finalbows | ic inbox - Pasture / Sheep Game

_{[ > Follow.

You can see the problem they're having. Putting a piece like that into living organisms with fully developed boundaries to their being is the work of a scalpel, not a hammer-- it's beyond hard, to fit a second yolk into an egg that's already sealed its shell.

It needs to understand it as part of itself, you muse, perhaps too loud. You can make it follow to your shape later.

That corpse sure is a mess. ]}

Edited 2023-09-04 15:49 (UTC)

[ you follow them behind a particularly large tree. "This will do," the kitten says, all business now. the puppy grunts his assent. as you turn the corner, the corpse disappears. trees become rock; grass becomes sand. day becomes night.

you're fire.

you remain fire as they argue, yet again.

you watch as the kitten, voiced and body laced with desperation and hurt — absent previously, born from countless of these same arguments fought and lost — tries and fails to appeal to his comrade. the puppy, too, speaks with a finality that wasn't there before. the allure of a master is no longer just a dream.

a distant echo enters your mind, heard only by you.

"Who would you mourn?"
"One who lived and died solely at the whims of another, unable to see past the misguided loyalty ingrained in their blood."

the kitten bows his head, lifts his pack, and walks away. it's now that you remember that you could be something other than fire, if you wished.

do you:

> stay fire and rest, crackling serenely in the windless night? this was your vacation, after all. this isn't your pain. it's not your responsibility. you don't have to care; you can simply be. break yourself of that obsession that's been tying you down, and be free.
> manifest a different form, and follow the kitten? he's already fading out of sight. you'll lose him soon. ]

Edited 2023-09-04 22:00 (UTC)

_{[ despite the risk, you don't go immediately. you crackle irritably at young Ipsen's grubby paws, when he tries to feed you another stick. he doesn't understand what he's wishing for. he doesn't understand what he's going to get. he doesn't understand what he's going to LOSE.

Just like fuel in a fire, a master will eat you up to nothing, dog, you promise. And then you go out with a hiss, and are left behind as a whisper of ash flowing on the wind.

Following the kitten, at urgent speed. ]}

[ Ipsen doesn't hear you, but the kitten does. the unnatural shift in the wind roars in his feline ears as you rush forward.

you're you, as tangible and visible as you are in the pasture, and you don't need ground contact for a beastkin to sense you.

the kitten whirls around, immediately assuming a defensive stance, eyes flickering between you, the staff in your hand, and possible escape routes. (it's a desert. there are many.)

there's — a recognition in his eyes. ]

... You shouldn't be here.

_{[ you hang in the air in front of him, surprised, as you realize you're very very visible, and very very yourself.

...though very very yourself, in an unfamiliar outfit. huh. well. all those fire and charcoal associations appear to have swathed you in something long and flowy and red and black. it still looks appropriately Rose-esque, at least. you bring the shepherd's crook closer in to your chest, shifting your grip to something that makes you feel more secure. your tail hangs low, a little wary.

(you still hate the feeling of a weapon in your hands.) ]}

No. I shouldn't. I've gone straying from my bounds, again.

Edited 2023-09-04 23:51 (UTC)

[ the kitten's tail tenses; the confusion at your outfit and words immediately giving way to even more suspicion. he's much, much smaller than you, at this age, his presence both stronger and weaker than the Blood Fiend you know. here, you can tell his raw power surpasses the limitations of the pasture, but next to you he's but a sliver. an A-rank Regular is still worlds apart from a Ranker.

he knows this, too. regardless — he stands his ground, defiant. ]

Do you have a death wish?

Yes, but that's not terribly relevant to our conversation, is it?

...

I'm surprised you haven't been vaporized already. Why are you following me?

You can hear me. You can see me. He certainly couldn't. That's interesting. I think it's really interesting.

I think you're really interesting, too. It's hard, isn't it? Being the voice of clarity.

[ his eyes narrow ]

I have no idea what you're talking about. You have the wrong person, Ranker.

Real~ly? Is this stray kitten right in front of me not the person who noticed my presence, after all...? Pardon me, for my mistake.

... Are you mocking me, Ranker? It would be foolish for anyone to travel these parts without means of detecting motion.

[ he's bullshitting; it was absolutely his feline senses that gave you away. still, you sense three invisible objects floating around him, forming a transparent barrier around his person, not unlike Protect. the objects feel like Blood Fiend's lighthouse, strengthened by tenfold. even the most basic of lighthouses in the Tower make pasture equipment look like child's toys. ]

Oh, my. Is the kitty cat worried the mean, mysterious "Ranker" will hurt him?

[ his mouth twists in (misdirected) contempt. ]

You wouldn't dare. Rules are rules. You know that as well as I do.

Whatever you're offering, I'm not interested.

[ you feel the invisible barrier strengthen. adjusting his pack, the kitten turns to walk away. ]

Well. If rules are rules.

_{[ sounds terribly amused, as the kitten stalks off.

waits ten seconds. starts floating along to follow him. ]}

[ STARTS WALKING FASTER. (this is not very fast. you can catch up easily.) ]

_{[ starts gliding faster. keeping a perfectly exact amount of distance between them. ]}

[ to his credit, the kitten's trying to appear at ease. but he's not Blood Fiend, he's not even a millennia old, and he just got abandoned by his Ipsen. the tension in his gait is obvious.

without stopping: ]

If it's money you're looking for, try someone else.

_{[ titter. ]} Do I look destitute to you, stray cat? I killed someone for all the Gil I could ever want in my life YEARS ago. I'm just here to observe. You're interesting. It's not effortless, for you. But you've still got that spark, anyway, don't you?

That reason you're alive, and those bodies you and the dog tried to change aren't.

[ he stops, back turned, tail thrashing angrily as he hisses ]

Have you been spying on us?

Hm, hm~. I know aaaaaaall about your little experiments. Including...

What the missing piece is.

Edited 2023-09-05 17:32 (UTC)

[ it's tempting, it really is. but even stray kittens know that the only way to win something like this is not to play.

through gritted teeth ]

I told you already, I'm not interested.

...

Neither is he.

[ starts walking again!! ]

_{[ an unholy light starts up in his eyes. ]}

Oho~? "Neither is he," he says. Are you one hundred percent certain about that? After all... Such an ability, properly realized...

...would make a wonderful gift to lay before the feet of a cherished master, wouldn't it?

Edited 2023-09-05 17:55 (UTC)

[ spins around, cheeks flushed and eyes glistening. ]

I'm certain because he's my servant and has been for the past few centuries, so unless you've been stalking us that whole time, you have no idea what you're talking about.

He'll come round. He doesn't need some stick-wielding creep telling him what to do. What's with that thing, anyway? It looks ridiculous.

Centuries, huh? Kids sure grow up slow these days...

The crook's not exactly... suiting to my angelic guise, it's true... yet! 'Tis still a mark of my station. Don't tell me you've never seen a Ranker Shepherd, before, kitty cat?

Edited 2023-09-05 18:19 (UTC)

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