Posts by REDVELVET --

"speaking"

Bluepaw recalled her first hunt, a rare whilst she was out on a patrol with Alaksiej, Elian, and Angel. It has been messy, but successful. "I heard you trained Arya," she commented to Elian after a moment as Bloodpoppy spoke about her mother. "You must have done a good job."

"speaking"

"Okay, sounds fun," the apprentice would say, indicating her intent to participate as she approached. A battle of the brawn, she supposed that it was a classic-enough form of fun, though she'd never participated in such things herself. You never knew if you liked something until you tried it though, so while she's not sure if it really sounds "fun", exactly (potentially interesting, more like), she's willing to give it a try. Cherrywine is saying that she thinks she would die if she would participate, and Bluepaw doesn't disagree with that notion and wonders why the other nurse was laughing about her own mortality. Red God, thank you for giving me health. Some weren't so lucky. Anyway, judging seemed like a fair request for the decrepit youth.

"speaking"

Village idiot was an. . . Interesting descriptor for Bluepaw. In some ways it may have fit, but not for the reasons that inspired Bloodpoppy to peg her as such - which was due to a misunderstanding on the quiet girl's part related to conversational norms. Instead, the idiocracy more stemmed from her upbringing. So young but so vehement about a God that she'd been given no choice but to believe in, she could not see beyond her upbringing. There was no escaping her hell-bent beliefs in the Red God. Seiichi had tried and failed to get through to her, but she was in too deep and had been since birth. Forever and always, she was destined to be His disciple, too narrow-minded to see the truth in other's beliefs. In other ways, she could be quite bright, of course- An avid learner, curious and ambitious, but forever locked into a religion she'd never had a chance to choose herself.

(But ignorance was bliss, and in this way she would never see the heartbreaking reality of her wasted youth- Instead, she believed her birthright as a priestess' daughter to give her a special bond with her Lord, and was gleeful at the opportunity to follow in her mother's footsteps. The real tragedy would come if she ever became a mother herself, furthering the cycle of brainwashing and ignorance and Death in the name of God.)

But if you asked Bluepaw, nobody would ever see as clearly as her. She who felt the Lord's presence in everything that she did, she who could sense His insatiability, she who walked every step knowing that she would find herself by His side in death- A loyal disciple, in every sense of the word. That was what brought the youth to the Nile's edge that day. The hours she spent there on the shore could not be quantified. She'd erected an altar in the shallows and often prayed there, feeling particularly close to the Lord when she looked to the lapping waters. His waters. As she steps across the sandy terrain, she finds the younger form of Bloodpoppy there. She prefers to pray alone, but it isn't too uncommon for her to find others at the riverbed. The girl is quiet and won't disturb her much, either, so she kneels down as she often does and asks, "May I join you? I am here to pray to His Holiness- You're doing the same, right?" She's unsure if the girl is devout, but she thinks so. Somehow, she feels like most of the Tormenta-Millions are loyal (except Showstopper, who proved himself otherwise when he started spreading Havener hereticism).

// this is a mess,, am sleepy but ty for makin!

"It's not just for fun, Bluepaw. It makes adults sad and angry, too, sometimes- I saw somebody break bottles because they were drunk."

Was that so? The nurse's head would swivel back to Cherrywine once more and she considers the information. She'd lived a fairly sheltered life up until about a half-moon ago, having not been allowed out of Hebe's den without her supervision until then. While the Ruins was far from a chaste place, there was a lot that she did not know about the seedier underbelly of life, which included substance use. She still did not know what a crackhead was, despite having searched Speedfreak's den high-and-low (before getting kicked out) for answers. "I'm sure we'll all stay in good spirits," she still insisted- It was a party, right? Nobody ever got upset at parties, it was all meant to be in fun.

"It can make you do stupid things."

Well, Bluepaw knew that she wouldn't do anything stupid, and as long as nobody got physically hurt the girl wouldn't mind seeing some. . . Stupidness. Was the Holy drink really capable of stirring such odd behaviors out of somebody? Of course it was-- The Red God's blessed blood could do anything. She's sure nobody here would get sad or angry. . . Except Oku, who had seemed disheartened since the Snake Den- And Alaksiej, who was always angry anyway. Now she's a bit worried about her brothers and the thought lingers for a little, blue eyes flashing over to her family member's a bit wearily.

