It was a very interesting sight. The peryton tilted his head from a good distance away to peer at the huddling group. One pretty deer with a piebald pelt, a dragon, a rhino, the owl he'd rescued previously...and one whose appearance captivated him. The leader of the little band, desperately trying to herd everyone together. The stag's appearance and demeanour were near other-worldly and Rafael had never seen any gembound quite like it. He gazed at the stag with dove grey eyes, gentle and curious as he observed the larger one being flustered and desperate as though he were a saviour. He could hardly care for the smoke billowing from the dragon, nor its fiery red eyes. He wasn't scared of death nor pain. With gentle actions, he trotted forward, giving a couple of shakes of his head, attention focused on the stag. Not even the pieblad girl could parallel the magnificence of deer dad - not that sheen upon his pelt backed by the heart-thumping backdrop of fire and smoke.

The peryton walked closer, shoulders and hips rolling along with finesse born of being just a little away from 2 cycles old. With an almost benevolent voice, he rasped out to the stag. "Why do you try so hard? If the gembounds wish to fight...do you think your actions will amount to anything?" Ah, the hot-cold type. Lashing out at something attractive to draw in the distance. He moved closer to the stag, attempting to brush his muzzle against the other's neck.

Nemesis' eyes narrowed as the buck spoke to her, trying to explain his way out of his trespassing and rude manners, practically stumbling over his own stupid, useless words. What a waste of breath. As the ground rumbled and the beast of the tear in the earth came up to greet them-- she felt the wave of heat rush past her, the taste of smoke-- she watched the buck jump, startled, clacking his hooves and prancing around them, desperate to herd them away from the danger.

As if!

She wasn't scared. The roar of a laugh came up like an ocean's wave to her knees, the scent of smoke all too familiar. To her, the Dragon was almost family... Now, the white pipecleaner was NOT. He snapped at her with his too-cocky tone and that was just about when she lost it. The Dragon was allowed to stay, he belonged here; they were both of Fire. This fluffy idiot was not, however, and he was intent on doing something bad, she could just tell. The deer... The deer was trying to help, but he was wrong. Whatever. Baratheon turned to look at the Dragon, clawing his way up, and said the stupidest thing and asked just about the dumbest question that she had ever heard.

Well, she wasn't going to have that. She scuffed at the earth, lowering her head, and with a swishing tail, let loose a horrible shout as she charged her horn right at Baratheon's side.

"GET OUT OF OUR HOME!"

Tamelyn Thunderhoof And I will fear no darkness

The girl beamed as he recalled her name. Though she hadn't often seen him, he had been a sort of role model to her since youth, an ideal to strive for. He was wise and benevolent and protective towards the Gembound, all things she wished to emulate. However, the happy moment came to an abrupt end as he spoke of the two creatures in the pit. Tamelyn swallowed, her ears drooping in undeniably guilty. "Um...well...see, we might have--"

Her confession was cut off as one of the bulkier Gembound began to shout, her voice carrying though the cave. Tamelyn turned to look at her as the great stag attempted to calm her, but the damage had already been dun. The ground shook, smoke erupted from the ground, and the dragon reared out of the pit, malicious laughter echoing through the cave. Tamelyn's blood went cold, and for the moment she was unable to react, letting herself by herded along by Deer Dad. The smaller white dragon was facing the larger one, but when the bulky creature charged him, Tamelyn was finally snapped into action. "Hey!" she snarled, dashing around Deer Dad to make for the rhinoceros. What the hell was she doing? The big dragon was the enemy, not the fluffy white one? Desperate to stop her somehow, Tamelyn gathered her magic inside her as she raced for Nemesis, then released it in an arc of dancing electricity aimed at the rhino.

Unfortunately, the bolt dissipated as soon as it flew, doing fuck-all to the rhinoceros. Nevertheless, Tamelyn continued on, attempting to full-body tackle the rhinoceros instead to try and turn her away from the white dragon.

