Sizzle, it seemed, wasn't the only one drawn to the gathering. Before long, a bird had joined them, and then a... flying crocodile? Well, she'd never seen that before. He sure was loud, though.

It took her a moment to recognize him as Dragon - he could fly?!

"Dragon!" she gasped, coiling as best she could considering she was not exactly the longest snake, "It's been ages!"

She looked at the bird that had flown down to Dragon, flicking out her tongue. "Lead us, then."

Her eyes widened, and she turned to face the snake that was racing towards them. He had changed so much that she didn't recognize him, and so she arched her head, hissing.

@Septiezal
@Dragon

Death be my dignityExecute hemlock philosophyPoison fills the cup of the carpenter

Naja flicked out his tongue, watching as a blackbird approached. He thought it a Hallowed Caller, only to be proven wrong when it began to speak. A Greater, then.

"Naja." he offered his name, tasting the air. "I do not. I was seeking to learn this." Another snake appeared, and so he repeated himself.

A bird, too, appeared, but didn't speak, so he dismissed her. An alligator approached, however, and drew his attention. Ignoring the question, he said, "You are not a bird, yet you fly. How."

Another snake, at least he assumed that was what it was, appeared, and he reared up. Small as he may be, he was growing, and he hissed, flaring his hood.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

The crazed serpent crashed into the gathering, panicking as if he was being chased by something monstrous. His wild eyes darted from gembound to gembound as he rose up, 5 feet high, and let out a hiss, ready to strike if anyone came near.

This Septiezal did not remember the other Children. He did not even recall the meeting with Aquarius. All this poor creature knew was pain, the forest screaming, and Nox the only gembound he trusted, was nowhere to be found. Two, cruel strangers had done this to him, and now, strangers had surrounded him. Septiezal was terrified. Paranoia clawed at his mind as he nervously flex his sharp, black talons. Who are these gembounds? Are they here?? Are they going to hurt me again???

Then, a familiar scent caught the serpent's tongue. He snapped his head towards the flying alligator. I remember that scent... "You.." He gasped. Suddenly, icey dread gripped his stomach. Black. Red. He vividly remembered those colors, and they were swirling around the alligator in a malevolent aura, and he had wings. Wings! One of them had wings! Fear and hatred flashed in Septiezal's amber eyes. In that moment, the shrieking trees of Cetus and even the other gembounds had faded in to the background. He drew back his head with a snarl, smoke rising from his throat, and declared in the most threatening hiss he could muster.

"YOU WILL NOT REND MY FLESH AGAIN!"

Though Septiezal was barely recognizable, his voice had remained the same since the last time he spoke to the Children of Rot. It had been cycles since his disappearance. Would anyone even remember?

The air around him grew with magicka. Suddenly, a bright, painful flash of magick popped from the serpent's gem. Septiezal flinched as the sudden light briefly blinded him. "Agh!" He cried, clutching his eyes.


"speak"

@Dragon @Sizzle @Naja @Hera @Ceicei @Serek

A dizzying number of Gembounds had --appeared. It wasn't quite out of nowhere, but it was out of the dark depths of Cetus, and that was pretty close. Dragon snorted and sniffed, turning this way and that. He opened his jaws to answer Hera--and to greet the rest, but then the bizarre snake-creature hurtled out of the darkness roaring about rending flesh.

Dragon blinked.

For the first time in his life he was so taken aback as to momentarily be rendered truly speechless. He had no idea who this is, or why they were shouting--certainly it wasn't at him?! For a moment he undoubtedly looked indecisive and weak as he merely squatted there, blankly staring. Then he glanced sidelong at the trees, as if to ask them "Does this have anything to do with your screaming?" When the trees did not in fact reply--but continued their waves of wailing--he blinked at Septiezal.

No... I do not know him. But his voice... I know that voice. --The snake! His colors are similar; perhaps he slept and was reborn? Dragon eyed Septiezal up and down, and decided that if this was how mutations worked, he'd better start on his own pretty soon. The snake looked incredible--with limbs, and whiskers, and a brutal visage.

