After seeing his parents graves near the dead elk Kichi felt as if time had stopped.  Certainly light and dark each took their turn in the sky but it meant little to Kichi.  He had been stuck trying to figure out an answer to a question but hadn't figured out how even the question should be shaped.  The facts he knew were that mom and dad were gone and were never coming back and that his gut ached in a way that had nothing to do with hunger. So he had spent about four days being very un-puppy like with no interest in the things that use to be fascinating.  He would have ate but with little joy in the eating.  However, after the first day there had been no tears.  They had been frozen inside of him somewhere refusing to fall.  

Kichi woke up on the fifth day, watching as a beam of sunshine struggled to push its way through the tree's canopy and onto a trail of red and copper color leaves on the ground.  A bird was singing.  It sounded like the same bird he'd heard the day before, but yesterday he hadn't really listened to it.    A group of birds flew above, far above.  He didn't see them but heard the faint woosh of their passing through the canopy.  Outside of where they had denned was a limb from one of the smaller tree's, and it looked perfect for chewing on.  

Kichi got up, stretching expansively as he did so and eyeing his nemesis the tree branch.  Lowering his head and shoulders with butt sticking up he took aim, held his gaze for an inner count of three then charged the stick!  Kichi slammed his weight into the 3 pronged limb and both limb and puppy slid a few feet. He bit into the enemy, ripping off a piece of the stick along with a dead leaf.  It appeared the stick was going to lose this massive battle.

Bad things were locked up in his memory, but Kichi brushed those aside.  He wanted nothing to do with those memories and so for now what mattered was killing the limb before asking Lurid about breakfast.  He was hungry.  Had he ate yesterday? Kichi wasn't sure, days had blurred together.  It didn't matter! Kichi was hungry now and that was better than worrying about the past.

Lurid Amarix

The days that followed her acquisition of Kichi had Lurid pondering if she had made the right decision in taking the boy. He refused to eat, had trouble sleeping, kept her awake, wanted her to hold him all of the first day. The only real comfort to the beast had been the lack of tears, those seemed to stop after the first night, but Lurid could still swear she heard his cries echo through her mind. It had taken every ounce of her will power not to smother the boy as he wailed that first night, but she had taken him to make him stronger. To test herself for the trials of creating an empire, she had to be able to care for children around the clock and not murder them, and Kichi was becoming more than perfect for the role of a crash test dummy. Somehow, she found patience enough to deal with his grief and emotions. Her reward came on the fifth day after the supposed hunting accident.

It had become her custom to leave him sleeping in the den as she went off hunting for his breakfast, this morning had seen her take a squirrel and two rabbits, plenty for the boy. When she returned she was surprised to see her boy was out and attacking a branch no less! Crystalline tail waved proudly behind her as she watched him play once again, her unspoken prayers answered. Setting her quarry down, Lurid felt something childlike spark within herself and she gave a bunny-hopping lope at the boy, signaling she wished to play with him. In this manner, she could teach him a bit, and still have it disguised as a game. Her ghostly form darted passed him, tickling at his nose with her tail, then spinning to look at him in a playful bow a few paces away. He was happy, and the dark goddess would take advantage of the moment to make him feel even better. "That stick is no match for you, pick on someone your own size!" She said playfully, her dual-toned voice light and happy for once.

|| Word count: 354 words. ||
"Talk." || 'Think.' || 'You.'

Note: omg cute overload!

ART by BRIENA

Kichi snapped the stick again with his teeth as Lurid came up, face brightening as he saw breakfast would be served. Now that he realized he was hungry it smelled great. Hi tail was flagging high and fast as he felt the saliva building in his mouth. Then he was in for a real shock though! Lurid, and this was Lurid mind you, was hopping over to him and giving a playbow.

Kichi yipped in surprised pleasure, his body responding with hardly any thought to copy the pose. He was feeling pretty confident with how easily he’d taken down the stick. “You’ll regret it!” The pup warned in his most daring voice before he bounded straight at her as if they were evenly matched. The grey and white fluff ball showed off his powerful puppy needle-teeth and ran forward aiming to bite her on the nose!

All he had to do was be fast and strong right? He could do that! He’d just grab her nose and give it a good thrashing and have her give in. His entire body seemed to be squirming in glee as he charged. It was freeing to put his full focus in playing with someone for at least a little bit. He wanted to enjoy life, and it was simple if he just kept to now and nothing else

Lurid Amarix

Kichi did not disappoint his surrogate mother, instead, a wide smile that spoke volumes of her pride in his recovery flashed as he charged at her, the expression absolutely dazzling on one so dark. He made for her muzzle, his tiny needle-like teeth scraping over her skin with the tiniest kiss of pain as she snatched her nose back from him to dodge his more serious intent. In the same motion, she lay her gargantuan bodice to the ground, reached out with her left paw, and made to swat the boy with the massive pad of the said paw. The object was to send him sprawling, possibly rolling him in the process.

