Item-searching thread for [Quest] The Three Kings - Wild Hunt!
Alpha is seeking the blood of the savage — Anyone is welcome to join at any time!
When the word savage came to mind — aside from the unfortunate connotations on other planets — Alpha found its gaze drifting toward the ceiling. Black figures tended to clot patches of it, swarming and snarling and descending on unfortunate Lessers and smaller Greaters. Not a single thought but aggressive survival flitted through their heads.

Perfect for blood-giving, hm?

The orthoclase intended to be efficient and safe about it, though; it'd learned its lesson with taking on too many foes before. It wasn't as if it could request assistance from the others present for numerous reasons — the most important and relevant being that they were... rather small and green-seeming. Not at all helpful or reliable in circumstances such as being swarmed by many mindless predators. Sure, they could be bait, but surely none of them were foolish enough to volunteer for that...

Surely...

It huffed, snorted, and shook itself out.

Best to start with arranging a cocktail of paralytic venom. Alpha shuffled slightly to one side, keeping to the cover of a broken crenelated wall and swiping its tongue over its teeth and the roof of its mouth, salivating in preparation. A faintly bitter taste filled its mouth, and it snapped its teeth shut carefully. No need to waste it by biting its own tongue.

Now, to spot a target and bring it down...

Its head twisted up to stare up at the starry ceiling nearest the wall, squinting fruitlessly.

The big green-eyed brown creature had said that it, too, was out for the blood of the savage.

Aleph couldn't just turn down such an opportunity!

I mean, if you thought about it (which Aleph clearly had not), following the giant alien beast was a half-decent, mostly terrible play. You got a big bad apex predator on your team but at what cost? It probably wouldn't be pleasant to go into the details. For Aleph, however, who could strategize perhaps, at most, the next two steps to take and nothing beyond that, this idea was 100% certified genius. Aleph was gonna get a giant apex predator on their side, and it was gonna be awesome! And that is all they needed to know.

Just... just give them a moment before you prove them completely and utterly wrong.

So the Pallas' cat had followed the creature. Its assumption was incorrect; Aleph was an aspiring king of fools, and they would volunteer for all the dumbest things until it was accepted as a fact, written in stone, and made into a statue! Or something!

As soon as the beast was spotted, Aleph would completely fail to recognize its intentions and yell, "HEY!! HEY YOU! WHATCHA DOIN'?" You know, to get its attention!

This was going to go swimmingly.

@Orthoclase-Alpha

table coded by banshee | for free use!

Aran followed when the giant creature mentioned getting the blood. Aran was going to hunt it down himself anyway, and with help he wouldn't be throwing himself into suicide trying to get it. Aran knew his skills and it was absolutely not fighting, more supportive. He did know how to do damage himself, though. Having spells for things of the sort. Even if he didn't fight physically, it didn't change that he could be useful himself.

"What are you looking for, anyway?" He questioned, eyeing up the large green creature with feathers.

Surely it was the savage blood, maybe this one had the same idea he did. When it came to the other gembounds. Get blood from one of them and bring it back, see what happens. Maybe he'd cast a spell on himself just in case it was something too dangerous, even if it only did health instead of actual injuries. There was a chance of whatever the strange thing was looking for, to have some kind of thing to hurt in that regard.

Oh, and then another showed. One of the other gembounds that went to see the three kings. Maybe more of them would filter in.

James (or Ajames, to keep the theme) came cantering up after Alpha and the others, both wanting to ensure no Gembound got hurt, and to possibly sneak a bit of blood from Alpha. No one else really fit the term of 'savage', at least to him.

He shook his head out and surveyed the group, wondering what would be the best course of action. Maybe if he could lift a big enough rock, he could drop it on Alpha and knock him out, giving him the opportunity to collect blood (perhaps on a leaf or something) and bring it back to the Kings before hiding somewhere the goliath couldn't find him.

Though... could he be sure the others wouldn't retaliate?

James looked around for a sizable rock and attempted to lift it with his telekineses, trying to be as quiet as possible.

Well that didn't fuckin' work.

James watching the boulder go rocketing upwards, more and more until it slammed into the ceiling, dust sprinkling down upon all of them before the rock plummeted downwards, crashing into the ground and causing more dust to fly up.

When the dust settled, James stood there blinking, his head pulled back like a turtle with its head tucked into its shell, rather mortified. So much for quiet...

