Overture Downs there is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness

@Snake
Takes place before this thread.

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Mother Sun was still making her steady descent when Nimue roused, uncurling herself beneath a lone tree and opening her wide eyes just in time to see the last lights of day. The once pale blue sky had shifted to a dark violet with a dim line of orange and gold stretching above the hoirzon, the strict Mother's silent farewell, and wary signal for the Sister to take her place. A faint smile tugged at the albino's pink lips, for she regarded the sun's departure in the same way most would regard it's arrival; as a new beginning. The overbearing Mother always punished Nimue when she dared to travel beyond curefue, always harshly licking at the apparation with her fiery gold tongue, sending burns throughout the woman's sensitive body, forcing her to find shade until nightfall. It was Sister Moon that took her into a loving embrace, providing a cool night to dwell in and silvery moonbeams to light her path, and even with traces of the Mother still lingering in the sky, the white lady inwardly smiled at the Sister whom hung over her head, as illustrous and inviting as always. Nimue rose gracefully to her paws, gave her colorless coat a gentle shake, then set off at her usual trot, softly humming the Sister's eternal song.

The rabbit upon which she'd feasted the night before had long ceased to satisfy her, allowing those bothersome pangs to claw at her being and silence her dreamy fantasies. Even if this moonlit meadow appeared as an inviting playground to dance and sing in, to praise the Sister's loving light in, she could not delight herself in such actions without finding a meal to sate her hunger first. Though the ghostly woman was not a hateful creature, she'd grown to dispise these pesky cravings that kept her bound to the mortal plain, preventing her from prancing happily in the Sister's light where she belonged. Still, they had to be tended to, lest she wanted to lose her connection to the Sister entirely.

With pale red eyes that could only see blurs, she relied on her sesne of smell and sense of hearing to experience the world, and it would be these that aided her tonight. She lowered her pink nose to the ground, briefly recoiling at how frosty and cold the vegitation felt, and instantly set about trying to find some form of sustinance, all the while still humming. Beyond the overpowering scent of grass and flowers, mulitudes of prey scents flowed through her nostrils (this seemed to be a favored spot by the lesser creatures), but most were faded and not worth tracking. Many minutes passed and still, she found nothing. It was clear Sister Moon was up to her coy games again, masking the scents of food well with her icy night winds and forcing Nimue to search hard. Oh, did Her games ever end? She was always such a plafyul thing...

The ghostly creature would search many more minutes until finally, a scent worthy of her attention caught her: mice. The scent had been sudden and strong, forcing the apparation to halt suddenly and cease her humming, so as to focus on it. If she went too far in any direction, it quickly disappeared, making the scent's path quite narrow... a tunnel. Now more confidence, her humming picked up again, and the spectre silently drifted along the path, quickly coming up on a burrow. She only briefly stopped to tilt her head and consider the small structure (a pointless action, since she couldn't see anything anyway) before reaching a paw forward and beginning to dig the mice out. The cravings would be silenced soon enough, and then Nimue could have her fun!
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Boring boring, everything was so boring. He had not really found anyone who was willing to play, lately. Heck, he hadn't even found any materials for any of his new 'paint' projects. It was rather unfortunate considering his artists muse was beginning to build up inside of him. He needed to let it out, to let it explode. But there were no alive things around to provide him with the paint he needed. "Theresss no one to play with here." The words came out in a disappointed whimper, a strange thing for such a large man. To hear him whimpering like a child that he was bored was quite preposterous. Grown men did not whine and whimper over something so silly. They went out and actually did something about it, to sate their hunger. "And no more wolvesss, no more wolvesss to play with..." It was really sad if you thought about it.

He wasn't really sure where he was heading to now. He didn't really know anywhere in this land besides where he had already visited and those all were dead ends anyways as far as food went. He didn't really care what he played with now whether it be wolf or a small bunny. Anything would do. He found his mouth watering with the thought of warm flesh to fill his belly, the saliva dripping as it pooled over and dribbled down his chin in thick globs of drool. His large ears fell gently against the back of his head as his stomach growled in protest to the teasing thoughts, causing him to whimper [more of a growl, if he were honest] yet again. Oooh, he wasn't sure how much more he could take of this before his stomach drove him to absolute madness. Or perhaps he'd already reached that absolute madness. He needed to do something, anything. He was growing desperate as he reached his senses out, straining his ears and praying, praying beyond hope that there would be a solution. He almost missed a new scent as he did so, almost brushed it off as his imagination. But as he paused to smell it he found himself tensing, eyes dilating as his mouth watered more with drool. His claws curled, digging deep scars into the snow as he pushed himself forward without a care in the world as he made his way towards the stranger.

