Animal Instincts (hal7283 & wolfdog12) (18+, private)

[hal7283]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Species: Arthroplon

 

Height: 5 meters (16ft）

 

Length(from head to tail): 12 meters (39ft)

 

Diet: Omnivore, but prefers meat.

 

Appearance description: Giant arthropod covered in white, near impenetrable shells; four red glowing eyes; two giant clamps and six legs; a long tail with a sharp tip at the end.

 

 

Species Description: Little is known about the species known as the Arthroplon as sightings of the creatures were extremely rare. What the world do know was that they lived deep in the Misty valleys, and would hunt down anyone or anything unfortunate enough to wonder too far inside.

 

A major break through came when a researcher ventured into the valley and retrieved an egg, and from it hatched a large larva. Surprisingly the larva was able to talk to the researcher only hours after its birth, and requested to be send back to the valley, to which the researcher declined since he wanted to study the strange creature.

 

The larva was kept under the researchers watch but it never muttered a word again. But it ate all the food provided by the researcher, and meat seemed to be its preferred diet. In the following months it grew larger, and formed an impenetrable cocoon around itself. The cocoon swelled up gradually and after a year of seeming peace a full grown Arthroplon burst out. It leveled the researcher's mansion killing every living creature within the vicinity, leaving only the researcher's journal which documented the whole event.

 

After that more expeditions into the valley happened, but only a handful returned alive, and no one was able to find an egg of the Arthroplon again. And several years later a large earthquake shattered the area, resulting in the Misty Valley collapse onto itself. And no Arthroplon sighting was ever reported since. Most believed that the Arthroplon got extinct due to the catastrophe.

 

 

 

 

A pack of deer walked in the forest who were on their way to a nearby water source. Their senses were kept sharp as predators could be hiding anywhere. Suddenly they found their view more opened as the surrounding trees were all broken down and scattered all around. The pack were confused for a moment but resumed walking shortly, as the sound of water could be heard nearby. Suddenly the one leading the pack stopped as he looked around cautiously, as if noticed something. But after a moment of alert it decided to continue, leading the pack forward.

 

In a blink of an eye a pair of giant white clamp-like claws burst out of the ground and grabbed two deer between its grip. The deer screamed in horror and scattered but not until another deer was caught by a long, serpent-like tail.

 

As the dust settled the perpetrator emerged from the ground, revealing its giant, armored body. It easily tightened the claws as well as the wrap of its tail, and with the sound of bones cracking the three deer stopped struggling. The creature looked at its preys with satisfaction since the days of waiting paid off, and began to move deeper into the forests swiftly. It tried its best not to bring down the surrounding forest but its large body still left a trail of broken trees behind. Soon it arrived at another trail of broken trees, but these branches and barks looked like they've been down for a longer time. It followed the trail and at its end was a cave in the mountains. It went inside momentarily and quickly reemerged with just one of the corpses.

 

It laid its belly on the ground and a slit in the lower part of its expressionless faced opened, revealing rows of sharp teeth. With the help of its giant clamps as well as two small beaks on each side of its chin, it easily tore the deer apart and began to devour it, not even leaving the bones, crushing them easily with its teeth. It raises its head and looked up to the sky while chewing on the deer's brain. The moon was shinning right above it, covering the world in a silver veil of light. The moonlight reminded it of a fateful night just like this.

 

It was many years ago, when it was still but a small larva. A catastrophe separated it and its kin, ans it found itself in a strange place, injured, and worse of all, alone. It could accelerate its metabolism, thus increase the rate of healing and enter the cocoon stage of its life sooner. While it meant it could be safe from any immediate danger, it risks seriously weakening itself in its adult stage, and reducing its lifespan drastically. Just when he was pondering whether or not to do so he saw a creature under the moonlight. The creature was like nothing it had ever seen, as it looked beautiful, sacred even. The creatures tended to its wounds, took care of it. It couldn't remember clearly what happened next, but it remembered separating from the creature and finding itself in this forest. After that it managed to grow normally and healthily thanks to the lack of stronger predators, even as a larva it was lethal. And when the time came it hid itself in the cave and wrapped itself into a cocoon. It had just busted out of it only a few moths ago.

 

It devoured the last part of the deer and just stared at the moon aimlessly, and wondered would it ever meet the creature who saved its life again.

[WolfDog12]

 

 

Younger:

 

Older:

 

 

Name: Suteneko (a name he gave himself after he was left alone on the streets.)