That doesn't stop her from pouring Cherrywine a glass as well though, happy-hostess smile still ever planted on her features. Cherrywine would watch over her kin, and Bluepaw would do the same for hers- Between the two of them, nothing could go wrong. "Here you are," she meowed, pushing the glass over to her namesake. Alaksiej reacted sourly to the wine, frown on his features; but Bluepaw liked it, it reminded her a little of a berry that wasn't ripe yet- Sweet but bitter. She took another sip and looked over the assembled creatures, the question of who was starting the game being posed next. The youth taps a claw on the ground contemplatively before decreeing,

"I'll start. Truth or dare, IOKUA ?"

"speaking"

Not long ago, Alaksiej had been potting his own cacti plant for decorative use and Hebe had suggested that he use the fertile plot of land near their border with the Shadow Veil to create a garden. Her older half-brother had dismissed such an idea, but Bluepaw was willing enough to give such task a try, especially now that she knew of plants that had spiritual purpose. Though a nurse, she was interested in becoming a priestess rather than a priest and the only thing that had gotten her interested in herbs was the discovery - after a lot of poking around shady places - of the Medicine that she had brewed recently to become closer with the Red God.

(He had spoken with her that day, and she could still feel His voice, distorted and powerful and -- )


h̴̛̘̣̝̱̲͋͠ü̶̡̟̬̯̗̳͇̯̅̐̈̀̊͋͐͜ņ̵̡̦̻̞̞͚̦̪̹̆̔̊͒̓̾̋͒̇͆̄͆̿̕͜g̶͕̟͔͓̣͍̈́͜ŗ̴̟̮̑͊͆̎̆̄̃͛̀̌̈́̔̀̏̚y̷̢̻̺̠̬͇͕͐̏̉ͅͅ

Of course that. Sometimes she could still hear Him, creeping into her thoughts and filling her soul with His vile essence- Vile, powerful, exhilarating. She wanted to hear Him all of the time, wondered why he only spoke to her occasionally. A loose connection that could only be strengthened via the Medicine, she figured. Perhaps other ways too, she would never stop brainstorming ways to appease Him. But for now she would focus on her current plan of action: The brew she'd made had been plucked with fairly rare ingredients, a massive flowering vine known as caapi and the perrenial shrub known as chacruna.

The latter, she is confident that she can grow, and had a small start of the bush in a potting plant that she was preparing to transplant into the fresh soil now, little paws digging in the earth to prepare for the task. The former, she's not sure on. . . It grows so big and she's not sure how to make sure it properly cultivates, but has several feathery seeds that vowed to bloom into such a vine eventually. Red God willing at least. The climate is all wrong, she knows, having foraged for both these plants within the Thunderlands' expansive jungle (after the raid).

But hopefully, after a lot of hard work, both things would grow here and she would have an endless line of communication to His Holiness.

Fixating the small shrub into the dirt, she would began to pat the soil down around it.

A dare? Hm. . . Bluepaw hadn't played a game like this before - the closest she'd done was "never have I ever" with the adults and that had been boring because she hadn't done anything and just sat listening to them talk the whole time. She understood the basic premise however, but she's quiet for several heartbeats as she tries to brainstorm something she can get her brother to do. I dare you to finish your glass sounds like a good start, but she's somewhat keen to heed Cherrywine's warnings and decides that she would venture away from anything related to that subject.

Smiling obligingly as Cinereous thanked her, she would continue to mull over the task at hand, the girl beginning with, "I dare you to. . ." If only phoning a friend was an option. But then, she wouldn't have anyone to call. "Pick somebody here that you want to get to know better and ask them on a. . . Playdate." They were too young to go on real dates, weren't they? She's not sure, and settles on calling it a playdate, even if that sounds weird on her tongue- especially as they all sit around, drinking grown-up drink.

"And your turn," she says, taking another sip of her drink, the red liquid sloshing against little ivory fangs.

