Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been a good week for Diablerie, so far as she was concerned. The young filly had felt stifled when in her basket, nearly driven to distraction by the frustration of stagnation. Throughout the waiting period between birth and emergence, she in particular had rustled her confines with undue regularity.

But now she was out; and, being so, discovered that her feet were usable not only for kicking in vain at wicker walls, but for propping up her body unsteadily and making an unseemly imitation of a walk. She had barely come to regard her brothers in the first few hours, far more interested in seeing to this instinctual coordination of one hoof after another. It had been nearly half a day before the filly had realized her brothers were, in fact, not merely a part of the scenery.

Unfortunately, her first discovery about them had been how very entertaining they could be, when properly provoked. For the past week, she had invested nearly all her efforts into tormenting her siblings- nipping at tails, bumping shoulders, prancing and teasing and mocking the pair whenever the opportunity presented itself. And sometimes, when no opportunity was available, she'd find ways to make them; no expense could be withheld in the pursuit of picking on her brothers.

Which was what she was doing now. Even as her mother approached, Diablerie was snapping at Sanguine with her teeth. She loved particularly to leave marks on her brothers' wings, and laughed constantly at how silly they looked with those big, heavy wings that slowed them down and interfered with their developing maneuvers. Her own were much smaller, she thought- at the very least, she didn't think feel as though she had to drag the feathery things, not like their hulking skin-and-bone constructs. If she had known anything of what those demon wings represented, perhaps she would have been jealous instead- but why would she feel anything but pity (and, yes, amusement) for her poor brothers, who had on them such vulnerable targets for her to n** at?

The teeth struck home, but before she could taste blood, Diablerie took a quick two-step prance clear from the expected retaliation. Giggling to herself in a high voice, she responded to her mother's greeting as could only be expected- a blunt head-butt, more challenge than affection, and more heady laughter as she trotted to get toward Vexation's side, looking for something new to set her teeth to.

Eyes wide in utter bewilderment, little Sanguine tried to make sense of the way his sister was behaving. Her tormenting bites and kicks hurt and he didn't understand why they hurt, and they hurt lots, and she bit him and kicked him lots, and, and, and...! Why did she do that? His lower lips quivered for a moment before he heard daddy talking (seemingly to himself) again, and his ears pricked forward. "Daddy!" He was, undoubtedly, a daddy's colt, a fact which became very obvious when he galloped up to Paroxysm, and peered up at the pink Kalona-wind cross, red eyes full of adoration.

He was somewhat oblivious of the tension between Diablerie and Habringer, aware that they seemed to 'play together' a lot, but not it wasn't in fun. Fluttering his wings, he attempted to hover off of the ground. He'd managed it once before, but predictably, was not able to do so in company. The company, as far as he was concerned. "Daddy, where is your horn? I doesn't see it!" Nor, in fact, did he see his own. He had looked down into a small pond, and there he'd been... but still, no horn. Did unicorn horns take longer to grow on Soquili that weren't all unicorn? A wind Soquili like Papa who had a unicorn tail really ought to have a horn as well. Mama did.

Diablerie had learned quickly not to give much heed to whatever her more nasty-mouthed brother said- but even so, there were some things that just got her dander up, and any accusations of cowardice fell well within those bounds. Especially since it wasn't even true!... this time. She'd get him back later, oh yes, she would....

Resolving to carry out her business for now, the filly went in for the n**, wondering if she might get away with drawing blood this time. But she had barely even laid a tooth on her mother, going for the tender flesh on the back haunch, when flsk-- the tail slapped her right on her soft nose! "Yaik!" Whining and drawing away, Diablerie didn't even have the decently to look properly abashed as her mother gave her a harsh lecture. Working her nose and shaking her head at the fading sting, she didn't seem to listen half as much as glower at her mother. She'd do whatever she damn well wanted, no matter what her mother or anyone else had to say!

