Roseline has a minion!

Kaeda the Kaefox

Barren land stretched as far as the eye could see. The borderlands. Where once lush land sprawled and clean water cut across the terrain, now only poisoned soil and dried up springs remained. A nuclear winter had killed off most livings things on the face of the planet, a result of fires raging across the plant after a series of nuclear bombs had been launched. Very few survived.

Decades later, the soot in the stratosphere had settled, the sun finally peeking down on the planet’s face once more. Vegetation had dried up, water sources nearly nonexistent and the air still toxic over the majority of the planet. Only the hardiest of species had managed to survive underground, creating makeshift filtration systems and living off what few food sources they could that thrived in the dark.

One such species was the naga. Their thick scales protected them from the chemicals in the air, able to withstand the toxic air for longer periods of time than others that died out over the years. As the air started to clear and some of the soil became more viable, the naga came out of hiding in search of resources. Many of their own had died out, but with the sun visible once more, there was hope the rest of them could survive and perhaps even thrive.

Blinking into the sun’s rays for the first time, Roseline shielded her sensitive eyes. Living underground for her entire life had left her eyes underprepared to see the sun. The warmth against her flesh was like heaven though, so she slithered forth, squinting and letting her eyes adjust slowly. Others joined her, greeting the sun, some with hisses and others with sighs of joy. No matter their initial reaction, it was the start of their fight to re-establish themselves as a community and rebuild all that had been lost so long ago.

Rebuilding was just a dream, however, as soon the naga found themselves at war with the other creatures that had managed to weather the nuclear winter. Many of the naga were killed, only a few managing to escape with their lives. Roseline was one of them, slithering off into the night, lost in the chaos of the attacks and finding herself alone.

The borderlands became her home. The risk was too great to return to her home underground, and with the attackers occupying the small bit of community she and her fellow naga had built before the attacks, she had nowhere else to go. Though she’d been raised as a fighter, trained to survive, even she couldn’t take on several skilled attackers on her own. And so she wandered, alone.

As she traveled, she could see small, shimmering lights flickering in the night. Not stars, but something on the ground… something curious. Curiosity got the best of her one night, the orange glowing light beckoning her forward. As she drew close, the sound of voices broke through the otherwise silent night air. Living, intelligent creatures. And this was their camp.

Eyes narrowing, she kept herself hidden, trying to decipher if these creatures could be friend or foe. Already her view of the outside world was spoiled, immediately considering these living beings as a threat. But they were more than that; they were also an opportunity.

Soon, the sounds of voices died away, replaced by the reverberating snores of the camp’s occupants. Music to Roseline. Silenting, she slunk into the camp, eyes darting across the forms of the sleeping creatures. The scent of food wafted in the air, catching Roseline’s attention and drawing her gaze to the fire. Leftover food still hung on a spit over the fire; it was her prize to take. And take she did. As soon her hands closed around her prize, she was on her way out of the camp and quickly and quietly as she’d come. The campers never knew she’d been there.

Grinning at her success, she sank her fangs into the meat, sighing heavily with satisfaction as the salted meat slid down her throat. It was the first real meal she’d had in days, and it was a sign of her ability to be successful on her own. And so the next night, she found another camp to raid… and another the following night. None of the campers suspected her presence and she escaped unscathed. It was a lonely existence… but successful.

Despite the unpredictability of living in the borderlands, even Roseline couldn’t have suspected her life was about to change once more in a dramatic way months after the slaughter of her own people. Night fell, just as it always did. And campfires dotted the horizon of the borderlands, just as they always did. She selected a camp from afar, just as she always did…

Screams broke out ahead of her, the sounds of a struggle evident even from so far away. Slithering faster now, Roseline hugged against the back of one of the tents, golden eyes searching the camp for the commotion. It didn’t take long to decipher that a group of raiders had come upon this camp with the intention of killing most, if not all of its inhabitants and taking all of the supplies that would remain after the struggle.

Brows setting and eyes narrowing, Roseline watched carefully as the raiders went on with their invasion, cutting down the camp’s inhabitants left and right without regard. Only when they came across a young female did they take pause, threatened unspeakable acts against her. Snarling in disgust, Roseline couldn’t stand by any longer. She’d lived the other side of this attack, watching her own people being cut down and killed without regard to their lives and she wouldn’t let the young female fox fall victim to the same.

Picking up a rogue stick, one solid enough to make an impact once she started swinging it. The end of the stick connected to the first victim’s head, then to the next victim’s stomach. It was a blur of action as she made her way to the small female, only pausing to help her up and hissing for her to run before staving off their attackers. The element of surprise had worked in her favor, the attackers so stunned, half of them had hardly moved before Roseline and her new friend were off into the shroud of night once more.

A friend for life. Roseline had rescued the young woman with the simple intention of helping, but the young fox lady, named Kaeda, refused to leave. She was too scared to travel on her own, too afraid the raiders would find her and finish what they had started. And Roseline was too kind to push the woman away. Instead, the two traveled together, learning skills from one another and helping the other. Together, they would survive.



♥️ Credits ♥️

♥️ Profile art by Paris
♥️ Custom overlay by grim
♥️ Story and coding by Celestial
♥️ Font from DaFont
♥️ Grudge brush from Brusheezy
♥️ BG from Giphy