Experimentation [FINISHED]

[Dark]

Minh was still a little wary to cut his bonds, but he seemed sincere enough in his groggy-compliance that she took a chance and started to cut the rope. Three strategic cuts later she was able to peel the majority of the bulky strands off the stallion; it took two more cuts to completely free him.

“Alright, Shinrai—time to kick some bander hide. Watch your ankles.”

She leapt clear of him just incase he decided to start kicking, dragging some of the tangled rope with her. If they got lucky they just might be able to pin Monty with the mess in the confusion. Of course, it was entirely dependent on Monty straying out into the open.

Turning to Mnem, she was about to suggest they find weaponry of some sort when she spotted the bander. It was one of the newest litters with an interesting dewclaw mutation, making them adapt climbers. The little bugger was currently sneaking up on Mnem with the steely glint of murder in its eyes.

“Mnem… better turn around.”

[seraaches]

The ropes slipping over his body caused his hide to shudder and twitch uneasily, but it succeeded in causing him to go still for several very long moments. The stallion blearily threw his head up, bringing him up off of his side to shiver slightly on the table for a moment as he tried to place himself. Placing didn’t work, but he did hear a low, menacing growl and that galvanized him as little else could; his instincts kicked him from his life in the Josiggy Marsh.

Adrenaline pumped suddenly through his body, and the stallion lurched to the ground, standing with legs splayed and ears flat. He bared his teeth, giving a low, threatening warning that managed to get quite a bit of attention. Banders used to being scary were being challenged and the pack didn’t seem to like it. A low, collective growl issue forth and the stallion responded in kind.

Grey-green eyes scanned the creatures slowly surrounding him, though the awareness was limited to his immediate survival. The first of the banders rushed the stallion and he reared up with a low-pitched scream of rage, lashing out with his forelegs.

[Nathalia]

((Remember to note me when you guys hit 101 posts 83 You'll all get a nice little extra prize for bothering to get so into your characters <3 *hugs you all and frolics off*))

~Nathalia

[Bee]

Mnem pivoted abruptly, meeting the enormous, wild eyes of a tiny beast that quite obviously had bloodshed on its mind. Her mouth curled into a sneer, her rising annoyance out-distancing her fear. She was getting awfully tired of the little buggers, and damned if she was going to end up the lunch of a pack of ravenous pets. The beast had claws, but so did she, and hers were bigger.

"Do piss off, you rude little barbarian," she spat, and swung her left paw in a wide, hard arc, nails swiping the face of the little bander and the force of the blow sending it flying. It howled in pain as it was struck and screeched with indignant anger as it flew through the air and collided with a precariously balanced stack of books, which collapsed and buried it, at least temporarily.

She would need to keep a closer eye out while Shinrai disposed of them. Perhaps they could even lend a bit of assistance.

Smacking that fiendish little hellion had felt surprisingly good and satisfying.

"Minh," she said archly. "Why don't we give Shinrai a bit of help?"

[Dark]

Minh watched with something resembling awe as Shinrai plowed into the mutant banders, a destructive whirl of lashing limbs and gnashing teeth. She was so engrossed in the gruesome display, in fact, that it took about 2.3 seconds for her mind to process that the last time she’d spoken to Mnem the canine had been the unsuspecting prey of a rabid bander. Whirling around, she watched the precise execution of Mnem’s clawed strike and the graceful arch of the bander as it smacked into the book stack. It took about 3 additional seconds to realize Mnem was talking to her.

“Help him?”

Minh sometimes wondered about the canine—she really did. But, then again, watching the stallion unleash holy wraith down upon those tiny, fuzzy, demonic skulls did rather inspire one to join in the fight. And, why the hell not—they were struggling for their lives, after all.

Crouching low, her small tail twitched in anticipation as she choice her prey—a small, brown-dappled bander with webbed feet. She pounced.

[seraaches]

Shinrai wasn’t coming through the fight unscathed; these banders were uncannily intelligent and they worked well as a pack. As he crow hopped again to try and crush a leopard male, two others leapt from the same table he’d been tied to so recently to scratch and bite as they slid down his smooth hindquarters. He squealed, partially missing the small creature rather than a deadly strike; but the leopard gave an angry cry as a hoof crushed one of his feet.

