Spotted Eagle Mountain groundlight

@Ayishik <3 tagging @Ayashe for visibility 

half-carrying, half-prodding his injured quarry, shardul had taken the boy to a great burnt mountain, sequestering the two of them aside from their counterparts and prying eyes. as he had done with timber, the silver cat called to his female companion, requesting she keep watch.

for a week now had the wolf been kept alive on the shreds of meat discarded by the feline pair, and moss soaked in water. shardul kept up his abuses upon the pale creature, though not so heavily that the wolf was killed -- he wished to prolong this time. it would be the masterpiece of his mind's eye.

presently, shardul lay upon a rock outcropping, staring fixedly at the wolf.

ty for starting! <3

The little fellow was limp and useless in the cougar's grasp, helpless to his violence. It all hurt very much, but the blow to his head had been so intense, and the fate at work here was so dizzyingly abstract that the result was entirely otherworldly. Ishi knew he wasn't dreaming, but it felt like he'd ascended (or descended?) to some bizarre new world within a world.

The world of the mountain lions, perhaps...? At last...?

A little speck of blood shone upon his face, utterly bright against his stark white fur. Ishi was now more conscious than he had been previously, and he found his voice. It was soft and sweet as ever, and tremoring, of course, for he had been terrorised — but it was also quite confident, quite strong.

Is this my destiny?

ofc! <3 

shardul did not stir the length of his body; nay, not even his tailtip trailed with annoyance against the rock. he was silent as the piping little voice sounded -- it reminded him of regipre -- and his features were coldly impassive. when a sizable length of time had passed, the cat shifted, rising and padding toward the feathery little wolf.

"surely it is, little fool," the silver cat growled. "thy destiny -- to be the plaything of creatures larger than thyself, and when thou givest us no more sport, to be killed. what a path thou hast chosen," shardul mocked, reaching with a massive paw to prod the dog-thing roughly.

Even in his fear (which he had under fierce control), Ishi admired this creature to no end. The great cat lay there, sleek and languid in the dull light from the sky, utterly magnificent in his power. Ishi's heart soared as he realised that this cougar would soon walk at his side, his friend and disciple. But he knew it wouldn't happen by magic.

The beast spoke of torture and death, but it didn't quite register with Ishi. It was clear that he was dark and chaotic, and perhaps touched with the maliciousness that Spring had told him about, but he was still a mountain lion. And therefore he was one of Ishi's.

The boy was so weak (and weakened still), and the cougar so strong, that the prod sent him to the ground in a small cloud of dust. But he lay upright with determined effort, stifling a wince as he stated calmly: you may not know it yet, but I'm your king. Truly I am.

from the dust that rose, the idiot creature lilted that he was ... king. shardul gave a rumble of truly icy laughter. "king of what? not i," he purred, moving to the wall of the cave that housed them both, and raking his claws along the stone wall until grooves were carved into the grey there. "king of ... dust, perhaps?" the silver brute went on conversationally, ambling 'round their enclosement and raising his tail to spray a section of wall with a foul-smelling and musky urine.

"king of nothing, i think," shardul snarled, coming to lay on his belly before the wolf. "thou hast no kingdom, and no subjects."

He'd expected this, for what else could happen but denial? In Ishi's fantasies, this had all happened in a very different way of course, but now that it was happening he knew this was the only way. He couldn't just become king of the mountain lions in the blink of a happy eye. He had to prove himself, go through trials and tribulations, keep himself together. A king did not shrink from his subjects!

Though, crikey, the noise of those claws against the wall was grating. One of a number of flaws common to his first cougar.

Not yet I don't, he agreed eagerly. We met because this is the beginning of a new path for your kind. You're here to help me become who I was always meant to be. Don't you see? It's our destiny.

shardul grew weary of the high voice and its inane claims -- perhaps the blow to the other's head had battered him more senseless than he had earlier suspected. "dost thou know what it is i do unto wolves?" the argent cat whispered, slipping closer until the ends of his whiskers brushed the wolf's hapless snout. "i hurt them. i take their blood, and sometimes, i take my pleasure with them as they suffer and as they die."


each fang was bared in a flashing, horrid grin then. "dost thou wish to be my king now, little jackal? thou hast but to speak, and i shall bring thee to such a world that thou shalt never leave again. a world of agonies. a world of blood. speak, small fool. little king."

shardul waited.

The cat drew ever-closer and the wolfdog's heart soared again, this time pushing so desperately against his chest it hurt. The cougar was painfully magnificent, and bigger than he had ever imagined. Terrifying too, of course, but Ishi had it in his head that he could change him.

