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 Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 9:59 am
 She'd always found the night a little more suited to her tastes, preferring the reserved silence over the rancorous din and bustle of the daylight. Perhaps, partially, her upbringing was to blame. She loved her father dearly, respected him and had taken his lessons to heart. But now fully grown, she saw no reason to dwell in his shadow any longer. Her mother, she'd been told, had asked for them to leave. The blood drinking. That was what had frightened her, made them somehow despicable. And what of her brother? Nyx had often wondered. She could only remember fleeting glimpses as a foal, of tattered wings and jutting spikes thrusting everywhere from his body. Had his mother seen him as a monster, too? The pale mare delicately picked her way towards the forest, her spaded tail flicking thoughtfully while monochrome wings nestled close to her back. It was easy enough to slip between the trees, with only the gentle rattle of chains around her neck signaling her arrival. The solitude had never phased her. Perhaps that too was a result of being raised solely by her father. Nyx knew she needed no one except herself in this world--even with her unfortunate habits. Blood lust was an easy enough thing to control, but how many who saw her would realize what she was? And how many who saw her to be a monster would realize that wasn't quite right either? A mix. Were she feeling up for it, she might have smiled. As it were, Nyx continued to slip through the forests, unaffected by any thoughts of the dangers it could harbor. Her silvery gaze roamed slowly, keeping touch with her surroundings just in case something did spring out. She'd either fight or flee, and that was that, but she knew she would keep her life. Nothing could take that from her. No, she was the one that could take it from everyone else.
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:29 pm
 Pariah.
1. An outcast.
2. Any person or animal that is generally despised or avoided.
Too often it is blind faith in ones beliefs that causes persecution. The victim is never given a chance to divine their own fortune before hatred and fear is thrust upon them by the narrow-minded who seek to exile that which is deemed blasphemy against their views. Little do the fanatics often realize before it's too late that their actions of hostility and oppression seal their fate. Concreting fact from myth and realizing the very devastation they seek to avoid.
It was their devotion to scripture that cast them into oblivion.
Their monster was not born. He was created.
When your the product of a clan's collective prejudice though, it's often difficult to see the truth beneath scathing and serpent-tongued whispers of malice. Pariah would always carry with him the burden of their malcontent, heavy in his chest and the in the grievous welts of puckered flesh which jutted quite unbecomingly against monotone pelt. Scattered corpses and salvageable wreckage were all that remained of the mountainside village and its inhabitants. The irony of its only survivor being the dead eyed omen foretold to bring the destruction of the village was not lost on Pariah.
Fortunately the truth of his homelands would remain ever a dark secret locked away behind the peaks of the mountains. Never to be discovered. Never to be known by another soul but its lone survivor. And his dead eyes. Eerie lunar white irises, painted upon unmatching sclera, were lost from view beneath a disheveled forelock.
Even more fortunate was the fact that the beast so seldom came across inhabitants of the lowlands that his origins had yet to be questioned. Not that Pariah had ever been the sort to encourage conversation. He was content with the silence of the moonlit forest which spoke in its own rite. The wind whispered against his ears causing naked branches to scrape and creak and speak volumes of his surroundings. Winter was always the quietest of the seasons in the lowlands where things died away until the warmth of spring returned once more. In too many ways it reminded him of the mountains where the snow was ever lasting save for a few months in the summer when things turned green in the valley. A fleet, taunting taste of the seasons they missed living secluded as they had.
Normally the solitary form didn't travel so deep into the woods, but the cold season had pushed his hunting grounds further from the base of the mountains in search of prey. However, unlike the foliage seasons barren trees and bushes provided easier movement for the stocky built stallion through paths that were otherwise too narrow with dense plant life. Cloven hooves left heavy prints in the titans wake, weight sinking into each step, lumbering in a manner that seemed without purpose. It seemed anyhow.
Pitch black spires swiveled and thrusted forward, suddenly quivering at attention as the sound of a stranded doe in the distance. Her leg had caught a twig causing the frail limb to crackle, the sound echoing through the ghostly forest, bouncing off frozen trees and reaching the predator amplified. He met her frightened gaze, slender frame trembling in horror at the realization of what she'd done, even from the length between them. A flash of glistening white fangs as obsidian maw wrinkled replacing peacefully void expression with one of intense concentration. Run. Now.
Gravelly tone, dry and heavy as though its lack of use had made his tongue a burden to bare, thundered calmly though there was no mistaking the severity of his words. Heavily muscled flanks tensed as his haunches coiled and without a second warning the giant launched himself forward. Strong, sturdy forelegs extending to catch bounding frame as the ground tremor and shifted beneath his great weight. Yet the doe. She stared. Stock still and paralyzed with fright. The vision causing Pariah to groan inwardly and snort in effort to startle her. Breath churning hard in his chest as steam billowed from his nostrils in the cold night air.
There was no honor in slaying a beast that would not defend itself.
That did not have the will to survive.
And lay in wait to be taken.
DAMNIT FOOL! MOVE! Hoarse bellow nearly pleaded with the deer, heart hammering beneath the cage of immense ribs as the singular drumbeat of hooves filled the silence. Yet just when he was certain his jaws would close upon her warm pelt and the hunt would be over before it had begun, the doe bolted just out of reach. Stilt-like limbs carrying her lithe figure with ease through the tangled maze of trees.
