He awoke in a cold sweat; maybe it was just the rain, except for the shiver that wriggled up his spine. Quick to stand up, to escape something, Iskra's body jolted up. Problem was the muscles and the mind were still a bit groggy and foggy, so he got about half way before a dizzy throbbing hit him in the head. He sat like a dog for a moment, front feet splayed wide to prop him up, neck hung so low his lips almost touched the dirt. All in all he looked like a night out gone bad.
It wasn't anything quite so fun unfortunately, just a night in that had gone bad with nightmare after nightmare eating up his slumber. Iskra gave a wide yawn and pondered slouching back down to get the rest of his sleep, or whatever he could salvage, but the quick hammer in his chest told him that wasn't happening. Third night now - he knew the routine.
He stood and stretched, not surprised to see Castiel was already drifting by the entrance to the underwater area. The whale was roused by Iskra's fits and though he knew their insomnia walks just as well as Iskra did, there was also probably some pleasure for him in this particular region - a sea he had never known but still felt a connection to.
"Misha," Iskra greeted him affectionately, and the whale squeaked from his blowhole in happy response. "Didja see anything tonight?" Iskra asked even as he stepped down into the caves, the soft click and clack of his hooves on the stone an eerie lullaby. A swirl of dark magenta shades and violet hues spilled over the bond and tinged Iskra's thoughts. If there was any sense to be had of the communication Castiel was attempting, it was lost on the colt, who only deciphered dark water from the interaction, which he thought was rather obvious given it was night time and there was water on the other side of the see-through caverns.
Deciding not to rely on the young leviathan, Iskra pressed up close to a crystal pocket in the wall, its transparency granting him a visible window to peer into the sea. Thinking he saw something in the murk, he leaned in closer, whiskers brushing the chilly surface of earth and ocean.
Iskra
You don't have to change a thing, the world could change its heart
No scars to your beautiful, we're stars and we're beautiful
Peering into the cave in the side of the cliff gave at least a little reprieve from the rain, but it pounded Chico with a nostalgia he couldn’t ever have predicted, even if it did hit him just the same; the memory of drawing dicks on the side of the wall (with someone you care about--) was ridiculous enough threaten to pull something from the back of his eyes.
But fucking luckily Chico didn’t and doesn’t really have all that much of an attention span. Which is great, really, cuz there was movement down further in the cave, the sound of a child’s (a boy) inquiring voice and the sight of a fucking whale floating in the air, serene and curious, as though it were wondering how the hell it had jumped out of the water here. And somehow this was all enough to pull him out of the deep, dark soul-hole he was ready to climb down.
The sight was so unexpected--so asinine and so totally awesome--that a small gurgle-burp of a growl escaped from Chico’s maw, his tawny eyes taking in the sight of the tiny floating whale. But oops he was in a cave, and caves have hella accoustics, so that tiny growl that had slipped past his teeth suddenly rebounded and bounced and grew into something a lot more ferocious and loud. Cheek clamped his mouth shut, but the cave had already made him a villain; even a fart could sound nefarious in this place.
{UH HELL YEAH IM HERE but this is chico bein\' a boob :B} You know, the one at W. 103rd and Broadway?
An underground cave draws the boy's attention; he slips into it, Askari dutifully staying close to his heels. Since Mbwana did not get much time in Helovia before the war, he does not feel the bond to it that most others do. That means that he doesn't feel guilty about exploring the vast reaches of the Rift, and has already made himself quite at home in a nearby forest. Age means fearlessness; only as he gets older will he realise the danger that he places himself in each and every day by wandering through this corrupted world.
Askari dares to break rank and dart in front of Mbwana, leading the way with his tail held at a jaunty angle. His mind pulses into the colt's; it's full of curiosity and happiness, but also trepedation because he knows the alpha walks in front, and he is not the alpha. Sure enough, he emits a yelp of fear as Mbwana's teeth snap down at him with a growl, pinning him down until he grins submissively and curls his tail over his belly. Satisfied that the pup has remembered his place, Mbwana continues to walk forwards with Askari now traipsing obediently, if sadly, behind him.
Suddenly, the pup emits a cacophany of barks. Mbwana glances up to see a strange fish-like creature floating nearby, and he stares in awe for a moment before he begins to take in his new company. There's a colt, older than himself, feathered and bay-coloured. The whale seems to belong to him, and Mbwana wonders if they're bonded like he and Askari are. Like he and Nguvu were, until the young bitch went wild. Mbwana shakes off that memory, because it hurts to think of her absence. "Is that your whale?" he asks the pegasus. His voice is a low, doglike growl, and his young features are stern as he looks at the older boy. Askari drops down to his forelimbs and waves his back end up in the air in a play-bow towards the whale, yipping in invitation. Mbwana wants to tell the whelp that a floating creature like that isn't going to be interested in such games, but he hasn't the energy.
Then, the pup is yelping again, his playful demeanour gone in an instant, and the colt glares down at him. He can evidently smell something, and then there's a noise - an odd, gurgling noise, like a beast. Mbwana snorts, glancing warily around. "What was that?" he asks nobody in particular.
07-31-2017, 08:25 PM (This post was last modified: 08-21-2017, 06:05 PM by Iskra.)
There is an abrupt explosion of noises that seem to come from all around. Peering into dark alien waters was enough to get spine-tingles as it was, but then to also think you were alone only to find out you weren't with your tingling spine turned, well it was enough to put even the bravest son of a bitch into a helter-skelter run while screaming like a frilly girl.
Iskra wasn't the bravest SOB around, but he did nearly jump out of his skin with surprise when both barking and growling started up around him. A small cheep of fear even squeaked past him before all of his breath lent itself to some tremendous snorting. Before he even had a moment to think Iskra had turned and began to bolt further down the cave, tail-flagging and feather-bristling the whole time. The problem was the cave made the little click-clack of his hooves sound like damn thunder when he was in a full out run, and that did nothing to help his rationale.
Meanwhile Castiel the whale had also startled, but being far less agile had thrust himself into the glassy viewing pane with such force he knocked himself backwards and dizzy. The Leviathan flopped like a wet sponge onto the cave floor, laid on his back, front flippers all churning helplessly at the air while his tail flukes slapped on the floor periodically.
At some point, Iskra's breath found itself again, and it seemed like those fresh gulps of air revitalized his brain enough that he slowed and turned to look back. He'd run so far he couldn't see anything, but the echo of a memory of a voice reached him in that moment of clarity, and well he also noticed Castiel wasn't with him. "Shit," he swore under his breath as he began to trot back.
Embarrassed, Iskra returned with this pleasant greeting, "hey! What the hell was all that about!? As if there's not enough scary shit around here already." He might have come back sword drawn if not for the fact that while returning he remembered what the boy had said - just a curious series of question and good intention, but that latter part Iskra brushed off for the moment as his hot-headed retaliation rolled off. Grumbling, Iskra reached out with his magic, the air around Castiel warming suddenly until a burst of heat swept the whale back into the air and upright. The creature wailed in complaint, unnecessarily loud with its ire.
Iskra
You don't have to change a thing, the world could change its heart
No scars to your beautiful, we're stars and we're beautiful
Ultima
