Dragon pulled back, a little, huffing.

Half of him--the father in him--wanted to warn Imp not to continue to push his luck. Nemean had already struck out at him once; he had no doubt she would attempt it again, if the opportunity came up, especially if his child kept provoking her.

The other half of him was the grinning firebrand of a hatchling he'd been many years ago, and he wanted to bellow "YES, BURN HER!" along with Imp.

So for now, he stayed quiet.

"I would deliver her to Aquarian, so that he may also pass judgment," was all that he added, in response to Master Artio's question.

As one after another contributed to the discussion of Nemean's punishment, what remained of Fahl's composure boiled away to leave behind seething, tail-lashing rage. Although he dispelled all the heat gathered in his mouth with a single incredulous sigh, the words spat out from a tensed jaw managed to retain a scalding temperature. Brusque and disgusted, politeness was reserved for friends and betters. All others could be damned if they expected otherwise.

"Ego," he scoffed. "Is the least to be taught. Telling her to wallow in the deepest cesspool means... Nothing! If that muck-guzzling. Piss-furred. Waste of breath! Can still find a way to fling shit at you. Bind her... and all you give is a challenge."

Lower than Gembounds? A fine sentiment, but she was already there in everyway but status. Might as well give her a slap on the wrist for all the good that would do everyone; it'd have the same effect, the shame from servitude temporary at best.

"Harm for harm! Let her boil, burn! Shove her off the highest cliff! Tear her eyes out... and let her stumble blind and rid... ridi... fucking mocked! If we keep her alive... it should be with every wrong revisited on her. Life on the brink of death. Always. Too pained to act any more against us."

Fahl paused, wheezing, and let the hot haze of anger fully rob him of speech for a moment. Once it receded, replaced by the giddiness of uncensored thought, he continued.

"I agree that Aquarian should have a say too, if you're willing to listen. Else that is what I think should be done."

ARTIO

the plant master

"AQUARIAN?" boomed Farina.

Artio was, perhaps, more delicate in addressing that particular suggestion. "As admirable a concept as it would be, to invite his judgment, her old... pet would undoubtedly only take that opportunity to wail and preen. Still-... I will consult him. In time." Glittering eyes shifted to the others who gave suggestions. "Such things are not possible, not by our hands," was her murmur, given to Maximus, though she seemed thoughtful nonetheless. "Though I would have thought this," and a hand gestured toward the shattered trunk of the Divine, "not possible by hers."

Imp's anger--followed by Fahl's incredible vitriol--had Farina laughing cruelly and a faint smile ticking at the corners of Artio's mouth. "My, my. It seems you haven't been making all that many friends, Nemean." She gestured with her hand, and the thorned vines that tangled round the struggling fairy tightened, twisted. Nemean shrieked. "Oh, come now; none of that. We're only getting started, after all. ...Boiling, was it..?" With this sinister declaration, Artio turned, and swept away--and the plants carrying Nemean went with her, rumbling along the ground, passing her from root to vine.

"WHAT?" Nemean howled. "You can't DO this! It's not funny at all-! I have--stuff to do-! I'm-" Whatever she "was" was lost to the mists, the plants hauling her into the distance.

Farina turned, claws clicking. "YOU. COME WITH ME." The claw was pointed at Imp, and then she turned, scuttling after Artio, once again barging plants and even smaller trees down wherever they stood in her path.

_________________

The Divine remained behind, and at the last touch to the other, bark-clad tree, she swept to stand beside it. She caressed its bark, murmuring. "Only one of you-... why could there not be more? But-... if it works..." Her voice was cracked, aged with disuse; yet emotion was clear in every syllable.

The bark of the final tree cracked, and what stepped forth was one of the dryads some of the Gembounds had seen in their visions: another creature of branch and leaf, yet womanly. She stumbled down as the bark gave way, and the Divine caught her as she fell, and embraced her.

The light seemed to grow brighter around them.

At last, she looked around, holding the dazed dryad. "...The others-... It is--it was always too late for them. For us. This could only be-..." She turned, eyes falling upon the orb. "...Hers." She reached out a gentle hand, and leaves curled forward in ripples, lifting the pink orb, drawing it to her, holding it aloft. "I must safeguard this, but-... Thank you," she said, looking to them all. Despite her gratitude, she seemed distant, grief-stricken; and without another word, the Divine turned to go, supporting her dryad handmaiden at her side.

This concludes The Cave Stories: A New Leaf! Achievements will be handed out once they're designed.

Gembounds may exit at their leisure.

@Bebby @Madhukar @Maximus @Skein @Ampelio @Fahl @Brandle @Imp (Dragon) @Porkchop

"YOU. COME WITH ME."

Farina's booming command was exciting as hell--and scary. It meant-...

It meant that it was time.

Time to be remade; time to, probably, get killed. At least, for a little while. She'd promised him new eyes; now the question was, would she deliver..? He started to scurry after her, eager and afraid (though he tried not to show the latter)--and then turned back, ears pricking up.

