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 Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 6:18 pm
The night was young, and the plants were strong. Malta was pleased to observe that the warmth of spring had nurtured the plants into full, leafy growth. They were ready for summer and what scarse light the Soldul days could bring them. These plants were used to the dimness of the Soldul sun, though, and thrived on whatever light they could. "So. Flowerclaws. I heard a rumor." said Vorkin idly, walking next to her, his orange eyes glaring. Malta wasn't bothered - he always glared. "I heard that the elder was pretty pissed at you. Is it true?" "Mmm..." Malta said noncomittally, shifting guiltily. She sniffed at the ground. "It is true! I didn't think those old farts dared to get upset at you, little miss potions." he laughed, "What was it about, eh? What did little harmless Malta do to make the elder's mad as a baowi?" He nudged her, "Come on!" She turned her glowing eyes on him. "You... don't know?" "Do you think I'd bother to ask you if I did?!" he asked, his voice dripping with scorn. The Diabi warrior lashed his tail. "So. Spill." "I was out late... that was all..." Malta said, looking away, "I didn't come home for a night, and didn't drop by in the day after to apologize, and I guess the elder was pissed." There. She'd told him. It was a silly thing that didn't need to be a secret. "What." he gave her an incredulous look. "Thats it?!" "Mmm." she said, nodding affirmatively, "Thats it." It was a pretty serious thing, or so the elder had explained. "Thats pathetic." he said, scornfully. Malta was silent, moving away from her cousin to investigate a plant. Not an herb, but an excellent excuse to not talk to Vorkin any more about people being pathetic. A light caught her eye - not unusual in Soldul, between the glowing wisps and the luminescence of the plants. It moved, and Malta squinted. It wasn't a plant, but... it wasn't a wisp either. She tilted her head. "What is that?" she murmured to herself, curious.
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Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 10:12 am
Khaldera felt that, as far as the dragons went, she had exhausted them of their uses. She had some of their pretty, glittering orbs, and she had gotten some good battles out of them. Still, she wanted to stay on the top of her game which meant that she had to fight stronger and stronger dragons. A shame that meant leaving this place since she had to admit that she rather like Soudul. It was so dark and comfortable, it reminded her a lot of home save for the fact that she was on land instead of in the deep water. The hunting in this place was good too. So many tasty critters out there to be eaten! It would be quite the shame to go but she supposed she could always come back. Rumor had it the most dangerous dragons lived on Soudul, something that had her intrigued. She would go after them one day but her training would have to come first. She would be of no use to anyone if she got eaten by a dragon. Currently she was following along after wounded prey, able to track it by the blood trail it left behind, and she was quite eager to get her claws on it. What little she'd tasted from her initial attack was quite good so it would be worth the time spent even if it were a tiny morsel. When she finally caught up to the creature who was no longer able to run due to injury she lifted one hand, bringing it down to finish the creature off, and was able to start to eat when she heard... voices? Jerking her head up she looked from side to side. It didn't sound far off, a female and... her servant she'd guess, it was just some mere male after all. Intrigued Khaldera tossed her food into her mouth then started in the direction of the voices. She wondered who was out today, what they were up to, and if she might be another of those interesting land Khehora that she had met in the past. The scent was similar, though she'd bet the clan was different. It made her that much more eager to catch up with whoever was out there, to get a peek at them and their little servant, and perhaps chat with them as well if there was a chance. She should be moving on but what was the harm in a bit of fun first?
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:36 pm
Malta squinted as the lights moved. "What is that?" she exclaimed, a little louder now, perplexed. It wasn't magic, it wasn't a wisp, it wasn't a plant, and that exhausted all the options she knew about: it was completely alien to her. Vorkin sidled up, as much bored as annoyed. "What's what?" he grumbled, scanning the forest with his enigmatic green eyes, "It is a scary monster out to get you?" he mock charged her, sneering as she flinched away. "It's nothing Flowerclaws, just your mind playing tricks on you.. Just you..." he stopped, and Malta could feel him tense at her side. "Hang on." he said, stepping forward, his neck angled forward, his wings angled up - a typical fighting pose, "What is that?" "I don't know." said Malta, a little huffily. He'd been so quick to dismiss her. Useless coward she may be, and sure she had a tendency to jump at shadows, but she'd never hallucinated, and her fears were completely and terribly real. She just expected them more than they arrived, that was all. "I think it's coming closer." she said, sniffing the air. An odd scent reached her nostrils. Khehora, and the raw, still-living scent of a fresh kill, but strange. Not a khehora she knew, and stranger than any khehora she - even she from a settlement with a variety of khehora clans and breeds - knew. "It's a khehora." she commented. "Yeah, figured that out." said Vorkin sarcastically, his eyes intent and ferocious on the approaching figure. "We should say hi." said Malta. "What?! No! Are you stupid?!" he snarled, turning on her. "Hello there!" she called, in part because she was scared and honestly felt that saying hi would be a good start to a not-violent interaction, and also because she was feeling slightly petulant towards Vorkin and wanted to annoy him.
