T - Xenon, Nako, Harps, Vyn

[Nako]

No. Oh no no no. Brandy yet out a yelp when the thing came out of the water. He knew this was bad! He just knew it!

And Suvius was running off. Oh, that bitch.

The impulse to run was overridden by the face that women were present. Women were always the more valuable creature; he couldn't force himself to save his own male hide when they were in the direct line of harm. Making panicked little sounds, he gingerly picked up stones and clods of dirt to chuck it in the direction of the monster.(15)

"No, shoo. Shoo! Back with you!" But his voice could hold no real authority in the way that it trembled with fear. What was he doing?? The poor horse had no powers to speak of to protect himself from such a monster. Luckily his learned impulses at the moment were stronger than self preservation.

[Nathalia]

((Suvius gave a panicked screech as she fought her way out of the monstrous things' path.
Her eyes were wide with complete surprise and terror.
"Y'damn bastard! Stay down! Stay down where I bloody put yeh!" She cried, racing halfway up a tree and throwing a rock at it.
The monster had advanced far enough as to be nearly on top of Jordan...when the rock hit it.
Laboriously, it turned its head, seeming to have to fight to keep itself on task.

Its gaze focused on the Equine, throwing rocks and clods of dirt at it.
It roared in his direction, sending black, gooey foam and thick ropes of horrible nastiness all over him as it raged, writhing and then seeming to decide to go for Jordan.
Not seeming to be quick enough on the uptake, it missed the fact that the Bird had knocked her out of the way, and engulfed him instead.
It realized its mistake in an instant and spat him back out, covered in goo, and hissed, bubbling madly and heaving at Jordan, still hanging onto the Bird's leg.
It swallowed her whole and swirled her around inside, before jerking itself up to stare over at the tree with Suvius in it.

Belching out the other two again, it surged over to the tree.
"Suuuuviuusssss!" It foamed, writhing at the tree and slowly beginning to snap it in half!
"Mates! 'Elp me!" She screeched, clinging to the branches in fear as it slobbered up at her, kicking at its face as it sucked at her offending paw.

Uluani suddenly felt an odd, sickening sensation cover her body, and then pass...oh dear.
That potion must have had an effect n her coat too, how...different.



These colors constantly shift and change over her fur and she smells unbearably like ink if Juall doesn't cover for her and at least make it tolerable. Her eyes and wing are a rather disturbingly bright kaleidoscope of rainbow now, though...))




~Nathalia

[Satra]

[Got the okay, Xenon's characters are in the carriage as well. <3 ]

When he recovered from the terrifying speed at which the carriage was traveling, Victor relaxed and began talking.

"The short of it is: I've found out that all these Ink Creatures are the same person. From what I can gather, it used to be someone named 'Tamis' before it became what we've been encountering. Tamis was in love with someone named 'Suvius'..." he paused, "And it rather still seems to be. I can't tell if Suvius it Tamis' damnation or potential savior, but given the fear I sense in it, I feel compelled to help Tamis..." He realized he never asked if Tamis was male or female. Calling Tamis 'it' was starting to irk him, "I also feel it's tied to what's been going on. Getting to the bottom of this might shed some light as to what the hel--" he looked over at the kids, thinking for the first time that he should probably censor himself. He vaguely wondered if he let something slip without realizing it, "What the heck has been going on in the Capitol and here."

Victor had been hoping to talk to Tamis on the way, but he was a little afraid of being on the outside of the carriage right now. He did a double take, noticing something for the first time.

"...what's on your face?"

When they arrived, Victor's eyes went wide at the chaos before them. Shit. He stuck his head out and called to Tamis. "What's going on?" Was Suvius here? Or maybe they were collecting another Tamis to pull the carriage? Suits, he couldn't imagine it going any faster. No... maybe it's being distracted by one of the Tamis doppelgangers that was attacked or tried to attack these people. He took a quick assessment of the situation (18!) and decided that, first and foremost, he need to get the Tamis in charge of the carriage in check before it got into a frenzy. He blathered something incomprehensible to his group and leaped our of the carriage and in front of Tamis. He put his paws on the thing's shoulders and spoke to it.

"Tamis, stay with me."

[Sorry about the novel. I just realized I made a mistake and wrote something Victor would not do at first. ]

[Harpsdesire]

((Quick post as I am barely hanging on to awake-ness so .... yeah.... ))

At Kaden's cry, Alicia lept from his back without hesitation, running the zig-zag aimless pattern of a frightened rabbit for several seconds before going to ground under some bushes not too far off. She wasn't perfectly hidden, but she held very still, barely seeming to breathe, although her little nose twitched furiously with fear. This was utter madness!

