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bad omens { open }
Posted: 19 Jul 2015, 13:41
by Marlow (DELETED 6865)
Sweat beads dripped down the side of the of the woman's face. Chocolate eyes looked directly at the bear. Bear's had been a good omen from where she had originally come from, but here she was training to be a better vampire and she was killing the good omens from her people. That was an automatic bad karma, on her part. Right?
A sigh escaped her lips as she coaxed the giant beast towards her, parting her legs so she could easily spring upon it's back and it out that way. She needed to train, that was what Kika had told her. To become stronger for the bloodline. So she did. She had started with zombies, moved onto wolves - even mountain lions and here she was squaring herself up with a bear. It didn't feel right, not to her at least.
With a twist of her body she lunged for the beast straddling his back as it reared it's head crying, and howling at Marlow to get off and scamper. Yet she stayed firm she would slay this beast. Lifted her dagger she brought it down to the bear's jugular and watched the spurts of blood escape the body. She let go of the bear as it collapsed to the ground, giving off its last breaths in a pool of its own blood.
She knelt beside the beast and took a token of her victory, the paw. Before running her fingers through the fur of the beast. "I'm sorry I did this to you. Truly sorry. I hope you can forgive me. " The bear's chest ceased to move then and then the body sagged. Marlow stood with the bloody paw in her hand in the middle of the hunting grounds feeling nothing but sorrow as she began to walk away.
She should have felt proud that she took down a bear, one of the kings of the forest, a guardian, but yet she felt horrible like a terrible omen was about to hit her. Karma had a funny thing about it. It always found a way to turn the tables on you, as she kept on walking through the grounds the bloody paw dripped blood upon the fresh, green grass leaving a trail for anyone to find.
The Owls hooted in the sky above her, hunting their own prey. Foxes hunted down rabbits to eat. The hierarchy of the predator was about. Marlow knew exactly where she fitted on the scale, she was at the top. Nothing could match her physically. Yet, why did she feel so low?
Re: bad omens { open }
Posted: 19 Jul 2015, 20:24
by Kitchi
Pitikwaha reached for the sky as if he was born to fly. In that moment, so briefly, it was like he was trying to take hold of the sun. The very same brilliant source that was forced to merely be the halo that wrapped around him with its brighter than usual light. Reckless he was. The energy that flowed from his young body was that and so much more as Kitchi watched the one that was not himself land with a sound of victory coming from his lips. The tumble of a blue-black mane of waist length hair whipped about the boys face as he returned to his feet only to make several gestures of an early win while the rest of those witnessing the catch of the ball stood and waited. Kitchi shook his head with his face wearing a small but amused grin.
Piti was always on fire. Then again when wasn’t his twin? His brother in blood and spirit was a glimpse into the darker elements that were seeded in his abominable pride. Their father’s words of warning burned through him as he heard “BATTER UP!” called out.
“That boy will never run fast enough, jump high enough or be strong enough to avoid what is going to catch up with him eventually. He cannot escape what is coming. I tell you this for a reason, Kitchi.”
Kitchi felt the moonlight warming his body through the night as he gazed up at the stars. On his back and free beneath the sky he imagined the dance of the Aurora Borealis and wondered if he would be joining her there. Was there going to be room for both of them when he arrived? He tried to forgive, to accept the advice of their father and the spirit that guided him. The one time Kitchi defied all he was eternally left with the blood on his hands as a reminder of how fine the line was between what he was raised to believe and the monster he inevitably had become.
The water was cold. Too cold for a body to sink in and be devoured by. Beams from the flashlights moving on Kitchi’s back didn’t deter him as he tugged his arm from Kisikaw. The aging woman who birthed him and the darkness was the only one who could hold him down outside the one who was submerged yards out of reach from his raging hands. Paskus could never sink deep enough to evade the fix of his dark eyes. He growled in anger as his mother cried out for him to stop. The persistent woman said his wife wouldn’t want him to see her like that.
