ORIGIN

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Ruler of the air that Ace was, the sight of a hyena falling in line beside the three-headed dog leading an entire fleet of duplicates had been no cause for alarm. His gaze slid sideways in acknowledgement of her presence, but no moves were made in advance or retreat. Jaws opened only to deliver more confidence and refusal to be cowed.

"Yeah, yeah. Your home, our home. Don't matter any if you're bits and pieces. Just... saying?"

But then the booming brassy voice couldn't help but dwindle into a shrill uncertain whine once his audience seemed to have their attention flee elsewhere. Dumbstruck by the rather sudden event of Giggle abandoning her confrontation of him to chase her hindquarters, he froze, the flap of wings all that prevented him from crashing to the ground in a dusty heap.

What in Mother's tender love? Was this a tactic to confuse him? Make him dizzy following her ceaseless spin?

At a loss as to how to proceed in the face of a moment uncovered by battle strategy, Ace could do little more than stare. In fact, Kerberos's barrage of questions turned out to be an all-too-welcome reprieve from this confusion, a return to sanity out of strange, uncharted territory. To these, the answer was clear: laughter, incredulous at the ignorance displayed. And he indulged in it, heartily.

"You—" A snort aborted the string of words and forced him to restart. "You think? That I'm talking about—that?"

He threw his head back, amusement roaring out.

"No, bud. Buddies?" he considered before shrugging. "Eh, whatever. What I mean are threats, not meals. Chaos! And I doubt they'll have a second thought about ruining whatever life you've got here!"

Honestly, he didn't care too much either, but let them stew on that. Consider their choices while he shot off to attend to the more pressing matter of ensuring Order had the advantage and not the enemy. Hopefully, if they knew what was best for them, they'd stop the stubbornness and head somewhere safe before becoming a civilian casualty. Or second best option, they could fight with them against the true danger and add their bones to the piles already present when they inevitably bit off more than they could chew. Either was good so long as they didn't interfere.

As for how he could help defend ground forces from his airborne position, Ace knew an obvious feature of the cave to utilize. The stalactites which had made Canis more of a challenge to maneuver could now serve as a way to target any unfortunate enough to stumble beneath them. If he chipped away, careful to not fully disrupt their anchor to the ceiling, they could be a weapon to loose upon his choice. Too distracted by the other soldiers' efforts, those Chaos idiots wouldn't foresee their skulls being crushed by hazards overhead.

The Drone, still chortling from his previous interaction with Kerberos, zigzagged about. His forearms wielded like scalpels, sharp and precise, laid glancing blows upon each cave formation passed; despite shudders, they held in place, marked by nicks destining them for dislodgement in the near future. He performed a loop for the adoration of no one but himself on the final strike, pleased by the signs of a plan coming together.

ORDER VS CHAOS

BATTLE FOR CANIS

The clatter of far, far too many claws pursued Sergei. The gap around which he'd dodged was too narrow, between rock formations, for multiple Praetors to squeeze through side-by-side; two had gotten stuck together, snapping and swiping for him. It did not seem very coordinated, considering the hive-mind--but an instant later one pulled back with an audible pop, and they were streaming for him.

Sergei may choose to flee, and the Praetors will pursue him; or he may fight, but they will reach him next posting round and potentially kill or chrysalize him.

Mother urged Alcina on, too: "That creature was once family." Wrath, cloaked in mourning. Or was it mourning... cloaked in wrath? The two were tangled, inextricable: a Mother wholly betrayed. "Finish him, Alcina... if you can do so without straying too far from your family. And do not risk yourself." The orders were like thunder in her mind, overpowering; such were the depths of Mother's emotions. Poor mother, so betrayed-!

The rest of them were deeply encouraged. Bone's ice slick, and Ace's slashing at the stalagtites, were heralded as cunning, resourceful. Valued, they were. So valued. Nothing else mattered but how much they mattered to her--her children, her beloved, her everything.

Kerberos and Giggle were met with wariness--her children were wise, she said, to warn them off but not to strike them first, for now. She would have warned them to be wary of Giggle--Mother had met that one, oh yes--but none of these children would fail her by someone tearing fungus from them. They were beyond such things.

