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 Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 10:41 pm
 As the sun rose a light dew settled across Rook's small territory. Her tiny cave home offered little insulation against the cool, damp mornings of this mountainous region, but the humans in the valley below had all but driven her out. Sticking her nose to the dirt she snuffled, seeking out the last piece of marrow bone left from her previous week's kill. Her belly rumbled as she gnawed desperately at it, tongue and teeth searching for the delicious middle. Sheep's wool was still scattered across her den.
Rook disliked the feeling of hunger.
The smoke-walker was used to picking and choosing the best of what a settlement could offer. She'd need to find a new place to feed, however, as this village had finally caught on to her antics and set up around-the-clock posts in the pastures. The lamb she had made off with last nearly cost her her life.
Drool dribbled down her jaw and into the dirt as she continued to work at her prize, placated at least for the moment. As warm light began to filter through the trees and her coat dried, small wisps of smoke began trailing away from her body in the breeze. Yes, a new place to feed. Mutton was delicious and tender in her mouth, but if it filled her belly it would be more than enough.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:50 pm
 Cante just had to get away. Avree was nagging him about being lazy. Lazy. Please. Just because he liked a nap after breakfast, and before lunch, and after lunch, and before dinner... how did that make him lazy? The electrically colored kage slunk away from the neverlin camp, away from the people, out into the wilds. This was where he could really shine. Cante didn't have to worry about the humans getting in the way, and he could chase things down just to hone his skills. But as he wandered, he saw signs of a town. Not ideal for hunting. Humans, specially those who don't care for Kage, were crafty and dangerous. But... Cante tipped his nose up. Something smelled acrid. It was smokey. That was rarely a good sign. Though Cante's experience with fire was limited to the mages, small cooking fires, and Avree going awry. One of these days, he was just going to steal that staff of hers and never let her use it again. But that still left him with the fact that there was smoke here. He crouched down in an attempt to blend in as he stalked closer towards the town.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:14 am
Although thoroughly engrossed in her gnawing activity, Rook heard the soft sound of crunching leaves. Her ears swiveled as she listened, trying to pinpoint who, or what, was coming her way. With a loud crack the bone snapped in half and the elder continued to lap at the marrow inside. They could wait. Her belly rumbled again, still not sated. The leaf-crunching grew closer, and finally with a huff Rook dropped her snack and rose from her position.
As each paw lifted smoke drifted behind her. Her talons dug deep scores into the soft earth beneath her, nose raised as she attempted to sniff out her visitor. Definitely male... but where? He tail twitched as she stepped out of her tiny cave and into the bleak sunlight. Kage? It had been ages since another had crossed her path. These days she dealt more with humans and cattle than her own kind. Come to think of it, it had been ages since she even spoke to another demon.
The elder finally caught the right direction and padded towards the oncoming Kage, ears swiveled forward intently. Friend or foe? She couldn't tell the difference anymore.
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 5:27 am
It was the smoke that gave her away. Not only the smell, but the wisps as they moved from her body. He could see her. Or at least where she was by tracking the smoke. Whomever this demon was, they were coming towards him. Cante flicked an ear as he watched the smoke draw closer. High ground or stay hidden? Hiding wouldn't last long. His eyes scanned the area quickly before spotting a rock not far from where he was crouched. High ground it is.
It took a well executed leap, but the blue and green demon landed on the rocks, claws digging in, marring the surface of the stone as he peered down at...
An elder hell. A very smokey hell. His ear flicked again, the sun glinting off the studs as he did. Cante said nothing as he stared at her from this slightly higher vantage point.
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:21 am
Rook had been looking in the wrong direction, but whirled on her haunches as the green-blue blur caught her eye. A younger male, well groomed. He probably lived alongside humans, she assumed, as he looked well fed. She scrutinized him for a moment more, silver eyes narrowing. Her maw opened to speak and she paused, hoping the words would come out. It had been long since she had seen another kage that didn't register as 'food'.
"Your businessss?" she hissed, voice low. It wasn't a matter of fear. The elder was more than sure of herself, but kage that stuck close to humans provided problems for her. They brought mages and others along behind them, ruining a fair fight. Humans feared hell kage and for good reason; Rook's sheer size could overwhelm even the largest of them. They choked on her smoke trails and usually tried to flee.
When they returned, they came back in numbers to drive her from her territory.
So Rook eyed this young male with caution. The piercings along his ear confirmed a human hand. She did not like the feeling in her stomach that told her to be careful. Her brain was screaming to leap, attack, to shred. Her claws dug deep into the soft dirt and leaves, leaving scores as she fought with herself.
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:08 pm
"Hunting." He responded, watching the female's muscles tense. She was sort of a scraggly, sorry looking sight, wasn't she? "But it seems hunting here is no good." How boring. Cante really wanted to just dig his claws into some helpless beast and watch the life drain from it's eyes. That was the fun part. Seeing that last spark of life flicker out when a creature died.
