The wound in Teyouma's shoulder had healed somewhat by now, but he felt a throbbing deep in the tissue whenever he wandered on all-fours. And, having discovered his ability to spawn all sorts of mushrooms, Teyouma had spent the past while trying to conquer that particular skill. Patches of shrooms sprouted all over the cave system behind him; some on the walls, some on the ground, but never on his own body - the monkey had learned that lesson vicariously, thanks to the lizard with the pretty face-rock. Teyouma could now summon decent amounts of mushrooms - and a few of them were actually pretty tasty - but for the most part, they had bizarre effects. Perhaps that is what caused Teyouma to wander off on his own. In a full-bellied daze, he toddled on off down the corridor to the north, and came to an abrupt stop only when the land gave way entirely.

The monkey lurched and squawked in surprise, but managed to reel himself backwards with the help of his flailing limbs (and that long tail of his); and as he plopped down on his little butt, he was left to stare wide-eyed at his surroundings. It took a second for him to realize that there was a lot of noise around him. That last patch of mushrooms he had cultivated had been very tasty, but he was drifting now. Unable to really focus properly. The crashing of the waterfall was deafening, but Teyouma seemed to be ignorant of it, or at least... Slow on the uptake. When his gaze finally crept upward to the sight of its origin, he let out a shrill laugh - a tittering giggle that reached down in to his full belly.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no no no no. This was bad, really bad.

Bevy was in her usual nest, high atop the ridges, nestled neatly into a spot where she could survey the whole area while also being able to scooch back and be absolutely invisible to the world. It was as she was enjoying the peaceful roar of the waterfall that she spotted that terrible, translucent monstrosity from her first day of life, approaching their waterfall.

She was supposed to go and escort any and everyone who came through, but there was absolutely no way that she could fly over to that horrible monkey who she was sure wanted to kill her when they first met. How could she? She was just a little bird, and even if she flew out of reach... Well, she didn't know what its reach was, nor did she know what kind of terrible magic this thing had.

So Bevy decided to do the next best thing, and took wing towards the waterfall to find Cancer or Leon or even Makyna or Midas. Anyone, absolutely anyone, to help her deal with this newcomer.

"Guys! Guys! Help!" She cried over the roar of the waterfall, her frantic flight leaving feathers along her path as she flew faster and harder than she ever had before in her life. She could not let this greedy monkey take over her home. Absolutely not! It would hurt her friends for sure!

Little-but-no-so-little Midas the snake had been simply lounging about in the artifical light on some smooth river rock, coiled up into an elegant little ball of wiggliness. The verdant scales of the reptillian Gembound glistened in the glow of strange glass orbs and the spray of nearby watterfalls. Yes. Life was good, and Midas enjoyed it, now that he knew just what he was. Perfect!

It was a special little 'tiny birb' that came and warned of some intruder or something. The six-foot-long snake didn't know exactly what an intruder was, but it couldn't be anything good, from the panic in Bevy's eyes and features. "I'm coming!" He'd hiss quietly, lifting his pyrite-crowned little head and gazing about. Where was this critter? Lime green gaze found a strange thing in the wake of the tiny pitohui. Just. What was that? It was like, blue... and white... and hairy. Also translucent? Ew. And that laugh. Ugh. Midas wasn't one to discriminate, but he didn't want this little thing running around near the waterfall!

If he came to teach this intruder a lesson... imagine how much the Cancer and Makyna would love him!

Giving a determined look to his eyes, the serpent uncoiled himself slowly, slipping into the crystalline waters of Pisces. His slender physique cut through the liquid like a hot knife through butter with ease, and the green anaconda readied to strike, hiding near the strange white Gembound. With only the blink of his eyes, the snake slithered from the waters quietly, parting them with little noise.

Little eyes stared for only a moment, and the anaconda would attempt to do what he could best. He would not bite just yet, but he'd at least try to coil himself about the strange and rather lazy primate. Giving a low hiss, he'd glare at the ape, whether he'd manage to trap the monkey or not. Nobody came to Pisces and messed with Maji Walezi!

Cancer woke with a start, and not on his own ledge. The tip of his tail dipped into the water, and something warm was pressed to his side. There was a screeching alarm from Bevy in the air, but the roar of the waterfall so close muffled it enough to give him a moment to clear the sleep from his mind and realize reality. The fact that he wasn't at his own station alarmed him immediately. Then there was the matter of the warm, soft thing pressing into him side and legs. He glanced down quickly and felt that familiar heated expression cross his cheeks and ears.

Makyna. Her adorable self was cuddled up to his side, and he noted in dread and shock that her head rested on his paws, numb with hours of sleep. His first thought was to stay abslotely still. Then, Bevy's shrill cry tossed that idea out the window. It sounded urgent. Words came after a moment and he could make it out past the roar of water- help!

Any chance of an easy, cuddle-drunk morning of lovey-dovey romance was briskly tossed aside, much the same way Makyna would be as Cancer shot to his feet. Immediately, he regretted it. His front paws stung from the sudden movement and torn, he looked down to see if he'd done much harm to Makyna in his sudden jolt. She'd get a very quick "Sorry, Sorry, Maji Emergency, Bevy's Alarm, Sorry," before the cub leapt over her and towards the source of the commotion.

