ORIGIN

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

There was rather a bit of telephoning going on indeed, but more of the childish nature where one particular being found an exodus of a war-band and decided to tag along, even without permission from its missing father.

And then Alpha saw Gamma climbing out of its quills and, well- the thudding footsteps behind the drake were evident of the beast's attempts at sneaking. It was good if it was still, but the weight just didn't help in this situation. Gamma stopped to glance back every so often, aware of its sibling following, though most times the hybrid was on top rather than directly behind the poor kid.

Well, if there was a war-band, there certainly must be a war going on. Maybe the Overseer would appreciate this. It'd give them something to prove, after all, and show their teamwork excellently. When it was asked, if it was, about Desert, it gave a noncommittal answer and a shrug, more anxious to get to the battle- if there was to be one. By the time they reached Cetus it was nearly vibrating out of its skin.

There were so many beings. Much more than the Sentinels- more that the Gamma had bargained for in the caves, even when Alpha reported of the ones it had seen. If it sent out its magic, it'd get overwhelmed, and it wasn't here to search anyways.

And so the drake sat back, setting its shoulders squarely as it awaited orders.

(PP permission given by oscenavis! Other Sentinels are welcome to have followed (esp. since desert is uh. schrödinger's dragon rn).) @Orthoclase-Alpha

And in came Serek with everyone else, still shaken up about the encounter back in Canis. Rather- he moved a bit ahead, eager to report back to Dragon again, to wait beside him and Nox as the others filed in not long behind him. The bout of fire signaled to the others, and Serek balanced his weight uneasily.

His families would become one to eradicate another. The hybrid's ears flicked back, and he glanced to the direction Oliver had arrived from, almost as if the black crow-dog would emerge with white growing from his fur.

No. He was safe with the Kingdom. Serek's head shook minutely before he watched the others flow together with anxious interest. They were already starting to search, and her child tried to reach out with his own magic, closing his eyes briefly as he spread metaphorical fingers through strands of responses.

Nothing. A brief panic rose in his chest as he fretted about them evading magic, until realizing he was the one who'd failed. Instead of speaking, he only lowered his head as he waited instead, watching cautiously as the leaders spoke.

The Opal sat alone at the water's edge, his marred reflection rippling, stared back. Voices of the others chattered in the background. The Bonebound and Children of Rot discussed battle plans, their allies introduced themselves as they arrived. He wondered what the Hive was up to at this very moment. Were they aware that an attack was amassing against them? He suspected so. Mother had eyes everywhere.

Reji.
He had to find her first. She was already a fugitive when Mother found her. He was fairly certain that she was the only one Astraea would not spare. He sighed. Would she even forgive him? After all, this mess was his fault. Opal did not think of himself as a traitor, but that's exactly what he was to Hive now; a traitor, Astraea's lackey. He was no better than Rezik.

The Opal would play that part, for now.

After this was all over, he was going to disappear. Opal was not going to trade one set of chains for another.

The eel threw his head back and drank in the dank air. Scent was his weakest sense, but a spell he knew could enhance it to near omniscience. With it, he could pinpoint the the hive locations missing in his memory. Even he with his weak nose knew Mother smelled rotten, a specific kind of rotten.

But all he could catch was the sour taste of swamp air. His magic failed him, once again. Opal silently cursed under his breath. Spellcasting was something he could never understood, much less rely on.

Looks like he would have to scout the old fashioned way.

Dragon watched as the others arrived. He hauled himself to Aure, first - he'd met him once before, in the tunnel meeting, and if he wasn't mistaken the little hybrid had grown just a tad.

"Good. Hello. That will do," he answered agreeably, his voice a rumble as he splashed closer. Ahh, and Aure's second was here, too, the hyena; he had met Giggle once or twice, as well. He wasn't sure what good a fortune-teller would be. But she seemed to be able to sense fungus, at least. That was good. Pride came next, and he was unexpected. Dragon didn't know all that much about him, but he knew that he was second to 'King Livius,' and though he didn't see the tiny weasel about he didn't count out its presence. It was tiny; it could be anywhere.

And then--Raheerah!? For an instant Dragon flinched back, blinking and staring upward as the black dragon swept overhead, a rustle of wing-leather and a silhouette shading it. How the hell had these Gembound befriended the dragon-? But no; the size... wasn't quite right, he thought; and there were flame-hued markings across its hide, glowing in the fog. Raheerah held his own flameglow, it was true--and as far as Dragon knew, he was active somewhere in the cave--but it wasn't stylized, wasn't sharply-marked like this. And he thought this one only had two legs.

"Is that some spawn of Raheerah?!" he demanded, astonished, tilting his head to the side to watch it with one dark eye.

Then came Aries, and Nassir, and Eythan. More fighters, Dragon thought, though he didn't know them, or at least not well. And behind him was Phlegethon, and Septiezal. And there was Serek, too, and-... a very small, light brown thing--a child?

