ORIGIN

Things had changed, and Nemesis did not like it. The stillness of the air left her restless and agitated, ears twisting to try and hear the roar of wind. Every small noise, drip of water, clicking of rat claws, drove her closer and closer to the edge of insanity. She wanted to just run away, but there was no where to run. She seemed to only find peace with Maggs, but still felt uncomfortable hovering beside her for too long. Last thing she wanted was to make the princess feel like she was weak and needed protecting... The dog was strong on her own accounts, and had gone... Half a cycle, was it? Without her.

She shook her hide as if to kick off flies that were bothering her and stomped at the earth. There was an urge to charge and race the wind, but the air was still and flat. Occasionally there was a brief rush of wind, but they died as fast as they came. She wanted things to go back to the way they used to be, but ever since that day everyone invaded her home, there was no turning back.

Which meant that now, Nemesis was left with only aggravation and an overwhelming urge to protect her home. Now that she had hatched again, this time with more heat under her skin and a tougher hide-- not to mention the obvious face lift-- she was ready to do any and everything she could to defend her home. She was expendable. For all she knew, a fatal blow would simply put her back in the crystal. The pain was worth the price of protecting those she loved.

A noise reached her ears and she lifted her head, snorting. Something had entered her home. In the silent aftermath of the twister falling low, she had become acutely aware of every noise. Painfully aware. Every sound drove her crazy, and with a lashing tail, she slowly trotted forward to find out who had entered her domain. She wasn't a warmonger, but she was ready to fight anyone who didn't carry her password.

"Fin-ish! Ori-- Gin-ae Pend-ee!" She roared, fumbling over the foreign words on her tongue, sweeping her array of horns through the air as she tried to find the source of the sound.

Nemesis' feet drew to a stop as the voice caught her ears. She swung her head the opposite way, to face the feline that had approached on her flank, and slowly rounded to face him. She held her head high, though she did not think herself mighty-- it was a show of incredibly temporary peace. You did not want a rhino to lower its head towards yours.

Before her was a lion, though he held more hair than the first lion she had ever met. Her tail lashed with the childhood memory, and she snorted. "Many trespassers step into my home," she declared with a sharp sneer. She did not like the look of this boy in her home, nor did she trust him.

"Describe 'em. Folks don't tend to hand out their names when they're breaking the law of the land," she suggested, the gem that nested between her three horns taking on a soft, orange glow. She made no effort to hide the fact that she did not want him there-- but if he knew a member of the Merrymen, she would grudgingly escort him if need be.

The lion was a coward. She could sense it in him, could see the fear in his eyes and in the way his breath raced down the floor. He reminded her so strongly of Makyna, the innocent, pure little queen who thought she could just prance around other people's homes. She held down on her temper, trying not to let it show. Her tail gave her away with its violent lashing.

Her silence grew into a hot rumble of burning blood in her veins as Niru explained his friend. The memories washed over her-- the deer, the white dragon, and the black cat, all disturbing her home. She remembered the painful, ear splitting pop of molten light that burned through her world and sent Raheerah screeching. Red filled her vision like the flames that engulfed Monoceros only half a cycle ago. To many, they had been days away.

For Nemesis, it had been only yesterday.

That awful black cat had come to her home and tore apart everything. Niru thought she was a warmonger? His father had started the whole mess! It was his fault that she had nearly died, nearly abandoned her whole home and nearly left her Princess all alone. It was the reason she was no longer a true rhino-- something that was her secret shame.

She lowered her head, eyes narrowed. "Your father is a horrible person," she told him calmly, surprisingly cold for the beast of fire. "He awoke the Dragon, my family, that consumes the cave in Fire in his rage, and chased him out. He turned the Dragon against me. Because of your father--" She tensed, just for a moment, and then lunged.

"I'M A MONSTER!"

{ FIGHT STATISTICS }
NEMESIS v. NIRU
ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE ???

{ ATTEMPT }

~ CHARGE

{ DEFENSES }

~ none

{ INJURIES }

~ prior injuries;;

• freshly mutated

~ current injuries;;

• none

A few puncture marks pocketed the rhinoceros' nose, but she had taken down the lion in one swift charge. This new body of hers was stronger, more firmly compact. It made her feel brave.

A rush of adrenaline sped through her veins as she remembered the violent screams and roar of the fire. This lion had no idea what it was like, to live in a home that was constantly under attack by other groups and monsters and hordes of gembounds. He probably lived comfortably, scrapping by on scraps of cave rat in quiet tunnels.

She hated him.

Summoning her magic into her toes, she strode over to him. Her intention? To step on his frail body and burn him. Brand him. As a sinner, trespasser, as someone who associated with a murderer, a gembound only in this world to harm. She hated them all-- any who didn't associate with her family. They didn't deserve anything but hate from her.

And so, she tried to light her massive foot on fire and shove it into Niru to pin him down and burn him. During it all, she was silent, the smell of burning flesh as the magic tried to come forth from her skin. The only sound was their breaths and the sizzling of flames.

{ FIGHT STATISTICS }
NEMESIS v. NIRU
ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE ???

{ ATTEMPT }

~ BRAND THE NIRU

{ DEFENSES }

~ none

{ INJURIES }

~ prior injuries;;

• freshly mutated

~ current injuries;;

• very minor punctures on nose

The lion managed to wriggle out of her clutches, but the wild, hungry flames became the greedy passengers of her thundering feet. Her magic fueled them, her stomping sending and fueling oxygen into the fire's lungs. She turned, slow and clumsy, raking her horns through the air, but the lion slipped out of reach every time.

"Why do you think your father's named Cancer?!"

Her cold, dark eyes watched him retreat once more after his last jump failed. Last time a lion had managed to claw up on to her back, she had only one option: charge the twister. Her pulse quickened: that wouldn't be an option this time. She could only use her own strength. She had no back up plan, nothing to rely on.

"He's a disease, a plague! Next time you see him-- remember-- everyone would be better off without his disgusting filth poisoning our homes, you spoiled BRAT!"

With a roar, she charged him once more. Fire crackled and snapped, flames licking up her legs. Pain seared through her thick skin, the acidic smoke billowing out behind her.

This cub was a fool. She would show him what it meant to be wise. No one messed with the Merrymen.

{ FIGHT STATISTICS }
NEMESIS v. NIRU
ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE ???

{ ATTEMPT }

~ trampling niru with her fire feets!

{ DEFENSES }

~ none

{ INJURIES }

~ prior injuries;;

• freshly mutated

~ current injuries;;

• very minor punctures on nose