[PRP] In Remembrance ((Djose and Grimm))

[Nisshou H]

This is a private RP between Nisshou H's Djose and Grimm. No posting please.


 

[Nisshou H]

The air stunk like smoke, blood and burnt flesh. The pungent odor had been what had drawn the pack of two into the human camp to begin with. Ordinarily Djose advised against mingling with humans. She had warned her son Grimm that they did not take kindly to strange beings. They were friends of the blessed few docile soquili that roamed the land. Those that would be rode and provide companionship to the two-legged kind. They were no friend to those that preferred to travel freely and there was certainly no kindness to be found for those like Djose and those like Grimm.

Djose was a giant, taller than any human with great paws that could crush their young if she had any desire to. Her teeth were like razors built for tearing apart flesh and her claws were just as sharp. She was a danger to the human kind and if she was not such a threat she would certainly be hunted for her thick coat of fur. Grimm looked like a nightmare. His rich brown coat was interrupted by unnatural blue and crimson markings shaped like extra eyes. He had patches where his entire body seemed to fade away and flicker but he still remained as whole as he ever was. Whatever curse had caused such an affliction was strictly limited to those few areas. It was much like the dripping blood that had no source but continued to fall off him in a steady stream. Like Djose, he had paws instead of hooves and multiple tails that would be prized for their dense fur. He also had the same sharp teeth and claws but although he was almost the size of a normal stallion nearly everything still avoided him.  

[Nisshou H]

Against Djose’s words of caution Grimm had taken the initiative to see what has transpired within the camp. They had known about the humans for many nights but nothing had seemed out of the ordinary. Now Grimm stood on the edge of the human campsite looking at the destruction that lay before them. The stick and deer hide shelters that the humans had erected had been knocked over. Fire had caught on one of them and as Grimm stepped forward he found why the air smelt of roasting meat even though there was nothing on the cooking spit. Sticking out from beneath the burning shelter Grimm could see an arm. He moved in a beeline for the trapped human but was intercepted by Djose. She blocked his path and his view to ensure that he went no closer.

“That one is gone.” Djose said solemnly as she stepped around her adopted son. She had taught him much since declaring herself to be the orphan’s mother but death had always been something he had difficulty accepting. Djose suspected that it had something to do with his natural inheritance. There was no mistaking the truth behind those crystalline horns; he had unicorn blood within him. Grimm did not follow after his mother. Djose turned back to see him approaching the burning body and watched with some fascination as he tugged the hide down to cover the arm.

Djose smiled softly at the boy. “His spirit will rest easier now?” She asked softly. Grimm didn’t answer the question as he walked past, a frown on his face.

“Let’s look for others.” He said instead. Djose’s smile saddened a little at his determination. She could tell from the look of the campsite that there were no survivors. Grimm was in for more disappointment and she feared that he would not be able to stomach it.  

[Nisshou H]

Grimm led the way through the camp with his enormous mother trailing behind him. He had an easy time with it with each paw being padded and clawed to help with his grip. He was able to place himself on uneven terrain and smooth surfaces without fear of slipping. Djose, on the other hand, was encountering many difficulties at every turn. Her paws were simply too large to set down on some of the places that Grimm selected. There were bodies scattered about and while Grimm made his way to each one to check for life Djose had to take measures to avoid crushing them beneath her step. The further they went into the destruction the less Djose moved, her heart felt heavy to watch this.

Grimm was becoming steadily more frustrated. Djose watched as his movements became more and more frantic. He’d move from body to body faster than she’d ever seen him move before, occasionally he stumbled but managed to keep to his feet. He lowered his head to each body and tilted so that his ears would line up with their mouths. Then he would wait for their breath to tickle the sensitive hairs there so that he might heal them. No one had taught him the skill but whenever Grimm had gotten hurt as a child he had managed to heal himself, not as well as anyone with training might have been capable of but enough to take away his pains. Djose had never seen him use it on another creature before but it was obvious to her what Grimm was hoping to achieve here.

Djose sighed sadly as Grimm moved away from the body of what appeared to be a young hunter if his arrows were anything to judge by. He immediately started shifting debris around in hopes of finding another to check. Djose couldn’t watch this anymore.  

[Nisshou H]

“Grimm…” She called softly sweeping her long tails around her. Grimm didn’t reply, he didn’t want to, he knew what his mother would say.

“Grimm.” Djose called again, more firmly. This time Grimm lifted his head to look at her. She could see the beginnings of tears in his eyes that Grimm did not realize were there. He merely thought that the remnants of the smoke were stinging his eyes. “Grimm, no one survived this.” Djose said looking around her sadly. “This bloodshed, this loss, was caused by great evil. There was no point in this killing, it was done for amusement.” Djose felt sick just saying it. There was no denying that there were creatures in this world that killed only for the pleasure of killing. None of the bodies had been torn into for food, nothing had been dragged away, and no one had survived to look after their dead. This had been a senseless act of violence and a terrible atrocity but there was nothing for them to do.