"His Holiness is a vengeful and hungry God," Bluepaw would confide, the still-growing priestess-to-be slinking forward to settle beside the form of their queen, Nadine. The purplish tiger would look to the other one, the closest one she'd seen to looking like her- She'd met him at the border the other day, along with a good chunk of other clanmates. She's glad to hear that the other colorful wildcat was interested in becoming a true blue devotee to the Red God. "He requires sacrifice, blood and death to appease Him; but He is not without His own share of miracles. He cleansed the Blood Nile for us after it'd been poisoned."

The youth was incredibly devoted to the Lord, and it shows in the energy which she speaks of him- Impassioned and excitable, she doesn't quite have the same enthusiasm when she talks of anything else, nor do her icy eyes dance with so much enchantment.

"speaking"

"I went through Speedfreak's things while he was away," the girl would confess readily. The Red God already knew of all of her sins, confessing them aloud would merely be for purposes of cleansing them away. There were no secrets, not between Him and the Ruiners; from his heavenly (more likely hellish) domains, he could watch it all, see everything, know all there was to know. "Forgive me, Father. Never again will I venture into a clanmate's private living quarters without invitation." The youth, however devout and pious and intense she was about her God, knew that the divide in the clan was strong too- She felt two sides of the group pulling in different directions-- Red God, maybe there were even more like four or six sides, each with their own agendas. It wasn't just religion, though that was apart of it, and she knew snooping in the den's of others would only worsen tensions. As outwardly hostile of heretics as she might have been, she did not necessarily want or desire tension and hostility between clan-mates. "However, if honesty is required among His disciples, everyone should have been transparent about what a crackhead was!" She thinks, but supposed that was between the rest of the clan and Him.

"speaking"

Bluepaw had read the sign, or at least gotten the gist- She's still learning, and is really just at a beginner level, but she recognized the word piercing as those silvery or golden rings that some animals had through their ears. Was such a thing really her style? She's not sure, she can't really picture metal going through her body, leaving little holes in its wake. The idea makes her shudder, even as her mother - Hebe - steps up and offers her own tattered ears for the jewelry. She's curious, she wouldn't deny that, but as the tigress settles onto the earth to observe she decides that it isn't the right time, not for her- She'd have to think about it some more. "Just watching," she explains, wordless after that, icy orbs settling onto the young form of Tula- How'd she picked up such a skill? It was definitely unique. Looking back to Henry, she would nod at him in solidarity, glad she wasn't the only one sitting this out for now.

"speaking"

Henry is around her age, maybe a bit older but not much- She hadn't known that Radiantmemories had children, and couldn't really imagine the brit as being a father. Parents, though, did not seem readily defined by a set number of characteristics; after all, her mother was hardly a Susie homemaker. Bluepaw had started to feel rather. . . Isolated, from the other children in the Ruins. Perhaps this was due mostly to her own quarrelsome traits, being quite zealous about religion that put-off the heretics of the clan (good, part of her wants to say, but the other part of her is saddened that they wouldn't learn of His glory through her) and mostly apathetic towards those outside of her immediate family. She. . . Somewhat wants to change this, wants to see what "friendship" could be all about, and thus the apprentice was determined to make a good impression on the young serval. "Hello," she would tell him, her ears flicking as Bloodpoppy told him that she did not like his dad-- Funny but not funny, she thinks of the half-feral child, the bluntness rather shocking but subtly amusing. "My name's Bluepaw, I know your father." We prayed together, she wants to say but doesn't- It feels wrong to stifle this, wrong to pretend that His Holiness wasn't the center of her life, but she didn't know if she could make friends in the end if she kept up on it. Maybe she could make friends first, then introduce them to the Red God second. "What do you like to do for fun, Henry?"

"Thank you," she says, pleased by Elian's compliment. "Bellona is a great mentor," she added, looking to the other tigress, who was busy laughing at the Bloodpoppy-Radiantmemories feud. It was truly a rivalry for the ages.

