So much had happened in such a short span of time. The ground had started shaking as Sabors' golden pelt disappeared into the water, followed by a ear piercing roar that she could feel shake her bones. The rise of the Leviathan, and the sight of Sabor being flung away from the creature sent fear racing down her spine.

The sputtering magicka of the other gembounds, even as new ones arrived and fights appeared to break out between the new individuals, her focus remained stuck to her feline friend. Watching as a sudden sickness seemed to rip its way through his figure, she wanted to help. Wanted to drag him away from the water, maybe... just do something! but her body remained frozen where she stood.

Even as the ground shook and tore, sending dust, and sharpened shards of rock spiraling through the air, ripping into her pelt, and leaving irritated crimson wounds in their wake.

"You mindless beast! I don't know what has awakened you again, but this time..." The voice, unfamiliar to her ears, was enough to force her out of her frozen stupor, scrambling back as the raptor raced past, leaping onto the leviathans form. "you will die!" A small squadron of similar forms following mere moments after the raptors declaration had floated through the cacophony of sounds.

Horrified, and unsure, Tolani's attention returned to Sabor. He had to be okay!

"Speech"

Another wave of nausea hit him as he continued to grip desperately to the shoreline, back legs flailing into the water below. Golden eyes scanning the new arrivals of gembounds who were something out of a child's bedtime story. Desperately searching the faces old and new until he froze on Tolani. Who looked simply mortified, crushed Sabor inhaled sharply his words shattering into a roar. Hoping Tolani would be able to save herself.

"TOLANI! RUN!"

What in the actual fuck? Roaring and crashing echoed from the caves of Fornax. The newest edition to the labyrinth of Origin was already under siege and the fox just had to figure out what was going on. Upon merely standing in the entrance, he was free to observe the chaos from a distance until the ground beneath them began to shatter apart. No members of the Merry Men were here other than... For fuck's sake. Louie let a guttural growl rip out from the base of his throat as he too joined the onslaught. There was no interest in attacking the leviathan, heck he would be interested to see who it was capable of knocking out. Perhaps he would remain merely to participate in the resulting chaos?

Not wishing to draw attention to himself, nor did he think that anyone would even hear him over the loud crashing and roars of the titans as they struck each other, he contacted Penelope via a mental route. Something that could be heard even among the din. "Penelope why do you always seem to attract shit like this to you?" It was hard to get closer to her, as he avoided being whacked aside by the thrashing from the multiple creatures who occupied the small space. Feeling his balance being overthrown, he fell sideways onto the ground with a groan and his head spinning.

"You piece of shit." From where he lay, he began to summon the strength to cast a devastating blow. Influenced by his rage, the manifesting virus was a strain of rabies despite his not knowing, Louie tried his best not to let himself become infected. Praying for some form of deadly disease that could merely have the leviathan seizing and collapsing over dead, he "swung".

"DO NOT FORGET WHO I AM"
"DO NOT FORGET I AM IN YOUR HEAD"

table by lisa

The sinking feeling in his gut only seemed to progress, and a cold sweat broke out across Czernobog's skin as his friend swooped down, croaking out his name - and for a moment, frozen in time, he grinned, a childish thrum of relief shooting up his spine. Eve. Eve was safe, she was here, she couldn't be helping these monsters; she had probably just gotten caught up in trying to flee herself. The Hats of Rot were good, always, had raised him up and kept him safe. Eve had even gone after his attacker, as small as she was compared to the massive, angry cat. A voice at the back of his mind, one that had always been dark and oily and angry, one that boiled to the surface when he felt limbs snap beneath heavy hooves, reminded him of waking up one day with her and her white child, so like his own missing daughter, gone. Of screaming across the waters for her to come back, with Tal'at's still body cradled in his chest, chrysalis biting into meat and bone. But Eve was family, and Dragon said family was Important.

