Deviation Actions
Description
For 
word challenge- mischievous
Desert ghoul twins Tawth and Nawth. Twins are less common for ghouls than humans, and are seen as an omen of bad luck. Identical twins in particular are thought to be plagued with misfortune.
When the sisters grew up their parents advised them to travel in opposite directions in search of a territory, and be careful who they told about their twin. Unable to imagine living without each other, they chose instead to find a new home together. Their search for mates was filled with anxiety since they refused to be separated long enough to spend time alone with a suitor. Any males who didn’t believe in the curse were quickly driven away by the thought of having to share their mate’s attention. In time they gave up and grew content with each other’s company.
Now they are notorious in the ghoul community for their reckless behavior. They raid cemeteries, break into human homes to steal shiny things, and tease others who are nervous about their “curse.” The less kind-hearted hope their antics will get them killed before they can stir up too much human anger against ghouls.
An Invitation for Other PapaThe third member of his species Taak saw was missing half of his face. The male ghoul leapt over the backyard fence with grace the child could only dream of and landed in a tense crouch. When he rose on two legs he was almost as tall as a human. His remaining eye flashed white in the moonlight.
Taak dug his claws into the seat of his chair and trembled. In all the time he had spent imagining what Other Papa would be like, “scary” hadn’t crossed his mind.
The male dropped back on all fours and slunk low to the ground. His eye was on the plate of chicken and dumplings Taak had left beside his chair. Muscles rippled beneath his dirty clothing. He pounced on the plate and tossed the food into the back of his throat, as if chewing were optional. It was gone in moments.
Taak’s tongue was dry and heavy and he couldn’t remember where he meant to begin. Mama and Papa snored through the window behind his chair. Crickets chirped. His belly growled, as much from nerve:origin()/pre03/e55c/th/pre/f/2015/102/f/d/taak__bug_slayer_by_leonca-d8pi37x.png)
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The Shaper's GiftDetective Travis Hade looked down at street vendor Skavie. The troll met his eyes and lashed the tufted tip of her tail. Fragrant smoke rose from dark meat kebabs laid on metal racks over a small fire. The spices smelled lovingly balanced, but not too strong to overwhelm a hint of gaminess from the meat.
“What is this?” Travis said.
Skavie grinned and waved a stubby-fingered hand over her wares. “Chicken.”
Travis crossed his arms and glared over the rims of his glasses. “And what do you tell your troll customers?”
Eye contact was very important to this race. Travis willed his expression to freeze, unblinking, like the carved image of a stern god.
Skavie folded her pointed ears against her bald head. “I knows the rules. ‘If it don’t gotsa collar, make it give you a dollar.’ I didn’t steal from no one.”
“That works for troll restaurants, but a cart on Shab Street is another matter. Any establishment accessible
The Honor of HesiemPhil curled into a ball on the filthy cobblestones, felt the blood soak through his shirt, and tried to remember if werewolves were cannibals. The mugger had plunged a knife into his gut and extracted the money from his pocket with practiced efficiency. He could imagine no other motive for the owners of those glowing yellow eyes to be assembling like a flock of nocturnal vultures. He shivered with pain and yelled, each cry for help growing feebler than the last.
The sole functional street lamp was aflutter with moths enjoying the cool summer night. Yellow eyes bobbed at the edge of the light. Phil caught glimpses of long claws and lanky canine forms. He found a loose stone and threw it with a pitiful scream of rage.
A small figure broke away from the others and crept into the light. If it was a werewolf it was a sickly looking one. It had oversized round ears and appeared to be missing any trace of fur or a tail.
Phil squeezed his eyes shut. Perhaps this was just a hallucination, the f
Does that prejudice against twins comes from two pups being harder to feed or the lack of free territory or something else I didn't guess? I notice all your ghoul pairs usually have only one child. I wondered about that because some animal species (including humans until advances in the first and second world's standard of living) seem to produce as many babies as possible since half of them might not make it into adulthood. But on the other hand larger animals (and mostly predators I think) often have only a few offsprings per couple. But you'd think if Tawth and Nawth both got a mate they'd have this big family and that would make hunting and protecting their territory easier?
A while ago I saw two elderly ladies who were identical twins walking together in a park, and something about them looked like they've lived all their lives together (they were even dressed very similarly, kind of like twin children rather than adult twins). It was kind of adorable though I couldn't help wondering what kept them from going their separate ways like most adult twins do.