Coming out of solitude (the desert gang)

Kiv's dark ale eyes nnarrowed as she backed away from the large group of 'dragons, some Anubi, some not. She felt... nervous. She felt unsteady. Maybe... maybe all these pendragons wouldn’t be a threat to her territory. Most of them seemed more than willing to leave, none seemed downright hostile, and that one—Saxu—seemed to be attempting courtesy.

Qvysyc had not seen such a large gathering of her people since she had been cast out. Perhaps it was time to rejoin the world, to put her crystalline horns behind her. No one here seemed to really care. Hesitantly, she raised one black paw and took a single step closer to the bunch. Gone was the outgoing ‘dragon from before, gone with the gut-wrenching adrenaline that had driven her to set a nascent plan into motion.

“I am Qvysyc of the Riuuqroda," she said quietly in Anubian, glancing from Anubi to Anubi. “If you please... I have some food with me and I know of a nearby Anubi cache, but I don’t want the outsiders to learn of it. It is a thing of our people, and though I may not look it, my bloodline is pure."

 

The sugar and chocolate fur on Qvysyc’s neck and shoulders bristled. She snarled silently, rearing up into a crouch, digits clenched into fists. “You presume to—“ she hissed in Anubian, then halted sharply. With a quick glance to the other pendragons, she dropped to all fours and took another step closer to Cero. With a flat, unemotional face, she continued telepathically.

“Do you honestly think that I care that those who raised you rejected you? Betrayed or not, an Anubi’s heritage is not something to be scorned or cast aside. Look at my horns! Do you think my tribe allowed me to stay when they grew out, regardless of whom I had been hatched to? They did not, but that does not make me any less Riuuqroda, any less Anubi." Kiv held out her chest, then turned aside so that the pack around her shoulder faced Cero. “Take as much as you like, nioti. If you renounce your heritage as you claim, whatever you have to offer me is not worth the sand under my paws."

(OOC: Whoo boy! Kiv needs to calm down. But calm, rational discussion isnÂ’t nearly as much fun as an argument, is it? *cackle*)

 

Lobes taking in every word spoken, she reluctantly agreed to accompany the others.
<span style='color:orange'>I request that I join you, for I have.....unfinished business somewhere off of the mainland.</span>
Where and what she would not say. She had, in fact, heard of the Remi tribe. But Daj wasnot afraid of them, nor anyone else for that matter.

 

Kiv snorted in surprise and shifted back, digging her claws into the soft ground amid puffs of sand. Her tail, once held loosely, curled underneath of her and she pressed her ears flat against her skull, an unthinking expression of subservience. Sapphire-ringed eyes darted to the side, then returned to meet that of the forsaken Remi prince. She had indeed heard tales of the Remi before being cast out, and by all accounts, their royal line was fearsome indeed. But... Kiv lifted her tail and ears and examined the coal-dark Anubi. He seemed... Unimpressive. He was even more wasted than she, and it seemed as if a good gust of wind would sweep him away.

Doubtless he wasn’t used to life away from his fawning underlings. Kiv hardened herself and glared into his eyes, reminding herself of all she had been through. No matter what she had been before, the tawny female was a warrior, an outsider, cast aside by ‘dragons who could not see past the horns on her head. This wretch of a male had not done a single thing to earn her subservience. But those eyes...

“Feel what?" she snapped, tearing herself free of Cero’s snowy eyes and scanning the crowd of pendragons. “And why are you not back on Swaraj? What could cause an Anubi prince, especially one such as you with no survival skills past begging, to cross an ocean? Surely you did not leave of your own volition."

(Sorry about the wait... Summer reading. It's teh sux0rs, man.)

 

Qvysyc glared at the wasted Anubi, plush tail wagging not with friendliness, but with anticipation... She wanted nothing more but to slap him across the face. He was an affront to everything she stood again, everything she loathed. He was a prince, but acted as an exile. For all she could see, he had forsaken a place of prominence for starvation in the Uhai. He begged for help, revealed his weaknesses, and had to nerve to show scars as a testament to his fighting skills. Any pendragon could gain scars. Only a true fighter doled them out.

