Eternal Rains (IC) [M] - Closed

[Paladin Sheppard]

"He fell down" Paige said sweetly from beside Jakob "I was nowhere near at the time" she grinned whistling while she found a decent spot to put her cargo.

Spotting a tree that seemed flat enough the succubus laid Cog on it. "Damn do you stink something fierce..." She said before starting to cast a spell that a) should clean Cog's fur b) remove that horrid druggie odor.

[SpottedKitty]

Fal'taq directed a sour look at Pettersohn from where he sat on a fallen log. He'd put his glasses back on, and his hat, although it was looking a little more scuffed and battered than it did before. When Paige made her comment, the glare he directed at her suggested he was mentally measuring her up for a wooden box.

[Paladin Sheppard]

A small pebble at Paige's feet was flicked at the mole aimed at his head via a tentacle.

[Tapewolf]

"Be nice, children," Cross said, and went to look for Keaton.

"Do we have a plan?" he asked.  She was the leader, after all.

[Sunblink]

Pandora:

Pandora looked inquisitively in the direction Epyon and Penny had indicated, and then glanced back to the four-eyed fox Mythos. "Thanks," Pandora said, giving Epyon an appreciative pat on the shoulder (since he was the closest) and giving Penny a thumbs-up before striding down the path to the clearing. The foliage around the trail had been cleared neatly away, abnormal in an uninhabited jungle. Although apprehensive and slightly nervous that Axiyne had disappeared, she did not reconsider her potentially unwise decision to go unarmed.

---

...Keaton:

Keaton looked almost lazily at Cross. Her erect ears tilted thoughtfully, and she seemed to contemplate her options before she shrugged noncommittally. "I don't know," she said, "Not until Pandora gets the ship repaired, anyway. You made all of those parts so it shouldn't take too long, right?"

In actuality, Keaton knew very little about mechanics – even less the intricacies of aviation. Either way, to Keaton, her response made perfect sense and sounded less irresponsible than it possibly did to Cross's ears. She murmured, after a moment, "It's a really nice day, isn't it?"

Indeed, in the time the group had spent, the sun was starting to rise.

[e_voyager]

Epyon stood watching the departing were-bird for a few moments his blood still trying to bring   out a blush. he looked over to Penny to see if he could guess her thoughts.. the only person that he knew could fix the ship was hearing out into the woods looking for a griffin. griffins attracted griffins and even if she found the one she was looking for there could be others. it didnt' look like she had her gun. true he had not seen her getting dressed having wondered into his own little world inside his mind before they were done but still he felt someone should follow. penny would be a better choice . quite agile and female still if she hadn't moved yet... "     why me?" he groaned along and he started to follow the inventor of the ship at a distance.


(messed up in spell check and lose the name the first time. Epyon was looking over at penny to see if he could guess her thoughts)

[Stygian]

Shrugging in an expertly trained innocent manner and turning around and walking away in a way that only someone knowing they could not be asked to answer questions or held accountable for anything could, Sal sneered to herself once her back was turned, and made way past Keaton, shaking her head a little, and back to the airship. Wondering where she could get a piece of cover or maybe a sweater, she hunkered down behind the ramp, turning her back against the sun and deciding to get some momentary rest.

[Tapewolf]

"I suppose it is a nice day," Cross said.  "But soft, our mechanic runs off into the forest alone.  We'd better go after her.  If she dies, I'll have a hell of a job making that crate work again."

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Witt heaved a hard-done-by sigh, and rolled to his feet with a faint tinkling sound of empty glass bottles rattling against each other. Left on the ground, where they'd been leaning against him, were half a dozen empty bottles.

"I guess we should, at that."

He sauntered off, hat jauntily tipped back on his head, after the Were, moving fast enough to catch up soon after she vanished from sight.

[e_voyager]

Before he realized it others were following him and the were bird. he slowed his pace some so that they could catch up. it's not that he need the distraction but that he didn't want to take the brunt of her verbal abuse with while hard to understand never that less made you fill like you girlfriend just caught you in a bed with her mother and younger sister.... now where did that thought come form he wondered.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

With a sigh for the planless nature of this whole expedition Penny followed the crowd hunting for the missing gryphon. But rather than tramp down the oddly clean path through the otherwise thick forest she moved from shadow to shadow between the trees, her crossbow to hand. While she was more an urban type it seemed far too tidy to be an animal trail. An inviting path where there should be no path at all left the fisher wary.

