Eye of Sauron

Misha

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"The fire in your veins
is just a joke you tell yourself
Another way to cut the cost
To hide your face from all the guilt..."

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Misha was getting to travel everywhere now, his new mom sure loved to get around. Misha had to restrain his chuckle from the dirty joke that entered his brain. Geez he was such a kid sometimes. Speaking of kiddish emotions, Misha had discovered he hated walking. If only his barbaric sister Vera was here to carry him around like she use to, spewing praises of all kinds from her maw that would make his head swell.

Focusing more on the present, Misha was shocked with the environment. He had never seen anything like it before, the desert. So dry and hot. He was definitely feeling the heat and the very naked earth made him feel exposed. Fewer trees and plants had made their home here, and it was eerie to him. Now canyons, like the one he was wandering through now, he was more use to. Albeit the canyons from his home weren't as big and had more foliage. This was very different. A tough hike as the slope went upwards, every step causing pebbles to roll down. On occasion he would notice smooth stones balanced upon one another. He wondered why only momentarily as he continued his journey. At this point he just wanted to explore for the sake of curiosity.

More time passed and to Misha's surprise, he had made it to the top of the canyon plateau. Alive, but exhausted. All he wanted was some water and rest for his sore body now, but he wanted to see this through to the end. It was barely a plateau, being very curvy and warped. Yet there was still a good amount of room for him up here and he could see for miles behind. It was a bit intimidated, but his boyish attitude made him feel excited from the adventure. Thus Misha kept walking until he saw an abrupt end to the ground a few feet away. It felt like he was on some sort of giant turtle shell at this point, and he really wanted to know what could be seen from the other side at this height. This felt like it was going to be one of his more stupid ideas he decided as he crept closer and peek his head off the edge. Below him was a huge pit of sand with a jagged slab of rock pointing out from it like it had once been the scale of a now buried giant. Pretty cool...but now what? Because he could, Misha found himself kicking a small rock off the ledge. The fall was long, and he eventually heard the echo of the thud.

Deciding to climb down Misha realized his grave error. He had no idea how to safely get down from here. As he tried to retrace his steps he found himself sliding on sand and loose ground often, causing him to then scramble and hug the ground, his fur puffing out in fear. He really needed to get down, but without help it seems it was going to take a while, especially since it was getting dark. If he wasn't fast enough dehydration might become the new worry.
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She found herself waddling between the plains and the desert, adjusting to their temperatures and rather dry region. Sometimes often sticking near a body of water, finding most comfort in what she knew of, but it couldn't hide her curiosity of what was the unknown, something she never seen before. Born to the icy northern regions, close the waters of them so, the areas such as the dry plains of green and the sands were so strange. She was used to arctic plains, cold and icy, with snow to the booty, yet the one around here was at times so soft..

Then it was so dry when it came to the stand, but at times, Vendrussel found life. She would think such a wasteland could not produce a beauty to the eye, yet there was some intriguing ones. She couldn't deny her wonder of the man who came out of the camel; though the water wyrm knew not where he was anymore, he seemed but gone from the distance. She wondered if maybe he grew lost in the desert and was somewhat reluctant to leave him, as 'banding together,' was within her blood. A unit to move, how she was raised was to be together, and not stray alone.

A lifetime partner to be gained, but she had none.

So the woman wondered perhaps a bit too far inside, and she was rather exhausted. There was some oasis at times she would spot, soaking within and feeling at home, and more and more would she regret entering such a land! Ah foolishness, but an excitement brewed from it, her tail swished in an odd joy.

Then there was this place. It reminded her of rocky depths of the dragons trial, a home the water dragons who roam the sea. Though no water was seen, just a hole with stand, and a rocky exterior.. Yet someone seemed to be in the middle.

"Hey there! How'd you get up there?" she called from a distance.

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 It was not quite the time for the albino to rise. The heat from the day kissing her skin felt truly like hell so she opted to sleep away the day's torturous heat by hiding down in the depths of their home. There was an area that she had claimed, large enough to fit all sorts of grisly trinkets. However, the only thing collected now were the painted skull and bear pelt that she'd arrived with in this damned place. Nothing else --or no-one else-- had fallen victim to the barbaric maiden quite yet. 

 And certainly not now while she slumbered away in her chambers. 