"Listen to me."

table by lisa, image and modifications by FennecFyre

Everything crumbled and turned to chaos before the stag's very eyes. He struggled to push the other Gembounds back, back to safety, away from the dragon - except the furry white dragon bypassed him, completely disregarding his warnings and standing before the massive obsidian beast with a rather stupid question. The stag gritted his teeth, half a second from bolting out and dragging the white dragon away by force when another creature had approached. Strangely calm in the face of encroaching death, the stag swung his head around just in time to hear his words - almost encouraging the Gembounds to fight - and see him come in close to his neck. There was a fleeting blaze of fury that illuminated the stag's pink eyes as he knocked the peryton away with his impressive antlers, just in time to see the rhino suddenly charge at the white dragon. What were they all doing?!

The only one's that seemed to obey him were the owl, who quickly took flight and Tamelyn, who had shuffled away. Even so, Tamelyn was quick to hop into the fray, heading towards the rhino. "Stop!" He called, stumbling back and eyes wide - how could this happen? How could he let this happen?

In the wake of the massive, volcanic beast, it seemed the Gembounds all turned on one another. It was inevitable. This was the doing of the great demon. The harbinger of chaos. This was Raheerah. The dragon was the herald of destruction in its purest form, and he needn't even part his jaws to unleash Hell upon these caves. Finally, the stag understood.

The monster swung his head, ignoring the words of the white dragon, briefly watching the rhino charge and the doe try to stop her, before landing his burning orange eyes on the stag. His jaws cracked open and another thunderous laugh poured forth, shaking the entirety of the gorge. "Behold! My legacy! This chaos and destruction is MINE!" His tumultuous laughter carried through the canyon as he swung his head around, and brewing in his depths a vivid, molten red; it erupted from his throat, the red and orange glowing through his scales as he spewed a stream of fire, sweeping over the room.

Each Gembound will sustain some burn damage from the attack.

All characters are now engaged in a fight with Raheerah.
The fight will continue over 10 posts following this one. Each roll will subtract that amount of HP from Raheerah.

Raheerah currently has 500/500 health.

The dragon was peering up at the great dark beast, who was in stark contrast to his own appearance. It wasn't until he heard the shouts that his gaze turned towards the others. It seemed that all hell had ensued. No only that but that stupid loud-mouthed rhino was coming right at him. Did she really think that he was afraid of her? Bara turned, his lips coming up into a fierce snarl that exposed all of his fangs as he glared at her. He should be more cautious. He knew full well what he was capable of if he was set off but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to care. The rhino had started this and he would finish it. "You want some of me, fatso? Well, bring it!" He turned and dug his claws into the earth as he stared the quickly charging rhino down.

He opened his mouth after taking a breath and unleashed a beam right at the rhino. He had aimed to use his normal blast but this time it came out different. From his mouth was released a pink beam of energy that went straight towards the rhino. With that blast he hoped to injure and knock the stupid creature back. After the blast was done he closed his mouth, eyes glaring down at her while a pink plume of smoke curled from his nostrils. He felt a surge of pride from within himself... But that was quickly washed away with a burning sensation as the larger dragon released a plume of fire towards them all.

Bara covered himself with his wings as he crouched down onto the crown. "Rrrrr....." He growled in pain. His fur protected him from most of the heat but it was hot. Very hot and cut beneath his thick fur to the vulnerable skin underneath, singing it. The damage wouldn't be seen on his coat but underneath was where it really stung. Angrily he stood up, legs stiff as he glared up at the large black dragon. His blood was boiling but it wasn't bloodlust, it was something else. Never before had he felt a thrill of excitement like this. He wanted to fight something, to test his powers on someone who was larger than himself. Perhaps that pulsar blast had done it.

"Is that all you got? Ha! I've seen mice put up a better fight than you!" Where was this coming from? He didn't know but it made him happy to challenge this other dragon and to fight, even if he ended up losing. He crouched, wings spread as he prepared to leap away if he was targeted.

