ORIGIN

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Aquarian thrashed in the mud, trying to orient his body so that his tiny webbed limbs could support himself. His hind legs were still submerged, kicking beneath the water while his long tail whipped back and forth, sending massive waves onto the shore. While he tried to right himself, an incredibly small animal had come climbing atop his head, hanging down and blasting a breath of hot, hot air into his eyeball. Aquarian snarled, wincing against the heat. He squeezed his eye closed finally righted himself, shaking his head to try and displace the tiny alligator. Distracted by the small beast, the deer had gotten up and kicked at him, landing an immensely powerful attack against his side. Unfortunately, his stomach was still far back, partially submerged in the water - what she'd hit was a rib, fracturing it with the sheer force of her kick.

At the same time, there was an upheaval inside his stomach. After swallowing the bird down, Aquarian had failed to swallow him again, transitioning him to his digestive stomach (Guardians of Cetus have a rather strange digestive system consisting of two stomachs, a dry stomach for food storage and a digestive stomach just for that - digestion. The more you know!). In allowing the heron to remain alive, he'd given the bird a chance to fight back, and suffered the consequences of that when a large burst of energy emanated from within him. Aquarian first uttered a loud belch as gas from the spell expelled from his system - but that belch was quick to turn into a furious shriek as he swung his head back towards the worst offender, Tamelyn. Now standing upright, he dove his large head at her again, intending to capture her in his teeth.

Post Roll Edit:
This time, Aquarian snapped the deer up between his jaws. He purposely resisted crushing the deer completely - his curved fangs would slice her, and perhaps he may break a rib or two. But the deer would survive that bite. Then, he swung his head and tossed her into the marshy black waters, setting his sights now on the nearby Usui.

Usui does 5 damage.
Dragon does 8 damage.
Tamelyn does 20 damage.
Silver does 7 damage.
Aquarian currently has 210 hit points.

There was a horrible screech and rumble, then more movement but none of the bowel kind, so that was good. Silver righted himself the best he could- which way was up in here? - and then the bird tried another tactic. If he couldn't burst this thing's stomach open, then he'd have to stab it open! Again that specially formed beak came into play and Silver twisted himself around to get into position against moving walls of flesh. Down would work best. All things had soft underbellies. That was his best option. Tired and sore now, his magic exhausted, the bird turned to natural instinct and began a full-on assault on the flesh. He'd kick, jab and strike with his beak, hpoing to rip a hole in the beast's gut...

...and to the bird's great delight and relief, he was doing damage. Blood began seeping from the wound he was creating and the bird continued his assault with renewed vigor. He'd stab, jab, and swipe, digging for freedom. Bites were taken from the beast, sometimes swallowed, sometimes spat out. Claws furiously dug and wings beat to keep him upright as he switched his footing back and forth. He'd be free! He'd get out of this alive! He'd survive being eaten by a sea monster, and this place- Cetus Cave- would be his by all rights. He'd slay this beast and claim his fabulous prize! Silver would not so easily be defeated!

________________

Black had been swept up in a vicious current, struggling to stay afloat in the cold dark water, clenching Fisher's scruff in his teeth. He snorted and snuffled, choking, trying his best to stay high in the tide so that the lion cub could stay afloat. He dragged the three of them to shore, sides heaving, gently dropping Fisher on dry-ish land.

He then turned, debating whether to rejoin the fight. He had two tiny wounded, or rather one wounded one helpless, or rather... both helpless? But the beast ahead required fighting.

Black took two bounding strides forward, ready to throw himself at the monster again, despite his exhaustion and the stupidity of it. But he saw something that gave him pause.

The creature had snatched the deer, and held her, then tossed her aside.

It didn't kill her.

A brief flurry of memory surged through his mind: the buzzing receding upward, to here--and the sound of something else scurrying, scurrying far. Something fleeing. Something that was not this thing.

He tilted his head, staring upward, and then began to bark. He stood in front of the little ones--well in front--as best he could--but he barked anyway, booming, staring intently at the monster. Then he shouted out.

"It has fled through the tunnels. Does the Dog pursue?"

And then the Black Dog stared, as if fully expecting the giant sea monster to stop mid-fight to provide him with new orders.

________________

"Speech" Thoughts

Something was wrong. So dreadfully wrong. Panic had arose in her chest, waking her up from her slumber only several minutes ago. A sense of dread had washed over her, causing a nauseous sensation to overwhelm her. She had not understood the feeling. It left her confused and frantic and she had ran all over the area she had been resting in to find out what it was. That sinking feeling of horror. Something was happening. Something very bad and dangerous. Her fur was on end as the wolfess raced through the tunnels. Her heart raced frantically, threatening to shove it's way right out of her chest. Even now as she ran as fast as she could through the tunnels the one thing on Arkrael's mind was her hatchmate. Was something going awry where she was? Or had she just been having a nightmare featuring Tamelyn? Either way Arkreal had to know. She had to find Tamelyn to make sure that fawn was safe!

