|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 1:28 pm
 "Cower, brief mortals!"
Backlit by the sun as it set over the clifftop, the dark shape, standing rather precariously on its hind legs, stretched out its front paws towards an invisible, intangible audience.
"For I am DEATH - "
An expansive gesture that went along with the last word toppled the speaker over backwards, but one artful twist later and it was back on four paws.
" - 'gainst whom no lock will hold, nor fasten'd portal bar - "
Apparently undeterred by its previous mishap, the tiny actor raised itself once again to address the vast ocean.
"...here to take my tally on this night of Kings!"
Dropping to all fours, Aku breathed out, thanking whatever gods happened to be listening for returning his voice to its full strength. He was getting better at the two-legs trick, too.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 1:48 pm
Sadiki's ears perked forwards at the sound of another's voice. She sniffed the air, searching for a scent. The wind brought to her the smell of a male of her own kind, not far off. She sprinted forward, leaping gracefully to avoid rocks and other such debree. Her emerald gaze found the one who had spoke. Her tail twitched once and she stalked forward, crouched low to the ground. Her muscles were tensed for a spring.
She heard the words, and found them strange; would not Death be bigger?
Sadiki's eyes widened as the male with the shadowed coat went backwards, her head rising and turning to the side. She peered at him curiously, lifting herself from her crouch into a calm sitting position. Her tail wrapped around her legs, the end rising and falling.
"Hello."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:07 pm
Ordinarily, Aku's keen senses would have alerted him to the queen's presence before she arrived. Preoccupied as he was with his dramatics, she might as well have popped out of nowhere. He leaped a good three feet in the air from a standing start, a startled "GAH!" escaping his mouth as all his fur stood on end. Landing a split second later, he looked around for the source of the voice.
She'd been sitting right beside him all along.
His fur began to calm of its own accord, but he gave his paw an embarrassed lick. "...uh. Sorry. Hi. I was...I was just...just practising. Practising my acting. Um. Yeah." Oh, hurray, well done Aku. Way to look like a complete bozo in front of...a very pretty girl...oh, that just made it worse. "...guh, I'm sorry. Total loser tonight. My name's Aku, in case you wanna know whose name to put on the hilarious anecdote."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:17 pm
She flinched slightly as he jumped, her claws digging into the ground; she half-expected an attack. She relaxed as he turned, her posture returning.
A small laugh gave from Sadiki's mouth, a warm sound that came deep from the heart. It was gone as quickly as it had come, though her eyes retained the glowing flame in their green depths.
"You are an actor?"
She looked to the deep grey of his coat, the little black markings, the generaly shadowed hues. From what she knew, actors were somewhat depressing and angsty... and never reacted as much as this one had. Her tail twitched.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Aku." It came almost as an afterthought, her mind on something else and her lips moving of their own accord.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:47 pm
"Actor? Me?" He had to laugh. "Hell no - well, not a good actor anyway. I just like doing it, yanno, for the fun of it. Stepping into someone else's pawprints, or hoofprints, and trying to get your head around being them...it's kinda cool."
Aku swiped a paw over his mane, trying in vain to tidy it up. He made it worse. An annoyed little growl, and he scrubbed at it with both paws - it ended up looking like a black dandelion, and most of it hung into his eyes. "...mrrf. Stupid thing. It always grows crazy - I look like enough of a bozo without having a bad mane as well. Gah." Thankfully, a timely gust of wind blew it out of his face. "I guess that's why I don't really mind making a fool of myself in the end - I'm used to it, and it makes people happy now and again. And despite that I've done it...rather spectacularly tonight...I'm pleased to meet you too, Mystery."
Because she hadn't told him her name, had she? The black Rit's slight grin was partially planned, but partially involuntary as well. That had been...almost smooth.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:57 pm
She watched his antics, her eyes craning to see her own tuft of hair. It laid perfectly smooth, the color of rich chocolate and deep wood combined into one. She flicked her head, and it swirled about before gratiously falling back into place. "I have not those problems..." She peered at her paw, wiggling her toes and watching as the claws dug into the dirt. The claws retracted as she looked up to him, a question in her eyes. "... Mystery?" Has he mistaken her for someone he already knew? ...
...
Oh.
She flushed slightly, the golden color of her cheeks turning momentarily slightly pink, though the blush soon faded. She cleared her throat, an apologetic gleam joining the amused one in her eyes. (Very expressive, they were. Even the slightest change in her mood would reflect instantly in her glowing emerald orbs.) She had abandoned her manners this night.
"My name is Sadiki." The female's head was lowered slightly, a scolded child seeking forgiveness.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:57 am
...mm, Sadiki, huh? Aku grinned as he mulled the word over in his mind. "I dunno, Sadiki - I might like Mystery better. I reckon it suits you. Anyway...have you hunted tonight? I've got some meat left if you don't wanna trouble, but we'd have to go back to Mel's tree. It's just a bit north of here." He indicated the vague direction of the black Reya's tree with one forepaw. "And even if you've eaten, you're welcome to come back there with me: there's a cosy little hollow at the foot of the tree, and Mel lets me live there. She's a bit snappy sometimes, but she's good at heart and she respects little folk like us."
