kethri !

Kethri sat perched in a tree with her head sunken into her feathers, her blue eyes half-lidded and exhausted from the long flight. It had been a grueling journey, what with her energy sapped with the healing she was doing. At least she was healing, though.

"... Thanks for coming," she said begrudgingly, not one to feel grateful at the best of times, "I need some lessers, a bird, a deer, and a mouse, if you can find them. Don't kill them, I'd like to try these on them."

In one claw were a bunch of berries, big and fat, ripe and ready to eat. If you were stupid, that was. These were toxic- extremely so, but she'd only heard of the effects, and wanted to document them first-hand. If she could figure out ways to coat claws or weapons in the juice, then it would make attacks ten times more effective, and since the juice was sweet, it could easily taint other fruits and be given as a gift. She wished it was tasteless, though. A sweet piece of meat was suspicious, since no one really spiced or flavored their food very much.

"Oh, and when you're done that and we've tested how well the toxin works when ingested, I want you to coat your claws with this and attack some lessers that way," she said, eager to see how well these berries would perform.

@Garnet-Delta

Ahhh, Kethri.

Garnet-Delta had landed when they reached the forest, opting to trample through the undergrowth and become absorbed in the rich bounty of smells. It had been a long trek, but its wings could rest now as it paced under the tree Kethri perched in. "Oh, you're welcome," Garnet-Delta responded with a rolling purr to its voice, crimson eyes flicking up to the snowball in the branch above.

Well, I see one bird right above me, the feline kept that snide comment to itself. Kethri had struggled at first, but the Doctor had turned her around. It was amazing what results stockholm syndrome could provide. And now, hah, the silly owl was even coming around to ask for its help! It was hilarious, really, if a certain puffin could see the punchline it might even agree. And to think, once Delta wasn't thought to have a lick of humor in its body.

Whiskers twitched as it turned its gaze away. It listened to Kethri's whole spiel with mild interest; it had its own toxins via magic, but there was potential here. It wouldn't refuse the opportunity to add more tools to its toolbox. "Interesting. Let me see what I can find," it responded with formality, finding no reason to rub the situation in Kethri's face-- at least, not until they were about ready to head back. It didn't want this whole trip to be a waste, after all.

It reached out with its magic, but it found that it could only hear its own heartbeat-- maybe Kethri's, but that even was to faint to properly make out. If magic wouldn't work, well. It was time to get hunting.

The alien-cat stalked off, tan tail raised to give away its position to the owl as it prowled through the underbrush. Tasting the air, it went hunting for prey, ears rotating to catch every little sound.

@Kethri (if thats not enough for you to go on, i can go ahead and do some more posts! delta's gonna try to bloodhold something once it finds them)

kethri !

Kethri stared off into the trees, seeing all sorts of bugs flying or crawling about with her owl eyes. Prey was a lot more tricky to find, especially the ones that didn't want to be found. But they would be, in due time.

"I'll lookout from above," she said, holding the berries in her claws (they finally healing, and well) as she took flight, her ascent silent, her feathers making not a sound as she flapped to gain some altitude, weaving through the trees, staying as hidden as she could.

Now, Garnet-Delta was only a tiny bit right. Kethri certainly was on their side and was loyal as Hell despite her sneers and hisses. She may even die for the cause.

But Kethri was always like this. Cold, calculating, with an anger that quickly and suddenly roared like a forest fire, one that was quelled just as fast. She hated Gembound by default. The only reason she liked Doctor (and everyone here) was because no matter how hard she tried (the exception being Delta for obvious reasons), she couldn't feel angry at them. Annoyed, upset maybe, but anger didn't come quickly like it did for strangers.

If she didn't shun the word like it was taboo, she would recognize the emotion that replaced her anger as appreciation. They'd given her a home, a support system, and admittedly, she was grateful.

Though Delta could still kiss her ass, the prick. She thinks so lovingly, at least.

Maybe it was Stockholm Syndrome.

Her eyes, focused back on the ground and the trees, saw nothing. Disappointing, but whatever. There would be prey.

@Garnet-Delta

Garnet-Delta stalked through the undergrowth, tasting the air and finding itself overwhelmed by the fresh air, thick with thousands of smells like a soup swirling on the breeze. It was used to the dry, plain air that smelled of dust and bones or... whatever you would describe Draco's eerie, sweltering womb.

Its ears heard the sound of rustling of grass and distant bird calls, echoing through the dense forest. Before it could even get close to any of its prey, it was noticed; it heard smaller creatures scramble away from yards away, ducking into hiding holes. If it could get its magic to work, it could pinpoint every last lesser in Eridanus... But then again, maybe the massive amount of life would be overwhelming.

