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 Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:20 pm
 Ahhh... another day in the damp darkness of Mother Swamp. This is where it all was. Well... 'all' as far as Midnight's Shadow was concerned. He knew he did not have everything in this wondrous swamp that he called home. In fact he knew, and even wondered about the things that lay beyond her borders, but he was content with just asking questions and living here where he had all that he thought he'd ever need.
Here, there were shadows lurking behind every stick and stone, and in those shadows who knew what existed? Oh, Midnight's Shadow did. He knew ever inch, every nook and cranny, as if they were all a part of his shaggy, intimidating coat. Of course, he was tall, perhaps a little taller than the average buck, and this restricted him from being able to hide in all of the shadows that he wanted to, but he had been doing this his entire life, and so by now he knew which ones suited him best and favored those. He was a crafty swampgoat, often avoiding others as he went about his research and terrorizing. He only presented himself to others when he felt like entertaining... or perhaps frightening for that matter.
Even just then, he was stalking through one of the darkest stretches of the swamp. Here in the Mother's heart was where he liked to be best. Here, she offered him the darkest corners and the largest expanses to hide behind and peer around. Here, he stalked and preyed. He darted from tree to tree, unnoticed by all the creatures around him. Every once in a while a bird would spook, squawk and fly away not knowing why. In truth, it had felt him pass by, but it would never know, that is, unless he popped up infront of it and introduced his pearly whites to it's flesh. But perhaps even that didn't happen just then. Surely, that bird was missing now, but there was no sign of the culprit, of Midnight's Shadow.
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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:32 pm
Dappled Despair could not even begin to imagine what had driven him so far out from the others. From the soft soggy trails and the light grasses he knew, where the sunshine beamed down in steady rays that made the air humid and hard to breath. Where rain often streaked the sky so dark it was impossible to see let alone walk through the wetness. Driven out by some insane need to this place, this blackness that he couldn't define. This was unfamiliar territory to despair, maybe once back in the beginning, back when he was young and small had he dared to venture out so far, and never again because he knew...
The evil lurkings, the never ending shadows that hid all shapes and creatures in a murky dark abyss. It was the heart of their world, their swamp, and what a dark heart it had. It was hard to believe that all kimeti may have come from such a place, out of the horrid muck and the ever shifting waters and trees.
Yet he believed it, maybe that was why he was out there? Searching for his own beginnings, for why he felt so troubled around the others. So closed off and immersed in himself that he couldn't stand it.
Skittishly dappled walked on, hooves trodding softly on the hard quiet earth. The silence unnerving making him question fleeing, forcing his legs to be steady and strong, to continue moving. This sort of thing shouldnt have troubled him so much, this should have been what was his essence! "And yet I'm acting like some new born foal.." dappled murmured sarcastically to himself, breaking the silence with his few whispered words.
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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:37 pm
There! A whisper! Midnight's Shadow's ears flicked back towards the sound. It was faint and even could have been a figure of his imagination, but he wasn't about to leave that up to chance. His ears focused backwards in the sounds direction, and after a moment, rather regretfully took his eyes off the delicious bundle of feathers mere steps ahead of him. He turned, nose first to head towards what he had thought was a whisper. Making sure to keep to the shadows, to keep hidden, Midnight made his way closer and closer until he saw.
A blue buck was wandering through the Mother's heart, and after seeing this goat he had no doubt in his mind that the whisper had come from him. This buck seemed.... troubled... and while Midnight did not understand what had been said, he could guess at the words and imagine that it wasn't anything happy or positive. Midnight wound his way behind a particularly large tree not too far behind the blue buck, his eyes glowing a bright red, his only give away as to where he stood. He set his ears directly upon the other buck and whispered huskily, "Are you scared...?"
As soon as he spoke, he shut his eyes and crept along the ground soundlessly until he could hear that he was level with the other's side, but several strides away, hidden by the shadows and the trees. Here, he spoke again in a soft whisper, "Here... in the dark..."
