he who fights yet craves the dark...
spin me round again
and rub my eyes,
this can't be happening...
hide and seek
The great deserts stretched before him, endless and hot, too hot, he lowered his muzzle to the ground and sniffed the dry earth. No scent of water for miles.
He didn't know how long he'd been wandering. Days, weeks, months...certainly not years though. Hopefully.
In fact it had been so long he had forgotten why he had left in the first place. Was it only to get away from his friends and family? A few, brief moments of peace and quiet? Or something more? Long had there been tales of treasures buried beneath the sands, under layers of sun-baked rock and scrubby grass, but they were only stories to his tribe. Stories told to the pups to let them sleep sound at night.
When he was young he had heard them as well. They spoke of the great Pirates who had long, long ago flown the skies, how they had chosen the most inhospitable places to bury their treasure.
And his tribe lived in the most inhospitable place of them all.
Imagine if he found such a thing. A treasure that could bring glory back to his tribe, a treasure fit for kings and queens, though no royalty would be able to lay a finger on it. He paused in his travels. The sun was making its descent and soon he would need to find shelter for the night, but...a few more minutes of walking would do no harm.
It didn't, in fact his searching found him a small cave set into the earth.
This must be it! thought he in triumph.
He made no hesitation to stumble down the steep edges into the cool cavern. Almost instantly any wind from outside was muffled, the sound of his claws scraping stone was amplified, he moved slow down the tunnel.
Soon it was pitch dark around him, he squinted but still could see nothing at all.
not
one
thing.
Until wait! He stopped in his tracks. He'd been wandering blindly for nearly a half hour when the descent smoothed out and he noticed a light ahead of him. It was a dim light, a deep yellow, and he cocked his head to one side. Whatever could it be?
Perhaps the treasure! he thought and raced down the stairs and bursting into the room with little interest in caution.
The light, it seemed, was emanating from a single candle. It had been burning so long that the wax dripped down to the floor and had puddled around it. Beyond the candle there was nothing more. Just a room, square in shape, with the walls hewn from rock and a spider web draped in one corner. He sighed and sat down. If anything this would be an excellent place to stay for the night.
Then quite suddenly the candle's light was gone, a fierce wind struck up from nowhere at all, cycloning around him with furious noise! He tensed and scrambled backwards.
Who...are...you...?
His eyes widened and he cowered.
N-no one! Only a traveler, I did not mean to--I, I mean I'm sorry if I disturbed you! I-- His yelping pleas were cut short.
You are an intruder in my domain. You must be...punished...!
Suddenly an image appeared before him, ghostly, it had materialized through the walls to stand before him. It dwarfed the poor hyena in stature. Long spines grew from its shoulders and along its spine, and its tail was whip-like, lethal. Every long tooth was sharpened and deadly looking.
He buried his head down between his paws and trembled beneath its unearthly stare.
You, traveler, have stumbled on the lair of Baeslo the Eternal...Guardian of the Treasure and Keeper of the Endless Sands...your curiosity will not go unpunished...
No! No please, I will leave! I will never return and tell tales of your might among the others! You will--
SILENCE! it roared. The hyena yelped and his legs shook so badly he couldn't move from his spot. You are cursed...for now on until the end of days you will bear my form, and be host to my wrath...all will tremble before you!
Before he could form two words the beast set upon him, racing toward him with every ounce of fury and terror, and pounced--
The world spun, he could see nothing but he could feel the dizziness--
He felt himself falling deeper,
and deeper,
and deeper,
and deeper through the earth, past rock and dirt and clay and old bones of creatures long since departed...
Then suddenly it stopped. He picked himself up from the ground and shook his head. He felt...heavy. His ears were no longer ears but long, twitching ropes, and the same was with his tail. Baeslo's form was now his own. His body was no longer his, he looked around him, the darkness no longer held its secrets. He could see perfectly in the pitch blackness.
His body jerked to life and he started moving up the long staircase. Once he was up, he found that the sun had just set, the expansive sky was velvet black and brilliant sequen stars had only just appeared, fresh on a new canvas of night. He walked, as before, across the desert, though now there were whispers in his ears. New, poisonous whispers from the demon creature that had overtaken him.
He was alone now. Alone save for the voice of the terrible beast that had become him.
At that moment he vowed to rid himself of this beast and return to his old body and his tribe. They wouldn't want to see him now. No...not while he was like this.
He walked the sands alone.
About Bae
Raised in the Great Sands (as his tribe calls it) by his mother and father, Bae is a spotted hyena. As all the others he is small, with broad shoulders and a deep chest, large, hollow ears, and a great nose to sniff out food. Like all hyenas his true name is only spoken by the maw of one of his own people, therefore he reluctantly has taken on the name Baeslo. Speaking of maws, his jaw is tough as steel and can bite through bone.
Though now that the beast has set upon him...
...He is tall, vicious, with grand spines running down his back and neck, as well as whip-like ears and a long, long tail. He is nearly three times the size he was before, and far stronger. At times his form can grow wispy and unclear, as though looking through foggy glass.
Likes...
- Freshly killed gazelle, mmmm.
- His good friend, and fellow conspirator, Alli.
- The night, or rather, anywhere dark.
- Moonlight.
