[Battle of the Tribes] Daily Drabbles

[Chrystali]

Comfort
Sacred Grove | 2 of 5 | 174 words

Though she lived in the sands now, the rolling plains would always be her first home. Not all of her memories there were bad, but the more she found herself dwelling on the past, the more she realized how trying it had been to grow up there. With her exacting mother and mostly absent father, Ascent wondered if she'd be a parent not unlike her own. The very idea made her shudder.

But that was not what was pressing her thoughts. No, what baffled her was the small gift bundle that a few hearty cheetah's had delivered, couriers from that past she was mulling over. She knew it was from her mother because it contained her favorite fruit as a filly, the type that could not be found in the desert dunes.

Comfort food, she mused inwardly, nosing the only slightly bruised swell of red flesh, reveling in the scent of it. She may not have to get along with her mother anymore, but she'd certainly accept the gift. Mother never needed to know.

 

[Tiarana]

6/22 - Spiritual - Murkcrow III - 131 words (Wasp II, Hollyhock I, Dogrot I)

Murkcrow still wondered about that dream sometimes. The sand, the strange tree, the oasis. It was all so vivid. And he had apparently slept an entire day. The only explanation was that it was a product of the Motherfather, but even when Murkcrow had asked a legendary what it meant, the best answer he received was "it seems many kin have had that dream." Nothing had happened since then. Now he thought perhaps it had just been a long, strange fever dream, the product of too many restless nights or some bad eggs. But the feeling of the dream still lingered vividly, and it worried at the edge of his mind. He wasn't sure if the idea made him anxious or excited, but he was certainly feeling vaguely agitated these days.  

[Amizade]

Kiss
Expecting to Fly | 7 of 10 | 196 words

“I,” declared Fly, “am never going to kiss a boy. Boys are gross.”
Flowerpod laughed. “Darling, you’re not a filly anymore, it’s quite alright to be attracted to other kin. Besides, how else am I meant to have grandchildren?”
The girl scowled at her mother, “You have two other daughters. Besides, you’re still able to have another clutch yourself!”
Flowerpod grew distant at the mention of her other children. It had been a long time since she had seen or heard from them.
She was brought back down to earth by Fly's voice. “They’ll only drag me down, and you know I’m meant to fly – figuratively, that is,” she added to reassure her mother (you never know with Fly).
“No one understands me, not even you mum.” Her mother’s expression was painful. There had been too many near misses, too many times where she had been sick with worry, too many times where she had pleaded, where she had wept.
“Well,” Flowerpod's voice broke as she finally spoke, “make sure he’ll take good care of you.”
Fly lay silent, wondering how their conversation had gone from never kissing a boy to finding a suitable lifelong partner.  

[Blinded By My Silence]

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distorting the light | 3 / 5 | 122 words


w a l l s


As she lay down in her bed of grass, seep eluded the doe with rainbow fur. Sheltered from the wind and rain under the roots of a large tree, similar but much smaller than the one she and her family had once called home, but still she shivered. Behind her lids, eyes darted at every sound. Was it him? Even during the day, her dreams haunted her, visions of her departed beloved creeping after her, groaning, bleeding his guilt into her. Sounds melded together, temperature fluctuated. She shivered one moment and was sweating the next. She had not slept in days. How could she when the walls grew higher and higher, trapping her here with only her madness to keep her company.  

[Ruriska]

A Misunderstanding
1 of 5

"They're upset," she said without seeming to actually care.

Watch Me blinked in surprise. "Why?"

"Because of what you said of course."

Still surprised; he'd thought that conversation had gone marvellous. "... which was?"

"That they were terrible and should never dance again."

The Kiokote laughed. "Well, only when compared to an Acha. That should have been obvious. Totoma aren’t meant to dance, though I suppose they did a fine enough job for their species. I did say that…"

"Hm."

"What?"

He sighed when she wouldn’t answer.

"I’ll talk to them but it was really just a big misunderstanding. I mean, come now, I was hardly going to let Totoma dance in my troupe. Though they could be useful for moving scenery around, I’ll run that by them… hey, where are you going?"  

