ORIGIN - The Only Thing they Fear is You

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The swordhound had, at some point, had figured his way out of the depths of the Underforge. He was on to cause much suffering and destruction. The sword had not gone far from the Underforge, however. He was, at present, on a down-slope of Leo's volcano. His eyes were wide, pupils mere slivers, glowing in the orange light.

His gaze glued to a spot just before a newly formed river of the ever-pouring lava flow. And what laid there stood out. A small blot of green against the dark browns and oranges of the Volcano. He shook, creaking and tearing. Mirac had, in his infinite lust for bloodshed and violence, laid a still live plant in the path of a trickle of lava. A small clump of wildflower and its roots. It's pale pink flowers curling and withering in the heat.

It was struggling against his will. One that needed to be snuffed out. 'DIE' he commanded, pressing his will into the flower. The newly born valkhound's magicka was still new, the reserves untapped. And this overflowing power was now focused onto the helpless plant. It seemed, despite flowers having no brain to impart his will onto, it actually worked. It wilted against the ground. Accepting its fate.

"Yes..."Mirac hissed. Thankfully for the lessers living nearby, he was much too loud and new to successfully catch one of them. The fact his brain was not wired to hunt prey helped a good deal. He was wired to destroy his opponents in combat. Although, this was a pretty unsportsmanlike-like move.

"Come on...COME ON." He barked. The lava edged closer. The edge of his blade parted. The roots caught before the lava'd had a chance to touch it. And as the lava began to flow over the helpless plant, Mirac laughed.

"BE DESTROYED! I AM THE ARBITER OF SUFFERING! PERISH BY MY WILL." Mirac screamed. His jaw by now torn wholly open, oil leaking freely. The laughter petered off. Something didn't feel right. It was missing something... where was the blood? The screams? He squinted. Then hummed in thought.

Aerie had been rummaging through the discarded items of the Underforge, digging through piles of scrap metal and discarded items, searching for something to decorate herself with.

She pulled out a sword, long and sharp with a wonderfully carved hilt. She threw it away carelessly, grumbling. Cool, but not anything she was looking for at the moment.

After a while of searching, she drew forth a palm-full of golden rings, probably to go on fingers, but she had other ideas... Onto her horns they went, two on her main set and a pair on the smaller. There, now she felt better. After arguing with that stupid portal for a few days, she needed a pick-me-up. The bands would certainly need to be cleaned, but that was a job for another day.

She exited the forge and stood atop the volcano, the wind blowing her mane around and cooling her off immensely. She shook herself out and walked forward, ears pricking up. She approached the sword, blinking as the plant was engulfed. Weird but okay.

”... You know, plants can't feel anything,” she said, and cocked her head, ”You're a living sword. Weird.”

@Mirac

strong language

Mirac's ears (yes) caught Aerie's voice, and the blade turned towards her. He narrowed his eyes, watching Aerie as she spoke. He did not notice the gold upon her. But his brain immediately went to work, study her form, her stance, her possible weak points. But he latched onto one thing. A word she'd spoken. Aerie had said 'a sword.'

"A sword," Mirac repeated. He scoffed. "A sword! You are mistaken. I'm not A sword. I am MIRAC! I am THE sword! All others are INFERIOR. Paltry copies who TRY to mimic what they cannot. NO other sword possesses my power, my STRENGTH. I'll destroy all the copies I can find. And YOU! Who are you?"

Mirac began to float towards Aerie, parting his blade into a wild smile, black teeth and pinprick eyes gleaming against the red glow of lava."ANOTHER CHALLENGER, THEN?" He roared.

"You chose to approach me, Mirac! Have you fought a blade before? Our blood shall spill, TAINTING the land. You--you are what I was MISSING! Blood! Flesh! Rending and tearing! The only problem with plants is that they don't fucking BLEED. Pain--pain is SECONDARY to that! I did not know that--but NOW Mirac knows! But I do NOT know why such a stupid thing would be created--to exist and live but not know true AGONY! To not FEEL dismemberment! Mirac craves the blood, the DESTRUCTION, of bleeding, screaming things!"

Mirac stopped. "You had not attacked Mirac when you had the opportunity? Mirac will let you! You--not tainted by combat-- you have not felt the pure pain, the pure rush, the pure JOY of combat? MIRAC CAN SHOW YOU THIS! Indulge in the feeling of causing injury! "

Mirac's magicka lashed, and he grinned. But his youth betrayed him. It was unfocused, and his will, his magicka, dissipated into the atmosphere, concentrating on no one target.

@Aerie

Aerie listened to the sword rant on and on, tail flicking idly. She floated up into the air and lay as if on a surface, despite being a few feet off the ground. She yawned and leaned in, daring to poke at Mirac curiously.

”I'm Aerie,” she said, ”And I'm no challenger. I'm simply a seeker of pretty things... though maybe I can help you out.”

She pointed off down the volcano, ”There are things called lessers down there. Should you allow me to wield you, I believe we could kill a few lessers, sate your bloodlust, and I could take their skins and meat for myself.”

