ORIGIN

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Labradorite watched. Watched as the Doctor and Chaos-two floundered, whatever magic they were planning to heal the Zoisite with abandoning them. Garnet-Delta wasn't even DOING anything other than watching with it's buggish eyes. It had been told to fetched the doctor to help and this was all he could do? It was just getting worse. The bleeding was just getting worse. Unnaturally neon and nauseatingly metallic. How much more could Zoisite take of this? Of action without result. Of Failure?

It wasn't the end. It wasn't the end. It wouldn't be the end. Their chrysalis would surround their form, repairing what had been broken. What was it so afraid of?

Or was it only frustrated at seeing so much failure? Of being reminded of its own shortcomings?

"THIS IS ALL USELESS! YOU'RE USELESS!" It snapped, an agitated lash of it's tail sending flecks of oil splattering, adding to the mosaic of neon yellow and red already decorating the floor. "You're healers and you can't heal? IT'S BLEEDING! ITS-" It'd head abruptly swung over to where the Zoisite huddled, pleading to be left alone, to not be healed.

It didn't fight. It couldn't protect Zoisite. It couldn't heal, and evidentially neither could the two medics. But Zoisite was small. Maybe it could..

"It wants to be left alone." It'd lumber over to Zoisite, looming over it for a moment before leaning down, trying to pick up the insectoid kaiju and put them on it's back. It'd pause only for a moment, adjusting, making sure it could carry Zoisite like this without it falling. It'd ignore any potential pincers digging into flesh to the best of it's ability. If it was going to do ANYTHING, at the very least it could do THIS, right?

"We are leaving. Don't follow. You cannot help."

And them it move towards the exit to do just that.

(Attempted exit??)
@V-Zoisite-One

V-Zoisite-One wanted to get away-- and to the Labradorite's credit, it was the only one that seemed to be speaking the same language, to get away, to leave, to stop-- but filled with fear and pain, its reaction to touch was not one of rational thought.

They squirmed in Labradorite's firm grip, tail lashing to try and snap. The only benefit to this was that while their body tried to free itself, most of their strength went into the musculature of their tail, and once it clamped down on the slick form of their hatchmate, it held tight.

Mortified, and terrified that more of the Forge would get injured if they continued to fight, the prickly insectoid hunkered down and closed their eyes tight. Away, their thoughts whispered, take me far, far away, where I won't hurt anyone else. It was such a selfish wish, one that quivered through them with complete cowardice.

short post for an exit unless stopped!

Chaos-Two's mind ground to a halt. They stared at Labradorite, almost in betrayal, their ears pinned and mouth slightly open.

"... I didn't see you helping matters either," they spat, such viciousness in their voice, the quiet kid in the back of the room having finally snapped, "You were fighting just as they were, you fool. And you dare call me useless? I've spent more time fighting for my place here than any of you!"

They were absolutely furious. They trained. Alone, mostly, but they were good enough that Vargas saw potential. They were the one to raise both Vedette and Sentinel and they were the only one out of all of these fools about to get tested because they were the only one to progress.

Useless...

"Call me useless the day I fight my own clutchmates like a child having a tantrum," they snarled, reaching out to grab their staff.

No one would know it except for Khavur, but that hurt. They'd done all they could to be useful, and to be called useless? It hit hard.

"Khavur, let's go," they said, walking towards their sibling and ever so gently taking their hand, "Your wounds need tending to as well."

Labradorite would eat their words the next time they needed aid. Chaos-Two would make certain of it.

Guys please tag me when its my turn :/
@Khavur @V-Labradorite-One

Doctor hesitated, wings ruffling. The moment Zoisite protested, leave me, he began to babble back.

"Oh, no, this needs treatment--you can't possibly leave it--you'd chrysalize-" he stammered, real worry in his tone. It was concern, too, not fear of Vargas or the like; Doctor wasn't really one of them, anyway.

Then, the fighting started, bickering, nasty fiery words thrown back and forth. Shocked, the vulture pulled his head back. "Please, could we perhaps--all calm down? I don't know what happened but this won't help anyone--the wounded-..." he trailed off. These creatures were larger than him, stronger, and if they chose to ignore him, well, there was little that he could do.

He took a couple halfhearted hops after Zoisite, single eye fixed grimly on the wound. Unless it assented to treatment the dried grass was now pointless, but at least maybe he could disinfect them as they left, give them that tiny little boost... nothing in the face of the severity of the injury, no, but something.

