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 Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 7:39 pm
The other doe seemed to have softened up to her, become much more accepting of what was going on, and who Last Whisper ones. She had even managed to explain her name just the way Mother Swamp had instilled it upon her. Mother Swamp really did have an evil sense of humor, but that was another story.
Last Whisper shook her head and brought herself back to the conversation at hand as she gently began to work on the flesh on the skull, making sure not to leave any marks on the ivory underneath.
"Well you are no longer a corpse, that much is obvious. You are alive and talking just as I." Had Last Whisper been more observant she would have noticed the tear, but she did hear the fear invading the other's voice. Quickly she stumbled, "You may go by Embraced-By-Mud, as that is the state you were in not long ago. Are you often bathing in mud?" She shook her head, no that didn't sound right. "Mother Swamp gives us our names, and I'm sure that if you have lost yours, it is only a matter of time before she gives it back to you." She tried to smile around the strip of meat in her mouth, hoping to have diluted the panic or even better, destroyed it.
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 8:28 pm
Mimic thought on the wisdom of the other doe, silent tears still running down her face. It was true that Mother Swamp had gifted her with her name... and her name was definitely not 'Embraced-by-Mud' that much was certain. Was Mother Swamp punishing her for desecrating this body?
Mimic did not think so, for if that was true then would she not have also taken away Last Whisper's name? Perhaps Whisper was right, perhaps in time her name would come back to her. Much like the times Spasm had flown off, only to guiltily return some time later.
She decided there was nothing that she could do about her name at this moment, so she might as well just continue with her task.
Dipping her head towards the body again she gently grasped the vertebrae. The very bone that she had lovely cleared of flesh and gristle. She tugged lightly, and felt something give. The bone popped from it's place with a distasteful sound, catapulting Mimic backwards to land on her rump.
Oof She murmured around the bone.
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 8:57 pm
The other doe had gone silent, and for that Last Whisper was grateful. She would not have known what to do if the other had fallen into a bigger pit of depression. Probably just stood there awkwardly, or run away.
As it was, she went back to work on the skull, pulling away the remainder of the skin slowly, but easily. Once she got under it, she gently licked the bone clean and pushed her nose down into the neck to wrap her maw around the last vertebrae. She clenched it with her teeth and wiggled it a little, to dislodge it. After some huffing and puffing it came loose and sent her falling back, if only seconds after the other doe. A thought stroke hard.
She walked over to the other doe, placing the first vertebrae before her and said, "You must be aptly named, right? You've copied other things, done what they do. The corpse, myself, surely other things that I have not noticed. Does that help?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 6:46 pm
Mimic pondered the does words. They were logical, she had copied the actions of others today and in incidents prior. Maybe, just maybe her name involved such things. She turned to nod at Last Whisper, indicating she had heard.
Mimic decided her name was not important at the moment, what was important was the perfect little vertebra sitting at her feet. Mimic gently picked it up, cradling it in her mouth, as she trotted to the nearby patch of grass. She loving rubbed the bone against the grass, cleansing it of the blood and viscera that colored it. When it was sufficiently clean she placed it on the ground and turned to Last Whisper.
Why are they so beautiful?
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 11:33 pm
The doe nodded, so Last Whisper nodded right back before she took the few steps back to the head of Dances-Among-Flies. Most of the skull was exposed, and it was dislodged from the neck now, so it was only a matter of removing it and cleaning it.
She bent her neck down, prying away the last strips of flesh and muscles clinging to the pearly bone underneath, the prize. Once done doing that, she gently wraps her maw around it and pulls it away from the rest of the body. It takes a few tugs, but she manages to tear it free. One or two paces take her over to a patch of grass. She figured she would worry about the brains later... for now she wanted the outside all nice and clean. She licked away the last few strands of... tissue... and then rubbed it gently into the grasses to get rid of the remaining blood.
Why are they so beautiful, she had asked. Why indeed? Letting go of the skull, she replied, "I think it is because they are so white and pure. After all, how many things in the swamp are such a clean color? Not to mention... Bones are what give us structure, and that in itself is a work of beauty, for without structure we would be puddles of mush and nothing more!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 7:48 pm
Mimic giggled at the thought of Kimeti puddles. Swamp goats without bones, squirming aimlessly around, how hilarious. Mimic leaned closer to the bone she had taken from Dances-Among-Flies, the soft curvature, the funny little nubbins poking out the ends, the perfect smoothness of it. She thought of similar looking things running throughout her body, giving her shape and purpose, saving her from life a puddle-monster. She had another thought, of a Kimeti pulling her insides out, gently picking through to take her bones, and a wave of nausea took her.
