ORIGIN - Worse Choices To Make

Pages: 1 2

Catalyst trotted through the snow. She moved fast, assured of her current path. "Over here," She said. She hadn't gotten used to speaking through the link. It felt much better to speak out loud. She couldnt chuckle or growl through the link. Couldn't huddle with her siblings through it. Catalyst turned her head back, briefly looking at Bone.

She'd told Bone of her experience. Catalyst considered her the most fit for the task of wrangling the thing. She'd been pacing excitedly in Bone's den as she recollected the story. Ending on the assessment that they should make it a sibling. And to her surprise, Bone had agreed. Agreed to come on the hunt with her, even. Cut to a few hours later, right about now, and Catalyst was leading Bone to the place she'd last been.

Catalyst stopped to turn her nose to a rock jutting from the snow, sniffing to make sure she'd been this way. Her smell was faint, but still there. Confident, Catalyst continued her trot with a forward thrust of her head. She'd always been upbeat after meeting Mother and her new family, but she was even moreso now.

Enthusiastic to the point of mania. The joy of fufilling her role! She'd never done something this big for Mother! Mother, the one that'd brought them all together! Her family! The cold was barely a thought in the back of her mind. She chirred, turning into a chuckle. A grin split Catalyst's face as she thought about the massive creature.

She suddenly went still. The smile gone. Head lowered, her eyes intense. A predator on the hunt. "Down there," She said. She was ramrod straight, as a pointer dog with prey in its sight. Only the tip of her tail swayed. They were still a good ways away from the location where the worm had been. Far enough to prepare, without threat of it attacking them. But she could see there was still a divot in the snow. Large, subtle, yet unmistakable to her. It was quiet here, but a few brave birds had begun to twitter once again.

"I've never seen anything like it." She said, her voice suddenly quiet. She leaned her head back, and tilted it. "I don't...know how to get it to appear. It just did, while I was watching the deer." Catalyst hummed in thought, a throaty chitter. "Looked like they stepped on something." She squinted, then shook her head. She looked down at her claws, at the clump of Mother within. "I don't know if this is enough to bring it to our family." She said, with a nervous chuckle, an equally nervous smile wavering.

'Mother?' She said through the link. 'Do you know what it was?' Catalyst tried to project her memories of the event to Mother. The deer's bleat of fear, the massive pale form of the iceworm launching in a snow of spray. Then, after a moment of consideration, she added: 'Can you help?'

@Bone

The white dragon circled low and close overhead, Catalyst's words rippling through their link. Mother was listening in, of course--close, ever close, and attentive to Her children.

"Give my gift to a sacrifice," came the murmur, as if in decision, after a moment. "You are wise, Catalyst. Your plan is a good one; this creature will make a firm ally. It will never share our intelligence, but it will protect us--and we, it. Grant our gift to a sacrifice, and I will do the rest."

Images, then, fleeting, as if in explanation: a woolly white deer standing proud, sprouting with fungus, and then bounding into the collapsing snow. There were others around, of course, but Mother needed one close: and one fresh, one not already fully subverted and changed. One into which not too much effort had been planted.

Bone circled overhead, languid flaps of vast white wings barely keeping her aloft against the bitter cold. She didn't like this much cold, but it was what it was and she would make do--and Mother seemed, somehow, to protect against the worst of it.

Jaws opened now and then to exhale a blast of hot air to fly through--and rarely did she miss the dry heat of Monoceros, now. But Mother's words came strong along their link, and Bone echoed Mother's approval. If Mother, too, approved of Catalyst's plan, then Bone did, doubly so! Her sister had done well!

She swept lower, past Catalyst, over the area the raptor was staring at (fixed, pointing). Not too low, not dangerously low, but enough to peer down into the half-sunken pit of snow. She saw nothing within it, and--thoughtful--turned her mind back to her sibling.

"Can you find something--by nose? If you can track it so I can see it, I can catch it for us," she offered. "Otherwise I can try to simply search. I could carry you, too, I think," she added. All of this was offered with warm reassurance: Bone would guard, help, protect. It was up to Catalyst exactly how to proceed, but Bone would back her up.

@Catalyst

Catalyst didn't say anything, she took in the voice of her Mother. The approval of her Mother sent warmth through her. The tip of her tail swung rhythmically as she listened, and observed Her visions. Thinking. "We can do this, Mother." The ends of her mouth curled up in a smile.

It died on her lips. Her body tensed, when she noticed Bone above was sweeping ahead. Even up in the sky, Catalyst worried that the worm would scent her somehow, and go for her. Catalyst, despite her own safety, trotted forward. She only stopped when she realized her Sibling was safe.

A sigh of relief left Catalyst in wisps of air. Bone's words had Catalyst mentally floundering. She'd been too busy worrying about the safety of her sibling. Mother's constant influence played no small part in her quick recovery. Catalyst hummed.

"By nose..." she said, trailing off. There was a lilt to her voice. A certain eagerness. Yet her brows were furrowed. And then, she explained. "Its difficult out here. Its cold, wet. Difficult to find and follow a scent." Catalyst huffed. The other caves had never presented such challenges. Even dry Monoceros with its twisting winds had been easier to track scents in. She brought her legs beneath, then rose high upon them. "I'll try."