 

Age: (High teens or so)

 

Gender: Male

 

Species: Kokuei

 

Size in smaller form: about normal, adult house cat size

 

Size in larger form: about the size of a horse

 

Diet: Carnivore

 

Appearance description: In his smaller form, he looks like a small cat with feathery wings. As this species grows up, the feathers are lost and the wings look a lot like dragon wings. Though they have longer fur when younger, the fur thins and is very short when the creature is older to the point of being very soft if pet from head to tail but is prickly and coarse if pet from tail to head. As it gets older, this species changes a lot in appearance and turns from cat like to more dragon like. Still, the species has cat-like reflexes shares more body structure with a large cat then it does with a dragon.

 

Brief History: Suteneko was originally a prince of a kingdom run by a species that, over the past many years, has been on a rapid decline do to having certain reproductive issues. Suteneko had a bit of space with his life but was always around guards so he wouldn't get killed. He happened to be away from the castle in the city when the kingdom was attacked so he was rushed back to the castle where they thought it would be safer, however, they didn't account for the fact that the attack actually started in the castle with an infiltration and another, slightly later attack in the city. When they made it back to the castle, a witch was there commanding the attack and Suteneko ran into the room just as his mother laid nearly dead on the ground. His father was killed ahead of time trying to protect the queen. It was said that the females of this particular species had a kind of magical power and with her dying breath, The queen whispered something of another language in her son's ear and dropped dead. The Witch cheered in triumph, something about the prophecy never coming true now and her men killed the guards protecting the prince and carried the still young cub to the witch. She said that he could still pose as a threat if he grew older and sought revenge but she also found a prince of a nearly extinct species to be very interesting. The witch knew Suteneko wouldn't be able to survive on his own but found letting him try to be amusing. As she thought this, the witch knew she still couldn't let him get bigger and more dangerous so she put a curse on him so he'd never be able to grow up.

 

Some months passes and Suteneko was just barely able to survive. At one point he was going to let himself get eaten when he had this urge to fight after thinking about someone he'd saved some time back. The small cat tried to fight back and when he thought all hope was lost, he somehow managed to use magic. His mother had left him with a very powerful gift. The small cat used that to his advantage and developed his magic to survive. However, Suteneko still couldn't grow any older until he finally got his magic strong enough to be able to temporarily stop the curse and allow him to grow to the size of a teenager. The spell wasn't perfect and didn't remove the curse so if Suteneko ever released his hold on the spell, he'd revert to his smaller size every time.

 

 

The large cat-like/dragon-like creature moved about the forest silently but with great speed. After years of learning to survive in the forests, this creature knew a thing or two about being quick and quiet. Just a few minutes longer, the creature stopped and spotted a deer. The creature was surprisingly alone and scatter brained. 'Something must have attacked the pack' the cat/dragon thought to itself. Just as the deer began to calm down, Suteneko pounced out of the brush and onto the deer. It made an attempt to escape but was still toppled over sideways with Suteneko's wings flapping around it confusing the deer even more.

 

Clearly, killing this deer pushed the spirit of the forest overboard. A huge roar bellowed from the center of the forest not too far from where Suteneko was. He had eaten a good portion of the deer already and lowered everything as the earth even shook a bit. Once the roar finished a minute later, Suteneko looked around he knew he'd be able to find food elsewhere but now was the time to run. As soon as he took off running, the ground beneath him began shaking again and the spirit of the forest actually rose from what the creature thought was just a rock. The spirit looked a lot like a boar but it's large humped back and broken tusks were a dark grayish color and even had moss growing all over it.

 

Suteneko stood his ground for a moment and as the spirit swung it's tusks from the side at the cat, He leaped a good 15 feet into the air. As he was coming down to land, the boar somehow managed to change directions and hit Suteneko as he was falling. He flew to the left and broke through two trees before getting stuck in the third. It took a minute but the cat managed to get out before the spirit's next attack. He tried to flee to the best he could but the spirit was extremely fast and caught up in no time. Suteneko was already injured but still turned to fight. For some reason, he didn't even attempt to fly away with his large wings. He clearly could move them but it was another thing if he could fly or not.

