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 Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 4:27 pm
"You don't seem to care about anything, now, do you?"
She tossed back her maroon mane, and drew even closer. The shadows revealed the scale-like body on the mare, along with the short bob of hair for a mane and tail. Had she any wings, claws, or horns, Torment perhaps might have found her to look the part of an adversary, but without them, she was just another mare.
"But you're an easier prey this way, don't you see?" She said, tongue snaking out to lick her lips, hoping to incite some fear into her. "Without family, without any connections... no predator has to worry about any vengeful family coming after them. No herds tracking them down and paying them back for murdering a loved one... no attachments, no defenses."
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 4:34 pm
Perhaps Wyrsa would've felt more fear if she had been out in the open, uncertain of the territory as she had been in the desert. But here, in the shadows of the trees, she felt at home and comfortable. She didn't respond to the statement. Clearly, as a living being there had to be things she cared about, but she didn't have to share those.
Wyrsa's eyes narrowed at the implication that she was easy prey. "Is that so?" she asked, calmly, still without any emotion, her voice almost a part of the night. "I was unaware that predators feared a victim's kin so much." The flat tone of her voice made the statement almost an insult.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 5:04 pm
Torment laughed, enjoying the feeling of it as it escaped from her throat. "I'm not like any stupid predator you may have met before, Wyrsa. I just so happen to be a predator with a brain. I know my limitations, and I think before I kill. While I might enjoy eating a particular thing, I know that should six or seven of that particular thing's relatives come after me, I might not be so... fortunate."
Her tail twitched, and gently swung back and forth, airing itself in the evening breeze. "While my Father and brothers may not think that way... I personally, want to enjoy life and what it has to offer. I'm not looking for anything to shorten it for me."
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 5:21 pm
She considered this. "You may and you may not. The Kalona I met did not seem particularly stupid either. Then again, he didn't seem interested in eating me," Wyrsa commented. Her tone seemed to imply that she thought more of the male Kalona she'd met than Torment."
The mare cocked her head, the first real movement she'd made in a while. "A good philosophy," she agreed. Life was to be desired above all, else how could one enjoy what they had?
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 5:36 pm
Her grin widened and she shook her head. "You seem to think I am quite the poor excuse for a kalona. Your words don't say it, but your tone reveals it all."
She chuckled, then ruffled her own feathered wings, spreading them out to show off. "As you can very well see, I'm not some horrid kalona. Yes, thanks to my worthless mother I have the blood of the kalona race running through my veins, but I feel I'm much better than the breed, who seemingly fail to think before they act."
Her feathers drew back down and rested by her side. No, she would never put herself to the standards of the kalona. They were a race of bloodthirsty fools. Her father may as well have been one, though it was thanks to him that she had been born the mutant she was. No, she enjoyed killing, but being intelligent and thinking before acting came before feeding her hunger for blood and death. Her father had trained her to suppress her emotions, and she had done a well enough job of it to satisfy her own needs.
"But if you doubt me still, dear Wyrsa, I'd be more than happy to show you my bloodthirsty side, and use you as an example."
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 5:45 pm
Had she done such a thing? Damn. That wasn't too good. She didn't want to provoke the mare, not if she could avoid it.
"The Kalona I met did not seem particularly bloodthirsty, and he was rather intelligent as well," Wyrsa commented, tossing the information out in the the toneless voice she'd used previously.
She knew she didn't want to be an "example" for this bloodthirsty mare. The only question was how to get out of this intact. Wyrsa's eyes narrowed in thought. "Why," she finally began, "would you want to use me as an example? I may have no kin, but I could go and warn herds nearby of your presence." She paused to let Torment think on that before continuing. "Whereas if you do not demonstrate your fearsomeness on me, I would have no reason to tell anyone of you, for good or ill." Yellow eyes did not look away from the gray. Only Wyrsa's gently swishing tail, almost completely invisible in the darkness, showed signs of her nervousness. Torment wasn't nearly as overwhelming for the mare as Tloc had been.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 6:10 pm
"I may be pink and somewhat frilly like my mother, but I'm not stupid. You've said enough to me already to give away your lack of ties to family, and had you any friends, you probably wouldn't be lurking in the forest so late in the evening." One eyebrow rose as the mare continued to compare her to this... kalona she had obviously met before. "I have heard of insane kalonas, I have heard of kalonas who refuse to eat meat. I have heard of wise kalonas and I have heard of stupid ones. I am my own kind, and will do so as I please."
She gave the mare one last glare, then turned her back to her, heading out in the direction of the forest's outskirts. She had grown bored, and it was time to find something better to do than argue with a mare she'd no doubt find as a carcass one day, thanks to some witless kalona passing by. "It would do you good to remember that... that not all of our kind, if you could even call it my kind, are the same. Your life will most definitely be extended by doing so."
And with that, the pink and white of the mutant mare faded off into the darkness of the forest, and Torment walked on, hoping to find entertainment for the remainder of the evening.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 6:20 pm
Hmm. So Kalonas were as much individuals as any group. Good to know. Wyrsa did not lower her head or pause to ponder the implications of Torment's words until she could no longer make out the bright pink and white of her markings in the darkness. Only then did she bend her head down to continue her meal, thinking furiously of how close she'd come to being injured or maimed. Only then did her knees lock into place, keeping her standing, while her hide shook and shivered with the suppressed fear. And yet, there was a kind of exhiliration for surviving the meeting and coming out fairly well.
Wyrsa was smug as she moved into the darkness and it hid her completely, enveloping her like the mother's love she'd never known.
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