Deer Me: Adwanee Sands

by The Psychopath

No Time

A parchment fell from the throne where the zaoris sat, and Hora was quick enough that he grabbed the object and handed it back to his ruler. There was a moment of silence while the zaoris opened the parchment to read its contents. He then stepped off the throne and came into a brighter light, letting the guests see his details. This ruler was slightly taller than Hora and as thin as him. He wore a black robe with gold trims upon the lower half of his body while the upper half remained bare. The tattoo of Hora stretched across his entire upper torso, with the circular 'hands' of the cross being drawn upon the palms and back of the anyubinite's hands while the top had been painted over his face and ended at his forehead. A ring of cloth wrapped around his neck like a scarf and was decorated with thin stripes of gold and large, navy blue stripes in-between. A patch of cloth from the neck ornament stretched from the back of his neck and rested over his head like a flap of colorful skin. His eyes were lined with red make-up, much like Hora, and curved upwards to cover his ears and end in curls. Ears which were pointier than the other anyubinites and a muzzle followed the pattern with increased sharpness.

"You are the ones that were visited by the 'black snow'?" he asked with a stern voice.

Stelimus nodded. "Yes."

The jackal stepped forward and leaned over to have a better view of the deer, but as the seconds went by his face contorted more and more into an angry expression. He shook his head in disappointment and walked back to his throne, mumbling something to Hora to retrieve something.

"I am...disappointed. Truly, I am."

"Why?" Stelimus asked.

"You squandered a gift. I do not appreciate those who reject gifts."

Stelimus was insulted. "What gift?" he asked as he stepped forward. "The snow?!" The deer chuckled briefly. "That wasn't a 'gift'." the zaoris reacted to his words and his eyes widened slightly. "Do you have ANY idea what it's done to my people?"

"Yes. The same people who have rejected you outright and plan to either overthrow or assassinate you?"

Stelimus blinked a few times and couldn't muster up any words, so his sister spoke for him.

"He is not hated by his people. He stands proudly as ruler of the tundran reindeer."

The zaoris looked at her with a blank expression. "Do not lie to me," he spoke seriously. "I can tell simply by his behavior and the way he stands that he's uncomfortable with his position despite being in it for such a long time."

"And how would you know something like that?"

The huffed in response. "As Zaoris Oriyis, I have been in this position for seventy years. I know better than any one of you the telltale signs of good and bad rulers. And HE," Oriyis accused with a shout. "is NOT a good ruler. He panders the people too much and refutes their gifts from the greatest of higher beings no less."

"What higher beings?" Stelimus asked.

"Enough of this," Oriyis waved his hand. "Send them to the guest chambers while I think of what to do with them."

The deer king stomped forward in response to what had been said. "I asked you a question," he stated. "And you're the one who called us here. We were supposed to learn the secret of the Black Snow from your own mouth to help protect my people."

"Enough!" Oriyis bellowed. He stepped down from his throne to stand tall in front of the deer. "I don't have time for squabbles with some petulant child that thinks they're fit to make demands from the likes of me." He grabbed the deer from the antlers and lifted him off the ground, causing the deer king much pain and discomfort. His following did not kindly to these actions and prepared to knock the deer out of the grip. "Like I said, I don't appreciate those that squander their gifts." Oriyis, with his head tilted slightly to the left, glared Stelimus directly in the eyes. "Whether I tell you or not all depends on what I think about your chance of redemption and how I feel about the whole situation.

Despite his struggling, Stelimus couldn't break free, so he let his anger engulf him momentarily and passed a huge current of frost essence through his antlers, instantly freezing the zaoris' arm and causing him to let go in surprise. "Stop holding me up like that!" Stelimus shouted.

The anyubinites reacted to the actions and approached the deer and pony with their spears pointed at them, but the Oriyis stopped them from doing whatever they intended. The ice around the jackal's arm was already melting and he could already move his fingers.

"Very good," he said. "But this doesn't improve my thoughts about how soft you are towards your own people, now get out of my throne room."

Stelimus angrily turned around and his companions followed, the whole group being escorted by several guards around the corner outside the throne room.

"Will you recover?" Hora asked.

"Yes. It is only...a strange substance. It seems incapable of withstanding the heat." Oriyis sat upon his throne and flexed his arm to shatter the ice after it had sufficiently melted and checked his hand and arm for damages. "Good. Bring in the three quarreling about...what was it again?" he asked as he leaned against his throne.

