Bonesplinter Ravine puppets with their strings cut
the phoenix prince
64 Posts
Ooc — Etkri
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#1
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These bones were terribly tiny, so terribly frail and brittle.

They were the meager remains of whatever poor critters had met their bitter demise at the foot of this ravine, tripped up by gravity and held in place by an apathetic, indifferent string of fate. A pang of pity stirred in the young male's chest, though not nearly enough to dissuade him from his curious endeavors. Clunky paws delicately prodded the different bones, separating them from those of other beasts before trying to align them and reform what had been an avian skeleton. A corvid, if this skull was right...

Clever beasts, corvids. K was overly fond of the mischievous bastards, himself. As though they were a kindred soul full of joy, intelligence and potential, and with that the inevitability of trickery.

With his face askew and his tongue curled around his lips in a very ridiculous and focused face, Kukulkan murmured idle thoughts under his breath, his tail wagging unusually cheerfully in such a grim setting. Even the clouds blocked out the sun in periods, so much so that the tall male found himself pausing here or there until he could see again.

"Who were you, my bony little friend, before you fell down here?" This bone was the keel, he knew that! Aaaand there you go, in place, "What stories can you tell me?" What secrets will you unravel?


@Fire
[Image: murdermuffin666_by_etkri-dc1wf3p.png]
a determination so powerful it could turn the sky storm black
683 Posts
Ooc — Athena
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#2

She was closer to home this time, at least.  She liked lingering beneath the canopies of Hideaway Strath and had traveled to its edge only to come face-to-face with the most macabre territory she'd ever seen in the Wilds.  Bones littered the ground, some exposed and some half-buried, some still attached to rotting corpses.  

But she couldn't help herself.  Forward she marched into the ravine, occasionally stopping to wonder at the piles of bones.  The ground beneath her paws varied between wet and dry, and she mused that the collections had likely formed when the floodwaters came during springtime.

The sharp bite of her silverblue gaze trailed upwards to the steep mountains above.  She imagined falling from them, the feeling of wind in her fur and the sickening crunch as she'd impact with the ground, then silence all around.

"Who were you, my bony little friend, before you fell down here?"

Her head whipped 'round to the source of the voice, a slight gasp pulled from her lips.  Who was asking, anyway?  She couldn't see him, but she moved until she could, another reply echoing from the rocks.  "What stories can you tell me?"

She turned the corner just as the clouds overhead shielded both wolves from the light.  Even with a pelt as vibrant as hers, the only visible thing was her stormy staring eyes.  Depends on who's asking, she replies, leaning confidently up against the rock.

ring the bells that still can ring
forget your perfect offering
there is a crack in everything
that's how the light gets in
the phoenix prince
64 Posts
Ooc — Etkri
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#3




The heavy scents of death and decay had all but masked the approach of the female, leaving Kukulkan to spin around at the sound of her voice.

Ears perked and eyes widened as his sights settled on a shadow-cloaked flame, the confidence of this stranger lending a bit to the boy as he chuckled aside her question for the moment. "Well shit where'dya come from?" He turned back toward his specimen, dedicated to this self-taught lesson, "Coulda made me knock over my bones..." Mumbled complaints were soft under his breath, faded out as his attention turned from his new company to the delicate wing bones.

"I mean if ya wanna get real technical here, I was the one who asked, but it was fer Mr. Corvid here..." He sat up, facing the strange girl while dramatically gesturing to his reassembled bird skeleton on the ground. "They're my favorite," Idle musings, "Smart, crafty, survivors..." A glance back at the bones, "Well... obviously not this particular fucker..." An awkward shrug of the shoulders before he sat himself back down to the ground, though decidedly not as closed off as before.

"The crafty ones always got stories... got secrets..." A wry chuckle and a grin, his one crooked ear twitching a bit. "What about you?" Tell me, lovely stranger, "Got any stories?" are you the trickster kind?

@Fire
[Image: murdermuffin666_by_etkri-dc1wf3p.png]
a determination so powerful it could turn the sky storm black
683 Posts
Ooc — Athena
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#4

So huh, this guy was a total nutter, right?  Before him lay an array of bones, and it seemed as if he was trying to reconstruct the skeleton of something — a bird, he clarified — that had met its fate in the ravine.  Her expression remained flat as he rambled, then narrowed slightly as he addressed her again.

Depends.  She gave a confident roll of her shoulders before taking a step closer, into the light.  What kind of stories are you after?  And what would you give me in return?  Sometimes crazy people had good treasure, who knew?

ring the bells that still can ring
forget your perfect offering
there is a crack in everything
that's how the light gets in
the phoenix prince
64 Posts
Ooc — Etkri
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#5




Her cryptic answer left shivers down his spine. The game was set.

As she stepped out of the shadows, the sunlight rippling down onto her bold, fiery form, he felt his tongue click inside his lips. She was rather pretty, but to be honest looks weren't all that much when it came down to character. Though she was off to a good start there, as well. Inhaling deeply and letting that cheeky grin spread just a bit further, he'd stand and circle around his reassembled bird proudly before taking a step closer to this rather intriguing stranger.

"I'm after the best kind, the ones about here. These lands. Their ghosts, their treasures, their guardians..." A prolonged, suggestive glance her way before he'd continue, "And I can give you the same, of where I come from..." His mother had filled his head with more stories than he could count, with heroes and villains and escapades galore. It had filled his heart with wonder and hope and an insatiable lust for adventure.

"Ever heard of pirates?" The pride on his tongue dripped, as though he held the most valuable treasure and was just too eager to share it, "My mother 'n father were the queen 'n king of them all. So many stories to tell..." Words slipped away into silence, waiting for her to pick up and continue. He knew how these sorts of negotiations went! Or, at least, as far as he could know...

[Image: murdermuffin666_by_etkri-dc1wf3p.png]
a determination so powerful it could turn the sky storm black
683 Posts
Ooc — Athena
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#6

She was probably more interested in his stories than he was of hers.  These lands didn't have much to tell her, though she had plenty from Redstone.  Still, this guy didn't seem, uhh, like he had all of his crayons in the same box, and she didn't know really how long she wanted to stick around.

Story for story?  That's fine by me.  The gears in her head turn for a second before she settles upon one.

I settled in with a group of boys in a canyon somewhere down south before I came here.  They were a rowdy bunch, but usually they meant well.  Anyway, we had a get-together one night and one of the boys takes out these mushrooms.  She hadn't yet had her experience with them, and she hadn't stuck around when this had happened either, but a story told thirdhand wasn't as cool.

Most of them backed out and left, and a few of us stayed sober.  Like me.  But the other boys, the ones who did them, started seeing things.  Like, ghosts and stuff.  Most of them sobered up in the morning, but one boy saw them forever.

Weird shit, if you asked her.  Anyway, that probably wasn't the best story, was it?  She'd honestly led a pretty boring life.  Umanyway, she says, that was much cooler when it happened than when I.. told the story.  There went every bit of credibility and intimidation she'd held.  What an idiot.  So uh, pirates, huh?