The hybrid screeched as his boat abruptly sank, and scrambled up to leap skyward, feather-scaled wings beating frantically to at least momentarily keep him aloft. He wasn't flying, more like batting the air so hard that he was falling not-quite-as-quickly, floundering between each wave.

He locked eyes with the monstrosity ahead, and screeched again, defiantly. This was his storm, and he would use it! He was one with it--the Stormbringer, part of the howling winds and the crashing thunder. The pelting rain ran through his veins.

He called upon his magicka again, exultant the thrill of electricity surging around him, careless to all else. It crackled in the air, but did not discharge, and he felt himself sinking--and heard Iris close by.

"STOOORM!" he howled out, raging and despondent all at once.

________________

I AM THE STORM

Mosaic wasn't exactly sure what all the yelling was about, but then again did she really care? No. The answer was no. She wasn't even sure why she was bothering to search for the source of the pained noise, but she must have had a good reason for doing it (even if she forgot), so she decided she might as well continue.

What was really frustrating, though, was the fact that she couldn't see a single thing. What the heck had happened to the lights? Mosaic bared her teeth in frustration, squinting and hoping that it would somehow help her find the other Gembound. There was a sudden spark of magic in the gem on her chest, and Mosaic felt a rush of fear. She hadn't meant to do that - what if this spell went wrong, too? However, she didn't notice the awful ringing in her ears that had been there the last time she messed up, so maybe it was okay. In fact, she was pretty sure she could see better now. Had the magic done that?

Whatever. It didn't matter right now. What mattered was that she could actually see (!) what she was looking for now! "Oh!" she yelped. She recognized that cat! That lavender hairlessness was unforgettable. "I know you! Oh gosh, you're not looking too good. I mean, you always were hideous, but that looks like some serious hurt to me." Her tail twitched nervously. She didn't know how to help, but she couldn't just leave the cat like this.

@Ejder

OF WISPS AND WHISPERS

FORNAX — Storm Warning

The strange creature drew closer to Iris, and as its maw stretched wider, she could suddenly see that the roof of its mouth was covered in jagged fangs. The jaw hung somewhat crooked, extending farther and farther--impossibly-wide--and the point of a green gemstone protruded from the acidic color in three places.

Deformed. Misshapen. Twisted.

It drew close enough that she could smell the rotten stink of its breath, and it was as if the crashing waves and the darkness faded as it approached, once again trying to draw Iris into some strange trance. It was the center of this world, and nothing else existed.

YOU'VE ENCOUNTERED: THE DEVOURER

Yet, even as this creature swept closer in the bitter cold, another shape rose from the darkness behind it, the size, perhaps, of a large draft horse.

It was spectral, ghostly; it had no place in the same world as the monster of acid and ink. Instead it glittered pale blue-white, flashing bright with incorporeal energy, mirror-silver eyes streaming magicka in tears down its face. A tangle of blue gemstone formed antlers above its head, and it let out a loud and haunting call, likely recognizable to Iris as something very akin to whalesong.

As it cried out, the thunder crashed around them, more lightning flaring in the dark.

Its intentions were not yet clear, but it appeared fixated on the Devourer, from behind.

YOU'VE ENCOUNTERED: SPECULAR

@Iris @Shango @Mosaic @Ejder @Pollux @Valeria @Cecei

The kitten stood in the flooded exit of Fornax as though caught up in some sort of trance. Ejder was perfectly still except for the slightly of twitches from his lavender tail. Inside his brain, however, was another matter. Deep in his skull he was rapidly trying to take in all the information around him; the shouts of nearby creatures and the apparently random gathering of gembounds that had now been dispersed, the lights’ strange appearance and disappearance, the pain that flowed from his side that seemed to engulf the majority of his body. Much was going on at one time and it was a struggle for even an intellectual like him to take. He was, after all, very much still a kitten.

His attention was snapped into the here and now by a loud and familiar voice. Startled, he turned and found himself faced with the African wild dog he had met when he first hatched. The vestige of his previous thoughts vanished as he realized the familiar face was talking to him.

“Oh! Mosaic! I didn’t realize you were here too!” And her comment, he turned to look at his side where a large bruise had already begun to appear over his hairless skin. “Yes. It is most unpleasant,” he replied softly, trying not to focus on the pain that numbed his thoughts. (Which he was finding more troublesome than the pain itself.)

Thinking about the pain seemed to make his tolerance worse. Instead he turned to look out to the great sea of Fornax. There, he could just barely make out the brilliance of a bluish white creature as well as other dark shapes showed against the lightening. He gasped at the spectral figure that had appeared. Beauty was not something he normally understood, but there was something awe inspiring about the scene that played out in a far distance.

“What’s going on?” he breathed softly to no one in particular.

He had just wanted some of the easy to get fish.


____________________
"Speech"
"Thought"

Tags: @Mosaic and I dunno who else. XD
Notes: here

In the inky blackness of the rolling storm, only her frantic echolocation and the occasional flash of lightning was there to guide her. Valeria had never been more terrified in her life, and with the cold, heavy raindrops soaking her fur, and no sign of the lost gembounds, or a place to land, the little vampire bat realized she had made the biggest mistake of her life.

With her wings growing tired and heavy, Valeria knew if she did not find solid ground soon, she would fall into the wrathful waves below and no one would hear her tiny cries. I need to land, or I'll drown! Oh.. Someone, help me please!! In her moment of peril, she could not help but think of Aries. She told the ram she would only be gone moment, less than a cycle, but this trip had been nothing but disaster after disaster, how fitting that it would eventually kill her. He won't know! He'll never know! I need to get back, or he won't know what happened to me!! I'll drown like the others! Oh Spire... Then another thought entered her head. What would Aries do? The valiant ram had amazed her by not only surviving Khloros' deathly plague, but a fall that should have killed him. What would he do lost in the middle of a violent storm? "K-k-keep going.." Valeria shivered to herself. That's what brave Aries would do, he would never give up. He made it look so easy, but Valeria's aching wings screamed other wise, though, she kept flying onward. Fornax could not last forever, she would hit a wall sooner or later, atleast, she prayed she would.

