[PRP] Whispers of War (Firestorm and Kumiho)

[Sabin Duvert]

Taraxippus & Kumiho

Sabin's Teepee / Kamiki's Teepee

 

[Sabin Duvert]

Another bolt of lighting flashed high in the mountain peaks, lancing from cloud to cloud. Firestorm held his breath and watched intently, hoping... WISHING to see one of those bolts strike home somewhere vital in the Thunderbird herdgrounds.

But while there were frequently storms, and he kept his ears pricked during them, never once did he see a fires start. Never once did he hear whinnies of alarm.

He felt so GODDAMN impotent down here. In this marginalized territory, like some damn piece of litter that had been tossed off the cliffs. Those were supposed to be HIS herdgrounds. HE was supposed to be leading a grand herd of soquili, unmatched by any competing herd. HE was supposed to lord over the prime territory - secluded from predators, well protected... lush grazing grounds.

But come winter time, Firestorm could count his ribs. He had had to chase off cougars who had gotten far too close to his foals. He adored Shinoma, and he never regretted taking the proud, fiersome demoness as his mate. She was strong. They were SCARED Of her. And he had sired six strong, vicious foals. Three of them still young.

And the fact he had tried, tried to reclaim his herdgrounds... and failed. And that just made the frustration and the anger seethe all the more. The hurt pride hadn't gotten any BETTER since his failure. It just festered in Firestorm like a cancer, growing slowly every day.

His newest trio of foals had only cemented the resentment all the more. They deserved more.
They should have grown up in those lands. Proud.



 

[Kamiki]

Kumiho was coming close to exhaustion again. Her small size made it easy for her to hide, but she was losing a lot of blood due to her dismembered tail. She was well outside her territory by now, lurking around the base of the mountains somewhere between Stormwild's grounded son's family and parts unknown. As she moved between the shadows of the trees, she caught sight of an Alicorn in the distance. She went to change her trajectory, but found herself stopping and narrowing her eyes. Something was familiar about this stallion...

She moved closer, keeping herself hidden in her tiny fox form. Yes...yes this was Stormwild's estranged step-son. He had made himself an enemy of the Thunderbird herd, and the enemy of one's enemy is a "friend," after all?

Perhaps the day wasn't completely lost yet. She licked her lips and then stumbled out of the underbrush, crying out in pain as she landed within earshot of the stallion, wailing like the wounded animal she was.  

[Sabin Duvert]

Firestorm's head snapped to the side as a yelp broke his concentration. He had wanted to hear screams... but that's not exactly what he had in mind.

He snorted, ears pinning back, and strode towards the sound of the disturbance to investigate.

A pang of disappointment flashed across his face as he saw a small fox. It wouldn't even make much of a meal for his daughter. Too sinewy, too much fluff. And carnivores were apparently bad on the palette.

But it was... odd - it had not one, but a squirming mass of tails writhing behind her. Once of them was apparently recently severed and leaking blood.

Still, it was injured. He sighed to himself and frowned. He did have a horn, after all, and a marginal ability to heal. But Firestorm was in a bad mood, and wasn't about to do any favors just out of the damn goodness of his heart.

"Oh shut the hell up." He snapped at the fox, taking his frustration out at the small animal.  

[Kamiki]

a*****e, Kumiho thought as he snapped on her. She made the decision right then that if he wouldn't help her, she would be sure to end him as soon as her strength was back. But for now, she had a part to play. "My tail..." she moaned, blinking her large, foxy eyes at him and looking up plaintively at his horn. "Please have mercy," she begged, dragging herself closer.  

[Sabin Duvert]

Firestorm grunted and rolled his eyes. Great. It wasn't just some strange mutant fox, it was a familiar. And as much as he had deliberately hardened his heart, it was hard to ignore a direct, plaintive begging from the little animal. After all, it wasn't part of the Thunderbird herd.

HE was quiet for a moment, and Kumiho could see the decision weighing in his eyes before he audibly sighed and lowered his head towards Kumiho's injured tail.

Firestorm didn't have a lot of healing magic - he wasn't a full blooded unicorn. And it was never a talent he had especially practiced, or even been overly enthused about it. he wanted to be a warrior, not a healer. But he had enough magic to at least close the wound and stop the bleeding. Regrowing the rest of the tail, well, that was way out of his league.

