The first thing Fallah will notice is the temperature. Ice cold, it chills her to her very core as it travels to her stomach. Once the initial shock of the chill wears off, the taste sneaks through the numbness of the cold. Metallic. Cold, crisp, and metallic.

DOVEFEATHER

let the somebody calls you somebody says swim with the current and float away

Dovefeather was distraught, but in her terror she found a cold, concrete strength. No one else could fix this. To her, this was a sign straight from the All Mother-- and she had to set things right.

She trotted up between the eyes and looked around at everyone, her frail body quivering.

"Everyone! Listen to me!"

Her pale eyes turned to Fallah, who's tongue dare take from the All Mother's Eyes, and let out a warning hiss-- sharp, precise. Her body began to take on a pale, yellowish glow that seemed to twist off of her body in curls of misty light.

"Do not take from the All Mother's Eyes-- Once She Saw All, but now She does not See-- something has hurt her, plagued her, or perhaps, there was something so horrible She closed her Eyes from, something which even She did not feel She had the strength to see."

"For those of you who do not know of the All Mother, know this! She is great, more powerful than each of us here, perhaps each of us all together-- But she is not infallible. I was born here, by her Eyes, and I have watched and Seen so much with her guidance-- I ask you now to respect this, and step back from her Eyes."

"She bestowed me my name with a Sign: the feather of a dove. She chose me to be a Seer, put me on this path I walk even to this day."

"Therefore, it is I who will walk into Her waters. I have done so before and She Showed me a sign, a bird reflected in the water, but not above. She does not See as we do."

Everyone was so much bigger than her-- except for her brother, Booker, who was there. Yet she did not falter, did not fear a single one of them, even in the absence of the All Mother's All Seeing Eyes. No. She was ready for this.

"Please stay back. If something has tainted her waters She will be angry. I do not wish her wrath upon any of you."

The kitten stepped forward towards one of the pools, dipping her head, and she spoke-- softly, careful words, words she had spoken nearly every day since she was born. A prayer.

"O All Mother, I am here to see as you see, to grow strong in not only vision but in ambition, to prove that I am worthy of your gifts."

"What has happened to You, All Mother? I wish to See-- no matter how horrible it is. Please, share your burden with me, if you think I am worthy."

The kitten put a paw over the water as she spoke the final line of her prayer.

"Blessed be, All Mother, O."

And then, she simply stepped in to the water.

words:......... nyah
tagged:....... @Giggle
ooc:............ heck yea
muse:......... 9/10

"Talking looks like this."
Thinking looks like this...

Giggle was a mystical creature, a seer who tried to come off mysterious deliberately, at times, but above all she was practical. Realistic, cynical even. She didn't believe in this "all-mother" nonsense--she believed in truths, truths revealed by magic that dwelt all around them.

Whatever was wrong with the water, it sure as hell wasn't a sign.

Dove was entering the water, making a pretty little speech that was liable to end in her death. The hyena's first instinct was to dart forward, to pull her back to safety, but instead she stepped back. Kept her distance.

"Dovefeather," she warned sharply, her masculine voice a rolling, growling tone of warning. "There's no 'all-mother.' There's something wrong, something off--don't you smell it? Get out of the water," she hissed.

Another step back and she lashed out with her own magic, frantically trying to feel, to sense, to get any hint whatsoever of just what was happening.

What was about to happen.

And, most of all, just what the hell they should do about it.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

@Delphine ; @Diot

Praying had she been, next to the All Mother's glorious body. Her tail was tucked around her and her eyes were closed. Behind them were the pinpoints of lights, images from the All Mother herself of each of her children. Everyone looked good, perfect in her eyes and all happy. Everything was well, perhaps she could even go and find more things to decorate the Mother's base... Until she heard a blood-curdling sound. From her trance she was ripped. Pupil-less green eyes were stretched wide in horror and for a moment she just sat trembling, unable to calm herself down. Oh! Oh, what was that? Had that been the Mother? It sounded like it... Like it came right from her Eyes! What had she seen? Oh no! Oh no!

The normally calm kitten was now unhinged as she dashed away from the Mother's base straight over to her Eyes. There were already a gathering of gembounds, her Sisters and Brother among them. The small cat weaved her way around legs to go sit next to her brother. No greeting was spoken as she only wanted to Listen. Listen and Learn as the Mother intended. Besides, Dovefeather knew what to do. They should trust in the one who'd been granted Seeing abilities from the Eyes themselves. The gray cat nodded her head in assent to Dove's words and then finally spoke, voice rising to be heard. "Everyone please! Listen to Dovefeather! She is a Seer and knows everything involving the Mother's Eyes." With that she nodded to Dove and waited while her Sister stepped into the water.

