[Battle of the Tribes] Daily Drabbles

[Tiarana]

6/19 - Flowers - Murkcrow I - 192 words (Wasp II, Dogrot I)

It was late spring. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the flowers were in full bloom. Murkcrow sneezed. He hated spring.

"If you weren't such a fuddy-duddy, maybe the flowers wouldn't bother you," his mother pointed out to him. He rubbed his nose with a hoof. He was pretty sure they'd still bother him.

"Nyeeeeeh, sucks to be you," his sister sneered at him. He rubbed his snotty hoof on her. That got rid of her in a hurry.

"Maybe if you went somewhere else," his brother suggested. "The beach, perhaps? There's less flowers there, aren't there?" That was the best suggestion Murkcrow had heard all day, but he didn't really like the beach either. The idea of vast, bottomless bodies of water unnerved him.

"Go jump in a lake," Stalker muttered at him. He wasn't sure if she was giving advice or telling him off, but he decided to do as she said anyway. It granted him some relief - at least, it got the pollen off his hide - but as soon as he climbed out of the water again, he was back to sneezing and snuffling.

Sigh. Spring.  

[Amorpheous]

Rush of Wind: 3/5

47. Keeping a Secret

Many that he passes only briefly never learn that he is blind.

Those who spend a little more time with him or look a little closer at his eyes will notice that his sight is no complete.

Being blind is not his secret though.

Even his secret is not truly a secret. It is only something so powerful and potent that he finds it difficult to give it words.

It is the need to hunt, to see that perfect splash of red, a craving that clutches his throat and never lets go.

Some, like Omen, figure out his secret by themselves simply by being around him and watching him, but he can never say it in those exact words, he can never give it clarity enough to substitute the image that haunts his every steps.

Maybe one day he will be free and there will be no secrets.

But for now, this one secret keeps him, not the other way around.

161 words  

[Amizade]

Comfort
Expecting to Fly | 4 of 5 | 100 words

Fly sat down in the grass next to a burning Ember. One of Essence’s aromatic potions was boiling away and the scent was intoxicating. She breathed it in and exhaled slowly. Her belly was full, her family and friends surrounded her… everything was perfect. She flopped onto her back and watched the smoke melt into the night. The swamp was sleeping, and if only for tonight, she felt no need to tal-- “WOW!” Greenfinch jumped. “Look how high that flame just went. How cool is that?! Did you see that, ‘Finch? It was taller than me! Imagine if…”

Greenfinch sighed.  

[fluorescein]

3/5: Glossbones- Present

He lived for exploration and discoveries so imagine his surprise when River-Swollen oh so nonchalantly plopped down a leaf wrapped parcel and he discovered what it was, and more importantly, who it came from. He sniffed it delicately and arched an eyebrow at the suddenly shifty, evasive sibling. She was never spooked. Cautious and methodical he decided to ignore it. Let the parcel bake in the rising, punishing sun. It wouldn't hurt to let it lay there for a bit. Getting presents from legendaries were always a mixed bag. Yes, they were challenging and presented great learning abilities but mercurial natures are hard to please. Especially those who had a wicked, fiery glint to their eyes. And he was sure she set them up to fail just to see them do so. It was a weird fascination she had with the skulls. She even talked to them.

Soon the sun made its trek across the sky and it became increasingly silly to ignore the inanimate object. He morosely made his way over, tail dragging and nose disobediently sniffing with excitement. Nudging the leaves aside he saw his "prize." And gulped. If the Crane were merciful the ground would suddenly turn into quicksand. But deep inside his coarse hide that hidden spark wound his way and illuminated his wimpy but steely spine. He would freaking create and move mountains with his artwork. That would show her and others.  

[Blinded By My Silence]

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as the sun burns | 2 / 5 | 139 words


b l u e


In his travels, Watch pondered many things. Some important and vast, questions like where did we come from or why do we live in the swamp when the Kiokote thrive in the plains. Some small and trivial, like how many kinds of grass there were. One of his favorites, however, was why was the sky blue. He enjoyed this particular thought because, well, blue was his favorite color. When he closed his eyes and through of blue, he thought of his mother nuzzled close to him as a foal. He thought of daughters, each and every one kissed by the blue of the sky. He thought of Rain, the only doe to ever make him question his destiny. And of course, he thought of water. Rivers, eddies, brooks and streams. And the Great Ocean that ties them all together.  

[Ruriska]

Peep: 4 of 5.