---

words: 443
tagged: Quest
ooc: Bara has minor burns underneath his fur.
muse: 7/10

"Speech"
Thoughts

Antlers dug into the youth’s skin and he was roughly flung away. Sharp talons trailed the ground as each toe spread out and flattened onto the ground to stop the impact, causing him to jerk to a cruel stop. Not shy of his full head of antlers at 2 cycles, 7 sturdy points curving up cruelly on each side, Rafael was hardly threatened by the other male. Barrel chest heaved in and out as he shook his crown and fixed his gaze upon the deer apathetically. "Sacrifice yourself,” Rafael shot his counterpart a benign look. "If you’re so eager to help, why not exchange your life to he who seeks chaos, than control those who won’t listen to you?” he snorted with a calm smirk, adrenaline pumping through his body as the dragon began glow with fiery and unleashed a molten blast. A chuckle escaped from his lips as he turned his attention to the dragon and ridiculous rhinoceros. With two flaps of his wings, Rafael reared and launched himself into the air, dodging the fire. Phoenix feathers that covered his tail and hindlegs did little to help. He felt the scalding feeling creep up his legs painfully. The peryton shivered and screeched, trembling where the pain ran through the course of his blood. This was chaos. This was heaven.

He couldn’t care less for the creatures apart from the little owl and the pretty girl – but he wouldn’t disturb her just yet. Let the rhinoceros die in flames for all he cared. Rafael hovered in the air and looked at the dragon. Obviously large and entirely beyond their league, Rafael had no intentions of even trying to hurt it. Instead, he decided to put out the fire blazing the ground where the fellow gembounds stood. Gathering his magic around his chest, the peryton attempted to change the scorching flames into a solid ashes. Alas, he was attempting to cover too large an area, bursting too much energy which he didn't typically use being more of a...physical fighter. The result was not too terrible though, the fire embers blazing the ground where the circle of majority gembounds stood turned to an acceptable ash. With a chuff, Rafael eyed the creatures. He did not really understand why he would be helping them and then it struck him. Not being able to take down the ferocious dragon by himself, he had to utilize the strength of the rest. Too bad, it couldn't be helped.

The peryton hovered steadily, ready to dodge should the dragon aim him. For a lingering moment, he cast a pointed look at the stag. Yes, you're different. If you think you're so special, lose yourself in that fire.

________________

Dark circled frantically, and the heat which bloomed below him sent him tumbling and flinching nearly to the roof of the cave with a cry of fear. Feathers singed--and he'd never flown this long before--he dropped back down, flapping frantically.

His wings caught air, but a moment later he was met by a world of stone, dazed and shocked briefly as he found himself slamming into and rolling along a ledge. He wasn't very high up, but he didn't know that; what he could tell is that he was still relatively close, but much farther than he'd started off, from the others. Sixty, seventy yards by his quick estimate.

He could hear fighting. Feel the surge of magic. Frightened, he sought the mind of the one who had begun this. The dragon.

Dark wasn't sure if he could impart emotion--but he tried to. He aligned it with sound, for good measure, focusing all his terror on a sense of screaming fear. He tried to pass this on to the dragon: a deafening screaming roaring through its mind, intent on disrupting its focus and thoughts, along with utter blinding terror. He had no idea how well this would work; maybe it would only feel that he was afraid? Maybe it would at least give him pause? He wasn't even trying to harm it, or attack it, exactly... only communicating what the thing was imparting to him, and to stop this fight before it got out of hand.

The blood rushed through his own head after his impact, roaring through his mind, and after focusing so wholly on his magics he stumbled down, panting through parted beak. The fear that roiled through him--he'd made it his own, sent it on--but it still drove him back, clutching at his heart and sending him cowering against the rock. One desperate thought filled his mind, over and over.

Please don't kill us.

________________

It was impossible to ignore the sounds of fire and battle from the other cave. In Orion, Cancer had been hiding away from the world. He'd allowed Niru some time to wander and was just enjoying the peace for a change- as much as he could enjoy anything these days- but as he'd drifted off into a cat nap, he felt his dreams become nightmares- and waking, he discovered he'd never been asleep enough for that. Those sounds, those echoes, that smell- it was real. The dragon was acting. I can't let it escape. I can't let this happen. This is my fault. And so, perhaps brave, perhaps stupid- perhaps both- the leopard grabbed his armor and dressed, headed for Monoceros again.

