It took a bit of searching, but Sorda was able to find a chunk of crystal and carried it over to the others. They were beginning to feel a bit off, but just sort of brushed it off, too excited about the potential discovery. At Elroy’s hesitance, they frowned a bit.

"But don’t you wanna see what happens?" They asked, "It’s a rock, but it’s a weird magic rock! Maybe it’ll make us glowing AND magicier!" They added, trying their best to convince him. "You were able to catch that floating crystal with your magic, don't you want to do that but even better?"

She looked at the others who all had their own stone. "Okay! I think we should do this all at once, so no one chickens out." She glanced at Elroy. "So.. On the count of three we’ll all eat the crystal!"

"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"

She quickly chomped down on the crystal she’d found, and watched to see if the others did the same.



"Words Words."
Thoughts

tags: @Elroy
notes: Its happening lads!

coding by wulf for template purposes

Tupu came back to her group on flimsy knees. She was feeling a bit sick, an ominous feeling, but maybe that was what happened when leave herd. Leave herd make Tupu feel bad? When she returned, she saw Elroy and Sorda conversing. She didn't like how much her herd talked, why not just eat grass and listen for danger? Like good gerenuk. But she managed to catch what Sorda said. Magic? Elroy not want eat? Tupu was confused. Why wasn't smallbirdblack going with herd? "Eat?" She didn't know how to elaborate on that, so she flicked her ears, and gave the bird a puppy-dog stare.

She turned her attention back to Sorda, who was using words once more. She stared blankly at her, until Sorda ate her rock. Oh, it was time to eat now! "Snacc." She said once more, and swallowed her rock whole.

Un Poco Loco

A Little Bit Crazy

"Snacc," she agreed again to the think-she'd-almost-rolled-into, the bird arguing a bit, sounding concerned, but why would he be? a stone falling down and that was pretty cool! "How did you do that!" she gasped, prancing in place, apparently forgetting that she'd flung herself sky high a few moments before, "This is gonna be so cool!" she chirped, before leaping up and batting down a floating rock, grabbing it in her teeth and bouncing around, leaping towards Elroy and saying, muffled "Let'seatlet'seatlet'seat!" and then, on three, she tilted her head back and swallowed it whole

it lodged in her throat, and she started choking violently

finally managed to unlodge it

and swallowed it again.

word count | @elroy

♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

Oh, he couldn't say no to that stare. Even then- Sorda's words of peer pressure got to him, and his beak's mouth went as sideways as it cool in a mammalian-adjacent gesture as he stared down at the piece that floated by him. Well- fine, he wasn't about to be left out of this.

Doubts still flowed. "What if it makes us all rocks?" came the first one- and, "What if we get sick?" Even putting his face near the piece made him feel nearly queasy. If he had the facial muscles he'd recoil, instead only rearing his head back and trying his best not to make a stink.

No. He had to... Hype himself up. Taking in a few deep breaths, he hopped to his feet and pumped his wings while jumping, eyes closed as he charged through walls of fears with rising adrenaline. "Alright, fine- let's do this! Yeah, we'll be- cool and stuff. Yeah-"

Oh, forget the waiting. As Sorda counted down, he huffed impatiently, barely getting through enough to smash that rock in his mouth, trying to gulp the piece as fast as he can while fighting back the intense waves of nausea.

This post is rated for gore and death.

The children succeed in swallowing their pieces of the Spire, despite the nausea and pain—and for a moment, nothing happens.

Then, churning deep within their gut, an intense pain splits through their bodies. It is not so much a physical pain as it is a magical one, targeting each of their stones directly, burning them from the inside-out; except, there is no fire. A magical purge peels away their skin, burning it to magical crisps before their muscles pop and sizzle clean from their bones; and then their bones bubble and break, disintegrating into the mass of blood and tissue beneath them.

But they would be spared the excruciating ordeal. Their stones would fight through the magical decay and form around their decomposing bodies, creating a fast and hurried group of chrysalises. Striking like veins through each of their unique stones is the rainbow-blue of the Spire, curling its magical reach into each of their stones.

And then it is quiet.

The four chrysalises lay dormant beneath the Spire, surrounded by bits and pieces of blood and flesh from their former bearers.

Elroy, Un Poco Loco, Tupu, and Sorda are healing in their chrysalises for 2 weeks. The will awaken to find their stones are cracked and veined with rainbow-blue, the very same that is the Spire's color. They will also discover that they seem to have no element, emerging as regular animals. They may still use non-elemental spells but will no longer be able to connect to their magical affinity they once almost knew.

Tupu felt nothing, for a blissful moment. Food eat good, she thinks. And then everything was pain. A high pitched scream left her, ragged and full of pain. Far from any noise the antelope had made before. Her entire body, her mind, everything. Pain hurt pain RUN. She tried to flee from this strange assailant, but there was nowhere to run. Nowhere for Tupu to hide. Pain was everywhere.

