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Black and Pink

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A dark Aeniama started walking away from his sleeping spot in the Safe Room, yawning. He looked at the other infants, eyes half-closed. He yawned again.

A particularly bright pink Aeniama looked at him with interest. Curled up in the usual napping position, Corani never actually went to sleep, but noticed an odd purple glow in the subtle darkness.
...And it seemed to be moving.

The Poison Aeniama noticed he was glowing, but took no interest to it. After all, who would stay up at night and notice his purple markings glowing? The small fox was, of course, the newest infant, and he already caused trouble to Ainu and the other elders. Thorn sat down and started licking a paw.

With more than enough curiosity, Corani hoisted herself up and padded closer to him. She whispered softly, "Hi."

"Oi!" Thorn jumped as the whisper came. His fur was so spiky, he could be mistaken as a Porcupine. He turned to the source, ready to attack if it was any danger.

Corani gasped and stepped back a little, the sudden movement scaring her just a bit. Her neck fur and eyebrows raised, she repeated herself, "H... hi...".

Thorn grunted and lay down his fur. "No danger. Just an Aeniama," he muttered under his breath.

Exhaling in relief that the dark fox's appearance was much less intimidating, Corani said it again, but more stern, "I said Hi!"

"I heard you the first time," Thorn said, acting much older than he really was. "Why are you up so late? Kinda suspicious if you ask me."

Corani's mouth opened in surprise at the fox's, who was so young he was hardly even her size, response. She hesitated.
Then she decided to toy with him.
" Me? I should be asking you the same question, little one.", she made a serious, unamused face, not even cracking a smile.

"It's none of your business, Pinky!" Thorn responded back at the bigger Aeniama. He wouldn't insult anyone at their face, but this Aeniama needs to learn a lesson or two! He puffed out his chest to look bigger.

" Pinky?", she chuckled, "That's actually a very cute nickname- thanks for picking it out!". Corani was surprised at herself- Was she really getting a kick out of this? She would have hated to admit it but... she was!
" I hope you weren't planning on going anywhere, little dude. The big, scary sewers would be much too dangerous for you by yourself."

Thorn growled. "Yeah right," he grunted. "You can't boss me around! Plus I can hide myself, unlike you, pink stuff!" He snorted.

" Well, I don't glow in the dark. ", she snickered, "But I do like your attitude, kid. What's your name? "

Thorn growled. What an annoying little- Thorn hold back himself, and replied as calmly as he can. "Thorn."

"I'm Corani.", she said with a much more pleasant, less critical tone.

Thorn grunted. "Well, Corani," he said in a mocking tone. "I don't have time to chat. I need to do something."

Corani's ears raised. As much as she didn't want to make him angry by sounding like she was messing with him, she didn't want him to go out alone. After all, he was still new.
He didn't seem like the type to go jumping into any trouble...
But what if trouble found him?
"Want me to tag along? "

Thorn growled. He didn't want her to come, but he knew better than to argue. After all, she may try to follow him, or she may tell Ainu, or...

"Fine," Thorn said.

The pink fox's tail wagged and she smiled, "So where are we off to?"

"Just somewhere out of the Safe Room," Thorn replied, pointing his snout at the exit.

" Okay!", she stood up and stretched, "You're in the lead, then. "

"Course I in the lead!" Thorn smirked smugly, then turned and started walking over to the exit of the Safe Room.

" Um.", Corani paused, unsure if acknowledging it was a good idea, " Are you implying something, Thorn?". She followed him at a relaxed pace, eyeing the dark fox with slight irritation.

"Yes," he replied. "I'm a natural born leader. There's no question that I should be leading."

The wooden bear idol around Corani's neck snickered, " Heh. I bet you couldn't even lead water down a stream."
Normally she'd flip the totem around her head to shut it up, but this time she covered her mouth, giggling at the insult.

"Like you can do any better," Thorn simply said, not even turning to the bear idol. "You're just a head."

