The Difference Between Us [Aisling]

[Xolotl]

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[attr="class","pltxt"]Where there had once been an expanse of water, there was earth, pushing away all of the liquid from the area. Usually, from Xolotl's understanding of things, water beat fire, but it seemed to be vice versa in the case of what the wolves of Anikira came to know as Igneir.

For the past two moon cycles, the dried lava continued to emanate the heat of its underground source despite being surrounded by the frigid cold of winter and icy water lapping at its shores. Despite the heat, it had cooled down enough for wolves to walk on it. Intrigued by the new land, Xolotl left his post in Acerbus to take a look at the curious new territory that Anikira was sporting.

Although he was unafraid of pain, used to it even from the constant throb of his left hind ankle, the toxic-yellow-eyed brute was not stupid. Carefully, though impatiently, a white paw tapped the once-magma. It was a low, numbing heat, still there, but very much bearable, especially for someone with high pain tolerance like Xolotl. Soon, all four snowy paws were planted onto Igneir's surface, its explorer confidently striding towards the centre of the new land.

Off in the distance, the jungle of Kal'dyne lay. It was vibrant and verdant as always, holding the same tropical, exotic appearance quite unique for the continent of Anikira to have. But... Something was off. There was a scent, something more masculine than feminine... So? Why do care? They are gone now, probably dead from whatever was invading that day. A grin, too wide and too cheerful to be normal, was creepily slapped upon Xolotl's face, smugness at the female-dominated pack's presumed passing. What a shameful way to die. Dishonour on them, I guess.

.: OOC :.

notes: You can reply once she's accepted ^3^ Also left Xol's pack status ambiguous since he hasn't been accepted yet.
tagged: Aisling
word count: 314
muse: Surprisingly decent

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[Aisling]

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[attr="class","pltxt"]The past couple months on Anikira had been simply delightful. Aisling could not get enough to see! She could run however far her heart wanted to take her, stop to look at and sniff anything even vaguely unfamiliar, and just generally do whatever she wanted!

There were a few drawbacks, however. Food had always been there. As had water and shelter. Aisling had quickly realized she did not know how to find these things for herself. After her first two days on Anikira, she had luckily come across a stream from which to drink, and there had been many insects swarming the stream, which made an easy snack. Since then she had also stumbled upon small dead creatures, and eaten some of that. It wasn’t what one could call great, by any means, but it would do. She did find herself hungry again, though.

And there was something that lived here — something unfamiliar. Everywhere she went there was this scent, and not infrequently, she had found paw prints much bigger than her own. If Aisling had any idea what it was, she might have been scared, but ignorance is bliss. She lived without a care in the world concerning the creature, only curiosity.

The land had quite a variety of terrains, some more appealing to the fennec than others. Where she found herself now, however, felt utterly desolate. She was not sure she liked this. It appeared to be an open expanse of stone everywhere. Aisling had never seen anything like it before. But then, she had not seen most things before. She walked around, her eyes wide open, her ears stretched as far up as they would go, and nose constantly taking in smells — the smells of the land, of the sea, and other smells the occasional breeze carried with it.

That was when she caught the scent of the creature again. She had never gone looking for them. While being something she was curious about, there were so many other things that kept grabbing her attention and distracting her. It had just never yet been her priority. But now, with precious little of interest to look at in this territory, except perhaps the lack of things of interest, there was nothing to distract her from following the scent.

What she was eventually brought to was massive. It was difficult for her to comprehend the size of this thing. If she had to compare it to the creatures from her past, she might almost say it was bigger. But it looked nothing like them. It looked more like… well… almost like her. She had never seen a creature similar to herself outside of her family.

Completely unabashedly, Aisling approached the giant. “What are you?” Her words were likely not more than a squeak to him, in her higher voice. She was also ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. She was not scared, but her recent experience with other creatures had left her ever so slightly wary.

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Words: 500
Muse: quite reasonable
Tags: Xolotl
Notes: Thanks bunches and bunches for the graphics and concept help for Aisling!

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[Xolotl]

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[attr="class","pltxt"]Startlingly piercing yellow optics surveyed the warm expanse of earth, algid aqua lapping at the russet stone's edges. The new territory had arisen rather suddenly, the molten rock spreading like blood pooling around a deep wound. Here, things were safe. Nothing could catch him unaware at such a vantage point so weakness could be shown. Xolotl's arthritic ankle lifted from the strange ground, Igneir's unusual flatness and suddenness making it appear like the pariah of Anikira's lands. He looked like a cripple like that but perhaps that could be seen as strength, something inflicted from a past battle, tough and challenging, yet the brilliant brute still managed to stand tall to that day. Of course, the bad ankle was something that he was born with, but fantasies made interesting passing of time indeed.

