ORIGIN

(This thread takes place AFTER "Why, I'm In Denial" which is still ongoing. Vicktor was thought to have died and both Eve and Tal'at left him. Vicktor manages to get back up to continue his pained journey here!)

He had thought he died...though had he for a few moments? He definitely fell asleep back there...but something woke him, it screamed at him to keep running...to survive...So here he was, each stride was as painful as the last, though much to Vicktor's pleasure it had begun to fade into that buzzing white noise. A tingling numb sensation brought on from the adrenaline surging through his veins. But as he welcomed this, it was so very taxing. His heart felt as if it would burst from his chest at any moment, though much to his pleasure and yet disappointment it had not. He was after all practically walking carrion.

It had finally crossed his mind that he was somewhere new now, Eridanus. A thick foliage rich room that also took the name 'Maw of Mosses'. Except it was...white with snow. A thick blanket covered the forest floor and the entire room was rather cold. Well he guessed it had lived up to the stories Clover had told. Though again, he didn't really care. Yet another room to wander alone, with no hope of exploring it with her. At least his body radiated what his soul felt. The hole just below his lower ribs was hardly dripping ichor now, that was a plus. He couldn't remember exactly when it began to clot, all he knew was that he would need to take care not to get his heart rate up too fast. He wouldn't want to start bleeding out again, especially since he was barely hanging on as is.


"Speech"

"Thought"

Today would be pretty busy! Both the young tamarin and his numbat father would be gathering food! Lots and lots of food, couldn't go wrong with building up a nice big storage supply! Especially since the sudden change of weather! It was snowing in Eridanus and the entire forest was covered in a nice thick blanket of cold. Diot didn't seem to mind much! It was a drastic change in temperature but his coat protected him well enough from that! And sure it would take their job a bit longer but it wasn't like they could rush over to finish the garden in these conditions. Though they could still possibly get rid of that grave stone...Diot still acted as if he is completely oblivious to it, as a good son should do of course!

But there the young tamarin went, zooming through the snow. Digging through the cold bushes to find a nice succulent fruit or two to add to their growing collection! A loud AHA of success escaped his lips as he held it in the air. Only to squint and look around until he could finally make out where Booker exactly was. Bless the numbat who was trying to keep up, pushing a small plant made sleigh towards his son. It already held fruits from previous bushes, not to mention a frozen bug or two. Placing the two new fruits in the cart Diot eye'd the bug supply, it was dwindling as time went on. Staring suspiciously at his father, who seemed to be rather full. He would need to pick up his bug collecting skills and soon or else there would be none for their storage! Except that would prove difficult, the ground was covered in snow...the bugs definitely did not like that...

"We need more bugs...maybe they are in the trees..."

Before his father could get a word out edge wise Diot was zooming through the snow, leaping up a tree and climbing to the top of the branches. Only concerned with the well being of his father after all, Diot could survive on many things. While his father seemed to have a more strict diet, one that didn't do well in these weather conditions.


"Speech"

@Booker

Cold. It was the first thing that had hit Barnett when he woke, snuggled under layers of leaves and ferns in his burrow, which was usually almost too hot. Now it was freezing, nipping at his toes and ears, and the numbat groaned in annoyance, curling up even tighter - awoken by the sounds of Diot wandering their home. Welp. Time for fatherly duties, then. With a yawn, the priest stretched, rose, blinking a bleary eye as he trotted out to the main room of the den, headed for the food stockpile - and found it... well. Empty. He stared. He blinked. He rubbed at his eye. And with a muttered curse, he waved a hand at Diot, and trudged out into the snow. "Let's go, kiddo. Sooner we get this done sooner we get home," he mumbled. Somewhere along the line they went from traveling the ground to Diot running ahead, and him pushing a rather impressively woven sleigh, made of plants. It would have been more impressive if it wasn't A) his size, and B) incapable of moving itself, meaning he was pushing it and walking with his back leg in an awkward lunge-hop, grumbling under his breath and sneaking every second or third insect that was tossed into the pile. Diot kept up his collection of fruit, only pausing once or twice to stare suspiciously at his father. Barnett made an attempt to keep a straight face - there were at least a few legs stuck between his teeth, so he kept the laughter trapped in his throat, mumbling about gathering more insects when the snow abated. We need more bugs... maybe they are in the trees... Without another word, the tamarin was darting away, and Barnett stared after him, mouth open, brow furrowed - and finally gathered himself enough to park the sled and trot after him, yelping up at his shadowy form, perched in one of the forest's many trees. "Hey! Get back down here! If you fall I'm not gonna catch you," he warned, concern and his chattering teeth making the threat fall a bit flat. "We can collect more bugs later! Also, I'm pretty sure termites don't live in trees," he added, amusement warming his words as he smirked up at his son, leaning against the base of the tree with a chuckle.

