|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 6:24 pm
Dumah stared at his armor darkly. He didn't wear it today, and didn't know that he wanted to ever wear it again. It was armor that his mother had given him. There had been little ceremony that day, but much gravity. The armor meant something, and both of them knew it even if few words were exchanged.
It connected him to Verity, his mother that wasn't his mother. It meant that he was supposed to follow in her footsteps and be some sort of knight, a paladin. Not all of his siblings had received armor, but Verity had given it to him. Perhaps she had sensed a cause within him. Perhaps, but it was not soquili that were his cause. He could care less for soquili.
With a bitter sneer, he turned away from the armor. That was when he noticed them. He wasn't alone.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 6:32 pm
Sangmu hadn't meant to sneak, or stare. Somehow, she'd managed to do both. She was alone in unfamiliar territory. It really wasn't a habit of hers, and wasn't something she would have done at all if she'd put much thought into it. The Padmapani herd was on their way to one of their pilgrimage mountains. Part of the herd, that is. This was Sangmu's first pilgrimage and she was honored to join them... but it was a lot of walking. And togetherness. And following the leader. Her youth called for something more exciting, more adventurous! Really, she had just wanted some time to herself, so had gone on a walk. While walking, she'd come across this stallion.
She hadn't meant to stay hidden, it'd just been her first response. She had met very few unfriendly soquili in life and no truly dangerous ones. She didn't have reason to think this one would hurt her, but his strange looks made her hesitate. He had more wings on a soquili than she had ever seen or even known were possible. His eyes glowed an eerie red, and there was something distinctly wolfish about him. So she'd stayed hidden.... but now her hiding had abruptly come to an end as he noticed her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 6:38 pm
"You!" Dumah bristled in surprise and saw the blue eyes in front of him widen. "What are you doing here?" Instinctively, his wings flared. He turned so that all four of his eyes were fixed on her. He cut an intimidating sight, and his aggressive demeanor didn't make things any better. When he bared his teeth, some were pointed. Those were gifts of his father.
He filled with anger. There were few soquili that he gave permission to enter his territory, and he did not take kindly to being leered at from the shadows. He didn't want to hurt her, and yet... Darker impulses boiled up within him and he tried his best to silence them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 6:40 pm
Sangmu yelped and drew back. Her body told her to sprint away, but she was frozen in place. Her hooves wouldn't leave the ground and her trembling legs wouldn't carry her away. What were those spots of light on his wings? Were they more eyes? She filled with horror at the thought, and wondered what was going to happen to her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 7:55 pm
Dumah's stare never left her face and his words had the tenor of a wolf's growl. "You are not welcome here. You should leave immediately." This was him acting like his father, or so he assumed. He had never met his birth mother and didn't know what her nature was. For all he knew, she could be even worse than Zamiel. Whatever she was, he knew she had claws...
He was an herbivore by choice, but at times like this... he wondered. He wondered what it would be like to give in and bite. He had never before given in to those impulses. He always knew that it was an option for him. His father ate meat, after all. But he didn't want to. The animals were under his care. He had to protect them. The animals were, though... not the soquili.... He eyed her, a cold sort of calculating.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 7:59 pm
Sangmu grew even more fearful. She might have found this stallion exotic and interesting looking. Now she couldn't see him as anything other than a danger. She wanted to bolt, but her legs still refused to cooperate. She made a gasping squeak as she struggled to find herself. What was it that she had been told to do if she ever encountered a kalona or a skinwalker in the forest? For a dizzying moment, she wondered if the stallion could be a skinwalker himself. Then she recalled, it was the pelt. Pelts made walkers. He had none, just glowing red eyes and sharp teeth...
"S-sorry," she stammered, eyes welling up with tears. "I-I'm so sorry. I'm leaving now." Finally she was able to move. She took a step back, but couldn't bring herself to turn her back on him when he was staring at her in that hungry way.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 8:03 pm
Dumah answered with only a growl... and then he caught himself. It was as if he was viewing the world through a red haze of rage. In the back of his mind, he realized that this wasn't what he wanted to be doing. This wasn't himself, at least, not the self that he normally was.
He forced all four of his eyes to close and turned away with a grimace. "Go," he said, but this time quietly. Something had happened to him in that moment. In a moment of vulnerability he knew he had acted wrongly. He was disturbed at the intensity of feelings that had boiled up in him. Was that what he was truly capable of?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 8:06 pm
Sangmu was confused and startled by the sudden change of heart, but she wasn't going to question the respite. She didn't say another word. She turned and bolted away, terror finally giving her hooves wings.
Branches lashed at her relentlessly as she ran, but she paid them no mind. She wanted to go back, back to the safety of the herd. She wanted to see her mother, and her brothers, and her friends. She wanted to put all this behind her and forget the terrifying stranger she had met while out alone. It wasn't until her coat was soaked with sweat and her mane whipped free from its bindings that she slowed and finally dared to look behind her. He hadn't followed. She had made it away.
~ Fin.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
