The day had been hot, as usual. For those like Braith, who lived in the desert, it was just another day of hiding from the sun and resting in whatever shadows one could find. She had been lucky in her endeavor for daily shelter and had claimed a small shady spot within the rocks just beside the falls. The mist in the air was the best consolation for dealing with the heat, so it was no wonder why she felt so lucky at claiming this spot so early that day.
The oasis was obviously one of the more popular lands in the desert. It was where she saw most of the other wolves that roamed like her… there were hardly any of them, of course, but that was the norm from her experiences. Braith rested in her hiding spot for much of the day until the sun began to creep lower and lower down to the dunes in the distance. Slowly, cautiously, she exited her hiding spot, having kept a careful eye on those that sought the water for hydration.
It didn’t take her long to find one paw step into the water, then another, until she fully stood in the shallow waters and slowly sunk herself into a laying position and sighed in contentment. Water was a commodity in the desert. The fact that she could rest in it for even a brief moment was a cherished time. Braith didn’t stay laying for long, however, and stood slowly. She stretched and took a few swallows of water before she exited the water in silence.
The early evening air had only just begun to cool as Braith rested at the water’s edge. She would find time to hunt for something small that night, she had decided, but her hopes for even a snake or lizard for a meal were slim. More likely than not, she’d find herself some bugs. It wasn’t the most satisfying meal, but it would keep her alive, she knew. But for now, Braith would remain by the water until the sun just started to set. She would use the upcoming darkness and cooler air to her advantage, especially since it was yet one more day in solitude.
When Ridley had gone to sleep, it had been in his laboratory deep in the kingdom that his mother had called home before her mysterious disappearance. Good riddance was all he had to say to that situation, glad to finally be gone from her. Her status brought him nothing except bothersome guests and fangirls at that. 'Oh my god you're the son of Enya? You must be so proud to have her as your mother! She's the best queen we've had in a long time. She really keeps our King in line, and she's so good to the people!' Anyone who praised his mother was promptly chased from his laboratory with threats fitting his personal hobbies. 'You don't know the real Enya' he would think to himself, disgusted with just how she had managed to fool everyone into liking her.
When he had woke up, he was definitely not in the deep musty laboratory that had been his own. He was in a place that felt familiar to him. Beneath him was sand, and before him was an endless sea of the same shit - for shit it was. Sand. Fucking sand. Had he somehow been teleported back in time or something? He glanced around as he woke and stood, seeing tall spires off in the distance. The likelihood of time-travel suddenly seemed much more likely, for this desert seem eerily similar to the one he'd woken up in the year before - or had it been longer?
Familiar with ending up in this situation once again, Ridley lifted his nose to the air and instead of scenting with his nostrils, flicked his tongue quickly from his mouth. He could taste water in the distance as feint as it might be and locked onto the location, his large paws splaying as he traversed the burning hot sand to keep from sinking into it. By the time he had traversed the desert to the water, the sun had moved from noon high to the edge of the horizon and Ridley's posture had gone from proud to wilted and exhausted.
When he reached the water's edge and dipped his muzzle down into the liquid, the relief was indescribable. His parched scratchy throat almost hurt from the cool liquid passing through it, but the sensation ceased soon enough as he continued to drink down the water. Careful not to indulge too much and bloat his gut, he ceased his drinking and instead moved into the pool, wetting his aching and burned paws. Even his tail burned - had the sun crisped the scales through elongated harsh exposure? Soon his entire body sank into the depths of the water and Ridley remained submerged, his elongated reptilian like tail propelling him forward, just breaking the surface. If one hadn't seen him dip into the pool, it would be very likely they might think they were being stalked by a monster - something not far from the truth.
OoC Note: Ridley has not taken notice of Braith yet. He is just by coincidence lurking nearby. Braith might have seen him at the shore slip into the water or not. Player's interpretation.
