Between the Caves and Mountains Concept Contest [FIN]

[Gl!tch~]

Streak is a zikwa from the underground, who yearned for seeing the world after the first time she was exposed to the lights and sounds from beyond the caverns. She delights in being unconventional and doing things her own way.

Mountain Song is a totoma through and through, whose mighty bellows saved his fellows during a white-out snowstorm. Since then, he has chosen to sing on his own, as so many other voices get irritating after a while.

These two kin from wildly different walks of life came together, fell in love, and had kids! And now comes the aftermath: the result of trying to mix two very, very different kin cultures.

But what is that result, exactly? That's up to you to help decide!

 

[Gl!tch~]

Mountain Song and Streak were graced with five healthy children. Three already know who they are. Let's meet them!

Pursuit [owned by Gl!tch~] is a male zikwa who looks much like his mother. Unlike her rambunctious soul, he is rather aloof and keeps to himself. He cares for his siblings, just...distantly. He seems to watch how their heritage affects them more than how he thinks about it for his own self.

Echo-Finder [owned by purplerosesbeauty] is a blind totoma who is proud to see the world in a way usually only a zikwa can (aka without conventional vision). He also is trying to learn from his father's singing how to learn distance from echoes!

Snarl-Song [owned by zeflamigo] is a totoma jealous of how his zikwa siblings were born with names and he wasn't, and he explores his anger through singing. Or maybe it's screaming? Mountain Song isn't sure.  

[Gl!tch~]

So what about these last two kids? That's the challenge: This is a concept contest to win the remaining zikwa and totoma. You will need to come up with a name, as well as write about what other half of the kin's heritage means to them (and perhaps how it affects their life! See their siblings' entries above). For the zikwa, you will also need a gender, and for the totoma, you will also need a naming story.
The naming story does not necessarily need to directly relate to the overall theme; it is mainly there to expedite the certing process once the contest ends.

The contest is open NOW, and ends on January 5th at 11:59pm EST. You can enter for both kin once each, but can only win one total. If you enter for both, please put your first choice at the top of your post and your second choice at the bottom.

If you would like to enter, check out the forms below!

Zikwa form

[size=18][color=#F660AB][u]Can't see the haters[/u][/color][/size]
[u]Name:[/u]
[u]Gender:[/u]
[u]Feelings on totoma heritage:[/u] (2-8 sentences)

Totoma form

[size=18][color=#6C2DC7]My tail's cold[/color][/size]
[u]Name:[/u]
[u]Feelings on zikwa heritage:[/u] (2-8 sentences)
[u]Naming story:[/u] (1-2 paragraphs)

 

[Gl!tch~]

All right! We are OPEN! !!! Have at ye  

[Scaramouche Fandango]

My tail's cold
Name: Shares-the-Warmth
Feelings on zikwa heritage: The sensual, contact-heavy nature of zikwa socialization is, in Warmth's opinion, a better idea than any totoma clan ever had. Snuggling and squeezing together in the cold and the dark is wonderful and something that should be celebrated. Warmth doesn't take herself too seriously; she embraces her sensitive, nurturing nature and doesn't feel the need to waste time or energy proving herself to anyone. She wouldn't be herself without that duality and she's quite proud of it.
Naming story: Streak and Mountain Song's children were children of two worlds sharing the same physical world- and with that came challenges, such as surviving the cold. For somebody like an adult totoma, thick fur and a large body size meant that even the coldest winters were relatively easy to shrug off. But what about zikwa, whose downy skin and sparse hair were suited for summers? For one lamb, the threat that the nighttime cold posed to her zikwa siblings was grave indeed, and she insisted nightly on sleeping atop them.

This got really annoying after a while, but she persisted until her parents had to sit her down and have the "Please, We Beg Of You, Stop Smushing Your Siblings" discussion, upon which she began to wail that she refused, that they might die in the cold, and that she would take whatever punishment they'd mete out but she wasn't going to stop protecting her family. When they realized she wasn't doing it for her own comfort, but out of a genuine (if slightly misplaced) sense of concern, everyone had to admit it was pretty touching and gallant in its own way- and with some persuasion and promising, Shares-the-Warmth was convinced to comfort her siblings as they curled on either side of her, her dense fur and warmth of both body and heart shared with the two of them.

Can't see the haters
Name: Rock Song
Gender: Female
Feelings on totoma heritage: It's a little odd to think that some of her sisters and brothers and her father had to earn their names- why wouldn't the Swamp just... give them names like everybody else gets? But even though she doesn't understand it, Rock Song loves them all dearly and wants to help. Although she's blind, she loves accompanying them on their adventures and will happily listen to their tales of greatness- she knows her totoma heritage means she, too, can be part of these stories. Extremely rough-and-tumble, Rock Song's inability to see doesn't stop her from roughhousing with her siblings, and she takes great pride in her armored back. It's her favorite feature.  

[Owlsomniac]

Can't see the haters
Name: Madly
Gender: Male
Feelings on totoma heritage: Always one to live each and every moment to the fullest, Madly sees the world from the perspective of an opportunist. Each second is a chance to experience something new - and that's how he sees his own situation, and that of his unique family. The Totoma may be different from the Zikwa, overall, but all he's ever really known is the love of his parents and siblings. He loves them; fiercely delighting in annoying them, in making them laugh (all the more musical, for his lack of sight!)- and at the same time, is just as determined to follow his own path, wherever it might lead him. There's no halfway marks for this boy!  