 It was almost time for her to rise. Perhaps that's why her bi-colored eyes snapped open... or maybe it was the cheerful voice drifting down from the area above. The Eye. 

 It was not voices that she recognized. 

 It was too early to take offense to interlopers; they had not properly claimed the place just yet but she knew that that would come soon enough. Still, she would not allow others to waltz around without at least coming out and giving a hello, especially as it seemed that Andraste was not around. 

 So, the brawny girl rose to her paws with a cavernous yawn that exposed those elongated fangs to the fullest. Then she shook out her pelt and made her way up and out onto the warmed sands above. The heat hit her as she looked around at the scene, finding first a blue wolf. One of the oceans, it looked like to her... but that one's gaze was lifted upwards and so she too would avert her eyes to see what the fuss was about. 

 Ah, there was a moron on the canyon walls. That's what this was about. Was he stuck or trying to off himself?  

 The woman didn't step out of the shadows but she did step closer, fearlessly, for she did not worry of the rogues when death wandered the halls below. "There are easier ways to meet one's end." She called out nonchalantly in a dry tone --only partly joking-- as eyes raised upwards before flicking to the ocean-touched woman below. The white one above... he seemed familiar. Not one that she had seen before but one she had heard of before. A shame that such a finely-coated stranger was hellbent on getting into such foolish trouble. Was he giving himself up as an offering? The girl thought wryly to herself. 

 "Is that soft-headed fellow your friend?" She asked casually to the blue, eyes seemingly almost bored of the situation.

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"-Or your food?" his voice wisped out softly to join Exalted's inquiry, yet traveled the sands as though he was having a personal conversation with the newly arriving travellers. He wasn't too good at sleeping, and had been busy ripping apart a small snake who in turn was trying to catch some sort of lizard in the dunes. Instead, both mangled bodies hung limply in his narrow jaws as he appeared near the entrance of the Eye. Dropping both bodies across the rim of the rock, Scarecrow watched the two try to figure their way about the treacherous sandstone juts, praying one of them was loose enough to harbor a fatality. These bodies he had brought were perfect garnishes for a wolf lunch.

The Palest One was seeming to just rise as the sun slowly chose it's setting over the expansive horizon. It only seemed to just boil them until then, and once the orb had gone to sleep, chill came fast. She had preferred the colder temperatures, of course. As furry things, surely they all had.

The gangly stilty man hadn't taken his dead blue eyes off of the foreigners, something wet dripping from his barely just open maw, into the searing sands below him.
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Misha was beginning to panic, ever-so-slightly. As he heard someone call to him, he tried to look and soon spotted a smallish figure. He couldn't tell from here if they were cute or not. That wasn't as important right now, he found himself seething at her question, the stress of his situation causing him to lose his usual cool. "Oh I flew up here...Not. I climbed yah dolt!" He snapped with sarcasm, his vowels sounding quite Slavic from the stress on them.

And soon enough he had a small crowd of wolves watching him. He could feel the heat in his face, embarrassed to be seen in such a manner by many. One is easy to refute but multiple eye-witness reports would mean he might never hear the end of this if his future packmates catch wind. Feeling more pressure to get down due to social anxiety, Misha grew more diligent of his surroundings, the rocky outcrops and steps suggested a multitude of ways down, but the slabs of stone look peculiar in a variety of ways. Some were crumbly, broken, infested with small cacti, and powdered limestone cut from previous rain. Actually rain was probably what helped altered and curved the canyon to the dramatic manner it was seen to this day. Now the true question from this all was...which way was actually safe?

With a huff, Misha started heading to his lower right, the sharp slope and soft earth causing himself to slide downwards at an angle with speed, but he was going with it this time. Then with a keen eye, he made a small leap to a jutting ledge, landing on it. Good thing too, because if he tried to judge that any further he would have just fallen-the ledge started to crumble. With a yelp Misha jumped to the lower right again, scrambling on to another ledge, yet the previous situation repeated, and Misha found himself hopscotching from one rock ledge to the next, as if his new calling was that of a mountain goat. His dexterous agility and skills keeping him just barely alive as he began to make his way down somehow safely and extremely fast at the same time. If he made it through this alive he would piss on all the naysayers of his past that made fun of him for being into the art of movement and dance, for enjoying the rank of entertainer.

