The Scorpion's Daughter

Shaydie · Post by **Shaydie** » 25-07-2009 08:02

(Decided to put Persia out here in case anyone was interested in roleplaying with a very strange little girl. :3)

Night in the rainforest was far from silent. Crickets crooned their songs to one another and a few birds still sung their own tunes.. It was a constant melody, flowing with the cool night air as easily as a feather on a tiny gust of wind. The whole experience was... exotic. Which was exactly what Persia had come here for.

The coyote was decidedly out of place in these parts; many of her kind, if not all, had chosen to live their lives on the plains, where you could see an enemy miles away. She had not been such a coward... at least, not of late. Furthermore, her glistening white-and-orange coat that the moon so lovingly cradled in its soft blue light often made her look like some regal wolf instead of what she truly was... A "mangy coyote," as other species called her often enough. Not everyone was quick to stereotype, but lately everyone she'd met had been considerably less hospitable once they had found out she wasn't a wolf... Among other things, of course...

As she made her way through the ferns and fallen trees, she was making quite a racket, considering the fact that she wasn't used to such terrain. She was trying her best to be quiet and let the forest's song whisper stories to her, but her own clumsiness was drowning it own. So, rather abruptly, she sat down on a long with a quick exhale, determined to listen to the sounds of the rainforest for a while longer before she continued to ruin the harmony with her pawsteps. While she looked around, a small black figure crawled up her shoulder and tapped her neck with a claw... She jumped slightly and looked over at the large black scorpion on her shoulder, its poison barb poised... Then calmly stuck her tongue out at it and continued to gaze at her surroundings.

"Come on, Grey, I told you not to do that when I'm focused. Are you ever focused? ... Hm... I thought so. Where do you think we'll go next? ... Mm. Sounds good to me... Maybe we'll find some gazelles there... I've always wanted to see a gazelle..."

Persia spoke with a rather womanly tone, her voice almost as exotic as the night songs. But the way she spoke to the scorpion on her shoulder, it was like he was talking back. But all anyone else heard, as she was well aware, was the clicking of his claws and a soft chatter of his fangs. But she could understand him quite clearly. She had previously thought maybe it was the mark on her back that enabled her to do this, but had discarded the idea when she realized she didn't really care. The scorpion - Grey, as she called him - was her best friend and traveling companion, and as long as they could talk together, that was enough for her to know.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 26-07-2009 05:55

(hope it's okay if i jump in here :3)

The rainforest's night song wasn't foreign to Mars, yet he knew he was in the wrong place. It was far too humid and dense here to be the forest where he was born. Somehow he had ended up in this strange place, after wandering so far from his homeland. Mars felt as if someone had tied his stomach in a knot, as he wondered what dangerous predators could live in this place. 'What dangerous predators that are hungry. That like to eat wolves,' he thought, gulping. His light pink tongue lolled out of his mouth, whether from heat or nervousness he didn't know, and he would've been silent traveling through the trees and bushes if he wasn't panting so hard.

Yet he wasn't the only noisy being in the forest, it seemed. Hearing a twig snap, he gave a quiet yelp and tried to rush away from what direction he thought he heard the sound from. Who knew what could be lurking in this unfamiliar place? 'Something big,' Mars began to think to himself, 'something that can easily kill a lone wolf like me.'

Without knowing it, Mars was actually heading towards the source of the noise. Accidentally, he bumped straight into a wolf whose bright white fur greatly contrasted his own dark gray and black pelt. At least, it looked like a wolf to him, but perhaps the heat was getting to his head. Almost as quick as a reflex, Mars submissively dropped his body low to the ground.

"Ah, I-I'm really sorry," he whimpered.

Shaydie · Post by **Shaydie** » 26-07-2009 09:57

(:happy: Nah, its quite alright! I was wondering if anyone was gonna drop by. :3)

When the other canine ran straight into her, Persia's first instinct, of course, was to scream. But she held that impulse inside of her, clamping her mouth down tight along with her eyes, until she heard a voice. It was a tender sort of voice, not like one that would come out of the mouth of a killer... And the words it spoke were tender as well. So she opened one eye, then the other, and turned to stare at this male. He was dropped low on the log, which was very foreign to her since no wolf had ever been submissive to a coyote... Or maybe he didn't know... Perhaps that was the case. She instinctively looked around for Grey, but he had hidden in the tuft of fur on her head, and she suspected that he wouldn't come out until later. Grey was like that - he either didn't want to converse with you, or he wanted to scare you. He made his decision in hiding. In any case, the coyote returned her attention to the wolf, blushing a little.

"Well, um... No, its okay, really..."

