THE WILD HUNT

THE STALK

Cetus's ever-present shroud of mist coiled thicker, swirling as though alive. To those who lived here, it would feel aware, somehow, as if the very swamp itself were awakening.

A Wild Hunt had careened through the caves. It had begun in Pegasus: a chase through the forest and fields, incorporeal prey shifting form as it fled the bestial Hounds and misshapen Hunters. Gembound had joined in, at the request of the Three Kings: a handful aiding the Quarry, a few others the Hunters, still others observing the chase. Both the Hunters and the neutral Observers had counted the most among them: the latter, those who watched perhaps dispassionately, content to allow the slaughter of the Quarry--or the lingering hunger of the Hunters--to play out on its own.... the former, those who would see the Quarry's slaughter aided by their own claws (or hooves).

Once out of Pegasus, they had vanished, as if into thin air... but the occasional wispy figure was visible, the rare twist of mist-shaped Hunter, that could lead the Gembound eventually to the Wild Hunt. To Cetus.

The Quarry crashed in through the tunnel entrance now, several days later: a cascading mass of mist, now a deer buck swift on the hoof, now a fat pheasant hurtling through the trees, wild-eyed with fear. Then it was a rabbit, going to ground among the thick roots and mud of Cetus-...

And no sooner was it out of sight than the Hunt poured in to follow. Formed of the same shifting mist, these Hunters--these massive Hounds, and the strange and sometimes skeletal fog-formed horses and their Huntsmen--only enhanced Cetus's chilling damp. Here they slowed, and lingered for a time, seemingly scanning the swamp for their prey: but they did not find it, and at a gesture from the leader of the Hunt, the Huntsman began to fan out, searching the dark, murky swamp for their prey.

_________

Gembound may choose to aid the Quarry in hiding and escaping, to aid the Huntsmen in tracking it down, or simply to Observe the hunt. This can be done in this thread, or in another thread, but if attempts are made in another thread their posts (with rolls or actions) must be linked back here (they can be edited into an IC departure post of this thread). (Any separate threads should be tagged [WH] and left AW.)

More information on the start of this event can be found here.

New characters may join at any time.

@Abaddon @Madhukar @Alrik @Glaive @Hunter @Warrior @Hargrave
@Comet @James @Mephisto @Orthoclase-Alpha @V-Selenite-One @Draconua @V-Zoisite-One @Hunter @Teyouma II @Puck @Effluvium @Mephisto
(for future self-reference: @ Tahi-shei (Talys, Kitty) )

Tahi-shei trailed the hunt once again, sensing that this onslaught had the potential to become a bloodbath. The Three Kings didn't seem to be following them anymore, but still, he shifted to the edge of the wall of Cetus to watch the quarry dash off into the undergrowth, and then watch as the hunters slowly fanned out in their pursuit of it. "Seems a little unfair," he commented off-handedly, but was not moved to act. Maybe it would be evasive enough to flee despite the overwhelming amount of hunters stampeding after it.


(Tahi-shei is observing.)

James hadn't been prepared for the sudden onslaught of kaiju that had joined the fray, and had bolted, taking flight and following the quarry on his sunset wings. He was fast, his feathers tapering into sharp tips, narrowing to give him speed.

He landed in Cetus eventually, having to take breaks every once in a while in order to eat and sleep, but he was here, rested and ready to go.

He folded his feathers in and used his brown and black colors to blend in to the best of his ability, following the wispy trail while also trying not to be seen. They were certainly not looking forward to the bloodbath that was to come. With the kaijus involved, this challenging game had turned into a war. He wasn't scared of Kitty or Madhukar, for with a simple spell he could just launch them into the air and be rid of them for a good ten minutes, but it was the massive size and the unpredictability of the newcomers that was concerning.

"Little one?", he asked softly, looking underneath his feathers to where he was cradling Talys in one of his wings, "How are you doing? Are you warm enough in there?"

James looked up again, ears perked, listening. He saw a flash of smoke and walked forward again, still following. He stopped and looked behind him, eyes narrowed. If he could distract the hunters and the hounds, and make them follow the wrong trail, then maybe they had a chance to win. There was no doubt the Chaos Forge were just following the hunters like he had the quarry. Hopefully he could get the color right...

He bit his lip as the wisp formed, and stamped a foot, ears pinning. No good, it wasn't even close to white. But he sent it off into the darkness anyway, just in case some idiot tried to follow.

@Talys

This was Kitty's home turf, and she knew exactly what she was doing here. Claws latched into a tree as she skittered up it, and then she was creeping through the leaves, eyes narrowed for a flash of pale fog that resembled the quarry. She noticed James's distraction, but the color bleeding into it flicked her gaze away and now she was moving silently through the treetops, but she was having trouble actually locating the thing.

She noticed a flash of something like a fox, but wasn't confident enough in her search to definitively say that it was the quarry. Instead, she just followed the vague, misty movement quietly through the trees and hoped it wasn't just the wind.


[Kitty is stalking in the treetops!]