In the end, the feline used its ears like satellites, eventually narrowing down the source of the bird calls. It sure took a lot of time, wandering through the underbrush like a clumsy child walking for the first time. Burrs and brush kept catching in its pelt, but finally it reached a large tree where a huge, bright blue bird was calling to distant potential mates.

"There," Garnet-Delta purred, lowering itself into a crouch. Pupils growing as it focused on its prey, its magic surged from its gem. The bird froze, mid-call, body locking up. "Alright! Kethri! Over here!" It called, scrambling up to the tree. It clawed its way up the trunk, tail lashing with excitement. "I got one!" The caroller could only stare, twitching on its perch and unable to take flight.

@Kethri

kethri !

Kethri's head shot to the side and towards Delta, a gentle coo escaping her throat as she dove down and landed beside the creature. She plucked up a berry and forced it's mouth open, dropping the berry in and forcing it closed, shaking the damn bird until it seemed to have swallowed.

She grabbed it around the neck and chest, falling towards the ground where Delta was, pinning it there. She stared at the creature and watched it flail as the spell wore off, before it started to pant, eyes rolling around, then convulse. She held it down firmly even as it's wings smacked at her, not entirely of it's own violation. It started to foam at the mouth and it's eyes rolled around, before it's convulsions turned to twitches, and it went still, it's heart no longer beating.

"Hm... it works faster than I thought it would," she said, "So a single berry is good for for taking down a creature around this size... could you see if you could find a deer? I need to test the dosage on one of those."

Kethri looked down at the bird, "I suggest you don't eat this, you may end up poisoned yourself."

The owl let the bird go and examined it, noting symptoms and other things. It was a neurotoxin, targeting the brain, hence the seizures and the muscle spasms. Excellent.

@Garnet-Delta

Garnet-Delta perched at the crux of the branch and the trunk, eyes wide as saucers as it held the bird tight with its magic. Lips curled back as it breathed in the panicked scent of the bird, fur prickling as the owl dove down to pin it. It waited for Kethri to have a firm grip, and slowly released once the berries were shoved down its gullet.

It pulled at its magic, watching as the blood slowly stopped pumping through its body. Watched it start to turn stiff and cold-- a slow, tedious process. Long, feather-like ears twitched at the raptor's request.

She wanted a deer next. So needy, hm?

"Understood," it responded to Kethri's warning not to eat the poisoned food-- obvious as it was, it appreciated the advice. It had no way of knowing if a single berry would kill it, too, despite being larger than the caroller. It didn't appear to have a gemstone (perhaps beneath the feathers) so it would decay slowly... hopefully nothing would decide to scavenge on it.

Delta spread its wings and pushed off of the tree, taking flight and maneuvering around the treetops as it sought out heartbeat signatures like a radar dish. Before long its senses reached a herd of jungle deer, and it alighted on a branch. "Kethri," it hissed, twitching its tail and glancing back. It couldn't get closer without startling the whole herd, and potentially losing them all.

It probably could grab one with Bloodhold... but it would fight a lot harder than a bird. It wanted Kethri to be ready, because the owl wouldn't be able to pin it down.

@Kethri

kethri !

Kethri buried the bird before any wildlife decided to come and scavenge it, not wanting to be responsible for an entire food chain suddenly suffering from seizures and cardiac arrest. Once that was done, she quickly took flight after Delta, lifting her feet into her feathers to keep them from drying out.

The owl's head turned to face Delta as they called her, and she quickly adjusted her flight path to silently glide towards them, flapping gently and spreading their claws, landing on the branch with not a sound to be heard from her beautiful wings.

"Perfect," she mumbled, eyeing the herd, trying to pick out a weak deer or one that was inattentive or something.

"That one," she pointed out, stretching out a gnarled talon to point at a stag with a gored shoulder, probably from fighting a stag from a different herd of deer, "It's weakened, so we should have a better chance of success... but how to keep it alive..."

It would need to be stunned and brought down, but that was easier said than done. Perhaps a lasso could be thrown and anchored to a tree? She looked around and yanked some vine down, setting it in her talons and trying her best to tie a knot. She managed to get her talons in order and tied a knot around the vine itself, forming a loop.

"If you get this end around the deer's head or antlers, I can tie it to the tree and you can either try to hold it again or we can wait for it to tire out," she said, holding out the loop, "Does that sound good?"

Did Kethri just ask for Delta's opinion? Wow.

@Garnet-Delta