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More from Myrtle
the subbed part is for anyone interested.
if not, here is this.
Tofilius, a few hours after his birth, with his... grandma? ...stepmom..? i dunno. the head nurse, and his dad's favorite, but not his mom.
his mom is under the tarp those two dudes are carrying away. you see, they had to hack him out of her or she was gonna just die and kill them both anyway. humans didn't carry Ascellan young well. maybe in Tofie's case, his hooves were the problem. *shrug* who knows.
oh, clarification time, cows are just cows, only the males are humanoid. BUT THEY ARE STILL EQUAL. and the cows aren't dumb they like, mind-talk and shit and are wives etc. they just don't have thumbs.
there is a story to this, it is a ghastly read. not as in long, just as in gruesome.
and for a simple picture, i really like it.
_____________________________________________________________________
Several cows paced around in a languid circle. Swishing their tails, they kept a vigil of constant motion to protect the woman from the flies that arrived. The foul insects had been lured in short order by the scent of fresh blood, as it quickly oxidized into the stench of death in the late autumn sun. Toreas stood several yards away at the edge of the embankment, his back turned to the scene, the light of the dying afternoon stretched across his hardened features. His eyes were only blank, at worst; but inside his heart was sick. He had only this transient opportunity to mourn the loss of his small, beloved human mate, before the new task, that of ensuring the survival of his unlikely new progeny began. He only regretted that she had probably not cared for him at all by the time her suffering came to an end.
Somewhere behind him, a woman's body lay in a wallow of bloody mud; her throat was cut, and mirroring this a larger slice ripped cleanly across her abdomen. Some children had gathered, unattended by those involved; they were curious about the unusually sad and morbid nature in this case, of something so simple as a dead human. They had begun to lay wildflowers on her as they had seen with their own kind. Their meager efforts, while confused and well-intended, weren't taking any effect on their ailing lord.
Seconds after the dispatch of the young mother, the nudrask boys had quickly taken the curious creature they'd removed from her body and brought it to a surrogate cow to be cleaned and suckled. In the relative new calm, they were visibly shaken by the work they had done which had been the first of its kind. While the king himself had slaughtered the woman as mercifully as he'd known how to go about doing so, the little nudraska were made to perform the rest of the strange procedure after this was done. They hid their apprehension well, they were afterall only accustomed to the positive aide-nature of birthing calves and caring for wounds. That was the life they knew, by choice; mutilating a pregnant mother dead nor alive was not their fancy regardless of species, enemy or friend, and in their short lives and experience the necessity of the event was dubious to them, even with their shrewdness in the workings of a body this deed was somehow outside of their understanding.
It wasn't frivolous, all of the adults around them knew. It was, perhaps, the only piece of mind Toreas had that his poor little love, while fertile, was simply not hardy enough to care for their offspring prenatus; in her diminishing health, he was forced in the days earlier to decide between losing both of them or this reality that had unfolded, which clearly yielded at least one great positive end. He was indescribably thankful to the young nudraska, and intended on repaying his bloody debt to them for the task for which he'd requested their assistance. They had come through for him, and his live babe drinking peacefully from his best cow was manifest of their dedication.
He closed his eyes, mouthing a silent goodbye to the horizon in Minka's honor. Unlike the odd human remains that fell into the clan's possession, her body would not be eaten but laid to rest, as their own occasional dead were, in a grand pyre.
He turned after this meditation, to survey the goings-on behind him. One of the younger boys who was simply present, and not involved, tugged at his dressings and looked up at him blankly. As the others took notice that the king was out of his state of mental isolation, they left their flower-dropping and approached him with the same unsure demeanor. He laid a hand on the first boy's head, patted him, and dismissed the lot with assurance that everything was to be all right. They scampered off down the bank into the soft grassy field below, to wrestle and chase fireflies and click sticks at one another in mock battles, as if nothing at all unsavory had transpired.
He motioned, with a content expression, for the nudraska to abandon their stressed and aimless cleaning of the area, and spend the remainder of the evening as normal boys should, down with the others in their carefree children's world. Several wearily complied, while the two eldest insisted on staying to assist with the "calf" and its mother's body. He admired them. But his orders were final; of course he couldn't force them to behave like children if they'd rather conduct some more useful or relaxing activity, just elsewhere for now.
The boys thanked Toreas with deep bows and left down the side of the bank. He watched them go, the ragged toughness in their step reminded him more of little warriors after such a bloody day than the kind nurses as they were being raised. As he turned back, Sharloks met him with a steady gaze. The fading sun glinted softly off of her horns, and her large dark eyes were drained and sorrowful, though still they held the same contentment that Toreas himself expressed after the ordeal. The calf-child, bundled in hides upon the soft grass, was still huddled against her bag though he was now suckling more out of comfort than hunger. Already, he appeared different-- fuller and more vital, than the crumpled fetal mess as he had arrived to the world.
