The beast was dead. The lights snapped on. Beast watched in tangled confusion and adrenaline as a great crab (Farina) entered the scene, his head muddy with disease and fear. He didn't know what to think. He didn't know what to do. Fallen cities? Vengeful kraken? What do you do when your whole worldview is upheaved?
When the miasma cloud appeared, he hazily swam towards it with no hesitation. He wanted to get this over with. He wanted to sleep. His body curled small, tangled legs over tangled legs, as dark blue gemstone bloomed over his body and encased him in a warm goodnight.
Hunter gasped for breath as the water subsided; even with the water breathing charm, he was so glad for the taste of fresh air that rushed into his lungs. He threw his arms into the air and let out a yowling cheer, "WE DID IT!"
Even though every bone in his body ached, his head pounding, he couldn't help the rush of excitement. He raised his spear over head as he cheered, and quickly started to assess the damage of the others. The humanoid fisher rushed this way and that, asking everyone if they were okay or if they needed anything... but almost everyone was completely wiped out from the fight.
Farina's voice made him fall still, and he blinked at her promise of a reward. He wasn't sure...
Then dad called for him. Eyes bright, Hunter rushed over to his dad to give the old man a hug, throwing his arms around Attikias in the equivalent of being hit with a sopping wet towel that smelled like wet dog. "We'll be okay," he encouraged the others, nodding as Carja settled down, murmuring that she would sleep. "We'll all go together, and when we wake up, it'll be together too." It would be alright-- dad wouldn't let them take some reward from someone dangerous, right?
"Did you see, dad?" Hunter asked softly, "Did I do a good job? I tried to be brave." Both his fathers were the bravest gembound he knew, and he had tried really hard to keep up with Attikias. It was more important than defeating a great monster or even saving Farina's friend; nothing mattered more than making his father proud.
He was ready then, as he turned his attention to the Master, to take whatever reward was about to be offered. He hadn't been in his chrysalis since he was first created, and his heart fluttered with a strange anxiety at the thought. Even when he had broken his arm, the injury hadn't been bad enough for his stone to take over... He swallowed, and held his head high.
; hunter exit for tastee rewards :eyes: @Attikias and @Carja for visibility!
The Kraken died with or without the Orarian's help.
There was an ultimate, bittersweetness to the fellow leviathan's death. The waters settled, and slowly started to drain, and the Orarian drifted away, down to the deepest parts of the water.
It was still wary of the Master, the great ocean-made wrath (or wrath turned ocean?) known as Farina, but even as the Orarian slunk through the remaining pools of water, it listened.
Uncertain, it drew close enough to the miasma cloud to be struck, and already weak, its stone immediately burst through the seams and began to encase the creature.
The finishing was swift. Khavur found itself more exhausted than it had been in a long while. Master Farina's spectacle of power was immense, awe-inspiring... but Khavur couldn't spare the energy to react. She offered a gift... the gift of improvement.
Khavur briefly swam over to the labradorite. Without really asking first, the Holder would attempt to haul Labradorite-One towards the group. Of course, it wasn't just going to throw its own sibling into Master Farina's gift. If Labradorite-One wished to accept it... if they were able to, they could.
Once Khavur felt comfortable with the labradorite's position, it would swim into the green fog and be changed forevermore.
"We are alive and well, Maximus. We will come back soon."
Madhukar wasn't having the worst time, floating around in the deep blue sea. She hadn't been hit like that in a long while; it would be exhilarating, if she hadn't been knocked unconscious!
Consciousness slowly but surely returned, and once it did Madhukar could see... giant crab, green, end of battle, and... gift.
Huh. Well okay.
She was a little sad to have missed out but watching the eyes pop on that Kraken had made up for a lot of disappointments. It was good to know that they had succeeded though, and that they weren't all trapped underwater forever. She agreed with massive crab lady, they could've used some improvement beforehand, but at least it hadn't been another Ursa Raid.
Madhukar wondered what kind of improvement was being offered. What kind of memento would this be?
She was only aware of the (relative) quiet and calm. The receding water and Master Farina's great booming voice. She heard talk of a 'gift' but she was more focused on locating Haven and Electrum. Her parents. Through the rapidly chrysalizing crowd, she spotted Haven.
She lurched forward, towards the blob of pink that was now Haven's form. The sickness hit her, and that was all it took for her gemstone to consume her, head-first.
