Eternal Rains (IC) [M] - Closed

[Tapewolf]

"Kill it...?  How?" Cross squawked.  "Those things have fought dragons and won!  What should we do?  Try to suck its soul out and hope it doesn't stomp on us?"

[Cogidubnus]

 Wincing in pain, Cog felt something push him onto his back, and then a weight pressing down onto his chest. His eyes were blurred, but he felt the subtle tingle of magic traveling across his fur, and then went numb. The pain in his limbs subsided, as did the horrific pain in his neck - and he felt the edge taken off of his mind as well. It was hard to focus.

His eyes cleared, and he saw it was the black-suited wolfess from before. Cog blinked a few times, and tilted his head.
Women did not generally touch Cogidubnus. He was a drug addict - he smelled, he had no money, he often had no home, what attractiveness he had was mitigated by the emaciated, off-putting sickliness that his addictions fostered upon him, and his self-destructive tendencies often tended to hurt anyone close to him rather quickly. Pandora was the exception, but she pitied him, and Cog generally tried to not steal her things.

The roar in the background, and Witt and Keaton both screaming something, seemed to drift by the wolf with as much attention as he would pay a summer cloud. His eyes focused for a moment, as the wolf attempted to exercise his faculties.

"...hi." he said, his eyes swimming. He guessed he was on drugs, and it made him a little pissed. This wasn't the best trip he'd ever had, although the buxom lady atop him was a bonus. He had a very nice view of her assets from here - more than a nice view, in fact. He was having a bit of trouble breathing. It made him a bit worried, and wondered if he'd overdosed on whatever it was he had and it was affecting lungs, but he shrugged it off - there were worse ways to go, he supposed.

[e_voyager]

Kill it?  Epyon blinked. did that crazy jackal just order anyone willing to listen to kill that bloody thing? "were bird i think we picked the wrong couple to to lead. that is unless the final destination for our trip is oblivion" have run until he almost stumbles into a pool of fresh water Epyon puts Pandora down hesitates a moment before realized he should be out of breath and falling to one knee breathing heavily even though it was unnecessary. " in a patting breath he says " do ... you have.. any- any.. thing we can use on that griffin to get rid of it? alive preferred but so one as we live thong it i'll curb my complaints."

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

As Witt bounded off the ground, he balled himself up, leaving spines in all directions, spinning like a top towards the giant face. The satisfying thump-squish as he connected, the unearthly screech - and the stream of curses - were suddenly interrupted by one of the giant paws. Since he was curled up, he wasn't able to see it coming, and the thwack as it connected solidly was - briefly - followed by the whistle of wind flying past, before he ricocheted off the ground, *whump*, a tree, *klonk*, an overhead branch, *bang*, the ground again, *thump*, and another tree, *crack*, ending the short flight buried in a clump of bushes, with an awful crash.

The stream of curses started up again almost immediately. "Ow, dammit, you motherfucking cocksucking big fat bastard, it's on." The bushes shook, then parted, revealing a slightly dented helmet, some red staining the tip of the spike, followed by a bruised, battered, but still mostly whole hedgehog. Looking rather the worse for wear, with several broken spines, and smears of sap and leaves stuck to his jacket, he shook himself unsteadily, limped over to a tree, removed his helmet, briefly placed one paw against the tree for balance, and smacked his other paw solidly against his head, dislodging a small twig and some leaves from his ear. He glared up at the giant beast. "Ok, now I'm pissed. Ready yourself, you smug bastard. Your days are fucking numbered."

He shook himself again, several leaves floating loose as he did so, smacked his helmet solidly back onto his head, and raced forward again. This time, rather than throwing himself up at the uber gryph's face, he aimed for the chest; feet first, rather than back. His plan was to climb around onto the thing's back, and wreak havoc from there; the gods only knew if he'd make it. If he got stuck, he could always kick the shit out of the ribs. And, worst case, there was that sawnoff to fall back on...