She hadn’t planned for it, but Braith had started to doze off again for another nap. It was a deeper sleep than expected as the sounds of various creatures coming to drink at the water’s edge became a soothing sort of background noise. She never even picked up on the fact that others had decided to go for a swim because of it.
Braith’s breath slowed as she shifted how she rested to lay more on her side and snuggled into the warm yet damp mix of sand and soil. Even though the oasis was the most populous area of the desert, there had been a sort of silent agreement among the roaming residents to leave one another be when they were at rest… especially if it was clear there was nothing on them. Braith never carried more than a small, rudimentary sack to carry bits of cacti with her through the sands, but even she knew to stash it before coming to the oasis. Even if it wasn’t much, it would have been an easy way to catch attention and attention was something Braith was particularly skilled at avoiding.
As she dozed, her legs twitched occasionally in an unintended dream. When the time would come for her to wake, it would be completely forgotten within seconds, but the feeling of running down the large dunes under the light of the moon was what caused her movement. In time, she settled more and eventually rolled onto her back in her sleep in a slow transition to lay on her other side.
Walk "Speak"Magic
ooc: yeah... Braith definitely has not noticed at all haha
The cool water of the oasis felt amazing to Ridley's thick pelt and burnt body parts. He continued to slither his way through the blue water, his tail propelling him, and multiple times his reptile appendage breached the surface. The rest of his body, however, remained beneath. Below the water his silver eyes searched for any sort of easy meals. There were plenty of fish, but he wasn't the largest fan of dealing with scales and tiny bones that liked to poke your gums. When his nose came up to catch a breath of air, he saw some birds squawking near the shore. They seemed to be chattering about something and looking downwards. Was something dead nearby?
Ever the curious creature (and not above eating a rotten meal to fill his belly), Ridley dipped his nose back beneath the blue waters and continued to slither lazily towards his destination. He stalked closer and lifted the top of his head to the surface of the water, taking another breath of air as his silver eyes searched for the cause of commotion between the avians. At first, his eyes missed the wolf laying out near the shore. It was the second sweep he did, carefully and slowly inspecting every shadow and wave of the palm tree fronds above, that he picked up on an unnatural movement. Before approaching and revealing himself to the creature, he studied for a while longer, the top of his head poked from the surface of the oasis like an alligator or hippo would do. The creature remained in it's spot and continued it's odd movement. He couldn't quite peace it together from this distance exactly what it was, or what it was doing. His muzzle tipped upwards slightly further, and his forked tongue tasted the air.
Wolf he recognized hungrily.
He dipped back down to swim beneath the water the remainder of the distance, several lengths, then stepped out onto the shore dripping wet and, appropriately, stinking of wet dog. At first, he stared at her curiously, his head tilting back and forth as he wondered why she was twitching and kicking her legs in such a way. Was it a dream, or was it a nightmare that drove those movements? They weren't the spasms of death, for he could smell nor see any wounds across the wolf's body. His tongue flicked again, and he did not taste the familiar scent of rot in the area, either.
The birds above squawked louder at his presence, alerted by how he had risen from the pool in the oasis. His silver eyes turned upwards to look up at them. Again his head tilted to the side. Flick. Ah, birds were always so noisy and not worth his time. He turned his gaze downwards once more, staring at the wolf who seemed to be oblivious to his presence, stuck in some unconscious presence of it's own as it rolled from one side over to the other. He stepped forward, hovering over the wolf. His muzzle came close to her face. Flick went his tongue beside her ear.
It happened quickly. In the first microsecond, she thought it was part of her dream… a strange part at that. But it didn’t take long for her to realize it was actually happening. A tongue. By. Her. Ear. Braith’s eyes snapped open and what caught her attention was not what she expected in the slightest. The male that towered over her was terrifying! And he was twice her size!
She yelped in shock as she scrambled to all fours and attempted to bolt, wetting herself as she did so. There was no shame in survival, so why should she have shame in that moment for trailing droplets of urine as she tried, and failed, to find a reasonable hiding place? Braith found herself tripping over her own paws, tail tucked between her legs as she scrambled behind whatever she could. Her current spot of choice? Some kind of shrub that was half her size. That didn’t matter, though. She shrank herself down to hide herself as best she could.