"The inhabitants of a nearby village found a forgotten pyramid of a goddess of death unknown and to us and wishes to convert the village to her praise to bring her back. The priests have been refusing such a thing, as per our rules, while another group has been pleading to bury it once more as it was forgotten for a reason..." Hora rolled the parchment back up. "Or so they claim."

Oriyis leaned back in his chair and tapped the armrests. "Appealing to the villagers would be a wise decision and would bring back a forgotten piece of our history, but I would lose the support of the priests and the gods would surely look ill upon me allowing the conversion. Then there's the rebellious group. They've caused me trouble in the past and appealing to them would also enrage the villagers and lose us valuable agricultural lands." The zaoris splayed his fingers across his mouth and closed his eyes as he meditated on the matter. "How to solve this issue with a minimum of issues."

Stelimus and Copper were placed in a small, single room chamber on the fourth floor of the construct. Holes covered by curtains served as windows and let in a blinding amount of light. A single, circular bed with a fluffy white mattress and four equally fluffy pillows. A bathroom was to the immediate left of the entrance and only had a dry, floor hole to do thine business. The walls were painted sand brown with a golden stripe splitting it horizontally into two. Some lamps made from the black vines glowed faintly enough that they went unnoticed despite being embedded into the walls.

"I can't believe him," Stelimus complained while pacing back and forth. "I came the whole way hoping to find a solution to that thing, because it always comes back, but they brushed me off after THEY invited ME!"

Copper rolled around the bed three times to big for her like a happy dog. "Well, at least we got to see this place. That's nice for me. I mean, we never travel anywhere." She stopped on her belly then clutched her head and gave a wide, open smile emphasized by her sparkling eyes. "It's out honey moon!" she teased.

"I don't have time for that, Copper. He wants something and I want to know what." Copper's ears drooped down and she looked away sadly. "He clearly already knew about how we destroyed the black snow, so why would he call us here just to brush us off? No one would spend the resources for something so stupid."

Copper didn't say anything and sighed almost inaudibly. A miniature monolith embedded into the wall just under the window tore pieces of the wall out of its hold and almost engulfed the entirety of the room in black vines, but Stelimus didn't seem to even noticed and continued pacing back and forth whilst rambling. Copper curled up into a ball and started shaking violently in fear while the metal vines wrapped around her in a dome shape with quick speeds until stopping nigh instantly.

"Hello, pony," a feminine voice said.

"Wh-what?"

"Do not fear. I am a goddess of love and death. There are other traits, but they aren't important at the moment."

"A-a-and death is?!"

The voice ignored Copper and continued. "If you're willing to follow me, I would be more than happy to aid you in your romantic triflings," the goddess proposed.

The pony felt enticed for a moment, despite being terrified out of her wits, but--

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed that 'canon' non-canon chapter prior. Now for a bit of news:

Following my detox thanks to Inkitt and my writing of Lux Locus, I've started resuming many things I had stopped because I didn't get enough comments(This need no longer matters). One of these is the rewrite of The true Psychopath: The story that started the actual use of Psycho.

Back then, I didn't know how to use him and just made him crazy, but after the minutes that've gone by, I know very well how to use him now and will modify the story accordingly. As such, lots'o things are being retconned.

Comments

[Chrome Masquerade]

"You are the ones that were visited by the 'black snow'?" he asked with a stern voice.

Stelimus nodded. "Yes."

The jackal stepped forward and leaned over to have a better view of the deer, but as the seconds went by his face contorted more and more into an angry expression. He shook his head in disappointment and walked back to his throne, mumbling something to Hora to retrieve something.

"I am...disappointed. Truly, I am."

"Why?" Stelimus asked.

"You squandered a gift. I do not appreciate those who reject gifts."

Stelimus was insulted. "What gift?" he asked as he stepped forward. "The snow?!" The deer chuckled briefly. "That wasn't a 'gift'." the zaoris reacted to his words and his eyes widened slightly. "Do you have ANY idea what it's done to my people?"

"Yes. The same people who have rejected you outright and plan to either overthrow or assassinate you?"

Stelimus blinked a few times and couldn't muster up any words, so his sister spoke for him.

"He is not hated by his people. He stands proudly as ruler of the tundran reindeer."

