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 Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:17 am
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:18 am
There Once Was a Boy Named...
Still Needs to be Proof Read“Ohmigawd, Dae!”
So much for a lazy Sunday afternoon, Shaula thought you herself. Lifting her maw from atop her paws, she peered out about the room to locate the source of the racket. To her dismay, Cali had haphazardly leapt atop of their patchworked companion whose jaw had once more unhinged. Unfortunately, the aforementioned jaw did not simply clatter onto the floor but right into Bunneh’s generous heap of popcorn she had made for her House, M.D. marathon.
“Dae! Sit still!”
“Guglmugle!”
A week prior, the three had gone off into the mountains for an afternoon hike. Cali had sensed that Shaula was not herself, both lethargic and withdrawn, so she suggested the outing as a means to cheer her up. It had been well received, lifting Shaula’s spirits even if it was just for a moment; however, Dae had decided to chase after a small squirrel at the time. The end result was Dae crumpled down at the bottom of the ravine, her limbs in disarray and her jaw rung about her neck like a trophy. No matter what they attempted, the jaw just seemed to refuse to re-adhere. Cali suspected that Dae was purposefully removing it at night to play “hockey.” Even though the image was absolutely horrifying, Shaula begrudgingly agreed to the theory.
“Now don’t mess with it anymore, alright?”
“Hmmmph…” cooed the now heavily taped up Dae. It was a last resort: having rummaged through her supplies, Cali gathered up a razor to clean up some of the fur about Dae as well as some heavy duty masking tape. Thankfully for Dae, she didn’t seem to require quite as much sustenance as Shaula so clamping her mouth shut for a couple of days would not have any adverse effects on Dae’s… “health.”
“Do you think she’ll be able to get it off?” Cali inquired as she watched the pitiful beast scratch at the tape with her hind paw.
“… doubt it.” Shaula uttered as she pulled herself to her paws.
“You alright?”
“I’m fine… just going to get some air.”
“Shaula…”
An abrupt clamber as the screen door smacked the frame was all that followed as Shaula padded her way down the patio to the small front garden. Despite her companion’s best efforts in attempting to cheer her up, Shaula could not help but to continue to feel burdened by a sense of inadequacy. Feeling completely incapable of fulfilling her duties or even being confident in her own capabilities was a foreign concept to Shaula, thus making this predicament a difficult one to overcome.
“Pa…… leave….. I’m sc…. e good!”
“Hm?”
The peculiar, rather shrill, blubbering seemed to be coming from some of the shrubbery off to the right of the fenced in herbs and vegetables. A shudder ran through the brushes despite their being no wind that crisp afternoon. Surely this wasn’t Valekai or Phoreko: the bushes were dense but nearly enough cover for either one of the beasts, yet despite that fact, Shaula’s chest began to tremble, her throat clenched. With her psyche in its present state, any prospect of danger caused her to recoil in herself… unable to move, to act…
“No… I must…” was all that she uttered. Despite her hesitation, Shaula crept up to the bushes, they trembling just as violently as the heart buried within her chest. Her claws glanced the carpet of grass beneath her as she approached. Stop for but a moment to survey her surroundings, a single paw leapt up and drew back the branches of the most mobile of the shrubs to reveal something she had not expected: a young Winiko, a child, shuddering as he clenched hold of a ragged bear… both of which were drenched in sweat, blood and tears.
“… a boy…”
As if her words had been a trigger, the young cub cried out in an instant, attempting to scurry away with his tail wedged between his hind legs. However, instead of carrying his bear in his mouth, he kept it pressed firmly to his chest resulting in him to stumble and faceplant into the freshly fertilized soil.
He had begun to cry, repeating the same words, “I’ll be good… I’ll be good… I’ll be good…”
“I-it’s alright…” she whispered, reaching out a single paw to touch the boy. Yet another scream, as if the gentle caress had been a blade to his side.
“Please! D-don’t hurt me! I’ll be good! I promise!”
“I won’t hurt you! I promise… now… what’s your name?”
A violent shake of the head, “N-no… R-Ruben says no… t-that Papa will just… come back for him…”
“Ruben?”
