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Post by Shinko on Aug 5, 2018 9:39:25 GMT -5
Mochi sighed. “Probably the Spirit can’t keep Nature out- she’s already in. This is probably just a dampener. To what end, I can’t guess. Maybe it’s like a bandage on a wound? Or maybe the Spirit is trying to hide something?” The rabbit idly twirled Svar’s feather between two paws. “I’d bet anything the snow is Nature’s doing, though. This weather isn’t normal now but given how much life and the world has changed over time, it’s possible this is harkening back to some bygone era… or that maybe outside of Naelus the world’s freezing over, I’m not sure.” They bumped their head against Kopi’s side. “Look on the bright side- at least it isn’t a blizzard. Snow is frozen rain, and a blizzard is a frozen storm, with wind and sometimes even lightning.” * * * Quicksnap struggled slowly to his feet once more, giving an unhappy hiss. “It’s… it’s too cold. I can’t move well when I get cold. But I want… I want to find Beech.” He stumbled towards the raptors. “We can go. To somewhere warm. And once I’m warm, I’ll find Beech.” He snapped his jaws, growling. “And if anyone has hurt her…” * * * Beech’s ice spears started to recede, slowly at first but visibly. She lay her head down between her paws, her misery plain to see. “Quicksnap,” she croaked finally. “He. H-he cornered me, that night. He was screeching about how everything hurt, and how I was attacking him. I didn’t understand, I tried to calm him down b-but he wasn’t listening, and then…” Her shape dimmed and wavered, becoming almost more flame than thylacine. “He k-killed me.” Rabbit ♠ Mochi explains things, or at least guesses, and tries to cheer Kopi up. Tiger Quicksnap is reluctant, still fixated on finding Beech (gee wonder why he wants to do that so badly) but eventually agrees to follow the raptors. Pain not being enough of a motivation to drive him to violence anymore, his corruption!brain changes tack slightly to PROTEC. Beech finally comes clean.
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Post by Rabbit ♠ on Aug 5, 2018 13:51:28 GMT -5
“You have a point there,” Kopi sighed. Nature was all around them. “I don’t know about Spirit using the mists to hide something. If Nature is already in, then wouldn’t she know what Spirit is hiding? What would Spirit even want to hide from her?” Mochi went on to explain the weather, going over what could be happening to the world. Could be the world freezing over, could be going back to a time in the past. Whatever was going on, Kopi wasn’t a fan of it. Nature was mad and this was a way to show it. Mochi did say that a blizzard was worse, though. At least Nature had some sort of mercy on the animals on the island. For now, at least. Mochi nudged their head against Kopi’s side as they were explaining. Kopi smiled a little bit. The smile was short lived, but he appreciated the rabbit’s effort. “Is Spirit dying?” Kopi said. He looked back up at the sky. “The eagle eye and the lionheart have lost their powers. I was the healer and I’m dead. Nature’s been closing in on us. It feels like everything is getting worse and worse.” He looked back at Mochi. “I don’t want Spirit to die.” *** Morag and Tash walked around the forest, looking for these ghost sowers Morag had seen. Tash kept a close eye on Morag to see if she needed any help. To her surprise, Morag kept up fairly well. Tash was still faster and Morag did take breaks to eat some plants, but it was a lot more than what Tash thought she could do. The weather grew colder and colder and white flakes began to fall onto the ground as they walked. Tash glared at them and swatted at a couple as they floated by. She looked down at Morag, who appeared to sneeze, but Tash wasn’t sure. Morag went on to explain that this was just frozen water. Frozen water. Tash couldn’t say that she saw that before. “I’m sure there’s a bush or a tree hollow that we can hide in if the weather gets too bad,” Tash informed. The two continued to walk around the forest until something caught Morag’s attention. Tash looked in the direction Morag was and noticed two ghost. A ghost of a hairless cat who appeared to be partially glowing purple and a ghost of a scimon - Roda, the scimon was Roda. Morag's eyes widened. "Tash!" she hissed. "There's two of them, dearie. Just our luck!"Morag scuttled towards the ghosts and started shouting at them. Tash let her speak, but she let out a low growl while glaring at the ghost cat. “Do either of you realize what you have been doing?” Tash hissed. “Corrupting and killing off innocent animals. Can’t you see the pain you’ve caused? Do you know how much pain and suffering you’ve put the island through?” The artacat’s voice grew louder and louder. “Do you know how much you’ve put Kopi, my brother, through? He was the one who had to clean up the messed you and your friends have caused!” Kopi doubts if Spirit is trying to hide something from Nature, since Nature is everywhere. He listens to Mochi ( Shinko ) explain the weather and asks them if Spirit is dying. Meanwhile, Tash and Morag ( Celestial ) are sower hunting. They come across Roda ( June Scarlet ) and Genevieve ( Coaster ). Tash lets Morag scold them before giving them a piece of her mind, going on about the trouble they've caused.
