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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:07 pm
(( *bricked SO hard for that title* ))
The wind felt stronger up here, colder, perhaps. Kimaji loved flying-- of course. It was rather wonderful, for a creature earth-bound like a lioness. She'd found herself at first peering over the god's shoulder in amazement, thought trying not to move much, seeing as she still could fall, and it wouldn't be pretty. She'd never gone so far from home-- but it wasn't her first time flying. She'd flown before, with Momo.
She and Corellon were heading to where two-legs had once lived, there there were paintings, which was why they were going that way. Kimaji wanted to see how a bear looked. However, it'd take them a while, and though she regretted it slightly, seeing as she could see so much from here.. Kimaji had grown sleepy. And thus she'd actually fallen asleep mid-flight. Fortunately, Corellon was the one actually flying, so she wasn't about to crash into anything.
For some reason she decided to wake up right now. Nice! Imagine waking up, expecting to be on the ground, and then looking over the edge of whatever you were on, and seeing the ground.. strangely far away. "Woaa-- " She gaped, eyes wide before remembering where she was. "Cor, " Kimaji said, half-yawning. "Where are we now? "
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:10 pm
It was fortunate that Corellon, god of nature, was a strong a flier, a skill built by frequent flights from one side of the continent to the, traversing the sea to other parts of the earth, the guardian's eyes always alert to the dangers posed to his domain. It was perhaps also fortunate that the lioness he carried was small, for it was a long flight and they were still far from the ground.
"We're just over the great desert now, around halfway to the Atlas mountains. How's the view from up there?"
Ears flicked, his head suddenly snapping from their current path, eyes narrowed. It seemed their uneventful flight was about to be interrupted, something was wrong, an avatar nearby needed him. Poachers could never be ignored, they would have to land and continue their flight north when the monsters had been destroyed before they had the chance to take another innocent life.
Veering from the path that had taken, wings flattened, the god glided toward the earth in a wide arc, toward the south west, away from the desert they had just approached. Paws reached for the grassy earth as they descended, soon reaching the earth, hitting the ground at a trot then slowing to a walk. They were near, poachers, he would not let another animal fall.
"Shhh, I need you to wait here, there is something I must take care of."
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Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:58 am
"Its cool. " She smiled, wide awake by now. It was hard to remain sleepy when you were so high up. "Very.. empty, though. " She tilted her head in confusion. Sand.. just sand. It was odd. The mountains had a funny name, too. 'Atlas!' How.. odd, wasn't it?
However, she didn't have long to think about the oddness that this trip was turning out to be, as suddenly-- at least to her, Corellon veered away from the desert, and it wasn't long before he landed. "What? Why.. " She blinked, sliding off his back and landing easy on the ground, though her paws were a little shaky at first-- after staying up there for a while, she hadn't realized how twitchy her paws would be once they met the earth again. She stretched a bit, glad she could move a bit more here, though flying was pretty fun.
Her ears perked at Corellon. "O.. kay. " Kimaji blinked, rather confused. Why wait here? Sitting down, she smiled slightly at Corellon. "Watcha need to do? "
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Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:35 pm
Wings folded, the god trod forward several steps, ears full forward, his nose to the air, senses on full alert. There was a distance in his gaze, as if he were looking through the eyes of another instead of his own, the avatar who had called him. Pausing, he turned back to the small lioness with a last warning.
"Keep quiet and stay out of sight. Hide in the tall grass and stay there, I'll return for you. Poachers."
With a reassuring look, the god turned, stalking from the grass to the nearby trees and the grass beyond. He caught the scent of fire, the faint glow of flame, the roar of a captured animal. His head lowered, a low growl in his throat, green eyes narrowed with fury. He stalk silently, pausing for a moment at the trees, as if speaking with the large bird who sat on the branch overhead.
"I see."
His posture had changed, from a kind guardian to the vicious protector. He walked in a low gait, talons extended, fangs bared, tail twitching with intent, a fire burning in his green eyes. There would be blood tonight.
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Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 4:17 am
"o..okay. "
She blinked in surprise. Poachers? With a moments hesitation, Kimaji had ducked into the grass, ears against her skull. Weren't those.. bad? As Corellon moved away, Kimaji found herself alone in the grass. At first, she forced herself to stay put, but she was starting to grow slightly nervous. Perhaps Corellon shouldn't have mentioned the poachers. Kimaji, although pretty naive, was aware that she was smaller than usual, and that she was much weaker, as a consequence. She wouldn't be able to fight off a poacher, if they had been able to kill bears! And now Cor wasn't even around. Perhaps she could follow him, if she was very, very quiet, and stayed out of the way. She just.. wanted to at least know he was in sight, right?
