DX3214
Not a Sayan
SkyeOfStars
VeilsightThe plains stretched on...too long. Yesaris was starting to get bored of them all things considered. That painful hunger in their stomach had barely subsided even with their work, it made them wonder if more direct feedings were needed. They would have to think on that, for now, they just trudged along, their hooded form walking through the endless plains, their tail swishing about, continuously kicking up the dirt and grass that laid out behind them.
The hooded figure would not find themselves alone for long. Exactly when the state of affairs changed was hard to pinpoint exactly, but one moment Yesaris would have been walking alone… and in the next a colorful, poofy figure would be trotting slowly beside them, glancing around with an air of wonder for a moment as they admired the scenery before focusing their attention on their new company. “Hello kin. Forgive me for not knowing your name, but you are the sibling I’ve been looking for.”
Yesaris jumped in shock, hissing at the sudden appearance of their sibling. It took them a moment to compose themselves and get a good look at the, eccentric, form next to them now.
”You look for Yesaris? Who are you?”
There was a brief moment where the eyes of the equine being went wide before one of their hooves met their forehead… not where the horns were, of course. “Oh how silly of me. My name is Aethel. As much as I would like to say that I’m going around, introducing myself to my family just for the sake of it…” a sigh escaped them “...Alas, I have sought you out because one of our siblings has been terribly rude to me and in my planning to extract just retribution against them, the scheme I deemed most suitable seems to cross into your domain.”
Aethel smiled at their hooded brother as they finished “I did not wish to be rude by going ahead with it without seeking your counsel and approval first.”
Suffice to say, the god of parasites was, confused, but hey, at least this was some form of entertainment. Even if their stomach was still yelling its disapproval at the lack of food.
”We see…You wish to use our spawn for revenge scheme? What is scheme? Yesaris would like to know before agreeing.”
Aethel nodded, the urge to move sinking into their tendrils as they swayed in winds both physical and unseen. “A wise and fair decision. One of our siblings by the name of Tuku Llantu decided to steal a branch from the great tree I created while I was sleeping after its creation. Now, had they decided to ask me for a branch I would have been more then happy to offer one as a present for a sibling, but instead they decided to steal from me. That cannot be allowed to stand.”
“Since our mutual sibling is the deity of the hunt, naturally I decided that the best way to get back at them was to find a way to ruin the hunting experience. However, I must confess that a lot of my early plans were a bit… overzealous in their scale and design.” The fact that Aethel was willing to admit that and actually looked bashful about it said a lot about what those earlier plans might have been.
“However, after some consideration… I came up with a simple yet, might I say, brilliant plan. I want to work with you to create a special kind of your spawn that actively seeks out the kinds of animals that a hunter would strive for. Healthy, strong, covered in useful things like fur and skin and meat… and hijack their minds so that they actively seek out the hunter as docile and harmless as a baby, presenting themselves to be slaughtered. Take the thrill of the hunt and the stories it creates away from it.”
Looking rather pleased with themselves, Aethel did add “Of course, I’m certain that you can already think of a number of ways that your spawn could benefit and thrive by doing their part in this scheme. After all, I’m not going to ask you to help with this and not let you benefit somehow. That would be rude.”
”We see” Yesaris nodded, the ever present smile of their teeth having never faded whatsoever. They thought about the proposal, the hunger reminding them of the sustenance that could come from it. ”We can agree to this, the mere existence of more of our spawn will appease Yesaris and our, hunger.” They turned their head upwards towards their kin, the slasher-like smile still there.
Aethel took a seat on the ground, allowing them to free up their two front legs so that they could clap their hooves together in joy. “Wonderful! I’m happy to mix some of my power with yours in order to infuse these new spawn properly, but since this is your field I feel it is only fitting to let you take the lead in our joint project.”
