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 Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:33 pm
Gen nodded, ears flicking again when the wolf howled a second time. It sounded familiar, though not the sort of familiar he associated with a skinwalker changeling. Heedless of intellect, his tail lashed to the side at the sound, and at the mention of another Demon Wolf.
"Wyrm." Teeth are bared again, this time showing more than just his long canines. "Appropriate. And your mate?" Unspoken was the promise that given the opportunity, Gen would see to it that the last thing the black demon wolf would hear was the name of the one who would have his victory long after death.
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:39 pm
"Rötschreck," Maeryn said, the pain of his loss still a knife in her heart. Like crawling across shards left by two legger flint knapping. The torn pieces rubbed against sharp edges that would never truly dull. Oh, how she missed him. "His name was Rötschreck." The old mare bowed her head, remembering him in that moment, allowing him the dignity that he deserved. No one had taken down the demon wolf who had laid him low, and try though she might, Maeryn's cause went beyond such considerations as her mate. He was gone, and he approved of the work she did. She knew that even as she knew her own name.
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:53 pm
"Elder." Gen's voice is young and strong, but no less concerned for her. He takes a step forward, though not to offer something so simple as a shoulder to comfort her. They were not friends, they were not family; they had been strangers not too long ago ... but this was a promise he would keep. For all that he had just met her, this was the reason he had learned to control his blood rage and honed his body to fight. He did not need to know a person to fight for them and right what had been wrong.
He was born for this.
"It will be done."
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:58 pm
"My name," she said at last, raising her head, "is Maeryn." Elder was a fitting title, and would do, but this young stallion had earned more than that from her with his promise of justice. "If you would mete out the justice that is due, then you should know who calls for it. I am Maeryn, alpha of the Black Skull herd." An Elder, as he knew. "And I will see the Skinwalkers burn." She would see them routed, see fangs and claws crushed to dust, so that they could never be raised against the innocent, against the old, against the unsuspecting. If she had her way, never again would another family be shattered by one such as Wyrm.
Let it begin here.
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:30 pm
"Shishio Gen, Elder Maeryn." The black unikalona replied in kind, bowing his head in response.
Behind him, another flash of white, this time resolving itself into the slim figure of a petite wind mare striding forward through the underbrush with the steady forward pace of the unafraid. Blue eyes took in the tableau of Maeryn and Gen, but her voice did not ring out to break the moment until after her son had spoken.
"Cerezo hears the will of the Black Skull Alpha." The white mare said with measured clarity, her delicate hooves bringing her to a standstill beside her towering son. Though dwarfed in size, the look she flashed the young unikalona stallion was that of a mother expecting a very good explanation for his absence. And soon. Before that, however ...
Blue eyes sliding back to Maeryn, Seresai may have to look up to meet Maeryn's gaze, but she does not appear in the least intimidated. "Your cause aligns with our own, Elder. I am Seresai, Protector of the Cerezo Herd." She pauses, her eyes flashing behind Maeryn in a warning look to the white wolf that growled in response and melted back into the forest gloom.
"But first, thank you.. for intercepting my son on his fool's errand."
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:45 pm
"Shishio, then. You have my thanks." If Maeryn was startled by the arrival of the mare, she did not show it. She looked upon the mare, Seresai, mother of Shishio Gen, and saw what had been deemed lesser before. A wind, nothing more, nothing less. Yet in that mare's eyes, she saw the the defiance of a once young mare, now the Elder Maeryn. Strength, courage, an indomitable will. A mare who would take in a young unikalona for her own.
"You have raised a fine son. I am glad that the chance is now offered for his doings to be known to you. I would not have had him face a Skinwalker without first seeing his kin." For who could know when their last moment would be, however strong or prepared they were? "Indeed, it does appear that we have a similar cause, if you would see these lands rid of the Skinwalker threat."
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Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:09 am
The eyes that had seen a beloved brown and golden shape broken and tortured in ways that did not bear imagining flashed in reply to the Elder kalona.
"We would see the workings of Oyohusa undone and the ashes of his cursed ones purified by the blessings of the Wind Horse himself." Seresai said, her own wings flaring.
"As for his demons." She pauses, glancing at Gen significantly before returning her direct stare to Maeryn. "They will just burn." Beside her, Gen shifted but did not appear surprised nor appeased by her vehemence. Watching him out of the corner of her eye, Seres continued speaking to Maeryn though her attention was somewhat divided.
"And thank you for your high praise, though I am disappointed he has forgotten his teachings and the hard lessons learned in his last encounter with a skinwalker ..." Now Gen flinches, but he does not shrink away from what is justified motherly anger. Noting that, Seres maintains her stern look for a moment longer, then softens before fully placing her attention on Maeryn. "Still, I am proud of him for his resolve. Prouder still that he has found himself in such company and conducted himself with the proper respect due an Elder of your standing." Another respectful bow identical to the one first performed by Gen, this time by a white 'lesser.'
"Truly, you have my thanks. He will not face the beast alone." Then, as her head comes up; "Nor need your herd, when the time comes." Subtle, perhaps, is her maneuvering between polite respect and acquisitive diplomacy. Against skinwalkers, one needn't have many friends, just enough enemies of the greater enemy... and as Protector of a largely non-combatant herd, Seresai would not waste an opportunity to even the odds.
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Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:21 am
"Black Skull will not stand alone, when the time comes," Maeryn said, her wings opening slightly. "There are too many who have lost loved ones to Oyohusa's monsters. They will heed the call. They will hear me." The Kalona would hear her. Maeryn was determined to make absolutely certain of that. If they would not heed the words of their Elder, they were worthless to their kind, to all of Soquili kind. This matter was of grave importance. Others, so-called lessers, would answer their own Elders, would take up the cause. "When Black Skull calls, I expect that Cerezo will answer. No one should stand alone against this threat." Now Maeryn opened her wings fully.
She first addressed Shishio Gen, who had gone quiet in his mother's presence. "You have my thanks, child. I will not forget that you have sworn to rain down justice upon the head of the Skinwalker Wyrm, nor that one of your own was taken from you by this Seethe. Hunt well." She inclined her head slightly to the young stallion, before transferring her gaze to the mare. "Wind to thy wings, Seresai. Blessings of the Wind Horse upon you. I must return to my herd, and I suspect that you have much to discuss."
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Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:47 am
If Seres was surprised to hear the traditional words of blessing come from a venerable kalona Elder, she showed nothing but appreciation for the gesture. Her bow was graceful in return, and though she was not as well versed in kalona culture as Maeryn was in wind, she managed with what she hoped would be well received. "May your hunt prove plentiful and your herd grow powerful, Elder Maeryn, until we meet again."
As for Gen, he followed his mothers example, but he met Maeryn's eyes and nodded firmly, if wordlessly. Enough had been said, she knew his mission and he would prove his commitment to it.
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