But... Those dreams. Did he... did he dream his way from his homeland? But surely that was impossible. Only a skilled Dream Weaver could accomplish such a task, and he was... What was he? Surely a prince must have some kind of trade. Kiv stepped closer to the scarred prince of Remi, eyes narrowed and ears straight up, not in the least bit submissive.

“You would have made a very odd prince, Saxu," she said flatly after a long pause. “Doubtless, I have not your scars, but living in the wilds of the desert for twenty four years has not left me defenseless. But what are you going to do now? Wander back to Remi? Carve a niche for yourself in the Uhai and perhaps found your own empire of outcasts, pendragons, and lowlifes? They do seem to be gathering under your banner already, your Highness."

Kiv briefly raised her black lips in a snarl, then turned and faced away from Cero. She knew her place in the world. She knew her calling was dark sorcery, bound from it or not. She knew.

It was too bad her place had been destroyed and her calling denied.

(OOC: You know, I had envisioned a nicer Kiv when I first made her. Oh well.)

 

Qvysyc watched Cero like a hawk. She didnÂ’t fail to notice his brief fainting spell, and another pendragon might have put it up to his weakened condition and rush to his side. The jackal-coated Anubi, however, had other suspicions. He spoke of visions, of near-madness to layman ears... Perhaps this was related? Some symptom of his malady? Or was it a manifestation of Anubial power? Whatever it was, this outcast prince would bear watching.

And she did keep her eyes on him, cobalt-ringed pupils contracted down to mere pinpricks in the bright desert light. It was almost as if she were fastening him into her mind, memorizing his features, his tics, his behaviors. It was an old habit, this intense scrutiny of those she deemed worthy of it. Knowing a person’s appearance so fully was instrumental to her magic—magic that burned at the back of her skull like a bonfire, fed by her anger, coaxed on by her frustration, but trapped behind a wall of water all around.

“I can see how such a lifestyle might suit one such as yourself," she said grudgingly once he was done. “But Kajy Aboo-sen Remi... Not all who are outcasts have chosen to be. I am going to take a risk, my Uypsocp Pxedqa*. There might be a deal to be made between the two of us.

“You see... The Riuuqroda are known for their artistry, and though I am fully Riuuqroda, I have always been different. My tattoo is not of the tribe color, my eyes were not always one color or even one color combination. And, of course, you can see why they cast me out when I was fourteen—no one could ignore such a large difference as horns. But even before that, I was not the artisan my parents were; I was a dark sorceress. I still am, but when I was cast out, they bound me from Fronima. So. You get me my powers back, and I stand by your side as your trusty sorceress, whether you be the Outcast Prince of the Uhai or ruler of a re-constructed Remi. I could help you make it up to Remi, I could help you track down those you failed. Or I could lead you to the nearest Anubi cache and teach you how to catch a Ohrayyin somewhere other than my supply bag."

*Anubian for Outcast Prince.

 

Cho had, by this point, remained silent and for the most part had become part of the background. Shuffling on her pawpads, she dug shallow trenches in front of her, slightly agitated by all that was going on around her. So far, she was feeling rather alienated and... well, scared. It was evident in the way she seemed to be trying to shrink down, ears flattened against her narrow skull and eyes wide. It didn't help that -being an empath- she was literally exuding these waves of nervous anxiety.

Her wings are unfurled and taunt, as if she's prepared to take off if anyone even looks at her oddly. Her plumed tail, curled tightly around one of her hind legs, twitches with every raised voice, even if that voice is not tinged with malice. The winds were picking up, and growing more and more impatient, as if waiting for something to happen. Any seasoned desert inhabitant, or a thill with a bond with the air itself, knew what the tense, heavy atmosphere meant. Clearing her throat, Cho tentatively speaks her mind.