 

Suteneko tried to use his magic but just as he was building up the energy, the boar hit him with one of the several tusks he had, one that curved downward, and it came up under the creature and sent him flying backwards again breaking though several trees and Suteneko crashed to the ground, skidding away for a while before he stopped at the feet of the Anthroplon. The young cat slowly, with his vision blurring and growing darker, looked up at the tall omnivore just before his head dropped and Suteneko lost consciousness. As soon as he passed out, Suteneko's magic spell lost hold and he reverted into his smaller, younger form instantly.

 

The spirit figured he'd won and killed Suteneko from that last hit and let out another roar of dominance before returning to the deeper areas of the forest to go back to sleep for a while.

[hal7283]

It was dwelling in the memories from years ago when a sudden loud roar dragged it back to reality. It had heard the roar before, from the forest spirit. The Arthroplon listened carefully at the commotion, and it was clear that the forest spirit was attacking someone. It sighed through the breathing holes on its back heavily feeling a bit guilty, as it was his fault that the spirit was so agitated.

 

The forest spirit was usually calm and welcoming of those who entered the forest, and watched quietly to stand guard of the natural cycles of life happening in the forest, strong feeding on the prey, prey feeding on the smaller prey, and everything goes back to earth after death, etc. But the ever since the Arthroplon broke out of its cocoon the natural balance in the forest was disturbed, since this wasn't its original habitat. The forest spirit had tried to fight the Arthroplon several times but failed every single time, which made the forest spirit even more on nerves, thus becoming more hostile to intruders. For the Arthroplon his past skirmishes with the spirit was also troublesome, not because he couldn't handle the spirit, but rather because he had to restrain itself from killing the spirit by accident. If the spirit dies, then the forest will die, then the animals in it would either die with it or migrate away, which means the Arthroplon would have to find a new feasting ground. It knew that it would have to get out of the forest eventually, but not before it truly mastered its new adult body.

 

Then it heard the sounds of fighting getting closer and closer to him. It got up from the ground and stretched out its claws and pointy tail. If the it got dragged into the fight, then it would have no choice but to retaliate. Then suddenly a dark object flew in front of him after breaking through several tree branches. The The Arthroplon heard the victorious roar from the spirit, and soon the forest returned to silence. It looked down at the injured creature and recognized its species.

 

"A Kokuei! Haven't seen these for a while." The Arthroplon thought to himself. From the memories passed down by its ancestors it knew the Kokuei was a rare but powerful species. In fact royalty powerful. As its four eyes looked carefully at the injured creature it suddenly shrunk in size, as if time was flowing backwards. Soon the Kokuei reverted to but a small child, and the Arthroplon was astonished by its appearance. It quickly leaned down and looked carefully at the small Kokuei. "It's him! It's the one who saved me all those years ago! " it thought to itself. He suddenly began to panic as thousands of questions began to fill up his mind. But soon he regained its calm. All questions can wait, he's heavily injured, and won't survive much longer in this condition.

 

The Arthroplon reached out its claws, and the several folds of hard shell just over its clamps opened up and several thin tentacles extended from inside. These tentacles allowed it to perform more precise tasks which its giant clamps could not. It began to touch the small Kokuei, checking its wounds. After making sure moving him wouldn't cause any further damage it moved the small creature onto its back, and began to pave a way through the forest quickly like an avalanche. It couldn't care less about enraging the forest spirit further, and the forest spirit seemed aware that the Arthroplon was in no mood to be bothered right now.

 

Soon the Arthroplon cleared the forest and it rushed straight at a nearby mountain. If his knowledge was true then the tip of this mountain was a place of special healing powers when the moon rose to the highest point at night. Soon it arrived at the highest point of the mountain, and it laid the injured Kokuei on a flat rock. Of course it wasn't about to leave the small creature completely in gods' hands, and began to treat its wounds with some herbs it grabbed along the way. When all was done it waited patiently for the moon the reach its position, as it came right above the mountain the whole place was shrouded by a swarm of silver shining wisps When the moon finally began to sink the wisps disappeared as quickly as they occurred. The Arthroplon moved closer to the small Kokuei and found its wounds had mostly healed. It sighed in relief and laid its belly on the ground. Soon fatigue began to catch up on it and it was quickly asleep.

[WolfDog12]

Suteneko slept for a long time. He typically was pretty good at fighting so it was a bit of a shock to lose but he also knew from the beginning that trying to fight a spirit of any kind was for the most part a lost cause. There were some creatures out there that could win against a spirit but unless it was a female with fully developed magic, a Kokuei almost never won. Still, they were good at influence and talking to spirits, however, this was just about a lost cause because of just how upset the forest spirit really was.