A scent, something extrinsic and foreign, wafted towards the bulky behemoth, although he could not locate its origin until a squeaking sound trilled from below his head, far below. Was it just ambient sound from the ground, or...? Lemon orbs, as vibrant as poison, flashed towards the noise. He would not be caught off guard.

To the brusque, bear-like bulk's surprise, it was not one of the wolven midgets that he had spied around his home island. They were of a different species, it seemed, something from far-off lands. The measly thing had sandy fur—well, at least, Xolotl could only assume for it to be fur—accompanied with deep, dark eyes, wider than any that Xol had seen previously. But the most prominent feature of this unusual object were the two gargantuan, curved inwards shapes atop its head—supposedly ears if the broad beast was to take a guess.

"Hello, midget. What are you, midget?" Although Xolotl liked to tease others by calling them 'midget', this freak did seem like a genuine midget. Even compared to his miniscule runt of a sister, the thing standing before him appeared to have some severe form of dwarfism that gave the lost size towards the enormous eyes and ears. "Midgets are prone to being hurt if they go in loner lands alone. My sister was a midget and she got her tail removed when she left home."

.: OOC :.

notes: Psst... You might want to use the code for Aisling's table that I PMed you ^^ And omg I love Xol so much now calling everyone a midget XD
tagged: Aisling
word count: 387
muse: Great

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[Aisling]

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[attr="class","pltxt"]Aisling remained perfectly still, except for perhaps the occasional flick or twitch of an ear as the giant looked her over. He seemed confused by her size, not that that was surprising, considering she was of his, as well.

The fact that he had not answered her question escaped her as soon as he spoke, calling her a midget. Her eyes narrowed, brow furrowed, and claws dug into the ground, or at least scraped a little across the hard surface of the rock. “I am not a midget!” the fennec screeched at him and darted between his legs to stop behind him and sit down facing him, waiting for the massive creature to catch up and turn around to speak to her. There was no reason she had moved, she just liked keeping on her toes and moving.

But the anger seemed to have been chased out of her small body by the quick movement and she now eyed the wolf with great interest again. At his mention of his sister and her tail, Aisling’s own tail wrapped around her frame as if she was pulling it in for protection, and her ears flattened for a second.

“Well, I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’m fast.” She flashed a smile with tiny, sharp teeth at him before circling him as fast as she could, her claws scratching the solidified lava that made up the ground, and returning to her seated posture, albeit without her tail wrapped around herself. “I like running. What do you like?”

The fennec would have given him another demonstration of how quickly she could move when she said she enjoyed running, but was not sure if he would even be able to keep up with how much she was getting up and moving around and sitting back down again. For all she knew, he was as slow as he looked. His size must make movement difficult for him. As it was, she stood up, her nose twitching and glancing around the landscape as she impatiently waited on a reply.

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Words: 342
Muse: decent
Tags: Xolotl
Notes: Well this could be interesting! Where did we want this to go again? I can’t remember if we discussed it or just wanted to have them meet and see what happened?

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[Xolotl]

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[attr="class","pltxt"]“I am not a midget!”

This time, the indignant reply was more than a mere squeaking. It sounded strange and foreign still, but it was comprehensible. The flighty thing beneath Xolotl seemed to flee from the giant, slipping between his hind legs so that it was behind its superior, behind the limp, dark grey tail hanging from the behemoth's rump. Not bothering to turn around as his powerful voice would carry to the tiny thing's place and far beyond, the mightiest pack of Anikira's latest addition responded to his tiny acquaintance's statement.

"Do correct me if I am incorrect, little one, but I do believe that the definition of midget is someone abnormally small, which appears to apply to yourself. But perhaps I am hallucinating. Do tell," Xol replied calmly, in contrast to the little thing's earlier outburst. He then turned around so that his new interest would not be out of his sight any more, watching the miniscule frame operate. It was so unique... So special... How did it work?

Before the Kairos wolf could try anything on this unusual animal, it spoke again, this time of being fast—for its size, no, but generally, Xolotl could find agreement in that—and that it liked running. The minute being then asked its larger counterpart what he liked. The titan, for a moment, was furious at the tiny inferior's invasive questions and interrupting, but calmed down and replied, the anger fading from his bright yellow orbs.

"Death is nice. Anyway, do you have a name? Again, what even are you?"

Suddenly, incredibly curious yet again, a gargantuan paw poked at the item's measly flank, the smaller character almost dwarfed in comparison to even Xolotl's immense paw, let alone his entire height. Ever intrigued by what ran through its veins if it had any, razor-sharp claws raked along a side almost as large as the paw, attempting to see what was beneath the fur-like layer.