It was then that a hyena spoke out, saying that there was no All Mother and that Dove should leave the water! Why... Why that was blasphemy! It was so terrible. Did this poor creature not know of the All Mother's magick? Black made her way from Booker's side to stand next to the hyena. "No no no, you mustn't say such things! Yes, yes, something is wrong but it is because of the All Mother that it is wrong. Listen to Dovefeather, the Mother is not infallible. Perhaps she cries out and taints the pools because something is wrong and she needs our help... Dove's help. She is the Keeper of the Pools and the Seer, let her do what she was born to do." The kitten tried to give a reassuring smile to the hyena and then to the others. They had to understand that Dove knew what she was doing.

---

419
Quest
---
6/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

We'll light up the sky,

We'll open the clouds...

Fallah paused before she took a drink only because some cat hissed at her. Eye's narrowing, Fallah continued to take a drink anyway. It was cold and tangy. Too tangy, "Poison? Too cold." she would question as it made its way to her stomach. Fallah shivered. The little cat continued to spill words from her mouth, but Fallah was not in the mood. If she had been Fisher or someone else, she would have called the cat out on her ackamarackus. She wasn't however, so she let it speak. As it reached towards the water, Fallah called out, "Maybe no. Bad water. Cold. Tangy." Another was there and told the cat there was no "All-Mother" and Fallah vaguely agreed. This was water, not a being, "Not All-mother. Broken Water." As the cat got into the water, Fallah could only remember the bird and the big noodle fish back in... "Cetus. Get out. Get out now. Get out... OF THE WATER." Fallah wasn't about to see someone else get eaten by some water monster. She moved to knock the smaller cat out of the way. She moved quickly, facing the direction of the cat, then leaping off towards it, aiming to grab it and drag it tot he shore if she had to.


ooc: Ignore the attempt if you need to

Icy cold water will numb Dovefeather initially, before the cold would cause her muscles to tense and ache. She will find it hard to move through the water with near-frozen limbs. Meanwhile, Giggle will catch a glimpse of a shivering Dovefeather, before the image flashes to a still Dovefeather laying upon the ground. In another flash, Dovefeather is shaking water from her fur. It is unclear what may have happened, or if it will happen.

The other cat was tinier than she had thought and Fallah overshot her. Fallah missed, but she would not give up, "You need to get out of there right NOW." She said, her voice coming out clearly and in a full sentence. She moved calmly to the edge of the water, "He will eat you. Get out." Fallah had tasted the water and it had hit her hard. how could that cat be standing in it. the other small cat seemed to agree with her. She wasn't far from the shore. Surely Fallah could get her before the whatever that was making the water cold and blood tasting could get a hold of her. Her eyes wide, Fallah gathered herself again, I'll make you get out if I have to. You NEED to." Why didn't they understand how important this was? Why were they all just letting her in the water? Her mind couldn't understand what was happening, but her heart was pounding and telling her it was time for action, "Please." Fallah didn't want to touch the water again, it made her feel bad... Cold. Like she felt before she went back into her chrysalis. She would draw near the cat and aim to hook her paws around the cat. She couldn't reach without getting in the water. She looked to the others, "The water. It's wrong. She has to get out now. Right now." Her voice held no extra emotion, but she tried to convey the importance and panic she felt. Maybe someone else would help her get the cat out before something terrible happened.

DOVEFEATHER

I just have to stay above the rushing... the rushing water...

Dovefeather heard Giggle and ignored her for the time being, self assured that this was the answer, that she could simply find the answer by interacting directly with the Eyes.

What she got instead, she felt, was the All Mother's wrath at best, and at worst, the sensation that something had severed not only the Eyes from the All Mother, but an attempt to sever her own connection to her limbs.

This had a particularly peculiar effect on the not-buzzing, not-even-mewling kitten, as she tried her absolute best to let the All Mother show her what was wrong. Someone warning her about a "He" about to eat her, about a Cetus, but the words of the others were hard to hear, far away, distant.

