[Kitsune_Beauty]

She was alone. For the first time in her life, she was completely alone and didn't like it one bit. The terrified Dusk kuhna tripped every few seconds as she tried to sprint through the dense forest while every inch of her malnourished body trembled. "Brotherrrr!" she called desperately. Where had Zyek gone? Why had he left her? Truth be told, the cruel Poisen kuhna had wondered how his pathetic sister would fair if he brought her out to some strange place and happened to 'disappear'. Nadia, however, was more frightened than she'd ever been. What if he blamed her for becoming separated? Oh, he'd be so angry...She had to find him. Or at the very least find a way out and get home. As she got deeper into the woods, she began to slow and creep along as close to the forest floor as she could. Every little noise made her gasp or flinch as she expected things to strike or attack her. "B-B-Brother..." she stammered as she crawled on her belly, utterly lost. The fresh cuts on her body burned from the various plants and herbs brushed against them. She looked around to make sure Zyek really wasn't around to see her, and began to cry.

[Fallen_Snow]

The fact that home had begun to annoy her really said something about Marbie. While she was patient and calm in most situations, the bustle of the house and cleaning up of all the Christmas junk to make way for New Year's party decor didn't really make her want to stay and help out. New Year's was a totally different story from Christmas. Christmas brought you together, began new adventures with the new toys, games and clothes that you receive in prettily wrapped giftboxes and bags, and was just happy in general. New Year's was just a junk holiday-- everyone drank too much, it was loud all night, and everyone is celebrating an end. But an end to what? Nothing was truly ending-- it was just their imagination of time and the fact that the calendar was forced to start over, somehow it 'gave' them all a chance to start over. It was weird and horrible.

In a nutshell, those were her thoughts at that moment-- wrapped up in thinking about a truly pointless holiday that happened after a meaningful and loved holiday came to a close. She had come out into the forest for a bit of warmth, as living in the Re'gan mountains somewhat dampered the feeling of warmth. Sometimes you forgot what warmth felt like. But a warm rain had filtered through earlier that morning, and the sweet smell of clean, moist air and wetted, healthy plants helped to ease her mind and let her feel unperturbed by the life that tended to stay in her old home.

And she wanted to fight real bad; practicing on trees usually did it for her, though.

She was about to jump and climb up a gnarled, tall tree with sweeping leaves when she heard crying a ways off. "Hell-ooooo~?" Marbie called out, pushing her way through dewy leaves and wet mossy ground, listening for the source of the unhappiness. "Helloooo!" she called again, coming closer to the poor Dusk Kuhna that seemed terribly upset.

[Kitsune_Beauty]

Poor Nadia's thoughts tormented her as she laid on the muggy ground. What awaited her when she got home? Would it be acid claws to the face? Would he set her tails on fire again? Would he put mirrors all in her cell? Or worse...Would he leave her in utter silence and darkness like he had done on the occasions she really upset him? The battered Dusk kuhna shook like the leaves around her at the thought. "I'm s-sorry, Brother..." she murmured, hoping Zyek would hear her and knowing he wouldn't. He never did.

Her ears became rigid at the sound of footsteps, and her body froze as she realized they were getting closer. At the sound of a voice, she quickly squeezed herself under a root, wincing as the rough bark rubbed against her wounds. It was a female voice, which made things the slightest bit better, but there was still no way she would show herself. It would probably scare the other being away, repulsive and ugly as she was. At least, Zyek had always said so. As the voice got louder and closer, Nadia attempted to wriggle deeper under the thick root, but the pain of the bark against her frail skin made the task impossible. Instead, she made a feeble attempt to speak. "G-g-go aw-away, please...B-Brother will f-find me..." She had taken to trembling once again, her burned tails kept tightly by her sides.

[Fallen_Snow]

Now, Marbie was the type of person to take 'Leave me alone' seriously. But the way she seemed so utterly frightened... she didn't like it. Not one bit.

"Sweetie? ... Are you alright? Are you lost?" Marbie asked in her cutesy voice, which she only broke out for little kids when she was asked to watch them. She was fairly responsible, so this happened often, and she had a lot of practice with said voice.

When she heard the whimpers, Marbie decided that she was finding this kid, no matter what they said. She pushed forward until she came to the tree, in which she found the poor thing stuck under a root. She was barely visible, but Marbie could see the blue and white celestial marks. She grabbed the small Kuhna gently by the scruff and attempted to pull her out, trying to be as tender as possible, not wanting to hurt the poor thing anymore. She could smell the remnants of burnt fur-- oh Gods, what happened to this Kuhna?