The storm crashed violently up above and with every roll of thunder, Peep’s little brood gave a collective whimper of fear.

"Don’t fear," she murmured, giving each one a lick on the nose.

In the dense thicket they managed to avoid the worst of the plummeting rain but there were still a few constant drops that snuck in. One fat drop plopped right down onto Peep and ran down her back with a shiver.

"It will be over soon and after every storm comes the sun."

After a day and a night the storm did finally bate and they stepped out of the thicket into brilliant sunshine. Peep stretched her cramped limbs and laughed with the joy of having the sun on her skin.


Words: 124  

[Vesperiie]

Vesp fails at rolling  

[Vesperiie]

Rises Again | [ 1 , 2 ] | Sweet Dreams | 112

It was still dark when he woke. Bleary eyed, half asleep, he raised his head, still wondering what had roused him when the form by his side twitched again. Stormborn, muttering in her sleep, had kicked him awake, and he couldn't help but chuckle. It was hard to imagine his sister, so ferocious during the day, afraid of anything, but here she was tossing and turning from a nightmare. And he too found himself doing something he never could have during the day, nuzzling her neck, whispering "shhh", brushing back her hair until her hooves stilled and her breathing deepened.

"Sweet dreams, sister," he murmured, before curling back up again to sleep.  

[grayseasons]

Timorous 4/5 - 25. Honorable
Words: 114


When she had stood off between the snake and her daughter, Timorous had not been thinking. She had simply darted between the two, dropping the rose mallow she had been working on transplanting, fully intent on getting the predator away. Later, when the threat was gone (by some careful maneuvering between her and By the Roots), the kio would tell her that her move had been honorable, defending her daughter like that. How brave she had been, despite needing help with the threat.
Timorous would only smile, finish patting down the soil for the rose mallow she finally had gotten back to, and say that it was nothing. She was simply defending her daughter.
 

[Minsuil]

27. Happiness | 4/5

What was happiness? Sometimes Lightbringer asked herself this and, alarmingly, was not able to procure an answer. She knew responsibility. She knew the feeling of elation that followed the completion of one's duty. But that was not happiness. Happiness was different...lighter? It did not carry with it any expectations. But then, that was something Lightbringer couldn't understand. She didn't know what it was to live without expectations.

When she was born all she had known were the expectations of her father, her siblings, the tribe. All she felt were their expectant stares. She'd wanted to escape that and so she'd left the tribe.

The quiet of the night surrounded her. Was this happiness? She wasn't sure but maybe she'd know one day.
 

[Nuclearity]

Darling; 5/5: "Walls" [118]

In the short duration of her life, Darling had certainly built up a lot of walls. She had a very vivid recollection of eavesdropping on an older doe speaking with her companion when she was but a filly; "Those bucks, you just can't trust them," as she spoke, her friend nodded her head enthusiastically, hanging on every word, "they're all pond scum, I tell you! Why, I can trust that flimsy little foxbun of mine before I give them any consideration!"

Darling's eyes had widened, then, and her little unguided brain soaked up the "information" like a sponge. 'Trust no one,' the uppity does she came across would tell her, 'but Swamp-forbid you ever tell them you don't.'
 

[Blinded By My Silence]

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distorting the light | 2 / 5 | 115 words


m i s e r yxxl o v e sxxc o m p a n y


Mirage woke from her nightmare with tears still glistening like diamonds on her lashes. The sun had not yet risen and the early morning dew had set a chill deep in her bones. What did it mean, she thought with pain in her eyes. Two parts of her fought, one that had dome the horrible thing and the other that wanted to revert it. Fear made her shiver, Mirage wrapped her tail around herself. After a few long moments, she pushed the thoughts aside, and shook the dew from her rainbow fur. With a heavy sigh, she set off, perhaps she would find a strapping young buck to peruse.

After all, misery loves company, right?  

[Amorpheous]

Rush of Wind: 4/5

33. Abandoned

They hadn’t abandoned him intentionally. They had merely been fleeing for their lives.

What was a little egg sitting in the sand compared to the lives of an entire family?

He had hatched in a sandstorm and even though he did not know it then, later on he was able to surmise that it was the sandstorm that had led to him hatching alone. He did not feel abandoned so much as he felt like he had unfairly cheated death.

As he grew older he could only think that he was meant to die there in the sand instead of living this shadow of a life without eyes that could show him the true beauty of the world. He should have died, but even death had abandoned him then.

And wasn’t that the mark of a ghost? A kin dead, but abandoned by true death?

145 words