”D-don’t come near!” she cried out after swallowing the lump in her throat, her tone filled with an obviously horrible attempt at hiding her fear and surprise. Don’t come near. Really? That was all she could manage to get out? Well, if he did try to, she could always try to run away… it was worth a shot. She could just avoid the oasis for the rest of her life. That’d be fine, right? Her mother seemed to have done okay with mostly having cactus juice when she was a pup… she could do the same. Right?
In a flash, the wolf beneath him had opened her eyes (dual colored, he noted), risen to her paws, and pissed herself before scattering around like a mad lad trying to... hide? by the looks of it. The fluid action of the scampering, screaming and wetting made Ridley recoil, withdrawing his massive bulk backwards slightly as the odor rose up and assaulted his tongue and nose equally. The birds above now screamed and flew at the sudden commotion. Ridley had to mentally discipline himself to control his tongue which eagerly wanted to flick rapidly with excitement - with the inner instincts that told him to hunt. Each flick, however, would bring in the offensive odor of ammonia. Each flick would make him taste the offensive odor. Rot and decay he could handle with relative ease. But urine? He had never grown used to the smell, and likely never would.
Instead, Ridley shook his head, shaking away the scent as best as he could. His gaze returned to the small wolf who was now tucked down behind some small excuse of a bush. She yelled out at him and Ridley's head cocked sideways once more as he stared. There was no sort of expression on his face - no grin or frown or snarl of anger. The only thing one could see across his face was curiosity. Who was this wolf? Why had she gone and wet herself at his presence? Who were her parents? Was she from here, or was she from somewhere else like himself? Did she have siblings? What did her teeth look like? What did her claws look like? Why did she smell so strongly of cactus flowers? How hard did her heart beat in this second? How much air could fill her lungs before they burst? Did she bleed red, or black like himself? So many questions. So many questions.
Ridley ignored her shout of a command and moved to step closer. His head remained level with his spine while his tail fell just below, swaying slowly, swaying curiously at the tip. He continued to show self-discipline as he held his tongue in his mouth. It was more effort to contain than he wanted to admit, for the excitement of this strange wolf drove muscle memory to try and trump his mind. His head tilted to the other side as he stepped closer still, slowly placing one paw before the other. In all truth, it looked like Ridley was stalking the wolf in how he stepped and held himself. She had done a terrible job of hiding, and besides, he'd be able to follow her odor even if she had managed to succeed. Closer still he stalked, and yet he didn't once lift a lip at her, or show his teeth at her. His jaw remained tightly clenched as he studied and stared at her. Once more, he tilted his head to the opposite side.
He was now nearing the bush at this rate. He wanted to get closer but the putrid smell of piss kept him at bay. Job well done, little wolf. He studied her closer however from his nearer distance and noticed how much fur was inside her ears - to insulate, perhaps?. In all actuality she was quite a fluffy wolf, he started to realize. Wasn't she hot out here in the desert, especially with how dark her coat was? It had certainly been brutal to him.
"Why do you think I would listen to you?" He finally spoke, his voice low and smooth as the words were spoke clearly. As he spoke, his tongue flicked free as it took advantage of the parted jaws for the briefest of seconds. There was that odor, assaulting his senses once more. "Do you have importance here?" There was no malice in his tone as he questioned her. Instead his head straightened to align with the rest of his body, his neck lifting to let him stand more comfortably. If this wolf was someone important, he wanted to know.
Yep. She was leaving. Never coming back to the oasis again. Braith cowered behind her shrub. Not her shrub. The shrub she had found. It wasn’t hers. Hardly anything was. And, clearly, this shrub wasn’t a great hiding spot. Her instincts to run grew overwhelmed by the fear that caused her body to freeze. She had no strength in her legs as she shivered in her place while the visitor approached.