A sudden, strange and eerie shriek pierced through the area she had suddenly found herself in. Her heart sank instantly as a trickle of fear crept up her spine. What had that been? What ever it was she had to go to it. HAd to make sure tamelyn wasn't with it. She ran further into Cetus, desperate to reach the Heart of the room as quickly as she could. And just as she came skidding to a halt through water and mud alike her multi-colored eyes watched on in petrified horror. A giant beast was thrashing around and many other gembound were around. She couldn't move, couldn't breath as this creature suddenly dove down to the one deer she had prayed was not in the mix of that; Tamelyn.

The creature had successfully caught her, snapping her up into his fowl mouth and Arkrael felt her heart stop. No...- Just as Arkrael was about to move the beast flung Tamelyn away and her eyes watched until Tamelyn struck the water and sunk out of view. No! Something snapped within Arkrael instantly. The deep vibrations she would have normally felt being given off from the stone upon her chest was entirely missed as slitted eyes swung right back towards the beast. Lips peeled back violently, exposing every last one of her sharp canines. Pure rage forced a roar from her throat as her magic quickly overwhelmed itself, bursting to life and causing something she had never experienced before to happen...

POST ROLL EDIT
Almost instantly following the deafening roar that had escaped the wolf the ground suddenly began to shake violently. Something was happening and quickly at that. Arkrael couldn't focus. Her paws moved instantly, carrying her across the ground in a pace she had never experienced before. No matter how direly she would have loved to go over and fight this creature, to sink her fangs into it's flesh and tear him up as much as she could, she couldn't. Not when Tamelyn had been struck and was now in the water. The moment she reached the part of the water that would surely drop from her reach, Arkrael sprung forward, diving into the water only to resurface a good few feet away and quickly swam over to where Tamelyn had been flung off to by the beast. Soon enough she had found Tam and running on pur instincts at the moment, tried to grip at Tam's neck just by her shoulders and attempted to pull her from the water and away from the creature

OoC: I'll leave the Fissure damage up to the GM's ;3. Fen. hope it's okay Rae is trying to pull her out of the water

Everything was fast. Everything was too fast! In an instant, Fallah had cast the spell, but when Fisher tried to do the same, something went wrong, very wrong. The long brown friend collapsed and the lynx rushed to his side, "Fisher...?" the cat whispered, "Fisher?!" it called louder, having the inflection of confusion in its voice. Had this been because Fallah told him to use the bzzt magic? Was this Fallah's fault that Fisher was hurt? Before the lynx could do anything else, the big black took Fisher up in his jaws. Fallah bristled slightly, how could he just pick Fisher up? They all had just met, but... they had been through a lot together even this far so, with a concerned glance, Fallah let the big black take the long brown friend.

Turning to escape the water, the chaos continued. The monster emerged from the water and Fallah scrambled in a different direction suddenly. The cat was in a panic, its heart was beating so fast, so fast. Everything was so bad. This was- at least partially- Fallah's fault. Fallah had to do something. Fallah had to help. The lynx turned with a hiss, this monster was partially at fault too! With a fierceness, the cat was ready to attack, but when it turned, it saw the monster grabbing up the deer and flinging it aside like it was nothing! Fallah stopped, just stopped. The world stopped. Everything was slow and groaning and the loudness of the lynx's heart wouldn't just... just...

"STOP!"

Fallah dashed forward. The monster turned to the other cat like creature, but it wouldn't make it. Fallah was sure the monster wouldn't make it. For Fisher, and for that deer, and that bird (which was definitely dead to Fallah), the monster would pay. He would pay for all of them, and Fallah was going to make sure it hurt. Running forward and summoning its magic, the cat let out a fierce snarl and cast to freeze the monster. It would freeze and die!

"speak"

Tamelyn Thunderhoof And I will fear no darkness

She was doing it! She was fighting! In spite of the mud and muck, she felt on top of the world as her punishing hooves rained blow after blow on the fish. She felt something give with a dull crack underfoot, which only encouraged her to hit him all the harder. Unfortunately, it was this zeal that proved to be her undoing. Before she could react, massive jaws swung around and clamped on her side. Tamelyn screamed as white-hot pain slashed into her sides, rending flesh and cracking bone. Her stomach lurched as she was thrown, skipping across the water once or twice like a stone before splashing down, where she lay, stunned.

