T - Callypso, Blue

[Kitty]

He could tank his family for his non-typical attitude and behavior. They're were all the Type-A sort of personalities, but his sister was the worst. She was short, feisty and wouldn't think twice about coming up behind you and whacking you over the head with her sword. Love tap she'd call it.... he called it insanity.... but she was following in their parents footsteps and trying to wipe the lowlanders from the face of the earth.

He didn't care so much about the lowland thing, well.... he cared a little more now then he had a few years ago. Damn pack of canines that decided to fight him six to one. Where was the honor in that?

Now that would definitely be a sight to see.. Probably difficult to keep track of too.

He could see himself with a pet like that, something strange and unusual. It was then, almost as if it knew what he was thinking, that the sticky creature lounging over his shoulder made a little gurgling noise and bumped up against his chin, pulling his fur a bit but not leaving much of a residue. He'd forgotten about the quiet little creature he'd been given. Well, guess he already had a weird ass pet, right? Couldn't get any stranger then a.... whatever this was. He'd have to come up with a name for it sometime.

I was starting to think it was all a pretty bad dream, but the landing quite literally knocked that thought out. There's something strange going on, and it's not limited to the Capitol. I wonder how far the strangeness really stretches?

The last question kind of trailed off, he knew he wasn't going to get an answer.... just thinking to himself really. He did switch his gaze over to the light, seeing it before it flickered out of existence. That was... .weird.

No.... that's a completely new oddity.

He noticed the thing with the girls before he actually noticed them. His expression changed entirely to shock and awe as he looked at the thing.... it was huge! and he had the same question as Don... what were they doing with it if it ate people? Why hadn't it eaten them?

______


Jerome stopped and stiffened once he finally saw what the others were talking about. finally an appropriate moment for paranoia had emerged and he was ready for it. For the sake of the children he stifled his growl as much as he could, but he couldn't silence it completely. His eye was locked on the... thing they seemed to be guiding along. It didn't' look that dangerous to him... but stranger things had happened.

______

A hopeful expression crossed the lion/bat's face when Donovan turned to him and asked him if 'that' was his. Normally he'd give anyone who called his daughter a that quite the tongue lashing, but today he ignored it and moved to the front of the ground anxiously. The moment her saw her he moved forward, she looked a little different, but there was no mistaking that she was, indeed, right there.

Sonata!

The instant she heard a familiar voice the smaller Tulgey/Villa ceased walking backward and turned around. She pranced in place for a brief moment before a squeal of complete and utter delight escaped her maw and she took off at full speed toward the biped she looked quite a bit like. Takio braced himself, knowing full and well what was coming, but when she made a flying leap into his arms it still knocked him off his feet.

Daddy!

Takio activated his flight ability to first keep himself from landing on his back on the ground, and second to right himself as he gave his little trouble maker a tight hug.... and then a look over. He took his glasses off, shut his eyes, opened them and put them back on. No.... that wasn't the problem... she was still quite a bit different then she had been last time he saw her.

What..... what happened to you?

He lifted a finger and delicately ran it along the edge of one of her metal.... wings? Whatever they were. It was.... strange. The fog, that caught him off guard as well.

That.... that thing spit something on me and Yantai over there. Made us.... change.

She made a gesture with her head toward the ink beast and the girls still near it.... she was pretty sure everyone would be able to tell which one was Yantai.

______


The Rat/Deer stepped forward at that, rustling her wings a bit as she decided then was a good time to speak.

Sir, it was an accident.

She cleared her voice, trying to get her quiet, gentle voice to be a little louder and a little more commanding. It didn't work much, but she hoped it worked ... enough.

You apologized for that, didn't you?.

She looked up at the creature for a moment before gently rubbing her head against it in a reassuring manner. She didn't want these people to get the wrong impression.

There were some corvies in the mix of this new group... maybe they knew a way to help it? She was about to ask when she noticed Jarvis... green fur with gold bridling he was.... he was a Jossigy. She froze, fear suddenly crossing her features as she made a move to partially hide behind the ink creature. Suddenly quite terrified. She'd been warned about his type. She knew she didn't look much lowland, but her father had warned her that there were some out there that wouldn't think twice about making assumptions on the behalf of her markings.

