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 Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 2:26 pm
TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE & DEATH
read at your own discretion Sabin's Soquili  Note: Firestorm is maxed outKamiki's Soquili Note: Kumiho is maxed outNOTEThis is a follow up RP to An Insidious Seed, following the Thunderbird war. This ritual WILL NOT WORK. Firestorm was lied to by Kumiho. But he believes it to be true with how far he has descended into madness,hatred, and obsession.
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 8:19 am
Firestorm dragged the weakly struggling form roughly through the underbrush, the sounds of battle fading into a din in the background. He had every confidence, his vision swimming with the red of rage and assured victory. Little did he know just how much the herdground above had fallen to chaos, the blazing fires that his estranged daughter had kindled, or how many of his warriors had fallen.
All he knew was the drive that pushed him forward hoof after hoof - the promise - the legend that would transform him and sever the blood ties to his father, Balrog, forever. The mare's anguished and furious whinnies did nothing but encourage the depraved alicorn as he gave her another jerk, scraping her roughly across tangled roots.
The shrine wasn't far. Just past this turn.... through these dense woods here... and there. He stood, chest heaving as he surveyed the crude stone altar that he had put together. The scrapings and markings he had left to hopefully appease the dark god Kalona. He had listened carefully to the little fox's words. His heart was hardened... and this disgusting creature - this mare who had proven too weak - this mare that he had one looked up to now flailed and whinnied hoarsely beneath him would soon provide what he needed to cut himself away from her family line.
He tossed her roughly onto the slab, hearing a sick, wet thud as he did. HIs ears plastered back as he bared his teeth at her, gloating as he saw the whites of her eyes. She was't the stallion he had wanted. Wasn't the pretender to the throne - the four-winged freak that Balrog had the odacity to name after their whole damn herd.
But he hoped that she was close enough.
Maelstrom. His sister. Her heart would be offered to Kalona in sacrifice - one part of the ritual to allow him to metamorphosize into a true Kalona.
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 8:24 am
Maelstrom struggled as best she could - bones broken and crushed from her battle with the invaders and her fall down the cliff. She had been too battered - her wings too broken to allow her to fly. And even though she had fallen into water, she couldn't slow her descent enough to not land HARD into the icy waters. She never thought that this day would come - already having seen everything she had fought for begin to be taken from her one by one. First the mate, that had made her father so proud of her, then her foals who had grown distant from the herd.... then even her sister, her twin... who had once been inseparable from her and always a hoof behind her had found a mate - a fine wind stallion that her father now looked upon like he had once looked upon Wild Wind. Jealousy had grown in her heart, but she had never questioned her place in the herd - her value. But now, her strength had given out, to the traiter - her half brother, Firestorm. She had seen her herdgrounds assaulted by monsters, and even now she didn't know its fate - the safety of her family... and she lay, battered and broken on a cold stone slab as she looked balefully up at Firestorm. Even if this proved to be her dying breath, she would not go silently into the night. She would not roll over and just accept her fate. She lashed out - too weakly - with a hoof, the blow striking almost laughably softly on the stallion's forelimb.
"You can... kill me... but Balrog... will never abandon the herdgrounds." She spat, chest heaving with ragged breaths, "You were NEVER good enough... to rule it. This just shows... the darkness in your heart." She snorted.
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 3:23 pm
Firestorm was pretty certain that Maelstrom wasn't going any where. But to be certain, he lashed her down with the long vines weighted down with heavy rocks he had prepared ahead of time, not knowing the condition of the soquili he would bring to his altar. There was another aspect of the ritual he required that he could not have procured ahead of time.
Fortunately, the dark god apparently smiled on him today - Fires blazed through the grasslands, and it was a simple matter to gather the blazing fire on a long branch and return to the alter he had painstakingly constructed.
His heart leapt when he saw that Maelstromw was still there - coherent but barely, her eyes rolling in her head and blood painting the stone all around her as she had continued to bleed.
He touched the stolen fire to the brazier he had collected, smiling wickedly as the dry kindling and herbs he had gathered there immediately caught and began to smoke. It hadn't rained in months - another smiling blessing perhaps from the dark god.
Then, he turned on Malestrom, and speaking lowly, he lifted his head to the plume of smoke.
"Raven Mocker... Kalona... I offer you this sacrifice - the life of the sister whose blood I will strip from my veins with your dark blessing of transformation.
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:43 pm
Maelstrom couldn't understand why he wasn't just getting it over with when he draped her with the heavy cords. As much as she struggled, her body was weak, and she only succeeded in tearing already battered flesh, opening up the bleeding channels once more.
For a time, Maelstrom was certain she had passed out, but when acrid smoke and the heat of a fire filtered into her consciousness she was awake again with rolling eyes and a hoarse, strangled whinny. Her body was covered with thick frothing sweat and she lashed once more against her bonds as Firestorm's words wormed into her ears.