Another, and another, and eventually Misha jumped back onto the slope he had originally hiked up, the angle and gravity causing him to unceremoniously tumbled to ground with his momentum until he eventually rolled to a halt. Alabaster fur sticking out in every direction and covered in dirt. As if he wasn't sure, he reached a paw up to touch his face. Yep, he was still alive. Getting up on shaky legs, he tried to wobble to the other three. "P-piece of cake, huh? Haha...ha.." He said in a shaky voice before deciding to lay back on the ground, hoping that the world would eventually stop spinning. Normally he would observe the strangers he just approached and perhaps be more carefull, however he was far too shell-shocked still from the ordeal and needed a few minutes to breathe and regain his senses.
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"That's not an adventure though." Her head tilted just lightly while keeping a focus upon the creamed man upon the slope. They definitely were startled, wolves were generally not agile within tight spaces, though fast and strong, even she knew they did not hold the agility like those of the feline kind. She was intrigued how he got up there! Though joking of flying it did bring a smile to her face as her tail gently padded the ground, "don't know him though."

Then slowly, there seemed to be simply more; one within the height and three below. Did.. Did she enter someone's territory? Vendrussel didn't smell anyone in particular, though her nose was rather stuffy at the moment from the impact of the serious climate change. The smell of sea-salt by now had disappeared, though cool as she was against the tough desert, the signs of her watery perfume was now by gones. A shame though, she missed the familiar scent of the salt and the occasional one of the icy tundras. She desired that same back.

Though slight unease now, "Hey, you did it though!" she cheered with a rather awkward cough.

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 Soft-headed, but certainly fleet of foot. If this was who she thought it was, they would be lucky to have him... She watched his aerial leaps. He was akin to a mountain goat with his dexterity. Her ears twitched towards the new voice but she didn't look as she knew it was the slinky, stilty Nosebleed, coming out from wherever his disgusting form hid. Still, she was... glad, that he was around. As gross as he was to look at, he was obedient and amusing enough. 

 She let out a soft, amused hum while her tongue slid out to lick her lips absently at the "food" comment. If he splatted on the ground, then she was certain that she and the stilt-man could out-compete the blue for rights to the snack. Finders keepers and all that. 

 "Ah, so just some unclaimed soft-brain then." The woman said almost dismissively to the blue as she watched his descent fall into near chaos. The man gained too much momentum and fell unceremoniously to the ground. So much for the show of aerial aptitude. 

 Exalted thought about going forward to check on him but that would require crossing into the dying sun and she didn't want to do that... it was very difficult for her to see in such bright light. So, she sat where she was, idly interested to see if--

 Ah, there it was. He was fine. "Hey, you did it though!" The woman snorted in response to the comment, noting the other's awkwardness with a glance over at her. Cute. She must have realized how surrounded she was in the Eye. Was she worried? 

 Perhaps she should be.

 But the albino was in a good mood due to the show. 

 "Barely... Careful for I do not believe wolves are gifted with the nine lives of our feline counterparts. Try something like that again and we might be picking your pieces up." Although that wouldn't be too upsetting. They'd get something tasty out of it. Although it would be a shame to waste someone of such a lovely coat color... 

 Not wasting any time though since Andraste wasn't here to take the reins, she spoke to the two foreigners with eyes appraising them both. "Who are you that have wandered into the Eye's shadow?" She was only a yearling but she felt authority fit her like a glove. Her head was raised and her body radiated confidence.

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Once the potential meal raised himself from the crisp landing he managed, Scarecrow stared for just a bit longer to see if any blood had leaked from anywhere. If the man was wounded, or broken, or shattered or anything that would make him easier to find in the rising nighttime, should he stray alone. Alas, nothing red bloomed the tan on him, and the spigot of saliva that had began to pool beneath him had been squelched shut. Licking his chops, he unconsciously cleaned the snivels of it from his wet-wood face, and regained some semblance of life with a shuffle on his stilty limbs. Eventually he splayed them out as he lie on his belly, nosing through the little corpses he had brought with him. He listened idly to the useless quality of chatter between the two newcomers as he warped a tongue through the lizard's skull, flicking an eyeball loose until he could finally enjoy it, along with the other wet contents inside. Seems he would have to be satisfied with the little things, after all.
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Misha laid in the sand, panting as he caught his breath to snap back at any remarks from the first arrival. Identifying the three with their specific appearances as the seconds ticked by. An albino, an ocean blue, and a brown...coywolf? Weird group they had going on. Misha just wanted to catch his breath, however the albino had other plans. Spouting about basically how he wouldn't be so lucky next time. Misha could feel himself rolling his eyes. Normally he enjoyed the grace and delicate mental gymnastics but he wasn't in the best mood after his ordeal. And then she tried to address them both as if this was a territory they had wandered upon.