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 9:31 am
Khaldera was able to hear the two that were chatting up ahead, not to mention smell them, as she approached. She really was curious as to what it was that she was about to face of with when suddenly a greeting was being tossed her way. Now that, that was a good sign she thought to herself. She didn't have to hesitate, didn't have to debate of meeting with whoever was up ahead, the female seemed friendly enough meaning there wouldn't be a tussle. No reason to greet one that you meant to battle with after all. As such she was only too happy to come forth and meet with the female, and to a lesser extent her servant. It was a moment after the voice had called out to her, one that seemed to be calling out in greeting, that Khaldera came forth from the darkened forest in all her glow in the dark glory. He tail swished behind her for a moment before she moved forward toward the pair, ever interested in meeting more of her land dwelling 'cousins'. She gave them both a once over before she came to stand before the female of the pair, seeming to have far more interest in her then her servant, "Hello." She said, teeth clicking together for a moment as she sized up the one before her. She looked interesting enough, colorations that Khaldera could admire, though she looked perhaps a touch timid? Then perhaps the male was a bodyguard? An interesting prospect since they didn't have males back home that were good for anything more then taking care of the children and fetching food. "It is good to meet another Khehora in my travels." She said, "I do find your kind to be quite fascinating." She told the female before her, "My name is Khaldera, I am a Diabi of the Deep Sea Clan." She introduced herself to the other female politely, feeling that she should act in such a manner since this one had called out to her with a greeting instead of a battle challenge. Khaldera would have answered to either but greetings were preferred, she wanted to save her strength for the journey she'd be taking to get to Ayr soon enough after all. It was a distant place from what she knew and it might take her some time to get there. Better to have a moment to relax instead of another battle... not that she hadn't enjoyed what battles the land dwellers had offered her to this point.
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 9:41 am
The moment the words left her mouth, Malta found herself feeling direly foolish. What if it had been hostile? What if it had attacked? Well, it – she – didn't, so Malta felt both relieved and validated. She was tempted to smirk and glance at Vorkin in a See-I'm-Right gesture. Only tempted, though: Malta was far too polite and shy for that, and she didn't want to be mean. Never mean. Vorkin had no such qualms. He arched his back in a low, curling growl as the strange merkhora approached. Malta decided to ignore him, and responded politely in turn because that was what you did. She stepped forward, knowing that Vorkin was glaring at her and feeling very brave. “My name is Malta, of Katangi.” she said, introducing herself. She had tried to remember her mother's tribe's name and she had a good memory, but when she introduced herself it never came out. Instead, she kept identifying herself by her mother's name, which was typical to her settlement and decent enough, so nobody cared. “I am a Ysali.” Now she glanced at Vorkin. “This is Vorkin. He's my cousin.” Vorkin bristled. “Getting ballsy aren't we, flowerclaws?” he murmured, but it was clear that he would have to introduce himself now. He bared his teeth slightly at Malta. “Yeah. I'm Vorkin, Diabi of the Shadow's Maw clan.” he snarled, clearly ready for a fight. Malta tried to ignore his comment. “Um... What do you mean 'my kind?'” she asked, curious.
