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 Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 6:51 pm
 The encounter with the creepy mummy had shaken the skeletal stallion, but it had also strengthened his resolve. Right. The fluff from an algiedi's tail. He would find a goat-star, rip the hair out of its tail, and he would shove it in Retinadeath's smug face. Preferably stuff it down her throat. Well, either way, he was gonna make her pay for this stupid trip. He was, by his own calculations, about two weeks out from home, and he wanted to be home already. Home. That was weird. Osteocyte had never known a home. Or at least, he couldn't remember having had a home. He couldn't remember ever having experienced that yearning to be safe, to be happy, to be comfortable and secure. It was an eerie feeling, a terrifying feeling to love any place or person. Osteocyte...well, he didn't hate that feeling, not per se, but he certainly resented that sensation. He resented it like he resented that feathered frippery.
Really, more than anything else, the reason he had been creeped out by the mummy--still was creeped out by her, even a day after the chilling encounter--was the memory she had brought out in him. That had more staying power than those glowing eyes or the dried-up, cracking skin, the torn-out throat, the stitching on her sides. That was the thing that had kept him awake all night long, that left him bleary-eyed and blinking, achy, sleepy, in the dawn of morning: the memory of the water. Swirling, rushing, cold, dark, the pressure, the crush on his skull, on his brain, the struggle, something holding him down. He'd been murdered, killed, ended for some reason unknown to him, held in the water to die, then thrown in like trash. Who? And why? Who had killed him? Who had had the strength to hold him down in the water? It would have to have been someone very strong...or someone filled with a lot of hatred. Enough hatred to overcome him (of course, the idea that he might not have been so strong was laughable. Sure, he'd gotten stronger since joining the Shadow Herd and its army, but still), which was even worse. Some perverse part of him was proud of this--haha! He'd generated some sort of passionate hatred, some sort of anguish to overcome the natural star instincts towards gentility.
That had kept him up until late at night. What had kept him up in the early morning hours, just after midnight, was the identity of his resurrector. It was something he'd never thought about before. He'd always assumed that...well, to be honest, he didn't know what he'd always assumed. He'd just...never thought about it. But now it worried him. Someone had seen fit to bring him back to life, and if he was honest with himself, he knew that he didn't deserve to be resurrected, at least, not that other people would think so. So someone had some sort of nefarious purpose...what was it? Who would think he was worth the resurrection? Who was powerful enough to do it? To bring a star back from beyond the black? Where they out there still? Looking for him?
Now it was dawn, and the sun was shining in his scarlet eyes. He was still thinking. Was his murderer out there? Looking for vengeance? Would he ever know?
Well, now that he put it like that, he felt a lot better about having a home to go back to. He still resented that he needed to feel safe anywhere, but, again, if he was honest with himself...it was nice to have a place to go back to. Yes. Indeed. He tucked his head underneath his leg, trying in vain to shield his eyes, and, for what felt like the ten thousandth time since meeting the mummy, he tried to fall asleep.
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Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 6:52 pm
 Another beautiful day! All the more beautiful because he had just lifted his head up and revealed to the world his deep ruby eyes. Tepey R'Pat rose from the earth like a godling, shaking the dust of night from his luscious mane. Dust was a two-edged sword--it helped keep the parasites off, but it also dulled his brilliant coat. Beauty or function? Cometary had muttered under his breath that he would prefer functionality, but he was a weirdo who wouldn't recognize beauty if it smacked him in the face. No, he was not to be asked for his opinion. He simply didn't know what he was talking about, obviously. No, Tepey would just have to let Cometary's grumpiness to slide off him like water off of a waterbird's feathers. Water. Huh, that would be nice. The scrub here was dry and cracked, like some sort of hideous...hideousness. Gross. Cometary had grumped something at him this morning about finding water, but Tepey would show his brother! He would find some water, clean his gorgeous body, and return, showing Cometary that it was possible to be beautiful even in a desolate wasteland such as this. After all, this dead, desiccated landscape was much too dull--Tepey had a right, nay, a duty to brighten it up.
Moving through the bushes, Tepey found himself having to tilt his head to keep his mane away from the grasping thorns of the bushes. Ugh. He hated shrubs for exactly this reason. He hated having twigs and leaves and thorns and suchlike stuck in his mane. It took much too long to remove. This was a knowledge sorely earned from grooming his brother's mane. What? Just because he was much, much prettier than his little brother didn't mean he didn't care about Cometary's looks. After all, that slate blue hair was his own slate blue, and though their manes were different colors and tones, both had the same silky textures and rippling flows. Tepey R'Pat was clearly the beauty of the family, but...that didn't mean that Cometary was ugly. He snorted and shook his head. One of these days, he was going to have to take Cometary aside and explain that to him. Not right now, though, because he needed to find some water.