[Tapewolf]

Cross, still in gryphon form, ran around the beast.  He had spent a few years in that particular form on the Honey Monster's instructions.  Daryil had told him they would be muscling in on a few gryphon-run operations in their territory, but the plan hadn't really panned out.   Sometimes he wondered if his illustrious leader had made the whole thing up because he got a kick from the idea of the mighty Johan Cross running around on all fours for years on end.

Either way, it served him well enough now.  Behind the monster he threw back his head and gave a loud warbling cry.  If he could lead it away, or at least distract it long enough for someone to splatter its tiny brain from behind...

[Paladin Sheppard]

Now that Cogidubnus was more settled Paige could pay more attention to what the screaming and cursing was about. Sitting  upright she gently and playfully patted Cog on the cheek, "Good to have you back in the land of the living. How about you stay here for a while so I can go check out what all the ruckus is about eh hun?"

With that she lent in again and laid a kiss on his forehead before standing up. "Stay here now ok?" Paige said as she spread her wings and sprang to the air.

Orbiting the crash once the succubus quickly spotted the source of the troubles. Whistling at yet another airborne Witt moment, she drew Winter's Bite from its scabbard. Folding her wings the Wolfess plummeted like a rock straight at the Gryphon's back...If she could hit the thing's spine or brain, it'd put it down and then could be easily dispatched.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

At the first hint of oddness in the surroundings Penny had moved out of sight. Hiding was a very important job skill for her and she did it quite well. The fisher had her bow out and one of her most powerful bolts at the ready but was making no move to fire. The creatures seemed more than willing to battle one of their own and she was quite willing to let them. They had all their bragged on powers, it only seemed fair that they took the front in any fights.

[e_voyager]

Epyon pulls out one of his sai's and begins to whittles a fallen branch and he waits for Pandora to think. he'd never fought a griffin of any class and did not plan on staring now. As he whittled  the wood into a crudely forms beak. he though about what they could do to disguise Pandora and come up with only one solutions which would likely leave the were bird nude. then again he could carry her clothing. he wondered how long he would have before he  and Pandora would need to move one or risk being crushed.

[SpottedKitty]

Fal'taq might have been (he hoped) safe and secure in his underground hiding place, but he wanted to know what was going on up on the surface. When would it be safe to emerge? When could he assume the monstrous Gryphon had rampaged through the entire party, rending them all to shreds and gobbets? He could feel the thing's footsteps making the ground shudder, but that was about all. The mole rummaged in an inside pocket of his coat and brought out a small periscope. He extended it to its full length, poked it up through the roof, and cautiously put his eye to the lens.

He saw a foot. Well, that was promising, someone else had had the good sense to hide from the monster. He turned the periscope round... another foot, a few inches further away... tree root... tuft of grass... ah, and the end of a thin, dark brown tail hanging down. He thought he recognised that tail: the fisher with the crossbow, Miss Light. His periscope had surfaced within arm's reach of where she stood, hiding behind the same tree he was hiding beneath. He continued to turn the periscope, looking for any signs of what was happening up there.

[Boog]

Ty had tried following the group, hoping to expedite the search for the missing member of their team and thus get things back to somewhere close to matters he understood. Thus far the group's main difficulties seemed to primarily relate to mechanics, backstabbing, and sex. The first he knew woefully little about beyond some minor auto-repair matters, the second he knew nothing about on principle, and the third he didn't want to divulge any degree of knowledge on at all. With any luck, this would get the group back on track to getting away from whoever was probably pursuing them, and thus something a touch closer to his own understanding...
He was almost ELATED when the gryphon burst through the trees. Finally, something he understood.
With a roar more felt than heard by the listeners, Tyrannus charged the gryphon head on.

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

Keaton snarled in Cross's direction, readying a spell with her mace. Dark electricity sparked and clustered in swirling particles around Catastrophe's head, surrounding the spikes with a blackened aura that hugged close to the weapon's atramentous body. Although she didn't have much tactical experience, she still had a special philosophy for confronting seemingly insurmountable opponents. "If it has a pulse, you can kill it!" she answered, sounding almost determined. "Just attack it with e-everything you have!"

