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+---- Thread: equal opportunity killer (/showthread.php?tid=11191)
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equal opportunity killer - Dantalion - 04-25-2025
They’ve gotten very good at wearing their civilised masks - better still since the Grounds has started to grow in popularity, drawing visitors (including leaders) far and wide from other regions. But there are times when only raw chaos will do, when feeding the beast that lives within every Ancient is the only thing that will make drawing up that mask again possible.
Tonight is one of those times, and for Danta, the chill in the air is nothing compared to the fire in his blood and the need to hunt that sings through his veins. The Outer Brambles is quietly feral, the overhanging branches of the trees snagging at his dark shirt and leaving surface scratches on his cheeks and arms that add a tang of blood to the already building frenzy in his mind.
They’d been tracking deer, one having spooked about a minute before, and whatever careful prowling the Maverick had forced himself into has long been abandoned. Danta runs as if he’s both chasing and the one being chased; he runs as if he’s never been free to do so before, and the growing shape of the deer up ahead does little to calm the growing violence of his thoughts.
RE: equal opportunity killer - Astaroth - 04-25-2025
It’s Danta’s hunt, though the butcher would never argue with accompanying. His lover’s bloodlust was a cautious thing, one rarely truly sated yet also rarely showed the typical signs of its approach. It wasn’t like the butcher’s own, where he could tell day after day, week after week, that it would need to be on the horizon. Danta’s was a different beast entirely, and Astaroth has made it a goal to ensure that whatever he had going on when it came around mattered far little so that he could always be available to join him on these hunts.
So their masks are left behind. The butcher trails the Maverick, splitting off in order to help – trading two legs for four volcanic paws that strike the ground with purpose, aiming to cut off the spooked deer. If he thought he stood a chance of distracting it in the new deer shift he’d found under his skin, he might have tried that. Alas, the deer of the Outer Brambles were often frightful of fire.
Rounding away from deer to approach behind it, opposite of Danta to pinch it, the butcher blasts his flame toward it to spook it back toward his lover.
RE: equal opportunity killer - Dantalion - 04-26-2025
Asta’s distraction works, and the deer bleats something desperate and fretful and darts to the right - directly into Danta’s path as he rounds on it with a sudden burst of speed. He’s right on track to grab for it, intent on tearing into its throat with a lyvern’s teeth or a gore crow’s talons, but at that moment - at that terrible, hilarious moment - a pack of fucking ROUS swarm from a burrow near the animal’s feet, nipping and biting and chittering as they overwhelm it.
The deer goes down and goes down hard, and Danta’s outrage tears from his throat in a snarl that’s barely human. He overshoots thanks to the rodents now ripping into the fresh venison, his boots skidding hard in the dirt and leaves, his teeth bared and his eyes void of anything but feral rage.
Fire bursts across the grass in front of him, eating a hungry line of ghoulish light into the earth before erupting over both the ROUS and the fallen deer. Some of the rats scatter, still smoking and smouldering, while others shriek and die as they are consumed by the fire. It’s to these former that Danta turns his attention, and with his muscles and lungs still screaming with exertion, he gives chase to those vermin trying to escape.
RE: equal opportunity killer - Astaroth - 04-26-2025
A pulse of pride flares from the butcher’s chest to see the deer recoil, turning back toward where he knows Danta is coming from. He doesn’t chase too quickly after, instead choosing to slow down on the chase to allow the Maverick the chance to take down the deer. What he doesn’t expect – and what Danta doesn’t expect – is the sudden onslaught of large ROUS as they begin to descend upon the deer.
The fyrhund slows with a hiss of smoke, hearing Danta’s visceral anger at the sight of his prey being taken away from him, so the butcher trails after the scattering ROUS that Danta focuses his fiery attention on. Figuring they would be less inclined to come to the fyrhund as he is, the butcher takes a few moments to shift into that deer he’d debated earlier, convincing two of the ROUS to think they’re safe to climb up onto his hindquarters, in line for Danta to blast him with fire – impervious as he is – but to take out his aggression again on the horribly timed rodents.