He had gone off the deep end. She knew he was crazy, but not THIS crazy.
"That's impossible-!" She interrupted. "You're insa-"
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:03 am
Kumiho had fled the battlegrounds up on the mountains once the flames started pouring in. She had seen enough to be satisfied, and anyway, there was another show she was desperate to witness.
She had her doubts, of course, that the disillusioned Alicorn would actually have the guts to go through with it. Not that it really mattered to her either way; the damage had been done and Firestorm - Balrog's own son - had wrecked havoc on their pristine little herdlands. Would Stormwild ever know that it was her to caused it? That she was the catalyst that led to her son's betrayal? She hoped so - one way or another Kumiho would make sure that mare knew that all the death and destruction on her family once again looped back to her.
But for now, she put her vulpine nose to the ground and made her way to the alter, being sure to keep herself hidden - she didn't want to interrupt Firestorm in his mad rage. Knowing someone was watching - even herself - might spark a moment of clarity in the stallion.
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2014 11:43 am
Firestrom was oblivious to the lingering presence beyond the tight treeline that circled his makeshift altar. Rustling in the underbrush and small animals were no concern even on a daily basis, but even less so today, in the face of his looming rebirth.
Anger flared at the indignance of his worthless "sister", "I am NOT INSANE!" He all but shrieked with a toss of his long mane and a fire in his eyes that belied his words.
"I SEVER the ties of family," He spoke again, not to Maelstrom but to the skies and the clawing trees and whistling winds. "I abandon my heritage. I accept YOU. Your dark gift and welcome the power and might of Kalona into my body."
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2014 11:50 am
The words fell from Maelstrom's mouth, replaced by ragged breath as she listened to the madness that spewed from Firestorm's mouth. He was insane - beyond pleading, negotiation, and certainly salvation. Salty, stinging tears welled in her eyes as she suddenly knew with a certainty that made her bones ache that she was looking at her own looming death. There had always been some way of escape, wounds that could be healed, or a monster that could be evaded through deft flight or strength in the numbers of her herd. But there was no one here - it was likely they hadn't even seen her fall during the fight and she could smell the smoke that poured from their once great herdgrounds.
Tears began to flow freely down her face as she refused to close her eyes, instead staring balefully at the stallion who she almost couldn't reconcile as once being a playful, innocent foal she had shared adventures with and spun stories with about the greatness of their herd and family.
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2014 12:00 pm
FIrestorm just grinned wider as Maelstrom's protests and arguments fell to a muffled sobbing, lifting his head higher, "In my first show of dedication to You, Kalona, I will demonstrate that my heart is strong, that my nerves are steel, and that I am dedicated to You above my blood. I am and deserve to be Kalona. In your name, I will take her heart into myself."
He looked down wickedly to Maelstrom, and, she wasn't sure if it was sadism or compassion, asked "Any final words?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2014 12:04 pm
Maelstrom's red eyes rolled up and over to Firestorm's - the same color - the color of their father. And in them burned hatred.
"You will never be a fraction of the stallion of Balrog." She sneered. "This "ritual" is madness, and I Hope that you burn for it." She seethed, gathering what little strength she had left to raise her head - she refused to go with a scream, or to beg or give him any satisfaction of weakness.
"There will come a day, Firestorm, when you will realize how much you have fallen - how much you have lost due to your own madness and hatred, and I hope it kills yo-"
Her words were cut off as, in frenzied madness at the boring words, Firestorm's horn burried itself into her chest, silencing her forever.
Maelstrom has been Killed
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2014 12:18 pm
Firestorm slowly lifted his head, blood running in rivulets down the spiral of his horn as he surveyed the lifeless corpse of his sister.
His jaw was set, and not a trace of hesitance was in his eyes as he set in with steeled nerves to act out the next step of the ritual.
Splitting open her breast was no easy feat, even with sharpened horn and cloven hooves. He didn't expect it to take the agonizing minutes it did to finally expose her heart to the air.
Once upon a time, when Firestorm was a simple foal who didn't know any better, he had tried to eat a rabbit - to prove his worth to the kalona filly Shinoma that would one day become his mate. It tasted bad in his mouth and sat heavily in his stomach, leaving him nauseous.
That was nothing in comparison to the metallic, organy taste and too-slippery texture of Maelstrom's heart. Perhaps there was still a sliver of a conscience burried somewhere deep and forgotten in Firestorm's maddened mind, but each bite seemed to take him longer than the last, as he forced himself to swallow and eat the still-hot organ in its entirety. He had hoped, somehow, that Kalona would already be smiling on him, that this would taste like the success of rewards and a carnivorous apetite would already be kindled within him. But... perhaps this was part of the test.
