Entranced by my Perfection (open/tagged)

[Deleted]

@akheron

Narcissus sniffed the air. It was crisp yet warm. It smelled of decaying leaves yet had the bite of frost. An autumn breeze ruffled his dark magenta fur, causing him to shiver. Narcissus set one perfect milky green paw in the grass in front of him. The pressure created a wonderful crunch on the brittle grass. He smiled, showing his glittering white teeth. The male made his way, one glorious paw step at a time, down into the shallow basin.

The water was glassy for a moment before another gust if wind rippled its surface. This pond reflected the tan color of grass framing it, it reflected the ashy brown of the trees crowning the hill tops. The pond reflected the vibrant reds, the magestic golds, the rich oranges, and the warm yellows of the autumn leaves that perched on the branches and drifted on the sky's pale canvas. Narcissus thought to himself; this day is almost as beautiful as myself.[/b] he chuckled at the absurdity that something could ever match his perfectness.

Narcissus' stroll halted as his paw touched the water. He gazed down at the cold liquid. The first thing he saw was not the pristine silver pebbles under the surface, not the pale blue mirror of the sky. But his own face, perfect in every way. His beautiful minty eyes. His perfect teeth. His seemingly celestial starry coat. He grinned at himself blissfully.

[Deleted]

Ponos snorted as he manipulated the shape of a rabbit's shadow, shocking the rabbit into staring at him with wide eyes. He grinned and mercilessly swiped a claw down it's neck, killing the thing. Ponos's grin only grew ever wider as he dug into the fresh corpse, blood painting his grey-brown muzzle a striking Crimson. His paws were dotted with the red liquid, teeth glinting in the light.
The day was perfect for a swim in the nearby lake, he noticed and thus set forth. Akheron' cave was nice and all, but he liked having his own space and made his den in a hill near there. Ponos breathed in the scent of fresh air, wind sweeping his neck fur back, pelt gleaming in the morning sun. Ponos took a moment to admire the way his fur was smooth and shining, and his claws long and sharp. He'd clean himself off later.

[Deleted]

Narcissus couldn't tear himself away. He was entranced by his perfection. Intoxicated by his beauty. The only thing that could shake him was..."White Magic! Is that a clod of dirt!?" he barked out louder than was necessary. His pale green eyes widened in shock, and his lip curled up in disgust. He stared at his reflection, now only seeing the ugliness of the greyish clod of dirt. "no no no no no! This will not do!" he whined, his hackles rising and his ruff bristling.

He stomped determinedly into the lake, ready to rid himself of the blemish. The cold water bit into his skin like icy fangs, but he didnt care. All that mattered was making his perfection pristine once again. As his paws crunched over the gravelly bottom, the water rose around him. Cold around his green ankles. Cold around his muscular legs. Cold around his broad shoulders.

His paws no longer touched the bottom, and began to tread the water beneath. Narcissus gracefully dived into the depths of the lake, wintery waters gliding over his starry fur. He flicked his white tipped ears to a flat position against his skull. He navigated the waters and shook his head, hopefully dislodging the annoying clump. At last he saw the object whip off his cheek and drift into the water.
Narcissus returned to the surface, elegant head bobbing above the disturbed lake.

[Deleted]

OOC: I'm so sorry, but I was at service))
OOC2: And then packing for camp))
Did that imbecile just compare him to a clod of dirt? Ponos growled, hackles raising as he glared at the offending figure some distance away from him. Ponos grinned in amusement, eyes narrowing in glee as he savoured the sight of the preening wolf stomping into the lake water. Anyone knew that since it was autumn, the waters would be considerably chillier and woe to anyone stupid or careless enough to tread them. His snorts were muffled by dirt-brown paws, tail wagging unstopped.
Ponos arched an eyebrow, looking at the purple wolf. Call it what you may, the colour was still purple and Ponos did not care do discern they shades of purple, that was for Akheron to do. He did, however, play around with the wolf's partially hidden shadow, manipulating it's shape into that of a rabbit, a bear (White wolves forbid he ever run into one, a bear!), an ant, even. Sweat beaded on his forehead for the effort was pressing on him, but it was all worth it to see the wolf's face when he realised.
Ponos left the shadow in the shape of an ant and rested.

[Deleted]

Narcissus sighed in relief and contentment as he exited the chilling waters of the basin lake. Immediately he felt the cold wind. It blew against his wetness and seemed to turn him to ice. But that wasn't what bothered him. What really bothered him was the fact that his perfect shadow was now that of a hideous ant. He wrinkled is nose is surprise, disgust and a hint of anger.

The male stared at it, dumbfounded. What could've happened to contort his shadow into this? He played the different variables in his head. He could be hallucinating. No! Such a perfect wolf such as I couldn't be hallucinating! The ground could be unimaginably uneven. "nope, is utterly and completely flat." the only variable left was shadow mastery. Why would any wolf do that to him? He was too perfect!

Narcissus lifted his lead to scan the surrounding hills for the culprit. There! The purple male growled lightly and began to make his way towards the other.

[Deleted]

"Pshhh" Ponos snorted as he pawed at the ground, amused. Oh, the male was coming towards him! Wonderful!

