Holiday Bash 2021!

Deep in Ursa, far out over the snowy fields that lay before the mountains, there was a bright flash of light. From this flash--impossibly, amazingly--careened a sleigh, drawn by several plain (but flying) reindeer. This sled slid down through the air, swinging wildly, and crashed deer-first straight into the snow! Plumes of white powder sprayed up in every direction, and from behind the sled, a crowd of little white birds, white hares, and a few stray reindeer thudded down too... before hopping up and fleeing every which way.

But that wasn't all! Behind the sled, up in the air, came another flash! Even as the strange, rubbery-looking blue creature tugged his sled fearfully upright, a huge and burly monster came tumbling from midair. It was enormous, hairy, feathery; white and red-striped and seemed made of muscle, tusk, and claw. It slammed down (no help from its wings) into the snow behind the sled... and just as the rubbery alien creature got the sled moving, the beast gave chase.

Anyone who didn't notice the flashes of light and the falling creatures would surely notice the sled, drawn by its terrified deer, swinging wildly across the snowy plains! And the massive monster in hot pursuit. For several long minutes this chase went on until suddenly, the deer hit a short ravine, and the sled went head-over-heels tumbling into the snow.

The blue creature (Naskital by name, and no stranger to these caves) faceplanted the snow. After a moment he stood, looking around... only to find the huge brute of a beast leaning close, reaching for him with one great meaty hand...

"...HELP!" squeaked Naskital.

____

Naskital needs help! Defeat the strange Shaggy Monster before it does... whatever it wants to do to to him! This event will run until December 23rd, at which point all participants will be rewarded with a mystery gift... Anyone may join this thread for now.

For the rest of December, anyone can encounter the following non-native creatures in the caves, and treat them as any Lesser: Arctic Hare, Reindeer, and pure white Sparrow.

Astéri doesn't go to Ursa much.

For one, it's cold. And wet. And wet-cold. And Astéri doesn't mind getting wet—unless he's swimming under uncountable tons of water and it's dark all around him and he's swimming through the ruins of a city with the phantom feeling of eyes all around him—but playing in a stream full of warm water is one thing and trampling through packed snow with his pelt soaked by snowflakes trying not to freeze himself to death is another.

For two… well, he heard about the battle here against Mother. Dad had gone to help, and he'd told Astéri to keep watch over his siblings if the danger came all the way to their forest home of Eridanus. He knew, logically, that it probably wouldn't get that bad, that his family wouldn't end up in that much danger, but it was still scary. Stayed scary until Dad got home.

But… he thinks Ursa isn't that dangerous, as long as he stays on the edges of the cave. No way is he going anywhere near the mountains. He's just here because he wants to see some mountain sparrows. Maybe tame one and bring one home, like Dad did—of course, getting one to follow him home was different from true familiarship, but that was alright. He'd take care of one anyway.

And then he hears the shout.

"...HELP!"

Astéri never could ignore a call of distress.

He's off in an instant, paws crunching through the snowscape and fur bristling as he bolts for the source—only to stop, dead in his tracks, when he sees the sled crashed in the snow. (In his defense, it is a big sled.)

And the big, red-and-white monster behind it, reaching one meaty paw towards the far smaller, deer-like creature (it kinda reminded him of Dad, only… deer-ier)—and by his gem, he's not gonna let that happen!

"HEY!" He charges into combat with all the fiery determination of the protector he knows he was born to be. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

But just as he's getting a good burn of righteous fury up, inhaling with all his might—the magic sparks, sputters, stops and backfires. Burning pain lances althroughout his chest and Astéri nearly trips over his own front two paws as he descends into a fit of hacking and coughing.

Well. At least he's probably got the monster's attention...

thank you so much for the arts navy & snail now i can make MEMES

Haha, oh boy.

So like, let's say, just for the heck of it, that you are a catawampus. You cause problems. It's what you do. You build hoards! It's what you do. You fight large, wild beasts who might pose a threat to your sanctuary even though it is not even adjacent to the room you call "home". Everywhere is home. It's WHAT! YOU! DO!! You're not some tiny little lizard man giving people 15% off on car insurance. We don't even know who Geico is. We're here to BRAWL!