But anyway, this stupid scrub. Keeping his mane out of the shrub was annoying. Thank goodness he didn't have to worry about keeping a tail out of it. This was a reason that algiedi tails were inherently better--less pretty, perhaps (Tepey's only aesthetic flaw!), but much, much easier to take care of, and with this much beauty, he needed all the help he could get in taking care of his appearance. For that, he was distinctly grateful that algiedi tails were smaller than regular stars' tails. Grooming took less time than other stars might have to take.
So caught up with his own appearance (and really, could you blame him?) was Tepey that he didn't notice the other star until he almost tripped over him. He wasn't even sure if it was another star at first--it looked like it had skin and flesh, but there were ever-shifting, ever-mercurial markings all over the stranger's body, as if all of that flesh, and the organs and arteries, too, were all transparent, leaving his skeleton on full view in stark white against the black body. No. It was more like the flesh and viscera were clear on top of the skeleton, and underneath were black velvet against which the bones were on full display. It was one of the creepiest things Tepey had ever seen and it froze him in his tracks. He couldn't move. He couldn't stop staring in horrified fascination at the lump of body lying curled up on the ground.
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Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 6:53 pm
Osteocyte was woken from what had been an all-too short sleep by the sun suddenly being blocked out. Normally, he wouldn't have minded nearly so much--not too long ago, he'd been disgruntled by the sun in his eyes. However, it was a sunny day (apparent even through eyelids), and the only way the sun could have been blocked was if something had moved between it and Osteocyte. He moved his head out from underneath his leg, slowly, his overactive imagination terrified that it might be the mummy. As he did, the light moved as whoever it was gave a shriek of fright and jumped backwards away from him. Good. Not the mummy, then. He opened his eyes fully and blinked in the early morning sunlight, his eyes desperately adjusting themselves to the sun as he stared up at his disturber.
Hallelujah! Praise Ophiuchus and all that Shadow Queen crap! An algiedi! When Osteocyte had first begun this mission, he'd assumed they were a myth. The meeting with the mummy had changed that, of course--she may have been dead, but she had very clearly been an algiedi. But here, here was one in the flesh. And, more importantly, in the hair, for on the other side of his bluish body was a tufted tail, like a very fluffy goat's. He couldn't help it. He grinned in delight, which only served to spook the stranger, who then turned tail and ran.
Damnit! Osteocyte scrambled to his feet as quickly as his aching limbs would allow and tore off after the other stallion. "Hey! Come back!" he shouted. "Let me talk to you!" And rip a tuft of hair out of your tail. Jerk!
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Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 6:55 pm
When the creepy thing began to move, Tepey had decided that now was the time to make a hasty retreat. There was no way he was going to stand around staring dimly at some freaky walking corpse thing. Oh no. He didn't like ghost stories, and he knew exactly where this was headed. When the creature behind him shouted at him to come back, he didn't stop for an instant. "Fat chance!" he shouted back. He had to turn his head to do so, however, which was how he fell into the thorn bush that had, rather rudely in his opinion, grown up in his path. He gave yet another undignified yelp as he fell in, struggling and thrashing back and forth in a panic. It only served to get him even more caught up in the shrub, until it was all he could do to turn his head to stare at the advancing monster. His eyes grew wide in fear and he trembled all over. His mane was ruined, and he could feel the thorns digging into his pelt. Oh, they'd better not scratch and scar him up! Blood would tarnish him, and scars were...well, he wasn't ashamed to admit that a shudder ran through his body at the thought of that. He didn't want to be hurt. No, not at all. Unfortunately, he knew, in his heart of hearts, that his appearance was not in nearly so much danger as his continued existence was.
"Please don't hurt me," he whimpered.
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Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 6:57 pm
Yes, Osteocyte enjoyed power. Who didn't, after all? And the power of chasing someone only to see them stumble and fall, trapped, helpless, as you advanced on them, that was the fundamental power trip. Yes, he liked this situation, and under different circumstances--more sleep, less worry, less need to go home--he might have taken a few minutes to savor it. But as it was, the thorn bush simply served as a way to keep the algiedi still while he took what he needed. He advanced on the other stallion. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said. "I'm just going to take something from you."
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Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 6:58 pm
 Cometary didn't get into arguments with Tepey--at least, not normally. He didn't like arguing with Tepey. It felt wrong. This did mean that his resentment against Tepey had a tendency to grow and grow until finally it frothed over and poured out of his treacherous mouth to complain that his brother was being a nuisance. He tried to keep it down to just muttering, but even that was too much. Tepey was always hurt whenever Cometary complained about him. Cometary was Tepey's only family in the world, after all, at least since they'd Fallen. He was a friend, a confidant. He was being selfish again, making Tepey unhappy like this. As he'd done dozens of times before, he vowed he would never again complain about his brother.