Having rested enough to regain his composure, Misha stood up and walked over to the albino, pleased to be towering over her with his ominous posture. He noted she seemed young, probably a yearling. Kids were cute with their tough acts these days. Misha got very close to her, about a nose-length away with manic eyes before he proceeded to shrug as he began responding. "Sorry for trespassing on your land, I shake at the thought of angering you." He said with obvious sarcasm as he badly feigned fear before putting back on a cold smile. "Listen Kid, the name is Misha. Care to explain why you're acting like this is scented territory? Regardless, it's a pleasure." He said, getting serious despite the plastic smile as he stepped back and proceeded to do a little polite and elegant bow, tail swooshing slightly, causing sand and dust to spread about. He then stood back up, with a little shake.

Pointing his muzzle at the blue wolf, he winked. "Don't know who this charming lady is so I'd like to know too~" He practically purred as he tried to scoot closer to the blue wolf. Yes, she was annoying at first to him but now that Misha had a better look he decided she could bug him all day. Misha didn't bother interacting with the other male. While Misha was attracted and motivated by male company, this hybrid wasn't screaming attractiveness with the way he acted. Sometimes it was the quiet ones you had to watch out for thus Misha did his best not to fully forget his presence. He had dinner and a show so he was probably satisfied anyways.
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It wasn't though that Vendrussel was nervous - she had the grace of the ancient dragons after all, to boost her confidence. Though these wolves were strange. When she looked at the white man all she could say is he was surely another of oddity that was the desert, like the spotted canines that didn't seem wolfish, yet they spoke the same language, and simply had different traits. The woman of white was like something out of story, an oddity to normality. Any other time perhaps she would've talked about it, but when looking at the other who decided to seemingly ignore and decide to feast, she was uncomfortable.

"Did I stumble into someone's territory?" the ocean wolf asked, an eye raised in a question, "I did not smell anyone, that's my fault." Though admitting to her faults and minorly dipped her to head for the intrusion, but keeping it rather short and raising her head once more. She made an audible movement away from the man who acted haughty despite being sprawled in embarassment ontop, like the child he talked down to - Vendrussel quietly decided she wanted to remove herself from this situation.

But hey, be friendly to not provoke. She didn't have friends in these lands to cause any trouble; not that the blue wolf wanted to though. Stepping on another packs land by mistake was an issue, however, "I'm Vendrussel, just an traveler, or adventurer, both work."

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 Casually, the girl cast a glance towards the stilty man, eyeing the lizard that he played with. Part of her wondered if she should try to take it... Of course, her attention was drawn fully back to the white wolf with his striped tail. He pranced over to her, walking as if she would be frightened of him. Her? With the fold at her back? Her of royal blood? 

 How cute.

 The woman glared, rising up to her full height with tail raised in the air dominantly and hackles across her shoulders raising in warning. Push too hard and she would have no trouble putting him in his place. He was a nobody as of right now. She would stare straight into his eyes ears flicking backwards, one side of her lip raising to expose the overlong fang there. "You should. For you know not who you speak to, soft-brain." The yearling spat back. "Clearly you're too daft to realize when someone's having a go at you for pretending to be a cat." Moronic fool, if she really was making a threat, he would know it. "It is not marked... yet." The girl spoke --without breaking eye contact with the white wolf-- partially to the blue and partially to the puffed up man. 

 "In any case, I can act how I please. I am Exalted, second only to the great Andraste. You are a nobody, soft-brain." Misha. Yes, Misha, she knew of him from Andraste herself. Clearly he was looking to get off on the wrong foot if he wanted to rub her fur the wrong way. "If you want to find footing here, you will watch how you speak to me." She watched through slitted eyes as he went to make a fool of himself next to Vendrussel. God damned asshole not being able to take a joke!

