(PRP)"To Bite or..."- Karloff and Ailbhe (FIN)

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Karloff found himself not very far from someone who was...very much like him and very much not. This...creature had a devious grin on her face and small feline ears. He could see her tail switching, as if she was about to pounce him. That was ridiculous...

Actually it wasn't, she really did look like she'd pounce him. That was an alarming thought. Was she going to attack? Or was she wanting to play?

He shook his head trying to ward off the confusion. Other foals didn't play with him. He was too weird...but she was kind of different too. He had never seen a cat tail before on a foal...or on anyone besides a skinwalker. But she wasn't one. She was too...cute and girly...she probably wasn't dangerous either, but he was going to be careful.  

[elfstar89]

Ailbhe was, once again, wandering far from home and had, yet again, found a strange colt. She smiled brightly...or at least what would look bright if she didn't have these fangs in her mouth. Her tail swished excitedly, totally unaware of how bizarre she looked to a normal Soquili foal.

Ailbhe was not disturbed by his ordinary features. After all, her mother was completely normal. Her sister had feline ears and glowing eyes. Her brother had wings on his back, back ankles, and behind his ears, as well as the long feathers on his feet, the long cheek hair, and the cat tail like her. Her father had feline ears and tail as well as beautiful wings on his back. The other day, she'd met a colt with fangs, a snake tongue, and a horn snaking out of his forehead. If that odd collection of Soquili didn't disturb her, pretty much nothing ever would.

As a result, she didn't register that there was a risk in playing with a colt wearing a skinwalker mask who had pure red eyes and bite marks on his neck. Given the bite marks, it was kind of obvious what he bled, so she didn't need to bite him. She felt ever so slightly disappointed, but her curiosity about his bleeding pattern was answered.

"Hi~!" she said cheerfully with as angelic an expression as one can have with coincidental vampire fangs.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Likely to pounce. That was the one he had to watch out for--pouncing. She had odd type of stripes, and fangs like on his mask but not so big. She seemed really bubbly and happy, perfectly oblivious that he could be anything but a play thing....or a chew toy.

He didn't like the way she looked at the blood on his neck, it wasn't that's-gross-way, it was a very interested look. She was interested in his bite mark, but it didn't seem like she minded it. She was very intrigued. Not worried at all.

Her striped tail switched back and forth. Shifting his weight, he watched her. She was the most unusual foal he'd seen. Obviously, she wasn't a cat walker. She was much to kind and playful acting. He didn't understand what exactly she was.

But he was very, very intrigued.

However, Karloff was very unuse to talking to others though he desperately wanted to talk to her. He wanted to ask her what she was, what could she do with her tail, and a myriad of other questions.

He knew it was rude to ask outright, but he didn't know what to say. Well, it would be a start, "Hi. I'm Karl." He'd only ever been called that by his mother, his father, and then...Solieanna. But he felt like Karl at his moment. Care free...still a foal, not horribly disfigured and bitter.  

[elfstar89]

He was definitely a nice colt, as she thought. Her grin broadened til it squeezed her innocent eyes shut. "I'm Ailbhe. Nice to meet you, Karl." None of the questions he could ask about her occurred to her. When she was older, she'd put it down to being one of four mutants in her immediate family, even more on her father's side, but for now, she was oblivious to species and breed.

"Do you live around here?" she asked, her grin reducing so she could look at him. Definitely an attractive and striking colt, too, with white hooves, mane, tail, and mask against a black colt, the blood on his neck and mask standing out in a way others would deem ominous but she viewed as a more natural part of the order of things. But that might be because she was a Cheshire kitten.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

"Uhm," he wasn't quite sure how to answer that question. He didn't really live anywhere. He kind of just...slept where he could find warmth. He'd never, since he left his mother's cave, stayed in a place for more than one night.

Knowing that something was out there still...The thing that killed his mother, it was safer to move. He wanted desperately to stay, to rest. He wanted to become familiar with a place, but he didn't feel that that was exactly safe.

"I travel alot," he finally said. It made him sound more important too.  

[elfstar89]

Ailbhe cocked her head, surprised. Didn't foals live with at least one of their parents? Her parents didn't even see each other, but they always were there for Ail and Vivi and Rosi. "You...you don't live with anyone?" she asked worriedly. The very idea of a foal living alone without a real home unnerved her, and for the first time, a new liquid was threatening to leave her: tears. "Why not?" It didn't occur to her to not ask such a question. Surely he was lonely? Ail couldn't imagine living apart from Mommy and Vivi and Rosi and Daddy and Mommy's Friend, so living on one's own as a foal was totally beyond her.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Karloff looked a bit alarmed at the expression on her face. "No. My father left. He hates me, and my mother died." He said it simply, for the first time without pain.