 

Anyway, Suteneko finally woke the next morning just as the sun began to reach them. It was beautiful at the top of this mountain with the sun glistening off the due on the grass, a small stream that seemed to bubble up from within the mountain and run down on two sides of the mountain. The purple leaved trees added a strange effect on ground and stream. These were very unusual trees that seemed to only grow in sacred areas. The small Kokuei felt the breeze run through his fur and feathers just then realizing how small he was. He sighed and slowly stood up still feeling some aches and pains of the earlier fight. Suteneko smelled the Arthroplon when the wind died again and he looked over to where his savior laid.

 

The small Kokuei stayed in that form still knowing this larger creature might still recognize him if he stayed the way he was. When the Arthroplon final woke and looked at the Kokuei, Suteneko smiled a bit. "I'm glad I got to see you again... I thought I'd die before we ever met again... I don't know if you recognize me but I'm an old friend and I will always remember your scent... isn't that right... Ekichu?" Suteneko could cry out of happiness and he just smiled at his old friend.

 

Suteneko mumbled under his breath in another language and began changing into his larger form when he started screaming out in pain and had to stop the transformation so he remained in his tiny form. "I guess I'm still too weak from what happened yesterday... Sorry..." His higher pitch adorable voice sounded so sad and so hurt.

[hal7283]

"Yes. Glad to see you again too. Old friend." he said as he heard the familiar name: Ekichu, beneficial insects. If his face was capable of showing expressions then he would have smiled at the name for its straight to the point simplicity, and for the faith or naivety the little Kokuei had with him when he named the small larva many years ago, that it would remain a friend. And the fact that despite his growth throughout the ages the little Kokuei still referred to him with this name, and this fact made him, Ekichu, quite happy.

 

He lowered his upper body to get closer to the little Kokuei, and said in a gentle voice: "Relax, your wounds are not completely healed yet." He opened the shells on the claws to stretched out his "hand tentacles" and carried the little Kokuei to his back. "Let's leave. It's beautiful and all but we've disturbed this scared ground long enough. Plus we won't be able to find any food to eat around here."

 

Thus they began their journey down the mountain. This time taking it much more slower since he didn't want to hurt the little creature on his back. "You know I don't think I've ever asked your name, plus my memory during that time was quite blurry. All I could remember was the others referred to you as Prince. Speaking of it, why were you alone in the forest fighting the spirit? Where's your guards?"

[WolfDog12]

As the smaller creature was placed on the Arthroplon's back, He nuzzled into a nook in the hard shell and held on now being just slightly encased for a comfortable ride. Suteneko was pretty hungry especially since his meal had been disturbed the day before and he hadn't eaten since. Now having his friend at his side, now at a far larger and stronger size, Suteneko felt he could relax and truly rest without having to deal with fighting to survive now. The small Kokuei pulled his ears back and fell into a kind of depression at the mention of his name and old status.

 

"I uh... I'm not a prince anymore.... I don't have a kingdom to return to.... forget about it, my name is...." He clearly had to think about it because for years he'd not given out a name and he didn't want to use his birth name for fairly obvious reasons. "Suteneko.... Please call me that, Ekichu." The small creature wondered if Ekichu still liked his new name. Suteneko remembered that Ekichu also had a proper birth name but because of how long and strange it was, the young cat-dragon had just given him a new name that seemed to fit a little more when Ekichu was still a larva instead of a fully grown adult now.

 

As they finally reached the bottom of the mountain, Suteneko's little stomach growled and he just nuzzled in more, feeling fairly embarrassed. Still, he knew Ekichu would understand and forced his head back up. "Ekichu I'm sorry but can we stop for food? I haven't eaten much over the past couple days and when I finally got a meal, it was kind of ruined." It was clear Suteneko hadn't grown up mentally, properly. He was still a little childish in his actions. There were times that he seemed adult-like but he also had the mentality of a kid since he'd never been taught otherwise.

[hal7283]

"I see..." Ekichu muttered heavily after hearing what the little Kokuei, now calling himself Suteneko, said about his situation. He said: "We're alike, since I've lost my home, and my kind as well. At least fate was kind enough to bring us together."

 

When the reach the bottom of the mountain he heard the little growl coming from Suteneko's stomach. He looked around and saw nothing eatable in the surrounding area. Ekichu turned his upper body to the side and looked at Suteneko, he said: "Just hold on for a bit longer, I have stored some food in the cave in the forest."