[SpottedKitty]

Fal'taq glanced sourly at the mass exodus chasing off after the midget Gryphon. His muzzle ached. The mole still wasn't entirely sure what had happened to him: he didn't even know for certain if it actually had been the wolf 'Cubi who'd dared to hit him. Even if it wasn't, killing Paige would at least give some measure of satisfaction, and wipe the smug grin from her face. He decided to wait and see if anyone else left the clearing: he was staying right here, unless there was a danger of being left behind.

[Tapewolf]

Having instigated the search, Cross hung back allowing the others to go first, just in case they ran into something nasty.  Just as he made to go, he turned back to face Paige.

"Are you coming?" he asked.  Or are you staying to make sure Mr. Mole doesn't get up to anything? he added mentally.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Well someone needs to look after sleeping beauty here... Paige sent back, smirking at Cross and gently slapped his behind with a tentacle.

One bit of fun over, the succubus kept an eye out for any other mischief and amusement she could apply to Fal'taq.

[Tapewolf]

"Maybe later," Cross smiled back.  "So, I take it you're staying?" he added for Fal'taq's benefit.  "Take care."

With that, he made to follow the others.

[e_voyager]

Epyon was wondering what was taking the others so long. he was sure that someone would be here by not. then he heard Witt. smiling he wondered in the hedgehog was still drinking. no that he thong about it he needed to take a little brake  once the were bird found who she was looking for. maybe he would mediate while faining sleep. of maybe he really would sleep. he still wasn't sure that his time lost in memory of that past wasn't considered sleep

[SpottedKitty]

A quick glance around the clearing showed Fal'taq that he actually was being left behind. Apart from Paige, everyone else seemed to be haring off after the Gryphon. The mole scrambled to his feet, making more of a production of it than he really needed to. He was still a little dizzy, but had no other after-effects from the mysterious blow that had rendered him unconscious. If those dratted wolf 'Cubi thought he was still weakened, though, they might make a mistake he could take advantage of.

"Oh, I am coming, have no fear of that," he said a little grumpily. He tottered along behind Pettersohn, eyeing the surrounding jungle cautiously. He rarely left the comforts of civilization these days: it had been several years since he'd last gallivanted about in the wilderness.

[Cogidubnus]

Paige's spell seemed to work - the grime and odor of the drug addict seemed to simply slip off him until his fur seemed to un-mat, and practically shine sleekly again. His presence grew physically tolerable, although he was perhaps still repulsive to be around.

The dawnlight, casting shadows of leaves and sparkling off the ocean touched the wolf soon after. It was only moments later that his brow seemed to stir - Paige had set him down, and laying in the cool sand the wolf immediately constricted, curling into a fetal postion and shaking violently. His breath came in gasps, and his eyes seemed to open themselves - first covered in a white film, it seemed, and gradually clearing, the yellow orbs growing clearer with each moment. He bared his fangs as consciousness set in, and nearly violently slammed his head into the sand. He pressed against it, feeling the grains rub against his skin and irritate his fur - a bid of distraction and pain to get rid of the suddenly very pressing memories.

The moon burned in his vision, as though for a moment it had been as bright as the sun, and it was just now he was seeing the afterimage. It danced behind his eyelids, and the wolf simply ground himself into the sand beneath him, digging a little pit as he struggled to ignore the mounting pains of his body and mind.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Paige was sitting on a nearby rock, with her knees drawn up to her chest when Cogidubnus stirred. At first she merely observed his struggles, but deciding that considering he was one of the leaders of this little band, she though action was needed before he did himself any major harm.

Unfolding herself she slid down the rock and padded over to him. Kneeling down, the succubus gently but firmly rolled him onto his back before straddling his stomach. Taking his head in her hands Paige pumped a spell into him she had learned at SAIA early on, one that dulled pain and fogged the brain making it hard to remember things.

Waiting for the spell to do its work she lay forward on top of him, her hands sliding up his arms and clasping his hands so he did no further harm and could not strike at her either.

[e_voyager]

Epyon grew tired of waiting as it became obvious that the others were laging behind by choice rather then laziness. grumbling he decides to increase his pace after the were bird and let tho others catch up as they would. he briefly considered hailing her as well but that he'd do if he he got board with walking. about 20 paces behind her he dropped back into a following pace his eyes open watched her progress not hiding but not overly open either.