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Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2014 8:46 pm
"Malta, it nice to meet you." Khaldera said, her long tail swishing behind her for a moment. So this was a Ysali of the Khehora clan? She had to admit she was curious, the ones that lived in the ocean had rather interesting powers, such as being able to get the sea plants to obey their whims which was always helpful when it came to building safe nests for the little ones to be hatched in. It made this one seem that much more important in her mind as well since if she were in the Deep Sea Clan that would be one of her jobs. Khaldera's glowing eyes turned then to the 'cousin' and she found herself clicking her sharp teeth together before she said, "Interesting, your breeders seem to be rather talkative on land, don't they?" He seemed to be rather impudent as well, were he one of hers she'd knock him back into his place... but she felt that, since Malta seemed to be alright with his attitude, that she shouldn't be too harsh with him. Still, she didn't find herself caring much for this 'Vorkin' in the least bit. Didn't he know his place? Or did the Khehora of the land allow their males more freedoms then where she came from? There was so much she had to learn it would appear. "Hm? Oh! Yes, by 'your kind' I mean Khehora in general. My kind are referred to as 'Merkora' as we are of the sea, not the sky." She turned slighly as though to show that her kind lacked the same wings that the Khehora had. It was something that made hunting flying creatures, like dragons, a bit more of a challenge but one had to be ready for anything if they were going to lead their clan. That was one of the main reasons why she'd surfaced, so that she could challenge herself and get stronger, so that she'd be prepared for that fateful day when she was to take over her clan from its current leader.
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Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 1:59 pm
Vorkin seethed – he did not like to be dismissed, as he clearly was, and he was tempted to pounce at the glowing one just to show her what-for. But she was big and had very sharp teeth, and so he decided to stand aside and wait. Maybe the ugly thing would give him an excuse... “Oh! A Merkhora!” Malta had only met one, once, in the settlement. There had only been the one, of course, since it was high in the mountains, but he'd seemed... big. That was as much as she could remember of him, besides the fins, and that had been long ago, when she was an Orakoi and Orakoir and everything had been big. “That's fascinating!” Deep sea clan, of the sea... Oh! “It must be dark there.” she realized, “Where you come from, if you need lights on your body. They are very nice.” she commented, and they were. They were much brighter than the luminescence off of the trees. “Did you... make that pattern, or were you born with it, Khaldera?” she asked, approaching curiously. She shot a blue-eyed glance at Vorkin at him being referred to as a 'breeder', but she decided to decline to ask. Not in his hearing. He looked pissed enough, and she knew he would be nasty later – he always was. She didn't want to give him any more excuses to be nastier. Vorkin seethed. Breeder?! Females were important and powerful, but he was a warrior of the Shadow's maw, not a... a... breeder! He glowered at her, his yellow eyes gleaming as Malta acted all friendly towards the stranger. Idiot... though it would serve flowerclaws right to have those jaws come down on her because she was too friendly and was lured in by the merkhora's glow. Malta was a weakling and a lazy one besides – if she got a little bloodied, she'd understand her place in the world. But no, here he was guarding her, and he supposed he'd help her out if the stranger attacked. After making her sweat for a while, of course...
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Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 11:11 am
Khaldara couldn't help but to smile and preen a little, pleased with the way that this one was handing out compliments, "Thank you, yes, in the deep ocean where my clan lives everything seems to glow at least a little bit. Our homes are filled with glowing plants that help to light the way for example. Something that makes keeping an eye on our young a lot easier since they don't glow when they are little since that would leave them vulerable to predators." Her tail set to swishing as she explained about her world, always happy to do so given how proud she was of what she was and where she came from. It was something that showed in her tone of voice and her stance. "Our patterns grow in as we age, with us, the females, glowing the most beautifully." She said, glancing toward Vorkin for a moment, then back again, "Our males are lovely in their own right, though they don't shine as brightly, we don't want too much attention drawn to them since they are in charge of the babies after all. Drawing attention is our job as the protectors of the clan." Her attention was on Vorkin again, giving a thoughtful hum, before she said, "I do appreciate the look of your breeders, they are of a good size. Our males are a little on the smaller side, though I suppose that makes them cuter. At least in the eyes of the Deep Sea Clan, of course." She couldn't say as far as the Khehora went what their type might be. Perhaps bigger, strong, talkative males were their choice in mates since that was what this one seemed to be like?
