Hunting Party [PRIP//PARC]

[al]

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Belial sat atop a fallen portion of castle wall, the black brick cold through the thin material of his clothing. From his perch he could see the forest below, hives with colorful flags dotting it here and there to break up the otherwise uninterrupted green and brown. Flecks of white slowly floated down to coat the mountain in a sheet of snow, glittering white clouds hovering far above.

He watched his breath trail out in a puff of white, a testament to how cold it actually was up here. Not that he really cared, he was used to it. The fact that his now-robotic arms were collecting a thin layer of ice was irritating him and he quickly stretched, rubbed them, watching the ice flake off and fall to the ground.

From somewhere below him he could hear the sound of claws tapping against stone as rats scurried through the caverns. How he'd lived here his entire life and never noticed them he would never know. Just as they didn't know that their last day alive was coming to as close, as he fully planned to go in with Pripas and Parcea and wipe them out by any means necessary.

He frowned. Parcea didn't know he wasn't aquatic. This would be a fucking adventure he was sure.

Fucking great.

[PARCAE PELTIS]

A seadweller! Living on the side of a mountain!

Parcae hummed a cheerful, tuneless song as she trampled through the undergrowth, breath misting as she walked. Blood steamed off her claws: the forest's HORRIFYING FAUNA had finally lived up to its name. She had nearly despaired about finding a proper cull that would be worthy of a hoity-toity sea dweller but then bam! Like a bonafide miracle, something loathsomely tentacled, and brutally ambulatory had nearly turned her and Pripas into a midnight luncheon.

It was also furry, which wasn't exactly a seadwelling trait but hey, hard enough to find a miniature horror terror, finding one mysteriously displaced from it's natural habitat would have been way too much to ask.

So - alongside a slew of fascinating shenanigans - she'd beaten it to death with a vigorous drubbing from her ULTRA-VIOLENCE RECUPERACOON and also shoosh papped Pripas who had in turn shoosh papped her and they also held hands for a bit. That was good, right? It wasn't like she'd dragged him into the way of danger on purpose or anything! She was being very careful about getting blood around him, like any proper moirail should and had insisted that she do all the heavy lifting as neither of their moduses would have been practical to stuff the gigantic corpse in.

Parcae grinned! She was being super-duper thoughtful! The thoughtfullest! A real highblood would have just bought a few lowbloods off the culling blocks to offer as sport to a fellow highblood, but that probably would not have impressed Pripas very much, and truth be told, it probably wouldn't have impressed Belly either! He could be such a tightass bore sometimes!

Then again, it wouldn't have impressed her either so- whatever!

"I think we're almost there!" she encouraged her moirail. "Just remember," she cautioned, "not to get in the way if he starts a duel, or tries to poison me, or something like that! It is a highblood thing, we are naturally drawn towards aggressive confrontations and speculative murder! He hopefully won't touch you though! And if he does I will feed him his own eyeballs. It'll be GREAT!"