RE: equal opportunity killer - Dantalion - 04-26-2025
Danta barely notices, at first, as fyrhund becomes a deer wreathed in flame, and were it not for the scorching glow of his antlers the Maverick might have thought it was another potential prey animal for him to chase down and feast upon. (And, you know, that might still happen, but not in the way you’re thinking). For now, as the ROUS think it safe to nip at Asta’s hindquarters, Danta does indeed reward them for their audacity by blasting them with another jet of fire.
The air fills with a keening sort of squeaking and the rodents fall away from Asta’s flank, leaving nothing left to chase and his initial meal utterly ruined. Forgive Danta for not wanting to sink his teeth into charred rats or a half eaten doe; the Maverick’s footsteps finally slow as he falls to a halt in the long grass, his chest heaving, his expression still one that suggests he’s mostly lost to reason at present.
Blue eyes made nearly black by the size of his pupils glance around the empty field, and he hisses out a curse under his breath and rakes his hands back through his unruly hair, uncaring if his fingers snag on a knot or braid or wayward charm woven into the blonde locks. Nothing. Nothing around now for miles, he bets, given that they’ve spooked the wildlife the fuck away.
RE: equal opportunity killer - Astaroth - 04-26-2025
Retaliation is the main goal of the butcher at the moment – nostrils flaring to feel the nips at his hindquarters, it means far little for him as Danta catches up and blasts him with flame. He feels each one drop, shaking himself out when he realizes their steaming carcasses are all that’s left. He shifts back, drawing up to his full height. He reaches out for Danta in a gentle motion, one warm hand to touch his elbow. “[say]Shift, darling.[/say]” Comes the encouragement. “[say]Take to the skies and scout and I shall search down here.[/say]”
Reason or not, the butcher’s mental state is far more even than Danta’s right now, and he steps away from his lover to shift into the fyrhund once more, looking down the path they hadn’t come from, which means there might be something lying in wait thinking it’s gotten free. But he waits, staying his hand – or paws? – for the Maverick to take to the skies so that whatever they stumble across doesn’t get spooked immediately by his presence on the ground.
RE: equal opportunity killer - Dantalion - 04-26-2025
It’s autopilot, the way Danta snatches his arm away at the brush of warm fingers against his elbow, the Maverick turning sharply as if expecting a fight, or to be hauled away back somewhere dark and lonely with only his hunger for company. But the soft purr of Asta’s voice hits the air, encouraging and calm and with solutions for the gnawing chasm in the pit of his stomach, and Danta manages a shallow, almost apologetic nod before he sets off again through the long grasses.
Breaking into a jog before shifting mid-step, the crow that takes to the air is near invisible against the blackness of the night sky, but he doesn’t fly beyond the tree line, wanting to keep an eye on both the fyrhund below and anything else that might pop up. And it takes a while and a bit of careful flight on his part, but eventually he does spy movement from below, letting out a sharp caw of anticipation.
It’s a fox, weaving through the foliage and between scrubby trees for something good to hunt, not realising that it will soon trade in its role of predator for prey. It doesn’t consider a large crow much of a threat, either, not even when it swoops into a mad dive, and by the time Danta shifts back to land on the vulpine as something much larger (i.e. himself), it’s far too late.
The crack of breaking bone is a swift, sharp thing in the echo of the Maverick’s landing, and by the time Asta comes across him again he’ll already be tearing into the creature with his bare hands, dark sleeves soaked with blood and his teeth and fangs making short work of any of the raw flesh he rips free.
RE: equal opportunity killer - Astaroth - 04-26-2025
The way Danta recoils from his touch is precisely why the butcher had not grabbed him. He’d simply touched, offering him the opportunity to not be caged or trapped, to make his own decisions – whether in the throws of his deep bloodlust or not – and offered an open solution to him seeking relief for the terrible event of the ROUS taking what was rightfully his. The nod, almost apologetic in nature, is returned before Asta’s shifting after Danta’s tore off to the skies, and he tries his best to follow the black avian as he vanishes amongst the blackened treetops.
