Staring at the wrong head as he was, Buckley didn't quite notice the eyes flickering anywhere else. No, he was focused on the false face that did not emote at all, but that didn't both him. Ishani didn't really emote either - that was probably just a common thing. More common, at least, then having mulltiple creatures attached to one. That was probably a little odd.

The other two were quiet, right now. Weirdly. They were on alert as Buckley continued to chatter, oblivious. "Oooh, Overseer is a cool title. What does that mean? Is she in charge of people? That must be pretty cool." He frowned a little, something like sadness at how this creature talked about its family. He glanced back at the others. They annoyed him sometimes, especially Gore, but they were still family, navigating this body along.

But the offer clicked something in his head. He looked back, eyes wide. "Wait, you know how to separate us?" Gore perked up at that too, snorting loudly. "I WOULD LIKE MY OWN BODY!!" Ishani jerked back, hissing softly.


"Buckley is speaking!" "GORE IS SPEAKING!!!" "Ishani is speaking..."

@Bauxite-T-One

Buckley was perfect. All he had to do was keep up this... dialogue, maybe wiggle his mask a bit to simulate engagement, draw the Gembound closer, and closer, and closer-

The Bauxite salivated further, a fat droplet of it dripping down from the far corner of his mouth.

His pride made him forget his ever-present hunger some. "YES. She is in charge of a WHOLE CAVE. This one. She created me. She protects me. I am HEIR." And when she weakened, he would consume all she was into himself, and take her place - this was his nature.

Not that he'd told Tectus of his plans. He wasn't that deluded.

He tilted his mask to the side, as if to get a better look at the Triage in their entirety. He thought of the texture of meat, the taste - unlike anything he'd ever been fed before. Maybe even better. More saliva met the floor in long strings.

"Yes." He did know.

@Triage

Buckley nodded, agreement and enthusiasm mirrored in his gaze. He could tell this one was very proud of their very important parent. Buckley wondered if they had a parent - the three of them. And wondered why they had made them like this. Not that he hated his body-mates, but it was an odd choice, to create such an amalgam of creatures in this way.

Eyes widened and he beamed. "Wow! That's so cool! Like, in charge of this whole cave? That's pretty amazing!" Gore bleated a sigh. "YEAH, RIGHT!"

It was around this time that Ishani noticed the drool. Ever-watching from her place behind and above them, she noted the strange liquid dripping down what seemed to be the creature's chest. Suspicion began to arise in her mind and she dug into her well - their well - and cast another spell. She attuned her mind - and the other two by proxy - to the emotions of the other creature, and she was struck by a restless hunger and greed. It was all-consuming and terrifying and she realized, in that moment, that Buckley was being led right into a predator's trap.

The other two felt it too and Gore threw his head back, snarling. "WHAT. I am HUNGRY!! WHY?" Buckley's face faltered and he took a step back, which wasn't much effective as Gore did not step back with him. "Um..." but before he got a chance to say anything else, Ishani curled forward, stopping by Buckley's face, as far as she could get around the body, opening her mouth and hissing, displaying that dangerous seafoam color. "Iffff you know what issss good ffffor you," her words barely breaking through the hiss, "then you will back offfff. We are not your nexxxxt mealssssss."


"Buckley is speaking!" "GORE IS SPEAKING!!!" "Ishani is speaking..."

@Bauxite-T-One

It was so close. The removal extraneous flesh, repurposed and made greater. He could taste it. He was the Shepherd, this was the Flock, this was how he'd continue, be sustained. The meat of a follower. Come closer. Come closer.

Distantly, something flared, and the Triage began a retreat.

It was so close.

Another angle was what he needed - a flock held many, yes? Though this appeared to be a 3-in-1 deal. Unfortunately, still out of his price range. His bottom eyes glared daggers at Ishani. Just because he was backing off didn't mean he wouldn't be petty about it.

"Are you hungry too?" A slithering tongue wiped away the excess around his mouth, keeping it from dripping further (sloppily. A few more droplets hit the floor). "We can... Feed together..."

considering its real plans, together was an overstatement.

@Triage

Ishani's meddling had done its work. Gore was looking suspicious and growing angrier by the second while Buckley faltered, confused and worried. He glanced from the snake head to Bauxite and called on their magic again to do the same thing. And for, perhaps the first time, all three heads were in sync, leaning into the magic, strengthening it, and they all felt the creature's greed. It's hunger. A sinister something that made them all realize, Buckley included, that this was a trap.

But that was about where their synchronicity ended. Buckley wanted to step back and run. Gore wanted to stand up and fight. Ishani was ready for the defensive. Limbs moved in odd ways as Buckley tried to turn and leave while Gore tried to advance forward, loudly barking, "YOU DO NOT FOOL US!! GO ON!! TRY IT!!!" Back hooves clopped against the ground as it tried to push forward while lion claws scraped against the stone as he tried to retreat. It was an odd shoving movement that got them absolutely nowhere. And all the while, Ishani was up closer, ready to bite. Waiting for the Bauxite to give her an excuse to strike.

