<P> Mudpie, Magpie (Ashoka+Roshan/Daera)

[Meepfur]

The lithe wingzelle scurried over and across twisting roots, sliding in and out of the black muck of the swamp, with much greater ease than she had when she'd first come to this place, seeking out ruins of What Had Been, hoping to find something useful. She had found lots of Things since then, although thus far, none of them seemed to be useful in the way that she wanted them to be - or maybe they would be, and she just could not See it? Some of the Things were very clearly more, had some residue of power or even just long history, but so far as she could tell, none were Important. Interesting, though, she had lots of Interesting Things, and shiny things, and bones. They had so many bones, in fact, that they had taken to making things out of the least interesting ones, and bone-jewelry had long since replaced the shiny trinkets that she had once preferred. They were easier to clean the mud from, and she was not as sad if she lost them. She lost them a lot, but they were always replaced within a few days of the loss being noticed; like many things these days, this just happened without her asking, much as breakfast always waited for her in the morning.

It was odd, to be taken care of, and good. Convenient. Less for her to think about, so that she could focus on finding and trading and sorting and sometimes deciding, when they needed that. To find things now, though, she had to go farther and farther into the swamp, away from Bogtown and into the deeper, darker parts, where it was most dead and most alone. Others came too, sometimes, but they didn't like it, so she didn't make them, especially after one went missing. They didn't like that she went, either, but it was her choice and she wasn't afraid, and they couldn't make her stay.

They did make her take her siira with her, and it was surprisingly good at keeping up with her. It did get stuck sometimes, but she always helped it get unstuck even though it was cranky about it. They had done a lot of digging today, and they were both very muddy, slick and slimy and brown-black, but they hadn't found much, just bones - pieces of the skeleton of a little marsh-elk, which was more exciting than it sounded. They were definitely not Important, but the otherwise dingy prey-beasts had pretty silvery antlers and hooves that had come to be considered valuable. The marsh-elk were fast and hard to hunt, and clever, running to the deep places that people didn't want to go, not even for pretty silver antlers.

So nothing important today, but something was better than nothing at all. It did not feel like a wasted day, but soon it wouldn't be day anymore, and dark (not that it was ever light, just dark or less dark) was not a good time to be away from Bogtown, so Ashoka had secured her findings in her siira's packs and was now making her way back to the outer edges of the swamp and what amounted to civilization there.

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

His wild flight from the Pantheon had led him to... this. The bustling streets and marketplaces from before were such a blessing, filled with people ready to be in awe of a creature such as him. They should have cowered before his greatness! How had it come to this?! His sharp nails scraped ineffectively at the stone embedded deep within his palm, seeking to mar the beautiful, hateful surface. This was all the stone's fault--it and that damn dragon whom he'd been helpless to resist! the mud sucked at his clawed feet, threatening to drag him down, and the Asura snarled and hissed and spat with his disgust and rage. He hated this! He hated it all! He was covered in filth and grime, his skin threatening to crawl from the sensation.

A whiff of something that wasn't swamp slime caught his nose, and Roshan jerked to a halt, his irritated sounds cutting off immediately. He moved silently towards the source, and it wasn't long until he had a direct line of sight. He stalked towards her, making no effort to hide his actions even as he pointedly looked her over. Fur, feathers, horns... A chimera of beasts, yes, but there was clearly intelligence behind those eyes.

Perhaps away from the foolishness of these Dragon Kings, mortals here would show true respect to their betters. "What are you?" He growled at her, drawing himself up to his full height so he could get a better look. A hand snaked out, fully intending to grab the tip of her wing and pull it out so he could get a better look.

Jealous may or may not have been pulsing through him, for he did not have wings!

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

The mud-slick siira was the first to be aware of the asura, sensing the life of him. Head raised and ears pricked, it froze in place to watch the approach of the stranger on whom its glowing ears were fixed. It was the cesation of motion, the lack of sound of being followed, that alerted Ashoka to the fact that they were no longer alone. She was already several feet ahead of her guard-beast when the tall, demon-looking man strode close enough to touch her. He was fascinating to look at, black skin with wild flecks of color when he wasn't muddy, and what was that in his stomach?

The question was barely in her mind before he grabbed her by the wing and pulled it to spread the mud-coated brown feathers. The pard had just enough time to fix him with a puzzled before her siira bounded the final distance between them to lunge at her 'assailant' with its full bodyweight, seeking to clamp its wicked teeth on the offending arm.

Ashoka pulled back out of the way, attention split between what was happening and the flash of images his touch had sparked.

Tsunake

om nom nom. :F
(sorry for extra quotes, correcting phone oopses.)

 

[Tsunake]

The brown feathers were as soft as he expected, and part of him was tempted to tear some right out. The petty urge was discarded easily enough, and Roshan had just enough time to snap his head around at the sudden blur of movement before teeth ripped through his flesh and held fast. Pain flooded his senses, as did rage. First the stone, now this?! The Asura roared out, attempting to grab his assailant by the scruff of its neck with sharp, savage claws. He would kill this creature, and the mortal as well!