@Vicktor

Scurrying from branch to branch he paused, Booker was giving him an earful. Claiming if he were to fall he would not catch the young tamarin. Diot could only snort quietly, he knew Booker would try. Both of them would lay in the snow injured, thats what the small family did after all, care and look out for one another to the bitter end. Though it was obvious his father was not to keen on wanting that bitter end to be this.

'We can collect more bugs later! Also, I'm pretty sure termites don't live in trees'. Well of course Diot knew that! But there were other bugs, big fat juicy ones that his father probably wouldn't normally get! He was in all the phrase eating from the bottom of the forest's barrel...meaning he could only reach the forest floor by himself. "I knoooow! I just want you to eat something filling for once!...our cart seems a little light on bugs anyway..." Diot trailed off, watching bugs travel the branches just ahead.

Giving a small leap he easily landed near them. Though he could only imagine the impending heart attack he was giving his poor numbat below. "There are some REALLY fat ones up here! Some good fruit too!! I'm gonna toss them below! Watch out!"

It wasn't like Diot was going to hit his father, he had some pretty fair aim. Scambling through the leaves the fruit began to drop, one by one. Sometimes a pair would come flying don. Landing comfortably in the snow blanket below. Now was the challenge of grabbing ALL the bugs! A small toss of one beetle he watched it fall, only to softly flutter to safety in another tree top...maybe he should stun them first...

Diot began to hit a few of them against the bark of the tree, apologizing to each and everyone. Swiftly he allowed them all the drop like small delicious jewels from the heavens. With a wide smile at the decent amount he had collected, he began his climb down the tree. Carrying a very special treat. Leaping from the trunk of the tree he landed quite a few feet away from his father. Raising his hands in the air they were holding a rather large insect. Diot simply wiggled it around it with excitement and pride. "I got you a special treat too! Its a millipede! This kind releases a very relaxing fluid. Plus its big enough for THREE meal-"

Diot stopped, something was wrong. He could feel the ever mounting presence of danger. Turning to the bush just behind him, something large was there. Leaping through the air, dripping heavy with...blood!?

Unleashing a panicked screech Diot scrambled, luckily bringing both himself and the millipede fast enough to safety as the mysterious beast fell heavily to the forest floor. Diot was completely oblivious to the fact he wore quite a bit of this stranger's blood. Still he stared at this large mass of blood stained fur, holding the now coiled insect close to him. Eyes wide, he was frozen.


"Speech"

@Booker

I knoooow! I just want you to eat something filling for once! Something warmed his chest - affection, fatherly love, maybe a not so little amount of pride. ...our cart seems a little light on bugs anyway... Barnett made a show of snapping his fingers, winking up at the treetops. "Damn, you caught me," he mock-complained, eye and ears attuned to where, exactly, his son was, considering it didn't look like the tamarin was coming down any time soon. Of course, the calm lasted until Diot jumped, his shadow skipping from one branch to another, and Barnett flinched, letting out a sigh of relief when he seemed to land safely. There are some really fat ones up here! Some good fruit too! I'm gonna toss them below! The priest opened his mouth to reply, one eyebrow raising, but only managed a "Toss them down?" before Diot's call of Watch out! was matched by a downpour of fruit - and some insects, too stunned to save themselves. The numbat sat, stunned for a moment, before slowly getting up, beginning to roll the bounty into a pile, the sled just a touch too far away for him to bother. Finally, the rain slowed to a stop, and Barnett turned to smile at his son, leaning back on the pile. He eyed the millipede, about to thank him - and maybe extend that grounding period - when the tamarin just... stopped. Froze in mid-sentence. Barnett stilled, gaze darting about, ears flicking, back straightening - and something leapt from the bushes, heavy and predatory, and all it took was a screech from Diot to feel the fire in his blood, make him race to stand crouched in front of the tamarin, snarling and spitting at the collapsed beast ahead, fur rippling and beginning to smoke. Unfortunately, the heavy smell of blood cut him off from advancing, and in an instant Booker turned on his heel, eye wide, paws running over Diot's fur, trembling at the sheer amount of blood coating him. "Diot, Diot, did it hurt you, are you hurt? What did it do, who's blood is this?" He couldn't feel any wounds, and paranoia made his breath quicken, made him cast frantic glances back and forth between his son and the predator, finally backing into Diot and not stopping until they were feet from where the black mass lay. If it was a fight it wanted, then Booker would be happy to oblige, anger making the fur on his forepaws begin to curl under the heat.

@Vicktor

He had crashed down the frozen ground with such an impact it expelled all the air from his lungs. A loud uproarious inhale he struggled for breath, bringing his head up from the snow he spat out blood exhaling. Everything was so fuzzy...he felt so cold now. Vicktor could only focus on the sensation of blood draining from his underside. It was so unpleasant, why was this the only thing to ring clear through the white noise.

