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 Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2017 8:43 pm
 Hellhound prowled the forest, which was to say that he was walking normally through the forest, but his overwhelmingly spooky demeanor meant even normal actions became more sinister in appearance. He didn't really think about that anymore, except from time to time. He didn't have anyone he'd really call a friend, but if he did have a friend of a much more charming character, he thought he might be more bothered by their differences in manner. As it was now, there was no one around to comment on his prowling, so he was content enough to let himself prowl. It was night, of course. He rarely went out during the day. His family was entirely nocturnal and had raised him similarly. The harsh light of the day was too bright for his many-eyed form. At night he could see, sometimes only by the light of his own red phosphorescence. Deep in his belly, his stomach growled. He was hungry. It was time to find something to eat. Hopefully he'd find something already dead. If not, he'd have to make do with what he could find.
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Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2017 8:49 pm
Fearful Symmetry also liked the night, though he was seen just as often in the day. His cat eyes could see more clearly in the low light than most, but most of the people he knew were awake during the day, so that was his habit as well. Tonight he was staying up late, though he expected to regret it in the morning. He was trying to remember his lines for an upcoming show. Though he might have the body of a skinwalker, he had the spirit of an actor, and often the two traits conveniently overlapped. He was no ordinary walker, however. The angeni charm affixed firmly to his feline skull gave him morals and a soul. Or that is how it had been explained to him, anyways. He'd never met a walker without a charm. Part of himself wanted to think that the rest of his race wasn't really as bad as the legends. The other part that sometimes dreamed in blood-red hues knew that they were.
"And how dare you come upon me in such a state?" he muttered under his breath, testing the intonations. "How DARE you?" he repeated, louder this time.
"HOW dare-" The third time, he cut himself off in a strangled choke. There before him was a specter, a vision of fear. He saw a horse's skull staring at him with dead empty eyes, yet it was undeniably alive. He let out a shocked yell that twisted into a catlike yowl. What had he stumbled upon?
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Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2017 8:51 pm
Hellhound wasn't surprised by the stranger, his many eyes had caught the pale shape lurking in the darkness. What he was surprised by was the pelt draped across the stallion's figure, and by the golden eyes staring at him from behind a skull mask.
"Skinwalker!" he spat the words in a hoarse whisper, as loud as he could make his tortured voice. He whirled away, bristling and ready to fight. He wasn't so lucky as Symmetry. He'd seen a skinwalker before. He knew that to hesitate would be to die.
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Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2017 8:53 pm
"You're the monster here, not me!" snapped back Symmetry, equally fearful and yet suddenly hesitant. Was the other soquili really a beast? He knew all too well that appearances could be deceptive.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2017 2:46 pm
The skinwalker was startled, frightened even. Hellhound didn't know what to make of that. He thought of skinwalkers as fearless beasts who lived to instill terror in others. He knew his own visage was eerie, but was it really enough to spook a walker?
He paused for a moment, taking stock of the situation. Had he made some sort of mistake about the identity of the beast? The many eyes across his body took in the other figure. Paws, much like his own. A feline tail, cat-like ears, and a pelt laying over the body, of a slightly different color than the rest of him. The stranger looked like a skinwalker, that much was true. So why wasn't he acting like one? Some sort of subterfuge?
Keeping his defensive stance, Hellhound eyed the stranger.
"If you aren't a skinwalker, what are you?" he asked, suspiciously.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2017 3:52 pm
Fearful Symmetry's heart beat so fast he could hear it pounding in his ears. Fight or flight? His instinct was to run, but something about the stranger gave him pause. He was acting defensive and hostile, but maybe he had reason to be. The people that knew Symm knew him to be no monster and treated him like they would anyone else, but strangers did often have a hard time trusting him. His race was one that there was justification to respond to with hostility, even if he himself was no threat. Maybe this was just that. And he couldn't exactly judge the stranger for looking creepy himself.