She must have blacked out for a heartbeat or so, because the pain receded for a moment, only to return in greater force. Every breath was agony, and her mouth and nose was full of water. It was only her desire to not drown that forced her keep herself on the surface of the marsh, though every movement caused her to cry out in pain. The water around her was tinted crimson, and she could have sworn it had vibrated just now, accompanied by a rumbling noise. She blinked, trying to focus on the battle. The creature still fought on, but now there was another shape moving towards her. Her emerald eyes narrowed through the haze of pain, a single syllable croaking out.

"Ark...?"

She cried out again as Arkrael's grip jarred her broken ribs, but she felt herself being drawn out of the water and back onto dry land. Now that she was no longer floating, the pain returned in full force, and she staggered, biting down a hiccuping sob. She had never experienced pain like this before, but she couldn't be weak, not in front of Arkrael. "Got..gotta k-keep going..." she managed, trying to break away from Arkrael and limp back towards the monster. "Gotta s-s-save the bird..." She heard the dog's booming voice talking to the fish, and shook her head in bewilderment. Was he crazy? It wanted to murder them!

Tamelyn approached the thrashing beast once more, trying to breathe as softly as possible to minimize the pain in her side. Wobbling, she splayed her legs and lowered her head, intending to charge and butt it. As she kicked off, racing towards Aquarian's side, she felt her magic well up once more, but it felt different, somehow. Rather than an electric crackle, it felt like air rushing through her limbs, carrying her onward like a feather in the wind.

However, the sudden exertion only made her chest hurt even more, the slashes and broken ribs creating a double-whammy of pain that made the deer stumble and fall before she reached Aquarian. Now the tears came, despite her efforts to restrain them. Whimpering, she curled up on her side, drawing her limbs up to her chest and belly in a feeble effort to protect herself from further pain.

"Listen to me."

table by lisa, image and modifications by FennecFyre

The boy gasped as Aquarian winced in pain from something in his eye, and watched with shock as the deer shot forward to kick his side hard. She dared fight against that thing! The lion cub had a revelation then, a newfound wisdom. Aquarian was powerful but they had strength in numbers, and he had to do something to help! The cub was going to enter the fray but remained still as stone as he watched the beast snap up the deer and fling her aside like a boring log. It was just killing and injuring for fun? The cub snarled and fumed. They were not practice tools for this fish thing! Usui growled, tiny claws emerging from his paws. He looked towards Tam in concern, but then, the beast focused on him, ugly eyes looking at him like he was food. Usui glared back. ”What you looking at FAT FISH!” he snarled at the thing, frightened by its power yet not ready at all to cave in to it or show further weakness. He might be tiny, but he was learning that he too, could pack a punch.

Drawing in his breath, Usui attempted to cast his magic. He knew that they were in treacherous area, and surely there was some rock or shrapnel he could use underfoot the gigantic beast every time it went down and up, sending debris flying everywhere. Surely there was a piece of rock or something under its exposed body…

And he was successful! He was certain that when the pieces shattered into multitudes, one of them would pierce the beast. Bounding away from behind the dog, Usui went to the deer and blocked her path. “You need rest.” Pale green eyes would bear into hers and he would attempt to get the nudge the deer to her feet and shoulder the injured deer to the back. She was so weak, she’d just get herself killed if she engaged in physical combat again or lay here helplessly as bait for Aquarian. ”At least…work your magic from the back. Please.” He could have almost pleaded with her. It was so foolish to attempt something heroic only to throw away one’s life!

There was a sudden flurry of attacks against Aquarian, almost too much for him to focus on - he diverted his attention away from Usui. From within, his stomach was turning - actually, his stomach was beginning to develop a rather nasty hole inside of it thanks to one particularly annoying bird. The burning pain emanated from deep within him, causing Aquarian to emit a shriek. The monster swung his head back and upward, and with a great shifting of his muscles, swallowed Silver into into his digestive stomach. The bird would have to act fast if he wanted to survive this time around.

When he lowered his head again, the monster was suddenly met with a blast of ice to his face, water freezing in the divets between his scales and stinging his eyes. He shook his head, thrashing once again while snapping at the air near Fallah, unable to quite reach her. Finally, beneath him, the ground had shook. A great divide had opened up, splitting the earth beneath his body. His thick form suddenly slipped into the crack; it wasn't large enough to swallow him whole, but it was enough to inconvenience him. Water and mud from the marsh suddenly drained into the hole, and Aquarian snarled, wriggling furiously to try to escape. In his attempt to escape, the rocks below were crushed, unknowingly due to the act of the lion. They pierced him, but didn't stop him.

The shouting of the dog had not gone unnoticed; Aquarian paused briefly, swinging his great head towards the canine, only to crank open his jaws and unleash a powerful, thunderous roar. With a great heave, Aquarian thrusted himself out of the hole and back into the water. He dove down, down, as far as he could before coiling around and cranking his jaws open. A massive force pushed from his jaws, and he followed it - as he neared the surface, a massive tidal wave formed at the surface and threatened to swallow the Gembounds. He rode in it, intending to come crashing down on Fallah.