He's much slower down here than Danta is, but he strays within view – he thinks at least – leaving his glowing lava between the plates of his shift to be the indicator of his location. It isn’t until he spots belatedly the dive of the shadow that the butcher twists his course to approach, lagging behind, but not too long to where Danta would have to be alone after satisfying his bloodlust. He approaches just after Danta’s covered in blood, orange eyes scanning him before he shifts back into himself and approaches, straightening out the black jacket worn atop any finery, sure that some of it would get bloody with this endeavor.
And it’s with open admiration that the butcher watches his lover tear into the fox, seeing the way it poses absolutely zero of a threat for the Maverick, even if his eyes scan for any ROUS that might be looking to make an attempt at it. Finding nothing nearby, he approaches further once Asta’s sure that Danta won’t rip him to shreds. “[say]Very nicely done, darling.[/say]” Comes the purr, the grin shot his way, stepping up to his side and offering a hand should he wish to use it to get up.
He knows how exhausting it was for Danta, each and every time it snuck up.
“[say]Would you like for me to carry you back?[/say]” He murmurs softly, zero judgement in his tone but simple understanding.
RE: equal opportunity killer - Dantalion - 04-26-2025
There’s a little more of Danta in the Maverick’s gaze as his eyes flash up towards Asta on his approach, but the butcher is right to be slow and cautious about it. Still, by the time the other man is able to step up beside him, it’s with a slow, deep inhale that he sits back from the carcass of the fox. Its ribcage shines stark white in the moonlight, scraps of fur and viscera left behind for any other carrion who might care to take it. Danta, at least, is done in every sense of the word, and it’s with a tired smile that he nods and accepts Asta’s hand with blood-slick fingers.
Hauling himself unsteadily to his feet and fighting not to totter into the butcher entirely, he wipes his mouth with the back of his sleeve as if to try to neaten himself up a bit - not that he’s at all successful. [say]”Thank you,”[/say] he rumbles through a voice that sounds hoarse to his own ears. [say]”I’d… yeah. If you don’t mind?”[/say] Already feeling his eyes growing heavy, for once Danta doesn’t hesitate before shrinking back down into the form of a gore crow, chirping up at his lover for assistance.
RE: equal opportunity killer - Astaroth - 04-27-2025
He waits until he’s fairly certain that the Maverick won’t tear off his arm from approaching so close, but by the time that he has it seems the exhaustion has begun to sink into Danta’s body. His hand is taken, the blood cooling on his lover’s hands but still slick when it slides into his own and he helps him up. Completely unbothered by it, the butcher keeps his arm close around him as his offer is made, just in case the Maverick does decide he can’t stand on his two legs any longer.
Danta’s hoarse voice is quiet, but the butcher is so close that he’s easily heard as he agrees to being carried home. “[say]Not at all, darling.[/say]” And he doesn’t, not with the charm on his arm. He could carry him wherever he wished to go, for however long he wanted him to. So he waits until his lover’s form becomes a ball of dark, ebony feathers, and the butcher reaches down to carefully collect the corvid into his arms.
It takes some finagling, but eventually he gets Danta tucked partially into the warm jacket he wears, pressed between it, his arms, and his chest. He gives one last look to the massacred fox and the sensation of the creatures lying in wait for their departure, and he begins to pluck the pathway toward home, guided by the stars and familiar paths that he’s fairly certain guide back toward the Inner Quarter. “[say]If you would like to take a nap, I will understand.[/say]” Comes the soft murmur, the gentle and soothing press of fingers against Danta’s crown and neck and along his cheek beside his beak, in gentle strokes.