Run...

Blinking a few times he remembered, he had been running. Why did he stop exactly? It wasn't until now that he noticed two tiny gembounds ahead of him. They...seemed familiar...weren't they Booker and Diot? He began to blink frantically, finally able to focus on the tiny creatures. There was an all too panicked numbat and a bloodied tamarin. A bloodied tamarin, no he couldn't have hurt them. No, that wasn't suppose to happen! "NO! NO" Voice hoarse he began to repeat the phrase over and over. Finally he stopped, realizing that they both were staring at him, as if he was some sort of monster. As if they were frozen in fear or turned to stone! He was no medusa! They had to leave! Except his warning came out more as a threat...with clouded thought his word choice...was more than poor.

"LEAVE! RUN! I'll kill you two!" Ears flat against his skull and teeth bared he attempted to warn them, but his fear and general lack of clear thought could easily be mistaken for aggression. If that didn't seal the deal of his accidental aggressive display his fur again began to bristle. The crackling and popping light dancing around his body traveled unexpectedly towards to two. No, not again!

Round: 1/5
Attempt: Shock them out of fear
Defense: None
Injuries: Broken tail [Previous]
-Large hole under and near his lower rib(s) [Previous]
-One cracked rib(lower right) [Previous]
-One broken rib(lower left) [Previous]
-Talon tears down and across his left shoulder [Previous]
-Burnt haunches(2nd degree) [Previous]


"Speech"

"Thought"

@Booker

The lump was waking up, breath picking up, massive head rising to focus on them, and Booker bared his teeth, eye widening in fear at the sight of massive sabertooth fangs, feral white eyes. It was... a cat. A really big cat, dimly familiar, in the way that a stranger passed by every other day becomes. He almost relaxed, raised a hand to reach out, ask if it was okay - but then it was shouting, panicked, and the priest flinched back, raising to shield Diot, paws beginning to tingle with barely-contained fire. Leave! Run! I'll kill you two! The black cat bared row upon row of glistening, knife-sharp teeth, and Booker's sympathy fled, lips twisting into a vicious grimace, focusing his mind and blocking off the bond. Thinking of Baratheon now would only make him weak. He needed to be strong. Strong enough to take down something easily twenty times his size. The fire rose - but the cat's fur crackled first, and the numbat barely had time to violently push Diot out of the way before a sharp bolt of electricity ran through him from the ground up, made him twitch and flinch, falling to all fours with a pained snarl. "Calm the fuck down, asshole!" The words were hissed more than shouted, and Barnett's eye narrowed, pupil shrinking into a pinpoint as he tried to focus on the cat rather than his son, tried to block out the possibility that they could both die right here and now. One breath in, another out - he could feel the cat's pulse, the blood running through his veins, and reached out to tug and pull, tie to the earth - but the static made the spell backfire, made his heart stutter and stop for a moment too long, and the numbat almost blacked out entirely, barely hanging onto consciousness, trembling violently, staring at the jaguar helplessly. Not good, not good, we might need to rethink that whole bond thing- Shut up, shut up, let me think! We are thinking, numbnuts! Not hard enough, obviously. Well, think harder then! Thank you, you have wonderful advice, really. ROUND: 1 / 5 ATTEMPT: Hold him in place! DEFENSE: None. #rip INJURIES: - Electrical shock

@Diot

He watched the light shock Booker, this wasn't suppose to happen. Yet it was too late to take back now. His confused and terrified actions had triggered the wrath of both the tiny gembounds. Only Booker's approach seemed to be vile screaming and trembling. Failing to call up his own magic even. Vicktor had felt something tug his body, but it had left him alone so quickly it was hardly anything at all. Clover spoke of some gembounds ability to control other's bodies and blood. Obviously this wasn't that case.

But it wasn't just Booker's attempt to spare his son that brought tear to his eyes. It was when Diot stepped up to protect his fallen father. Clutching a millipede even in an attempt to protect its small life. What were they doing? Vines. Vines began to emerge, thrashing through the snow, wrapping endlessly around his legs. A deep yowl escaped Vicktor's throat. He had no time to try and trample the plants. They may have been juvenile, weak even, but there was strength in numbers. And Vicktor, he hardly had much left. He could only collapse, snarling at the two, trying to break free. Sanguine spilling out from his mouth as fear fueled his incomprehensible screaming.

Round: 2/5
Attempt: Destroy the vines!
Defense: None
Injuries: Broken tail [Previous]
-Large hole under and near his lower rib(s) [Previous]
-One cracked rib(lower right) [Previous]
-One broken rib(lower left) [Previous]
-Talon tears down and across his left shoulder [Previous]
-Burnt haunches(2nd degree) [Previous]

"Speech"

"Thought"

@Booker