Something Dark Inside Me (Open)

[Gabriel Cole]

Pushing his way through the thicket that encased this particular section of the forest, Gabe kept his hand tight on the neck of his guitar, his brow furrowed in concentration. He didn't want the instrument to get damaged, it was important to him. Not only for recreational purposes, but also for his job opportunities. The tall, young man continued trudging through the shrubbery, his guitar held slightly above his waist level. His dark eyes peered past the branches and leaves, locking onto a small, cleared out space not too far ahead. His destination. Letting out a low sigh but nothing more, Gabriel took his last few steps and then broke into the cleared out area. Green grass swayed in the breeze and only a few trees littered the gap. It was a nice little space, quiet and serene. Nobody else knew of the place, other than those who would track down his scent or follow him here. That was why Gabe liked it so much. Because people never cared enough to pay so much attention to him that they would follow his trail.

The dark-haired man took a seat somewhere close to the center of the area, sitting cross-legged as he got comfortable. Not a single soul was here apart from his. It was glorious. Gabe adjusted his guitar and then softly began to strum, his fingers plucking away gently at the strings. He sighed lowly and began to shift his pointless strumming into that of an actual song. His low voice slipped from between his lips as he closed his eyes, allowing the music to take over for a moment. The song was melancholy as he quietly played and sang it. No surprise there. Anything but coming from him would be a turning point in the whole universe. It was easy to see why the young man was so into music, though. He was quite good at it. Perhaps his over two-hundred years he possessed had something to do with it. Gabriel easily lost himself in the song, his voice growing fervent as the lyrics passed over his tongue. Something inside of him ached and burned as he sang the sad tune. This song could be for so many that he had used to know, that he had fought aside, shared conversations with, loved... Gabe snapped his eyes open and stopped the song abruptly. He hated to think about the past. And yet, it haunted him so horribly... It was like a leech, a leech that would never let go.

A frustrated sigh escaped the young man's mouth as he set the guitar down beside him. Why couldn't he get just one day where he didn't have to think about it? About all the death and destruction and just... Just... Everything? It was enough to make him want to just tear out his hair and curl up into an unresponsive ball. Oh wait, he already did that. Gabe tapped his fingers against his knee in a fast-paced, anxious rhythm. Unable to help himself, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. With slightly trembling fingers, he slid a cigarette out and put the pack back into his pocket, replacing it with a lighter a moment later. In a matter of seconds the cancer-stick was lit and the lighter was back in its proper place. The young man simply sat there for a moment, resting his elbows on his knees and smoking his cigarette as he looked around himself. As he moved to pull in another drag, he stopped himself, his dark brown eyes snapping over to the right. He could've sworn he had just heard something. And no, not a little rabbit or something like that. Something like a two-legged being. The boy's brow furrowed for a moment as he stared in the direction of the noise. He had only heard one sound, and now there was only silence coming from there. Gabriel kept his eyes on the area for a moment longer before giving up and looking down to his hands. Maybe his paranoia from the past years was getting out of hand.

[Narissa May Cole]

Narissa looked around, claw-gloves unsheathed. Her eyes narrowed as she crouched in the grass. There was a huge badger right across from her, and it had yet to notice her presence. Only twice before had she hunted badgers, and both times were a success. Of course they were, Narissa was an exceptional hunter. The young girl didn't usually use her teeth to kill, even though they were more catlike and pointed than most Oushaga's in their human forms, but the rare times she did it was only when she needed to. And she only needed to if she were hunting something large, and Narissa didn't ever hunt large prey. Not because she couldn't take them- which she knew she very well could no matter what it was- but because she couldn't use all of the animal she killed. Narissa was gentle and kindhearted, so the girl didn't exactly enjoy murder. But hunting was different. Hunting taught the girl fighting skills, stalking skills, patience (which she had very little of), and it also served as a great pass time. Nari typically skinned whatever it was she killed and wore their pelts for a few days until she grew tired of it or it became dirty or she found a new pelt. She also used the blood to make her renowned shipping wall.

Narissa didn't mind if people saw her shipping wall, a wall she had created in a cave way out here in the forest. It had all of the people Narissa had met, and it had potential relationships for them. This typically called for a lot of blood. Which, to her advantage, the cave had a lot of. Nari was obviously good at hunting, so she chose to keep what blood she hadn't used for one session rather than waste it or let it dry out, so she used the skull of a bear to hold it, and the pelt of a previously hunted raccoon to cover it up. She'd used clay and ash to patch up the holes where it's eyes and nose would be, that way she could maximize the skull and put all the blood she needed to into the thing. However, Narissa did have a problem with people seeing her unfinished ships. Because she was so good at making ships, she didn't like it when everyone saw her unfinished work, because then it was obviously incomplete and therefor not totally awesome. Kalkrin countless times before had called the girl autistic, because autism is typically present when something that is so insignificant to other people becomes this infatuation to the person suggested with autism. But Narissa didn't care. She just loved to create ships, especially since a lot of them rang true.

Pounce. Narissa lunged at the badger and impaled it from the back of the neck. Waiting for it to quit thrashing about, Narissa finally stood up. Yay, another kill! The girl giggled and picked up the badger, which was not heavy for the young girl in the slightest considering her supernatural strength. It was known to brothers and sisters as well as Korumak that the young girl wasn't exactly the strongest Oushaga out there, but that didn't hinder her speed. It seemed the girl had exceptional speed even for a non-bonded Oushaga, despite being bonded. This meant she was probably waaaaay faster than her elder brother, Gabriel. But he was undoubtedly ten times stronger than she. Just as well, though. Her weakness only strengthened her abilities. Carrying the badger back to her cave, the young Narissa immediately skinned it. She used it's stomach to poor clay into, as well as a few drops of water she found in the kidney to keep it moist. The girl admired her kill. Yet another flawless victory. Carrying the animals stomach and heart to the wall with all of her ships, she began to paint. It didn't take long before she became flustered. She could never figure out a ship for Kalkrin! He was so ornery all of the time, no one really got along well with him, which left out redrom. But he didn't really hate any one person enough, and they never hated him back equally, which also left out blackrom. Maybe... Maybe he was his own kismesis. The girl facepalmed the wall, unknowingly getting blood and dirt smeared across her forehead.

