Hell is empty and all the Devils are Here || Sheogorath

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    Severa

    Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.


    Strips of crimson paint peeled and stretched long lines, like bloody runoff from crumbling walls. Severa had come to appreciate the Bloodhouse for the scarlet mark it was. It seemed only right, considering the violent carnage that occurred behind closed doors. She could still taste that heart upon her lips, feel Mama Luna’s rumbling purr vibrating a crescendo above her head.


    She had emerged a different creature, and Severa felt something new awaken within her.


    Ambition.


    She wanted to know more, obtain a thick scent of danger that clung to her coat like decomposing flesh. It seemed Bloodclan was just full of felines that screamed caution. But she was still adjusting, compartmentalizing—her logical mind at war with empathy. She couldn’t sleep in Luna’s room tonight. The scent sometimes threatened to overwhelm her, and though she enjoyed those moments she also craved a deeper sense of meaning.


    There had to be more, right?

    She found herself wandering into a room thick with the scent of Sheogorath, and recalled she had been here before. The massive tabby was not here at the moment. She could still remember the look in his eyes that morning, the blazing expression that saw right through her. What had he seen that day? Severa flicked her tail behind her and came to curl up in the corner, eyes drifting closed as her mind raced with questions and rationalizations.


    Sheogorath  

    Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it.

    ogi7mE9.png


    Snow dusted paws pressed against the wood of the floorboards as Sheogorath descended upon the innards of the blood house, a blue jay in his strong, clamped jaws. Blood trickled in rivulets down his furry chin as he headed up the stairs toward his room. The deputy stopped in the doorway, the scent of his cousin wafting into flaring nostrils. Blistering eyes sought out her figure, and narrowed curiously. Dropping the feathered bird at large, clawed paws, he lifted his head to gaze upon Severa with interest.


    "What are ya doin' in me room, lass?" Sheogorath's booming voice was edged with amusement as it exploded past a powerful maw.


    Severa

    Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.


    Say what you want about him, but Sheogorath wasn’t subtle. His booming voice filtered over to her, the very space felt full with him there. As if it had been missing him all along. She might’ve thought him angry, had not his tone been colored with amusement.


    Severa lifted her head, somewhat reserved. How did you put into words the complicated desire of a soul that doesn’t know what it needs? So instead, she angled her ears, sheepish, “I just… needed a break from Luna’s room,” she admitted softly.


    It was true, of course. Though why she was drawn to come here instead, she couldn’t say.


    “Do you mind?”



    Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it.

    ogi7mE9.png


    "Luna's room? What have you been doin' in there?" Sheogorath inquired curiously, plucking his bird from the floorboards and carrying it closer to his cousin's position in the corner. He settled into a sitting position nearby, tearing into the flesh of his meal with dangerous fangs that ripped through sinew and muscle with ease. "I suppose I don't mind." The deputy responded as he swallowed a gulp of the blue jay's feathered corpse.


    Severa

    Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.


    How much should she say? Should she tell Sheo that the silver molly had taken her in and showed her the taste of cat-flesh? That she had dined in the halls of blood and carnage, and enjoyed it?


    “I guess,” she began, not sure where the sentence would take her. She paused, watching as bones crunched beneath his enormous maw. Maybe one day, she would be able to do that with cat bone. “Mama Luna has taken me under her wing, as it were. Learnin’ how to become a full member, and all that.”


    That glossed over the major aspects, but she didn’t know how many were aware of Mama Luna and her feasts. She suspected at least Sheo knew—she would be surprised if he didn’t, but then again—making assumptions were deadly endeavors.


    And yet, she frowned as she watched the bird disappear beneath razor sharp teeth.



    Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it.

    ogi7mE9.png


    "Luna eats cats." Sheogorath pointed out, in case his cousin didn't know, though he had little doubt that the other she-cat had probably made his cousin very much aware. He wouldn't be surprised if Luna had been attempted to get Severa to eat cat flesh alongside her. Had she succeeded? A low chuckle drifted past his maw. "Not that I mind, of course. But it's not something I would do." Sheogorath had standards. They were very few and far between, but they were there.


