"Speech"

Eira felt Kimen pull himself away from her, and onto slid ground, and it only took a few moments for the white otter to follow after, her lithe body wriggling its way onto the rock as her rubbery fingers found their grip. No sooner had she done so that she noticed Kimen looming menacingly, and the little citizen cowering down. Confusion swept her; was the stranger a demon?

She looked at Kimen uncertainly.

They cowered from him. Cowered! No demon if she knew them would cower. Or would they? In Eira's eyes, cowering was even more shameful even than the title of demon itself. But... it wasn't their fault. Eira looked at Kimen, and waddled forward, placing herself between the two. "Peace," she growled softly to Kimen. "What do you see?"

She wanted to know what was going through her partner's head. Was there something she overlooked?

But until she knew, she couldn't threaten someone who appeared to be an ordinary denizen of these caves. She turned her one-eyed gaze to the kitten where they stood, shivering low to the ground, and made an effort to smile comfortingly. "Don't fear, young one." she murmured, although her voice still held its commanding edge. "You are no demon."

table coded by banshee | for free use!

@Kimen @Splashy

Splashy kept her ears lowered, gazing up at the otter as she placed herself between her and the red panda. She was the glad the otter didn't think she was responsible for this. She slowly stopped cowering as the otter spoke. There was that word again. Demon. What was a demon? She still didn't know.

Splashy wasn't sure what to do now. She still didn't know their names, and they didn't know hers, so she figured she could ask their names. Not like she had anything better to do. "W-what, um, what is your n-name?" she asked, her voice a low whisper. It seemed no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get her voice to go higher. "My name is Splashy," she added.

@Eira @Kimen

Kimen turned away from the stranger who revealed themselves as Splashy. They didn't seem to speak in a threatening way and Eira did not believe that they were the reason he almost drowned. He didn't feel betrayed as such, just rather untrusted by his only friend. He was scared and she wasn't helping him and that's what was important to him, not being kind and courteous to strangers who could only do harm. "My name is Kimen, and it's the last name you'll hear!"He childishly threatened. He didn't want them to be hurt, not unless they hurt him first. Though his threats were empty he decided that words were not working and that action would speak louder. Rising to his hind paws he drew on the strength of his deity to rid him of his fear of the stranger. He felt an intense heat coming from his good paw. It pained him a little but he hoped that it would be worth it and that he would no longer be the scared one.

@Eira
@Splashy

"Speech"

Eira turned so that she could see Kimen through her good eye, and found that his back was turned. Odd... she thought to herself, narrowing her eye slightly, but decided not to question it. The little one asked for her name. Eira smiled, her face lifting slightly, and she bowed her head, closing her one eye for a fleeting instant.

"Eira," she replied, firmly but with an edge of warmth. "Pleasure to meet you, Splashy. I'll remember your face." Another smile, her good eye blinking, Eira was lulled into a sense of security for a mere moment. Only, it was a false one; only seconds later, Kimen seemed to see something that she didn't.

Immediately, the otter's face fell, her brows creasing and her one eye lighting up with concern. Immediately, she went from relaxed to coiled, listening to Kimen's words and narrowing her eye.

She bared her teeth at him. "What are you-?! Are you possessed!?" she demanded, stalking between him and the cat. "Tell me, what do you see?!"

Her fur prickled and rose, and she felt the heat emanating from him in waves, doubt caused her to hesitate and twitch. Something was wrong, very wrong... and she could have hit herself for not knowing what it was.

table coded by banshee | for free use!

@Splashy @Kimen

Upon hearing the red panda's words, Splashy lowered herself once more. She glanced up at the otter as she introduced herself as Eira. Her gaze then flicked back to Kimen and realized that something was definitely different. She could feel heat emanating from him, something that caused the fur along her spine to lift. Was he doing that on purpose? Why? Was it to scare her? The small cat was already terrified as it was, why scare her more?

She watched as Eira placed herself between the two and wondered what was going on. Why was Kimen acting that way? Was he possessed by a demon, whatever that was? She hoped not. It didn't sound pleasant. She continued to watch, a wary and confused look in her eyes and slowly, ever so slowly, began to back away. It seemed as though Kimen did not like her presence, so maybe it would be best if she just left.

@Eira @Kimen

"Eira!" He outburst as she stopped his sluggish advance towards the stranger. He didn't expect her to intervene and was subsequently rather shocked. "Don't you see Eira? Everyone in these caves will hurt us." He said, his voice terrified but sure. He looked at her and she looked back with a glance that echoed unfamiliarity. It was as if she hadn't spent his entire life with him, as if he was possessed. "Eira?... D-don't you see?" Kimen broke, he felt the heat in his paws dissipate as he fell to all fours and hung his head in shame. Tears fell fast and he tried his best to hide them, he made not a whimper of noise and fell deadly silent He had realised his folly. He had let his emotions get the better of him and fear had taken over. His heart raced as he stood on the spot unsure whether to run or to fall and lay there forever. He said and did nothing more, keeping to himself and reciting the same single word in his head, Fool.

@Eira
@Splashy

Eira Look into my eyes, it's where my Demons hide.

Eira looked at Kimen, her eye focused and searching for the truth. At his words, her muscles seemed to relax slightly. He wasn't possessed. He was just letting the other demons get to him. Eira slowly shook her head and rose to her paws, her nose and whiskers twitching at the scent of scorched fur as his magic drained from view. She felt, by the look on his face, that she'd truly made a mistake.

"N-no..." she muttered, a little at a loss for words. "Only demons will. Y-you're just... they've gotten into you're head. You've let them in your head." Slowly, she dropped her head, and approached, her lithe body no longer holding a trace of fear or shock. stoic as ever, she stood in front of him, and slowly offered a smile. As best she could, she held it.

"I'll help you fight them off. I'll always be there, for that."

She may have found herself unable to respond properly to his words, but she fought to show that she felt the same way. Though it might not have seemed like it, she did... it was just... hard. It was hard for her to understand. And even harder to get it out there. "I... I do see," she replied, hesitantly. She watched as he cried. Cried...?

That felt like enough, to her.

She gave him a small nudge with her pink nose, struggling to focus on his face with her one, red eye. Lost for words, Eira turned towards the small and terrified cat and mumbled a, for once, nervous apology. "P-perhaps we should take our leave," she told them, shaking her head. "If you need me, find me. It's my duty to protect these caves, and I'll stand by it."

She turned to nudge the side of Kimen's face to make sure he'd be alright.

"Listen to me."

table by lisa

@Kimen @Splashy

Splashy watched the others, shifting from one paw to the other. She felt uncomfortable as she watched the two, and felt as though she should probably leave. These thoughts only strengthened as she heard Eira's words to her. "I, y-yeah...If I ever, uh, need to, I will," she murmured. She began to back away a bit more. "Um, b-bye." With that, she turned around and began to leave. She started off slowly at first before beginning to run. She didn't know why she had stayed for so long in the first place, as it seemed Kimen never really liked her. Oh well, at least she was gone now. Maybe she'd see them again, maybe not.

-exit Splashy-

@Eira @Kimen