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    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura


    [private]  If you do not have shadows, you are not in the light
    #1

    if you do not have shadows,
     you are not in the light

    She is beautiful, now. If her mother could see her, Brine might not even recognize her. She had grown taller, her once petite and awkward frame more secure and toned. She has muscles to carry her miles, wings well-used and exercised to offer precision and accuracy, her mane has grown into wind-tangled knots and her tail a feminine veil of elegance.

    Our golden light had flown--as she often did as mode of transportation since leaving Brine--across the territories and unknown lands to find herself back for the first time to the river since she had parted only short of a year ago now. Her landing is calculated; choosing a barren space merely inches off an animal-made trail and only yards from a sandy bank into a flowing creek she knows well.

    The air is rigid, winter paying its dues in ways only the misfits understand, the ones with no home or haven. She knew this well, after all she had come from the land of the unwanted and unheard of, the shadowy places where monsters lurk and prey hide; stuck between a rock and a hard place.

    Or, in their case, between teeth and famish.

    Though it be cold and the trees are painted in a beautiful, shimmering frost, Ruthless as always is able to pull the positive from her situation. She has a home to return to, friends to lean on, food to eat, and shelter to hide her from horrid weather. A short visit to her stomping grounds could do her good, it could humble her.

    Or, perhaps she could meet a friend. That could be nice. Someone to talk to not tied into loyalty to the Taiga, or perhaps not tied to loyalty at all. A refreshing change from diplomacy and strategy. An airy, light hearted conversation that will leave her salivating for more.

    A brainless conversation? Please, shall we?

    A twig snaps, her ears twitching to focus on the intrudance beyond her site. Her wings quickly adjusting to snug into her side, an instinct to protect and cover still lingering after a childhood in the dark.


    Ruthless



    @[Darkling]
    Reply
    #2
    Darkling

    Where she is so bright and full of shimmering youthful hope, he is in so very many ways the opposite. There is little in the way of redeeming qualities remaining in Darkling, though to say he is genuinely terrible would also be a stretch. He may hold the cheerfulness of youth, but that is where the similarities end.

    And perhaps that is what draws him to her. That peculiar yin and yang of those who are both similar and yet so clearly opposite. Of course, his interest is far less benign than one might wish, but whether that would prove terrible or not is yet to be determined.

    It’s easy to remain unnoticed when he wishes it. The shadows flock to him like the gentle hands of a lover, easily wrapping him in their whispered embrace. His golden skin becomes faded and dark, gleaming, near-black eyes only another pitch in the shelter of the trees. She, in contrast, is lovely and shining, a beacon of sweetness impossible to resist for one who already knows they love the taste.

    A single step, the crack of a stick is all it takes. Her attention is caught. From the reaching, skeletal branches above, a shape forms, falls. A prehensile tail catches, the grinning face and gleaming yellow eyes of the shadow creature staring out at her from the shape of a monkey. A thing equal parts innocuous and alarming.

    And he wonders, which would scream louder to her?

    you're burning up the sky, you're a constellation
    I think that I could die for this revelation

    Reply
    #3

    if you do not have shadows,
     you are not in the light

    She exhales, the sound of footsteps do not follow the snap but an eerie silence tells her someone is there. She can smell a masculine scent waft into the air, her brown eyes peering curiously to find the source of sound. How odd of a sensation to see nothing but know you’re being watched.

    And then, he falls.

    One limb-like tail hangs tightly to a branch above him, with legs curled up and hanging tightly below him and his hands free, with the most peculiar eyes she has seen. Hesitantly, she takes a few steps forward, as if to test boundaries. Nothing but the soft coo of running water and distant chirping of birds to fill the emptiness now shared between them.

    “Well, you’re an odd creature aren’t you,” she whispers in the softest of tones, watching him blink at her with vibrant yellow eyes with a curiosity that pools in the centre of his neon iris’. “And perhaps a long way from home? Aren’t you tropical?”

    Her questions are null, believing the shadowed creature cannot talk back. She almost gives up, shrugging her shoulders and turning to peer back behind herself.

    “Wouldn’t it be nice to swing all day,” an exhausted sigh and partial laugh roll together, completed by the shake of her head.


    Ruthless



    @[Darkling]
    Reply
    #4
    Darkling

    It’s true, the shadowy primate cannot talk back. But behind it’s eerie dark form, Darkling listens, curiosity and a dangerous delight swirling in the back of his throat. She doesn’t seem terribly put off by the dangling handspun creature, and that disgruntles Darkling in a small sense of the word. As he looks on however, the monkey opens its mouth wide in a silent scream before launching itself forward, directly at the young girl’s face.

    Just before it would have reached her, it breaks apart, falling away into tendrils of shadow before disappearing entirely. In the midst of the spectacle, Darkling steps from his shadowy blind, a wide grin stretching his lips. Moments later, the primate reforms, yellow eyes fixed on Ruthless from where it now clings to Darkling’s golden neck.

    “Is that what you dream of? Swinging all day?” he asks suddenly. His words are light and curious, though it masks something a bit darker. Something a bit harder to name. He draws forward another step, dark eyes gleaming in the brightness of his features. “I bet it could be arranged.”

    There is an edge of humor to his words, but perhaps not the same kind of humor everyone else is so accustomed to. But then, the things that amuse him or not the things that typically amuse others.

    you're burning up the sky, you're a constellation
    I think that I could die for this revelation

    Reply
    #5

    if you do not have shadows,
     you are not in the light

    It launches.

    Her neck recoils until it’s almost parallel to her chest as her head springs upwards. Her ears flatten—annoyed, confused—as he transitions to her neck, her tail tucked tightly against her hindquarters as her spine tenses.

    It talks, his voice soft and masculine and not at all how he should sound looking like that.

    Monsters do not hide in the shadows, Ruth. They hide in broad daylight.

    Her hazel eyes narrow, eyeing him as best she can from the awkward angle he found. Did he pick this spot purposefully? Is she at the disadvantage, now?

    “What do you dream of?” Her question has a challenging tone, as if to ask do you dream of things like bananas and trees or are you a secret killer here to do what you did to mom. “You are not what you seem, you know”.

    He knows though, he must. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be as amused.


    Ruthless



    @[Darkling]
    Reply
    #6
    Darkling

    She does not react in terror. A fact that intrigues Darkling more than it should. While fear in itself is amusing enough, this is vastly more interesting. Indeed, despite rather violently flinching, she favors him with a glare of pure disgruntlement rather apprehension or alarm.

    His grin widens at that.

    “Is anyone ever what they seem?” he counters easily to her challenge, golden head tilting as he studies her openly. His dark eyes gleam with a devilish light, but they bode no immediate ill. “You seem like a silly little girl, but you didn’t run away. Perhaps it’s besting the big bad wolf you dream of instead.”

    He laughs at that, amused at his own musings. It’s not an especially kind laugh, despite the surprisingly lyrical tones. In barely another breath, the primate vanishes in a swirl of dark smoke. Moments later, from the trees Darkling had so recently stepped from, a shadowy wolf stalks, yellow eyes gleaming and predatory.

    “And maybe I dream of being the wolf.”

    you're burning up the sky, you're a constellation
    I think that I could die for this revelation

    Reply




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