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Post by Thorn on Aug 5, 2018 14:06:23 GMT -5
Te Tai didn't trust this Renpi creature- her attitude shifted far too suddenly. He couldn't tell whether or not she was mocking him, which he didn't much appreciate either. To insist that feelings were unimportant, only to cause such a scene herself? It was...unsettling. "Correct, you would not have deserved him. Although he would care regardless," the taniwha hissed, "because he was foolish in this way." He hesitated to consider her words. "Perhaps we have different definitions of 'proper justice.' I cannot fathom how it is anything other than just to wish those at fault destroyed. If they will wrongly accuse once, they will do so again. We cannot let them do so again." In his heart, Te Tai couldn't pretend that he wanted this for anything other than revenge. This, too, disturbed him. Fight it. She's right. Confront them if you want to, but please don't hurt them.
Be quiet. Before long they set off, leaving the now clearly injured moon rabbit behind. Te Tai had no idea how Svar planned to find these creatures again, but the bird seemed to know what he was doing. As the hours passed he returned every so often, a flash of brilliance through the snow, and Te Tai forced himself not to snarl whenever the bird appeared. The reminder of flame was the last thing he wanted right now. The snow was interesting. Te Tai had seen snow before, but never quite so thick. It was starting to make travel difficult- he wished, not for the first time, that he'd given himself longer legs. Beautiful graceful limbs made for striding, like those of the various horse-creatures! Surely they wouldn't be so impeded by the snow? Instead he was having to bound with each step, getting snowflakes in his eyes and ears and gills. But can horses swim like you can?And there was that voice again. Could it really be Kohimu? Things just didn't work like that. Te Tai wondered if it might be some trick of Mother Nature- the voice had asked him not to kill Svar, but what if this was all in aid of some long-term goal? I can prove it now if you like?Later, Te Tai thought, for the hundredth time. The firebird had once more drawn close. His sudden hiss snapped the taniwha out of his reverie, and Te Tai watched in astonishment as Svar hurtled towards a group of creatures huddled under the trees. Could it be...?Don't kill them, the voice warned, as his muscles bunched. They're not sowers. Does it matter? For emphasis, the taniwha hissed aloud nonverbally. It certainly should!The immortal trio set off in search of Justice and maybe also Revenge! When Celestial 's Svar flies to attack the sivatheriums, Te Tai is at first super keen to join him, until Kohimu's voice asks him to reconsider. The voice hasn't told him to stop Svar, but perhaps Liou 's Renpi is already on that...? =P
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Post by June Scarlet on Aug 5, 2018 21:50:13 GMT -5
Genevieve reminded Roda the reason why she had gone to Mother in the first place, to go after the hunters who ran amok. But she wasn't sure Mother's plan was the right solution anymore, and her doubt showed, because the cat threatened to try recorrupting her. "...And it seems your lacklustre commitment renders you incapable of understanding Mother Nature's ways to begin with. Shall we see revisit your assertion that a ghost cannot be corrupted?""Maybe I don't understand as well as I thought I did. Things are unnatural here, yes, but maybe that's not a bad thing. At least I'm not in direct competition with other scimons, the island provides for all my needs. It's a gift, a blessing, and I'm not sure removing the mercy would change things in the way I wanted them too. I'm just trying to understand, there's no need for threats." Just then, a haggis stepped into view. "You've got a lot to answer for, you naughty things! Why did you corrupt that poor doggie? It couldn't even talk! Now Thunder is mad and it's all your fault. You should be ashamed of yourselves!" she shot a stern glance at the squirrel-creature. "Especially you! Your sister has been worried sick about you. The poor dearie. You need to find her and apologize right now!""I didn't corrupt the dog," said Roda, "But I'm sorry it happened. I want change for this island, but maybe this isn't the best way to do it after all." Roda stepped closer to the haggis. "But you know my sister Julaine? I did find her, after the cave visit, and told her I regret what I've done. She accepted my apology." An artacat spoke next. “Do either of you realize what you have been doing?” Tash hissed. “Corrupting and killing off innocent animals. Can’t you see the pain you’ve caused? Do you know how much pain and suffering you’ve put the island through?” The artacat’s voice grew louder and louder. “Do you know how much you’ve put Kopi, my brother, through? He was the one who had to clean up the messed you and your friends have caused!”"I thought it was the only way to get rid of the predators that hunt my family," said Roda. "But now I'm not so sure it's going to work. I'm sorry. Your brother the healer, though? He caused a lot of trouble for us too, you know, always healing those who had been corrupted. He bought the island more time than you realize." The island is unnatural, but maybe that's not such a bad thing, Roda replies to Genevieve Coaster. Morag Celestial and Tash Rabbit ♠ come into the picture, and Roda explains to them that she thought it was the only way to be rid of predators, but now she isn't so sure, and also apologizes.
