Purple Honey

[santingo]

Dominique shifted comfortably in his spot, enjoying his meal entirely. An array of different tastes danced at the tip of his tongue. The meal was delectable. Alzon went for a second helping but once his younger partner was finished, he merely set the bowl down. The tangy taste of numerous spices drowned his mouth. What the hybrid really wanted now was some of the treasured purple honey which had been promised to him if he were to consume his meal.

Souris watched his older sister leave silently. Exhaling, crimson red eyes shot open at a small wisp of steam parting both nostrils. Unlike the toxic blood, this was not a bad sign. In fact, the steam was a common sign of chemistry in the deep pits of his throat. Through the combination of gasses in his gut and the two solutions in two glands in the back of his lower jaw, once contacting oxygen, it would combust into fire. This was the simple science of shinoux chemistry. Much more would have been difficult to comprehend, so difficult that only the shinoux themselves understand what happened. Back to the story, Souris snuggled until his side, back facing the naked bark of the thick tree. Upper lids closed, he completely relaxed where he was.

"A shinoux?" Chatiot clarified. "I haven't seen a shinoux in decades." He sighed softly to himself. "As the Ereu race continues to grow, their population decreases." Finally, they arrived at their destination; A large verdant meadow with knee-tall weeds. It may not have looked like much if one were to kneel, they would see thousands and thousands of herbs of all kinds. "Your brother? But are you not a Qi phoenix?"

[Baka]

Akkedia offered him a glance, pleading softly; one that promised rewards should he be a little bit patient to her finishing her next helping with a healthy appetite. She was only on her second serving herself, she was only bulking up on the carbs, who knew when their next meal like this, or even meal at all, would be? As she saw it, a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush, and she was in no mood to go bloodlustic again; alone this was alright, but how could she dare risk it when there were so many of her friends about her now? Thus, she declared in silence, she would try and prevent this nature, at any cost. All of this wasn't portrayed through her gaze, but she tried picking up in the speed of which she ate, in order to better convey that she would get him his reward when she was done eating.

Izumi couldn't smell the steam, unlike most wolves her sense of smell was none too sharp, even humans could smell things she did not. Her other senses like in similar cases with sight or sound defficiency, had improved greatly to help cope with the deterioration of this sense. But even if she had caught scent of it, she wouldn't have worried too much. She had gotten a bit of information on Shinoux history when Halli persecuted Souris for awhile until he explained it to her- well that didn't take long and it wasn't like he wasn't forthcoming with the information, it's just Halli asked the questions in an interrogative way. And actually, Halli probably didn't even remember what his answers were, or the questions she had asked herself; but Izumi remembered, and this small chemistry lesson was one of the few things she did recollect having learned about. But she was quick, ears arching to find a new sound, to find anything that would satisfy the urges of her brother. A squirrel passed her radar, too small. She trudged onward with her ears scanning about just as frequently for something that would satisfy his hunger.

"Yeah that's him!" Beamed Halli with a grin. But she was bewildered, no; confused at his comment about the Ereu. "What do you mean?" She had started to ask, only to stop when she caught sight of the place, unaware of what lurked nearby she sprang right in, even into a plant that might have questionably been poison ivy. Luckily the chemicals in her own skin would prevent the plant's defenses from making her itch, but it just showed how much she didn't know on the matter. "Oh my! It's perfect! Thankyou thank you thank you!" There were no pauses between these thanks, and thus it came out as a long, almost incomprehensible word. "I'd love to repay you sometime, It's nice meeting good and kind folks nowadays, nowadays there aren't so many around. "Oh! I almost forgot! Izzy-Izz, my sister, says it's rude to not introduce myself. I'm Halli, well no. My name is Harriet, but everyone calls me Halli! No.. Soury-Sour calls me Harriet sometimes, but that's alright. It's okay coming from him." She pondered it over a moment with a perplexed look on her face, before smiling to his last inquiry. "I am, I am! But Soury is my brother, and I love him like one. Just like Izzy is my sister, and I love her too. She's not a Qi either, she's a wolf. A big, mean looking wolf." She tried proving this by placing her hands in front of her mouth and curling in all of her fingers except her index on either one, pointing them downwards on her upper lip to show fangs and making what she must have thought was a scary face. "Rawr! Ha! Did I scare you? She's like that, but she's really nice and soft on the inside. Yesm! She's like a big fluffy teddy bear! Soury-sour is nice too, he loves hugs! But Shhh! If he asks I didn't tell you that."