She sniffed the air. Great puffs of air freezing air entering and exiting. She narrowed her eyes. Nothing reached her nostrils. Nothing but cold, and faint scents of of fir and pine."Nothing." Catalyst said.

She scraped the ground with a claw. "Well, I've never flown. But I'll take you up on that offer, Sister." Her eyes were the same slits as they'd always been, but her tail whipped from side to side, and her mind was alight with joy, giving away her excitement.

spk
thk

@Bone

Nothing. Faint disappointment was stifled, forgotten before it could become frustration. Mother was guiding them, guiding her thoughts, though Bone didn't know that much; she only knew that the Queen was watching, listening, feeling through her, a silent and attentive passenger.

Waiting, to see what would happen.

Speaking of passengers--Bone swept lower, hovering carefully (a difficult task, with her bulk, her weight), and reached down for Catalyst. Four massive limbs, thick-taloned and heavily-muscled, lifted the raptor and transferred her to Bone's two forelegs. Then she was lifting up, higher, circling; each beat of heavy wings was a bass thump half-lost to the muffling wind. For a moment, Bone circled higher, and higher, the biting cold whipping past them; then she cast out her mind, a careful and tentative nudge into the fabric of reality itself. Where magic met truth, there she delved, and there she sought her answers.

A slow pass over the swamp, but there was nothing but treacherous ice, and fish.
The highest peaks, but all there was silent.
Searching each cave--ahh! A reptilian creature, not unlike themselves. Furred, icy, antlered--perfect!

There was a moment of regret, of half-turning-away; this creature was too like herself, too like Catalyst, a tough and scaly fighter and survivor who deserved to live-... But that was quickly stifled and stilled away. No, they needed to do this and anyway, she was a carnivore, was she not-? She knew what it was to hunt, and to eat. "My magic-" Bone began, her voice hoarse, raised to be heard against the driving wind. ""We have to search the caves!"

Then she swept lower, a swift flight for Ursa's smaller mountain, and the caves and alcoves that dotted its surface. She flew high, so high that for a time the white-blanketed ground below was lost to the fog and flurries, until again she fell lower--and, carefully choosing a location, she hovered and dropped Catalyst down into a patch of snow. "Can you search them-? I will look higher; but I think I am too big for some of these," she explained, peering along the mountain's flank.

@Catalyst

Catalyst had never flown, she envied it to a degree, especially now. But the sheer cold of it had never been part of her flight fantasies. She'd thought the snow had been the coldest she'd ever felt, but she had a new experience now. But dwarfing that initial cold reaction, she was exhilarated. Overjoyed. She gripped her pelt and her clump, with a grip like iron. Surely the cold stiffening her limbs helped as well. She laughed, breathy into the wind.

Bone's future shift vision flooded through Catalyst. She found herself enraptured by the spell, in no small part due to the fact she'd never experienced one like it. But Catalyst, as Bone had, found herself in the same conundrum. It was too much...like her. She did not like the odd negative thought she had. Just as easily as she'd slipped into that one, she distanced herself.

Catalyst turned her thoughts to Mother, and how much this task would please her. Before she realized, the ground had fast approached, and she was dropped into the snow. Her sense of orientation was off, and she wobbled like a newborn upon landing. The flight had been soured by that spell. But still, she put on a smile. Best not to dwell on it. Not when Mother and her siblings could keep her so happy. It was a waste of thought. A temporary madness. Nothing more.

Catalyst's breath puffed in a sigh. "Of course, sibling. Its better than the wind out here. You'll know if i find anything." She was relieved. The caves were a reprieve, no matter how slight, from the blustery air of Ursa. She shook herself. Then, she drew in a breath. If she could catch even the slightest scent from this beast, it'd make things easier.

There! The smell of beast wafted from a tunnel not far away. She wasted not another second, as if afraid of her thread of scent being broken at any moment. And it had. Multiple times she'd lost the scent, the thread being broken by the occasional gust of wind. She made it to a pair of tunnels, before the scent was once again lost to the wind. Catalyst stood in the entry way of a cave, her shadow already stretching in. Her breath fogged the air as she stood, thinking.

Her killing claw clicking wordlessly in the snow. She chose quickly. The rightmost one. There were infinite ways this could go. The plan formed quickly in her mind. She'd lure it out, so Bone could pin it. Then, as it struggled, Catalyst would attempt to force Mother within it. It was a quickly made plan. Full of flaws she hadn't thought on. Wouldn't think on. "Caves," she said. She could only hope that, if and when she found the creature within Bone's vision, things would go as planned.

@Bone

She soared back upward, gentle flaps of massive wings taking her back into a circling flight.

"Check it," she agreed, softly, and her thoughts echoed her voice. She could see Catalyst's plan--understand it--and even the faint discomfort the raptor felt trickled through her. She pushed it away, as she had her own thoughts; it wasn't a Mother misgiving for her so much as simple empathy. It was hard to pity prey when one was a predator--but probably harder, Bone reflected, on the prey.

"If you find it, yes, lead it out to me. I will check the higher caves."