And then time swept on, and Czernobog's breath stilled - and blew out in a relieved grumble when Eve landed on the crown of his head, the familiar feeling of feet on his scalp settling his nerves at least somewhat. The battle around them was only growing, and now that he had his family on his back - literally - he could get them to safety, eyeing the entrance with an instinctual gleam of fear -

P... Pounce?

The beast froze, one hoof raised, and slowly it thumped to the ground, black eyes rolling up and over to stare between his friend, his blood and the creature that had nearly electrocuted him to death, that had made him swallow blood and bile and his own burnt flesh for days. That had made him suffer like a dog and had fled from retribution. A high-pitched, panicked whine built in Czernobog's throat, the soundless disbelief of an animal backed into a corner, chest and mouth aching at the remembered pain, the urge to shake E- the bird off of his head growing with every moment. But that might mean hurting Macawi, and even if others didn't care for their family, he always had. "Go," he finally grumbled, one beady eye locked back and upwards at the unwanted passenger. His voice had been hoarse since that day, mouth and tongue a hideous cobweb of scars, lungs and heart still open to the air.

And Eve was trying to reason with, was friendly with, knew the name of the man who had done it, had probably let him go when she came flying back. He wondered for a split-second if Tal'at had lied to him too, felt his heart stutter, and ground his teeth, drool gathering at the corners of his mouth as he turned his attention away from them both, dismissing them without words, anger and an emotion he had never, never felt before - a sense of betrayal that made him ill, filled with bile - rolling off of him in waves.

"Take the monster with you," he advised, eyes turned towards the water-beast that towered above, a snarl building in his chest as more joined the fight against the helpless creature, images of his father, his daughter dying like this, in pain and outnumbered, filling his mind. "Watch him kill what's left of your family, zdrajca."

Macawi had had quite enough of whatever Big Pig thought he was doing with her! She was just glad Tangak was hiding in a corner of the ceiling right now or she was certain he would be peeping indignantly at getting flipped nearly upside down onto the back of a giant boar. She’d held on for a time, her bag flying off of her shoulder and spilling its contents all over the ground. And her Baubled headdress was somewhere over by her satchel, likely to get squashed by some Gembound at some point. Finally, she slipped off the pig’s back, huffing with anger and confusion.

She was about to have some words with him, but he didn’t even seem to notice her absent weight. He was too busy talking to the bird she’d met at the Children of Rot meeting. She waited patiently for him to be done speaking, and though some part of her knew that now was not a good time for this, she snapped at him anyways. “Macawi is fine, friend. Did no one teach This One that it was very rude to flip Gembounds upside-down like that? And Macawi was, if This One did not notice, trying to help save others! Now, if you will excuse Macawi.”

And with that, she stalked off to her headdress, somehow managed to get it back onto her head, and then nosed the strap of her satchel back over her shoulder. She didn’t bother trying to get the items back into the bag. But she was at least going to continue this fight with some dignity. That is, if Czern didn’t decide to flip her upside-down again.

"Speech"

Words: 279

(there's some mild swearing below)

Amidst the roaring leviathan and the screeching raptors there was a moment of silence for the crow and the boar. Eventually, Eve fluttered off his head and onto the ground. Her chest heaved somewhat, but her attention had finally broken away from Vicktor. Instead she stared up at Czernobog. "He died," she said quietly. Not only was that a rare occasion in itself, but her voice dripped with venom. "Tal'at died and Dragon killed him. Did you expect me to just stay? Did you expect me to just follow him like I always did and pretend everything was fine? Did you expect me to keep my children around that monster, you bastard? Did you?" It went beyond anger now - she was hurt. Hurt that the boar, who had done everything in his power to protect children, didn't understand. Her chest puffed up, eyes cold and hard. "How many more people is he gonna have to injure, is he gonna have to burn alive before you open your eyes? Even if he didn't kill Tal'at do you know what he did? He set him on fire without so much as a second thought," she spat, croaking angrily. "How much longer until he decides to torch you alive, huh?" She ruffled her feathers now, weight shifting off her talons. "Monster," she echoed. "Call him that all you want. Watch Dragon murder what's left of his own family. Watch him turn on father. Watch him turn on Ghanyarah. Watch him turn on you, and then turn on your kids." There was a faint, crawing scoff. "Monster. What a fucking irony, Czernobog." And with the sound of fluttering wings, the crow was gone. table code © rasta 2015

-exit eve-

Vinnie swears. A lot!

