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 Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:38 pm
Zeph remained flattened against the grass as the female approached him. His attention had been on Adjo and Hale's auras. The new one caused him to yelp in surprise - she had come completely unexpected to him.
"Uh, hi there..." He said to her sheepishly, sounding like a scolded puppy. "Yeah... that's my mom. She's really mad at me because I... I don't know." His ears perked up slightly. "Say, you're like me too, right..?"
"Hide and seek?" His voice sounded curious as he spoke the inquiry, turning his attention toward Adjo. "I don't know what that is, but if it's dissapearing and reappearing, then..." He grinned. "I play that all the time."
He finally rose to his feet, seeming calmer now that he heard the tones of the two unfamiliar Nightmares. Neither were threatening, which lead him to believe that Hale wasn't completely right about them being horrid and vicious creatures.
He glanced at Adjo, and then Khael, curious about them both.
"So, do you guys have it too?" He paused, pinning his ears back. "The... curse, I mean..."
Hale'oki frowned inwardly at Adjo's reply. Whether he was telling the truth or not about the humans, her own bad experiences had made her biased in her opinions towards them.
"You sound much different to the others I have met, and I hope your attitude serves you well." She replied. "I honestly hope that what you are saying can be true - because all I have ever heard and known is the tyranny of their kind. I have always been told that humans, and normal Kitsusagi are to be avoided at all costs."
She heard Zephyrizon talking now, and was calmed. She smelled the newly arrived female in the air, but could already tell she wasn't going to be a threat. But if this male and the female were both non-confrontational, she wondered if she was wrong about many things she had been told.
She stood there, her head lowered, brows furrowed and deep in thought for the time being.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 10:01 pm
 Khael listened quietly to the mention about humans and normal kitsusagi. After a moment she decided to offer her own experiences on both. "Not all humansss arrre bad, but neitherrr arrre they all good. It'sss about fifty perrrcssentile, I sssuppossse. Sssame with the norrrmal kitsssusssagi, although the majorrrity in thisss arrrea arrre indifferrrent if they arrre not frrriendly. If not forrr one of them I would have ssstarrrved sssome monthsss ago, norrr would I have met my mate. Even the angelicsss of thisss land and the Mountain arrre generrrally nicsser to ourrr kind. Not all... I can attessst to that, asss well."
She turned her head toward where Zeph had spoken from, hoping he was still in that general area. "The currrssse? Yesss. Forrr myssself, at leassst."
She kept tasting the air, searching her memory for the source of the familiar scent-flavor of the adult male. Where had she encountered it before?... Suddenly to mind came a conversation with a mother Nightmare and the kit that gleefully played with her paw. Had it been so long? "Adjo?" She didn't expect him to know her. He had been quite small still, if memory served. "You have grrrown... You werrre quite sssmall beforrre, playing with my paw. I don't sssuppossse you would rrrememberrr. How isss Charrrna?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:17 am
Adjo figured he had grown up quite differently from these two. What he had...well, he never really considered it a curse or much of anything, just a part of who he was. His family and best friends never ostracized him because of what he was. His large ears perked up when the other female spoke to him and he tilted his head, "I think I recall you...I don't remember too much from my baby days." he said with an amused voice.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:05 am
Hale flexed her claws in the dirt, making a fist with her right paw, causing the sharp clawed ends to clink together.
"I can agree with the part about the humans," She began, a frustrated snarl rising up in her throat. "My human is only irritating at most. But as the other Kitsusagi, I cannot agree with that statement at all. I have only met one normal Kitsusagi who did not try to shove me on my way the moment I encountered them. There are wild ones in the plains beyond the territory here and the mountains - they will scream and carry on, and throw rocks to send those like us on our way."
She growled. "And the Nightmares of Sceaduwe... they are the reason I had left. That, and the fleas. I am not particularly interested in going back any time soon..."
Zeph stuck his short bony snout into the air and shook off his fur, shaking out any loose grass seeds and dirt. Lying on the ground had proven to be uncomfortable, but now that the coast was clear, now that the newly arrived Nightmares had proven to be anything but dangerous, the teenager was calm and relaxed again. His surrogate mother was rambling about something again - that was normal. A playful smirk crossed his maw and he glanced back from Adjo to Khael to Hale, pondering who to thump first with his horns.