"It's alright, sweetie," Marbie whispered through the Kuhna's scruff, "I won't hurt you. I promise."

[Kitsune_Beauty]

Every muscle in Nadia's body tensed as she was lifted from her hiding place. It didn't hurt nearly as much as when Zyek did it, and the sensation was strange to her. When she was set down, she shrunk low to the ground again. Now her ghastly appearance was exposed for the other female to see. The scars, the burns, the bruises, all of it out in the open for someone else to see. Nadia risked a frightened glance at the cake kuhna, expecting to be struck or insulted at any moment.



Man, he hated walking around in this form. He missed his chains, his leather, his studs. Then again, he hated getting the above mentioned hung on every friggin' piece of foliage he passed by. Not to mention it was easier to move through dense forest in his kuhna form. He'd come back out here since he figured it was time to bring the little whelp home. Maybe he'd throw another mirror in her cell. "Ohhhh Nadiaaaa~" he called mockingly as he followed her sent as best he could. When he finally saw her, the fact that she was not alone as he'd intentionally left her aggravated him. "Who's this, scab? What have I told you about socializing? You know how others feel about you." Nadia only stared at her brother shamefully. "I t-tried, Brother...She wouldn't leave..." Zyek hooted in clear amusement at this. "Wouldn't leave? You expect me to believe that! Who'd stay? Unless you got yourself another dumb broad interested in helping the 'poor little thing'." The Dusk kuhna's ears fell to her skull and she looked at the ground, avoiding the cake kuhna's eyes. Zyek, however, turned toward the cake with a slightly flirtatious smirk. "Don'tya know it's not polite to be pickin' stuff up that doesn't belong to you, sweet cheeks? I'll be taking that home, now. Call me sometime." He sent her a sly wink before grabbing Nadia roughly by her tender tails and yanking her up. "Walk." he demanded firmly. Being the obedient sister that she was, Nadia yowled only slightly and did what her poison sibling ordered.

[Fallen_Snow]

Marbie looked at the poor, pathetic scrap shrinking away from her and just wanted to scoop her up and whisk her off, tell her everything is okay, and feed her until she burst. She was so small, so weak and thin! The poor thing was probably starving. "Hey, it's alri--"

She was cut off by the entrance of what seemed to be her brother. "I can introduce myself, thanks. And it's not babe, its Marbie." she hissed, and watched as he treated his sister like dirt. "Whoa whoa whoa! You DID NOT just treat you little sister that way!" she shouted, diving between the two immediately. She turned towards the little Dusk Kuhna. "Don't move, sweetie. I'll handle this. Has he been hurting you? Does he hurt you? Tell me, sweetie, and I'll take care of you..." she mrowed, and then glared hatefully at Zyek. "You beat her, don't you? Barely living, barely knowing, you make her think she's unwanted? This is just... wrong. Utterly, completely wrong! And you know what, I usually don't bother putting my buisness where it's not supposed to be, but I'm not backing off with this. Walk away right now. I mean it." Marbie hissed, her claws scraping into the peat soil beneath their paws.

[Kitsune_Beauty]

Nadia jumped as she was suddenly cut off from her brother by this stranger. Her gray eyes went wide as she noticed the cake kuhna's claws making little marks in the soft soil below. "Wh-what...?" was the only thing that would come out of her mouth. She had just expected this 'Marbie' to step aside and mind her own business as everyone else did, but instead...What exactly was she doing?

Zyek's brows went up in slight surprise. Like Nadia, he hadn't expected this little wench to make a big deal out of the garbage behind her. "All right, let me make this clear Marbie," he started, emphasizing her name, "you're darn right in the fact that this ain't none of your business. She is my sister, my relative, my responsibility and nobody has any right to say a damn thing about it." His tails were flicking irritably at this point, and he craned his head to see around the cake kuhna blocking his path. "Move your ---, Nadia. Now. Nadia looked from Zyek to Marbie and back. Who did she listen to now? Zyek was her brother, after all...He'd kept her alive. Not to mention she'd surely end up nothing but a burden on this female's life in the long run. After a moment and an remarkably stern glare by Zyek, she stood up to leave with him.