Kendra had the good fortune to be out of the inky creature's direct line of sight, and even when Kaden was swallowed and she gasped aloud it didn't seem that the beast was interested in her. It was.. it was after Suvius, wasn't it? It had regurgitated the bird and Jordan both, leaving them in a gooey heap, but it was talking to Suvius. Ugh, the creature was horribly wrong.

She looked at Sophie and nodded resolutely. "I have to help Kaden. Then I'll go with you." She dashed in a burst of Spade swiftnes to Kaden's side with every intention of hauling him to his feet by the wing and dragging him off to safety. "C'mon, Kaden, we have to run!"

Considering that the monster had resulted from Suvius trying to poison an entire realm, Kendra wasn't feeling greatly motivated to risk her own life or those of Kaden and the girls to save her from the horrible results of her mean-spirited and unwise actions. Messing around with magic that strong sometimes had not-nice outcomes. This was one of those times, and the young Corive couldn't say she would feel terrible if Suvius learned that lesson the hard way.

[carcinoGeneticist]

The Benyan woman didn't manage to yank Kaden out of the path of the beast, but it didn't really matter in the end that he'd even bothered to move her out of the way. The stupid blob-monster seemed to be on the warpath, and it snatched the birdman up again with a horrible squelching sound.

Claws tearing at earth, Jordan whirled where she stood. "OI! We're not de ones you want, you stupid BITCH![/b]" She scooped up a rock, preparing to hurl it at the thing... When it spat out Kaden. The marten blinked, hesitated, and in that moment was herself swallowed up. She felt a terrible surging moment of fear and then some kind of acceptance. This wasn't directly her fault, but... She had also done nothing to stop it. Maybe, on some karmic level, she deserved this.

A few moments of swimming in inky blackness were followed by sudden freedom, and the woman sat, dazed, in a pool of ick for a moment. She glanced up to see the Corvie, then at the bird beside her, and then... Her vision wandered back to the monster and its intended prey. "What de hell is goin' on, den?[/b]" She asked, voice sounding hoarse and dazed.

With a quick nod to Kendra, Sophie shifted slightly to position herself between Lyr and the monster. She had already messed things up once on this trip. She wasn't going to let it happen again. "Don't be afraid," she said quietly, though it was fairly unclear who she was speaking to, exactly.

Loaded up on the carriage with her brother, Shoshanna felt an odd sort of quiet wash over her. She listened to the Mouse and the Feline speak, but mostly focused on snuggling as close to the boy as she possibly could. The world had gone mad, it was true. But she'd found Geronimo, and that was what really mattered. She wondered dimly where they were going. Was there a town of blob-people, perhaps, all of them broken and angry? Would they all be mad at her? She hoped not, closing her eyes tightly.

The carriage slowed to a stop, at long last, and the sounds of yelling reached her ears. Simun, who was hanging out the window and watching the world rush by, very quickly drew his head back inside. "There's another Tamis out there," he said vaguely, starting to tremble. "It just ate some people." He paused as Victor confirmed this, then turned back to the Feline. "It might be best if we... ...okay, we could do that, too."

Maybe making sure the creature tethered to the carriage didn't flip out was a good idea. Simun followed Victor, keeping a safe distance from the Tamis and chewing nervously at his lower lip.

[Vyn]

Kaden jerked a bit at Suivus's comment, eyes going wide. This was her doing! He nearly wailed out loud but he never had the chance to open his beak before he was swallowed. He snapped his eyes shut in panic and then was suddenly back... out in the air? He squawked awkwardly and then Jordan grabbed him and they were swallowed once more.

After this second swallowing they were both spat back out, gooey and unpleasant but alive. Oh thank the Suits!

He turned toward Jordan, laughing wildly. He babbled something a bit too quickly to be properly understood but which ended in an enthusiastic 'cool', probably best not to be understood. When Kendra pulled at him he seemed to snap out of his dazed amusement a bit and he flashed her a confused grin before logic finally returned in full. Right. Right. Suivus.

"Oi, Kendra... Huh? Oh... Run? No... It's not after us. It's after her. Can't stand by this..." With a little angry clack of his beak, he turned and fixed his attention on Suivus. The thing was trying to eat her foot, that was actually kind of funny if he wasn't so bloody mad just this. "HEY! SUIVUS! Is this what happens to live Selkies?! Is this what you're doing?!" This wasn't a prank, this was depraved! They didn't even look like people anymore.

He didn't notice the others arriving or even Ulani's disturbing coat change, he was too fixated on that woman and the anger that was welling up in him.

[Nako]

Brandy shrieked uselessly, mincing after the monster and continuing to throw his handful of dirt clods at the creature. This was proving to be most ineffective. Was the monster angry at the Benyans for the inky blackness?