The zaoris looked at her with a blank expression. "Do not lie to me," he spoke seriously. "I can tell simply by his behavior and the way he stands that he's uncomfortable with his position despite being in it for such a long time."

"And how would you know something like that?"

The huffed in response. "As Zaoris Oriyis, I have been in this position for seventy years. I know better than any one of you the telltale signs of good and bad rulers. And HE," Oriyis accused with a shout. "is NOT a good ruler. He panders the people too much and refutes their gifts from the greatest of higher beings no less."

"What higher beings?" Stelimus asked.

"Enough of this," Oriyis waved his hand. "Send them to the guest chambers while I think of what to do with them."

The deer king stomped forward in response to what had been said. "I asked you a question," he stated. "And you're the one who called us here. We were supposed to learn the secret of the Black Snow from your own mouth to help protect my people."

"Enough!" Oriyis bellowed. He stepped down from his throne to stand tall in front of the deer. "I don't have time for squabbles with some petulant child that thinks they're fit to make demands from the likes of me." He grabbed the deer from the antlers and lifted him off the ground, causing the deer king much pain and discomfort. His following did not kindly to these actions and prepared to knock the deer out of the grip. "Like I said, I don't appreciate those that squander their gifts." Oriyis, with his head tilted slightly to the left, glared Stelimus directly in the eyes. "Whether I tell you or not all depends on what I think about your chance of redemption and how I feel about the whole situation.

Despite his struggling, Stelimus couldn't break free, so he let his anger engulf him momentarily and passed a huge current of frost essence through his antlers, instantly freezing the zaoris' arm and causing him to let go in surprise. "Stop holding me up like that!" Stelimus shouted.

The anyubinites reacted to the actions and approached the deer and pony with their spears pointed at them, but the Oriyis stopped them from doing whatever they intended. The ice around the jackal's arm was already melting and he could already move his fingers.

"Very good," he said. "But this doesn't improve my thoughts about how soft you are towards your own people, now get out of my throne room."

[Mix-up]

Well this seems like a completely waisted fact finding trip for them, brush off as if Stelinuss was nothing, after they where invited to come in the first place, with no historical documents that would have helped them fight the black snow no powers to help the fight it. I am starting to think that this is going to be a lot of intrigues that they are going to be mix up in. I wander what is copper is going to do try to get her lives attentions that will probably be a trick to put him in a vulnerable state.

[Seeking Dusk]

Okay, FINALLY started reading this. Very interesting. Also, way to be an ass Oriyis. A gift to one is a curse to another. Black Snow is a blight to deer traditions. If you tell them what they were doing wrong they might see it as the gift you think it is...

[The Psychopath]

7603861 That's an issue I noticed with a few people concerning their cultures and tried to reflect it here: They don't understand why you don't like something and take it as a massive insult without explaining why.

[mastermenthe]

Gregary Stelimus Anglicite is in equal fault here, he asked stupid questions in response to the Ayoiriza Zaoris proclaiming his initial judgement.

Somehow i blended Oriyis and Zaoris into one word: Ayoiriza. Do you want to steal this word name, Psychopath?

[mastermenthe]

When a god of death offers to help you out with romance, you say yes!
That way, even if they screw your relationship up, they'll probably feel shamed enough to kill you both and bond you together in the after-death and after-life!
That's where the phenomenon of soul-mates come from!

The voice ignored Copper and continued. "If you're willing to follow my, I would be more than happy to aid you in your romantic triflings," the goddess proposed.

Is that supossed to be "me" or "my", and if do, my what?

I suddenly wonder if Anyubinites take offense if other species convert to one of their gods.

[wlam]

"I can't believe him," Stelimus complained while pacing back and forth. "I came the whole way hoping to find a solution to that thing, because it always comes back, but they brushed me off after THEY invited ME!"

Well, I'm glad it's not only me who noticed that. The sheer amount of disrespect they keep showing him over the course of this so far is absurd. He's still a king, and one they invited over an official diplomatic function, no less. If there's not some kind of actual purpose to the way they've been treating him, I'll be very disappointed.

[Double_Bubble]

Upset by a rejected 'gift' but mostly unphased by Stelimus's infuriating demands...
Anubian are kind of reversed, aren't they?
Our protagonist is starting to act strange too.

[The Psychopath]

8409430
Iz teh saynd.