Toxicity had been exploring the far reaches of the land, Obi by her side. She had wondered where all these lands went and how far they stretched. Especially since her sister had been grounded, Toxicity had been more and more eager to stretch her own paws and see what was so amazing and so tempting about this mortal world. Even her father had described beautiful places crafted by the gods. It was strange that they knew of just one god even though they acknowledged that there were others. Tox wanted to learn their names, their images, what they stood for, and if they contributed to Abraxas falling.

At this point, the rushing sound of water drew Toxicity's attention. It was a steep drop like the cliffs they had lived by for a while, but there were strong currents of water rushing down it and into the stream that flowed by Toxicity's paws. A haze of water floated around the impact region, shimmering with a faint rainbow. For a moment, Toxicity was lost in the lush greenery and strong rocks being carved away by the cerulean waters which crashed with such power, then flowed with serenity. It was a lot to take in and for a long while, Toxicity stood, dumbfounded in its glory.

Speech

Tempo wasn't even that far from the packlands, in fact, these had once been Abaven's lands but there was something liberating about not being surrounded by packmates feigning concern, or even worse ignoring his existence completely as most of the pack seemed to do. More than that he'd lately been drawn to the mind-numbing sound of the crashing water of the falls. It drowned out the thoughts in his head.

So to find he wasn't alone this time as he approached the falls didn't exactly sit right with the depressed boy. He sighed. From her frozen body language, she'd never seen a waterfall like this before. He angled himself away from her so that when he passed it wouldn't be too close, he had to try to mitigate his curse as much as possible. "Don't get to close, the falling water could crush a fully grown wolf under its force." He paused just long enough to toss the warning her way, maybe not even true but he knew that the base of the falls was incredibly dangerous, before heading towards the water at the base of the waterfall, flopping onto his stomach, the toes on his forepaws hover just over the banks of the river. Maybe it was ironic he'd give the unknown girl a warning and then immediately disregarding it for himself.

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As she marveled at the wonders of the falls, a black and white marked male came into her view. He was also a pup. Surely he wasn't on his own? He was so tiny... but maybe that was his natural size? Not all wolves were graced by the largeness of god.

The black and white striped boy tossed a warning carelessly her way. Was the water really that powerful? She let her eyes trail his walk for a small moment as she contemplated his words. Well he didn't seem terribly concerned. She quirked a brow spot at him and moved to follow after him loosely, "And what about a god?" she asked. "Do you think it could kill a god?"

Speech

Tempo could not help himself, he laughed, he laughed hard at the girl's question. When he turned his gaze to look at her it had a hard cynical edge to it and no doubt she could see how tired he was. "There are no gods." He said harshly, clearly 100% certain of this. "Or if there are they must be pretty weak and pathetic to have not stopped my birth. So yes, I suppose if there are any gods they'd die pretty easily to the waterfall." It was the only thing that could make sense to him when it came to the gods. No god would have allowed an abomination like him to walk the earth, wouldn't have allowed him to kill his own parents.

He observed the girl carefully, uncertain why someone would even pose that question. It made him curious about her. But more than that he was alarmed by how willing she was to stand even this close to him. "I'd not stand so close if I were you." He said solemnly. "Everyone who gets close to me inevitably gets hurt, and I can't control it." He then glanced back at the falls, silently hoping she'd take his warning to heart.

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The boy's voice answered flatly, claiming that there were no gods. He reasoned that it was because he was allowed to be born. Toxicity chuckled, soft and airy under her breath. That was a silly reason. He said that due to that, if there were gods, they would be killed by the waterfall. "There are all kinds of gods, I think," Tox said, looking at the waterfall. "Gods of good, and bad, and everything in between probably."

She wasn't sure how to explain to him, but she figured she would try to anyway, "It's possible a god put you here simply so you can cause chaos... but also maybe you're weak because you're godless- just a mortal." Toxicity offered a light smile to the poor boy. Of course a measly mortal would be this weak, but it was okay, because Toxicity believed anyone could ascend. "You don't have to stay that way. You can become stronger."

He went on to tell her that she shouldn't stand that close because she would get hurt. He said he couldn't control it and her mismatched eyes sought to lock with his, "You possess such power? And yet you call yourself weak?" Toxicity laughed again lightly, "I'm not scared of you, because I too am a God. Are you sure this isn't just a unforseen manifestation of some power you possess? Are you sure you are not a god- or at least part god- yourself?"