He was more interested at the look on her face, he didn't want her to cry. He didn't like tears. "Ailbhe, that's a pretty name. What does it mean?" He hadn't talked this much in...he couldn't remember how long.  

[elfstar89]

Ailbhe was about to start bawling for the first time in her life but swallowed the sobs...though not the tears. His life sounded so sad. "It means 'white one.' I d-don't think it fits me, but it's supposed to be the name of someone who was very brave." She had to stop crying. After all, he probably needed a good cry more than she did, and here she was, crying because his mother had died and his father hated him so much he left his little son all alone in the world.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Karloff found himself questioning his decision again and again recently. His meeting with Solieana, who had the voice of his mother, had started it. Could he give up this part of his humanity?

He found himself being kind, something he'd not had much experience with. "Don't cry. That's really nice. Be brave for me, please?" He remembered his father saying that once...it was one of the few things he remembered his father saying. He remembered this moment from right after he was born.  

[elfstar89]

Ail nodded, sniffling just a little. "But isn't it lonely and sad and scary for you? I can't imagine what it would be like without my family, b-but being without one...that's just bad."

She paused as a crazy idea danced through her mind. "Well...since you don't have a family anymore...can I be your family? Since you don't have a home, can your home be with me?" she asked tentatively, a shy smile starting to suffuse her features.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Karloff was taken back by her offer. With everything in him, he wanted to say yes. He wanted to...so badly. But he couldn't. She didn't know, her family didn't know...It wasn't fair to bring his curse to them. He didn't want to curse her, to make her or her family suffer by knowing him.

What should he say? If he was kind about it, maybe he could talk with her a little longer. He didn't have any friends... not really. But then he'd want to stay. He couldn't do that. He didn't want to risk that.

But he couldn't be cruel, she's cry and he didn't like tears. Tears reminded him of his mother....of that night....

He shook it off. "It is lonely, but...I can't. I want to but...I can't." Why had he said that? Now she was definately going to cry. Tears made you feel bad...guilty...even if there was nothing you could do, just like with his mother.  

[elfstar89]

Ail cocked her head, tears threatening to fall again. "Why not? If you want to, why can't you? Isn't it all right to be part of a family if you want to be?" She didn't understand why he didn't seem to want to stop being lonely. It worried her, since he did seem lonely right now, more so than a few minutes ago.

Had something happened to his mommy that had made his dad hate him? Had it made Karl think that he was a bad person who didn't deserve a family? That wasn't right. He couldn't be to blame, so he shouldn't be blamed, so he shouldn't be made to feel that bad. This cycle of thoughts made her eyes brim with tears. That wasn't right. He shouldn't have to be alone and unable to be around others just because of something that wasn't his fault.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

"Because...I'm.." It sounded stupid. It was stupid...but it was true. He was cursed. Everything he loved left him in some way or another. It wasn't fair to find a new family, new parents...and have them leave him again. Wouldn't it be better to be alone than to find family then lose them again?

He wanted to have a family, to have a family that loved him...not abandon him like his father. But he was sure if he got a family again, the same thing would happen...bad luck would follow him. It would, he just knew it would!

He saw the tears starting up in her eyes, and he didn't like it. It reminded him of his mom before she died...

"Everyone has left me. I'm cursed." He hung his head shamefully.  

[elfstar89]

"No. You're not cursed. You can't be cursed," she said, shaking her head violently. It was unclear whether she was trying harder to persuade him or herself. The very idea that he could be that cursed just wasn't fair, and it brought the tears to start falling.

"I won't leave you, Karl. I'll always be there for you. Whenever something happens, come and find me, and we'll be together. You won't have to lose someone ever again, because I won't leave you," she babbled, suddenly desperate to not let him disappear from sight.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Karloff shook his head, as much as he didn't want to. "I can't let you be my friend, my family. It's dangerous. It'll get you hurt. I can't let that happen. If something happens to you, or your parents, or your siblings...It'd be my fault. I can't do that to someone else."

He hated that the first offer of friendship, of family...he had to turn it down. But he couldn't put someone in danger of him, cursed to an existence like his. "I can't."

But he would remember, he would remember where he was first shown kindness. He would return maybe...if ever he was un-cursed, but if he became what he was planning to...He had to forget this place forever.