Dragon eyed it, briefly, but his attention was again drawn upward, drawn to the dragon, jealousy raging through him. Why can't I be like that? This wretched thought was followed closely by a sour, 

I'm better. I bet I could beat him up. I bet he can't even swim.

Aloud, however, the alligator slowly spoke nothing of this. "You are all welcome, and we Children are grateful for your aid. I see no Master here--for better or worse. For those who don't know me, I am Dragon, the father of these Children, son of Aquarian. What we need to do is find the fungus nest, and wipe it out. And, I assume, fight those who try and stop us. If you can cure them, do so. If not, I do not know if they must die-?"

He shook himself, and then looked off into the swamp. "We Children cannot sense fungus, none of us, I think. But I know that Reji and her allies had made a nest that way," he added, nodding off into the depths of the swamp. His magic flickered, flared. Distant red pulses surged through his mind. "And at least some of them, I think, are still there."

Dragon considered, and looked back at the rest. "I leave it to you to order your people how you see fit, Aure. I think it would be wise to send scouts, but to follow not-too-far behind, in case these strangers sense gemstones and blood as we do. Phlegethon--if any of them flee for the water, you will deal with them, yes? As will I."

As might Aquarian, he realized, and turned, bellowing at the water. 

"FATHER. AQUARIAN. There are strangers here, choked with a fungus that controls them. They are a threat to us all, and we are going to deal with them. If any flee for the water, will you stop them?" Whether the great serpent would hear, or respond, Dragon could not say.

He looked back to Aure. "We move when you see fit. Tell your people what to do. Children, you move with me!" And Dragon turned, ready to move out when Aure did.

@Aure @Phlegethon @Septiezal @Zyros @Serek

There was nothing, at first--no disturbance of the still, dark waters.

And then, there was a ripple. The ripple erupted in a spray, a massive, serpentine head several feet long erupting, its pointed snout lurching sky-high and then aiming down at the Gembound. Teal scales glittered, and bright yellow eyes with slitted pupils blinked down at them.

His voice screeched. "THE HIVE?" It sounded disgusted; alarmed. "KEEP THEM AWAY." Aquarian let out a horrific roar, short, half-bellow and half-scream, one that sent the dragon overhead nearly falling out of the sky in surprise. "IF THEY COME HERE I WILL KILL THEM! BUT NOT EAT THEM," he added, and his entire sinuous length shivered, water droplets spraying down.

The citrine atop his head glinted brightly, ambient light flashing over its yellow surface, as he swept his head to and fro to look over the Gembound present. There were many, he realized suddenly--more than he'd seen gathered in a very, very long time. And not all were children, anymore--nor Children. It must be serious, then. He wanted nothing to do with the Hive or its effects. No.

Not him.

"KEEP THEM AWAY," he added again, and dove back beneath the inky depths, vanishing with a splash and a ripple.

If Earth's popular culture were also a feature of the Caves's society, someone might've deemed it fit to holler Avengers Assemble! Eythan would've probably been the one to do it, too.

Aure's head snapped up to the massive black dragon circling overhead, ears flickering up and looking to Pride for a moment - the fire-breathing lizard had come with him, right? "I believe he's with the Seven," the wyvern guessed, "and now with all of us."

There were many eyes scanning Cetus, now, and the young King added his own to the bunch - however futile that might be to do so immediately. Mycelium would be everywhere in a cave as dark and damp as this one, and with them came large fruiting bodies. The resulting vision, either way, would be muddled and difficult to pinpoint accurately. Aure mostly acted to keep himself from fidgeting as the last few Gembound filtered in and awaited Dragon's speech - and orders, if he had them. Sure enough, gray smudged across his vision and he blinked it away.

When the massive alligator spoke, it was with gratitude and introductions (as expected,) and their mission, if it hadn't been clear enough when they all came together. "We've been able to - remove the fungus from the infected... effectively," Aure interjected, only once; a suspicious tightening swelled in his throat, and he swallowed it down. At least they had an inkling of where the nest was, and the massive oilslicked serpent(?) on the shore seemed eager to interrupt at that.

"I - and any others that can sense fungus or blood - can fly ahead once we find it, and stay high up in the mist." At least, then, someone casting a glance to the horizon would have to turn their gaze upwards to see properly. Aure looked towards his mother's companion, "and Omen can communicate back to - Giggle and the rest. We should stick somewhat close together, at least... in case of an ambush or us being spotted." It's possible that Wilder might -

At least any fleeing for the water would be dealt with, but - Aure jumped back as a massive cyan head erupted from the waters and gave a horrific screech that could be sure to be heard for at least a mile. Bright eyes stared worriedly at the creature, even as he promised to dispatch anything that so much as stepped in the water. Just as quickly as he came, he vanished into the depths, leaving at least one bewildered (and soaked) bird in his wake.

