Post by Desiderata Spiros on Aug 18, 2016 19:01:46 GMT -5
Desiderata sat atop a dune, watching a soft wind form small cyclones of sand below her. Before this place, Des would have never associated the sands with a place so devoid of liquid. She remembered her human home had been Athens, a port city. She even remembered visiting the beaches. The coast, where sand was found alongside water. She had no such experience with a place like the one she wandered in now, but she knew it was called a desert.
Her head tilted to the side. Did she like the desert? Had she liked the beach? She couldn't remember. And most of her time in this place she'd spent in her previous form. Back then she had only been concerned with her fight with Desirous, to take over the space, the body they fought to conquer. Even when her mask had broken through, she hadn't been capable of idle thoughts. But now was different. She looked down at herself, then brought a clawed hand up for examination. Now she was closer to what she had been before.
As such, she was capable of considering things like: if she preferred deserts or not. Her gaze roamed the landscape again. The air was dry, and there was often a breeze strong enough to kick up sand into her eyes. She didn't like those parts. But it was always nighttime...Her head titled again. Was that a feature of deserts? Perhaps not, she thought after a moment.
Her stomach rumbled. She hungered. She tossed her head. One feature she liked. Once she thought of a desert feature she liked, she would hunt.
...She looked out again. Then got to her feet. Then paced, impatient. It was hard to think when she hungered. She didn't have to be in the desert to think of a feature. She would go down to the forest and search for a meal, and as she hunted, she would think of what she liked-
A beast appeared from the same hole she'd used to climb to the surface. Desiderata hadn't wandered far, intending to go back down. The sands and the forest were the same, repetitive landscape. When she got bored staring at one, she would travel to the other for a change of pace. Unfortunately she ended up travelling often. But that wasn't the concern now.
Her gaze locked onto the other being. Whatever the other beast had surfaced for was obviously lost to it, as the beast stilled, immediately sensing her. It turned towards her.
She raced down the dune. Usually she was more patient, more manipulative. She could try to trick a beast and get close before she attacked. But it was hard to deal with the hunger. She would be patient with the next beast. Just not this one.
Her prey attempted to become predator, facing off against her as she rapidly approached, instead of slinking back down into the forest in an attempt to escape. It's mouth opened, a light appearing and then rapidly expanding, beaming outwards towards Desi. She dodged.
She and the beast were not very different. The other was a quadruped, but around the same size. Size didn't relate to strength, but neither was the beast strong. She met the being in a clash. It had a horned head, and tucked it's chin down while surging forward with it's horns aimed towards Desi's abdomen. Two horns, on the left and right. Desi wrapped her hands around them as they came within reach, wrestling with the beast like one would a bull.
Somewhere in her brain, she registered words. Was the beast talking? It likely could. The beast was probably a being just like her. Capable of idle thoughts. But she didn't care about that. And she didn't bother listening to the spoken words.
She started to pull each horn outwards, trying to pry them farther apart. She gave up ground for it, but that was fine. The desert sands allowed her plenty of space to back up. The beast seemed to catch on to what she was doing, and reared back, trying to toss it's head and wrench her grip free. Too late. Desi used the beast's fearful movements to her advantage, putting full force into her pulling, now that she didn't have to fight for footing.
A horn snapped off. The beast cried out, panicked and in pain. It lifted it's head, trying to escape and salvage it's remaining horn. Desi saw what her instincts had already guessed: The beast tucked it's head not only to aim it's horns, but also to protect it's soft, fleshy neck. She released her grip on the beast, taking the detached horn with her. She switched it around in her grip, holding it as a weapon for her own use.
Free from her, the beast immediately turned tail. With her long legs she leapt, landing exactly as she wanted to on the beast's back; towards the front. Her arm swung out then arced down, under, and up. The beast reacquired it's horn, inside of it's neck. From there it was an easy take-down, until the beast was lying dead in the sands. Desi watched the blood pump out of it's neck onto the ground, where it quickly seeped down instead of pooling.
The feature. Desiderata liked the sight of blood seeping into the desert sands.
She consumed, feeding the hunger that was so frequently a part of her life now. It was a rabid feast, her claws tearing into pieces anything that was too large for her mouth. There was nothing neat about it, all human manners gone from site. In these moments she could hardly remember her humanity at all.
When she was done she lifted her face, a pleasured gasp emanating from her throat. The tradeoff for humanity was satisfaction. Sating her desire. It was a price she would pay without hesitation every time. She sat in the sands and enjoyed the gorged feeling.
And when the euphoria began to ebb, she eyed the hole down to the forest once more, her gaze speculative rather than predatory now. She considered her actions. No regret; there never was. But a thought popped into her head. She'd never make friends if she always ate the first thing to enter her sights.