[Fallen_Snow]

"No! Nadia, stay." Marbie said in a commandeering tone. "I don't care who you are. She's obviously scared out of her wits to see you, and now I'm going to fix it. I warn you one last time. Move on, and let your sister be. Or this could come out with you looking worse than your 'beloved' sister." she sneered, her claws making further indents into the ground below. She was working up an anger now, and no one wanted to be near her when she did. But this male was probably stupid enough to continue with it, to push her to leave.

"I swear to you, this will end badly. And when I say end badly, I mean for you. Now go!" she growled, hissing menacingly at this male. She glanced back at Nadia, hoping that she didn't scare the poor beast off. The last thing she wanted was a race to find her against her brother-- she was unsure of how agile and good at tracking he was, but if he found her on purpose, he obviously wasn't too bad. She hoped that she could save this Kuhna. Even though she barely knew her, Marbie knew that if she didn't do something, this poor creature would continue to suffer.

[Kitsune_Beauty]

Nadia couldn't think. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. Nobody had ever cared enough to step in like this. Was the way Zyek treated her really so bad? The dusk slowly examined her body, her tiny frame, her dulled pelt that didn't even come close to resembling what a Dusk kuhna was supposed to look like, and the many other burns and scars that littered her tender skin. She looked at herself, looked at Marbie, then looked at her brother. Marbie didn't look like her. She looked fed, not beaten or insulted at all. She looked confident, beautiful. Nadia cautiously edged up behind the Cake kuhna, hiding herself from Zyek.

A furious growl bubbled in the Poison's throat. His sister was refusing him?! After a moment, his eyes closed and he seemed to be trying to calm himself, but when they opened again, it was followed by a smirk that had to have been hiding cruel thoughts. "Sweet little Nadia, why won't you come back home with your dear brother? I raised you. You know Mom was too much of a pushover to handle me, and who would want you?" Nadia only peeked her head out from behind Marbie, a tear sliding down her cheek. "M-Mother wanted us both...I hear thoughts, brother...She begged you to tell her where I was..." The smirk remained on Zyek's face, but a spark of twisted anger shown in his eyes. "What have I said about that, dear one? What have I told you about using your thought-speech? Especially on me? Now...You're coming home with me RIGHT NOW and I don't give a DAMN what this DAMSEL has to say about it!" In a sudden rush of rage, the Poison sprung toward Nadia in an attempt to grab her and drag her home, whether she wanted to come or not.

{post count mark}

[Fallen_Snow]

Marbie looked back at the Kuhna, slightly surprised. Mind-speech, eh? Well, I think that that's pretty cool. Marbie thought at her, smiling back at the little Kuhna who looked close to breaking in half. But it was spoiled further by her mangy brother, who Marbie was dying to tear up.

"That's it!" Marbie spat as he demanded that she, a damsel, move out of his way so he could get to his sister and hurt her more. She jumped up to meet him, her claws unsheathed. Now, Marbie hadn't thought out this battle much, as she didn't think she'd have that much trouble with him, but now she had some second thoughts on her chances of winning. Sure, she'd always loved to fight and wrestle, but at the same time... what if he was stronger? What if he used his poison against her? What if this was a trick, and Nadia was just as strong, maybe stronger than her brother?!

... No, there was no way that was true. The poor thing looked so disheveled, so out of sorts that it was hard to simply look at her and see this tiny little body.

[Kitsune_Beauty]

Nadia emitted a squeaky yowl and squeezed herself back under the root as the two kuhna collided in front of her. Poison claws..! she thought frantically to Marbie, They are like acid...! Even her thoughts were quiet and frightened, and a bit surprised since she was actually giving a stranger a chance to beat her brother. And fire...He has foxfire..! Something in her innocent little heart couldn't bear to see Marbie hurt like her. Gods, no. Zyek couldn't do that to anyone else.

The poison yowled and slashed in a fury as Marbie crashed into him. Oh he was getting so put out with this little..."Get OUT of my WAY!" he snarled and flung a paw-full of the poisonous claws Nadia had been trying to warn the Cake kuhna about. If you enjoy that little whelp so much I might just drag you home with us!" Steaming poison dripped from his jaws as his rage built more so than he'd ever remembered it being. Of course, nobody had dared stick their nose in his business until now. Sparks flickered around his teeth as he targeted his fire.

[Fallen_Snow]

HOLY--! Anything else to warn me about?! Marbie thought, her mind barely together as she ducked beneath Zyek, letting him tumble behind her. She felt his claws graze her ear, and the burning pain of the poison singed the tip of it. She shook it away, but only managed to get rid of some of it. There was only a dull burning pain, but she would be able to get rid of it once she chased him off.