VINNIE THE VOICE
He'd thought he'd heard some kinda crazy chaos and DAMN he wasn't wrong. There was a thing--like a GIANT thing, like a fuck-off huge spiky thing with crystals and ANGER, and there were people... like, EVERYWHERE, just FIGHTIN'! What was this?!

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" he shrieksquawked. There was a crow--but nope, off she flew, before he had a chance to ask if she was some kinda kindred spirit who could maybe clue him in.

There was a big black bristly thing on the ground and it was tossing around an equally not-black, not-big thing, and there was shouting, and OH HOLY SHIT THE GROUND IS SHAKING! THE SKY IS FALLING! WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE!

Vinnie screeched, whirling and hurtling as fast as his broad wings could take him, screaming in alarm, for a far wall. Whatever the hell was going on, he did NOT want to be in the middle of it.

But--he could watch, right?! Hell, he couldn't look away even if he wanted to! This was CRAZY!

Gawd, I hope nobody dies!

________________

Vicktor paid little attention to much else as the fire shot from his mouth, until that old named greeted his ears. Molten ember dripping from his jaws he focused on the crow's voice. But he couldn't react, he needed to do this. He couldn't just leave! That desire to fight for joy was stopped by the presence of Eve. But now he only wanted to prove to himself, that he could protect. That he could win, conquer even. Poor thing really, as if winning now would fix anything.

'Take the monster with you'

White eyes torn from the leviathan he focused on Bog, the beast who spoke in tongues was now talking with ease. Something was up, regardless it wasn't much of his concern. Glance trailing over he watched Eve spit back; words vibrating with both venom and pain. He knew that tone; anyone in the caves could pick this up by now. This place was a living hell and they were all trapped, trying to survive when shit like this sprouted up everywhere. Corrupt minds twisted and pushing others to the brink. The jaguar being one of them and a product of these caves, of this frail and hellish timeline.

'Monster. What a fucking irony, Czernobog.'

Eve had left, a flurry of feathers and without a fight because of Bog. Eyes locked he thought carefully, Eve had rushed off hurt, leaving the boar behind. Vicktor closed in, white hot saliva dripping from his lips. In retrospect this probably wasn't the best time to approach the boar. Especially looking like this...and being the gembound who damn near killed him, well Vicktor wasn't in that mindset. Not now, not why Eve's voice rattled around his skull. He was calmed, the dire beast within caged by

"Czernobog"

Name rolling around like foreign slime on his tongue. Vicktor now stood before him, two grown beasts who had it out for one another. Memories rushing back to the jaguar, about the fight that started it all; his very descent that made him what he was today. Yet he did not spat out flames, or bristle his hide. Instead he greeted the boar, with understanding and sorrow. And most surprising of all an apology.

"I remember you and you remember me...I can see it in your eyes and in your scars. I'm sorry Czernobog. I was so young and afraid...I was a child...you can see how much I've grown since then...

He stopped, mind reeling as the beast inside remained not only caged but now missing. Leading his thoughts was that jaunty and understanding one

"Truth is I still am. I've become something monstrous. I don't know why I'm telling you this but- But seeing Eve awoken something in me..a warmth I had been missing...love for not just myself but dare I say friends?"

He stared at Bog, white eyes expectant for some sort of reaction. Though it wasn't until now that the thought of the boar trying to gore him flashed across his mind.


"Speech"

"Thought"

It had happened far too quickly. Creatures came from everywhere, starting with one asking if she was okay. The next thing she could remember was surges of pain and loud screeching surrounding the room, gripping her fear tightly. The tapir scrambled as far away from everything as she could, hiding behind what she could only assume were boulders. The world quaked beneath the earth, water rushing all around as sounds of fighting of various sorts overwhelmed her senses. She couldn't understand anything, anymore.

