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 Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 12:17 pm
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 1:00 pm
 Kumiho slipped up the mountain, taking her time under the cover of night. She had to keep an eye on her quarry: the powerful wind Soquili, Stormwild. But Stormwild's territory was teeming with lookouts and patrol: and it was more imperative than ever that she not be seen. No... total ambush was going to be the best play the devious skinwalker could make. Inch by inch, she moved with the shadows, letting her paws glide over the leaves and grass with a muted rustle. She wrapped her slender form around trees and rocky outcroppings, standing as still as death as she waited for her next opportunity to move a few more feet.
The kitsune prided herself on her patience and self-control: sometimes the most delicious schemes required patience. But she couldn't help to find her annoyance levels rising: she much preferred the small and agile form the kitsune over the large, more imposing form of the Soquili. Especially for stealthy tasks such as this. She kept her rising frustration in check, however, for as she discovered the reason she could not shift her forms could be due to only one thing: her successful union with her minion, Cerberus. This knowledge calmed her, and allowed her to go on.
Though it took most of the evening, Kumiho eventually made her way deep into Stormwild's territory and observed the mare and her protective mate from the protection of the shadows. She watched her closely: she did not seem heavy with foals yet, and a flicker of worry crossed Kumiho's calculating mind: the whole plan would fall apart of the winged mare did not have her foals first!! But Stormwild was a large and imposing beast: perhaps her belly was just not swelling yet.
Feeling unsatisfied with her reconnaissance mission, she skinwalker spent most of the rest of the evening returning to the cave she was using as her home-base of operations: and the intimidating predator that was protecting it.
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 1:20 pm
Cerberus did not often worry after his mistress. He had utter confidence in the finesse and capabilities of his mistress. He never questioned her motivations or her orders, and she had no need to proove herself to him. However, as the sun sunk below the horizon and his mistress, who was starting to show signs of being gravid with their foals, Cerberus found himself bouncing worry amongst his 'minds', growling to each other and hoping that she returned to their lair safely. And yet, despite the distraction of worry, Cerberus was ever the guardian. There were always at least a pair of eyes focused on the mouth of the cave, ears always pricked.
Finally, there was a stir of bushes, and Cerberus bounded towards the cave entrance, pinions pricked and casting his signature triple-headed profile as he put up a protective front.
A moment later, he caught her scent.
"Mistress," He breathed, relief evident in his gravely voice.
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 1:50 pm
Kumiho let a smile play across her muzzle has she saw the beast at the cave entrance. She took a pleasure in knowing that had she been anyone other than his mistress they would have been pulled from limb to limb. But no... this horrifying monster was hers - the perfect match for her as well. Kumiho was a formidable predator, no doubt, but she knew she lacked brute strength: that's why she was so intelligent and devious. But with Cerberus as her willing servant, he had earned his right to live by her side.
"Cerberus," she said with a nod, as if saying his name was a reward for his vigilance.
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 2:06 pm
The pinions relaxed, folding once more by his side as he breathed in her scent, listened to his name spoken by her lips. It was reward to the stallion - not just hearing her acknowledge him, but seeing her return safely. But he would never give voice to his concerns - it would mean that he questioned her mettle - which he never would.
"Did your mission of espionage go well?" he queried.
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 2:14 pm
"Not as well as I would have liked," she said with a snarl on her muzzle. She breezed past Cerberus and into the cave, letting the tips of her tails flick ever-so-lightly across the face of her protector. "The winged thing doesn't look a day wider than she did a few weeks ago," she said, looking down at distaste at her own figure, slightly swollen at the sides and staining against her obi she had yet to loosen. "But she was fatter from the start," she snapped, she did not look like a mare in mourning. She has not lost the unborn."
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 2:25 pm
Cerberus snorted, ears pinning back, not carin to hear bad news. While Cerberus himself did not care so much about the theft of the baskets, but because it mattered to his Mistress, it mattered to him. And he could not deny the strength of their first offspring, even though they had long since departed their care.
"As you say, she is a large mare. Perhaps she just does not show her foals yet." He caged, hoping to ease Kumiho's temper. As it was, she could turn from conciliatory to vicious in an eyeblink. Pregnant, Cerberus did not know what could set her off.
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 6:57 am
"Yes, as I said, she was fatter from the start," she sneered back at him. She pawed deeper into the cave, sniffing around for the remnants of an old kill; she had been out a while and her body had grown tired and hungry. "I am small, so they show faster," she said a-matter-of-factly, dragging out a few bones from a decaying deer carcass and settling down to gnaw of them. After a bit she pushed it aside, unsatisfied. "I'm hungry," she said, narrowing her eyes.
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 7:44 am
"Of course you are," Cerberus soothed, "You are eating for yourself and our pups." His tail swished as he peered out from the cave.
"I shall leave my post, then, mistress. I shall hunt for you." He hesitated for just a moment, peering back at the silvery form that lay in the cave, swollen with life.
"Unless you need anything further before I leave?"
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 7:55 am
"No," she said, adjusting her tails under her to provide from comfort from her increasingly heavy form. She exhaled dramatically - lifting a paw and motioning towards the entrance of the cave. "But don't take too long. Especially in my state, you need to be here to protect me if someone comes poking their nose where it doesn't belong." She sneered, not liking the illusion of having a 'need' for another. It's true, she could be very deadly when she needed to be: but Cerberus was a powerhouse even she could not overcome physically. Having him at her beck and call was something she had no qualms about taking advantage of. While she preferred to do the really important stuff herself - like the surveillance on Thunderbird Mountain - something as menial as hunting she could entrust with the beast.
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 9:05 am
"As you wish, Mistress." Cerberus's gravely voice said in supplication before he slipped out into the night, his dark coat melting into the darkness. The red pinpricks of eyes standing out against his vague silhouette like a twisted reflection of the stars above. And then, with a beat of his wings, he lifted from the ground and set off to find something suitable for his mistress's palette.
He wouldn't stray far. If something were to happen, he wanted to know - to hear. But preying upon some unsuspecting woodland creature was a simple task for the great beast, and he did not expect to be gone from her side long.
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