One more.... the black buck thought to himself, and so, he opened his eyes just a smidge to move forwards so that he could stand before the buck, facing him, He spoke one last time, low and grumbling, "Alone, are we?" His eyes opened just the tiniest bit more, some of the glow escaping his eyelids, "Why would anyone come into such a place? Such.... darknesssss...?"
The last word came off as a hiss, and the buck stood there, watching the other kimeti's reaction, his lips turning upwards into a smile, making sure to expose the smallest bit of his bright white teeth.
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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:43 pm
Dappled stumbled mid-step, ears flicking out to the sides warily. Cautiously continuing in his stride until he heard a faint voice. His head quickly snapping in the direction he'd thought the voice had come from, bright blue eyes finding nothing but dark empty shadows to greet him, no figure or creature other then himself was around. "No..." he answered as firmly as he could, a slight quiver to his voice belied his fear.
Head snapping towards the next disembodied voice, ears tilting forwards as he strained to see anything, anything other then the darkness. "It...its not so dark" he whispered as he took a step to the side, away from the direction the voice had come from.
Dappled despair gasped as the third voice came, stumbling back over his own hooves in his haste to get away. This voice was far to close, he swore he could feel the breath of the creature who had spoken. "Ahh..who!" he snapped, shakily holding his ground as he caught sight of the red demonic glow, that bright flash that resembled hungry fangs. He decided not to answer the seething voice this time, a wicked shiver running down dappleds spine, desperately trying to figure out if he were surrounded or if this darkness were messing with his senses. Was he making all of this up in his head? The voices, the demon, was he that desperately afraid of the place that he was compelled to talk to something that couldn't be there!
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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:09 pm
Each encounter gave him a response, and Midnight had to wrestle with himself to restrain his laughter, but after that last performance by the newcomer, he simply couldn't. His lips split, fanged teeth opening wider in laughter. This laughter was somewhat hollow... and echoing. A few seconds passed before Midnight could assert control over his urge to laugh and to bring it to a merciful end. Only it resulted in him opening his eyes completely. Now it could be seen that his eyes were an angry red line that criss-crossed, as if it was stitching, and not only that, it glowed fiercely.
He decided to impose just one more trick before he would present himself to this poor goat. He walked a circle around the blue one, raising his head high here, and lowering it down below shoulder level there, but always watching. He made sure not to take his eyes off of the stranger, he wanted to remember his every twitch and move, it could come in valuable in his many researches. It seemed, that most would react pretty similarly, but he valued those that were different, too. They were the exceptions, and he wanted to see if this was one. He didn't have high hopes, though.
When the circle was complete, he closed his lips to conceal those wicked teeth, and blinked once, hard. His face must have disappeared for a moment, but no matter. He was now ready to show himself. Midnight's Shadow stepped forwards and out of the shadows, closer to the buck. His eyes were still trained on the stranger, but now his tail began to swing back and forth. He decided he would give this buck a chance to look him over before he spoke, so he waited silently for a reaction to his full appearance.
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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:22 pm
The laughter echoed, if it could even be called laughter. A most unpleasant sound that held more torment in it then joy. It was the laughter that gave it away though, that bright sharp smile and the eyes...in all his time...and oh did dappled feel quite young at the moment...in all his time he'd never seen such eyes, like a horrid scar across the things face, bright and glowing angrily, a bleeding red.
This..this thing, whatever it was, was surely not some creation of his imagination, not even a kimeti. It was probably one of those horrible legends, a creature that the swamp had spit out to dispose of those unwanted few who dared to wander into the heart of their home. Yes, calling it a demon seemed quite accurate at the moment. Dappled swallowed hard, breath coming quick and heavy, panting as those eyes came closer, glued to him and hovering..gah eyes that hovered with a bright smile! A most unnerving thing, yet dappled stayed stalk still. To scared or to stupid to move he simply stood there, never letting his gaze wander away from the hovering glowing eyes.