He only stopped when the woman was in clear view. She was white in color; pale as the snow that blanketed the ground before them. Snake himself was as dark as the night sky, and oh how the two wolves contrasted. He simply giggled like a child as he swayed back and forth with delight, lengthy spine twisting and turning. "Oh, how fun. Ssseemss I've found myself a friend." Food. He left the last word unspoken, hanging in the air though there was no way this woman could have known. His eyes were wide, unblinking, and a crooked grin stretched across black lips. Stilted onyx limbs dragged the massive man closer to the woman. She seemed to be...digging? No matter, he would find a way to play with her anyway.

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In her concenctration, she could vaguley detect the presence of another, hear his paws crunching the snowy ground and hear his hiss of a voice, but the task at hand was too important to stop. Mice were small but agile little creatures; should she invade their home and frighten them into fleeing, one second was all they'd need to escape. She couldn't afford to be distracted.

The hole was wide enough for her to make a move, and already, even with blurred vision, she could see the tiny creatures quickly trying to dart away. In one swift and precise movement, quick enough to look unnatural, her head dove for the mice, jaws snapping around two furry bodies and swiftly rising back up. At the same time, she felt movement beside her paw, resulting in the spectre quickly slapping it down on a third mouse. The rest of the creatures seemed invisible now, suggesting they'd either gotten away or the poorly sighted woman could not see them anymore. No matter; three would be enough.

Now satisfied with her catch, she turned her gaze up to the stranger, fixing the black blur of his form with wide, faded red eyes that reflected the moonlight in an eerie manner. She silently questioned his existance, her mouth too full to speak. Perhaps he'd introduce himself properly, now that she paid him attention?

Alas, she felt the creatures in her jaws wriggling determinedly, giving furious sqeaks of defiance as they tried to escape her grasp. The one under her paw tried to escape as well, providing far too many distractions for her liking. If this conversation was to continue (or start, rather), she'd need to ensure her meal was dead and not going anywhere. Being the gentle creature she was, instead of tightening her grip in one quick motion so as to end their lives as soon as possible, she slowly increased the pressure on their bodies. Her teeth gradually crushed the life out of the furry creatures, causing their squeaks to become more tortured and frantic, until her jaws finally came together and the pitiful sounds died altogether. She did the same to the one beneath her paw as this was happening, slowly increasing the pressure until a satisfying series of cracks was heard and it's cries were no more. Blood leaked down her lower jaw, and once she'd dropped the dead mice at her feet, she was slow and delicate with licking it off.

Nimue was not a torturous being that delighted in the tiny creatures' pain, she was just naively gentle, and never thought to consider the pain the mice must have felt. The wolf before her was more worthy of attention anyway.

"Are you another that travels by the Sister's light, brother?" Came her airy question, voice as light and distant as usual.
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The woman's words reached black ears, and there was a pause, where the earth stilled, and then a low, guttural noise left the dark wolf's body, something akin to a laugh and a cry, mixed into one. The result was an unnatural, unfavorable sound, and paired with the unblinking eyes and the grotesque grin, he looked like a devil uprooted from the deepest pits of hell. His laugh rose to a higher pitch, and he bobbed his head down to look at the female. "The light? Oh mosssst certainly not," he crooned after the cackle had faded. The way she spoke, the way she had worded her sentence sparked curiousity in Snake's broken mind, although the emotion did not show on his body.

He inspected her, tongue now held silent, as he began to circle her, stilted onyx legs bringing him closer at each passing moment. Saliva dripped from black lips as angular head tilted to the right at an almost unnatural angle. The scent of the blood of the mice had reached Snake's nose, and his gaze would repeatedly flicker to the now dead creatures. He could certainly paint a masterpiece with those! Green eyes darted back to the woman. "Do you plan on eating thossse? Or will they be ussssed for...painting?" His eyes focused on the blood that was slowly gathering. He lifted a massive paw and brought it to touch the pool ever so gently, as if anything harder would make it disappear. Drool began to dribble from his chin as he did, and a black tongue darted out of narrow jaws to swipe it away.