Friend. She knew the word, but couldn't attach a human memory to it. Had she had friends those many years ago? If she had, she couldn't remember their names nor their faces.
A soul inside of her dredged up it's own memories. She'd consumed someone who had had friends. She borrowed their visual. As she closed her eyes, she saw two young boys. The borrowed memory was a brief string of snapshots. In each, the two boys were always at each other's sides. Laughing, crying, hugging. They grew older as the snapshots progressed. And then the memory broke. The soul had died. Their last memory of their friend was a warm smile.
Satisfied, Desi pushed the soul back from her thoughts. Better to never let them think they ever had much control over the being they now collectively were. Desiderata had been the victor to break her mask upon their being's face even before the most recent evolution, and she certainly wouldn't retreat now.
She pushed herself up from a sitting position, sand raining down off of her back to the ground. There wasn't much skin for it to stick to. Only bony parts.
She examined all around her, slowly turning in a circle. There was nothing left to do in the forest, but there wasn't anything in the sands either. At least the forest was stocked full of meals. Weak beasts that burrowed below to hide from the stronger ones that roamed the sands. Desiderata had never met any of these so-called strong beasts, had no encounters that hadn't ended in her consuming whatever she'd happened upon, but even if she had it probably wouldn't have stopped her from wandering the surface whenever she felt the desire to.
She started back towards the hole. Now that she was sated, perhaps she could actually try speaking with a being. The one she'd just eaten had spoken. Too bad she'd been so hungry. Hours without food did not make Desi a friendly sort to come across.
Would she be able to make a friend at all? She grimaced. It seemed like a long-term commitment, based on the borrowed memory. Even if she had the time, Desi didn't care to lock herself into such a position. Didn't want to stick together next to someone else. She couldn't be relied upon for that sort of loyalty. If she stuck with them, what happened if they went long without finding food? She'd have to eat her newfound friend. She wouldn't risk her health.
Wasn't there something lighter? There had to be, if Desi had had no friends before. She must've spoken to people, on multiple occasions even. But they weren't friends.
What was the word?
She couldn't think of it on her own. The souls in her rose up again, trying to supply her empty knowledge and fill it with their own, but she snarled and pushed them back. The souls were useful, but they were never trying to be helpful. They were simply trying to take over the body they now inhabited. And besides, Desiderata grew jealous at their knowledge. She didn't want to admit there were things that the weak beings inside her knew, that she didn't. If she didn't know, she'd find out herself! Without their help.
1,594 Words
Her head tilted to the side. Did she like the desert? Had she liked the beach? She couldn't remember. And most of her time in this place she'd spent in her previous form. Back then she had only been concerned with her fight with Desirous, to take over the space, the body they fought to conquer. Even when her mask had broken through, she hadn't been capable of idle thoughts. But now was different. She looked down at herself, then brought a clawed hand up for examination. Now she was closer to what she had been before.
As such, she was capable of considering things like: if she preferred deserts or not. Her gaze roamed the landscape again. The air was dry, and there was often a breeze strong enough to kick up sand into her eyes. She didn't like those parts. But it was always nighttime...Her head titled again. Was that a feature of deserts? Perhaps not, she thought after a moment.
Her stomach rumbled. She hungered. She tossed her head. One feature she liked. Once she thought of a desert feature she liked, she would hunt.
...She looked out again. Then got to her feet. Then paced, impatient. It was hard to think when she hungered. She didn't have to be in the desert to think of a feature. She would go down to the forest and search for a meal, and as she hunted, she would think of what she liked-
A beast appeared from the same hole she'd used to climb to the surface. Desiderata hadn't wandered far, intending to go back down. The sands and the forest were the same, repetitive landscape. When she got bored staring at one, she would travel to the other for a change of pace. Unfortunately she ended up travelling often. But that wasn't the concern now.
Her gaze locked onto the other being. Whatever the other beast had surfaced for was obviously lost to it, as the beast stilled, immediately sensing her. It turned towards her.
She raced down the dune. Usually she was more patient, more manipulative. She could try to trick a beast and get close before she attacked. But it was hard to deal with the hunger. She would be patient with the next beast. Just not this one.
Her prey attempted to become predator, facing off against her as she rapidly approached, instead of slinking back down into the forest in an attempt to escape. It's mouth opened, a light appearing and then rapidly expanding, beaming outwards towards Desi. She dodged.
She and the beast were not very different. The other was a quadruped, but around the same size. Size didn't relate to strength, but neither was the beast strong. She met the being in a clash. It had a horned head, and tucked it's chin down while surging forward with it's horns aimed towards Desi's abdomen. Two horns, on the left and right. Desi wrapped her hands around them as they came within reach, wrestling with the beast like one would a bull.
