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 Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 5:38 pm
 It was a very, very strange night. Lying inside his den, the male Di'taki couldn't but feel almost...lonely. Heliosyne was still out on that stupid, harebrained mission to protect that human, leaving him all alone. Even Moonglow, his familiar, was out of the den tonight. It was just him and his rocks. All one-hundred and eighty-seven of them.
Cyranis gathered the stones under him, as if to guard them from some imaginary threat. Night had fallen. Though in reality there probably wasn't anyone around to bother him, his paranoia made his imagination run wild, especially with Restful Souls Day just around the corner.
All in all, tonight was going to be a terror.
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Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 5:57 pm
 For the past few days, Amaquin had been on the Path of Retrieval, a place he rarely traveled along. There had been a time, when he was alive, that he would stand attentive at the end of the path with the rest of the tribe to await the return of one of the females, either with or without a new addition. It was considered rude to journey with her according to the group's traditions, but he would always want to go, feeling antsy and restless until the entire family was reunited again.
Now, he no longer recalled this. The feeling, the memory, all of it was gone.
Instead, the Path was nothing more than a place where he had to take extra precaution to keep himself hidden. It was often much easier to come across others here, which in a way was advantageous. He thought that as he looked at the faces who passed, he would most certainly come across his killer. It didn't help that he thought that no matter where he went.
By this day's end he was well within the Deep Woods, grateful for the thickness of plantlife that shielded his eyes from the moonlight and allowed him better vision. And yet, it wasn't his eyes doing the work tonight. As dull and weakened as his sense of smell was, he thought he had caught something here. The scent was extremely mild in his nose, but for him, that meant whatever it was had to have come here many times. Otherwise, there would not be enough smell for him to notice. He stopped, the wispy coolness around his paws beginning to puddle and spill away from him.
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Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 6:16 pm
From within his den, the male could feel a faint chill. Odd...very odd. He shivered softly. Perhaps it would be warmer outside? Crawling to his feet, he made his way to the surface - in the darkness of the night, his feathers cast eerie shadows along the trees and the undergrowth. Out here, it was even more frosty. Winter shouldn't be coming this early, should it?
In this part of the forest, the overgrowth was much, much too thick for the moon to shine through - the only light was the faint glow from Cyranis' feathers, and even that didn't go very far in this inky blackness. He stood at the mouth of his burrow, shivering and wide-eyed. He really wished Heliosyne were here...This was starting to get a bit creepy.
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Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 6:37 pm
Something was moving. An ear flicked, heavy and stiff, and waited for the sound to come again. However, whatever it was had stopped and nothing but the shifting of the woods and the occasional cricket made itself known. Amaquin's movements were decidedly slow as he swung his head around, to the left and low, towards the ground. Pale green eyes stared long and hard, unblinking, until, through the darkness, he truly thought he could see something.
His form rose back to full height as he turned himself around, stepping in the direction of what, for all he knew, was just a bit of glowing honey fungus. A forepaw, larger than that of most Di'taki males, touched the ground once more before fading. The rest of his body followed into nothingness, the only sign that he was still moving was the light billow of air visible in the chill.
Trees had no effect on him as he moved straight through them, his gaze unwavering. Were his eyes not so sharp, he surely would have missed what he was tracking now. If he even so much as blinked, it was possible the night would taint his vision with blackness again.
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Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 6:46 pm
Cyranis could hear nothing but the chirp of crickets and...wait, what was that? His ears pricked forward. Truth was, he had heard nothing - but he thought he heard something. Was it Heliosyne? Perhaps her playtime was over and she was returning back home. He took a step onto the soft, leaf-padded earth and then paused. It was getting cooler with every passing second.
Maybe...maybe it wasn't worth leaving his den for. After all, she was stupid, but she knew the way home. He retreated back into the mouth of his den, scanning the forest again. The Di'taki wanted to run and hide with his rocks and never come back out, yet at the same time...He could've swore that he saw a wisp, but he quickly dismissed it as a Glowbug, flying about in the night.
Cyranis shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind, feathers rustling slightly as he did so.
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Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 7:06 pm
Well, it was not honey fungus, to say the least. The creature revealed itself to him, though it actually took a moment to process what it was. So dark was the form of his fellow male that, even with the light illumination against his body, it looked like nothing but fluff floating against the backdrop of trees for a good moment. But as quickly as it was there, as quickly as it was swallowed by earth again.
That meant little, however. Amaquin was already upon him, standing nearly at his doorstep, though unseen. He dipped his head forward, peering right into the face of his nervous little friend. The light as it bounced around the close quarters was actually a bit surprising as he continued to stare. It was brighter than he had imagined it would be. A gentle hiss left his maw as he pulled away.
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Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 7:14 pm
Cyranis could feel the cold creeping, creeping...until finally it felt as though he had been engulfed in a mass of frosted air, like winter had descended on the forest in a matter of minutes. His feathers puffed out in the chilly air, half from fright and half from the temperature.
Suddenly he jumped as a hiss reached his ears - something was there! The male tried to stand, but in his hurry, lost his balance and rolled back into his den. Mercifully it wasn't a long decline, as he came to rest against his stockpile of stones. He clambered to his feet, ears pinned back in terror, teal eyes staring out of the entrance of the chilled burrow. "W-who's there?" The Di'taki's voice shook audibly as he called out softly, praying that nothing would answer.
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Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 7:39 pm
Physical boundaries were something he no longer respected. And so, when his company fell right back into the burrow, he stuck his whole head in without abandon. Nothing from his memories had sparked back to life yet watching this one, but that didn't mean anything, he told himself. The glow had been somewhat distracting, he had to admit, and unusual. The other's voice met his ears, laced with an emotion he faintly remembered. Still, he ignored it for silence and stooped to enter the home, his movements the only thing that said he once lived, as he could have entered straight through the ground if need be.
He took a quick look around, expression blank and uninterested. It's not as if he would recognize the killer's homestead. Letting his eyes back to the Di'taki in question, he stared long and hard, but nothing came. No visions of that moonlit night, no feeling of dread, nothing. And, in all honesty, he had assumed fairly early that this was not the one. The full moon had been the only thing to sting his eyes as they closed that final time. He was sure there had been no strange, glowing feathers.
"...No...." The rusty, deep voice came before he could even think to stop himself. He paid no mind to the fact that he was still invisible. "This is not the one..." His form flashed into focus, if only for a second, control lost as he felt a vague disappointment. However, he regained himself quickly and faded back into obscurity.
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Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 7:54 pm
For awhile, there was no reply. Regardless, every muscle in Cyranis' body remained tense. He knew what he had heard. There had been a hiss, and a hiss must come from something living, and something living was a threat. But...there was nothing there. He watched the entrance, waiting for a shadow or a form or something.
Then the dreaded growl came, apparently from thin air - wait, what was..? The Di'taki barely contained a shriek as something came into focus, only to blink back out of existence before he could comprehend. He remembered a time, many moons ago, when someone told a story. He couldn't remember the Di'taki, or the context or anything. Only that the story was about ghosts; restless spirits, wandering the land in search of something.
But ghosts aren't real!
Gibbering anxiously, Cyranis gave a sudden cry, "Who are you!?" He couldn't understand what the apparition had said in his panic. His rump touched against the earthy wall of his burrow - he'd unintentionally backed himself into a corner. Where was Heliosyne when he needed her? Where was Moonglow? Where was the spectre that lurked in his den? He felt as though his mind would shatter into scattered little pieces at any moment.
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