Lux was not very happy by the cow's tone, despite the fact it wasn't much different than her own tone. "Well, why didn't you say anything?" She spat back quickly. "You were just lurking around! It's creepy, it--" She paused then, hearing another disgusting sound come from now behind her. She turned around long enough to watch as the kid threw up all over again, her nose wrinkling as the vile smell pierced her airspace. She turned back towards the white form then. "Now look what you made her do!"

His eyes only widened with disbelief at her claims. He thought he'd been making ample noise, after all he uttered a few startled MOOs every time the child or the hyena got scared, but maybe they were just so wrapped up in themselves they didn't hear him. How narcissistic! How self involved! How... Him! The cow snorted and rolled his eyes. "I shouldn't have to say anything! You should know when I'm around! I'm not creepy, you're just blind and deaf." The cow argued, but as firm and certain as his voice was, in truth he was grasping for a counter. Her blame had caught him off guard. And then the child behind suddenly made a sputtery, belchy noise, and Caravaggio frowned and looked at her.

She was puking. Oh, my god, she was puking.

Caravaggio wailed and raised a hoofed leg to cover his eyes. "Agh! Thats gross! Stop it, please!" The cow whimpered and backed away on three legs. He could feel sickness stirring in his stomach, his throat - not him too!! Heat gathered in his cheeks, a tingly feeling, and he gasped for breath - his eyes flickered away to the river. The cow desperately skirted around them towards the river's edge, greedily dunking his snout into the water and drinking in mouthfuls. Alright. That was better. With his stomach soothed, he collapsed his hind legs and sat on his rump, turning his heavy head towards them. "Okay. Stop. Please. You're making me sick." The cow pleaded, albeit a little pathetically.

@Creedence

it was amazing that the pup's stomach held any puke at all. as she retched, it looked like she was being squeezed like a rubber chicken, squeaking in between spitting foam and tasting bile. as a newborn her belly was empty. perhaps more than empty, considering the hungry state of her body. so while creedence was making quite a scene (and smell), there wasn't that much of a mess.

the babe was distracted by her retching so she didn't pay attention to the dogcat and the monster; and soon enough the monster was off to the river, guzzling it down. creedence's stomach calmed somewhat - and she was tired. all that effort, having her stomach muscles engage over and over to try and clear her system of whatever the crap made her puke - it was exhausting.

she wheezed a, "hnnnhhhphh..." and flopped down against the ground, finding relief when the cold stone floor touched the side of her ribs and, briefly, her cheek. but her head wasn't down for long. she lifted her snout towards @Lux and whined, hoping the stranger wouldn't leave her. even if the cow deserved some sort of intervention for his sneaky, scary ways.

Lux made a small growling sound -- not a threatening thing, but more out of irritation at this cow's sassy mouth. She was about to retort, but he had to react so dramatically to the pup's throwing up, throwing his body towards the rivers edge to get a few drinks. Despite the fact the smell wasn't in the least bit pregnant, Lux's stomach didn't react much at all. There was no huge, dramatic urge to hurl as he seemed to have. "Come on, it's just a little puke. You act like you've never seen it in your life." She cried out after him, having to get one last small stab in before she turned her attention back to the kid. Lowering her head, she tilted it to the side just a little. "It's okay. He's not a monster. Just a big, dumb cow. I won't let him do anything to you." It seemed like maybe things had calmed down for real this time. "Do you have a name, little pup?"

@Caravaggio

His eyes flitted between the puking dog, who was no longer puking and just kind of pathetically laying there, and the hyena who seemed intent on blaming him for literally everything, even though Caravaggio was pretty much doing the same to her. When his eyes fixed on her, he screwed up his nose and frowned deeply. "It's gross. Bodily fluids are meant to stay inside the body. And look - she's laying in it, even!" He complained, gesturing at her with his fat nose again. But that was it, it seemed - the hyena turned her attention back to the youth, speaking gently in an attempt to soothe her. Caravaggio probably wasn't helping with his high pitched complaints and gratuitous needs. He scuffed his hoof on the ground again and quietly watched the hyena, listening.

