▼ Young and a Menace

He was confused, as anyone might be, about the origin of the mysterious black obelisk in the forest. Drench left his feet slicked with mud and water dripping from narrowed eyelashes as he observed from a distance. Horses, equines of all shapes and sizes were being spat out at different intervals, in different locations. The few he got to see were rather large. A robust man with a crooked horn, calling the names of foreign beings. As a whole the sight was piteous at best, full-grown horses moaning and groaning as they sought after what he could only assume were loved ones. Even a few foals and juveniles could be seen, teetering and tottering on lanky legs.

There was something mesmerizing about the black smog that seemed to melt and twist in the shadows. It always was, for him this was nothing new. The soul of the Rift was rife with hostility, twisting minds and warping bodies. Fresh meat, that is all they were. Something new for the Rift to gnaw on, cannon fodder for the madness.

Gargamel whuffled softly before turning away. Bright eyes seemed to glow in the heavy darkness as he removed himself from the echoes of Rift-borne misery. There was enough of this where he came from, he did not need to see it injected into the hearts of complete strangers. Perhaps a small part of him felt sorry for them, while the majority simply urged him on with his task. There were better, more important matters to attend to than the grievous weeping of foolish mortals.

x x GARGAMEL

- - - - - - - - - - -

MAGIC;;

• defensive - blood freezes on contact with oxygen
  

ENCHANTED ITEMS;; n/a

RIFT-GOD/KAOS ITEMS;; n/a

AMULETS;; n/a

COMPANIONS;; n/a

MUTATIONS;;

• black blood
  
• blood runs cold, causing core body temperature to run colder as well
  

[*]
SPECIES CHANGE;; n/a

REQUESTS;; n/a

NATIVE RIFTIAN

It wasn't easy to find anything in this place, let alone kids who made a game out of hiding. Between the rain, the dense foliage and the light-eating acorn charm braided into her tail, it was nothing short of a miracle that she could see anything at all. Erthë knew she ought to hurry, ought to run around frantic and leap at the throat of anyone she came by, just in case they may have seen the unruly twins, but... as usual, her motherly instincts had taken a vacation and all she felt as she meandered through the woods was a sense of remote amusement.

They were independent children, that ought to count for something. Better they ran and played than followed like little shadows in her wake, too afraid to breathe. Fear would get them nowhere, neither in this world nor life in general.

As she broke through a thicket and found herself faced with a stranger however, the complacency faded from her mind and turned into wariness; this was not a face she recalled from Helovia, and that could only mean one thing.

He was a native.

"Pardon, I did not mean to disturb you" she said, warily.

----------------

wc: 200

YUNG GOD Adjustment was hard, it was draining, it left no spare time to have fun when I was too caught up in always keeping one eye open, head on a swivel - the eyes that followed were enough to make me fear for my well being, but once I got a glimpse of some of the wild creatures that haunted the area, I was sure to turn around (nope!). I've lingered closer to the Portal, having been too uneasy going anywhere else as the smoke surrounding the land seemed to direct us solely into the dark depths of the coast, and I don't consider myself a strong enough swimmer to go exploring there (not yet anyway, eventually I'll be forced into it somehow). While here, I spy with my pretty eye a charming grullo stallion. Finally, the time has come, someone has sent a gift. I approach casually, smooth as I slide into his vision and a sly grin - it falls apart as I notice someone else, a fair stranger giving her pardon. I'm only here for the man - "dibs."

200!!!!
@Gargamel

He made it through a clearing, opalescent eyes blinking out at him from the vibrant foliage. Indeed, the Presence was awake. It was drawing so many curious eyes, so many wandering gazes. He snorted sharply as a little filbea scuttled across his path. A single hoof hit the ground in warning, and the tiny creature hissed, long ears tipped back into the furry mess of its spine before disappearing. They had similar vermin back home, admittedly different, but still a nuisance.

Gargamel huffed and came to a full stop when a chiseled face cut through the leaves. He could have very well ran into the girl had she not noticed him as well. Dark ears slid back and his tail lashed anxiously. She was of the flying kind, gargantuan wings hung like slack baggage at her sides. Horns framed the pretty shape of her face as she gazed on wearily.

Almost as quickly a stallion appeared, however this man must have thought himself smooth. Gargamel lifted an eyebrow as the stranger shimmied up a little too close for his comfort. “Pardon not, I-” He sought for the words he wanted “Pardon me.”

x x GARGAMEL

@Erthe
192

Pale ears twitched curiously, caught the sound of movement and followed the progress of the second stallion - young, dark, face splashed in deathly white in a fashion that was growing tediously familiar - as he sauntered up to the blue-eyed Riftian and called... dibs?

The man appeared almost as puzzled as she; Erthë had to smile at his confusion, and felt to her own surprise how the initial wariness began to settle. The situation reminded her about the numerous encounters she had made in the Helovian Threshold, so much so that it was rather eerie. Saddening too, once the memories reminded her of the time and place to which she could never return.