“Nakatew!”
One word and only one came from him ordering her to leave as his eyes bore through her own with their stormy warning. His arm was like a slingshot of rolling muscle snapping free from the grasp of her trembling hands. No man would be so weak to seek comfort, to look away at that moment. Not the kind of man Kitchi was. His feet moved with increased force in their steps as he owned the slick rocks beneath his boots. The water reminded him this was no place to be. They shouldn’t be there at all. Not like this.
The sweet scent of the woman he chose for his mate was not able to be drowned out. Cool, wet skin curled into his neck like it had since the first time he held her not far from the place he was left to cradle her lifeless body in tragic finality. It filled him so deep that he was taken away from the surrounding sounds of his mother wailing in grief at the sight of him carrying her to the shore of the lake they were raised on. The world was splitting around him and all he could do was inhale her in deeper hoping to salvage every part of her that was left to take.
As he kneeled down Kitchi heard his voice joining her fading own in the places where they could never be separated. There was a shared laughter at the discovery that they were finally one. The ceremony was complete as their families gathered around them dancing. He leaned into her ear and offered her the moon and the stars but she whispered back that she wanted the sun and the fire. He was not taken back. He was so proud standing there holding her face in his palm. She would never bend to please him or deny herself just to be kind.
Paskus was brave. She knew what she wanted and deserved.That is why his young Metis wife left the likes of the hellstorm Pitikwaha the first time his brother took his hands to her in a drunken rage. Kitchi warned his brother he never deserved her and to take his war elsewhere. He stepped hard with the weight of his words even then. He sent Pitikwaha flying into the kitchen wall and picked up the bleeding and beaten Paskus. If his brother could not hold his rage and anger in check then Kitchi would take her home. She was still a free woman so he was not doing anything wrong. It was not his fault his brother lacked the courage to commit.
Kitchi didn’t lack anything except the ability to be objective when Paskus looked into his eyes. He didn’t intend to hold her that night but he did. He didn’t expect to want her the next morning but he did that too. Ultimately she never left. It was no surprise that Pitikwaha eventually did. He left in a storm of slurred threats and a cloud of week old whiskey that failed to give him the courage to set the world and his former woman straight. One thing could be said about Pitikwaha. He was a man of his word. He rolled in like a long awaited storm and finally followed through on his threats. Kitchi’s wife now was dancing somewhere among the rest in the northern lights while her dead body was left in his drenched arms as proof that his brother remembered not even shared blood could save a soul from striking out.
Lightning was breaking up the sky as Kitchi took hold of the collar around the back of his brother’s neck and pulled his body crashing back against his chest. The grip was so hard that both their bodies were sent a few steps back until Kitchi cemented himself strongly where his boots gripped the dirt beneath. The scent of whiskey and sin on his brother’s body enveloped him. It only served in sickening him more that this was what it all was going to come down to. He held the drunk and swinging man closer than he ever had before as he pushed Pitikwaha forward through the heavy cloud of smoking bodies.
If Piti was protesting Kitchi didn’t hear it. So many times he had saved his belligerent *** in places just like the one they were moving through. Seedy, run down hole in the wall joints that catered to hopeless souls who drifted through to get lost, drunk and laid. There was nothing the man could say to change the series of events that would alter any plans either of them previously had or were destined to see through. The night Pitikwaha took a life with his hands sealed the fate of his very own. Kitchi was a man of his word as well.
The door of the bar bathroom slammed open with the weight of one struggling while the other shoved both of their masses through. A disoriented patron bailed leaving a white line on a grimey sink. Kitchi pushed forward sending Pitikhawa head first into the abandoned and recently used toilet. His grip was strong on the mans neck as he struggled beneath his fixed hands. While the bubbles slowed in their rise to the surface Kitchi remembered every time Piti laughed and when they danced in celebration. It was coming to an end. When his brother’s legs finally stopped kicking and his arms went limp Kitchi remembered her as he last saw her. Her face so serene and peaceful beneath the moon. Her body so cold and still in his arms. The sedate warmth beneath his aching grip said it was finally over. It was done. Despite their laws and their customs he kept his last words to their parents when he left. Neither of the brothers would be seen again. The round dance should begin as soon as their family could be gathered.
