[ORP] The Hole

[Baneful]

Boar was hungrily watching a kin that appeared to be made of some kind of edible subtance (well EVERY kin was made of edible substance, this just looked MORE edible than usual) but when he was approached by a stranger, he glanced over, about to be irritated at the interruption.

And he paused. There was a long moment where he considered if he was just imagining things, before squinting at Most Wanted.

Boar's vision wasn't his strongest sense. He closed the distance between them and pushed his nose against Most Wanted's fur, drinking in big whuffs of his scent. There was nothing to be questioned about that. What his eyes had made him suspect his nose confirmed.

He bowled the Acha over affectionately licking him with all his tongues.

"You are found." he said, pleased, emotion in his voice.

"You are found."

[Muffinsbaby]

She widened her stance to brace against the shaking, head down and ears pinned back as if attempting to get rid of them entirely. She bared her teeth in a snarl she didn't truly feel, fear being the familiar ruler over aggression, and directed it toward the Hole. Laughter was always cruel, and she perceived it no differently this time. That smell burned into her mind, she backed a few steps away from the offensive orifice, her eyes locked on it as her tail swished violently back and forth.

"Bad." She whispered, more to herself than anyone else.

[Toshiful]

Sometimes kin just looked like other kin. It was a stupid trick that the swamp did. No relation, no anything, just decided a bunch of kin needed to be born with webbed ears or ten hooves or whatever it was. So it wasn't like the eyes, or the marks, or the teeth had to mean anything at all, and they were a totoma anyway, only-

They loomed close, and Most Wanted didn't mind.

The scent off the other kin was warm and cozy. And THEY were warm and cozy. Heat just rolled off them. Spring was just starting and even with that, Most Wanted was cold and hungry all the time. He was a thin, ratty looking acha, with dull, strange golds on his hooves, horns, and back. But with the other kin close, it felt like, he didn't know. Home. Like something fuzzy and faraway and good he couldn't quite remember.

Then he was being kissed, and he heard the words he'd told himself his whole life he didn't need to hear.

It was all he could do to feel his vision blur as his eyes filled up with tears, and his throat closed on what he wanted to say.

"You were looking for me?" squeaked out.

;_;

[Baneful]

A vast eye that swirled with galaxies of stars looked out of the hole at Unlife. Only she could see it. Only she could hear it.

"Never did understand that word." the voice said.

[Baneful]

Boar was a cruel, terrible creature, capable of devouring anything or anyone. Almost. If there was one gap in all that, one sanctuary in the storm of his being, it was his love for his children. He had their scents written into his heart, their shapes and forms engraved on his memory.

The loss of a single one had wounded him as surely as tusks and claws could have, and having his small, beautiful son here was a delight he didn't think he would ever be afforded. He was so thin and ill-kept, making him feel more protective still.

"From the moment I lost you." Boar said, grooming his face and cheeks as if he was just an infant again.

"I never even learned your name." he said.

[Dizzy_Kat]

"Here! Here!" The word was shrieked, trilled, barked, and snorted in turn as a bright green blur shot out of the forest. Behind it, laughing hysterically, came an alarmingly bright yellow zikwa who tripped and tumbled recklessly as he chased after the kincaller bird into the open field. Trailing off his body looking about as uncomfortable as a snake could manage, was an anaconda, coils hanging on for dear life as the zikwa twisted and leapt after the kincaller, using only his ears to follow the creatures path.

A lifetime of living deep underground hadn't blessed him with sight, but he could feel the emptiness of the void as it opened up near him, and too he could hear and smell the other kin and creatures. He skid to a halt entirely too close to the edge with the cocky grin and confidence of someone who meant to do that. "What happened here?!" He chirped.

River, his bonded snake, stretched down to peer into the void. His tongue dancing in the air before he recoiled and wound himself tighter about Speed Racer's neck.

[Muffinsbaby]

Unlife's heart raced and her breathing hitched as if she'd just been running. Her eyes darted back and forth between this large eye and the others in the area, but none seemed to be reacting the way she did - not that they usually did anyway. Every strand of fur on her body was standing on end as what seemed like the entirety of night watched her through the shape in front of her.

At its words, a stab of familiar pain shot through her, one that should have been dulled with how many times that particular hurt was felt. She didnt relax, or relieve it of her stare, but here eyes did grow sad and her voice a bit lower in pitch, "It's a word that follows me. It is a word that is me."