Speech

Tempo couldn't help but roll his eyes at the comment she made about the nature of gods, he couldn't believe her, or maybe he didn't want to... because if what she said was true then it hurt all the more because that must mean that the bad gods were stronger. He listened silently as the girl spoke, anger and pain were simmering within him. He didn't want to proselytized to, he didn't want to be told his birth hadn't been a mistake.

The notion he'd been born to sow chaos hurt, it hurt him so bad. Because he didn't want to believe it was possible that he was meant to be born, to kill his parents. He screwed his eyes closed, but he didn't try to move. Maybe he'd accepted her presence as punishment or maybe he was hoping that in all her talk of gods she'd offer him respite, offer him a cure.

Finally Tempo looked at the girl. "I'm no god, and it's no gift, it's a curse." He searched her gaze, his desperation clear on his face. "Do you think I can learn to control it? Get rid of it?" He needed the hope that flared in his chest, even as he didn't want to let himself feel it.

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Toxicity watched as the emotions churned in the boy's mind. She couldn't tell what he was thinking exactly, but she waited until he spoke. He said he was not a god and that it was a curse, but he also asked her if he could learn to control it or get rid of it. Tox gave him a warm smile, "I think you might be a God, maybe your power just seems like a curse because you can't control it... but I think you can learn to- not to get rid of it, but to embrace it. Make this power your own. Make it a part of you."

She drew close to him, her eyes locked onto his, "My mentor, Obi Mon Kinobi, knows of many godly things. Blessings, curses, powers, ascension. He even speaks the language of the gods. You should come meet him. I'll take you if you want." Toxicity took a step back with a light bow of her head. She drew her sigil into the ground. "I am Toxicity Klein Abraxas and this is my sigil- the physical representation of who I am and a channel for my power- the minor sigil of Abraxas. This," she drew Archon's sigil into the ground, "This is the major sigil of Abraxas, my mother, mentor, and father hold this one. I bet if you were to get something like this from Obi, you could start to understand your powers as well."

Speech

Tempo wasn't certain he was totally convinced by her assertion of his godhood but there was something in her excited chatter that was giving him hope, maybe just maybe, she could be right and he could learn to control his curse, stop himself from harming those around him ever again. Maybe even use it to protect the little family he had left...

He looked up at Toxicity as she mentioned her mentor, violet eyes were wide and filled with such genuine hope. He watched as she drew her sigils in the ground, silent for a moment longer as he thought on what she'd said. "I'm Tempo Destruction, I'd like to meet this Mentor of yours very much." He said, his voice a little shakey in his uncertainty but he looked determined. Tempo rose to his paws, looking at the girl pointedly. He didn't think he could go home now even if she wasn't prepared to take him right away, he was too antsy now.

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Toxicity could almost see the flips switching in Temo's head as she spoke. The small glimmer of hope- of faith. Good. Sometimes, Abraxas worked that way. Toxicity was more than willing to help him walk the path of the fallen. She smiled genuinely, saddling up next to Tempo and ushering him in the direction of Ashen. "Come, we will meet him. I'm sure he'll be waiting for us."

She waited to see if he would follow, then made her way to lead the way, "I should tell you about the first of us Abraxas, though. His name really was Abraxas, but we call him The Fallen God. I feel like you can probably relate to the feeling of that name." Toxicity tossed him a light smile, it was meant to be reassuring that even a God could have fallen. "Though he fell once, indeed was cursed to a mortal life, he found his way to ascend again. I aim to do about the same. I think before we meet my mentor, I should tell you more about The Fallen God."

Speech

Tempo scrambled to his paws as Toxicity slid up next to him and started gently ushering him away from Abaven. He tried to take her words and find optimism in them, he wasn't quite there yet but now that he had a plan in hand he wasn't about to turn tail and run away, he at least could hear out this girl's mysterious mentor and judge for himself if they were trying to swindle him.

He padded after her, a little slow and hesitant maybe but clearly following the girl when she spoke again. She explained who the first Abraxas was, a fallen god. Yes he could certainly sympathize with that feeling... though he still wasn't certain he was a god, merely that he was himself cursed... The girl would go on to explain further and Tempo silently padded after her, paused a single moment to glance back at the falls, at the packlands he'd lived in his whole life beyond that and then trotted to catch up with Toxicity.

-Exit-

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