The scent of **** was hard to ignore as the weight of his lifeless brother was tossed over Kitchi’s shoulder. He kicked open the door with his boot and the waitress that was passing by stumbled with the impact. He moved through the fog of spent Marlboro’s and exhales of watered down import. He was only a few miles away from where he would sink the remains of his brother in the burial place originally chosen for Paskus. An eye for an eye. It was what fueled him to arrive at the shore of the lake he could never forget or would return to again. Once the last of the evil mane of hair left the visible surface of the lake water and disappeared Kitchi did the same.
Blood filled the air. If Kitchi's thoughts not been so far and their time distant he would have ignored the bitter sweetness that otherwise filled him. Cooling blood had him rising to his feet. The scent of warm moving bear was never hard to miss. It was pretty much everywhere that he had been before he settled back to count the plethora of stars above his head. The great outdoors was ripe with the pungent bouquet of dead meat and musky massive size animal urine. Bears had a bad deal in that regard. It was not too hard to find them if you felt brave enough. Obviously someone had done just that.
Kitchi was on the move with his long legs stepping in a fast stride. It was as easy as following the trail that was left behind. The blood itself had been welcomed into the grass and soil beneath his steps but the scent lingering in the air was the strongest. That alone called for his steps to move faster to catch up to the killer. It was a few minutes but soon he found another in the hunting grounds. Female. The evidence was impressive in size while held in her hand. The woman’s dark hair and skin shimmered beneath the moonlight as she continued to move. His feet took up a slow jog and finally when he was within earshot he called out to her.
“Need help carrying the rest of it?”
Surely all of the animal would be wanted. Why kill it if that was not the case? He certainly had enough bear hides and teeth to pawn off. If they weren’t interested he would have another to clean to make sure it was not wasted.
Re: bad omens { open }
Posted: 19 Jul 2015, 23:30
by Marlow (DELETED 6865)
Chocolate hues turned at the voice that from behind her. Black hair whipped around her neck as she spun on her heel. She was barefoot. Her feet crunched across the blades of grass. Halting her steps. She found herself looking this man over with an inquisitive stare. He asked her if she needed help to carry the corpse of her kill. There was a lot more she could take, the bear hide could come in handy. She had wanted the paw to turn it's claws into a necklace. Something for her to sell. Marlow was one of those people that would sit at the edge of the street with her small blanket, and her odds and ends and sell them to tourists.
Even now as a vampire she did the same thing. Finding whatever she could to sell, to pay for ammo for her gun. Some things in this place were hard to kill without the advantage of space between her and her prey. She was still getting used to being the predator. To being at the top of the food chain, a human could be seen as the top dog, but they were not. They could easily be taken down by a bear, or a shark. No one was impervious to harm, not even vampires. They were just more resilient.
"If you are offering." She found herself admiring his tanned skin, and his long black hair. Longer perhaps than her own. He seemed much like her, she felt a kindred spirit within this man, words never left her mouth saying such a thing but she smiled at him. Pearly white fangs crept through her lips. Revealing the beast she was to him. "There is a cave nearby. It seems abandoned. Are you alright to carry the bear there?" Marlow had been hiding within it for a few days now.
Her thin figure began to move towards the male, to look the bear over. It was huge really. A real kingly beast. She was sure this make was going to have a hard time carrying it. She could try to help, between they both they could carry it into the cave. She found herself canting her head. A dream catcher was dangling from her neck. One of the many things she could make for her little trinkets. She wore a white, loose blouse and a brown skirt that dropped down to her ankles.