" Maybe that explains why I've got more brains than you-", the bear idol was cut off by Corani's paw covering its mouth.
She was snickering, but she admittedly knew an argument wasn't the best idea.

Thorn growled. "if you don't keep your mouth shut, I will throw you in the water," he simply said.

Corani eyes widened and she gasped, "Hey! Look, I apologize for my totem, 'kay? Sometimes he has a loose tongue, yeah? "
Even the bear head looked a bit scared.
The threat caught her by surprise; especially since Thorn had never seen her totem, Turk, before. Most foxes come off as afraid of it... and that's usually before they find out it talks...

Thorn snorted. "Well teach him to grab it, before I yank it out." He then started walking off.

"Oh dear.", Corani grumbled to herself.  She padded behind him, releasing as much animosity as she possibly could, " So, uh, you're the grumpy type, I see."

"So?" He said, not even glancing at her.

" So, I think I'll apologize for the rough start. I'd hate for us not to end up good friends. "

"...Fine," Thorn simply said.

" So, uh, what's your affinity?", she said, trying to lighten up the conversation.

"Poison," Thorn said, not glancing at the pink Aeniama. "You?"

Corani stopped in shock at the word "poison", her eyes wide and her ears pointed.
" W... water.", she said regaining her composure, attempting to play it off.

Thorn stopped, when she said 'water.' "...You don't look like a water Aeniama," he said coolly.

" Oh yeah? What's a water Aeniama supposed to look like then? ", she said, tilting her head curiously.

"I don't know," he said. "Blue?"

" ... ", her eyebrows raised for a second, "Pffffttt... ",Corani couldn't help giggling at that. It made her feel almost like a contradiction. But at the same time... his logic was hilariously correct. It did make sense, after all.
Then again, she realized he might not have been joking. Well, he probably wasn't. Corani couldn't stop giggling at it though, despite how badly she wanted to stop.

Thorn stopped, his fur sticking up a bit. He knew it was probably laughable, but Thorn can actually take things too seriously. Thorn patiently forced his fur to lay down.

" S... sorry!", Corani struggled to apologize as she couldn't stop giggling long enough to get her words out, " It's just that, ga-hahaHAHAHA! That was so- Pfffftttt, heeheehehehaha... ". Not being able to stop only made it harder. She stopped and regained a serious composure.
Nope.
Her mouth curled into a smile again and she kept chuckling under her breath.

Thorn sighed impatiently. "If you mind..."

Corani's laughter calmed down as she began to run out of oxygen," Oh come on. You gotta admit that was kinda funny! "

"Yeah, sure, hilarious," Thorn said in a sarcastic voice. Sure, it was kinda funny, but Thorn isn't the type to joke around on something.

His statement made Corani's giggles stop instantly, " Oh, lighten up, Mr. Grumps! "

Thorn rolled his eyes and simply kept walking.

Still grinning, Corani followed him, " What's your favorite kind of humor then? There has to be something, yeah?"

"Nothing," Thorn said, though he was lying through his teeth. Thorn's ear twitched after words.

Corani saw through his little fib with ease. This was so going to be fun.
" Oh really? I bet I can find out what makes you laugh.", she paused, "eventually."

"Fine," Thorn smirked. "Bet you can't find it!"

"Challenge accepted! But of course,", Corani stretched, ", It's not gonna happen while we're just standing around here. We had an errand to run, remember?"


Thorn's ears perked up. "Oh! Right! Of course," he stuttered.
The fact that he forgot about what he needed to do made Corani smile. Was he really that caught up in the conversation?
" Mhmm. ", she grinned, "Go on - You're the leader."

Thorn puffed out his chest. Yes, the statement had gone through his head, but how else was he suppose to redeem his pride?

"Alright. Come on," he said.

Standing back up, Corani knew full well she was fueling his ego. To be honest, she didn't mind at all. She waited, ready to follow behind the black Aeniama.

Thorn started walking again, his purple markings making a faint glow. Thorn knew exactly where to go, since he was always accustomed to the dark.