Somewhere in her brain, she registered words. Was the beast talking? It likely could. The beast was probably a being just like her. Capable of idle thoughts. But she didn't care about that. And she didn't bother listening to the spoken words.
She started to pull each horn outwards, trying to pry them farther apart. She gave up ground for it, but that was fine. The desert sands allowed her plenty of space to back up. The beast seemed to catch on to what she was doing, and reared back, trying to toss it's head and wrench her grip free. Too late. Desi used the beast's fearful movements to her advantage, putting full force into her pulling, now that she didn't have to fight for footing.
A horn snapped off. The beast cried out, panicked and in pain. It lifted it's head, trying to escape and salvage it's remaining horn. Desi saw what her instincts had already guessed: The beast tucked it's head not only to aim it's horns, but also to protect it's soft, fleshy neck. She released her grip on the beast, taking the detached horn with her. She switched it around in her grip, holding it as a weapon for her own use.
Free from her, the beast immediately turned tail. With her long legs she leapt, landing exactly as she wanted to on the beast's back; towards the front. Her arm swung out then arced down, under, and up. The beast reacquired it's horn, inside of it's neck. From there it was an easy take-down, until the beast was lying dead in the sands. Desi watched the blood pump out of it's neck onto the ground, where it quickly seeped down instead of pooling.
The feature. Desiderata liked the sight of blood seeping into the desert sands.
She consumed, feeding the hunger that was so frequently a part of her life now. It was a rabid feast, her claws tearing into pieces anything that was too large for her mouth. There was nothing neat about it, all human manners gone from site. In these moments she could hardly remember her humanity at all.
When she was done she lifted her face, a pleasured gasp emanating from her throat. The tradeoff for humanity was satisfaction. Sating her desire. It was a price she would pay without hesitation every time. She sat in the sands and enjoyed the gorged feeling.
And when the euphoria began to ebb, she eyed the hole down to the forest once more, her gaze speculative rather than predatory now. She considered her actions. No regret; there never was. But a thought popped into her head. She'd never make friends if she always ate the first thing to enter her sights.
Friend. She knew the word, but couldn't attach a human memory to it. Had she had friends those many years ago? If she had, she couldn't remember their names nor their faces.
A soul inside of her dredged up it's own memories. She'd consumed someone who had had friends. She borrowed their visual. As she closed her eyes, she saw two young boys. The borrowed memory was a brief string of snapshots. In each, the two boys were always at each other's sides. Laughing, crying, hugging. They grew older as the snapshots progressed. And then the memory broke. The soul had died. Their last memory of their friend was a warm smile.
Satisfied, Desi pushed the soul back from her thoughts. Better to never let them think they ever had much control over the being they now collectively were. Desiderata had been the victor to break her mask upon their being's face even before the most recent evolution, and she certainly wouldn't retreat now.
She pushed herself up from a sitting position, sand raining down off of her back to the ground. There wasn't much skin for it to stick to. Only bony parts.
She examined all around her, slowly turning in a circle. There was nothing left to do in the forest, but there wasn't anything in the sands either. At least the forest was stocked full of meals. Weak beasts that burrowed below to hide from the stronger ones that roamed the sands. Desiderata had never met any of these so-called strong beasts, had no encounters that hadn't ended in her consuming whatever she'd happened upon, but even if she had it probably wouldn't have stopped her from wandering the surface whenever she felt the desire to.
She started back towards the hole. Now that she was sated, perhaps she could actually try speaking with a being. The one she'd just eaten had spoken. Too bad she'd been so hungry. Hours without food did not make Desi a friendly sort to come across.
Would she be able to make a friend at all? She grimaced. It seemed like a long-term commitment, based on the borrowed memory. Even if she had the time, Desi didn't care to lock herself into such a position. Didn't want to stick together next to someone else. She couldn't be relied upon for that sort of loyalty. If she stuck with them, what happened if they went long without finding food? She'd have to eat her newfound friend. She wouldn't risk her health.
Wasn't there something lighter? There had to be, if Desi had had no friends before. She must've spoken to people, on multiple occasions even. But they weren't friends.
What was the word?
She couldn't think of it on her own. The souls in her rose up again, trying to supply her empty knowledge and fill it with their own, but she snarled and pushed them back. The souls were useful, but they were never trying to be helpful. They were simply trying to take over the body they now inhabited. And besides, Desiderata grew jealous at their knowledge. She didn't want to admit there were things that the weak beings inside her knew, that she didn't. If she didn't know, she'd find out herself! Without their help.
1,594 Words