Smell Ya Later

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 Morning came after her return, bed of stone and moss a relaxant after having to find a place to rest each night. Though, for certain, some of the nights in her travels had their own comforts, warm bodies to be beside - nevertheless, those bodies remained, warm and alive back in the lands of trees, plains, and - unfortunately - tornadoes.

 Some, she wanted to bring with, others she had no qualms with leaving behind.

 Morning was on the horizon, the heat of the day threatening to break over the lip of her Eye. She knew it would take some time for their sheltered sclera of sand and stone to heat, just a bit longer than the surface of the desert beyond her Eye of Osiris, named aptly for a god of a desert long ago that she had heard rumors of. The god of the underworld, and she the goddess of death. A goddess of death, rather - for Death Itself was a much stronger god that eventually, she knew, would take even herself.

 Nevertheless, she drifted along, keeping watch while her followers settled down below to sleep the day away. Nocturnal life was their only saving grace here and it truly fit in with her instinct. Far too long had she traveled during the day, meeting only when wolves seemed to wake in the daylight, when the sun breathed upon them all.

 No, wolves were meant to be awake in the dark.

 She licked her lips and lifted her massive paws, scratching at the stone of the eastern-most inner Lid, her overgrown claws leaving scores along the surface of the stone.

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There had been darkness and the smell of coffee at midnight, with the faint scent of coconut. There had been stars in the sky, and the bright light of moonlight shining down on them, lighting the way home; a way home that would never be taken. The sounds of chaos filled the air with loud bangs, crashes, and shrieking. Were those the sounds of shrieking children or the sounds of the shrieking of brakes? That had been the last thought until the god of death had found her.

She could remember the hooked, silver weapon as it came for her, like a foggy dream that she was so close to obtaining, but could never reach out to touch it.

Then there had been the feeling of hot grit as it felt almost as if the sands had come together to take the form of her, forming not a monstrous human, but a gentle canine. A small bean with ears so large that they looked to be miles long. If someone came to press their head against those ears, would they hear the ocean?

The first thing that Moira saw upon waking up in this world was that, of course, of her shadow. Not understanding this life, Moira had twirled around with a grumble, which had come out in the familiar sound of a snarl, only to find that yes, the shadow with the pointed ears belonged to her. It did not occur to her just how small she was, even as she came upon the much larger canine.

She stopped a moment, large ears flickering gently as she debated consoling with this canine before giving a shrug and stepping forward with a confident grunt and twitch of her nose.

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 Andraste likely would not have noticed the tiny form of the fox if it weren't for its adorable snarl that caught her ears. As mauled as they were, she had trouble pinpointing the exact location of the sound, so her eyes traveled across the pale sands from one side of the Eye to the other, searching for any unfamiliar forms - for the noise was not one of those she had met.

 Even Nosebleed, in all his coyote bloodline, had a deeper noise than that.

 When her eyes did catch on the pale form, barely a smear across the similarly coloured sand, she raised a brow in query. The tiny thing - some form of fox? - was wandering in her direction as if size was no such thing. Her attention flashed upwards again, checking for potential wolves far above who might be thinking of leaping down. Little would any wolf of a potential ambush know, but the drop could easily send a wolf into disarray if it didn't cripple them.

 There was no one else, no shapes hidden among the shadowy stones above her and none across the way.

 So she looked back at the tiny almost-canid who was approaching. “What are you?”

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There was no such thing as size when one did not know just how big - or small! - one was! Moira could not quite grasp what had been before; memory was, of course, a fleeting thing, and she did not dwell on things that could not be changed.

Perhaps she thought that the bigger creature would even out in shape as she approached, but the larger, monstrous creature still remained it’s monstrous shape as the other, battleworn, female glanced around for something?

Moira paused, midstep - or should we just say mid-bounce, with a paw still extended in the air as if one had paused a movie at just the right time - as the tiny fox glanced around with the twitch of her nose. Did this one have food? The devils in her stomach were at play, it would seem.

When Andy glanced back towards her, Moira placed her paw down and sat down, tilting her head. “Well, you’s big, so I reckon I’m smaller than you..? Otherwise, I'm Moira?” Get a load of this; a fox who didn’t realize she was a fox.

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 Well, the creature, female by the sound of it, could speak at least, and could be understood. There were creatures she had heard that spoke in their own languages and she had half expected this one to start chattering away in some foreign tongue that no wolf would know off hand.

 She had spoken Common.

 Andraste moved towards her, sniffing deeply to take in the tiny thing's scent. At first she had wondered if the thing was a child but no - the proportions, while wildly unlike any wolf's anatomy, was not of a child. Having not been in a desert before this one, other than a brief visit to taunt the idea of retrieving her daughter, she had never met a fennec fox. She had, however, met a regular fox. This one must be some kind of freak mutation of a fox, if the hint of skunk in her stink was leading Andraste the right way.