Then, like a beacon of hope, a ghostly blue light lit up the darkness and an eerie song wailed through the cavern. Valeria sent out some clicks and realized, there was or someone.. or something, ahead of her. Bathed in the soft blue light of the mysterious phenomenon, she could tell it was a large sea-bound creature of gentle pinks and blues, and their back looked like a tempting place tp land. There! She made a b-line straight for them, flapping her wet wings as fast as she can before they could vanish beneath the waves.



"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: // OOC:

@Iris @Shango @Mosaic @Ejder

The sea-beast tried frantically to look for her new friend, peering into the crashing whitecaps for any sign of the strange creature. Hearing the furious cry about the "STORM!" yet again, she whirled about in the water, currently unaware of the bat trying to land on her back. As the Devourer drifted ever-closer, trying to narrow every bit of her focus in on it, she screwed her eyes shut, a keening call erupting from her throat. "NO!" She had to find her friend, her little strange storm creature. Unheeding of the other beast rising from the waters, Iris shook her head and tried to force her limbs to move, her tail to shift.

But her will slipped away from her, and she began to stare blankly toward the monster. Everything around her went dark except for the green green green presence and the glowing beast behind it, which went ignored, despite its familiar whalesong. She did not try to keep herself afloat; instead, she began to sink beneath the waves once more.

Shango floundered in the surging seas, his scalefeathered wings lying on the ever-tilting surface of the water. Then there was a thing, there--a thing staring at Iris, from the waters. He noticed at once the similarity between its eyes and his--his were paler, but both were bright, glowing, green-hued.

It irritated him, and fascinated him, as if there was something familiar about this creature, something he wanted to learn what is THAT?

A sparking, ethereal being had risen behind it, something blue and electrical, and he tried to get a better look between gasps. His head kept submerging between the cold water, and staying afloat at all was proving to be a struggle. His spine-tipped tail lashed behind him, slowly trailing, as he tried to balance himself out--but it was all for naught. He just couldn't control his floating, if it could even be called that.

Angrily, and not particularly creatively, he simply eyed the black beast and again tried to call upon the storm around him. He wasn't even really sure what he wanted; he was just absolutely certain that rain, thunder and lightning would save them all. From... whatever it was that was happening.

This time, though, he couldn't get enough air to shout about it.

The thunder crackled, and lightning did strike--but was drawn directly to him, a deafening crack and a blinding blast striking precisely where he was swimming. A moment later he bobbed back to the surface, face-down and motionless, alive--but barely.

________________

I AM THE STORM

OF WISPS AND WHISPERS

FORNAX — Storm Warning

The creature of black was visible only in the flashes of bright lightning. The rest of the time, all that could be seen were his eerily-glowing acidic green eyes as he drew ever-closer to Iris--and to Valeria.

The long limbs reached forward, reaching for Iris' eyes, talons extending upward and then curling down to claw at them, to tear her vision from her--no doubt to render the large beast easier prey.

Just then, Shango's lightning struck. The blue-wreathed creature behind the black predator reacted, rearing back from the water, energy flashing brightly around it--and another crackle of pure blue electricity hurtled forward to engulf the entire area.

The black creature twisted, howling in pain, leaping clear of the water in agony for a moment--its attention turning to Specular behind it.

Iris is being targetted by an attack to the eyes, and must roll to avoid. Any others in contact with water must roll to avoid being struck by the blue lightning. Effects on strike could range from muscle spasms to cardiac arrest.

@Iris @Shango @Mosaic @Ejder @Pollux @Valeria @Cecei

There was a bolt of lightning drawn to some unseen speck in the water, but Iris could not draw herself away from the Devourer. She was sinking, sinking, sinking. Acidic green filled her vision and suddenly blackness stretched across it, ending in pointed tips as it descended. Distantly, the sea-beast realized that they were talons and that the creature intended to tear at her eyes so that it could blind her. Mentally, she thrashed against the phantom hold on her body.

All of her thrashing shifted to real motion and she pushed herself backward; in the nick of time, too. Impossibly sharp claws swept across her vision, barely missing her by the snout. Blue electricity arced through the air and the waters. Iris couldn't have had time to brace herself, feeling her muscles spasm and twist and shake in ways they couldn't naturally. Involuntarily, her limbs went slack and she sunk despite every attempt not to. Her head sunk beneath the waves before she could take a breath.

It probably helped that he was already unconscious in the water... somehow. At least it meant that he wasn't awake for the strike, or awake so that his muscles would clench and cramp and twist.

He was still breathing water, of course, still badly-burned by his own storm, still shocked into unconsciousness--and he remained that way, his body only tremoring as the second, blue flash passed through it, somewhat diffused by the water around him.

A few seconds later and his mind rebooted, struggling out of unconsciousness to keep him alive. His first realization was that he couldn't breathe--was choking, drowning, cold. At least his wings kept him afloat, strange and light-scaled as they were, but only barely, and this was hardly a consolation in his mind. Instead panic set in almost at once, jaws gulping icy cold and glowing eyes springing frantic-wide as the darkness closed around his head, and he submerged.

Kicking and struggling weakly, in only a haphazard thrashing rather than anything so productive as swimming, the hybrid managed to come back to the surface.

A sound escaped him--a cry, mixed with water-filled choking, mixed with a scream.

________________

I AM THE STORM