A noise startled Toreas as two of his personal guard arrived up the embankment behind him, carrying two poles and a large hide. Having not summoned for them, he assumed the nudraska had taken it upon themselves and so nodded to the men-- though looking at the ground. In receipt of his permission, the guardsmen began to gently bundle Minka's lifeless body, and calling the other cows returned back to the main camp. Toreas didn't want to address the grim aspects of the day any further until Minka's final commitment. Out of protection for his own heart, he had already separated himself from her. He didn't watch her body leave.
He returned to Sharloks with his child, kneeling down and placing a hand on each of them. She was a good mother; she was fairly old, and had given him more daughters than any cow in the tribe. She was perfectly designated to oversee the care of his first son in his absence.
His first son. He repeated the thought over and over without words, in concept only as his mind felt more natural to do. Like himself, the infant was a full-fledged Ascellus, the purest and highest ratio of sophisticated physiology and therian power. His appearance was two clean halves-- his upper body was naked, his face devoid of any beastly characteristic apart from his velvety, pointed ears and hornbuds erupting from his swirly hair. His lower half was thinly furred and ended in soft new hooves and a short tufted tail. The race of Man had proven good for one thing, apart from archery practice and a good meal. He scooped up the sleepy child, who was only two-hands-full for the massive Ox King. Sharloks lifted her heavy head, gazing up reverently at the proud new father and the fruit of his sordid success.
He held the babe up, closer to his eye level in the last rays of sun. He smiled, and while calm it was almost manic with disbelief as he took in the sight of the infant ascellus in his hands. It stretched and squinted into the sky, not unhappy, but wondering why the warm and food were gone and grabbing curiously at the large fingers that held it. It took minor notice as the relatively monstrous adult who possessed these giant hands spoke, recognizing vaguely the voice it could remember hearing in the weeks before.
"Tofilius," the Ox king said breathlessly through his grinning teeth. "A happy creature..."
Sharloks nodded with a grunt and licked her nose.
The baby fussed, unamused by the breeze that reached it from so high away from a warm parent. Toreas took it down against himself, watching it try to burrow against his dressings in search of flesh contact.
"What a great and happy fortune for you, little one. You came from a human mother, such fortune for you that you have me to call a father."
With growing sound as it neared, a gale rushed fiercely up the side of the embankment. Sharloks closed her eyes protectively, but Toreas didn't stir at all from his fixed position as it died away into an erratic breeze. It was possible the planet itself foresaw the cruel irony that the king's words obliviously wrought on the child's future, and that of his entire kind.
if not, here is this.
Tofilius, a few hours after his birth, with his... grandma? ...stepmom..? i dunno. the head nurse, and his dad's favorite, but not his mom.
his mom is under the tarp those two dudes are carrying away. you see, they had to hack him out of her or she was gonna just die and kill them both anyway. humans didn't carry Ascellan young well. maybe in Tofie's case, his hooves were the problem. *shrug* who knows.
oh, clarification time, cows are just cows, only the males are humanoid. BUT THEY ARE STILL EQUAL. and the cows aren't dumb they like, mind-talk and shit and are wives etc. they just don't have thumbs.
there is a story to this, it is a ghastly read. not as in long, just as in gruesome.
and for a simple picture, i really like it.
_____________________________________________________________________
Several cows paced around in a languid circle. Swishing their tails, they kept a vigil of constant motion to protect the woman from the flies that arrived. The foul insects had been lured in short order by the scent of fresh blood, as it quickly oxidized into the stench of death in the late autumn sun. Toreas stood several yards away at the edge of the embankment, his back turned to the scene, the light of the dying afternoon stretched across his hardened features. His eyes were only blank, at worst; but inside his heart was sick. He had only this transient opportunity to mourn the loss of his small, beloved human mate, before the new task, that of ensuring the survival of his unlikely new progeny began. He only regretted that she had probably not cared for him at all by the time her suffering came to an end.
Somewhere behind him, a woman's body lay in a wallow of bloody mud; her throat was cut, and mirroring this a larger slice ripped cleanly across her abdomen. Some children had gathered, unattended by those involved; they were curious about the unusually sad and morbid nature in this case, of something so simple as a dead human. They had begun to lay wildflowers on her as they had seen with their own kind. Their meager efforts, while confused and well-intended, weren't taking any effect on their ailing lord.
Seconds after the dispatch of the young mother, the nudrask boys had quickly taken the curious creature they'd removed from her body and brought it to a surrogate cow to be cleaned and suckled. In the relative new calm, they were visibly shaken by the work they had done which had been the first of its kind. While the king himself had slaughtered the woman as mercifully as he'd known how to go about doing so, the little nudraska were made to perform the rest of the strange procedure after this was done. They hid their apprehension well, they were afterall only accustomed to the positive aide-nature of birthing calves and caring for wounds. That was the life they knew, by choice; mutilating a pregnant mother dead nor alive was not their fancy regardless of species, enemy or friend, and in their short lives and experience the necessity of the event was dubious to them, even with their shrewdness in the workings of a body this deed was somehow outside of their understanding.