This was hardly the approach she was used to with these types of Gryphons. On the rare occasion that one would interrupt some of her missions, she would simply resort to fleeing, dignity be damned. Her superiors understood the danger behind continued persistence and would forgo punishment in a rare show of magnanimity. Keaton knew that escape wasn't an option, however – the Gryphon was attacking them, unprovoked, almost going berserk. It needed to be disabled before it somehow damaged the airship.

---

...Pandora:

The were-bird was fairly close to cursing along with Witt, once she saw the giant, avian beast dislodge him and send him flying into the foliage. At the moment, she was regretting Axiyne's absence more than ever, as she knew the presence of another Gryphon would placate the other, unless this specimen was suffering from rabies or another affliction that damaged its reasoning. She needed a weapon, but she had chosen to leave the field unarmed, having not anticipated such a sudden assault. All she could do was slink past the skirmish and hope the Gryphon was too distracted to deal with her...

Pandora just wished that her legs would stop feeling like Jell-O. As she summoned the energy needed to take her first step, Epyon sprinted forward and enfolded her in his arms, carrying the six-foot were as though she was a featherweight child. Pandora yelped loudly and thrashed slightly, instinctively, blindly expecting something hostile, only to notice the familiar Mythos staring in her face.  "What're y' doin'?!" exclaimed Pandora, not registering the situation enough to convey gratitude. "Lemme GO, I -"

Before she could conclude that sentence, the Gryphon let out an enraged roar and drew back, trying to avoid the spiny, infuriated, cursing ball launching at its face. The hedgehog had leapt from the foliage, apparently shrugging off the damage of his impact, and was trying to bombard the tremendous creature. The unpredictable nature of his blows, combined with his agility, made it difficult for the Gryphon to send Witt flying. Already, his strikes had torn open a few more gashes in the Gryphon's feathers, coloring its plumage with blood. Pulling back its enormous talon, it swung at its persistent foe – only for a familiar cry to break its concentration. The Gryphon froze, glancing down at Cross. This sudden shift in attention reduced the strength of the Gryphon's talon, pretty much minimizing the damage to the equivalent of an errant bat; just enough to distract Witt. It emitted a resonant chirping sound that would have sounded inquisitive if it wasn't so monstrous. Lowering its head, it locked its sulfur-colored eyes on Cross, cooing.

Pandora decided that asking Epyon to put her down wasn't a smart idea, and clung closer to the Mythos. "Don' lemme go," she said bluntly.

Her eyes darted back and forth, as though she expected for the Gryphon to set its sights on her at any moment, until she frantically glanced back to the airship. She briefly contemplated using magic, but while her skills in supportive magic were plentiful enough to help her with the construction of her airship, her preference for firearms and general disinterest in combat magic had allowed her abilities to fester. "I – I 'ave a whole arsenal in m' shi'," Pandora explained, "If... if that thing is distracted f'r long enough, I c'n grab a weapon. We' don' 'ave time, though. We – SHI'!"

Magical inexperience be damned, Pandora immediately transformed, her body shrinking and her clothes melting into her body, vanishing with the tattooed patterns emblazoning her feathers. Instead of Pandora, a large, feral woodpecker – still retaining her unusual coloration and most of her tattoos – hovered in place. It shot over to Epyon and tugged at his shoulder with its talons, trying to urge him to move to a safer place. If he insisted on continuing to whittle out a primitive disguise, she wanted him to find a place where he could, at least, be out of the Gryphon's range. At least in her current form, Pandora could easily dodge the Gryphon.

Around that moment, Keaton leapt from her hiding spot, slamming her feet onto the overturned tree and catapulting herself in the air. Swarming, wreathing tendrils of solidified darkness were plucked from the shadows, gravitating toward her mace, which was raised over her head. The Gryphon, so engrossed with intrigue over Cross's disguise, did not realize the approach of its new assailants. It only comprehended the magnitude of its mistake when Keaton brought down her mace on its gargantuan foot, the spikes on her mace plunging through its scaly flesh and penetrating the thick bone with a grotesque crunch. The Gryphon let out an agonized scream and reared, swinging its injured front paw. Keaton cried out as she and her weapon were dislodged from the Gryphon's talon and sent flying. She went sailing a good distance away, and she probably would have been seriously injured if she hit anything, but before any damage could be done, she frantically conjured up another, protective net of darkness. The web-like sprawl of interwoven strands of darkness sprung up, spreading like a spider's legs, and stretched taut before the incoming jackal. Keaton bounced off of the quivering net and landed.