 

Ekichu followed the trial of destruction he left last night, and soon arrived at the cave where he and Suteneko met last night. He went in deep into the cave, its eyes shining red in the dark. Soon they arrived at the deepest part of the cave and he picked up Suteneko and laid him on the ground. Thecave was filled by one piles after piles of meat. "It's quite cool in the cave, which slowed down their decay. I've also used salt I got from the rocks in the mountain to preserve them." He then picked up a sack made from the skin of some animal and set it in front of Suteneko."And here's some water."

[WolfDog12]

Suteneko thought about his situation for a while before he relaxed knowing he wasn't alone. The tip of his tail seemed to wag up and down a bit out of hearing that this could be fate that they met. When he was told to hold out a little longer, The small creature nodded and tried to grip on just a little tighter as they quickly made their way to the cave. Suteneko laid with his legs under him after being placed on the ground and he kept his chest out to make himself look taller... not that it was must help with his tiny size.

 

"Thank you for helping me Ekichu and I'm sorry about the lose of your family... I know what it's like... I hope there are still some Kokuei left in the world but I've never seen any beyond my parents. My mom use to tell me stories of how there were hundreds and thousands of them roaming and ruling as proud leaders, kings and queens. They were once revered but now they're nearly gone." As he spoke, Suteneko seemed to get more and more proud until he reached the last sentence where he just got quieter and quieter. "It doesn't matter now... that was years ago and I can finally put it in the past now that I have you with me!!"

 

Suteneko laughed a kind of strange snicker that was also kind of high pitched with some voice in it. Either way, he stood up and tried to get into the large bag to get a drink of water. It was hard because the bag was larger then him, but, the small cat got on top anyway and stuck his head in to drink. After, he pulled out and the little Kukuei slowly began walking over to get some food. His body still ached but so long as he didn't try to change his whole structure by going into his larger form, it was a tolerable kind of pain.

 

"You've grown so much since the last time I saw you!! You're all big and tall now!!!!" He laughed again looking up at Ekichu with his tail wagging. "You look really cool and strong now!! I wish I could grow as tall and strong!!"

[hal7283]

"Put it in the past?" Ekichu doubt that Suteneko has really got over his lost. In his own case, the cause for his lost was natural disasters. It was simply fate, bad luck, being at the wrong place at the wrong time. But for Suteneko... even though he didn't elaborate on how his kingdom was lost, but a nation simply don't vanish for no reason. And if whoever was responsible for it is still out there, wouldn't Suteneko want revenge?

 

He turned to look at Suteneko who was struggling with the oversize water bag and meat. "Yes, I've grown a lot. I'm quite surprised that you recognized me. I mean...." his voice was suddenly interrupted by a loud roar, followed by a earth shattering bang coming form outside, followed by another equally large bang. Rocks and dust began to fall from the ceiling and the cave seemed to about the collapse in any moment. Without any hesitation Ekichu picked up Suteneko and began to rush towards the cave entrance. Soon he saw the source of the commotion.

 

"Forest spirit!" Ekichu said frustrated. The giant boar like spirit was slamming its body towards the mountain in an attempt to collapse the cave. Looks like the spirit was determined to bury the Atrhroplon alive. Ekichu charged at the spirit and stopped it before it slammed on the mountain again. "Get off my back and hide!" Ekichuu roared as his claws clamped tightly around the spirit's long tusks began to push it back.

[WolfDog12]

Before he knew it, Suteneko was off the ground again and being carried out of the nearly collapsing cave. Once they made it outside again, he saw the huge spirit trying to kill them. Of course, the small Kokuei didn't know that the spirit was angry at Ekichu and wanted to kill him so he figured the spirit was just there to try and kill the small cat. "Ekichu!!" Suteneko shouted nervously as the Arthroplon took on the spirit head on. As he was told to hide, memories of the attack on his family flashed into his head and he froze for a moment.

 

The small creature tried to snap out of it and jumped off of Ekichu's back and ran into a bush hiding under it. He wanted to help but n his state, there was nothing he could do. Suteneko could use magic but it was always harder in this smaller form so could end up putting too much pressure on his mana lobe, a part of the brain only a few species had, and he'd die. His mana lobe also wasn't completely natural. He originally had a small one but nothing to allow him to use magic which was why it was strictly a female thing. His mother basically strengthened his lobe before her death so he'd be capable of wielding magic. Still, it was a risk.