"you'd think at least on of them would walk with me to safeguard the bird but nooo!They send in the winged fox. This so reminds me of my village sending in the archeological wonder boy. i wonder how they're doing now it's been years since i've seen any of them. even my younger brother."

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Witt raised a sardonic eyebrow from where he was sauntering, remarkably quietly, along, just behind the grumbling fox.

"Yeah. S'called an ablative meat shield. Don't go ablating too fast, now. And probably a good idea to lower your voice a little - never know who might hear."

He clapped Epyon on the shoulder, and sauntered on, catching up to Pandora, and keeping his eyes open for anything he might see about the place. Not that there was much to see, other than trees. In fact, the tracks Axiyne had left were all but indistinguishable...

[e_voyager]

Epyon's wings flares as much from the voice as the sudden contact. luckily he was never a warrior much despite his trainings otherwise he might has struck out as it he was  trying hard not to look startled failing at that to look like some one startled trying not to look startled. "Geezzs Witt that's where heart attacks come from." he said smoothing down his wings.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Witt turned his head back to grin evilly at Epyon, then raised one finger to his lips, indicating that the winged fox should probably be a little quieter - or, in something approaching Witt's colourful language, should shut the heck up before he got them all in trouble.

He then turned back to padding, disturbingly silently, after Pandora.

[e_voyager]

Epyon nods and looking behind form where the hedgehog had come counted the unities he could see. either directly for form where they stood out from their surrounding.

From the view of those that can see him it looks like he has two glowing disk on his forehead. the disk winked about ones before he turned his head the golden glowing with them.

Standing Epyon then returned to the hedgehog whom had started following the were bird again. he wondered about this and really didn't like it but he moved quietly his eyes easily picking up Pandora's trail as were as the diminishing trail of her aura as it dissipates like body heat.

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

A moment passed, impregnated with indecisive silence, before Keaton sighed in resignation and sat upright. She ruffled her hair, as though she sought to achieve an even more disheveled and uneven state of disarray than she did previously – the ends of her locks were split and uneven, like she had used a butcher knife to crudely cut her hair to a manageable length – and looked at Cross. She looked surprisingly exhausted, an anomaly among Cubi, who no longer required consistent sleep and only considered it an optional luxury.

"Yeah, you're right. Just figured I'd make small talk and all," Keaton said conversationally, kicking off of the slanted trunk of the tree she was using as her refuge. She landed acrobatically on her feet. Keaton looked distastefully at the greasy tendrils of hair hanging limply in her face, only to swat them away from her muzzle with an errant flick of her finger. In order to try and make her apparent inexperience at leadership somewhat less obvious, Keaton tried issuing another order, adding an unaccountably authoritative tone to her voice. "Anyway, we might as well find Pandora..."

Before Keaton could elaborate on her instructions, she noticed the familiar gray figure lying in the mud stir, shift, and emit a very sickly cough. Her ears pivoted upright, and she spun around, staring with wide eyes at the drug addict that she had nearly incapacitated earlier, during one of her routine, explosive fits. Although the moon wasn't full and the sun had risen, she felt irrationally frightened around Cogidubnus, like she expected for him to transform again and try to murder her as revenge for all of the abuse she had forced him to endure. Fortunately, Paige was tending to Cogidubnus, using her magic to accelerate his recovery. Hoping that Cog hadn't seen her, Keaton edged away from the wolf, deliberately and unconsciously drawing closer to Cross. Once she realized her uncomfortable proximity to her fellow Cubi, she cursed and dashed away, down the path Pandora had traveled, suddenly feeling very disturbed by her closeness to a man.

---

...Pandora:

Pandora was trudging alongside Epyon, pointedly inspecting the trees, the bushes, and any foliage that could effectively conceal a Gryphon of Axiyne's size. By the time she thoroughly combed through that section of the jungle, a few bushes had been uprooted, the grass was left trampled and pockmarked with footprints, and the field was in general disarray. Pandora was assessing an unnervingly vacant anthill – apparently evacuated of its microscopic inhabitants – when she finally determined her surroundings to be secure and sighed with resignation, standing up and walking away. Overhead, a triangular formation of tropical birds glided past, their wings beating in a synchronized motion.

"Shi'. Nothin' 'ere either," Pandora reported. Not to mention, there weren't any incriminating tracks that were properly shaped like a Gryphon's talons. She inclined her head in Epyon's direction. "Maybe we should go somewhere else?"

