Welcome to Gaia! ::

((RP Note: A lot of what Xellra refers to should be considered folklore and not be taken as literal truth))

With mane flying behind him, Xellra ran through the dark forest. Stars danced overhead in a clear night sky and the moon shone bright and gibbous. It was as lovely a night as could have been asked for, though still on the chilly side. Xellra wasn't on the hunt presently. He had fed well enough during the daylight hours that he felt no need to sink his teeth into anything now.

As he ran, he delighted in seeing the creatures of the forest sighting him and running away in fear. Mice scurried from beneath his hooves. Rabbits bolted, their eyes bulging and their tails blazing white. Even the owls abandoned their haunting cries when he ran past. They recognized a superior predator in their midst. His father, the kalona Xelloss, had raised him that way. Xelloss had whispered things to Xellra that he doubted his father had ever told anyone else. He knew what a "mazoku" was, and that he was part of that unclean bloodline. He knew of the dread skinwalker that had been sliced into seven pieces and yet could awaken again. These secrets clung to him like mist and he delighted in them. He wanted to see the five ancient mazoku lords awaken and revel in their bloodbath. He wanted to-

Water. A clear running stream cut across in front of him and Xellra slowed to a stop by its banks. Even demons had to drink. He lowered his head and drank until his thirst abated.

Xellra raised his head quickly and his eyes shone cat-like in the dark. There was some shining being there, something silver and glowing with the moonlight. He wondered if he had encountered some lunar spirit, then a cloud passed in front of the moon. Without that light, the other soquili was revealed to be nothing more than a kirin mare of flesh and blood.

The only other pure kirin that Xellra had ever known was his mother. Though his father told him that mazoku were not able to form attachments, Xellra didn't follow this rule exactly. He had always held a secret fondness for his mother. That hint of emotion kept him from growling at the mare like he might have to another stranger who came upon him unexpectedly. After a moment's hesitation, he returned the nod to her.

"Don't you know any better than to be afraid of a kalona at night?" he quipped at her. He wouldn't harm her physically, but there was still a bite to his words.

Xellra squinted at her. As soon as she spoke it became evident that her voice was heavily accented. He had never heard that particular pattern of speaking and had a hard time deciphering it at first. She must have somehow gotten over by boat from one of the otherlands. Xellra couldn't help but wonder if she had been a pet of the humans.

The way she looked at him unnerved Xellra a little. He was still youthful, barely even a stallion, and had never met someone with a gaze and calm of that intensity. He flicked his tail uncertainly and summoned a sharp-toothed smirk to try to bring about an air of confidence.

"In my case, you can judge based on appearances. I'm not about to go sobbing over any corpses. I'd rather make them instead."

Xellra bristled at the kitten comparison. He felt offended that she would even suggest it as a possibility. He wasn't some cute baby furry animal. He was a mazoku, a monster that lived off of fear and pain. So his father had taught him. Even his own mother knew better than to think him harmless. His demeanor turned decidedly less playful and more aggressive. He glared at the mare who called herself Forsilvra.

"My name is Xellra. It comes from my father, Xelloss." Xellra lifted his head with pride as he recounted his bloodline. "My father was named for the one he serves, Beastmaster Xellas. She is one of the five ancient demon lords who served the great purewalker Ruby Eyes when he reigned terror upon the world." There. Let her think about that and see if she really thought that he might turn out to be a kitten.

This mare was strange, there was no denying it. She was almost... too strange. Xellra shifted and turned himself so his side was facing her. He was now watching her out of only one eye. That was better. He had heard of some who could enchant a soquili with the power of their eyes, like a snake hypnotizing a bird. He didn't want to fall prey to that, if this kirin was some sort of enchantress.

"I am proud. I would have thought that was obvious." He made himself snide, to show her just what he thought of her opinions. "If I ever meet Lord Beastmaster, I'll serve her just as my father has. It's my purpose."

She could tell that she was bothering him. That was the most irksome part of it. This wasn't a mare that could be reasoned with in the normal manner. He might have to bite her to get her to give him a response. Even then he somehow guessed that she wouldn't react in the manner of most soquili. This was a strange one. There was no denying that.

"Have it your way." He still talked down to her as if she were an errant foal. "I choose to serve Lord Beastmaster. I choose to be a mazoku, and I choose to live like one." Being a mazoku was partially a choice and partially not. The markings on his flank were the markings of a mazoku, so he certainly was one in breed. In attitude... he could have decided to abandon the mazoku ideals if he wanted to, but that wasn't something he'd ever do.

He flicked his tail. Mazoku were something he talked with his father about, not outsiders. He wondered if it was a secret. Xelloss had never said that it was, and he was certainly clear on what information was secret and what was not. He considered between telling her and not telling her and decided he'd talk. Mazoku had been almost lost to history in recent decades. It was about time that changed. He couldn't restore all the fear of their strongest days, but he could start.

"Mazoku are a subrace of soquili, mostly kalona. We live off suffering and hate." His eyes were violet and had slit pupils like his father. They seemed to glitter with demon malice as he recounted the knowledge of his race. "We seek to end the world, and one day we will." Destruction was what they longed for. There would never be any peaceful retirement for a mazoku. There was only destruction and death.

He snorted when she said it 'wasn't very nice of them.' That was an understatement. If the stories he heard were true, which he had no reason to suspect they were not, the mazoku had managed to personally murder countless soquili and many angeni. The angeni were the ones they hated most. They were often the good that countered the mazoku's darkness. Xellra shared that sentiment, though he had never met an angeni himself.

"The world isn't going to end anytime soon," he said dismissively. "There's plenty of time to enjoy things. Once it ends, we'll all be tossed back into the sea of chaos where we were born. That sounds a lot more interesting to me than spending the day sunning yourself or something." He knew that the mazoku wanted to end the world but didn't have nearly as much confidence in their ability to do so as he projected. They didn't even have a leader right now. If they were going to end the world it would have been when Shabranigdo was alive.