Today's argument had been about water. Well, it wasn't really an argument, more like Cometary complaining that Tepey cared more about his appearance than about important resources such as water, and in response, Tepey had stormed off in a huff, proclaiming that he'd "show" Cometary, and he'd find water for them both. That had been over half an hour ago, and he still hadn't returned. Cometary had set off in the opposite direction not long after his brother had left, and had found water within just a short walk (which would have been nice to have found last night, rather than just this morning). But Tepey had not yet returned, which got the younger stallion more than a little worried.
Worry spiked into terror at the sound of shrieks coming from the direction Tepey went in. Cometary's ears perked in fear and without thinking, he charged off in that direction, leaping over the shorter shrubs and racing around the taller ones. Tepey was in danger, and although Cometary was no better a fighter than he was, he could at least serve as a distraction for his brother to get away. Assuming, of course, that this was an actual emergency and not just an aesthetic one. That had happened in the past, when Tepey had screamed more at getting a tangled mane than at getting attacked by predators. It was supremely annoying and enough to make Cometary just want to kick his brother in the throat.
Such uncharitable comments were gone when he arrived on the scene. His brother lay sprawled in a thorn bush, thoroughly tangled in the dried-out branches. A star-like monster, all bones and black velvet, was advancing on his brother with evil intent in his burning eyes. "I'm just going to take something from you," it growled.
Cometary's eyes narrowed in rage. No one. Hurt his brother. No one. Threatened Tepey R'Pat. No one. He snarled, and the creature's head snapped up to look at him. "Get away from him." Tepey's head turned to look at him with relief and joy shining in his eyes.
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Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 6:59 pm
Well, crud. Another star was here, and although he plainly wasn't the fighting type--too skinny, not enough muscle, obviously someone just used to walking and nothing more strenuous than that, sides heaving from the exertion of an all-out gallop--he looked like he was plainly in a fighting mood. On top of that, Osteocyte was tired and he knew he wasn't thinking straight. He could just as easily lose this fight, especially if the snared algiedi struggled out of the thorn bush to help him. Time to diffuse the situation! "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he said, pulling his head back and adopting his most conciliatory tone of voice. "I don't know what you're thinking I'm up to, but it's not that, definitely, definitely not that."
Excuse time, go! He bowed his head and legs. "I am Osteocyte. I come from a herd in the woods to the north. I have been sent by my commander to find evidence of--beauty in the wilderness." An elaborate lie would be too difficult to remember, but the truth would sound too ominous, so Osteocyte had quickly decided to go with the truth, highly embellished. And who didn't like being complimented for their beauty? Besides Retinadeath? "I do not mean you harm, I merely ask for a tuft of hair from your beautiful tail."
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Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:01 pm
Far too convenient, Cometary thought. He knew enough about his brother to know what he thought, however, without even looking at his face, and thus he was far from surprised when the other algiedi lifted his head to look at his former pursuer. "Well! If you had merely said that in the first place--" He flicked his tail at the skeletal stallion, who moved forward to pluck a tuft of hair from Tepey's tail. Tepey squeaked and flinched in pain, but other than that, just nodded at the stranger.
Cometary...was rather more suspicious. No one did this. No one. Who was this stranger's commander? Why did he need proof of beauty? Why a tail tuft and not a lock of mane? But he knew better than to question it. He knew that anyone who implied that Tepey was "proof of beauty" had the vain imbecile bang on their side. As such, he remained silent, glaring at this "Osteocyte" as the latter turned to leave and trotted off. He continued to glare until the stranger turned and shouted back, "Sorry about the chase!" and continued to glare after that until Osteocyte had vanished in the distance, then turned to help his brother out of the bush.
"He was rather nice," Tepey said. Cometary huffed quietly in return and pulled a branch out of his brother's mane.
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Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:01 pm
Well, that was close. The second algiedi had just shot daggers at him with his eyes as he took what he needed. That one was a clever one. He hadn't believed Osteocyte for even a second. He would have to watch his back. He rolled the tuft together with his teeth and tucked it under his tongue where it became a moisture-absorbing nuisance. Oh well. He didn't want to lose it on the long journey north. Ah. Home. Home, he would be at last. Thank Scorpio! He didn't know why he turned around to shout an apology--exhaustion, relief, an attempt to get that second stallion off his back--but he resolved to put the incident behind him in his mind. He wanted to go home. And from there, he hoped not to leave for a very long time indeed.
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