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 Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:52 pm
Deep within its darkness, Kuragari noticed nothing of the dawn. He was otherwise engaged.
The dark creatures savaged and snapped their deadly jaws, seeking to catch his mind in the terror they carried. But he danced with them instead, the bright impassivity of the god's eyes never changing. Sidestep, whirl to rip out the throat of one, rake his claws across the face of another as it readied to leap upon him, wing snapping out to smoothly catch his balance, then on to the next. Their shadow-flesh whirled away in ribbons and smoke from the sharp coldness of the god of fear's claws - only to be irresistibly pulled toward his center to feed the burning hunger within.
Then he was done, and as the blurred and murky mindscape melted away from his vision Kuragari returned to the pathetic whimpers of the kit at his feet. The small child's eyes were dulled by exhaustion and terror, but he looked away quickly, before the god could snare him again. He had been wandering the woods, lost and terrified, after slipping off from his family the previous evening and was already almost spent. And one favor deserved another, whether freely given or not. "Straight past that tree for a distance you'll find a boulder with its heart gouged out," Kuragari said, voice as even and expressionless as if all this time they'd merely been exchanging pleasantries. "Then head toward the sun. Go," he said when the kit only stared blankly, lacing his voice with a little power. Tears made fresh tracks down the little one's cheeks and he shuddered, but somehow found his feet and stumbled off into the shadows.
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:26 pm
 Lucretia tried to ignore the uncivilized chaos that surrounded her in the form of a jungle. Her eyes stared blankly ahead of her as she didn't want the bright colors and loud noises to invade her senses: it would make her too distracted. It was enough that a drizzle had just ended and her bangs stuck to her forehead like the fallen leaves to her paws, and she trotted along. She had a purpose for this travel, and it was hard enough not to forget it.
Yet while repeating her silent mantra, Lucretia was struck on the head by a fallen fruit. After the stars left her eyes, she looked up to see a small primate staring quizically down at her, head tilted as though it was confused by the prospect of gravity. Lucretia's tail flicked as she held its stare, and when it lept off, she couldn't help by begin to follow, eyes glued upon it rather than her current path. Only when the oblivious creature landed on a water laden limb, and said water on her head, did she look down again, shaking her forelock free of the moisture.
As soon as Lucretia opened her eyes once more, did she see the black and winged figure of a male, and the figure of a kit creeping off. As the snivles of pain and tormet reached her ears, Lucretia took a step back. Almost having a premonition of a dark aura around this adult, but she was not able to bring herself to flee, instead, her eyes scanned him quickly, noting details and making speculations upon them.
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Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:21 pm
Kuragari sighed comfortably as the kit moved off, feeling the pleasant fullness in his chest and that strange satisfaction that always came from a successful hunt. Part of him yearned for more, but he cut it down quickly; the god had long ago promised himself never to take more than he needed. It was some concession to the kit he had once been, anyway.
But that part of his past was long over with. Was it not more pleasurable to be at peace with oneself after all this time? He settled down to groom himself, as if doing so could ward off the slight distaste that came from remembering.
So preoccupied was he that the god almost failed to notice the sounds of something approaching. A monkey leaped overhead and was gone into the tangle of branches and vines, but there was still something else out among the trees. "I know you are there," he said, never pausing in his movements.
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:38 pm
Lucretia, ears pinned to her head just like most of her fur, arched her back silently as the god took notice. She already knew running would be in vain, but that didn't mean she would walk any closer to him now. However, even after her show of emotion, her curiosity compelled her closer to see the spectical that rested in the shade.
Head ducked fearfully, she hesitantly advanced, until she could clearly make out the dapples of the broken canopy falling on the black pelt, and reflecting off of the shackles so that her eyes were momentarily blinded by the shine.
In her timid, small voice, she dared question him: "What was it that you did to that kit, God?" Her assertion of his status she drew from his appearance, and from the fact that though he never touched the kit, it wept in pain. Something about his male was not quite right.
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 3:11 pm
Kuragari's ears caught the faint sounds of paws moving through wet underbrush, softly faltering in the gloom. They finally stopped a wary distance away, but not even the slightest twitch of an ear betrayed that he knew of her approach. Another kit, was it? This jungle seemed to grow them like weeds.