@Orthclase-Alpha

Just remember, darling, all the while. You belong to me.

~ Sometimes, you just have to let the child be ~

Now, you see, fear and suspicion usually drives people away from that thing, Akaari was not so smart. In her utter tomfoolery she had followed - perhaps the wrong word to use, she was no sheep - the outrageous creature as he went off in search of the blood of the Savage. The cub had different ideas. She could not be wrong in her assessment (when was she ever wrong, what nonsense is that) for the large creature reminded her too much of that which lurked beneath. Perhaps it was just those eyes of his and she had focused on them so much that the rest of him morphed into the monsters of the deep. (It was just as possible that she had gotten the wrong end of things and the monsters were the saviours and the not-her was the barbarian). She had a one track mind in the though, she could not let him get too far away from her, always in the corner of her mind if not the corner of her eye. Perhaps she could study him. Now that was an idea.

Her mind, unknowingly, had followed the same train of thought as James', though not for quite the same reasons. She believed so fervently that he was one of the barbarians of the deep - for she was becoming quite obsessed with those visions - that how could he not be the savage the Kings were talking about. He was placed into the palm of her hand so she could deliver his blood to the Wild Hunt and be the master of it all. How kind of him.

Brought out of her reverie by a sudden and very loud crashing sound. Her eyes had not been paying attention but now she saw the falling of a comet, crashing and burning to the floor below and unsettling a desert of dust. Were they trying to draw attention to themselves? She could help there! She ran through the dust, small rocks that had fallen off the boulder hit against her pelt, though barely got through to her actual skin, her paws flying all over the place as she joined the small growing group. She kept away from most of them though, eyeing them all up, though mostly Alpha. She still really wanted to climb up his back and stare into those eyes, perhaps they held answers. Though the tall boulder throwing guy could lift her up to stare into green-eyed monster too. Interesting. One of them would do it if she asked nicely. Later though. Not now. Now was for blood.

Perhaps they could get blood from many different things, one would have to be classed as a savage, would it not, and the more they had the better their chances. The better her chances. Yes, much smarter. Now all she had to do was try get everyone else here to do her bidding. No one was really doing much at that point. Tall, boulder-throwing guy had most likely disturbed whatever it was that green-eyed monster was staring at and two were asking questions - nice! But what about actually getting the blood? Or even a creature? After one look around at everyone she knew that she would have to take charge here if they were going to get anything done.

The cub rose up onto her hind limbs, spread her front legs out wide like asking for a hug then slammed them down onto the ground. "Look, I draw savages to me." She was grinning at them as she started spinning in a circle, chasing after her tail that was dragging against the ground, falling onto her side and turning from one side to the other as she let her legs continuously flop either side of her. Whilst doing all this she kept her eyes on Alpha, having to come up with a plan to somehow draw blood from him, there were also rats they could be looking for. She had seen pitch black rats with red eyes tear into flesh, the nattering of their teeth in cave corners, if she looked at them too closely she was sure they would follow her into her nightmares, those would do quite nicely, would they not, if she could just draw some out with her 'dancing'. She had not realised that Alpha was thinking of the bats high above - the more the merrier though. "Evil rats, savage rats, evil green-eyes, savage green-eyes." She repeated the sing-song chant over and over, standing up sometime to wave her paws in the air again, rolling around on the ground as she sang at other times. All a part of her plan.

@James @Aran @Alrik @Orthoclase-Alpha

A few shadows shifted along the ceiling--resting, perhaps, half-asleep.

Aleph's shout had them stirring. A prod in the hornet's nest, but nothing too terrible. And then came the boulder: crashing into the low ceiling here, dust cascading down. In the echoes of its roar came another noise: the leathery flapping of dozens of wings in the shadows above, the hissing of a dozen creatures... or dozens.

The Batcat (Juniors) were coming.

@Orthoclase-Alpha

It was hard not to be suspicious about the numerous Gembound that followed it out of the alcove. Toxic green eyes fixed on each one of the arrivals, a baleful hiss rising as Aleph called - loudly - and disturbed the beasts up above. "Being quiet," it answered, with no small amount of disdain.

Anyways, surely these little things weren't foolish enough to carry out a hunt? Two of them were built to chase a tumbleweed in the wind, and the others were children.

They might have magic, it thought, but, not the kind to rely on. The other excuse for them following might've been plain - I'll give them reason to think otherwise. Both through intimidation, and proposing a plan of action.

