind! I'll go!" And, giving her brother a shove to one side, she closed the distance with such rapidness that it was clear she was acting quickly in case she lost her nerve. And then, suddenly, she was in the shadow of the motionless beast and her heart was in her throat. She peeked back over her shoulder at her siblings...
...just as one bright, amber eye opened up behind her.
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Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2017 1:46 am
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"Oh she's so dead," Persephone murmured as the crocodile's eye slowly slid open. Though it seemed the pale beast had no immediate intention of coming near them just yet, the large, almost gem-like eye seemed to see all of them. In those moments the darker sibling was grateful for the fact she had chosen to remain at a distance as she really wasn't feeling terribly glorious or brave at the moment. If anything, she rather felt like bailing before the thing had the opportunity to catch all four of them.
"Mmmm," Proserpina didn't seem entirely convinced, though she too made no attempts to get closer. Instead she glanced briefly at her brother, who had almost done as he was told and shook her head. She did have to wonder about him in those moments, if this was Kinasii's idea then he really should have flat out told her to do it. They were all meant to be brave and strong, throwing their only brother in front of her like a shield was cowardly!
Alas...it was a conversation for another time.
"Adra you should probably back up," the paler sibling remarked as she gave a wave of her paw. "You know, just to be safe," she clucked her tongue briefly. "Just in case, it seems like Kin has finally woken it up..."
"So dead," Persephone continued with a raised brow, though she seemed to be more intent on watching the crocodile at this point than her own siblings...
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 1:00 pm
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Adramelek stepped back, drawing alongside his far more restrained sisters, suddenly glad that he had not been volunteered to make the first move. The scene before him was likely going to be horrendous and yet, though part of him wanted to turn and run, his eyes were glued to the crocodile - waiting for the inevitable crush of teeth and the end of a very short life. What had they been thinking? Was there any glory at all in this? Would they sing songs about his sister's triumphs?
The crocodile, however, seemed perfectly happy just to watch them. Unmoving. Unblinking.
"It doesn't---" but whatever he was about to say came to an abrupt halt as the huge crocodile shifted its weight and turned it's frightening muzzle towards a very vulnerable looking Kinasii (who had puffed up in an attempt to look bigger than she actually was).
"So dead," he echoed Persephone, sinking lower to the sand as if doing so would mean he would go unnoticed.
The crocodile laughed with an amusement that bordered on cruel and, when Kinasii made no move to run, swung it's head to knock the cub flying. The grey cub was thrust aside effortlessly, hitting the ground with a sickening thud. For a moment she was still - obviously stunned - and then, as the panic set in she scrabbled against the sand to find her paws.
"What is this? Did your pride offer you to me as some sort of pathetic sacrifice?" the crocodile asked. The voice - though gravelly - held a distinctly feminine tone.
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 5:35 am
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Proserpina afforded a wince as her sibling smacked against the ground, though the relief she felt as Kinasii got back up was something that even surprised her. Proserpina may have liked to pretend that she was rather neutral, but when it came to her own family, she did rather love them and would have preferred they didn't get hurt. Certainly, they could take a battering, but so long as they walked away from it safely she would remain content.
...This was one of those moments.
"Now why would they do that?" It was the narrator who finally spoke again, this time directly to the crocodile. Persephone was now regarding it with a raised eyebrow that would have made even their missing father proud. The true, scathing stare that they would hopefully all inherit to a certain degree, baring down on the white reptile. It had all been fun and games for a time, but the moment that the crocodile had laughed had lit a fire in the black cub's belly.
That, and it helped that she was a considerable distance away at the moment!
"You're just a crocodile, you might life in our new home but you're not special," she pointed out and gave a stubborn huff. "Dunno what tiny creatures you've scared in to thinkin' yer all powerful and mighty but our Mama and the pride don't exactly play that game," she finished.
...Not that this would make much of a difference, but the black cub did deserve bonus points for an attempt, and maybe her loud mouthing would buy Kinasii some more time to scramble away.