The thing about this guy is, it's taller. By two feet. Its horns are curlier. Its fur is thicker and shaggier. And it has an awesome golden nose ring, which this catawampus somehow lacks. Clearly, despite being a little similar to the catawampus in a few ways, it is what could be considered an "alpha". But you know what? If YouTube clickbait videos taught me anything, it is that there is also something known as a "sigma". And it applies to every protagonist male who is not an "alpha" but who bests an "alpha" in mortal combat because he is simply biologically superior. The catawampus is not a sigma, male, or protagonist, but they are about to best this dude in mortal combat. Not because of the call for help or the valiant little jaguar man charging into the fray or anything. There is no heroism to the catawampus. They just do what they do because... they want to. And they can.

They come swooping in from the freaking sky on functional wings because: they can. They land, reel back, and unleash a catastrophic roar of dominance because: they can! And finally, they race in, charging from the backside of the fellow beast because because they just can!!! All claws out, even the inflexible stabbing arms, going buckwild, seeking any semblance of flesh underneath that mass of fur. Everything and anything just to say 'I am better than you. I like your ring and I want it and I will take it from you. You cannot stop me. You are mortal in my presence. I am the catawampus.'

(You can say all that with just one attack?) Sure! Violence is an intricate language.

And intricate languages are hard to master. Ah, poor catawampus... toppled over into the snow just like the little kitty. You'll both do yourselves justice. Eventually.

Pollen gets around. It's what she does. And this time, she's here in Ursa, looking to get some food for Nedies that he couldn't get himself. Or well- he could, but it's just nice, you know? So she's out here with a warm coat on and her overalls underneath, jogging through the brisk snow as something flashed. Stopping in place, the muta craned her head up to watch, awe at whatever was happening. What was that? Were those deer? She traced the arc as the sled careened down, crashing right into the snow. Oh. That's not good. After making sure her knapsack was secure, Pollen dropped to all fours to race closer, ungloved paws cold in the snow.

Another flash. A new monster fell- they must be chasing! A chase!! Wildly turning, Pollen aimed to run alongside the distant sled, nowhere close to catching up to it. If she went for where it was going, maybe she could reach it? Her breaths came out in hot clouds as she surged across the snow, crunching all the way through. Her eyes were glued to the sled, and- one slip, one slide, and she almost fell into the ravine, too, slipping on the icy snow near it with a half of a yelp.

Just barely, she managed to right herself, shoving up back to two legs. Already, two others were coming to the scene, but with a quick assessment of the situation and the scared stance on the smaller one, Pollen knew where her allegiances lie.

Besides. She liked fighting the big ones. -- kind of.

Rushing in against the leopard, Pollen drew her arms out to her sides as her thorned vines snaked out from her sleeves. Oh, she was ready for combat with a grin, and with a flourish she snapped out her whip to curl it around a forearm of the beast. She needed its attention- she needed to get close for this, and she'd be able to subdue it. While Asteri choked and the catawampus faceplanted, Pollen tugged in closer to secure her grip on the beast with the other whip aimed to a wing. If it worked, she could tug herself up to its huge, huge shoulder, and attempt to hold on with her second, wing-latched vine.

If it cooperated and didn't cut the plants, that is.

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά
Ursa, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't that far from Kerberos's home. Ever since the new tunnels opened up, it was only a bit farther than Polaris, and when the big guy wanted to hunt big, fluffy deer and go for a romp in the snow (as opposed to the much more humid, tangle-tree'd Eridanus) this was one of the best places to go.

Kerberos happened to be in the area doing a bit of snow-hopping, getting huge chunks of ice frozen to his thick, arctic fur, when he heard the cry of distress. His heads perked up, and he chased the sound to a familiar sight: several gembounds frantically fighting off a larger foe. He picked out the one that seemed the most defenseless-- at least, the one that wasn't charging forward into the fray, and set to a gallop toward the lanky, blue man.

The big canine slid to a stop once he got close, shoving his massive white body between Naskital and the beast that was attacking, bearing all three sets of teeth in a snarl at the candy-cane furball. "Go away," he warned, "don't come closer!" Each head snapped fangs, snarling threats, "Stay back!"

