ORIGIN - Death from the shadows

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Xireidi laid low on is perch, silent, still hoping against all hope that the sounds of his stomach wouldn't alert any life below to his presence. Even ears lay flat as the red wolf tried his best to blend into the darkness that now had claimed the entirety of the cave. He'd lost count of how many days it had been, couldn't even name the last time he'd been able to move well enough to hunt and eat, and his form had suffered for it. Any fat reserves he may have had after hibernation were gone, leaving only lean muscle mass behind. If he didn't eat soon even that too would likely go away to preserve what life he had left.

He'd tried as many things as he could, from eating plant matter to wandering around the caves looking for prey that might have stumbled and fallen, unable to defend themselves. It was only after about the fifth time passing through the tunnel between the core and the forgotten city that he truly recognized the opportunity that Tunnel N's glowing mosses offered. Over hours he'd made trips back and forth to a hiding spot near the river until he had enough to set up his trap.

So now he sat up on the ledge, looking down at the riverside where he'd arranged the glowing mosses in a cluster, hoping that their light would attract curious prey. The mosses had lost much of their glow in the process, but there was just enough light for him to see the area with decent certainty.

Hours upon hours passed in complete silence but the wolf did not allow himself to move, even to lap at the cool clean waters of the river. Sleep threatened to overtake him but not even that would be allowable, lest an herbivore come and eat all his handiwork while he rested. He had to remain vigilant.

A cave deer passed, drawing closer. Xireidi's muscles tensed, waiting for it to fully enter the light. Luck was not with him however, as it lifted its head, sniffed around and fled into the darkness. A tragic loss, yes, but not one he could chance reacting to. Food would come, he had to believe that.

More hours passed and the lights were starting to dim further. Sleep was tugging even harder at his eyelids now. Another cave deer appeared; this one bigger, less skittish than the second one. Such, Xireidi hoped, would be its downfall as it pranced boldly into the midst of the mosses and started rooting around in investigation.

In a flash, as though he had been waiting only minutes the red wolf leapt down, aiming to snap the cocky deer's neck in one swift merciful blow.

The deer reacted just a second too late as Xireidi's large lean body crashed down upon it, his jaws quickly latching onto its spine. With teeth firmly in place the deer's thrashing only served to sever the bond that had been put into danger, allowing it but a single kick into the air before it fell limp.

The starving red wolf held on for a few seconds, a small part of him mourning the fact that he still had to take life in order to survive but a much larger part of him thankful that he would not waste away in the darkness. Now certain that his prey would not get up again he quieted his reservations and let his instincts take hold to sate the hunger that had been growing for days on end.

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away
tags: @Kyorai
notes: None

Died last night in my dreams
"Kyo Speaks" | Kyo Thinks
@Xireidi

It had only been a day or two since the pup entered this room and mind had not grown bored of it yet. The glowing crystals for some odd reasons fascinated him to no extent, likely finding their numbers and light awe-inspiring. Within maw was a shard of crystal he found while examining the room to its every nook and cranny. He trotted around with it proudly, thinking of what he could do with it or perhaps someone to bring it to. Pace slowed when large ears caught the sound of water, direction changing to find where such source lain. Not much time had passed when form stumbled across the river this room surprisingly held. He watched currents go on their usual route, sniffing the air around to see if anything were out of place. Before setting his shard down and attempting a sip from the deep river, the sound of quick steps reached ears, looking for where it was coming from. A deer then came into view for a few seconds before vanishing, leaving him baffled as to why it was here and more so, running. Humming, he lowered head and began sniffing ground, putting aside water to see if anymore were bounding about the room.

Some time has went by with him searching about this area. He was not sure where the deer from before came from as nose was not having luck with catching any deer-like scents. That or he was ignoring the wrong thing. Lifting head up, sight noticed a peculiar spot, narrowing eyes and tilting head in wonder. He was tempted to check it out himself, but it seemed another creature beat him to it. Oh, it was a deer! Tail wagged lightly as he watched it, seating self while doing so. It was nice to admire things like this, even if only for a short while. A short while it definitely was as something out of nowhere rushed out and caught the curious creature. Body jumped in reacting to the sudden action, teeth gripping around shard. That... that poor deer. He knew such thing was a way of life but it seemed too soon for the creature to have gone out that way. Though perhaps he was being too considerate. The pup put on a frown as he witnessed the death of the creature afar, but displeasure had not lasted long, getting up and slinking his way over with a gaze that questioned.

Form moved far over to the side once he was a few inches away from this scene. Once at a distance he felt comfortable with, he did a peeking motion as he made his way around, looking directly into the face of the one in which had done this. Unknowingly, he had encountered such face, but eyes were in a terrible state at the time along with so much having gone on when meeting those three strange creatures. He sat down without a word, mostly because he did not want to lay down his shard. Instead, he purposely breathed loudly a few times while staring at them with tilted skull.