“M-mister bear…” the urchin sniffled as he peered up from the ragged plush.
“He… speaks to you?”
“H-he’s the only one… that does anymore. E-ever since… Momma…” a quick sob, “P-Papa h-hates it… w-when… we talk… H-he tried… to kill… Ruben.”
“Did your Papa leave you here?”
Yet another violent response, this time in a nodding motion, “H-he said… I get in the way… t-that I’m w-weak… a m-mistake. H-he said… if he didn’t l-leave me… h-he’d kill me… instead…”
“What!” outrage had seeped into her veins in an instant. For once in quite sometime passion had once more found its way to Shaula, “What sort of parent could even think to say something like that!”
“M-Mama… said… h-he’s a monster…”
A… monster? It was only than that Shaula took the time to truly look at the child. To see him. Though the antlers and muddled coat color were a contrast, certain characteristics pointed to a particular source: one that also fit the profile of… a monster. A single being that was more than capable of slaying its own kin. But how… and why? How could he have possibly found a mate let alone convinced them to copulate? How could he have been with child.
“Phoreko… he’s… your father?”
A twitch: hysteria had filled the small child. Overcome by a complete loss of discretion, even the wounds he had stained in conjunction with his emaciated frame could not hold him back from propelling himself into Shaula’s mane. Frantically he thrashed about, clinging to locks of her golden tresses in an attempt to hold her attention.
“No! Don’t say that name! He’ll come back! He’ll come back for me! He will really kill me and Ruben! Don’t say it!!!”
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:18 am
Reinstated Resolve...
Mortified. It was the only way in which Shaula could give word to the sight that had so abruptly unfolded before her. The once tragic urchin, so desperate to bury himself within the earth below for any nuance of warmth, now writhed and bellowed as if he were a rabid beast. A single word had triggered this onset of what one could easily misidentify as a split personality; however, this was something far more primal. Since his birth, he had been conditioned, either by himself or his very kin, that his fiendish father, Phoreko, would without a moment’s notice snatch away the boy’s life. What horrors had he been exposed to? Only the quivering mass of battered flesh was willing to impart such knowledge, for the little one had become incoherent, utterly incapable of discerning any means of communication from the outside world. All of Shaula’s attempts at calming the boy were for naught.
“Shaula? Is everything alright?... You’ve been out for a while…” the clatter of wood against wood as the screen door slapped its frame drew Shaula back to reality: how long had she been attempting to pacify the orphan?
“I mean… I understand if you want to be alone, even though you’ve been doing that a lot lately,” she muttered to herself, reflecting over the oppressive weeks, “But I just wanted to make su—Shaula?”
“Cali, hurry over…!”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
As the rhythmic patter of Cali’s approach became more prominent, Shaula peered over her shoulder to her bonded as she continued to wrestle with the boy, “We have a problem…”
“What do you mean?” despite her anticipation for some imminent horror, Cali had been taken aback by the emaciated Winiko “Oh my god… he’s so tiny… and he’s bleeding! What happened!”
“I don’t know. I found him out here like this. Well, not exactly like this. I can’t manage him right now, he just won’t calm down,” a lengthy heave of a sigh followed. Helplessness had begun to bore down upon her, sneering at her inability to take charge. Pale digits glanced her vision: Cali had reached out for the boy, petting at his limbs with one hand as she attempted to handle him with the other. Though he continued to convulse violently, she had managed to embrace the urchin close to her chest, cradling him much like she did her pet cat.
“Shhhh… shhhh… it’s okay.”
“…”
“I d-don’t… want to die…” he sobbed, sheering Cali’s shirt into fine strips as his paws clenched and relaxed in a reflexive fashion.
Quickly she turned, searching her stoic guardian’s maw for some sort of answer “What is he talking about?”
“Not while he’s awake… let’s get him inside, try to calm him down.”
...