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He had been studying the Blue One before the other had decided to shake off his embarrassment. Sidling up to the other newcomer, flaunting ways that hadn't been so graceful moments prior. Scarecrow had been a smidge behind Exalted, even moreso when she stepped towards the ivory who began running his mouth. Saying things that had caused the Pale One to begin losing her typical calm demeanor.Of course the nuisance hadn't caught she had meant light of the insult, be he was not of their Ways. He didn't understand the savagery nor beauty within it which Life dwelled. Horrors abound begat treasure, and this male saw none in the Pale One's jest.

The tension grew as the albino went to check the white male, and Scarecrow hadn't realized he snaked behind Exalted's flank, and slowly made his way to the goaty male. Creeping speeds, but as slowly as he moved, should no one catch the nigh-imperceptible motion, blood would be spilled.
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As Exalted went on, Misha found himself inwardly smiling. Pushed a nerve there, ey? His response to her sharp words was an eye-roll and a fox-like smile. As Vendrussel moved away from him he looked back at Exalted with a tilt of his head. Suddenly his expression dropped as if saw something alarming upon her face. "Hmm.." he said before switching the theatrics to a playful boyish smile. "You know kid you might look cuter if you smiled a bit more. Nothing more tragic than a serious good-looking wolf getting resting bitch face." He exclaimed with a paw dramatically upon his face before he waltzed back over to Vendrussel, purposefully getting around to her further side so she could not back away anymore. This was done for two reasons.

Reason number one; He wasn't going to let her scuttle away from these freaks. If he had to deal with them, so did she. "Would you like to stay with us for dinner? You don't need to go so soon, right~?" He sung, almost chortling from the inside joke about dinner, oh she had no idea. Still, it'd be nice if a cutie like her joined.

Reason number two; arguably the most important, the Coywolf is getting fucking closer, dear lord. Thus he decided to have a barrier of meat. Just because you're pretty doesn't mean you are excused from being used like a tool.

Looking over to Exalted, he flashed her a smile as if they were best friends. "She can stay for dinner, right?"
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Though at times Vendrussel would humor so, she wasn't too keen on being used as a middle toy for the entertainment of the cat-man, and the two who were seemingly apart of this scentless territory. However it was a yet statement, as the girl who claimed to only rule under Andraste's rule.. Though the woman in question was seemingly gone, it did bring a curiosity to who recently decided for this claim and the gathering of members, and yet, this wolf that acted so scared earlier, obviously was not a part of them, acted so familiar.

She did not want any part of this. With no qualms with the desert pack itself.. Oh but an ocean eye caught the man that was skulking in the background, it looked he was aiming for the stripped one. It wasn't very easy to simply do in secrecy when his figure was already known, "I'm passing by," Vendrussel cleared her throat, "i'll be leaving now."

The ocean wolf did not desire to stay anymore to whatever was happening, so she turned around to make her exist from this place. A mental note to avoid this soon to be claimed land, though likewise, she doubted to ever truly return to the desert.

---

exit!

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 What a fucking COWARD! She spoke to him, threatening him, and his idea was to toss insults as he slinked away to hide behind the blue. Might look cuter if she smiled more? Ha. Ha ha. The yearling felt rage boiling up inside of her, absolute volcanic rage that bid her to tear him to pieces... but he'd crossed into the sunlight and fighting him there would not be in her best interest because she couldn't see. Instead she would let out an innocent, "Oh?" Too innocent. Like she wasn't the bloodthirsty warrior that she was. "Is this what you had in mind?" She would grin, showing all fangs in a forced "grin". A "grin" that had her muzzle wrinkling up in a very clear way to expose her teeth in more of an intimidation type deal. Who didn't want to get a good look at those overlarge eye teeth? "If not, you can come closer and give me pointers." Yes... come closer so she could bite his damn nose off and show him what his childish insults got him here.

 Out of the corner of her eye she saw Nosebleed slinking closer, going to the man... in her defense? It made her feel ten times as large. Yes, she had no qualms with this. "Drag him back here... so I can deal with him too." The yearling whispered to the stilty wolf through clenched teeth. Because she would be damned if he would get away.

