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 Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 8:43 pm
The salty scent of the ocean was unmistakeable. Xelloss inhaled deeply of it as he flew on an unseasonably warm winter day. The sun was warm on the dark membranes of his wings and ahead of him he could see light dancing on the surface of the waves. Mazoku traditionally weren't meant to have an appreciation of beauty, but he couldn't quite find it in himself to loathe it.
He wasn't in the air much longer. He landed in the grass, not wanting to get sand stuck in his hooves from the force of landing. From there he moved swiftly. He had a good idea of where the kelpi he wanted to speak to was and wasn't the sort to dawdle on the way to an assignment. Though assignment isn't really the right word for this, he mused to himself.
This was an idea sprung up from his own mind. He had been thinking about all the time the Underground had spent gathering the artifacts for the resurrection of Ruby Eyes. It seemed a little unintuitive to him that they had put forth so much effort to find some pieces of rock and yet didn't expend that same effort finding the mazoku lords they knew were still alive out there somewhere. Deep Sea Dolphin was one of those lords, last heard from in the ocean not too far from where he stood. She was a little eccentric at times, but an undeniable asset. If they could get her back on the team then their influence would expand tremendously.
Of course, first he had to find this kelpi prince he was looking for. For the sake of his patience, Xelloss hoped he could find him quickly.
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Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:06 pm
 Barinthus stared out on the ocean, watched the waves form, crest, and ultimately break upon the sandy shores. His family owned these waters, at least in some sense, they were the political hierarchy of the oceans along this coast, he, being a key part in the system was used as a inbetween, bringing information from sea to land and land to sea. He was a prince, the son of a Mer queen, who was revered as a sea goddess (though he thought this was pushing it a bit far himself) and a delegate from the freshwater kelpie kingdoms. He was most interesting in appearance, and could be spotted easily for it anywhere he went. He had gotten used to land as of late, and fresh water was less harsh on his scales than the salt, but he needed to do his job, his life had been planned out for him before he had even gotten out of his shell. But he accepted it, and today awaited a delegate of a completely different sort, Kalona and Kelpie sometimes formed alliances to avoid power struggles, only due to the vicious nature of some kelpie kinds. MOST kelpie kingdoms were not like that and mostly kept to themselves, his was certainly one of those, but no matter.
Barinthus was a fighter himself, the best in his kingdom, his father, after all had been known to even Kalona as the "fighting fish" And stayed mostly neutral to his sort. But politics were politics, and if a Kalona wanted to talk, well certainly, they would talk. He was not afraid of bat winged strangers, for he was, like the ocean, just as strange and unpredictable. He heard the beating of wings over the hiss of the water going back out. The stallion was close, the sea breeze tousled his hair out of his face, his orange eyes very disconcerting set in his blue face, watching for the other to arrive.
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Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:18 pm
It was a rare occasion indeed for Xelloss to be so direct in his dealings. In most situations he would have found Barinthus by stealth and tried to convince him by trick to carry out his objective. Xelloss still had every intention of using whatever deceptions he needed in order to win the scaly stallion over, but it might be a few less deceptions than usual. From what Xelloss gathered, Barinthus wasn't about to be fooled by the old "nice kalona" routine.
Xelloss squinted. There was a clear silhouette against the water, another soquili. Moving closer, he could see that it was the one that he sought. He trotted over swiftly, making less effort to conceal his nature than he would under normal circumstances. He still smiled, but it was less perky and more sly.
"Prince," he said respectfully as he approached. He even gave the leader a slight bow of the head, though he hardly merited it.
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Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:31 pm
He turned to greet his squinty eyed kalona visitor, he even had a smile upon his face, how trusting he would seem if not for the obvious kalona traits, and sometimes, not even that would bother some people, so polite was he. Barinthus was not one to be tricked by the fake niceties of their kind, sometimes he would talk with the more hardened kelpies of the land and they were much like their "winged brothers" they were the sharptoothed kalona of the sea, and many times, kelpilonas occurred, true to their alliances. "Flying fish" was a regular joke, but it was not one to be laughed at easily. " Greetings Kalona, I am Prince Barinthus of the Finflow waters, what is your name so that I may speak without insult."
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Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:36 pm
"You can call me Xelloss." Xelloss toyed with whether or not he should include the second part of that moniker, 'mysterious priest.' He decided against it for this meeting. He had the feeling it wouldn't go over well with the current audience. "The rest of my title isn't terribly pertinent for the conversation, so I think we can just omit it." His mouth quirked upwards slightly, as if he had just said a joke. He had called himself a number of things over the years. He supposed that Beast Priest Xelloss was the most accurate of those names, but not one he gave out lightly.
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Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:48 pm
His fins fanned out in the air, as his kind normally did, to make themselves appear bigger, like felines and their fur. He shrugged simply " Very well, Xelloss, welcome to my shores, or rather, my mothers shores. She is busy so I am who she sends to converse with foreigners and deal in business. " What have YOU come for? A alliance between kinds, a trade perhaps, or something else?" He questioned all rather buinesslike, his voice a baritone as deep as the depths he was born into. " Calling a kelpie to shore for political purposes, it must be at least decently important to your kind, or simply just to you."
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Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 10:02 pm
"Important to my kind and me both, yes." The fins flaring wasn't a bad display. Xelloss imagined it worked quite well intimidating those who were prone to intimidation. It didn't do much to spook him. He had no intention of getting into a fight on that shore so it didn't matter at all to him who would win should one occur. There were times when violence was appropriate, but recently he tried to avoid it if given any other option.