A bellowing fire aided in soothing the now slumbering urchin, known now to be Milo. Nearly an hour had passed since the duo retreated back into their hollow, trying every means at their disposal to soothe Milo. It had been gradual, but the violent thrashing gave way to the same sputtered cries that he had uttered when Shaula initially found him. Now, he lie cocooned within Dae’s tangled limbs. To the surprise of Shaula and Cali, Dae had taken the boy by the nape of his neck and settled by the fire, which to their collective relief had abruptly halted all of the orphan’s cries. Perhaps it was some innate instinct that she had retained from whatever place she originated… or it was a sign that she had watched one too many Animal Planet specials. Nonetheless, Milo was at ease, embraced by both the crackling warmth of the fire and the soil saturated hide of his self-appointed surrogate.
“To think… that poor little guy is the son of that… thing.” Cali muttered. The two had had a brief exchange after Dae and Milo settled to rest for the evening. Sitting vigil over the slumbering couple, Shaula explained what had happened in the garden.
“It has to be a trap of some sort. He obviously hates him… just look at all of his wounds.”
The upholstery of the couch displaced to where Cali had once sat as she padded over towards Milo. He looked at peace, cuddling with his bear as Dae unconsciously pawed at the boy’s mane.
“Maybe it is…”
“Why would he leave him here? Maybe… maybe he thinks that by leaving him here, he could get caught in the cross fires. Than he could be rid of us all in one fell swoop!”
“Could be…” with a gentle tug, Cali pried the bear from Milo’s paws. As if compensating for the absence, he stretched out his upper limbs only to settle about Dae’s opposing arm, cuddling it much as he had done with Ruben.
“We’ll be vulnerable… we have to think of a way to work around th—!”
A slap resounded through the sitting room. What were once muddled pools now brimmed with molten amber. Shaula had been taken aback by the sudden strike. Hinging her head back around showed her bonded kneeled before her, cradling the mangled bear in her arms.
“Cali, why?”
“Knock it off.”
“What?”
“Ever since that night down at the river you’ve been moping around. Stop blaming yourself!”
“But, Cali…”
“No, stop it. If you have anyone to blame, it’s me.”
“What in the world are you talking about?”
“I’m the one who summoned you, which in turn caused me to summon the b***h of a Wini which in turn baited mister hack and slash to our doorstep. I’m not really counting Dae because, well, she’s… her own category, but that’s besides the point! If I hadn’t summoned you, we wouldn’t be in this mess BUT I did and so… you can blame me.”
Bewilderment had sewn itself, driving Shaula back into the cushions of the couch. Though she had clearly heard Cali’s rationalization, she simply could not wrap her mind about it: her bonded to blame? No, this simply was not the case. It was her duty, her responsibility to ensure the human’s wellbeing or else the two of them were doomed. The sudden jerk of her jaw by Cali’s hand wrenched her of her frantic musings. Once more she was eye to eye with her bonded.
“Listen, Shaula. You’re not as powerless as you think, alright? I’m not helpless, I can take care of myself: you saw that I’m a pretty damn good shot, but for Christ’s sake, don’t get down on yourself because I had to get a couple of stitches. None of us asked for this cluster ******** of a life we have now but you know what, it’ll be fine.”
“But… I failed you…”
“You didn’t fail me. You’re the epitome of a superhero if you ask me.”
A slight chuckle had managed to slip free of the weary Winiko.
“Chances are, you and I are going to get banged up, scraped up and jostled a whole hell of a lot more than we already have. Quit thinking that you need to live up to this… this… pretense of a saint amongst demons. That’s what’s holding you back…”
A pretense? Just as her nemesis Valekai so desperately clung to being immortalized as the next Ranthor, so to did Shaula become ensnared by an ideal handed down to her from the many generations that had preceded her. The Winiko were a proud race, sworn to the duty of judging mortals based on the many atrocities they have committed. This pretense, as Cali had so accurately conveyed it, did not apply to her. The woman she whose very soul had become entwined with her own was devoid of sin. So quickly she had forgotten what the mortal uttered to her the night of their summoning: she was meant to live, free of any prior responsibility, any prior pretense. Now, instead of living for the day in which she would end the life of the damned, she lived simply to live... for the sake of herself… for the sake…
“So…”
“…?” once more she lifted her gaze: one pale hand lifted beside Cali’s face. From her clasped fingers dangled an amulet not unlike her own. Peering down, Shaula took note of the teddy bear in Cali’s lap. Phoreko had intentionally left his child at their doorstep. It was plausible that he did in fact intend to destroy both his son and their poorly arranged troupe. Yet despite this revelation, a calm had befallen Shaula… one that she had not felt for quite sometime.