Bone flapped hard, rising upward, and away from Catalyst. As the raptor searched the lower cave, hopefully, Bone would sweep along the higher ones, trying to scent and peer in as she banked along the steeper cliffs and bitterly-cold slopes up above.

"Come, fire," she thought, distantly, in an almost shamanistic sort of mindset; "burn the air, fly with me, and help me search. Give me light." It was practically a prayer, a plea. And in response a wisp appeared: small, fragile, bobbing along with her and casting its meagre light across the rock below. It was hard to see past the storm, and after a moment Bone called out below with mind, this time, more than voice:

Have you found anything, yet?

@Catalyst

Catalyst nodded, "Right," she said. She was relieved, overjoyed, Bone agreed with her plan. Then, silently, she delved into the caves. It was dark, the caves strangely carved, the blue shifting light of Ursa above the only thing illuminating her.

Hard, cold ice crunched underfoot, yet as she delved deeper ice gave way to packed rock. But she was grateful for the lack of wind. At some point, she heard Bone's voice. Her head shot up suddenly. She swiveled around, searching for Bone, tail and claws whapping into the sides of the claustrophobic tunnel.

When had Bone arrived in the tunnel? After an embarrassing number of seconds, she responded mentally, in kind. A simple 'Not yet.' She crawled further into the depths. She nearly walked into the ice beast. It was hard to spot it against the cool walls and the darkness. Even given its massive size. It was just as it had been in Bone's vision. It seemed a juvenile, with nubs instead of antlers. And yet, it was still massive. At least five feet. The beast was still, its sides heaving in and out. She'd caught it resting.

Catalyst squinted at it. It hadn't noticed her. 'Found it', she thought, triumph oozing from her. Catalyst's tail whipped about in excitement. For Mother. She inched closer. Knocked a clatter of pebbles from its perch. She paused, even her chest stilling. The fall of a snowflake could be heard. The creature stirred in its sleep, but did not awake.

Good. Tucking her claws, along with the mold clump close to her chest, Catalyst used her snout to nose about the stones on the tunnel floor. Not giving them more than a gentle touch. She grabbed a particularly large one with her teeth. Then, finding that bitch empty, YOTE it.

A dull thunk. Then reptilian, aqua, eyes shot open. It glared at her, rising to its full height. It hissed, baring its mouth. Stone crunched as it began to back up. No, not today. She She was dismayed to waste something with a hide like this, but it was for Mother. It was always for Mother. She tossed another stone. It hissed again, but continued backing up. This wasn't working. She breathed out. Quick. Then, she charged it.

She didn't make contact. It lunged for her. Catalyst backed up, tail swinging. Her heart pounded in her chest. Another charge, another lunge. This continued, this game of cat and mouse, or poking with stick of baby bear. The bites growing closer to Catalyst with each mock charge. Till, eventually, Catalyst was lucky enough to have lured the thing into the open. It was immediately done. The instant it hit daylight, it attempted to flee.

"Bone!" She cried.

speak think

@Bone

She was not as agile as her father, or her sibling, or even her mother. The sudden cry from Catalyst met her as she was sweeping up past the entrance to Catalyst's cave: she had no way of really finding her raptor-"sibling" via mind-link alone. When, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the pair shoot from the mouth and into a spray of snow, Bone had to bank hard to meet them. She nearly fell from the air, a great rush of cold wind billowing out one wing as she swerved, a bass grunt escaping her.

Down she plunged, wavering violently to and fro as she struggled to regain a steady course, wings half-folded and all four legs shooting out ahead of her, claws splayed.

It was an unsteady hit: her whole body swaying and for an instant she wondered what she'd been thinking. She could either lift it up and swing back around, but she'd have to carry it midair then, and Catalyst wouldn't be able to ~~infect~~ share Mother's gift with it; or...? Or what? Unsure and last-minute, Bone just crashed onto her side so as not to crush the thing, leaving a long streak of flattened snow behind her as her wings flailed.

She ended up on her side, wings above her, twisting as she struggled to keep the smaller Icebeast in her claws. It fought her, but she held it fast, if barely.

"Catalyst!" she called, a cry echoed in her mind. "Here, do it while I hold it!"

@Catalyst

Catalyst was flooded with relief, when she spotted Bone's pale hide against the glimmering Ursa sky. She flinched as Bone impacted the ground. Snow flew, and she shook snow from her pelt. She didn't hesitate as Bone called for her. She'd already been on the move. Bone's cry was unmistakable, driving her to act instantly. Catalyst was silent, her pupils slivers. She dashed for Bone, fungus switched to the front of her claws.

"I'm here!" She said, panting. Bone's hold was more than enough. The flailing juvenile wouldn't have a chance to react, to think, before it was infected. It may have thrashed wildly in Bone's grasp, but not wild enough to avoid its fate.

Catalyst saw opportunity almost instantly. A sliver of its mouth was visible as it thrashed. In one smooth motion Catalyst struck. Her arms darted forward, forcing the icebeast's mouth open. She deposited the mold in the back of its throat, then snaked her arms out before it could clamp down. Catalyst stepped back, her claws tapping nervously in the snow.

@Bone

Pages: 1 2