 "I don't think she needs to stay for our meal. We'd prefer not to share..." Dismissive as she dropped her false "smile". All of her attention was on him. "Besides, I would think you'd be better than cowering behind someone else... but maybe you are nothing more than a skulking cat." Yes, perhaps they'd have him on a platter instead. Would Andraste mind? Or maybe she'd just rough him up a bit, let him know exactly who's toes he was stepping on.

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 Andraste came home to no response, a bitter reaction she had been disappointed by. She'd even called out to them but No. They'd decided they'd far rather stay asleep or doing whatever it was that they were doing. Which was, apparently, letting a woman go wandering away across the sands all while harassing a white blob whose peppermint tail she recognized.

 Ah.

 “Children, Children,” she sang, voice carrying over the sand with the grey woman beyond forgotten. She wondered what all that was about. Her paws brought her up to the top of the Lid where she could peer down at their faces, white in the moonlight - all apart for the vomit hues of her more interesting plaything. “Mother goes out to fetch dinner and returns to find you all squabbling together, hm?” She looked somberly at the group... then reached down and tossed the corpse of a sable male, partially consumed already but perfectly fresh. She'd already had the tastiest parts, in her opinion, but her children could have the rest.

 “Misha, good to see you've made it,” she said, looking at the candy-curled tail of his before turning to peer at her other two - how they liked to squabble! “Pity - you've all scared away our visitor, let's hope she's not of any importance.”

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Dead blues slid easily on the male who thought he'd be saved by the wolfess who had made it known she wanted no page in this fairy tale. She had quickly glossed away from the acidic boy and made her way back to a place he wouldn't follow her to. She was a smart one- A lucky one.She had left the mouthy chew all alone. He was so close-

Every step the azure woman took away from the male led to a string being drug violent and slow over the chords of a violin. The screech was joined by another, and another the longer distance the male was left as an entree to the attendees. The screeches were hollow and wet, a slippery crescendo that only heightened as he padded silently nearer the fool.

Exalted had spoken-
And he listened.
He heard.
And he did.

The screeches stopped as soon as the last word had left her tongue, her hunger matching his own. The silence was enough to burst the eardrums of the most deaf. The only sound left?

The whoosh of the sand beneath him as he unlocked those thinly staked limbs, and rushed for the sputtering meal.

The winds rushed past him as dove the distance to reign an unfathomable hurt on the whelp. His jaws creaked open, his drive to latch them to the meal drowning them in slaw of saliva and crinkles of rotting meat from his last meal. Misha would feed them well today, as he blessed them with his offering. The increased blood flow to his tophalf brought a scalding ice blue hue to his eyes, breathing life into them where before there could have mistakenly been not-

Heart mellowed a drum in his chest that was unheard but felt all over him, tingles ringing heavily in every snatch of sand under deeply browned paws-

He lie right there-

Jaws racked open a black abyss, prepared to snatch the striped boys whole face into eternity-

Until they didn't. His body was frozen as he had been caught by Andraste's words, chiding them and labeling them as innocent infidels while she sauntered up. Her words snagged hooks into him, almost daring a hair to move without her permission, and thus Exalted's command had been made void. Upon speaking the Goat's name, she had proven he was not a meal, and thus spared from being ripped apart by the voracious Coy and the Albino.
For now.

Wet timber maws snapped shut, slavering wet droplets flinging in one lethal closure, and he stood there, silent.
Waiting.

The heartfelt ice which had come to flood his irises had slowed to a calm and corpse dead blue, once more.

His fury was endless. His hunger was unsatisfied. His wishes were unfulfilled. And the Red One was to blame. His hatred for her grew with every passing day, and she noticed it well. She cared about it not. And thus it remained, a festering wound that no antiseptic would cleanse, no salve would bless, and no bandage would bind.
The poison illed him further.

But the Scarecrow turned into just another prop, once more.

"Welcome back, Red One," his decrepit eyes hadn't left Misha's, an omen begging to be released, but careless of who to maul first. The dry whisper of his voice danced nastily for Misha, a promise that nothing that had went between these lips was ever allowed to return home to their loving family, or their prized children. It was a place that promised retribution, and silence. Misha had been doomed to miss the boat to paradise.
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