[GraveBlues]

Back up for claims!

[eltonn]

hmmm claim!

[GraveBlues]

hmmm claim!

Claim accepted! You have 24 hours from this post to complete your prompt! ^^

[eltonn]

— an important memory [777 words]

her mother had always called her nix. it meant night, she had said. a goddess of it, one who ruled the darkness.

nix hadnt felt like she ruled anything since the schism. she wasnt born in the colony, which will forever remain nameless in her heart, but she had been raised there. she was still barely more than a kit, old enough to be alone but only just so. nix had no memories from before living in that colony. having everything stripped away… she felt like her name no longer meant queen of the darkness. no, it carried the other meaning now. queen of nothing.

nix. an absence. that was all she felt as she padded sullenly through willows that used to make her feel so comforted. this land wasnt a place she wanted to stay any longer. it didnt feel safe. eyes watched from under bushes, monsters danced in the night…and she could still hear the screaming ringing in her head.

eventually, willows shifted to pines, and the ground turned soft with the fallen needles. the sharp scent was something new - something different. nix had never scented pine before, and the experience was enough to drag her from her melancholy thoughts for the time being.

she wandered the pine forest until the moon began to rise and night fell upon the woods. the hoot of an owl alerted nix to the fact that despite what her mother claimed, she was nothing to the creatures that came out under the stars. she would need shelter soon. shuffling through the needles did little except prick her nose, and nix sneezed at the sensation. a rustling sound nearby distracted her. was it prey? her stomach rumbled in response. despite the delicious pine smell, the needles weren’t going to soothe her belly.

a deeper, more acrid scent mingled with the pine. it wasnt prey - and it wasnt plant. nix paused, taking in the faint smell beneath the leaf mold. it smelled like… claws and snarling and flames bursting from an outstretched paw. it smelled like fire. her hackles raised. it was dark enough now that any source of fire should be visible, but she couldnt spot the tell tale glow of the blaze. this did nothing to calm her fears.

the wind scattered the pine needles at her feet, and with them came a small cloud of ashes. ashes? for ashes there would need to be a fire… but where was it? nix began to spin anxiously, looking this way and that for the source.

a warm pressure on her shoulders made her stop dead in her tracks. “now, now,” an unfamiliar voice hissed, their paw gently resting at the base of nix’s neck. “what does the small one want from this one?”

nix felt her voice dry up in her throat. the voice crackled like coals, and she was certain that if she looked at the speaker, their mouth would be flaking away like a burnt out log. she didn’t respond, her trembling giving away her fear.

“this one doesn’t enjoy being ignored. the small one should respond,” the flame-voice prodded, a light hiss in their tone.

“i- i…” nix stammered. she gulped and pressed her ears against her skull. “m-…momma? momma!” she couldnt stifle her panicked cry for help. nix knew her mother was nowhere near. she likely would never see her again. but this primal fear - the fear of this fire - drew out a panic that made her wish for nothing more but to curl up at her mothers side and never move again.

the stranger paused. “…this one did not realize the small one was a kitten. this one…” they hesitate, then remove their paw from nix’s back. the stranger circles around nix so that they can face her properly. they were a pure black storkie, barely visible in the darkness except for their smoldering flame colored eyes. when they spoke, smoke lazily floated out of their mouth. perhaps there really was a fire in their belly. “this one sees,” was all they said. nix whimpered quietly. “this one sees a frightened kitten… and while this one is the dark one,” something similar to a grin twisted onto their face, more tongue and gums than teeth. “this one would not leave a little one to die. is the small ones mother able to come?”

nix hesitantly shook her head, unsure of what she was getting into.

the dark one rested their tailtip across nix’s back, this time touching her in a soothing manner rather than a threatening one. “come, then, small one. the dark one has room in the dark one’s cave.”

[kiwipen]

chocolate with jackal, blanket appaloosa, points

[eltonn]

chocolate with jackal, blanket appaloosa, points

air magic i assume?

[kiwipen]

chocolate with jackal, blanket appaloosa, points

air magic i assume?

yes! my apologies.