[Callypso]

Don and Jarvis kept up their discussion of mutations and fantastic pets as they drew closer to the orange glow – which suddenly spread and lit the sky with a blinding, white light before vanishing completely. She turned to the Jack, who looked just as baffled as he. Each speck of information received just seemed another piece to a vast, incomprehensible puzzle. Iso detested riddles and mysteries, and here she was thrown in the middle of one.

Lost in her own irritation, she almost hadn’t noticed the odd group emerging from an adjoining alleyway but a block ahead. A large body slammed into her, then a warm, feathery arm wrapped around her to keep her from tumbling down. About to bark a warning to the clumsy oaf, the ferret realized it was Don keeping her steady and flushed. Oh, this fluttering heart business was getting tiresome!

It’s, it’s fine, Don. I’m unharmed…

She braced herself, not entirely removing herself from his grasp, to take a better look at the newcomers. They were children, all of them, with an enormous, inky, glutinous creature schlepping along after them. Iso was fascinated - the creature appeared to be made of a similar substance that now adorned her backside.

Is that one of the monsters you spoke of earlier??

Her eyes widened in wonder and momentary fear, but the creature seemed to tag along after the children like an sludgy plush teddy. It was absurd. She rubbed a free paw against her forehead and pinched her nose. This couldn’t be happening.

Takio’s voice rang out with barely suppressed relief and obvious glee, which was met with vigor when one of the children thundered up the street and launched herself into her father’s arms. My, she was a sight to behold as well. It appeared she wasn’t the only one to suffer random mutation. It didn’t make her feel any better, though. Well... at least one of the many mysteries seemed resolved.

Another brightly colored child stepped forward, with ink monster in tow. She seemed rather articulate, then froze in place and shrank back at the sight of the arachnid-like Jarvis. Her brows furrowed – was it perhaps the extraneous legs?

It’s all right, young lady. He won’t harm you. Is every one all right?? And who is your… she paused, unsure how to phrase her question… your, ah…friend, here?

[carcinoGeneticist]

((...can everyone send me their character's deepest regrets, pllllzzzzz? <3 I would ask you all individually, but yeah... easier this way ;;; ))

It seemed strange, to the Owlet, to be walking in the company of such a strange creature. But despite her earlier fears centered around it, she was quickly finding it to be... Not as bad as its general appearance would have left her to believe. It had changed the other girls somehow, but had done nothing to her, only clinging to her in an almost... fond way.

Before, she hadn't been sure what she was saying or doing. But now she knew. She wanted to find it help, somehow, try and help fix it. She was still carrying the creature's leg bone, thoughts idling as they made their way down the streets. Her Mother would fix it. And if not him, then perhaps Father. He was a King, after all. He knew powerful people. She shivered in the night air, slipping a little closer to the towering creature as well as Sonata, grateful for the additional comfort on this strange night.

Between Keitha and the Badger-girl, they seemed fairly well prepared for a lot of things. At the sound of voices coming at them from down the street, the girl spun, mouth half open to pose a greeting and a question --

-- then went slack-jawed, staring blankly at the group. She would be unresponsive for... A little while, at least. Until the visions had finished playing out in her mind.

[Nako]

Delaney's tail went straight under her legs, trembling a bit as Eryn went through her "Fit". There were more people, and Delaney might have been afraid but their new friends ran towards one of them.

Family. They'd found theirs. Delaney gave a loud whimper and raised her head to look around, futilely looking for her own mother. But he wasn't to be found. Whine. Whimper.

Keitha sighed. She'd given the group a glance as well, but their mother was nowhere to be found. Even Keitha would be glad to see the Joker right about now. No.. that sounded bad. She didn't hate her mother. Not really. She just blamed everything on her. Keitha rather boldly took a step toward the group. "Excuse me.. do you all happen to know what's going on? We got separated from our mother.. and…" Well. She glanced back at the blob that followed them. Yeeah….

