It's That Time of Night

Cecila sighs as she turns around to looks out the window. Outside, the pitch black sky hangs like a dark cloud, giving Cecila the feeling of a dusky fog that wouldn't be cleared up until the Alternian sun rises in the morning. She prefers the bright day brought by the sunrise more, given that Cecila was used to the warm rays of the sun, warming her back and giving her a sense of safety and security. No other troll would be able to attack her out in the bright light. They would be blinded by the rays first, then be forever doomed to wander around, lost, until some wild creature put them out of their misery by killing them. Cecila had found bones around her hive before, since her lusus usually feasted on the carcasses before she found them. Cecila felt particularly glad that she in particular was able to withstand the unforgiving rays, and even enjoy them. Nighttime, of course, was a different story. Most trolls are adapted to dim surroundings, that is true, but Cecila in particular had never been fond of darkness. Nighttime made her feel uneasy, since any troll would be able to wander to her hive under the cover of night.

You can even say that Cecila is afraid of the dark.

And right now, it's that time of night. That time of night where the sky seems the darkest, and that time of night where Cecila just has too much to do to rest in her recuperacoon.

The jadeblood scrambles around her hive, picking up stray notebooks and pens, dusting away at neglected pieces of furniture, and rearranging her pile to suit her comfort more. She shoos her lusus out of the way, its fangs dripping with unidentified substances that had probably came from its last meal. Hissing at Serpentsis in irritation, Cecila cleans away the small puddles of goo and persuades her lusus into a corner to stay out of the way of her cleaning project. Anything goes at this point to distract Cecila. Anything to take her mind off the absence of sunlight filtering through the windows, off the black background that replaced it. She considers messaging her moirail for comfort, then immediately slaps herself mentally for even thinking of such things. Her moirail was gone. Missing for sweeps, in fact. Cecila considers finding another moirail to confide in, then mentally slaps herself harder. Quadrants can wait. She can wait. She can wait for sweeps if it means that her moirail might come back again. For now, cleaning takes priority.

Glancing at her recuperacoon, Cecila also considers giving it another go, then quickly dismisses the thought.

You can also say that Cecila cannot sleep at all during the night.

The darkness of the night was the perfect time for you to go hunting for your salamomder. It was pleasantly cool as well, much different and much more enjoyable from the blaring heat of the day. You had to find fruit or bug-type lusi. You once had a stockpile, but it has gone down a considerable level and you needed to restock it. It was either that or face the wrath of an angry guardian. You currently carried a decent sized net to do some trapping and carrying with, as well as your staff poised and ready for action. Your net was already holding a few items, nothing to write to the hive about however.

From a distance you spy hive and you contemplate staying away or moving closer. It didn't look particularly menacing or anything of that nature. It's also been a while since your salamomder needed you to go hunting for her, so you decide to go closer. Maybe there would be a garden of sorts. You imagined a beautiful orchard full of ripe fruits easy to pick from the trees. You then scold yourself for thinking such thoughts, there is no way someone would just have a  bountiful food supply unguarded.

You creep closer to the hive and see many bones littering the ground, forming a grisly perimeter marker. You may have been too hasty in making your decision to venture closer to this place of unnamed horrors. Perhaps the troll inside was worthy of a good fight. But you couldn't worry about that now, you had to see if there was a garden somewhere around here.

Cecila peers through the glass of the windows as she wipes them for the third time. Instead of the solid black background she expects, Cecila spies the dark figure of a troll outside. Dear god, someone just had to wander over here to the hills at night. If it had been any other time of day, the troll would have been blinded. Just her luck for someone to travel over here at her most vulnerable. Perhaps they were hostile, Cecila doesn't know. Better safe than sorry, however.

Cecila motions for her lusus to hide in the pile, throwing a scalemate at its head. Serpentsis gets the idea, and slithers under the pile of stuffed scalemates. Getting out her cutlass, Cecila opens the front door, stepping outside into the cold darkness. She shivers a bit, wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck. God, she hates nighttime more than anything in the world.

Hearing the bones crack underneath her boots makes Cecila feel a little bit better. If nothing else, the troll would have probably been intimidated by the scattered remains of Serpentsis' meals, though her lusus was anything but intimidating. It could hunt wild creatures about as big as a young troll, that is true, but a lusus that only came up to your shoulder half coiled up can only do so much. Serpentsis' diet consisted of mostly small dead things.

Standing a few feet away from the troll, Cecila raises her cutlass in a basic defensive pose, wary of the trespasser. If push came to shove, she would have to strife with the stranger.

"I haven't seen many trolls around here before. Most of them end up dead under the sun. You'd be considered lucky to trespass around here, under the protection of night."

You hear the many bones surrounding the house snap and you turn toward the sounds, raising your staff to defend yourself. There, a few feet away, stood the troll who inhabited this place of bones. She should've just attacked you from the beginning, it would've made things much easier for her. But she didn't, so you take it as she wasn't looking for a fight. You didn't lower your staff an inch, but you moved into a more defensive position.

Yes, my luck is quite 9ood. Any0ne wh0 wanders 0ut here underneath the light 0f the sun is an idi0t and may deserve t0 have their life snatched away.

You glance at the bones and then back at the troll. You start to get a sickening feeling from the bones that she carelessly cracked beneath her feet, but as you think about the situation and what she said you realize that she didn't put them there.

S0 th0se were n0t y0u're d0in9 then? Y0u say y0u haven't seen many tr0lls, but all these b0nes are here...

You remember the open space you're in and that this hive is in. This troll purposely picked this location, and since these bones are here and she hasn't seen many trolls...it's a defensive purpose. She uses the sun as her main defense system...you wonder if she enjoys hearing the screams of other trolls as the sun overtakes them. You look at her with a hated-filled, pointed glare. You couldn't stand overly cruel trolls, even if your race was naturally brutal, overdoing it was still overdoing it.

I will n0t attack y0u s0 y0u can relax if you wish. I am 0nly l00kin9 f0r f00d f0r a hungry lusus. A 9arden in fact.