ORIGIN

These creatures surely had not been created. Were they an accident? Their judgement was so poor it worried her. The Caves would never be safe, would they? Would there never be peace? The piebald deer spoke, mentioning the Beast's friend who he was trying to summon once more. With a cackle, the centaur lowered her bow and held both pieces of the weapon in one hand, while throwing a nimble arm out toward the armor that lay against the wall. A spindly finger pointed out as her voice rang, "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HIS 'FRIEND'!" Honestly! They didn't ask anything of him! Did he really look so safe! Some shadow-black creature with eyes so green they could be the very cause of radiation poisoning, a slow and methodical slaughter these poor sheep had lined up for! She withdrew her arm and raised her bow again, pointing it straight at her adversary. "And there was a good reason he was alone. Did none of you stop to think of that?" She growled, but was interrupted by his hideous roar.

"Traitor!" she howled, fingers tense against the far end of the arrow, "I broke the cycle of an endless turmoil, and endless production of hate and chaos!" The three-headed creature had turned with his back to her, but she wasn't counting sides anymore. She stepped forward to stand beside him; if these creatures were so easily wooed by a monster of a Beast, she could play the game too. "Our crimes," she hissed slowly, regretting every monstrosity she helped create. Perhaps she didn't regret every creation. Her last had been chaos-free; she purposefully botched the creation process and left her own ingredient out of the mix. The creature was curious at best, but by no means hellbent and hardly angered. It would probably be hurt or saddened before it would be angry.

"Fine, you want me to tell them!? We created MONSTERS, THAT STILL ROAM THESE CAVES," she roared, stomping a forefoot and releasing another hiss. "WHERE I WANTED TO STOP, YOU TWO KEPT GOING," her voice bellowed, echoing against the tunnel walls. "And to stop you, I had to kill you," suddenly, her voice dropped into a quiet, seething hatred. "..and I'll kill you again."

With that, she let loose another arrow.

Though she hadn't chosen the peridot-tipped arrow on purpose, the glistening green was all too perfect as it sought the Beast with unmatched precision. It was sudden and she hoped to catch him off-guard; but her arrow always hit its target. It scraped against his gem before sliding into the side of his flesh. Without wasting a breath, she pulled another arrow from her quiver and docked it. This one was sapphire, though she couldn't recall who it used to be anymore.

The deep rumbling in the pit of his chest grew, a thunderous echo that spilled from beneath his cackling as he loomed over the Gembounds, watching, waiting for an answer - he hadn't even noticed the Gembounds beneath slowly growing uncomfortable with his deceitful silence, wickedly green glowing mouth broadening in a manic grin.

Then she said it.

The truth. What had happened all those years ago was suddenly revealed for all to know, a secret long lost now laid bare. His voice cut off, the cackle no more than an echo through the cave before stillness fell into the air as he loomed, hanging over them all, round eyes and jagged grin bearing into the centaur. She spoke of what had transpired so long ago and he was frozen, remembering. Remembering how she had wanted to break away from their task. Remembering how she had killed them. He was one half of a whole and she had killed them.

The arrow was a high pitched whistle in the stillness, splitting the air before colliding with the gem in his chest; the shock of it caused him to drop the serendebite again. A loud TING emanated from the impact but before he could even look down, the arrow had already sunk into his shadowy flesh, blackness splitting from the injury. The Beast's eyes wavered on his fresh wound and the arrow sticking out of his body, before he looked back up at Jupiter. That was all it took for him to lose himself, tearing his jaws wide open - wider than they'd ever been - to produce an ear-splitting shriek. The Beast lunged forward, gripping the earth with his claws to thrust him faster, closer to the centaur, to try and grab her and tear her apart with his bare hands.

Beast vs Jupiter
Round 1/5

Beast currently has 235/250 health.

All Gembounds present may pick a side and join in the fray. Rolls made towards either Jupiter or Beast will detract from their total health. Each round will consist of 4 posts, not including Jupiter or Beast's posts.

He had been watching, observing from the shadows. Witnessing a new creature emerging from the shadows, he could hear speech, the uproar of other Gembounds. A strange weapon was pointed at the beast, spades on the end of sticks embedded into the wall. Azazel was perched upon a ledge in the room, what appeared to be the nose of one of many faces carved into the wall. Carmine eyes glowered from beneath a helmet of ivory. What this creature... or a woman, perhaps, spoke of... was chaos. Terror, and creation reigning through the caves. Azazel had always been quite naïve, but now knowing both sides of the story, he thought. This Beast had made demands as soon as the young gembounds had offered to aid him. When The Bone King, Makyna, and Bevy had presented to him the stone... he had demanded the other pieces. Back then, he had been so young, so stupid.

Now he was not. As soon as the centaur-esque beast ceased speech, Azazel rose his own voice, making himself known. "I was among the crowd of us who helped The Beast. We were all young, then... and perhaps we still are. At least I know better, I have learned." Looking to the lioness, he pleaded quietly. "Don't you remember when we gave him the stone. He didn't even thank us. He simply demanded the rest of the pieces." The Bone King turned his head down, spreading his wings so he looked more menacing. "That bastard... he used us!" These words were spat with thick venom, almost ending in a hiss.

An arrow flew, and Azazel saw only a monster lurking in the shadows. Jagged teeth bared, eyes narrowed. An ear-splitting shriek escaped those ugly jaws, and the monster further morphed into something terrible. Azazel covered his 'ears' for a moment so he didn't go deaf, and was left with a ringing noise in his ears. "Is this what you hid from us? A personification of the damned?" As soon as the monster reeled down onto his forearms, Azazel ruffled his feathers. He had picked a side now. It was with the side of justice. Inhaling, the Ave flapped his wings and hovered above, inhaling deeply. With the force of many gale winds, Azazel bellowed out. "Die, demon!" His intent was to blow that bastard away from the one who had hopefully opened everyone's eyes... right into a vulnerable position. Surely something so spindly was also so very fragile...