"Speech"

Todd had lost track of time since he'd first emerged; as far as he was concerned, there was no such thing as time and he had all the time in the world. Every moment was the same. Explore, meet new gembounds, explore some more. He hadn't really found anything to give him a purpose or commitment. Except perhaps, the knowledge that out there somewhere were new spells, new magic. Someday he would find those spells and learn them and... Well, he didn't really know what he'd do after that. Todd wasn't one who craved power, nor did he have any reason to show it.

But he enjoyed magic; that feeling of success when he'd first scattered a pile of bones was something that remained clear in his mind, drawing him to magic, almost addicting him to it.

He felt like said magic was getting easier for him, too. The more he thought about it, the more proud he became. Todd thought deeply as he walked, kicking a pebble on his path so that it skittered away ahead of him. Todd's ears pricked as the stone let out a sharp clink against his jewel and only now did he pay attention to his surroundings. Flecks of light were cast on the world around by the shimmering quartz crystals high above and his eyes gleamed, even in that small amount of light seeing clearly. He knew immediately that he'd never been here before. It was an odd, odd place like nothing Todd had ever seen here before. Strange formations or crumbled ones loomed into the distance as far as his eye could see.

Todd immediately assumed that there was more to this place, and he knew that he wanted to find something that no-one had ever laid eyes on before.

The crown jewel of the kingdom tromped around his domain. His golden eyes scanned over all below him with a sort of apathetic contempt. He was young, yes, but already his mind was corrupted from his father's teachings and his mother's magic. Before he was even hatched he was already a lost cause with the dark magick flickering through his blood like a flame. He drank deep from it and could feel the darkness within his bones giving him energy. Kingsfoil just figured this made him a God, a true ruler of his people. When his father finally croaked then he would really get to rule over all.

Air noisily sucked in through his nostrils as he thought about this delicious thing. A cruel smile curved at his lips as he glanced over at the rhino on his left. Was it Deadnettle or Feverfew? He didn't know, didn't really care. They looked ridiculous alike to him and so he just spoke... or he would have if he didn't see something in the distance. A slinking silvered creature that was obviously a carnivore. The tiny prince's chest puffed up with annoyance at this little thing. He could send the guardsman after the pest but he wanted to deal with it himself.

Quietly he said, "Stay behind that, verminous cretin, I'll assault it from the front!" With that he reared onto his hind legs and boxed his fore in the air before taking off at a dead run. His heart was filled with childish conviction that he was in the right and this idiot was trespassing on his father's lands, his lands. He'd take it prisoner or send it on its way after a severe beating! After all, he was a God and he couldn't be beat.

Not with his servants at his back.

The little king gave a fantastic leap after he reached a top speed and landed directly in front of the fox. For a moment he stood with his back to the creature as he tried to regain his balance whereupon he whipped around and stared with his cold, golden eyes at the pup. His mouth curved upwards into a malicious grin.

"Sharptooth, you're not welcome here. State your business for being in Lord Hasira's lands." All of this was a sort of devilish game to the young king. He would never be injured because he was the perfect son.

@Todd @Deadnettle @Feverfew

Papa had charged them both with watching over his new son, Kingsfoil. He had brought them both close and praised them both for being so strong and wonderful and brave, fighting each other and gaining the battle scars to prove it, even going so far as to take on a vicious, bloodthirsty monster. They had told him how the Goddess had helped them in their fight against the black jaguar, and he went silent for a second, then smiled at them, like they were both jewels in his possession. They had felt happy about his praise and...bitter at the same time. They weren't children anymore, and Papa hadn't protected them. They had protected themselves.

If anything, it brought Nettle and her closer together. They had almost died, and the only thing they had was the other twin, and the both of them would cling to that.

So with all their battle scars, with her burned back leg with warped scars and with Nettle and his whole left side burned along with his area around his now milky white eyes, with all these scars and the quiet, competent way they carried themselves, they watched over Kingsfoil and followed him silently, exchanging glances between them every so often.