 

"Be careful Ekichu!!" The small cat whimpered and watched on in horror as he couldn't do anything but hide in a little bush while his friend fought for him. It really stressed Suteneko out but there was no helping it.

[hal7283]

Seeing Suteneko had hidden in the woods nearby Ekichu let go of the spirit's tusks while swiftly moving to the side, letting the spirit to slam itself onto the stone walls. The boar shook its head several times and turned back to stare angrily at Ekichu, letting out a deafening roar. Ekichu could see in the spirit's eyes that it had no intention to back down this time, and this fight won't stop until one of them is dead.

 

Both monstrosities charged head on against each other, and got into fierce combat, with the spirit using its long tusks as a weapon, swinging and thrusting it like two giant sabers, while the Arthroplon guarded the tusks with his claws and remained in the defensive, waiting for the perfect opportunity to deal the killing blow.

 

And soon the moment came, when the spirit thrust its tusks towards Ekichu instead off dodging or blocking the attack he charged forward, while lowering its body so the tusks went to the two sides of his waist, then Ekichu thrust his claws deep into the spirit's eye sockets, then quickly backed off. Blood spilled out from the two holes and the spirit roared out in pain, swinging its tusks madly all around. Ekichu silently moved around behind the spirit, with a big jump he landed on the spirit's back, pinning the giant boar down. With a swift strike he thrust the sharp tip of his tail deep through the soft parts along the spirit's neck, going all the way through. When Ekichu pulled the tail out blood spilled out like a red fountain, painting the Arthroplon red. And just as life slowly left the forest spirit's body the whole forest seemed to began to whither, the leaves turned red, then yellow, then all fell to the ground. Soon the place was nothing more than a filed of dead branches.

[WolfDog12]

"Ekichu!!!" Suteneko raced out of his decaying hiding spot as soon as his larger friend had won the fight. The small cat-like creature just stared up at the Arthroplon with his eyes watering clearly about to cry. "I was so worried you were going to die...." The small creature ran over and climbed back onto Ekichu's back nuzzling into the hard shell.

 

After a few minutes of worry, Suteneko calmed down a bit and looked around the dead forest. "A new spirit must be born or this land will become poisonous..." The cat knew a lot about the balance within nature and looked up the mountain they had recently come down from. The purple trees still grew at the top of the mountain where the stream still poured down. There were some sacred areas that never withered or died even if a spirit near by did. "I have to go..." Suteneko spoke as i in a trance.

 

The Kokuei got up and jumped off of Ekichu and began making his way up the mountain again. Normally this wasn't something a male Kokuei would do, however, it was the magic in him drawing the small creature up the hill. It was slow going but Suteneko reached the top where the peace and tranquility seemed unbalanced. By the small stream, on the same rock he was place on to be saved, Suteneko sat and waited for nightfall. Of course that wasn't for hours but he didn't budge an inch.

 

Once the moon shined in off the stream and the trees, Suteneko began to sing in some strange language. As if the curse vanished, The small cat grew larger, his body changing to be more dragon-like. He sang a spell and tiny spirits of the sacred area began to build and eventually created a small baby boar. As the baby was suddenly created, some sprouts popped out of the ground. It was nothing to call a forest but over the next several years, as the boar grew, so would the forest.

 

Suteneko's song ended and he seemed to come out of his trance. His body no longer hurt but he had to take over in suppressing the curse within him. It never really vanished. Once he regained his sense, The Kokuei looked over at Ekichu then around him. "Why are we back on top of the mountain?" He asked now realizing he was bigger. He was happy to see he'd changed forms.

[hal7283]

"You didn't remember?| Ekichu asked as he got closer to the Kokuei, now has became an adult with features more similar to a dragon than a feline. Ekichu began to recount what happened earlier to Suteneko and said: "It seems to me that you have a gift when it comes to magic and channeling the powers of nature."

 

Ekichu looked at the newly born spirit, who after some difficulty managed to stood on its won, it took a look at the two creatures and soon rushed down the mountain. He figured the spirit must had mixed feelings towards the two, as one who took its life while the other gave it back. After the spirit left his sight Ekichu turned to look at Suteneko and said: "Any plans for where to go next?"

[WolfDog12]

"I know my mom gave me this gift of magic. She did use to tell me it was a healing magic but could just as easily be the cause of the loss of the Kokuei. I never realized this was what it could do..." He looked back still shocked at what he had done and watched as the brand new spirit of the forest ran off to its new home.

