VENGEANCE ◇ TW: murder

[bai shi ⦸]

[align=left]DEFINE YOUR MEANING OF WAR, TO ME IT'S WHAT WE DO WHEN WE'RE BORED -

The rage. It was always the rage. It always blinded the beast and choked their throat, when it came to him, to Astro, to the only light they had. If anything happened to him, they wouldn't know what to do - until now. The only creature they cared for, the only creature that kept them from destroying everything in their path, was now dead. He lay dead, tucked under a bush, his body hidden as if in shame. They didn't know if they could see anymore. They didn't know if they wanted to see anything more. Their only reason was dead and gone and they were still struggling to come to terms with it. Though, around the scene, hung a pungent scent they'd encountered before when they were younger, in their mother's rooms before their mother had fallen so gravely ill and was unable to lead. They hated this scent. They wanted to find the bastard it belonged to and choke the life out of him and to watch the light fade from his eyes. They wanted vengeance for the years they had suffered because of this bastard, but he hadn't been satisfied with destroying their mother, no, he came after their only pride and joy. Their brothers would approve of the slaughter, they knew, if they were alive to speak.

They didn't know anything aside from the blinding, burning rage welling up from so deep inside of them as if their corpse was a volcano and their spirit it's molten lifeblood. Jaws clacked together in the way of grief and struggling to hold themself together, the way that one would hold themself as the world collapsed around them. For the great dragon, they didn't know if the world would ever return to normal, if it would ever stop shaking around them. Would any of this make any sense to them come time? Would they ever be able to process his death?

They were struggling with refusal to accept the loss, believing him only to be asleep, nudging him with their muzzle as tears wet their face. They pressed taloned paws to his corpse, trying to scoop the blood back unto him. This couldn't be real, Astro could only be sleeping. They couldn't hear a thing, the world in a vacuum of terrible silence, their emotions swallowed deep inside themself as the dragon kept trying to get a response from the lifeless body. Pain was strong, coursing through them and numbing their nerves, mindless of the injuries decorating their own body. Their vision as it was, was destroyed by savage wounds crossing their eyes, the remnants of battle done with Goldenluxury and the groups who had come together in battle. They wished that they hadn't sworn to fight in that battle, they wished that they had been here, with their husband, when the wings of death had descended upon him in fury.

The scent of the cougar that was responsible for the murder, and for the illness that their mother suffered from ages ago, clung to the area and saturated it in a pungent reek. Blind as they were, they were blinded with the rage that re-ignited as if gas was poured upon it. They couldn't quell the rage this time, their jaws split in a screaming roar, wordless for the rich agony and pure anger that consumed their body. It felt as if every sinew and muscle was threaded together after being ripped apart, cold the feeling in their stomach and throat, lightning crackling into life in the air around the great beast and soaring into the heavens.

Clambering back to their feet, shaking as they gently scooped Astro's body into their paws, carrying his body to a safer location, to be looked after. They were soundless and numb, numb to the world, their roar echoing in their own ears. All they wanted to do was rampage, find this bastard and all of his kin, and return the favor. Two wrongs didn't make a right, but they'd be fucked if they believed otherwise. They couldn't be bothered by morals right now, they simply felt the need for vengeance. They had been wronged, and they would paint the ground in the blood of the one who had wronged them.

Numbness swept through them along with the boiling heat of the rage, leading them in directions they couldn't dare find on their own, in a state where they would be more cautious of the terrain they could no longer see if they weren't so angry. Puffs of breath left them, lightning often crackling over the golden scales and keeping the cream-toned mane on end. Each step was one that dug into ground, crushing anything in their path, a powerful twist of their body against any tree in the way left the tree crashing to the ground in a shower of splinters and shattered wood, the dragon on the warpath. Tail swinging side to side as they stormed on, following the scent of the cougar so tainted by Astro's blood, even past when the blood scent had grown faint and old, on and on, following the one who had taken everything from them. They wanted him dead, and they would do it themself, take a deep pleasure in it. His entire family, they would all pay for this, they didn't want to leave a single stinking coward alive, not when they might come back and try for them again.