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Post by Tiger on Aug 6, 2018 10:37:06 GMT -5
The raptors flinched a little at the sound of Quicksnap’s namesake bite, but managed to restrain their reactions beyond that. “Yes,” Shadowstep encouraged, taking a step in the direction of the trees. “We will get you somewhere warm, and when you are feeling better, we will help you find Beech.” Driftstone, following his mate’s lead in starting the trio toward the forest, asked, “Would you like someone to try and find her while you’re resting to make sure she’s okay, and..” He decided not to specify telling the thylacine that her friend had been corrupted, though that should have gone without saying. “And maybe to pass along a message?” ------- For a moment, the dilophosaurs froze in horrified silence, Soaitsae staring with his mouth open, Xsabaskis’s head twisted back toward the crystalline fortress, Taakeyrr miserably waiting for the fallout. “ Quicksnap? Soaitsae repeated at last. “ He did this?” “That - it sounds like corruption,” Xsabaskis growled, pivoting back around. “But why wouldn’t he tell anybody?!” “It happened before...before Makel,” Taakeyrr managed around a constriction in her throat. “That’s when we all learned about it, maybe he didn’t know…” Xsabaskis snapped, “He’s had time to figure it out!” as she turned her head to glower at Taakeyrr. Their eyes met, and Taakeyrr’s expression and body language must have been wrong - too much upset and not enough surprise, probably. She saw the realization appear in the bigger dilophosaur’s eyes as it must all have come together for her - that Taakeyrr had known about Quicksnap long before this exact moment. Xsabaskis’ teeth showed for half a moment - but to Taakeyrr’s relief, she she turned back to Beech and Soaitsae without a word. No doubt something was coming later, but at least Xsabaskis seemed to also realize this was probably a horrendous time for Beech to find out Taakeyrr had been lying by omission as well. The feathers on Soaitsae’s shoulders twitched, but he nudged his head back toward the gap in the ice walls. “I - I’m so sorry, Beech - that is...that is awful!” The raptors start working on getting Quicksnap to the forest. Driftstone asks if Quicksnap would want someone to go find Beech to check on her and maybe pass on a message.
The dilos take the news with some surprise. Xsabaskis realizes Taakeyrr knew beforehand but for now, doesn't say anything. Soaitsae expresses his horrified sympathy to Beech.
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Post by Shinko on Aug 6, 2018 11:13:36 GMT -5
Mochi shook their head emphatically. “I don’t think she’s dying- there’s been a lot of guardians, right? A lot of them. The guardians have special powers, but they’re just normal animals like any of us, and animals die eventually.” The rabbit sighed. “The loss of the guardians is almost definitely weakening the spirit- but I don’t think that alone can kill her. For a god to die, their worship has to be abandoned. They have to lose their place and purpose. That’s what happened with all the moon gods over time, anyway. The gods demanded regular sacrifices and prayer for a reason, after all- it kept their worshippers from forgetting they were out there. Kept them powerful. The best thing we can do for the spirit is not to give in to despair. To have faith.” * * * Quicksnap started to follow them, slowly, blinking against the icy cold of the air. “Tell her… no. No. It… it has to be me. I should have been me. All along.” From where the kaprosochus found the energy, it was impossible to say, but abruptly he charged towards the nearest tree, ramming his head into it. “Why didn’t I tell her? Why didn’t I tell her? How much it hurt, how much she meant to me, h-h-how much…” He hissed. “How much I’m sorry!” He clamped his jaws around the tree trunk, but recoiled with a squeal of pain as one of his tusks broke off at the tip from the impact. * * * Beech whimpered, the icicles melting down more quickly now, though she herself didn’t move from the spot where she lay. “I was so scared. So confused and scared and everything hurt. B-b-but I remember he looked scared too. Not angry or hungry or anything like that. He looked… he looked like he was in pain and afraid. I w-wanted to tell him I wasn’t mad. I w-w-wanted to tell him it was ok-kay. That I’d fix it, somehow.” “But he’d hit my head on some r-rocks, and my voice wasn’t working right. I c-couldn’t get the words out, and when I woke up later, I d-didn’t remember.” She sobbed. “Why didn’t he tell me? I wasn’t mad, why didn’t he tell me?” Rabbit ♠ Mochi tries to give Kopi a divine-servant pep talk. Tiger Quicksnap expresses extreme remorse over what he’s done and the fact that he hid it (though he still doesn’t clarify for the raptors what that _was_ ). Then overcome with emotions he bites a tree, but breaks one of his tusks in doing so. (Don’t worry crocodiles can shed and regrow their teeth). Beech reveals what it was she wanted to say to Quicksnap before her death- what he recalled her trying to say but unable to get out.
