backdated to be a little bit before GOOD PERFORMANCE.

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

gore

The wildflowers were in full bloom, today; all those Lessers huddling together in the trees had come to witness. Clusters of multicolored fur milled about, flat teeth gnawing on the tender shoots and tallgrasses alike. Their pathing was indiscriminate, because the feeding was good. Any step in any direction brought them to more food. The tree rabbit colony as a whole was at peace—numbers clocked in at only eleven, but given their size and bright coloration... it was hard to miss them.

Hence, the monstrous Hound standing not far off with her slavering jaws preemptively peeled back to their fullest extent. A lookout or two had peered her way with keen wariness, but her still being twenty or so feet away was all the safety blanket required.

If only they could consider magic to be a predator.

At merely a flick of the tail, crushing pressure bore down on the smattering of rabbits. Lungs were the first to painfully burst, rasping squeals silenced far too quickly. Then, came the ribs and all those thinner, more fragile bones prone to the shear forces of entropy. Flesh squelched horribly as skeletons punctured hide and mangled. Sanguine sputtered and already Oil sizzled out of those with stones somewhere on their body.

Ten dead in moments, and one clawing to get away and finding itself paralyzed with fear. Draconua hovered over it for a moment, then scooped it in her mouth. One sickening crunch! and it, too, was snuffed out. The rest, she picked through. Those without stones, she went ahead and choked down her gullet. Those with, she arranged into a pile and simply held them in her mouth. Any second now, they would decay; she'd always favor the burning taste of Oil.

Briefly, though... a distraction.

The Sleepless Chaos swung her head to the side, rabbit legs knocking against her jaw with the movement. Just yonder, a brown smudge on the landscape. Antlers coiling up like knives; a fungus-laden crown atop the head. Hooves down below. Her tail lashed a single, slow rhythm, and she slunk closer. Catching the rabbits on the barbs of her tongue, she rattled out to the creature, "you."

A lovely greeting, coming from a monster whose face was larger than Tahi-shei's body and was lightly spattered with still-wet blood. "Who—and what—are you?" He was familiar, in a glance-and-you-miss-it sort of way.

@Tahi-shei

Tahi-shei had been on his way from something of a date with James when he'd been distracted by a strange sight indeed from down the hill -- a hulking black creature, perhaps the largest he'd ever seen -- no, wait, I know her! was crouched in the grass and staring at something. He followed her gaze to the hard-to-make-out, colorful shapes a distance away. He wondered what her intention was -- she was too far away to pounce on one, and they weren't big enough on their own to make a meal for her.

He watched in equal parts muted horror and gruesome intrigue when the rabbits crumpled like tin foil and were snapped up by the Sleepless Chaos. That was a cool party trick -- he'd have to keep it in mind, especially because now, her head was whirling on him. Black frills spiked up around his body in preparation for an attack, but instead, she seemed to be more interested in talking. He flicked an ear -- he could handle that.

The stag moved a bit closer, just enough so that she could hear him without having to shout -- she was tall, so he wanted to be able to look her in the face without too much issue. He wasn't quite sure where the eyes were, though. "I am Tahi-shei Deimos, the Fungal Prince," he said first, a brief waver in his voice quickly silenced. He gave a sort of bow in the incline of his head. "As for what, I am many things. A stag, a scholar, a master of the Fungal element. Not comparable to the Master, of course... but, then, I do not think anyone could be." A touch of humor and the appropriate amount of reverence were in his tone. He looked the creature over for a moment, and tilted his head slightly to the side.

"And you are?"

@draconua

The head was close enough to call it eye contact; Tahi-shei couldn't help it that her twelve eyes were arranged in the pinholes of her faceplate, completely unexpressive. All there was to indicate was the trails of Oil leaking down, but even then... a good part of her body was leaking the chaotic substance.

Eh. Anyways.

An imperceptible smile quirked at the introduction, that fractional wavering. Draconua immediately had a theory, and took a single step forward to test it. Her head lowered just a bit, gauging a reaction with thinly veiled glee. One of the decaying Lessers started trickling down her throat, and she tossed it back and swallowed. Does he cower, she wondered, or does he keep himself steady? It was a test, though the purpose of it was as yet unclear. Knowing the hound, it was just sizing the stag up.

Finally, though, she had a visual to go with the word stag. He looked like any of the Lessers she hunted, except... plainer. Most of this strange new generation was like that, though. Draconua had yet to see the purpose in it.

"And you are?" The hound lifted her head in a sort of thought you'd never ask gesture. She finished the last rabbit skewered on her teeth.

Barbed tongue still licking at lips that stretched too far back, she rattled, "Draconua, the Sleepless Chaos." She did not bow like Tahi-shei had. "I know you. The Leviathan said that you would be seeking out—" here, she physically recoiled, muscles rippling along her flank to tense up while she spat out the word "Order." Oil-stained teeth glinted for just a moment and chaotic impulses demanded immediate release.

Draconua turned her head aside, a baleful hiss escaping her. "Disgusting Order; an infection that you are apparently needed to find." Hussaresque wings stabbed once through the air, and she stared down with a startling, sudden stillness, "what will you do when you find it? How will you defend yourself?"