As Xireidi feasted his ears caught sound of another approaching. His mind clouded as it was however he ignored it for a moment. The life-giving effects of the cave deer were slowly taking hold, with the pain in his stomach becoming more tolerable by the second. Adrenaline from the hunt coursed through his veins still, leaving his fatigue all but washed away.

It was only when he had reached a point of relative satiation that he realized that the other creature had not run away, and carried with it a light which glowed in the corner of his vision.

"Be you an herbivore I deeply apologize for this display." he spoke aloud as he backed away a few steps from the hunt. When he turned his head to actually look at the stranger, however, it seemed to be canid in nature.

Something about the figure seemed strangely familiar, though he couldn't quite place where from. Surely he would remember a canine with bright feathers, right?

"You do not appear to be a plant-eating greater one, though." The red wolf straightened his stance and repositioned himself where he could be seen as well as possible in the pale moss light. "If you are hungry come and share in this meal. With the caves as they are it isn't as easy to obtain sustenance as it once was."

It seemed a decent bit smaller than him, but then again Xireidi had grown fairly large for his species. More so it had to have been clever to be able to find and dislodge a crystal that had retained its light even in these bleak conditions.

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away
tags: @Kyorai
notes: None

Died last night in my dreams
"Kyo Speaks" | Kyo Thinks
@Xireidi

Hair stood on end when the stranger spoke forth. He was expecting them to do such thing but what waved off of them had the pup sensing a strange vibe. A snort emitted from him when they apologized, unsure if it were sincere enough for his taste. Then, they had come to realize he was not a plant eater, offering to share deer soon after. To think of it, the pup barely ate any meat; mostly going off berries and the sticks he often chewed up. No problems to arise, yet, but body would surely come down with another need soon—knowing plant matter could not assist much with his growing form. Though there was no telling if reformation morphed system to tolerate greens more. It was all but a mystery.

Neck stretched forward, sniffling the air around in uncertainty of eating off a creature such as a deer. The creature was large, self would not know where to start. An underlying worry of it somewhat being alive was present as well. Chin fell onto chest after assessing the situation, not flagging up the right feeling to bring himself to at least lick it. In place of giving venison a try, he walked over and gave the body a poke with his shard. It felt so odd being up close to one; going to where the head was and staring it down with curiosity. Finally, he set down his light, dry tongue licking lips and nose. "This is terrible!" he joked, snicker following right after it. It surely was a tragedy but mind would get over it quite quickly. Sitting next to deer head, he put a paw on it as if checking its temperature or whatever else one could do. "Hmm. I am a plant-eating greater one! Looks can tell lies now." he continued on with humored tone, deciding to let it rest as statements began to stretch with dryness. At times, he thought of himself terrible for bringing on humor in encounters like this. No, it was just a way in comforting self.

A deep breath was taken, getting on top of the prey's head soon after. He climbed it until he reached the spot in where stranger was eating from, examining it with a look in which spoke of disgust. "Isn't easy? Sustenance? Sounds weird," he told, sniffing the area and taking the decision to pull out a piece. Although as teeth gripped flesh, form shivered from the feeling, fur ruffled up and eyes wider than usual. Not wanting to turn away now, he tugged at the piece maw had, falling off the deer once meat released from its place. Rolling back onto paws, he shook piece before throwing it on the ground, composing himself now that he retrieved it fully. Tongue was constantly licking lips in trying to understand taste. Looking back over at stranger, he gave the shaking of his head.

"Such an unpleasant thing! How do you eat? Is there a certain way you eat it?"

As the canid came closer it became apparent that not only was it smaller than the red wolf, it was much younger as well. Xireidi stood a respectful distance back as the youth examined the deer with an odd sort of humor. Its identity still bugged him, especially as it spoke aloud. Something about that voice, about that form, reminded him of an event back when the lights had all been on. He almost looked like the pup that Xireidi had almost run into after getting hit by a rock before crashing into Kin-Kin, but that couldn't be right; that pup hadn't been covered with feathers. What were the feathers anyways? Never before had he seen any creature with that form harbor such an accessory.

A small look of concern rest itself on his face as he observed the youth's struggle, both mental and physical, with the fallen deer. He knew better than to try to offer unwanted assistance. He was a stranger, and one that would likely be seen as a threat; especially to one so small. The expression shifted toward amusement, however as the other commented on his odd wording. It was true he didn't spend a great amount of time talking to others, mostly keeping to himself either in training, hunting, or exploring.

"It can be unpleasant at times." he confirmed with a soft tone as the youth appeared to have settled, "Unfortunately this is not an ideal world we were born into. Between the darkness that has taken the caves without warning, the disabilities many of us were born into, and the threat of..."

