Nyx Dawnwalker you can be something else,
something distant,
sharp as the stars

Nyx stepped into the familiar hall that was the Orion cave. Something about it had always drawn her out to train there && this time was no different.

There was a new power, one just beneath her skin, itching away at her pelt && demanding to be used. Although Nyx had never been a slave to her own powers before, she didn't see another way to get rid of the itch.
Also: If her magic decided to grant her a new power, who would she be to say no?

Thus, Nyx' long legs carried her into the Forum, where she'd met the darkness-clad cat Bassa many cycles ago. They hadn't conversed much ( never again after their encounter in the Forum ) but it was still a memory Nyx looked back on fondly.

Now, though, the Forum seemed to be empty.
Nyx didn't check every perimeter, but she trusted someone who might be lingering not to get into the way of her spell. Their stupidity might otherwise be punished - since the fallow deer didn't really know how to control her newest power just yet.

Standing in the middle of the forum, Nyx focused on her magic. She could feel her powers surging through her veins && taking hold of her bones. It was then that she understood the essence of her new powers. The aspect of manipulating her skeleton frightened her somewhat, but she had enough trust in her magic to only aim the power outwards, lest she might create a sharp bone && stab herself to death.

SPELL ROLL

Nyx could feel her bones growing && shifting. It was an eerie feeling, indescribable with words.
But there was pain.
So much pain.

The fallow deer struggled to breathe once the new bones pierced her skin. The blood from the wounds dripped on the ground, pooling there. It wasn't a lot, but the skin had been broken && the new bones taking the skin's place hadn't grown fast enough to close the wounds immediately.
Blood dripping from the sides of her head, Nyx rasped && panted. The mock-antlers ( only a few inches tall ) a little cocked on her head && feeling strange. How would one describe the feeling of their skeleton suddenly exposed to the air?

When she fully came back to her senses, Nyx noticed that she'd fallen down, hovering just above the ground, all muscles wound tight. Forcing herself to relax, the fallow deer stood up, slowly, shaking her head to get rid of the blood that threatened to spill into her eyes.
The motion was a little to quick for the pain-addled mind of Nyx, who had to take a step to the side to keep herself from falling.
Slow, she told herself.

❛Hear me roar.❜

table by lisa

Drifting over the ground, his skin was literally crawling with parasites that were harboured just beneath the skin. Before they had caused him pain, but they were slowly becoming a part of who he was. Overcome by his own magic as it tore his conscience apart. Most of the battle was over, he was in the final stages of the most epic battle of his time. Not even his clash with the stag, Hasira, could stand up to the war that he had been fighting since his birth.

Teeth clenched, he wove his way between the crumbling walls with no particular path in mind. There was a particular gembound he sought out, but he had no idea where to find the feathered creature. As he held no particular place of residence. A thick stench of blood began to come barreling over the ground. The iron taste sticking to the roof of his mouth as his tongue ran over it. It was so tantalizing, so fresh and his pupils constricted as he sought out the dying animal. Louie didn't have to venture far to stumble across the doe as she lay panting in her own gore. There was familiarity to her features, but the scowl was not wiped from his face as he watched the amateur struggle to grasp such complex magic. It was pathetic and he snarled. "You deserve to die for attempting to dabble in something beyond your control." Frigidly, he watched and made no offer to help.

-cast hunger-

Off the blood that was already spilled, the bacteria had set in. Already, they began to feast away at the organic matter. A sigh was drawn out as Louie benefited from their meal. A smirk crept to his lips. "You have no use for blood already lost, but I still do." The fox wasn't sure what conversation to persist from here. He had been hoping to find a body so that he wouldn't have to kill. But he might be forced between a rock and a hard place in this situation and he weighed up his options. Still, he was battling the war.

"DO NOT FORGET WHO I AM"

table by lisa

@Nyx

Nyx Dawnwalker you can be something else,
something distant, sharp as the stars

Once the swimming of her sight stopped && the throbbing pain in her skull was subsiding to the echo of a stinging sensation, Nyx realized she was not alone. Or maybe had never been in the first place. Not that ti mattered.

❛Who do you think you are to speak to me like that?❜ She asked, her dark eyes watching the pitiful creature writhe as it sought out the nutrients from her spilled blood.
❛Especially when you are benefitting from me.❜
While Nyx had respect for every kind of magic, she admitted to herself that the sight of the somewhat familiar gembound was sickening.
He seemed to be but a shadow of what he once was.

❛I think we once knew each other.❜ She announced, the pride && confidence fully returning to her stance. The mock-antlers on her head made her seem taller, but it was a cruel sight: Bones, dipped in blood, ending in twisted branches upon the fallow doe's head.