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Post by Tiger on Aug 6, 2018 14:11:20 GMT -5
Startled by the kaprosuchus’ sudden attack on the tree, it took Shadowstep and Driftstone a moment to react - they’d darted a few steps after him, of course, but his jaws opening had made them both come to a rapid halt. Luckily, they only closed on the tree trunk - at the cost of one of his huge fangs. “Quicksnap,” Shadowstep said, clearly forcing calm into his voice. “It is okay; you will have a chance to give apologies to Beech. And we will not do it if you don’t want - we will just tell her you are...ill, but you want to talk to her. Once you feel better. ...But maybe stop biting the tree, please? It is only going to make you hurt more.” Driftstone agreed, “Yes - do not hurt yourself on the tree. Come along; I’m sure we will find a nice cave do you to rest very soon.” It seemed like talking about Beech was a bad idea, if it was going to drive the kaprosuchus to biting, so Driftstone asked, “When was the last time you saw snow, Quicksnap? We were too small to remember, but you are much older, so you’ve seen it before and remembered it, right?” ------ Soaitsae’s eyes darted briefly to the melting crystals, but he quickly refocused them on Beech. The ghost looked much less frightening, merely miserable now. And no wonder, given what she’d just told them! Soaitsae could hardly imagine it, not only going through death and returning from death, but also finding that a friend had been the one to commit that murder. He could see why Quicksnap wouldn’t have wanted to share the news, and imagined at least part of it was an immense guilt Soaitsae could also only barely imagine - but it also seemed very obvious that keeping that secret would have led to something like this eventually. Beech’s revelation of her final living thoughts, however, did did surprise him. He just barely managed not to blurt ”You weren’t?” Instead, he tried, “I would guess it didn’t even occur to him you might not be angry. I think most animals would be.” He looked over at Taakeyrr, who jerked in slight surprise at his sudden scrutiny. “Did you ever consider that, Taakeyrr?” “About...about Algernon?” Taakeyrr said, her tail tip drooping low. “...No. I didn’t do it on purpose, but I still - I still hurt him. I wouldn’t blame him for being angry.” She took a hesitant step forward. “...And you two didn’t even know about corruption - you two couldn’t have, nobody did until the tiger was corrupted.” She hesitated, then added, “And the longer he went without telling you, I bet the worse it seemed… Not that it was the right thing to do or that you can’t be mad about him only just telling you now. I don’t know what the right thing to do was. And he probably didn’t, either. “...But I’m sorry. Sorry about this whole thing happening to you - you didn’t deserve any of it.” The raptors suggest Quicksnap plz not bite the trees. Driftstone thinks it’s a good idea to get his mind off the Beech topic and asks him about the last time he saw snow instead. I’ll probably have them get close to the cave next post if something more pressing to handle doesn’t come up. Also feel free to assume if Quicksnap’s “last time seeing snow” story finishes, Driftstone will probably ask about the snow before that. And before that. And so on~ Soaitsae is surprised Beech wasn’t angry and tells Beech that was probably not something Quicksnap intuited, pulling Taakeyrr in to comment as an ex-corrupted animal herself. She offers a little more possible explanation, and apologizes for Beech having to go through this and totally that’s all she’s apologizing for and definitely not for also keeping that secret, too! ( Shinko)
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Post by Shinko on Aug 6, 2018 15:24:13 GMT -5
Quicksnap shook his head, reluctantly pulling away from the abused tree. “Snow… I’ve seen snow many times, but I usually slept through it. Too cold, too bitingly cold. I can get by in winter, if I dig myself a cave facing the rising sun in fall, but snow is too much.” He pounded his feet into the white mush a few times, as if for emphasis, and rambled on without much direction as he trailed after the raptors. At least, he did until his nostrils abruptly flared at the scent of another animal in the air, and he tensed with a long, aggressive hiss. * * * Beech finally lifted her head again, some of the bleeding on her pelt starting to fade and the crystals finally receding into the ground entirely. “I… I guess that makes sense. That he didn’t tell me ‘cause he felt bad about it. I still don’t like that he lied to me, though.” She shivered. “And he didn’t tell me even now. I only remembered because I saw him…” Her voice tapered off, an odd look crossing her face as her trembling started up anew. “...Killing another animal the same way.” Tiger Quicksnap follows Shadowstep and Driftstone, rambling about how he is a reptile and he doesn’t much like snow. =C Then he smells the smilodons and goes into corrupted attack mode! Tiger, you can decide if he actually smells the legit animals, or just their lingering scent in the den. Beech, meanwhile, drops an interesting nugget on the dilos. Quicksnap didn’t tell her! She caught him in the act of killing another animal in exactly the same way. Hmmmmm. Wonder what the implications of that could be.