[PRIPAS SHACHA]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style,width: 425px; background-color: #EFEFEF; border-left: #242424 10px solid; border-top: #242424 70px solid; border-radius: 8px 8px 0px 8px;] WORDS idk TAGS bel NOTES hi ❝ [style=float: left; font-family: arial; font-size: 54px; color: #242424; line-height: 48px; margin-right: 3px;]P ripas knew that Belial was a redblood. Isixis, his oh-so-caring matesprit had told him. Pripas wasn't quite sure how to bring up the subject with Parcae, but luckily he didn't have to do that. A few things came to fight, Parcae dispatched them, Pripas had freaked out a bit and was quickly shooshed and papped, but then Parcae needed it too so Pripas returned the favor and ultimately everything was okay forever. He couldn't help but feel they were going a bit out of their way, though. From Belial's description they could have reached his hive in a... More linear fashion. Or at least, one with less strife. Luckily, Parcae knew what was up and wanted to handle everything herself. The oliveblood was grateful, but he knew that may get her in trouble one day. But that day was not today, so everything was okay. He made sure to stick close behind Parcae, almost hiding behind her at points. The height disparity made that difficult. But, hey, she was a highblood, so it was okay. Pripas was certainly glad that Parcae didn't do anything too over the top in going to visit Belial. She took the hemocaste very seriously it seemed, and he was worried for a bit she would do something crazy like murder a lusus and carry it on her shoulders up to Belial's castle. That would be very awkward for Pripas especially. But, they were on their way, and Pripas figured it wasn't worth it to tell Parcae to go another way. She wanted to do things her way. She seemed fine. She had been handling herself very well. So Pripas decided to shut up and trudge onward. She began talking about what would happen if Belial were to fight her, and Pripas thought it was ridiculous. They were there to help! And, also, Belial wasn't actually a highblood. How little she knew. Prip felt bad for keeping the secret from her. He folded his hands in front of him as she spoke, brushing off her eyeballs comment like it was nothing. He actually put on a shirt, which was odd, but at least he could remember what his little symbol was. He always liked it. It gave him something to stare at while he ended the suspense. "He's a redblood." Pripas left it at that, lightly holding Parcae's hand despite the blood, just so that she knew it was okay and that she shouldn't flip out and who was Pripas kidding, she would probably flip out anyway. He mentally prepared his pap hand. [/style] ❞ I RECLAIMED THE USE OF MY IMAGINATION FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, I'VE YET TO KNOW BUT I ALWAYS KNEW YOU'D BE THE ONE TO UNDERSTAND ME; I GUESS THAT'S WHY IT TOOK SO LONG TO GET THINGS RIGHT.

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true] MADE BY AYU OF BTN [x]

[PARCAE PELTIS]

Parcae blinked. Gears started shifting. A thought that had long ago seeded finally germinated and then promptly turned out to be a weed.

A lowblood masquerading as a highblood?

Something deep in her (admittedly lackluster) bosom stirred. Stirred and petulantly demanded comeuppance and blood and lots of dead trolls. The hemospectrum was something sacred. You couldn't just get your blasphemies all over it! No, not blood. The one great, only truth in the nightmare of Alternian soil and government.

Blood spoke, blood judged, blood mattered. Mattered because it EXISTED.

And now, with the cull at her back, she could smell it in the air. Smell it so thickly she wanted to rend and tear and-

She saw the oliveblood troll and halted that trek. Pripas hadn't seen fit to mention it? Why would he do that to her, unless...

Pripas had probably meant to surprise her! He knew she loved tales of treason and sedition, and how much more treasonous and seditious could you get then Belly's little act of micro-aggression against the whole of the hemospectrum?

Her face broke into a grin, like jagged edges of a mirror being slowly put back together. For a moment the troll that howled for blood had shown and packing it away had been an effort. An effort she would not have been able to manage if not for Pripas!

"Well!" Her voice sounded a bit too loud for her ears. "Someone is living on the wild side! Lies of omission, huh! Very clever Belly, very clever."

[PRIPAS SHACHA]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style,width: 425px; background-color: #EFEFEF; border-left: #242424 10px solid; border-top: #242424 70px solid; border-radius: 8px 8px 0px 8px;] WORDS idk TAGS bel NOTES wow nick make a worse post ok thank wow omg ❝ [style=float: left; font-family: arial; font-size: 54px; color: #242424; line-height: 48px; margin-right: 3px;]T he pause wasn't quite a good thing, Pripas assumed. He guessed the gears were turning in her head. Oh, that wasn't something Pripas shouldn't have said. But, hey, at least now there would be minimal fighting. After all, Parcae could likely tear Belial to shreds. It also gave Pripas some hope too. Joarst could likely mutilate him, and Pripas thought maybe he would have a chance in a fight. Sure, Belial looked intimating, but the red flowing through his veins spoke otherwise. And Pripas was a greenblood. Not spectacularly high, but he was... Somewhat in the middle. Which is higher than the lowest of the low, for sure. Still, though, Pripas decided to just stop the threats in their tracks now before they got too far. Despite the fact that Pripas and Joarst together would likely be able to kill Belial if they so desired, something in Pripas told him not to be afraid anymore. Not too much. What he had to be scared of now was Parcae royally flipping her everloving shit. She was certainly an odd one. Probably broken in the pan, just like Isixis but in a different respect. One much more beautifully pitiful. She broke into a smile and Pripas' grin extended as well. Smiling was a nice thing to do. She started off very loud, something that almost startled Pripas. He made sure not to jump. "Right. I'm just glad you're not mad. Or, well, too mad." The oliveblood shrugged slightly and took Parcae's hand in his, giving it a little squeeze. "We should be almost there. I think. Probably." He stopped to think for a moment, trying to get his bearings. He wasn't the best with directions, but he wasn't the worst either he assumed. "Er, in either case, we should be there shortly, if not soon or now." He wasn't focusing on much, especially on the castle not too far from where they stood in the forest, likely covered by trees. [/style] ❞ I RECLAIMED THE USE OF MY IMAGINATION FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, I'VE YET TO KNOW BUT I ALWAYS KNEW YOU'D BE THE ONE TO UNDERSTAND ME; I GUESS THAT'S WHY IT TOOK SO LONG TO GET THINGS RIGHT.