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Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 9:49 pm
And she DIDN'T attack, which was a huge disappointment to Vorkin. He shook his head, disgusted. He didn't have to listen to this nonsense about males caring for young. What did the females do? Fight? It was horribly unbalanced – the only right way was to have each member take an equal part of the responsibility of the tribe. All had an obligation to breed and feed and hunt and protect. This was just... ugh. Malta did not see it that way. ”I wish I could see...” she said wistfully, walking around the merkhora and admiring her markings. ”If the glowing plants are even slightly as beautiful as your markings are, Khaldera, I'd really like to see them!” Malta hadn't intended for it to be a flirt. In fact, that it could be interpreted as such never crossed her mind. She was honest – she wanted to see this magic of underwater, glowing plants. ”Oh! Thats...” she glanced at Vorkin again at the comment about males, ”Thats very sensible! If they are duller colored and smaller sized, then they can hide more easily! And if your orakoi aren't glowing, they can hide as well!” she nodded in appreciation. Her own abilities included camouflage and hiding – it was definitely something she could get behind. Her fear left her in a surprisingly easy trickle. She felt comfortable around this strange khehora. ”Do you have crafters in the depths?” she asked, ”It must be very difficult to do things like potions and pottery under the water...” But weaving... maybe they did that. Vorkin muttered under his breath. This was absolutely ridiculous... but he wasn't going to mess with this big sea-amazon. “Malta, we should get back soon.” he 'hinted' between closed teeth. ”No we don't.” Malta said, flinching inwardly at her boldness. Oh yes, she would pay for that later. But she wanted to keep talking to Khaldera, and there was little that would pull her away. ”Oh! But that reminds me! Do you have somewhere to stay for the day?”Oh no, she was not... ”Because, if you don't, I'm sure the tribe won't mind at all if you stayed for a little!”Vorkin wanted to scream and claw streaks of red down his cousin's flank. The tribe certainly would mind! Just because she was a crafter and a favorite of the elders didn't mean she could just bring anybody back to their home. Again, not like he was going to stop the merkhora, but Malta had had no right to ask. “Malta, are you sure...” he growled, retstraining himself admirably. Clearly, flowerclaws was getting ideas in her head about the sort of power she might hold in the tribe. But power in the Shadows Maw tribe was not about gender or class. It was earned through strength, and she had earned NOTHING.
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Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 2:14 am
"If there was a way for land dwellers to visit I would be more then happy to bring you to see where my tribe lives." Khaldera's tail swished behind her, a pleased sort of look on her face. How she found herself liking this Malta, she seemed to know all the right things to say and do to put the Merkorian into a good good. Giving a little nod she said, "It is a useful trait that the males have picked up as, making them good caretakers for the little ones." She let her eyes close for a moment, as thought thinking about it, before opening them again and gave a smile. She rather enjoyed her tribe and the way that things happened in the depths, finding a land dweller that seemed to like the way Khaldera described things pleased her as well. A part of her got the feeling that the breeder over there, Vorkin, didn't seem all that pleased, but it didn't matter. Let him be prickly, he wasn't her mate so she wasn't too upset at him. "We have crafters, though the things they make are quite different then what might be had here. Our medicines for instance are kept in bubbles that the peisos of our clan create so as not to float away for instance, and we weave baskets out of the plants to carry things, or young, in. It's a lot different from up here due to the amount of water but the jobs at least are somewhat similar. Warriors, crafters, healers, we have all those sorts of things." Khaldera glanced toward Vorkin as they mentioned that they 'should get back soon' but it was a suggestion that Malta overruled before asking if she had a place to stay, "At the present I do not. I have only arrived at this wonderful, dark land recently." She admitted, then gave a toothy grin, "That is very kind of you, Malta, you truly do your tribe proud." She was pleased that she had run into one like Malta even if her breeder friend was a little surly. Turning to look at the male once more she said, "You needn't worry, Breeder. I don't mean to eat you up, nor will I stay too long. I am here hunting, working on getting more powerful, because I want to be able to lead my people well. I won't be lazing about nor will I force your tribe to wait on me." She didn't want him to think that she was about to laze about, that wasn't something she did! She was a warrior and provider, if anything she would bring food back to Malta's group as thanks.
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:33 pm
Bubbles?! Malta's eyes widened in fascination. Medicine in bubbles sounded so... elegant! And beautiful. That must mean that there was a lot of inter-clan teamwork! That sounded a lot like... well... the Settlement. Malta felt a pang of homesickness, and she smiled at Khaldera. “I would like to hear more about your tribe.” she admitted, “I hope you'll tell me more about your life?” she turned to Vorkin, “Lead the way?” Vorkin growled, but he wasn't going to go against the merkhora. He supposed if she didn't stay long, it wouldn't be such an issue, and if she was as strong as she said she was... well. Someone would want to fight her. The Maws were always looking for a good fight, and he... well.. he was looking for a reason to put Flowerclaws in her place. “Fine.” he said, leading the way as he shot Malta a look. Malta watched him warily, but such power over him was such a fleeting and rare thing that she figured she needed to savor it... and her guest! She twitched her tail at Khaldera amiably – she was looking forward to this, at least.
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