She bent over and grabbed the legs of the beast, waiting for the man to grab the other end.
Re: bad omens { open }
Posted: 20 Jul 2015, 23:51
by Kitchi
Kitchi watched the woman as she made her way towards him. Dark eyes caught his attention and he nearly forgot he was standing over the scent of death. His lips twitch lightly and his chest lifted while he took in a deep breath that was more for discerning her presence than fueling his dead lungs. Warmth exuded from those females orbs. He could be wrong but it seemed there was a concern resting somewhere in there. That observation found the corner of his mouth sending it upward slightly. Her lean figure stopped on the opposite side of the cooling beast between them. This was promising. It saved him the extra steps of chasing after her since he was intent on seeing that the spirit was given the respect it was due.
“I am.” Kitchi answered the question asked of him while he leaned over and took a hold on the bear that mirrored the woman’s position. His eyes looked the animal over then casually lifted to search her face falling slowly to the dream catcher that dangled secure from her neck. “Are you?”
An abandoned cave. Kitchi was not aware of one nearby but then again he had not been in the hunting grounds any length of time outside passing through. He was more often in the sewers trying to deal with the growing numbers of those bald and aggressive tattooed savages. He was comfortable with such a label because they were acting as such. They attacked if you passed them by and they could make a fight of the simple random act of locking eyes with them. They certainly were hostile and he really had not been around long enough to find out exactly why.
Kitchi lifted the bear up so that he was supporting most of the weight but still leaving some for her to handle. She did kill it and seemed to be wanting the responsibility that was hers to take. She was far more attractive than the bear or the grounds around them as they walked so he kept his eyes on her. What man wouldn’t? That gave him reason to pause briefly and suddenly glance around. Perhaps she was not alone and it would be wise to ask. He knew all too well how some could be just as territorial about their mates as they were about their chosen hunting grounds.
“You hunting alone?” That was simple enough. She didn’t have to answer if she didn’t want to. It was a question of curiosity and to save stepping on anyone's toes besides hers if he didn’t slow down. “It has been pretty quiet out here. Haven’t seen anyone up until you spilling the scent of blood.”
The bear was heavy. Kitchi held tight on the fur and ignored the strain it was proving to be in his arms. Each muscle was slowly forming into working determined knots. His hair fell over the front of his shoulders and spilled down to the body of the animal in his hold. There would be a bath in the lake later. He refused to rise after sunset the following night smelling like the beast beneath him. The scent of the woman that governed their path was the only relief to be had until his hands were empty.
Re: bad omens { open }
Posted: 21 Jul 2015, 20:12
by Ambrose Acheron
Ambrose moved through the wilderness, keeping an eye on the time. Though he had no ill-will toward the Fae, believing them to be the avatars of the gods, he had no desire to have a run-in with one either this night. He knelt down and picked up some maple leaves, wrapping them delicately in a cloth before putting them into a backpack Jose had acquired for him. Only a few more ingredients to go. A vampire fang... the scent of blood wafting through the nighttime air catches his nostrils, piquing his curiosity. A bear. Bears have no natural predators and hunting season wasn't until mid-August.
EIther Native Americans were hunting in the area, vampires were hunting or someone was killing animals who shouldn't be.
Ambrose was good with any of these options. If there were Natives, he would possibly have more childer, if it was a vampire he could garner the fang he was seeking and if it was someone just killing to kill... well... this was Tlaxochimaco. The sacrifice for Tlaxochimaco was to starve a man or woman alive in a cave as a sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli, Tezcatlipoca and Mictlantecuhtli. How fortuitous if the latter was the case. Ambrose knew of several nearby caves in the area...
He begins to head upwind, toward the scent making headway quickly. It wasn't too long before he realized he was approaching the area some vampires called "the hunting grounds" and... yes... there... two humanoid shapes, one man, one woman, beginning to lift what could only be the bear in question. Ambrose didn't make his presence knowing immediately, but nor did he make any move to conceal it. He leaned against a nearby tree and waited, watching.