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The man's unblinking eyes and devilish smirk were barely visible through Nimue's blurred vision, but his unearthly cackle had not gone unnoticed. She merely tilted her head at the noise, expression unphazed and ears perking to process the sound. Being a wolf borne of strangeness herself and having been exposed to a wide variety of travelers, she could not say the sound was abnormal, for normal had simply never existed to her, but she still found his seemingly pointless amusement odd. Had she made a joke...? Did he find her words funny...?

He cirlced her now, firist moving around the apparation in wide circles, but stepping closer with each round, 'til she could feel his onxy fur eerily brushing her bleached white, could feel his breath drifting along her spine in an uneasy way. Upon his first round, she'd tried to follow him, turning her head as far as it would go in one direction then turning it the other way, wide pink eyes watching his dark blur closley. However, it became dizzying rather fast, so she resigned to just sitting down and staring ahead until he was done with his inspection.

Finally, his snake-like hiss-of-a-voice met her ears again, causing her to slowly turn her head in his direction. He inquired what she was to do with her kills, so now her nose slowly pointed down at the dead mice, unseeing eyes fixed on their blurry forms. Not too long ago, she'd met a woman that had secured a meal, but had no intention of eating it, allowing Nimue to feed upon it's flesh instead. Perhaps that was a common occurance in this corner of the mortal realm, hence why he asked, but the spectre was not that kind of wolf. She used the Sister's light to find meals only, not pointless murder, despite her unintetionally sadistic display earlier. Still, she was reminded of how hungry she'd been when discovering that other woman, and the warm wave of gratitiude Nimue had felt after being given the meal. Perhaps she could spare one mouse. Afterall, the Sister would surely help her again if she needed more. It wouldn't hurt.

"The Sister is hesitant in supplying generosity..." Nimue tipped her head back so as to look at Sister Moon, her pale red eyes reflecting the diety's light. "...but not unkind." Her gaze found Snake once more. "And I shall follow her example.

"Here, brother." A pink padded paw was lifted, the same one that had caught the third mouse, revealing it's bloody and broken body beneath. She then batted it over to the dark blur, giving a slow nod once the deed was done.

She recalled something odd he had said in place of eat. "Painting", was it? Her head tilted at him once more, unknowingly mimicking the unnatural angle he'd held his own at moments ago.

"What kind of mortal affair is 'painting'...?"

Neither the Sister or Mother had ever whispered such a word as "painting"; she assumed it must be something strickly mortal. Yet she desired to know more, always quick to drink in every trace of strangeness that so closely matched her own. The enthusiasm didn't show in her face, never would, but he had her full attention at least.
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She continously referred to him as 'brother' and said something about the 'sister' multiple times. He did not know the meaning of this, and his curiousity for why she did so was fading. The woman had sat down and tossed him a mouse, and his eyes immediatley lit up. His next move was quick and sudden, a lunge at the mouse. His massive jaws closed around the tiny creature's throat, biting down hard until a gurgle and a crack was heard. But he did not stop there. He pulled and jerked back and away, shaking his head as he did so until, with several sickening cracks, the head was separated from the rest of the body. The blood flowed much more quickly and easily now and a manic laugh left him as he slashed forward with his claws, ripping what was left of the creature's body and splashing the blood all around to cover himself and the area. Considering it was a mouse, there wasn't much, and the snow might have made painting more difficult, but Snake paid no mind.

He soaked his paw in it, painting tiny pictures with the small amount of blood he had, of whatever came to mind. One was a bunny, another a gentle deer. Of course they would resemble the drawings a child might produce. But it didn't matter. His entire body buzzed and he found himself rolling in it before jumping up and flipping his tail up in the air so that the tiniest droplets of blood came falling down around him. He opened his mouth, catching a few on his tongue and more shivers ran down his spine. "Rain, rain, tastesss ssso good!"  His claws dug into the blood soaked snow, dragging his paw through the red liquid to make a small arch on the ground with it. "And pretty picturesss, pretty picturessss for me."  He seemed genuinely pleased with himself. 