"Bevy! What's wrong? What's happening!?" Can ran along the edge of the lagoon until Bevy's panicked fluttering came into view, and as he came to a trot beneath her, Cancer did the only thing he could think of. He cast out his magic, in full force...

...and while his horns would glow bright, eyes even brighter, a full force spell would backfire in equal force. The cub suddenly flinched, leaping back with a screech as his senses, all of them, received way more than he'd bargained for. A barrage of painful sensation enveloped him tenfold, and the cub spasmed before tumbling to the floor, scraping along almost two feet before flipping over onto his back, dazed and still twitching. His eyes were squeezed shut, but the glow continued, the onslaught of senses- every scent, every sound, the deafening roar of the falls now literally so, the taste of copper flooding his mouth, of silt. He gagged and rolled onto his side when finally, after only a second (it would seem to him an eternity), the magic halted and the glow receded quickly. His mind numbed, and he lay there dazed, panting. His head ached, his nose and mouth bled from teh fall. The great leader of Maji Walezi was anything but okay- but then again, running full tilt, who could be?

The water was loud - deafeningly so - but Teyouma wasn't in his right mind. If he even had such a thing. As he watched the water, his pupils (which were already difficult to see) widened until they overtook the darkness of the iris; he was experiencing a full-blown hallucination when Bevy's cry rose up around him. It was like music, her voice. Music interspersed with the deep bass of the falls. He was laughing and rolling backwards, flopping his arms down at his sides, and then drew them up behind his head to brace it - but as he rested his head upon his hands (his elbows jutting out to either side), he heard something new.

It wasn't like the music in his head at all. It was like... A hum. A very light hum that sort of.. Flowed. And in the next moment, there was a presence near to him. Had Teyouma paid more attention (and not been literally stoned off of his ass), he would've noticed the snake as it circled closer and closer. Its face rose up next to him, and when Teyouma finally saw it, his gaze landed on the snake's shining crown of gems. With a lazy reach of one arm and some flailing of his fingers, he made to reach for that crown - but began to giggle again, because the crown turned to fluid in his eyes, and danced around his fingers like amorphous bubble-shapes.

"Such a pretty, such a.. pretty." Teyouma moaned softly, swiped a few more times (missing the mark quite easily, especially if the snake made a move away from him), but he didn't get up from his prone position on the ground.

Code:

Life is precious.

It had been a lovely night spent cuddling with Cancer. They'd shared tongues, talked, and she'd ended up falling asleep cuddled into his side with her chin on his paws. What more could a girl want? Even her dreams that night had been spent giggling with Cancer as they'd played together through the caves. The ending came quite suddenly when in her dream she heard Bevy fly through and warn her... about something. Then, her head slammed down to the ground when she tripped... Except she hadn't really tripped.

In the waking world her head hit the ground hard when Cancer's paws were suddenly taken from underneath her. "OW!" She complained loudly, looking rather cross after the leopard leaped up. His hasty apology had the angry look leaving her face to be replaced with one of confusion. Bevy? Perhaps some real world aspects had come into her dream.

If anything Bevy had sounded worried and now Cancer sounded worried. The lioness leaped to her paws to follow the leopard out of her den. However, before they could make it very far Cancer was tripping. "Cancer, no!" She screeched but to no avail. He tumbled of of the ridge and hit the ground below. Panicked she jumped down after him and went to his side. "Cancer? Oh, Cancer!" Her voice shrill with worry as she licked his cheek tenderly before moving to his nose and mouth to clean the blood off. This was terrible!

She lay down at his side, fur brushing his as she tried to offer him comfort and at the same time look around. What had caused so much alarm? One look told her that there was a newcomer but whether that newcomer was good or bad was beyond her. He was reclined on his back but was reaching for Midas... but there was no violence in the gesture he was just trying to grab. Still, with Cancer out of commision, Bevy panicked, and Midas trying to attack she was unsure what to make of all this.

Leon! She needed Leon! He was far more of a leadering type than her! He would know what to do. Where was he?

The lioness reached out her mind and tried to contact him as she always seemed able to do. For some reason they were always somewhat in tune with each others emotions so he would know that she'd called, hopefully.

As for now she tried to gather up any dredges of leadership she had and gave one final lick to Cancer before standing up and looking directly at the monkey. "Who are you? Why have you come to Pisces to cause such a scare among the Maji Walezi?" Her voice had a little quaver to it as she was unsure if she was saying the right things. Gee... She hoped her friend came quickly.