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

My goodness this Crow was a chatterbox! But Pandora actually found herself not minding at all. The constant drone of his friendly voice soothed her nerves some and she found it easier to walk with the group as they made their way... well, forward. They had a destination, but she had no idea where it actually was.

She'd been watching the orange glow in the distance when suddenly it changed to a white color and covered the entire sky! Even though she was new to this world, she knew that whatever it was wasn't natural. It was too bright, and lit too large an area to even be something like lightning. And then, suddenly, all the light was completely gone.

Suddenly the Crow was backing up and even bumped into Iso. Pan stopped moved suddenly, her eyes wide and hackles raised. She expected an attack, but when it never came she looked down the alleyway the BiPed was backing away from. He said something down there was what was eating people. Whatever it was wasn't charging at them, so did that mean the Avian could be wrong?

Her large bird eyes were able to discern five small Cards, children, walking towards them. But then she finally saw what had Donovan so freaked out. Her beak opened in astonishment. She couldn't see the thing detail for detail from where they stood, but she could see enough. It really was a monster!

A blur moved past her, one she recognized as Takio, and one of the children ahead came running at him. Pan resumed walking forward, albeit reluctantly until the two groups had finally converged on one another. She looked at all the children, then at the blob. And kept looking at it; she couldn't take her eyes off the thing!

But then one of the children, who reminded her of a deer, started to rub it's head against it affectionately. Pan clacked her beak together repeatedly, unsure what to make of the situation. Donovan said these things ate people, but here were five girls - all very uneaten. Her rabbit ears flicked up and forward curiously.

"I'm sorry," Pandora said to the girl who had asked the question, "but none of us really know what's going on. The Crow here says your blob monster friend over there, or some exactly like it, are going around eating people." She explained, raising one eyebrow when she spied the bone she held in her hands. "The Chipmunk, Akita and I arrived here via a whirlwind thing and basically, no one has a bleeding clue as to what's going on," she finished with a sarcastic smile.

Making sure there wasn't a trail of inky black sludge on the ground around her, Pan sat down. The two groups would probably talk for awhile. Great, just when they were on the move they stop again. The Mix didn't like staying in one place, not when all this strange shit was going on.

[Kitty]

upon hearing Pandora say that the thing ate people, the Lion/Badger fluffed out her fur and leapt down from Takio's arms, but stayed close to him for comfort as she lifted a pay and pointed one of her huge claws at him.

I knew it! That's why those bones and stuff slipped out of it all over you Yantai! What sort of monstrosity eats people?!

The biped shifted uncomfortably at his daughters outburst, his facial expression a mix of horror and panic for a moment before he decided to shift up to his human form as a distraction for himself. Once he had shifted, he busied himself with fixing clothes that didn't need to be fixed and brushing away dust that just wasn't there.

There were reasons he hadn't told his children about his... other half. However, hearing a word so close to monster be spat from the maw of his own daughter was quite a large slap in the face despite the fact that he knew she wasn't talking about him. She very well could be though, he was part vampire bat after all .... he wasn't much better then the beast over there.... and felt a little sympathy for it. He started to walk closer to the thing, and the girls still near it, peering over his shoulder at Sonata.

Well, none of you seem to be eaten. There were only five of you to begin with, right?

________________

Jarvis genuinely felt bad that he seemed to be the source of the little girl's horror. She seemed like such a smart, sweet little thing .... her parents were definitely raising her well. She looked like she'd grow up to be a pretty thing too, what sort of mix was that? Kahmnden for sure, looked like Sorgaire as well.... but those swirls? Highlands mixing oddly with the other two? That had to be it, there wasn't a hint of brown or rot on her whole form. No way she could be part Lowlands.

He moved toward the group of children, one hand up in surrender and the other scratching the back of his neck in a nervous fashion. He was scarred, had big teeth and four giant spider limbs... of course he frightened children.

don't let the looks fool you girls, I'm pretty harmless, and I especially won't hurt sweet, little girls.

He eyed their 'friend' with a bit of nervousness, his little banded tail stiffening up a bit. The little one wasn't dangerous.... but the big one looked like it might be. He thought Takio was off his rocker to step toward the thing with such an air.

