On the wings of a dragon - Dekafox's excuse to post art

[Dekafox]

Wrote a little scene with Zhakarii while I was on a long car ride today.

The desert breeze ran across the fountain pool like a lover's caress, barely disturbing the water as it caught the spray and brought it to the dark figure on the bench before it.

Black fur and dark clothes would have hidden this feline silhouette against the dark of night quite admirably, in normal circumstances. It was not the platinum blonde hair that gave her away though; rather it was the softly glowing mystical tattoos etched into her body and fur, plainly visible where they were not hidden by the leather straps of her chest wrap or the long-legged cloth breeches gracing her waist. Most striking, however, would be her glowing eyes, going from a light blue to a bright azure wherever her gaze was directed.

As she gave a soft sigh, gazing into the waters, she failed to notice the second figure approaching from behind, after passing through the wrought iron gate to the fountain's surroundings. This khajiit was not one the night would swallow, between his tiger-striped white fur and lighter clothes. The beads around his neck caught the glint of the twin moons above as his own glowing eyes looked towards the black-furred feline woman with concern.

"Is something the matter, tamiit?"

At first, the only response was a perking of the ears, but as the new arrival took a seat next to her, the black-furred khajiit lifted her gaze to look over towards him. "I had hoped when we restored this place that we would find at least some interested in the old ways, but none have come."

Her companion gave a slight nod, his expression softening. "The Dark Moon and my order is ancient history to most in this age. Even if only this age's moon-singers, your Twilight Cantors, can learn the ways, that is good enough. Azurah did not send me back for that, but sharing her blessings is something I am glad to do."

Looking away again, the black-furred khajiit leaned against her contrasting yet similar companion, resting her head against his shoulder. "But it's such a shame that we can't share it with others ourselves. So much gets lost and forgotten-"

That got a short laugh from the white-furred khajiit. "Var, var, var. Has that not been the path you walked before you found me? Finding things that others thought lost?"

"Not everything," she replied, her gaze lowering. Noting her reaction, the tiger-like khajiit rested his arm around her, giving her a gentle squeeze.

"You found me, my tamiit. And the twilight path we walk together."

At the squeeze, the feminine feline snuggled in closer to her larger companion. There was silence for a long time after.

 

[Dekafox]

And now a related image:

I've shipped her with her in-game companion Zerith-Var for a while - they both match each other too well in looks. Not to mention Zerith definitely has a "type" as far as I'm concerned, looking at what his ex was like before she went fully dro-m'athra and tried to turn or kill him. To be clear, I had Zhakarii's design already well-established before Zerith was added to ESO, so that was all totally unplanned, but the coincidence was too good to ignore. They even have a in-game home that I built too(though it was also meant to serve as the start of a reborn Order of the Hidden Moon).

I just happened to notice when Vipercrown( https://www.furaffinity.net/user/artofreina/ ) opened for commissions recently that she also did couples images and doing "ship" art was on her "yes" list, so I jumped on it! Got it back faster than expected, too.

 

[Dekafox]

Got inspired and wrote another scene with Nexus during my lunch break today.

"...and with that ten percent gain in warp field efficiency, we should be able to shave ten hours off our travel time to the Theta Ionus system."

"That's excellent news! Great work as always, Nexus."

Once again, Nexus felt that familiar urge to smile, but also at the same time to remain stoic, and just nodded to hir Caitian captain. "Thanks," the black-furred stellar foxtaur replied, glad that no one could see the way hir tail was twitching behind hir.

As the meeting turned to other topics, Nexus returned hir gaze to hir PADD, but looked past it as shi retreated once more into hir thoughts. Shi hated how often compliments on hir work felt good, but at the same time made hir want to run and hide somewhere. What shi did wasn't that special, as far as shi was concerned; shi was just doing hir job.

Which reminded hir, shi needed to have a talking with that ensign on Gamma shift tonight before shi went to bed. His shift reports had been haphazard lately, leaving details and other important things out. Other people not doing their jobs properly was always one of the things guaranteed to ruffle hir fur, though thankfully that was a rarity among Star Fleet. Perhaps he was just absent-minded-

"Nexus?"

