[PRP] With This Sacrifice [Cold Was the Ground x Evenfall]

[Amorpheous]

This was ritual.

Ritual was comforting, sanitary, sane.

It was a promise, a guarantee, and a wish in one. Like a sigh, bursting out between the lips, an exaltation to the swamp.

There is blood smeared across his lips, up his face, under his eyes, and splattered on his legs and speckling on his belly. It is cool now, though it was once warm, sliding its comfort across his pelt, offering solitude to his flesh.

He moved forward, settled the slight foxbun on the small shrine he had built, positioning it carefully before stepping back. The little creature, a sacrifice, was still bleeding. Satisfied, he moved to the pile of kills he had settled to the side. Nosing into the pile, he breathed deeply, inhaling the warm scent of blood, letting it settle deep and low in his lung. It filled some of the emptiness in him, though it was always devastatingly temporary.

He studied his kills, there must be at least thirty creatures of various size piled together so there had to be the next piece in the puzzle in this pile. He had been hunting since last dusk to amass these sacrifices. Some where long cold, but others, they still reeked of life, warmth, everything that he craved with every fiber of his being. He could almost choke on the need.

Aric Val

Sorry about taking so long to start this! We were going to go with Even observing Frost for a few posts while he completed his ritual right?

 

[Aric Val]

It was a long walk, she did not stop even if her legs were tired and weary -- the swamp seemed to guide her, the gentle wafting of the wind encouraging her to explore its secrets, far far away from places she was familiar with, far from the warmth of home.

Now it was cold, freezing.

The night had fallen and the doe had never felt more comforted with the evening sky even despite this desolate and lonely land, she had the stars as her friends and they looked after her. It was only when she bowed her head down that she saw a trail of some sort, a subtle stain of blood. But it was enough to grab her attention.

And so she walked and walked, following where it took her and finally she lifted her head, grey eyes resting on a silhouette, curious and wondering. The kills didn't faze her the least, even in her own mind impressed with the one who hunted all of these. She kept her distance at least for now as the buck came into view, walking behind a tree to watch him quietly and now finding that the trail of blood even led up to his coat. She didn't want to disturb him nor be chased away but-- she couldn't help it, it intrigued her-- excited her to see what he was to do with his spoils.

Amorpheous

It's fine <3 and yes she will observe him for sure!
jfksf hope this is okay!

 

[Amorpheous]

So intent he was on his task that he didn't notice that another kin had arrived upon his tableau. Under ordinary circumstances he would have. His whole life, senses honed, hoping, reaching for that elusive companionship, and then later, to hunt the creatures he needed to offer up to the MotherFather. MotherFather please- It was not time to start the prayer yet, to send up, down, out, his plea. It had to wait. It must. He couldn't, not until- There. He grasped the mongoose between his teeth and pulled his head from the pile, taking it with him. Contemplating the shrine, Cold was the Ground walked to the pile of rocks with the foxbun sitting atop it.

Settling the mongoose on the ground in front of the shrine, he cut down with a hoof. The mongoose was splayed open, innards staring out at him. He put his hoof into the cavern of empty death-life, feeling-unfeeling, and pushed, smearing it to the side, spreading that red, red, red, offering into the soft, waterlogged ground of the swamp. He let out a soft sigh with the action and repeated it with his other hoof, bringing the red out like wings to either side of the little creature. He could almost hear the blood sing out to him, this, take it, take it, and please-

So he returned to the kills, eyes assessing, turning back once to look at the work he had accomplished so far. It was simple this way, almost easy to breathe if he let himself get absorbed in the task. He could almost forget the empty weight that tried to crush his chest. He closed his eyes for a brief second, taking a deep breath, though trying to fill the empty space with air was futile.

When he opened his golden eyes again, he began pulling all the mongooses from the pile. When he had extracted them all, nine in total, he took them, one by one, to the little shrine, setting them out so that they formed a semi-circle around it, the first one, splayed open, the apex. When they were arranged to his liking, he went around, starting on the right, and split them open in turn. When he was finished, it was as if he had a sequence of bloody butterflies laid out before him.

Aric Val

Perfect!
He's got a bit more ritual to go, need to use all those kill up.

