.~Edelsteine~. Kikechum's Journal by Meepfur

[Meepfur]

Age of Destruction
Bye bye, baby, don't be long...



"...Anna?" A soft, tiny voice floated down the dark hallway, the voice's owner just awakened by what it thought had been the sound of the front door opening. In the darkness, the creature that emerged to investigate might have been mistaken for a kitten, but closer inspection would have revealed an animal seemingly made up of different pieces of others - cloven hooves in front, feline paws in back, small moth-like wings, and the various other bits that made up this particular evolved pooka. It was young, the recent product of a complex process of merging two normal pooka of different influences - in its case, 'earth' and 'blood butterfly.' The result was 'sacrifice': Enekpe.

Like all others of the race, Enekpe had no gender, and could technically be referred to as 'it.' Humans, however, usually preferred to assign them a more specific pronoun; in Enekpe's case, her human had dubbed the pooka a 'she.' The creature in question didn't care one way or the other, but was happy to go along with whatever her bonded chose. A bonded who had left two days ago and not returned: Anna Marie Mahan.

Hoping that the young woman had at last returned, Enekpe toddled down the hallway, and then the stairs. But in the foyer, there was no trace of Anna, and the door hadn't been opened. Her large, tattered-looking ears fell. She must have only dreamed it, then. With a dejected sigh, she sat and stared out the bottom window of the several to each side of the door.

Where could Anna be? She'd only gone out to visit a friend for a few hours, not for a few days! Ever-hopeful, En had thus far waited faithfully, sure that her human would return...but she hadn't. And now, even the optimistic little pooka was forced to consider that something had happened to Anna. After all, things outside had been...strange lately. Maybe even a little dangerous. So, faced with a missing guardian, what was a baby pooka to do?

Not just continue to sit here, that was for certain. If Anna needed help, Enekpe was going to find her. She headed for the kitchen door, the hooves of her front feet clopping faintly on the tile floor. Out the cat door she went, slipping into the night.

Solo 1

[Meepfur]

Age of Destruction
...I worry about you while you're gone.



The three days she was gone felt much, much longer to the young pooka, who wandered aimlessly in search of her human bonded. She asked everyone she came across, and they all said roughly the same thing: they didn't know anyone by that name, hadn't seen anyone who looked like her. Most had been quite surprised to be questioned by a creature like Enekpe; in more than one instance, she'd had to tell them to look down, please, she was down here! One person had offerred to take her home with them, but she'd declined. One nice man named Colin had bought her a sandwich, and she'd accepted.

Finally, unsuccessful and dejected, she trundled up the path to the back door...only to pause and sniff the air. Was that...did she smell cooking? Pizza? Could it be? Instantly refreshed, she scurried up the stairs and through the cat door, crying, "Anna!"

An answering cry of "Enekpe!" greeted her, and she was promptly scooped up and cradled close. "En, where have you been? I was so worried!"

"I was looking for you," explained Enekpe, trying to wriggle closer still. "You didn't come home, and I...I didn't know what else to do."

"Oh, En." Anna stroked the top of her head, between her small horns. "Didn't you hear me leave you a message?"

The little creature sniffled. "No."

"I'm so sorry, En. I should have left more than one. I'll teach you how to check them, okay? Just in case. But I think you need a bath, first...you're filthy!"

Solo 2

[Meepfur]

Gehenna Start/Week of Sloth
(Some months after the above.)
I wanna stay at home for the end of the world.



There was no point. Not to anything. Not anymore.

Her bonded was gone, taken away from her by some unseen hand, some distant event she couldn't imagine or understand. All Enekpe knew was that one moment, she had been fast asleep on Anna's pillow, and the next, her world flipped upside-down - or at least it felt that way, and that was even before she'd discovered the awful truth. Her human refused to wake, to move, to breathe, to live. She was dead. Even the young creature could understand that.

And there was naught she could do but cry and wail and ask why, and be left without answer while Anna's body gradually went cold. She knew that humans were usually buried when they died, but that was far beyond the little pooka's abilities. There was nothing she could do for her friend but pull the sheets up over her, and even that was haphazardly done. Once it was, she curled up on the covered corpse's chest, shut her eyes, and slept.

It would be two days before she stirred again, and when she did, it was to her own surprise. She had fully expected not to wake. No one had ever explained to her what, if anything, might happen if the human she bonded to were to die...but it seemed now that the answer was nothing. It was a disappointment, really. It would have been much easier if she could have just followed Anna; the young woman had been the center of her admittedly tiny world, and without her, Enekpe was utterly lost.

What did she do? Where did she go? Anna had friends, but En didn't know how to find them. She'd been to visit them once or twice, but hadn't paid attention to where they were going. If only she had! Then she wouldn't be so alone. Perhaps...perhaps she would try to find someone. Anyone. But, overwhelmed as she was, and afflicted by an abnormal lethargy, she only thought about it as she set to wandering the empty house.

It was several more days before she left in search of the comfort she craved.

Solo 3

[Meepfur]

Week of Envy
Where do you go with your broken heart in tow?