No time for sighs of relief now as Pariah dug his hooves into the terra beneath his feet, pulling long frame forward with a snap of his tail. Dirt and snow frothing beneath their tracks in what had quickly become a race for survival. Thick mane tangled and tugged by the breeze as if human hands threaded through it, willing the beast to release treacherous scope upon the panicky creature. The length of chain around his neck jangled noisily as the steel padlock that secured it thudded like a small fist against his chest. Fierce hunter moved unhindered by such nuisances, pushed forward by another purpose.
A sharp diversion the direction as the doe snapped around a tree in their path, barely caught the monster, barely able to be called a Soquili. Jaws clenching their displeasure as he pinned his ears and closed the distance savagely, breath hot upon the much smaller animal's backside. Muzzle close enough to see her fur ripple along her back, neither aware of the presence they were leading themselves to until it was far too late to avoid her.
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:55 pm
How easily she'd let herself be distracted.
Nyx often scoffed at her own moping, hating the way it washed over her mind and swept all her sensibility right back out with it. It was the reason she stood here now, her easy, roaming past stilled as her thoughts grew heavier. What was she to do with herself? Countless times, she'd thought of stepping out into the sunlight to better search for those she could truly associate with... but, it was with a grim smile that she knew her place was somewhere within the darkness. She walked a rough path, lined with shades of grey. The wings of an angel, and the tail of a demon. A sweet face, and blunt fangs hidden within the dark.
She hated the anger that unexpectedly bubbled up inside her, barely suppressing a scoff through gritted teeth even as she turned her head away. Not even the precious love of her so-called mother had been enough, her father suddenly 'unworthy' when his heritage was made known. Well, she had no mother. As far as she was concerned, she was her father's child, and his child alone. No mother would toss away their own kin.
Struggling with her feelings of conflicting disgust and self-pity, the sleek mare almost missed the sound of pounding hooves growing louder and louder. Hunters? She was instantly alert, ears pricked and eyes narrowed, every muscle tensed while her tail began to lash with furious indecision. to fight, or flee? Her wings were rustling nervously, but there was something else that told her to hold her ground and fight. After all, she was the element of surprise. Though Nyx held no intention of actually engaging in combat, she'd driven off more than one predator with a display they wouldn't soon forget.
Shapes burst unexpectedly from the woods in front of her, blurred with motion and she could only catch the scent of thick, heavy musk. There was no time to think or decide--not when every second potentially made the difference between life and death! And her odds with two would-be hunters weren't good.
The mare didn't even think as she reared up on her hooves, wings snapping fully out to her sides to make herself look bigger, more threatening. And it was the scream that tore itself from her throat, enraged and defiant with her fangs fully bared that truly made her something horrible. Her eyes were wild, barely visible over her wrinkled muzzle and pale gums. Gone was the deceptive shell, and out the monster had charged with a roar. Lashing hooves hoped to dissuade whatever had messed with her, and Nyx readied herself for a quick escape to the night sky as soon as whatever they were came to a screeching halt.
Unless, if course, they lunged at her throat first.
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:18 am
Bursting over the top of a bush with a papery rustle as the air which carried the doe's graceful leap rushed through the branches causing them to tremble and stir to life, panic stricken eyes rolled with absolute horror at the new face that greeted her. Dainty hooves driving into the dirt as her forelegs stiffened, shoveling ruts in the ground with her effort to halt before crashing into the rearing nightmare. She'd find herself soon trapped between a rock and a hard place as the ominous entity on her heels returned in full force. An omen of death, haunting and vindictive, dragging the helpless beast beneath the undertow of damnation just as he had his entire herd.
The forest itself seemed to tremor with fear as Pariah leaped into the modest clearing, in time enough to watch his quarry reel back on hind legs and box the new threat with frail forelegs in desperation. Her frame contorting awkwardly until unstable frame could no longer hold its balance, toppling end over end into the sturdy pillars which supported immense Talbuk. Slit-hued attention had already left the flailing doe in favor of chasing off the predominant challenge that now faced the stallion. Lips wrinkling around glistening teeth as the fur along his crest all the way down the length of his spine bristled. A malevolent roar erupting from his lungs to overpower the strange banshee's shriek.
There was no way in hell Pariah would ever back down from such a threatening posture. Not that he sought battle with this moonlight mare, deciphered by her sleek frame and slighter stature. Even in such a tall posture, he hardly found her threatening, that certainly wasn't the purpose of his reaction. Rather, he rebuked. A bluff so to speak, anything to keep the startled femme from acting out of fear and surprise. A decision he would have made her sorely regret should it have come to such.
Snapping his teeth with an echoing pop, regal head lifted properly. Midnight ears pinned in annoyance realizing that his meal had cleverly taken advantage of the distraction and disappeared along one of the winding paths. Pariah couldn't help but snort his disgust at his own failure, heaven how he hated hunting the woods. Sharp glare never leaving the defensive stranger as her spade tail was silently acknowledged, though it puzzled him given feathered wings. A husky timbre greeted her, tactless and raw. Conversation had never been his strong suit, but then neither was socializing. Your inexperience is showing, little banshee. Be glad my hunger does not lean towards cannibalism.
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