ORIGIN

Bring back information.

That was all she had awoken with. She needed to bring back information. When her chrysalis had cracked and she'd tumbled out free, the urge awoke in her mind, pressing and overwhelming. Bring back information. What information? Back where? To where she hatched? She didn't know. But she had to bring back information.

So insisting the urge had been that she'd shot straight out from the broken larimar chrysalis like an arrow loosed. She hadn't known where to go, only that she had to go, because she had to bring back information. Even now, wandering this dim, crystalline room, she wasn't sure if she was in the right place and looking for the right thing or not. It didn't help that it was nighttime and that her vision was poor. It wasn't that she had insomnia or had noctambulous tendencies or anything. But she had to gather whatever information she could. If she stayed still, the urge quickly became maddening.

She was constantly checking the scents around her with rapid tongue-flicks. Her head waggled this way and that as she slithered along the ground, drawn by any irregularity or movement. She picked up the scent of something warm and mammalian and followed it. A den. Was this information? Nobody was home. The den had a hoard of various objects inside. Dewberry drew up to one, tasting it with her tongue for a good minute, and finding nothing that she could put a finger (not that she had any) on, pressed her rostral scale to it. She got a flash of brown, the impression of being picked up and carried. Surroundings that were different from this room. It had been brought here by something--the owner of this den? Was that useful information?

@Minali

Minali had, as usual, been admiring the gentle glow of Andromeda as she scratched shards from nearby crystals to carry back to her den. Her collection had grown tremendously over the cycles, pleasing the little otter greatly. But it was never enough, Minali would need to expand her den soon if she wanted to collect even more shiny things.

With one paw cradling her collected shards, she scrambled back to her den, anxious to return and check on her collection. But as she wiggled in, Minali smelt something unusual, an intruder!

Minali gently placed her shards onto the soil before scrambling forward, letting out a uneasy chirp. It was just as she feared! An intruder in her den, touching(!) her things. This would not stand!

She leapt forward, jaws at the ready and aiming for the intruders face! No one could touch her things and get away with it.

kinda gross?

Caught up in her vision of the past, Dewberry did not notice the otter returning until it was too late. The first sign that something was wrong was when jaws closed around her head and neck, snapping her back to the present. She made a strangled gasp as she felt teeth pierce her skin and the bones in her head crack. Instinctively, she thrashed in Minali's grip, flailing her tail around to try to smear a mixture of waste and foul-smelling musk over Minali's face, trying to disgust her enough to let go.

@Minali Round 1
Attempt: musk on Minali
Defense: being too gross to bite
Injuries: bitten head and neck, fractured skull

Undeterred by the foul odor, Minali went to pick the snake up and fling her into one of the den's walls. Letting out a furious little growl as she instead tripped over one of her shards and went tumbling to the floor, managing to cut her paw on the shard's jagged edges in the process.

Her attacker dropped her as they tripped over something, and Dewberry landed hard. Her head hurt so much but she saw the otter's form looming over her and knew that as soon as they recovered, she'd be done for. She had to do something to get them away first. She tried to focus her magic, but the flashes of pain through her skull kept interrupting her focus, so it ended up looking like she was just sitting there in shock and not doing anything.

@Minali also please tag me on site so I can keep track of which tags I still have to respond to!

Round 2
Attempt: fling Minali into the wall
Defense: smelling bad
Injuries: bitten head and neck, fractured skull

With her magic failing, it was a bad idea to linger here any longer than necessary. Fortunately, the otter was still momentarily recovering from her fall, and Dewberry snatched the chance to flee, shooting out of the den so fast she practically left bright streaks in the air.

- exit with permission from Stone