He was bitter.

Life had moved on, and yet he stayed, alone and stranded. The Spire taunted him, and he watched it every day, as if it would move from its position.

And yet, nothing changed. That was the worst of it- the Spire had ripped everything from him, and yet it stayed, and he hated it.

He wanted it gone.

But, all he could do instead was ignore the constant desire for its destruction and continue living, swooping down from his nest he'd made cycles ago and root about in the fungi for something to eat. Many things were edible and many weren't- and the smaller insects were fine enough to eat, even if he staunchly refused to look at them. It was satisfying to have them die, but...

He shuddered, shoving the memory to the back of his mind.

And so he continued around, fluttering from patch to patch, rooting his beak between plants and mushrooms in search of anything he could eat. All in all, an ordinary day for such a basic creature.

@Garnet-Delta

set shortly after was afraid all the neighbors would hear

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

violence

graphic themes

Time to move. The Garnet-- Cain's wing still ached as it carried itself on the air currents of the caves, sweeping the most direct path back toward home. It stopped briefly in Polaris, thoughts still swirling with a fury that it could only eye from the corner of its vision, never directly confronting the poisonous whirlpool that wanted to drag it down.

It simply didn't have time, or the will, to digest any of what happened. Instead, it simmered on the surface of its anger, and when its paws hit the purple stone of Polaris, claws extended to clack on the cavern floor.

Cain wanted to destroy something. Devour a lesser, perhaps, but not before tearing open its innards and splaying its blood across the floor. It could use a meal before the rest of the journey home, but it didn't dare reach out with seeking magic, lest it catch a whiff of the Orthoclase's presence. Now that it was healed, it wasn't sure it could be trusted to confront the titan again. It pushed its thoughts away from even the briefest blip of that creature, tasting bile on its tongue.

It just so happened that Elroy fluttered nearby, the sound enough to catch in the long dishes of Cain's ears. Crimson eyes snapped to the bird, and it slowed, lowering to a crouch.

Magic surged to its teeth, filling its fangs with poison; its intent was to paralyze for the kill, but its anger boiled in the magic, diffusing it and making it weaker. What might have led to a creature unable to move or even feel its heart being torn from its chest, would only cause muscles to restrict and a faint, tingling numbness.

Cain stalked closer, wings slowly edging out from its body in case the bird tried to take flee, so it could push off and immediately get that extra momentum and direction from its flight limbs. Eyes narrow, it prepared to strike-- for once, not taking particular care to truly sneak outside of its natural habitual quietness. It was too focused on its goal: killing.

@Elroy

As Elroy dipped his beak under a plant, using one talon to shove the bulk of it away, he didn't notice the strange hybrid approaching. Not at first. He was engrossed under the leaves, tweaking hte leaves aside and biting down a few shed seeds.

And he drew back his head. Already, he saw something- a being? and he blinked hard, his senses rearing forward. Who..? He squinted, his golden-laced wings slowly drawing out to his sides, wariness filling him.

What was it doing..? Elroy looked over the Overseer, his head pounding and tail twitching, not yet coming or going. He was, as some may say, like a deer in the headlights.

short post... @Garnet-Delta

The bird stopped and stared at him, wings at the ready. It seemed too dumbfounded by Cain's approach to even flee, which was its first mistake.

Cain drew back its muzzle into a snarl, and its magic surged. It lashed out with its magic to grasp the bird and hold it still, so that it could sink its fangs into the bird and tear out its feathers, but as it went to move--

Another hiccup.

Its muscles constricted, and its magic tightened around its own veins, locking it into place. A hiss came from between its teeth. At least it was just a stupid lesser; the thing would probably fly away in a panic at the hiss, and no one would ever know. Maybe Cain could track it down by its gem and kill it for the satisfaction later...

Regardless, right now, Cain could do nothing but glare at the bird.

@Elroy

When Cain snarled, Elroy's eyes went wide and he skipped backwards, wings flaring further. Was this a sapient being..? Was it attacking him? Why was it crouched? Elroy's beak nervously grinded as he took a few more steps back, jumping when it was seemingly strangled by an invisible force.