 

As Suteneko looked back, he had this air and majestic feel about him, however, it felt more like the air of a queen or another female, not that of a prince or a king. He carefully thought about what he was going to do next before he finally shook his head. "Sorry, I don't actually know what to do now. I know I have to leave this place and find a more conducive living area but other then that... my life has always been unsure..."

 

Despite the sadness he felt, Suteneko managed to look up at Ekichu and smile brightly. Of course, sometimes, those that smile the brightest always feel the saddest. "Would you mind staying with me? Even if just for a little while longer?" Suteneko finally understood that he couldn't force his friend to stay with him but his company would be greatly appreciated.

[hal7283]

"Of course I'll come with you. You're my friend. Plus I don't think the spirit would feel safe growing up next to the very creature who killed it last time. " Ekichu said and extended his tentacles to reach for Suteneko, touching his body here and there to check the sate of his body. "Looks like you've healed completely. This is good news. But I still sense some imbalance inside you, the reason you reverted to your younger self I presume? How about we start from trying to find a cure for your predicament? Maybe we can go to some towns where information and knowledge are more abundant. Even if we don't find a cure immediately, we could still get to know where we can search next."

[WolfDog12]

"Ya... this is actually a witch's curse if I remember correctly. She wanted me to die out in the forest but in case I lived, she put a curse on me so I'd never be able to grow up... at least.... that'd what I thought it was... I don't even remember because it's been so long..." Suteneko seemed a little frustrated and very sad. He pulled his ears back and looked truly depressed. After a short moment, the dragon-like creature turned away and tried to regain himself. "I'm sorry... I don't mean to be such a pain..."

 

From the way he was reacting, it was clear that Suteneko really feared the witch. It was to the point of being a phobia. There was no doubt he wouldn't be able to take revenge in his current state even if he wanted to. It took a while for Suteneko to recover but as he did, he laid on the ground to relax a bit rather then staying in such a distressed state. "Sorry....."

[hal7283]

"Don't worry. We'll figure this out.“ Ekichu said as he extended his hand tentacles and caressed Suteneko's head, and was slightly amused by the way Suteneko's hair has became harder almost spiky comparing to his smaller coat of soft fur. He continued: "No curse is eternal, even the strongest spell can be undone somehow. I'm not exactly familiar with the... 'civilized world' so do you know where's the biggest city around here? There must be a magic shop or two in it? We can start from there."

[WolfDog12]

"You really think this can be cured?" Unconsciously, Suteneko was pushing his head into the small tenticle hands the way a normal cat would. "Anyway, the closest city is about 2 day's walk from here. If we head northeast, we'll make it there in no time. I haven't actually been in the city except for a quick passing through because of how long it would have taken if I attempted to go around. If you couldn't tell... I'm not really all that good with strangers..."

 

Suteneko wasn't too sure as to why he added the last part but it really was true, he didn't talk with strangers the way he use to when he was little. When he was younger, Suteneko would talk to everyone or anything with a pulse. He'd become far more confined since then, however, he was still open and talkative with Ekichu, his old friend.

[hal7283]

"Just so you know... I'm not good with strangers either." Ekichu said as he looked at the direction Suteneko pointed to and said: "We Arthrplons weren't what you may call friendly. We lived in the misty valleys, and hunted any creature whether intelligent or not who wandered in. All the knowledge we had about the outside world came from the prey before we hunt them down, and from their belongings. The only reason we knew of your species was because there was once a Kukuei lord who lead a expedition into the valley because he didn't feel comfortable with us threatening his trade route. You could guess how it ended up."

 

Ekichu began to walk down the hill and said: "Let's go back to the cave and grab some supply. Then we'll go to this city you talked about."

[WolfDog12]

"My parents were very friendly, always looking to help people and talk." Suteneko listened to the story and became very sad. He wasn't sure if he should mourn the loss of the Kokuei or be sad that there was one of his kind willing to go so far. "I suppose an Arthroplon killed the lord no problem? We're not a very strong species, at least that's what I found when I was finding myself being hunted by so many different creatures. Some attacked but backed off when they got close... I don't understand it..."

 

For some reason, Suteneko just talked more and more as they walked to the cave. He had a lot on his mind and a lot of it just seemed to be spilling out. He wasn't even sure if he was being a bother or not. However, as he spoke about some animals attacking but then backing off, he was giving of a very feminine air and it was clear he did have many female features about him that would scare off a predator in fear he was a female who could use magic.

