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 Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:10 pm
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The hunter stalked his prey with deft, smooth movements, skulking in the grass and between trees. When he finally made his move, it was to confuse the lady, to make her think that it was the mountain lion that was the threat, and not he. He played the role of savior, the role of the knight. But he was no knight. No, this stallion was anything but honorable, in the traditional sense. Several minutes later found his muzzle splattered with blood, his teeth dripping with it. The mare that he had hunted had been reduced to just one more corpse, one more meal. Just as she had taught him.
Anevay. The one mare that Ruin would always consider to be superior, the only one outside of his family that he thought deserved that consideration. She was an enigma, even to him. He who had spent a good share of his life around her. Her smouldering anger intrigued him, her distance warned him away. But he had not given up on figuring her out yet. Not yet. No, he was much too stubborn for that. He gave the mangled body a disgusted look, put off by how easily the creature had been deceived. "Pah. A hero indeed." When would the foolish lesser Soquili learn that they were nothing more than morsels to the Kalona?
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:37 pm
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Ruin had chosen to lead his prey away into a secluded location, but it was obvious that he hadn't wandered far enough a field. Damn. Well, that was one more thing he needed to learn. Still, it had not been a poor effort. His senses, which had alerted him to his current meal, also alerted him to the presence of another. Someone else in his territory. Coolly, he waited for the other to approach, mentally calculating his advantages and disadvantages. He was large, as large as his father at the very least. He was strong, and cunning. Intelligent enough to get his way out of poor situations.
However... there was the off chance that the other who approached was more skillful than he. That the other was stronger, faster, meaner. He growled low in his throat, warning the one who neared him that he would not be bothered by trifles. In the next moment, he took another bite out of carcass, ripping the meat off of the foolish mare's bones. The dead mare. His savagery showed that he would be fully willing to fight if he must. He did not prefer to. Not now. There were other, better things to do beside fight.
He drew himself up, standing at his full height so as not to five the impression of being diminutive. His wings were flared, allowing their blood red color to act as a banner. A warning, just as the growl had been a warning. He waited, wary, continuing to mentally prepare himself. While it wasn't true that he had never fought before, he had never been in a fight with a skinwalker or another Kalona. Either of those he would have to watch out for. Either of those, he would have to prepare for.
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:53 pm
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 11:05 pm
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Ruin could have kicked himself. Of course it was Anevay. "Well, that was incredibly stupid of me. What can I say? I was half expecting to see Calamity, or whatever it is that stallion calls himself. I'm afraid he's been around here quite a bit. It's certainly a surprise to see you." Doggedly, he forced himself to deal with that fact that he had warned off, and in effect threatened a very dangerous mare. "No insult intended."
What the hell? What did he have to lose? But damn it, he didn't want to fight her! That was a weakness, and he knew it. Strove to control it. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! What could he say now? "That concept we discussed worked. The lesser mares are quite willing to see me as a hero, and I have no doubt of who I have to thank for that." He meant, of course, Calamity and that Windflame fellow. The lesser lovers.
The stallion took in the proud arch of the mare's neck, the fierce look in her eyes, and decided that this was a fight that he did not want to chance. Damn him. He should have smelled her a lot sooner. But she'd been downwind of him, and the scent hadn't carried as well as it might otherwise have. Best to try to talk her down. If he had to fight, he would. His blood told him what was at stake.
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 11:21 pm
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 11:38 pm
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"My apologies, Anevay. May I make it up to you in any way? Perhaps find you another dinner?" Not himself, of course. Someone else. Someone not him. "It's too bad I can't track Calamity down for you. He might make a decent meal... if I didn't think his hypocrisy was poisonous. Still, it might be worth it just to rid the world of him." Ruin, of course, had no love for the stallion. Why would he? His only encounter with him had been rather distasteful. It was unfortunate that he had interfered with Anevay's dinner. He hadn't meant to. Obviously, he needed to work harder on his hunting skills.
"Calamity? Turn tail at my display?" Oh please. That stallion thought he was brought by the two-leggers' gods to please mares. "He thinks highly of himself. So highly, in fact, that I very much doubt that he would turn tail at the sight of me." He was, however, much more likely to do so than her. It was not a pleasure to have robbed her of her dinner. Not at all. Damn it. He would have to be more careful in the future. "He may be useless, but he is incredibly egotistical." Or so the ruby stallion had observed.
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 11:58 pm
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"Just be more careful where you lay out your prey," she said, growling the last half of the phrase despite her attempt to shrug his blunder off. "Luckily for me there are no shortage of lesser males who think turning a trick with a kalona female might be a new, enjoyable experience." His offer to replace her dinner was almost enticing, but she'd rather have the pleasure of stalking and slitting throats herself.
"As for Calamity, the sooner his genes are eliminated from the breeding pool, the better for us all." She stomped a hoof in emphasis, digging the tip into the sod and then pulling back to rip a mat of grass and dirt free. "I am well aware of his ego and his apparent belief that he can knock any mare off their hooves. The notion of being blinded by love is ridiculous for any Kalona....but I assure you he's as much a failure there as he's a failure at acting his race." She chuckled darkly. "He claimed he could win me over...yet you see he took the easier choice with that black mare...the one that does all the talk but none of the walk." She'd have been glad to allow him to service her if the need arose, but he'd never have walked away from it. She didn't respect him enough to let him live to tell about it.
"In any case, I am confident you could take him out. If you fail, then my evaluation of you is gravely overstated and I shall never make that mistake again." He wouldn't be worth her continued attention at that point; Ruin would be better skinwalker fodder than anything else.