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Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 10:31 am
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"Our people aren't dark!" Persephone retorted and wrinkled her nose. "And we came for glory," she added, causing her paler sister to place a paw to her own eyes and release a small sigh of exasperation. It seemed that on this occasion Persephone wanted to run her mouth, Kinasii might have started it, but it seemed that her sibling was more than happy to finish it on her behalf (at a safe distance of course).
"I mean, you're dark..." Proserpina finally pointed out and shook her head.
"Scaley thing didn't mean it literally," Persephone retorted, glancing briefly at her sibling, before looking towards her brother as well. Both she and he were particularly dark, where Proserpina and Kinasii seemed to have inherited traits from a paler line. Nevertheless, they still had particularly strong markings, even if their fur was peculiar against that of their parents.
"So she's just talking metaphorically?"
"No like..." Persephone sighed, temporarily ignoring the crocodile as she glanced at her sister again. "I think she means in out heads, you know, like bad and stuff?"
"Hmm," Proserpina didn't seem entirely sold at this moment in time and shook her head. "That would make us bad guys then."
"EXACTLY!" Persephone howled indignantly. "And we aren't the bad guys," she pointed out and waved her paws dramatically towards Kinasii and Adramelek. "Riiiight?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:13 pm
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The crocodile gave a rumbling laugh and scratched her chin lazily against the sand, enjoying the rough grain against her scaled hide. This conversation was not for the young. Cubs could not understand the darkness that lingered in their pride and in the hearts of their people. They'd not yet been touched by it, though Aeon knew that they would eventually. How could it be avoided when so many of their kin relished in bloodshed and torment? Poor children. She almost felt sorry for them. Almost. Aeon had never been a particularly maternal creature, however, in this form or any other. Her one and only daughter had turned out to be a huge disappointment and now she was dead. She had a grandson whom also left muich to be desired...though at least one of his offspring had proven useful thus far.
She'd blame the father, of course. That unfortunate god she'd foolishly chosen to copulate with. His stupidity had leeched through into her proud line and she had been the bigger fool to allow it to happen.
"We're not bad," Kinasii replied fiercely, "we're tough. There's a difference."
Adramelek seemed to be mulling over the difference when the crocodile snapped her jaws at the air and pulled attention back to where she lay.
"And do you truly know what it is to be 'bad'? Think about that the next time you're with your fellow pridemates." She smiled cruelly, "I'll leave you to mull it over. Perhaps next time you'll have an answer. If not, then you'll be nothing more than food to sate my hunger. Perhaps, by then, I might have other crocodiles to share you with."
Perhaps.
She waddled backwards in an almost comical show then turned slowly and slunk back into the water.
Adramelek released a breath he had not realised he had been holding and shook his head, "are we...bad?"
"Course not!" Kinasii replied, "she's just trying to mess with our heads!"
The dark brother peered across at his other two sister's, seeming to seek further confirmation. Perhaps, after that, they could be done with this place.
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Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 1:54 am
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Prosperina seemed to be in deep thought as the crocodile departed. The strange, pale reptile was done with them and they had been summarily dismissed. Kinasii might have been dazed, but she was alive, and now the four cubs had been left with much to ponder as said reptile implied that they were 'bad'. Quite frankly, the young cub disagreed with this sentiment as they hadn't done anything bad (naughty perhaps), and they therefore didn't deserve to be branded in such a manner.
"She's just screwing with us," Persephone agreed with a curt nod. There was a fierce sparkle in her eyes and she was regarding the former location of the reptile with distaste. If anyone was bad it had been the crocodile, after all, it had hurt Kinasii simply for being too close!
"Maybe..." Proserpina finally spoke and turned her gaze towards Adramelek, the most concerned of the three. "We should ask mum?" she asked after a moment or two of delay. "Maybe there are some stories we don't know yet and maybe this crocodile does know them," she tilted her head to the side. "I mean, they're still stories but some people like to believe stories are real... She could be one of those."
She blinked.
"Maybe if we know what stories she thinks are true, then we'll be able to work out why she thinks we're bad..."
Granted this was likely to get them in trouble with Mawasii but in the grand scheme of things, context would be good for them all in the long run, right?
Kimaria Fin? Can do an RP with Mawasii giving them a mini history lesson? =D
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