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 Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:10 pm
((This RP includes Mauhur, Daenerys, Nicoletta, Alaina, and Yayo'jin)) 
Mauhur hid under the bush, breathing coming in ragged wheezes. The young purewalker was badly ill. He ran away from his mother as soon as he started feeling uncomfortable, fearing that she or his siblings might kill him if they discovered his weakness. He was glad that he had run then and not waited, for now he was so weak that he could hardly walk. He was normally a nocturnal creature, but today he couldn't find rest even in the harsh light of day.
Miserable and famished, he wondered if he was going to die. It had been a few days since he'd last found meat and his stomach was a dull ache. Weak and full of hate, he hoped to infect anything that came across him in his current state. It was the only damage he could inflict right now.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:27 pm
  
Daenerys, Nicoletta, and Alaina all strolled to one side of the rest of the herd. Alaina, often their scout, was acting as a queensguard for the moment, keeping a watchful eye out for anything that might harm the young queen. She was a relatively new addition to the khalasar but had already proven her worth. Daenerys learned that Alaina had been wandering the Kawani lands almost since birth and was an adept guide. Their numbers grew and Daenerys was grateful for it. Each new member meant that they were a little stronger and a little safer, for the night was dark and full of terrors. Today, however, was pleasantly warm and was going well so far.
"Drogon caught a rabbit yesterday, but brought it over to me to eat," Daenerys told Nicoletta, grinning as she recounted the story. "I don't know why he does that, since he clearly doesn't intend to share."
Nicoletta laughed and shook her head. "I have heard of cats doing that, but not dragons. Maybe he's trying to show off?" Truthfully, Nicoletta had little notion of why the dragons did anything. Sometimes they seemed as tame as kittens with Daenerys and other times she thought they might light her on fire.
Alaina walked a few lengths behind the pair, far enough to give them some privacy but close enough to intervene if necessary. She hadn't expected to ever join a herd, but then she had never expected to find a herd who wandered from place to place much as she did. Her wandering heart couldn't settle in one place, but it could perhaps settle with one group. It was too early to tell, but she had a rare amount of hope for success.
She instinctively scanned ahead of them, noting animals moving about here and there. One patch of darkness under a bush caught her eye... and eyes looked back at her. "Stop!" she said suddenly. "There is something there!" Whatever it was, it was large enough to warrant caution.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:32 pm
Mauhur had just managed to doze off when he heard the sound of many hooves coming his way. He awoke with a start, gold eyes glaring from his safe haven to the soquili that he saw coming towards him. He had never seen so many in one place before and his claws instinctively kneaded the dirt, wishing they were in flesh instead.
He was by far too weak to attack them, he knew this even through his cravings. They could kill him very easily now if they wanted, and if he hated them this much he imagined they would probably hate him too. This knowledge froze him as he saw the blue mare notice him. They were going to kill him. He was going to die!
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:40 pm
"What is it?" asked Daenerys, stopping but curious. She peered at where she thought Alaina was looking but couldn't find whatever it was that her guard had spotted. "Is it an animal?"
"Maybe." Alaina trotted past the two other mares and ahead. She came closer to the bush, but not close enough that she could be attacked unexpectedly. It was hard to see down there and what she saw confused her. There were a lot of feathers, but patches of fur too. She stared at one limb, eying it hard until she suddenly realized what she was looking at. "A foal!" She drew her head back in surprise. "Some sort of winged foal."
Immediately Daenerys rushed to Alaina's side and then a few steps further, searching for the foal with increased urgency. "Is it alive?" Just like Alaina, she was having a hard time making anything out beyond the mass of feathers.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 8:51 pm
They were far too close now for Mauhur's comfort. Convinced that they were going to slay him, he hissed and drew away, pulling himself even further into the shadow under the bushes. The branches offered him some protection, but there were so many of them that he knew his hiding place wouldn't last for long. Ill, alone, and afraid, Mauhur did his best at seeming intimidating, all the while cowering away from his enemies.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 8:59 pm
"What is wrong with it?" gasped Nicoletta, arriving beside the other two. "What are those noises it's making?" It sounded more like an angry animal than a foal and she didn't want to bring herself any closer. She looked to Alaina and Daenerys, hoping that they would take action.