And though Kerberos made for a frightening wall between the man and the beast, though his magic rippled across his fur, he couldn't get a blast to knock the beast back. Should it come right for him, he would be completely exposed-- but at least the defenseless stood behind him, safe and protected by a physical wall of angry dog teeth and muscle.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

Tori bounded through ursa, playing happily in the snow, laughing with an indifferent expression in pure joy, when she stopped dead, yelping as she fell onto her back, the loud roars and the following chaos from other gembound startling her.

she flew over quickly, landing messily in the snow near the crowd. "WOAH!!! big!!" she said in amazement, noticing the poor blue dude that was currently being protected from it.

she decided to get a running start. if she could ram into this thing, maybe she could help!!! a bit of brute force never hurt anybody, right?

a single braincell failed to process the possible consequences of her actions as she began charging.

this would prove to be a mistake, as she promptly, instead of doing anything useful, tripped over one of her paws and fell into the snow, some splashing onto the beast, but thats about it. about a hundred pounds of feathures flailed to get back up.

"i'm okay! just a sec!" she called out, huffing. well that sucked.

Fracture my spine

Ursa was so very different from Leo: weather chilling to the bone, vegetation sparse, and snow where vast expanses of warm water ought to have cradled miles of sandy shoreline. The climate proved to be such an opposite to Karambit's home that even a brief exposure to it instilled lethargy of the deepest kind. To any familiar with the monster, they might be left speechless by the listless way it drifted above the blinding white landscape, the subdued whir of its wings while it flew. What ordinarily would have been shrieks had been reduced to a normal volume—whispers comparatively.

In this pacified state perhaps it had found the time to be quietly contemplative. About life? Family? What love truly was?

"Brrrrrrrr."

Of course not.

A complaint of "whyyyy can't touch" followed the shiver, thin and weak instead of the usual siren pitch.

Instead its thoughts were on more pressing concerns like freezing flesh and the frustrating light ribbons across the cave ceiling that loomed out of reach no matter how far it ascended. So large and colorful, they were a temptation to Karambit. Furthermore, to its unresponsive sibling they might be a suitable gift; surely even it would be unable to resist the prettiness once they were swathed around its jaws. Maybe then gratitude would be given, a word or noise to be cherished forever. Or forgiveness for whatever it'd done to make Creo silent for so long.

It was during this fruitless endeavor that the flash intervened, searing a multitude of eyes. The next petulant whimper building up in the monster's many mouths escaped as a chorus of startled screams, and flailing claw-tipped limbs sliced through the air as Karambit flung itself backwards. A flurry of wingbeats could be heard in the distance.

"Krrrmmm?"

Its vision returned, spotty but functional. However, no sooner had the sound of confusion been made that feathers flooded multiple perspectives on its body, panicked sparrows whirling around and colliding with the grotesque insect. Though it yelped and twisted at the unexpected encounter, the situation was a fortunate one, for the tiny Lessers protected its already sensitive sight from the second flash.

"Nooot nooow, frrrieeends," it chastised the flock once it'd recovered, a full body shake and a chomp here and there dispersing them in decent enough time. "Going afterrrr prrretties now."

And that's what it would have continued to do if not for the ruckus below. The cry for help and the shouts caused the eyes on its thorax to peer at the assembly of beasts big and small with great interest. The chaotic running and flopping into the snow intensified its ever-present hum to a far more typical level of noise.

Help? With hugging that fluffy musclebound friend that appeared to be at the center of the action? It could certainly spare the time to share a little affection.

What might've appeared from the ground to be a solitary gray dot of a storm cloud began to softly whine and expand. As it did so, whine becoming a screech like metal on metal and length stretching to titanic proportions, spindly legs sprouted. Magenta eyes emerged as proximity revealed the cloud's true nature, and numerous teeth grew apparent, glimmering with strands of drool. All this streaked toward the gathering, claws outstretched to sink into plush fur and alluring red feathers, heedless to the damage that might be inflicted to those already there if the mark was missed.

And swear that you're mine

It'd been a long, fitful kind of sleep.

Uncomfortable-- like when you fall asleep in a bad position and your neck hurts for days after. Eurydome had been awake for some time and the pain had yet to subside; the curve of her long spine ached in four different places and her hindlimbs were cramped and numb. She listened, and she listened, and all she heard was the sound of wind howling.