As Khael mentioned she had the curse too though, his mood fell. His feelings on that subject boiled to the surface and he chattered his jaws in his frustration.
"You know what stinks?" He grunted, puffing his chest out, the fur on the back of his neck raised as well. "It's that we're being punished for a crime we didn't even commit - how is that fair?" He smacked a paw on the ground as if to emphasise the point. "I was born this way. I didn't know any different until I was told I can't see. Really, what were the gods thinking when they did this to us? I can understand our ancestors being punished for what they did, because that was nothing but wrong. But..."
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Didn't any of you ever wonder what it's like to see...?" He turned his head upwards towards the sky, pinning his ears back. "There's a giant aura in the sky, but I don't know what else is up there beyond that.. we had eyes once, I know we did. Why should we be punished for something we didn't even do?"
"It's not fair..." A loud whimper rose up in his throat and he shook his head. "That shrine has to be somewhere, right? I want to go to them and ask them if they'd consider changing their mind..."
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:18 am
"I would not exsspect you to rrrememberrr. You werrre quite sssmall. Though you did ssseem to enjoy chewing on my toesss. Yourrr motherrr wasss the firrrssst perrrssson I met herrre, afterrr Valeforrr rrressscued me. Ssshe wasss verrry kind. Offerrred to have herrr brrrotherrr sssorrrt out the angelic kitsss at Valeforrr'sss home that had been torrrmenting me. Not that it matterrrsss now, I live with my mate, and they ssseem morrre well behaved now when I do sssee them."
Khael didn't precisely consider it a "curse". The fact that it was a curse upon their ancestors that caused it was true, but by this point... it was more genetic than curse-like. "I sssuppossse you could asssk them, though I asssume they have theirrr rrreasssonsss. The talesss of ourrr kind that caussse sssuch prrrejudicsse in placssesss isss not entirrrely unwarrranted. Asss a whole the rrracsse of Nightmarrre Kitsssusssagi have yet to give the godsss a reassson to undo what wasss done. But who knowsss? They might deign to lift it from thossse who ssseek not to rrrepeat the missstakesss of the passst. It isss not unhearrrd of for sssuch thingsss to happen if one putsss forrrth the rrrequirrred efforrrt. Not that I would sssugessst getting yourrr hopesss up."
Her presense was like a solid wall of calmness, voice matter of fact enough in tone to speak that she believed such a request could go either way. In reality, it also did not much matter to her. She had for many months now lived with a far worse infirmity than the "curse of the Nightmare Kitsusagi", and it was one that was not part of the curse. "Though we arrre not the only onesss borrrn blind, or deaf. And worrrssse thingsss can happen than having to live with sssuch a conditssion asss we have. Do not think I want to dissscourrrage you, young one. Jussst... be awarrre. Therrre arrre worrrssse thingsss to live thrrrough."
Her next question would seem odd to Zeph and Hale, she was sure, and perhaps even to Adjo. "Wherrre isss thisss Sssceaduwe? I have not hearrrd of it..." If they asked, she would explain what had happened to her... what she still had trouble with, the nerve damage, and the memory loss. But while she did not mind explaining if asked so much now... well. Perhaps it was instinct not to want to give others an unwarranted advantage over her.
"Asss forrr thossse Kitsssusssagi outssside of thisss Rrrealm and the Mountain... I can not sssay that I know of theirrr temperrrmentsss. I could intrrroducsse you to at leassst one houssse full that arrre utterrrly unlike what you have dessscrrribed, and my mate hasss told me of many of hisss good frrriendsss that arrre norrrmal kitsssusssagi."
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:41 am
"There is truly nothing wrong with Normal Kitsusagi's. I have lived with them all my life, as well as being raised by Angelics, my Uncle Nunzio and Aunt Helen!" he said proudly. He decided to sit down to give his legs a rest. He had walked a long way from hom to the HQ and then from the HQ to here at the meadow.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:41 pm
Hale shifted uncomfortably on her paws and rumbled at Adjo's statement, her head lowered. She spoke with an air of defeat in her voice, and she felt confused.
