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 Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 10:24 pm
 "We don't mind the rain, but we could do without the snow!"
The thunderous growl of a tone rumbled distantly through the bleak frozen woods. The sun had long since fallen, and the sky had been eclipsed with the blackened haze of night, only illuminated by the thinnest crescent of the moon. It gleamed weakly, rapidly losing its lustor with each ticking second that brought the world closer to the break of dawn.
Like a second skin, his Other stretched itself sleekly across the broad, bulky expanse of his body and kept him cloaked from those without keen eyes. He was virtually invisible, save for the chilling flash of his teeth and the narrowed slits of his oddly formed eyes. Heated puffs of mist slipped past his gritted fangs as the monster breathed, hunched and unmoving. They did not need to sleep, and had spent many a night skulking through the forests of the mountain side until they had come to this place. It was strange--different from the mountain, but Venom had noted no significant changes in his surroundings. Still plenty of trees for him to perch on.
His thick and cruel claws cut deep into the frozen wood of the branch beneath him, a rumbling snarl of laughter bubbling deep in his throat. Dark ears flickered faintly as he listened to the silent words of his Other, urging him to continue on in his ceaseless search for innocents.
Or the Spider.
The hissing tone pierced his mind, reinforced with the symbiote's will to track down the nemesis that had evaded them for so long. "We'll find him." Venom promised with another cackle, this one lingering on the edge of insanity. "And we'll crush him! Crush him like the bug he is!" A red ribbon of a tongue darted past his teeth, slick with saliva as it snapped itself to and fro in the icy air. The beast tipped his head back and roared with laughter, lurching again to his massive paws. The night was still young! And oh, did they love to keep themselves busy!
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:47 am
 It was nights like this that Spiderman wished he had an excuse not to go out at night to do his "thing." The chilly air and deathly grey moonlight only helped to deepen his sense of foreboding. Hairs everywhere stood at attention, from the top of his head to the tips of his tails to the tiny gripping hairs on the pads of his feet. Spidery sensations crept up and down his spine, sending wave upon wave of miniature false alarms through his brain.
Seriously, who goes out on nights like this? he thought, reduced to locking his ongoing commentary to within the confines of his mind, besides geniuses like Yours Truly? Even his mental voice was shivering.
But he had taken it upon himself to patrol, to keep every synapse and sinew trained on the night and its infinite spectra of black and grey in the hope that he might avert danger to the innocent. Every little bit helped, and he knew he was not the only one who had taken it upon himself - or herself - to do so. So it was not a matter of pride but a sense of duty that kept him going.
But that sense of duty would not change the fact that this particular forest scared the hell out of him.
It was that same sense of duty that pushed him deeper into the woods despite his growing sense of doom. After all, while most intelligent (or perhaps simply sensitive, or fearful, or superstitious) people would have steered clear, some people go against their instincts and follow something greater. And with that idea in mind, he reasoned that someone who should not normally be there might be, and that he might want to investigate.
And when, he further reasoned, I have found nothing and no one whatsoever, I am going home. To hide. Let someone else patrol this particular forest next time!
Enough. Those jittering, panicked thoughts would only drag out this ordeal into oblivion. He only had until the the sun rose and his shift, as it were, ended. He allowed the eerie sounds of the night to invade his thoughts. The soft whisper of snowflakes brushing past his ears. The screeching of owls, and even a pair of wing-beats as one solitary bird startled and passed only feet away. More cackling night birds, small prey moaning in fear, the mumbling and cooing of diurnal creatures in the paralyzing grip of sleep, the creaking and rustling of trees, and in the distance something that sounded distinctly like horrific laughter all hammered away at his eardrums. He most certainly preferred patrols near home and other kitsu.
There was no color in this world as Spidey crept about through the branches, shooting softly streamers of silk between the trees and swooping onward to the next. Deceptively velvety pads gripped bark with the faintest rustling sound before leaping and hooking the next trunk. More instincts carried him through the woods while all distinctive texture and shape disappeared into endless patterns of shadow and more shadow. Even sleek, primary blue-and-red had melted into pools of black-and-blood.
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 7:51 pm
With smooth, deceptively languid movements, Venom slithered through gnarled branches until he was perched at the creaking tops of the ancient tree. His form was bathed momentarily by the dusted light of the moon before he gathered his thick limbs underneath him, leapt--and dropped like a stone. His Other seemed to mirror its host's plight, unraveling itself in looping strands of oil that shot through the biting air to firmly adhere itself to another tree. Venom hauled himself from perch to perch, his movements fast and powerful, but without grace. He needed none, save for the dark, feral movements imbued upon him by his symbiotic companion and the determination of his own vengeance.
For a time, they enjoyed the savage rush of racing through the night as a predator. These woods were theirs now, regardless of whatever else was brave enough to skulk through the dark. He knew no limits, no bounds, only the seemingly endless limits of their combined endurance. They dismissed the sounds of nightlife, having no interest in bonding with the native creatures unless they were the innocents he was searching for...or perhaps someone not so innocent. How long had it been since they had fought? Too long, too long.
Pwip!
Something soft and inhuman cut cleanly across their senses, and the symbote-fusion clumsily slammed himself into a thickened, rough trunk of a tree. Every muscle was quivering as the beast listened, eyes narrowed with disbelief. They knew that sound. That was the sound of a spider...They're Spider. The very thought was enough to send crushing waves of delirium and savage delight rippling across the mental link established through host and alien, and the large male was slowly beginning to hyperventilate. The Other sensed danger and took control over his lungs, forcing him to breathe more slowly.
We cannot let our haste overwhelm our current advantage! The being spoke harshly with its excitement, and Venom had to resist the urge to agree with a snarl.
His claws tore deep, ragged furrows into the innocent oak beneath them as Venom quickly took up the chase. They could see him now, a fluid, beautiful, wretched blur of red and blue, all muscle and foreign grace. He was, in essence, their maker. From their hatred for him, they had been brought together, had become one, perfect entity that longed for he to suffer as they had. They would rip him apart, they would destroy everything that made him who he was, and then, only when he was broken, bleeding, dead, could they call themselves content.
Muscles bunched underneath his dark, sleek hide as Venom shot through the trees like a hunting cat, jaws aching from the too-wide grin that he bore ferociously in the darkness. They drew closer, yet still kept to the shadows, observing the strange, knotted wings of webbing that were folded on the other's back. He had wings? No matter. Flight would not save him from his fate!
"Do you know how long you've kept us waiting?!" The roar unexpectedly split from the trees as Venom lunged, his entire body stretched out so cruel talons could attempt to bury themselves in the Spider's flank. "You didn't even send us a card when you left! Why, you almost hurt our feelings!!!" Saliva, tinged with green, eerie essence from the symbiote, sprayed as the monster opened his jaws in a bestial roar of triumph. They would have their revenge and savor it in the stillness of the night!
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