He slowed a bit. Oh.. that made some sense. Oh dear. Well. What to do then?

Time to decide allegiances. Who'd live and who'd die? Well, last time he checked, it was not Jordan who created the ink. Sure, she'd foolishly thought it a funny idea but.. it really wasn't terribly funny any more.

Maybe he could reason with the angry monster? It wasn't attacking indiscriminately. It'd spit the others right out.

"Oh, no. Honey, Babe. You ate the -wrong- one. Why not spit out that first one so you can make room for the one that's actually responsible?"

And maybe that little brat that had come along with her. Where had she went… Oh dear. What had happened to her? He was very glad he'd jumped back and not let the ick touch him.

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

Miah had been bounced and thrown enough for this carriage ride, and so was very thankful when it abruptly ended. He tried to stand up but dizziness overcame him right before he slid to the bottom of the carriage. He hadn't noticed, but the fall had caused his bangs to shift, and Victor had managed to see something there.

Quick as lightning Jeremiah rearranged his bangs to cover up his forehead once more. "Its uh, er, nothing. Just a little scrape from fightin' with the Ace back there is all." He wouldn't let the man see the word there. He liked Victor, and didn't want to be shunned away again.

"Did you just say another Tamis?" Miah squeeked, looking between Simun and Victor. "Suits, how many of one person, er blob, can there be?"

He followed the Lowlander out of the carriage and up to the tethered Tamis who had pulled the carriage. Victor had things under control there so he allowed himself to look upon the new scene, which was even odder still.

A couple of Cards had lain on the ground, looking as though they too had just been spat out of the other Tamis, which was now trying to push a friggen tree over to get at the Benyan high up in the branches. He was about to ask why the others weren't trying to help her when an Avian started shouting her way.

Wait, ... the blobs were her fault? How could one person do something like this? It just didn't make sense!

-----------------------

Ger had kept his claws in the wood the entire carriage ride, trying to keep himself pressed tightly against Shoshanna. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea before, but he still felt going along and trying to help this poor creature had been the right thing to do. But boy could it move quickly!

In less than ten minutes, the 'ride' had stopped. He would have thought about helping the Mouse when he felt to the floor, but he was having a hard time getting his claws out of the carriage now. He pulled hard, and when they still wouldn't budge he had to put his hind feet on the door and pull with all his little might. His claws came loose, some wood splintering around them, and he fell back on top of Sho.

"Ack, sorry Sho!" he said, getting up and helping her to do the same.

It was then he started hearing shouts from outside. The two adults and Simun had already made their way out of the carriage, but Geronimo simply stuck his head out. There was another blob monster, apparently trying to get at someone in a tree. He couldn't hear what the people were saying, but Ger didn't particularly feel like leaving the carriage just yet.

[Nathalia]

((Suvius screamed louder as a second monster ripped itself free of a cart and a Lowlander, and began tearing down the embankment to merge with the one halfway up the tree trying to get at her!
"Nonono! No! Please! Kaden, mate, 'elp me!" She shrieked, kicking at the thing again and going higher as it reached for her, moaning her name.
A tendril of Ink wrapped around her leg and started to pull her down, the branch she was clinging to cracking.
She scrabbled at it, tears beginning to run down her face as she sobbed her terror.
"Aye! Aye, alright!? De live'uns! Ok! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She screamed, fighting desperately against the pull.

At Brandy's words, both inky monstrosities stopped to stare at the Equine.
Then back at their prey.
They finished merging into one.
And nodded.

It surged up the branches, thick strands of webbed matter grabbing the Marten and pulling her in, even as she screamed and writhed, begging.
"No! Dad, please! 'M sorry! M' sorry! I jus' wanted yeh t'think what y'did t'Mum! Y'never cared! Jus' like de damn Selkie in yeh, never ca-!"
The thing backed off of the tree, leaving it covered in ropy black mess.
Its midsection writhed as the Benyan inside fought desperately to free herself.
The creature turned back to face Victor.
Ssssuuuuviusssss."))



~Nathalia

[Satra]

Victor froze with horror, watching the woman in the tree scream and struggle. What the bird was yelling. Did she do this to other people? Wait, Dad?! Shit. SHIT. He spoke to the one in front of him.

"Tamis... Tamis, you're not hurting her, are you?" Idiot. In his obsession, he never thought to stop and wonder what might be the fate of this Suvius. Just what the hell was he expecting? Everyone to stop and talk to him? Truthfully, his obsession with these clues caused a shortsightedness.

"Tell me what happened. How did you come to be like this? Did she do this? I know she did a horrible, thing, but let her go. She can't breathe in there." I would know