|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 11:50 am
((In addition to this being in the Crew Forum, Ganon and I would both like to strictly reinforce the fact that whatever happens here, including names and species, are strictly strictly secret. Revealing them will get Ganon coming after you with rats, spiders, and hot pokers!))
Rikkashan's claws clacked against the armrest of his black gold throne with impatience mingled with boredom. He hated playing these waiting games - especially considering the length of time that he'd been forced to play them. At the very least, it looked as if things were about to be changing in their favor. The blue moon shone even over their dominantly desert island. The time was nearing, and just the thought made his hind claws curl in anticipation. If only the boy would hurry along, he could start to finalize his plans.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 1:20 pm
The "boy" blazed across the surface of the ocean, sending up tall walls of water in his wake, the powerful wind rushing behind him as air moved in to fill the space where he had just been. Tigris was the only living half-Corrupt in the world, and though he was technically weaker than a full Corrupt, he had a monstrous advantage: Tigris did not fear water, and he could cross it without flight. Tigris was the Water-Walker, with a Voice that gave him such incredible speed that he could run across the surface of water effortlessly and such endurance that he could cross the ocean without stopping, running full-tilt for many hours on end.
The half-Lunar rushed across the sea, eyes narrow against the spray of saltwater. His mind was consumed in a whirlwind of torrential emotions: pride, skepticism, and his ever-present simmering hatred. Tigris often felt emotions, oh yes. But he was eerie and often scared others off with his mere personality. He never showed emotion, really. He would laugh, yes, and he would become angry, but there was always a cool indifference lacing it all. He made no effort to hide his emotions; he simply did not feel that it was worth his while to convey them. And yet, when he ran... something happened. His mind would wander freely and muse. Now, with the culmination of so much planning at hand, it fell to his beginnings.
Many, many, many years ago, the Mother's mind was corrupted by the Man-Child, who loathed the True Kyn because they could not read his magic tomes, and she forsook her true children in favor of the grossly inferior Otherkin. She created a great land bridge and pulled the True Kyn across it with the Voice of the Black Temple. So it was passed down by the Oral Caretakers, the teachers and keepers of ancient lore.
But the great Emperor of the True Kyn, Rikkashan, had a call of his own, and before the land bridge was destroyed a beautiful Lunar female followed Emperor Rikkashan across to the Island of the Temple of Death. She was unbonded and unassociated with the Man-Creatures and she learned the true language, the ancient language. She was given the name Ansil and was revered and respected by the True Kyn, for Rikkashan declared that Ansil was the greatest chance they ever had to escape the island. Mating with an Otherkin, he had reasoned, could produce a winged kyn that would be able to fly his brothers to the mainland.
It was not so for Ansil. She produced many offspring over hundreds of years, but never once did one of her eggs hatch with wings. Enraged, the True Kyn would descend upon and kill the newborn pups. This went on for centuries, and wracked with grief Ansil began to decline in health. She promised herself, even as her beautiful and luscious fur began to wilt and her grief-stricken mind began to decay, that she would not die until she saw that one of her offspring would survive.
Her last clutch was but one egg, a strangely shaped crescent. Indeed, it was shaped more like a talon with a long end and a sharp turn that curved outward. It was declared an omen, and when this egg hatched it was believed that this would be the winged child and that it would be the weapon to cut down their foes and bring them back to the Mainland once more.
A large padded paw was first to break through the shell. It was hatched privately in a chamber within the Black Temple, in the presence of the Emperor himself. Then a head like no lunar that had ever been known broke out. When the eggshell finally fell away, the creature licking egg white off itself was almost feline by appearance, with a short snout and high ears, a stocky cylindrical body and four large paws on powerful legs. The little half-breed was even declared , rather than Draco lupus to be Draco panthera, a feline dragon.
But he was declared more than that; he was declared a failure, another half-Otherkin born without wings. He was taken from the Black Temple and put outside even as Ansil, near death, protested.
A compassionate Raiser found him and took him under her care. She taught him the true language and helped him grow. When he was still but young, still small, he first became fascinated with water as he strode alone in one of the sparse forested areas. He discovered his Voice at that time when he ran and leapt toward the water and suddenly found himself running atop it.
It was from that point forward that Tigris would use the water to escape when he needed to think. In society he was pushed around and kicked, and he learned to keep his emotions in check around the larger and more powerful True Kyn. But when he went to the water and ran, he was safe and could think.