Xireidi trailed off, realizing that his recovering hunger and waning adrenaline leading him to fatigue was causing him to ramble. "Well, never mind that. There are certain parts of the animal which are better than others, but I can't think of a particularly wrong way to eat it."

"My name is Xireidi, by the way. Despite my current withered state and unfortunately necessary dietary habits I have taken it upon myself to be a kind of guardian of the caves."

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away
tags: @Kyorai
notes: None

Died last night in my dreams
"Kyo Speaks" | Kyo Thinks
@Xireidi

Every second or so, a splatting noise filled the air as he continued to toy with "snack". Although mind knew, well, should know better than to play with something given by another source, thoughts were sure to remind him of where such thing came from—spontaneous movements settling down at the recollection. It was hard not to, however, as action was just a way in getting use to the taste and texture, chewing carefully whenever a tiny amount entered his maw. He listened to stranger's agreement on this being a distasteful thing to the one feeding off, nodding head along with.

Slowly becoming agitated, he tossed the piece over to stranger in practically letting them have the rest. Legs brought him near this other canine after retrieving his shard, sitting down and dropping the light to allow sight to study company without fault. Attention immediately went to their stone eye, accidentally invading their space to look at it directly. "Oh, no! Your eye!" he pointed out, putting on a frown from worry. Why he worried about the stranger's eye: the pup knew how precious the organ could be, remembering how his was. Putting rump back onto ground, ears perked when drawing awareness to their skipping. "No 'never mind that'! What do you talk about and why avoid it?" he inquired, narrowing eyes with suspicion. Kyorai may have been a youngster, but that was no excuse to cover it up, especially after bringing it up shortly. With that, self would not rest until he found out what it was—he surely would not.

Looking up at the cave ceiling and around this room, the canine completely forgot about the current state of this cave. With eyes adjusting to the lack of light and holding spell to ensure clearness whenever needed, darkness was hardly a thought. Attention snapped back in hearing a particular word, expression telling of his interest for the word in which caught him. "Oh? A guardian! You don't look like one. What do you do as a guardian of this cave?" he would expect the usual, whatever usual stuff guardians do. Waiting for a response, the male barked back the stranger's name, likely ensuring he got it right in saying. Following after was the giving of his own. "Kyorai," he hummed, stretching a small smile across his face.

"Kyorai" he repeated aloud, filing the name away for later conversations. The pup seemed excitable, energetic, inquisitive; all lovely traits in one so young. Unfortunately all of his questions seemed to knock on the same door. It would be rude to try to hide it, and possibly dangerous too depending on how quickly things unraveled in the cave.

"Are you familiar with magic?" Xireidi asked in what seemed to be a complete subject shift. It would be necessary to lead into the rest though without coming off as completely insane. "How every greater gembound in this cave has a stone, and within that stone resides a spirit which holds the power to perform marvelous acts?"

A small pause. He was starting to tread into territory that was not extremely common knowledge. "For many that spirit is quiet, and for many the spirit is so well merged with the individual that it is impossible to tell apart from their own personality, even by the host themselves.

He silently wondered what kind of spirit Kyorai held. A spirit of exploration? Of compassion? Perhaps even a spirit of optimism or joy. If the youth was like most gembound he'd encountered he likely didn't know or had never thought about it, only at best knew what the spirit was capable of.

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away
tags: @Kyorai
notes: And here we go, off the diving board into the deep end :P

Died last night in my dreams
"Kyo Speaks" | Kyo Thinks
@Xireidi

Ear flicked in response to his name, nodding head in approving the pronunciation. When asked if he were familiar with the magic he wielded, he gave a snort along with a smirk, "Of course!" he answered, wishing he had current knowledge for some offensive spells to show off. Putting attention forth, he listened to Xireidi's telling of stones and spirits, gazing at him in great fascination, though it was not purely interest; at least, not right now. Head tilted in continuing to understand what they were giving the pup, mind only gripping onto the word "spirit" the most. So, from all of what he picked from and gathered for himself, there was this being inside the stone of every gembound. Mind had figured that much out, still trying to piece it together into something sensible. However, he could not put much of anything together, shaking head as a result. "What is the purpose of this spirit?" he inquired, raising a brow.

As a moment had passed, brows furrowed when coming back to something. He avoided his questions! Looking at his offering still resting on the floor, he gave the stranger a displeased face, huffing out. "Hey! You can't be dodging in answering me questions! What be of your eye, holding self as a guardian?" he complained, raising a paw in the want to bop the other canine. He would listen to what they would like to tell, but the pup could not let them skip over his inquires like that!