Before Epyon or anyone else could answer, the ground began to tremor slightly – just slightly, a ripple darting through the earth, not severe enough to be mistaken for an earthquake and not imperceptible enough to go unnoticed. Just as that suspicious vibration subsided, yet another one pounded in succession, this one heralded by a horrible ripping noise that sounded like flesh and bone being ruptured. Another sound, like something heavy hitting the earth, resounded in the distance, followed by another, and another, and another, the thunderous cacophony escalating in volume until it was almost deafening.

They were footsteps. Tremendous footsteps, shaking the ground itself. And the enormous rending sounds precipitating each stride was the noise of trees and foliage being uprooted and decapitated in immense clumps; this became clear when one of those sounds rocked the jungle, eerily close to the search party. Pandora had managed to steady herself by clinging to a tree, shamelessly using its massive trunk as her sole shred of solace in the uproar. She clenched her teeth together and squeezed her eyes shut, her fingers digging into the bark of her sanctuary, her mind spinning and whirring with thousands of different thoughts of panic. It was like a siren was blaring in her head.

With one last shake that made all the trees in the clearing rattle, the sounds ceased almost abruptly, along with the quaking. There was a deceptively peaceful reprieve.

Then there was one more sound like a thunderclap, or like something huge snapping in two. A giant treetrunk, still bearing its scraggly roots, was sailing through the air toward the group. Pandora screamed loudly and grabbed Epyon's hand, jerking the Undead Mythos out of the incoming tree's trajectory and off to the side. The tree crashed to the ground not far from the pair, throwing up an enormous cloud of dust and leafy detritus.

Pandora heaved desperately, trying to regain her breath. She turned her head toward Epyon, about to ask him if he was alright, when suddenly she froze, her face fixated in a grimace of fear. Her pupils pinpricked; the solitary movement of which her body was capable.

Looming far over the trees was an immense feathery creature; a veritable beaked behemoth. Its giant, scaly talons were effortlessly dividing the trees in front of it, flattening a good portion of foliage, and one of its sulfur-colored eyes was trained on the fox-thing and human standing right in its path. For a moment, Pandora was reminded of Axiyne, as the creature would have been virtually identical to him if it wasn't for its tremendous size. A giant, steel collar encircled its throat, a length of steel chain links dangling from the collar's edge.

The Gryphon assessed its prey venomously, then spread its beak wide and let out a horrendous screech that sent the remaining birds lingering in the jungle scattering. If anyone wasn't aware of the Gryphon's presence, they certainly would have been now.

Pandora screamed.

[e_voyager]

Epyon more then aware of what was happens scopes of the were bird and  jumped out of the way. "i was afraid of this " he said running around  trying to get behind the huge griffin. perhaps if he could  find something to make a beak he could fool it into thinking he was a griffin too. after all he probably dint have much scent of his own anymore. a quick roll in a paw print and griffin scent would over power his own. would scent be enough? "hey were-bird can you change your beak to look more griffin like? " he asked  hoping the answer was yes.

[Tapewolf]

"Holy shit," Cross said and crouched on all fours.  Moments later his clothing had melted away into nothingness and he stood there, a gryphon himself.

"What do we do?" he squawked.  "If it treads on the ship, we're dead.  All of us."

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

As the ground shook, Witt dropped to his knees, placing his forepaws to either side of him to balance himself - not that he seriously needed much balancing, but it kept him stable. His head remained up, scanning the surroundings for the source of the disturbance.

As the head of the giant gryphon broke into view, he found his voice. In a vaguely awed tone, he intoned: "Mother pus bucket."

He sighed, heavily. "We're so fucking screwed it's not god damned bloody funny." He braced himself, shaking his spines loose, then slammed his helmet down on his head with one paw. "Nothing for it, then. Fucking fuck the fucking fucker."

With that, he shot from a standing start, hunched over and sprinting in the direction of the behemoth, his spines rising up to cover his back. From above, or indeed the ground, he looked like an animated ball of bristles bouncing along towards the gryphon. jumping over fallen trees and spanning the broken ground. As he bounded along, animated curses flew back over his shoulder. "Gods damn mother fucking ass raping piece of shit cock sucking cum bucket small minded dirt licking stupid bastard son of a whore..."

His voice faded under the growling roar of the gryphon; although he didn't stop cursing all the way, from there on in, it became inaudible...