Maybe she should have stayed in the house. Maybe she should have stayed where it was familiar, where it was safe, but she simply couldn't bear it. The smell of death, of rot, once practically unknown to her, was overwhelming, almost as much as the sadness and sheer loneliness. She had to leave - to get away, to try to find something to hold onto. There had been friendly strangers before, surely there would be now...someone like Colin, or even Colin himself, not that she knew how to find him. She could only wander wherever her longing and tiny feet took her, down winding and seemingly endless streets.

Should she go into the houses that lined them? The were still people in some, she could see them in the windows, but in others there was no movement. In others, there was that same death-smell. But the ones with the people in them...oh, she wanted so to be let in! And yet, for some reason, those nameless people made her angry. They had home, and family, and food, and she had none. It wasn't fair! Why was she lost and hungry, why was her Anna gone, when these people were still alive? Why couldn't they have died, and not Anna?

This inexplicable emotion, however, proved to be nothing in the face of her growing hunger. Finally, the wafting smell of food from one broken window was enough to move her to act. She trotted into the yard, calling up at what was certainly the kitchen, "Hello? Hello, are you there? I...I'm really hungry!"

A woman appeared in the window, looking angry, ready to tell this trespasser to go away, but hesitated upon seeing that it was an animal, not another human being. Just a fuzzy, completely unthreatening, cute little thing. Her face softened at the 'puppy eyes' it was giving her, and she sighed. "Alright, alright. Come around to the door, I'll let you in."

"Thank you!" Enekpe rushed to obey, and was brought into the house, where she enjoyed her first meal in what seemed like forever to her. More important still, she received attention. The woman - Lucy - listened to her, talked to her, petted her. And just when she thought it couldn't possibly get better, Lucy's friend came home, and he was nice too. After a short discussion between the two humans (which En could hear, although she pretended to be sleeping), they decided to keep her. She was adorable, after all, and who had ever seen such a thing? If they didn't take her, certainly someone else would, and they couldn't bear the thought of it.

She would be theirs.

[Meepfur]

Week of Greed
I wasted, wasted love for you.
577

"Come here, En." Ragged-looking ears twitched, and the pooka stirred from her doze, blinking at her summoner. Lucy was smiling, patting her leg. "Come on then, over here."

Well, she was awfully comfortable over here on this side of the couch with Bill, but...Enekpe stretched a little, then started to toddle over to Lucy - only for Bill to stop her! The man plucked her right up, setting her back in his lap where she'd started. Confused, she glanced up at him, but he'd already gone back to reading his book. Huh. Oh well, a lap was a lap, and this arrangement was fine with En.

But not, it turned out, with Lucy. "Bill, let her up," she complained, "She was coming over to see me!"

"And before you woke her up, she was sitting with me," he countered, not bothering to look up from his reading.

"Well I want her to sit with me, you've had her all morning!" When Bill's only response was an infuriating shrug, Lucy attempted to resolve the matter by grabbing her away from her husband. En, ever passive, tolerated this treatment with little more than a surprised squeak. As long as she was getting attention from someone, she wasn't picky.

"Hey!" Dropping his book, he tried to intercept, but it was too late, and Lucy was already clutching the pooka safe against her chest. "You can't just take her!"

"And why can't I?" The woman stroked En possessively. "You weren't even doing anything with her! Besides, you know she likes me better. Don't you, honey?"

Huh? Actually, she really just wanted to go back to sleep, but that was impossible with all this commotion. She didn't care whose lap she was in! "I, um. Well, I actually, I was - Lucy, you're squeezing. That hurts!"

"Hear that, Lu? You're hurting her! Give her here, I won't hurt her." Bill lunged across the sofa, latching onto the pooka and trying to pull her away from his wife.

"OW! That hurts too!" En wailed, trying to flail her way out of this predicament. "Please let go!"

"No!" they answered in unison, both pulling harder. Enekpe squealed in protest and did something she had never done to anyone before: she bit Lucy. The blonde released her hold, and Bill was quick to back away with the prize in his arms. It wasn't that En had preferred Bill, only that Lucy had been closer, but he took it as proof that she liked him. "See?" he boasted, "She likes me!"

"So what if she does?" Lucy hissed angrily, advancing towards them. "I found her! She should be mine!"

Uh-oh. This was looking like it was about to turn into another tug-of-war, and En was not keen to repeat the experience. Though she was loathe to hurt someone again, she didn't seem to have much choice, and so she bit Bill. He dropped her, and Lucy rushed to grab her, but she scuttled desperately out of the way. Both humans gave chase, racing after her through the house, shoving and pulling and tripping each other, sabotaging both their efforts.

"Leave me alone!" she pleaded tearfully as she fled, but neither would listen, and she couldn't run forever - they would catch her in here sooner or later. Running to the kitchen, with its broken window, En leapt into the air and flew through the jagged opening as fast as her little wings would carry her.

