[PRP] Defining art. (Octobre & Nereus)

[[Eskimo]]

Unlike most evenings, Octobre was feeling a bit stimulated. There was a scent in the air unlike any she had smelled before. It was blood, of that she was sure. But what type of blood? The mystery was enough to cause her to become absentminded to her immediate surroundings. One of her wings grazed a thorny vine and she hissed, lurching away from the sting. It hadn't broken skin, but the irritating break in concentration was enough to furrow her brow.

Pulling her wings snugly to her sides with a hint of resentment, Octobre moved through a family of trees. The mild thrill of the unknown came over her again. She felt the slightest bit like a bizarre sort of treasure hunter meandering through a maze. Most individuals wouldn't be so interested in her version of "treasure", but that was of no consequence to the mare. The scent was growing stronger.

As the trees began to thin, Octobre took heed to remain as hidden as she could while still creeping closer to the scent's source. As she peeked through the gaps in the trunks, Octobre saw stripes of a white stallion almost glowing in the dark. From the smell, she knew it wasn't his blood. So he had made a kill? Then she was intruding...blast.

Then again...perhaps not...? She remained still and watched, eager for some sign of violence so she would know whether to flee or creep closer. It was possible he wasn't interested in harming her. The smell of unique blood was enough to shoo away her usually-prominent self-preserving drive.  

[Thalea]

Destruction, death, blood; all lay before him in a twisted gnarled mess. It was beautiful, the blood, not the mess, that irritated him, but there was nothing to do about it at this moment. The chase had been fun, the pure unicorn being was so easy to manipulate. Her pure white coat did not show the mark of sin, it had enraged him. How dare she flaunt her perfection? Long ago he had once been perfect like her, but now his coat showed his sins and so it was only fair that hers revealed her own sins. Time had been needed to discover her sins; she only had the appearance of a pure, when in truth her heart held hidden terrible desires. It did not matter that he had been the one to incite these abysmal thoughts; she corrupted herself because of them. Usually he would let them live, so they could continue to suffer, but there was something about her white coat that caused him to snap.

She was no longer perfect, her white coat was red and her blue eyes were lifeless. It was the art of the blood on her coat that kept him from wanting to clean himself of the mess; the red flowing substance created spirals upon her unmoving body. Blood trailed from marks created by his claws and dripped upon the earth. Pools of red liquid soaked into the hungry soil.

The sensation of being watched distracted Nereus Lelantos from his art and his irritation flared, “I know you are there, show yourself.” He was not going to make threats, threats were pointless for they warned the victim that attack was imminent, he did not wish for his prey to know he was coming, unless it made the game more interesting. Would this stranger be interested in a game? A wicked glint came to his pale silvery blue eyes as thoughts of insidious plots filled his mind.
 

[[Eskimo]]

The sudden voice nearly startled Octobre out of her skin (which bothered her quite a bit, as she hated losing control of herself). She didn't expect the stranger to notice her so quickly, and she also didn't expect him to smile in such an unsettling way. Most of her was telling her to abandon this endeavor, that this stallion was far too dangerous to approach, but the rest of her...she wasn't sure. She took one careful step forward. It brought her close enough to see the majority of the scene before her instead of just striped cut-outs through the trees. There was a shimmering corpse at the male's feet and a very literal pool of blood beneath them. Such a lovely, perfect pool begging for a single drink...what an absolute waste if she couldn't dip even the end of her tongue in.

From her angle, she couldn't quite tell what exact type of mare the male's prey was, but from its smell she knew she had yet to taste blood like it. That alone was enough for her to approach a little more. It was too late to escape anyway. She knew a predator when she saw one. It was her own fault for being caught in the first place. Part of her had wanted to be, after all.

So despite the evening-lit crimson trails, despite the light glinting off the male's bloodied claws, Octobre raised her head and spoke.

"I apologize for sneaking up on you," she said calmly, though her unusually quiet tone would betray her forced composure to those who knew her. "I was attracted by the smell of blood." It sounded simple enough.  

[Thalea]

Stillness settled over the stallion as he waited for the creature to show him or herself; he did not have to wait long. A mare with a coat the color of pale coal stepped out of the shadows, her Angeni like wings were a deep red, blood red. Usually when he caught sight of an Angeni his pure hatred would rise to the surface, but there was something off about this mare. Dried blood was clearly apparent on her coat; it was not as beautiful as the art cooling at his claws.

