[PRP] A Chance Meeting { Dead Reckoning + Conflagration }

[Pijrrh]

Conflagration stood beneath a cluster of trees, sunlight dappling zeir already-mottled coat, rays of sun lending additional camouflage. After reaching the forest, Flag had wandered around a bit, hunting for food, finding water, and resting up for a couple of days. Now that ze was refreshed it was either time to find more delicious food - the last squirrel still lingered on zeir tongue, and the thought of more delicious meat was tempting - or it was time to find some strangers to meet. Ze knew being a berserker automatically made some wolves cautious or afraid, but Flag was ready to turn on the charm and worm zeir way into hearts and minds.

Sniffing around made it obvious that there was either a pack or several loners around here somewhere and it didn't really matter to zem who they met - anything would be an adventure. If ze could get someone to disclose where the best hunting grounds are, or play games and lounge in the sun, or fool around, or even curl up in a lazy wolf pile, Flag would be satisfied with the day. What ze failed to notice in the midst of all this thought was the quick flicker of black and white moving through the shadows nearby.


(wc: 20 cool

medigel

 

[medigel]

Dead Reckoning was on the hunt again for that berserker being whispered about the pack. Death and decay...Oh, how she would love to take in that scent on a stranger. How she would make an imprint on them if she could simply get a chance to talk to them, stare directly into their eyes and work her magic...The danger hardly registered to her, because she thrived on the idea of risk. After all: she had seen her death - she couldn't possibly die any other way now.

It seemed today she had far better luck ranging out for her quarry. Catching a scent, the seer smiled to herself and began to track it, her heart rate rising in anticipation. Perhaps then, this was...

She paused in the shadows behind the great beast, drinking it in. Flame-like dye along their back and neck, and a pelt of something else...Though she wasn't sure if she caught the right berserker, Dead Reckoning remained tentatively hopeful.

"Did I find you at last, deathbringer?" she asked as she peeled away from the trees. "Or are you a pretender?"

Nikkichomp

 

[Pijrrh]

Flag turned one ear back at the sound of the she-wolf's voice. She had been extremely quiet to successfully sneak up behind zem...or maybe ze just hadn't been paying attention at all, a false sense of security and unwarranted confidence given the fact that ze was a stranger to these parts making Flag lax and unwary. If ze was being honest, it was definitely the latter, but getting that admission wasn't going to happen.

A soft, amused bark pealed from Flag's mouth. Not only had she snuck over to zem, she'd approached first. However, when she called zem 'deathbringer', it brought a whole rush of feelings to the surface. Flag hardly thought that name fit. Sure, ze killed a bit more than was necessary sometimes out of greed and selfishness, but nothing that would warrant such a moniker. But it also brought a fading of consciousness and Flag wasn't ready to lose time again. Ze focused intently on the stranger with the purple eyes, working hard to stay in control. She didn't sound fearful in the slightest - she seemed rather curious and brazen instead. This was new; a non-berserker wolf behaving in this way intrigued and interested zem. Flag pivoted and stepped closer to her, circling slowly as ze inspected the gorgeous wolf, already dying to know more about her. "That depends on who exactly you think you're looking for," Flag said, brushing the tip of zeir tail against her to ruffle her fur and see what kind of reaction she'd have.

But beneath the surface, Ration watched and waited, for if this seer truly wanted to talk to him, he wouldn't hesitate to push Flag back under the surface so he could run the show instead. Ration snarled to himself, full of disdain for Flag - ze were so stupid ze didn't even realize that Ration or Con even *existed*, somehow just thought ze had bad memory. Idiot. The only reason Ration let zem take over was because Flag always took the three personalities to interesting new places. He was just waiting for an excuse to control the body again, and hoping that Con didn't show up to try and contest him.


(wc: 362)

medigel

 

[medigel]

Her muzzle wrinkled at the touch, warning the stranger against further contact. Dead Reckoning was the one in control of the conversation, not this would-be charmer. This one felt...slippery to her senses, in a way that was hard to describe. Something to do with those eyes, she felt, the longer she met that gaze. She had to stay alert and on top.