“Ready for another wrench?”
“As you would say…”
Talon met flesh, crimson dribbled over tufts of fur and feather…
“Bring it on.”
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:19 am
The Eccentric Tramp...
“Get rid of him!”
“Why, because he clashes with your fur?”
“Stay out of this, human!”
It was absolutely uncanny: the moment some sort of peculiarity cropped there, there she was… uninvited and unwanted. Though Shaula had anticipated her arrival to be a bit sooner, it did not change the fact that beneath the gentle veil of the moon above, the three bickered over the fate of young Milo.
“Milo is our responsibility now. Voluntarily so, might I add,” Shaula gestured towards the cabin over the distance where Dae lie village over the sleeping babe, “This has nothing to do with you.
“You may have rediscovered your purpose in life, Shaula, but you haven’t the faintest idea how grave of a mistake you have made. That boy will serve only as a beacon for Phoreko, making it even easier for him to hunt you down at any time. I won’t be here to save your hides at any given moment! I have my own res—”
“We never asked for your ever so generous heroics!” Cali snapped, which was answered by a snide string of snickers.
“You think you can handle him? The lot of you displayed the most disorganized and ineffective attempts at fend him off. Had I not arrived when I did, none of us would be standing here. Now, get rid of the mutt!”
“As I said before, the boy is with us now, whether you like it or not. If Phoreko decided to make another play at us, we’ll take care of it. We never asked for your assistance… hell, we never asked to even be associated with you. Go report back to your superiors or what have you… we’ll handle things.”
“I will not let you and your sudden show of bravado ruin everything that I have worked for!”
“He’s another Winiko bound to the girl: doesn’t that serve your purposes as well?”
The animosity seething between the two Winiko could have easily been divided amongst the lot and served with an ample helping of acid, for the gaze the two had fixated upon each other could have ignited the brittle grass buried beneath their paws. However, not even this silent exchange could be without its interruptions. As if a gun had been fired in the distance, the two Winiko had become interlocked with one another, maws gapes and claws unsheathed all as a result of a rather peculiar sight: a male elder wrestling with a tiny raptor familiar who was clearly winning the little altercation.
“Oi! Would ya calm down!” the elder barked as he attempted to flatten the little chattering raptor to the ground, much like a child would attempt to submerge a ball beneath the surface of a pool. Unfortunately for him, the little beast sprung up from beneath him, sending the elder careening through the air which in turn conveniently wedged the two feuding Winiko. Dazed by the sudden intrusion, Shaula peered about, glancing over the massive male before pulling herself up off of her rump. Valekai, on the other hand, was snapping at the flitting raptor as he screeched on in a foreign language. What ever the small reptile had said seemed to only fuel Valekai’s foul demeanor, for she whipped her frame about in an instant, pinned the elder to the ground with a single paw and attempted to sheath her talons into the subtle flesh of throat.
“You kidnapped Talon?”
“I-it… was just for a m-moment, m-m’lady,” he said with a sheepish grin. No amount of squirming deterred Valekai. As he flailed about, Valekai could not help but snicker: a loathsome fish caught on her silver hooks.
“You’ve trifled with the wrong woman, you tramp.”
“Heh… s-shouldn’t you be… mournin’ yer kittens, deary?”
As her eyes narrowed, the fields of lavender that reflected from the surface of eyes wilted to that of barren wastelands. What was once a well composed, self-proclaimed noble now trembled. Spine arched and fur disheveled, it took every ounce of self-control to refrain from hollowing out the male’s throat. Without uttering a single word, both Valekai and Talon seeped into shadows cast by nearby trees. Once more silence befell the quaint clearly.
“What… the hell just happened?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Shaula responded as the two exchanged glances before focusing their attention upon the fumbling elder. Amidst his attempts at composing himself, the occasional chortle leapt up, tickling at their ears: had he gone mad.