[So Long Gay Bowser]

Can't see the haters
Name: Mooncry
Gender: Male
Feelings on totoma heritage: Mooncry takes his Totoma heritage as a challenge, seeing his naming dream more as a basis to make something great of himself. Like Snarl-Song, Mooncry is loud and uses his voice to be heard. Brash and rough, he assures his family that he can keep up with the stronger of them. Too bad he can't actually prove it on the mountains. Because he really COULD.  

[Lirilei]

Can't see the haters
Name: Obsessed
Gender: Male
Feelings on totoma heritage: Obsessed is jealous of his siblings abilities to sing like their father. He has the vocal range of a dead tree (which is to say none), which leaves him doing all he can to improve his voice to the point of losing it all the time. He's obsessed with connecting with the totoma side of the family through song because he knows he stands no chance of doing so any other way and he'll do whatever it takes to find his voice.


My tail's cold
Name: Beating Hooves
Feelings on zikwa heritage: It confuses her a little, how the other half of her family gets by with limited sight, but it hasn't stopped her from trying to understand it in any way she can.
Naming story: Spending time with her friends one day, she found herself trapped along with several others in a dark cave thanks to a landslide blocking the entrance of the cave they were exploring. Her friends all panicked slightly, after all they were Totoma, and unused to the dark. However growing up with a zikwa parent and siblings she was used to it in a way having spent plenty of time stumbling around with her eyes closed to learn how to get by with her other senses. Now was no different.

She could hear the breathing of a nervous doe to her left. Smell the fear of a buck some distance behind her. There was noise across the cave as one of her friends stumbled and fell over rocks. "Stop moving!" she cried out, voice echoing around the cave. "Listen to me!" She stomped her hooves loudly, to draw them to her. She knew she was in a safe spot near the entrance, and together once she rallied them to her, they could work to get free. Her hooves stomped louder, and louder. "Follow that noise! The beating hooves will take us to her!" cried the scared buck as he did move toward the sound, pressing against her side as she continued till all of her friends were at her side. "Now, as one, we work together to free ourselves. The entrance is right before us!" her voice was strong and sure, and she found herself more than a little glad for the other half of her family, because it helped her and her friends out of the dark, scary situation they'd found themselves in.  

[The_Great_Book_Wyrm]

My tail's cold
Name: Squints-While-Climbing
Feelings on zikwa heritage: She doesn't really worry about it, honestly. It is a part of her life, she loves her family, and there's all there is to it.
Naming story:

As a Totoma she was obsessed with climbing. Her parents had to constantly watch her, for she was prone to wandering off to climb to dangerous heights. When she grew enough to be able to climb alone, she immediately decided to conquer the tallest peak she could find. It took her several moons to ascend and descend, and many a time she thought that she was about to die Nameless. In the end, however, she was back with her family, bringing back a pebble from the very summit.

"What did you see?", cried her siblings. "Nothing much," she answered, "It was much too bright, so I squinted."  

[subducting]

My tail's cold
Name: Rock Breaker
Feelings on zikwa heritage: Rock is fascinated by the Zikwa, and asks her mother endless questions on what it's like to live underground. She has an intense respect for her mother's free spirit and drive to experience new things, which is something she has inherited.
Naming story: For a long time, Rock was unsure if she even belonged with the Totoma- just as her mother had felt the pull to the surface and the world of light, Rock felt a desire to experience the world under her hooves. Her connection felt as if it were hidden in the rocks themselves, and it drew her to a narrow opening in a sheer wall of rock in the mountains.

The opening was narrow, not big enough even for a Zikwa to get through, but Rock was not deterred- a Totoma does not back down from a challenge! She spent days running at the crack, only stopping when her head ached. But eventually, after weeks of effort, that crack widened into a gap, and one frosty day, with a massive snapping noise, the rock finally yielded, falling away and revealing a cave that would let the Totoma find shelter from the winds for seasons to come.  

[SilverShieldwolf]

My tail's cold
Name: Cracks the Ice
Feelings on zikwa heritage: She has some worries about if she has children, but it doesn't bother her too much. She knows that what she learned from her siblings and mother will aid her no matter what goes on.
Naming story: The group needed water, but there was ice covering all the water. She stood on the edge, staring hard at the ice and started stomping. Slowly her stomps cracked the ice, soon she was one to be first at the frozen waters to crack the ice for the rest to drink from.  

[Gl!tch~]

Thank you everyone for your entries! !!! I loved reading them :> This has been a very fun contest and I am so glad I got to host it for you guys
And without further ado, here are the winners!

Scaramouche Fandango

I love Shares-the-Warmth from the bottom of my heart. She's a good kid and I love how she meshes her toto self with zikwa ways. I also didn't consider how cold the zikwa kids would be before. What a cute little niche to fill!

Owlsomniac

Madly is fun, and I think that's something this lot could use to balance out some of their other intense emotions. His name too is surprisingly fun despite being rather vague compared to other entries. I can only imagine what his naming dream was like! Very intriguing

Thanks again everyone and I hope to see you again the next time I host a breeding baby contest :>  

[Owlsomniac]

Ahhh! Thank you so much! He just seemed like a fun guy, and a bit of a trouble maker, haha!
I'll have to write out his naming dream soon. heart