Struggling with the beast, the Asura could not quite line up in order to strike a killing blow, and the siira seemed determined to hold onto him.

Phobos stirred silently in the depths of Roshan's consciousness, too weak to do much besides send out a small pulse of power out to any in the area. It did not know what had caused the sudden spike in its host's mental activities, but it intended to settle things. The fool mortal would get himself killed if he did not learn his proper place.

Meepfur

No problem! <3 NOMNOM.

 

[Meepfur]

The clawed grab at its scruff did nothing to deter the creature, and if anything it only bit harder - and might have jerked its head back to rip away and swallow the tender flesh currently between its fangs, were it not for the sudden awareness of something more within the man-thing who had touched the pard-thing it had been set to guard. There was power there, dark power, and if there was anything a siira respected, it was that. It did not let go immediately, but gone was the urgency to deal with what had seemed a threat, curiosity replacing alarm and hunger, although it did not change that its charge had been assaulted.

The siira was confused as to what to do next. It did not want to eat the Dark Thing's vessel, nor could it let that vessel harm the pard. Its limited sentience was being tested.

By now, Ashoka had had a moment to sort and brush away the fragmented visions that flitted across her mind, and knew the stranger for what he was, at least in part. She knew the feeling of hosts well enough by now. "Let him go, Sekhemkhet," she decided, fluttering both mud and the feeling of his touch off her wings. "Hosts are not for eating, but you can bite him again if he misbehaves."

Reluctantly, the siira obeyed, but unblinking eyes remained fixed on the dark not-dinner.

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

Something had happened. He could feel the creature suddenly cease in its ferocious attempt to rip and tear at his arm, though its jaws remained clamped. The Asura shifted his weight, ready to break the foul beast's neck until the mortal unexpectedly spoke.

The beast heeded her command, its teeth pulling free of his flesh so that mana could ebb forth, spilling across his dark skin like blood would. His eyes shot from the wound to the mortal's face when she said that word again. Host. His lips curled back, immediately rebelling against such a foul statement. The Dragon King had explained as much, and Roshan still denied it. He was no host, no tool to some parasite!

"Misbehaves?" He spat. "I am an Asura! I could rend you where you stand!" And he was tempted, yes, yes he was--but he was eyeing the siira warily, clearly not sure if he wanted to tangle with it again.

Though still agitated, his host did no longer seem to be in a dire situation. With a last, feeble flicker, the god settled back into a more dormant state, trying to save its little bit of strength until it could do more.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

Ashoka stood unimpressed by the threat spewed at her by the asura, just observed him passively for several moments longer. The mana-not-blood was as fascinating as the rest of him, from the color-flecked black skin to the immense height, and the cloud of possibilities, some already lost while others still belonged to the weak energy he bore, rendering its possibilities even more difficult to discern than those of its returned kin. All tangled together, flitting about and twining around, making any sense of them would have required time and concentration she wasn't currently interested in sparing, especially on such a grumbly thing. He was interesting, yes, but also she didn't like him very much, she was thinking.

"Maybe," she allowed with a shrug, "But you won't." Probably wouldn't. Even so, death did not frighten her. It was only the beginning of more possibilities. It would be inconvenient and ill-timed, as she still had much to do as she was now, as Ashoka, but she did not fear it as she feared Ending.

"I'm a pard, by the way," the Prophet added. "Since you asked. And that's a siira." Another pause, followed by a giggle. "A siira, Asura."

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

One of his eyebrows twitched violently at her casualness, and Roshan drew himself up with outrage. Who did she think she was, to say what he would and wouldn't do?? Naturally proud and vengeful creatures, Roshan was immediately inclined to snap her fool neck and leave her corpse to the stinking swamp... but then she spoke again. His silence was heavy as he glowered at the pard and her... beast, looking between them. A rumble of irritation stirred in his throat, not unlike that of an overly large cat, but his interest won out over his wrath. "What is a pard?" He grunted, again drawn to the wings attached to her back. There were more of them than her, then.

As for the siira... well, he would be quite happy to never deal with one again, he thought.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"I'm a pard," Ashoka answered with a whiff of impatience and implied but uspoken 'duh' at the end of the statement. Clearly, since what she was was a pard, then what a pard was was what she was. Wht a silly thing, this asura, asking such silly questions, although it did occur to her that she was, in fact, not the very best example of a pard - at least, not as she currently was. Most of the rest of them couldn't go on two legs like she could, few enough that she only knew one personally.

She frowned at him for a moment, hands on her hips, considering whether or not she should show him, since he had been awfully rude! Then again, maybe he would be a teensy bit less rude if he knew that she, like her siira escort, were capable of eating him. Not that she would, but it was a physical possibility.

"Fine," she said aloud, in spite of the fact that her debate had not involved him at all, and changed. Petite, mud-covered woman was replaced by enormous, mud-covered cat, standing roughly the height of the siira. Her wings were now incongruously small compared to the rest of her, and some of her bone jewelry didn't survive the transition, but the blue torque around her upper arm responded by adjusting itself accordingly to the change.

Blue and brown eyes fixed him with a pointed stare. There, happy now?

Tsunake