So quietly, and double checking for any danger, Kimaji moved to follow the direction Corellon had gone, her ears low and uneasy. Soon, she too could see the fire-- and it too was very.. strange. She'd never seen a flame before, though she'd heard about it. Ears perked, she raised her head, furrowing her brows to see if she found corellon. She did see a flash of white, though he was mostly hidden by the grass and his bear skin. With a slightly relieved sigh, Kimaji moved on, trying to at least be able to view the poachers, because if Corelon was going thatway, she wanted to know what happened.
Closer to the camp where the poachers were, there was a small set of bushes. Certainly she could hide there, right? She could see what was happening, and she'd still be safe! Keeping her distance from Corellon, she quietly moved in that direction.
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Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 6:31 pm
Unaware that she had followed despite his warning, the god stalked his prey. The humans were oblivious, too caught up in their sick games, their drinks, the torture of a captured animal, the cleaning of traps and weapons. They were unaware of the approaching of vengeance, that they were seeing their last moments on earth.
He approached in silence, watching the poachers through narrowed eyes, There were three of them surrounded a fire, one of them tormenting a cage leopard with the butt end of a rifle, most likely to be taken to a private hunt run for rich 'sportsmen', sickening. All three were turned away from him, laughing at the creature's plight. He would take the poachers first, then free the creature from its prison.
It happened like a strike a thunder, a roar erupted through the night air, a fury of talons and fangs charged into the camp. The poachers scattered, diving for their weapons in frantic terror, desperate to save themselves from divine fury. But it was too late, he was already on them, jaws seizing the closest by the throat, a blood-curdling scream rending the air before falling silent to the crushing fangs.
A terrified cry of 'n..nandi bear' would be the last sound uttered by the second poacher.
Tonight you pay for you crimes against my forest. Cling to this night, for it will be your last.
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 5:06 am
By the time Corellon had attacked, Kimaji had already reached the bushes, and now ducked among them, ears perked and head tilted as she watched the assault. What.. what as he doing? Corellon was different. He was killing them. Just that. From here she could smell the blood from the first man, and her ears perked as the other cried. For a moment, Kimaji considered to run, back to where he'd told her to stay, and pretend none of this was happening. She didn't want to get Cor mad, not after seeing -this-.
However, even as she stepped back, the next time she lifted her paw..
She found she couldn't move. Eyes wide, Kimaji looked down at her front paw. There was some.. wire, wrapping around it. No biggie, she could just pull her paw out. She stepped back, pulling her paw with her, and found that the wire only tightened. "Whu.. " She gaped, staring distractedly at Corellon once more, and continued to try and tug her paw free, as the wire only tightened more and more...
The wire was a snare. The poachers had set it here for any jackal or hare that might come this way and try to cower in the bushes. The thing was set to tighten as one struggled, but.. Kimaji didn't know that, and so she kept pulling. "Let go! " She hissed, as low as possible with her ears flat on her skull. But though she was pulling on the wire, her eyes focused on where Corellon was. he was obviously hadnlig the other two, but a bush blocked half the camp, the part where the other man had gone. What was going on there?
And why was Corellon being so vicious? Kimaji quietly found herself getting.. scared. She'd never had to watch something like this; humans shouting in their strange languages, and a god attacking them, a leopard trapped in a cage..
It was a bit too much for a first-timer.
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 9:28 pm
The second poacher lay still, forever silenced by the god's wrath, blood spilled by vengeful talons. There was now only one, perhaps unfortunate to be the last to fall. Now he stood before the god, clutching the rifle he foolish thought could save him, a useless toy would not spare him from the force of the god's vengeance.
A low growl echoed in his chest, a divine wrath that seemed to emanate from the earth itself, fangs barred in a terrifying snarl, paws seeming to shake the earth with each prowling step. Narrowed eyes burned with a holy fire, the type which terrified even the fiercest of monsters, he stalked closer, the end was near.
Take your last breath...
Ears snapped, gaze instantly finding the source of the sound. Rather than a fourth poacher as he had expected, the god's eyes fell on the lioness, she had followed him despite his warning. It was an unforeseen complication, though not entirely unexpected.. Perhaps he should have known that the naturally curious Kimaji would have followed him only to fall into the poachers' trap.
