A Mother's love (Character Development RP)
~Characters~
-colors will only indicate speech, not action-
Barracus
Mergha (Mother) NPC
Zair (Father) NPC
It was dark, and quiet inside the cave. A thin and bedraggled looking mare was sprawled across one corner, her sides heaving as she glared across the cave floor at the lone basket that sat there. The material was a glossy black that seemed to suck in any shred of light around it, golden lines and swirls pulsed and wriggled across the velvet darkness. Her first and only child lay within. Mergha struggled to sit up and drag herself across the floor of the cave, her minty green eyes drinking in the site of the offspring that would finally allow her to gain the power and prestige she coveted, and had been denied for so long. She was a small creature, her build thin and lithe rather than muscular, her paws delicate and small rather than powerful. She was a disgrace to her kind, the runt out of all her siblings. She had been treated with disdain and disrespect by her family and tossed out to fend for herself as soon as she learned to hunt. She was worthless to them, a hindrance and possibly even a liability. But Mergha was a cunning little thing, despite her small stature she was as beautiful as she was spiteful and viscous; her hair a long and silky black like her pelt and her body a creamy beige and as soft as velvet. She would use these things to make a place for herself.
Zair was a credit to his kind. He was tall, broad of shoulder and heavily muscled. He was a merciless, pitiless, soulless killer. He delighted blood and death, drawing out the final moments of his victims with a lover's patience, savoring the sound of their dying screams ripping from their lungs. He was awarded a wary respect and feared by all who knew him, when Zair spoke, people listened... Or they died. Mergha wanted a piece of that power, she wanted to control it.
Purewalkers did not mate for love. Zair and Mergha were no exception. She wanted the respect and power she felt bearing his child would give her, and Zair was bewitched by Mergha's extraordinary beauty and her sly tongue. She had guessed correctly, he was ready to put his plan into action.
The pregnancy had been hard, and it had taken it's toll on the young mare. Mergha wrapped herself possessively around the basket, she would bear no more, the delivery had caused too much internal damage. She would have to make this one count. The second child, a daughter, had not survived the birth. No matter, the important thing was she had produced a son. Zair's firstborn. A male heir, she would claim her reward. It would be well worth the all pain and suffering she had endured to get this far, she was sure, to have Zair dancing to her tune, to Mergha's tune, and she would have her revenge.
A shadow drew across the cave mouth, Zair had gotten wind of the birth and despite his continued absence during the pregnancy, he had come to claim the single basket protected by the almost skeletally thin form before him. How could he ever have found this thing attractive? The thought sickened him. She would have to be dealt with, once a lovely creature, he could barely stand to look at her. He would not be associated with her, he would find another mare, a weak willed mare, to watch after the child as it grew. "My compliments dearest Mergha, you have done me a great service" he rumbled in a silky croon, his long tail twitching to caress her face as he circled her slowly. She watched him warily, her striking green eyes narrowed as they followed his graceful movements. Mergha was no fool, she could see the killing gleam in his eye. she stretched lazily, one unsheathed claw shifting almost casually to dangle over the basket. She was weak from blood loss and malnourishment, but in this she could be fast enough. The threat was clear as the razor like claw dragged delicately across the woven fibers. She knew what he had came for, but he would not have it until she was repaid for her time and for the brutal damage the pregnancy and labor had inflicted on her body. She had been too slow and awkward to hunt and the other purewalkers would have killed her without a second thought if they had seen caught her in her weakened state. She had remained cloistered here, never knowing where her next meal would come from. She had not bargained on Zair's neglect throughout the pregnancy. He would pay for that. She finally had her claws wrapped around the one thing Zair desired more than blood and death. "Be careful my love" she purred in return, baring her fangs. Zair's eyes narrowed, he had always wondered at her game. The child was not meant to be an offering, not a trade for protection as she had led him to believe all those moons ago. This child was to be his collar, with Mergha holding the leash. A shame the other had not survived, he had realized that the mare's size would be an impediment to her bearing healthy children but he had been willing to look past it at the time. Now he cursed his thoughtless foolishness. Mergha was useless now, her beauty destroyed, her body worn and broken. "I am nobodies puppet!" He declared through gritted teeth. "Do as you wish.Truly, he had had plans for this offspring, but he was patient. He would bide his time, gathering support and fathering his coveted army of purewalkers. When the child came of age or his mother died, he would either seek him out or choose another son as his heir.
Mergha's eyes narrowed. She knew his plans, knew why he desired this foal. It had been the main reason she had chosen him, if was not in the nature of a purewalker to feel parental affection. Zair held no feelings for his offspring beyond the use he could get out of them, the disappointment and rage dancing in his eyes was for the missed opportunity, not for the lost son. Mergha began to feel afraid, it had never occurred to her that Zair would react this way. She had been so sure that the child would be the key, but if Zair considered it's life expendable, it was useless to her.