His eyes flickered to the woman as she asked what painting was, and excitement flashed in the green depths. "Come now friend, come. Play with me, and I will sssshow you to paint, yesss yesss!" Eagerness shimmered in his eyes as he dipped his paw into the blood once again, turning around and moving to a cleaner space in the snow to begin the process over, glancing over his shoulder to grin at the ghostly woman every so often.

lmao this whole thing is like a couple of kids playing around, except their "fingerpainting" with blood, there's a beheaded rabbit corpse, and they're both mentally unstable adults. cx

 

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As one could assume, the ghostly woman was not as unnerved by the man’s actions as she should have been. She merely watched him mutilate the mouse’s corpse in silence, her head tilted to the side and her curiosity hidden by an emotionless mask. She could just faintly see the blood flying everywhere, but could definitely hear all the pop and cracks of the poor creature's body, giving her clues as to what the man was doing. Yes, such a strange practice… Perhaps mangling prey was some sort of ritual these local mortals liked to perform, as this was the second time she’d seen such an act…

She couldn’t fathom the purpose of the act, but it didn’t really matter. Whatever his reason for doing it, the male sure seemed to be enjoying himself… He laughed (albeit manically), he pranced about, he rolled in the crimson pools, and then he sent droplets of blood up into the air with a flick of his tail and opened his mouth so as to catch some, creepily akin to a child catching snowflakes with their tongue. Truly, the man’s glee was infectious; it gave Nimue the urge to get to her paws and perform a few graceful spins of her own, her lazily thumping tail betraying her elation, but she stayed put.

The shade’s attention had returned to her when she make her inquiry about painting, and even through her blurred vision, she could tell he was grinning by the glow of white fangs against a sea of darkness. Upon his request, her colorless tail lashed the air excitedly and she hopped to her paws, swiftly gliding over to the shadow’s side. Standing just a little behind him and peering down at his blood soaked paw, she closely mimicked his actions, gingerly lifting her own paw and delicately dipping it into a nearby pool of rabbit blood. The dark, scarlet liquid showed up quite well against her pink pads and pearly pelage, and dripped onto the ground as she waited for his instruction.
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omg right xd

The woman steps closer and seems eager to learn, and oh how delighted he was! A leering grin spreads across black lips and another childish giggle pulls from his throat. "Fun, fun," he cooes before thrusting his muzzle forwards to touch the ghostly woman's now bloodied paw. "What comesss to mind, darling? Anything, anything you sssee in your head. Paint it. Drag that paw of yourss acrossss the ground and create a masssterpiece." The three white v's upon his chest are splattered with blood, staining the ivory red. His own massive paw dips back into the crimson pool and he begins to create more pictures, one of a wolf, albeit messy, and another of what appeared to be a tree.

No one had ever been so keen to paint with him, and Snake was simply euphoric. His eyes glinted in excitement, although something more dark flickered in the green depths. When his new pictures were complete, he stopped and sat back, seemingly content, and watched the pale woman expectantly.

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The woman's eerie, eternal song started up again, mainsfesting as a soft hum in her throat as she eagarly set to work, spurred on by her companion's words of encouragement. She did not answer his inquiry about what came to mind (it was probably rehtorical anyway), she just hummed her song and giddily tried to imagine just what she'd be painting. It didn't take much imagining at all, for the same thing was always on the forefront of the spiritual woman's mind: her Sister Moon and Mother Sun.

Moving forward so she'd have enough space, she squinted hard at the ground and invisioned just how she'd go about making her "masterpieace", then positioned her body accordingly and began tracing two circle ish shapes. One "circle" (the sun) was left alone, needing no other adornments, but she did her best to surround the other with a sea of blood, trying to portray the illusion of it standing out amidst a dark sky. Given the poor dear's blurry vision, her images were lackluster and not quite right, the circles coming out wobbly and the large amount of blood surrounding her moon easily "going inside the lines" as one might put it, but of course she couldn't see anything wrong with them. Really, she was quite enjoying herself: this was fun! 

As a final measure, she decided to take a stab at making a two wolves beneath the two "spheres": herself and the male, respectively. As was to be expected, they came out looking even worse than the circles, having all the likness of little blurs with barely noticable lump legs and faint ears sticking out of their heads. Not great, and likely not the brilliant masterpiece Snake had been expecting, but she was ever oblivious to this as she sat back and turned to him with wide, expectant eyes and a still wagging tail.

"Like this, brother?"
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