Finally, he swallowed the final bite and looked down at the shell of the grey mare that he once called Sister, her blood still running down his muzzle to mingle with the red markings of his fur.
"FOr you, Kalona." He uttered towards the skies as he carefully moved the brazier to the alter and the kindling that Maelstrom lay across, upending the fire and watched as it burned and crackled - the stench of hair and horseflesh begining to burn.
His body shook, his stomach lurched, but he forced himself to inhale the rancid smoke.
"I send her to you, Kalona. Her strength, her purity, corrupted in your name. And, in offering, I shed my heritage of the wind. For you, Kalona - take my feathers and let me be reborn in your image!"
And then, with frenzied mouthfull after mouthfull, Firestorm began to tear the feathers from his own wings, tossing them onto the growing fire. Each bite hurt as the thick pinfeathers were painfully wrenched from his flesh, leaving behind pinpricks of blood in some instances, and spurts of others as it felt more like he was needling himself rather than pulling them out.
He started slowly, each wrenching pull almost hesitant. But as the smoke filled his lungs and the lurching pain in his stomach after eating a meal he couldn't digest, his ripping and pulling became more frantic, almost spurred on by the pain and strange delight of seeing his feathers consumed by the fire into which he cast them.
Finally, as his wings were nearly bare, turned into awkward, flightless limbs, and each breath came with a belabored cough, Firestorm swayed on his hooves and finally fell, unconscious to the ground, fully expecting to awaken transformed as his eyes slid closed.
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2014 8:09 am
Kumiho watched the whole scene unfold with nearly unbridled glee (or whatever twisted, dark version of glee a skinwalker could muster). This is what she lived for - the satisfaction and pride that most Soquili would find in creating foals, frolicking in the meadows, or falling asleep next to their lovemate - Kumiho only found in watching the suffering of others.
Not just suffering. Suffering she caused.
She wasn't surprised when Firestorm passed out - his body was probably sick from the ingestion of so much flesh. Flat-toothed posers like him weren't fit to eat meat.
The fur tingled down her back, standing on end. She dug her paws into the dirt and ash that was collecting around the alter. Part of her wanted so bad to dig up some corpse powder. He had obviously shown himself worthy enough, perhaps, to wear the mantle. It would be so easy to mix it up with the ash from his dead sister, to hold under his nose as he slept.
But no.
No, as exhilarating as that would be, it would only be a short-term satisfaction. He would no longer care he murdered his sister and he would abandon his desire to be a Kalona.
No, she wanted him to live.
She couldn't wait to see his face when he awoke. Bloody, disfigured, but still decidedly NOT Kalona. She could hardly believe he fell for it - that silly legend whispered among Crows.
In the meantime, she carefully avoided the flames and pulled off large chunk of smokey, charred flesh from the deceased mare and settled in the clearing, eating as she waited.
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Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 1:18 pm
Slowly, achingly, consciousness returned to Firestorm. His whole body seemed to hurt - his stomach most of all as he came to with a roll of nausea that nearly caused him to be sick that very momemt. Instead, he lasted until the first lingering whiff of charred hair and flesh hit his nose, and he rolled with a groan as foul-tasting coppery bile spilled out.
Something was wrong. Very wrong, he realized before his eyes even opened and memories began to needle their way back.
He should feel strong, powerful.... not... not like this.
But Firestorm was anything but a coward, and he forced his eyes open and looked down at himself... and then, with a lump in his throat, back over his back.
Fear and rage at once clenched his heart (and his stomach again) as he witnessed his own naked wings - plucked nearly bare - leaving behind fleshy, pale, bleeding and goosefleshed skin.
He staggered to his feet with a muffled whine of a whinny.
It didn't work.
It didn't work!
It was only then that he heard the crunching and tearing noises and his head jerked towards the alter - his fury seeking out something to target.
It was none other than the very fox who had told him of this ritual.
"You." he Seethed.
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2015 7:19 am
Kumiho was dainty licking her paws, cleaning herself up after her meal of perfectly cooked horseflesh. So nonchalant; she wanted him to see. She wanted him to know that the more horrendous act a Soquili could inflict upon another - murder - was nothing to her.
He would be tortured for the rest of his life because of what he had done.
For Kumiho, it was lunch.
"Ah, you're awake," she said when he focused his gaze on her. She kept a healthy distance, just in case he decided to try and attack her. But she wasn't worried; he was still weak and sick.
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2015 7:47 am
Pain, Nausea, and anger clouded his vision as he strode - much more haltingly than he wanted - towards the fox. His legs shook with pain and exhaustion and the menacing advancing looked more like the approach of a quivering foal.
"Why. Didn't. It. Work." He said haltingly, boiling.
Already the possibility was creeping into his mind that it was a lie. That he had been fooled. The casualness and gloating smirk behind the fox's eyes pointed in that direction.
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