"I have born you a strong son Zair," Mergha wheedled, loosening her hold on the basket and gazing up at him with her eyes wide. Her eyes being the only remnants of the astonishing beauty that had ensnared her lover. "Am I not entitles some sort of reward? Zair growled and smacked her away from the basket with a heavy paw, crouching over it as he bared his fangs at her threateningly. "You are a worthless, useless, conniving little witch," He roared, "You are weak and spineless, an insult to my species. I should kill you where you stand and take my son.... But you are correct, your efforts do deserve some sort of recompense. I have no time to rear the child, so I will let you live.... I will allow you to keep this foal... For now. But be well aware, the moment my son's life ends, yours will soon follow. The moment you push me too far, I will find another to take your place. I'm sure there are no shortage of females I could 'convince' to perform this minor task for me should you prove unworthy."
He backed away towards the exit, pushing the basket across the floor to her with one paw. "You will live to regret the day you crossed me Mergha, be assured." He spun away from her and exited as quickly as he came.
Mergha screamed.
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Over the past few weeks since Barracus had been transferred from his mothers womb into the carefully constructed woven basket to finish developing, he had become slowly more aware of the world outside of his dark haven. The small foal shifted, a deliciously moist metallic smell floating past his flared nostrils. His stomach rumbled in response and he shifted irritably at the unfamiliar and uncomfortable sensation. He stretched, pressing his back against the tightly woven wicker, feeling the material bunch and strain with the added pressure. His stomach grumbled again, hungry, the word floated into his mind unbidden. He twisted and pushed upwards, with a loud crack and a burst of light, Barracus was free.
He tumbled out of the basket to Mergha's feet. The little foal squinted up into the frosty glare of his mother and whinnied with fright at the sunken features and at the depth of hate in the gaze she affixed him with. "M-mother? he struggled with the unfamiliar word, somehow it didn't seem quite right to address the creature in front of him in such a way.
A low growl rumbled in Mergha's throat at the sight of her son. He was large, longer and more developed than the average newborn. Not a runt then, she hated him for that. She wanted Zair's child to suffer for the disaster that was her life, she would make the son pay for the sins of the father. Barracus' paws were much to large for his build, indicating that the child would be nearly as large as his father. Why, he even looked like Zair, his only resemblance to the mother who had suffered and sacrificed for him was the glossy black pelt draped across his back. How was that fair? She was the one who would raise him, she was the one whose body had wasted away with the stress of supporting another life, and yet he looked like HIM. Her tiny son gazed up at her with innocent golden eyes, Zair's eyes. Her claws twitched, she wanted to drive them into this miniature Zair and punish him the way she would never dare to punish his father. She was too small, too weak. Zair would kill her with one swipe and take his son for himself. Neither of them would suffer if she died, but now she was the one in charge. She controlled every aspect of Barracus' life in the way she had wanted to control Zair. She could not punish the ones who had abandoned her, her parents, her siblings, or Zair, but this little creature was hers to command. And she would exact her vengeance...
Mergha smiled.
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The next few years were a torturous blur for young Barracus. They moved to a new cave within the first week, she had been too weak to move the basket on her own, but now that the child had been born, Mergha wanted to keep her son to herself and as fair away from his hated father as possible. Zair may decide to try and collect his son at any time despite their agreement. It would be a deadly folly to trust any 'walker at their word, much less Zair who had something to gain from taking Barracus away from her. He would most certainly decide to take him if he saw how much the child resembled him, so Mergha would keep her son out of sight. Far away from the prying eyes of the 'walkers that lived near Zair's territory lest they carry him word.
Barracus spent his entire childhood chained to the cave. His mother told him his father was dead and impressed upon him his duty to care for her. As soon as he was large enough, he was charged with the task of providing food for his tiny family. He didn't mind, he enjoyed the exhilarating rush that he could only get from stalking and taking down prey. He lived for the moment when his powerful jaws snapped closed around their necks, feeling the rapid pulsing of their hearts sputtering and halting as he snapped their necks with a quick jerk of his head. He would have enjoyed drawing out the process more but Mergha, He always referred to her as 'Mergha' in his head even though he was forced to call her 'mother' to her face, was prone to violent outbursts if he stayed away from the cave for more time than she felt was necessary. She always felt he had stayed out longer than necessary. He sported deep gouges across his back and flanks as evidence of her viscous temper whenever he returned from the hunt. Barracus once had asked her why she didn't perform the chore herself if it bothered her so much to send him away. She had responded with unexpected speed and cruelty, leaving him moaning in the corner with the pain of his injuries for days while she gazed at him from across the cave. Her minty green eyes gleeful as she watched his suffering. Barracus knew why his mother couldn't hunt for them, she no longer resembled the wasted skeleton that had greeted him at birth but she was still frightfully thin. She spent most of her time relaxing on a thick bed of greenery claiming she was far too weak to help him with the never ending list of chores she gave him. The supposed weakness never seemed to slow her down when he caused her grievance, which was more often than not. She may have been thin and weak compared to other purewalkers but her size was more than sufficient when it came to dealing with her young son. She was generous with her punishments, often beating him senseless for no other reason than she had caught him gazing at her once to often with his hated golden eyes.