[Meepfur]

Week of War
I hold a little tighter to my flashlight and the fighter inside of me.
618

After that, Enekpe had stayed away from the houses, from the people, although not too far. She had to eat, after all, and food was most easily found where there were people. She'd tried begging once, the day after she'd run away, but no one had wanted to give her anything. It was theirs, and she had better stay away! After hearing one speculate about what nice fur she had, she'd decided it was safer to keep her distance, and had had to learn how to scavenge for scraps. It was hard, and it was gross, and sometimes they made her sick, but it was that or not eat at all, and that was not an option.

But as that week had come to a close and a new one began, things got harder. She was not the only creature skulking around and stealing food. The humans were not much of a problem, preoccuppied with each other, but the other animals, they were trouble. They wanted the scraps too, and they were better-equipped to get them, or to take what she managed to find from her. Many had already been feral, and were infinitely more practiced in matters of survival; in all cases, they were far more dangerous. The dogs were bigger, and to them she was potential food. The cats were her size, but they had claws, and their teeth were much sharper than hers. The only advantage she had over either was flight, and it didn't take long for her to learn that turning tail was always the best option.

Eventually, she took to hiding instead. En would rather be safe and hungry than bloodied and still hungry. She found what she thought was a good spot, a literal hole in a wall, and had all but shoved herself inside it, finding herself in the space between floor and basement ceiling. There wasn't much vertical room to be had, and she had to squeeze in and crawl, but it was good enough for her. The pooka only emerged now and then to find water to drink, and maybe grab a morsel of something semi-edible if she could find it. These little excursions were as brief as possible, and she was always anxious to get back to her 'den,' as small and uncomfortable as it was.

Even this miserable peace, however, was short-lived. Returning from an expedition to the outside, En hunkered down to re-enter, and was only halfway in when she was met by a warning yowl, followed immediately by a stinging swat to her nose. The pooka yelped and backed out, staggering away from the hole.

"Oww," she complained mournfully, but had no time to do anything more. The cat, not content with driving her out, followed her into the open, intent on a fight. This once, the pooka did not run. She was tired of running. This spot was hers, and the stupid cat couldn't have it! En ran at her opponent with a yell, hoping at first to scare it off, but when the animal didn't budge, she ran headlong into it. She shoved it against the wall, knocking the wind out of it with the impact, with her solid little horns. The tabby was momentarily stunned, but was soon on its feet again, and a desperate battle ensued.

In the end, Enekpe got to keep her precious haven, and the cat left having been battered by tiny hooves, but En was covered in scratches both deep and shallow, and was left utterly exhausted. It was all she could do to crawl back into her hole, but it was still with the satisfied thought that this was hers, and she had won.

[Meepfur]

Week of Famine
There are no angels in the city, only skeletons with fleshy pools where blood has been.

After the fight, En had had a quiet week or so, at least compared to the times before. She hurt, and at one point even became feverish as a result of her wounds, but the pooka was naturally hardy, physically speaking. It weakened her, but did not kill her, and the sicknesses outside were nothing she was susceptible to. Pooka, after all, were no ordinary creatures, and there were very few of them besides. Combined with how little she left the safety of her hiding place and how carefully she avoided anything else living out of fear, she was fortunate and avoided the disease and ensuing hardships of Plague.

Still, she grew hungrier and thinner with every passing day, and it became impossible to stay holed up in such a state. Not if she wanted to live, which she did, for some reason even she couldn't grasp. She had nothing, only a driving will to survive, and this soon pulled her from her den. She had to find food, no matter the danger. In a small way, it seemed easier, at least at first. There was not so much immediate danger outside - the number of other animals still around, competing for resources, was greatly reduced from before. On the other hand, there was also much, much less food to be found.

No one was discarding anything, not even things that might otherwise have been considered inedible. Wilted, rotted, impossibly tough, nothing was too far gone to be food and valuable. What little there was was hoarded, often jealously guarded, and even small thieves like herself were at great risk, as she soon found out. After managing to steal a morsel the night before, she made the mistake of returning to someone's camp to try again, thinking she would have another success, but that was not so.

He had noticed the missing food, and waited up the next night in case the thief returned. And when she did, he didn't try to chase her away - oh no, he tried to catch her, practically gleeful at the prospect of a fresh, rather sizable meal. Her wings saved her again, and she flitted off not to return. He would not be the only one to see her as potential food in the following days, and it became more important than ever that she stay hidden. She was no longer competition, or a pest, but food.

That explained in part where all the cats and dogs and other things had gone, and she had no desire to follow suit. Enekpe returned to her hole, where she took to eating the insects she shared it with.

[Meepfur]

Week of Hell
There are no broken limbs or bruises, only the poor soul who loses his way tonight.

[Meepfur]

Week of Paradise
The sunrise inside me calls out to you in mourning.

[Meepfur]

Feed me, I'm cute! Please?
Enekpe and Harmodius

RP 1

[Meepfur]

Hostified
Your concrete heart isn't beating, and I've tried to make it come alive.

[Meepfur]

Don't Tread On Me
Enekpe and Tian Yue

RP 2

[Meepfur]

How cute!
Enekpe and Akakios

RP 3

[Meepfur]

No one saw that~!
Enekpe and Jin Huang

RP 4

[Meepfur]

In Search of Breakfast
Enekpe and Lacrymosa

RP 5