Only when she spoke did the god raise his head to look at her directly, red eyes glinting. It seemed she had witnessed what had occurred after all. Or some of it, at least.
He raised an eyebrow and nodded slightly in approval at her recognition of what he was. "Intelligent, I see. Hmm. I suppose you could say I took his fear away from him." But his dark smile suggested that the words were not quite so harmless as they sounded.
And of course, mortals did always find new things to fear...
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 5:59 pm
Lucretia stood silently, mind trying to understand what he meant by 'took his fear away', as it surely held no form of positive connotation to it. She stared at him, until she acknowledged that she didn't quite know. Yet. She would just have to remain near him longer to find out, otherwise she would have no end to frustration over letting the chance to learn something slip from her grasp. Her mission was replaced with this new purpose to learn everything she could safely from this God, and she swore she would.
Nervously, she drew closer, and began circling him, sizing up his chains, wings, and skull-gem silently. After going around thrice, she held her ground before him, eyes once more running from his gem, then to moon, and at last his eyes. This didn't go to help her other than to reassert basic facts about the negative aura around him, but she didn't twitch this time. "God, who are you?" She adressed her party with respect, but in a young blunder, she forgot to offer her own name first.
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Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:04 pm
And bold as well, it seemed. His slitted pupils watched her progress, noted the curious concentration in her eyes. She was unremarkable in appearance, especially when seen next to the god, but that only made her intense expression stand out all the more. It was always amusing to meet those who did not fear him - or did not at first, anyway - and after the hunt Kuragari was in the mood for idle conversation.
He chuckled at her question, though the sound had nothing of joy in it. Searching, always searching for something to fill that emotionless void, give a purpose to his life other than causing pain... It was a relatively mild look that he gave the kit, if anything about Kuragari could be said to be mild. It clearly said, You would ask for my name, would you, without offering anything in return? He did not actually mind her audacity; he was seldom bothered by much, but it amused him to watch ulaya squirm under his gaze.
After letting the silence stretch for several long, uncomfortable moments, at last he answered gravely. "I am Kuragari." Let her guess at what his domain might be; it could prove entertaining. "Do you have a name, young one?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:14 pm
Lucretia couldn't help but scoff. "FatherDaddy told me to never tell anyone, and that even a name is enough of a weapon to get you killed." She spoke as though she was full of knowing just what L meant when he told her that, though she was acting as more of a little bird, piquing back a phrase once heard. "However, Kuragari, I am Srebrenka." Her mother's name rolled off her tongue with ease, as though it was practiced as much as 'Lucretia'.
Lucretia's eyes were as calm and collected as the still puddle by which she stood, staring still at the god. "Now that the formalities are done and over with, what is it that brings one such as yourself to a jungle like this?" She asked, head slightly tilted and as curious as any other kit in her situation would be. ".....Hunting, perhaps?" Though she still was oblivious to how it was that Kuragari 'hunted', she wasn't entirely blind that the kit before her had just escaped.
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:29 pm
"FatherDaddy? It seems you have curious parents... Srebrenka." And names as weapons? That was an interesting concept, if an odd one. Although - if his glance could bring pain, maybe somewhere it was true that words could kill. "I am honored that you would trust me with your name so quickly, then." Though his tone was pleasant, or at least what passed for pleasant from the impassive god, the faintest trace of mockery at her condescending tone laced Kuragari's words.
"...Perhaps." He settled into a more comfortable position among the moss and bracken, chain coiled neatly and wings folded against the contours of his flanks. Even if he had missed her expression before, the kit's openly probing questions would have told him that this was going to take a while. It was something to pass the time, though.
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 8:45 pm
Lucretia spoke with a childish voice, though her expression was anything but "Oh, yes MotherDaddy and FatherDaddy are quite the odd couple, but I trust you, Kuragari." She continued, "Oh, so you must not have been, if you are so relaxed." she eyed him curiously, judging him silently.
"And if you haven't eaten recently, perhaps you could help me find food, for I'm sure you must need to as well." Another test, though she was hungry, and he didn't seem to have hunted, in her mind at least. "Besides," she said, eyeing him with a slight twinkle in her eye, the same she'd seen her father L have when he thought of something considered 'fun', "I'm just a kit, and I'm sure a god like you could fell any beast in this jungle."
