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There was nary a single tree in sight, nor cave or rocky overhang in which to hide. All that spread out before the ghostly woman was a vast expanse of lush green grass, and though her blurry vision could not see the gradual slope in the distance, her experienced paws could
feel the slope of the land, could
feel what was to come, so it didn't concern her. Of course, being as detatched from the mortal realm as she was, very little ever did.
She did not usually traverse the land with a purpose, for the ever guiding Sister Moon watched over her path, taking Nimue's paws wherever they were destined to go. What happened happened. Where she went was were she went. Life was an unpredictable experience, a river that flowed freely and changed direction whenever it wanted, and she had never once tried to swim upstream. She went where she went and did so with great joy, almost always found with a dreamy look in her eyes and a joyous humm on her wispy voice, as she was now.
Now, however, was a bit different. The mortal cravings of food had pulled her back down to the terra, back down to her hungry ivory casing. Usually, she could last quite a while without feeling these pangs, free to dream her dream and live on a higher plain, but she always had to give in eventually, lest she wanted to stop dreaming entirely. It was time to come back down and search for prey.
Without her vision, her other senses had grown highly keen, so tracking was rarely an issue, but the icy winds of the Sister's night seemed to be playing coy... They brought her no tantalyzing scents, none fresh enough to pursue anyhow, and occasionally the scent of another sister or brother would find her nose, but they too seemed faded... The white lady could only hope something would find her eventually, as the pangs were making it harder to even humm her eternal song...
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The night found the Sotz' roaming away from her family. The darkness enveloped her with an embrace she was all too familiar with; it soothed her crazed soul and brought a sense of peace that she had yet to experience in anything else.
Riqta moved within the darkness silently; she was one being with it. The darkness appeared almost to live within her.
The pale underbelly of her coat had been darkened with mud that had dried into stiff flakes on her skin, pulling on the wounds they were slathered over. Despite this camouflage, the vampire longed to add blood to it. She found that coating herself in the life force of her sacrifices gave off an air that tended to keep people in line.
It was with this in mind, along with her insatiable thirst, that found the femme stalking after the tantalizing scent of a rabbit. The scent led her to a den and with little hesitance, Riqta tore into the den and snapped the frightened creature up into her jaws. Within moments, it hung limply.
"Camazotz...I offer this being to you," she whispered to the dark sky. It was not as sacred as one of her own kind but sufficient in pleasing the God for now.
Tearing into the rabbit's tender adbomen, she rubbed herself in its blood to coat her face and chest. Appearing as if morbidly injured, she drew back from its innards with blood dripping off of her.
The rabbit would be eaten by either herself or by some other creature, should she choose to leave it behind, but it would be returned to Camazotz either way.
Finding that she was not hungry, Riqtajinaq was just preparing to leave the offering out in the open for other carnivores when she heard the humming. The soft, dreamy monotone caused the Sotz' to turn and freeze at what she saw.
The creature before her resembled an otherwordly apparition. She was white as the pale moonlight she was bathed in. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, a pale washed out red like that of fresh blood and her skin seemed almost vividly pink like that of newborn rodents.
"Who are you?" Riqta's voice came out strained as if trying to remain collected. She could not quite hide her curiosity at this anomaly of a being.
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She could smell the rabbit before she smelt it's killer. With the feeble creatures body torn to shreds and it's tantalizing innards leaking out all over the grass, it's smell was twice as strong, and twice as alluring to the hungry ghost. It was faint, as facial expression never came naturally to her, but the woman's pink lips did turn up into a little smile as her hum grew more meloudous and her step more quickened and joyous. She glided happyily towards the smell of the kill for a few more strides before the other woman's scent hit her nose, causing the white lady's faint smile to dissipate and her hum to soften. She was not alone, and though she feared no wolf, she knew from experience that some brothers and sisters did not like to share their kill. A pity... Now she'd have to go searching again in this seemingly barren land... Still, being one to enjoy her fellow siblings' company regardless, she didn't shy away from the smells, instead continuing to press onwards. Who knows; perhaps this brother or sister would share.
She was finally able to make about the faint blur of another wolf, and as she neared, despite the smell of carnage and earth that clung heavily to the wolf's pelt, Nimue's keen nose could identify the stranger as female. Scaning the area a bit more, she thought she could also see the rabbit on the ground, but it was still hard to tell, even with the red of it's insides decorating the land. Her presense had not gone unknown by the bloodied sister, for the stranger turned around and stood stock still once the apparation came into view. The white lady already knew from experience that she'd shocked the female, as it was a common occurance among her fellow siblings.
Perking her sensitive ears to the strained question, the spectre took this as a sign to come closer, delicately placing one paw after the other as she neared the sister. A good question, a good question... Who was she?
"I don't know... Somtimes I'm Wolf, walking with the mortals and craving what they do. Yet other times I am naught, finding myself in the etheral plane with Sister Moon and singing her song..." Her tone was distant and thoughtful as always, as if answering some higher question, and once finished, she sampled the Sister's eternal song, matching the tune she'd hummed earlier. "For now though, I am called Nimue." She slowly lowered her rump to the ground so as to sit and tilted her head at the stranger. "What of you, sister? Who are you?"