His first question may not have been a threat, but Braith could only feel danger. She whimpered and slowly rolled to show her belly in complete submission, her tail tucked and her gaze avoiding any part of his giant form to show how little of a danger she’d be to him. It’s not like she would be even if she tried, but who knew what this visitor was thinking?
”I-I’m just a n-nomad. Everyone in the de-desert is,” she stammered. Though there was nothing left in her bladder at this point, the stench in her current position was overwhelming… even for her. But there was no use feeling embarrassed when she felt like she would be killed any second now, so the small wolf remained where she was. She shivered in fear as she lay on her back, tail tucked, doing whatever she could to avoid looking at the giant hovering over her.
"T-there might be a family group n-nearby. But I... I just live in the Badlands. I can leave here. Y-you won't ever see me in the oasis again, I-I promise." Braith's tone was pitiful as she whimpered in fear. He must have wanted the Oasis for himself. That must have been why he approached her in the way he did.
Instead of answering, the wolf did something that made Ridley's head tilt for the billionth time already. She rolled over, showing her belly and making the smell of urine even more apparent from where she laid behind her bush. In addition, she refused to look at him. Well, that was rude. He had asked her a very pointed question and instead of answering, she was acting like he was threatening her with dominance. Ridley's eyes rolled at her anticts before she finally managed to stutter out that she wasn't someone of importance. She was just a nomad in these parts. A nomad. Who probably didn't have a family or a pack. Someone that he could take advantage of. If only she didn't reek!
She sounded uncertain about there being another group nearby. She proclaimed that she lived here, and yet in the same breath told her that he would never see her in the oasis again. At this, Ridley frowned. He certainly couldn't let a helpless wolf like this escape his grasp. Ridley stilled himself and his twitching tail, holding his breath as best he could as he spoke. Again, there was no malice in his tone, but there was an edge of something present that hadn't been there before. "A nomad, you say? So you have no family? No pack?" His mind worked on how he could secure this female for himself as he spoke aloud, keeping her busy and entertained safe from his true intentions. "Don't be in such a rush to leave the oasis, little child. I think, actually, this might be one of the best spots here in these Badlands as you call them." Ridley stepped forward, moving to stand over the wolf as she rolled on her back to deflect him. Urine aside, she was tolerable and manageable with her size and submissiveness.
Then, with a quick movement, his paw tried to find purchase on the wolf's chest, to pin her beneath him and hold her there so she couldn't squirm, or twist and dart away. A chuckle grew up in his throat as his eyes dilated, his silver gaze staring down at the wolf with a renewed interest. "Perhaps, we can wash you of your own filth, hmm? How would you like a dip in the water? I find clean pelts make for much nicer bags and satchels than ones covered in piss."
This was bad. This was really, really bad. Braith didn’t even fully process what the visitor was saying. It wasn’t like everything he said made sense, anyway. A pack? If she had time to question it, she would have wanted to know what that even was. But instead, Braith froze out of fear. There was nothing more in her bladder, but she felt like peeing and throwing up all at once.
Before she even realized what was happening, Braith felt a pressure on her chest as he put his weight on her. She yelped in fear and looked up at him in shock. She wriggled under him in an attempt to get free, but just couldn’t move under his weight. ”N-no!” was the only thing she could manage to get out her tightened throat.
Her heart felt like it was both going to burst from her chest and get crushed under the weight of this terrifying stranger. If it was possible for her life to flash through her mind in that moment, it did. The pressure both in and on her chest was so overwhelming that the only thing she could do was act on pure instinct, kicking and struggling under his paw.
Walk "Speak"Magic
ooc:
special:
success - her clone bursts from her chest and both Braith and her clone scramble out from under him in different directions, running away and screaming in both fear from Ridley and the fact that a clone just burst from her chest. How does that even happen?!
fail - her clone bursts from her chest, but is still pinned. Braith and the clone look at each other and scream in horror because there’s already too much going on and now two of her is just too much