[santingo]

Dominique dipped his head in acknowledgment, showing patience in his golden brown eyes. He could wait all day if he had to. What kept his mind from trailing off into the abyss of nothing, was a strange feeling his left hand. Thick slime. Cold thick slime. Gooey, cold and thick slime trickling down his left hand. Averting his glistening eyes, his beating heart nearly skipped a beat. His fingers were reduced to slimy thick tentacles. Gasping, he literally jumped to his feet, right hand clenched on his left wrist tightly, noticing the rest of his hand was reducing itself into five separate tentacles. "Dominique, what's going on?" Alzon questioned in a concerned tone.

"I..I," The youngster had lost his voice. "I..I don't know.." He responded, gasping as the other hand began to transform into another pair of five tentacles. He desperately resisted the urge to call for Dominius, Laboris or Ragizere, persons who sworn would know what was happening to him.

Souris's empty belly growled loudly in protest to the paucity of food. The shinoux grunted in response, rolling once more to where his back faced the naked tree. What can he do? Izumi had asked him to remain where he was. Besides, Halli, his younger sister, had not returned from her flight and he needed to be there that way their small "family" would not be divided. Senses perked up at the presence of a brown squirrel in his vicinity. Extending his arm rapidly, the handsome brute caught the frightened animal within his grasp. Tightening his grip, the animal fought to escape by sinking his two teeth into Souris's flesh. The pain; nothing compared to what he's experienced in his young life. Finally, the futile movements of the squirrel ceased via snap of the neck. Souris was about to dig his teeth into the belly of the squirrel but came to realize he was not the only hungry person here. Setting the animal to the side, he would save it for his older sister. Straightening himself onto his bosom, he gazed towards nothing, withdrawing withing his own thoughts.

"I haven't seen a single shinoux in over a century" Chatiot exhaled quietly, not really caring either. "The Shinoux race is dying out. When I was born, there were thousands but only hundreds remain. So basically, your brother may be the last of his kind..just like the Qi phoenix. I bet Dominius himself had never seen a Qi phoenix in his entire life." He pondered, smiling at her ebullience. "No worries. Just pick the herbs you need and we'll go help your brother. The brute was a tad bit surprised at how much information poured out of her mouth. It drove him crazy, to a point where he was going to smack the child silly. Yet, it did not show. "A little bit." He chuckled lightly, smiling down at her. "But I suggest picking up a herb soon before something happens." He smirked mentally.

[Baka]

Akkedia smiled gratefully, a rather lovely smile that lived only a short moment before she continued her eating, scissoring a chunk of vegetable that was skillfully blended in apart with her canines. She did stop her eating, a very hesitant pause as she swallowed that bitesized portion of her meal, and then evaluated Dommy with her gaze. But she didn't know what to say, even if she did she was struck with an odd sense of dryness in her mouth, as if if she had anything to say it would have failed before leaving her tongue. Mithoo had been relaxing, eyes closed; his age worn thick lines of worry into his brow, as well as sags underneath his eyes as it was more visible now. Akkedia knew this was when he was rejuvinating, he'd said so once before. It wasn't a common trait of most nightmares, but supposedly and according to Mithoo it was what helped keep him going. He was however roused out of his daze by this segment of silence and awkward conversation. Slowly the elderly nightmare, ever so slowly as if this movement caused him some type of pain, rose to his six strong limbs. He had yet to open his eyes. "What appears to be the problem?"

Izumi was quick to find something that did seem to catch her attention, since by herself she did prove to be quite a deft huntress. There was a few boar shuffling through the brush, big and burly mountain boar, their muscles seemed to ripple under their tangled and muddy coat. A few even had gleeming tusks, large and imposing on the sides of their snout, they looked like nasty little fighters. These were the ones that rooted for mushrooms or got into squabbles, most of the less dangerous looking sows were fat, lying in the shady depths of the forest on their side, a few even had a row of plump piglets nursing greedily from her. Izumi tensed, waited it out a moment. As luck would have had the wind was favorable to her. She did not know this because of their scent reaching her, but rather because they had not immediately rushed off in shelter or tried driving her off. Almost instantly her form shifted, into the large but rather lithe physique of her wolf form. Her bloodred eyes remained fixated on one of the biggest of the boar, however he also had one of the most dangerous looking set of tusks. She didn't mind the danger, she wanted to make sure that her brother had enough to eat. And if anyone did know Izumi, she was rather respectful of mothers and children. Only a select few actually knew why that was, but although there were mother sow that looked about twice this boar's weight, she wouldn't dare touch her. But that's getting off topic. The huntress, with target in mind and with a small bit of a limp in her hind legs, she hobbled forward with a lightfootedness a cat would be envious of.