Quite afraid that if he did take his eyes off of them something terrible would happen. The sudden vanishing act made dappled suck in a sharp gasp, fearing he had lost his bearings on it, that this thing had some strange magic that allowed it to disappear and reappear wherever it pleased. "Y-you.." he stammered when it decided to come even closer, out of the darkness and into the fraying bits of light. Dappled doubted that even the brightest rays of sun could ever truly illuminate this place, and even if they did it still wouldn't explain what he was seeing. "Your..a very..very odd demon" dappleds mouth felt dry as he said the words. The swishing tail catching his eye making him consider 'kimeti'...but what kind of kimeti would willingly live out here in this place!
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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:08 pm
A throaty chuckle escaped Midnight when the other called him 'demon'. "That's one I haven't heard before..." His lips parted again into a grin that could have looked more like a snarl. His teeth gleamed in the light that managed to make it all the way down to the two kimeti in this dark corner of the swamp.
He began to pace once more, beginning a slow circle around this buck. He continued to watch his reactions, but this time around he even leaned closer to sniff at his scent, to see if he recognized it. He didn't, so he voiced that thought too. "You're not from around here. Your scent is new to me, Blue." He gave this stranger a nickname, at least until he chose to reveal his true one. "Why are you here?" That last word was almost visibly underlined. He had so many questions, but figured he should limit these, at least until this buck found his voice.
"Why would a kimeti like you, obviously out of place, be all the way out here...?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:01 pm
Dappled mentally marked the laugh down as something he 'disliked', deep and raspy and certainly not a sign of any good. If this creature was happy with his fear then he would probably be happy with his torment as well. "You must get very few visitors then, for you to never have heard it.." dappled replied in a soft respectful tone, trying to slow his breathing and keep himself from panicking.
Oh but it was so terribly hard with that smile on him, and those ever watching pits that were eyes. Dappled kept hope though, if it hadn't eaten him yet, then maybe it wanted something? His ears dropped back to press against his head in distress, tail flicking in fitful little twitches. His fur stood on end when the demon moved closer, and he hissed faintly as he was sniffed, teeth clenched tightly while he sucked in another breath.
"From around here? Hah no, not in this lifetime! Glad for it too if being in this place would have turned me into you.." dappled thought with a tiny mental praise for having been born anywhere else, even if it had been very wet and cold there. Just as harsh but not nearly as dark as here..
"Heh, me..here? No reason I suppose"dappled turned his head to catch the creatures gaze, it was curious, and that made dappled curious. "No important reason at least, if your so interested though..I'm searching." dappled gave a slight shrug as he let the sentence hang, wanting to see just how curious this demon was. Mayhaps he could find some salvation for this situation after all, maybe the demon liked story's about others.
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Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:36 pm
Midnight raised an eyebrow when the buck managed a reply, and indeed he did stir his curiosity... He wanted to know more, to ask more questions, and so long as this stranger was willing to sit and talk, he would leave him be. Perhaps something useful could come of this meeting after all. When the buck finished talking, Midnight took a moment to organize his words and then replied.
"Oh I've had many visitors... not many have left though... Which is to say... unfortunate for them..." Another deathly grin. "I've been called many things in my days, my given name is Midnight's Shadow. Mother Swamp really is rather amusing, isn't she? Having named me so perfectly. Demon is a new name for me... and I can't say I don't like it." A slight nod of the head, perhaps in thanks? He'd never say no to a new nickname, even though he still preferred his true nickname. Perhaps he'd share that one later... He'd leave the newcomer to mull over his real name for now. Another chuckle when the feared one spoke with... disgust?... of turning into something like Midnight. "Ahhh... there's your reason. Searching. Curious how you leave that hanging like a dying bird that's stuck up high in a branch. But I'll bite..." 'Bite' was accented with a snap of the jaws. "What could you be searching for here? In the darkest folds of Mother Swamp?"
