Ashtoreth knew exactly where she would find Cure. She knew Orion quite well, having explored it before everything had gone to heck. Her first cycle had been nothing but running around where she didn't belong, and she had loved every second of it. It was because of this that she knew precisely where the Throne was, and where her best (of many) friend was hiding!

If Ash could call, she would have cooed and cooed, come out, come out, wherever you are! As it was, she could only hope that they could find the dark kitten in the shadows together. Ash and her little sister Liora had done a good-enough job dodging the big hound Kerberos, and now that they were in the city, no one would be able to find them!

Ashtoreth waved her sister closer with a wing, putting a paw to her mouth. She coughed slightly as the air began to grow denser, filling with mist. It wasn't too thick, but it would hopefully throw off their scent and keep them from getting spotted. Just a bit farther, the noodle thought as she crept into the ruins that held the massive throne.

The tiny hybrid expected that Cure would be around here, and so she nodded to Liora and flashed her classic grin before bounding over to the massive structure, going to climb all over it and see if Cure was tucked away behind it, somewhere.

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts

Hellloooo, Lord @Hasira ~

He had only just wandered away from his son, the only one that mattered which was the golden shard with the darkness pulsing within. Wynry's stone was his next priority because it was his brother but even he was not a god. The one he'd made on impulse with Carrie was the least of his concerns... the silly rodent had already taken it away somewhere. Out of sight, out of mind. The stag snorted lightly as he nosed along the ground with his lips moving along to tear at the grass. The Goddess of Darkness was currently away. He knew not of what she was doing but it was certainly some Divine work. He trusted her with all his life for she was his life. The Doe of Darkness was a part of him, a part of all the creatures, and her word was the law. Yes, he was in charge of Orion and in charge of all that wandered within his domain... but she was the one who controlled his heart and reminded him of his many failures. He still felt them burning within his chest, the shame and the guilt at having failed Wynry and his Lady multiple times. He was still trying to make up for it... Still trying not to be weak.

Still failing...

He knew this when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. His head lifted as he saw something, some sort of movement and unlicensed mist creation. The only one in Orion who was able to create mist was him. His eyes narrowed as he turned back towards the mist. He had first been walking but when he realized how close the thing was to his throne... to his son the stag ran. Hooves pounded onto the earth as he raced to reach the throne before whatever had created the mist did. He stopped before it, head raised high and antlers glinting in the light of the room as he absorbed the mist into his body and stood there proud and terrible for all to see.

"Who dares trespass upon the Lord of Herbivores domain and attempts to disturb the sleeping god?" His voice was low, threatening and the gem at his chest was starting to turn a sickly red. He could see now that it was some sort of tiny mutt. A tiny mutt that looked distinctly like a carnivore. His eyes narrowed into a glare. Not only was it a mutt but there was also some sort of bird flying above her. Some sort of carnivorous bird is what it smelled like.

The Lord was not pleased.

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

439
@Ashtoreth Liora
---
7/10

Liora had taken to the air, lifting higher and higher after they escaped the tunnel. Kerberos was sure to charge in searching for them, but that was assuming he'd be able to find them. At this point, Liora had glanced back just to see if the big three headed dog was on their tails, but hadn't caught sight of him. Strange, it shouldn't have taken him that long to reach the tunnel entrance - but she didn't think any more on it. Best not to think about such a blessing. She focused back on Ashtoreth, watching from above as her sister scoured the room for her friend. Liora had to wonder if Cure would look anything like Remedy - some kind of weird birbcat - or if she looked like something else entirely. "Cuuurrre! Cuuuurrreee!" Liora called out, ascending as he wheeled above the buildings in search of anything reacting to the name.

Of course, Ashy's mist made it harder to see. Liora dipped closer as she spotted Ashtoreth's gesture and swooped down to the ground beside her, taking a few more steps. Step by step, Liora hobbled alongside her sister, taking in the ruins of the broken cave city. She'd never seen structures like these before - they were angular and purposefully crafted, decaying under the weight of time. Before them was some kind of platform, and a blocky rock kind of like a chair. Liora cocked her head, but Ashtoreth had nodded and bounded towards it. Liora took to the air again, hovering above her sister.