Instead, she was lost in thought about the sign, a bird that wasn't there-- a disconnection between the All Mother and the place of swamp and fog-- about what the bones... Wait, Booker. Booker was there. He was home. How wonderful. Her mind caught on that thought as, apparently, her limbs continued to freeze up and the poor kitten found she could hardly keep swimming.

words:......... nyah
tagged:....... @Giggle
ooc:............ dovefeather's attempt roll is for trying to stay above water, keeping swimming even though she's, y'know, bein' frozen to death... someone please save my baby lmao she won't get out herself tbh ;o;
muse:......... 9/10

"Talking looks like this."
Thinking looks like this...

Hooves, heavy and stomping, running up from the forest. It turned just a bit, enough to eye the approaching shadow, edging away from the water in case it decided not to slow. Thankfully it did, staring at him like it knew him, and It tilted his head, curious. Hello, Booker. Ah, a friend, then. Bit risky, to be friends with something that could kill you in one blow. What happened here? It shrugged, huffing out a laugh as the horse ignored the response, moving to the water and doing... something. Man, you hung out with some weirdos. Fascinated by the collection of strangers, It simply watched, whiskers twitching, stare bordering on bored. Another cat came running, stopping much too close to the water once again, and It rolled his eye, shuffling back even further. Matter of time before one falls in. The kitten was soon followed by a much larger creature, heavy-bodied and clearly predatory, and It shrunk back, quickly making his way to not-so-nonchalantly hide behind Owlfeather, sending her a tiny, panicked smile. And then, of course, because Booker had obviously never taught his son anything of value, Diot was up and peering over into the water as well. For a moment, there was a surge of panic, and It stumbled forward, driven on by some paternal instinct - but only for a moment. After that, he shivered once, before slowly making his way over to the tamarin, mentally beating back the glitch. Stop trying to help. Honestly. Instead of tackling his son away from the water like Booker obviously wanted to, It simply stopped next to him, grabbed onto one of the tamarin's hands, and pulled him a few steps away from the water's edge, huffing. "Bit close there, kiddo. Don't wantcha fallin' in, now, do we?" He made a show of grinning gently at his son, like the herbs were still in effect, when in reality they'd faded sometime over the course of the "night." All the better. Booker - what was left of him, anyway - seemed to love wrestling for control when the herbs kicked in. More creatures gathered, until suddenly the second kitten, the one with the big-predator-thing, spoke up, authoritative and confident. It watched with raised brows, impressed despite himself, a spark of memory warming him. So that's Dove, eh? She's talkative. Some of the words sparked another memory, though the brightest was "all-mother." Booker remembered it warmly. It only thought of waiting to be rescued, dying in a dusty half-abandoned den in the middle of nowhere. Yeah, some great power. Sure was nice to us, huh? A flash of self-righteous anger from the locked-up corner of his mind, the one with a great big hole that used to hold a chain, but Booker said nothing. Just as It was settling back to watch, yet another kitten ambled up to him, sitting next to him with... nothing. Not even a glance. It slowly moved his head to stare, puzzled, at the cat, before raising his gaze heavenward, as if praying for patience. Help me, All-Mother, for I have been drowned in cats. Even mentally, the tone was sarcasm-laden, sounding more like Baratheon then Booker ever had. And then, as if in answer, Dove fell in the water. Or rather stepped in, all pleasent-like. It stared, bemused, blinking as if he couldn't believe exactly what he was seeing. "Uh... I wouldn't... do that?" The kitten was staring right at him, and It flinched back, raising a paw to rub at his neck lightly, feeling for the bare patch there, created by nervous picking. "Don't seem very safe-like, y'hear?"

Giggle let out a shrill cackle of frustration, one that rang out over the water. She'd seen, in a flash, the cat either shivering on the bank--or lying there, dead. At least, she'd looked dead.

The hyena wasn't one to risk herself for others--well, maybe her son, a few close friends, but a zealous cat who was already ignoring her? No.

Yet still she found herself plowing forward with a growl, doing her best to charge in and snag the cat in her jaws, and get back out. She kept her eyes squinted shut, just in case of angry claws, and she also flattened her ears and fired a glare at the brown cat, who was screeching about someone saving her. You're so concerned, why the hell don't you do it?! she wondered.

But a few plowing strides in, and barely chest-deep she could already feel that the water was ice. Her limbs felt the shock of it and she pulled back with a low growl.

"Get out, cat, I won't ask again!"

Her words came harsh, but the insistence was born from worry, not anger.

________________

ROLL THE BONES