He was told his father had died in a tragic accident. Leaving poor Mergha with the heavy burden of providing for and raising the ungrateful Barracus by herself. When he asked for his father's name she raked her claws across his face so fast he hadn't registered the wound until the blood began dripping into his eyes. He was never to speak of the awful 'walker who had spawned him. A spineless coward, she claimed, weak and pitiful, just like you!, she would hiss. But Barracus saw the gleam of fear in her eyes when she spoke of his father. He was intimately familiar with that gleam, often being the cause of it, although never with Mergha. At least, not yet. Until he was old enough, he would have to content himself with torturing the small animals around their cave. It was his only hobby, his only way of venting the anger at his weakness whenever Mergha left him torn and bloody after a fit of rage. How shameful that he couldn't even overcome the wrathful violence of his pitiful wraith of a mother.
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Barracus and Mergha's relationship continued this way throughout his foal hood and far into his teenage years. His mother took every chance to belittle him, her spiteful tongue as sharp as the claws she found every excuse to gouge him with. He provided for the family, hunting, cleaning, gathering, whatever his mother required while Mergha remained perched in her comfy bed of rushes and 'oversaw' his work. Despite Barracus' increasing size, he was never quick enough to avoid one of her blows within the small confines of their cave, in fact his size tended to be a disadvantage. He had always hoped that once he was large enough, he would be able to turn the tides against the harpy. Instead, he just provided Mergha with more hated flesh to sink her claws and fangs into.
There were rare moments of what could be called kindness, although he felt that Mergha inserted these confusing deviations from their normal routine more to keep him on edge than out of any desire to see him happy. Mergha was not capable of any sort of compassion, he was sure, the only person she cared about was herself; but when she directed those huge green eyes at him and turned on the charm he could almost believe that his mother cared about his well being. During those rare times, he would lay at her feet while she taught him about the shortcomings of the other soquili breeds. She taught him of Oyohusa, the purewalker's guardian, and she told him a little about the Kawani lands to the East, where their kind was rare and the weaker breeds flourished. She would stroke the silky black fur of his coyote pelt, kneading it with her claws possessively and croon to him tales about the bloody slaughter that would sweep across those peaceful lands when their kind exhausted the last their wasteland had to offer and turned their eyes on the bountiful lands of their neighbors. Barracus would fall asleep, the visions of gaping bloody wounds and sightlessly staring eyes lulling him into a deep restful slumber. He would wake in the morning, nestled next to Mergha in a sick parody of how other foal's probably slept with their parents. His back bloody from Mergha's kneading claws and those green eyes gazing down at him with a cruel humor before clubbing with her paw and ordering him away.
Those unnerving green eyes, so misplaced in the ugly shell that now housed them. They gave Barracus nightmares, she was always watching him. She always knew what he had been up to when he left the cave. Barracus was convinced that she could peer into his mind with those eyes. The thought haunted him day and night, despite Mergha's small stature he began to fear her as much as he loathed her. He longed for her death, longed to be the cause of it, but whenever she pierced him with that gaze he shied away. By now he was larger than Mergha by a head and still growing. More than skilled enough to end his mother's hold on his life but she had him so twisted he couldn't make the move. The land around their cave became cluttered with the shredded remains of small animals and it was not uncommon to hear the young stallion howling in fury and frustration as he wandered the land in his coyote form.
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Zair's claws dug into the earth as he launched his powerful body through the narrow mountain pass. He had had some of his allies alternate keeping watch on the area, keeping tabs for him on his son and the elusive Mergha. He growled at the thought. He had a vague idea of what that wasted harpy had been putting their son through. He hadn't paid much mind to the reports he had received over the past years until recently, the injuries had increased in intensity and veracity. He needed the child whole and undamaged if he was to move foreword with his plans. Barracus was no longer in need of a nursemaid and it was long past time for Mergha to be punished for her insolence and trickery.
He was drawing near, her cloying scent permeating this section of the forest, if faintly. Much stronger was the musky scent of another full grown male 'walker. Unbidden, Zair's hackles rose and a low growl vibrated deep in his throat. This would be the child, he required a male heir for his plans to succeed but their partnership would be risky. Male 'walkers did not work together often, their territorial instincts were too strong and such partnerships usually ended in death for one of the parties.
