Aaliyah and Imperia began to look for gembounds to kill after she found a place to put her stone. She wanted to try and forget where it was, so she wouldn’t have to find it again, but she knew Imperia would likely remember. With a flick of her tail, the two began to walk, looking around. It was dark, but she managed. Her ears were pricked, nose raised in the air. There weren’t too many others around, much to her relief and Imperia’s annoyance. "What if we don’t find anyone?" she asked, glancing out of the corner of her eye toward the caracal.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

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notes: Aaliyah is 6 cycles old in this thread.

Imperia walked alongside Aaliyah, their ears pricked and swiveling around to pick up any sounds. They couldn't see or hear anyone, much to their annoyance. When Aaliyah spoke, they glanced at them, eyes narrowed. "We will find someone. They're bound to be somewhere around here." They continued to walk, looking around. At one point, they heard someone approaching. "Aha. Here we go. Follow me."

Imperia walked steadily closer to the sound. As they walked, the sound of the waterfall increased. They could hardly hear the footsteps anymore. With a low growl, they continued, until they finally saw someone. They couldn't see them very well, but something seemed awfully familiar about them.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

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notes: here

Kallista was back. Back in Pisces. She hadn't been there ever since...it happened. After the caves went silent, and she retreated into her chrysalis, she felt as though enough time had passed. Plenty of time had passed. Besides, what were the chances she'd meet them again?

She walked cautiously along the area around the waterfall. She always liked the place, despite the water. It was where she had met her first and only friend. She stood in front of it, staring down. She could barely see anything, since for whatever reason, the lights had gone out. Still, she knew it was time for her to come back to Pisces. She had missed the place, after all. It was her home.

She turned away from the waterfall and began to walk around. She didn't want to leave the waterfall, to be plunged back into silence. The waterfall kept a constant and steady sound that she missed. After some time of walking, she heard footsteps approaching. More than one gembound was coming! She froze, her fur bristling up. The smell was...oddly familiar. Frighteningly so.

When they came into view, she recognized them immediately. The long ears, the yellow eyes. Her one eye widened and she began to back away, murmuring quietly. "No, no, no, no, no..." She repeated over and over again. Why had she come back to Pisces? Why did she have to come across Imperia? Why had she left Todd?

The sight of the caracal brought back the feeling of when they had fought, brought back the pain of having her eye ripped out. Her ears were flattened against her head and she was crouched low, tail wrapped tightly around her. Her paws were pressed beneath her, and she stared up at Imperia with her one eye, absolutely terrified.

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words: 301
tagged:
ooc: now is when things get interesting
muse: like 8/10 i have waited 7 months for this moment

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Aaliyah followed Imperia, tail flicking behind her. She didn't want to be doing this, but she followed anyone, for she knew she had no choice. The time hadn't come for when she could leave them. She was beginning to hope it was soon, though. She still felt guilty and ashamed of the first death she had brought. If only there was a way to truly revive a gem...

When they had walked for some time, they finally came upon someone else. She realized with a jolt that they had one eye. And immediately upon seeing Imperia, she seemed to be...absolutely terrified. Aaliyah frowned. Why was the cat so terrified? What had happened?

Had...Imperia been the one to take her eye out? She glanced over toward them and was horrified to see the glint in their eyes. So they had taken her eye out. Why had they done that? Had this cat done anything to them? She seemed downright terrified! She lowered her ears slightly and kept her gaze on the caracal to see what they would do.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: here
notes: here

Imperia chuckled. So it was them. The one they had ripped an eye out from. They were the perfect candidate for being the first to die. But first, they had to make her feel even more terrified, if such a thing were possible. They grinned.

"I must say, it is rather a surprise to see you. I thought you would never return to Pisces after what I did to you. Or maybe this is your first time back? Wow. Seeing me immediately upon your return." They flicked their ear and glanced toward Aaliyah, who was staring at them with a horrified expression. They grunted and then turned back to the cat.

"Today must be your lucky day! Aaliyah and I are looking for gembounds to...well, kill." They chuckled before turning back to Aaliyah, their eyes narrowed to little slits. "Aaliyah. Why don't you do the honors? I'll let you be the first to kill. Kill this cat."