Words like that were familiar to him. The black lemur had spoken with a similar tone when he first emerged from his chrysalis. He was tired and scared and he was jealous that the elk could get up and run around. But when he tried to stand, he was too heavy. He sunk into the mud and it frightened him. She coaxed him forward, but ultimately it was the plague horse that pushed him out of the mud. He'd come too close, and Caravaggio wasn't about to get infected by his disease. His tail lashed, but he soon enough drew from the memory and back to the situation. Maybe he shouldn't be so harsh. After all, she was just a dumb baby.

The cow grunted and took a step forward, lowering his head slightly. He didn't know what else to say - he wasn't good at comforting others. He had a tendency to say the wrong thing. Instead, Caravaggio just lowered his body to the ground. He folded his legs beneath his chest, and though his heavy head remained alert and upright, those amethyst eyes had softened with a hint of remorse. Would this be enough to convince her that he wasn't a monster?

at this point the newborn was a big mess. her puke puddles had turned swathes of the cave floor in to thin veneers of mud, so by laying partially in those puddles, her already thin and clumpy fur became more clumpy, and more smelly, and overall she looked like a cat which had survived a windstorm. all the puking left her more tired than anything else; the running had worn out her legs, the golems had scared her - and activated whatever adrenaline she had in her system - so now creedence was just a pile of messy parts. it was surprising she was still awake.

the sound of the dogcat talking almost lulled her to sleep, actually. yet as soon as caravaggio responded, his voice was deep and grating to her ears; she didn't like it, and felt a new wakefulness sweep through her. she blearily looked up at the pale creature from behind @lux and witnessed his descent, pulling back at first when caravaggio loomed over her with his snout. but he came down to her level, or tried to, and soon enough was in that nasty mud with her.

he wasn't as scary when he was down here with her. granted, he was still a big monster, but he wasn't the biggest thing in the whole world to the baby; she gave a small hiccup, which turned in to a yawn, and then just as her mouth was closing and creedence chose to take a bold lurch forward to try and sniff at the bull ---- she sneezed.

The girl didn't reply to her question, but she pushed the care for that aside for the time being. This pup was obviously not in the best position to talk, being so young and... well, covered in gross bodily fluids. She was just glad that the situation was over, and her own tinge of irritation towards the cow was gone for now at least. As the pup crept towards the big white 'monster', Lux started to glance towards the nearby river. She didn't even notice the sneeze that occured -- her own mind on other things, not distracted by the tiny noise after all the pup seemed to have gone through. "Hey, Monster." She said, not knowing what this cow's name actually even was -- but knowing that it should get his attention. "Why don't you help me get this kid cleaned up? And somewhere warmer... she won't last long out here without some help." Maybe she could survive on her own, but Lux still felt bad for her. And she hoped, even if so far the cow hadn't been pleasant company, that he must at least feel something similar... otherwise, why would he have stayed this long?

@Caravaggio

The cow huffed and cast a sidelong glance at the hyena who was trying to convince him to help out. Really? Since when did Caravaggio help out? Since when did he seem like the helping type, even? He narrowed his eyes at her, considering the suggestion - but then again, he was supposed to be on the hunt for a gift for White. Did he really have time to take care of a dumb smelly baby? Of course, he was going to assess the situation first. His poor baby heart would probably end up taking care of the coyote too, given his propensity for suddenly wanting to make friends and not liking the sight of others upset. He turned his head back towards her, just in time to see her crack her jaws open in a wide yawn.

"AwwwWWAAAHHHHHHHHH-"

She sneezed.

As soon as the gross bundle of mucus and germs had sneezed on him, that was it. Caravaggio didn't waste any time leaping to his hooves and scrambling to get away from the both of them. The feel of moisture gathered on his voice was making his skin crawl, his spine just about ready to leap out of his back, it was - it was almost painful - it was wet - and he was screaming. Endless screaming. The cow ran, because SCREW THIS, he had to go clean himself up and then avoid entering a five mile radius of the GROSS NASTY BABY. BYE!

exit Caravaggio running away like a dweeb
@Creedence