This part of the steam sewers were the same as they ever were; dark, dark, and dark. Corani walked closely behind the glow of Thorn's fur as if it were a guide. Not that it was particularly needed, of course, since she was the type to constantly wander around this place.

Thorn smirked as he saw Corani walk closer to him. "Scared, huh?" He asked.

" Not at all. ", she lied. Truthfully, she was just slightly uneasy. She hoped wherever Thorn was going wasn't too far away from safe places. Hopefully if anything happened, they could just run or hide.
Hopefully.

Thorn chuckled at the reply. "Suuuure," he mocked.

" No, seriously!", Corani began to walk with uncontainable swagger, "These sewers ain't got nothin' on me. You should see me whenever a mutant rat shows its ugly mug. When I'm finished with 'em, they go runnin' with their tails between their legs! Ha!"

"Well then," Thorn smirked. "We may need to test that."

Uh oh. Uh oh. Why did she say that? Why in the name of Ainu did she say that?
" Th.... that's... that wouldn't be necessary. I wouldn't want you to, um... I wouldn't want you to be too in shock by my awesome skills. It might be too much for you. ", she said, playing it as cool as she could, smiling smugly.

"Oh?" Thorn grinned, seeing how the Aeniama stuttered. "Well then, I'll be brave about it!"

" Um. ", Corani hesitated, out of ideas, " No. We're not doing that. It's dangerous. Rats can unpredictable, kay?"
She sounded like she was being responsible. Truth was, she learned about mutant rats the hard way. A certain two-tailed fox got pretty hurt saving her. How would she be able to save a single-tailed fox and herself?

"I'm unpredictable," the smaller fox replied.

Corani's brows raised slowly, " Didn't we have somewhere to be?".

"Of course," Thorn paused. "But why not have a detour?" The poison Aeniama grinned.

Corani obviously wasn't going to win this little debate. She sighed and closed her eyes, " ... Fine. We can do that."
No fox should be alone at this hour in the steam sewers. If it weren't for that crucial rule, Corani would have turned right back around and gone back to the Safe Room. But what were the odds of running into a mutant rat? It should be safe enough, right?

Thorn smirked and turned the other way, his markings the only thing telling Corani where he was.

She followed the purple glow, regretting her short lived ego. This was going to be bad. Really bad.

"So," Thorn started. "While we walk, how about you explain to me what mutant rats look? I care to know." He smirked.

Wait a second, what? Surely he was making Corani prove she's seen one before. But then again, he was so young... had he seen one before? Is that why he's so eager to go find one? Corani's mind jumped back and forth between the possible answer.
" Why? ", she decided to ask.

"Oh, you know," Thorn said, smiling. "In case we run into one, I can know what they look like so I could, you know, attack them." This may sound like a great reason, but considering his ear was twitching more says that it's not as simple as he makes it sounds.

Corani suddenly stopped walking, " Are...", she paused, " Are you out of your mind?"

"Maybe~" Thorn then started chuckling. Not a friendly chuckle, but more like a chuckle at something some psychotic would laugh at. He stopped and started walking again.

What did Corani get herself into? " Okay... okay, Thorn, I wasn't serious about the whole rats-are-scared-of me thing. I was joking, yeah?", she panicked, " Can we just go back now? Please? I... I'm scared."

Thorn chuckled and eventually started laughing. He turned to her, grinning. "Why should we? We're already here anyway!"

" No.", Corani curled into a ball, seriously began to get afraid," Nonononono..."
Normally she wouldn't be this panicky. It's just...
" I've never had to deal with rats without a two-tailed Aeniama with me...", she mumbled, " Don't be difficult, Thorn. Let's... let's j-just go back to the Safe Room."
"Please don't let any show up...", Turk quietly mumbled as well, clearly terrified to the point of shaking.

"Ha!" Thorn barked. "I KNEW you were lying! No wonder! Well then, I guess you can go back."