"Dad? Fahl? ...-Thanks," he said, his voice happy but a little tight. "I'll--be back soon!" He tried to sound cheery about it, though his heart was pounding in his chest, and he was already wondering--how would she do it? Would she cut his head half-off? Drown him? Would-

Fuck it, won't be worse then getting my fucking eyes ripped out by my own broken tail, he thought, silencing himself with savage confidence.

"I'll be back soon," he called, in their general direction. "WITH eyes!"

And with that he turned, again scrambling blindly through the mud after the sound of Farina's retreating crush.

exit Imp

after this point, an old winner's choice + mutation slot are being used so that Farina will redesign him!

Dragon took a breath, and looked around. He was disappointed that they hadn't consulted Aquarian--but he knew full well that they were right. The Master would just wail and screech dramatically. There was a reason Nemean'd been a fan of spotlights.

Still, it would've--he imagined, and had hoped--earned the Children some more points with him. Ahh, well.

"GOOD LUCK!" he boomed, calling out after Imp--and then he turned to the rest. "Thank you," he said; "You will always be welcome here." It was said to everyone, but in particular, to Fahl; he gave the iguana a solemn dip of his snout. He'd already explained his thanks in more detail, but it didn't hurt to acknowledge it again.

Then he glanced after the retreating Divine. It would be good, he thought, to see where they are going; and then to report all of this to Aquarian.

Maybe it wasn't too late for those bonus points, after all.

"I will return." Ethereal, shadowy wings spread from his back, shimmering horns twisting from his skull, and he lifted off--dripping--into the air.

He waited for any response from Fahl, and then made off through the mist, a low bass rumble of contentment emanating from his chest. After all this time... the Betrayer had finally met her fate.

exit Dragon

If bebby was honest, she'd kinda zoned out.

She doesn't do well under pressure, and the whole time she was really just kinda sitting there. part of her wanted to defend Nemean, as her strusty steed and all that, but really, after hearing and seeing the amount of harm she had evidently caused, it was hard to sympathize.

she listened to people's cries for her punishment, swift and cruel, and while she didn't shout with them, she didn't argue against them either. Bebby did not like people who caused harm to others for their own satisfaction, it was simple too mean, and had it been any of her family that had been harmed? she'd be shouting with them, she thinks.

she shook herself out of her thoughts at Nemean's screeching, eye wide, she didn't realize how QUIET she'd been! oh man, she probably looked really silly like that. all serious. oh well!

"BYYYE!!!" she called after nemean and the others as few of them dragged her away, and then turned to anybody else who still remained present.

"bye to you too, hope y'all havea better day than she did, hehe!"

she gave a friendly wave to the divine, soft and happy, before she flew away.

exit bebby

speech
thoughts

Fahl didn't know how long it'd been that he'd waited for this moment, whether the desire to see Nemean laid low had begun from when he'd first suspected her involvement in Imp's unhappy tale or if it'd only started once he became fully aware of her sadism's wide and powerful reach. Whichever the length of time had been, though, watching as Nemean struggled futilely to escape her vine bindings—listening to her shrieks of suffering fading away within the thick mists of the swamp—caused his scales to darken to a sedate midnight blue hue. Throat rendered dry and hoarse by heated words and magic, success tasted metallic on his tongue, a savage and bloody sense of satisfaction.

Soon, as Farina's snap of a command surely meant, his teacher would have sight again. The blind but forever bold batgator would no longer have to rely upon magical sense or sound or the body heat of a companion to wander the caves. A self-declared artist, he could at last demonstrate exactly what he was best at, the joy of the act no longer cruelly robbed from him. Despite concern on Fahl's part, mainly because he would not be able to ensure the Master upholding her side of the deal, as her fierce tone allowed no room for negotiation, relief was the predominant emotion that swept over him, a wave crashing over and cooling simmering thoughts.

"With whose? Yours or Nemean's?" was his teasing response to the promise of return. He chuckled with a slow shake of his head. "Yeah, you go get them," he said, encouraging Imp. "And when you come back..."

Although none too graceful, Imp had been plenty speedy; distance too great for Fahl to bother straining his voice further, he let the rest of the sentence trail off, possibilities unspoken. Shoulders would've sagged if not for the sudden jolt to attention that Dragon's reminder caused. Whereas the elder reptile's nod was calm and full of gravity, he adopted a show of respect as one might give to a superior, crouching forward and directing eyes to the ground. Besides the formality, a warmth kindled in his chest.

"Then I'll be here, si—er, Dragon," he said as the other took to the air. "To see what more may happen and be done, for your son and the Children."

Just as he could not forget the welcome he'd been offered, so too could the oath he had sworn in Farina's midst not be easily discarded. If Imp came back, bright-eyed and bolder than ever, then at last he'd consider himself more than an acquaintance to this family of survivors and readily become an initiate to the dual path of strength and knowledge. It'd be foolish not to when their values so aligned with his.

-Exit Fahl

Maximus dipped their head to Artio upon her direct wording to them, though they said nothing. Understandably wary of the Masters, they turned and dropped to all fours, huffing quietly as they decided that now was a good time to leave.

”Farewell,” they said quietly, a note of exhaustion in their voice.

They would go to deal with the phantom pains that shot through them with every other step and to catalogue their new appearance. It wouldn't be the first time they'd gained new features.

Exit