Source: Vojune on dA | Date: 9.9.18
The sun was beginning to climb in the sky as the day began to shrug off the cooler hours of fresh dawn light and shift towards early morning. A small, bumbling pair of energetic Vayrons bounced happily through the sand dunes outside of Thedale. The tinier of the pair, Evelyn was a charcoal grey female with long, flopping ears, and a distinct triple-set of fluffy fox-like tails paused to try and shake some of the sand from their fur. This was to no avail, and she emitted a puny sigh of complaint before proceeding to clamber up the dune with her companion, and littermate. Though… their sistership could be incredibly hard to believe at first glance. Or.. any glance. Ah! At the top of the sand dune, her green and brown slitted eyes popped open in shock and awe. The view from up here was absolutely stunning, in her opinion. The coast and harbor of Thedale was visible from here. The bustling port was filled with ships, and numerous people and Vayron alike helping unload the cargo. This fed into the major city, with its decorated buildings and ornate desert structures visible even from here. Some sea oats managed to grow around the shoreline, as well. Though not green, the plant-life in such a barren and desolate country was always a sight no one could complain about. As she took it all in, a tiny gasp could be heard from her and she whipped around to her sister with a soft smile, sparkles lighting up her eyes. “Gee! Akira, look! Doesn’t the water look so- so nice! And cool- and pretty.. And.. salty. I guess.” She stuck out her tongue at the last bit, only to suck it promptly back into her mouth upon thinking that some wind might blow sand onto it.
Akira, hard to spot against the desert rocks and sand for her pale yellow coat, wiggled up the sand dune after her sister. While Eve was occupied with studying the view of the city, she was.. frankly uninterested. The whole reason she wanted to come out here was to explore and find some strange monster or something. Her long, whip-like tail that was probably longer than her body curled and lashed behind her, her similarly long ears twitching and rotating as she scanned the nearby desert. Upon hearing Eve call her, though, she blinked and turned back, huffing in reply. “Um.. sure! But whatever, right? Look at this!” She waved her over with her tail, scampering a few feet to the side where a patch of small, round cacti were growing on the side of the dune. Each had a single flower growing at the top, colors ranging from orange and yellow, to reds and pinks. She crouched down beside them, and grinned at them. “I dare you to step on one! I bet you won’t.” That was, probably. Something Evelyn was used to by now. Akira had been /born/ overly competitive, and though she shared a deep connection with her sister, Eve was really the only person she could consistently challenge. The little vayron was perfectly made for racing; her lithe aerodynamic body, fast even for a runner vayron. Though she was boastful in other aspects too, of course. Such as this. Challenging her sister to meaninglessly step on a cactus.
Evelyn was caught momentarily in just taking it all in, and perched up there upon the very top of the dune for a moment. It brought her back, really. To things they’d seen before, meandering about the world. From zebra to horse and buggies, and festivals and parties, and all the people they’d meet in the city and port and everything else. Momentarily, a smile flickered onto her face. That is, until she was snapped out of it by her sister’s high, eager tone of voice. Her head turned with curiosity, initially thinking she may have discovered something. Which, she wasn’t incorrect in this assumption, but it was promptly followed by that iconic ‘I dare you’. I dare you, I dare you, I dare you. She had to hear that at least three times a day. Bare minimum. A soft huff came from her chest as she tore herself from and the view and slid down the sandy slope a ways to meet Akira, having to squint to stop fine sand from getting into her eyes. It took a moment for her to slip to a halt, and she shook off a bit before peering inquisitively at the cacti the other female was eyeing. Then the challenge proceeded to her. Immediately, her jowls dropped into a dull frown, and she huffed. “What- nO! You’re only saying that cause you aren’t! Look at the spikes on these things- they’ll like- go through my entire foot or something. And get stuck there forever. Also- I couldn’t step on the little flower. They’re.. Nice?” She lifted a paw to carefully extend one of the flexible digits out to tinker a little with one of the petals, which bore a thin spike at the end. “… And also /somehow/ spikey too. Good lord..” She muttered under her breath, her ears pinning back skeptically. After a moment, her eyes snapped up to her electric colored sister and she /hissed/, “You /BETTER/ not step on one! I’m not dragging you back to mom! Or.. licking your foot! Nuh uh!”