“That girl… hasn’t changed a bit!”
“Uhm… ‘scuse me, but who the hell are you?”
A p***k of the ears preceded the sudden dive at Cali. Shaula had readied herself for some sort of an attack, but instead appeared that he was… caressing her thigh with his cheek.
“Ah, ma chérie! Forgive me! I should have swept you to far away lands! Lands so far that even that slag wouldn’t be able to find you!”
“Uhh… that’s… sweet? But, who are you—gerrtoff!!!"
Despite the furious shimming and shaking that soon followed, the elder was firmly attached to Cali’s thighs. The response that followed had a comic effect, as if he were speaking through the revolving blades of a fan.
“My dear! I, Octavius, am the chivalrous knight you have have yearned for since the moment you blossomed into adulthood!”
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:20 am
Insufferable... Yet Useful...
Would there ever be a moment of reprieve? Surely this maelstrom of a life would have to settle, receding off into the horizon at some point. Even Cali had begun to show signs of fatigue, drained of her usual enthusiasm. Newly tangled into this intricately woven web was yet another elder; however, unlike Valekai, he seemed hardly regal and even less likely to be of any sort of position of power. It was more likely that he was some sort of outcast… much like she.
“You can let go now,” Cali huffed, still attempting to pry the blue monstrosity from her legs. Thankfully, Dae took it upon herself to toddle over and give the elder an abrupt chomp on the rump which instantaneously removed the cancerous growth, if you will. It also set forth a rather hilarious, high pitch squeal from Octavius: it was a tone more befitting of a woman rather than a male.
“Ow ow ow ow!” he pouted, rhythmically rubbing the irregular puncture wounds atop his hind. He shot a single glare off towards his patchworked assailant, but soon retracted said glance after seeing the deranged grin plastered over Dae’s maw.
“Considering how Valekai handled your unwanted appearance, I highly doubt you’re a friend of hers. What business do you have here other than to salivate over my bonded,” she was curt, having run out of patience long before his extravagant arrival. Not only had he kidnapped Valekai’s familiar, he had proceeded to more or less molest Cali right in front of her.
“It is just as I said, my dear! I am here to lend my services to dearest Cali. The lot of you have attracted all sorts of attention, and I can assure you that the majority of such are not meant to be trifled with!” all the while he proclaimed his intentions, he flurried his paws about, sending the orange tendrils at the base of his paws into a wild dance. Overwhelmingly dramatic was the best way to describe this peculiar Winiko.
“We’re fully aware of our… predicament and it seems to me that you’d just add to the complications,” Shaula muttered these last few words, half expecting him to be too daft to hear.
“Complicate! Hardly! I am just what the doctor ordered!”
“I dunno…”
“C-Cali? Is… everything okay?” a small voice called from the porch. From the fields the four turned to see Milo plopped down on his rump, clutching his dear teddy. With a smile, Cali replied.
“Everything’s okay, sweetie. No need to worry.”
“So this is the little urchin that Valekai wanted to dispose of!”
“Could you say that any louder you, dumbass!” Cali snapped. In an instant she was beside the shaggy boy, petting at his mane and whispering reassurances. Wide two-toned eyes peered between both Cali and the trio standing idle in the field. Thankfully, Cali was able to prevent any sort of panic, and the two moseyed about the freshly mown lawn, allowing Cali to reclaim her spot amongst the Winiko.
“A pleasure to meet you, lad!” Octavius boomed. Milo immediately retracted from the outstretch paw that had been offered to him. Having not missed a beat, Octavius took said paw and proceeded to run the tips of his talons through his mane, all the while… “So! I hear your father is a famous serial killer, aye? – AUGH”
Thanks to a firmly planted, clenched fist, a rather vivid shade of crimson had drenched Octavius' pale blue cheek. Once more he had attempted to exchange vengeful glares; however, had Cali’s stare been tangible, surely the very flesh of his face would have boiled and seeped away in an instant. Slowly gathering herself up from her knees, Cali bore down upon the elder while Dae swept Milo off by the nape of his neck.
