The disease that wiped the earth of mankind has returned, and it's starting to change its hosts somehow. Reports of unearthly powers are arising all over Toren while more and more become infected.
updates
< 11 JULY 2017 > The staff auditions and OTMs are officially OVER. I'd like to welcome our two new staffers - Lutheus and Crowenth! There will be some new events soon, as well as a big announcement - so watch this space.
< 20 JUNE 2017 > ATTENTION! Staff auditions are up and running. Please click here if you are interested in helping me run Clash.
< 06 JUNE 2017 > It hasn't been too long since we've opened - but we've already got a fresh new look. If you find any bugs in our new skin, please let me know so that I can fix it. Old members might have to update their avatar links and profile info! x
< 07 MAY 2017 > CLASH has officially been reopened and is ready for action! The plot, rules and canons have been revised - read more about it here.
Buttercup raised a hoof, watching as sticky brown mud slowly dripped down and splash into the waterlogged soil. Buttercup's ears flicked back as she scrunched up her nose as well as a horse could before settling her pale-pink hoof back on the ground, feeling it sink down a good centimeter or so. Erghkay... Shaking her head, she focused herself on her 'quest', and continued to weave through the willow trees, hearing the ground squish beneath her with every step.
Ah, the swamp. Wonderfully dim, despite it being only sunhigh, and wonderfully (yet eerily) quiet, save for the continuous croaks of frogs invisible to Buttercup's eyes. Or at least... She hoped those were frogs. If that was the rumbling of a gator's stomach... then she'd be in deep, ah, dung. So what was a plump, white young mare doing in a place as desolate and creepy as this?
Well, duh, she was looking for something important! Oh yes--a swamp rose. Well, a rose in general. For a very good reason at that!
Buttercup angled her head upwards. Heavy grey clouds peeped through the gaps between the mangroves, barely letting sunlight through. Darn. She could really use some light. Buttercup squinted at the shadows of the mangrove, being a horse she didn't exactly have the piercing vision of a predator, after all.
Where do roses grow? In bushes. Right. So she should probably look for a bush. Luckily for her, there was one just a few feet to her left! Ears perking up, she trotted over, the mud making embarrassing squelching noises as she did so. Buttercup poked her nose through the bush, the frilly fronds tickling and invading her nostrils. Buttercup nudged against something soft and fluffy.
Wait--what?
Out popped a little otter, angrily squeaking out expletives that Buttercup's roleplayer is hesitant to write down.
"Sorry, Mister!" Buttercup took a few steps backwards, blinking and wondering what she might have just interrupted.
The otter let out another mawful of angry chitterchatter.
Buttercup hastily corrected herself. "Oh, you're a female! Sorry, ma'a-" The otter threw a little pebble at the mare, hitting her right on the head. "--Ow."
Buttercup shook her head, her coarse and shaggy blonde mane flying in all directions before settling back as a less than dignified looking mop on her head. The otter let out a final huff before skittering away.
It's much too fine a day to be squelching through Vessay swamps.
Fay grumbled to herself, though it was a halfhearted complaint at best. The world spun around her with each step, and she felt her empty stomach heave in protest; she'd gone too long without feeding, lost to her dreams as she so often was these days.
Instinct had guided her to the swamps- though they were patrolled by Vessay brutes, the lure of easily caught fish was more temptation than she could bare. A quick fish or two would have to sustain her starving body, with nausea a threat to any more difficult hunting. As she moved towards clearer water, the thick mud of the swamps grabbed and pulled at her dense arctic coat, threatening to disable her. Each step she took created a resounding 'pop' in her wake. She hung her head low, both too tired to carry herself proudly and too focused on keeping her balance. There, at least, the mud came in handy.
As she progressed, each step a little more weary than the last, the water became gradually clearer. At last, she could see a few centimeters into the murk. Here, closest to the mangrove roots, the water wasn't quite so deep; the fish wouldn't be near enough to satiate her restless stomach. As she turned just a bit, preparing to wade into the territory of monstrous fish and snapping maws, she heard a sound unusual to the swamps. There was a young one here- someone wandering where they should not. Her maternal instincts kicked in with a vengeance.
As listlessly as she had before trudged through the muck, she now scrambled toward the youthful voice. It wasn't as far as she had previously thought; just around a clump of trees, a small buttery-white filly stood, arguing with a bush. Fay paused mid-step, her ears perked in amusement.