"We could call it an alliance," Xelloss offered. "Or a trade, if there was something you needed that I or my acquaintances could provide." He slowly traced his tail in the sand, enjoying the rough sensation. "There is a favor I'd like to ask of you and your followers." He pulled his tail out of the sand and flicked the remaining particles off of it. "It could be very beneficial if you decide to assist us." That much wasn't a falsehood, either. Xelloss was willing to strike a fair deal from time to time. A useful contact could be worth their weight in gold.
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Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 10:10 pm
" There is nothing that I need personally, my kingdom specifically has never dealt with your kind and so do not know what you could do for us or we, you." He raised a carefully sculpted eyebrow " A favor?" he repeated, he came out for a meeting with a kalona and the stallion wanted a favor, how interesting. " Such as?" He queried, he would leave no stone unturned in this conversation, a kalona that wanted something got it, much like the harsher kelpies, in various and sneaky ways.
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Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 10:24 pm
"You see," drawled Xelloss. "There is someone me and my kind would rather like to find. She is a kelpi, like you. She is also a powerful ruler, like you." His violet eyes twinkled as he regarded Barinthus. "I cannot offer you anything on her behalf, but you may find that you get along with her once you meet her. She is rather fond of her fellow sea creatures, after all." He rather suspected that Deep Sea Dolphin had gotten so fond of them that she had decided to avoid the land altogether.
"If you are able to find this mare, I'm certain that we can come to a pleasing arrangement." He walked on delicate planks, dealing with Barinthus. He had to make sure that if he made any promises that applied to mazoku that were not under his control that they were ones that he could either keep or throw away easily.
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Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 11:47 pm
Xelloss's honeyed words did nothing for him, Barinthus himself was not a ruler, not yet, oh he certainly had power, but he did not rule. " You say this kelpi lives in my mothers lands? And you would have me and mine help you search for her?" He tilted his head, thinking " Perhaps we already know of this individual, I could ask, if she likes us water dwellers as much as you say." He chuckled deeply " And you are planning on coming down to the depths with us to look for this stranger are you? Or have you brought others to assist me looking for a female of such power that a kalona like yourself would come seeking her?"
It was always a good idea to question the madness in the methods.
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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 9:17 am
Xelloss gestured at himself with a sweep of his wing. "I obviously don't have any fins or other useful feature for the water." Amused, he chuckled lightly. "No, I don't think I'll be coming with. I would only slow you down, especially after I drowned and you had to drag me along." Slyly, he glanced to the area behind him. "I do, however, have an assistant that I would be happy to lend you. Her name is Lavinia and she has been well-versed in this mare I'm asking you to look for."
By Xelloss' orders, Lavinia should be somewhere immediately close by. Now was as good a time for her to emerge as any.
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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 3:23 pm
(( I've been given permission to post in this RP by Katch and Roniel ))  Lavinia had been waiting calmly a distance away. Her keen hearing could pick out Xelloss's words. She felt more than a little exposed now that she had no one to watch her back but she had learned that it was possible to view her surroundings in short intervals. The mare opened her eyes now and took in the form of Xelloss talking to a strange looking stallion. She trotted into view behind Xelloss and scented the air.
How ironic was it that she was back at the ocean? The mare snorted softly before falling silent. Should she wait to be introduced or take the measure herself?
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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 4:32 pm
Barinthus wrinkled his nose as he caught sight of Xelloss's guest, though he had gotten manners nearly beaten into him by his mother someone with blood streaming from their eyes made his skin crawl. She seemed a strange creature, like himself, with nearly prehistoric looking fins sprouting from her sides and back. " Ah, well that makes more sense now, certainly." He smiled " I assume your assistant knows the details of whom you seek then." Now he would have to watch his tail, even under the water. " Normally I do not facilitate tours of my lands" he joked " So where do we begin? I myself would very much like to meet this one you seek, especially if she's been hiding in my mothers lands this entire time."
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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 4:48 pm
"Oh, yes. She knows all about the one I'm looking for." It wasn't hard to see Barinthus' distaste at Lavinia. Xelloss supposed that she did look a bit eerie to someone unused to such things. "She should be able to answer questions, but I'd encourage you to consider this and ask them now if you have any." Looking coyly amused, Xelloss eyed the kelpi stallion.
"And does this talk of beginning mean that you've agreed? I would be happy to compensate you for this, especially if you prove successful." If they could bring Dolphin back to the cause, their dominion of suffering would expand tremendously. "Her name is Deep Sea Dolphin, by the way. If you are able to establish communications with her, I think that you'll find that we can be very generous friends."
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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 8:23 pm
Lavinia had noticed the stallion's reaction to her as well. It soured the mare's perception of the stranger right away. If this was the monarchy that Xelloss had enlisted to help in the search than she wasn't impressed. The best she could give him now was polite disinterest. However that wouldn't start until the search did. Lavinia moved forward and stood just behind Xelloss as he and the stranger exchanged words.
Being silent though caused her to shift her weight from side to side. She was waiting to see if she needed to say anything. The comment that the stranger made about facilitating tours of his land though caught Lavinia by surprise. She tried to hide her reaction but she gave an amused sound at this.
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![[+Katch+]'s avatar](https://a1cdn.gaiaonline.com/dress-up/avatar/ava/ed/68/59b1b405168ed_flip.png?t=1465766144_6.00_11)