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Post by Tiger on Aug 6, 2018 20:24:10 GMT -5
Driftstone was beyond grateful Quicksnap took the prompt and rambled away with it - as long as he was talking about weather, or old memories, or Naelus, he was not attempting to bite and that was the effect the two raptors had been hoping for. Of course, when it suddenly stopped, they knew there must be trouble. Driftstone and Shadowstep looked back at the sudden hiss - he didn’t look angry at them, at least, but he was definitely unhappy. Shadowstep suddenly seemed to notice something, and sniffed the air; only then did Driftstone realize the kaprosuchus’ nostrils were flared. “Oh! It is only Duskrunner!” Shadowstep said. “You remember Duskrunner, right? She’s part of our pack, too - so please do not bite her, either!” Duskrunner stepped slowly and cautiously into the trio’s sight, her posture slightly tense. She looked at Driftstone, but it was clear to him that her attention was also focused on the kaprosuchus. “I found a den for Quicksnap to stay in. But it’s occupied by the most stubborn pair of smilodon in all of Naelus. Our mother is negotiating.” She gave Quicksnap. a more direct scrutiny. “I’m tempted to show them the angry kaprosuchus is real by showing them the angry kaprosuchus. Honestly.” ------ It seemed like a calm ending to the situation could be reached, for just a brief, bright second, as the crystals and Beech’s blood receded and the thylacine spoke more calmly. It was a nice second. “He - he was - “ Xsabaskis spat a hissing screech. “He’s been corrupted again! We have to find him - now!” Terror gripped Taakeyrr like the cold was gripping Naelus. Quicksnap being corrupted was absolutely terrible - an animal as huge as he was, in a blind, murderous rage, one that he had already enacted, was a horror all on its own. And even though she felt selfish for thinking it - Taakeyrr realized she had been assuming an animal could only be corrupted once. And she had been wrong.Xsabaskis took several long steps forward, lowering her head to the ground to sniff at something; Taakeyrr realized as she stepped after her that it was the blood Beech had left behind when she’d run from...wherever she’d found Quicksnap, probably. “I can’t smell the blood well,” Xsabaskis complained. “It looks like the snow’s started sticking,” Soaitsae said. “It’s going to cover it up; it’s...a bit like sand, except made of water.” “So it’ll wash it away even if we dig it up. And that’s if it stays behind and doesn’t vanish like the crystals did.” She looked up at Beech. “Do you remember where you found him? We have to find him, and….and find a way to stop him. Fast.” She looked to Taakeyrr, and then to Soaitsae, who both took steps forward to show they would follow. The raptors and Quicksnap are almost at the cave. Duskrunner appears to give a status update - the smilodons are upset about the den situation, apparently not believing there is a corrupted kaprosuchus, and Yellowtail is arguing with them (Shinko, if this isn’t enough to work with, let me know!) The dilos take this news well, too! Xsabaskis is in immediate GOGOGOGOGO mode and asks Beech if she can lead the way to where she saw Quicksnap, since she figures the ghosty blood trail is either going to vanish because ghosty or be washed away by the snow ( Shinko)
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Post by Shinko on Aug 6, 2018 21:04:10 GMT -5
Quicksnap eyed Duskrunner warily, but his attention was very clearly distracted. “Smilodon,” he growled, pacing deliberately forward with jaws held open in a crocodilian threat display. As he spoke, his voice gained volume and artificially augmented outrage- and a trickle of fear. “Overgrown tooth-cats! Biting, clawing, overgrown tooth-cats, kill them before they hurt mine, bite and tear before they can bite-” * * * Beech lurched to her feet nodding grimly. She was still upset- upset was too tame a word!- but she also recognized that right now, there were much higher priorities. She knew from bitter, painful firsthand experience the kind of damage Quicksnap could do. And how distressed the corruption had clearly made him. She couldn’t just leave him like that, alone and confused and afraid. But as she stepped over to the dilophosaurs, her face was set with an unthinking, almost nauseous terror. Images played in her mind of the last moments of her life. Quicksnap’s jaws. His teeth. The massive power behind his reptilian muscles. With a noise that was part sob, part growl of defiance at her own fear, she took off back in the direction she had come, moving as quickly as her never-tiring ghost form could carry her. At length, she slowed, Quicksnap’s victim coming into sight once more. It was starting to be covered by the falling snow, but the shape of the dragon-horse was still visible. Beech frowned a bit as they drew closer, sniffing at the ground around it. “What’s that?” she asked. “That smell. It’s… like you three almost, but different.” Tiger Short response but I figure the raptors will wanna head Quicksnap off before he gets his momentum going. Beech is scurred, but she does a brave and brings them back go Quicksnap! Or she would if he hadn’t alread wandered off with the raptors!