"... pardons aside" she said, wondering what it was about the tall stranger that made the bold-faced youth so interested, "have either of you seen a pair of foals nearby? Twins, one dark and one pale like myself..?"

She supposed she ought to be ashamed to admit that she had lost track of them, but no such emotion appeared within her; only resignation, and again that vague sense of amusement. It made her wonder if her own mother had felt the same, whenever they got separated.


-------------

200!! 8D

This cold-blooded creature was nearly missed by the Portal’s hungry shadows. The bright, neon glows nearly passed him over, for he did not gleam or glow with magic and warmth as these newcomers did. He was safe from their hunger…

Nearly.

A single spear of shadow strikes across your chest, marking you with its derision. It hungers and you offer too little, Rift-brother. Best be on your way out of these unsafe woods.

the Rift
life between worlds

image


| ACCEPTANCE NOTES : GARGAMEL |

Magic:
Defensive: Blood freezes on contact with oxygen.
Vanity: Glowing blue slash on chest.

Mutations:
Black blood
Cooler body temperature

YUNG GOD I witness once again the damages dealt by the Rift, from seeing a foolish sister of mine sprout a surplus of eyes to dragons gone wild. This time, it targets the stallion I'd begun to approach (before stopping midstep to realize I was going to get uncomfortably sexual before some poor woman), breaking open his chest, pouring out a thick flow of vibrant blue, spilling out onto the ground and gaining my attention. "Oh -" I look around us, at the dissipating shadows and eerily glowing eyes - "the dibs remains." (No oozing Rift curse is gonna stop me from getting dick what I want) The woman asks for the whereabouts of children I haven't seen, because if I had I'd likely have turned the other way. Young children are nuisances (I still am), and I tend to avoid them unless somehow (by no miracle) they're bound to me by blood, since Volterra has no restraint still. I shake my head in response, shrugging to further the concept that I didn't know their whereabouts. "Twins are troublesome," because knowing my sister and myself, for the moments we were together, we were devious little shits (and I continue to be).

200!
@Gargamel

It happened so fast, so suddenly. Gargamel grunted in surprise as something dark and scathing struck him in the chest. He inhaled sharply, lungs felt close to bursting, as pain lanced its way across muscle and bone. The Rift had spoken, as it had to the countless others that milled about this humid pit. Where it was traumatizing for the newcomers, it was a mere irritation at the back of his mind. The Presence appeared to be growing quite greedy with the appearance of these foreigners.

Gargamel blew softly through his nose before facing the woman once more. That is, after setting the male with a hard look, one that would convey a proximity warning. Blue eyes shifted in their sockets as he nit-picked the owlish behavior of the woman, typical female at first glance. Until the subject of children was breached. She had children? “Children? Here? How long?“ He asked.

His dismay was carefully hidden behind a quiet mask of inspection. He could not be bothered with the sting of neon blue waste that dripped down a leg, rolling to a slow stop as the goopy content began to crystalize.

x x GARGAMEL

@Erthe
191

Even if the riftian was used to the presence, Erthë was not, and she had none of the composure (or lack of reflexes) that the skull-masked youth seemed to possess. The stabbing spear of shadows had her starting like a frightened bird, already several paces away and feathers a-ruffle and ready to take flight - if it hadn't been so wet, if the feathers hadn't been soaked through and heavier than grief - by the time the first drop of dark blood touched the ground.

and froze.

It was such a curious thing that it gave her pause in the midst of her fright, so much that she forgot to chastise herself for being too tense, too flighty and not at all the suave, balanced and worldly mare she had been in the past. Pale eyes regarded the blood and the wound and the man who had been cut, curiously musing over the similarities between him and her even as her query was answered.

"Yes, they are, aren't they..." she said, not taking her eyes off the blue-eyed stallion. "I couldn't say how long... I saw their tracks when I woke up, the rain had not yet erased them."

----

199 words

YUNG GOD The woman jumps, visibly unsettled by the shadow's vicious act against the grullo, ruffled feathers an answer to their greed. Perhaps had this been my first time witnessing the Rift's mysterious magic at work, I too would be shrinking away, desperate to hide - but I'd seen it eagerly mess with the mass of children I'd come in through the Portal with (ew, spider eyes). This might honestly be a far more tame outcome than some, watching the thick blood ooze, interest piqued as it freezes over after moments of exposure to the outside. "Guess I'm not the only one with blood magic - but I think mine is a little more exciting," a smirk crawls across bi-coloured lips, twisting into something mischievous because oh how I'd love to mess around with my blood some more (after the Ozzy incident, I'm hooked on the entertainment it provides). I look to the woman who seems to speak with less interest in her children and more focus on the icy blood at the stallion's hooves, brow raised at her lack of panic at her missing twins. "Good luck, a mass of children are roaming the Rift thanks to my father."

200!
@Gargamel