[hal7283]

Ekichu remained silent about the question since what happened to the Kokuei lord many years ago was much worse than a quick death. Unknown to the other species the Arthroplon inherit of some of their parent's knowledge and memory. making them able to become self aware and independent very quickly after birth. It also meant they could recall past events which happened generations ago. Ekichu could almost remember the texture of that Kokuei's flesh as he was torn apart and devoured alive.

 

 

He listened to Suteneko's words on their way to the cave and thought for a while. Then he turned to look at Suteneoko closely, his features resembling a dragon. He said: "Dragons struck fear in all species, they've burnt their presence into the instincts of all creatures ages ago. Given the characteristics of your kind I guess you must be a far descendants of the dragons who settled down in a relatively peaceful area, and have lost most of your physical strength throughout the generations. But some of their magical talents must have passed down through your bloodline, and especially after your mother strengthened your power the lesser creatures may instinctively fear you."

 

Soon they arrived at the cave and Ekichu wrapped all the meat he could fit into a large sack made out of animal skins. And began to travel towards the city.

[WolfDog12]

"Maybe, but only the females of my kind have mana lobes developed enough to even use magic and I'm a guy... They shouldn't even know I have magic." Needless to say, Suteneko was a little dense not realizing he seemed feminine because of the magic and they ran scared mainly because they thought he was a woman... "Maybe they think I can call upon a dragon from the past or something... I've never actually seen one."

 

The kokuei was working to try and help pack everything up and then he placed one of the bags on his back to try and carry it for Ekichu. The dragon-like creature began walking towards the city with his friend at the same time thinking about various things. A couple hours into the walk, Suteneko finally began talking about a random subject. "Spring is in just a couple weeks.... I really hate spring..." He was clearly talking about more then just the weather. His brain seemed to find all the bad that was soon to come and spring just happened to be one of those bad things.

[hal7283]

Ekichu listened quietly as his companion went on about hating spring. He could tell from Suteneko's tone that it wasn't really the seasons he was talking about. Yet Ekichu had little idea how to respond to such things, not did he had any idea how to properly socialize with someone other than his own species. Ekichu began to recall the memories he inherited from his parents, as well as the little time he spent with the others before the earthquake, and found little resembling "socializing" even among his own kind. Hunt, eat, grow, and when their numbers dwindle, reproduce. That was the lives of Arthroplons. Until now he never had any doubt about the their old ways, but with Suteneko at his side, he began to wonder how, and why did the Arthroplon became this way.

 

The following journey was largely uneventful, and soon they've arrived at the outskirts of the city. From afar Ekichu could see streams of people going in and out of the city gate, carrying carts after carts of merchandise with them. Ekichu turned to look at Suteneko and said: "If we're going to get any good information we may need to pay them for it. Do you have any money with you? Preserved meat isn't worth much but thankfully we've got lots of it. Perhaps we could sell some of it."

[WolfDog12]

Over the next couple days, as they traveled towards the city, Suteneko kept unusually quiet. He thought about things and didn't really know what else to say hoping Ekichu would pick a topic or something, but he didn't and it wasn't too bad walking about quietly. When they made it to the city, he stopped and looked up at his friend talking about needing money. He thought for a while and figured it would be a waste to sell all the food Ekichu worked to prepare for their journey. He didn't have any money because he never needed any.

 

"I know what we can use." The dragon-like creature placed what he had on his back on the ground and whispered something under his breath. In front of him appeared a small bag. "I'd have put all this food an everything in here but despite it being so big on the inside, the opening to put stuff in is too small." The Kokuei opened the bag and reached way deeper then the bag was with his paw and snatched something in his claws. When he pulled it out, it was a small rock, heavy yes, but also it sparkled and shined. It was less a rock then it was a precious metal that could sell for quite a high price. "I don't know how much it will go for but please feel free to sell this as well."

[hal7283]

Ekichu took a look at the piece of metal in Suteneko's paw. "Good, that looks like it's worth something. Let's get into the city then." Ekichu said as he began to walk towards the city gate. As they got closer and closer the merchants going in and out of the city began to notice to odd pair. They were scared seeing the huge dangerous looking creature approaching, and quickly strayed off the big road to let the two pass through.

 

Soon they arrived at the city gate, and several creatures looking like bipedal rats came to them, pointing long spears at the two one of them said: "Hold! You two, who are you? And what's your business here.