She waited. For a voice. A sound. Anything.

And for a long time, there was nothing. Until--

"...HELP!" squeaked Naskital.

It was the most natural thing in the world; a precise movement of her back arching upwards and the amethyst crumbled away as the hulking figure rose from the snow, forelegs pulling herself out from several feet below. She shook ice from her flourescent hide and blinked blearily in the light, making out the commotion nearby.
Many creatures, most attacking a large white-and-red one-- and most, it seemed, failing. Two-- no, three --toppled into the snow; a miasma of meat errupted like a quaking mass of magma from the ground, a beast with three heads stood between it and a humanoid figure and a second, green figure, was trying to climb it.

Well. It it was a free for all.

A thick hand dove into the snow and produced the amethyst sword below; hiking it up into both fists before Eurydome went charging, face splitting into a pleased snarl. The adrenaline soared through her veins and all at once she forgot about her painful back and legs-that-felt-too-big, oversized paws barely touching the snow underneath as she went.

One second she was crawling out of the snow and the next the double-refridgerator-bodied gladiator was barrelling into the fray; the only warning coming forth as a horrendous bellow from her parted lips. Glittering red-pink blade pointed, she sought to attempt to drive it into the side of the beast's ribs, trying to pinpoint where the fur may be thinning out to hit flesh.

Pallas had been... existing. Helping Mother in the background, preparing, always... second-guessing his trip. Should he do what he had planned? He should help his family, as always, yes, but...

Wait. What was that? Stripped from whatever thought he had before, Pallas halted in place, staring up at the flashes of light. Huh? That was new. It wasn't like the auroras to do that, so-- Wait. Something fell out. An attraction like that must have served to catch the attention of others, and Pallas surged through the snow to investigate.

Ah, wait. Would they recognize him? Pausing again, the linsang dove into the snow and rustled in it, the white substance clinging to his fur. It wasn't much- his pelt still peeked through, but hopefully it'd be enough to blend into the background and break up his outline.

With that out of the way, Pallas hopped through the freezing snow to watch the scene play out from afar, with all his fellow Gembound just making fools of themselves. Okay? Pulling his limbs under himself, Pallas settled down and observed like a referee, his head barely above the divot he made in the snow.

Through the link with the rest of his family, the unspoken thought of 'are you seeing this?' echoed from his mind. Too bad they didn't have something like that. Maybe, if the others drove it off...

No. Not going to entertain that for this moment. He's only here to watch and see how this plays out. He could follow the beast if it doesn't flee, or maybe someone could intercept it in the future. But, would it accept the link? It would be risky, and it would need a plan.

Later. Later, later, he would think later, he drilled into his mind. There would always be a later.

It was almost as if Ae were made for this cave, and that scared aer in some sort of deep, confusing way. Aer snowy white colors- it had been painted with various dyes, but those had all washed off with the snow. The fluffy warm feathers of aer chest and underbelly. The way aer mane of little rubbery nubs glowed much like the lightshow above. Niveus knew this cave was dangerous, and ae knew, in a sense, WHY it was dangerous. It was why ae never lingered, only traveling through the cave when necessary. But the cave itself never brought Niveus true discomfort, only the knowledge of what lurked within it.

Ae had been heading towards Leo when ae stumbled upon quite the scene. About half a dozen other gembound- some faceplanted in the snow, others fighting a giant hairy bear-cat-yeti thing. And standing in the center, seemingly defenseless, was a spindly little (tall, actually, a full two feet taller than Niveus) deer thing. They were likely to get crushed- either by the yeti-thing or just being caught in the crossfire. Niveus didn't have strength on aer side, nor a weapon like the green gembound's cool plant whip. But ae DID have the power to go fast, assuming aer magic didn't metaphorically sputter in aer face.

One of Niveus's multitude of hands would find one of Naskital's. "Don't just stand there! You're gonna get eaten or something!" Ae would half pull, half lead Naskital forward, silently begging aer magic to give them both a much-needed speed boost. Ae wouldn't run completely away from the fray. Just far enough that the spindly deer-thing would be safe. Ae wanted a piece of the action for aerself, after all!