It wasn't frivolous, all of the adults around them knew. It was, perhaps, the only piece of mind Toreas had that his poor little love, while fertile, was simply not hardy enough to care for their offspring prenatus; in her diminishing health, he was forced in the days earlier to decide between losing both of them or this reality that had unfolded, which clearly yielded at least one great positive end. He was indescribably thankful to the young nudraska, and intended on repaying his bloody debt to them for the task for which he'd requested their assistance. They had come through for him, and his live babe drinking peacefully from his best cow was manifest of their dedication.
He closed his eyes, mouthing a silent goodbye to the horizon in Minka's honor. Unlike the odd human remains that fell into the clan's possession, her body would not be eaten but laid to rest, as their own occasional dead were, in a grand pyre.
He turned after this meditation, to survey the goings-on behind him. One of the younger boys who was simply present, and not involved, tugged at his dressings and looked up at him blankly. As the others took notice that the king was out of his state of mental isolation, they left their flower-dropping and approached him with the same unsure demeanor. He laid a hand on the first boy's head, patted him, and dismissed the lot with assurance that everything was to be all right. They scampered off down the bank into the soft grassy field below, to wrestle and chase fireflies and click sticks at one another in mock battles, as if nothing at all unsavory had transpired.
He motioned, with a content expression, for the nudraska to abandon their stressed and aimless cleaning of the area, and spend the remainder of the evening as normal boys should, down with the others in their carefree children's world. Several wearily complied, while the two eldest insisted on staying to assist with the "calf" and its mother's body. He admired them. But his orders were final; of course he couldn't force them to behave like children if they'd rather conduct some more useful or relaxing activity, just elsewhere for now.
The boys thanked Toreas with deep bows and left down the side of the bank. He watched them go, the ragged toughness in their step reminded him more of little warriors after such a bloody day than the kind nurses as they were being raised. As he turned back, Sharloks met him with a steady gaze. The fading sun glinted softly off of her horns, and her large dark eyes were drained and sorrowful, though still they held the same contentment that Toreas himself expressed after the ordeal. The calf-child, bundled in hides upon the soft grass, was still huddled against her bag though he was now suckling more out of comfort than hunger. Already, he appeared different-- fuller and more vital, than the crumpled fetal mess as he had arrived to the world.
A noise startled Toreas as two of his personal guard arrived up the embankment behind him, carrying two poles and a large hide. Having not summoned for them, he assumed the nudraska had taken it upon themselves and so nodded to the men-- though looking at the ground. In receipt of his permission, the guardsmen began to gently bundle Minka's lifeless body, and calling the other cows returned back to the main camp. Toreas didn't want to address the grim aspects of the day any further until Minka's final commitment. Out of protection for his own heart, he had already separated himself from her. He didn't watch her body leave.
He returned to Sharloks with his child, kneeling down and placing a hand on each of them. She was a good mother; she was fairly old, and had given him more daughters than any cow in the tribe. She was perfectly designated to oversee the care of his first son in his absence.
His first son. He repeated the thought over and over without words, in concept only as his mind felt more natural to do. Like himself, the infant was a full-fledged Ascellus, the purest and highest ratio of sophisticated physiology and therian power. His appearance was two clean halves-- his upper body was naked, his face devoid of any beastly characteristic apart from his velvety, pointed ears and hornbuds erupting from his swirly hair. His lower half was thinly furred and ended in soft new hooves and a short tufted tail. The race of Man had proven good for one thing, apart from archery practice and a good meal. He scooped up the sleepy child, who was only two-hands-full for the massive Ox King. Sharloks lifted her heavy head, gazing up reverently at the proud new father and the fruit of his sordid success.
He held the babe up, closer to his eye level in the last rays of sun. He smiled, and while calm it was almost manic with disbelief as he took in the sight of the infant ascellus in his hands. It stretched and squinted into the sky, not unhappy, but wondering why the warm and food were gone and grabbing curiously at the large fingers that held it. It took minor notice as the relatively monstrous adult who possessed these giant hands spoke, recognizing vaguely the voice it could remember hearing in the weeks before.
"Tofilius," the Ox king said breathlessly through his grinning teeth. "A happy creature..."
Sharloks nodded with a grunt and licked her nose.
The baby fussed, unamused by the breeze that reached it from so high away from a warm parent. Toreas took it down against himself, watching it try to burrow against his dressings in search of flesh contact.
"What a great and happy fortune for you, little one. You came from a human mother, such fortune for you that you have me to call a father."
With growing sound as it neared, a gale rushed fiercely up the side of the embankment. Sharloks closed her eyes protectively, but Toreas didn't stir at all from his fixed position as it died away into an erratic breeze. It was possible the planet itself foresaw the cruel irony that the king's words obliviously wrought on the child's future, and that of his entire kind.
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Mammal (Other)
Size 400 x 395px
File Size 152.6 kB
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