"He's just frightened," said Daenerys, correctly identifying the emotion, but not yet the breed. She hadn't heard a soquili make those sorts of sounds either, but from the masses of feathers she could tell this wasn't a breed she was familiar with. These lands held so many things that were knew to her and a soquili that spoke in animal sounds didn't sound terribly far-fetched.
"Hello there," she said more softly, leaning down and moving closer to where the foal hid. "You don't have to be afraid. We aren't going to hurt you."
Something about the situation bothered Alaina, but she couldn't put her hoof on what exactly it was. There were no signs of other soquili in the area, such as a family that could have lost a foal. There also didn't seem to be many predators, like something that could have killed the little one's parents. What exactly had happened here?
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:05 pm
The mare moving closer agitated Mauhur all the more. He hissed until he was caught in a coughing spell, chest heaving for long breathless moments. At the end of it he was dizzy and disoriented, straining to restore oxygen to his body. There was little he could do now, just lie in an exhausted heap and wait to see if they were going to kill him as he suspected. He barely even had the strength to glare, golden orbs clouded by fever.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:11 pm
"He's sick!" Daenerys felt her heart twist with pity for the poor thing. His cough sounded bad, very bad. She'd seen soquili die who had coughs like that. He probably was too feverish to be coherent, but they couldn't waste time waiting for his mind to clear. "Alaina," she said, turning back to the blue mare. "Help me pull away this bush! We need to bring him out."
Seeing Alaina starting to move, she turned next to Nicoletta. "Go get one of the healers," she asked of her friend.
"Right!" Nicoletta turned and ran back for the rest of the herd. She didn't see Helki, but Yayo'jin was much easier to spot. "Yayo'jin!" she shouted as she approached. "We need you!"
Alaina grabbed a mouthful of branches and pulled, twisting back some of the bulk of the bush. Her vision was obscured by the plant, but what she saw confused her. Was that a claw? She dimly remembered hearing of a herd of clawed warrior soquili but she had always somewhat assumed that to be a myth.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 4:36 pm
His shelter was being destroyed even while he still cowered in it. Realizing that he was about to be exposed, Mauhur pulled himself out of his hiding spot, leaving on the opposite side as the blue mare. He only made it a few steps before he staggered, wings spreading in attempt to keep his balance, but not doing enough to save him from toppling to the ground again. He was just too weak. He glared at his enemies with fearful golden eyes, knowing that he was at their mercy.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 4:45 pm
The poor foal was obviously terrified. He staggered away from them but didn't make it far, falling to the earth pathetically and making Dany's heart ache. "It's all right!" she said, rushing closer but trying to keep enough distance to not frighten him even more. "We're going to help you. You don't have to run away." She wondered if the foal even spoke the same language. That could be a problem, though she hoped that her tone would convey what she meant to say.
Finally having a clear view of the foal, Daenerys tried to work out what breed he was. It was no wonder that she had a hard time making him out before. Feathers covered much of his body, almost like he was more of a bird than a soquili. Never having seen a skinwalker in person before, it didn't even occur to her that this poor sickly creature could be one of the monsters from stories.
Alaina was more experienced than Daenerys, but unfamiliar with the breeding habits of pure skinwalkers. She looked at the foal, thinking that something felt wrong but not understanding exactly what was. Something about the little foal smelled and looked unnatural... but what was the source of her trepidation?
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 4:49 pm
Mauhur was a skinwalker, but a young one at that. He had never had a lengthy encounter with a non-skinwalker soquili and didn't know the tricks to make himself seem more natural and less demonic. He didn't know how to talk sweetly, and would have been too dazed by illness to use the skill even if he possessed it. Instead, he hissed weakly at the strange mare, managing to choke out his first words of the encounter.
"Go away!" His feathers fluffed up in a pathetic attempt at intimidation, completely nullified by his position on the ground.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 4:57 pm
He had sharp teeth and a strange beak, but Daenerys herself had sharp teeth and ate meat, so she wasn't about to go faulting anyone else for those characteristics. Hearing him speak gave her relief, even if it wasn't the most pleasant of introductions. She would not have tolerated that tone in an adult soquili, but a frightened and ill foal was another matter. She could not bring herself to be angry at a foal, especially not this one.