"There." He grunted, flicking an ear. "You're welcome." He added, dripping with belabored irritation.  

[Kamiki]

Kumiho frowned as she looked at her poor, mangled tail. A small glimmer of hope faded in her eyes as she saw the wound cauterize without regenerating, but there would be time for mourning that later. For now, she had a plan to set into motion.

"Thank you kindly," she crooned. "Say, you have such lovely wings," she purred with mock sincerity. "Are you part of that big winged herd that lives way up on the mountains?"  

[Sabin Duvert]

Firestorm glowered at the little animal. Sometimes he wished he did have leathery bat wings like his mate. Just something more to distance himself from Balrog.

"I am NOT!" He snapped at her. The snarled expression was strange on the alicorn, as was the fury that burned in his red eyes.

"Those bigoted, over-inflated, cluster of horses..." he trailed off, glancing suspiciously at the small animal.

He shook his head, tossing his mane. "They do not deserve that herdgrounds."  

[Kamiki]

Perfect...

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry... " she cowed, pinning her ears back as she sat up and looked up at the stallion over her. "I didn't mean to imply..." She pretended to look him over, as if she was thinking of something. "You're not ... that runaway son of there's are you?" she asked, looking a bit scandalized.  

[Sabin Duvert]

Firestorm's ears stayed pinned back against his head as he glowered down his nose at the little vixen.

"You heard about that?" He sneered.

His leonine tail swished in irritation. "Well, little fox, I am sure you have not heard the whole story. Those bigots think they're better than me. They're just SCARED. Scared that they aren't the grandest beings in the lands. They couldn't bear the thought that their son found something better."

 

[Kamiki]

"I've been known to overhear a thing or two in my days," she said, casually picking some flecks of mud out of her horribly neglected coat. "They do seem rather high and mighty, don't they?" She glanced up at the stallion, careful to read his expression. "After all, I'm sure they heard me cry for help as I was being chased by that horrible monster that lives around here."

"But they didn't come to help me," she noted, "You did, so I'm sure you're right... you have obviously done better."

She paused for a moment. "I don't see how they can do. Just move on and replace their own son like that."  

[Sabin Duvert]

"mmmm." Balrog was never the most compassionate stallion. But then neither was Firestorm most of the time. His disregard for helping a fox was pretty low on Firestorm's give-a-s**t meter.

But.... an ear swiveled. I was just a symptom. He had turned his back on his own son. On the future.

And.... wait... "Replaced?" Firestorm asked with a furrowed brow.
"You mean that pretender, that.... Thunderbird?" Firestorm spat. He hated that stallion almost more than Balrog. Their little ******** 'miracle.' He probably wasn't even THEIRS and he had stolen the mantle of golden child of the herd from HIM.  

[Kamiki]

"Thunderbird?" she asked, blinking her large vulpine eyes? "Oh, no. That big, handsome Angeni? Oh, no, he's all grown up now. I mean there most recently batch of baskets - just yesterday. Four of them, can't you believe it?"

Kumiho felt the bile rise up in her throat having to talk about her baskets that way. If things had gone like they should have, then those baskets would be holding her own children right now. But, for now she kept the fox-in-distress act at front and center...things were going well so far.

"I don't know if I could do that..." she said, looking downtrodden. "Replace my own child. So tragic, why do you stand for it?"  

[Sabin Duvert]

Firebird felt his fur stand on ends at the mention of Thunderbird. All grown up and "beautiful." That pretender to the throne. He probably wasn't even really their foal.

But then, Firestorm's head snapped back to the fox. "What? Four MORE baskets?!" He stamped a hoof in anger. Firestorm already knew that they had written him off, but hearing this proof of it was disgusting. It shouldn't have bothered him any more. He SHOULD have known that they would make more heirs, but it still drive into his mind like nails.

"I DON'T "STAND" IT!" he snapped back at her, furious. "I tried to take MY goddamned herdgrounds back, and I FAILED. Okay?" Stupid fox.  

[Kamiki]

She winced as the stallion yelled at her, feigning distress. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know..." She padded a bit closer to him, wrapping one of her soft, uninjured tails around his hoof. "But you know what they say. How does it go? 'If at first you don't succeed...try, try again?' They are all distracted right now with four new little ones to worry about. If you had the right allies..."