"Little horse, what has that bush done to you that you look so befuddled?" She took just a few more steps, approaching until she was close enough to hear the filly's response without antagonizing further her riotous headache.
Her mud-darkened tail lifted from the water, waving back and forth in a lazy show of pacifism. Dark clumps of wet mud fell from her fur with each motion, and as she sped her happy wagging, the mud flung this way and that into the swamp. Her amber eyes shone, though the light was severely lacking, with the idea that she could make a new friend out of this dreary situation.
Buttercup whirled around at the sound of the soothing, gentle voice. Erk, darn mane was it the way. Blowing her mane out of her brown eyes, the mare took in the sight of the muddied wolfess (she much preferred referring to them that way, after all, bitch had negative connotations and she was taught to never use expletives); and how delicate she looked! Almost like she hadn't eaten in days.
Squinting at the lack of light, she padded closer to the wolfess for a better look.
Just for a second, the clouds above cleared and a ray of golden sunlight filled the swamp, breaking through the gaps between the willows and mangrove trees, letting Buttercup have a good look at the stranger.
Whoaa.
Whooaaaa.
Through the dirt and mud and whatnot, Buttercup was stunned--she was puhreetay! Maybe she needed a good bath and some stuffing up, but man, those were some gorgeous amber eyes. Her face had gentle contours, and an almost sweet, dreamy expression and quality about it.
Whoa. Again. Could it be...?
"You're a... A swamp fae?" She asked, trotting up and circling the wolf, just narrowly avoiding the mud sploshing from her wagging tail, belly fat wobbling, ears perked up with interest. "You must be! You're all pretty and, and... You're in the swamp! And you're pretty!"
Buttercup's mother had often told her about the mystical creatures that guarded the territories, and that those who caught the disease were secretly blessed by them with those mutations that made them able to use some of the fair folks' powers... But meeting one in the flesh? Oh how she always wanted to! She didn't think they would be all muddy, but hey, she's not complaining!
Buttercup continued to gawk at the wolfess, head tilted to the side. She had never seen her in Vessay territory before, and she certainly didn't smell like it... Oooh ohh. Fae did only reveal themselves when people are in dire need of something! What Buttercup wanted wasn't so dire, but maybe they were bored and wanted to help and and--
Buttercup shook her head--where were her manners? The wolfess asked a question, and she must present her an answer!
"There was this otter and I, ah, thought it was a guy when it was actually a she and she got mad and I got hit by a rock or a nut or something and now I met ya!" She explained, apparently forgetting to use fullstops--she gasped for air desperately afterwards. "I hope I'm not intruding in your swamp, Miss Swamp Fae Princess..."
ooc: ... I'm sorry that Buttercup's mind is so... scattered. xD
Fay's ears perked even further, swiveling along as the filly trotted around her. Her half-lidded eyes widened in mirth. A swamp fae? What in the world... Little ones have such imaginations these days.
Her tail slowed, and she waited patiently for the young filly to settle a bit before tackling such a rather odd question.
"No, fair child, I'm not of this swamp, and I'm most certainly not an ethereal being. I'm but a rogue she-wolf looking for a meal to fill my empty belly." Here, her tail picked up a bit- a sign that horse was most definitely not on the menu, hungry as she may be. "The fish are plentiful and easily caught here, so I thought to grab a few before retreating from Vessay territory."
She raised her head a bit and sniffed at the air, water dripping from her scraggly throat. "I could most certainly go for a bite of otter, however, and since this one was so rude..." Her stomach grumbled at the thought, and her amber eyes glazed over. Her jaw dropped just slightly, revealing pearly fangs. As quickly as her mind had wandered, a flash of yellow brought her thoughts back to the present situation. Traumatizing a young horse was not on her list of things to do today. Food could wait, as it always had. Instead, she turned her gaze back to the energetic filly.
As scruffy as she, though with a round belly, and more of a forelock than she'd ever seen on a horse so young. Topped with her radiant buttery coat and the dancing eyes of a child, this particular horse could be described with only one word- jubilant. Fay's nose quivered, betraying her. Her conscious mind may have moved on, but her body still badly wanted that otter.