Corani jumped to her feet at the second he suggested she go back.
Then, she realized it was so dark, she could only be near him to see anything.
And it's not a good idea to be alone in the sewers for either of them.
" You're mean. ", now her voice was a smidge angry, " You know I can't see my way back.".

"I don't see the problem," Thorn said smugly. "Oh yeah. You can't see in the dark. Oh well."

Corani was beginning to get frustrated.
" If a rat shows up I swear... ", she said as she glared at Thorn. Her teeth were grinding, accompanied by an anger she'd never felt before. She was practically trapped... perhaps even claustrophobic?
Turk's eyes glowed a burning red and deep growling vibrated from his pointed teeth.

Thorn smirked. "What? It's not like a Hunter or Human is gonna get us."

" Would you please stop being so... so arrogant? Anything could happen! One of us could drown or the ceiling could collapse and we'd both be dead! One rat is hard enough to handle, but what if it was more than one, huh!? Then what!?", Corani yelled.
She stopped once she realized she was legitimately freaking out. That's it. She was leaving.
She faced away from him and began to walk back in the direction they came." I'm retracing my steps. Have fun by yourself, yeah?", she stopped for a second, " When one of those rats show up, come back and let me know how well it went.", and kept walking.

Thorn glared at the Aeniama. Sure, she had a point, but doesn't she know not to walk in the dark?! A rat could easily eat her whole! ....But Thorn couldn't help feeling guilty. Rat could appear anywhere and could eat both of them.

"Fine!" Thorn finally yelled back. "Have fun in the dark! I don't need you!" The last sentence was a lie, but Thorn didn't care. He was just filled with rage. Thorn quickly turned and walked the opposite direction Corani went.

She rounded the corner and began to mumble, " Ugh, I can't see anything in here. Am I going the right way? I think so...? The Safe Room has to be around here somewh-", she was cut off by tripping over some kind of rubble on the ground.
But, wait... rubble doesn't move, right?

...

Corani's panicked gasped suddenly echoed through the sewers, followed by an eerie silence...
Then the faint sound of claws lightly scratching against the concrete.

Thorn's ears perked up. He turned to the direction the sound came from. He puffed up his fur and ran that direction.

Around the corner, Corani hid behind a fallen piece of pipe, out of the sight of a mutant rat sniffing around.
It seems she'd tripped on the rodent's tail and alarmed it, but now she was doing her best not to be seen, and especially not to make a sound.

Thorn saw Corani's outline and the rat. He growled, trying to lure the rat away, but his glowing markings also help with him trying to be noticed.

The rodent snapped its neck toward Thorn, letting out loud, sloppy snarls, its eyes almost glowing a toxic green. Its fur raised and it stalked toward him, the sound of its drool dripping to the floor apparent.
Its growling quickly got more and more vicious, making it clear it wasn't going to show any mercy.

Thorn smirked as the giant rat lumbered over. Yeah, that's right. A little more... He quickly glanced at the sewer water on his right, that was completely still.

The rat lunged forward at him hissing and flashing his rows of sharp, partially rotten teeth.

NOW! Thorn jumped out of the way, barely making it with the rat's teeth almost around his tail. He quickly used his Water Affinity and splashed the dirty water into the rat's eyes.

It  hissed and thrashed its head to attempt clearing away the filth, now temporarily blind. It swung its massive tail completely around at alarming speed, attempting to strike the little fox.

Thorn didn't react in time. The tail hit him and he crashed into the wall. He slowly got up.

With its eyes still shut tight, the rat threw fast strikes of sharp claws in the direction of where it felt its tail have impact.

Luckily Thorn was a good distance away, however the tips of the claws were able to tear at Thorn's fur. Thorn flinched and quickly jumped out of the way.

Corani had enough.
While Thorn's purple glow and constant movement allowed her to map out what was around them, she quietly slipped past the two, and waited.

The rat was forced to stand still and figure out where its target had moved. Its snarling was loud, making it easy to pinpoint where he was purely by sound.
This was her chance.