Alright, Nadia, if it's okay with you, I think that you should really get out of here-- don't worry, I have a plan. But it's the only way to save both of us, or, at least, keep me from being melted by Poison Kuhna acid.

Marbie tried to think of what she had that could be used against him. She had nothing-- no powers, no poison... she probably had some sugary-something somewhere, but that wouldn't do much. What she was wishing right then was for some mist. Her eyes glanced back behind her-- sure enough, a large cloud of mist was slowly rolling towards them. But they wouldn't have enough time!

Alright, Nadia-- I want you to run past me, towards the mist. Can you identify trees? Or, at least, marks on trees? she asked, trying to connect with Nadia in the only way that would not make it obvious to her brother, Zyek.

[Kitsune_Beauty]

Nadia's ears perked as Marbie thought her plan at her. Trees had specific marks? What did that mean? "Uhm...I'm sorry...! I don't know what marks on trees are..." She checked carefully to make sure her brother's mind wasn't on her's, else he'd hear the entire scheme. Luckily he was too angry and focused on Marbie to focus on her pathetic head. After a moment of hesitation, Nadia shot like a wounded bullet past the Cake kuhna and into the thick fog. The damp air felt good on her skin and fur as it collected and dripped off what remained of her pelt. Unfortunately, she couldn't take the time to stop and enjoy the cleansing feeling the mist had on her body, instead she fought to keep a focus on Marbie's mind. She didn't know how far her thought-speech could reach, but so far it seemed to be holding up.

Sharp pinpricks of pain jolted through Zyek's body as he landed in a heap of thorny vines that had fallen off a nearby tree. He hissed and yowled as he thrashed to untangle himself, and emitted a highly frustrated snarl when he saw Nadia zip past him. Why didn't she ever move that fast when he told her to?! "NADIA!!" he bellowed as he struggled even harder and finally managed to free himself. "Get your worthless --- back here!! And you-!" He shot his cold eyes on Marbie. "Get the hell outa my way, -----!" The Poison kuhna quickly swatted at her with his steaming claws before turning and dashing after his sister, leaving a trail of burning paw-prints in his wake.

[Fallen_Snow]

Marbie skittered out of the way and managed to avoid most of the blow, but still felt some poison dot her leg. It burned intensely, and she fought the urge the yell. Darn that Poison Kuhna! She quickly rubbed it off against the moss, and dashed after him.

Nadia, if you can still hear me, I want you to stop and climb up the nearest tree unless you're brother is close enough to see. Then I want you to do a zig-zag pattern in between trees and then stop short and climb up a small but densely-leafed tree that will hide you from him. Once the area is clear, I'll come find you. Okay?

Marbie dashed into the mist, knowing that it was dangerous to do so-- while it provided her with cover, it also gave it to Zyek. She shivered at the thought of his poison claws actually breaking skin. Her leg still tingled, even though the poison was rubbed off. She hoped that Nadia could still hear her, and kept her focus on an image of Nadia in her head, hoping that it helped to support the mind connection between them.

[Kitsune_Beauty]

Climb a tree? She'd never climbed much of anything before, let alone jumped around at a high altitude...Not to mention would she be strong enough? I'll try... she thought at Marbie, her mind buzzing with doubt. The dusk kuhna neared a rather small tree that stood close to a larger one and leaped toward it. Her unkept claws gripped the rough bark and she feebly pulled herself up to the branches above before making a hesitant jump to one of the branches of the larger tree. Following Marbie's mental image, she leaped and jumped as fast as she could across the tree branches, trying to keep her mind connected with the Cake kuhna's, and trying to make sure Zyek couldn't get in as well.

Zyek's mouth and claws steamed as the damp air hit his poisonous areas. His fur was raised in an angry, wet puff as he tried to pinpoint Nadia's location. His mind reached her, but slammed into a mental barrier that he never thought her capable of conjuring. "How DARE she try and block ME out!" he growled aloud as he attempted to catch her sent or find her trail. Do to her very light weight and small stature, her prints had already been filled with mud from the mist, and her scent wasn't as dirty or laced with blood. Paying no mind to the pursuing Cake kuhna, he slowed to a walk in order to find some sort of clue as to where she'd gone, and possibly break through that little barrier of her's. Oh, she was so going to get it. "Half a mind to let the little wench starve for a month..." he grumbled furiously as he wandered around the misty forest floor.