you should see the things we do

Aithne

I see how this is gonna go

The Obsidian Cathedral is the most startlingly beautiful place that Aithne has ever seen.

Buried deep within the Climb, the Cathedral space itself is a vast chamber constructed entirely of black glass. The floors are slick, smooth, and dark, and as Aithne picks her way across them, she is careful not to slip upon their surface. Uneven rows radiate out from the shrine contained within, comprised of large, rectangular blocks of stone. Aithne slides onto one comfortably, baring a fanged grin at Soren as she lounges back against the rock.

There's something hungry in her gaze that has nothing to do with the young man with her. No, this is a more carnal desire, something that is newly born within her: a lust for blood that wasn't there before she was changed.

Something else crawls just below the surface of Aithne's skin, begging her to release it for the hunt to come. Perhaps there is something of the newly gifted shift that has taken over the girl's senses, for she swears that she can hear ash ferrets scurrying about the rocks, and she longs to transform and stalk them, if only to see if her new abilities will allow her to catch one. 

"Soooo," she says, her tone playful as she flutters her lashes up at Soren. "Are you ready?"

Touch me and you'll never be alone

Soren

The eyes are on fire

It felt like coming up for a breath after swimming underwater for too long.

He hadn’t realized how much his lungs had been burning, his very soul yearning for a new fulfillment.

He had felt resentment and groaned against what he had, but hadn’t realized what was next.

Until he stood before the shrine, Aithne at his side, palms sliced open and pressed into hers. When Dygra came, and granted them new breath, Soren felt truly alive for the first time.

It took him a moment to catch her voice. At first it was a rumble, muted and dull, across his eardrums before it registered in his mind. ”Oh, I’m ready.” he half-growled, the prickling beneath his skin mirroring what the girl felt. He cracked her a curved, rough grin before he closed green eyes and let loose what was now within. 

He spread his wings and cracking the air with a raptors cry, spreading his glorious wings.

You are the unforcasted storm

Aithne

Something happened for the first time

As Soren took wing, Aithne shifted.

Hands and feet became paws. Skin became rock; blood became lava. In a matter of moments, Aithne was on all fours, her rock-pelt black as night and her eyes glowing like embers. She offered a canine grin up to Soren. This was what they had been born for - not that half-life back in Stormbreak, where they'd been doomed to doldrums and bitterness. Out here, like this, they could live.

The girl lowered her head, casting about with her keen nose for a scent to follow. She found many. Some she discarded on instinct; others, though - others held her attention. Finding one in particular that her fyrhund shift recognized as prey, she woofed softly and began to follow it, leaving the shrine and its underground cathedral behind.

In the darkest little paradise

Soren

You have got that face that just says

The cinderscourge couldn’t describe how free and alive he felt. The hot air of the climb carried him. He cruised low, as if he had been doing this for as many years as he walked Caido. Perhaps his soul had always known this would be one of its true forms, he didn’t know. What he did know, though, was that there was prey to be had and his eyes were made for finding it.

Aithne was made for taking it down.

Flapping his wings to climb higher into the sky, Soren let out a sharp call to the fiery hound below. It beckoned her to follow his lead, to let his eyes guide her nose and her ferocity all at once. He scanned the ground below, sharp eyes pinpointing something glorious: a few huddled, deer-like creatures with brilliant flaming antlers.

"Baby, I was made to break your heart"

Aithne

Something happened for the first time

The fyrhund hunts, but rather than relying only on herself, she allows the cinderscourge to take the lead. With his keen eyesight and her muscular build, they will soon not only find their prey, but take it down.

Following Soren's calls as much as her nose, Aithne tracks the prey until she comes upon a cluster of rocks, blending in with her dark, jagged skin to look as though she were a part of the tunnels. Before her huddle a few deer-like creatures with antlers wreathed in flame: fierw, if her memory serves. She'd done as much research as she could before they'd left Stormbreak, and though texts on the Climb were scarce, there were some.

The fierw are beautiful, and it's almost a shame to have to kill one - almost, but not quite. With a canine grin, Aithne crouches, her ears pricked forward, her nose twitching. There are three to choose from, and though she hates to go for the smallest and weakest of the lot, she also knows that this is the smartest thing to do. The one closest to her, as it turns out, seems to fit the bill, and with her target marked, Aithne waits for a signal from Soren to continue the hunt.

In the darkest little paradise

Soren

You have got that face that just says

He circled once, casting a long shadow over the cracked earth, then folded his wings and dove. Heat peeled past him, the wind catching the curve of his body as he plummeted in silence, a streak of smoke and dark gold. His cry had already reached her—Aithne, swift-footed, flame-hearted, her outline flickering with heat mirage as she closed in.

Soren pulled up just before impact, the downdraft stirring ash and sparks from the ground. In the moment between wingbeat and stillness, he locked eyes on the largest of the herd: a stag ablaze with slow-burning fire, its antlers like kindled branches against the haze. It had seen him. Good.
He flared his wings wide and tilted them, a sharp angle—a signal. There. He had it's attention so that his companion could go for her target.

"Baby, I was made to break your heart"

Aithne

Something happened for the first time

The stag is the largest of the herd, but that is no matter. The Aithne that had left Stormbreak not so very long ago might have been weak and ineffectual against the fierwe, but this Aithne is stronger, better, driven by a lust not only for the beast’s blood, but to prove herself against the world. She creeps closer, disguised by the rock around her, until Soren swoops in as a distraction. Then, she pounces -

The rest of the herd scatters, but her jaws are already locked around the stag’s throat. Hot crimson sprays into her mouth as she clamps down against the fierwe’s valiant efforts to throw her off. It may be strong, but she is stronger, and her fyrhund shift is built for fights just like this. The fierwe’s movements grow weaker and more sluggish, and still she holds on, dragging it down to the floor of the caverns.

And when it is down, dying, bleeding out - that is when she rips out its throat.

In the darkest little paradise

Soren

You have got that face that just says

The young and newly turned ancient was still learning to use this form, but there were several aspects that already felt like the had been this way his entire life. As he swooped down to distract the herd, he let out a loud and ripping raptor’s scream. The fierwe scattered in panic, and Aithne came in. Full of power and with the blessings of their new goddess she brought one down.

Soren turned his body and snapped his wings open, flapping then in short bursts as he turned and landed. He clacked his beak towards his best friend, eyes burning with excitement for what she had done.

Pleased with what they have accomplished, Soren settles in, still a fiery raptor, to satiate his first lust.

FIN

"Baby, I was made to break your heart"