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She does not easily comprehend what the ghostly woman is trying to communicate. She knows readily there is no ethereal plane to ascend to, this being is not one of Camazotz's and could not reach it anyways. Riqta assumes the ghost to be raving, perhaps she had been alone so long she must make up stories to keep herself from falling lonely and further losing her mind.
"Nimue," she repeats, eyes scanning over the ghost. She doesn't appear to be a threat, nor a potential slave with her strange eyes and coloring. Riqtajinaq will leave her be.
"I am Nefertet," she lies easily. Perhaps there is no sense if Nimue can't see her but it's a good idea to remain cautious outside her family.
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"Nefertet," the woman hums thoughtfully, just as the sister had done for Nimue's name. Her pink gaze was no longer connecting with Nefertet, but looking a little over the woman's shoulder, as if at some higher place. This type of behavior was not uncommon for the white lady, as something in the distance always seemed to call her.
Now at a closer proximity, the pungent smell of carnage clinging to the sister's pelt was far more evident. The smell of the rabbit's blood was the most prominent of all, telling Nimue that was the red part of this brown blur before her, but if she took a deeper whiff, she was certain there was more... Something wolfish, maybe... Those mysterious smells were too heavily masked to hold her attention though, so she set that aside and focused on her main reason for arriving: the prey. She returned her vision to the brown and red blob of Nefertet.
"It seems the generous Sister has blessed you with food... She is not so giving with me." The faint twitch of a smile played on the corner of her lips again, hardly visible, but still a slight change. "She is a coy, playful Sister though... always playing her games..." Once again, her vision became distant, gazing somewhere over the bloodied woman's shoulder, and once again, when Nimue returned to reality, her wide eyes sought out those of her sister's. "Games that have left me hungry. Might you spare a morsel, sister Nefertet?" Her pink nose pointed to the rabbit's carcass over yonder. "That is the creature there, is it not?"
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Nimue's eyes are even more eerie up close, Riqta finds. Her lips peel back from her teeth in warning though the ghost can't see it. She holds still in wait, allowing the blind woman to smell her almost indulgently.
"Camazotz has blessed me," the vampire corrects almost automatically. The idea of playing along is forgotten. She would not dare to disrespect Camazotz by allowing this ghostly woman to believe the food came from her false God.
"Have it. I am not hungry," Riqta does not elaborate further. She doesn't not explain that she rarely partakes of her sacrifices. Nor does she explain that the only thing she willingly takes is the animals' blood.
"That is it," she agrees as Nimue points to it.
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"Camazotz?" A strange name that the white lady did not recognize. It had whipped the smile, even as faint as it was, from her lips, and left a small blank in her brain. With the way Nefertet used the name, Nimue was left to believe it was a mortal she knew and followed faithfully, or another way of referring to Sister Moon and/or Mother Sun. In her travels, she'd met a great many wolves, and some of them did have alternate ways of saying the same thing. In her mind, there could be no other than Sister Moon and Mother Sun, as her entire existence had been lived in their dreamy realm. That was how it always had been. That was why, since puphood, she had been treated different; the Sister and Mother made her different. Their existence was not a belief, but something as real as Nimue herself... Or perhaps Nimue wasn't real... Either way, she could not question them, nor would she question this woman's beliefs, so she made no comment on the matter.
Having been given permission, she silently drifted past the other, the tips of her colorless fur just faintly brushing that of sister Nefertet's, but the spectre took no notice. She slowly lowered her muzzle as she approached the mangled carcass, the gradual strengething of it's alluring smell causing her to salivate in anticipation. She could feel the poor creature's blood beneath her paws as she approached, still wet and warm, but was too preoccupied in the meal to question why the red sustance was so haphazardly painted everywhere. Finally, the rabbit was before her, and she gladly feasted upon it's remains with relish.
Not that she could see it, but as she ate, she realized most of, if not all, the meat was still intact, having not been nibled on aside from the tearings that came from ripping out its innards. Nefertet had not eaten anything. Had this simply been for fun? Perhaps that is why the Sister brought me here... Nimue reflected silently. She did not want this creature's life wasted.
Satisfied with her fill, she eventually lifted her head and began to lick to crimson blood from her chops, which went quite well with her faded red eyes and stark white fur. Her tail whisked from side to side for a few wags and her wide eyes gleamed with new light as she turned her gaze up to Sister Moon, humming the Sister's song in thoughtful thanks. She then turned her unseeing sights to Nefertet, regarding the brown and red blur with a new warmth, now that she'd been properly fed. "Gratitude, sister."
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Riqta watches with something akin to fascination as the apparition maneuvers through their world. She finds the meat easily enough and the vampire simply watches, biding her time, as Nimue partakes of the slain rabbit's flesh.
The Sotz' had obviously confused her with speak of Camazotz and Riqtajinaq finds the apparition's discomforture brings her a strange satisfaction. She is misguided where Riqta sees the truth.
She hums in answer when Nimue thanks her, dipping her head though the apparition most likely cannot see her.