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Post by Coaster on Aug 6, 2018 21:44:22 GMT -5
"Maybe I don't understand as well as I thought I did. Things are unnatural here, yes, but maybe that's not a bad thing. At least I'm not in direct competition with other scimons, the island provides for all my needs. It's a gift, a blessing, and I'm not sure removing the mercy would change things in the way I wanted them too. I'm just trying to understand, there's no need for threats."As the shadowy flame in Genevieve's eyes strengthened at this retort, the two were interrupted by some... honestly rather pitiful-looking interlopers, though Genevieve could hardly talk, being dead and wearing bright pink pajamas. The haggis she had recently encountered spoke up first, but directed her attention to Genevieve's rodent counterpart, who proceeded to explain herself, further clarifying the latter's position as a traitor. The former Healer's tagalong interjected as well, with similar results as Roda backpedaled on everything she had worked for. "I thought it was the only way to get rid of the predators that hunt my family," said Roda. "But now I'm not so sure it's going to work. I'm sorry. Your brother the healer, though? He caused a lot of trouble for us too, you know, always healing those who had been corrupted. He bought the island more time than you realize."Genevieve spat at the ground and responded in kind. "Him and that Lionheart, always putting themselves in danger in order to save their friends, but see how well that worked out for them! Natural or not--heretical as that may be to say, but evidently that is no issue for you--that dog-rabbit would have met his end by predator sooner or later regardless! You say Naelus' return to nature wouldn't improve things for his kind and your own, when you and your killers alike must suffer the grief and remorse of every transaction that serves to sustain the satisfied predators at your expense?" Genevieve circled the gathering as she monologued, leaving embers of heatless flame trickling across the ripples of snow. "As merely one example, the raptor clans are bloodthirsty enough toward each other with their territorial disputes, perhaps all that keeps them in check... But, free to raise their clutches with no shortage of food, how long will it be before they overtake the rest and subjugate the rest of you to slavery, offering your bodies as tithe, or else until the island proves not so merciful after all, as it plagiarizes our Mother's strategy in order to maintain the balance as it doubtless must have countless times before? If the former, I simply direct you to the ravages caused by humanity in its reckless pursuit of dominance, likely the same cause that brought your kind here to begin with. Besides, that says nothing about those that were brought here as a fading tradition, an escaped curiosity, or... or a failed experiment, without a purpose to begin with." She stopped, and her fiery eyes faded to coals as she lowered her voice to a hoarse whisper and faced Roda squarely. "Let the island govern itself. Let what kinds live that may, and mold not the land to suit our own. Lay down your pride; if it is our time to end, and let something better take our place, so be it. Our own aside, life will not end without the crutch of sentiment, and predator and prey alike will be better for it. It is... disheartening that you have forgotten that, to say the least." Genevieve responds to primarily June Scarlet, but Rabbit ♠ and Celestial are there too. She's studied enough of what humankind does to subvert nature to know it's probably not a great idea to do the same here even if we personally like being around.
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Post by Tiger on Aug 6, 2018 22:04:39 GMT -5
Duskrunner scrambled out of Quicksnap’s way with a start - her feathers somehow puffed even more than they already were against the cold. “Why would you say that?” Driftstone demanded of his sister. “I didn’t think he would take it as a suggestion!” Shadowstep ignored them both, hurrying after Quicksnap as best he could. “Quicksnap! Wait! You cannot attack them, they are being rude and stingy and very obnoxious but they are not sowers!” “Our mother is going to kill us,” Duskrunner muttered, and then she clambered into a tree; as she made her way up the trunk, she added to Driftstone, “And If I get eaten because I have to drop down on him as a distraction, my back-from-the-dead will scruff your feathers the wrong way for the rest of your life!” Driftstone hurried after his mate and the kaprosuchus, wishing he trusted Quicksnap enough right now to leap onto his back and use that to get up to the crocodile’s head and ears - the heavy plating, even wet, seemed like it would be better footing than the mix of mud and snow that was the forest floor. “Quicksnap - stop!” Shadowstep managed a pounce, and landed between the kaprosuchus and the residents in question - the two smilodons, nearly face-to-face with Yellowtail, looked over in alarm, their yellow eyes wide. “Oh - oh Spirit, he is corrupted!” one of the cats whispered. Driftstone covered the last of the slippery ground and stood beside his mate, trying to mimic Shadowstep’s posture - firm stance, but eyes lowered, claws down, impeding but not threatening. “It is all right, Quicksnap, they will go away, you do not have to attack them!” “Well,” Yellowtail said. “Look at that. It seems I am not a conniving liar and thief-of-dens-for-no-good-reason after all. Will you go now?” She opened her jaw in a sharp-toothed gape of a grin. “We can talk about trades some other time, I see that you are busy.” The smilodons looked at each other, at the kaprosuchus, at the raptors, at the kaprosuchus again...and