It was the sound of hooves that had caused Liora to hold back, peering cautiously into the mist. "Ashy-" Too late. The mist had suddenly dissipated, seemingly swept up into the body of the stag that stood before them. He spoke some dumb, fancy sounding jargon, called himself Lord of the Herbivores, but her father was a King and she'd never heard him talk like that before. Liora only cackled and fluttered over to the stag, circling above him.

"Rakrak! Who are you?" Liora crowed as she hovered over him, thinking of landing and taking a seat on one of the stag's antlers, but they were moving too much - she couldn't target them, forced to remain in the air above him. "Lord of the Herbivores? I'm Liora, Lord of the Birdivores. Krak! I'll eat you!" She chortled in that typical torment-everything fashion of hers.

@Ashtoreth

Abruptly, the mist disappated in the air and Ash got the very precise feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong. Kerberos must have found them, or-- was that the clipperclopper of hooves? Her ears pricked as she turned around, expecting to see her beloved friends... But instead she stood there, a hum on the wind of her wings.

"We go here, we go there, we go everywhere!
Where angels fear to tread, we bards have no dread!
Naught in this world scares the guard, not he who stores the song,
for what could scare the mighty bard?
Not even the brave and strong!"

She took comfort in the gentle song of a long lost friend's song, but her mimicked words were drowned out by the harsh words of not only Liora, but the newcomer-- Lord of the Herbivores. She did not know who this gembound was, but he rose high above her, taller than any gembound she had known except for Kerberos. Perhaps she would not be afraid, usually, but there was something dark and familiar in his eyes-- something the spoke to her of her nightmares.

"Under the light of the crystalline stars,
we bards sing along to newfound bars!
Through ruins and tunnels, caves and rubble,
we the brave do decree! We are the few!
We are the free!"

Her friend's song still crept just under her, barely a whisper. She hoped he would not hear-- for he seemed on the edge of anger... But then her sister flew up, screeching and laughing. Ashtoreth lifted up from her cowering position and lifted her chin at the older gembound, puffing out her feathers in a brave display. She gnashed her teeth at him and let out a horrible noise with her magic.

"WHAZ ALL DIZZZ NN-NNO-OISE!?"

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts

Hellloooo, Lord @Hasira ~

Well, it seemed that the stinking black thing was showing itself not only to be a filthy carnivore but also a nuisance. It began to fly about his antlers and it looked like it was trying to perch. The stag snorted angrily and pawed a hoof on the earth. It was then that thing spoke out and said it would "eat him". Ah, more proof that it was nothing but filth. The stag turned his gaze upwards and smiled at her sweetly, too sweetly. "Ah, a jokester? Or are you just daft? Either way, the Lord is not amused." The stag stomped a hoof on the earth and as it landed the air seemed to suddenly turn cold. The bird would feel it the most as first intense moisture and then ice would form about her wings, creating a coating that would hopefully drop her to the ground. "To the ground with you. A lowly carnivore should not be above the Lord." He snorted with his smile evaporating.

Now his eyes turned to the thing on the earth. It seemed to be a bit more humble and a bit more afraid even though she tried to put on a brave front. Good. She needed to be. He had not heard the singing sounds prior because his attention was taken by the raucous caws of the black carrion bird but now he heard the strangely loud shout that came from and yet not from her. Magic? It must have been. The stag narrowed his eyes at her while his tattered ears pinned themselves against his head. "If you were wise, filth, you would keep your filthy feathers from puffing. I am Lord Hasira and I own these lands. Any carnivores that wander in forfeit their right to roam these caves freely... Not that they have any right to begin with for soon I will march upon these caves and put you all back in your proper places. Under my hoof." He lowered his head, slate eyes staring into those of the mutt. "Listen closely, both of you, you are now my slaves. If you want to keep yourselves relatively unharmed you will bow down to me now and do as I say peacefully. However, if you want to dispute my rate to own you... Well, there is no guarantee that you will live. At least not with all of your limbs in tact." Now he pointedly stared at the mutt's wings. They'd be quite easy to remove if she became rowdy... But so long as she played ball and bowed she would be left alone.... sort of.