.: OOC :.

notes: I feel really bad having Xol treat Aisling like this >.< Also, she can dodge his claw if you want! He didn't necessarily draw blood either c:
tagged: Aisling
word count: 351
muse: Not great

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[Aisling]

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[attr="class","pltxt"] “Just because something is smaller than you does not make it a midget. I think the idea is that it’s something abnormally small in relation to others of its kind? And… I do not believe you are what I am.” She giggled a little and looked him over, slowly circling him, taking in his large frame. It seemed like a giant to her. He could probably easily squish her with his paw. It would not even take much effort on his part. But he did not. He simply looked at her with curiosity as she looked at him.

Death is nice.


The statement took the little fennec by surprise. Who responded to a question about what they enjoyed with an abstract concept? Much less ‘death’? It did not make sense to her, and she shook her head as he continued.

Anyway, do you have a name? Again, what even are you?


“Oh,” she giggled again. “I am a fox. Aisling. You? What are you? I have seen others of your kind here. Most of them seem… smaller somehow, though…” she trailed off as his paw came towards her. Every muscle in her body tensed, having just been thinking about the damage a paw that size could inflict on her. But she searched his face for any indication of mal-intent and there was none – only curiosity. Aisling tried to relax until her reflexes kicked in at the last moment and forced her to dart away almost as if she was not in control of the action at all. But unfortunately she did not entirely avoid harm. Her sudden movement had caught a bit of her skin on his claw and scraped along her side as she ran away.

Suddenly the fennec was furious. All fear was gone, her small body seemingly only being able to hold one emotion at a time. Turning back to the giant after looking at her side, now slightly bleeding, she screeched, “And what do you think you are doing? How dare you.” Without warning, and without fear, she attacked his leg, running toward it and making a motion for his foreleg with her maw, with the intent to clamp down on it as hard as she could. The thought that this was a ridiculous and pointless fight that she could not win did not even cross her mind. She was simply determined to teach him not to mess with her.

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Words: 406
Muse: decent
Tags: Xolotl
Notes: LOL! I want to know how he responds to her ferocity. xD

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[Xolotl]

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[attr="class","pltxt"]"No, I'm not what you are. You're a midget and I'm not a midget," the large male joked, although his voice was devoid of humour.

Then the tiny thing giggled and gave a name—Aisling. It was a fox, it said. "And yes, most of my kind are smaller. I'm a wolf. Xolotl." The name came naturally to the male, as if he was an elder who had been going by the same name for the entirety of his lengthy existence. But no, he was simply a youth who had changed his name recently and was only handing it out for the second time. It was under this moniker that the behemoth had made his first wolven kill and had joined the mighty Kairos—Xolotl was powerful, strong, and Jasper was just a morbidly curious pup, the training phase leading up to the greatness of Xolotl.

Every sense was heightened as Xolotl's giant forepaw ran along her flank. Excitement ran through the male's lemon-hued orbs, awaiting the result with a pup-like curiosity. Would Aisling perhaps die from it? After all, smaller bodies were more fragile. What a waste of a death if she did die. Dying just from being touched? Poor thing if that was to be. The Kairos male's musings were cut abruptly short as he drew blood from the fox standing below him, crimson liquid beading at her side just like wolves' blood. It was disappointing in a way—not as exotic as it seemed, perhaps. Xolotl was almost hoping for something bizarre to happen—maybe the fox would explode or start going insane. But he knew something about foxes now—they bled, just like their boring wolven cousins.

To the yearling's amusement, Aisling seemed infuriated by Xolotl's clawing. The more emotional wolves were hilarious to watch, in the Kairos brute's opinion. As far as he knew, the hulking Kenai Peninsula dominant did not have a temper but he could vicariously reap the benefits of one through this miniscule creature, it seemed. Knowing that his weight would slow him down, Xolotl decided to not make a fool of himself by failing to lift his leg. Keeping the hefty foreleg planted firmly on the ground, the pain-resistant behemoth did not flinch as little teeth punctured his ankle, for that was just about what the little fox could reach. A faint sting rang around his lower leg but a year of arthritis in one of his lower legs toughened up his resistance to pain. A scratch at his paw or ankle was not uncommon when he hunted so it was nothing new to him.

"What's wrong, Aisling? Scared? Angry?" Then, addressing her question, despite it being rhetorical, Xolotl replied, "I think that I'm testing out how foxes work."

.: OOC :.

notes: Aisling is adorable omg <3 I feel really bad about Xol haha
tagged: Aisling
word count: 497
muse: Good

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[Aisling]

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[attr="class","pltxt"]post The fact that the wolf did not move at all was disconcerting at best, even more infuriating at worst. She dug her small teeth in with all her might, though her jaw was protesting being open so far to hold to his massive leg. Why did she bother when she was only hurting herself and not achieving the desired result at all?