Re: bad omens { open }
Posted: 01 Aug 2015, 21:13
by Marlow (DELETED 6865)
Marlow found herself looking at this man, as he asked her if she was alright to carry the bear. She had never carried something as heavy as this before so this would test her new found strength as a vampire. So she found herself nodding at the question, there was no wrong or right answer. “I guess we will soon find out.” She said. Hoisting up the bear from the end she was on. Watching the man with the long black hair opposite her, with a curious stare.
The animal itself was heavy to carry. Even with the support of someone else holding the bear with her, between them it was lighter but on her own she would not be able to carry it. Perhaps it was because she was a fledgling who knew. She halted with the man in front of her as he found himself looking around inspecting the area around them as if he was looking for someone but there was nothing. Marlow looked at him in a confused stare.
“I am.” She said in response to his hunting alone question. “I dont know many people around here.” She failed to mention her human family were around, but knowing what she is now it wasn’t safe for her to be around them. She could hurt them, or worse. Kill them. She missed Oscar though, her ginger tabby. A sigh escaped her lips in thought.
“It’s been quiet? I like to come out here sometimes. Reminds me of home. My human family travelled a lot. Used to live in an area like this. Without the bears.” She shrugged moving the direction they were going to, to the left a little the opening of a cave just ahead of them.
“I’m Marlow, by the way.” She said.
The man needed to know her name. It was polite.
Re: bad omens { open }
Posted: 02 Aug 2015, 23:11
by Kitchi
"kíyatí-mana kahkithaw kikway ni-kí-kistiyitamak... ikwa óma anohc namowitha íkosi itócikatwíw, íkoci óma íyakohk ísa ká-wanisiniyak."
Chak spoke and Kisikaw nodded in agreement at the recited quote he considered wisdom worth passing on. Not that his mother always agreed with her husband. Kishikawa would say whatever she wanted and Chak was never one to stop her. The words spoken needed to be said and she would have likely released them with her own voice to the wind had the man she loved and respected neglected to at that very moment.
The aging skin of a father’s strong hands and the dark eyes beneath the rays of the summer sun reminded the teenage Woodland Cree too many miles and lessons were backing what he was told to try refuting it. Seventeen summers was all he had under his belt. Nothing that he was of the earth and sky above just as much as the man standing before him. Kitchi had heard these words before. Enough times that he honestly had lost count.
However, the meaning was not lost on him. The faces looking upon him with disappointment knew this or they would not have wasted their time with reminding him. He was young but his brothers influence was not good. One of them was destined to set fire to the world. The other was going to save it, change it. In the very least Kitchi would learn and live to pass on their laws and ways. Pitikwaha would not.
Kitchi heard the woman speak over the voices of his family that eventually faded from his head. With the calm that followed he took a few silent seconds to see if he had missed anything about her. His parents would appreciate this moment and his actions. He had been taught well, raised right. Of course, there would be concern over him being so willing to go on the suggestion of a woman who he had no knowledge of. It was the bear that disarmed him. He had a responsibility to it. It was huge and one involving a spirit that was hopefully going to be given the woman's respect when they got it into the interior of the cave. Her name was Marlow. He looked at her hands as each continued the hold on the fur in their grip.
“Tanisi, Marlow.”
And who are you?
Kitchi's thought asked what his mouth refrained from speaking out loud. He finally released the animal to the ground inside the cave where they finally stood. He flexed his long fingers out to stretch for a few seconds then gave a shake to all ten and nodded. She didn't know many local people either. It would seem they had that in common. He did manage to say hello just before they entered the cave. Cree was his predominant language. If she did not understand the greeting he was back to speaking his second language that would surely disappoint the elders he left behind.
