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 Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 4:38 pm
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 4:38 pm
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Children were actually kind of terrifying.
Once a feral creature, Athera was still an extraordinarily mischievous thing, but she'd adapted astonishingly well once she realized Muerte provided things like candy, not death. It was that sort of quick evolving skill repertoire hat really had the greenblood paranoid; she was young, but she was smart, there wasn't any doubting that.
Oh well. Soon it wouldn't be his problem.
He'd sent a note--a summons of sorts (a little more politely written)--for Byakko to stop by at her earliest convenience. The letter had no other information, nothing about the mutantblood child Muerte had corralled in his laboratory, just a vague sense of urgency.
Well, Athera wasn't necessarily corralled at the moment. He had the lab locked up so she couldn't escape, but she had relative run of the place. Muerte had even been kind enough to supply her some items to entertain herself with, like the left over candy wrappers, and an abacus, and even something special: a pair of worn, well used lab gloves.
"If you behave, you can have some pencils." He told her as he waited on a lab stool.
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Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2017 1:13 pm
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Gloves on, bangs parted and pinned to the side with a paperclip, Athera was playing mad scientist. What exactly a mad scientist was, who knew, but she looked content with her oversized, worn out gloves and the company of a couple brave (or foolish) wingbeast assistants. They bobbed their heads in the weird way they did and pecked at the floor beneath the stool where she sat.
"'Kay," she replied to Muerte, only looking up once adjusting a few beads on the abacus. "I wan'em."
Wanting had become a recent trend with Athera, about as recent as learning how to form words. Anything Muerte offered and even things he didn't, she wan-ed them, to the point she felt the need like hunger in her gut. It was weird, but she didn't have much in the way of experience to compare the new feeling to.
At least she had her abacus. It was distracting enough that she didn't even look away from her work at the faint knocking from elsewhere in the hive.
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Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2017 5:30 pm
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Muerte's head snapped up at the knocking on the door. "Good. Now wait here." He rose to his feet, paused, and then slid Athera a pencil anyway. It was a show of good faith—a taste of things to come. This particular one was a lovely shade of burgundy. Still, he wasn't too worried; Athera had calmed down considerably once she found out Muerte wasn't out to kill her.
Now, Byakko. He was worried about that one. He still held a decent amount of confidence that what he'd done was the proper thing, but being thrown off of the balcony was still very fresh in his mind. So.
When he answered the door his expression was neutral, bordering on grim. He looked to be well—his robotic eye was still covered up with a patch, the scars underneath barely poking out from the leather cover—but he seemed fine, no anxiety here. "Greetings. I'd rather not waste either of our time, so do come in." He side stepped.
"Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I've summoned you. It's honestly a predicament that's easier shown than explained, so if you'll follow me..." He started off back towards his lab, the hallways thankfully wide to navigate (it was a necessity. Have you seen Aprife's horns?), before stopping before the door. He'd locked it behind him. Now he unlocked it with an eerie click.
"This is Athera." He said upon opening the door, his voice lacking any inflection or fanfare.
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Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 1:10 pm
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If there was one thing Byakko admired about Muerte, it was their shared distaste for small talk. So many precious minutes wasted with trivial blather. She merely nodded, grunted in reciprocity at his greeting, and stepped into the hive.
She remained silent while Muerte pressed deeper through the halls, curiosity undeniably piqued. She didn't like the sound of 'a predicament'; but once again, reassured herself with the knowledge that Aprife surely would have come to her if something was wrong.
Upon entering Muerte's lab, Byakko's eyes began to flicker from the back of the greenblood's head to the many tables, bottles and contraptions aligned against the walls. They lingered on a small plastic figurine of a bananawingbeast. Aprife had never shown her this part of his hive; not that there was any need to, Byakko wasn't really the hiveguest type- but nonetheless it was difficult not to let her focus wander.
Her attention was drawn back to Muerte, via a click echoing throughout the lab. Her eyes narrowed over the good doctor's head, (not an impressive feat by any means), past the open door, and onto the figure of a small child fiddling with an abacus.
Byakko looked down at Muerte, clearly puzzled, then back again to the child. She looked around for any signs of a lusus. None. Stepping forward into the room, past Muerte, she stopped short of a few feet from Athera. That's when she noticed- the faint purple tinge on the scabbing at the girl's knees and feet. Much too unsaturated, but clearly there.
She balked.