"We... we really should find shelter... There's... The sandstorm is almost here..."

<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span>
<table class='ooc'><tr><td>Eeek! So sorry about the lateness. I'm technically on a leave of abcense, so I'm pretty behind with a lot of things... ><;; </td></tr></table>

 

Morichai watched intently, her ears flickering as she wondered of this wierd gathering.

<span style='color:green'>s-s-sir? Can i request to join your following? i-i-i know of healing remedys a-and other useful things...</span>

she moved in closer to the group still wary, and jumpy, her yellow eyes showing her discontentment.

 

Kiv’s ears flicked back and she squeezed her eyes shut against the ever-growing wind and sand, shrinking down as if to lessen her presence in the storm. It didn’t work—she’d never liked sandstorms.

“Later!" she cried against the gale, switching to spoken Anubian and then to Ramathian. “Anyone who wants shelter, follow me!"

With that, the tawny Anubi slipped off into the storm at a fast trot, head down. Though her eyes were shut and her ears still against her skull, the horned female made her way unerringly towards the north, orienting herself by minute sounds and smells. She knew this part of the desert like the back of her paw—if the string of pendragons could make it the mile to shelter, they’d all be fine. Rather perversely, Kiv considered leading them away from shelter—that would get them off of her property, that was for sure. But it was an idle fancy, the wishful thinking of one used to solitude thrust into the company of others.

Though she kept an unwavering pace, it was a moderate one. Within fifteen minutes they’d be at the shelter, a low cave partially filled in with sand but with an opening facing away from the winds. Though narrow in front, the sandstone cavern opened up farther in until it came to a massive central room that could fill hundreds of pendragons. Kiv was sure there was more to the cave than that—several of the side tunnels looked as if they had been carved by paw and not by nature, but the last time she had been here she was under circumstances that didn’t allow her to linger for very long.

(OOC: Nice and general-- if you want to make a few in-transit posts, that's fine, or we can skip right to the cave. Or the refusal to go to the cave, whatever.)

 

Kiv led the group of pendragons into the main room, navigating her way unerringly through the pitch-black hall. As familiar as she was with it, the seasoned Anubi couldnÂ’t resist a shudder at the echo of even her near-silent footsteps. It was like being disconnected from the world, pacing in this black hole cavern, and when the dark-pawed female found her cache of tallow candles, lighters, and old chemlights, she almost felt that sheÂ’d collapse in relief. Dragging the worn cloth bag back to the entrance chamber, she pulled out a chemlight with one paw and shook the little tube. Within seconds it glowed strongly, illuminating the pale yellow walls in even, bluish light.

“The others should be able to find the bag as soon as they enter," she said quietly in Anubian, gazing out at the storm with ears erect and alert. “We’ll be safer deeper in, Kajy."

She paused and glanced at him, putting the chemlight in her mouth so she could walk unhindered. “And we can discuss things without being overheard or stared at like exhibits."

 

Kiv, deadened as she was to her magic and ahead of her companion, could not feel or see the sharp glow of the prince’s tail, but the silver fur along her back and neck bristled. She put it down to the changing air pressure, the difference of temperature, even the simple act of returning to a place she had neglected for so long. The deeper they got into the cave, the more oppressive it became—not just because of the darkening, the cold, the damp, but the very idea of being so far below the wind-torn desert above. Though not claustrophobic, the walls seemed to be reaching out to choke the very life out of her. Speaking past that awful presence seemed impossible, especially to one who knew the sober, grisly secrets the darkness kept.

Just when she thought sheÂ’d flip out and go running back to the main room, the passage opened up into a moderate-sized cavern, about ten by ten, and dimly lit by a kind of phosphorescent lichen.

“You had a question, did you not?" she said finally, aloud and in Anubian. “I am not cut off entirely from Fronima, just... blocked. I know it is there, but it’s like a glass wall has been placed between it and I."

(Crappy, but it's a Monday.)