Post Roll Edit:
While the wave would sweep into the shore and take away anybody standing in its path, Aquarian had missed once again. He slid gracefully through the mud beside Fallah, breaching himself once more.

Silver does 12 damage.
Arkrael does 15 damage.
Fallah does 14 damage.
Tamelyn does 3 damage.
Usui does 15 damage.
Aquarian currently has 151 hit points.

Silver has moved into Aquarian's digestive stomach.

The world was blurry, dark, painful. His paws quivered, shaking out of his control. He tasted water splash into his mouth, and though he coughed, he could not do much to help what was happening to him. He felt something grab him, and eventually haul him out-- but now his foggy, glassy copper eyes could observe the destruction before him and there was nothing he could do, absolutely nothing, to stop what was happening. All he could do was watch the-- The...

Noodle? It was a water noodle! Fisher's eyes went wide as he saw the awful water noodle-- he had seen a flash of legs, in the same spot as his own, if he was ever as big as that monster-- snatch up Tam. He strained to move but his limbs did not obey. He could only whimper. Not Tam, not her-- anything but that... She was his first friend--...

... The water noodle wasn't trying to kill them. It could have. Fisher knew it could have. But Tamelyn was still alive and kicking and she continued to fight where he couldn't. He watched them all attack the beast, and the beast fighting back. The water noodle didn't want to hurt them, so what was it doing?

Fisher was limp in the big dog's grasp, but suddenly he was on dry land. Well, sort of. He felt it squish as he twitched, still having problems with his muscles. He heard the dog's voice, new and special to the brown noodle. Had he always been able to speak so clearly? It was the only thing he could understand in that moment, as he watched the thing seemed to respond. It roared, unable to communicate, either out of rage or... But it had heard. It had understood. Something was wrong.

Fisher summoned his strength, his paws clawing into the damp marshy land. Water ran nearly up to his collapsed form as the water noodle breached land again, a flash of a paw just as big as him but so tiny on the huge beast showing through the water. It slid up next to Fallah-- perhaps to hurt his friend, but it had missed. What was it trying to do...? He couldn't let the water noodle hurt them, even if it was trying to... To do something important.

"H-hey!" He barked weakly. It hardly could be heard over all the chaos, unlike his Big Black Barkfriend's voice.

He had to do something... This thing wasn't their enemy. It was hurting his friends, yes, but it wasn't... It didn't mean to. Even if it did, there was no way they could win. They were outmatched, too many young gembound in the mix. The water would swallow them, the beast would eat them to defend what it was defending.

"Fallah!" He called to the lynx, hoping she would hear him, hoping at least she would understand. "Fallah, the King! Bow to the King! Friend-- Danger... Danger... King doesn't want to kill! King protecting!"

... But what was the Guardian protecting?

"Can't fight! Don't fight!"

ooc: Silver's probably gonna die next round if nothing somehow saves him. rip birb
It was working! To Silver's great delight, he heard the beast shriek in pain outside, a muffle sound like thunder within. He continued his assault until rather suddenly, the monster heaved upwards and back. The bird lurched to the side, downwards towards fleshy walls. Then, the world closed in on him. Silver shrieked in terror as he was forced down further through the beast's organs, trying in desperation to stretch his wings, to stop himself, but to no avail. Sooner than he'd ever wished, Silver found himself within the beast's digestive juices. He wailed from the gross, wet feeling of it, first in terror and a moment later, in indignant disgust.

"Oh, no! This isn't happening, beastie!" He snapped, turned to continue his assault on new flesh. He tried his best to stay above the flow of acidic liquid, clinging to slick, wet walls and climbing as he assaulted flesh with claws and beak once more. As he struck, again and again, he focused his energy again- drawing the very last of his magic to cast one final spell...

...but it was no use. He slipped just as he'd collected his magic together, and down he went into the churning acid below. The bird shrieked, releasing his focus in turn, and those wings thrashed to try and stay upright and above the flow. He coughed and sputtered, trying to get back to the fleshy walls, thrusting his wings in a way similiar to flight to try and swim- but everything stank and it was hard to breath.

"I don't want to die! Noo!" He gave another fruitless stab at the flesh wall with his beak, too tired to get any strength behind it now. His beak bounced pitifully off the slick surface and he resigned himself in that heart-wrenching moment. "Noo...!" This was it. In moments, he'd be digested alive. He'd be killed before he'd even gotten to live...

...and in that moment, the heron began to pray for a miracle.

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Game Master Madison

Sillver

Black

Arkrael

Fallah

Tamelyn

Usui

Game Master Madison

Fisher

Sillver