"speaking"

There's a knowing twinkle to her icy gaze, uncharacteristic playfulness dappling her expression as she can't resist chiding in with a whispered comment to her father, "Hmm. . . 'Just an old friend', huh Dad?" He'd denied it when she initially asked him about his relationship with Petra, but she had noticed the spark that the returning warrior and her kingly father had carried between them from the get-go. She's not sure what she thinks of Petrifiedkisses, ultimately it was quite hard for her to feel particularly strongly about anyone outside of her family (though there were some creatures she admired, like Lola, or other she was irritated by, like Angel) and His Holiness (who she felt stronger about than anyone), but she would support their relationship if it meant seeing her father smile. Apart of her does wish that he'd found romantic attachment with Hebe, but she doesn't waste her time with unrealistic fantasies like this- Hebe did not seem upset by their lack of true companionship, busy in her pocket dimension and probably too devoted to His Holiness to carry out a relationship (Bluepaw empathizes with this). Her father was the true romantic, and though she couldn't quite understand - either due to her age, or apathy, or both - such desires, she hoped that his feelings for Petra would lead him to happiness.

Bluepaw quieted herself quickly as she settled near Alaksiej, deciding she'd merely watch as the king bestowed treasures upon his. . . Girlfriend? Perhaps soon. Hopefully Oku wouldn't react badly to this, her brother seemed more inclined to root for the proper union of her parents than she was.

"So I got the shapeshifting ability from you," the girl would summarize as her father listed the multitude of bodies he'd possessed. Many things, he had been many things - Bluepaw had only ever been two, and was beginning to grow used to her little tigress form. Sometimes she still wagged her tail like a hound would, and sometimes she missed howling at the moon, but otherwise she was beginning to feel more and more feline as the days went by. It was good to know that she had inherited such a trait from her dad - who always preferred feline bodies himself, he said - as it was a useful one indeed. She just needed to learn how to master it, as this specific body had come to her in a dream and she simply had not left it. "Cats suit you. I think I might be more partial to cats too." A lion was a kingly, regal animal, that suited the Ruins' monarch perfectly- It was hard to imagine him as anything else. "Dad," the blueish tiger would muse after a moment, another question coming to her, "Do you think I'm more like you, or more like Mother?"

"speaking"

A small meal? A weak aura? Bluepaw narrows her eyes but doesn't say anything, though she can feel Him stir at the mention of death; certainly they should just let this stranger pass on, if he is so close already? Why tantalize the Lord with a meal He cannot have? Her frustration only mounts as Speedfreak returns with food, just as the nurse was turning to complete the task given to her. She turns her smoldering gaze upon the hyena, glaring at him silently for a moment before stalking away back to camp. It would seem that between Rentarou, Merlot, and Speedfreak, everything was more than under control. Her irritation was thick but she would still return to camp and get a nest built in the infirmary as requested. "Water, in the infirmary," is all she says to Alaksiej as she passes him, though it was likely that he'd heard the instructions as well. Being a nurse was. . . Unsatisfying and confusing in moments like these. Were potential sacrifices meant to be saved? Was she meant to be learning both healing and religion- Probably, as Merlot was doing healing now? But when would she get the chance to learn about herbs, if her tasks were limited to preparing meals that Warlords would beat her to doing? With a small huff, she would continue along to get a bed of moss and blankets made.

// out, welcome back karey <33

"speaking"

Bluepaw had not missed Alaksiej's disapproval during her little ritual, even through a half-lidded daze of fog and dizziness as she had come down from her drug-induced trance. "These seeds are for the caapi vine," she points to the feathery little seeds, yet to bloom or be much at all. "It can help with coordination and depression. It soothes the mind." It is not a lie, but only a half-truth. Nobody needed to know how she made the Medicine, and she would only tell if she asked- and even then, she would only be inclined to share it with Hebe or Rentarou- Maybe Merlot, maybe not, maybe other nurses who were pursuing the priesthood track, maybe not. This was her secret, in a way, though others could certainly figur "The shrub is called chacruna, it helps with headaches and you can make eye-drops out of it to help with vision." Both plants had other uses that she'd taken care to learn, but neither were what made them have value to her.

Turning to look to Radiantmemories she would nod, "Yes, they will be beautiful." Aesthetics did not appease her any, and neither plant would grow to be particularly striking- But for their intended purposes, they were more than beautiful.