A glint of hunger came into Midnight's eyes. He wanted to know, and that much was obvious, now all that mattered was whether he wanted the knowledge more than he wanted something else... something much more material... like... Well, he didn't want to think about that now, lest it took over and he tore into... No, no, that wouldn't be very nice at all.
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Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 10:48 pm
The statement made dappleds eyes go wide, the thought of many visitors suddenly vanishing..probably eaten, or worse. Worse then eaten! It was a rather disturbing thought and dappled wondered if he'd spied any bones along the way. Maybe some of those things he'd thought were twigs and crackling sticks werent sticks at all..
"Midnights shadow, its a suitable name, though I would prefer to call you demon. Demon matches your eyes much much better.." he wondered if this kimeti..creature, he still couldnt wrap his head around it being a kimeti he was speaking to. He nodded in agreement, hah the mother swamp was truly most amusing, and had a very cruel sense of humor. Her jokes were no better in dappled's opinion.
He sneered softly at the pun and the sound of the sharp bucks teeth following, he had no doubt they were indeed some of the sharpest things. "Before I give you more, I should probably give you my name shouldnt I? Dappled despair is my name, and my search is for this place." dappled smiled suddenly eyes cast to the ground to avoid the other bucks gaze for a few moments. "Well more precisely what is in this place..this..this heart. Not you though" he added with a shake of his head, no he certainly hadnt come searching for the demon, that'd been the last thing he'd wanted to find.
Dappled knew he was being vague, it wasnt his intent, but it was hard to describe 'what' exactly he was searching for...
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 12:31 pm
Midnight said nothing when the other said he would call him demon. He didn't mind. He'd known many names and this one, at least, he found complimenting. And when the buck gave up his name, Midnight offered another slight nod of the head. Dappled Despair, he had said, and Midnight couldn't argue this either. He could see that name fitting, too.
But the rest of his answer was very vague, and this did not sit well with Midnight. The blue buck broke eye-contact to look down, but was that a smile that Midnight saw on his face? What was he smiling for? Midnight didn't see anything funny... He was confused by all of this, but was determined not to show it, so he moved quietly closer to the buck as he spoke. By the time he finished speaking, Midnight stood over him, with his muzzle coming down level with Dappled's, mere centimeters away. He spoke gruffly, "What is in this black heart that you search for? That isn't me?" His grin turned into a snarl this close up. His breath was warm and had a scent of fresh blood in it.
Midnight's Feet were firmly planted on the ground and a few violent thoughts floated through his mind. But he had to fight to keep these under control. He didn't want to harm this kimeti. He could still get information out of it, after all. And that's what he strove for most: knowledge. This newcomer may have figured that out by now, but that didn't matter. Midnight would find out what he wanted... one way or another... It was just a matter of urging this buck to divulge it, and for now, he was willing to attempt just talking. For the time being.
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Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 12:41 pm
Dappled turned his head slightly as midnight spoke, tilting it up to meet the bucks gaze once more. Midnight somehow seemed to be angry with him, maybe his answer wasnt good enough to satisfy the bucks curiosity. Or maybe once more dappled was being far to vague with his answers.
He gave a small shrug, blowing a puff of cool soft air into the bucks face. "You eat meat my friend..that cant be healthy" he could tell by his breath, midnight was fall to close for comfort and dappled wanted him to back up at least a little bit. How was he supposed to answer with the demon hovering over him in such a snarly manner!
"If you must know..truly truly must know.." he took a step back, his safety bubble thoroughly invaded by the other buck. "I'm searching for the pain. All the hate in the pain that pervades through our lands, all that damnable hurt and anguish. This suffering that seems to plague our kind even in the safest places of the swamp.