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:49 pm
She'd warmed up to him rather quickly, he thought to himself with amusement. Her obvious childishness might almost catch one off guard, but there was something... It didn't quite ring true in some way. Despite himself, Kuragari found himself intrigued by this Srebrenka's strangeness, nearly as willing - for the moment - to study her as she was him. She was much too nosy for her own good in a situation where her instincts should have been warning her to take care - but not because she was simply stupid, it seemed.
On the contrary to what she assumed, he always felt most... himself, he guessed... after a successful hunt. But he merely smiled, not entirely in a comforting way, at her supposition. "If you insist." He got to his feet and stretched luxuriously, aware of her eyes on him. Kuragari could not live on fear alone, and though he had eaten not long before, he was not averse to finding something more. The god gestured with a wing for her to lead the way, setting the delicate chains swaying. "After you, Srebrenka."
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 5:34 pm
Lucretia returned his mock smile, and turned setting only a few steps forward before she was back to facing him again. "Oh, but Kuragari, sir, am I to play your little scout? Surely it cannot be expected that we eat if I come upon prey first." She felt he was almost cheating, standing behind her sharp eyes. Not letting his method be seen, was also cheating her. Her dwarf tail wriggled in near frustration, and she stood by so she could let herself be passed. It would be from his method she would be ever closer to learning this god's domain and powers.
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:21 am
Hmph. He supposed she did have a point. "I was only trying to be polite. Do you mortals not say, 'Ladies first?'" A faint clink of metal on metal was the god's manacles rubbing against each other before he caught himself, eyes narrowing. Soon he would be as bad as Lilith.
"Well then, shall we move on?" With a leap that set the brush around them swaying, he was off deeper into the jungle, not bothering to look back and see if the kit would follow. He did not know what exactly Srebrenka hoped to gain from this, but somehow he got the feeling that this kit said very little without some deeper purpose.
In the direction he had left, the tangle of branches and strangely shaped leaves blocked even the smallest dapples of the growing sunlight. It was dark, cool, and wet. There was a path of sorts, though, for those familiar with this area of the jungle - or for those with keen enough senses to find it in the darkness. Two can play at this game. His dark coat effortlessly blended into the shadows, and though Kuragari held back enough to remain in sight, he was curious as to how well Srebrenka would be able to keep up.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 5:33 pm
Lucretia was forced to sprint as the god's longer legs covered the sinewy vines with exceptional ease. Her shorter stature left her fumbling and tripping, crashing into unfortunately placed twigs and ducking under precariously low logs that Kuragari could have easily leapt over. She frowned and grumbled unintelligible words that meant nothing, even to her.
'Ladies first', and 'we' her little running butt. It was harder and harder to follow the trail he left, almost as though he'd disappeared. Lucretia's lower lip wobbled as she nearly called out, asking if this was one of his powers, or if he was simply preying on the fears of a defenseless kit.
It was then she remembered her father L, and how he approached things from a distance. Still panting heavily, Lucretia paused, unwittingly close to her quarry, and scanned the area, head unmoving, but eyes flicking across the cramped quarters for a sign of sheen, perhaps his gauntlets, or maybe a hair caught on a branch. She would do as her father did, and back away to look at the larger scale picture.
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:31 am
Kuragari had been paying far more attention to her progress than he would admit, ears pricked to catch every crash and tumble and muttered comment, and so the silence when she stopped seemed to roar in his ears. Tired so quickly? Perhaps she wouldn't provide as much entertainment as he had thought; he'd nearly managed to forget she was merely a mortal, and a young one at that. They were always weakest, wasn't it true?
He had long since slowed his pace to keep just ahead of the kit's, and now he turned back, both slightly disgruntled at her failure and perversely pleased by it. He could see her now, pale coat like a beacon, eyes intent on the jungle around her and expression showing not a hint of fear or frustration that he could see. A sudden urge kept him to the shadows. Kuragari would see if she could keep her composure when he revealed himself right behind her. He doubted she would sense him before then - though it was hard to tell with Srebrenka how much she noticed and didn't notice.
The god was just a few feet away when a stray flash of light, a weak thing indeed this far from the open skies, flashed across his face, causing his eyes to glow briefly out of the darkness like a cat's. He froze instantly, cursing his lazy overconfidence, and moved further back, out of the light.
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