[Tibet]

You’re dripping like a saturated sunrise;
You’re spilling like an overflowing sink.
You’re ripped at every edge but you’re a masterpiece,
And now I’m tearing through the pages and the ink.

Everything is blue:
His pills, his hands, his jeans.
And now I’m covered in the colors
Pulled apart at the seams-
And it's blue. And it's blue.

The wound on his shoulder didn't hurt, per se, but it still stung. Its presence was a reminder that he might have... gotten himself in over his head this time. When Tjenu had finally disbanded- the years of drought and the oasis completely driving up, forcing its denizens to seek a more habitable land- he'd gone his own way, while his family had gone theirs. It didn't feel like a bad separation, but rather a natural one that most children went through as they moved out on their own. The Hawk at the border had been... accommodating enough, though very direct and seemed to have zero patience. Ah, well- no turning back now, he supposed.

Stretching, the blue guy roamed through the thickly treed forest, winding past gigantic roots and towering redwoods as the newly accepted wolf made his way towards the heartland of the pack. He paused for a moment to drink at a stream that cut through the wood, its waters clear and cool on the hot summer day. Dunking his head in the water for a moment to cool himself off, he came back up for air and shook his ruff to get the excess water off. 

Neptune was looking forward to what his future in Oukoku Kai had in store.

"Ouch," hummed a choir boy's voice sympathetically as the fellow neophyte threw back his head from the river. "That looks fresh."

The melodic sound was interspersed with the splishing and swishing of disturbed water as from beyond a high bed of rocks that jutted out just downstream and tucked his body out of sight, Tibet emerged and wound toward Neptune, water drizzling from the long snakelike abdomen, from the drenched tip of his tail, from the underside of his chin and throat.

Had he been spying on the other boy? Why, that would be rude. Not that this sheltered, amoral creature always knew too well what rudeness truly was. He'd simply been lying in the shallows, basking like a gator, because high noon in Oukoku-Kai was brutal, and it seemed Neptune was already learning that.

"Mine was on my chest," he continued, slinking closer, the lipless lizard's mouth smiling serenely, the emerald eyes perceptive of every movement, for this was his view of the stranger... that, and the fading smell of sandstone. "You're very new. What brought you here?"

Maybe it was the desire for goodness and light. Tibet could relate.

"Ouch, that looks fresh."

Ears swiveled before his head turned, and Neptune gave a wry smile towards the sound of the voice. "Quite so," came his reply as Tibet snaked into view. What a queer looking creature, the blue wolf mused as moved closer to the hellion himself. 

"Mine was on my chest. You're very new. What brought you here?"

"Hail, brother. A drought struck my homeland, and since we lived in a desert, when the oasis dried up there was neither food nor water to be found. My family went elsewhere, but I decided to leave on my own and wound up here. Whatever fate or fortune has in store for me, I await it with open paws."

Head tilted slightly, and Neptune gave a friendly grin, "Anyway, I'm Neptune, and it's a pleasure to meet you." The blue boy's tail wagged as he regarded how calm this fellow seemed. A cool demeanor and a friendly attitude? Neptune thought they would get along just fine.

"You said your scar was on your chest- does that mean you weren't born here either?"

Tibet had never known the cruelty of drought. He'd known many other cruelties, to be sure, from fires to hungry reptilian predators to war to even his own almost-murder, but drought... nope. The wetlands held that moniker for a fitting reason.

"We all take care of each other here," he reassured the other boy dutifully, for this is what he believed, and certainly what Neptune, poor young Neptune who'd faced down the barrel of starvation, needed to hear at this moment. Right? Yes. "You'll have a new family in no time. It didn't take me long!" Smile.

Tibet slithered up beside him, settling down, gingerly laying his tail across the earth -- its plumed tip twitched catlike as they conversed -- and laughed merrily at the greenhorn's question. If only!

"Oh no, I was born in a swamp. I used to be sort of a prince, you know? But this place is..." He sighed fondly. "... much better."

(There, just nearby. Was that a flash of wintery blue on white?)

"We all take care of each other here. You'll have a new family in no time. It didn't take me long!"

While he wasn't entirely certain about having a "new family", Neptune nodded politely in return. When Tibet slunk closer, settling himself on the ground, Neptune moved out of the water to sit himself on the bank next to the hellion. "I look forward to it," the blue male smiled in return. 

"Oh no, I was born in a swamp. I used to be sort of a prince, you know? But this place is... much better."

"Would you... mind telling me about it?" Neptune asked, glancing for a moment at the streaming water before eyeing the Priest beside him. "I mean, the Hawk gave me the basic idea- but perhaps you could give me a more personal view of Oukoku Kai?"A flash of a smile in that moment, blue eyes seeking green.