Akira’s face broke into a pointy, evil little grin, and she lashed her tail behind her. “You’re /scared!/ I’m not afraid of some dumb little plant!” She held her head up proudly, though a look of immediate alarm flashed across her face. “What? No! Don’t tell mom! We’re already probably getting too close to the city.” She grumbled quietly, taking a few steps back in the sand. Being young, still, her attention had shifted entirely from the cacti, now searching across the dunes laid out before them. “We should look for a snake! And eat it! I bet I can catch more than you can!” She scrambled down the hill, her paws kicking up sand as she slipped and slid her way down, reaching a flat patch of cracked dirt. The little plain was dotted with rocks and larger cacti, the air shimmering as heat bounced off the ground. Something the two of them had gotten used to in their time here. Her eyes carefully scanned the area, her ears twitching and perking as she picked up on the miniscule sounds of mice and lizards making their way through the ground. Not waiting to see if Eve followed her, she pranced towards the nearest rock and reared up on her hind legs, gripping it with her paws and wiggling to shift the rock over. Nothing under it, unfortunately, besides small bugs.
Evelyn spent a good minute continuing to gently prod at the stiff petals of the small cactus plant, or very cautiously press a needle or two down to see how resistant they were. They proved to be pretty stiff little buggers, causing the small female to promptly draw away from them. She’d rather not get stick’d by this stupid cacti. She grit her teeth at the mention of a snake and popped up with a sharp cry. “If you get bitten by a snake you’ll /die/! Didcha know they they can like. Totally still bite you while they’re dead. It’ll bite while we eat it, or something- if we even get to eat it!” She barked in retort, the fur along each of her tails frizzing up in retaliation to such an awful idea. However, she had to admit, she was feeling a touch hungry. Nothing that couldn’t be resolved by creeping back to mom later. Or, sneaking into the city and nabbing some meal for themselves as well. That sounded far more promising, because everyone knew that human food was superior to simple freshkill. They used all those nice seasonings and stuff. Noticing her sister very rapidly bounding away, the far less agile of the two staggered to her feet and hopped frantically after her, reaching her side just in time to see her lift the rock. Cautiously, she peered around her side to notice that there indeed was nothing under the rock. Except for bugs. Eww. However, she puffed up ‘triumphantly’ and stuck out her tongue. “Ha! See, there isn’t a snake here!” After a moment, though, she eyed the grubs and beetles underneath and devised a superb plan to get her sister back after being made fun of for the whole cactus thing. She grinned slowly, and nudged her with her shoulder before murmuring. “Hey. Heey. I, uh. Bet yOoou won’t eat one of those bugs!” She whispered, trying to add a sneer to her voice, but it didn’t really ‘work’ with her far more gentle tone of voice.
“No I /won’t!/ Not all snakes are poisonous, stupid.” She retorted stubbornly, sticking her tongue out playfully at Eve. Once the rock was fully tipped over, she leaned back and scampered beside her sister to look underneath it. “Aww! I thought there would be /something./” Akira murmured, in obvious disappointment. There was a distant boom in the distance, which she really didn’t pay any mind to; probably something in town or on the docks. She had begun looking around at other possible snake-rocks, until she heard Evelyn’s challenge. She glanced back warily at the bugs, hesitance showing on her face for a split second. Not after she puffed out her chest, though, and grinned snarkily. “I will!” Pouncing back onto the dirt near the upturned rock, she scrabbled with her nose around the ground until she found one of the bugs that had begun scuttling away. Akira immediately snapped it up with a crunch, trying to ignore the foul taste. “See! Easy!” Her voice was muffled in disgust, and she licked the buggy bits out of her teeth with a sour face. “I win! I’m cooler than you! You’re just a scaredy cat.”