"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you where you stand." Zair whipped around to gaze into the golden eyes of what could only be his son. They were almost identical in build and coloring. He was pleased to see that the Mergha's genes had been muted, had he known how worthy an heir Barracus would be he would have taken him home sooner rather than risk leaving him in Mergha's poisonous clutches. His watchers had never reported the similarities either, then again that hadn't been their orders. The walkers he had in his service had to be handled carefully, he had to be extremely specific in their orders. They were bonded to him but it was not in a purewalkers nature to be obedient.
Zair's mouth twisted with wry amusement as his eyes narrowed, "Hesitation, my son? How disappointing..."
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Barracus gazed at the strange 'walker calculatingly, his thoughts racing as he pieced together the puzzle. He was clearly closely related to this stallion, which meant only one thing. Mergha had lied to him, not surprising really, she was the most untrustworthy creature he had ever had the misfortune to know. "I was told my father was dead." He stated bluntly, ignoring the stallion's quip. Hesitation was no risk with his speed and reflexes. Although.... He peered critically at the stranger, noting the heavily corded muscles and the graceful way he moved, perhaps in this case it was not prudent. Barracus' hackles rose and his eyes burned with anger as the scent of his purewalker father tickled his nostrils, the scent unleashed an almost intolerable urge to rip and tear. It was quite distracting, he noticed a dangerous gleam burning in his father's golden gaze. So he felt it too, he said nothing of it so it must be normal. An instinct that needed to be controlled and quelled in order for him to maintain a civil facade. His mother's scent was not unpleasant in and of itself, but because he related it to her it brought upon him such violent and black tempers that he often had to resort to alternative measures to vent off the poisonous emotion. Because the entire area around their cave was bathed in the scent, he was not often in a good humor.
"Why do you come now?" his voice snapped bitterly as he directed a murderous glare at his sire. He had no use for a father now, what the hell did he think he was doing, violating his territory. Doubtless he would suffer for speaking with his father, Mergha's paranoia about his many absences was much clearer now. She was keeping Barracus away from him. How...Intriguing...
"What do you want from me? Or is it Mergha you are seeking? I doubt she will welcome your presence." He spat her name like a vile oath, raising his brow expectantly.
Bright canines glinted as Zair's lips pulled back in a smile.
"I'm rather counting on that."
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Mergha's eyes rolled as an all too familiar scent reached her nostrils, it was pungently musky and brought a bright gleam of... something to her eyes as she struggled to pull herself to her feet. "He's come..." she croaked in a ragged whisper, a thrill of fear racing down her spine. Barracus was out hunting as usual. They would have found each other, the area she had chosen was too small. It was time to think quickly.
She had always known that it was risky to tell her son that his father was dead. But she had known that had he been aware of another option, he would have left her with no second thoughts. She was weak, growing weaker by the day, she would not have survived if she did not have Barracus to perform the heavier tasks. She led him to believe that she was too lazy and arrogant to perform such menial labor, but the truth was she simply wasn't able. She despised the almost parasitic existence she had been forced to forge with her hated child. Hated knowing that she would only live so long as he was willing to continue caring for her, even then she knew her time was limited. She had used every manipulative little trick she knew with him, cultivating their twisted relationship until she knew she had scarred him enough emotionally that he would grudgingly obey her every order and whim. Barracus was at war with himself, so busy with that inner conflict that it never occurred to him that all of his problems could be solved with a mere flick of his razor like claws.
Zair had come to take his heir as he had promised all those years ago. Mergha knew he had come to fulfill his other promise as well... He never forgets. She would have to move fast if she was to have a chance to survive. Running was out of the question, without Barracus she would die of starvation within the week, without a strong male present whose scent would ward off any unwelcome visitors, she would be easy pickings for the other 'walkers who, attracted by the scent of a lone female, would kill her without a second thought as soon as they realized they were tracking a crippled wraith and not a young mare.
Zair would most definitely kill her, and that would surely be a slow death. He would cultivate her terror and feast on her screams and her flesh as punishment for her crimes against him.
If Mergha was to live, Zair had to die. She was almost positive she could reaffirm her hold on her son if she could just get rid of the meddling stallion that had spawned him. There was no chance she could take him in a fair fight, Zair was the epitome of what it meant to be a purewalker. He could overpower her even at her best, and she was certainly not at her best. So it would take careful planning and quite a bit of cunning to dispose of her unwelcome visitor.
Using the wall as support she limped and stumbled out of the cave and over to the narrow trail that lead to the clifftop. She could sense the stallions' fast approach. She would await them there.
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Ending will be added shortly, just have to think out the details ;3
