KIROTTU
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Beast of day. The voice resounded in his crown, ancient and horrible, a shiver of nerves lighting down his spine in response. The dreary outlook he currently held was shattered, it morphed into an anger, his temper swift to take hold of a more fierce emotion. Beast of day, this creature had called him what he was, and he hated it. Hated that it was true, hated that he was seen for it, hated his existence. But still, a sense of self-preservation had kicked in, his anger seemed to root him to his spot on these Fields so close to the heavens above. He glared at the beast with crimson eyes, ears slicked back against his skull, his horn aimed at the portal, at the orb that now lingered in the creature's wake.

Others were knocked back, by a force that seemed to skim around him; he felt it, but he did not feel its effects, he remained steadfast against it, determination renewed by the anger this beast had stirred. Your presence does me no good, he had claimed, and yet, this ancient thing needed him, or one of them, to allow him to pass.

Kirottu laughed.

His form shimmered as the motion began, his leonine tail lashing at his sides, his horn never swaying from its position, pointed at the mysterious orb. The broken body he held seemed to shift actively between decrepit and brilliant, sometimes his laughter rang with the deep, warm melody of a strong young steed, other times it was choked, hoarse and raspy. He was determined now, determined to prove his worth to this beast - determined to defeat him.

"You are at the mercy of those who you think are beneath you - does that not make you beneath us?!" He spoke between the laughter, his voice loud and booming across the fields, his tones deep and seriously mocking. Who was this ancient beast with promises so great, that he could not even get himself through the threshold? He required a welcome, a word, a gesture of invitation. Kiro looked to the orb again, and wondered if it required the same, or similar? Come, he reached out with his thoughts to it, wondering if all the ancient one needed was a gesture, that maybe this orb would respond to his thoughts. He did not rely upon his thoughts alone, however, and so he shouted an invitation at the portal, but focussed all his energy on only the orb.

"I invite you, then! Come, and stand by my side!" It was a true and honest call, a welcome solidified by a graceful bow of his head, his cresty neck stretching down as his chin bumped against his hollow chest. The stallion was in a wicked mood, but he was not foolish enough to invite such evil into this world. Nay, he longed only to invite the orb through the shimmering rift that taunted him so with his magic, with the promise of death. Had the beast promised to lift his curse, perhaps he would have been tempted enough to call him through. But for now, Kiro was wanting to make a mockery of this ancient one's so-called prowess, to trick him into giving his gift without unleashing the unknown upon this world.

It didn't really matter whether it worked or not. Kirottu was doomed either way.

[ Kitsune ]

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THE CURSED ONE