Why is it that we should be trapped here in this greyness..why would our ancestors, our great gods and goddesses give us such a terrible gift" dappled snorted angrily, a sneer on his face. "I know..I know the answer lurks here, even though it terrify's me, I have to know. Don't you ever wonder demon? " dappled asked him curiously the tip of his tail swishing through the sticky muck behind him, flicking bits of it away from around his hooves where he felt it cling.
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Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 5:32 pm
All he gave was a snort as response to Dappled's comment on his diet. He would eat whatever he chose to, and no one could stop him. What fun was there in eating grass and fruit, anyway? That didn't even quiver as you bore down on it. That was no fun at all. There was no chase, no fear. Delicious, delicious fear.
When the other took a step back, Midnight changed the angle of his muzzle so he could continue to study the blue buck. He spoke of pain and suffering, and of how it was a gift given to them by the gods and goddesses. Hmmmm... That's an interesting thought. Pain and suffering being given to the kimeti as a physical thing. Perhaps it had manifested as a kimeti and spread it's infection to others until none could escape it.... Like me and Sister and the darkness... His thoughts were cut short by the other one's silence. He had finished speaking and Midnight had to stop a moment to remember what he had just said.
The inkling of a kimeti turned on the spot and then began to pace back and forth again, gaze straying to the ground at his feet. When he came up with an answer, he continued to pace, but looked back into the face of Dappled Despair.
"Wonder is something that every living thing experiences, and to most it leads to their death, to others it becomes a game of look-and-find, to others it is an escape from reality. But to answer your question...." He licked his lips and then continued, "Perhaps it came down to us only as a side-effect. I'm sure happiness was not bestowed to us without any catches. Have you ever thought about that? Do you think all of our gods and goddesses were happy frolicking elders. Couldn't any of them have been old and scraggly and vindictive? Why would only good exist, and not bad in it's shadow?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 2:35 pm
Dappled frowned deeply as he thought over the demons words, surely it made sense. After all..what light existed without the darkness? There was no sun without a moon..good without evil. "I..No I refuse to believe in that. If there were such malicious beings, angry at us for existing then why would they not have been stopped?" He questioned, maybe a war of the gods had happened long before our time, and this mixing of pain and joy was their compromise.
"I suppose, maybe I'm a bit angry at our ancestors. I often wonder if they did something terrible to cause this, to make it so that even our most benevolent of goddesses would allow the darkness to continue throughout so many generations of kimeti." he shrugged half heartedly, chewing gently on his lower lip as he looked to the demon once more, really just looked at him. "Do you love this darkness because you were born of it and it is all you know, or do you truly love it from your heart" if the creature even had a heart.
"I know, that if I had a choice I would forever outcast the darkness..tsk but that would be to avoid life and reality, and that's something I cant do" he sniffed softly, finding the gloom ever more oppressing, shifting his weight from foot to foot as nervousness began to creep back into him.
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:46 pm
Another chuckle at the hopeful words and questions. Was this buck really that disillusioned? Ahhh... No. No, this one had the understanding, but still he tried to push himself away from it. Oh, this one was full of sorrow, full of doubts and miseries. He was an interesting one, Midnight had to admit, when he spoke of these fantasies and bright hopes that fell so easily. He supposed he should answer the other's question.
"The darkness is not only what I know, and what I love, but it is also what I am. Such enveloping beauty and chill is the most comforting thing in this world of ours, as it is our only constant. Would you not agree? What else can you depend on being there always? Sunlight? That hides behind the horizon all night. Happiness? But that can be broken by a simple fright or terror by fear or sadness. Food, water? Surely, there's plenty given to us by Mother Swamp, but don't all things come to an end? Life is short my friend, and should be endured in truth, not false hopes and lies. I gladly bestow truths upon others, even if they are unwilling to accept them right away. In their hearts, they know there is truth in the words I share. But I know most would rather turn a blind eye and prance about surrounded by flowers and that bright sunlight that dulls the details all around." He shrugged and bent down to nibble on his knee. "But I suppose that I cannot turn everyone's eyes to truth...."
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