Anger - Nightmare; open

[Kold]

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YOU SHOULD HAVE LEARNED BY NOW - I'LL BURN THIS WHOLE WORLD DOWN!

She often rested wherever she deemed fit - though usually under jungle foliage. Usually she would have found a place to stay, but she didn't want to stay in one spot - she was restless and seeking, wanting to move and walk just to distract herself from the brick pile of loneliness that often rested on her shoulders. That loneliness turned into anger often, and she knew that was unhealthy.

She was curled up under a mass of surviving ferns, breath steady and gentle. As she slept, her breathing became hitched, ragged, panicked. Dreams warped into nightmares, golden fields turned to smoldering grasses. She was not in her own body - black scales rippled over sleek form, angled head swiveling on a long, thick neck. Visions plagued her, her mother and father both decaying, hidden in the ground, screaming at her. Siblings fuzzy in appearance, faces indistinguishable, bodies distorted and lanky. They begged and pleaded and wept. Liquid surged over her feet, heavy metallic scent burning her nose. Louder the screams. Louder. Louder. Louder.

She jolted awake, feeling something drip onto her nose and causing her to panic. Was it blood? No. A small rain had begun to fall, her saving grace. She shook her fur. Huddled herself closer to the base of the tree she slept by. Hiding herself in withering ferns and slowly reviving foliage.

Kold Darcia Ní Broin - Pitt - Marauder

[sup]© tikki[/sup]

[DANTE NORTHWEST.]

[glow=white,1,400]I NEED A SHOT AGAIN, THAT SWEET ADRENALINE ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

TRIGGER WARNING: this post goes into animal abuse and experimentation from humans; the fourth paragraph is where all of this ends.

As ironic as it was, nightmares tended to plague Dante often. It was the reason he wasn't sober for majority of the night (or day, but that's besides the point) and actually got worse at night. The hybrid didn't like being forced into past memories, of the lab he used to live in all those years ago, of the humans that tortured and experimented with him. The whole reason he was alive was because of the lab, with the humans experimenting on several animals. They were attempting multiple things, to mutate and hybridize species that wouldn't normally mate in any circumstance. His own mother had died during his birth and although Dante had no memory of this, the moment he had been born, he was whisked away by the humans. It had been a good act at first, to make sure Dante stayed alive, but the fact of the matter remained: he shouldn't have been born. A shark-cat hybrid should have never existed in the first place.

Of course, with his mother dying during childbirth, it meant that Dante had to have a foster mother. There was another pregnant feline in the scientists' care and she accepted Dante. He had no ties whatsoever to his foster mother and didn't feel any sort of kinship to her. Once he was weaned, however, he was thrown into his own separate cage, left to be experimented on - injections, mostly. Although most of the time, these injections did nothing and only made Dante incredibly sick, one of them did cause his body to mutate and grow wings. Ironically enough, despite that seemingly having been the intention of the scientists, they clasped and clipped his wings, forcing him to never learn how to fly. When Dante lashed out at the scientists for attempting to inject him with things, they started to deprive him of food and water. Growing desperate at wanting to get the things he needed to survive, the hybrid eventually let the humans do whatever they wanted.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg. When Dante got too big for his cage, the scientists placed an electric shock collar on him and brought him down to another laboratory, one that was hidden underground. This was where they placed their successful creations and pitted them against one another in some sort of messed up, advanced version of a dog fighting ring. It was here where Dante had to learn to fight to survive and where he earned many of his scars. It was a literal fight to the death; if Dante didn't kill his opponent, then he was killed himself. Nobody wanted to kill the other person, save for maybe the occasional individual, and were only forced to due to the scientists punishing them if they did not slaughter their opponent. Considering everything that he's been through, the hybrid would argue he had a reason to want to be constantly numb.