The Gryphon seethed and whistled in agitation, satisfied that it had disposed of the creature that caused it so much pain. It was about to turn its sights back to the nearest targets when, suddenly, Paige's blow struck it hard on the back of its head. The Gryphon shrieked; the blade of Winter's Bite sunk deep into its flesh, and the avian staggered forward, struggling to regain its balance. But, disoriented from the aftershock of the axe embedded in its neck, the Gryphon was unable to remain upright and stumbled to the ground. Its massive body smacked the earth, its crushing weight enough to flatten any unfortunates caught beneath its bulk, its talons groping at the dirt and grass. Its scythed talons cleaved along the earth, tearing open great gouges in the dirt; the rock ruptured, the vein-like roots of trees were severed, and any surrounding foliage was raked to pieces during its seizure-like thrashing. The Gryphon wasn't dead, but was in horrible pain, and desperate to destroy all of the nasty little things that just would not stay still. From her hiding place beneath an overturned tree, Keaton admired the fact the Gryphon had not fallen into a vegetative state despite being struck in the back of the head. Just then, she realized: during this temporary period of immobilization, the Gryphon was vulnerable to any further attacks.

Hoping it would come across as an encouragement to her fellow renegades, Keaton snatched Catastrophe and snaked out of her makeshift shelter.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Witt bounced off the lower chest of the huge Gryphon, screaming insults and abuse, tearing out feathers, and landed on his feet, only to look up as Cross managed to momentarily distract the beast.

And then Paige's battle-cry echoed around, followed by the thunk of her sword hammering into the back of the giant beast's head... and the beast toppled over. As it fell, a heartfelt cry of "Mother..." could be heard, followed by the massive thump of it landing.

Squarely on top of Witt.

And his spines.


The sheer weight of the poor thing hammered him to his knees, and drove the full length of his spines into it's chest, leaving an indentation both in the ground, and in it's own ribcage. Not incidentally, it also crushed Witt - at least for a moment. As it thrashed around, not surprisingly, it shredded trees for yards around, but didn't dislodge him - although it did scratch him against the ground. As it pulled itself upright, the anointing of his spines hit it's bloodstream, causing a massive additional dose of pain.


(( But wait. There's more. ))

Witt, somewhat stunned - to put it mildly - hung from the front of the giant beast, and attempted to gather his wits; lost somewhere with his breath. He shook his head, glared upwards, and reached into his coat, withdrawing the sawnoff shotgun, and a hand full of shells. He fed the shells into the slot underneath, muttering something about "should have fucking done this shit before", then grasped the handle, pulled his pistol with his left hand, cocked the pistol, and, with a quick shake, rocked the slide on the shotgun one-handed.

He put the shotgun, loaded with slugs, directly over his shoulder, muzzle resting between the feathers, tight against the skin, and the pistol over his other shoulder, likewise, then cried "Ok, puss bucket. You're fucked."

And pulled both triggers.

[Sunblink]

The Gryphon remained on the ground for a good period of time, still recuperating from the blow dealt. Only after Witt started squirming from where he was smashed beneath the Gryphon's weight did it register the pain; the avian's giant eyes snapped open, the sulfur-colored irises saturated in ichorous moisture. One of the blood vessels in its right eye had effectively ruptured, spreading a red, veined wreath around its slit-shaped pupil. The beast would have seemed pitiful if it didn't look absolutely infuriated in the next moment. Within a few seconds, the Gryphon went through a magnificent transition from dazed exhaustion to bloodthirsty rage, rearing back and screeching in a paroxysm of agony. Its tremendous roar echoed over the jungle; if all of the birds hadn't evacuated there certainly would have been individuals fleeing from their homes.