She could even find a ship for Gabe, which was weird. He and Esmek Seskrit were definite kismesis'. Of course, they would probably never admit to having kismesis-ish feelings for each other, Nari knew they had them. Of course she knew, she was the queen of shipping! Naturally the Kriotag's hated the Seskrits and vice versa, but their relationship was a little more intense. Maybe it was because Esmek and Lili were matesprits. Or according to her shipping wall they were. Narissa didn't really understand the difference between dating and matespritship, but hey, it was all in good fun. The girl drew Kalkrin on her wall. Narissa vaguely remembered him meeting a female... Narissa couldn't remember her name. But she remembered this other girls face perfectly. And then it clicked. Moirails! The girl started dancing in her cave, blood still on hands and forehead. "Kalkrin's got a mooooi-rail! Kalkrin's got a mooooi-rail!" the girl giggled happily and then left the cave, covering it's entrance with the vines and leaves she'd strung together. And then she paused. Singing? The girl pondered and walked toward the sound, which was a good football field or so in distance. Gabe! It was her older brother! Happily the girl climbed a tree and hopped from branch to branch on the other trees, stopping when she reached a small clearing. The girl watched her brother happily. He seemed so content singing, even if he wasn't singing a particularly upbeat song. When he seemed about to stop, Narissa jumped from the tree- which at this point, she was probably a good twenty feet off the ground- and landed in front of Gabe, somersaulting to break her fall. Giggling, she spoke. "Hi, Purrother!" The girl was still entirely oblivious to the amount of blood smeared across her forehead, however the majority of the blood on her hands had been smeared off during her voyage. Oh how happy she was to see her brother!



GAH SORRY FOR HOW LONG THIS IS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO NOT MAKE YOURS SO LONG xD

[Gabriel Cole]

There was something brewing in the forest. Gabe could just tell. His eyes narrowed as he looked down to the grass between his legs. He hated the feeling that something was watching him. And yet, it was always there. Maybe that was why he thought something was going to happen - that and the sound from before added together - but one couldn't be too certain when it came to the young man. He was a locked room of mysteries to those around him. It was hard to get past his wall. Somehow, though, his sister Narissa managed to break him down at times. She was a tough cookie. Gabriel had learned not to underestimate his much younger sister. She may be all cute and cuddly on the outside, but she was a different story on the inside. She could definitely hold her own, and sometimes, that made Gabe a little wary around her, though he would never admit such a thing. Him and his "always unemotional" exterior. It was silly. To most. But after having lived so many years, the Oushaga had come to hate his emotions, and to mainly just hate himself in general. That was why he was the way he was. His reluctance to open up to others was becoming a problem that arose much too often for his liking. If he could have it his way, people would just let him go. If he was in their place, he would let him go, because he wouldn't find himself worth keeping around.

A low sigh escaped the boy's mouth as he sat there. He was sick of life. He had had enough of it, had his fair-share. Humans got it easy. They got to live, and then die. They didn't have to go on forever, didn't have to see all of those around them die, or to see the world shift and change and destroy itself. They didn't have to live through all of it. They were just a tiny sliver in the existence of the world. They came and went as easily as flies. Gabriel thought back to the wars, his mind completely free now. No use trying to chain it back up, it would just bite and snarl and continue to torture him no matter what he tried. The dark-haired Oushaga's shoulders slumped a bit as his mind recalled scenes of blood and anguish. He couldn't believe he had continued fighting after World War II. The first was bad enough, why had he gone through the second? And then further on, into Vietnam? After Vietnam he had put his foot down. He couldn't take it anymore. After being pushed into the Revolutionary War when he was barely even into his teens, Gabe had fought in following wars. And fought. And fought. He had such a distaste for the army now, it was a surprise when he told people what he had gone through. What he had participated in. But his stories, if he ever got up the courage to tell them, were always interesting, if not tinged by depression and pain.

Gabriel's ears caught a new sound in the trees. It was a bit of a distance away, but he could hear it. He heard it even when he was playing his guitar and singing. Only one thing could be so lithe and gentle in the branches. Nari. Rolling his eyes to himself, Gabriel waited for his sister to arrive, his cigarette slowly being smoked away with each passing moment. A second later and his sister was standing before him. Oh, good ol' Narissa. Gabe lifted an eyebrow at the blood on his sister's forehead as he pulled his cigarette away from his lips. No doubt she had been hunting again. "Hello, Narissa. Catch anything good?" he inquired, his dark eyes skimming over his sister to make sure nothing was injured and that he wasn't mistaking the blood for something other than her own. Eh, she looked fine from what he could see. The young man took one last drag from his cancer-stick before rubbing it out in the grass beside him and standing up. He brushed himself off then looked back to Nari. Why the hell was she so happy all the freaking time? Didn't she ever get tired of it? Gabe couldn't hold back his grimace as he looked at the girl, his arms crossing over his chest by habit. He needed to be more like her.

((IT'S OK. I KINDA RAMBLED, I'M SORRY YOU HAVE TO READ THROUGH THIS))