He was unsure if anything came of it--if the magic had even fired, if it had hit its mark. Another moment's hesitation and he waited, and looked between the departing monsters, as if for guidance--what could he do for them..?

hey folks, tag me next time please? :(

@V-Zoisite-One and @V-Labradorite-One for visibility at least

Right there right there right there RIGHT THERE RIGHT THERE-- It was the fear creeping in from Chaos-Two's end that was the deadliest poison. If anything could stop the stampede in its tracks, it was: "Get away from them. Calm your rage and be STILL! You nearly killed them." Directly in its head, in its heart, in its lungs. Khavur, too, was reduced to a beast.

Get away from them. It did, without question, without hesitation, shutting off whereas the zoisite seemed to fly off the rails. For Chaos-Two, Khavur's end of the line dropped dead, even as it stood, looming, further away. No reaction as the zoisite bumped into it. No reaction as the labradorite continued to yap and guard. No reaction to Overseer Garnet-Delta admitted to having seen the whole thing. No reaction as it drew deeper and deeper into the depths of shadow, the gorging void.

Blood streamed down its back legs, and the vice grip that had caused this suffering was causing more and more. It dared to snap at Chaos-Two, and Khavur almost leapt forward-- but no. Get away from them. There was no other concept in mind. The self-deprecating thoughts of Chaos-Two as they and the Doctor failed again and again to mend these wounds... Khavur heard, but gave to reply or defense. Chaos-Two needed to be... alone right now. Yes, everyone was better off alone in this instance, their embers scattered and the seeds ready for replanting. Khavur was choking on the dust, the smoke, the seeds. Its own negativity fed into Chaos-Two's, which fed back into it, and knowing that their connection was cycling this pain and multiplying it, that something made out of their love was--

The only thing that came anywhere close to breaking Khavur from its dormancy was the labradorite. The utter foolishness, the gall-- taking out its anger on KHAVUR was MORE than called for, in fact it was even asked for, but Chaos-Two? CHAOS-TWO?! ~~MAXIMUS?!--~~ Did its spark stem from causing its own failure? Perhaps it had to get even closer to death, dance with that reaper and hold it tight-- The sun should have come down and smashed into that planet, engulfing it right then and there, but somehow, perhaps because of the labradorite's immediate departure... it remained in the sky. Barren and unfeeling.

Only Khavur's link mate could stir it awake. The pain, the rending of something beyond flesh... Chaos-Two ~~Maximus~~, although they retaliated with truth, still had lies feasting on their own heart. Khavur could feel them, those ugly worms gnawing at what wasn't theirs... even through the smoke burying Khavur's lungs, it could feel them. Still it wished to smite and set aflame... Chaos-Two's hands grasping its own blew out what was left of that fire in one smothering gust.

The Reaver blinked and nodded, seeming to awaken from some hazy dream. It dared to seek out its little sibling's eyes... "little" no longer. "...W-Where?" It stopped to wonder. Where would they go now? Had Khavur messed it all up...? What would they do? Talk about this? Could Khavur even try to run away? No...

(And as for the Doctor, he couldn't be further from the Reaver's mind. A poor man he was, dwelling on the faulty and confounded. There might have been gratitude somewhere, if Khavur hadn't been in this... state of mind.)

@V-Chaos-Two @Doctor (I don't know who's supposed to go next ;u; Dark if you want the Doctor to post to leave or try to take care of Khavur's wounds, go ahead)

Doctor hesitated.

His wings settled and resettled, feathers ruffling, and he felt distinctly like an outsider. A very concerned one, but an outsider nonetheless. There were things going on here--intricate social interactions with history and relationships wholly unknown to him--that he simply was not part of.

Though he'd been retrieved to aid, he felt like an intruder.

Silent--trying not to intrude further--he picked a wad of the dried grass up in hooked beak and went to the next wounded Forger in sight: Khavur. The wounds were pincer-inflicted, he thought, along the hindquarters; could he help with that..? After a moment's hesitation, he hopped closer in an attempt at least to try.

It was but an attempt, though his magic worked well enough: but it would take Khavur's cooperation to succeed. A flourish of grass, a twist of it, and it would try to wind itself like rough stitching through the wounds: sutures, but thick and ugly.