Re: bad omens { open }
Posted: 04 Aug 2015, 04:05
by Ambrose Acheron
Tizoc, or Ambrose as he is known nowadays, follows leisurely watching the pair as they haul their prize to the nearby cave. Pity they had not been mortals. He could have completed his task with but a push of a boulder and sealed them away. He supposes he still could depending on their age. Something though holds his hand. Something familiar in the gait and stance of the female. He ponders a moment and then it comes to him. Kika's childe... Marlow. He is stalking his own brood. The thought amuses him for a brief moment before curiosity gets the better of him. He wishes to know what the two are doing.
Having decided his course of action he makes his way toward the cave upon seeing the other two vampires enter. He stays low, running along in a hunter's crouch and coming up along the side of the mouth of the tunnel, stopping there. He waits quietly near the entryway listening to see if Marlow is in any danger. To see who she is with.
Re: bad omens { open }
Posted: 11 Aug 2015, 15:22
by Marlow (DELETED 6865)
Her eyes sought his, as he spoke. His voice was like velvet sheets caressing her skin. The way he spoke to her seemed almost alluring to her. The way he spoke to her in Cree was simply divine, she found herself rolling her neck to the side for a moment letting the moonlight absorb into the pores of her skin as she dropped the bear gently as this man in front of her did the same.
“Tanisi”
She said in return with a raise of her eyebrows. She knew some of the Cree language, her grandmother had taught her before she had passed. She was originally Cherokee. Cherokee was her predominant language. Living the life of a gypsy. Moving camps when they had too. Living life on nothing but basics, it was how she had been raised and taught. Chocolate hues looked this male over as she bent over to pick up the bear again and began to drag it inside the cave. It was dark inside. Smelt of dirt, perhaps even dried blood. She couldn’t differentiate the smells yet. She was still too young of a vampire to understand all of this, or what power she really did possess.
“Jalagis hiwonisgi?”
It was a shot in the dark, but if this man knew Cree then he may know Cherokee. Who knew, as she waited - with a last heave the bear was full inside the cave as she took a seat on the ground. her bare feet meshing with the dirt, rock and whatever else was on the cave ground she didn’t care. She could wash her feet in the river later.
“You still haven’t told me your name.”
She spoke in English this time, she knew he could understand that. Perhaps he had forgotten to give her his name. She hadn’t. Really she had just wanted him to speak again, so that soft velvet voice could caress her ears. What she didn’t know was that Ambrose, her grandsire - and Patriarch of the Acheron bloodline was standing outside. No, she was far too focused on the male in front of her to know that.
*Jalagis hiwonisgi? - Do you speak Cherokee?
Re: bad omens { open }
Posted: 11 Aug 2015, 21:18
by Kitchi
“Kitchi.”
With another flex of his fingers he found the muscles relaxing and becoming compliant with their movement towards his jeans. Jeans which he hardly cared about. He dusted off what likely was not there for something to do while the woman stared at him. Could a woman’s eyes keep him from moving? The tall killer believed there was in fact such a power. He knew of a few that had it. This Marlow did as well. He was not uncomfortable by it. If anything he welcomed it.
Kitchi’s hands rolled back and forth in a rubbing motion in each palm before finally parting. Marlow. His mind said it a couple times absorbing the way it felt on his mind’s tongue. He was not inclined to be an idiot and say it out loud. From what he could see beyond natural beauty she had to be missed somewhere by someone. His eyes drifted to her as she kneeled. She came from someplace close by. Her feet were bare. Even if she didn’t mention it as far as he was concerned she was not going to be left alone for long. That meant he would assist her with the task at hand until he was released from his impromptu duty of watching over her and the bear. It was safe and it was simple. He had done nothing out of the ordinary. Not at least from where he had come from.
“No.” Her eyes were hard to resist. He couldn't help staring at them as his lips lost their reserve and smiled a little. “I don’t speak Cherokee.” He looked down to the bear and removed his blade from beneath his waistband. His eyes lifted while his face stayed down. Marlow. His mind said her name again. “Not fluently. I understand some of it.”