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true] MADE BY AYU OF BTN [x]

[al]

[style=width: 400px; align: center; padding: 10 15; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/eWZa5.png); border: 10px solid #0a000a; font-size: 11px; font-family: Lucida Sans Unicode; font-weight: 0; color: #000000; text-align: justify;]Belial was aware of their presence long before they even able to see his castle. Every once in a while a flock of birds would ascend from the trees, jerkily flying off and away from whatever was wandering below. Occasionally a tree would shake with the movement of a larger beast and he would note it, watching roughly where the other trolls would be. He wasn't too far up the mountain but he didn't want to trouble them with having to climb up freezing, snow-slicked rocks and the entrance they would be taking was a bit further down.

Noting their position one more time, and indeed they were drawing closer, he nimbly hopped off from the chunk of wall and slid a few feet down. Hopping from rock to rock as carefully as he could he quickly reached a small opening a ways down the mountain. From inside he could hear distant screeches and something large retreating further into the darkness.

He scowled and slammed his fist against the black rock, pieces chipping off and falling to the ground. Those two had better hurry their asses up here, he was tired of waiting and even more tired of having vermin living under his hive.

[PARCAE PELTIS]

Pripas was trying to shoosh her, and it, perversely, made her resolve buckle. She didn't want to be shooshed! She wanted blood, she wanted vermillion over her claws and in her hair, and across the sweep of her long, gaunt face. But when the RIGHTEOUS LIGHT filled her pan, she never wanted to be shooshed. She accepted his squeeze and returned one of her own.

Breathe, highblood girl. Breathe.

Alright.

A lowblood masquerading as a highblood? She could DEAL with that. It was all a matter of fine-tuning her control. And that was what was important in the end. Proving that she could reign in her... impulses. Maybe she could do something constructive with this knowledge she had gained, LATER.

For now she was going to have to live with a little DISAPPOINTMENT.

"I was fooled!" she told Pripas, regarding her pseudo-horror-terror cull in mock sadness. "Hee hee hee, but that's alright. That's fine. He should be commended!"

Her smile faded.

Maybe she was trying a bit too hard. Her eyes narrowed as her mouth became a firm line.

"Let's go," she snapped, dragging the carcass behind her as she ascended the mountain.

[al]

[style=width: 400px; align: center; padding: 10 15; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/eWZa5.png); border: 10px solid #0a000a; font-size: 11px; font-family: Lucida Sans Unicode; font-weight: 0; color: #000000; text-align: justify;]At first he didn't see them, he'd been watching the sky. Overhead the clouds continued to slowly blow by, occasional flecks of snow falling from them. But he heard the rusting, voices in the distance.

And there they were, Pripas and Parcae, the shorter one dragging a large creature behind her. Belial frowned; she was just about as strong as he expected if not stronger and he didn't trust her at all. All he could rely on was Pripas being her moirail and hopefully not letting her get her murder on. Which, as should have been fairly obvious from how Belial treated Pripas on a regular basis, wasn't going to guarantee his safety at all.

"Move your asses!" he shouted down at them, "We've got a lot of ground to cover!"