[SpottedKitty]

Fal'taq walked along at the tail end of the little procession, silently cursing Keaton, Pandora, that idiot Gryphon, and everybody else he could think of, every time he stumbled over a tree root. It might be dawn, but the sun was still hidden by the dense jungle, and the undergrowth at his feet was mostly lost in shadows. Not the best of conditions, even if his eyesight were as good as the average Being's. The mole paused to catch his breath, and looked ahead as he heard Pandora talking to the winged fox... Epyon, was that his name?

THUD. THUD. THUD-THUDTHUDTHUD.

That was never a good thing to hear, even to someone with a minimal knowledge of this kind of country, whose idea of "wilderness" was an unkempt window-box. The thunderous noise was coming closer...

CRUNCH.

The mole's eyes widened when he saw the uprooted tree come tumbling along the path, narrowly missing Pandora and Epyon. He scuttled to the side of the path and took shelter behind a thick, solid, un-uprooted tree as the wayward chunk of jungle crashed to the ground scattering a cloud of debris. Fal'taq looked cautiously out from his hiding place, and saw it.

"Oh, my..." he breathed, his eyes wide as saucers (small ones). They'd come chasing after a wayward Gryphon, and they'd found one. Just... not the right Gryphon. Not the right size of Gryphon. The mole frantically searched his memory for anything he'd read that might be useful in this situation. He was quickly forced to admit to himself they all boiled down to one of four choices: "run", "hide", "be somewhere else in the first place", and "bend over, put your head between your knees, and kiss your tail goodbye".

The monster's ear-shattering screech decided him. With a sweep of his hand and a surge of Earth magic, he created a hole beneath the roots of the tree he was hiding behind. A quick shielding spell to reinforce it, then he jumped in and the earth closed around the tree roots as if it had never been disturbed.

[Sunblink]

...Keaton and Pandora:
If anything, the sudden increase in movement and the attempts to avoid the Gryphon only incensed the creature further. After all, it wanted its prey to remain still, not to move faster! A sudden bolt of tension rippled up the Gryphon's tree-thick arms as it planted its talons into the earth, penetrating the soil and disturbing the already tattered earth with its wickedly curved nails. It screeched again, loudly, the sound resonating over the jungle, and tried to lash out at the most brightly-colored target - Pandora, incidentally. The Were-bird screamed and flung herself to the side, dragging Epyon with her, and both figures flopped down on the soil.

The Gryphon immediately gave up on that target. Even the beastly thing's infantile mind could register that there was more prey to hunt. From where she lay on the ground, Pandora took advantage of the Gryphon's lull in concentration to answer Epyon. "Wha'?!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide. "Mate, I only go' three transformations! Y'r not talkin' t' a Cubi!"

Speaking of Cubi, over at the other end of the camp, Keaton had snapped out of her confusion and the uproarious screeching of her mind to seize her weapon and dash for a suitable shelter. The tree that was formerly launched through the air sufficed. Keaton crouched behind the trunk and dropped, making sure she was completely out of the creature's sight. But since the Gryphon was preoccupied with something Keaton couldn't see (she heard a string of curses, but didn't immediately follow that obvious clue), Keaton was essentially safe. Her trembling hands fidgeted with her mace as Cross, now transformed into a Gryphon, approached her. Keaton looked up at him, at first startled by the feathery creature's presence, but once it spoke with Cross's voice she understood. Her terrified expression brightened.

"That's perfect!" Keaton said with satisfaction. "You can go over there and distract the Gryphon, an-"

Just at that moment, Witt smacked right into the Gryphon's face with one animated ricochet against the earth, his spines raking its cheek. The Gryphon screamed in agony and flung its head back, trying to avoid the hedgehog creating such pain. Giant dollops of steaming blood shot from the fresh gash in the Gryphon's supple cheek, splattering along the ground like rainfall.

Keaton stared in what looked like horror, her face still petrified in the exact expression she had used whilst communicating with Cross.

The Gryphon took that moment to reach up and try to swat Witt away from its face, still wailing in vengeful pain. Its giant wings were spread slightly, flapping and creating such tremendous shockwaves in the air that the leaves of the trees swirled and stirred, some of them wrenched off of their branches. Fortunately, the wind died down a few moments later, as the Gryphon stopped beating its wings.

Keaton cursed in a very impressive imitation of Witt's earlier, vociferous performance, clutching with renewed frustration at her hair. It took a moment for her to regain her composure before she spun around, still looking nothing short of enraged with nothing in particular, to look Cross in the eye. "NEW PLAN," she forced out through her teeth, "We k-kill that fucking th-thing."