She set her elbows upon the air before her, leaning her chin on the backs of her hands, fingers linked under her chin. She gazed down at the blade with golden eyes, the same color as the bands on her horns.

”What do you say, Mirac?”, she said, offering a hand.

@Mirac

"Float DOWNWARDS challenger! Aerie! You are lucky I cannot reach!" Mirac said, oil tinted spittle flying. Mirac had not appreciated the poke. "Mirac may not be touched by any other than his Wielder and--"

Mirac's mouth slid shut. His eyes growing big. "Kill?" Mirac said, not at the massive volume he'd used the entire conversation. Aerie had hit a purpose in Mirac's brain that had yet to be unlocked. His purpose. He was a weapon, yes, a sword. And swords were to be wielded. And, now, Mirac had someone offering to be a wielder.

"Yesss....YES! I crave this, I AM this! Mirac will inflict death and destruction on your enemies! My name, my deeds will spread! Mirac is an extension of your will! ALL shall know our names by the trail of death we leave! Mirac will kill these 'lessers,' for ALL are LESSER than us. Show them no mercy! You may have skin and meat, but we shall CARVE my name into their hides! They shall know Mirac!"

Mirac shook like a stuck physics object, clanking and creaking. He unfurled his ribbon from his hilt, the stingers on it clicking against each other. Mirac turned, hilt up, so that Aerie could grasp him. "LINK with me, wielder! My charge! I shall serve you--no harm shall come to you as long as I, Mirac, draw breath. I will destroy any who DARE look your way!"

Mirac, in his excitement, lashed out with magicka. A connection formed, a thread connecting his mind with Aerie. It was weak, but the compulsion to pick him up was there. "INFLICT DEATH! Mirac shall show you the joy of MURDER!" Mirac said, rattling as he giggled.

"speak" think

@Aerie

Aerie hummed, ”... No. Of course I'll wield you, but none of those sharp things will touch me, you hear me? I'll toss you into the forge myself if they do.”

Her eyes flashed with the promise that she indeed would, and took up Mirac, claws wrapping around his grip and lifting him up, floating in the air as she let the side of her talons graze the edge of his blade, humming. Sharp and deadly.

”Alright, Mirac,” she said, flicking his stingers, ”Put those away, we'll go and create the bloodshed you so wish to enact.”

She gripped him tightly and shot down the volcano, baring fangs in a wild grin as she headed for the first lesser she could find. A herd of deer. She rose above them and growled, eyes narrowing.

”Alright, blade... let's see what you can do,” she said, eyes wild.

Aerie roared and landed, standing on her hind legs and swinging the sword, cleaving through the throat of a deer. She gasped as blood splattered, the other deer running, one having been hit by her back swing.

”I think red's a nice color on us,” she hissed, flashing claws and teeth.

@Mirac

You deny TRUE power, wielder!" Mirac protested at first, though even he did not know what his wrap did. But he had a feeling it was probably good. His protests ended quicky.

The sensation of being held, of knowing that he would soon commit the deeds he was born for, was enough to sate him. And he thoroughly enjoyed the rush of combat, a manic grin granting a glimpse of his black teeth. He cut smooth through the deer's throat, and his blade split fully, iron teeth exposed.

Mirac laughed, the splatter of red on his blade new but wholly natural. The blood hissed on the hot surface of his blade. "MIRAC has MURDERED! YES! Mirac IS the incarnation of RED! WIELDER! You have granted Mirac POWER! Mirac is UNSTOPPABLE! You see now wielder? Your mistake has been GRAVE, not using Mirac's whole power! We could have destroyed them ALL!" The deed done, Mirac wriggled from Aerie's grip to investigate the fallen deer. Mirac poked the bleeding corpse. It did not move. "RISE, FOOL! So that Mirac and wielder may engage you in combat once MORE!"

"RISE!" He commanded. Mirac lashed out with magicka, stone glowing, forcing his consciousness into the lesser deer's own. A single command repeated in the already dead brain. 'RISE and fight AGAIN.' Mirac glared at the dead thing. Waited a good few seconds. Not even a twitch of the leg. Mirac growled. "You possess LAZINESS, FOOL! You are not FIT to wield MIRAC!"

"WIELDER!" He began. "Something is wrong. Why does the lesser not rise? Why do they, these other 'lessers' FLEE? Is an opponent not supposed to stay and fight? Do they not know the proper rules of COMBAT?

"You are supposed to STAND and BITE the opponent, yet they did NONE of this! They RUN! FOOLS! Do they not wish to fight, having seen our prowess? The WOUNDED one at least, should have stayed to FIGHT! I would have STAYED! And SLAIN THEM--US all!"

"speak" think

@Aerie

Aerie floated up and licked blood off her claws and face, once again impassive and emotionless. Whatever had come over her faded, and she lay in mid-air, staring down at Mirca with a brow raised.

