@Esther swoops in and grabs @Madhukar to bring them closer to Astraea and James, successfully avoiding the sparks and completely disrupting their plan that, unfortunately, Esther had no way of knowing about.


Astraea noticed the incoming cat and readied for the drop-off, quickly moving in to cleanse what infection Tahi-shei had tried to spread to their friend.

(Roll: 3 - Barely Successful)

He nodded a thanks to Esther and spared a glance to Madhukar, quickly saying, "Try again, but be careful not to make contact with Tahi-shei."

Madhukar may post again, with @Tahi-shei posting after.

And suddenly, the cat's paws were off the ground. "NOOOOO!!!! she shrieked, flailing but to no avail. THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!

She was carried to the big deer, who seemed to clear the growth out of her with a very familiar spell. That's right! Tahi could do that!

She had to get her friend back.

Without hesitation, the cat ran back out, into the fray. She made a b-line for the thing trying to take over Tahi's body.

'...be careful not to make contact with Tahi-shei.'

"TAHI-SHEI!" Her voice boomed, commanding the attention of the thing posing as her nerd. "THREE CHOICE. TAKE I' OUT WI' YO' MUSHROOM MAGIC, FOLLOW ME, O' DIE BY LIGHTNING." Her glare was unwavering, her paws rooted in the ground. She was not beside him. She was several strides in front of him, so she made sure to be loud and clear. This was not a negotiation. This was an order for surrender. Whatever thought it could take the mind of Tahi away was going to pay the price, one way or another. Madhukar only prayed it had the sense to make this easier for all of them.

Madhukar would scan the terrain for several spots surrounding them. With great and perilous focus, she would charge and finally release.

Another barrage of arrows scattered around them (mainly behind Tahi it to keep it from running away), another wall through which the bad mushrooms shouldn't try to make Tahi pass lest they electrocute him to smithereens. Madhukar began to trail back to the big deer, looking back once.

Pillar of salt.

To let the mushrooms make their choice.

Think "Speak"

@Tahi-shei

"M-Madhukar, what-- what are you doing?" Lightning arced at his heels, and fear struck through him two-fold. Would she--? No, she'd never hurt me, he thought, firm. Calm. She only wishes you harm She trusts you. Convince her. And the voice gave him physical pause, then -- he frowned, his heart hammering in his chest. "What?" he said, and he was not talking to anyone around him.

Listen to your mother, Tahi-shei. You saw her; she is on Astraea's side. Has he not betrayed you already?

He paused. He didn't want to believe that, but-- well, it seemed to easy to agree. Hadn't he? And he was trying to keep the gift from Madhukar? Tahi eyed her warily. Dying here was not an option, and neither was removing Mother from himself--! But... well, he could try and deceive her, couldn't he? Tahi swallowed hard. Strain was evident in his muscles as he skittered a few steps forward, boxed in. Trapped. Contained

I'll only take out a little, he reasoned, so she'll think I'm cured.

Be careful.

He would be.

"It's not working," he said truthfully, desperation creeping into his voice that wasn't quite his own. "I tried, but it isn't working." Whether or not she believed him was entirely up to how generous she was feeling, but one way or another he had no choice but to inch where the lightning demanded until he was able to muster his magic again.


@madhukar

Confusion. Or so it seemed. So it could've seemed. But Madhukar was on all kinds of edge. The shouts were hard to ignore, those who struggled to clamber to the big deer. Those who gravitated away at the speed of a bullet. Something was pulling them, in their heads. She'd been paying attention, just as she was now.

When you look into his eyes, what do you see?

He said he would try to take it out. He said. There was a lot of speech going on right now, and Madhukar was only trusting the kind that would help her friend. He said he'd tried, but his voice... oh Tahi. The deer was so bad at lying that even the mushrooms couldn't make him to it well. It formed a lump in her throat.

She turned her body around to face him again, and so many thoughts rushed in and out with each breath that it wasn't even a full minute before tears started running down her cheeks. Every storm starts with rain.

So I'll ask you again:

When you look into his eyes, what do you see?

Glaze. Wobbly. Not him, still not him. Liar.

And for the first time during this whole battle, Madhukar actually looked... weak. Her voice came out, a pitiful cacophony of drops on the floor. Petrichor. Mixed with the smell of burnt flesh. She couldn't fail...

"I... so sorry, Tahi."

Her eyes didn't need to dance around for a target. They knew where to look.

One bolt. That was all she was putting her effort into, to make it precise -- exactly as she required it. The rest could fall where they may. This one, the first would be the arrow to the heart.

'I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry'

She didn't have the strength to look at her own destruction.