Perhaps lifesaving, though, if the wounds had been bound to bleed too much. Or... chrysalis-preventing, at the very least.

Assuming Khavur didn't take his head off for getting so close, as Zoisite had almost seemed about to.

posting again by request!

@Khavur @V-Chaos-Two

Chaos-Two turned to Doctor as he wove the grass through Khavur's wound. He looked up at the vulture and nodded slowly before turning away and leading Khavur off, arm held close to their chest.

"Sit down," they said once they'd reached Maximus's nest, "Don't move, just breathe."

Finally... their magic worked.

They touched Khavur's side and pushed magic into them, healing them the best they could. Small wounds closed and larger ones stopped bleeding, scabbing over instead. They kept going until they felt faint, drawing away and sitting down heavily, their energy leaving them in a huff.

"... Why did you do that, Khavur?", they asked softly, opening up their mind to the other.

They were so tired. Tired and sad and so worried. The anger was gone now, replaced by a sort of disappointment directed towards the other. But they weren't angry.

@Khavur @Doctor

Overseer Garnet-Delta's tail twitched. The Labradorite continued to try to wedge itself between the Zoisite and the rest, even as the Zoisite snapped and bit anything and anyone that got close-- more a danger to everyone else at this point than vice versa.

The Doctor tried. The feline held respect for the old bird, especially as he tried to calmly explain what he was doing to the bristling, injured two-headed beast. Between him and Chaos-Two, the two tried fruitlessly to staunch the Zoisite's bleeding.

It didn't help that the Zoisite's tail was wildly snapping at the air like a guillotine. Calm, crimson eyes settled on Laborite as it howled and bayed, furious and-- like the rest of them, useless. All of this arguing and fighting, for what? The chaotic, worthless attempt to prove something (perhaps, to make sense of their lives) was a familiar sight, and that kept the winged cat quiet.

No one tried to stop Labradorite. Not even Garnet-Delta, who figured that Zoisite would simply return to chrysalis soon enough. Orthoclase-Alpha always bounced back (err, with varying degrees of emotional recovery) from such injuries. The Doctor took a few hops after the pair, fretting noisily about the injuries, but soon gave up the effort. Delta decided in that moment: it took the precaution to reach out its magic to prod at Labradorite's mind, forging a faint connection, enough to track where the oil-slick beast was taking Zoisite. As any good Overseer should, yes?

Chaos-Two took Khavur's hand, suggesting they tend to its wounds as well. The Overseer rose to its paws, tailing after the Doctor as the bird silently began to work his magic. On a willing patient, the dried grass seemed eager to take.

Garnet-Delta witnessed, listening to Chaos-Two's soft questioning. It was curious for the answer as well.

"Thank you, Doctor," Garnet-Delta said with reverence. "For your expedited response. Things were a bit chaotic, for a moment there." Were those soft words spoken with a sly smirk? Perhaps. The feline couldn't help but indulge in the drama of the moment. Still, its complimentary remark was genuine: the Doctor didn't have to rush over to their aid and risk his own feathers. It was only polite to show gratitude.

Things were a bit chaotic, for a moment there. Doctor tried for a laugh, and a joke Garnet-Delta's way: good-natured, as if to shrug it off politely. "Ahaha, they are meant to be, are they not?" but there was a tension he couldn't hide in his words, and a frenetic energy gleaming in his single eye. There was too much risk, here--he didn't know what had happened, and he was not about to ask, but he knew that it had been precarious.

There was a split second where he realized there was more going on, here. Doctor wasn't really a fellow with a lot of close relationships, but he could see that these two were going off to share a--family moment? Or something along those lines, and that he was intruding, if even a little.

He dipped back to let them go, eyeing over the closing wounds one more time.

A flicker of magic reached out, and he was thankful that it hadn't failed completely, though it was somewhat weaker than he'd have liked. "I've given a little... disinfection. It shouldn't get infected, now," he assured Khavur, and hoped that it were true. He'd seen the effects of infection (and inflicted them on the rats) and it was never pretty. Hopefully this flicker, along with whatever astonishing leap Chaos-Two had managed in healing magic, would keep this creature from collapse.

He backed away to give them space, glancing at Garnet-Delta again. "Thank you for coming to retrieve me," he said, more quietly; "Will the other one--err, recover?"

He glanced after Zoisite, but he had a feeling that his work here was done; this was as much as he could--and as much as he'd be allowed--to do.