Corani gathered every ounce of boldness she could and lunged forward at its side, pushing it off its feet and directly into the rushing water beside them. The sound of splashing water suggested it struggled at the surface for a bit, then was carried off in the direction of the water.
She exhaled deeply and mumbled, " I hate rats."

"Y-y-you ain't...The only one..." Thorn panted out.

Corani didn't respond with words, but instead glared at him.

Thorn just simply looked at Corani. He got up and started walking off.

Corani's heart sank with an odd mix of disappointment and unappreciation.
" Hey, you don't have anything to say!? Even after I saved your tail!?", Corani yelled.

"Is that all you care about?" he questioned her. "I could've handle him myself, but I guess I can flatter you. Thank you so much for almost getting eaten by a giant rat, and thank you so much for being a pain in the tail!" Why was he getting so worked up about this? It was idiotic to argue about that! He was actually grateful!

And yet... Why was he so worked up about this?

"Whatever," Thorn said hostilely. He turned and started walking off again.

Corani growled and sat down, feeling unnaturally angry. Maybe it wasn't because Thorn threatened her totem, or because he mocked her about the rats. It might not have even been because he was so arrogant after she helped fight the rat that, by her luck, showed up just like she knew it would.
Thinking about it, she might have been so crabby because she'd never gotten hurt dealing with a rat before; not like this, at least.
She licked at the scratch wound on her shoulder blade, feeling nauseous and riled up at the sight of her own blood. Thorn hadn't even noticed.
And all she wanted to do was go back to the Safe Room.

Thorn turned to Corani, and noticed by her head's outline that she was licking her shoulder. Thorn's stomach clenched. He sighed and turned to her, walking over.

"You're bleeding," he said.

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed!", she looked at him with a sarcastic smile, then went back to her licking.

Thorn glared at her, but he nosed at his shoulder. "No. Let me," he said.

She backed away from him. " As if you care.", Corani mumbled between the licks, not bothering to look at him, " I can tell you don't care about anyone. When I called you mean earlier, it was an understatement, yeah?"

Thorn's heart sank, but instead of showing guilt, he glared at her. "Maybe, but you can't always judge a fox on how they act." He turned and started walking away.

" How else am I supposed to judge you? I've been trying to be nice to you this whole time and all you did was be a total jerk. I could have been bitter and let that rat kill you! But I didn't, and you couldn't even say 'thank you'!", Corani was beginning to get to her limit, losing all logical control of what she was saying, " Well you know what? If you're so mad at me for trying to be your friend and getting attacked by a rat, then don't worry about me saving you again, because I won't!"

Thorn turned sharply at her, his purple eyes red with hatred. "Fine! I don't need your help anyway! At least be thankful I came for you! I might as well just sit and watch you get eaten by a rat! Have fun finding your way back!"

" I never said I wasn't thankful! ", she said, feeling just way too tired to be angry anymore, " In fact, it would've been alot worse than a scratch if you didn't! But I don't understand why you have to be so cruel to me."

Thorn just kept silent.

"What did I do to deserve that, huh? Was it something I said? You knew I wasn't serious about the thing about me being all that strong, right? So what was it?"

"....Hatred," he simply said. "Hatred of those rats."

Corani didn't believe him. She just nodded and stood up.
" Okay.", she turned back around, " I'm going back to the Safe room.", she said, walking off into the darkness without even a goodbye.

Thorn snorted and walked off.

It seemed Corani had been through the sewers enough to know where she was going, despite it being darker than usual. After what felt like an eternity, she found the entrance to the Safe Room and quietly slipped in.

Thorn sat in the darkness. He didn't want to go to the Safe Room right now. For some reason the darkness soothed his heart. He sighed, looking blankly at the shadows of rocks and the wall.

No matter how furious he'd made her,as Corani curled into a ball and tried to drift off to sleep, she secretly hoped he'd come back unharmed. Soon, she realized she couldn't sleep. She stared at the Safe Room entrance, waiting.