“You come to my home and start running your mouth, being completely belligerent and just out right rude and you expect me to take you up on your offer? From the way Valekai looked you over, I’d be more inclined to punt you off on her doorstep and wipe my hands clean of anything she may put you through! You’re nothing but a snide, low life, painfully flamboyant, insufferable son of a b— OW!“
“Oh dearest! Surely you don’t mean that!” Even Dae’s grins could not contest with this most conniving of sneers. Clamped between his two paws was Cali’s hand, now drenched with both blood and ash. The very ash that had once compromised of Octavius' booby-trapped amulet. Having fixed a small sliver of glass into the center of the pinwheel center, he forcibility jabbed the edge into Cali's palm the instant he clasped her hand.
Within that single lapse in time, what had once been two separate entities with mere base level clearance to one another's inner most thoughts transcended to a most visceral of planes. The two, for this one moment, encompassed a single consciousness, for the two had become possessed by the same undulating mass of wrath. Even their movements had become fluent, seamlessly transitioning from Cali's retrieval of her arm from Octavius' paws to Shaula bounding atop of him. As if she were meticulously splaying the limbs of a newly procured specimen for her insect collection, Shaula restrained the Elder beneath her, each of taloned paws acting as a vice all its own.
“How dare you!”
Cali now loomed above, staring down at the helpless lump as Shaula continued to leer at him. Having locked each of her joints into that of an organic prison, Shaula refrained from even the most subtle of movements. Her vex-stricken eyes remained fixated on the elder's muddled pools, bellowing out all there was to say in the stead of her clamped jaws: make a single move, say a single word... try it... just try it.
“So… technically, we can kill someone bonded to me and everything would be peachy, right?” the human wondered aloud. A simple nod from the rigid sentinel affirmed the inquiry.
“Alrightie! Lemme go get my gun!”
“WAIT!”
Even Cali had been taken aback by primal, abrupt resonance that had reverberated from the bowels of her companion. The once flawless coral-hued palette of the Winiko had contorted, allowing for fangs to emerge from seemingly nowhere. Having craned her neck to accommodate the near one-hundred and eighty degree arch of pearly spears, each of the spokes graved the quivering curvatures of the male's face. Billowing free from the cavernous pit was a rhythmic string of ash-laden breath, freshly stoked from the infernal furnace of her gullet.
“Fun fact, Sir Octavius: I’ve never seen Shaula this pissed off before, so I suggest whatever you say next, be the utmost truth. Your answer is the one thing that is going to decide whether or not I accept you into the family OR let Dae use you as a chew toy. Got it?” with a clap of her hands, Cali smiled down to him with the most cavity inducing expression that she could muster. Slowly he nodded, just barely at that for he feared those eager blades of marrow would splay his hide clear off of his skull.
“What did you say to Valekai to make her run off?”
“I just dug up some old skeletons in her closet! That's all!” so pathetic he was. His voice once a booming orchestra all its own had been reduced to a poorly tuned kazoo: entirely too high pitched and riddled with misplaced syllabic accents.
“What skeletons?”
“You don’t know?”
“Well obviously not if I’m asking!”
“I thought you,” tentatively peering upward to Shaula, “would know. I mean, it’s not common knowledge or anything but… I figured you'd know, you know?”
“You're in no position to act cute! Just tell us what you told her!”
Quickly he swiveled those hazey pools back up to his executioner, or perhaps his savior, “Her kids... ”
"She... had kids?"
"Well... no... they were stillborn..."
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:21 am
Spoiled Fruit...
Having witnessed her bonded being forcibility engaged to yet another Winiko, who was more than likely one of the most vulgar and incorrigible of their kin, it was only natural for Shaula to experience some sort of outrage. However, even she could not fathom the extent at which she relieved said fury. Both Cali and Shaula had been overcome with revulsion: surely this entire altercation had been but a horrid dream. Something they could reminisce on and jokingly brush aside.
Alas, it had not been. To think they had plummeted to the same wasteland on which their two greatest adversaries tread. Indiscriminate maliciousness… this was the weapon they had so easily wielded for but a moment in time: a lapse in which all of nature’s bounty had clambered to a halt, making Octavius’ trembling mass, saturated with freshly shed tears and ample amounts of mucus, all the more apparent.