scampered away, shoulders hunched and tails low. “There!” Driftstone said, forcing cheer into his voice. Calm cheer. Please don’t chase them, please don’t chase them. “They saw reason, it was only a matter of time! Thank you for not actually biting them.” Please don’t chase them, please don’t chase them. “It all worked out, hssssaaah?” ------ Taakeyrr wasn’t sure if what she felt was more relief or fear when Quicksnap wasn’t where Beech had left him. Of course, she hadn’t stayed put when corrupted, so she shouldn’t have expected anything different. Xsabaskis stepped forward to examine the remains. Carefully, she dug some of the snow away from it, wrinkling her muzzle at the prick of cold from the snow. “It’s - it’s one of those horse-dragons. Like the one who was asking about Thunder’s chicks…” Soaitsae stepped forward, tilting his head at it and staring for a long moment. At last, he said, “I haven’t seen many creatures of this species, but….it does look a lot like that one.” “If she was flying around asking angry tyrannosaurs about their chicks...I wouldn’t be surprised to hear they she was getting into angry kaprosuchus’ personal space,” Xsabaskis said grimly. “Not a mistake you should die for, though.” “What’s that?” Beech asked, sniffing at the ground around the dead horse-dragon. “That smell. It’s… like you three almost, but different.” Xsabaskis lowered her muzzle to the ground as well. “...Raptors?” She sniffed again. “...Yeah. It has to be raptors. I can’t tell which pack by smell, but I keep seeing Yellowtail’s pack around…” “But what were they doing near enough to beat us here?” Taakeyrr asked. “...And where’d they go?” Xsabaskis didn’t answer immediately, trailing the scent through the air. Taakeyrr supposed she might as well do the same - and to her surprise, she found something. “I think this is a print! The snow’s trying to bury it but it’s pretty wide and deep - thank Spirit this isn’t falling too hard!” “Yet,” Soaitsae warned. “We had best hope this doesn’t turn into a snow storm, or we’re going to be unable to find anything on the ground.” “Any raptor tracks?” Xsabaskis asked. “None here, but they’re smaller, they’d get covered first. ...Besides. I guess we’re not really looking for the raptors, unless they’re with Quicksnap.” “Let’s follow the print,” Xsabaskis agreed. The sisters started off, noses to the ground in search of more tracks, but Soaitsae hung back a moment. “Beech?” He spoke quietly. “Are you all right to come with us? You’ve dealt with...with a lot in the past hour or so.” ...In Duskrunner’s defence, her plan works. Beech leads the dilos to Rui’s body (it should be noted they don’t realize she’s a sower because why would they just assume that); Quicksnap obvs is nowhere to be seen. Beech recognizes raptor scent, which confuses the dilos but will give them other clues to look for! The sisters find a Quicksnap print in the snow and begin following it. Soaitsae pauses to ask Beech if she’s willing to come with them, or if she needs a break, ‘cause dang has she had a rough evening! ( Shinko)
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Post by Shinko on Aug 6, 2018 23:05:56 GMT -5
Quicksnap had come up short when Shadowstep and Driftstone cut him off, not moving forward but very much still looking at the smilodons with all the malice of an angry predator. As they emerged from the den he gave a challenging bellow in their direction, daring them to come after him or the raptors. He clacked his jaw together a few times for emphasis. He should go after them anyway. Make sure they wouldn’t hurt him or his friends, be certain of it- ...But the raptors were talking again. Reluctantly, Quicksnap tore his attention away from the retreating mammals and focused on Shadowstep and Driftstone once more. “Should still make sure of it,” he hissed, though it was obvious his immediate anger was cooling. He shook his head, groaning. “But I can’t catch warm-bloods in this cold. They will come on us, tear us to pieces, and I am too cold to fight them properly.” * * * “But what were they doing near enough to beat us here?” Taakeyrr asked. “...And where’d they go?”Beech spoke up into the silence, her voice soft. “Quicksnap made friends with a couple raptors- he was with the one that killed the scimon when they caught her. He said they have a similar sense of humor to him, and that they invited him to be in their pack.” The thylacine was quite as the three dilophosaurs looked around for evidence of Quicksnap’s passage, lost in her own thoughts. Suppose they did find Quicksnap- what then? There was no more healer. The only way to stop a corrupted animal without a healer was… She inhaled sharply, jaggedly, spectral claws digging incorporeally into the snow. She blinked a few times to stop herself starting to cry again. That was enough, she had important things to do! Except that it seemed Soaitsae had either seen some evidence of her distress, or he was just perceptive enough to realize she would be. “I’d never forgive myself if I backed out now,” she said frankly. “I’m… scared. Of what we’ll find, of what will happen. Of what we’ll… have to do.” She inhaled roughly again, but soldiered on. “Besides, I’m already dead. I’m pretty sure he can’t kill me again, even if my gut’s tying itself in knots saying otherwise. If there’s anybody that’d make a good distraction in a pinch, it’s me.” In an undertone, she added, “You guys are the last friends I got.” Tiger Quicksnap lets himself be calmed down, albeit reluctantly. Feel free to assume that if the raptors shepherd him into the den he goes, Tiger! Beech insists on going along, even though she’s afraid. She’s unaware of New Healer and is afraid drastic measures might have to be taken where Quicksnap is concerned.
