Itri had finally found his way out of Hydra, somehow. He wandered randomly among the tunnels and caves, finally not feeling the harsh heat of the desert on his back. The other caves were heaven, and he couldn't help but wonder why he had been so unlucky to have hatched in the worst one. He finally came upon this cave, Cepheus, and looked around. Everything was so pristine, and the river here was even not poisonous! There didn't even seem to be a lot of dangerous animals in these parts. But then again, he hadn't met a Hellswan yet.

Somewhere along the river, Itri spotted a flock of beautiful birds floating along the river. So different from the birds he knew, eyehooks, in Hydra. "Hey!" he called out to them, not sure if they could talk or not. They seemed really nice. Only just now, he realized how thirsty he was, and dipped his head in the river to drink.

This particular flock of sleek, white waterfowl had thirteen members. All of them bobbed along at complete ease. Not a single one spared Itri a glance as he called out and bowed for a drink. They were at peace.

@Itri

They were all in his range of sight now, and he counted thirteen of them. An unlucky number, but Itri wasn't superstitious. That, was when he came up with a "great" idea. He could try riding on one! Possible, he wasn't exactly too heavy, but he wasn't sure if they would appreciate being ridden on. Time to try! He waded into the water, and attempted to jump on one of them.

It wasn't exactly clear what happened next: an explosion of movement and noise, all white-feathered wings and horrific screeching. Itri would hit feathers, land, and be immediately tumbled into cold water, the sight as he dipped beneath the surface a horrific one: long slender necks splitting to their core, spreading into razor-toothed jaws that swept down for him. The flock, assuming that the small creature had attacked one of their own, went for the kill.

The pain would come next, as they struck home: a rending of flesh, raking of teeth over body, the blood quickly souring the water with its red taint and metallic, rancid stench.

Itri's armor-like scales may save him, or they may not. An Other roll of Barely+ may allow him to escape to land. A failure will return him to his chrysalis through blood loss, his chrysalis sinking to the river bottom.

@Itri

I don't know what Itri expected to happen, perhaps a peaceful ride, drifting down the river on a Hellswan's back. Perhaps even sipping a margarita while he was at it. Unfortunately it was not to be, and you couldn't exactly blame him either, he didn't know they were called Hellswans.

A rush of joy, as he felt himself land on feathers, but the next moment he was into the water. The once beautiful looking swans split their heads and necks in half, revealing huge teeth. He had to swim... up! He struck out for the surface, but the swans reached him first, and it became a bloodbath. Teeth sunk into every part of his body, tearing away at his flesh. His scales offered welcome protection, but it didn't do too much against the razor sharp teeth of the swans.

At this point he didn't want to live anymore. Even if he survived this, just like he survived the injury from breaking his tail, it wasn't worth it. He wasn't going down without a fight though.

A companion's shrill cry of pain merely egged the swans on. Knife-sharp teeth all but gutted the pangolin in response. Each one of the birds trumpeted as they peeled at scales and got down to flesh. If the river had been tainted with red before, it now ran with it.

At the first signs of unconsciousness and a forming shell, the hellswans broke away from Itri, one by one. It was a cruel fate, being left in a river of one's own blood. The forming chrysalis was sure to be a blessing.

Hiding their horrific maws, the swans preened at one another's feathers, combing out the red sullying them. Their tails flicked noncommittally as they drifted downstream. The one that the pangolin'd injured flapped along miserably. With its broken wing, it wouldn't survive more than a few days.

Itri will find himself sinking to the bottom of the river in a chrysalis.

@Itri

The pain was worse than anything he had felt before, even that time he had been dropped by an Eyehook. Even his bullet proof scales were peeled away, and the river was now more blood than water. Itri wanted to die at this point, death was better than the pain he was feeling. But the Hellswans swam away, right when he lost consciousness and a chrysalis formed around him.

"Exit Itri into chrysalis"