It was not simply due to his brash induction into their family that had set off their attack. No, it had been the culmination of all that had has bombarded against the panes of that quaint haven since the moment of Shaula’s summoning. The seeds of misfortune had been sown into the depths of their bowels the moment Valekai sabotaged Shaula’s moment and only now had they matured, ready to vacate their plot and pollinate a more suitable host. It just so happened Octavius had been that last breath of Spring, that last ray of light for which misfortune needed to grow, to expand, and to erupt. Thankfully for them, Octavius, though a dim-witted lug of a man, had atleast one redeeming quality to vouch for: an almost limitless capacity to sympathize.
“You mean to tell me… Valekai was going to be a mom?”
The three had retreated back into the quaint cabin once the battle had subsided. Shaula and Cali had huddled up atop of the only couch in the living room. Shagged and well-worn, every member of the quartet had found themselves collapsed upon its cushions when they simply could not drag themselves off to Cali’s king sized bed. Habitually, Shaula would perch along the length of the cushiony giant’s spine while Cali lounged rather haphazardly beneath her, and just as habit would have it, this evening was no exception.
“Mind boggling, is it not?”
Octavius had elected to seat himself upon the one chair in the entire room that to him seemed the most debonair: a worn, yet chic white recliner that Cali had inherited from some distant relative. Unbeknownst to the aquatic elder was that was the last resting place of said distant relative. For a moment, the thought of revealing such a morbid fact crossed Cali’s mind: he had more than earned some punishment thanks to his shenanigans earlier that evening; however, considering their present topic for conversation, perhaps it was better left unsaid.
“Well, considering what she’s like… I would have figured she wasn’t even born with the proper plumbing!”
“Cali…”
“It’s true! She just oozes nasty!”
Who was she to rebuke? Afterall, Valekai was just as much of a cesspool of malice as Phoreko. Yes, that sadistic fiend who crept in the churning void that separates the mortal plane from their own. That same monster… that had fathered the little grey urchin now giggling contently beside the dormant fireplace. Nestled deep within the tangled limbs of his molting surrogate, he ran one claw along the pages of a nursery book while keeping his other paw wound tightly about Ruben. As he chimed on, reciting that which was printed in bold print, Dae, with that patchworked maw soiled with dirt and saliva, stared so intently upon those slivers of parchment as if they were concealing some dark secret. Something only she could decode. Something, well, something edible, Shaula snickered to herself.
“Maybe now, ma cherie, but before she lost those kittens… ah, she could have charmed the Earth Mother’s halo straight off her bonce,” with a twirl of his paw, Octavius played those silvery knives beneath the his jaw. Never once did his eyes leave Cali’s. His desperate attempts at enticing her were just as fruitless as Dae’s attempts at reading Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs & Ham.
“You mean to tell me she wasn’t always a heinous bi—“
“Cali!”
“—ggot?”
Choking back a snort, Octavius gave a quick nod, “That’s correct. This was before your time, dearest Shaula. Valekai was once a magnificent woman… a muse to the masses, a wondrous good Samaritan, and apparently… a doting lover. I know not of who courted her, but from what I hear, the two were inseparable. It’s no surprise that they were expecting.”
“But… why did she miscarriage?”
“No one knows. Well, at least no one that isn’t of the higher court knows. The only thing that the general public knows of… is the date and time in which those kittens were lost,” in the small frame of time in which Cali and her troupe had made Octavius’ acquaintance, this was the first time that this elder demonstrated any sort of expression other than misguided jubilance, let alone as somber as an expression as there was upon that glistening face in that very instant, “The wail that girl let loose… ‘twas haunting. I can still hear it… not to mention…”
“Not to mention what?”
“The matrons had a hard time birthing them after…”
“…!!”
That somber veil that had draped over Octavius had grown heavy, trudging up dark circles beneath his eyes: it was unbefitting of him.
“Nearly took them the whole day…”
A peculiar thing silence was. Many sought it, while others loathed it, all the while the majority would remain indifferent of the notion. After all, no matter the diligence any one individual may exhibit in attaining silence, there is one truth that must be realized: silence, true silence, is impossible. So, despite there having been not a single creak, not a single sigh, not a single audible disturbance confined in those four walls… there was.