But these bone towers, these fine facades her children raised--this was good. These would do well. Now--for the next stage.

"Bone," her words--her mind--curled through the dragon. "Take my gift, and cascade it down like snow throughout this cave." Her others might or might not carry Mother's fungal gift--that was up to them. But Bone, she was different from them. Not formed of Order, but able to carry its spread nonetheless. On white wings would she fall, drifting like flakes of purity across the bones of the dead--and forge a new future for the living.

Valkhounds are welcome to stumble upon this thread from this posting round and onward, but should not yet be arriving in force. They are free to report back to the Masters on what they find, but should they draw close to the Drones while attempting to remain unseen, should roll for stealth by any means they might use.

See the Order vs Chaos Master Thread for scoring and more information!

SCORE TALLY
This will be updated as the thread progresses.

@Bone (Giggle, Sergei) @Orthus @Ace @Juggernaut @Alcina @Elysium (Scorn) @Rena @Siren @Kerberos

One of Orthus' eyes dipped towards the bones Juggernaut had swept towards it. Though outside Orthus seemed to flicker an emotionless gaze from the bones to Juggernaut, a thread of warmth and gratitude swept through the link. "Thank you, sibling. I hate to, but I must work more. We have more worries than I thought." He trailed off, his gaze swinging back to Alcina, and her face off against Sergei. Orthus, anxious, resisted the urge to crush his barricades with his claws. His message was not received by the bear. Or had it been? It had not been listened to, at the very least. Whatever the case, Alcina had charged for him, and Sergei had made to attack her.

Orthus shifted. He had known that Mother had enemies, had known that there would be those that would oppose Her and her will. But here was a creature that had made to attack a sibling. Was this the reality of what Mother had dealt with? Strange beasts trying to destroy her family? How distasteful. He had quickly lost interest in the three headed dog and it's smaller dog friend. They were not threats, at least at the moment. The only threat was the bear.

He had confidence in Alcina, though. With such a perfect form, and with Her praetors following, Alcina was bound to succeed. At least...Orthus hoped. If not, Orthus would help her once his task was finished. The thought of preventing more aggressors from harming it's siblings fueled Orthus. It crawled from the top of its barricade, to the outside of it. Carefully avoiding the sorted bone piles. It turned its jaws downward, and thought of Sergei. Of disgusting chaos, seeking to kill and destroy Her family. A day's work was worth it, to protect the family.

Orthus made to bite a chunk out of the ground. And came back up with a mouthful of dirt and rocks. The ground was tough, but Orthus only needed to form shallow pits. It scraped with it's claws and chewed through the earth, forming cylindrical pits, wider at the bottom and thinner at the top, for Chaos' beasts to stumble on or trap a leg within. Once its work was done, it would have scattered holes about the front of its barricade, covering them with fractals of weak bone and rock.

The praise washed over her--and she amplified it, sending out triumphant love to all her family. These drones were new to her but they were allies, friends, brothers, sisters, all that was important to her--and they would win!

The dragon let out another shuddering roar, trembling the stalagmites that she swept past, her wings beating heavily as she swept downward. And it might have seemed strange, to see a thick yellow banana appear in her front claws--but as she slowed she crushed it in her talons.

And--claws raising--she tore at bits of white that were hidden between her belly-scales. Tiny bits were shoved into banana-pulp, and dropped to the ground below, in among the bones, the fortresses, the little crevices and pools of stagnant water.

Seeds for new nodes--at least two dozen of them--were, unless someone stopped her (or them), airdropped across this area of Canis.

Her canvassing was thorough, swift, and efficient, and as she worked, she roared out.

"THIS PLACE NO LONGER BELONGS TO CHAOS!"

The zealotry had hold of her; they would make this place safe for family.

Sergei backed away. They were coming for him--all these insectoid monsters, and the other one too, that massive many-jawed beast scrabbling far too quickly at the rock.

Maybe... if he fled, they would follow. And he could fight a few of them, without--yes.