(... Nope. Guess not. Don't rely on Tibet's blind eyes, folks.)

"The swamp? Oh," blurted the dragon boy, looking sheepish at his presumption. Who besides him would ever want to hear about that murky places, anyway? He saw things... differently than another creatures. Saw beauty where they'd mostly see an ugly, wet, dangerous cesspool of mosquitoes that would bite you and crocodiles that would do worse. Anyways.

"Oukoku-Kai is..." And Tibet paused, seeking the right words. Maybe they were down in the river, in this wavering reflection, which the moving water painted for him. "... unlike anywhere I've ever been before. The wolves here are so wise. They know things that everyone outside doesn't. They told me you can be either good or bad... I didn't understand that for a long time." Voice dropped to a low whisper of confession. "Sometimes it's still a little confusing."

He dipped his toes thoughtfully into said river, letting it weave through the webbed digits.

"The Rosa watch over everything here. I'm sure one of them gave you her blessing when your hawk led you in. Oh! Was it a lovely pale wolf with blue eyes...?"

She was kind of the bomb, of course. His own personal deity.

"The swamp? Oh."

Neptune blinks, then gives a small smile in return to the other's sheepishness. It hadn't occurred to him to ask about the swamp, but now he was curious. This dragon child- a prince? Neptune wanted to know more about this other fellow now- what had made him and caused Tibet to make the decisions that he had.

"Oukoku-Kai is..." a pause for breath and consideration, "... unlike anywhere I've ever been before. The wolves here are so wise. They know things that everyone outside doesn't. They told me you can be either good or bad... I didn't understand that for a long time." Words pitched lower as Tibet whispered, "Sometimes it's still a little confusing."

"Morality... has never been my strong suit either," Neptune replies, a little surprised at that particular similarity. For all that Tjenu had touted its moral superiority, the necessity of his father as an assassin was jarring at best, but mostly just downright confusing. Tjenu wanted to pretend that it was a haven- the epitome of righteousness- but it wasn't honest. It was just as dirty under the surface as any other place.

The most intricate lesson Nightfrost had taught him, despite learning pleasantries and how to be diplomatic, was that it was okay to be the monster in the night, so long as it was for a dedicated purpose.

And Neptune always had been good at assimilating.

"The Rosa watch over everything here. I'm sure one of them gave you her blessing when your hawk led you in. Oh! Was it a lovely pale wolf with blue eyes...?"

"Yes!" he said, lips curling upwards, "She didn't say much, other than to welcome me in to Oukoku Kai. But actually meeting a God is quite something, isn't it?"

An electric thrill ran down his spine, and the blue boy gave a contented sigh.

"I wish my parents or siblings could have come with me," Neptune pauses, worried as the thought occurs to him. "I don't... want them to die godless..."

Neptune concurred, this boy who'd been raised by a hitman and a codependent woman. Good and evil, evil and good, they were more elusive ideas to those who'd never even been exposed to the bricks lain to that shaky house.

"I used to think everything was..." He wasn't sure how to explain it, but grew emphatic nonetheless, pleased to have someone here with one foot still in the wild dark. The priests were good people, but... their teachings still surpassed his own for the most part. It was nice to finally be the mentor for once. "... everything was... just as it happened. And that was that. My father raided a neighboring pack, burned the land, and took the children away. He's alive, he's strong enough to do whatever he wants - did that make him good? I wasn't allowed to go on raids because I was too soft, they said - did that make me bad? It was only ever about who was eating who."

A rare glimpse into the boy's psyche, into the gruesome past, beyond the gentle smiles and lovely mien. And could his new brother-in-arms sense the vile baseness in Tibet's genes, see it lurking somewhere behind his blind eyes?

"But it goes so much deeper than that, brother."

Lipless mouth quirked upward yet again. One might wonder if it was all so much genuine happiness, or if there was a survival method lurking in there as well. I'm small, I'm sweet, not a threat, you don't need to hurt me. "Oh yes," he purred, "it's something indeed." One decorated paw reached out then to lay over Neptune's shoulder consolingly. "Sometimes we go out into the world and find lost souls who need our help. Maybe someday you can lead us to them."

(You still just don't get it, do you, kid?)

"My name's Tibet, by the way. I'm a priest here."

"I used to think everything was... everything was... just as it happened. And that was that. My father raided a neighboring pack, burned the land, and took the children away. He's alive, he's strong enough to do whatever he wants - did that make him good? I wasn't allowed to go on raids because I was too soft, they said - did that make me bad? It was only ever about who was eating who. But it goes so much deeper than that, brother."