"Tell me, then, what is your name? And why is such a joyful filly playing in such horrid swamps?" Truly interested, and concerned for the filly's safety, Fay moved closer to her stout form. The water where she stood was slightly shallower, so as Fay approached, her mud-riddled coat began dripping into the swamp. Oh, she longed to shake herself dry, but it would do no good until the swamps were long behind her.
The far-off cry of a slaughtered animal caught her attention, and her head snapped up as she scented fresh blood. Again, her eyes glazed. Whatever the young horse was doing or saying, Fay was lost to her. She panted in hunger, savoring a kill that wasn't her own. But the otter could be.
Dodging swiftly around the figure before her, she dove into the bush with all the grace of a wrecking ball. In a few short seconds, with squealing from the bush and her butt wiggling in the air, she had the otter in her mouth- a quick crunch of her powerful jaws, and her prey lay limp in her maw. She squirmed out of the prickling bush, and turned with delight in her eyes and a dance in her step, only to see her companion's sweet face. Oh, shit.
"Oops." The word was mumbled through a mouth of slick fur.
"Oh." Buttercup let the wolfess' words sink in. Not an ethereal being. "Oohhh..."
...Well darn.
"Ah, well! You know Miss Wolfy, you can stay here pretty much anytime--the ex-queen Anouk, praise on her name, says that this place is pretty much welcome to all females!" Buttercup watched as the wolfess tensed and fidgeted, blinking and wondering why she would act so. Buttercup didn't at all feel in danger in the prescence of the she-wolf, considering how she never saw a wolf eat a horse before--it just wasn't done in the island. Or so she would like to think. Seeing is believing, after all.
"The name's Butt--er, Terc. Yeah, Terc." Buttercup whinnied--most of the creatures here had weird names that sounded exotic, even her own mother, Ilyana. But for some reason, well, Buttercup was called Buttercup. So her name was considered weird, considering how it didn't at all conform to the weirdness of the other names. Buttercup wanted to fit in better, after all, being a pudgy mare, it was already rather hard. So, Terc she will be called!
A little cry made Buttercup jolt, and she whipped her head around towards the sound. The she-wolf started to pant, and a moment later, she leapt towards the bush in a flash of white, leaving Buttercup wide-eyed.
Uhm... What just happened?
Buttercup followed in the she-wolf's direction, shaking the sticky mud off her hooves (what a nuisance!), and halting as the pretty thing wriggled out of the bush... the he/she otter limp in her jaws.
Buttercup's eyes widened.
"I-it's dead...?" She croaked out, all but frozen to the ground.
The pretty wolfess just... killed a soul.
Buttercup burst into a wide, loopy grin (or, whatever equivalent there was), leaping towards the stranger's side, mud flying behind her, and prodding the little brown thing with her sticky hoof. "That. Is. So. Cool. Like. Seriously! I've never seen a wolf hunt before! Didja bite it in the neck? Did it snap? Oh, her spirit must be roaming free right now!"
Dramatically, the young mare swivelled around, raising a hoof and pointing it to the air. "You've released a being into freedom! No longer confined to their earth-bound body!" Buttercup let out a little giggle. "Maybe she'll linger around as a ghost! Oh, I do hope I get to meet her!"
Buttercup, as peculiar as it was, actually liked dead things, and wondering what would happen to their spirits and souls after they died--that didn't mean she wanted to die, oh no, who would take care of her mother if she did? Mother would be so lonely! But spooky things, Buttercup had a liking for, probably due to all those late, sleepless nights she spent listening to ghost stories from the older foals... It was...
Interesting.
Last Edit: May 27, 2012 2:49:11 GMT -5 by prettyodd
Slack-jawed, Fay stared at the young mare- her lunch slipped from her mouth and fell into the swamp with a muted splash. A morbid ring of life-blood surrounded the body, pulled close by the oils of the otter's pelt.
"I'm so sorry, Terc." She could feel her muzzle heat with embarrassment, and she ducked her head to her chest in an attempt to hide her shame. Self-control was something this she-wolf prided herself greatly on- in the waking world, at least. To take a life in front of one so young was a monstrous thing to do, but at least the filly wasn't screaming in fear. "I didn't mean to kill in front of you. My hunger got the better of me..."
Interruption curtsey of Moe! Spot claim until Odd finishes up her post ;D
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