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Post by Celestial on Aug 7, 2018 7:58:16 GMT -5
Hearing that the squirrel-creature had apologised to her sister, Morag's expression softened. She scuttled closer and patted her paw with her claw. "Good. I'm happy to hear that you two have talked. You upset her a lot. You made a mistake but it's okay; it happens. Your mistake is much worse than most, admittedly, but you seem to realise. Maybe there will be something you can do. It would certainly make your sister happy." She spun around rapidly as the sower cat who she had spoken to a few days earlier began to talk. The haggis folloerd her movements closely, not taking her eyes off the cat in case she attacked. That was also a good tactic with predators: let them know you are aware of them. It would probably work well with sowers too. The more the cat spoke, the more Morag's ears flattened in anger until they were almost against her back. She stamped her foot, an effect made much less empathetic by the fact that she was creature that stood barely a few inches off the ground. "I think you're talking complete nonsense! This island had been doing pretty well for itself before you came along. Predator and prey might be in contest sometimes, but just as likely they become friends. I've had a lot of generous dearies, carnivores and herbivores alike, offer their shelters to me. Others have shared their food, offered to carry me around the island...you name it, they did it!" she stamped her tiny claw again and snorted. "The predators can manage themselves with the Spirit's help. Unlike the creatures of the old country who your "mother" rules, wee are smart and strong enough, all of us. We don't need this "mother", especially since she sounds like a right nasty old biddy. If the raptors are to rise up, I'd rather be ruled by them than by something that makes nice old doggies turn into vicious monsters. At least the raptors can be talked to and reasoned with," she paused, thinking. "And they are terribly fluffy too." Morag is happy to hear that Roda and Juliane( June Scarlet) talked and tells Roda that it's not too late for redemption. She also tells Genevieve( Coaster) to Shut Up, Hannibal by saying that predator and prey on Naelus can also be friends and that the raptors would be better than Nature. Tash( Rabbit ♠), anything to add?
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Post by Rabbit ♠ on Aug 7, 2018 10:30:13 GMT -5
“I know there have been other guardians. Still, being corrupted and killed off like this… Nothing like this has happened on the island before, right?” Kopi thought out loud. “I can imagine that all of this is really hurting her right now.” Kopi looked up at the sky. The snow floated around in the air before landing on patches on the ground. Some of the snow began to collect on his back. Kopi didn’t know that could happen. He rolled onto his back. “I know we should all keep faith for Spirit. I’m still as faithful as I was. I just feel like I should do more to help,” Kopi went on. “I know there isn’t much I can do, at least not now, but if there is something I can do, I want to do it. Do you know what I mean?” *** "I thought it was the only way to get rid of the predators that hunt my family," said Roda. "But now I'm not so sure it's going to work. I'm sorry. Your brother the healer, though? He caused a lot of trouble for us too, you know, always healing those who had been corrupted. He bought the island more time than you realize."“Oh, I bet he did, and all of you deserved every single second of it,” Tash snapped. “You wanted to get rid of the predators, huh? What’s wrong with all predators. Some may be after your family, yes, but not all of them are. You know, I think I’ve seen you around the woods. You and other scimons. Just to let you know, I never once considered killing any of them, food or otherwise. I eat fish on occasion, yes, but never scimons or other rodents. Why? Because I respect them. Some predators have respect for other animals.” Tash took a step closer to Roda. She glared right at the ghostly scimon. If only she was alive, Tash would make her feel what her and her friends made Kopi feel. “And protecting your family? You didn’t want your family to be killed? Congrats, in the process of protecting your family, you’ve destroyed so many others!” Tash yelled. Her voice was starting to quiver. “Did you ever stop to consider how the families of your victims are feeling? I know Taak’s family has been hurting from her corruption! I don’t even know how Kopi’s other siblings are feeling! How do I even go back to them and tell them that their brother is dead? I’m sure the entire island knows at this point, but that doesn’t make it any easier on me!” Tash took in a sharp inhale that sounded more like a sob than a gasp. “Killing animals…” Another sharp inhale. “Destro-oying fa-amilies…” Another sob. “Ho-ow does that make you any different from these predators you’re against, Roda?” Tash let the cat ghost talk before she continued on her rant. The more she spoke, the more Tash wanted to interrupt. However, the artacat bit her tongue. She wanted to hear what these creatures had to say for themselves. It was clear that her and the cat didn’t see eye to eye on the matter. Besides, it gave Tash time to calm down from what she was saying to Roda. Morag stepped in and gave her reasoning. While Tash was still upset about what Roda and her friend said, it was enough to make her crack a smile. Morag always had such a way with words. “Is it such a bad thing to want to live, anyway?” Tash added. Her voice was still shaky. She took a deep breath to help calm herself before she continued. “We all want to live and we all want to protect our friends and family, whether they’re predator or prey. I’m sure neither of you wanted to die. We feel the same way.” Kopi talks about how the corruption and murders of the guardians could be hurting Spirit more and how he wants to do more for Spirit if he can. ( Shinko ) Meanwhile, Roda's ( June Scarlet ) motive doesn't sit well with Tash and she calls her out for being no different than a predator. Genevieve ( Coaster ) goes on about what humanity has done and if animals should die, so be it. Morag ( Celestial ) hops in and argues with her and Tash joins in, saying that all animals want to live and protect their loved ones.
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