Part of Fever whimsically wondered that if Papa had Kingsfoil, did that make him their half-brother?
Then she looked at Nettle, raising her eyebrows, looking at King and back.
Nettle frowned and shook his head.
He was no brother of theirs.
Fever agreed, and turned back toward the path.

And when King found the monster exploring and looking around and charged him like some sort of hero, Fever and Nettle just watched with half-lidded eyes. The little kid didn't even know what the fox could do. For all they knew, the monster could set off an explosive fire bomb underneath King, killing him instantly and letting his guts splatter all over so that they could have an easy hot meal.

If it was one thing they'd learned, it was to never underestimate a monster.

So Deadnettle nodded to Fever and they moved to trap the monster in a three-pronged triangle, the rhinos taking the lower points. He lowered his nose, his horns glinting in the low light of the ruins, a dangerous look in his milky eyes that could barely see past Fever.

As King and the fox talked, they would take slow but sure steps towards the fox to box him in.

"Speech" @Deadnettle @Feverfew @Kingsfoil

Todd was first alerted that he wasn't alone by the sound of distant tapping, one that he'd later come to recognize as the hoofbeats of something nimble and small. Then, his keen, keen ears picked up the sound of mutters. He stood up straight at this, blinking keenly as he waited, curious. The clinking sound of his paw on stone came to a halt.

And then he heard it again.

Clack-clack.

Clack-clack.

Clack-clack...

Todd's fur bristled with excitement, because now he could see the stranger bounding towards them, and before him the spindly-legged fawn gave a mighty leap. It was like he was trying to reach the lanterns as Todd had so many times before. Todd in his mind knew that the stranger wanted to play, and he settled back on his haunches before raising his bejeweled, glittering paw in greeting.

"Sharptooth?" He gave a curious little giggle. "My name is Todd! But you can call me Sharptooth if you really wanna." It seemed he quite liked that name, or he was slightly amused by it.

In addition, the cub seemed blissfully ignorant to the malice in the other's voice. "Uh, business? I was just exploring. Looking around. Di'nt think anyone was here." He pouted a little upon realizing this; he'd hoped he'd be the first one to find this cave. But that didn't matter. His smile soon returned and his ears pricked up straight.

The little fox suddenly realized that he and the white fawn weren't alone in here, and he turned around, suddenly noticing both of the rhinos approaching on either of his sides. "Oh, hello! Where did you come from?" He gave another little giggle, and smiled. "Do you wanna come exploring with me? I've never been with so many others before!"

He seemed momentarily overwhelmed by excitement and leaped to his feet, his entire body trembling and fur on end, a grin adorning his sweet face.

The young stag's cold gaze continued to bore through the little fox as it raised its paw which only a received a slightly raised left brow from Kingsfoil. What on earth was it doing? Did he not know any insult when he heard one? Pfft, figured. It probably didn't even have a brain. The young stag couldn't even bring himself to feel angry at the fox's ignorance. All he felt was an inflated sense of superiority that his father was right at the idiocy of the carnivores.

The young stag put on a terribly condescending smile and spoke in the most patronizing of whiny voices. "Of course you didn't. You carnivores never think about things like that. You all just walk around like you own everything but I don't see why you guys think that when you hardly have a brain to think with at all." He finished his words with a head tilt, still with that demeaning smile on his face at the insignificant being.

Still, the oblivious little sack of fur seemed to want to make nice and be friends. Kingsfoil shook his head and laughed humorlessly. "Listen, listen. We don't wanna explore with the likes of you... but, maybe if you grovel and beg enough. Maybe... I'll play a game. You're a kid, right? And I'm a kid. So, why not play a game?" It might have seemed that he had a change of heart with the sincere smile on his face.

But King was Hasi's child... and there was never anything good in his head.

@Deadnettle Feverfew @Todd

Fever glanced at Nettle, her expression serious. Nettle looked...dangerous. She didn't really care about this monster. If anything, their happy-go-lucky words were just some sort of trick to get them to lower their guards. Papa said that carnivores were all tricksters at heart, didn't he? And Fever had absolutely no intention of falling for it.