 “You're no wolf,” she said simply, looking down at the creature whilst looming above her. “You live nearby?” Her eyes flashed up to peer at the paths up from the pit of the Eye into the regular dunes, where she supposed the tiny thing must have come from. There were no burrows there, from what she had seen, so where was she from?

 Ah, she supposed a name couldn't hurt. “I'm Andraste.”

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The ruiner came near and the fox would allow this notion as if size did not exist. It seemed that the two canines were polar opposites, and despite the battleworn appearance, mixed with the genes of a giant, Moira did not feel fear when in the presence of her. The ruiner sniffed, and the babe sniffed back. Nothing familiar.

No wolf? Was she supposed to have been a wolf? “No, I suppose not.” Moira would nod in agreement, stopping a moment to glare into the other direction, ears twitching as she did. Were there birds nearby?

“I suppose this entire kingdom is my home, dear Andraste. I know nothing of this place, or who I am, aside from my name. I do not recall… much, you see.” Moira gave a shrug and lick of her lips. “Must not have been important. Guess I live here now. What of you, then, dear Andraste?”

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 She was getting nowhere, this creature evidently had no sense of self or differentiation besides size, if that. She was fearless, though perhaps that was just a byproduct... The creature before her was sentient, if her words meant anything, but her sapience was entirely in question and Andraste was doubtful that they were on the same mental plane.

 Perhaps given time, this 'Moira' would grow keen and sharp.

 Her own mind whirred, considering the tiny thing and what use it could bring to her. Not as a fighting force, but they would need more than just fighters if they were to prevail. “This place is the Eye of Osiris.” She licked her lips thoughtfully as she studied the creature before her. “This is my domain now, so if you wish to remain here, you are mine, dear Moira.” She offered a smile, though behind that scarred yet gentle gaze was a deadly glimmer.

 “What do you say?”

 If she refused, she would simply become a snack, perhaps a present to one of her followers or even to Caligula if he did decide to come in search of her as she hoped he would.

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There was a lick of lips and Moira found herself focusing on the other woman’s lips for entirely too long. An ear flickered and it wasn’t until the other woman smiled at her, that the fox was able to tear herself away from those lips.

If there had been a threat in those words, they fell upon deaf ears, despite how big Moira’s ears were. She’d smirk after some time, tilting her head one way, then the other, as if it was a matter to be debated.

“Yours, huh? I didn’t think I’d find a mistress this soon.. ” Moira smirked, glancing up at the older, larger woman with the nod of her head and a lick of her own lips. She winked, and then leaned forward. “How exactly does this benefit me and will there be food involved?”^^

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 A mistress? Andraste gave a sharp laugh at that. Well, if the tiny thing wanted to think of it that way, sure. She wasn't sure of the implications but she figured that in time she would likely come to understand what the fox meant when she meant such a thing.

 If it meant she was simply this one's master, then so be it.

 “It benefits you in that you don't become our food,” she mused, lips twitching into a smirk. “There is much food, yes. And water, which you don't find much of in the desert.” Had she an ear to flick, she would have, glancing up at the looming shadows that were becoming more and more defined against the sand. “Let me show you into my parlour, my dear,” said the spider to the fly.

 Before long, she knew the heat of the day would become unbearable. Perhaps this little creature with her wide ears would be better off in the sunlight, but Andraste herself preferred to be in the bowels of the caves long before the heat of the day came. “You're lucky, I brought in a fresh kill just last night.” If the others had been patient, perhaps there would be some left for the little thing to have a taste.

 Surely such a tiny body couldn't hold that much prey, hm?

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Moira would take this moment to glance down at her very tiny body, and then back towards her newfound mistress… as if discovering size for the first time. Surely, there wasn’t much meat on these bones to eat a fully grown wolf, much less a child - but if they wanted to eat her for a meal, then she supposed one’s trash was another’s treasure.
 
“Well I suppose if you think you could get your fill off me, then kudos to you, I guess?” Was she even worth the effort of killing? But she would shrug and nod her head. It wouldn’t hurt to tango with larger canines, especially when she was so small. Whatever she’d just signed up for sure did seem like they’d be her army, anyway. 
 
“Very well, dear Andraste. Lead the way, if you will, yes.”

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 Her lips peeled in a grin as the tiny thing accepted her proposition. “Good - you shall be one of my Children and I, your Mother.” Would the tiny thing know it as a rank or would she think the god-eater was giving some sort of strange Freudian statement?

 Perhaps that was what it was.

 Nevertheless, this following of hers had no name yet. It had not come to her, so it was simply She, the Mother, and her many Children - and otherwise. There were certainly others here who would not count as Children, who would scoff at the idea. Nevertheless, if they followed her rule here, they were as children under her wing. She turned towards the Pupil, looking back at the creature and nodding for the little one to follow.

 And into the belly of the Earth she would go, unless the little one had any qualms with the new title that had been so graciously bestowed upon her.

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Exit unless she has something to say?

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