"Amethyst," the nurse would greet her sister, recognizing her excitability from a mile away- She did not often see her sister, but when she did her feminine littermate always had a certain quality about her. "You've inherited Dad's shapeshifting ability too. Congratulations," she took in the now-lion's form, noting that made two of the littermates to transition over to being a cat now. Amethyst even shared their father's form, a lion. "It suits you," Bluepaw offered, allowing a smile to pave way onto her blue-tinged features, warmth showing in her tone as she complimented her littermate, humor dancing lightly in her eyes as the other toppled over- It'd taken Bluepaw awhile to get used to her new body as well.

"speaking"

Bluepaw enjoyed the thrill that she'd gotten in the raid, but decidedly did not appreciate Seiichi's intervention. Why did so many adults have to underestimate youth? Furthermore, why did Seiichi think it was his job to take care of every child in the Ruin's? She believed that the second tier had good intentions but. . . Also thought he needed to stand down and silence his heretic tongue. The devout young tiger was much more tolerant of hereticism when those who practiced it were at least quiet about it. Nevertheless, the young wildcat thought it to have been a successful few weeks within the Ruins. The days of seclusion within her mother's den were far behind her now, and she could barely remember those days that all blurred together now. They had taught her everything she knew about the Red God, but otherwise it did not feel as if she'd begun to live until she actually assimilated with the Ruins.

Nevertheless, the apprentice is incredibly excited for her training session with Bellona-- The warlord was a great role model to Bluepaw, who looked forward to their sessions together. They were much more exciting than her nurse training was in comparison. . . Thus far, that had proven to be a confusing endeavor, with her not really sure who she was supposed to be learning from or what exactly she was meant to be learning. The girl does not want to be a healer, but she'd pick up those skills if she had to- And sure, she could see the usefulness, but what she really wants is to be a priestess like Hebe. Religion was her one passion in life, but religion and violence went hand in hand in the Sanguine Ruins, and Bellona was the one to teach her about those fine things in life.

"Hello, Bellona," she would respectively greet the warlord as she padded way onto the scene, tipping her head in salutations. "What will we be doing today?"

"I'd like to go next," the girl would assert as she stepped into the shallows after Alaksiej had finished with Lucy. His prayers towards the Lord during the baptism only further bewildered the girl, who thought that her brother had said everything right. It was more or less what Bluepaw herself would have said, but did he mean it? If he didn't, how could he pretend so well, saying what she felt true with every fiber of her heart as if it were a play? She decides not to think of it, blue eyes simply boring into Alaksiej's as she awaits her own ceremony to begin.

// rushed kwjhk

"There are other ways for you to show your devotion to Him," the girl would say in response to Glitterpaw, looking to the older apprentice and taking in his anxious demeanor. What did the Red God think about those who refused to give Him sacrifices, though? The nurse is truthfully a bit uncertain of what the true answer was. "He thrives off of death and needs plenty of sacrifices to be content but. . . As long as others are doing enough sacrifices, I don't think He would necessarily mind if you're not the one overseeing them. You could erect altars to pay tribute to Him and speak to Him in prayer, attend church and confessional. . . Other things to spread His word and ensure He is getting what he desires." It was a good question, actually. Was murder necessary to be a follower- a true follower? Why was Glitterpaw reluctant to kill in His name? To Bluepaw, doing so was an honor.

"speaking"

Bluepaw had always been particularly observant- The young tiger is always looking for signs, for hidden meanings, for deeper truths. A raid is exciting enough, but when she sees the very leader of the Exiles trying to "steal" Rentarou away with a kiss to seal the deal, she's absolutely riveted. If only the Wind Haven raid had been even half as exciting. In this particular scenario, it seems like this is some sort of a ruse to take their physician-slash-priest away from them, and she runs her tongue across ivory fangs as she observes the blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment between them. Was Ren a traitor then? Perhaps that was why the Red God had allowed him to die and become blind again. Crime and punishment, right? Watching the pair fly off, she'd turn her icy gaze to the rest of the battlefield. The young tiger would await an opponent to appear, hopefully somebody within her own age bracket.