Talys was hanging on quietly to the feathers, his fingers tangled gently into them. He ran rather warm himself, really, but he nodded at James and offered a tight-lipped smile. He was still wary of Draconua's reappearance. He was scanning for the panicked little fog creature, wary of trying to fight the big monster, but still wanting to help it. He put a little hand on James's shoulder/back/side area, feeling the muscles work under his hand. Horses were amazing.

Then he saw the wisp of slightly cyan light pop up, and his eyes widened. Unfortunately, Talys was one of those idiots, and tugged on James a bit, pointing towards the blobby thing as it darted into the undergrowth. "Bunny! Look, look, bunny!"


(Talys is trying to help the quarry... and more likely distracting someone else.)

Aran kept up with it all, despite being blind. He wanted to know how it would end, even if it ended in a complete bloodbath. If the thing that was being chased won, then it would simply mean it wasn't meant to die. If it did die, then it was meant to be so too. Aran didn't have any want to help or to hinder the thing, if he could see then he might have gone for it. Though he couldn't so he was stuck watching with those that decided they wanted to watch, too.

So he would sit there, listen to the other gembound that were doing what they were doing, and he would wait.

[Aran is Observing]

The little bull calf came stumbling into Cetus a little after the hunt itself. He'd rested, but each time he'd slept he'd eventually seen the ghostly shapes sweeping by and his primitive, angry little mind had been triggered inton trying to kill fog again.

Now he stumbled in, panting, gangly limbs sinking in the black mud and pitching him forward on his face. He scrambled up and looked around, crimson eyes searching out his new mortal enemies. The Huntsmen were lingering just ahead, spreading out, searching, their skeletal and strange steeds sifting into the darkness of Cetus. Abaddon gave no bleating warning this time, instead shoving his thin two-hundred-pound frame for the nearest of the "horse's" haunches.

Little horn connected with nothing more than wispy fog, and--head dropping and jerking up over and over, tail switching behind him--he tried again and again to gore the air itself.

local calf tries to fight ghosts
does this make him a ghostbuster?
Abaddon is aiding the Quarry.

He swept more quietly into the swamp, no thunder of hooves as he'd been in Pegasus. Now he was cautious, a little weary from travel (though they'd had days to get here, all in all--it was still some distance).

Warrior didn't know Cetus. The sinking, sucking blackness of the mud, the rank stench of marsh, pulled at him. He was reminded at once of the Dead Marsh of Hydra, but darker, colder and thick with fog. He hoped that Cryogen was somewhere near, but ahead he could now make out the dim and shifting shapes of the Huntsmen.

He wasn't sure what to do about all of this. He only knew there was a hunt, and he wanted to aid the one chased, the one outnumbered. Prey creature instinct drove him in this, and he began to pick his way as quietly as a full-grown horse could through the wet, and around the edges of the hunters. Perhaps he could find the Quarry, and somehow aid it.

Magic swam up over him, reflecting dullness coating his fur, so that he suddenly seemed to be a mere glimpse of Cetus' swamp. With light this dim it wasn't hard to pull off near-invisibility: rather than pointed glares there was only featureless black-brown water, and tufts of reeds, that shifted a little eerily as he moved.

Warrior will attempt to find and aid the Quarry

Sharp had been excitedly tracking the wispy shadows in between caring for her children and repairing her cart. It was exciting! An event to witness! It was a bit hard, given her tiny size, small visual range and horrible speed, but the occasional wispy image kept her glued. She followed them, further and further and further, until they led her to Cetus.

Well, she didn't know it was called Cetus. The sungazer never even been this far, actually. Mud and pine needles squished between Sharp's, and the rest of the cave seemed the same. She shivered. Extreme humidity wasn't exactly her thing, but if the hunt was here it was probably worth trudging through. Even if she nearly sunk through every other step.

Eventually she caught up with the rest of the party, straining to see what was ahead. Spectral hunters! A rabbit! All so very interesting, but while the others rushed off to help their respective side Sharp focused mainly on finding a dry rock to sit on. Sinking through and drowning wouldn't be very nice, would it?

© ©

Sharp is observing!

Aaaaaaaaaaaand they were in Cetus. Great.

Madhukar hadn't thought about anything besides the Hunt. She hadn't wanted to. This was, in essence, a method of absconding. Maybe it would take her a while to admit that. What was she even running from? Again, she didn't want to think about it. She could feel it biting at the backs of her heels though.

She knew her lightning could affect the Quarry. If she could find it, maybe she could bring it to a full stop. Would that make it too easy? Should she give it a chance to... Keep running Madhukar.

'Find it first.' Fair point. So try she would, to find the Quarry, trying not to pay any mind to the opposing team's distractions. This was her home turf! Most unfortunately. She knew her way around.

It reminds you of-- --doesn't it? Oh, don't you remember those times? Back when-- PLEASE DON'T BE HERE PLEASE DON'T BE HERE PLEASE DON'T BE HERE.

Think "Speak"

Madhukar is attempting to aid the Huntsmen by seeking out the Quarry.