Then, it all melted away, just like that. A familiar ring in her mind didn't encourage her to move, but it did chase away some of the adrenaline that had managed to pump into her veins. Louie was present, now, but it didn't make the world anymore reasonable, at this point. Penelope remained in her place, hoping to not die nor be maimed any further, new wounds present on the surface of her skin. "I don't know, I hate myself enough for it, I don't need you here to make me feel worse," she snapped at him in their mental connection. What didn't say was that she needed him there to make her feel better, but that was not something that would ever happen, it seemed.

---

"Speech"
Thoughts.
Louie's Bullshit.

He died. Czernobog's ears twitched, chin tilting left and down to peer at the bird down his snout, eyes thinned into shiny black slits. The more she spoke, the faster, the words began to melt together, and the boar snarled, snapping massive teeth at the tense air between them. "You speak nonsense, insect!" His voice, the way the words sounded out were nothing like his little act, growling venom to equal her own, not a slur in sight. All he could think of, swimming through his head and his vision, was the misery in Dragon's eyes after Tal'at had burrowed, still burning, into the pig's chest, where his heart slowly beat to a stop. Of the choking bile clogging his throat as he felt that last breath peter out, and the breathtaking relief of feeling a tiny body twitch and unfurl within the heavy crystal in his chest. "Umrę, jeśli muszę, robaka. But loyalty is in short supply," the boar grunted, leaned forward so far that his panting, angry breaths ruffled her feathers. "I protect. You only run," he called to her retreating back, rearing back and letting his front legs fall to the ground with a squeal, head shaking as if to wrench free her words. She had left - abandoned him when he was at his weakest, unable to move for fear of hurting his brother, had helped his attacker, hidden him, and she spoke of monsters.

"Uruchom, Siostra! Rot złapie Cię!" Panting, he toed at the ground, hoof digging deep into shoal. "And you can tell Tal'at how much you care then." Something moved in his peripheral, and the creature stilled, one eye flickering to glare at the jaguar who had, so long ago, melted his throat into webs. Czernobog's hackles rose until they stood nearly up to his ears, and he shifted, head rounding to stare Vicktor head-on. He expected pain, burning and skittering through his brain again, blacking out and losing his connection with Willow - but he didn't predict a... conversation. Black eyes widened, suspicion making his upper lip flip back, and he shuffled backward warily, only to stop, jaw clicking shut, at the animal's words.

I'm sorry, Czernobog.

He had thought about that fight for months, running it back through his mind, finding every error, every missed blow, and every time it restarted, tried to find the moment when the cat - practically a baby - had decided to attack, never deciding on a true instant. It had been... random, and painful, and frightening, the emotion foreign to the pig. But he could still feel his tusks piercing the cat's soft stomach and bumping up against its ribcage, and he stared, breath slowing down and evening out, until he finally straightened up, head to its full height, tilting his neck to peer down at Vicktor. "I remember you, little one," he finally murmured, posture slowly muting out into a facade of relaxation.

The rest of the words made him huff, black eyes meeting white, hunting for any sign of malevolence... but nothing lay in wait, only, it appeared, the same storm of emotion Eve had left in him, as well. "...you were young. A child. You no longer have this excuse, nor do I." A tiny duck of his chin, and it seemed the boar had made up his mind, inner writhing mass of tentacles stilling in slumber, green eyes peering out into the night, alone and cold. "We are kin, then. Two monsters," he explained, humming out a soft chuckle, sad and pained. "Flesh will always be split, blood always drunken, bone always crushed. It is only the weak who think otherwise," he muttered, casting a glance towards the tunnel where Eve had disappeared. "Friends. We have met Death together, cat, and friends are only poor excuses for family. Allies, perhaps. But I will not let you hurt the water-beast," Czernobog grunted, massive head turning up to look at Leviathan.

"You have invaded, it is defending. We have no right to be here."