The tragedy befell him one day when he was not fast enough to get away from a mob angry that he had betrayed their hopes. They fell upon him and beat him, hit him, and at last he felt horrible pain as his left front leg was torn off at the shoulder, ripped away. He bolted for the sea, which was close, even as Rikkashan observed with distaste. He had not loathed the young half-breed, but what he saw at that next moment stunned him.
He watched as the stumbling kitten launched himself onto the sea and took off around the edge of the island at breakneck speed on the surface of the water. Rikkashan himself lunged up and ran to the water's edge and called Tigris to him. When the kitten arrived, bleeding heavily from the stump of his left leg, Rikkashan gathered him up and took him to the Black Temple. He was healed and a new leg was made for him by the finest Mineral Whisperer on the island. Rikkashan took Tigris as his own son and raised him. Because at last there was a messenger. At last, there was a glimmer of hope that they might once more roam the mainland as they were meant to do. At last, with the knowledge that her last child would survive, not five seconds after hearing the words, Ansil closed her eyes, smiled, and died.
Tigris shook himself from his thoughts and looked down at the large metal prosthesis shooting across the water beneath him. The paw part of it was dressed with one giant talon, the point sharp enough to easily punch through leather and even thin metal. Perhaps his egg was prophetic indeed.
He raised his head slowly and suddenly leapt up onto the beach of the Island of the Black Temple. There was no reason to slow down just yet, and he left a tunnel of wind in his wake as he shot past homes and towns on the way to the looming temple. He was hardly a blur, but soon enough he slowed himself down and trotted to the gates, stepping past the guards without trouble on his way up the stairs and inside.
The throne room was empty but for Rikkashan when Tigris entered it and bowed slowly. "My Emperor. Are we at last ready to put the plan into action?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 6:38 pm
His tail gave a lazy flick as Tigris finally entered, claws slowing down in the movements before finally stopping. The True Language that Rikkashan addressed Tigris with, as opposed to the Bound Tongue of the mainland, was a mark of respect for the mixed breed. His serpentine tongue clicked and rolled across his vocals eloquently, many lifetime's worth of practice and use behind it, "Yesss, the time is finally upon us, my son. Are you ready to make your trip to the mainland?" He fully expected the other to be; it would be disgraceful for him to be otherwise.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 7:32 pm
Tigris bowed his head. "I was born ready. I will commence with the plan at your orders and soon enough you will once more breathe the mainlaind air, Highness." He raised himself up determinedly, bright golden eyes narrowed, and lashed his long feline tail once. "I am to keep a low profile, correct? I fear that I may have attracted some attention on the way here, I had to run past a few dens at top speed."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 7:49 pm
Rikkashan listened, his tail flickering at certain points during Tigris' speech. He bobbed his head at the end in acknowledgment. "Allll the better, then. You are to approach them as a hybrid of both our species. You must tell of our plight, but do not mention the Man-Child or the Other Kin. We have simply been trapped here and need help. Keep your distance from the Man-Children, and only speak the Bound Tongue while you are there." he paused, crest pieces swiveling a moment, "Rememberrr, you must be defensive. Do not let your guard down." At first, Rikkashan seemed to be done. Then, he added something else. "I have put all of my trust in your success, Tigris. We are all counting on you."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 7:56 pm
Tigris nodded. "And what of ferals I encounter? They can speak neither the True Language nor the Bound Language. Perhaps I could steal a few eggs and return them here?" The idea had occurred to him somet ime ago, but he had only just had an opportunity to suggest that to his foster father. "Feral eggs, of course. Nothing that the Man-Creatures would notice."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:08 pm
Rikkashan bobbed his head again, though this time it was with a bit of excitement. "That is a brilliant idea, my son. As long as you are careful." Rikkashan was most interested in Tigris' safety, of course, as he was their only chance. There was also the likelihood that he had an attachment to the scrawny little mouse he had raised.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:24 pm
Tigris bowed again and nodded. "I will be careful, Highness. Farewell. I shall return with a savior." He grinned and with a final bow turned and trotted out of the throne room. He paused at the exit though, and turned his head back. "Ah, and something strange happened on the mainland today... I was running and decided to test my limits. Very suddenly everything went silent around me... odd, no? The sound didn't come back until I slowed down." He raised a brow and left his Emperor to ponder on that, and soon enough he bolted back across the sea, throwing walls of water up beside himself.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