It was always useful to know which Nequus did and did not like Rit, Aku mused. He'd narrowly avoided a good few stompings in his youth by being a little too eager to make new friends, and he didn't want Sadiki-Mystery to have to go through that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 9:22 am
She caught the grin out of the corner of her eye, and straightened up a bit. Her ears twitched at the word 'hunt.' Her tail flicked, cutting through the air with slightly more speed than it had before. She had hunted to completion this night; she had heard a voice while she had been scouting the area, looking for something meaty, and had came over to investigate. Her muscles began to twitch with the anticipation of a chase. Suddenly, Aku looked yummy... she shook her head to clear it of those thoughts. He was a Rit just like her, yes? Do not eat Rit, yes? Deer good, yes?
Satisfied that her brain agreed with her body, and that neither now wanted to eat her new friend, she smiled happily.
She tuned back into his words at 'snappy.' "Little folk?" She asked, trying to bring herself up and make herself look larger. Sadiki couldn't get to a height that she thought was big enough, and so attempted Aku's previous trick. She shifted her weight to her back legs and stood up a little... she teetered, but went back on all fours before she could really fall. "Well... yes, little."
She sniffed the air and looked around, her tail twitching,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 9:46 am
Aku watched the female's antics with interest. She didn't seem to have paid much attention to his words, and he took that as a No Thanks with good grace. "Don't worry if you fall over lots," he said, slowly rising on to his back paws. "It takes tons of practice...whoah..." But he managed to lower himself down without falling. "I wanna be able to stand on two legs like the humans do, yanno? Even if it's only for a bit."
As if to demonstrate, he stood on his hind legs and attempted to take a step forward - of course he fell over, but it did not seem to perturb him. "One day," he sighed, smiling. "One day."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:21 am
She crouched down, peering up at him with interest. Her head was turned to one side. "Do you want to stand like they do because you want to see the world from their point of view, or because you want the world to see you as they do humans? Top of the ladder, King of the world, Better Than Me?" She asked it with interest; she was not making fun of him or his dream, she merely really wanted to know.
She wondered how one would hunt on two legs. If you could manage to balance, then would you try to use weapons as humans do? She peered at her front paws curiously. They would clearly not hold any human weapon. She flexed her claws... at least she had those. And her teeth.
Sadiki looked back to Aku, waiting for a response. She rolled over, stretching lazily.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:26 am
"I just wanna be able to do it, I guess," Aku admitted. "It makes the acting easier, 'cuz you can wave your paws around and stuff. And yeah, I guess I wanna try to see what it's like to be like them. But nah, I wouldn't wanna be king of anywhere. I'd make an awful king." He laughed, flopping on to his side. "I'd be so useless...heehee..."
It was a funny image, but that wasn't the only reason he was laughing. Strange though she was, Sadiki's presence was a welcome change. He rarely saw or spoke with other Rit, and this one was pleasant despite her idiosyncracies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:08 pm
She nodded to show that she understood. She wiggled a bit, making the grass around her form a nice little cocoon. Sadiki's eyes closed about halfway, making them little slits. She was greatly tempted to purr, enjoying the last of the sun's rays as she was.
The female blinked and looked over to Aku. "Useless? How is a King who can provide entertainment useless?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 5:21 pm
"It's not what he can do as what he can't do, S'diki," Aku sighed, looking up at the sky with a contented expression. "I can entertain, but I can't think like leaders do. I can't think about how to keep a whole big group of us fed and watered and safe from harm - that's what a proper king has to do. I'd be better off as the king's jester or something, and I'm already Mel's jester so I don't think that's an option right now." He grinned. "Mel, now she'd be a good king. She would kick a** as a king. Maybe once she calms a bit and finally gets back at her a*****e father...maybe she'll have a herd, and then I'll have tons of big folk to entertain. That'd be awesome."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 2:53 pm
Sadiki nodded again, something she had taken to doing frequently as of late. "Humor is important. Food and water and necessities of life, but what use is living if you cannot have fun?" She peered at him, her eyes taking on a lime green glint. "In a way, Jesters are as important as Kings. They keep them people entertained... and a happy soul is one who is not plotting to overthrow the King. It keeps the peace."
She felt a brief flicker of recognition at the word Mel, though she couldn't quite place it. (She had been in the thralls of wanting to eat Aku when he had mentioned the Nequus before.)
Mel would be a Rit like them, right?
But... herd... isn't that Nequus? And how could a Rit lead a group of Nequus? ...
She decided that this Mel was a Rit, and due to the slight light-headedness and flippancy that often overcame her with hunger, jumped to the only conclusion that seemed plausible at the time:
"OOO~! Is she your girlfriend?" Sadiki giggled and rolled about at the thought, batting at him playfully with one paw.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:55 am
"My girlfriend? BWAHA!" Aku laughed and batted back. "Hell no! She's a Reya - a Nequus lady, not a little Rit like us. She's waaay too big for me. Besides, she's got one helluva temper. Good friend material, bad mate material. For me, anyway. I'm her blackness buddy. Yanno, fellow foul fiend from the darkest depths of Tartarus, that sorta thing. She looks out for me, and I keep her sane. It's a good deal."
He laid back and looked up at the sky, bruise-purple in the aftermath of the sunset. "...Not that I wouldn't want a girlfriend," he said wistfully. "That'd be awesome. But yanno, most Rit don't really get me. I get on better with the big folks, their ways, their lives. It's like...it's like I'm more like a Nequus on the inside than I am like a Rit. Sometimes it confuses me."
At this point he decided to stop rambling. Doubtless such talk would not please his companion.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