Rai gave a small buck, constrained by the tiny amount of space; he managed to dislodge one female, but the other one latched onto the back of his leg and the stallion moved to slam it against the wall. The creature leapt for safety just before the leg slammed home and the horse gave another angry cry as pain shot up his leg. His head snaked out in rage, nabbing a bander and shaking it viciously until he got a satisfying crack. He tossed it at the injured leopard male and searched for his next target angrily.

[Bee]

While Minh and Shinrai were occupied with their own prey, Mnem was shaking a bander like a ragdoll in her tightly clenched jaw, merrily listening to the beast's shrieks of terror and impotent rage. There was no real pain involved, except where her teeth dug into the brutish creature's front leg. It wasn't until the bander started scratching at Mnemosyne's nose in earnest that she finally threw it. A moment of delightful torture was not worth scars.

She watched as the bander hit the wall and slid to the floor, twitching and howling, but her feelings of deep satisfaction and malicious glee were cut short when she locked gazes with a pair of shining blue eyes. The bander was obscured by the dimness of the inside of the box it was crouching in, but she was watching, teeth bared, and she looked ready to pounce.

"Minh!" she said tersely. "I've found Monty! Get over here and help me get her."

[Dark]

Minh was in the middle of mauling a particularly nasty female when she heard Mnem alert her of a Monty-spotting. Finally.

She crunched down on the thrashing bander’s neck, hearing a satisfying crunch before turning to deal with the tan that was currently trying to chew through the Achilles tendon. A rough backhand sent the little menace flying, and she began making her towards where she last remembered leaving the coil of rope. There weren’t as many banders now as there had been in the beginning—quite a few had been flattened by Shinrai, and more recently the majority of those left had taken up the retreat. Hopefully, they weren’t regrouping in the shadows.

She clamored around fallen furniture and toppled books, finally reaching the rope. She hissed as the rough braid aggravated some of the lacerations on her paw, tossing it over her shoulder and barely suppressing a yowl as it scatted across a rather deep cut on her shoulder. Lopping towards Mnem, hoping the demonic little hell spawn didn’t hear her coming over the din, Minh rounded a corner, saw a glint of evil blue eyes, and tossed the tangled mess at Monty.

[seraaches]

The obvious Banders were dropping swiftly innumber, but the stallion wasn’t fooled; they were somewhere and preparing to regroup. He gave another angry snort, trying to stamp out the yellow female that was dancing at his feet, darting from one side to the other. She wasn’t attacking, however, just feinting and he abruptly –knew- she was just biding her time until the others could make their new plan of attack. Rai’s ears went back uneasily, and he caught the faint scratch of claws against metal. No! The yellow female made a chittering noise that was terribly like some sort of awful laughter, and then a whole swarm of Banders launched themselves at him.

Shinrai gave another angry squeal, this one higher as the pain of bites and scratches broke through the rest of the drugged haze. Rai crow hopped and gave small bucks, colliding into a table and effectively squishing one of the Banders, while the rest of the pack scrabbled harder on his body. The stallion jerked his head backwards, grabbing one of the creatures off his back and managing to catch one right on his ear. Another squeal emerged and he shuddered, shaking his whole body violently. The Banders were holding tightly on, however, and the stallion slammed his body against another wall, bringing cries of pain that were finally not his.

[Bee]

Too occupied with the group leader to pay much attention to the stallion, except for a brief feeling of relief that he was at least keeping the pack of banders busy and serving his purpose, Mnem watched as Monty shrieked with rage as the ropes got her. The mostly-white creature thrashed about, only succeeding in tangling herself further in the mess. It didn't take the smart little beast long to figure out that this tactic was not helping her at all, but by then it was too late.

A bright blue bander whizzed by their heads and collided with the wall. Mnem assumed that it was one of the ones Shinrai had managed to throw.

She sighed, pleased that things were finally starting to slow down, but apparently she had begun celebrating too soon--there was a sudden, sharp pain in her right front leg, and she looked down to discover that Monty, in one last effort to be a menace, had thrown herself at Mnem. The wretched beast probably would have wailed in triumph, but her mouth was too full of Mnem's delicate flesh.

If she had to scream, Mnem was going to scream something useful.

"Minh, GRAB THIS DAMNED THING!"