He would have to be quick then, dispatching the poacher before the human could spot or harm the lioness, before she was harmed by the trap or stumbled on others. The god lowered his head, ignoring the bullet that buzzed past his wing, deadly antlers brought to bear on the poacher like spears.
As if on cue, the leopard roared, the god charged, the third poacher would fall forever silent.
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 3:05 am
Ooh. How had he heard her?! She frowned, only glancing at Cor from the corner over her eyes. She'd been careful to be quiet! Well, now he'd already seen her, she might as well just duck into the bushes and wait and--
What was that?
Eyes wide, Kimaji stumbled to the ground in surprise by that loud sound, a gunshot. A loud crackle that ripped through the air. What did that? Peering around the bush, she was in time to catch the leopard's roar, and Corellon's charge... Lowering her head, Kimaji tried covering her eyes with her paws, but.. see, one of them was kind of stuck right now, so only one eye got covered.
Okay, what did she do now? Her paw was stuck in that dumb.. thing, aaand she could not move! Not to mention, Cor probably would be mad at her for following.. Nice situation here, really.
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:01 am
The third poacher lay silent, lifeless form slumped against the god's antlers, the spear that had been its end. The camp lay in shambles, littered with shards of wood and canvas that had once been the poachers tent, rifles and ammunition scattered across the earth. The once bright fire now barely flickered, strangled by the debris of earth and sand.
The three poachers lay in death, the third alone, the first and second had fallen one over the other. The scent of their blood filled the camp, carried on the wind that would soon attract the predators. A fitting end, destroyed by the very creatures they sought to kill. By morning, there would be nothing left save for the legend of the nandi bear.
In its cage, the leopard snarled, clawing at the bars in desperation to free itself, to escape into the safety of the trees.
"Wait one moment, my friend, and I will release you. First I must tend to the one in most danger."
He turned from the leopard, leaping to the bushes where Kimaji lay hidden, caught in the poachers trap. Swiftly, he lowered his head, catching the trap in his jaws and rending it from the ground to disarm it and enable the lioness to escape.
"Next time I tell you to hide, please stay there, I could not bear it if you had been harmed."
There was no anger in his voice, it was kind as it had been before, but there was a seriousness in his tone, she could have been killed.
"Wait here, or follow only in my footsteps, there are other traps I must disarm, and the leopard must be freed."
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:25 am
Kimaji squeaked in surprise almost leaping backwards as suddenly something leapt over the bushes-- she hadn't really been paying attention. However, the jolt she'd given had, once more, tightened the trap on her paw, and she winced slightly. It was starting to sting. But the whatever that'd popped up was Cor-- er, bloody Cor, but Cor. Not the thing that'd just attacked the humans.
"I'm sorry, " She said as he released the trap, and was surprised at how simple it seemed to disarm. Hah! If only she'd known she probably-- wasn't strong enough to pull it off the groun. "I wanted to see how they looked. " Well, actually, she'd been scared. But even Kimaji was a bit too proud of admitting it; Swaii seemed to look down on her whenever she acted afraid.
But waait, Cor was a god. He could probably guess anyway. "AndIwaskindascared. " She mumbled, looking away like a cub being scolded, even though Cor didn't sound angry. Sliding the noose off her paw, Kimaji sat up, eying the small, thin line that was there. It had managed a very shallow cut, due to the squeezing and her pulling, but nothing that wouldn't heal fast, and it wouldn't even leave a scar-- she hadn't been trying that hard to escape, really. Licking it once, Kimaji stood on all fours, and looked over at the leopard in the cage. "Whats that? "
She knew what a leopard was-- but what was it in?
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:11 pm
He trod carefully, scouting the camp's perimeter, disarming the traps he encountered, removing the threat to innocents who crossed this way unaware.
"There is no need to apologize, just be more careful next time."
Pausing in his steps, he disarmed a bear trap with a growl, wrenching the stake that held it from the ground and tossing it to the center of camp where he would destroy it with the others. His actions may have seemed cruel, monstrous, for while the men were poachers, the fact remained that the god of nature had ended three lives. However in taking those three, he had saved many innocents from a grizzly fate, a death by game hunters or their pelts taken, bodies divided to be sold on the black market by greedy men. While several creatures had already by slaughtered to extinction, and many more rapidly vanishing, the humans were in no danger of such a fate. In the end, they poachers posed a far greater threat to nature, than he did to them.
"I would be more worried if you were not afraid, these men were very dangerous."