He stared blankly at the shadows, hearing a faint dripping. He then realized it was the scratches from the tips of the rat's claws. He looked at them, just staring at the blood, before licking them and turned to walk to the Safe Rooms.

Corani just kept waiting, feeling more worried as time passes. If anything happened to him, it was probably her fault. If only she'd have been more tolerant…

Thorn finally walked through the entrance. He made sure to lick all the blood off his scratches and hoped nobody notices. He slid into the place he sleeps without even a glance at anyone.

One fox did notice, however. She watched his faint glow quickly walk past and followed behind him at her own pace. Corani whispered to him, "Hey.".

Thorn grunted. Great, the one fox he didn't want to talk to.

"What do you want?" The tone was slightly hostile.

" Believe it or not, I wanted to make sure you weren't hurt or anything.", Corani answered with a casual expression.

"And why do you care?" He questioned. "You didn't care earlier."

" Hey, don't make me out of the bad guy. The reason I wanted to with you in the first place was because I was worried you might get hurt. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't really care?"

"Look, I'm fine. Just leave me alone."

Corani stayed, " Look, I figured it out, yeah? You don't mean the things you say, because your personality is just different. Right? ".

Thorn just kept silent.

" I'd do anything not to be your enemy. I get it if we can't be buddies, but I can't handle a grudge either. "

Thorn sighed. She's right. This can't be a grudge forever. He turned to her. "How's your shoulder?"

"It's alot better, thanks for asking.", she paused, " It's faint, but I smell blood on you... Did you get hurt, Thorn?"

"....Yeah." Why did you say that, Thorn?! His mind was screaming at him. Sure, his ego would make him say 'it's none of your business,' but he didn't really care.

"The rat got some swipes at me before you got him," Thorn simply said.

Guilt swelled up Corani's chest and she frowned, " I'm really sorry. ".

Thorn just shrugged. "Nothing we can do about it now."

" Can I sleep next to you tonight? ", Corani suddenly asked, not really thinking first, " It's just really cold. "

Thorn blushed for a second. "W-what about that Muscovy guy? You seem to like him..."

" Muscovy? What about him?", she tilted her head, " He's my best friend, but he wouldn't have a problem with me sleeping next to you."
Corani pondered what the issue might have been with Muscovy, his name suddenly popping up in the conversation.

"Well, it's just...Nevermind."

" So can I?", she asked again, with a particular cutesy tone.

Thorn shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

She smiled and simply said, "Yay!".
Corani hoped baby steps would help. Even though his answer was less than excited, it was reassuring to know he was okay with contact.

Thorn scooted over to make room for Corani. He curled up into a ball and closed his eyes.

Corani did the same. Except, being a particularly fluffy little fox, her fur puffed up a bit and she looked similar to a little pink cloud. She hoped Thorn didn't mind; after all, her fur was always soft and warm.

He actually didn't mind. He sighed in relief.

No objection. That made her happy.
Corani murmured, feeling exhaustion finally tugging at her, " G' night."

"Night," he said.

She quickly dozed off into a peaceful, deep slumber.

Thorn closed his eyes.
For :iconkrosfox:
---
9/6/2014 EDIT: Can you believe months had passed and I somehow never submitted this to group?
---
This takes place shortly before either of them got their second tails.
I can't believe I got all the editing done for this in one day! :iconvictoryplz:
Anyhoo~

Thorn wrote 1,623 words; 4 Kros
Corani wrote 2,854 words;  5 Kros

I must admit, this was an extremely frustrating experience for Corani, but in the end, I think things turned out alright. :)
Seriously though, I had a lot of "AARGH, WHY!? *sob*" moments through this rp.


Thorn belongs to :iconlilly-pastamonsters:
Corani is 100% mine~
© 2014 - 2024 PinkuFootsie
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Sutunari's avatar
What, no, you can't prove I was looking through your stuff again.
How come this isn't in the group? :o