[fluorescein]

5/5: Glossbones- Over the Rainbow

Not prone to violence, he was wondering if the two Mares' frequent visits was rubbing off on him. His eyes slid to his sister, River-Swollen. Constant exposure to her oh so sunny disposition didn't help. But here he was, looking at a potential customer and wishing he could beat some sense into that thick skull with one of the myriad decorated skulls he sold. This idiotic kin actually told him he lived "over the rainbow" and that Glossbones and his sister were more than welcome to collect remaining payment for the skull he would purchase. Oh no, he couldn't follow the kin. They had to forge their own path. Alas, business had to go on. This kin was from the tribe who favored mushrooms despite the glaring effects it left. He gulped. Somehow he would find the kin. It meant the next meal for both of them and their many owlcats.
 

[Chrystali]

Sweet Dreams
Sacred Grove | 3 of 5 | 158 words

She thought it'd be hard to sleep in the desert, but surprisingly, it was infinitely easier than the plains. Shifting her weight subtly against the cool night grains mixed with furs and feathers, Ascent closed her eyes and thought about her day, her routine for sleeping unbroken.

It was not an extraordinary day. It was like many others - gathering desert fruits, discovering new dunes and oasis to harvest from, bathing, napping, talking about the future with her mate. It was a simple life but it was her life, one that gave her such peaceful, sweet dreams that she'd not change it for the world.

Ascent thought of the greenery against the banks of gold and the spots of red and orange fruit amidst high boughs; she thought of crystal waters, of the dusty black pelt of her beloved, and distantly, a brief image of a red tower that she would not remember come morning, and succumbed to sleep.

 

[Amorpheous]

Rush of Wind: 1/5

7. Dancing
Some might call the hunt dancing. He is naturally graceful, flying and leaping through the air in pursuit of his prey.

That wasn't how he saw himself, but that didn't change the fact that he might have been a dancer if he had been given a different life. The loose, waving banner of his tail would have fluttered in the wind, lifted by his movements, extending the natural flow of his dance.

Another life would have given him eyes to see and a heart that could love the arts. Another life would have seen him hunt only for the joy and beauty of it, to provide for others so that all might dance. Another life would have given him a family as a child.

Another life might have seen him dead as a foal.

But he had this life where he didn’t dance because he hunted. This life saw him obsessed with a color he could not see. This was what life had given him.

165 words
(rolled 8 again, so substituting 7 instead)  

[Nuclearity]

Rising Sun; 2/5: "Smile" [116]

The sun was shining, the Kin were dining. Everything was grand, in the sand. It was Rising Sun's first time at a beach area, and everything astounded her; The scents, the textures, the weight of the air was so different! And she loved different!

It was some sort of gathering, which Sunny had been invited to purely by chance by a traveling merchant. Must've been meant to be, because she'd never enjoyed a cuisine as much as the salt-water fish and shell-fish.

And then there was the sunset. It was beautiful and sorrowful at the same time, and she couldn't help wandering off to admire it, closing her eyes to the warmth kissing her face. Smiling.

 

[Amizade]

Abandoned
Expecting to Fly | 8 of 10 | 157 words

“Woww.”

Expecting to Fly had stumbled across a large cave, where someone had evidently used to live in. There was a hole in the ceiling, allowing sunlight to filter through and creating a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere. Various skulls were scattered around the area, she spied a small bird’s, an eaglehound’s, and… was that a Totoma’s? No, it couldn’t be.

She poked around the cave some more, exploring every nook and cranny. There were a few broken shells, a pile of pebbles worn smooth by the river, a – Fly wasn’t so sure what that green thing was – and a small collection of feathers gathered in a corner. She sorted through them, these were probably the rejects, most had broken shafts or crooked vanes. Selecting a large red one, Fly walked over and planted it at the entrance of the cave. “There,” she declared, “that means I’ve been here.” And with that, she went off to explore someplace else.  

[Blinded By My Silence]

Next~