Maybe... Maybe they are beautiful because we aren't supposed to have them.. They are forbidden.
Mimic wondered on the folly of taking something from Mother Swamp. Again, the fact that Last Whisper had never been punished for her collection was proof Mother Swamp did not disapprove. Come to think of it, Mother Swamp had created Last Whisper, probably knowing how she would turn out. Perhaps this was acceptable, like Mimic had said earlier, she was preserving the memories of the dead.
And with these revelations came one more, her true name.
I do not know why I lied to you Last Whisper, for my name is not Embraced-by-Mud as you already know, it is Mimic. I told you the first name hoping to deceive you, I feel horrible about that now.
Mimic stared at the ground, hoping Last Whisper would not mind. Mimic began fidgeting with her bone again.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:37 pm
She more or less ignored the other doe's doubts about taking bones from the dead. Last Whisper believed that the bones of the dead would be left where they lay, so why shouldn't they be cleaned and kept longer and remembered with her and the rest of her collection? Not like anyone or anything else would be using them otherwise. They would eventually just break or get stepped on and push down into the mud and under the ground until they were forgotten and abused. She was saving them, and learning in the process. One could learn a lot from looking at dead things.
But when she was offered a name, her ears perked up and she simply said, "Everyone lies... Anyway.... It's nice to meet you Mimic. Do not feel bad. You were a pretty good corpse..." She figured lying about this wouldn't be too big of a stretch, and would perhaps urge the doe to feel better or forget about it.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:50 pm
A huge smile stretched Mimic's face.
I was good wasn't I? though not as good as Dances-Among-Flies, she was spectacular.
Her head tilted as she laughed softly at her own joke. Last Whisper's easy acceptance was so rare, so refreshing. Mimic was used to people judging, the things she did, the way she spoke, how she was always forgetting things. Last Whisper, being an odd one herself, had given Mimic something no one else had, acceptance. It was a weird feeling, unnerving even, worse than butterflies in the stomach, yet somehow more meaningful.
You are going to go now aren't you? You have your skull, so I guess it is time.
Mimic's head flicked to the setting sun, it was casting long shadows throughout the swamp, almost entirely gone. The darkness seemed to suit these two, making them disappear into the background like phantoms.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:04 pm
She smiled a genuine smile, for the first time in a very long time. This doe really was a peculiar one, wasn't she? But who was Last Whisper to speak? She collected dead things, after all!
At the mention of leaving, a shiver ran down her spine before she shook herself off, stood up and then replied, "Yes, Mimic, this is it for me. I have what I came for, and now I need to go home and store my treasures away. And sleep. Sleep is good." She nodded, kind of distracted already. When had she gotten this tired? She turned around and pushed the 4 ribs together, slowly sliding her knees right upto them while her muzzle nudged them closer. She continued this awkwardness until the ribs were securely caught between her chest and her downward pressed muzzle, in which she was holding onto the skull. And like so, she slowly wandered away, home in mind.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:45 pm
Mimic watched Last Whisper go, her body slowly dissolving into the shadows, the last thing Mimic saw was her hindlegs, glowing a pale ivory, like bones. She sat in the spot for a long time, quietly contemplating the events of this day. She mulled over how it felt to have a friend -that is how she saw Last Whisper, as her first true friend.- It was like finding a kindred spirit, someone who did not fit in, but embraced it. Mimic sat like this until the sun sank completely below the horizon, the moon rising to scatter the darkness. Her mind, that crazy messed up place in her head, slowly began to forget the day. Precious memories slipped by Mimic, she was hopeless to stop it. She was left only with echoes of emotion, with no place for them to go.
Her body felt the urge again, that familiar urge to get up, shake off the lingering feelings and charge head-first into the next stupid situation. Just as she was about to leave, Mimic's hoof brushed something that shone softly in the moonlight. On closer inspection she realized it was a bone, the vertebrae of a Kimeti it seemed.
How odd.. something tugged at Mimic's consciousness begging her to remember, but it was faint and easily dismissed.
It's so pretty...
Without another thought she bent down and picked it up gently before walking off into the darkness.
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