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

436
@Ashtoreth Liora
---
7/10

The birb fluttered around his head, squawking with amusement as she did so. She didn't think much else of the stag other than that he was going to be an excellent target for teasing, with his big fat head and his heavy looking antlers, one of them broken, and his dumb looking feet - look, he didn't even have toes! Just big cloppy rocks! She cackled at her own observations, wheeling around him, laughing even louder as he spoke. "A jokester, rak! Or are you just daft? Rak rak!" She echoed, wheeling to the side, and then suddenly she felt a weight on her wings. The bird silenced for a moment, tilting her head to examine her feathers only to find them quickly frosting over with ice. "Wha? WHAT!!" Liora shrieked and lost air, her wings growing too heavy to sustain her. She crashed to the ground, rolling and landing next to Ashtoreth.

Ow... the collision left her body aching, one wing folded up against her while the other crookedly splayed out next to her. Liora huffed and lifted her head, but it was difficult laying on her stomach, and examined her wings. It didn't look like there was any permanent damage, but they were certainly frozen solid. The stag went on another diatribe about being the Lord or whatever and how they weren't allowed to go traipsing around willy nilly into his cave room, but Liora still didn't really care. In fact, she was angry now because this asshole just froze her wings. The bird creaked and cawed, wriggling and jerking until she rolled over onto her back. With her taloned feet curled up against her underside, she lifted her head and parted her beak at the stag. "LORD HASIRA MORE LIKE LORD FATSIRA! KRAKARAK!" She crowed in the middle of his spiel and laughed. "You think you're in charge?! You're wrong, krak! I'm Lord Liora, King of the Bonebound! I'll take out your eyeball! Krak rak! Better run before I knock out your pathetic excuse for teeth!"

Yeah, this was really going to go over well. Liora lay vulnerable and exposed on the ground before her mute sister, shouting insults of all variety at the stag, cackling madly. Self preservation just dropped to below zero. "Come on dummy! Liora's gonna pick your brains out through your nose! I'll eat 'em, too! Do you think they'll make me smarter? Oh no! They'll probably just make Liora dumber, because you're so dumb! KRAKRAKARAKAK! Stupid weed eater!"

Ashtoreth knew that her sister was brave and strong, but against an adult who was more than twice their size put together... Well, lets just say that although the noodle stood tall, her feathers were bristling for a reason. As her sister's wings were iced together and she plummeted like a rock, the mute fisher hybrid's own heart sunk deep into her stomach. She scrambled over to her ebony feathered sister, touching her nose to an icy wing. How had he done that? He only stomped his hoof on the ground.

The noodle shivered as she looked up to Hasira, his words washing over her as her mane of feathers continued to expand. She was so frightened, and the cold wasn't helping-- it wasn't like she could control it anymore than one could goosebumps. His words drove into her heart and as he lowered his head, it was all Ash could do to step over her sister and spread her wings protectively over her sister, even as she squawked back violent, biting retorts.

But the hybrid did not try to silence her sister, nor did she shy from the buck's dark, simmering words. She could have easily blocked it out, like she did with her nightmares, and let the tears well up in her eyes. She watched as his gaze fell over her wings, threatening to tear her limbs off. She swallowed the image of her father tearing a skull from a carcass.

For Ashtoreth had known much about suffering and death even from a young age. She was born into darkness, and she had fled from it and found joy. She had watched horrible things, gore that made her stomach do somersaults even when it came to her in replayed dreams, and yet she still found a way to smile. Her sister kept screaming, teasing and taunting the full fledged stag with an antler made of sharp, deadly ice.

... She did not bow or cower. She was, after all, her fathers' daughter. It took a moment, but she gathered up her courage and she gave a tentative flap of her wings. The noodle's tiny muzzle opened, and out came a gentle, wheezing squeak as the gem inside her throat flickered and then her vocal cords promptly rolled over and gave up.