The question quickly pulled hir back to the world around hir, and shi felt a moment of panic as shi quickly tried to piece together what shi had missed. Hir vulpine ears ticked backwards a moment, but shi'd long ago learned how to keep a neutral expression even when hir inner turmoil threatened to overflow, and that practice was coming in handy once more.

The display in the center of the table showed their antimatter pod status and, reaching out, shi quickly paged backward and forward, noting the other queries made, hir mind racing to put it together.

"Just wanted to double- check," shi said as a cover, "but yeah, we should be fine for another few weeks, then we'll need to pause to rebuild our stocks."

Captain M'Rel nodded, then rose, the golden-furred female felinoid resting her hands behind the small of her back. "Then I'll not keep the rest of you any longer, as we all have things to get back to. Dismissed."

Feeling a sense of relief, Nexus stood alongside the other senior staff, and padded out into the hallway, where shi was quickly joined by jir Companion, Swiftwind, who also happened to be the ship's primary helmsman.

"Nice save," shi whispered softly, "I don't think the Cap noticed you zoning out."

"Was it that obvious?" Nexus replied, hir ears actually half- folding this time.

"Only to one who knows you well," shi replied with a reassuring smile, and a lick to the cheek. "Oh, and a touch of empathic talent doesn't hurt either."

As Nexus felt relief flood hir once more, hir snow leopard chakat Companion gave hir a bigger grin and a clap on the back, hir blue eyes almost seeming to twinkle with mischief. "Gotta run, Ensign Vasquez needs shuttle training, and I don't want to disappoint. I'll catch you tonight, love."

Nexus narrowed hir eyes as Swift turned to go, beginning to get a sinking feeling in both hir stomachs, though at least this time it wasn't about hirself. "You'll be sticking to the actual approved training program this time, right?"

Swiftwind just smirked, flicking hir tail and tossing a wave over hir shoulder as shi padded away towards the turbolifts.

"Right!?"

 

[Dekafox]

It's back to Tyria with this one! A portrait shot of my charr deadeye Athena Ghoststalker, somewhere in Grothmarr Valley judging by the sky and the Blood Legion banner behind her.

Not much else to say about this one, other than it was done by Sidj-6(https://www.furaffinity.net/user/sidj-6/)!

 

[Dekafox]

Wrote a short bit for Jasmine this time. Could even line up with the one earlier pic of her playing cards.

The tension at the table was palpable as the final two players stared at each other over top of their cards.

"10 more gold."

"Call, and 20 more."

The other three had long since folded, the small remaining stacks of coins before them anemic compared to the pile growing bit by bit in the center, as cards were discarded and face down cards checked. Finally...

"All in."

"Call."

The last remaining coins of the two finalists joined the pile. The time for guesswork and bluffing was over. It was time for the reveal.

"I have-"

"WAIT!"

This came from one of the spectators who had slowly gathered round, drawn by the clink of gold-on-gold. "Check his cards," the elf spoke as she reached over to the half revealed hand, yanking them from the Tanar 'ri's grasp before he could snap out of his surprise. Quickly, she spread them out on the table. ALL of them.

There was a very strong hand here, with but one problem; there were one too many cards. And when she flipped them over, one had the wrong back.

"He cheated!" As everyone turned to glower, the fiend started to rise, only for a quiet cough behind him to catch his attention. He turned, and if demons could flush, this one would have. Grumbling, he rose and excused himself, pushing the pile of gold to the slim red-haied tiger-like felinoid across from him before quickly leaving.

She simply smiled sweetly, and started gathering the winnings up as the crowd began to disperse. The other players offered their hands and she shook each one as she nodded and complimented them on their play.

Finally, with all her winnings gathered, she took a lithesome stretch, spreading her brass-scaled wings and lashing her striped dragon-like tail a moment before letting out a satisfied sigh. Waving to the yugoloth bartender and molydeus bouncer, who returned it, she turned and walked back out into the streets of Sigil.

She only managed to make it a few buildings down before finally letting out a laugh that drew a curious look from a couple passerbys, but when you're in the Hive Ward you quickly learn to mind your own business.

"Sloppy," Jasmine said to herself with a smirk as she fished out the three aces she had stashed within her leather bracer, their backs seemingly identical to the other cards she had handled minutes before. Tossing them away, she watched as the slight breeze caught them and carried them off into the smoggy haze. "If you're going to cheat, do it *right*"