Neptune nodded, but an alarm rang in the back of his head. Had this fellow's original pack been at war? Raiding, pillaging, kidnapping... surely there must have been some reason behind those actions? It seemed impolite to ask, so the son of Nightfrost filed that information away in the back of his mind. Perhaps another day, in a different conversation...

"Oh yes," the Priest purred, "it's something indeed. Sometimes we go out into the world and find lost souls who need our help. Maybe someday you can lead us to them."

"Thank you," the blue boy murmured in response, "I hope one day we can make that journey. I am certain my siblings would take up the righteous path of the Rosa." A thoughtful hum resonated within his chest, and he was content to leave the comforting arm of the hellion where it was. Tilting his head slightly, Neptune regarded the other for a moment before adding, "Perhaps you could let me know before you leave for your next mission? Hopefully I will have learned enough to be an asset and can join you." 

"My name's Tibet, by the way. I'm a priest here."

"Well met, Tibet," Neptune replied, a pleased smile inching its way up his face. He was beginning to genuinely like this fellow. "What brought you here- away from your homeland and princehood to Oukoku and Priesthood?" A short pause of consideration before the Kyuu added, "If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"I used to think everything was... everything was... just as it happened. And that was that. My father raided a neighboring pack, burned the land, and took the children away. He's alive, he's strong enough to do whatever he wants - did that make him good? I wasn't allowed to go on raids because I was too soft, they said - did that make me bad? It was only ever about who was eating who. But it goes so much deeper than that, brother."

Neptune nodded, but an alarm rang in the back of his head. Had this fellow's original pack been at war? Raiding, pillaging, kidnapping... surely there must have been some reason behind those actions? It seemed impolite to ask, so the son of Nightfrost filed that information away in the back of his mind. Perhaps another day, in a different conversation...

"Oh yes," the Priest purred, "it's something indeed. Sometimes we go out into the world and find lost souls who need our help. Maybe someday you can lead us to them."

"Thank you," the blue boy murmured in response, "I hope one day we can make that journey. I am certain my siblings would take up the righteous path of the Rosa." A thoughtful hum resonated within his chest, and he was content to leave the comforting arm of the hellion where it was. Tilting his head slightly, Neptune regarded the other for a moment before adding, "Perhaps you could let me know before you leave for your next mission? Hopefully I will have learned enough to be an asset and can join you." 

"My name's Tibet, by the way. I'm a priest here."

"Well met, Tibet," Neptune replied, a pleased smile inching its way up his face. He was beginning to genuinely like this fellow. "What brought you here- away from your homeland and princehood to Oukoku and Priesthood?" A short pause of consideration before the Kyuu added, "If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"I would say the same for my siblings, but I'm afraid I don't remember much about them anymore..."

Mused thoughtfully, no real grief or nostalgia in the words. They'd never been close, he and Twilght and Xanthe, who resembled him well enough, but had gone on when the trio was all still quite young with their brutal father when he decided the horde had outlived its potential for entertainment. 

"We're of poor breeding," he whispered conspiratorially, maw brushing briefly close to Neptune's cheek as he admitted what Kanji had sneered to him so many moons ago. "Rosa Chinensis was very kind to take me into her fold, but maybe bringing more like myself in would insult her..." A pause, a hum that might bring to mind an echo of Tezcacoatl. "Or maybe they just wouldn't get it." A sigh through his nose. "I'd worry about that."

Tibet could be taught, that he felt was true most days -- but could you teach all anarchic brutes new tricks? He didn't know.

The blue boy made his suggestion; he abandoned that unhappy train of thought and was all smiles again. "Oh, sure! I've only been on one mission so far. A pack of heathens stole away one of our jin. I helped get him back. But someday I want to go back out into the world and enlighten misguided wolves like you say." He set one front paw over Neptune's then, looking with earnest blind eyes into taciturn ruby. "I know you're not like that anymore. But if you ever want me to, I'd share what I've learned. It's hard, being so new and lost."

A show of genuine altruism, for he really did like Neptune so far, but as the story he'd requested would tell... not everyone here was so kind.

"My pack fell, and when my father took his wives and children out of the swamp, he forgot me. So I tried to find my own way out... I had no idea where to go from there."

The horror of the tale, the callousness of his abandonment, the savagery of what came next, was spoken about as though it were a comment upon the river their paws still breached. 

"Then he came. A black wolf, one eye like the sun, the other like the moon. He broke my horn. He had my throat in his mouth. I knew he was going to kill me. But... I talked to him. I got him to talk back. I asked why he'd done that, and he said... everything outside the holy valley had to die. And he told me why. And I couldn't believe it. He said I couldn't follow him, but if I found my way there... then I'd understand."

He tipped his severed horn toward Neptune. Showing him his sacrifice. Real gods always required blood.

"So I did. After a long while. And here I am."