Grimm was furious. He could feel his fur rising. He knew, of course, that his mother was right. He could smell it everywhere a strange scent of a beast. It had lingered on the bodies.

“A skinwalker did this.” He spat swiping at a pole still sticking out of the ground snapping it in half and sending splinters of wood to the ground. The line and clothes near it suggested that this pole had been used only to dry the cloth that humans covered themselves in for protection. Djose nodded her head in agreement still standing at a distance.

“That is the most likely culprit, yes.”

Grimm scowled looking at the cloth still. “We should hunt it down.”
 

[Nisshou H]

Djose watched carefully as Grimm continued to tug at the cloth. He was growing more aggressive by the minute and it worried Djose. He was turning to violence, and while killing skinwalkers was nothing to feel shame over for no good could come from them, wanting to actively hunt one down could only lead to a tragic path. If seeing this death was so hard on him that he was consider turning into a vengeful hunter then Djose could only imagine how following the wake of destruction a skinwalker left behind would affect him.

“Grimm.” Djose said as soothingly as she could to catch her son’s attention. Grimm’s ears flicked back at the sound but he did not look at her. His mother had a way of talking him around to whatever she wanted, mostly because she was usually right, but he didn’t want to be talked down just yet. He pointedly focused on the fabric, it was a deep red dark enough that it looked like the blood splattered about the scene but it had beautiful pink flowers on it. Next to it was a long strip of cloth in a pale sky blue, it bore no patterns on its own but it was spotted with blood. He kept shuffling them about well aware that his mother still looked on.

“Grimm.” Djose tried again. Grimm kept staring at the cloth. “My boy… please look at me.” She moved her tails back behind her so that she would be free to step closer to her son. Finally Grimm turned to look at his great, wolf-like mother and the first tear fell from his eyes, it came out red as Grimm’s tears always did. Djose suspected it would be the first of many but Grimm forced the rest back for now. The rest would surely fall later when no one could see him.
 

[Nisshou H]

“They deserved better!” Grimm said fiercely deciding to start the dialogue that would come before his mother could steer it. It was wrong what had happened. It made his heart ache for them. “They deserve better, even now! We can’t let it live, it will just do this again.”

“It will.” Djose replied evenly. “But that is not the point.” Grimm scowled. Djose moved closer to her son until she could wrap her large tails around him. He was hurting in much the same way that Djose had when she had first encountered the havoc a skinwalker could cause.

“Grimm, I am going to tell you something that my mother told me when I was about your age. I want you to listen to me carefully, can you do that?” Djose looked down at her son but he seemed determined to avoid her gaze. Still, Grimm nodded once to signal that he would do as she asked. “She told me that skinwalkers are evil. They only exist to hurt and they go against the natural way of the world. There is no reasoning with them. The only way to stop them is to kill them. This you know.”

“Yes.” Grimm muttered stubbornly locking his eyes on the ground. His mother had told him many times about the natural balances of the world and how it should be preserved. In those lessons she had also explained the nature of skinwalkers so that he would learn not to be like them.

“She also told me that seeking one out to kill it was not the way to handle it.” At this Grimm finally looked up at Djose startled by this information. Djose nodded her head slowly. “I was confused too. It took me years to understand but I will save you some time. Killing them for what they have done is a good act but at the same time it as an act of revenge. It is a desire born from hate and that will only fester inside your heart and grow. Seeking them out simply to kill them will make you little better than they are. Do you understand?”

Grimm’s brows had come together in confusion at what his mother was telling him. “I don’t.” He said pulling away from his mother’s tails. “They will only continue to hurt people! People like this!” He gestured around the campsite. “How can getting rid of something evil be wrong?”

Djose sighed, not out of impatience but out of realization that her explanation hadn’t made it easier on him. Perhaps it had only made it more difficult to understand. “Let me put it another way… in hunting the skinwalker out of hatred and revenge you will become obsessed with the goal. It will consume you and corrupt your heart. Before long, revenge will be all that you will know. Is that something you wish for Grimm?”  

[Nisshou H]

Grimm glared at his mother, an expression made somewhat more terrifying thanks in part to his blood red pupils. He was tempted to declare that yes that was exactly what he wanted simply to spite his mother. Djose continued to look on with nothing but patience and love in her crystal blue eyes and Grimm felt his will fold beneath such a look. This was his mother who had done nothing but care for him since their meeting. She had not been bound to him by blood to do this task, Djose had simply chosen to do so and it was something Grimm always remembered whenever he was annoyed with her ways. He grumbled flicking the ends of his two tails in agitation.

“No that is not something I wish for.” Grimm replied with a grumble. He didn’t want to be a vengeful creature; that would make him just like the skinwalker in his heart if not in his mind. Djose smiled in a sad sort of way. It was a difficult subject to come to terms with but Grimm seemed to have accepted the truth in it, at least enough that he would not do something rash. “But aren’t we supposed to protect people?” It seemed that Grimm’s acceptance of the issue at hand had limitations.

