ORIGIN - ERD Draconua Complex

Ah! It was a beautiful day out in Eridanus. Really, it almost always was. Yellow was so lucky to live here, in a place that suited them so well. They leapt from tree to tree, pushing off each trunk with their long legs and grasping the next branch with deft hands. What would it be today, hm? Berries for their caroller roommates for sure, the sifaka decided. It had been too long since they'd brought them a gift!

OH! Red and black darted at the edge of their vision, and they turned in an instant, fumbling their grip on the rough bark and nearly falling to the ground. But even the momentary flash of panic was far eclipsed by the sudden hope and joy they felt at those familiar colors: "Sebby?!" came the cry, so amplified by magic and excitement that leaves shook and birds scattered from their perches.

But reality brought only crushing disappointment with it. It was not their brother, but a tiny butterfly, its flight lugubrious and irregular. This was not a good bug to befriend, or even try to touch; Yellow knew that predators avoided it for a reason.

"Oh," they sighed, mostly to themselves. Their previous enthusiasm was drained from them, but this did not last long. Sebby would want me to be happy and have fun while he slept, they reasoned, and attempted to inject some degree of cheer back into their leaps. Back to berry-hunting it was, then, but they would always keep an eye out for black fur and gleaming ruby.

@Draconua

By the way! This thread's backdated to be before the Ursa Raid. Hence Draconua being here--

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

Animal Death?
It was a beautiful day in Eridanus, indeed. The birds were singing, the flowers blooming. On days like these, Draconua should be leaving a war-torn path in her wake.

Disordered attention forcing her to turn to and fro, the Valkhound took an erratic route through the dense foliage. The greenery made foolish grabs at caressing her flanks and, more often than not, would find itself imprinted flat into the jungle soil. An occasional tree—clearly old-growth and magnificent—would steady itself against a spined shoulder, and she’d rise up to meet it.

We’ll let the deep gore marks (and the fact that it’d usually be a log blocking one’s path now) speak for itself.

Here, not too far from a primate simply enjoying life’s finest luxuries, seeking an old friend, the Sleepless Chaos had her maw disfigured into a horrific sort of snarl. Oilstained teeth snapped in the vague direction of a cluster of whipleaves, some of them having the misfortune of being too close to her face when they lurched for a different sort of cover. The rest met a more fiery, entropic end, writhing as they breathed their last.

The Sleepless Chaos broke into a shrieking, wheezing laughter.

She was less enamored with the pain she’d caused, and more proud of herself for catching quite a bit more of the jungle on fire than initially intended. But, of course, it was pretty easy to make assumptions at a glance—especially if you were someone whose voice somehow missed as being the cause for Lesser snakes flying into Draconua's face.

@Yellow

The sifaka slowly became aware of a distant, but quickly approaching commotion as they plucked berry after berry, gathering it all in their arms. Quite a few had fallen already as they attempted to fit more into the growing pile--they had not quite realized that they had reached the limits of what they could carry. Nor, for that matter, had they thought about how they were going to carry all of it back into their 'room'. Certainly there were too many grape-like bunches for Yellow to be able to fit all the stems in their mouth.

Not that it mattered, as the source of the chaos quickly made herself known. Close by, there was the sound of branches quaking and wood cracking, then a massive thump as a yet-invisible tree fell. Yellow could feel the ground shaking as the unknown giant shrieked a discordant laugh, and promptly dropped all their berries save for a single lonely bunch still clutched in their right hand.

They smelled it right before they saw it: billowing waves of thick violet smoke, seeping through the trees and mosses toward them. It itched at their throat and ground at their eyes, but they were still frozen in place, eyes wide despite the terrible idea that was turning out to be.

Smoke. They had seen smoke before--before they'd gone to sleep, and lost their brothers among the chaos of it all. Was that right...? It wasn't warm, this time around, at least no more than usual. Not too warm.

The sifaka looked down at the cluster of berries still gripped in their hand, then back up to where flickering flames were beginning to eat through the farthest trees they could see. All a dream? they wondered distantly, before a red-black form smashed through the plant cover. Yellow jumped, dropping the berries as they momentarily lost their balance and scrambled to stay on their branch. Dream or not, it wasn't safe to stick around--

It's supposed to be safe, wailed a voice in their mind. This is my HOME!

Or, maybe it was safe. They'd gone unharmed before--when they'd slept, and woken up safe--but Sebby had run--they could call for help, but WHO--

NO. She was getting closer; they had to run. Finally lurching into motion, the sifaka leapt for the nearest tree away from the giant. But, in the end, they had come to their senses too late. The smoke was thick now, and their vision was blurred with the tears trying to wash it away. A misjudged jump--and their feet touched empty air as they plummeted to the forest floor, screaming.

@Draconua