It would seem like a bully move, and perhaps it was a bit harder than what most mothers would dole out while playing, but he was strong. The moonlight goddess would rise then and move to put a short distance between them. Turning to face him with deadly grace and silent paw, Lurid smirked and stared at Kichi while squaring her shoulders, lowering her massive crown, and spreading her legs just enough that balance was achieved. Her tail flagged above her hips as the sun trickled down through the trees to beam directly on her.

Lurid stood, for all her darkness, bathed in light that made her coat dazzle and gleam; holographic lavender gaze locked firmly on the glacial blue that made her son's eyes. The image she created was surreal, her form appearing unearthly and beautiful, but terrifyingly intense. "The first lesson, never assume you will succeed. Second...never hesitate." Suddenly, despite her gigantic frame, Lurid swiftly closed whatever small distance had been between them, and aimed to deliver a series of small nips all along Kichi's exposed side. She kept her teeth gentle - by some miracle - but enough to barely pinch. The boy would no doubt be easily overrun, but this one would have to be about defenses. She wanted him to defend himself, he already showed promise at attacking. He demonstrated that on his tree branch.

|| Word count: 340 words. ||
"Talk." || 'Think.' || 'You.'

Note: So hard to keep her like...playfully playful and not lecture playful. XDD

ART by BRIENA

Kichi was quite proud of feeling his teeth connect at all with her nose.  It meant she hadn’t dodged it after all!  However, he hadn’t been ready to react to an attack in return so fast as he’d still been busy in his self-praise at connecting.  He saw the paw coming out of the corner of his eye and he turned to look, a shrill yip of surprise as it seemed like he was floating for a moment and then skidding against the dirt, a soft urf as he felt a rock under him, then a twig. Kichi had landed in an awkward sit sort of position by chance and took a second to look around as his mind tried to catch up with what had just happened.  Looking back he saw Lurid ready to face him again.  She bought a lot harder than they had.  The memory of ‘they’ reminded him of the pain he was trying to forget.  There was a whine clutched in his throat, not allowed to come out but hurting all the same. Lurid was offering fight advice and he worked to put his attention back on that.  Something between her seriousness in telling him his lessons and the ache in his gut had him stand up to get back into a fight he had lost interest in for a second.  This time there was no laughter in the eyes.  It all hurt and felt wrong and he hated that it felt wrong.  He didn’t want to let himself whine but it hurt so much so instead he growled at her as she came at him.  The fact was Kichi had no chance of keeping up with Lurid’s speed and at the first two nips his snarl stopped for yips of shocked pain, but then the growl came back and he faced her incoming teeth and aimed a bite near the front of her muzzle if it connected he’d try to grip down snarling as menacingly as a small angry puppy can. "Speech"   Think

Lurid Amarix

In truth, Lurid hadn't meant to pinch him hard enough to make him yelp, and her heart clenched at the sound, causing her to respond with a soft whine of apology from her. There was a look in her holographic eyes that said she understood his pain, but she would not let up on him. Something in her gentled though, and she held herself back even more, trying so hard not to hurt her baby. The moments he took to right himself and get himself back in the game found the ghostly demoness wearing a proud smirk, hearing his strangled whimpers turn into cute little snarls. There he was, her child, doing his best to pay her back for her pinching. Despite the stings to her muzzle from where his teeth made contact again, Lurid found her tail wagging proudly. He had spunk, she would give him that. It was when his grip tightened on the side of her muzzle just behind her delicate nose that she nearly lost herself. That was a sensitive region for the goddess, and she hated when anyone targeted her nose. Holographic lavender flashed as they met the glacial blue of Kichi's angry eyes, and a small, but deep and dual-toned, growl left for a brief moment. It was a gentle warning, though frightening, that he was actually hurting her. Lurid's responses to pain were often violent, she was known to be explosive, combustible.

Kichi may have meant his blow, but Lurid gave him the benefit of the doubt, and only batted a giant paw at his small form hoping to roll him and make him lose grip on her muzzle. If successful, she would be free of his teeth and could raise her head and forequarters. "That one was good, you got me...be careful!" The boy would know her meaning when she said to be careful, his blow had been well placed, but she was a dangerous wolf. She didn't want to lose herself and end up hurting him beyond repair. With a deep breath, Lurid eased her responses and smiled - even though the side of her nose was throbbing. "Again, but watch out for my nose this time." A dual-toned giggle escaped her and she backed up a few feet to give him charging room, "Come at me this time." Laying herself down to be more even with her son's frame, Lurid waited for him to make his move.

|| Word count: 406 words. ||
"Talk." || 'Think.' || 'You.'

Note: Blech post is blech...