“Cali…” mouthed the drowsy Milo as the nursery book toppled from his paws.
“Huh? Oh… what is it, hun?”
“Why’d you light the fire…? S’too hot…”
“Hm?”
“Too hot…” he muttered once more before being whisked off to some whimsical plane known only by himself and his dearest, plush companion. One after another they swiveled their gaze to the newly roused hearth: pillars of amber crackling deep within the gaping stone maw. Each spindle of warmth sent slivers of lumber above only to be devoured by that undulating pyre. It appeared insatiable, going so far as to cannibalize its own girth in order to expand, to further envelop the already smoldering bricks that encompassed its prison.
“… what’s happening?”
“That would be the wrong question, my dear. I think it would be more appropriate to ask… ‘what’s coming?’”
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:22 am
Two Little Mockingbirds...
For a moment, not a single one them spared a breath. Even Octavius, the newest member of their haphazardly constructed conglomerate, had been rendered speechless. As the undulating amber blades continued to intensify, Cali let out an abrupt, exasperated sigh.
“What now?”
“Shush! You want to get us killed?!” cried Octavius, sending his forearms in a flurry that only a madman could duplicate.
“The flames…”
“Quiet yo—OW!”
Shaula had clamped her talons tightly about Octavius’ snout and swiveled her gaze over towards Cali, “The flames… they’re calming.”
The once rampant inferno that had smoldered within the maw of that small fireplace had begun to cull. The embers that had once leapt up in an attempt to free themselves from those red-hot peeks now gently settled upon the heap of ash that had begun to coalesce about two peculiar masses. As the curtains of amber were drawn, the charred stage gave way to two hunched monoliths, each of which seemed to smolder with the same palette that had encompassed the now extinguished flames. Surely the ash had not piled up into such massive mounds: there hadn’t been nearly enough firewood for that much debris to be produced.
Having leapt clear off the recliner and atop both Shaula and Cali, Octavius bellowed and pined for some sort of reassurance, “It’s the devil! The devil I say! He’s come to whisk me off!”
Motioning the cross with one paw while using the other to cover his ocular trilogy, the aquatic elder proved to be both criminally comical and an absolute annoyance. With a huff and swift shove, Octavius toppled off of Cali’s lap and onto the shag carpeting, allowing for Cali to lower herself to all fours, To Octavius’ horror, she had begun to crawl her way towards what one could assume to be the newest in what was sure to be an endless precession of unwanted guests.
“What are you doing!”
“Shush!” Shaula snapped, leaping down from the spine of the cushiony behemoth she had once lazed upon, while pawing her way beside Octavius. Cali had nearly made it to the hearth when Octavius let loose an excruciatingly high pitched shrill, which Shaula immediately silenced with a swift jab to the cranium.
“What do you see?”
“Not… sure…” hesitantly she reached force, her fingertips trembling. As she closed the distance between herself and those eerie monoliths, two faint snickers could be heard. Not quite in front of her, nor in the room: it was a oscillating sound.
“What in the…?”
Just as she was about to make contact, six amber lit spheres emerged from soot and ash. Veins of molten lava undulating along the surface of those statues, outlining the shape of two, petite Winiko. Their cherub-like banter had ricocheted about the sitting room until finally lolling back into the confines of their gullets.
“Hehehe,” this one was distinctly female: high-pitched and sing song.
“Hmph, she doesn’t look all that special. ‘Looks like a dope to me!” the other chimed in. He was haughty, yet he too began to chuckle, “BOO!”
Cali sprung back upon her bottom, her head quirked to one side.
“Haha! Don’t tease! Hehe!”
“Bah, she’s not so tough! Guess that’s why we have to make sure she doesn’t get bullied.”
“Bullied? Just who are you?”
“Better yet,” having observed the events up until now, Shaula had cantered up beside Cali and joyed her bonded into peering into those mocking stares, “Who sent you?”
As if she had belched or done something else of poor etiquette, the two began to laugh in unison, leaving the three as speechless as they had been a mere half hour prior.
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