What's wrong, Aisling? Scared? Angry?

How could he simply respond so calmly as if he did not care what she was attempting to do? How rude did one have to be to not move a muscle when attacked and make the attacker feel even smaller and more powerless than they already feel?

After a couple seconds, Aisling let go of her hold on his leg, realizing it was pointless. But as she turned away from his leg, she kicked dust at it in disgust, letting out a small “humph” sound as if she felt she still had some dignity or some control over the situation and was simply “letting him off easy”.

“No. I’m not angry.” Aisling replied very matter-of-factly, determined not to give him the satisfaction of having riled her, as if that had not been obvious. Keeping up the anger was too much effort. The small fox sat down in front of him, this time keeping more alert to any movements from his paws that could be meant to harm her, and began to groom herself, trying to get at her side to lick the scratch. Her bushy tail folded neatly over her front paws.

“Do you enjoy injuring things like you enjoy death?” the fennec finally responded, her large eyes making contact with his and looking for an honest answer. The question was harmless, prompted only by curiosity about this beast in front of her. “Do you enjoy testing things to the point that they cannot be tested anymore and die?” She did not know where the thought had come from. It seemed oddly morbid for her. She never thought about death, but it seemed somehow applicable here.

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Words: 353
Muse: good
Tags: Xolotl
Notes: so how many more replies were we gonna do before wrapping it up?

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[Xolotl]

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[attr="class","pltxt"]It was almost amusing to Xolotl how Aisling defiantly declared that she had not been angry. Why were emotions so shameful? They were natural, after all, and natural things could not be helped. Besides, they were truly fascinating, how they could completely change a wolf as if an inner switch had been flicked. The behemoth would have been proud if he had felt such strong emotion—it meant that he was unique and fascinating. He had sure been unique in Valyn. So unique that he had been ostracised in his own pack. Perhaps if he had felt such strong emotions, Valyn would have worshipped him just as they seemed to do for females. Perhaps he could have been accepted, 'loved', even, however that thing worked.

"Do I enjoy injuring things? I don't enjoy anything. I find comfort in control. I want acceptance by peers. I want to find out how death works and have that knowledge, but I don't find enjoyment in anything.

"And why would I want to kill my test subjects?" the Kairos male added, horrified. "There are benefits to living test subjects as well as dead ones, and you only die once. What a pitiful death if I let one of my test subjects die like that."

Yes, Xolotl had used deceased corpses more than living ones, but it still seemed like a massive waste to just carelessly allow a living body to shut down. Although, the yellow-eyed titan was rather intrigued as to what happened if a used test subject died during an experiment... Would the death mechanism work just as it did with any other animal or would it be different because the animal had been studied before? There was a rather sudden urge to obtain a live prisoner to test on for a few years before killing them. Aisling was rather fascinating.

.: OOC :.

notes: I feel like I'm writing about a scientist lmao. Aisling's reply can be the last? Like she can just nope out of it and be all horrified at Xol =P
tagged: Aisling
word count: 327
muse: Great

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[Aisling]

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[attr="class","pltxt"]The more the giant of a brute continued talking, the more nervous it made Aisling. There was something slightly disturbing about him and about the fact that he had just drawn blood from a creature the size of his paw for no apparent reason other than to do so. What kind of beast did that? Her ears and tail twitched with the nervous energy she exuded, every nerve active and alive, noticing everything — every movement, every sound…

And why would I want to kill my test subjects?

And that was where the curiosity of the fennec ended. “Test subject??” her tone was a mixed of horrified and outraged, as if even she was not sure how to respond to something like that. “First I’m a midget and now I’m a test subject!? No thank you!” she squeaked at him jumping up and kicking dust in the air with her paws in his general direction.

She had had fun meeting this abnormally sized creature and satisfying her curiosity about him, but it was time she was off again. Sitting still had never been her strong suit. “Well,” she began, in an attempt not to be discourteous about leaving so suddenly, “It was… interesting to meet you, Xolotl. Maybe I’ll see you again?” She could not say she was eager to meet him again, but if she did run into him at some point in the future, she would probably not purposefully avoid him.

“I need to be on my way now.” Aisling ignored the way he watched her with a look of morbid curiosity in his eye. “Until next time?” And then without even awaiting a response, she skipped off, slowly picking up speed as she tore through the lava terrain in search of another adventure.

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Words: 309
Muse: could be worse
Tags: Xolotl
Notes: sorry I took so long! I'm the worst! D:

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