“We are and we do, Grimm.” Djose answered looking over her son carefully before off to the forest. “But not like that. We protect what we find but we do not hunt with a grudge. We must accept tragedy without lingering on it or it will consume us.” Grimm listened to Djose’s words carefully. They made a certain amount of sense but it still bothered him to simply stand by and do nothing. Seemingly sensing his distress Djose turned back to her child with a sympathetic look.  

[Nisshou H]

“Ours is a large world, Grimm. We cannot help everyone. To do so would cost us everything that we are. We can only preserve our hearts and souls and fight the battles that find us. Like this we can protect what there is to the best of our abilities.” Grimm dug his claws into the earth and ground his teeth together in response to Djose’s continued speech. It was the same thing she had been saying over and over but it still didn’t sit right with him to just let people die.

“And,” Djose started again. Grimm looked up. “We can remember.” Grimm tilted his head to one side in askance. “We can remember those who have fallen to the wicked ways of the world. We can keep their memories whole so that they may find peace in the afterlife.” Once more Djose moved to her son and swept her tails around him. “These people did not deserve what happened to them, but they can be at peace knowing how much you care.” Djose rubbed her muzzle against Grimm’s neck soothingly. “The beast that did this to them will meet its end, Grimm. Perhaps not from you or I, but the wicked always come to an end. The world will make certain of it.”

Grimm buried his face in his mother’s fur. He didn’t cry anymore, he just stood there listening to her breathing. “It will be okay, Grimm. The world has a will and there is no force that can go against that.” Grimm nodded his head slowly before pulling away. It still hurt him to think of the innocent blood that had been spilled. It filled him with a rage that burned at the edges of his heart. He got the feeling that this was precisely what Djose was trying to prevent.

“The humans… I’ve seen them… they leave markers for their dead.” Grimm said slowly eyes focusing on the undisturbed ground that lay away from the conflict.

“We can do something similar for them, if you would like.” Djose offered. Grimm nodded his head firmly. It wouldn’t fix everything, but he thought that perhaps it might help ease his burdened mind a little.  

[Nisshou H]

Grimm and Djose had worked in silence setting up perfectly balanced piles of stones in the empty field that stood apart from the bodies. It took time to gather the stones together but Grimm insisted that there be at least three markers in case one became unstable and crumbled. The sun had nearly sunk down beneath the horizon by the time the piles were finally set in place. Djose thought that this would be enough to sate Grimm’s burning desire to help the fallen but she had been wrong. She watched as her son walked throughout the destruction picking up trinkets here and there and bringing them back. He set them carefully at the base of each stone memorial. A few broken arrows and bow without string went to the foot of one. In the center, the largest of the three, he placed a few shattered clay bowls and a necklace of porcupine quills and colorful stones. At the last he set down a child’s rag doll and a beaded bracelet.

Djose smiled at the stereotypical display Grimm had made for the people. It was a simplistic and innocent way to portray these people whose lives had doubtlessly been far more complex. She could not fault him for the childish rendering as Grimm was still in many ways a child himself whether he was grown into adult form or not.

“For the men, women, and children?” Djose prompted. Grimm nodded his head firmly as he regarded his work with solemnity. He wanted people to know exactly what each grave marker was for at first glance. He wanted people to know and to remember these strangers with the same heavy heart that he felt now. A mournful silence settled between mother and son as they both paid their respects to the fallen humans. Djose couldn’t help but find it slightly ironic, these were the same people that would quite eagerly kill herself and her son believing them to be monsters and Grimm was insistent on loving them in their death. She turned to look at her son and was surprised to find him looking back at the dead again.  

[Nisshou H]

“Grimm there really is nothing more we can do.” Djose said softly but her words fell on deaf ears. Before she had finished her sentence Grimm had already turned away and headed back into the wreckage. He had made certain that others would remember them and even managed to cover most of the bodies while he was picking up rocks and personal items for the memorials but there was still more that he could do.

Grimm moved silently through the remnants of the human settlement looking for something he had seen earlier. In the last fading light of the day he finally spotted it once again and he ran over. Strewn about on the ground were a couple colorful pieces of cloth, torn and bloody in some parts but still beautiful. He picked them up and tossed them across his back before returning to his mother as the light left the sky. Djose regarded her son curiously as he returned with some stray bits of cloth draped across his back.

“Grimm?” She questioned but he padded his way right past her and stopped directly in front of the largest stone pile.

“I’ll remember you.” He declared to the stone homes for the fallen spirits. “I will always remember you and what happened.” He looked back at the cloth for a moment. “You won’t be forgotten and one day things will be made right.” Djose came closer to her son as she realized what he was doing. She had been wrong, there was more her son could do. Grimm heard his mother’s approach and turned to look at her, his eyes seemed to glow in the lack of light.

“I’m going to wear these.” He said indicating the cloth. “In remembrance.” Djose nodded her head in understanding.

“I will help you make them fit.”