"I will have to trust your opinion there, Adjo." She replied. "I have only heard stories of the ones that live with humans. Maybe you will encounter a wild one in your travels soon and then you will see what I mean." She sighed. "But, it is a good thing you have encountered other kinds of Kitsusagi who would not shun or ridicule you. Perhaps that is the beginning of healing the giant rift that was caused by our ancestors."
Zeph listened to Khael with his ears raised high. He patiently listened to her and grinned, wagging his tails by the time she had finished.
"Oh, yeah... there are worse things that could happen, I agree." He nodded slowly and sighed. "But..." He turned his attention towards all three of the adults around him now.
"What if we all go to the shrine in the legend-story and just ask them? Mother knows the way to the old territory, and with my Aura-Sensing ability, the shrine would probably glow up in it like the sun does. If you guys have abilities too, it could help us." He squeaked. "Surely we've done nothing wrong, certainly nothing wrong like the Kitsusagi in the legend. It's more than a story, right...?" He shifted on his paws, seeming to question the legend's possibility himself for a few moments.
"Maybe... maybe we can find the shrine and offer to do something for them in exchange for our sight back. I'd be more than willing to do that!" He made excited chirping noises before continuing. "I've always wondered what it would be like to see."
"As for Sceaduwe... I don't know the way, but mother does. She's an expert in it - she never shuts up about it. Sceaduwe this, and Sceaduwe that. Evil Kitsusagi and fleas and nasty Kitsusagi and violence. It drives me nuts."
Hale rewarded Zeph's statement with a sharp warning rowl.
"Quiet, youth. I'll deal with you later." She grunted, turning her attention toward Khael. "You have never heard of Sceaduwe? It is the old Nightmare Kitsusagi territory, the place we have supposedly originated from. And is the place we will return to someday. It leads into a large series of underground caves, which are all supposedly very dark, good enough to keep the Normals away. It is the place where Nightmare Kitsusagi roam free of predjudice, although there plenty of predjudiced ones there too." She growled. "It's also sometimes full of unpleasant small biting things. A trip there and back will reward you with a healthy coating of fleas, perhaps ticks if you are particularly unfortunate."
"But this youth's idea of going there," She snorted. "I don't know how he got such ideas into his head."
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:37 am
Adjo tilted his head a bit, "You see it as a curse...I see it as just being who I am. I have no desire to see or change who I am, those that are important to me love me for who I am since the day I hatched and have never expressed they wante me or my mother to change. But it would be....interesting....to go to the place where Nitemares came from, I am sure my mother, father and sister would enjoy the story I would tell them." he stated, flicking his three tails about.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:46 pm
"Well, yeah..." Zeph began, shifting uncomfortably on his paws. "But... didn't you ever wonder what it was like to see? Or at least wish the curse to be lifted from future generations? I learned to get by in other ways, and I had my mother to help me. But I don't want others to suffer like us. Why should the Normal Kitsusagi get all the pleasures in life?"
He lowered his head, whimpering.
"I just don't want to be thought of as an evil monster by others, or an abomination..." He pinned his ears back. "It's not fair. Surely the gods made a mistake, don't you think...? I want to go to Sceaduwe and look for the shrine, and ask them what I can do."
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:26 pm
Adjo frowned, he wasn't liking how this teen was thinking, almost like he was...whining? "Do not assume that just because regular Kitsu's can see it means they get all the pleasures in life. Their hearing isn't as sharp as ours, nor are they as strong or pick up scents like us. Just because one has something you don't doesn't mean they have it all. Will you truly be happy with yourself if you finally do get to see? Do you truly believe others will treat you any better?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:03 pm
"If you gain norrrmal sssight, you arrre likely to lossse yourrr ability to sssee thossse aurrrasss you mentioned, young one. You ssshould rrrealize that. We gained thingsss, like ourrr ssspecssial abilitiesss, thingsss Adjo mentioned. Godsss neverrr take away without giving sssomething elssse. Though I mussst sssay, forrr sssome the exsschange may not be fairrr. If it isss what you trrruly want, I would accompany you, if only to make sssurrre you do not go alone. But be csserrrtain it isss what you want, young one, forrr if yourrr wisssh is grrranted... it will likely not be rrreverrrsssible."