”It is dead,” she said, ”Once something is dead, it will never breathe, and it's heart will never beat again. You killed it, Mirac, and now you have no foe to fight.”

She leaned down and plucked an eyeball out of its socket, turning it back and forth before tossing it into her mouth and popping it between her teeth, swallowing it down. She offered the other eyeball to Mirac, her bloodthirsty smile gone.

”But it does mean it can be eaten and used,” she said, ”Observe.”

Aerie tore off the skin of the beast, inch by inch, until she had some semblance of a hide, and held it up, ”Look, now we have this. We can wash it, dry it out, then soak it in brain oils to make it into something useful. Like a cloak, a blanket, maybe.”

She set the skin down and lashed her tail about, humming, ”But they are merely prey. Animals that run rather than fight. You'll have to search for something like a wooly deer, or even the creatures in Pegasus, bigger than even I, to try and take down.”

@Mirac

strong language

Mirac stared at the dead deer. A growl grew in Mirac's throat, before ultimately dying out. He seemed to be solemn, contemplating death, existence. What happened to the deer. What they had done. Then, Mirac's mouth opened. "Thats fucking STUPID. Whats the point in DYING if you cannot FIGHT anymore. This deer made a POOR choice in DYING. Mirac would have chosen BETTER."

Mirac eyed(ha) the eyeball suspiciously, looking from it to Aerie and back. Ultimately he took the eyeball, rolling it around on his pale tongue. "HMMm Mirac POSSESSES THESE." Mirac said triumphantly. He bit down. It oozed a strange liquid into his mouth. Mirac did not have an outward reaction. But he swallowed the eyeball. "MMm this is not as good as the BLOOD of conquest Mirac had feasted on earlier. AND YET, this shall DO. For now."

Mirac turned his attention then to Aerie's work. Mirac was having difficulty understanding why Aerie wasted time on something that would not rise. Although Mirac did like the idea that Aerie was committing some small violence. He especially perked up at the words 'blanket' and 'cloak'.

"A...blanket? A cloak? Are these...WEAPONS? With which to KILL? That SKIN does not look like a WEAPON. And no weapon is better than a SWORD."

It went without saying that no sword was better than Mirac himself. When Aerie dropped the pelt, Mirac was quick to descend on it, like a curious raven. Mirac touched the pelt with his snout. Bit it. Pushed it around. It smelled of blood and animal. Still warm, yet rapidly cooling. But it did not do anything. It especially did not maim, attack, or kill Mirac.

"MIRAC wishes to know something. WHY did you sit there and CARVE this weak HAIRY thing, whilst we could be KILLING! As we have done BEFORE! You ENJOYED it. These activities are not PRODUCTIVE wielder. You must engage in COMBAT, wielder." Mirac hummed in thought.

"MIRAC has an idea. WIELDER, we like this 'PEGGY SIS' you spoke of, the land of LARGE AERIE-CREATURES. We must find something LARGE to kill, as you suggest. WE will GO to this 'PEGGY SIS' and DESTROY the creatures of this land, EASILY. We must go NOW wielder."

After a moment, Mirac added: "But not KILL them. If another of these 'lessers' DIE too fast Mirac will shitting EXPLODE. We take them down, and when they feel the courage to stand once more, we down them AGAIN. As many times as it TAKES. "

"speak" think

@Aerie

Aerie snorted and rolled her eyes, in disbelief of this ignorant, stupid creature, ”Death is the end. Death waits for us all, even you, Mirac. One day you'll find yourself with a wielder with less patience than I, or against a foe you cannot defeat, and you will die. Death is when life can no longer prevail, either because of injury, sickness, or something quick that stops your heart before you realize you're dead.”

She pulled the skin towards her and inspected it, ears forward, ”One day you will face biting cold or a rain that chills the bones. A blanket is made to protect against that, to warm and to dry, to prevent sickness and death.”

She grabbed Mirac around the mouth, or rather, around the blade, holding it shut as her fierce golden eyes met red ones. She said nothing for a moment, before hissing.

”Killing mindlessly will do you no good,” she growled, ”It calls attention to you, and not the good kind. The righteous kind. The kind of attention that will get you captured by good willing gembound and told that killing is bad. You will be killed yourself in order to prevent killing, so you must be careful or else you'll be killed yourself. What are you without a wielder, Mirac? You're a single fang without a mouth to bite with, and a sword is no use at all without a hand to swing it.”

Aerie let go and returned to the deer, tearing out bones from meat and setting them aside, ”Crunch the bones. They fight back.”

They didn't, but they splintered and became stuck in the mouth, and if it tricked Mirac into being sated at least for a while, that was perfectly fine with her.

”You ought to have satisfaction with the death of your foe, or at least the submitting of them. It means you won,” she said, her mouth and hands covered in blood by this point as she tore up flesh to eat, practically ravenous.

Aerie licked at her claws and peered at Mirac, ”My name is Aerie. We will go to Pegasus once we've eaten.”

@Mirac

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