_________________

Yantai's eyes widened further when the chipmunk started to approach and now she leaned into the blob monster, trying to seek some sort of comfort from it's gooey form. When the man spoke her ears tilted forward curiously. There was no hint of aggression or forced niceties in the man's tone. He must be another mistaking her for highlands mix. She breathed a sight of relief before looking at the one asking what their friend's name was, and then up at the beast as well.

They hadn't thought to ask before, had they?

What would you like us to call you?


_____________


Jerome stood his ground, his only eye wide with disbelief at the creature ahead of them now that he'd gotten a better look at it. Now that looked to be just the type of thing you heard horror stories about, not quite as terrifying as what was living back in his homeland.... but.... it could have been.

[Nathalia]

(("O...kayyyy...little girl found her Daddy. Cool..." Don mumbled, finally pulling his wing back, looking a bit awkward as one of the girls nuzzled the damn thing.
"Not to be racist against monsters, but I'm kinda not ok with this. Iso? How exactly did you get your ink stuff? Are these thing ok?"
He ruffled his feathers, shuffling a little and wishing they could ditch the freaky noble with the kids and ship out.
Not cool to ditch kids with a freaky noble, though, even if one was his...
Something one of the girls said caught his attention.
"Spit on you and made you change?" He shuffled backward a little further. Sure, he was banged up and would definitely be on the penny-shelf in any store, but he really didn't fancy being "changed" at random because some monster liked to take spit shots at people, thanks.

Pandora spoke for the group, and he happily let her do it, watching the thing as it seemed to ooze happily back at the girl, before shuddering and letting out a sound that rivaled a Bander being stepped on.
"Ok...not liking it. Hey, Iso...no chance you can fly with the stuff, is there? We could, like...get the 'authorities' or something." He shrugged, it was worth a shot, whether she could of not.
The Rat mixed girl then asked the Blob a question...
To the general shock of everyone...it answered.
"T-Taaaammmmiiisssssssss. I wassss Tammmiiiisssss." It whined plaintively, weird popping sounds coming from what one could assume was its face as it frothed out the words.
"Enough, kids? Ok, please come this way, come on. Little Owl girl...what the fuck is wrong with you?" He hissed under his breath, starting to stalk up toward Jarvis to see if he could drag the kids away from it.

"Y'know? As happy as I am that it's not eating the kids? It's not exactly- Shit!"
Even as he'd spoken, Jarvis had seemed to relax his position a little and the monstrous thing had launched itself forward, bull-rushing past or over people in order to get to the Josiggy.
Once near him, it engulfed him completely in ooze, swallowing him alive and frothing all around his body.
Something inside, something sharp stabbed at him repeatedly while the thick, suffocating mess invaded his every orifice.
Don yelped in shock as a bone schlepped out of the ooze onto the ground with a dull thunk.
"Shit, shit! Jarvis, hang on, dude!" Grabbing a near-by shovel, he threw it at the thing, unwilling to get closer to it.))




~Nathalia

[Callypso]

((“…before shuddering and letting out a sound that rivaled a Bander being stepped on.” OMFG, Nat, hilarious))

This was definitively bizarre. A cluster of girls towing an ink monster as if it were an over-sized, gelatinous terrier. Whirlwind travel and…

You neglected to mention the supposed Jossigy/Lowland War, the ferret added tiredly. Though, Pandora was right on most accounts. They really didn’t have the faintest notion of what was causing all of these oddities.

I’m sorry, Don. I honestly couldn’t tell you. I was out for a walk when I was overcome with a horrible, stretched feeling. For reasons unknown to me I began to feel ill and started coughing up this black fluid. Vertigo hit, then a mysterious fog loomed for nowhere and I was rendered unconscious. Courante found me and brought me to safety. When I awoke, I had sprouted these horns and this viscous ink adorned my back. She followed her summary with a confused shrug. Unfortunately I can’t fly, and haven’t any answers for yo-

Her sentence abruptly fell away. The monster had replied. The doctor blinked a few more times. Yes, she definitely felt a migraine coming on. This was a bit much…

Well, at least they didn’t seem to be injured, except… Iso stepped forward to eye one of the girls, an Owlet who had gone slack-jawed and stared unseeing at the group. Her mind transitioned automatically into physician-mode. These people needed help.