"Not a single one? Then sir I'll have to introduce you to Soury Sour! He'll probably love meeting the person who helped me help him!" She grinned, completely oblivious to the intentions of her new 'friend'. But her grin wore away at this new bit of information. "The last of his kind?" Her eyes were clouded with a bit of an unusual emotion. Well not unusual, just unusual to see from her, a tinge of sorrow in the soft orange orbs that portrayed her fiery little self so well. But as quick as that this emotion was shed and she resumed her perky and cheerful disposition. "Nah! I'm sure Dominius has to have seen one of my kind. There isn't so much of us nowadays but we've always been around! Or at least that's what Izzy Izz says." She nodded and quickly went to work, picking up any herbs that she could find, no doubt having no idea what she was doing. How was she to know? She was never good at remembering things, even if she had been taught what oregano or otherwise looked like for every day for a full year. It was unusual, unnatural almost, her dangerous loss of memory.

[santingo]

Alzon's golden eyes averted gracefully to his left to observe young Dominique staring down at his "hands" in awe. Having a calm nature, jumping in surprise was not one of his things. But of course it was wrong to assume the leader thief had not been concerned for his younger comrade. Even Drakmur stirred from his dreamless daze, gazing at his companion warily. Dominique literally ignored the numerous glances and observed the strange phenomenon occurring in his upper appendages. Frigid goo tinkled from his finger tips, which had reverted back to his familiar digits. When Mithoo had questioned him, he simply lifted his hands. Dommy opened his mouth to explain but golden yellow eyes widened as another black tentacle slithered out from his mouth. If one had not understand the circumstances, one could say a parasite had invaded his own body.

"No, not a single one," Lionel exhaled sympathetically, as if trying to care for the dying race. "And your sister is correct. The Qi-Phoenix has been around for many centuries..but like the shinoux race...they are dying out slowly by the century." Turning her back on him was a foolish thing to do. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out what appeared to be a tiny piece of metal. His deadly weapon. Who couldn't have mocked? How could a needle be a weapon? Mouthing a silent chant, the needle grew longer and thicker to take the shape of a metal bat. Before our phoenix child could turn around, Lionel delivered a powerful blow directly on the side of her side. A strike not potent enough to kill her but her knock her out.

Some distance away, a mile to be exact, where Dominius and Ragizere had been waiting for their chimera friend to return; the legendary hero swiftly turned his head, as if he knew about what had happened to Halli. Emerald green eyes softened, drowned in their waxed emotions. "It's going to be a rough year.." Dominius whispered softly, his monotonic voice rumbling in the gentle breeze.

"How can you tell?" Ragizere blinked.

[Baka]

Mithoo sighed and only seemed to tense when he was not answered by the sound of the young hybrid's voice, but he still chose to not open his eyes just yet. His nostrils and the giant gaping holes that seemed to gouge deep into his back, like volcanoes into the earth; vented a whispery twine of steam. It looked roughly like geysers, just before they shot out. "Let's have a look see, Master Dominique." With this the light, glazed eyes opened, and the wrinkles of his repose seemed to all but fade; the steam vapors however did not cease. His eyes quickly swept towards Dommy, evaluating him with the sharp, appraising gaze aqquired by wisdom and age. After a long bit the elder, still calm as ever, sat back. Worrying for no reason would bring about chaos.

Akkedia didn't seem to know that, having swallowed her food she finally managed to gape. "Wh-What's happening to him.." She quickly turned upon the other nightmares, gaze desperate for some tell as to what was going on. "Is he alright? He's not dieing is he? What do we do?" She tried to keep from hyperventilating and barely succeeded by breathing deeply.

"We'll see, Mistress. Master Dom, see if you have any control over those... Appendages, I need to check something." The elder croned gently, like honey drizzling from a hive on a summer day, warm and slow.