What will you do when I bring it all crashing down?

@Tahi-shei

Tahi-shei watched Draconua approach him, and he held steady. He did his best to ignore her swallowing the Lesser and to ignore the way his pulse was thundering in his ears. Every cell of his body screamed to flee but he did not -- he met whatever he assumed was the predator's gaze, and he held his ground. He was terrified, but he was not a coward, and more importantly he didn't really want to be chased. So despite the sour tang of fear in the air, he held steady, and sized her up in turn.

She was massive. Dangerous. Heavily armored and capable of mass destruction. In a twisted way, beautiful. Sleepless Chaos was an excellent title for her; he wondered briefly if she was a Master, but noted that Vargas had not mentioned someone called the Sleepless Chaos. And he did not wish to challenge her. She reared back, spitting and disgusted, when she mentioned the Hive -- Tahi-shei's blood ran cold, and his eyes narrowed slightly at the mention.

Was this a test? Was the Leviathan keeping tabs on him? Draconua was not a spy for the Hive, she was disgusted by it, she held no fungus within her -- still, he echoed her disgust. He had not even spoken the word and it felt bitter on his tongue. Then she was whirling on him, and she was lethally calm, her words like the tip of a sword pressing against his throat. He straightened himself out and flicked his ear in mild annoyance -- he did not like being questioned, but he supposed he needed to practice this little speech.

"I will direct the Master's armies towards it," he said cooly. "I will cleanse those who can be cleansed." Adrenaline spiked through him, and he almost challenged her. Almost. "I have skill with ranged magic," he said instead. "I can redirect an opponent. Weaken them. Keep them away from me." He shrugged lightly. "I could kill something, if given enough time." Nausea tore through him, but he hid it well. "But I am not a creature made to stand on the front lines of war. I am a strategist and a general standing behind the army." He looked up at Draconua, his eyes alight with fire. "I am too much of an asset to be captured by the Hive," he said, spitting the name as if it were something foul.

@draconua

Twelve pinholes remained fixed on the deer, and twelve pinholes kept secrets to themselves. Others took in a scent she was so, so intimately familiar with. A Cheshire grin flickered across her maw. Brave, then... ? Or just plain foolhardy? One of the sort to look to the hollow-eyed reaper and deny his scythe? Draconua was among those inclined to aid him, aid him knowing which to take to a greater beyond—if there even was one. Many a figure had knelt in prayer before her bringing about their end. Whispers echoed through her mind.

Entropic desire clawed its way through her; she practically quivered at Tahi-shei's response. The façade of calm clattered to the floor while she strode closer.

If he hadn't scattered backwards—or even if he had—the Sleepless Chaos loomed. Curved horns and a sanguine faceplate eclipsed the light behind her, casting a long shadow. Oil-stained teeth bared in another grin; but, she made no further move. No, no, she let the silence hang. Let him simmer in the lack of response.

When Draconua at last spoke, it was in a warning rhetorical "you would free those who chose Order?" Another step. "Allowed it into their home?" Grass was shoved aside by her lashing tail. "You would provide salvation for their own weakness?" Unheard of—unspeakable. "It will fester for as long as you, or any other pitiful fool, enables it."

She stood so threateningly still, save for the upward tilt of her head and the sneer twisting her snout: "I will not be so merciful."

@Tahi-shei

He held his ground, but he did flinch -- after a moment, he took a step back, not a mess of panic but instead a calculated action so that he could see her more clearly. He felt the tension hang in the air as she considered him, considered his words, and he watched

Tahi-shei’s ears raised in surprise. Without exactly having his permission, the words came — “Watch where you tread, Draconua. You’re insulting Masters.”

He hesitated, as if realizing who — what — he’d just smarted off to, and then decided it was better to follow through. “This current outbreak is not the first that has clawed its way through these caves. There was a first, cycles ago.” He shook his head. “Order, vile Order, took and destroyed. It corrupted and it stole and Master Astraea cleansed all those who had been afflicted with it, because it was not their fault.” He expected her to argue, so he kept going.

“I am unsure of your experience with the corruption, Sleepless Chaos. But I am intimate with it — and so is the Master that you serve. Vile Order was unleashed on us at a Raid to open Ursa and the other Caves beyond it; many Gembound who had bravely risen to fight were infected, and many of them were purged. But the infection was persuasive, and it was not something that could be fought — simply held at bay for a moment.” He raised his nose. “I was infected. As was your Master, and many others who did not wish to be. I saw a creature tear at his own skin with his desperation to be rid of it. And we were purged, thanks to the efforts of Master Astraea, a Gembound called Esther, and my partner James.”

He let that sink in for a moment before he continued. “A few of these Harbingers escaped,” he said, spitting the word. “I hope that they can be purged, as I was. As your Master and many of his spawn were. This is why I lead my army, Draconua — but do not call me a coward or a fool. I tread in the trails of Masters and I am willing to return Gembound to stone or remove them altogether if it means keeping those I care about safe from the crystalline stagnation of the Hive.”