The traps disarmed, Corellon now turned to the camp itself and the cage holding the terrified leopard. Perhaps sensing its rescue, the creature had calmed, though it was not inclined toward patience. Now it paced the few steps it could take in the cage, circling, then clawing at the bars in desperation.
"The poachers call it a cage, most likely meant to transport this leopard to one of their hunts, barbarians."
He eyed the cage for a moment, judging the best way to open it. It was made of steel, a large lock holding the heavy door against barred walls, impossible to open by sheer brute force, clearly designed to handle the stress of travel. Fortunately however for the leopard, Corellon was an intelligent god, he need only find the key.
An easy task, the key quickly located on the third poacher. Grasping the iron key in his jaws, Corellon thrust it into the lock. With a turn, and a metallic click, the cage unlocked and the door swung open. Freed from its prison, the leopard leaped from the cage, fleeing to the safety of the trees without barely a second glance, its only thoughts to escape the camp and whatever threat may remain.
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 11:47 am
Cor was funny. Cautiously, Kimaji hopped over beside Cor, deffinately not wanting to get in any traps-- he knew where they were so.. Uh, it'd be better around him, right? Double-checking every step quickly before actually touching the ground.
"They were?" She blinked. Cor seemed to have killed them easy enough, but.. "What was that sound? " She asked quietly, after he disarmed the traps. "When you head me, " She said, then leaped back in surrise as the leopard shot passed, ears perked. "Is it really that bad in a.. 'cage? ' " She huffed, folding her ears slightly. It could have hit something! But she did understand; he must have been scared, with what those.. weird creatures had been doing to him.
"Those.. things are weird. " She said, eying the dead people, and trying to ignore the fact that they were pretty.. er, torn up. "Where are their front paws?
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:57 pm
The poachers destroyed, traps disarmed, and the leopard released, there was still one more task to complete: to erase the existence of the human camp. There must be no trace left behind, nothing to lure more hunters, nothing left to harm his forest or the innocents that would cross this way.
He began in the camp itself, dragging the third poacher to rest atop the other two, tossing traps and rifles over the silent forms, kicking over the cage to land with an angry thud over the bodies of the poachers. Every piece of debris, everything brought by the humans was piled in the center of the camp, soon to be erased from the earth.
"That was a gunshot, something no creature should ever face; it is how they kill."
He looked to the fallen cage for a moment, eyes narrowed where the poacher slay hidden beneath the debris.
"It is, no creature was ever meant to be caged, not even humans."
All that remained now was the tent, perhaps he had purposefully saved it for last. Jaws grasped the white canvas, pulled it from it's frame to toss it over the debris. The frame, bedding, and supplies quickly followed, tossed into the center atop the canvas.
There were some items spared the camp's fate, these the god carried tendering in his jaws, laying them carefully on the earth away from the poachers. These were the remains of the innocents destroyed by the human poachers, a collection of pelts, bones, fangs, paws, and whatever else had been deemed of value. Fortunately this quantity of these items was relatively small, the poachers must have been at the beginning of their hunt.
"They are different from us, but that does not mean all humans are evil; only those who kill for greed, those who destroy the earth."
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 12:59 pm
"They kill with sound? "
She frowned. How was that possible? Of course, Kimaji hadn't seen a bullet, or the riffle. As far as she knew, the human had made the crackling sound, not any sort of device it'd been using. "What are you doing? " She asked, though her question drowned a bit as she watched him pile the stuff, the tents, the traps. What was he going to do?
"Cages sound bad, " She mumbled, and made note to avoid them, shooting a glance at the one the leopard had been trapped in and remembering to evoid anything that looked like that.
Soon enough, Corellon was almost done with his piling, until he moved stuff into a separate pile, Kimaji thought she was almost understanding everything, but.. why was that stuff separated? Instead of asking, though, Kimaji merely moved ove rto the other pile, frowning at what she saw.
Pelts, teeth, bones.. it was wrong. They yanked all this off? Couldn't they just.. Maybe wait to find one dead, rather than go off an kill it? She sighed, eying the objects. "There are mean lions and good lions, " she said, though didn't turn to look at Cor. "I guess it works that way for them too. " With a slight shrug, Kimaji bent over and pulled a pelt away from the others. "Was this a.. a wild dog? " She tilted her head. She hadn't seen those dogs on any occasions. But the whole thing seemed more real when it was the pelt of something she'd seen existing, rather than a bear, that she'd never seen in real life. Come to think of it, all of their things were recognizable, species-wise. She was glad she hadn't met any of the former 'owners' of the pelts in person, but she knew what they'd once been.
It was horrible.
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