|
|
Post by galacticcrow on Aug 11, 2014 2:28:01 GMT -5
The wind was cold for once.
That was the only thought going through the mind of the young woman walking among the howling trees, pale hair floating behind her like a cape of tears in the dusky forest.
For once, she had decided to move beyond her usual occupation zone, feet dragging along the winding paths as they mindlessly took her to places she hadn't been in years.
Around the mysterious forest dweller, little lights of what appeared to be fire swirled about - curling themselves within the folds of her tattered gown of thunder and rain and entwining their little bulbs of light around the two very large, cracked horns situated on top of the woman's head. She appeared to not notice or even care about the little lights, dark eyes bleeding red staring determinedly at the path in front of her, burnt leaves crackling and shattering beneath the force of calloused feet.
"Must...get...further..." gasped the woman, chest heaving and exposed ribs expanding as a black liquid seeped from her mouth, a cough making itself apparent as she attempted to take in the crisp air around her. Hacking up a large amount of what looked to be old blood, the woman touched her lips with her hands that were already stained black as the liquid ran down her face and onto her already ruined gown, tears making their way down her face as she continued to trudge along the beaten path towards a place that reeked of death. A place that smelled like her and her fellow trees and of that disgusting little town below.
Grimacing, she let her hands fall to her sides as her pace began to deteriorate, feet snagging along the thorny bushels that made themselves known to her along the edges of the now dampening ground. In the back of her mind, alarms began to go off as she crept closer to what appeared to be a swamp-like area filled with a disturbing amount of human and animal remains. But that did not matter to the weeping woman. Oh no. As long as she could feel her earth and trees beneath her feet, reminding her that she was still alive as the wind whipped through her form, she could care less about where she would end up.
At least, it didn't matter up until the point where her failing vision was finally able to make out the form of the creature she despised possibly even more than the Neovian's in the town below.
Coming to an abrupt stop, the entity known as the Mother and more uncommonly referred to as the Deafened narrowed her now red-tinted eyes, frowning in the direction of the one who she had known for as long as she could remember - the one who sympathized with the humans and who reeked of death.
"Nouvelline..." growled the Deafened, fireflies swirling in a raging cloud around her form as she faced the chipper spirit who was busily attending to the wretched bodies strewn across her polluted lake.
|
|
|
|
Post by ranlou on Aug 11, 2014 2:50:49 GMT -5
Nouvelline senses that some newly washed up bodies were littering the shore of her pond. Most were already more than half way composed with flies buzzing around the pile, so there must have been a heavy rain the night before that washed the bodies from their graves downhill towards her pond.
The Neovians really didn't seem too concerned about their inadequate burial methods, but Nouvelline didn't mind her job of taking care of these poor dead creatures.
She smiles sadly and hums softly as she reaches forth and grabs a dead body from the edge of her waters. With great concentration and strength,she pulls it deeper into her murky waters. Her muscles were almost nonexistent, skin basically pulled taunt over her bones, ribs gutting out abover her hallowed stomach and boney tail.
She pulls the body with all her might, forcing the corpse, which looks like what used to be a young man with his head caves in, down by pressing on its stomach and chest cavity, pushing what air is left out of its system. Once the body is effectively sinking on its own, she settles it into the small underwater cave were she kept most of the decomposing Neovians and forest animals. The cave itself was under water, considering how shallow Nouvelle's pond was compared to other spirit's domains, and housed many bacteria that effectively broke down the bodies faster.
Nouvelline starts talking very softly to the dead, as she arranged the new body in her collection into a more respectable pose. She chattered about everything from her hope for the new bodies afterlife, to all the friends their departed body now has.
After she was satisfied with her work, as some fish were swarming to start nibbling on their new meal, she rose to the surface again. Nouvelline was about to grab another, smaller, body when she heard the staggers breath and groaning of someone approaching her domain.
She turned her head at the guest when her name was muttered. Nouvelline's face crumpled in confusion, trying to place the voice. Ever since she had willingly given up her eyes, she's had trouble placeing old faces to voices age recognizes.
|
|
|
|
Post by galacticcrow on Aug 11, 2014 21:36:36 GMT -5
Letting out a huff of annoyance, the Deafened One grunted as she forced her legs to move forward towards the putrid smelling water spirit. Sharp pangs of pain reverberated throughout her once steel-like leg bones and she bit back a cry of pain as they attacked her body in a series of constant waves.
Finally making her way to the edge of the slime-ridden lake, she cleared her throat and spat out the remnants of any blood still lingering behind her many rows of sharp teeth.
"It's me you goddamned buffoon," muttered the Deafened, wincing as she crouched down to be more on Nouvelline's level and range of vision. Well, whatever vision she had left, at least.
