namib

the boy grew stronger.

his caretaker [ @Nyra ] was a woman of few words, and he himself didn't feel the need to speak. he spent the days testing his stride within the halls of the great temple. lapped at the sour waters of the blood lake. ate shapeless throwup of animals whose appearance he couldn't begin to conceive.

all the while, his brain locken onto a single memory, not letting it fade with the rest.

the boy needed his мама; and he would find him.

[ @Satan ]

arcanis waited for the moment when the not-мама would be absent. when her tailtip disappeared around a corner and the echo of her pawsteps faded, the wiry-haired pup surged forth around it.

the exit was like a gate of light, and the pup crossed the threshold blinking and blind, unused to the glare of desert sun. now, his search could begin.
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The boy would grow stronger, and so, too, would Marvel’s lust for him. For them, really; all the children that Satan was supplying Marvel with. Marvel included, there were three children here; children that he could eat, or that he could recruit for his kingdom.

He considered the latter for a moment, though eating them sounded much better. So he would come with a lick on his lips as the boy was blinded by the sun. Oh, the perfect chance to end him. Would they even notice? An ear flickered, jade green eyes lingering over the little boy of his meal.

With no one around, who was to stop him? Marvel prowled right up to him and sat down. “Sup?”

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the light hurt after days in darkness, and so it was an enemy. arcanis showed his supremacy against the natural phenomenon by baring his little white fangs, eyes still shut but struggling to open.

he took stumbling steps forward, and walked straight into something solid. he made no yelp, but his bottom did firmly plant into the sand.

one eyelid lifted halfway.

the stranger was made of browns and off-whites, four white paws initially giving the pup hope. he had an odd sort of face, and eyes that brought discomfort to the target of their gaze.

arcanis did not like that he was made to feel so, and the whelp bared teeth again, albeit not accompanied by sound, except for a voiced demand;

"who aah you?"
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Who aah you? Oh, so the thing could speak! What an interesting turn of events this was, wasn’t it? Marvel narrowed his eyes a moment, tilting his head even more - what type of intellectual conversations could he have with a smol bean?

The kind to get him to become a follower, Marvel reckoned with a gentle smile, even as the bean was showing off his teeth.

Nothing could top Marvel’s two long incisors, though, so he merely chuckled with the nod of his head. “My my, what nice teeth you have, kid. They call me Marvel. Nice to meet you, my good sir. ”

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the smol bean cooked in a broth of indignatious rage - a meager but potent dish. he disliked the tone of this stranger - nyra did not talk to him so, in a way that hurt his head. while the man's words said one thing, the tone made them sound like a joke.

and arcanis was not laughing.

"ma'vel." he mouthed the adult's name trough teeth, his downturned lips for a moment concealing them and his gaze pointed down and to the side, the toddler trying to puzzle out if he'd said it right.

he decided he did not care.

"ma'vel!" he turned back with a yap, teeth showing once more (it actually felt sorta nice that someone noticed his budding bone needles). "vant ма-ма!" the boy demanded.
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The man had been out hunting, taking his time to gather a decent amount of food to bring back to the pack. His biggest prize was a camel, one that gave him a rather nice wound down his front left shoulder, which bled into his white fur. Not that he really minded though, he could get that cleaned up later. For now though, he dragged the camel back home, stopping just outside the cave. He heard voices and after a few moments realized it was Marvel and Arcanis. Interesting. 

Satan couldn't help but raise an questioning eyebrow as he heard the boy say he wanted mama. Was he talking about Nyra or the albino brute himself? Either way, he figured he would wait to see what would happen. Should the two of them notice him, that was alright, but he wasn't going to openly oust himself either.

Satan is watching, feel free to skip if no one notices him

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Ma’vel.

If the child had thought that the sabertoothed heir would not like the new version of his name that was bestowed before him, he was wrong. In fact, it made Marvel wonder if he’d been pronouncing his own name wrong this entire time.

“I gotchu, kid. Who’s ma? Who’s you? I gotta tell ‘er who’s lookin’ for her.”

Besides, it was rude not to introduce yerself when you meet someone, has no one been teaching this kid manners?

The smell of camel lingered and Marvel twitched his nose, but otherwise, he kept his eyes on the boy. “You wanna go for a ride and we can look for this Ma-Ma together?”

And then he’d lower his head to the ground for him to climb on if he wanted to go for an adventure.

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the child's brows furrowed, little pink tongue stuck out with intense focus. for this, he cared.

"r. c- can. ees." that sounded right. then, the first question.

"мама!" he exclaimed. "мама'zz haayt, an' reh - rred." it was strange he had to explain at all. wasn't his мама very important in the pack?

weird-face offered... a ride? the pup tilted his head with confusion. then, the adult lowered his own. arcanis's eyes widened.

"yes!" his tail wiggled. "yes, ye, yes!"

he hurried to scamper onto his new throne.
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The man watched from the corner, raising an eyebrow at the interaction. What was Marvel doing? To say that Satan didn't trust him with the child was an understatement considering how many times Marvel had threatened to eat the boy. For now though, the man would wait and watch, laying himself down but keeping his body tense just in case he needed to stop the boy from eating his own pack mates.

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