Think "Speak"

@Tahi-shei

death

i guess but he'll get better, also uhhh

gore

for mild body horror

--

Tahi-shei frowned as Madhukar looked at him, and with her apology came a strange sort of numbness and then a feeling quite a lot like being slammed into the ground by Orthoclase-Alpha, except this time as though he'd been pinned from off the side of a cliff. He hit the ground, and everything swam. When had he started lying down? Every muscle in his body was locking up, and he heard it then -- No, no, no-- fight it, Tahi-shei! Fight it! Come back to me! Come back, little one!

A gorgeous ametrine dagger pierced from his chest, the wrong way around and with blood on its tip, and then it was arcing up violently around him. Quick, silent, and just a little bit painful (not that he could really feel it over the ringing in his ears). The crystal was pretty, inarguably so -- he admired it, for a moment. Wasn't this nice? He could hear Mother, somewhere. Distant. This was curing him. In a stunning moment of clarity before oblivion, he looked Madhukar dead in the eyes -- clear now, just for a moment -- and managed a strangled, "Thank-- you." Gratitude. Sorrow. Pain.

And then, the magic of the chrysalis took him.


/exit taxi into chrysalis
@madhukar mostly

Effluvium was numb to the chaos surrounding it. The surrounding world came in ebbs and flows. Slices of sound. Flashes of action. Memories, thoughts. Not its own? Whose? It briefly attempted to swing its head to search. A twitch was all that occured. Unable to move. To think of anything but Mother. Her comforting words, assurance that it was full.

But it wanted to eat. Its instincts demanded it. The action around it, the voices around it. It was the sign of food. It all made Effluvium want to move. To consume. It did not want to feel full. Its body jerked in small ways. Frustration and rage simmered beneath the surface. But its frustration was not the driving cause. No, it was a wall of flame, pure heat, surrounding Effluvium and the dragons.

The fear of fire, no matter how brief it lasted, overthrew Mother's grasp over Effluvium. It screeched. It turned, clawing, wild. Away from Bone, for it no longer possessed the hunger for her. Away from Ursa, even as Mother urged it to turn, and fled towards the cleansed gembound. Away from all of it.

"When I speak."

When I think.

There were cries from gembound she couldn't see. Cries to resist. Resist? Why resist? Mother was here. Mother will protect them. Keep them warm. Give them family. Some of her family, they resisted. Went to a horse, and a deer. Mother disliked them. Mother thought them misguided.

There was a gentle nudge. Brief, mental. Mother, guiding her. Calling her to Ursa. To be with her new Family. No, Kalama did not need family. A brief, rebellious thought. She could feel Mother's disapproval immediately. Kalama did not want to disappoint mother once more. She stood. Took a step towards Ursa.

Yes. Family. She stood. She would be equal, amongst family. Another step. Pause. Kalama did not want to be equal. Her head jerked the other way. Mother was wrong. She wanted gold, power, strength. To be recognized. An individual.

Kalama turned around. She felt pain, an immediate headache, muscles locking. Mother didn't even have any gold to give her, did she? Mother could not empower her. She was a champion, not an equal. Kalama forced herself towards the cleansers. Through the locking muscles and the pain. She was a champion! The greatest amongst greaters!

"Get rid of her!" She barked at the closer gembound, a dark horse.

think "speak"

@James

There was calm, now. The gembound felt comfort. Love. Mother. The raptor's eyes were dilated. Claws tucked softly, gently against her chest. She was Mother's Harbinger. She was Mother's child. One of her children. One of many. Siblings, all of them. Strong together. She and her siblings belonged in Ursa. Mother said it, and so it was. She pushed herself up with her arms, standing. She was ignorant to the chaos around her. There was no issue. There was nothing to fear.

It was just Mother. She gave a brief glance behind her. Then trotted in the direction of Ursa. She felt Mother's joy, as she followed her orders. Someone had ruined her tunnel. Catalyst hissed. She was Mothers! They could not keep Catalyst from home! Her home! Mother's home was where she belonged!

She launched herself at the ice. Tore at it, until the ice collapsed in on itself. A hole, large enough for her. She wriggled through, the bite of the cold muted by the sheer love of Mother. She would be with her soon. Mother, she thought. I'm coming home.


;Exit Catalyst

Effluvium came first, then Kalama. He turned to Effluvium first, the bigger threat of the two, one he'd much prefer to have on their side. He practically flung his magic at the beast, purging it and banishing the fungus from the creature's body.

"You're purged now," James said, "Get to safety, please."

He looked to Astraea and to the struggle with Tahi-shei, ripping his eyes away to face the chicken that approached.

James successfully purges Effluvium!

James bent his head down to Kalama and inhaled, focusing on her. The spell faltered and he shuddered, his exhaustion starting to catch up with him.

"Sorry- I'm sorry," he apologized, and went to try again.