Flicking away a pesky mosquito that had attempted to land itself near the crumbling spirit's arm, the Deafened One watched in disgust as the spirit dragged the small body of a child closer towards her own body. "Disgusting. You are utterly disgusting," seethed Deafened, hair standing on end and floating along her shoulders as the rancid, metallic taste of blood began to seep its away through her teeth.
"Why do you even bother with them, Nouvelline?" she asked in a lowered tone, nose wrinkling as the stench of decay continued to assault her sensitive senses. "They do nothing but ruin your own home - you should be helping me get rid of the bodies, not treating them like they deserve any respect!"
Rubbing her legs wearily in an attempt to abate the pain, she continued to assault Nouvelline with her scathing inquiries, all while continuing to crush any living thing that dared come near her or her fireflies. "Why are you protecting the ones who have ruined us and our home? Have you no shame?"
Reaching forward, the Deafened One touched the arm of the dead Neovian child with two of her clawed fingers, tracing the rotting flesh while shifting her angered gaze onto its caved in face. Suddenly and without warning, she pierced the child's flesh and slashed forward with her hand, landing a single cut on her oldest known associate's gaunt face.
"You are a disgrace to these woods, that's what you are! Helping these bodies...treating them as if they were your own little friends...Pathetic!" she spat, words laced with venom as her own bones began to show through her now translucent skin, angrily tinging blue as whatever blood that remained raced to her cheeks.
|
|
|
|
Post by ranlou on Aug 11, 2014 22:37:11 GMT -5
The voice drew nearer to Nouvelline's pool, hissing and gurgling. After the owner of said voice crouched in front of her, she could smell the blood and tar that contaminated the opposer's body. She sighed internally and a slight frown was drawn across her lips. So Deafended had come by.
Usually Nouvelline was delighted by visitors, seeing as her pond's offensive smell and appearance usually deterred others. But Deafended was a unpleasant surprise. She instinctively pulled the body in her hands closer to herself.
She listened on in silence as the angered spirit seethed at Nouvelline. The forest spirit traced her claw along the corpse's forearm, and suddenly lashed out at the water spirit's face, landing a single cut along her cheek.
When the forest spirit seemed to have finished her tirade, panting from both her talking, and also what seems like pain. Nouvelline parted her lips. Her voice slithered out in between them, horse and quiet, yet high and dripping sweet, "The dead are the dead and deserve respect" she stated simply. She put her flippered hand to her cheek, then pushed the body in her arms deeper and behind her to prevent further harm. She swam closer to her assailant.
"They are very good listeners as well," the unlike you, was almost a given. Nouvelline's face was still kept perfectly unfazed, besides the slight downturn of her mouth. Her empty eyesockets and hallow cheeks seemed to just add the the graveness of her face.
|
|
|
|
Post by galacticcrow on Aug 12, 2014 1:49:27 GMT -5
Blood dribbling along the side of her down-turned mouth, Deafened bared her sharpened teeth at the grating sound of her loathed enemy's high pitched voice. "You can drop the innocent tone, Nouvelline," she dryly commented, idly examining her nails that held the faintest traces of the young mermaid's blood. "You and I both know that we aren't exactly chummy," continued the forest spirit, tucking her cracked and bloodied feet under her thighs.
Finally situated and at the very least able to manage the pain she felt in her legs, she lowered her dark eyes to meet the equally vacant ones of Nouvelline. Sniffing the air in front of her, Deafened let out a low growl as she drummed her finger along the edge of the lake. "As you said," she muttered, taking in the blank expression of the one beneath her gaze, "The dead are dead. So what's the point of showing them any respect?".
Leaning back, she allowed herself to take in the sight of her fireflies making themselves at home in her ghost-like hair. "It's not like they can repay you - hell, they bring more trouble than good..." Brushing off the dirt that had landed on her dress earlier on during her travels, she brushed her hair back with a single, tar stained hand. This was already turning into a meeting that would surely provide some entertainment in her time of suffering.
Giving a small, wet laugh at the passive aggressive blow to her listening skills, Deafened cleared her throat once more, spitting out the glob of blood that had been lodged in her throat. The black liquid seeped into the waters nearby, turning red in the dank waters of the old water hole. "Oh, and I suppose you just have so much to talk about, hmmm?"
Resting her chin on her hand, she gave a cruel smirk to the diminished spirit and said, "What makes you think that they are listening to you? Even if they were alive, none of your little companions would have been caught dead listening to your fuckin' wretched voice!"
|
|
|
|
Post by ranlou on Aug 12, 2014 14:26:21 GMT -5
The starved spirit sighed, "You can stop your squabbling Deaf," The nickname sat at the end of her words, almost mocking the suffering spirit, "Just because we have differing opinions, doesn't mean you have to sit there and complain about how wrong I am." She placed he flippers on the ground so that her weak fin muscles didn't have to keep her afloat. A slugawoo slinked itself onto her hand and started to make its way towards her shoulder.