Girls, I know I look a little scary, but I want to help you. I’m Dr. Iso. Will you tell me your names? Did anything happen to this girl? Do you know why…Tamis… spit at you?

Without warning, the inky creature lurched forward to envelope Jarvis. Little yelps of pain made it clear that the thing was trying to harm the Jossigy. A bone oozed out of its side. Shrieking, Don leapt forward, grabbed a shovel and hurled it at the monster.

Don, NO!! She yelled, far too late. Iso grabbed for his outstretched arm to pull him towards her(20). Don. DON! I need you to calm down! It’s sentient. We can talk to it! She dearly hoped. Give me a moment to try and communicate!

Angrily, she brushed past the crow to stand before the creature. Her tone suddenly changed to stern and matronly, as she reached out to place a hand on the thing. The ink on her back whipped out tendrils that swayed back and forth, as though shaking fingers at a misbehaving child.

Tamis. Tamis, stop it right NOW. You listen to me. You’re being very naughty. I need you to stop attacking that man and tell me why you’re trying to hurt him.

Oh, for the love of Spades, I sound like Polina, thought the Corvie wearily to herself. The others must thought she was being crazy – she just hoped the damned thing listened and didn’t suck her in with the poor man.

[Kitty]

The little girl seemed to calm down a bit, enough so to ask their strange friend it's name. He wasn't all that surprised that it spoke, not after the little deer/rat had said it had apologized to them. He relaxed a bit, feeling a little better about the situation. Until, of course, the thing bull-rushed him and he had absolutely no time to react before he was completely enveloped inside the black mass.

He struggled uselessly against the inside walls of the thing, trying desperately to escape. His struggles intensified as not only was something stabbing at him, but he was also experiencing something quite uncomfortable. The thing.... it was..... invading him, creeping into places that weren't supposed to have things creeping into them. He couldn't breathe either, which terrified him even more. He wasn't even one of the ones who thought it would actually eat people! Why was HE being eaten?!

_________________

Takio very quickly grabbed Sonata and pulled her roughly to the side, causing her to squeak in protest and for both of them to start rolling. The beast did still get her tail, covering it in black slime as it raced toward the chipmunk. He held his daughter close to him as he eyed the thing in horror.

Sonata screamed and buried her face into her father's chest, keeping herself from watching any more of this. She didn't want to see the strange chipmunk die.... no... that certainly didn't sound like a good idea.

__________

Jerome's hackles rose and he sprang forward so that he was standing just a little bit ahead of Don, while still being at his side. He yelled something at the creature in Solandrian, and whatever it was he yelled certainly didn't sound very nice.

___________


Yantai's eyes widened in horror when Tamis moved forward, instantly blaming the whole act on herself. Was Tamis trying to protect her? She hoped not, but she couldn't help but think that was the case.

She ran toward Tamis and looked up where it's face should be with tears streaming down her cheeks, her voice pleading.

Tamis, no! Please spit him out! He won't hurt us, please, please just spit him out!

She started to get the stuttering inhale from crying, but she didn't back away from the creature. This was her fault, all her fault.

[Nako]

That hadn't been expected, at all. Delaney began shrieking at the top of her lungs and Keitha all but lunged out of the thing's way as it made a rush toward the Jossigy.

Lowland/Jossigy war? The girls exchanged very quick and frantic looks. It seemed that they were no longer just worried for their mother, but their mother's friend Victor as well.

"I'm Keitha… This is Delaney and Eryn.." Keitha had hesitantly mentioned right before the blob screamed.

"No no no don't eat him!" Delaney screamed, almost rushing toward the creature in her confusion as if she thought she could somehow help the man. So scared, she forgot she was scared. Huh.

Keitha bodily stopped the girl (11 against Delaney's 4), Delaney slowly giving up her attempts as she seemed to realize what she had been about to do.

"I.. thought he was nice…" Delaney muttered, absolutely boggled.