Her red eyes were locked upon the pooling blood; did she feel the lure of it too? Doubtful she would feel it in the same way. He took pleasure in torturing his victims, erasing their purity before becoming lost in the blood. She seemed to have a hunger for the sanguine substance. What was this mare up to?

“As you should be for these are dangerous woods, you could have come across someone less sensible than I and then where would your lovely self be? Perhaps dead and a lovely dessert or afternoon snack.” His claws flexed in the ground, causing the red blood to be scrapped off. If he did not wash soon it would take hours for him to remove all the dried blood from his coat. “Ah, the delicious aroma of blood. And what is it that you would like to do with this blood My Lovely? Gaze at it? Drink it? Or nothing at all?”

She was a curious little beastie, who may have a death wish, for not many take it kindly to being interrupted when they are devouring their kill. She was lucky that he was not eating this mare; it was just an act of vengeance. If she had interrupted him during meal time, well that would have been a whole different situation.  

[[Eskimo]]

Fear pulsed through Octobre's veins and she let it wash over her so that it would dissipate. There was nothing she could do about her instincts except to let them be. Her sense of reason, on the other hand, was feeling promise in the current turn of events. The stallion didn't seem immediately threatened by her (not that he had a reason to be, but she'd come across more than one overly-paranoid individual in her life), and he also didn't seem to want to threaten her too much. On the contrary, he seemed almost...amused? Curious.

Of course, nothing was certain. The entire situation was incredibly precarious, but the only way to reach the other side of it was to play through it. So she did.

"I recognize the danger," Octobre replied with civility. What he had said about the woods was true. It was also true that night time brought even more danger, but it was also the time when Octobre found the quickest samples. Many hunters preferred to prey at night, evidently including this stallion. She wasn't entirely sure he planned to eat his prey, however, which made him a little more intimidating. But she continued to wave off her instincts all the same. She was too deep now.

"I was hoping for just a single taste, but I wasn't aware that this blood had been claimed," she explained, proceeding with her honesty. It had proved to be a successful tactic thus far. "You have my apologies once again," she said, never once looking away out of respect. If she had managed to appeal to the male's apparent sense of etiquette, she would leave unharmed. Unless there was a chance he would allow--no...since when had she become this much of an obsessive fool?  

[Thalea]

“Ah so the lovely beastie understands the dangers of the woods and yet she tarries here, what does that say about the lovely little beastie?” Nereus walked around the carcass of the dead unicorn, in just a few hours it will no longer hold the sweet scent of blood, but the rancid scent of decay. “Hmm, so My Lovely, you would like a taste of this once pure mare, now tainted soul’s blood? But why come after what is already dead? There is no thrill in that, it is just boring. When the prey is alive the blood tastes all the sweeter. The tick warm substance pumps readily, and the scent of fear makes it all the more appealing.” He pauses for a second, “I do not see anything wrong in allowing you a taste of this pathetic creature, it would go to waste otherwise.” He continued to walk around the white mare, her blood rippled in their pools as he took each step. Her blood started to dry on his coat and was just moments away from becoming irritatingly itchy. The white stallion ignored the sensation; he was having too much fun with the mare with the blood lust.

“What will My Lovely do when she has finished with her ‘just a single taste’? Hmm, how about you drink your fill, I am sure it will be a delicacy.” Nereus gave her a grin, his fangs flashing in the light of the moon. “And you don’t want to be rude and refuse my offer, especially since I have been so kind to let you sample a blood so different than you have ever tasted.”
 

[[Eskimo]]

Under normal circumstances Octobre would've objected to being called a "beastie," but these were not normal circumstances. At least he was also calling her "lovely," but the mare wasn't entirely sure if that was something to feel entirely comfortable about, either...

She stood still and allowed the male to observe and appraise her, wings itching to help her flee at any given moment, but suddenly it seemed that wouldn't be necessary. Suddenly everything seemed to align with Octobre's perfect scenario. Was it the stars? The planets? What was giving her such perfect luck? How was it possible that she could have this opportunity free of any charge? To not only have one taste, but to take her time, to explore the variations of flavor and tone... Unless there was a catch? Unless he expected something in return? But it was possible he didn't. It was possible that he was just...peculiar. But that grin...it was his grin which caused her to second guess his every word.

Octobre shifted her focus and allowed her eyes to drink in the glimmering, rippling pool of blood. He was right--it would've been rude to refuse his offer. What he really meant was that she had no choice but to accept it. And so she did.