[LOLLI qAq]

Totem's ears perked. Even with her dulled hearing she knew those voices anywhere. NOW it was a party.

"SPEEEEED," she shouted excitedly and loudly enough that he could hear her, "come taste me!"

[Dizzy_Kat]

"TO!!! TEEEEEEM!!!!" He shouted jubilantly, jumping into a wide stance and swinging his head back and forth. River gave him a nudge and he bolted forward as the snake directed him. He wheeled to a stop and sniffed the air. "You smell weird!" He gave her a lick, not having to be told twice or needing any explanation as to why he should taste her. "You taste weird!!" He laughed, licking again. "What is that?!"

[LOLLI qAq]

"Cake." She said it so confidently and with more than a little pride in her voice. "I have no idea what that means, but I'm delicious!"

She snuffled a quick hello to River and giggled as she took another taste of herself and then watched the spot she licked away grow back.

"Oh, watch out for the hole, though. I almost died ... I think."

[Dizzy_Kat]

He laughed. "I think I like cake... whatever it is!" He turned loosely in the direction of the hole. River stole the moment to flick his tongue against Totem's nose, taking in her strange smell but greeting the familiar kin affectionately regardless. Totem may not be... the safest friend for Speed Racer but she wasn't his responsibility either.

"What happened?" He repeated his earlier question, though now more interested in what happened to Totem than how the hole came to be.

[phoe]

A large wasp, larger than most and with a faint orange glow about it, perched on a large dead branch at the end of the clearing, its wings whirring in what seemed like irritation. Behind it, a ghostly shape -- perhaps a kimeti -- stood with ears perked, looking over the scene.

[LOLLI qAq]

Totem shifted so they could both keep snacking which she did have to admit felt weird. Like the situation was weird, but the sensation of being bitten and then that bite growing back was weird.

"Okay, " she said so seriously, "when I got here someone else had already fallen in and while I was smelling the hole, you know because I can't see, they flew back out of the hole. And the hole smelled like what I know now is cake, and that other kin was fine so I figured why not? Right??"

She took a deep breath, a bite of herself, and then continued after chewing thoughtfully.

"Inside the hole I landed on these really round rocks? But they didn't sound like rocks and they were kind of hollow I think? And it smelled even more like cake and made my tummy growl. And then all the rocks melted and I couldn't really move. So I asked the voice-"

A pause. A bite.

"Oh, there was a voice but it was in my head, " Totem explained around a mouthful of herself. "Anyway, so I asked the voice what that smell was. Except I WANTED to ask if I could please come home. And then it said 'cake' and I felt like I was gonna get squished to nothing and die there, but instead it threw me back up to here."

She took a near gasping breath and smiled so big.

"And now I'm cake!"

She shook her head a little. Totem knew she'd have to deal with the ramifications of all that later, but for now she was gonna revel in a successful adventure.

"Do you think you're gonna try?"

[Dizzy_Kat]

Speed nodded even though she couldn't see it, making noises of listening in-between licking... well, bits of Totem, off of his fangs. It was strange but so many things had been strange the past couple years that Speed just rolled with it. The surface world was wild and he was into it.

"As you do!" He laughed in agreement as she described sniffing the hole. "Of course!" He saw no flaw in her logic. This is why he liked her. She was fearless. He continued to listen avidly to her experience, never once doubting a word of it. She was cake after all. And more importantly she was Totem? He trusted her. He waited for her to finish before his thoughts bubbled out one after another.

"So wait is the other kin cake too? Was the voice in your head trying to eat you? Does it hurt now? Are you gonna be cake forever?" He danced on his feet in excitement at her question even as River shook his head vehemently No. "Yeah! Do you want to go again?"

[LOLLI qAq]

Totem shook her head and looked over at where the other kin had landed.

"No, he sounded too solid to be cake. Like all muscle and bone, you know?"

She did an antsy dance at the question about The Voice, but shook her head no a second time. "No, it was more like when we squish bugs that are gonna bite us. I get the feeling I was more kind of like ... Nothing to it. I guess." She shrugged, "I'm fine now. I think it would be fun to go again, but I don't know if The Voice would like that or just be annoyed."

She wanted to find out, but she didn't really want to die. There was too much in the world to explore still.

"But you should definitely try!! I think we all get one pass."