"I personally like to believe the spirit is there for our benefit somehow." He mused, taking note of the pup's sour expression and reaching over to eat the small scrap that had been left over. Had he been fully satiated it probably would have tasted okay at best, a little tough perhaps, but with his appetite it was as good to him as any liver or heart ever might be. "Whether that be something technical like regulating the energy involved in magic or something more abstract such as pushing us in certain life directions, it's tough to say."

Kyorai was insistent for answers, and he would have them now. Xireidi's expression fell a bit at no longer being able to dance around the central issue, but it couldn't be helped.

"The stone that has rested in my eye for all my life holds within it a spirit which exists only to shine light into the darkness... or so to speak." Wouldn't a literal light to shine in the darkness be handy right now. Xireidi was just glad the pup had brought over his glowing crystal so they had at least a bit more visual input as they talked. "It sees things that have transpired, it aims to cut through deception no matter how benign, and from the very beginning it revealed to me one of the terrible secrets of the cave."

His face had fully fallen now; memories flashing before his eyes of the first recognition of the threat, of the loss of his beloved charge, of the fateful encounter. "There exists, or will one day exist, an entity of unknowable power who will threaten the very fiber of life within these caves. It is known only by its two colors: black and glowing orange."

The wolf shook his head, as though trying to get his concentration back. "I might have thought it idle fancy, a child's fear, but I received confirmation of its existence a short time ago. After awakening from a stasis brought upon by tragedy I encountered a small white creature by the name of Yuma. This horrible little being reveled in delight as he showed off the piled up corpses of dozens of gembounds he had robbed of life in slow and painful ways, mostly lesser as far as I could tell but with the condition they were in he could have also murdered a few of the greater ones. Once I called him out for the demon he was he revealed himself to be the servant of a horror of void and flame, whose name he suggested was beyond our comprehension."

Silence for a moment as the wolf took a deep slow breath. "I lost someone dear to me, and I have reason to believe that Yuma and the horror are to blame in the end. I've now dedicated my life to try to protect anyone else from meeting the same fate."

It was a tough tale to believe, he imagined. Even tougher in that is own magic was still sealed somehow. As much as he disliked the cynical thoughts the spirit encouraged he could certainly have used its help with the condition the cave was in.

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away
tags: @Kyorai
notes: Oh hey, just realized I lost an entire paragraph from the start of my post last time. That explains why he hadn't eaten the scrap yet!

Died last night in my dreams
"Kyo Speaks" | Kyo Thinks
@Xireidi

Frown removed itself in seeing the other eat the scrap he gave; however, lips and brow still twitched along as his query was still buried under. Oh, the action was fine, he would continue to jab at it until ensured. Taking in a deep breath, he held it in, slowly releasing it as he stayed patient with what the canine had to say. They answered his question about spirits but chose not to... shoving it back, he ignored their picking for the time being, pulling more air into his lungs. However, all of it escaped once done with one part of spirits, sensing something wrong with it. "I was never told of such being. Our stones just hold our magic, heal us when mind directs it. Wouldn't the spirit have say in that? Would our mind be this being?" he countered, remembering what friend told him about the stones in which gembounds withheld. Memory could not recall anything regarding spirits, only the stone itself. They were a part of their entity, so would not mind have the final say with this? Topic was gradually reeling pup in, though a lot of work needed to be issued to have him bite the next one.

Body's temper died down once they spoke about their eye, even though it was not an exact answer he was looking for—emitting out a humored sigh. Shifting crystal around to rest underneath him, he flickered ear once crawling to another part of their tale. "How are you to say all of this is true? Has this come upon anyone else?" licking nose, mind was beginning to jumble up a bunch of questions, ears faulting their speech. It was not good to be wary at times, but this was possibly the best time to shield up until he could see it appropriate. Most knowledge was going off past, however, it was not to say that he held holes within it. It would just take a little effort to fill those empty spaces. Head angled when they went on to talk about a power in which could threaten the cave. This is where he could not gain a grip. Past encounter, they spoke about a darkness, this encounter it fell under the same field. Where was it? Was he that oblivious to the problems of this cave? Sight took another round in examining this room, nose proceeding onward with its sniffing.

Mind was following along when telling about this creature named Yuma and the things they had done. It had not sounded too bad once they clarified the beings they took were lesser, though it still was chilling to imagine a pile a lifeless forms. "Beyond our comprehension? What would be considered beyond?" he asked, unsure of every gembounds' limit. Ears flatten when hearing they lost someone to the creature they told of before. Even though he has not experienced such, he could try and find some way to empathize. Trying to reach and place a paw on their stoned eye, he would gaze into their other. "Hey, hey it's okay! You're the only one protecting those from that fate? That's nice!" he said, trying to bring the atmosphere up into a cheerful state. If such was the case in them doing this alone, he would surely help out, but he was just a bean right now.

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