It was the most respect she could muster to stand and wait for Vexation to finish speaking- at which point, she just snorted, muttered an unpromising "Whatever", and took off like her tail was on fire, headed in a dead charge for the bloodied sibling that had caught her ire moments before. It would have been better to wait until he wouldn't have expected revenge- but she was ready for a spat now, dammit, and he could just cater to her whim!

Had Sanguine heard the voice in Paroxysm's head, he would doubtless have been hurt. As it was, he was oblivious to the harsh criticism of one half of his parent, and nuzzled up against the large stallion's leg adoringly. That was, until a butterfly came and landed almost directly upon his nose, right before his eyes. Startled, the colt skittered backwards somewhat, his weight mostly in his hind legs as he examined the bug from a different perspective. It was huge! He snorted, trying to blow it off of his nose. That didn't seem to work. Shaking his head, he pranced about, once again failing to get the insect dislodged. "What's it doin'?" he asked, unsure of what to do about it, or what to make of its behavior.

Frowning slightly, and raising an eyebrow, Vexation observed the behavior of her two most wild children. They were fairly normal as Kalona get went. That was good, at least. "Diablerie, you will not simply dismiss what I have told you. If you try to attack me without asking again, you're going to be in hot water, young lady." She was attempting to modulate her language for the benefit of her foals, but every once in awhile something slipped out. Earlier, it had been just a couple of swear words... though she was certain they'd overheard her when she got a thorn lodged in her hoof. Certainly, that alone had doubtless increased their vocabularies considerably.

Taking a note from the books of both his parents, Harbinger's response was pithy, and quite to the point. "Shut the #$*@ up, Die." Flapping his wings to send the filly away from him, or be caught in the little claws at the end of them, he edged to his feet.

Paro, once assured that Vex was handling things with the other, more violent two, had turned a good deal of attention on the much less harmless one. He felt more sure of himself when dealing with the little Sanguine, and pushing that second voice to the back of his mind, inspected his nose.

"Maybe it is trying to eat you?" His expression was wry, and tone somewhat gentler. "Get back where you belong!" He snarled, halfheartedly. There was a dry chuckle in that back corner, and he felt his gentler side close its eyes and feign sleep.

So deposited on the bed, the little filly was stunned by the swiftness and precision with which her charge had been broken. It took her a few seconds to scramble together what had even happened, and the confusion was more than apparent on her face, along with perhaps a small touch of awe. Maybe size and smarts did count for something, after all....

Wait, what was she thinking? She'd just been tossed through the air like some loathsome piece of rubbish! By her own mother, nonetheless! This was not an indignity that Diablerie was willing to stand for!

... But maybe some other time, when Vex wasn't looking. "'M not a cat," Diablerie grumbled as she regained her footing, slinking along with her head lowered to where the less imposing figures of her father and favored brother were making some sort of a fuss. At least there, nobody would try and pick her off her hooves!

If anything could get Sanguine to calm down, that single question from his father could. "No, 'course not." The shaking of his knobbly knees said otherwise, but still, he would pretend to be brave until he was brave for real. Anxiously, feeling certain that soon his entire body would be devoured, the colt waited for the butterfly to go about its business. Maybe it would leave. Unfortunately, though, it had decided to simply crawl along his face, fluttering against his cheek. Hmm. That felt a lot like the kisses his mother gave him. Was the bug trying to be nice? Curiously, he peered at it as best as he could, looking utterly ridiculous in the process. Hey! It wasn't biting him! With something akin to wonder, the foal remained perfectly still (as close to perfectly still as he physically was able), his ears flicking forward and back.

The second time that Harbringer swore, Vexation noticed it. With a faintly wry smile, she put her nose to his, blowing slightly. It both asserted her dominance, and showed him (subtly, for she was not very demonstrative) her affection. "Picking up on my language, I see." That probably meant that she and Paroxysm would be having words. She wasn't entirely sure that he approved of her use of swear words around their young. Best to show a united front while the kids were awake, though. "We'll have to take you to meet your grandfather." It would be nice to see her father again, and she was proud of her children. Proud enough to show them off, ill behaved or not.