She tried to warn herd there was danger, that herd must run, but all Tupu could do was scream. She felt everything, her skin peel down to the muscle, her muscle down to bone and gem, but her gem held on. Her consciousness left her, blissfully, and instead her gem was left to do battle with the shard of spire she'd ingested. In the end her chrysalis was all that was left, a outcropping of black quartz streaked with iridescent blue.

--Exit Tupu due to big hurty

Elroy fought the rising bile in his chest, grimacing hard as the rock slid down his gullet. Ugh- why did he do that? No one is glowing-

The Spire stewed inside of him. He could barely sense the sizzling flesh over a sudden flash of pain, searing behind his eyes, under feathers and sinew and bones- A shrill scream escaped him as he tried to clutch with useless wings at his body. He should never had trusted them. What a fool! An idiot! Why the hell did he do what they said! He was right- oh-

But he couldn't think. His breath was ragged as chrysalis enveloped him, unable to think over the pain screeching in his mind. Blood- his blood. His life is ripped from him, all because of them. Because of him.

He can't see. He can't feel. All- all he is...


His chrysalis lays dormant, nestled against the others, for all the world to see. Inside, formless, his shape begins to repair, reshaping body and mind of the starling into that of which his gem- and its host- dictates.

;exit Elroy

CW: Gore, Body Horror

Un Poco Loco

A Little Bit Crazy

She tried to chew, for a moment, and there went a baby tooth

then pain, pain that left her breathless, pain that left her unable to so much as move, body going rigid, fur standing on end. Her head snapped back, jaw opening in a soundless scream, a burst of air that clawed passed her throat and died in the air without a sound.

'Make it stop make it stop make it STOP!'

a ringing set in her ears, grew louder and louder and louder, in time with her pulse that throbbed and throbbed and throbbed and 'Make it stop MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP!' and she couldn't breathe as her skin tore open, a slight wound that started at her throat and spread, tearing along her as though someone had grabbed it, grabbed her, and yanked it, skinned her to use her as some small part of a horribly morbid coat, and 'MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP!' even as her chrystalis shot through her ribs, shattering them as it worked to envelop her, replacing the muscles that exploded and fell off like overcooked meat, kept her from falling apart as her bones bubbled, exploding into thousands upon thousands of tiny, countless little tumor-like growths before shattering

and then she knew no more.

word count | @Deli

♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

-exit Un Poco Loco-

For the moment of nothing, Sorda was almost disappointed. Anticipating something to happen, something big.

When something finally happened, they desperately wished it hadn’t.

Pain- So much pain. They felt like they were falling apart, and it took them a moment to realize that was exactly what was happening. I shouldn’t have done this I shouldn’t have convinced them to do it I shou-

The pain became like a pure white wall blocking out everything else. Skin peeled off to expose flesh, but thankfully consciousness gave way as flesh gave way to bubbling bone.

Then, their chrysalis formed, tearing through the remnants to preserve whatever it could. Golden pyrite, shot through with prismatic blue veins, surprisingly serene compared to what had just happened.


"Words Words."
Thoughts

tags: @Deli
notes: Exit Sorda

coding by wulf for template purposes

Deli

Deli watched them fairly patiently as they shambled around the Spire for a moment before, one by one, they took a piece of the crystal and attempted to swallow it. Their eyes widened at the proceeding carnage as each of them had their skin peel from their limbs and crystals quickly cover them to save their lives. The screams were loud enough that their ears flicked back, but they were cut off quickly, leaving them with utter silence.

There was a beat as Deli stared at the four chrysalis resting before the Spire before they burst out into hysterical laughter. Oh that was the funniest thing they'd ever seen! What idiots! They fell back, kicking their feet like a child, holding their stomach as laughter bubbled uncontrollably from their mouth, tears stinging at their eyes. They descended into hysteria for a little while, their laughter echoing across the cave before they managed to get in control of themselves and sit up, giggles still escaping their lips and they wiped the tears from their eyes.

Grabbing their satchel tightly, they stood and trotted over to the chrysalis, grin etched widely on their face. Oh yeah, oh yeah, this was hilarious. As they arrived, the smell of burnt flesh lingering in the air, they dared to set their bag down and take out some paints.

They sat there for a little while, painting on each chrysalis a reenactment of their deaths, each in a different manor. They couldn't keep track of which was which, to be honest, but one got the Spire as a giant monster eating them whole, another with their limbs all shooting off in different directions, the third eating the Spire like a meal with a party hat on their head, and the last was sitting among rubble, patting a swollen stomach.

Cackling at their interpretations of the event, Deli pressed their paws onto a couple of the stones, intending on setting the magic permanently on their faces but a bolt of pain shot through their head as the magic backfired, instead sealing the paint on their paws instead of the stones. They pulled back, just enough to see the image of a phallus now permanently etched on their pawpaw and howled with laughter.

---