“If you haven’t a clue, then you must not be the one,” she said, disdain evident. She gave a small sigh. “In which case: you’re straying close to Crow territory, wanderer. What is your business? Or are you content to meander wherever you please?”  

[Pijrrh]

Ration bristled at the disdain dripping from her voice and rushed in to take the situation over. That idiot Flag had done zeir job getting to a new location to explore and now someone more competent needed to run the show.

Conflagration's body temporarily slumped, eyes closed, and when he opened them again he smirked and snorted, amusedly choosing to heed her warning although he was certain he'd overpower her easily. He sat down and stared directly into her eyes, viciousness and malice visibly simmering within his. His posture was automatically more predatory, although he had no intention of fighting anything until he'd learned more about the seer and these "Crows" she mentioned, and decided if she was better to eat or use for his own gain.

"Who said I don't have any clue?" he growled, voice somehow both conveying dismissal and challenging her to dare to try him. His lip curled. "And why should I care one bit whose territory I'm in? I go where I please when I please."

(wc: 171)

medigel

 

[medigel]

Dead Reckoning stilled, her eyes unblinking even as the berserker broke their gaze. Something seemed to come over them, like a cloud passing above, casting a strange shadow for just a moment. She could have blinked and missed it, but she didn't. No, she was very intent now as this creature seemed to morph into something ever so subtly different. Those were the same eyes that returned to her now, and yet they also weren't.

Her disdain began to give way to morbid curiosity. What have we here?

"Is that so." Dead Reckoning's voice remained lofty, but she didn't bite as much into them as she had before. "And who are you?"

Nikkichomp

 

[Pijrrh]

Ration cocked his head to the side at some small shift in attitude that seemed to come over her. This wolf was harder to read than most he came across and that made him feel less vicious and more intrigued, more interested in somehow convincing her to belong to him. The question was whether he could make that happen...or if he'd have to relinquish control to Con in order to get what he wanted.

Ration bared his teeth in a little grin. "Depends on when you're talking to me, I suppose. If you call me Conflagration you'll always have it right, though. And just who are *you*?"

medigel

 

[medigel]

Depends on when? Hmm.

She raised her head, holding herself with the carriage of a queen as she rightfully was. "I am Dead Reckoning," she said, "and death is no stranger to me. I don't think you're whom I seek. But." The 't' popped. She began to pace around him, perusing, considering.

"How interesting...Like fire, you flicker. The shadows and light dance and change shape. I sense you have little deaths every day - and not the ones that most like," she added with a dark grin. "If Conflagration is always right, then what isn't?"

Nikkichomp

 

[Pijrrh]

He snorted and laid down on the ground in front of her, tired of sitting and wanting to set her at ease, see if she would let her guard down at any point. She'd been watching him with such scrutiny, and apparently she'd seen something that mostly went without really being noticed by anyone. Not that he'd stayed in one place long enough for anyone *to* notice; aside from his sister there was no one close to him.

"Little deaths, how apt. I'd never have thought of calling them that but you're not wrong." Ration looked up at her, considering. "If you want to be specific, you're talking to Ration right now, and I was watching while you were talking to that imbecile Flag earlier." He'd never really explained himself to another wolf before and wasn't sure why he was doing so now, except that Dead Reckoning didn't seem to be judgmental about it and was really the first wolf genuinely curious about it. Even brutes needed to open their hearts once in a while.

medigel

 

[medigel]

Ration. Flag. It took her a moment to piece together why they had those names specifically. If there was danger of any sort of instability, Dead Reckoning didn't mind it. She might have welcomed watching it in fact. How often did you see someone fragmented into several someones, all little individuals fighting for the same body? It was the survival instinct working overtime in a unique way, and she couldn't help but feel drawn to it.

Puzzling the separate names, she took a guess. "With a third being Con?" She continued to circle, slower now, watching for any other new developments. This one was like a social biome, teeming with all sorts of new ideas like a piece of land would have wildlife. "Do you each have a particular goal? A want? Do you fight over it?"

Nikkichomp