"You are a strange one," Riqtajinaj murmurs aloud, not quite maliciously. Rather, she is intrigued by this strange ghostly femme and the words come out bemused.
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To be called strange was not a new occurance for the ghostly woman by any means. She accepted the words as openly as if they were just fact; neither compliment nor insult. She was strange. Many had told her so, and as she was to understand it, the Sister and Mother had intentionally made her so. It was not hurtful at all. Memories from her childhood vaguely echoed in the back of her mind, harkening to a distant time when it had been hurtful... but that time was long forgotten.
"Yes, as a great many have also said." Her gaze wandered away, seeing figures from her past that Nefertet would never know of. "I am the strange one, and I am the only one, as She has intended..."
There need not be any questioning of who 'She' was, but Nimue kept the Sister's identity vauge, knowing the stranger woud become riled if her name, Camazotz, was not used.
Whilst on the topic of things that were strange, an idea popped into the apparation's mind, bringing her faded red eyes back to the bloodied femme. "What of a wolf that has food, but does not eat?" Her head tilted to the side once more, turning at an angle that uncomfortable, but was not.
The question had not been forceful or prying; it sounded genuine in her soft, whispery tone. Of course, Nimue's voice always sounded this way, so even if she wanted to sound pushy and forceful, she'd never be capable. It just seemed stuck as it was.
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Riqta watches as Nimue slips away to lands unseen and unknown by the vampire. She waits patiently for the apparition to return to their own time and place, the faintest trace of amusement present on her callous face.
She quirks a brow but makes no move to ask who She is. Riqtajinaq assumes it is Nimue's false God that she speaks of at times.
"Fair words," Riqta dips her head in acquiescence. She had never admitted to being normal.
"I did not seek the rabbit for its meat. Rarely do I kill for such a reason, only when I truly need to eat," she indulges the apparition. That is not enough information to hold against a falsely named wolf. This ghost, near completely blind, is no danger to her family.
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Nefertet's explanation did not clarify much, just reinforced what she'd already demonstrated, but Nimue gave a thoughtful hum all the same. Such an odd new concept... Of course, the ghostly woman relished in all things odd. To be odd was to be important, she'd learned. Favored by the deities that ruled that sky. Each strange stranger brought her closer to where she desired to be most, so she did not shun the odd as many did.
If not for the meat though, what for? Sport? Decoration? The idea of vampirism didn't exsist in her naive mind, so she could never conclude that much on her own. Besides, to her, the blood and the meat were one in the same. Even if it was explicitly explained to her, she still wouldn't understand. Ah, but the second part, about only eating when neccesary, that she understood.
"Hmm, eating... It is such a pesky thing... I too only eat when the pangs won't leave me be." Her voice, mind, and gaze had drifted away again. It seemed they'd never stay put for long. She even seemed to sway a bit as she spoke, as if her very physcial grip on this relam was waning.
"It is always there, no matter how far you run... It disrupts your dreams and ascentions, chaining you to this realm... Wouldn't it be nice to do away with the desire altogether...?" Her gaze returned, as had that trace of a smile. "It is so rare to find another whom agrees..."
With her thick, fluffy pelage, it was hard to see that Nimue also only ate when neccesary, as shown by faintly protruding ribs. However, with her pale, nearly translucent fur, perhaps it was visible, when the moonlight hit it just right.
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Riqta cannot completely agree. She eats on a regular basis though she is on the thinner end of the spectrum. It is only that on this night she sought a sacrifice.
The vampire doesn't argue with Nimue, choosing to leave it be.
"Yes...I often do wish something close to that," Riqtajinaq drawls. She wishes that she could survive on blood rather than the flesh of animals.
Her words prompt closer inspection and for a second, Riqta thinks she glimpses the protruding bones of near starvation. When she blinks, the moonlight has concealed the truth of Nimue's health once more.
Don't mind me, I'll just take five years to reply. -.- Sorry for the wait!
Suppose the thread should end here, after your next reply?
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The soft, eerie, humming tune had returned to haunt Nimue's throat, filling the silence that now settled between the two females, for she had nothing more to say. She merely stood and enjoyed the other's presence, along with the cool night winds and the feeling of a warm meal taking up the vacant space in her stomach. With her wide, sightless eyes and the blank expression upon her face, it was nearly impossible to tell what she was thinking, or if she was even thinking at all. She just existed there, a humming, ghostly creature of the dark, swaying with the wind and considering her equally odd companion.
After a short while, her brief moment of... whatever... passing, her humming swiftly transitioned to speech, accenting her words in a sing songy way. "Well, I am grateful to have made your aqquaintance, Sister Nefertet. Perhaps we will meet again when Her radiance reigns the sky once more." The words billowed from her muzzle in the form of vaporous clouds, quickly rising in the air and dissipating to nothing.
Holding the other's gaze for a moment longer, waiting for any response that may be given, the apparation then dipped her head and silently glided past the other, once more brushing pelts with the woman, but this time going in the opposite direction. Where was she going? Who know's. Not even the spacey wolf herself. Yet she was going, and she'd resigned to humming again while she went, the airy sound following her out and fading with every stride that took her father away.
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