"Speech." || "Thoughts."

table by lisa

words: 475
tagged: Teyouma, Bevy, Midas, Cancer
ooc: ---
muse: 6/10

Bevy was so afraid, but her fear was forgotten as Cancer came running out, yelling for her, and then... And then, in one burst of magic, he was thrown backwards, scrambling over his own paws to get away from the world. It looked like his own magic, but to her it didn't matter. Her friend was in pain and she had to fix it--

Makyna came rushing out behind Cancer, pausing to lick his cheek and fret over him, snuggle into him. Bevy's eyes flashed back to Teyouma, the awful monkey. It was then that she saw Midas. She didn't know the snake well at all, but he had already rushed to her defense and was already distracting the pale, translucent beast. "Careful, Midas!" She peeped, terrified that the monkey was lazily trying to grab his crown. "They're a thief and a bully!"

She couldn't stand to stay up in the air above it all, and instead dove down beside her friend Cancer. Her feathers soaked with the mist of the waterfall that collected on the damp ground here, but she hardly noticed as she gentle prodded at Cancer's paw with a beak tip. Something had gone horribly wrong, and it was her fault for raising the alarm so suddenly. If she had stayed calm, and quietly came to tell them, he wouldn't have panicked...

Thankfully, Makyna's brave, quiet voice saved her from collapsing into despair. Her attention was drawn to Ky's questions, her quivering but strong words, and anger built up in her chest. The awful bully hurt everything it touched and she wouldn't stand for it!

"That's the meanie I told you about, Ky! They attacked me when I was just a hatchling!" Bevy had never felt so furious in her whole life, her feathers rising up on the crest of her head. She wanted to peck and scratch and chase away the big huge jerk before he hurt anyone else... But she was much too small, much too frail to dare go on the offensive. Instead, she stood, bristling, ready to use her magic if it came down to it.

The serpent was quite upset, and now the weird slimy monkey lazily grabbed at his crown. He would not get his grubby fingers on his crown today! Nuh-uh! With a slow recoil, the snake lunged with a loud HISS! and met his mark, coiling around the primate's neck. Carnal instincts took the best of Midas, and he coiled tighter and tighter, unaware of the fact that he was slowly asphyxiating the high ape. It was when the clear creature went still and limp that the snake went still, loosening quietly.

Lime eyes looked on with horror as he realized... The monkey was dead.

"No... NO! I-I'm sorry!" He squealed, shaking his head and slithering to get as far away from the body as he could. He could see a gem fall down onto the floor, and he felt tears sting at his eyes. "I didn't know, Mr. Monkey. You may have been a meanie, but I didn't have to make you not live." Midas whimpered, hiding himself in a bush. "I didn't mean it!"

Before she could even get an answer from the monkey, Midas squeezed around him. Squeezed and squeezed until the monkey went limp in his coils. then the gem popped out and she knew he was dead. A shocked gasp escaped the feline as she ran forward towards the monkey. She didn't want to believe it. "No... no... not again..." She whimpered, touching the limp body with a paw just to be sure. It was indeed dead...

Ky's eyes turned to Bevy sadly. "He's dead..." She knew that this was the one that had terrorized her at birth but she hadn't expected this to happen, wouldn't have wished it either. Midas. What about Midas? He'd done the deed but she knew it hadn't been on purpose. The snake was kind and playful. Her blue eyes landed on the snake as she edged closer to him, crouching in front of the bush as she looked at him with kind blue eyes. The lioness wanted to comfort him to reassure him and make him realize that it was alright. She reached her telepathy out to him while she spoke. Aiming to send waves of feel good emotions to the snake and images of warmth. "Shhh... You didn't mean to. He surprised us and you were just trying to protect us. These things..." The lioness looked down at the monkey again, swallowing a lump in her throat as she threatened to become overwhelmed with emotion. Another gembound came to mind, one that was hit with a hard fist. It hadn't woken up either.

No. Push it away. Smother it. Don't think about it.

Midas. Focus on Midas. She continued the waves of comfort via the mental link, hoping to make him feel alright. "These things happen. Don't get down on yourself."



___________________________________________________________________

words: 297
tagged: Bevy, Cancer, Midas
ooc: ---
muse: 5/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Bevy's anger did not fade immediately. Even as something horrible happened, she still felt the rage, the horrible, endless fury. She wanted the monkey to hurt-- and it wasn't until a gem clattered to the earth, it's ringing noise soft and silencing, that she came to her senses.

... She had wished this creature to die. Midas had done it, but she felt the invisible blood coat her feathers and she stared in quiet dread, mortified at what she had wished upon the creature. Now it was dead. Harmless, lifeless, taken from this world.

"I..." She tried to speak but no words came to her. Instead, she just hopped forward, tentatively, and stared at the translucent beast, stared at his gemstone. It was a strange gem, dark-- with streaks of bright, bright color. Primarily a rich, beautiful blue with faded patches of copper... It looked like it belonged there among the waterfall.

Had he come to apologize for what he had done? Perhaps he wanted to join their family? She knew she would have fought against him joining-- he was selfish and mean-- but should she have? Did he deserved to be punished for something he had done as a baby?

He certainly didn't deserve death. Her wings brushed the transluecent, cooling skin of the monkey and soon she was snuggling into him, feathers ruffling against pale fur. She was so sorry. She wished she could bring him back.

But there was nothing she or any of them could do. He was gone now. Just like that.