"I am a skinwalker," he said carefully, ready to bolt but trying not to give further offense. "But I'm not a dangerous one. I've had this angeni charm on my forehead since birth. It makes me normal, like anyone else." That maybe wasn't the best description of the charm's effects, but it was what he had.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2017 3:55 pm
"What?" Hellhound stared. He'd never heard of such a thing. Some sort of charm that defanged a skinwalker? It sounded like a trick. He would have scowled if he had lips, but settled for a baleful glare with empty socketted eyes.
"How do you expect me to believe that?" he rasped. "It's a trick." Silently, he sized them up. They were about equal in size, but he liked his odds. The eyes all over his body were a point of vulnerability, but they also made it almost impossible to attack him by surprise. Also, the night's darkness cloaked him in shadows. The tiger soquili stood out like a sore toe.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2017 3:57 pm
Symm snorted, almost bitterly. "You don't have to believe me," he said simply. "I don't want anything to do with you. How about we both go our separate ways, and you don't have to worry about if I'm telling you the truth at all?" He had educated people on the nature of charmed skinwalkers before, but he just wasn't in the mood for that sort of patience tonight. This fellow was so obviously hostile, he'd settle for a non-violent resolution of their encounter.
He'd definitely think twice about doing solo nighttime practice walks after this...
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Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 6:40 pm
"If you musssst." That came out with poorer enunciation than he intended. Hellhound felt the bite of frustration at that. He had such a hard time communicating with this fleshless face of his. He had mostly gotten used to it, but that was mostly because he didn't talk to much of anyone. Most found his appearance disturbing and didn't stick around long.
... He focused again on the skinwalker. He too was rather disturbing, wasn't he? He even had a skull over his face, though Hellhound noted that there was indeed a face under the skull. But... it was a strange face with pulled back lips, a permanent smile, or grimace. And besides, he was a skinwalker. Hellhound was already mistreated enough for people thinking he was a skinwalker himself. The other stallion probably had it even worse.
Cautiously, and a little hesitantly, he spoke again. "Or maybe not. Sss-" He was hissing again. He paused and tried again. "Sorry."
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Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 6:44 pm
Symm had a really hard time reading the other soquili. The skull that was his face betrayed no emotions. He realized that he was addressing the head like he would in a more typical soquili, but he wondered now if that was appropriate. Could the head see? Maybe he should look into the eyes instead. He tried this, then realized the problem: Which one?
He was surprised to hear the apology. He didn't need an explanation about what it was for. He'd gotten that same apology many times before, though seldom from such a ghastly figure. "It's fine," he said stiffly. He was still recovering from quite the shock himself.
"And I'm sorry too." He remembered how he'd called the other soquili a monster. Internally, he cringed. He should know better by now than to jump to conclusions like that.
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Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 6:47 pm
A strange sort of relief filled Hellhound. He could feel the previous dangerous tension flitting away, replaced by a much more benign awkward sort. This didn't happen often. He already felt a sort of kinship with the stranger, despite having barely exchanged any civilized words.
"I'm Hellhound," he said. He gave his nickname rather than his formal one. He didn't feel terribly indebted to his family, and rarely felt inclined to introduce himself as one. Hellhound suited him better than Vanya, anyways. It was more ghoulish, like himself. He tried to forget that it was still one of his mothers that had given him that nickname too.
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Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 6:52 pm
Hellhound. Symm almost laughed. "I'm Fearful Symmetry," he said, his amusement stretching his already pulled back lips even wider. They both had scary faces and both had scary names. "But I usually go by Symm." He would often introduce himself as Symm in the first place, but he felt that Hellhound deserved a more proper introduction.
"Do you live around here?" he asked, trying to move the conversation onto more familiar territory. Was there a whole herd of skull-faced soquili around somewhere? He might feel at home somewhere like that. The skull on his pelt was fused to his face and he generally forgot it was there, but at times like this he keenly felt its cool weight.
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