As the water gave way to Farina's coral-laced throne, Brandle, in a brief bit of panic upon realizing 'Oh. Fish need to breath in water' threw Friend into where the water remained. Upon making sure Friend was (mostly) alright, he'd slither over to Dragon.
Dragon's warning was met with a nod and a now-nervous glance towards Farina's 'gift.' Were gifts normally green clouds of vapor? He'd follow along right behind Dragon, until a surprising wave of dizzying sickness hit him. He backed away from Dragon in the brief moments of panic the sickness allotted him until he was swallowed up by fiery Zircon.
Going over everything -- the mysteries, the episodic quests, the cycles of waiting, the epic battle -- was it all really better than the simple neurological pleasure of being pet?
It really was an age old question, and now that Kaimana had all the information necessary to ponder it, her current conclusion was that... the answer was far more nuanced than the singular note of yes or no.
There were rewards both emotional and physical to this journey. A sense of self-fulfillment, the great inner peace that came after overcoming a trial, the bittersweet song of conclusion that dawns on the close of every chapter of every book. Truly, this quest was life in a bottle, mailed out to sea for these partygoers to find and partake of! And was that not something profoundly special? Something that knit their experiences together, in a way, much like the pats that Glaive had used initially to forge their friendship?
...She would've loved this.
And yet, is it not on a completely different plane of existence, a whole new mindset apart from the ritual of being pet? There had been no easy comfort here; the only impulse reactions were performed on the basis of living or dying, of saving or letting go. Was it fair to compare an expedition with cycles of build up to an everyday domestic activity? Did they have anything in common?
Well, yes. Powerful memories, and altruism.
Kaimana was struck by the beauty of it all, the marvelous cycles that twirled under these seas. The time had passed, and wrenched beloved things away from her heart, but it always bestowed more upon her. There was always something to be shared.
So perhaps they were just as good, then. Equally matched in stride and purpose. Perhaps on any given day, one might prefer battling a Kraken to a pat on the head. Perhaps some days Kaimana could regret the apparitions of what she had lost to time, and other days rejoice in the ground (or water) beneath her paws.
It was silly and melodramatic, perhaps, to be emotional here. Tearful sonnets had no business in a domain that was bloody and sickened and miles deep underwater. Maybe it was the illness breaking down what little walls Kaimana had, but... she did miss them. And she did feel like she was finally moving onto something new.
The gift of improvement was intriguing. Just how far could that gift extend? Kaimana swam towards it, reached out for it, claiming the growth that was promised her.
I'd of blown the scoundrel upWatch his head and heart hiccupErupt in tinsel and blue cinders turn August into winter
It had regained enough strength to, at the very least, resist it's chrysalis and be more-or-less aware and tentative to the Master's words. 'There's room for improvement' rang true, and gift would be accepted with both eagerness and gratefulness.
When it got there.
Before it had time to even think about how it was going to stumble over to the 'gift' with it's however many broken bones, Khavur had swept up beside it. It made a noise of surprise, accepting Khavur's help while still, stubbornly, trying to haul itself over there on it's own. No matter, it got to the cloud and half stumbled, half fell, into the gift.
It didn't have time to say 'thanks' before everything went dark, choked out by dark blue crystal.
His mouth feel sour, and he knows he's gotten sick at some point, but when he can't clearly remember.
Electrum is able to move slowly, feeling in his legs and most of his body starting to tingle, and he knows his stone is shifting to consume him like it has when he's slept far too long- to keep him alive, keep him safe from whatever is ravaging his body, all the golden blood he's losing in the water.
So, he flares his fins, eyeing everyone as they fall asleep, the few who approach the corpse of the Kraken before departing, the Valkhound who breaks off a trophy to add to what looks like a hoard near a chrysalis someone precious to them? The giant crab named Farina?
The lapis dragon ponders this as he scans the great beast, specifically the limb he slinks past for some sort of weak point- a Gem, maybe? To add to his own hoard.
Everything is sparking gold at the edges, so he finishes his search and swims into a trail left by one of the larger Gembound having passed through Master Farina's gift, offering her a nod as he glances at what she's holding, a Gem, and registering again that she may not be as... callous as her words and appearance dictate.
That's completely ignoring her going all soft over the stone, but. Semantics.
If she takes note of his gaze, or if she were to offer any hostility, he backs away instead of swimming sideways past her, and either way he settles near his mate and daughter, forcing himself to think of home, and offer a last attempt at comfort for his family.
We'll be fine, and together, when we wake. Sleep well.