ART by BRIENA

Kichi’s group started to loosen a bit at the growl, but even more he saw the paw coming at him. This time Kichi had planned ahead for a return attack!  He performed a mighty jump that would take him over the paw and to the opposite side away from her!  The mighty hop however some how didn’t make it all the way over, his back feet being caught up in the paw and he had no ground to brace himself on! This ended up with him belly up on the ground right in front of her.  Kichi kicked his legs in the air, leaning to roll himself over and get up.   Kichi romped two steps away from her even as she likewise stepped back. He looked at her position, puppy mind attempting to decide how to attack.  He wasn’t allowed to go for her nose again. “Ok, but it wasn’t really an accident.”   He couldn’t decide if it was bad to admit that when she didn’t care for the target or good to point out his aim hadn’t been a problem. OH! Kichi had looked thoughtful for a moment but then that tail started flagging behind him happy over his new idea. Kichi ran towards her face again, looking happy and playful versus vicious but he did at least change his attack at the end! Instead of biting her face he attempted to bite the nasty paw that kept swatting at him.  Assuming she let him get the bite in he put his front two paws on the paw as if he could weigh it down, giving it a dangerous puppy play growl. "Speech"  Think

Lurid Amarix

He loosened at her warning, but only fully released as she swatted at him to jump over her paw and land mostly on the other side of it, this effectively stilled her anger. He landed belly up, and with him still prone, Lurid didn't hesitate to dive into the fray of kicking legs as he scrambled to right himself. She kept her jaws shut tightly, closing her holographic eyes to shield them from flailing claws, her aim was to gently prod him at his belly. She wanted to tickle him, he was mad at her and this would surely soothe some of it. His birth mother had been far too gentle with the babe, but he would learn to toughen his skin. After her tickling, she would let him get up, watching him bound away two steps as she rose to lay down the rule about her nose. His admission made her laugh, a rare sound to come from the dark woman, one that was almost frightening with its duality. A spark of pride speared her heart and she waved her tail, rather than make her angry, he had made her proud and instantly lightened her mood.

The boy was cute, and Lurid knew she would be in for it later in his life. Still, he warmed her icy heart, and Lurid found her love growing even more for the boy in those moments. He charged at her again, looking playful and innocent once again, and she thought he would come in for her face once more but he didn't. Instead, he pinned down the paw she swatted at him with and gave it a menacing puppy growl. Lurid laughed and with her other paw, aimed to swoop him into her embrace and tickle his sides with her sore nose. She would ignore the throbbing to sniff rapidly through his fur, aiming to tickle him with her breath as she lightly nibbled along her son's sides. After she was through with her assualt the wicked demoness would kiss the white marks on his forehead and hold him for a moment, seeking to pin him between her jaw and chest with a hug. "Bet you're getting hungry by now, huh?" Her dual-toned vocals were surprisingly light as she asked him, he was growing. Surely, by now, he had worked up an appetite.

|| Word count: 391 words. ||
"Talk." || 'Think.' || 'You.'

Note: --

ART by BRIENA

Tickling was cheating against a puppy.  It had included all the more leg kicking and excited puppy sounds somewhere between a whine and growl.  It was fun, and he did eat it up, wiggling all about. Once he was free though it was that eventual charge and latching on to her paw. Once he was captured in Lurid’s hug and he started getting nibling on the puppy whines mixed with growls in pleasure continued.  However if she got to nibble on him it was only fair that he tried to what at what ever was available.  Put up against her chest it was mostly the fur but at one point when sniffing in the right spot he managed to get a paw to whack at her nose.  Just pressing his luck wasn’t he! Now it was in a playful giggly manner though. How can anyone be mad at that? “Food? I'm starved!” The energetic question as yes! He’d been hungry before the entire fight had happened.  The tail was sweeping all over the place again, mouth open in an excited grin.  Fuzzball was full of energy at the moment. "Speech"  Think

Lurid Amarix

It seemed he was determined to make her nose a target, which forced another dark peel of dual-toned laughter to escape the demoness. She had pulled her crown atop her shoulders by that point, to ask if he was hungry, and the response he gave was a typical puppy reply. Another round of tickling was hopefully delivered along his sides and neck before she stood abruptly. The motion was geared to roll him gently down her leg, after which she would gracefully step over him, taking great care not to walk on her little boy. "So proud of you! You did great today, Little Love!" She puffed her chest up and held her head and tail high with maternal pride in her adopted son. It was the next bit she was trepidatious of, he still had yet to even try hunting on his own. Lurid tried to remember when the last time he had actually chased a grasshopper or cricket through the leaf litter...It worried her. Had her story scarred him? The truth would have broken him, would still break him. Lurid would smile at the cloudy boy, then go ahead and lead the way to her preferred hunting grounds.

|| Word count: 200 words. ||
"Talk." || 'Think.' || 'You.'

Note: -exit Lu to next thread-

ART by BRIENA

Kichi plopped on the ground, back feet splayed out with front feet straight in between so that it looked like he’d chosen to sit instead of fall.  He watched Lurid walk over him before pulling himself to his feet.  Stretching his front feet so they splayed out and his rump up high in the air, then shaking out his coat he moved to follow her. He had done good!  She’d have a real surprise as he got bigger and stronger and someday he’d best Lurid! Puppy visions of winning were mixed in with memories of the smell of good food. He could feel the saliva building up inside as the memory included how good the taste would be.  He pranced along behind Lurid for a bit thinking on that. “Lurid?” He eventually realized they weren’t going to the spot they denned the prior night.  “Where are we going? I thought you were getting food for us to eat?  Are we going somewhere else tonight?” That clueless innocence just assuming she wasn’t going to take him to anything he wouldn’t feel safe about. "Speech"  Think