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: here
notes: here

Kallista's gaze flicked to the unfamiliar cat. She seemed horrified to see her, and she sighed. She wasn't exactly a pretty sight. As Imperia began to talk more, she gazed back at them. When she heard the word "kill," she immediately let out a whimper and began to back away. When they glanced at the other - Aaliyah, she had heard them say - her gaze went back to hers, her eyes widened and laced with fear.

"P-please, please d-don't kill me," she whispered, "please, Todd will be s-so w-worried if I don't c-come back. He might hunt you t-two and then..," she gulped. "Then you'll k-kill him. I can't...l-let you do that. So p-please, don't kill me." She pleaded with Aaliyah, not knowing if it would work or not. Perhaps she may not kill her, but Imperia will. Still, she had no other option.

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words: 144
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muse:

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Aaliyah let out a low growl at hearing Imperia's words toward the cat. This was beginning to be too much. Did they not see that she was already terrified? When they turned toward her, she visibly flinched. She was the one who had to kill her? She glanced toward the cat as she began to whisper. Hearing her pleas resonated within her. She...couldn't do this. There was no way she could kill her! She was downright terrified.

"I...No. I can't do this. I can't kill her! Do you not see how fucking terrified she is? Look at her! Listen to her! Those pleas...I can't." She stared right at Imperia, refusing to look away. She knew she was taking a huge risk here - if worse came to worse, they may end up having to fight. She once mentioned something about not wanting to do what they wanted her to do, and it hadn't ended well. She had avoided any mentions of it until now. They may not end up fighting, but this still won't end up well. Imperia may kill the cat themselves.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: here
notes: here

Imperia growled at hearing Aaliyah's response. "What?" Their claws were digging into the stone below as they turned to fully face her, head raised and eyes flashing with anger. "You are to do as I said. Kill. This. Cat. I did not raise you to go against what I said. I will tell you again. Kill this cat in front of you or I will do it myself. I do not want to hear you disobey me ever again." By this point, Imperia had walked up to Aaliyah until the two were face to face. He glared at her, growling loudly now.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: here
notes: here

Kallista blinked in surprise as Aaliyah refused to kill her. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing though, as Imperia said they would just kill her himself. She let out another whimper and glanced toward Aaliyah, almost pleading with her eyes to stop him somehow. She didn't know what the hybrid could do, but she had no other choice. There was no way she could fight back, not against Imperia. She had done it before, and lost horribly. The memory was still fresh in her mind, though it had been many cycles, as clearly evident by the presence of Aaliyah.

She was definitely at least an adult, though seemed perhaps a bit older. Her fur was littered with scars, and it was clear that Imperia had trained her to fight. She looked strong, just as Imperia did. Kallista had barely eaten recently, and was nowhere near as strong as the two. They could pick her off easily. She herself had lived for many cycles, but that wouldn't matter against two who had trained perhaps their whole life. She suddenly wished Aaliyah hadn't refused. Maybe from her, they'd get a quick and painless death. But she had a feeling Imperia would just drag it out.

---

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muse:

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Aaliyah stared unflinching back at Imperia as they walked closer, each word seeming to dig into her. But it was too late to go back now - she had seized the opportunity to leave, and she was going to take it. And she was going to make it hurt Imperia as much as possible. With a flick of her tail and a brief glance toward the cat, she spoke.

"You've hardly raised me. Raising would mean having a loving family, and someone who cared for me. But you never did. You never gave single shit about me or what happened to me. You fought me, you've put me up against others, you've made me kill. Well guess what? I'm sick of it. I'm sick and tired of doing what you want me to do, not what I want to do. And I'm not going to stand for it anymore," she growled, glaring right back at Imperia.

"This cat is terrified. I will not kill her, and I will not let you kill her. She is pleading for your life. Killing just for the sake of it does not make you strong. Killing does not make you strong. Listening to the pleas of one, and still hurting them does not make you strong. You do these things under the guise of them making you strong." She paused, dragging her claws across the stone before continuing.

"Imperia. You are not strong. You are weak. How many battles have you actually won? What have you actually done? You think you are strong, but this thinking only makes you weak."



"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: here
notes: here