This really was the type of cougar Spring feared, though this world seemed a thousand worlds away from the one he shared with his Phoenix friend. I understand that you're evil, he persisted, his voice as steady as he could make it, gazing back into the cougar's vast eyes, but you're still a mountain lion, and that means we're fated to run in the same pack. Our world doesn't have to be one of agonies and blood and things! It can be one of adventure and cooperation. He smiled defiantly.

shardul listened, but did not speak. he would greatly enjoy wringing the hope from the wolf's voice. presently he stood -- he stretched, and he moved to the mouth of the cave. "thou hast two choices, little would-be king. either i remove food from thy mouth until thou hast become too weak to say a word, or i shall torture thee for a short time now, and end it when i have been sated."

his voice was a calm monotone; his eyes shone almost placidly as he extended the mad choice to the helpless little fool, and he waited with obvious patience for a decision to be made.

Ishi's smile did not waver, but nor did it linger for long. After all, he was extremely aware that this was a very serious situation. He had not persuaded the strange-worded cougar thus far, which meant more pain was likely still to come. No matter... he would bear it. It was worth it: his dreams were finally starting to come true.

Please: what's your name? he asked, ignoring the choice. (For a king could decide what to answer and what to abandon.)

"my name is no matter, but if thou must know, it is shardul." the silver cat moved swiftly now for the wolf; he lunged, pinning the small white body beneath the lithe muscularity of his own, and let his claws jump forth. "now ... make thy choice, little king. starvation or pain. i shall not let thee die," he reassured the wolf mockingly.

no -- shardul intended for the suffering to be prolonged as lengthily as he was able.

Shardul, he repeated the sacred name breathlessly, only to gasp as the great creature pinned him roughly to the cold stone ground. The cougar was so close. This was all so astonishing.

You called me little king, he uttered beneath the cat's great weight, not realising that the title was a mockery. And as a king I don't have to make the choice. I'll wait, Shardul. I'll do whatever it takes to earn your loyalty and faith!

omg ayishik is so pitifully cute I FEEL BAD. small PP

shardul ran his tongue along the edge of the wolf's pale ear, and then his jaws closed 'round it. he intended to pinch and to elicit a cry from his quarry. king. the puma scoffed within himself as he lunged then for the shoulder of the whitefurred lupine -- he sought to puncture the very top layer of flesh, to bring forth blood but no true injury -- not yet.

all the while shardul purred loudly, satedly.

Hehe. >:3 Shardul's an amazing character — such a well-realised villain! Is it okay if we keep the description fairly vague with some of the more gory bits?~

Where a canine's tongue would have been wet and smooth, the cat's tongue was sandpaper, and he braced himself for the pain that was promised. And there it was. The boy yelped in his softly androgynous voice, a quiet whimper lingering as a sharp sting joined the pain of the bruises already upon him. He didn't even struggle. The path to destiny was paved with challenges.

of course! <3 and ty :3 

when he had finished, shardul cleaned his lips and jaws thoroughly, languidly, before pressing the broad pad of his nose against the wolf's side to see that he still breathed. "king of fools," the silver cat chuckled darkly, before he departed the cave only to return some time later with water-soaked moss and a marrow-filled bone. 

tossing the latter into the dust, the feline crooned softly into the pale ears. "wake, wake."

^____^

The physical torment seemed to melt the boy — he was completely stationary other than what the cougar moulded him to, and his sweet and stifled cries sounded as if he were ice and Shardul burned him. When he was left alone, Ishi — a mess of red and white — drifted into a state of half-consciousness, wishing that it would all be over soon. He saw each instance of pain as trial to be conquered. And when Shardul called him king of fools, he thought the cat was being self-deprecating by calling himself a fool for torturing his king. And yet it continued regardless.

Consciousness came to him again at the low, cruel whisper of his subject. Ishi blinked (though there were no tears in his golden eyes). Have I passed the test yet? his voice was weak, but his tone was eager.

the wolf spoke; shardul's features arranged themselves into a faux expression of despair. "i am afraid thou has not, little king," came the rolling tones of the silver cat. "thou must undergo more tests before i am sure that thou is able to be our king." the yellow eyes glowed with amusement, a dark cruelty that curved his mouth as well. 

"eat, drink. be merry. then we shall resume," he purred, settling himself some few feet away from the pale wolf.

Although his surges of excitement were now weakened, Ishi attributed this to being his weariness and pain, not a lack of inner resolve. So he did at least feel some thrill at Shardul's confession (finally!) that this was indeed a test, and managed to hold back his fear of what was still to come. He had to be brave. As king of the mountain lions of course bravery was a foremost quality!

He crawled forward and licked at the water-soaked moss. It was delicious. After this little drink and sustenance from the bone marrow, he felt a little stronger. Though I'm not sure I can 'be merry', he joked weakly.

fade and have an updated one? so sorry for all the delays ;__;

shardul's face split into a macabre parody of a cheshire's grin, eyes glinting within his argent features. "no, i do not believe that is possible for thee. the happiness, then," shardul whispered in the gloom, approaching on padded and silent paws, "is for me, and me alone. sweet prince, king of cats," he murmured almost affectionately, before once more settling to his black task.