Nyx had never been ashamed of being born a female, neither had she wished to be born male, but there was an allure to having antlers. She didn't yet have need of them - to defend herself - but a large set of antlers would surely show those opposing her that she was capable of defending herself.
I ought to perfect this spell, Nyx thought. Then she could create her own antlers whenever needed.

But the pain of using the spell was nothing she looked forward to.

❛Hear me roar.❜

table by lisa

Most of the little organisms had been sated, the glow from his eye had begun to wane until the only think reminiscent of the healing process it had undergone was the colour. There was no exhaustion, only rejuvenation and he clicked his tongue. Eyeing off the barbed and twisted creation atop her head, he had to say it wasn't half bad for a first try from a pitiful creature. "Who am I? I am merely the most powerful creature within the walls of Origin caves. As it stands, I do believe there are non who can surpass me." All of it was talk, but after having avoided contact with the most dangerous, the larger of the creatures, he had every right to be making such proclamations.

If he wished to see the Merry Men ascend the ranks to become the top group, he had to continue to believe that. "Gaining benefit off you doesn't mean I owe you anything." But she mentioned having met previously and he frowned. Those memories were so faded, he had hardly known who he was as a kit. It had gone down in this very room, the first and last time they had met before their destinies took them away. Louie had no time to waste on reminiscing, he wasn't aware he had been read so well. Hiding behind a mask.

"If I knew you before, then I can't say you would know me now." The heavy scarring on his face and the gemstone that burst in fractals down his chest was indicative of this transformation of mind and body. "I had no use for friends or connections, none of them provide anything of worth to me. You probably me me when I was just a boy" Looking her up and down, he squinted slightly. The familiarity was there, but he was just preventing himself from allowing such innocent and untainted thoughts to soften the demeanor and mentality he had now.

"DO NOT FORGET WHO I AM"

table by lisa

@Nyx

Nyx Dawnwalker you can be something else,
something distant, sharp as the stars

The most powerful creature?

Absurd. There was only one creature that Nyx would ever accept above her && that was the large deer that had presented itself to Tamelyn && her all those cycles ago.
She couldn't remember much of what the Stag had told them, but she could still clearly remember the respect she'd had for the creature.
Nyx would not doubt him. He was her only leader.

She wondered what had happened to him? She hadn't seen him since. But that was a matter to ponder some other time.

❛The most powerful creature?❜ Nyx asked aloud, curious but without mocking. Little Louie - Nyx couldn't imagine him being the most powerful creature in Origin.
It just didn't want to get into her head.

A little shake of her head. There was no blood dripping off them anymore, but Nyx could still feel the antlers atop her head. She didn't need to see them to know they were there. ❛I didn't say you owed me anything.❜

It seemed to Nyx that with power ( or the illusion of it ) came arrogance. No need for friends- everyone had need of friends.
Or allies.
Call them however you will, but even the most powerful being could be brought down when everyone stood against them. Besides, there was no power in reigning alone. If every subject in your little illusionary kindgdom opposed you, then what did your power get you?

Nothing.

❛Aren't you lonely without friends, Louie? Remember the good time we had.❜ The fallow deer said with a genuine smile playing around her lips.
Little Louie was going mad, whether he saw it or not. Maybe it was the power, the illusion of it or the bacteria in his pelt, but he wasn't who he used to be.

Tch, she was such a hypocrite, wasn't she?
Hadn't she herself changed drastically?

❛Hear me roar.❜

table by lisa

@Louie

Whether or not she questioned him made no difference, he knew what he was and his tail swept across the ground. Louie didn't answer, merely left the question floating. It was a bold statement, but he could swear there was truth behind it. As the lights twinkled overhead the conversation continued to remain relatively stale. It was boring him, with this interruption having served its purpose of replenishing him after he had made no effort go out and sate his hunger and thirst.

"Don't mistake my lack of love for loneliness. Those under me serve a greater power, they all seek something. We are all autonomous, however I prefer to see myself at the helm." Previously, he had lived in fear of retribution for his cockiness, but he no longer feared the one with the ability to wield fire. A lust for power was driving most of the normal feelings of fear, sadness and submission from his system. Both eyes glancing up to meet hers, he wiped his paw through her blood.

"Interesting to note that you are of the organic magic as well. No focus on the realm of the micro organisms, as let's face it, that is my kingdom." Another smirk. "What exactly where you trying to do commoner?"

"DO NOT FORGET WHO I AM"

table by lisa

@Nyx