Ash stood over her sister, abandoned by her magic, and she tried not to shake or quiver. She held strong, even as he grew closer, towering over her, and tried to think about how any minute now, Kerberos would be here to chase away the mean man.

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts

Hellloooo, Lord @Hasira ~

The stag scoffed as the annoying bird hit the ground right next to the mutt. However, that did nothing to shut her irritating mouth. His gaze turned to her, cold and irritated. It seemed that she wasn't a jokester. This stupid carnivore was just that... stupid. He pawed at the earth and turned his slate gaze onto her. Her words were deafening and causing actual physical pain to his ears. He'd have to fix that. "Ah, so you are daft then? Good to know." He snorted at the loud-mouth, exhaling steaming breath at her. "Carnivores are not kings. There is only one king and he has yet to be born." He tilted an antler back towards the throne to indicate the growing citrine chrysalis with its core of darkness. "My son will be the King of Darkness, the King of Origin. Your pathetic 'Bonebound' are nothing. Nothing save for scum that me and my subjects will stomp over and when my son is born I will have him destroy your false king. After all, kings are gods and perfection which no carnivore will ever be." Her rage and foul words showed just how lax her "king" was. If she behaved this way around him then he would have those feathers picked until she learned manners. For now, he would have her mouth closed. He grew tired of hearing her words. He focused on his magic and again the chill would be felt in the air, only more intense as he formed it around the pair in an attempt to intentionally make them shudder and make a sort of clamp around Liora's mouth to keep it shut. "Oh, and for the record only males are Lords, you fool."

He looked back at the other mutt, gaze calculating and cruel. "You should tell your dumb friend to keep her mouth shut. You are doing an exemplary job of not making a fool of yourself like she is... but still... I do not like your show of bravery. It seems I shall have to have my children beat it out of you." Here the stag's head lifted and he let out a loud bellow. His call was for his two children Feverfew and Deadnettle. It was about time they received pets.

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

---
@Ashtoreth Liora @Feverfew Deadnettle
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7/10

(M tag for language)

Ashtoreth had moved to stand protectively over her which Liora quite appreciated, but disdained the need for. She should be the one protecting her sister! The stag seemed only irritated by her, if that. Liora narrowed her eyes as he formulated his response, finding herself equally as agitated. In fact, she was even more annoyed that her harsh words didn't seem to be affecting him as much as she hoped it would. The bird shrieked out and tossed her head back, a long and exasperated groan. "Kraka shut your fat mouth, my bowel movements sound better than your fancy words, weed eater! They're so gross they burn a hole in the ozone layer bigger than your farts do! Methane breath! Krakakakak!" Rest in pieces, Liora.

Sure enough, the stag seemed to have had enough of Liora's potty mouth and started to freeze it shut. She could feel the ice slowly slicking across her beak, beginning to seal it together. She did manage to slip out one more word before her beak froze completely: "Fucker!" And that was that. Now entirely bound, all she could do was squirm and watch, hoping that no grievous harm would come to her sister.

@Ashtoreth

Kerberos did not come. Liora spat out more insults, threats, and swears, making the tiny noddle that stood before her feel smaller and more likely to be squashed by the second... But Hasira did not attack, no. Instead, he called for his children, something which scared the hybrid immensely. More horribly tall creatures, with massive weapons on their faces? She shivered and passed a glance to her sister, who's beak was now frozen shut.

Terrified, she summoned her magic, wings twitching, as she kept her gaze flickering between the terrifying stag (and his "children" who would soon come to his side) and her own sister. If she didn't do something they were both going to become squashed pancakes underneath this huge gembound!

A low buzzing started up around her sister, enough to make the ice crack slightly-- but it wasn't enough to free her on its own. Ash hoped her sister could breath like that, trembling as she stood up against Hasira. There was no way she could fight him all by herself, let alone with whatever reinforcements he had.

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts

Hellloooo, Lord @Hasira @Deadnettle @Feverfew ~