"YOU ARE ONE OF THE CHILDREN! YOU ARE MY BROTHER!" Dragon bellowed--directly at Septiezal. He sounded--pleased? Ish. "WHO HAS RENT YOUR FLESH?! THEY WILL FEEL OUR WRATH!"

Dragon then glanced sideways, and gave Hera a nod. "Though first we ought to uncover why our trees are screaming! If we are all so confused, then the bird can lead us there! If we remain together we should be safe. I can fly with MAGIC. ...IT IS GOOD TO SEE SO MANY OF YOU." This added--ridiculously loudly, as always--Dragon fell silent.

@Septiezal @Naja @Hera @Serek @Cecei

Sizzle flinched as the massive snake rose up, beginning to hiss. What was that?!

But, wait, she knew that voice! It was one of her kin - it was the other snake, her Brother! And Dragon confirmed it! "Brother! Septiezal! It is me, Sizzle! Your sister!" she gasped loudly.

Serek glared out at the gathering, caring little for their little reunion or whatever they were doing. He had been lost for cycles and nobody had found him. He had been wandering for what seemed like an eternity and nobody had come looking. Did they remember him? Did they care? Should he even bother going out to greet them like family, like they were doing to each other?

He glanced away towards the screaming trees. He had to admit, he wanted to know what was going on, but he didn't want to be seen. At least not yet. No, he was going to stay hidden. Perhaps play with them a bit, try to make them remember who he was.

He stretched his neck forward and touched the ground, calling on magic to call up fungus to appear all around the feet and bodies of the Children before him. But his anger and swirling emotions were so present in his head that the magic quickly spiraled out of control. The first fungus that sprouted from where his nose touched the soggy ground burst, scattering spores all over Serek's face, up his nose, and into his eyes.

He howled with pain as his eyes began to sting and small fungus began to sprout along his skin. He lurched back, trying to shake off the spores, causing quite a ruckus in the trees as he scraped his head blindly along as many trunks as he could, trying to get the mushrooms off his face. He wasn't exactly hiding now.

@Dragon @Sizzle @Naja @Hera @Cecei @Septiezal

Cecei watched as everyone interacted, but she was more interested in the trees at the moment. She flew a little closer to them and watched them carefully. Why were they screaming, what was going on? She had to know.

"I'm going to follow the cries, I need to know what's going on. You can trust me."

She looked towards the trees again and closed her eyes. After a moment of listening closely she opened them again. She took flight quickly and started to follow the best she could.

Speech Here
Thoughts Here

The wailing led deeper and deeper into the mist-filled dark forest. The trees all around seemed to cry out as if in pain, the waves emanating from farther in.

Cecei, or Hera, or anyone else following the sound would find themselves flying deep into the thick mist, farther from the lake at the Heart of Cetus. Soon it would be hard to find one's way in the dark wood. It would take quite some time trudging through on foot. Eventually it would become so that the sound seemed to be all around them, and more difficult to navigate toward.

Once farther into the forest, the sound will seem to be everywhere. Gembound who come that far may roll Other to try and locate the source!

@Cecei @Serek @Hera @Sizzle @Naja @Septiezal

Hera flared her wings as a massive black and orange... thing rushed into the clearing, screaming incoherently. She stepped back, her feathers bristling.

And then Dragon was bellowing, and she startled again. He had always been loud, so she was used to it, but it still startled her. "Alright!" she added, wanting to get away from this chaos, "I'll start looking!"

Spreading her wings, she took flight, ascending until she was high enough that she was able to see. Tilting her head from side to side, she attempted to follow the screaming.

@Dragon @Serek @Cecei @Sizzle @Naja @Septiezal

Speech. Thought.

Death be my dignityExecute hemlock philosophyPoison fills the cup of the carpenter

Naja rose up at the sight of the strange snake, flaring his hood. It didn't seem wholly sane, shrieking nonsense and beginning to spew smoke, and crackle with Magicka.

Nonplussed, he called out, "You, what are you. I have seen nothing like you before."

And then the massive reptile was yelling, and he turned to them with a low hiss, tasting the air. The reptile was kin, he could tell, but it had legs and, at least sometimes, wings.

Septiezal, that was the name of the thing that had suddenly appeared.

@Cecei @Serek @Septiezal

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.