Almost as if he was toying with the female, Cante flopped down on the rock, grooming a paw slightly, cleaning the rock dust from his claws. His posture relaxed, but not defenseless. His eyes were still on the female, watching her, judging her. Was she worth fighting? Probably not. If this area was so poor it couldn't even feed one scraggly looking Kage like herself, what was the point?
"Let me guess. There are humans near by."
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 5:49 pm
As he spoke she listened, although ready to coil and leap at any moment. Her tail twitched, stirring the smoke that crept across the ground. It had thickened in her uncertainty, but was beginning to thin as the other demon made no move to attack.
"Good hunting," she replied after a moment, nodding down the hill. Far in the distance the forest turned to pasture. "Too many humansss. They are too sssmart."
If she was offended by his lazy posture it didn't show, although Rook did sit back on her haunches. The leaves crackled beneath her. For a second she thought that perhaps this kage could be her next meal, but his lean muscle betrayed that it would not be an easy task, nor worth the fight. The next town over perhaps would have another herd of cattle or sheep, perhaps even small human children if the elder was really lucky. After a day of restless pacing she might move on as night began to fall.
"Will be leaving this place ssssoon." she muttered quietly, looking wistfully at her tiny cave. "Need to feed."
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 7:29 pm
"I'd just pick off the humans." He shrugged. "There are too many of them anyways." Of course, he liked some of them. The mages, they were ok. For the most part. They kept him fed. But a village of humans could be... quite troublesome for one kage.
"You need to feed, I need to kill. There might be a way to work together so we both get what we want. Until you move on of course."
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Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 10:47 pm
"Humansss!" she spat, a large wave of smoke heaving off of her body. Rook narrowed her gaze. "One isss not a problem, but many can be.. troublessome. They come with bladesss." The elder had taken many people by surprise in her years, but a well-armed human was more trouble than it was worth.
"In the night," she mused aloud, "Under cover of sssmoke."
It was a plan she had used countless times before to great success; as she had grown her control over her abilities had made it easy to engulf the area of several houses in a thick, acrid fog that sent families coughing and wheezing from their homes into her waiting jaws. In the terror and clamor of the dark small villages had up and left overnight, not knowing what beast had stalked from the shadows. It was the perfect time to pick off a straggling child or drag a family goat into the black of the forest.
"Thisss could work for usss," she purred, talons digging deep into the soil in glee, "Jussst this once I will help you."
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 3:41 am
Cante bore his teeth in what might have been a smile, had it not been so devious looking. She would help him? Hardly! Aside from the wisps of smoke. the female didn't like like she could even help herself! Though, he had been wrong about other kage before and picked fights with others in the camp, only to nearly lose an ear or his tail.
"I just want to kill." He said after a moment. "You want to eat." this could work. "We can... scare those humans, and make them truly fear us. And you can fill your belly for days." He wanted to just... tear into a human and feel the blood and flesh as his claws tore them apart. He wanted to hear the crunch of metal as he tore it off a body. If he was lucky, he could break a sword or two.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 8:17 pm
Rook's loose screw passed over Cante's devious expression and paid it no mind; the thought of a good meal after so long was pushing her past manners and into her most primal- and deadly- state. Her limber legs carried her past the bright-coated male, downhill with a stone cold stare at the outlines on the thatched rooftops in the mist. She could not bear to wait until darkness, not with this thick fog already settled in the valley! As she stalked forth her paws disappeared amongst the cover of smoke, thick and acrid in the air as her pulse raced for the hunt.
"Come when you are ready," she growled, not looking at Cante as she disappeared into the growing fog, "I will not wait for you."
Rook bolted forth, her dark coat melding with the smoke and the leaves littering the ground. As she burst from the treeline into the outskirts of town smoke poured from her body in an alarming amount, spreading across the ground and rapidly beginning to fill the air. Someplace several buildings down, a horn wailed in warning as the guard spotted her. The elder slunk along between homes, smoke continuing to come without signs of waning. In all of her years Rook had accumulated much control over her ability, and it was moments like these that it was... most useful.
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Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 8:21 pm
This really was just too amusing to pass up. Cante watched the female head off first, but he was quickly behind her. He didn't have the cover of smoke, nor did he blend in with the fog, but he had the advantage of blending in some with the grasses. He heard the horn, but ignored it. Humans thought sounds like that did them any good. Now that he was in the town, the bright colors stood out against the drab and simple houses. But the people were already scared, and anyone smart had already gone inside.
Cante didn't need to see the elder female to know where she was. He could smell the smoke that had been wisping from her since he'd come upon her. He just had to follow his nose... or he could listen to the sounds of hastily armored feet as they fanned out in the streets to try and find this "black demon" that they had spotted. Oh? Had they not seen him? This was perfect. Not far ahead he could see the female, and further on, hear the men of the village wanting to "Hold their ground." against her.
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