That wasn't the full reason why he was out-and-about in the jungle, though it was definitely part of the reason. He liked being in the jungle and near ponds and waterfalls as they eased his urge to want to be in the water; they brought comfort to him, though he likely wouldn't ever admit that. As he prowled along the undergrowth though, Dante caught the scent of Kold and followed it, curious as to why the woman was out so late. Doesn't she normally stay in town? Maybe that was just something he assumed.

After a bit of searching, Dante eventually found her curled up underneath ferns and bushes. She was awake, although she seemed to be a bit startled by something. "Th' hell are ya doin' out 'ere?" His words were incredibly slurred, though he tried to talk slowly enough for Kold to be able to understand him.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[Kold]

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YOU SHOULD HAVE LEARNED BY NOW - I'LL BURN THIS WHOLE WORLD DOWN!

The footsteps made Kold shrink back further in fear, something wholly unnatural for her to do. Upon seeing that it was Dante, she inched forward a bit, trying to steel herself out of the fear she felt. Despite his slurred words she could understand, though she had issues answering. "I've been sleeping." She tried to sound tired, though it was rather clear she was alert and nervous.

Kold Darcia Ní Broin - Pitt - Marauder

[sup]© tikki[/sup]

[DANTE NORTHWEST.]

[glow=white,1,400]I NEED A SHOT AGAIN, THAT SWEET ADRENALINE ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Clearly. Dante heard the word in the back of his mind, almost as if Kold had said it herself, and it took the drunken hybrid a moment to figure out that Kold had not, in fact, been sarcastic in her response. Instead, she seemed quiet. Too quiet for his taste. He hated the girl's guts, but he knew there was a time between fucking around with her and being serious.

"I don' think I woke you up." Dante commented, though he was aware of the possibility that he was wrong. After all, having big paws didn't help matters and they definitely didn't help when you were half-dragging them across the ground. "Somethin' happin'?"[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[aine.]

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AINE NÍ BROIN
FLESHWEAVER
FAE DRUID
INFORMATION

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[div style="max-width: 360px; font-family: palatino; color: #2e8b57; text-align: left; padding-top: 8px; padding-left: 10px"]HOW DO YOU RUN FROM Y[color=#5d8e93]OUR OWN MIND?

Sleep was a fickle thing.  Between both nightmares and night terrors... The petite deer-fox did not always receive much.  Did what she could.  Took what she could to help herself.  Chamomile.  Lavender.  Some nights were better than others. 

Some nights she slept soundly.  Without fire, smoke or blood.  Without the memory of that house.  Everything around her crumbling to ash and dust.  Without the memory of a jaguar's lifeless body on the ground.  Some nights.

Even after the worst nights, Aine did what she could.  Cup of tea.  Got to work.  Didn't want to stop.  Wanted to do her best.  To help.  No good in waiting for the day she wouldn't be tired.

On nights she just... Couldn't, she left the house.  Quietly.  Hooves slowly but surely making for the door and steps.  Reluctant to bother her father.  Knew he cared but... Found the words difficult.  Reluctant to speak of the memories that haunted her dreams aloud.  Memories he shared.  Memories he suffered through too.

Most of the time, she didn't run into anyone else.  Ears flicking back in confusion.  Wariness.  Breathing out softly.  Trotting forward.  Hazel hues soft.  Concerned.  Kold and Dante.  The former looking far more awake than her words suggested.  The other intoxicated.  But asking the right question.

Aine chewed the inside of her cheek.  Didn't repeat.  Simply sat down close by, taking shelter from the rain beneath the foliage.  Willing to be an ear.

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© MADI

[Kold]

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YOU SHOULD HAVE LEARNED BY NOW - I'LL BURN THIS WHOLE WORLD DOWN!

Kold appeared to zone out, ears angling back with the influx of distorted memories from the nightmare. Shaking her head gently, she sighed. Black eyes shifted to Aine but refocused on Dante. "No... you didn't wake me. Just a nightmare." She tasted metal on her tongue.

Wings twitched and she zoned out again, pulling her legs closer to her self.

Kold Darcia Ní Broin - Pitt - Marauder

[sup]© tikki[/sup]