Chaos had already erupted in the next cave. As he rounded into Monoceros' all too familiar dips, he gasped at the sight that met him. Beasts of every shape and size, all facing off against that damn dragon. No! Those fools! He had to act fast. He had to do something. He dove into the fray head-long, or rather, from the sides, from above. From his place on high, amongst the cliffs and ledges of the sharp-drop cave, he began his assault- his attempts at doing something right for once. His magic charged, his horns and eyes lit up, and he hoped beyond all hopes that this would work...

...but just as he focused his magic, movement caught him off guard. The cat cut off his attack and slid away just before being hit in the crossfire of another attack. He slipped, down and towards the group, but stopped himself before going too far, too close. His surprise attack blown, the cat opted for the next best option.

"DRAGON!" He snarled, behind the beast. "LOOK HERE!" Give them a distraction to take advantage of. Surely the beast would remember its waker. Surely it would look, to see who's fault it was he'd woken. "REMEMBER ME!?"

"Speech"

---

Attempt: Bloodhold failed, so attempts to distract dragon boy instead.
Defense: Leather and Steel Plated Armor
Injuries: Healing scratch marks (4) across left cheek.
Other: gdi failed rolls here we go again.

Nemesis was used to fire. She reveled in it-- the day she was born, she was baptized in flames. She heard the roar of the flames, felt the lick of heat on her heels, and she did not bow as the white, fluffy dragon turned on her and began to glow. One did not stop a charging rhino. Especially not by calling her fat.

The last thing Nemesis heard was a deer screeching at her to stop. She felt the doe hit her side as pink flooded her vision. Everything was hot white-- this was not fire. This rhino knew fire and did not fear it, but this was something else entirely. It knocked her charge off, or perhaps that was Tamelyn. Either way, the grey barrel tumbled to the ground along side Baratheon, burning blood oozing from the massive wounds she had sustained. The fire washed over her, perhaps a saving grace-- some of her wounds would be cauterized from the blast.

Her senses came back to her slowly, the yowling roar of a leopard that she remembered distantly. She hadn't been there for the fight, but it was hard to miss the snarls and screams. She knew that one of them had returned. Kicking her horn into the air beside her, blindly lashing for anything that was too close, she stumbled back to her feet. Pain shot through her body as she snorted in defiance, she would die before she let her wounds stop her. The world was hot, burning red, and though for now she could not see, could barely hear, she knew she could contribute. She could burn too.

"GET!" She roared. "OUT!" She charged. Blindingly forward, the rhino lunged once more, heat burning under her skin while the pulsar attack gnawed at her flesh.

"THIS IS MY HOME!"

Tamelyn Thunderhoof And I will fear no darkness

There was a bright flash of light as Tamelyn crashed into the rhinoceros, sending them both to the ground. Had she done that? For a second, she thought her magic had actually worked--but the crackles of magic were emanating from the white dragon, not her. The rhino had been stopped, at least. Tamelyn scrambled to her feet, ready to berate her for being so stupid, but a wave of fire grabbed her attention first. She hit the deck again, feeling it scorch her back, singing the fur and sending up a stink. Great, now she was going to smell like burned hair. Her skin hurt where the fire had grazed her, but it was nothing that she couldn't fight through, and she hopped to her feet again. The black leopard she had seen once before had joined the fray as well, though her opinion of him was less than stellar. However, she could only look at him for so long before Nemesis was up and charging. Magic crackled about her as well, but it was severely weakened, and while her horn clipped Tamelyn's hip as she charged her, there was little burning, only a spot that would bruise later.

She wanted to shock the rhinoceros again, but she had to focus her energy on the greater threat. She splayed her legs and focused, willing herself not to choke like she had last time. Her gemstone glowed, her fur stood on end...

...And a thin spiderweb of lightning arced from her towards the dragon. She hissed in frustration, but at least, this time, she had actually managed to call up her powers.

"Listen to me."

table by lisa, image and modifications by FennecFyre