    Severa

    Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.


    Severa broke into a wide smile. “I am well aware,” she said, lightly. She regarded him curiously for a moment. He never would, huh? She wasn’t sure why that surprised her. He did not strike her as prey—quite the opposite in fact, and she knew he had crushed many a feline beneath his claws. She had come across one of his victims a few days ago, entrails splayed out across the ground like brush strokes on canvas. And yet, he did not dine.


    “What is something you would do?” she asked. Severa realized that sounded rather abrupt and added, “Where did you find the scent that clings to your coat? Where did you find meaning and purpose?” she continued, dropping into a soft whisper of musing.




    Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it.

    ogi7mE9.png


    Severa's questions caught him by surprise and at first he wasn't certain how to answer such strange and sudden inquiries.


    "Something I'd do? Hmmm. Many things, I suppose. Gut a cat fer the fun of it, perhaps?" What else was he supposed to say. If anything, he was confused with how to respond.


    "I assume my scent comes from livin' in the city...dead bodies, trash, the hint of herbs from my time as healer..." Sheogorath took another bite from the prey at his paws, savoring the stringy meat that slid down his throat.


    "As fer meanin' and purpose, I make my own, lass." Meaning? Purpose? The purpose of godhood, of becoming a king? "I suppose I found my purpose just by...bein' meself. The Dark Forest provided a bit of that, but they were just the cherry on top." The deputy added with a small smirk.


    Severa

    Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.


    She could tell she had surprised him. She had been musing aloud, and wasn’t sure what answer she was looking for either—so for him to respond at all, left her drinking in every word. She supposed to some extent, she was looking for some insight into his being—to understand him better.


    So he would gut a cat for fun but no eat it huh? Well, she supposed everyone had a line somewhere.


    At the mention of the Dark Forest however, Severa cocked her head to the side. “Dark Forest?” she repeated. The feline hadn't heard of such a place before. How could a forest offer meaning? “What's that?”



    Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it.

    ogi7mE9.png


    "The Dark Forest is an ancient place where evil spirits dwell." Sheogorath explained with a twitch of his tail. "They are what give BloodClan leaders their nine lives. And, they gave me powers. I can sense emotions, and walk in the dreams of others. I can see the dead, too." And little did he know, he could also see flashes of the future, but the deputy had yet to discover that.


    Severa

    Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.


    Severa stared at her cousin, processing his words and then repeating them again in her head because she wasn’t sure she had completely understood. An ancient place were evil spirits dwelled? And it gave you lives and powers?


    She blinked her burning amber eyes. “They sound amazing,” she breathed after a moment, reverence in her low tone. “Can only leaders speak to them? I want to honor them as well. How do I respect them or follow them, or however that works?”


    She wanted to be a part of something, something important. That mattered.



    Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it.

    ogi7mE9.png


    "If they like you, they may visit you in yer dreams at night. That's how I first saw them." Sheogorath explained with a broad grin. He was glad for his cousin's reaction. "I'd recommend makin' a sacrifice to them in their name, offerin' them a prayer every now and then." The deputy suggested with twitching whiskers. Perhaps, when he became leader, when Caledon was long off the throne, he could force the worship of The Dark Forest into the minds of his subjects.


    Severa

    Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.


    Well, that sounded easy enough. She could dedicate a kill to the Dark Forest, offer them a bloody sacrifice—offer a prayer when she could.


    “I will pray that they visit me,” she said with a grin. She felt better—lighter somehow. She had a purpose; a goal to achieve that was something more than merely living day to day.


    “Let me know if there’s something I can do for them,” she added. After all, Sheo was the one who had received their blessing. Until they began to speak to her, of course. She rose and stretched, her back arching. “I know you’re busy Cuz, so I’ll take my leave, but I hope we can do this again. Soon,” she added, hopefully.



    Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it.