Izumi meanwhile had prepared herself, tensing and remaining poised for who knows how long before she bolted forth in a full-throttle sprint, determining to try and take the boar out before he could have a say in edgewise. Thirty yards, twenty, ten... Five! She sprung for a leap, jaws open in order to snap down into his flesh, more so at his throat. But, like most other times it takes only a slight miscalculation in order to mess up. The sound she had made with her initial sprint had startled one of the little piglets, whom ran squealling bloody murder and darted off somewhere into the woods. The little porker must have wandered away from its mother, and thus wasn't in the shade with the rest of them. The boar had been in the process of turning around when she leapt for him; so instead of catching his throat she fell on the mountain pig's giant, flat face, her teeth clipping and scraping along his skin, but not nearly as fatal as she'd intended. Hardly at all, more so; the only thing she succeeded in was accurately infuriating one of the biggest boar this side of the mountains. He himself charged, only to make and abrupt stop, throwing our wolf off brutally into the mass of pig-related chaos. She had to scramble to her feet to avoid being trampled, and she barely managed to avoid as the intent male charged her a second time. He stopped after passing her, reeled about, and planted his small hooves as he readied to try at her again.

"Then you'll love Soury Sour! Who doesn't love Soury Sour?" She chirped, giddily. "Oh my, well that's not a good thing.. I don't want anyone's kind to die out.. I believe we all were put on this place to live, and no life is any more special than the other. All life is sacred, and should be treated as such.." The lament was rare on her part, but probably reflected Halli to a deeper sense than most would know her. She was about to turn about, about to ask him what he thought of the situations occuring as of late, when the blow struck her. Her eyes dimmed, the force easily knocking the child out, and she fell over, into a small patch of weeds, flowers, and ironically enough, a spruce or two of the oregano she'd been seeking.

[santingo]

Dominique's attention was primarily focussed on the black tentacle which slithered out from his mouth. Golden yellow irises averted to the slimey appendage. One might expect his body was invaded by a sinister parasite. However, one thing anyone might understand was that the youngster was scared and indeed he was. No. Not frigthened. But shocked and inquisitive. Once Mithoo had spoken, the youngster subconciously stepped back. Dominique didn't want to feel dependant on his friends for every little situation and second, the steam shocked him slightly. "I have no idea.." Alzon whispered softly, his attention focussed on his little sibling. Jaixas observed Dommy for some time, staring up at Akkedia as he spoke.

"Don't panic..." His voice was gentle. "We're not helping him if we're just paniking. I'm sure he's fine...even though I may have a faint idea of what's happening.." The last sentence wasn't aimed at his msitress but more towards himself. "If anything, we can call Dominius and/or Ragizere for help."

"Dominius won't help at all.."Alzon hissed, rolling his golden eyes. "He's probably gone off to look like the chosen hero like he does every century." Despite the previous conversation Mithoo and he had, he still despised the legendary hero of old. Dominique blinked at the elder nightmare's request. There was only one thing he can think of. Quickly, he clamped his jaws onto the black tentacle.

Small tears formed in the corners of his eyes after the impact. The youngster resisted the urge to scream loudly as pangs of pain overwhelemed his mouth and jaw area. No. It was a parasite but it proved that the tentacle was part of him...as if he were a parasite himself. Dark crimson blood dripped from the tentacle as it withdrew back into his mouth.

Lionel ignored her future statements after the blow was delivered. He didn't care about her opinions or what she had to say. "Maybe.." He mumbled after her philosophical statement. "But all life, regardless of all degrees, comes to an end and death comes in many flavors." He retorted, gazing at the body below. Throwing the unconcious body over his slender shoulders, he ventured to the spot where Vendetti (Uchindu's new name) and company awaited. His mission had been a success, much to his own surprise. He anticipated a certain shinoux and demon would counter and send him away. But this was way too easy for him! If it was this easy to obtain the qi, Lionel had confidence that it would be easy to get Dominius as well. But that was another story. With the girl on his shoulder, he carefully avoided the path where she came from.

"Well..."Dominius averted his gaze to the majestic sea. "I think it's obvious. Yes, there were centuries where I barely had to lift a finger but I think this one may be one of the most difficult. I can sanse it." He exhaled gently. "Unlike the previous ones, there isn't a single foe. There's a couple and one of them will not be happy to see me." Ragizere did not say anything but merely exhaled after him.

"When will we leave to search for the chosen one?"

"After your friend returns from his hunt,"