But when King mentioned that they could play a game...Fever smiled, her eyes half-open. She remembered the games she and Nettle played with cave rats and the games they played with their brother Brutus, and she bristled in excitement.

She would play. She snorted out heat, her throat glowing red hot under the skin, the edges of her nostrils going red hot, and the air that she exhaled was superheated, wavering. The edge of it touched the fox's fur, and she grinned at him.

He wanted to hurt this ridiculous liar. He wanted to see them broken on the ground, bloody with limbs splayed in wrong angles. What did this stupid fox expect by looking at them so happily, didn't the monster see that they were ready and willing to jump them? What, was he just so confident in his abilities that he let himself have free reign to toy with them?

He saw that Fever was grinning and snorting out heat, and he grinned too.

But first, he would wait for King. It was his call, after all, even if the two of them were older. King thought he had authority because of that silly little jeweled crown on his head and his Papa's words, but he knew nothing of the world yet.

His legs crackled with static electricity, popping and lighting him up from underneath, casting a menacing look to his already grim expression. But still, he smiled.

"Speech" @Kingsfoil @Deadnettle @Feverfew

There was something... off. The little fox seemed to realize this at last, but he didn't do what a wiser creature would have done; get out of there. "Uuuhh... Carnivore? What's one of those?" he asked, looking around. "I'm allowed to walk around, aren't I? It's a big place, and there's a lot to explore. And... I like it here." He shuffled his paws so that his gem rasped against the ground.

Todd mirrored the other's head tilt, dipping his head faaaar to one side, his ears pricking up.

Todd listened as the other continued on, and his ears drooped a little. They didn't wanna explore with him? Awwh... That would have been nice. But then the fox perked up. He forgot, or perhaps simply moved on from, the perception that there was anything wrong and fluffed out his downy black fur. "Eeep! I'll play a game! No-one's ever played with me before! What game are we gonna play? How does it work? How do you win?"

The rhinos had stayed silent this entire time, and Todd twisted his head as he looked at them, giving a beaming smile. "They're gonna play too, aren't they?"

He felt warm air on the side of one of the rhinos, and his ears pricked up. In the first instant he felt it, he actually, maybe liked it... But then the intensity seemed to build, causing him to inch away in small steps, because it ended up not just unpleasant but... repulsive? Todd didn't know the true word for pain. He decided to ignore it, because he wanted to play. perhaps it would only be him and the white fawn. He... wouldn't complain if it was.

"I...Is that magic? I know someone who t-taught me about magic... told me to find more spells. A-are you trying teach me?"

Todd shifted his gaze to the other rhino, and smiled at them instead. But then he yipped quietly. His muscles seemed to tense up involuntarily and again, there was pain. Not as much, but it was pain. He gave a tiny yowl, unable to move for the way his muscles kept twitching.

The white fawn laughed as if what the fox had said was the best joke he'd heard all day. "Ah ha! Get a load of this carnivore, guys! He isn't too smart is he?" The young stag stepped closer, small face curled up into a cruel grin. "Listen, sharptooth, you're a carnivore. An evil, lying, no-good trickster and you're trespassing!" This guy was just so sickeningly cute. Kingsfoil knew that his father said all carnivores were lying monsters but with this one it was just hard to believe. He honestly thought it was just daft and stupidly innocent. Maybe the ones that weren't tricksy were just dumb.

"But since I'm so generous and such a nice prince I'll let you play with us. And don't worry, it won't be a game without the lovely twins." His voice became sickeningly sweet as he stared down into the fox's face, smiling at the creature's pain. "The game we're gonna play is called Squeal. The rules are simple: me and my friends here will chase you down and try to make you squeal. Your job is to try to get away with all your limbs intact. Sounds fun right?" Kingsfoil stomped a hoof on the ground finding the whole thing hilarious. "Of course it does. Since I'm so nice I'll give you a head start.. You have until I count to "two". One..."

If the fox didn't run now he'd be in for a world of hurt.

"Two."

Let the games begin.

@Deadnettle @Todd