@Khavur

The Doctor drew closer, and Khavur had not the desire nor the strength to snap at him like the zoisite had. Khavur was done snapping, left a crisp of the ember it had walked in as. It was surprising, to have burned out so quickly, but then... combustion takes lots of fuel. The grass weaving its way through Khavur hardly felt like anything at all. The blade warping the rough, plated flesh back to what was considered normalcy... might have been the only thing right with this scene. The Doctor, who had once tended Chaos-Two, at times with Khavur's supervision, was now tending to Khavur under Chaos-Two's watchful eyes. Along with those blades of grass, everything was twisted.

Silently, Khavur would be healed. Once disinfected, it would finally think to allow the Doctor into its mind for just a second: "...Thank you, Doctor." And then Khavur would follow Chaos-Two's gentle commands. To the lamb's nest they went, Khavur preparing for slaughter of another kind. "Don't move, just breathe." There was too much bile welled up in Khavur's lungs to truly accomplish breath, but it could at least pretend...

Magic has also flowed into them at Chaos-Two's touch, a magic not of Khavur's own creation. Like a donation of blood, it felt like sacrifice. It almost decimated Khavur, cleaved the Reaver in two and crushed it back together with the panic. The beast was in no position to argue, however, so accept it must. Just a day before, Khavur could not have wished more to close this gap of physical distance, and now Khavur was trying to pull mental space from a hat like some kind of magician. It wasn't working, of course, and now the Reaver would suffocate under the water and ash. The conversation of the other two present drowned away into wisps of grey, and perhaps for the best; Khavur might've torn the Overseer in two for that joke. But anyways...

"... Why did you do that, Khavur?"

There it was. And with it, the rain could demolish a city. How to explain? How to explain that? Khavur itself wasn't even fully aware. Within its own mind was a sprawling ecosystem, with a very important portion dedicated to... to... whatever all those sockets in all those skulls were holding, to the viscera stored in the predecessor of Vedette, exposed to that hideous laughter of Lord Dhracia, to the vulgar ire that pumped blood in place of a genuine heart when Vargas dared to make a thread on ~~Maximus's~~ ~~Chaos-Two's~~ Maximus's life. To all that, a toast, a section of dedication in Khavur's being that had always... well, Khavur couldn't remember a time when it hadn't been... And if it didn't have a word for that then how was it ever going to communicate...

There would be a haze in the air for some days, Khavur knew. To not even try to explain the existence for it, the need for it, was just as much a threat to Maximus as V- Master Vargas was. So it had to at least attempt. Khavur drew in a breath: "Ah-" Words wouldn't do. At last, it picked up its end of the line.

"I... I was a bird diving for prey, I believe." Did that make sense? "Getting faster and faster as I got closer and closer to impact." Khavur would try to send through the line the trail of emotions that would follow such an action -- the anticipation, the heat, the bloodlust. "I do not know... when it started." Definitely before the zoisite, definitely before Canis. Was it with Master Vargas? In a sense, yes, but before then; Lord Dhracia? ...No. "Protecting my siblings was my vow... training together towards perfection was what I wanted, but-" A sigh. Khavur sought Maximus's eyes now -- maybe that was a mistake, but ~~she~~ it wanted to see them, even if only for a moment. "-but it all felt wrong. A mess. ...It still feels like a mess, but a different kind..." This probably wasn't making any sense. Even with deliberate slowness to catch Khavur's processing up with its thoughts, it probably wasn't getting out the right way. How could it describe- hadn't Maximus felt it...?

"I could not stop seeing the red all around me. You felt it as well... it is so unlike your mind. Where you saw the forest, I saw the twigs. Misshapen, dry twigs-- I am sorry." Overall, that was Khavur in this moment. Every time it came up, every time it ate away at ~~her~~ its guts, there was only apology. As if that made it any better. It was probably futile, trying to hide this monstrousness inside. Like hiding an elephant behind a sapling... it was most likely only politeness that held Maximus back from calling attention to it. But the last thing Khavur wanted to do was parade it around in this space. There was no pride in or understanding of such entities here. Here was different. Here was supposed to be different. Because Maximus was different.

@V-Chaos-Two

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V-Labradorite-One

Zoey

Maximus

Doctor

Khavur

Doctor

Maximus

Cain

Doctor

Khavur