Vulgaris;

[Skaide]

He was gone, just like the rest of them. Just like father, just like mother. A memory now, a fading image in her head.

It doesn’t bother her, not at all. Honestly, it was she that failed and initially faded with the season. Eight tempted her, lured her, but in the end she did not reach Pangea. The distance was a barrier that she didn’t want to trespass. If she wouldn’t put in the effort for a family member, why would she for a stranger?

But his name is no longer on the lips of the masses. It became a whisper on the breeze, then faded into nothingness. Again, Skaide was alone. Truthfully, solitude is more suiting. Alone, she can immerse herself in her thoughts and dive into her predatory nature. A squirrel lies across from her, bloated from the poison that she flooded into its body. Skaide is still an adolescent, still so young, and unable to control the heavy expulsion of venom. For that, the rodent tasted pungent and bitter, undesirable even to one as hungry as her.

So, she nibbles on the grass absently. It’s sparse here and dry underneath the sun. Disgusting as it is, she still eats until her eyes lift to see another across the field that reminds her of herself, of mother. Although curious, Skaide doesn’t leave her place among the cacti and shrubs. Never realizing – nor caring – that she is far into Loess’ embrace, she stares with an unyielding stare, willing him to sate her curiosity.

i swear i'll become your only desire. i swear i'll rip you apart.

Skaide

@[vulgaris]

[vulgaris]

" every scar will build my throne. "

He knows his children when he sees them. He knew Adna when everything else was foreign and terrifying. As he lifts his head from his own kill, he spots the feral-eyed thing crouched in the tall grasses with nothing but a ruined carcass and bitter grass to chew. She isn’t one from his brood with Leliana and her age means there is only one other woman for her to have been born from. There are options to this, he thinks as he remains frozen like a predator sighted by its prey. Her legs are too short and weak to escape him. Her throat is small enough to fit between his teeth and snap like dry summer twigs. It wouldn’t even require venom to destroy her.

And yet, eyeing her throat like any other, he doesn’t find the will to do it. The limp rabbit in his jaws swings from side to side as he steps closer to the little serpent. Vulgaris gives a little toss of his head to it lands neatly between her front hooves, still warm. He remembers how hard it was to hunt at first. With no mentor himself, it took ages to learn the art of killing quickly and easily.

But he doesn’t extend the invitation just yet nor does he step any closer than this. There’s no telling where Shiya is or if she already poisoned the yearling’s mind with tales about her father. The only comfort he takes from this is that Skaide isn’t some two-headed monster baby thanks to her parentage.

“My name is Vulgaris. What’s yours?” he asks, tilting his head as those sage green eyes watch her curiously. He doesn’t ask her anything about her mother or her brother just yet. For now, he figures he should earn her trust a little before moving on to such things. “Do you live here?”

He idly licks the blood from his scar tissue lips and admires the color of her skinny body. Maybe he should be grateful that she didn’t inherit the drab gray the rest of the family did. It’ll also make it difficult for anyone to be certain that Skaide is in fact his and Shiya’s. He takes a step closer and extends his neck to sniff at her, but he finds only strange smells on her skin. Curious.

VulgariS

@[Skaide]