She eyed his kill again, yet made no comment on it.
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Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:32 pm
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That Ruin could take him out went without saying. "That stallion thinks more with what's between his legs than he does with that thing he likes to call his heart. I've been told that he once attempted to get between my father and mother, so I am not at all surprised that he would try the same with you." In fact, he had heard that his father had been that close to attacking the foolish creature. If only he had. It would have been good for the Kalona race to rid themselves of him.
Frankly, Calamity's pursuit of Anevay angered him, for reasons he couldn't quite explain. Perhaps it was because the stallion had made attempts with two mares whom he respected. His mother, and his teacher. It was the sensible, logical reason. The other reason, and one that was quite a bit more serious was that Anevay represented the strength of the Kalona to him, and Calamity the weakness. The lesser mare's blood in his mouth tasted sour. "I will endeavor to place my meals more carefully," the stallion replied almost sardonically. Almost.
"I don't think that Calamity will ever attack me, what with his 'sentimental' feelings and all. If there is ever a fight between us, it will be my doing." And he would enjoy tearing the flesh from the lesser lover's bones. Not, of course, that he would devour him.
No. One did not willfully imbibe poison.
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Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:52 pm
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Anevay granted the stallion a chuckle, the harsh edge less distinguishable now than in previous statements. "Your parents are a strong match for each other...I cannot even imagine why Calamity even bothered to try to push his way between that. He is stupider than I thought." She shook her head, as though in disbelief, and bent down to sniff at the carcass at Ruin's hooves as though inspecting the quality.
"Calamity lets his emotions rule too strongly...or rather, he loses check of the weak emotions." She snorted, nudging over the dead soquili's head so she could get a look at it's face. Clear-eyed with a heathy scent, this mare had been. A fair target...no visible handicaps that might lead to an easier kill. "It shall be his downfall in the end and if I or you or your parents are the ones to start his floundering, the better his removal shall be."
She lifted her head away and circled Ruin idly, parting her sharp-toothed jaws to lap a streak of blood free that had soiled her muzzle in touching the newly deceased. Standing still for too long never suited her much and so she found it more comfortable to move leisurely, her tail spade swishing in the leaf litter. Also, she tired of talking of Calamity.
"So...you've been honing your skills, have you? Care to tell me how this," she said, indicating the spread carcass, "came about?" Her tone indicated he was to speak freely of the event if he chose.
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:24 pm
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"There was a mountain lion... I took advantage of the mare's fear to "save" her from it. She was very grateful." And very, very stupid. Ruin shook his head, silently scoffing at the foolish creature. The foolish, dead creature. "She was quite ready to believe me her savior, and I think entertained some romantic notions." How laughable. As though he, a Kalona, would be interested in rutting with a lesser Soquili. His lip curled slightly as he thought of it, his disgust making itself quite clear. "So, she allowed me to lead her off, away from the herds." And that had been her undoing.
He made no comment about her change of subject, seeing no reason to delve into trivialities. Stupid as the now dead mare had been, she had also been physically sound. Taking her down had been a test of his skill, albeit not a major one. Even though she'd been healthy, she had also been a great deal weaker than he was, and ill equipped to combat him. That she had been taken entirely off guard had made it easier. Even though it was Anevay (someone that he knew to some extent, and respected) he spoke to, he did not speak at great length. He was not one to make a great tale out of small deeds.
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:43 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:17 pm
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Lesser mares apparently were even more stupid than he had imagined. It was something that Ruin was coming to realize. The contrast between Kalona mares and the inferior Soquili mares was startling, to say the least. How any self respecting stallion could bring himself to breed with them was truly beyond his comprehension. Truly. "Their weaknesses make them easy to manipulate, and that is their undoing." If they could learn to turn their weaknesses into their strengths, they might almost be worthy of the sort of claims they made. Foolish creatures. Good breeds were so very arrogant about their 'equality', sure of their unearned status. Stupidity did not garner respect. It never would. Not for him, and not from him.
"Actually, yes. That time, though, I outmaneuvered him. I did not feel like wasting my breath in an attempt to talk him into becoming my meal." No, and he would not have. What was the point, after all, of seducing or convincing a stallion... one whom he would have no earthly reason of being interesting in in any capacity. At least with the mares he could claim that if they were of his own race, and not so foolish he might have some use for them other than as one more bite to eat. On the other hand, there did seem to be stallions who were intrigued by their own gender. Hmm. That might be something to look into. Certainly, it was much easier to lure them away that way. Or perhaps if he played the big bad monster, and allowed them to play 'rescuer' for a female?
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 4:12 pm
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Anevay smiled, looking almost benign to one who might not know her all that well, and nodded at his first statement. "We are a superior race because we are willing to exploit those weaknesses to our benefit, whatever they may be. Granted, some of the lessers do not readily show those faults easily, but those who study soon enough learn those masked faults. Yet another reason why Kalona are superior..we are willing to watch when others do not." She paused, flicking an ear dismissively, before adding "At least, why Kalona like you and I are superior."
She cast him a neutral expression as he explained the circumstances of the stallion kill, clicking her teeth together thoughtfully before looking fairly pleased. "Good, good..." she drawled with a malicious hiss afterwards. "Stallions are indeed difficult prey as they are more headstrong than mares. They don't let their brains muddle easily with female notions of romance and saviors, so they do require a little more effort. Granted, there are always those who are truely soft and believe in fairytales, but on the whole..." She snorted and grinned wryly. "I expected nothing less from you."
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