RE: equal opportunity killer - Dantalion - 04-27-2025
Still unused to being handled, and particularly by Asta, Danta can’t help but hold himself stiff as the other man gathers him up into his arms. Even so, with the lull of exhaustion dragging at both his mind and his body, it isn’t long before he’s forced to relax, sandwiched between Asta’s chest and the warmth of his jacket. With his feathers fluffing up and the butcher’s steady footsteps already sending him into a doze, he doesn’t need to be told twice when it comes to the suggestion of a nap, croaking some weak agreement up to Asta before falling quiet.
Snoozing his way through much of the journey home is something Danta will be inclined to apologise about later, but for now, gods if he doesn’t need it. And it’s with the gentle, lingering feel of Asta’s fingers smoothing over his feathers and the drum of his heartbeat against his ear that he seems to come around, wriggling enough to peep out of one lapel at the darkened world beyond.
Wishing he could speak in this shift but equally not wanting to disturb the strange peace of the night, Danta instead tips his head back to click his beak at his lover in greeting, but nothing more.
RE: equal opportunity killer - Astaroth - 04-27-2025
Danta can be as good or as terrible of a passenger as he wants – the butcher finds he cares very little. But he does realize he needs a nap and while Asta hadn’t been as exhausted from this trek – given that it wasn’t his bloodlust they’d sated – that a nap on the way home meant that Danta wouldn’t be so dead to the world when he got them back into their room. So he continues the idle little scritches until Danta doesn’t seem to move much more, sapped of his energy and sunk into a slumber that the butcher uses to focus on getting them back toward home.
The Brambles are still dark and it’s a fairly long trek, but he’s managed to get out of the thick of it by the time he feels the shift of Danta in between his jacket and chest. His feet are steady as they follow the well worn wagon pathway toward home and he doesn’t quite acknowledge Danta until the clack of his beak drags his attention down.
“[say]Goodmorning, darling.[/say]” He hums playfully, because it’s got to be the early morning by now, judging by the pathway of the moon. “[say]Are you feeling better?[/say]” He hums softly, reaching up to brush a finger along the length of Danta’s beak before dragging it through the feathers around his head and neck.
RE: equal opportunity killer - Dantalion - 04-28-2025
Croaking his response - both a good morning in return and an affirmative to feeling better, Danta turns his head this way and that as if to ensure that Asta's fingertips are able to fuss and fluff at all of the available feathers. Nibbling at him with his beak in an attempt to preen him back, eventually the crow shakes himself off, wondering whether to hop out of the cover of Asta's coat and shift back onto two legs for the conversation, or try to scrabble his way up to his shoulder for a ride.
Eventually the latter wins out (and we always knew it would), Danta counting on his lover to understand what he's getting at with his attempt to scale Mt. Astaroth. Providing there are no unfortunate accidents - mainly involving Danta being dropped, you understand - the grow will settle himself regally upon Asta's shoulder, wings neatly folded, beak absently nosing through the other man's hair as if to see if it is styled to his satisfaction.
RE: equal opportunity killer - Astaroth - 04-28-2025
The butcher continues to walk as Danta’s head twists this way and that, allowing the scratches to go precisely where he wants them to go. His fingers still with the gentle nibbling, though he doesn’t seem to pay much mind. At least, not until it seems like Danta’s moving. In which case, the butcher’s steps slow and he ensures that wherever his lover intends to go, that he won’t fall on the way up or down.
Eventually, the realization occurs when Danta’s settling on his shoulder - the weight a comfortable one as the butcher chuckles softly. Allowing any preening to his hair, he imagines he cuts quite a threatening figure as they carve the path toward home along the wagon trail. Soon enough, the brief flickering light of fires can be seen in the distance, as if they’d emerged to find civilization. “[say]If only Moira were here to compete the look, mm?[/say]” He teases, tilting his head slightly to peer up at Danta with amusement, before he pulls off the wagon trail to drift through the little outskirts of homes - still a distance away from the Inner Quarter.