Ponos's grin only grew every wider as he shifted the now a very nice shade of purple wolf's shadow back... but left the legs cut off. Falling to the ground and rolling around in amusement seemed to be the only thing Ponos could do at that moment, his eyes glimmering as he shook on the grass. This was too perfect! The sight of a legless wolf storming towards him excited him even more, and Ponos fell into a fit of giggles.

The grey-brown male stood quickly, leaning against the side of the tree to smirk in a rather... foreboding manner.

[Deleted]

OH MY GOD I JUST READ YOUR POST AND MINE AND I AM IN DANGER OF BECOMING PONOS NUMBER TWO XD. It really is that hilarious, if you play that in your mind. My sides hurt now.))

[Deleted]

As he neared, Narcissus could see the wolf shaking with sudden laughter. The figgy colored wolf looked down at his shadow. It had changed. But it wasn't perfect. Narcissus scowled and huffed haughtily and began to trot up the slope. His minty jade eyes were narrowed and staring daggers at this wolf. He would change his shadow back! Narcissus would make him if he didnt comply.

He could feel the fur on the back of his neck rise into venomous spikes of tufted fur, his purple pelt darker because of its wetness. Narcissus gritted his teeth, and let out a growl as he advanced. He was a mere four tail-lengths away by now.

"Would you please change my shadow back?" he queried as politely as possible. If worse came to worst he would use less civilized means to regain his perfection.

[Deleted]

((That is pretty funny! But look! I'm an Elder! XD woot woot!))

[Deleted]

Three cheers for Treble!))

[Deleted]

"Hmm, it depends on how I feel, I guess. Maybe yes, maybe no, and maaaybe if you apologize for comparing me to a clod of dirt..." Ponos started, his eyes still gleaming with remnants of laughter. Of course, the wolf had no intention of changing his shadow back then, but he would, eventually.
"Maybe if you waited some, because eventually I'll do it - but you carrying out any of the above would of course hurry it along."
Ponos set out his 'ultimatum' grinning all the while. He took careful note of how the purple wolf's fur stood up in clumps and spikes, and how his eyes narrowed. He was quite good looking if he did say so himself, but he'd seen better looking wolves. Ponos was not impressed.
Honestly, who had purple fur and green paws?
He didn't miss the tenseness of the stranger's body, and how he was poised to attack.
Ponos smiled.

[Deleted]

"I did not compare you to a clod of dirt! I simply had one him fur." though now that I look at you, you could be mistaken for a mound of buffalo droppings. he thought snidely with a sniff. Gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut. He would do anything to have his shadow back to normal. No, not normal. Back to abnormal celestial perfection! He sniffed again haughtily, his broad shoulders high. "Though I am sorry for any hurt I may have caused you." He pushed the sentence out between his teeth. Narcissus was not one to apologize, especially for something he did not do.

[Deleted]

"Oh, so it's you." Ponos curled his lip up in distaste as he remembered tales of this particular wolf. Narcissus, preening peacock that he was, challenging him to get his shadow back! Well, Ponos would add this moment to his collection of treasured memories and take it with him to the afterlife. But for now...

"Since you asked so nicely, there you are!" He grinned with a slight gleam in hazel brown eyes, promising a prank soon to be. Ponos exerted his control onto the legless shadow, bending it's shape to his will. Soon the black shape had four legs again, but this time, it was much taller, leaner and infinitely more beautiful, Ponos thought, than the pompous wolf in front of him.

At least Narcissus had pushed aside his pride and apologized, no matter how insincere it sounded, Ponos had to give him that. His ears flicked as he swished his tail. "There ya go, right as rain and nicer looking too, even if I do say so myself." He sang, voice a low baritone. It was true - what Sheba had said. The more practice he got, the easier it was to change the shapes of shadows. While waiting for Narcissus to reply, he absently focused on trying to manipulate the nearby tree's shadow into something else. It did stay just as huge, but it changed halfway into that of a rabbit's. It was rather awkward, the rabbit head and front paws sticking out of a large tree trunk.

He supposed that would be due to not having enough energy.

[Deleted]

Narcissus nodded curtly as a thank you and spun on his heel. His hubris was wounded and he needed to find something to occupy his mind. He was stunned at himself when he realized he didn't mind his shadow's new form. It made him less lonely. He looked down on the less perfect shadow as if it were a normal wolf. "Hello there shadow friend." Barcissus whispered to it, "What shall I call you?" He asked the dark shape. Of course if wouldn't answer, oh well. He would figure that out later.

The silver speckled wolf looked over his shoulder at this other wolf, Ponos. Funny name. He snickered quietly. Poor wolf, he was born ugly and was going to die ugly. But then again every wolf was, save for himself. He smirked cockily at himself and began to walk towards a stunted tree that grew more horizontily than vertically.

[Deleted]

Ponos smirked. Very, very darkly. He'd save this moment, for all he had. "Of course, I could change it back, but I don't think I will." He hummed loudly, smirk still widely fixed in place. Oh, he knew what Narcissus was calling him in his head, no need to even have any powers to do that. It was obvious enough from the very look on his scrunched up pretty face.

"Someday, Narcissus, someday you will fall. And your pride will be the end of you. Remember my words, remember the warning of Ponos, of suffering and anguish." He whispered and turned his own back to walk down the hill.