The deer was being mindful, at least. Alpha fixed him with a rather neutral stare, then the rest of them. It gestured towards the ceiling: "the black-beasts up there are completely mindless. They have no gems or thoughts other than to fight and survive." Feral copies of something else, they were.

A boulder careened towards the ceiling, and seeing as the closest one to its landing site was James, the kaiju rounded on him with a roared "IDIOT!" Quills pricked. Its growling stopped. The swarming mass on the roof was shifting, wings flapping through the shadows and a cacophony rose. The jig is up.

Alright, plan now: Alpha swiped at the cub dancing around with a growl, getting her attention. "All of you - listen. Run in different directions. I'll catch a straggler and dispatch it, take it to the Hunt." It was simple enough, void of any actual instruction once one was being chased by possibly dozens of mindless beasts.

Those were personal problems.

Alpha didn't particularly wait for objections, instead huddling close to the wall and staying quiet - slowing its own heartrate just outside of the range of impairment. It was coiled-up, ready to spring.

@Aran @Alrik @James @Akaari

Dread seeped into his very bones as he looked up, seeing the bats come barreling down as if they'd shot out of Hell. His tail tucked under his legs and he realized that he'd messed up, and prepared to bolt before toxic green eyes filled his vision.

The roar deafened him momentarily and made him shriek and scuttle backward, before rearing in a panic and falling to the ground, hooves scrambling at the ground as he tried to run away. His hooves caught and he was off like a rocket in whatever direction he happened to be pointing, ears pinned and his prey brain fogged with fear and the instinct to run as fast and as far as possible.

James darted behind a rock in an attempt to hide, the memory of the other chasing him fresh in his thoughts as he rocketed to the side instead, all thoughts of bravery out the window. He ended up hiding behind yet another rock, shoulders hunched and legs trembling as he pressed himself to the surface of the boulder.

At least it convinced him that Alpha was most definitely the 'Savage' that the kings were talking about. Why couldn't he have just dropped that damn rock properly?! None of this would have happened and he wouldn't be traumatized twice over.

He'd just gotten over teeth...

Aran watched the stone hit the top of the cave, and holy hell there was a swarm coming right at them. Those things had sharp teeth, sharp claws, perfect for ripping and tearing. Aran didn't want to associate with those things. Oh, and Alpha's outburst didn't solve anything, either. The other hooved creature ran off, and the swarm was coming closer.

They all were instructed to run in different directions - maybe it would make some of the swarm split up. If it came down to it, Aran would cast one of his more dangerous spells. Hopefully it would make some of that swarm stop collecting. Aran would like to call himself gallant, though it would not be showing when he took off to help the large thing separate some of the bats. The green thing was going to take one of them - but what were they supposed to do with the rest??

A question that would come later.

Just remember, darling, all the while. You belong to me.

~ ~

A sound of someone's worst nightmare: the clawing of a dead man's hand as he moved out from under his own grave; the cries of children taken by the monster under their bed; the deafening silence of mist rising in the graveyard. They were in the midst of it all. A swipe at her on the ground - how dare he - and she was jumping up from her dancing to pay full attention to what was going on. It would probably be best to not look towards the maybe-savages that were coming towards them but how could she keep her eyes away from something so fascinating?

Now, she wasn't exactly stupid but one would probably not use intelligent to describe her at this point either. The green-eyed guy seemed to be the most knowledgeable one out of them all which meant he knew what he was doing so when he gave her permission to be in charge - by telling everyone to scatter he was obviously giving her leadership - she took it with everything she had. "Savages, savages, we want your blood." She ran just as she was told, though not in fear like she had seen the other tall guy do, what a wimp, they couldn't hurt anyone. "Savages, savages, what are you~" Singing as she ran in circles, trying to get the attention of the flapping things, one cannot be scared of something they have not yet studied, right?

She wasn't really paying attention to what everyone else was doing, the knowledgeable one said to run so she ran, and as her legs moved and mouth sang a green light followed her. As toxic a green as Alpha's eyes and hovered above her head, it was small and faint though. Being the target for things they thought were savages was probably not the best idea she had ever had but she wasn't really thinking about that, she only really cared about the fact she was having fun and could get a reward out of this. Ohhh, what could it be?

@James @Aran @Alrik @Orthoclase-Alpha