”Very well, we can do that.” They opened their mouth, and began to make heaving sounds. Eventually, a thick mass of white goo emerged, and plopped into one of their hands. They briefly brought it up to their face to inspect, before squishing and stretching it with all four of their arms, until it took a new form, thousands of protosoa, all clumped together. "There we go, that should be a good form, small, so hard to see, able to docile a beast in order to spread, but, will need to recognize proper hosts and hunters." They handed the mass over to Aethel, implying that's where they came in.
The deity of Mana did not take the mass of protosoa from Yesaris physically, instead accepting them via grasping the ball in a soft, mind telepathy as the ball hovered in the air before the equine. Selecting the kinds of hosts they should be striving to find was somewhat difficult at first due to the knowledge that the world was still in the early stages of creation and flux; Even if they knew every viable animal that the hunters of the world would desire by name, more would almost certainly be added in the near future. So instead Aethel focused on traits.
Some traits were easier than others. Animals that would be suitable for resources like meat or their pelts would provide clear targets for hosts, but the concept of trophy or glory hunting and the creatures that would play a starring role in such events were somewhat harder to convey. In the end, Aethel came to what they believed was the only real workable solution for long term success; The spawn would start off with a general idea of what traits to look for in a host, but they needed to be smart and observant enough to notice what kind of creatures were being hunted in their local area and why… and then using that information to adapt and seek out ideal hosts for their local region.
The ball of the spawn seemed to glow as it was infused and altered by Aethel’s influenced… before at last the glow subsided and the ball was floated back to Yesaris. “They have some basic values to look for, but I believe I’ve given them enough intelligence to properly adapt and grow into their role wherever they might end up.”
"Perfect, now come big question, where shall they go? We are unsure of where this kin of the hunt frequents, so might be best to spread it around a bit." They cradled the ball in their hand, seemingly checking on it to ensure it was still suitable for the task.
Aethel nodded their head in agreement at the assessment. “That seems like the best idea brother. Do you wish for the honor of naming them?”
Yesaris turned to look at the ball of parasites in their hand ”Hmmm, lets see...let us call them, Hunt’s Bane!” They seemed quite pleased with that name, and looked back towards their strange looking kin for approval.
A small, almost musical chuckle filled the air as Aethel answered back “Yes, that fits them perfectly. Thank you for the assistance, Yesaris.” Offering his kin a polite bow on top of their thanks, the equine quickly corrected themselves before saying “As much of a pleasure as this is, there is at least one other creature I need to pay a visit to before I head home. You might have heard their vow in fact… they did make it in all of our names after all.”
When compared to Aethel’s musical chuckle, Yesaris’ was far more harsh, almost akin to the buzzing of an angry swarm. ”Yes yes, Yesaris heard, we care not for that thing, barely even worth getting food from, we look forward to seeing their quest though, should be quite fun. Why you care for such creature?”
Aethel almost looked shocked by the question, as if it had never occurred to them to ask themselves before. “Because they gave their word to me and the least I can do is make sure they have the means to keep it. To break a promise once made is a terrible thing after all.” There didn’t seem to be any ill will to the equine’s words; A promise had been made to them and they intended to hold the maker accountable to it.
For their part, Yesaris merely shrugged ”As good reason as any, Yesaris sees no purpose in holding that vow, vengeful mortal is fool, will just be food for something else, but Kin Aethel is free to do as they wish.” They brought the ball of Hunt’s Bane up to their face once more ”Suppose should let spawn have their fun,” And with that utterance they tossed the ball upwards, allowing it to explode, sending the protozoa within across the sky, off to find their homes in the reaches of the world.
”Does Kin Aethel have anything more of Yesaris?
For their part, Aethel politely shook their head. “This has been more than enough brother. It has been a pleasure working with you and if you ever find yourself venturing near my tree, you’re more than welcome to stop by and visit.”
Yesaris nodded ”We shall keep that in mind, for now, we shall return to our feast.” Yesaris offered an, incredibly, clumsy bow, before trudging once more into the plains, intent on whatever this feast was.
With business concluded and the social niceties used for the time being, Aethel politely parted ways with their sibling, their need for vengeance against the Deity of the Hunt satisfied as they now focused on visiting one who had made an ill advised vow.