"My name is Daenerys Targaryen," she told him, smiling gently and hoping that a name might make her appear less frightening. "I am the queen of this herd, and I can promise that none of my subjects will harm you." It was then that the healer Yayo'jin arrived, hurrying ahead of Nicoletta. Her familiar bag of medicine thumped against her chest and Nicoletta carried a bag with some of her more bulky herbs. She quickly came to Daenerys' side, stopped, and stared.
"What is that?" she asked, staring with sudden revulsion and horror at the foal.
Nicoletta wasn't far behind, coming up behind Daenerys and trying to understand what was going on. Daenerys looked like she was worried about the foal's condition, but Yayo'jin's expression was something else. Yayo'jin was never exactly friendly, but she had never reacted like this. "What's wrong?" asked Nicoletta, blinking. "It's just a foal."
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 5:06 pm
"That is no foal... that's a skinwalker!" Yayo'jin spat out the word like it was poison and immediately put herself between Daenerys and the monster, pushing the queen back in the process. Yayo'jin had traveled far in her lifetime. She had seen wars fought and atrocities that she tried never to remember. She had seen skinwalkers, monstrous beasts let loose upon the battlefield that hewed down all in their path. There was no doubt in her mind as to the identity of the foal. Even though small, she could see the same hatred and madness burning in his eyes.
"How dare you?" cried out Dany, angry from shock. Never before had one of her her members treated her with such disrespect. She stumbled a few steps backward before she regained her bearing, glaring at Yayo'jin's large form. "Don't be ridiculous! That isn't a monster, that is a foal! Or do you think that the Stranger goes about cursing children?" The Stranger was her culture's name for the bringer of skinwalkers, a force of death.
Nicoletta jumped out of the way when Daenerys was pushed back, narrowly avoiding being caught in the collision. She too could hardly believe what the healer was saying. A skinwalker? She had been taught as a foal to fear the soquili who walked wearing the pelts of animals, but surely they couldn't have meant weak little colts like this. Besides, the stories she'd heard had been of soquili who transformed into wolves and bears. She didn't remember ever hearing anything about demonic owl walkers.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 5:13 pm
Mauhur watched them fight. Some part of himself fed on their negativity, appreciating the contention he was causing. He was too weak to fight them himself so hoped that they might fight each other. He managed to get his claws under himself while they weren't paying attention, standing up on wobbling legs.
"You there," Alaina spotted Mauhur's movement before anyone else. She was still confused, but Yayo'jin's words had the ring of truth to them. "Don't move," she told the foal, watching to make sure he wasn't going to try to run. The longer she looked at him, the more she could make sense of his features. He had a feathered back, but the rest of him was furred in a different color. The pelt of a giant eagle lay across his back. Skinwalker.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 5:51 pm
"It is a skinwalker!" repeated Yayo'jin, not backing down even in the face of Daenerys' anger. She was hard to faze normally, and she still considered the skinwalker a much more pressing problem than the queen being angry with her. "Look at the pelt! And the claws!" She had met a few soquili with claws that were not skinwalkers, but the talons at the end of those black legs were far more sinister.
"I don't care if it's a skinwalker!" Daenerys was shouting now, seething with anger and emotion. "It's a foal! He's just a foal!" In her memory, she recalled flashes of an earlier time. Mi Ren Ko weeping. Little forms lying still on the ground without the shelter of a basket. Those had been the last foals she'd seen. She had felt so helpless at the end, knowing she could do nothing.
"I will not see this foal die while we stand around and do nothing! So heal him, or I will have you taken away and Helki brought in your place!"
Nicoletta backed further away from the two of them, eyes wide. Seeing Daenerys so angry was more frightening to her than the skinwalker. The last time she had seen that rage, Daenerys had sent her dragons to scorch Viserys. Was Yayo'jin about to share that fate? Nervously, she stared back to the rest of the herd. Some had paused to take notice of the altercation while others remained oblivious. Should she call for Roarke or the other queensguard? Without a clear course of action she froze, praying that she wouldn't see any of her friends hurt.
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