A million questions frothed in her mind. How long had Muerte been keeping her there? Where did he even find her- their Mothergrub? How did he nab her without anyone noticing? Did Aprife know? Surely not. He better not. How did Muerte even get away with this? How long did he know about her? How long was she in the caverns? Had she completed the trials, or did he pluck her away before then? Had Athera named herself? What were her language skills like? Had she encountered lusus in the caverns- did she understand her mutation? Swallowing the ball of anger and gratitude collecting at her throat, she kept her focus on the girl and merely asked one simply question instead,
"Hello, Athera. How are you?"
So much for tossing aside smalltalk. Despite her close proximity to them, Akko still wasn't quite sure how to converse with children, let alone other mutantbloods. On the surface, she was calm and collected.
Byakko couched down so she was on Athera's level, arms draped loosely over her knees. Her fingers curled into her hands, digging into the flesh of her palms. She gave Muerte one sideways, sharp glance, as if turning to him for an answer if Athera didn't respond- resigning herself to deal with him later.
saedusk omg i didnt mean for this to get so long gomen
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Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:33 pm
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When Muerte returned with Byakko, Athera was busy scribbling away on a piece of paper that hopefully wasn't important. It was just something she'd grabbed from the lab table after he left, but she hadn't bothered looking it over before plopping her bottom back onto the floor. The drawings weren't anything spectacular either, but if you squinted it was possible to make out a beast with scales and feathers and rows of teeth—an amalgamation of things she'd seen in the caverns.
Byakko's approach wasn't something that immediately triggered Athera's wariness, but she did set her pencil down and pull her knees up to her chest. Cautious glances flickered in Muerte's direction, but he didn't look panicked, and this new face wasn't so different from him or her, so she stayed seated.
"M'okay," she answered, thinking then to scoop up her abacus and hold it at her knees like a tiny shield. Just in case. "Who you?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2017 3:54 pm
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Byakko lingered back, granting Athera the space she clearly required. Understandable enough. It took Trolldad ages to get her accustomed to living inside a hive, let alone other trolls. Some instincts were easier quelled than others. She tried her best not to gape; Akko would have liked to think she'd be better at controlling her reactions to other mutantbloods by now, but still found it difficult not to stare dumbfoundedly at the child before her. Her whole being buzzed with overwhelming exhilaration.
Breaking eye contact with Athera as to not intimidate her, Byakko straightened her back and peered around the room. It looked... lived in. Muerte earned himself a second glare.
"My name is Byakko," she started, then stopped, faltering to find the right words. While she couldn't be certain, Athera appeared to be far less articulate than either Maneki or Cynril had been when she first met them. "I'm... a friend of Muerte's." Debatable, but she wasn't about to argue semantics with herself at this moment. 'We don't actively try to kill one another' would have been more accurate; but, once again, debatable.
"Has he been treating you well?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:07 pm
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Byakko may have looked away, but Athera's eyes stayed locked on her face a time longer, a mixture of wariness and curiosity shimmering in them.
"Hello," she replied after learning Byakko's name—a little late, but better now than never. Hearing she was Muerte's friend seemed to help, though she did shoot him a lingering glance as if verifying it was true.
"Moo-te is nice," she assured, but it wasn't enough to leave it at that. "I got candy and this," she held up the abacus, "and this," then she picked up the pencil, held it out for Byakko to see, then moved it a bit so Muerte could see better, too. As if he didn't already know what he'd given her.
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Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:18 pm
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Muerte looked ready to object to Byakko's words, but the sharp glare made any sort of protest die in his throat. Instead he crossed his arms, trying his best not to look increasingly frazzled. He knew what those kind of looks entailed, especially from their lovely leader.
"Muerte. We're still working out the enunciation." He slid into the conversation smoothly, "Though, considering she's only been here about a weeks time, she's caught on fairly quickly. I'm no lusus though, nor would I ever wish to be in that position."
There was a slightly pause. Muerte turned to rifle around in a shelf on the wall. Inside were vials of familiar pink blood, but what he pulled out was a light lavender hue.
"Which, if it isn't entirely obvious." He set the container of coagulated liquid on the table, "You both have a lot in common. She doesn't have a symbol, nor has she selected a last name for herself. Athera was something I coined out of necessity." He cleared his throat, "I had been tracking her for some time in the caverns and interceded her at the last moment. We're the only ones who know of her existence, at this point in time."
He slid Athera a second pencil, which looked much like the first.
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