Khael shifted her weight akwardly, one of her shoulders beginning to throb. She disliked it on a very deep level when the random aches started, and she had yet to find a way to relieve the pain. "Of courrrssse I would like to sssee my mate. I would like to be able to sssee ourrr kitsss, when we have them. I had not rrreally thought about it beforrre, to sssee if I could be grrranted sssuch a thing. But I mussst think for sssome time to be sssurrre I would prrreferrr ssso drrrrassstic a change in my perrrcsseptionsss. I have been thisss way forrr longerrr than I can rrrememberrr," and they didn't know the HALF of that, "and asss thingsss ssstand I am content. Perrrhapsss if you sssuccsseed what you learrrn can help othersss with sssuch decssisssionsss?"
((*random attempt to post... something* XD; I think I might ask Alche if she wants to bring Llyr into this. <3))
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 3:08 am
Llyr had long listened, staying out of range and keeping his silence, just wanting to hear what this group had to say. He did find some part of him agreed, agreed to the unfairness it was that they be punished for the mistakes and failures of his ancestors. Yet, he was a bit wary, of the price they may pay should they pursue a quest to get such a curse reversed, to become just as normal as everyone else.
"I agree with Khael," he whispered then, finally stepping out to be seen, turning his ears slowly to each of them, to get a sense of their presence and their heartbeat so he could tell them apart without their voices. "It would be an assuredly major change in who and what we are, and as tempting as it may sound, to see that which I have wanted to see for long," he paused to nuzzle at Khael's ears, "I'm not sure that I'm willing to pay the due for such a gift."
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:28 pm
Zeph lowered his head, seeming confused and upset. A heavy sigh escaped him, and his tails hung quite low and drooped. He listened to Adjo, Khael, and then Llyr as he arrived, shifting on his front paws, seeming to be quite conflicting in his thoughts. Finally, he made a low frustrated nasal squeak and turned his head to itch at his side with the nearest of his horns.
"Don't get me wrong," He said finally. "I really like what I can do now. And I'm not going to say that other Kits have it better, because I don't know if that's really true or not."
"But if not for me, for the Nightmare Kitsusagi to come, right..?" He raised his head again, seeming troubled. "I was born blind, as all of you were. Are you content with it? We can't smell, we can't see, but our hearing is unmatched in how good it is. We'd probably be trading one off for the other, but..."
He slumped down in the grass, resting his head on his paws.
"Tis' your call... If you want to come, you can help. If you don't want to come, that's cool too. Just don't have any regrets... I want to find the shrine, and I'd like to do something to correct this past mistake. Some of us were born with a more malevolent nature, and is that any wonder?"
He rose to his feet again, shaking off his head. With that, he began to walk away, making a loud chirruping noise to notify all the listening pairs of ears to his location.
"I at least want to do something." He said finally. "If not for me, my children, my grandchilden, and for all future Nightmare Kitsusagi everywhere. I want somebody else to have what I can't."
Hale made a loud frustrated rumble at the young Kitsusagi. She bowed her head to the group, sighing.
"I apologize for this youth's brattiness and longwindedness. He knows not of what he speaks of." She snarled out to Zeph, swaying her tails in her anger. "You don't even know the way, idiot!"
But Zeph ignored her and continued to head north, heading into the warm spring breeze.
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 3:03 pm
Adjo shook his head as his listened to the teen talk. But he let out a sigh, "I will go along with him. I doubt there is anything there that could take away what we are, but it could be dangerous and I wouldn't be surprised if any wild Nitemares roamed up there." he said. With that he turned and started to follow after the youth.
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 4:56 pm
Khael pondered briefly. She wasn't sure if she wanted herself changed, but... there were other reasons to go. She had no idea where she came from, and it was possible she might actually find out something about herself if she went to this place where Nightmares seemed to be much more common. She made an uncertain little warble, wondering what Llyr thought. He knew it bothered her, all the not knowing. Would it be worth the trip?
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