Their path was wild and unrestricted, taking them where the scent had led them so long ago, though this time, there was no reasoning with the beast. They'd let him go back then, and they surely regretted it now, they hadn't been able to destroy him as they'd wished, the need to return to their mate's corpse had driven them back to Astro's side for the funerary rites and such. Now though, there was nothing holding them back, nothing to stop their advances from the Pitt. Too many things had happened to come back and be able to finish the bastard. Inhaling as they stood on the swell above the small settlement of homes, of living creatures milling below, the scents of them washing over their tongue. Their mane prickled as they caught the bastard's scent, sweeping down the decline with a rattling snarling hiss echoing from their lungs and throat as their jaws spread, bright lightning sparking in their jaws, the resulting sound as loud as a thunderbolt close by. They wanted them dead, all of them, innocent or not of the murder.

First to emerge from the shelter of the houses, was a woman that came into their range, immediately falling to the slam of their paw, nearly feeling the life leaving her on the impact of their slash. Snarling down at the so quickly felled body, frustrated that she had died all too easily, they swung their head around as they sniffed the air, drawing in scents, searching for him. they wanted to get their revenge, they wanted to have him be the one dead beneath them. The call of a man's voice reached their ears, the beast swinging their head about to stare blindly in the man's direction, snarling at him in a wordless warning. They weren't here to fuck around, they were here for the reason of getting revenge.

Snarling as his scent filled their nose, growling as something began to burn in their throat, the feeling of heat leaving them as they opened their jaws and expelled, retching what could only be described as fire at the immediate reaction of wood and dry cloth catching fire, head sweeping as they heard screams, the body of the man that had come to confront them falling in its fury, his dying screams and shrieks raising into the air around them. They could hear other voices, words they couldn't understand and more, their lips curling back as they inhaled before exhaling again. This was not a normal feeling, and under the bloodlust, they came to find that they hated it. Tail lashing as they knocked a home from its structure, the crying screams of those trapped inside reaching them, fire flowing so generously from their jaws and singing their beard with it's intense heat.

Lashing out blindly as they caught his scent, sent a mountain lion sprawling with a loud roar and scream of fright from the creature. They didn't need to see to know that he was the culprit. Jaws splitting open once more, they stepped upon the body of the murderer with a snarl, pressing hard, listening for the gratifying sound of breaking bone. Pulling back, they exhaled on him, whisps of fire escaping into the sky, torching his body with a fury. Tail lashing, they stepped back, yet to feel the weight lift from their chest, head turning as they heard four young cries from one of the houses left standing. Blind eyes narrowing, the beast turned to the other houses and brought them down with either paw, tail, or breath, before finally turning to the last house. Oh, how Astro would scold them for this, how he would hate them for this, but he was gone. He wasn't going to be coming back. This was all they had left of him. The feeling of tears stung their cheeks, evaporating in the fire and lightning as they spread their jaws once more and released a burning inferno upon the house and the 4 inhabitants still within, caring only to exterminate the last of a bloodline that they hated with their soul. There was no thought of sparing the children or raising them as their own if they were young enough, no, they needed to eradict everything tied to him. To Augustin. To the murderer. Work accomplished as they heard the scream of wood giving out, they hardened their heart once more against the cruel act of murder that they had committed, slowly coming free of the memories that possessed them of their husband.

[member=1]Orion[/member]

I FEEL THE HEAT COMIN' OFF OF THE BLACKTOP AND IT MAKES ME WANT IT MORE!

template credit to teef w/ help from orion

[Waylon.]

[Post will be switched to subaccount later. For now, main account. Partially a mobile post at the end.]

The innocence of youth was oh-so familiar to the child who stood with their family. There was no inkling of trauma, nor a hint of sadness. Only the beauty and love of those that surrounded them in their home in the neutral lands. Fear had never crossed his mind until the sound of a roaring snarl crossed his pointed ears, causing them to pin back. He clambered to his feet, away from the blanket that his parents wrapped him in, and rushed to the window. His rough breath fogged the cold glass immediately, but he could see a silhouette. A desperate paw wiped away the perspiration and stared as a dragonic figure landed before them with a thunderous roar and lightning to follow.

A woman stood in front of the dragon, valiantly staring up at the beast: his mother. Oh, his poor mother. Her bravery had gotten the best of her and before her son's eyes, the beast's large foot came down. Crumbling bones and gooey insides splayed outwards underneath Bai Shi's weight, splattering all that was left in the area for her children to see. Parts gushed outwards and landed on the window where little eyes watched, dripping as Waylon started to wail. Doom had come.

His head whipped around towards his father, searching for answers, but found no sign of him. Choking in desperation, he called out to him. Paws scrambled and pushed away from the window as tears began to rush down his cheeks. "Dad?" he cried. No answer had been received. Nor was it going to be.