 

[Aric Val]

And she didn't even mind the blood dripping from his teeth, staining his chest and hooves with all the red -- she stared at him still wide eyed and in quiet awe. The exciting mystery of why this kimeti was doing this ritual was what she was thinking of, it must be a grand sacrifice to the mother-father. There was plenty she still wanted to know, she craved to know.

She winced a little with every time his hoof hit the little animals, the sound was deafening as it reverberated in the quiet swamp. Yet the death didn't bother her, nor the scent in the air. She knew all things had to fade away one way or another, that was just the cycle of life. And perhaps these mongooses even left the earth for an even greater purpose.

Evenfall knew better to interrupt such a process like this yet-- she just couldn't help it. She moved in front of her hiding place to get a better look, yet with how preoccupied the other was, she wouldn't be surprised if he wouldn't notice her -- she just had to take a better look. And it was killing her to ask him -- why?

Amorpheous

Poor little mongoose lmao ;^;

 

[Amorpheous]

She could have come up to him and hovered next to him, and so long as she did not touch him or his shrine, he wouldn't have noticed her presence at all. His ears are closed to sound, his mind closed to any thought except for his ritual. He is only able to get lost in what he feels of the swamp and what he feels he must do. He needs this. So when he turns back to the pile of kills, he has his purpose. It is a purpose filled with darkness, not of evil or terrible thoughts, but passion and need, and it fills his entire being, sinking like cold ice in his bones.

He wants the warmth, he wants it. He noses through the kills and breathes deep, trying to catch that warmth carried in blood. It settles low into his lungs, but it cannot stay there, it always goes and he wants so badly for it to stay. He pulls a creature out without looking, eyes closed, and when he opens them, he sees it is a rox and he knows what to do.

Laying it down in front of the shrine, he places his hooves gently on its chest, massaging and pressing with his weight, feeling the bones give and the body slowly giving way before with a sudden drop, the blood is soaking the ground. When that is complete, he goes back and pulls the other un-feathered creatures from the pile and repeats the process, one on top of the other. The blood spreads out around him like a morbid pool, which for him is life and necessity.

Aric Val

Sorry for taking so long! Aaaaaah! ;__;
I think one more post of him by himself and then you could have Evenfall ask him what he's doing.

 

[Aric Val]

And as the buck's ritual continued, more and more she had this huge sense of curiousity that she could not contain, taking slow light steps towards the bloody buck and his pool of sacrifices. She could hear her father berating her so clearly in her head, she was crazy yes-- but this was beyond crazy, not knowing if this situation was even dangerous, merely attracted to the darkness and the death of it all.

And more animals? His sacrifice to the motherfather must be tremendous, but for what was he asking for? Was he a keeper of the shrine of some sort? Many thoughts crossed her mind, but nothing calmed her down, blinking when she saw the pool of blood on the ground stretch towards her and touch her hooves.

Still she waited till he finished--- then her questions would be answered. Hopefully.

Amorpheous

Totally fine <33 And gotcha : D

 

[Amorpheous]

She could have shadowed his every step, breath against his neck, and he wouldn't have noticed. The ritual was reaching its peak, the sacrifice almost complete, only the birds remained. One by one, Frost took the winged creatures, pulling them up so that their wings spread before he laid them gently on the ground. He then took his hoof and pressed against each wing, pulling and stripping their wings of their feathers.

When he had all the birds stripped, he split them open, spreading them gently, nosing them open, splayed with his nose, covering his face with blood. And when he was done he lay down in the blood, almost crying in relief. He closed his eyes to the world, if only, please, if he could never be alone again.

Please.

Aric Val

 

[Aric Val]

The whole scene was rather intense, Evenfall watching calmly from where she was. Not being able to stop her little gasps in wonder of what he was doing, why the birds? And for what?

And she saw that the buck seemed to be -- somehow in immense pain, yet there was no wound on him? Evenfall was confused for a moment, perhaps there was a memory or goal in this ritual that affected him deeply? She wasn't sure but --- she wanted to help, to understand what he was doing. Or even at the end, at least lay the animals sacrificed to rest after it was all done.

"Hello." Was her gentle word, blinking slowly as the buck was covered in red, she wasn't bothered the least. "Are you .. in pain? May I help?" She knelt down on her haunches, staring at him with a calm gaze.

Amorpheous

sorry quq