She shifted slightly so that she was facing him head on, eagerly hiding her scorpion marking from him. No one had taken her quite as seriously (well, seriously FRIENDLY) after they had seen her mark. She didn't understand why... Perhaps wolves were more superstitious than coyotes.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 26-07-2009 18:20

Mars raised himself up slowly, watching the other wolf carefully but not in an intimidating way. She didn't seem like the type who would want to take advantage of him, to him she seemed just as out of place as he. He caught a glimpse of orange on her back before giving a sheepish, slightly nervous laugh. "Are you lost too?" He looked up at patches of the dark sky through the leaves of the trees, wondering why wherever he went, the sky always looked the same. "I wandered here without knowing where I was going. ....I've never been in a place like this before," he said with a touch of wonder.

Shaydie · Post by **Shaydie** » 27-07-2009 06:30

She tilted her head slightly at the wolf's question. Lost? She was never lost. How could you be lost if you didn't have a specific place to be in the first place? Therefore, being lost was no longer a problem. Stuck, perhaps, was a different story.

"Lost...? Oh, no I'm not lost. I don't really know where I am... But I'm not lost, since I wandered here on purpose... I'm exploring you see..."

She returned his laugh in a less nervous sort of way, and flicked her tail to and fro a few times. Meanwhile, the scorpion, Grey, wandered out from beneath the tuft of fur on Persia's head and stared menacingly at the wolf with his barb poised again, although Persia herself didn't seem to notice. She didn't pay much attention to Grey when they weren't talking, especially since she knew he never left her. She would subconsciously think about whether or not she could feel him anywhere from time to time, but right now she wasn't really concerned with his whereabouts.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 27-07-2009 18:00

"Oh, I see... I'm lost. Exploring? I don't like exploring. What I really want right now is to be ho--" He flinched as a small gray scorpion emerged from Persia's bangs. He stepped back a bit, eyes widening with fear. "Hold still, you have something in your fur...!" Aiming for the small animal, Mars used his paw to try and push it out of her head. "I think it's poisonous. I've never seen anything like that before."

Shaydie · Post by **Shaydie** » 27-07-2009 20:31

She blinked in confusion when the other suddenly hesitated, then stepped back. He looked afraid. When he mentioned she had something in her fur, she looked even more confused, especially when he started pushing at whatever it was with his paw. When he said it looked poisonous, however, she laughed, understanding at last. Grey, in the meantime, had been dodging the wolf's paws, snapping his claws at him but refraining from using his venom. That was the thing about Grey - always thinking of the consequences. When Persia ducked a little and put a paw on the wolf's head to stop him. As soon as she had, Grey started chattering again, clicking his claws and fangs in a manner that could only mean he was angry. Ignoring him, Persia kept her attention on making this guy stop pestering her scorpion friend.

"No, no, its okay, calm down! This is Grey. He's friendly, really! He'd never hurt a fly... well... maybe a FLY, but not me. And I think you'd better stop bugging him or he'll get a lucky snap at you!"

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 28-07-2009 20:24

There was no need to convince Mars to stop. "Oh, he's your friend. Grey." He gave a chuckle at the hissing scorpion, no nervousness in it this time. "Looks like we got off to a rather rough start. ...Speaking of Grey, I'm Mars. And you...?" After introductions, he looked at the other wolf with a strange expression, tilting his head. "How exactly did you manage to befriend a tiny animal... or is it a bug... like that anyway?" He asked, ears tilted back, wondering despite the she-wolf's words if Grey would attack him.

Shaydie · Post by **Shaydie** » 28-07-2009 20:48

As Mars chuckled, Grey gave another click of his claws and inched forward, resting on Persia's muzzle. She wrinkled her nose and blew on his face, and he retreated back over her head and onto her shoulder, where he eyed Mars suspiciously. In the meantime, the coyote herself smiled and tilted her head, her tail wagging slowly.

"Nice to meet you Mars. I'm Persia. And this, as you know already, is Grey."

Grey clicked his claws again, as if in greeting. They both listened to Mars intently as he asked his next question, and Grey - though he didn't move much - definitely looked rather put off when Mars asked if he was a bug. Peria stoked his back with her paw, though, and he seemed to calm down considerably.

"Well, um... We've always been friends. I mean since I found him on the plains... Other coyotes don't take kindly to scorpions but... I don't know. My dad told me that he used... to..."

She trailed off, realizing that she'd already said too much, especially the part where she was a coyote, not a wolf. Most people lost her right there, or at least a little bit. If anything they up and left when she explained she could actually SPEAK to Grey and it wasn't just some sort of fluke.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 28-07-2009 21:05

"Oh, hey, you're a coyote? ...I'm sorry, I've been assuming you were another wolf." He looked rather embarrassed. "Must be the heat getting to my head... Anyway... can he understand me or something, Grey? He looked different when I said 'bug.'" Mars said in a skeptical tone, sniffing in the scorpion's direction, gradually bringing his twitching black nose dangerously close to Grey's claws. Tilting his head, he then realized that Persia had stopped talking and pulled back. "Sorry, did I interrupt or something?"