He pushed his spear-haft between his jaws, bit hard, dropped to all fours, and ran. He was not built for long exertion and was quickly gasping for breath around the haft. And Canis--well, it wasn't built for running. He encountered obstacles immediately--his broad paws hit the ice slick and he went skidding, straight into a pile of bones someone had erected. He very nearly fell into one of Orthus's pits. So when he came scrabbling forward, he hadn't gained ground--and brown ears pinned as he listened for the inevitable attack from behind.

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Kerberos nodded to Giggle with all three of his heads, a low whine escaping one of them. He could sense her fear, echoing it with his own.

When the flying monster and the dragon spoke of chaos-- one laughing, one roaring an ultimatum, Kerberos lowered further to the ground, his ears flattening. "Giggle," he urged in a quiet voice, "Do they mean the Chaos Forge?" That was all that he could think: of the massive beasts that he had played with, that had once been their neighbors. There were good Gembound among them, this he knew deep, deep in his heart.

"They're our allies, aren't they? What do we do?" He looked to her for guidance, begging his magic to gather. An orange flame grew in the air beside him, a wisp that began to slowly circle around him and his adopted mother. "... is this war?" The Bonebound had known declarations of War, and had fought in vicious battles... but to this scale? In their own home?

What did the Forge do?

@Giggle

Kerberos's question tore at her. He was looking to her for guidance, but--Oh, fuck, -I- don't know what to do. She couldn't say that, though.

Aloud, though--with lowered voice--she spoke. "I wouldn't say they're allies of anyone but themselves," and she was dour. But-... "I'll send Omen to call them here and they can deal with this shit themselves. I don't think we should get ourselves hurt for them unless they harm Canis," although anger was already rising in her at their treatment of the bones. "Nothing they're doing now can't be undone. Our lives can't be brought back if we die, though."

That said... the stupid idiot bear was going to die out there. Fuck, she thought.

She closed her eyes for a moment, pushing her thoughts at Omen--directing her. Go that way--yes, into that tunnel. I'll guide you. The Hallowed Caller--in a panic of her own--was more than glad to leave that way. Giggle made sure not to bring her even in sight of these creatures--Bone would recognize her, and that other one looked fast. Luckily, they looked far too busy doing whatever they were doing.

Giggle then opened her eyes, speaking (still quietly, and urgently) to Kerberos again. She recognized, now, what was happening--the white crap infesting the chunks of fruit the dragon was airdropping overhead. "Whatever fungus fuckery they drop here, we can root out and get rid of. My magic will deal with it. They can't stay here forever. Let's just back off and watch for now, right?" A pause, and another thought: "When we get a spare minute I'll ask magic and the bones what the hell is going to happen."

She tried to keep her words even despite the terror thudding in her veins. And she tried to keep still, not to give herself away, as she sent magic at Alcina. Magic that was not strong, but that might buy that idiot bear time to make good an escape--if those giant, fuck-ugly bug-things didn't eat him first. She didn't think it had taken, though--didn't think it'd come.

Damn, but her timing of that stupid fucking trial could not have possibly been worse!

It just so happened that Elayne was nearby; she and her guard-- weakened but still groveling appropriately at her heels-- in the nearby tunnel, deep in the Hole. The disturbance had been enough to echo down and draw her interest. So it was now that she entered Canis, claws flexing out of jet black paws. Her golden eyes burned over the army that buzzed around and over the place of bones.

She watched a bear creature scramble for safety, being swarmed by massive white insects. Would he die? Judging by the dead Praetor, it might very well have been deserved. Humor twitched across her lips, but quickly died as she saw the rest of the work laid out before her: pits and shards of ice, creatures that rivaled her size with many more violent instruments attached at every end in perfect symmetry.

It was a declaration of war against Chaos.

How interesting. She turned her head down toward Ultraviolet, tail swishing. "Go," she told him. "See if you can catch their attention, but do not get caught."

Was it a death sentence for the feline who swore her fealty? Perhaps. But she wanted to see him undone again and again, and so long as she could drag him back to life, always serving chaos and her desires, it would be worth it to get the information that his untimely fate would provide.

Ace

Game Master Dark

Orthus

Bone

Sergei

Kerberos

Giggle

Elayne

ultraviolet

SCORN