Realizing he wasn't going anywhere, Buckley instead looked to the Bauxite, sadness gleaming in his eyes. "I...what's wrong with you, I...thought you were nice?" He had been betrayed! He glanced to Ishani in the corner of his eye. He should have listened to her.


"Buckley is speaking!" "GORE IS SPEAKING!!!" "Ishani is speaking..."

@Bauxite-T-One

"I AM NICE. AND YOU SHOULD TRUST ME." It shrieked, insolent. Why doubt him now? That wasn't fair. His tail wiggled angrily as his teeth gnashed, the illusion broken.

"YOU'RE NOT BEING NICE. YOU ARE RUDE! RUDELINGS! ALL!" Louder, louder still, as if it was winding itself up. A perpetual machine of anger and frustration and not-so-nice-thoughts. "Rudelings get ABSORBED. I will ABSORB you."

And so T-Bauxite-One finally snapped. His jaws stretched wide and his stingers flexed outward, ready to grip, tear and swallow whole.

Forward he went - and then down.

He had tripped on a rock.

@Triage

The sudden shift, even though Buckley had been coming to realize that this was not a friend, was still incredibly startling. He yelped and stumbled back at the same time that Gore screeched loudly - "I KNEW IT! And NOW you will DIE!!" Buckley's fear was quickly swallowed by the combined rage of Gore and Ishani. A silent moment passed between them and Buckley's face went momentarily slack as he surrendered control of his portion of the body to the other two. Gore, dominant for the moment, seized control immediately. The lion head tucked in and down and the goat, now snarling with its large, pointed, predatory teeth, leaned forward.

Magic came to it as well, and from the body of the Triage, a force expelled outwards, a violent ripping magic intending on throwing back the stumbled, fallen body of the Bauxite, and maybe hurt it a little in the process.

"THAT'S RIGHT! YOU WILL REGRET MESSING WITH US!" Gore made to push forward, but Ishani halted control of the front legs, claws digging against the stone. She hissed in Gore's ear as she fought for control - "No, do NOT fight. Did you see that thing? It will eat us. Leave!" But Gore wasn't listening, swinging its head from side to side and bleating with anger as it was held back yet again.


"Buckley is speaking!" "GORE IS SPEAKING!!!" "Ishani is speaking..."

@Bauxite-T-One

The Bauxite was flung backward as it stumbled to its feet, sending him tumbling again, a mess of angry legs and teeth. He hissed the entire time, the sound cut off as he was reacquainted with the ground with a whump some feet away.

Battered and bruised, it rose to charge again. "NOT! FAIR! You are SO mean to me."

Again, it rushed forward, a little slower than previously. It was either due to the fall, or new sense of caution. It did NOT want to get thrown again. Despite this fact, he did not change his strategy at all.

@Triage

Gore's hoof pawed at the ground again as it wrestled control back from Ishani - Buckley had given it over at this point and just had his head down and eyes closed at the goat controlled the body for the time being. "Please don't kill us," he whispered, but his sibling wasn't listening.

"MEAN to you?! MEAN?!!!! YOU ARE MEAN and tried to TRICK US!! WE WILL KILL YOU NOW!!" The goat screeched and threw itself forward, quite bravely and quite stupidly. Ishani hissed and lets herself be trailed behind, in case it got any ideas of coming after her and Buckley cringed, but Gore was in full rage mode at this point. Pushing off with goat legs and reaching forward with the lion's paws, it went to clamp down right on the Bauxite's "face" with predatory fangs while the paws unsheathed claws and scratched at what they could. Perhaps it hadn't realized that it wasn't a real face yet.

Meanwhile, it felt a sharp stab as the hand-stinger's connected where it had not tried to defend itself at all. Buckley cried out. "OW."


"Buckley is speaking!" "GORE IS SPEAKING!!!" "Ishani is speaking..."

@Bauxite-T-One

"HUNGRY! YOU. YOU DEPRIVE ME." He spat in response as the Goat charged forward. Teeth met teeth - Gore's fangs and Buckley's claws scraped against Bauxite's enamel mask, then gum, drawing a pained hiss from his opponent. The delicate tissue tore easily, and the Bauxite's blood began to dribble down into his own mouth.

How dare they make him bleed.

His jaws snapped downward - not to close, but to bring the arms that protruded from his skull's sockets closer. He shrieked, an awful noise, angry and shrill, as he hammered his stingers as hard as he could into the triage's shared shoulder blades. Like a gorilla beating its chest, or a toddler having a tantrum.

@Triage