Post by Raum on Mar 13, 2016 20:40:04 GMT -5
The Other was gone for now, hidden in cool shadows in the shrewd, primal corners of his consciousness. Raum was grateful for it in times of need- the ability to call Him to the forefront, take over. It was shocking, though, and a shiver crawled lightly over him from nape to dock. Should he be unsettled by such a thing? Was it a normal occurrence to become something else, something foreign and yet altogether like home?
His questions would not beget answers, not in his own mind. The giant pushed them aside, as he so often did. The anger was gone for now, the bitters strewn at the bottom of his glass. Instead, his consciousness filled with raw energy, he paced the rivers edge, marking his land with a steady trail of urine and blood.
The sand was his enemy, for now. The heat and gritty rock had worn away his pads like blisters, and only some had fully calloused over. Perhaps that was his price for making this land his, and shedding away the comfort of Kairos. The terrain was scalding, but it was a beautiful reminder of how far he’d come. He picked away at them, exposing his needy skin to the earth, leaving a steady trail of red iron and salt that pungently nestled in his muzzle. This was the powerful omen he wanted at the border. The message was clear: trespass with caution.
Of course, the territory was enormous. The old, faded markers told him where his land began and another's ended, but it came at a cost. His time spent patrolling seemed endless, and fresh scents in the area reminded him that they were not doing their best. Their small band of informality was not enough to secure the area, and paranoia threatened to rear its ancient head in warning. Raum toiled with the idea of new blood, but their dysfunctional family was exactly that- a family. Whether they shared blood or not, the three of them were growing together as siblings might. It was hard to imagine another joining up in their band, but he made a mental note of it. The idea had to be considered.
The moments of insecurity weren’t enough to bring him down, though. His time with Mara had put him in an exceptionally good mood, which was rare for the horrid beast. Some part of Raum’s soul felt like he supposed pups felt around their siblings, or how a tree felt before it was burned by lightning. He belonged somewhere, to something, and perhaps had a place in someone else’s existence. The titan felt brave, invincible in his own right. He was intoxicated by his own sense of purpose.
His steps fell lightly, with the grace and agility of a hawk, bright irises squinting in the dawn. He let the granules grind into the sores and breathed in the morning fog, breath light in his chest. The mahogany male wore no mask, his black muzzle and paws stark against the earth. As he waded into the water to soothe the slow ache in his muscles, having walked through the early hours after spending most of the night with Mara, he dipped his head into the water and took a hearty sip of the fresh, cool liquid. He was disappointed to wash away her scent from his fur, but Raum held to the hope that it wouldn’t be long before he could let her drip over his body once more. With his head under the water, he was blind for the world for just a moment, and as he surfaced, he caught a flash of fur across the way.
For once, he was not in the mood to be hostile. It wasn’t his territory anyway, and he almost chucked arrogantly to himself in that second at the irony; so many of Goliath’s spawn seemed destined by gods he did not believe in to own, to possess. Starting a war with Nimue was not something he wanted to do. While he didn’t care for his half sister, he respected her, in a way. He didn’t dislike her. They’d never even spoken. The grotesque amount of siblings he had was amusing.
Wading from the water on his own home sand, he watched her from across the gurgling river in absolute, infinite silence, staring on with a terrifying accuracy, a curious predator who had already eaten his fill.
Hemlock
(will format as usual laptop ples work soon)
