Chapter 1:8
All Kinds of Surprises
Your claws dig deep into the bark of the tree, as you propel yourself higher and higher. You attempt to spiral around the trunk, continually spinning out of the Hunter's reach. It stops snapping for you in short order, as you feel the energy of the clearing change. Rapid footfalls heading away from your tree let you know that the Hunter is leaving. An explosion of warm air blasts against you from the clearing side of you. You turn, to see a large, horned face gazing at you.
Self-consciously, you chitter a greeting to Amanga. There, that speck in the horizon. That is your hopes of going unnoticed by the adults flying into the distant.
"Well, this is a fine trinket I have found," the baritone voice rumbles, vibrating within your chest in a way that makes you uncomfortable, "I wonder how you would look pierced upon the branches of my Altar? Probably not that good, young bones do not tend themselves to preservation, after all." The way Amanga mentions this...altar...makes you feel more weary of him then you were before. This altar does not sound like a nice place, in fact it sounds like a place very much the opposite of such. Like an anti-High Nest.
You feel it, when Amanga grinds their hide against the bark of your tree. "Come now, Young One, climb atop me. I will take you to your caretaker," Amanga huffs in a motherly manner, warm breath misting you for a moment as they exhale. Hesitantly, you push yourself off the tree onto the large head below you. As soon as you feel your talons find purchase on Amanga's scales, you let go of the tree and cling tightly to the scaly hide of Amanga. For a brief moment, you find your gaze obscured by large horns and surprisingly rough hide. Portions of it feel bone hard, while others have more give, more akin what you remember of Dad's hide being like.
"Now, what is a Young One such as you, doing so far from your nest without your caretaker, at so late an hour?" Amanga purrs in that baritone voice of theirs. You actually freeze for a moment when you realize that beneath the baritone their mass gives them, there is a hint of what you are guessing is her kind's soprano. "Do you not know that Night is the time of the stealthiest of the Hunters?"
"I-I apologize," you stammer out, "I just wanted to know why you were talking to Dad. I," you hesitate for a moment before forging on, confident that if you do not tell her, and is that not a startling truth for one of such deep voice, "I was wondered about leaving Dad alone with you. You, I find you a little scary."
You are startled as Amanga's body shakes as she chuffs loudly, a surprisingly joyous reaction to what you just told her. Dad is giving you a stern look, as Amanga lowers herself to let you off. Before you can hop off on your own, Dad grasps you in his forelimb talons and is holding you close.
"Your Young One is surprisingly insightful, for one so foolish," Amanga's voice echoes out across the clearing, "after all, Young One, it is wise to be mistrustful of a deathseeker
* such as myself." Dad makes as if to interrupt, from what you can tell from his grasp, only to be forced back a step as Amanga snarls beastily at him, "You W
iLl let me inform your Young One of
my beliefs, or so help me I will have you in
mY AlTaR by the 'morrow."
Dad silences himself as Amanga continues, "Amongst my kind, there are two lines of belief. Both are called deathseeking. The first, the real one, is the belief that in death all will find that which cannot be found in life; peace, relief, calm. It is the belief of death as the opposite of life, the belief that death is a reward for enduring life. Believers of this line of deathseeking call the place in which all go after life, the Abyss. It is our duty to help bring others to this place of peace, so that they should not have to endure life any longer than they need to. Death, I believe, is something to be celebrated," Amanga pauses, collecting herself before going on, "The other belief, the false deathseekers, I do not desire for you to know much of other than they falsely claim my beliefs barbaric," Amanga growls, her voice touching something primal inside, warning you away from her, before she shakes it off. You barely hear her murmur of, "
They are the barbaric ones, thinking that there is no such thing as peace. That there is only a continuous cycle of pain that they NEED to perpetuate." She seems to almost retreat into her own mind, berating and devising...things.
"Are we done our 'talks' Amanga," Dad asks, breaking Amanga from her thoughts.
Amanga is swift to give an affirmative rumble before melting into the shadows.
Pick TWO Topics to Discuss with Dad on the way back.
[] What are Voice-Shifters?
[] What can Voice-Shifters do?
[] Why do you not like Amanga?
[] Why shouldn't I go into the Forest at night?
[] What was the Hunter that tried to eat me?
[] What do we believe?
[] What is YOUR name? Do I have a name?
QM Note: I was originally just going to give you guys a one paragraph lecture on voice-shifters and why you shouldn't go into the forest, but decided why not let you guys decide on what you get lectured on. Figured you might appreciate that more. Hope that I managed to not bore you guys with the tidbit on Deathseeking, cause I figured why not hint at what the Carnotaurs believe in this while I have the chance. I'm just going to say now, that Carnataurus A) Take their beliefs extremely seriously B) Are going to be the best mix of Death Worship/Fae/nihilism/etc. that I can manage to type...might not go that well. *shrugs* Any advice you guys have on that end is something I really appreciate. Beyond that, I hope that I managed to make Amanga a memorable character for the brief time you guys have interacted with her thus far.
Vote Ends Saturday
I was aiming to use one of the really obscure Jurassic Park dinosaurs that no one really knew were in the movie and books to begin with. Figured that I would give it a little spotlight in here, might expand on its appearance later should we encounter them again. I don't think I gave them a colouration or anything beyond a nasal crest when I described them here.