Elroy let out an uneasy noise before fluttering upwards, perching on a higher, glowing mushroom, digging in with his claws into its meaty surface. Just carefully, Elroy peeked over the edge to watch Cain, debating. Should he say something? Should he just leave? No- hm.

"Are you okay?" he eventually asked, voice cracking and wheezing out of him. It had been so long since he'd spoken to anyone, and yet...

Who was this, and why did that happen?

@Garnet-Delta

Oh, Dhracia, SERIOUSLY? The stupid lesser squawked at it. With actual, real words. This dumb thing staring at it-- after hopping only a few feet away as if that would protect it--with dazed confusion wasn't a lesser at all.

Which meant it was a Greater that happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Slowly, Cain's muscles began to loosen, and it stumbled forward a step with another small hiss.

"Do I LOOK okay?" Cain snapped, baring its teeth. "Ugh." It wanted to kill this bird for even just witnessing that. It really should kill him... But no, its Master would find that wasteful. As if the stone couldn't be reused...

"Why are you hopping around aimlessly like a brain-dead spinner?" The Overseer demanded, willing its magic again to take hold... and failing, again. Fury brimmed in its veins, and it barely kept its resentment from showing in its body language. Instead, it raised its head high, sinking its claws into the stone, and kept itself from baring its teeth. For now.

@Elroy

Without any lip to curl, Elroy resorted to grinding his beak, uneasy with how upset this person seemed. "No need to be snappy," he'd said, the disdain clear in his voice. He stepped back, tensing his claws in and out of the mushroom, watching the being recollect itself. He narrowed his eyes, and-

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elroy squawked, feathers raising. "I don't have fuckin-- teeth and claws to find bigger food, now do I?" His voice was the rough call of a crow, and he sneered- at least, as best as a bird could- down to Cain.

"Why are you being such an asshole, then?" His tail flared, and wings lifted once more, ready to flutter away from any visible attack. As his tail feathers moved, a twinge of familiar pain was felt at the base- but, no matter. If he had to get out of there, he certainly could.

@Garnet-Delta

On another day, Overseer Cain might have had more patience. "Shut up," the winged cat spat, taking a step forward with fur bristling along its spine. It held its head high now that it was able, and flexed its claws into the sparse weeds that grew in the cracks of stone here.

"I am Overseer Cain, and you'll speak to me with respect," it demanded, "You're lucky I realized you weren't a lesser. I could have snapped your neck." And it was still thinking about it, a vicious look in those hard, red eyes.

Anger boiled through its fur, and perhaps its new, latent magic was stirring to life with that emotion. Spines broke through its skin, stinging as they grew viciously along its bristling spine, and a pair of sharp horns burst free from its brow with a trickle of blood dripping down its muzzle.

"Think carefully before you say another word," it warned with a low growl in its throat.

@Elroy

Elroy grumbled, biting his tongue when Cain told him to shut up. Why should he shut up? "Overseer means nothing to me- and, what you think about living life as a savage? Go ahead, then," he taunted, fluttering back again. Stop edging closer, he begged, all of his feathers flared up.

Magic flared and Cain hissed again, only drawing Elroy to screech back. He had enough of this bullshit. Flapping hard, he twisted to flee, wings pounding with haste away from Cain before it decided to pounce.

@Cain (sorry for short post a)

The Overseer's tail lashed as Elroy's hesitation was merely momentary. The bird opened his beak to squawk some more, saying that Overseer meant nothing.

When Cain was done with him, it would mean everything. The end of all things, perhaps. A great power to be feared, revered, the one with whom to plead mercy to. There would be no mercy, Cain felt in its blood.

The bird started to take flight, and Cain leapt forward after him, wings spreading to try and take to the sky after the bird. In the same motion, its magic flared, lashing forward faster than claws. It tried to grab the bird by the blood in its wings, to make its muscles resist motion. A bird could not take flight without moving its wings, and soon, Cain would be upon him.

"You'll see!" Cain snarled, claws extended, venomous teeth bared, as its body barreled toward Elroy.

@Elroy