She kept as much distance between herself and the stranger as possible, and creeping close to the edge of the spill, gingerly dipped her head down and began to drink. Her mind became entirely focused on her information gathering in those moments and blocked out all else.  

[Thalea]

The white soquili backed away to allow the mare to drink her fill of the scarlet liquid. Silently he watched her as she crept to the pool and began to drink. The Lovely Beastie seemed to forget all that was around her, that was not a good thing to do when a killer was standing right near her, but he was not going to kill her, at least not today. She would be an interesting new toy, he could string her along with the promise of interesting new blood to taste and she would probably follow. Nereus began to itch, did he want to leave her long enough to bathe? If he did that, his new toy may disappear into the night and he could not have that, so he pushed down the urge to be clean.

His new toy did not know it, but she owed him a debt. He allowed her to live and to sample blood from his victim; did that make it two debts or just one? With a wicked smile he decided to make it two, would take longer for her to work it off.

Silently he waited for her to finish, letting her enjoy herself. He had so much to show her, this pathetic lump of dead flesh was not as appetizing as the other things he could offer. Each race of soquili had a special taste, Angeni were the most decadent while the blood of Walkers seemed to have a bitter salty taste. It did not appeal to him, he thrilled in mutilating the pure, not the wicked.  

[[Eskimo]]

Each variation, tone, temperature fluctuation, hue, aroma, texture, tannin, complexity, finish, all were filed away into Octobre's mental blood-tasting journal. She pulled away from the puddle and allowed the liquid to flow off her mouth naturally, noting details about that, as well. Head full of calculations and comparisons, she swallowed a final time where she stood and traced a portion of her lips with her tongue. And with that, her analysis was complete with a surprising level of satisfaction.

Also with that, however, came reality flooding back in. Her nostrils flared with the scent of death which brought her eyes to the watchful white stallion. She stared unblinking for several seconds, gaze locked, mind working through dozens of possible scenarios. His persistent grin was the question mark at the end of every scenario her imagination had come up with. She had no way of knowing what the male was thinking or planning. But her instincts, which she had so carelessly been casting aside thus far, were now telling her that whatever he was planning, it was probably not ideal. But it didn't matter. She had been treading dangerous waters from the beginning and had not yet reached the water's edge.

"Thank you," Octobre said steadily, her posture reflecting gratitude. And what more could she say after that? Please excuse me? Enjoy the rest of your evening? Her wings twitched.  

[Thalea]

He had lost track of time, as he watched her drink her fill; he only knew that it had been long enough for the blood on his coat to begin to flake off. When she finally realized where she was when she had finished, her reaction could have made him laugh, but he was in no mood to laugh. With her thanks he raised an eye brow, “Just a thank you My Lovely Beastie? Nothing else for your kind and generous benefactor of delicious blood? I have let you sample from my victim and I spared your life, so I believe that makes you indebted to me,” he paused like he had just considered the idea and smiled, “how will you repay me for your life and snack? You could travel with me and sample various blood types, but then what would I get in return? Do you have any ideas My Lovely Beastie?” Nereus stared at the mare; she would make an interesting traveling companion and when he grew bored with her… well that was a thought for a future date. The white stallion walked closer to the light coal colored mare, he began to circle her as he waited for her reply, “Are you a smart Beastie?” He was not sure how smart she was, since she had been traveling in the dark woods alone and sought out the scent of blood. Either way, he was going to have some fun.  

[[Eskimo]]

Time crept by slowly during the male's unending questions. By the time he had finished, Octobre was no where closer to figuring out his intentions than she was before. And she was still unsure if his apparent taking a liking to her was a good thing or a bad thing. For the moment, however, her life was being preserved, so she chose to believe it was a good thing after all.

But then...travel with him? She thought not (although having a consistent supply of samples was undeniably tempting). He was far too unpredictable. Octobre preferred her acquaintances to be a bit less...well, this. That was her immediate thought, at least. Keeping her eyes locked on the stallion, her mind worked quickly to come up with an answer to his proposition. It was no good. Just as she'd thought, she'd have to keep treading this water for now. And if she continued to believe he actually had taken some sort of liking to her (whatever his definition of that happened to be), it was possible she could use that to her advantage in the very, very near future.

"I'm not sure how smart I am," she answered frankly, as was the usual at this point, "but I'm not entirely against traveling with you..." her voice trailed off, perhaps due to a lack of a name to call him by. And so she watched and waited for what would happen next.