Aure shook himself, ears slapping against his cheeks rather loudly as water spritzed off. "Let's at least head in that direction, and scout ahead when we're closer," he called, head twisting to face the Bonebound, "any order that Dragon gives you, follow - working together'll and being smart will be key to..." His voice faltered slightly as he spun on his heel, facing towards where the alligator'd indicated, "avoiding disaster."

Phlegethon didn't spend too much time trying to acknowledge everything that was going on, instead tuning in when Dragon made his speeches. It hummed, bassy and low across the crowd, "I know where they are. If they did not move without food, I will show the way." There would have to be some finagling, since not everything here could simply glide across an open stretch of swampy water, but it could stand to run aground and shuffle to the nearest pool in its guidance.

"I will take care of things in water," it assured, and seemed relatively unfazed this time when Aquarian burst in dramatically and left with just as many theatrics.

Already, Phlegethon was shoving off a little, red eye peeking out again and glancing around in the mists - seeking a landmark, some indicator of how close they all were.

Gamma could try its hardest to walk ahead, but the monstrous hybrid above it would be constantly picking up the pace or slowing down to keep it within its periphery. Some spots of this muck would suck it up to its elbows, so Alpha was constantly prepared to have to save the tiny drake from some horrific drowning-in-the-mud accident. It'd be embarrassing to come back to the Overseer (after sneaking out, no less) with news that his least favorite initiate (the dense kid had picked up his disdain, surprisingly) had died in a mud puddle.

Alpha didn't look as receptive to receiving orders from these Gembound as Gamma did, but it stood there politely anyways and kept its mouth shut. They were representing the Sentinels, anyways, and needed to be on their best behavior. The only thing out of sorts the armored beast did was send a nasty glare and biting motion towards the oily snake-thing in the water ogling at it. That stupid red eye turned away rather quickly.

Once all was said and done - and it stared at Aquarian (reverently, of course! That was a Master if it'd ever seen one, and it wanted to make a good impression) - it waited for a moment to speak and grunted in Dragon's direction, "Selenite-Gamma and I - Orthoclase-Alpha - will take your orders. We are from the Sentinels of the Sands."

Could you believe that it spoke with perfect grammar?

She listened--and glanced skyward at Dread's passing--but only spoke, at last, when Aure did.

"Right," she acknowledged, roughly.

The hyena glanced around. There were many of them, here--a dozen, or so?--and she hoped it would be enough for whatever they were facing. Truth be told she was uncomfortable around so many strangers. Uncomfortable in the misty dark, which reminded her of... other things.

Giggle knew about Aquarian--she'd never met him, not in person, but she'd heard of him quite enough. When Dragon called for him, then, she tensed and looked to the water: curious, interested. He was big, and she watched him with fascination, wariness leaving her somewhat tense. But she didn't speak--she left that to those who knew him (not that he gave them enough time, really). She wondered, vaguely, if he were afraid. But it wasn't worth the wasting of her magic, not now, to find out. And in any case, it was time to act.

She steeled herself, taking a breath and drawing herself upright.

We have a job to do, she told herself, and set Omen to following Dread through the air. Soon enough she had a bird's eye view of the black wing-leather and protruding spines, and she mentally thanked the bird--this way she'd know, at all times, what Dread saw, what the dragon might be facing or fighting, what might become of him. The bird was nervous of the beast, but she assured Omen that if she stayed high, Dread would never even notice her.

"If your people can protect me, I can rip the fungus out of them. It's not pretty but it works," she told Dragon--and then turned, lurching into a sloppy, lopsided lope through the deep mud, looking to Phlegethon for guidance.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

Dread circled, still, listening below. He saw the Hallowed Caller sweep up and fly around, but he paid it no mind (Giggle's assumption that he wouldn't notice it was foolish, though he wasn't aware of it--he was a beast of the air. He paid attention to what shared it with him).

The screech of Aquarian as the great beast emerged had him banking away, flapping his wings to draw himself higher. It was HUGE. He eyed it suspiciously, but when it receded, he went back to circling. His ember eyes, however, lingered--flicking back to the water now and then--and he kept a little farther up. He didn't know who or what Aquarian was, but it was big enough that he didn't want to pick a fight with it; it was only the second creature he'd ever seen larger than himself.

The dragon's tail lashed as he banked, turning his head this way and that to keep the Gembound below in sight. When they began to move, he shadowed them, lifting higher, attempting to use his magic to keep better track of them in the mist and darkness.

Almost at once, he went blind--not only magical, but sight itself seemed to dim. He let out a rather displeased cry, hauling back mid-air and nearly hovering, until it passed--but he still couldn't see, magically. He was not happy about this--it had been frightening, really. His magic usually made him SEE, not made him-... not see!

"IT'S TOO DARK," he complained, loudly, to those below. "LET ME KNOW WHERE YOU ARE! SO I DON'T LOSE YOU. AND THEN YOU'LL DIE!"

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Wolfsbane

Serek

Opal Three-Seven-Six

Dragon

Game Master Dark

Auré

Phlegethon

Orthoclase-Alpha

Giggle

Dread