"Its not as if I am actively seeking out these people, I just make it a job of mine to care for them when they wash up along my shore. They have to where to go, and it's not like I have much to do." She regarded the slugawoo as it seems to say something in her ear, in words only a swamp like spirit herself seems to understand. She smiled sadly, which seems to be only one of the two expressions her face can muster.
"I believe its something the Neovians call karma," she pondered thoughtfully,"Its a standard concept really, although of course I know it holds no ground spiritual, but the implications of it are still in good faith." She tucked her tail to float behind her, as a mortog jumped to land on a rock near their conversation.
Soon a fish seems to join them as well, which Nouvelline pays no mind to. "I enjoy putting their dead spirits at ease, that way their ghosts stay at rest and peaceful."
The same sad smile graces her face, pitying her long time acquaintances' ignorance, "I didn't realize that my voice angered you so much. I suppose you just aren't used to the friendly tones I use." The jab could be taken in many ways. But Nouvelline knew enough from their infrequent encounters that the spirit she was communicating with was not a stranger to the violence that Neovians wrought upon them. Though the forest spirit didn't help the situations when she eggs them on.
Maybe the core of the two ancient spirits feud surrounds an event that, of course, involved the Neovians. It happened when they weren't quite young enough to be naive, but certainly not old enough to consider themselves the most responsible for their domains.
|
|
|
|
Post by galacticcrow on May 25, 2015 23:29:20 GMT -5
As if batting away an irritating pest, Deafened shook the memories of their first meeting from her mind. She had dwelt on those memories contents one too many times in the past, and in those times she had been rendered unable to cope very well with what they reminded her of. Instead, she narrowed her eyes at the snark presented by her undead companion, scoffing at the mention of "karma".
"Really, Rot-Fin? If karma existed, well, I'd be awfully sorry for what such a pestilent thing had in mind for someone like you," sneered the elder woman, blowing a few stray strands of hair away from her eyes as her wounds bled black against her pallor features. Holding her hand out to examine each of the pointed, blackened nails, Deafened hummed thoughtfully, occasionally spitting out globs of congested blood from behind her sharpened teeth. Briefly, images of two young spirits swirling around sprouting trees and gushing pond waters assaulted her - but just as before, she shook them away - if only for a moment.
"You know, I have sort of forgotten the reason as to why I came here," said Deafened with an air of nonchalance lacing her voice. No longer did vulgar terms litter her speech for that moment, as the lightning bugs around her began to buzz in a language that soothed the core to her anger. Of course, her anger would never just go away. She could try to forget those painful memories of shattered bones and burning trees, but her anger - her anger would live on. It would continue to burn through her bones and scorch the entirety of her being until nothing but hollowed fragments of who she used to be remained.
She knew that it was all a lie. She knew the exact reason as to why she came here, to this place, to this god-awful grotto in the woods. Woods that used to be so pure and belong to only her, and her alone. She went on with her own charade anyway.
"At first, I thought I'd try and warn you to not waste your time with these rotting lumps of flesh," began Deafened, now beginning to twirl her mist-like swarm of hair around a single, bony finger.
"...Of course, that plan went to shit the moment I saw your pitiful, wasted appearance in this fuckin' mudslide," she deadpanned, no longer attempting to be polite with words and reverting almost oddly back to her previous patterns of verbal abuse. Eyes darkening even further, she bowed her head as she continued to speak.
"If you want to put their spirits at ease, then why not mine, or your own?" she spat, a low growl beginning to form in the base of her throat amongst the blood that seemed to sprout at a constant rate. "Hell, why not this entire fuckin' cursed forest! Why can't you just help us? Why can't you help ME FOR ONCE IN YOUR DAMN PITIFUL LITTLE FUCKIN' LIFE?"
The growl became a roar as the anger building up from before burst forth in a shower of light and bile ridden blood as the ancient spirit drew herself up to her full height, hair swirling and teeth gnashing as she remembered times of agonizing pain and the failed aid of a person she once called friend. Friend friend friend.
She chose them over her, over the forest, over their kind. She was disgusting, pitiful, a disgrace.
Her karma could bite her in the ass for all she could care - but never, ever could Deafened forgive her, the one who revered such vile beings that swung their axes and burned their brethren to the ground. Deafened would have her bones ground and used as the glue to some Neovian's little stupid macaroni picture before she would ever consider putting past events such as those aside.
|
|