He eyed her. “You are not responsible for who has manipulated you. This is a lessen I have learned through hardship and difficulty -- I was able to recognize when the Hive lied to me. But not everyone has had the experience I have. Mercy is not weakness, Draconua -- it is always worthwhile to have others in your debt."

@draconua

"You mistake my words for contumacy," she hissed, a coiled viper preparing to strike. Her chin pressed flush against her neck, which retracted upwards. The whole of her weight shifted back onto her haunches. Forelimbs pushed her upwards into a looming figure.

The Sleepless Chaos had simply stared while Tahi-shei started in, pinholes brokering no visual feedback. On occasion, her tail would slash through the air, or a clawed wing would adjust and sway in place. Breaths came quicker, hotter—or... colder? A smoldering presence billowed from her, motes of hide flickering away in the breeze. Rather than having glowing edges, the cinders were lined in vantablack. When she hissed, it'd been on the period of "... but I am intimate with it—and so is the master that you serve."

If he would not allow her a moment to speak, she would not allow him a moment to breathe.

Draconua surged ahead in a single bound—launching from her haunches—and stopped just short. "I have fought against it for thousands of years," her breath fanned with an icy chill, and if Tahi-shei dared to look, there was a vehement sort of purple in the back of her throat. "Do not assume that I am a suckling child." The lashing of her tail was audible, a persistent thump!-thump!ing rhythm on the ground.

She broke off from her furious snarl, flying straight into a manic grin. Entropic fire blew out from between her Oily-and-bloody teeth. It was mere seconds before a torrent of violent chaos shot for Tahi-shei. Her jaws yawned wide, the very edges of her mouth—so far down her neck—alternating between glowering furiously and the reflection of pure giddiness; this was a chance to conquer.

@Tahi-shei

Tahi-shei narrowed his eyes even though he couldn't properly see her. "Forgive me," he said, audibly irritated but still trying to be smart about this. "I simply assumed based on your apparent lack of knowle--" he said, cut off immediately by a sudden shock of cold.

Cold. Cold all over, cold consuming, cold cold cold-- so cold that it burned and he couldn't help but gasp. It licked up his body violently, like real fire, and the smoke made his eyes and mouth burn. It was like Hell on Earth, and the ice-cold violence did not help matters. It was like flint striking rock, a cold fury, urging him towards violence.

So he complied.

"STOP THAT!" he snapped as his nauseatingly horrible spores were breathed out over her. This one would cause a headache alongside the horrible sensation. "I might not be able to pierce you with claws and teeth, Draconua, but if you attack me, I will hurt you." He had a followup, even now. "I am a servant of your Master. Do not test me here unless you are willing to face the consequences." Perhaps, however, she would hear the slight quiver of pain tinging his voice.

+1 point of corruption
@draconua

The apology fell on deaf ears, but the staggering in place—even while entropy feasted upon his hide—and threats (hollow, for all Draconua knew, despite Vargas's warnings not to underestimate deer) did not. A mysteriously nauseous feeling started to boil in her skull, her nostrils freely filling with spores unseen. Her vision wobbled, but she had experienced far worse—even by her own hand. It wasn't something that'd topple her, but any follow-up could be worse.

Yet, mysteriously, the hound didn't immediately go to sling a thunderbolt, or shatter the earth beneath either of their feet. No, no—her lips twisted in another wild grin (it wasn't hard to imagine the squint of eyes captured by pure glee. A bloody, inky aura pooled outwards; sprawling, sanguine wings manifested at either of her flanks; gnarled horns sprouted from every direction, stretching far and high. The magical leather beat at the air once, and she chanced another step forward.

She did not believe Tahi-shei's threat.

—and yet, she did not continue.

"I would tear you to shreds in an instant," she assured. Then, Draconua let off an almost wistful sigh, "but, the Leviathan has need of you, to seek it." Ursa was a large cave—any method (however foolish she perceived it) of pinpointing the Hive more quickly simply meant that she could bring it down sooner.

Keeping from swaying with claws half-buried in the soil, she sneered, "go and lick that wound." A rattling giggle whistled out of her lips, and she tilted her head to one side, "we'll meet again, soon."

After a moment, added, in a low, dangerous hum: "do not cross my path before then."

There, she waited and stood, chaotic influence steady and looming.

@Tahi-shei

Tahi-shei knew, objectively, that it was just magic. He'd seen others use it -- magic from the Wild Hunt. He himself had a version of it. But she still looked monstrous, and if he'd had a face, it would have paled. His stomach churned, his ears pinning against his will. All of his fur was standing up, but he knew that as long as he behaved, he wouldn't be hurt.

She was antagonizing him. His eyes narrowed, but he held his tongue. No matter how much he wanted to snap back, she was right -- Draconua could kill him with one well-aimed smack, and he'd be powerless to do anything about it. Each of her teeth were probably as long as his face. There was no snark to be had, here -- Draconua was no master, but still, he knew better than to test her.

"Then I'll see you then, Draconua," he said, his voice somewhat raspy from the smoke and the yelling. He dipped his head, and then, calmly, turned his back (not that he couldn't still see her; the magic of the Crown permitted that, even if she was directly behind him) and went on his way towards Tunnel F.

@draconua
/exit tahi-shei