As he surveyed the home, he heard pawsteps out on the porch and he whipped his head around. His father's triumphant attitude led him into the valley with eyes like daggers daring the beast to come closer to his home, despite his wife's own demise. Waylon could not hear his pleading, but he imagined it was valiant. Maybe even desperate. In the moment, the child shot out onto the porch and bellowed once more. His own efforts were the same.

"DAD!"

His scream was drowned out by a gust of air and a fury of flames from the beast's mouth. Fire engulfed his father, licking away at his fur and singeing whatever else. Among the fire came screams of anguish. Flesh bubbed and sloughed onto the floor before his eyes, leaving charred bone to drop to the floor. Waylon's horror was unimaginable. Whatever was left of his parents was now either a liquid puddle or a cracked pile of debris spread across the area, ready for all to see. In an effort to escape the same fate, the child turned and ran.

The screams of his siblings filled his ears as he entered the home, followed by crashing. A yellow tail flew above their heads and brought down wooden planks from above, landing on one sibling’s spine with an audible crack. Waylon looked up towards Bai Shi as he blindly rushed to his sibling’s side, crying out in agony. “P-please stop!” he begged. No acknowledgement, only rage. Dark paw pads and claws latched around his sibling’s leg in an attempt to drag them out from underneath the debris, watching as them as they struggled to move under the weight. Tormented mumbles came from both sides of the situation. Eventually, one side grew silent. The other became louder, realizing his sibling had passed.

Waylon started to shake, looking up from the corpse. Eyes widened. Fire. Fire everywhere. Bright hues immersed the home and started to singe whatever it could. The tears that lined his soft cheeks started to evaporate into the air, mixing with the smoke that was rising in the small space. Dark hues swerved towards his other two siblings and their belonging, watching as the flames he ignored start to creep closer to them and trap them in their room. In a flustered panic, the canine dive forward.

Crash!

A flame-laden ceiling plank crashed in front of Waylon. The door was blocked. Fearful cries from inside begged for help, but as their sibling looked, there was no other path to take. Beginning to feel nauseous from the smoke, the child could only scream back in misery. Soon the two also became disturbingly quiet.

As the world around him started to cave in and the flames began to singe the hardwood floors, he looked around in defeat. Death had come, but would any help do the same? Anxious eyes surveyed the area, finding nowhere to go… but one place. The corner of their home had yet to be touched. A leather small chair with a sprawled out white blanket on top of it, one he cherished in his childhood, remained peacefully. The area was high enough for him to jump but also avoid the lower flames. Unbeknownst of him, the smoke was a problem.

With no one left and the flicker of the flames growing near, the kid shot towards the chair. Haunches tried to launch him onto it’s surface, but he slipped and claws dragged across the leather. Desperate, he tried again…. and again… and again… until he made it. High and feeling like he escaped, the boy grabbed the blanket. In a swift move, he draped it around himself and covered his head in an attempt to hide. Fate, unfortunately, had a target.

While the flames did not grow near, the smoke did. Already huffing and puffing, Waylon leaned into the chair with tears lining his cheeks and doom creeping in. A ragged wheeze echoed out. While covered by the sound of the whipping flames, anyone who could have heard would have never realized if it was from his newfound trauma or lack of oxygen. Feeling lightheaded, Waylon’s eyes begin to droop. A sense of defeat led them to close.

The flames began to near, but by the time they arrived, the boy’s vision had already gone dark. His breath had begun to slow. A tiny heart’s thump had started to be silenced, no longer pounding in his ears. In time, thoughts passed. Sadness felt irrelevant, only the sensory input that the arriving heat felt appropriate. Waylon could feel everything, yet know nothing.

Fire caved in around him, moving away from the ashes nearby. Some licks began to dissipate into nothingness, fading into the sky as dark smoke. Others, a very small few, headed towards Waylon to pick up what remained. Small flames started to crawl up from the floor and onto the legs of the chair, only to slowly move up the leather. The large cloth atop of Waylon hissed as it burned, leaving the singed bottom underneath the boy’s body to be dealt with. Leather went ahead to become liquid, searing and sizzling around the child. A portion gathered nearby his face, sticking to it and seared his flesh. Unconscious and unable to express his sorrow, there was nothing more to do than experience the pain.

Shock caused his body to come to a instantaneous stop. Not a racing thought, nor a single worry, came to mind. Death had captured not only his family, but HIM.