Evelyn hissed sharply back at her, “Here we have way more poisonous snakes than non-poisonous ones! They’ve got all the rattles and fangs and stuff.” She snapped sharply in response, shifting on her paws. Oh, oh my god. So. When Akira accepted the challenge and went headfirst for the insects, Evelyn also grimaced in distaste at what was surely about to occur. Crunch, munch. Down went some sort of creepy beetle. Her nose instantly scrunched up, and she snapped up a paw to promptly shove her sister’s shoulder to push her back a few steps. She was by far the more physically meek of the pair, so she probably didn’t do much at all with her dinky push, but she hissed afterword in a disgusted tone. “Ew! You may be ‘cooler’, but, as a result, you are gross! Groooss! With bug breath and bug-gut teeth!” She turned her face away, trying to hide a few giggles under her breath, which was she was unsuccessful at managing. This reminded her of all the other dares she and Akira had egged each other on to do. Throw sticks at sleeping lions and grazing zebras in the more savannah-filled parts of Thedale, disturb scorpion holes in the rocky plateaus, see who can get a gila monster angery the fastest in the open desert, letting sheep out of their pens in Kirstead and seeing who could escape without being noticed. Her favorite of those memories had to be linked to the river near Cadena, one of the few places she ever was able to take a full dip into not-sea-water. Lakes tended to be precious drinking resources were people preferred Vayron didn’t taint with their bodies, something she’d learnt via a good yelling and broom-swat. All sorts of challenges and trials the two younglings have tested each other with and horsed around about as they had made their way through this desolate island. An adventure Evelyn never thought would end… or change, for that matter.
Ah, yes. They’d certainly had, quite an adventure together already in their short life. Many of their experiences had likely been with human merchants trying to snatch them, or others trying to befriend them to earn their friendshi p. Despite it all, they’d stuck through everything together. Even as Akira teased and pestered Evelyn, she’d be damned if she wouldn’t protect her smaller sister with her life. Only a pup, and already had to stand up to certain menacing animals and people in order to save the two- specifically, Evelyn. It’d probably been difficult for her, after being taken in by Aryth, the kind vayron who took them and other abandoned pups in to raise. Aryth was a mother to any she encountered, and fought as if they too were her children. Though unused to being protected, Akira couldn’t say she didn’t appreciate the feeling of being.. safe, for once. And loved. None of that was on her mind now, of course; instead, she was focused on licking out the bug remains before spitting them out at Eve with an animalistic cackle. “Now /you’re/ gross too! Haha!” Aki crouched, and scurried quickly away, bounding back up the duu-oooooh. Once she reached the summit of it again, she stopped, her ears pinned back and her head lifted to the sky. There was no mistaking the /delicious/ smell of freshly baked human foods. She growled lowly, a greedy noise, and turned to Eve, seeing if she was thinking the same thing; although the two weren’t allowed into the city, by stern reminder by Aryth, but of course they broke that rule almost daily.
These two had been together since birth, and they’d really only had each other for the vast majority of their lives. For these 8 years they had endured, evading and fighting through trade, bandits, and all sorts of grubby people who wanted them for their set of peculiar traits. Who knew today would be no different. Even the smaller of the pair proved to be relentlessly protective of her full blooded sister, though she was often the one devising exactly how to weasel out of certain situations rather than actually doing the biting herself. However, she was already thinking about the city ahead. The delicious smells radiating from within its confines were alluring to her nose. Occasionally, her head turned to peer hungrily in that direction, however unlike her sister there was no distinct greed or want shimmering within their depths. Their murky color concealed much of her intent, rather than express it with the sparkling electricity her sibling’s neon blue eyes often did. She made a sharp, disgruntled yelp of displeasure when Akira spit out absolutely disgusting bug carapace and leg remains onto her, and she made an angry hiss of retaliation and unhappiness in her direction. “Hey!! Get back here and get this stuff off of me!” She howled, stumbling rather clumsily up the hill in pursuit. That is, until she reached the top of it with her sister and paused as she heard that oh so familiar growl she emitted. She knew that growl oh so well by now. It meant Akira was hungry, but the same scents she had sniffed up just a moment before. Evelyn huffed softly, and glanced down for a moment in evident contemplation. Of course, they were always forbidden from venturing into the cities and villages. Often, old Aryth would rant and rave about how people there would snatch up innocent young pups such as themselves. Eve couldn’t exactly say she wasn’t right, given their past experiences. However, she was unable to reject the possibility of delicious food and a good time, and she returned her sister’s eye with a steady, affirmative look of her own and tentative nod. She flashed her a tiny smile, a mischievous one, the sort of smile she only shared with her, and promptly bounded down the slope and off towards the massive stretch of urban area the was the great capital city of Thedale, no doubt her with her sister following closely behind.
CP Counter
Corresponding Land +1 Added Reos + 2 (Evelyn 6626) Initial Class Quest + 2 2673 words + 26 Total = 31