Witt, from where he was lodged in the creature's chest, was causing a great deal of pain to the Gryphon. From on the ground, Keaton took a few, bewildered steps back, staring in horror at the little ball of prickles tangled in the Gryphon's plumage. Still seething and warbling with agony, the Gryphon started to draw its claw back, preparing to strike the hedgehog, when he drew a pair of firearms - one a shotgun, the other a pistol - and fired them at the Gryphon's chest. The departing bullets struck different places. The shotgun blast, considerably stronger and more accurate than the accompanying pistol shot, vanished within the Gryphon's fur, and could be seen no more. Yet, its damage was profoundly obvious, as the Gryphon was going through a long stage of shudders and seizure-like spasms from the havoc being wreaked about its insides. Another screech of pain and the bullet, the same one fired by the shotgun, exited in a bloody spray from the gap in its ribcage, carrying a good dollop of bone detritus.  The pistol's bullet did not depart in a similar manner, and was presumably suffused in the Gryphon's innards.

The recoil of the guns was certainly enough to propel Witt from the Gryphon's flesh, but, surprisingly, the avian didn't retaliate, even when the hedgehog was sent flying. Instead, it sunk to the ground once more with a croak, making sure to barely keep itself from hitting the ground with what energy remained in its body. Keaton, who was taking refuge behind a tree, poked her head out and stared at the disabled creature. Drawing Catastrophe, she raced out and swung the mace around, crashing it into the Gryphon's arm with a meaty crunch. This was enough of a cue for everyone else to prepare their attacks to finish the Gryphon off.

[Tapewolf]

Cross crept up upon the Gryphon, still in avian form.  As it thrashed around he tried to keep himself close to its head, yet outside of its field of vision.  Satisfied, he braced himself and extended a sharpened wing-tentacle to skewer the creature's skull.

This is going to be messy, he thought to himself.  And giggled.

[Boog]

Things were going fast. Ty was used to working alone, his allies had already nearly crippled the gryphon by the time he'd reached the creature. It had even conveniently sunk to its knees.
Leg muscles like tube socks stuffed with footballs bunched, released, propelling him the rest of the way up to the gryphons face. Tyrannus DeVerdele grabbed a fistful of feathers with one hand, braced his feet against the monstrous creature as the other arm drew back...
CRACK!
The first punch made the beast jerk back, staggering and faltering on its ruined legs. The arm drew back again.
Crack!
The gryphon fell, but Ty was a firm believer in being thorough.
CRACK!
...
Right, that should suffice...

[Paladin Sheppard]

Despite having wonderful success with her first blow Paige was becoming pissed off, the. damned. sword. wouldn't. come. OUT!

Wiggling left or right up or down didn't work, all it did was make the Wolfess look foolish.  After trying a few strokes with her fighting claws and tentacles which couldn't seem to get through the thick reinforced skull of the monster Gryphon, Paige turned back to Winters Bite.

Planing a foot either side, Paige summoned her frost magic, once she thought she had enough power stored she let it flow through her and down the sword, shaping it into a 5 meter long lance...

[SpottedKitty]

The situation was becoming much too chaotic — not to mention dangerous — for Fal'taq's liking. At least, when he wasn't the one causing the chaos and danger. His view was severely limited looking through the tiny periscope, but he could see enough. Brief glimpses of Keaton flying through the air, and not under her own power; Witt being crushed under the monster when it fell over for some reason; the big lizard-like Mythos charging to attack; yes, it was much safer underground for the moment. The mole could feel the thumps and crashes of the monster's rampage shivering through the ground. In fact, it was getting stronger, and he could almost hear —

WHAM

Even several feet underground, and shielded by the thick roots of a very old tree, something smacked into the side of Fal'taq's little safety bubble. He was rattled around like a pea in a cup as his shield, with him securely inside, was ripped out of the ground and violently tossed into the air. He rebounded from at least one tree and crashed to the ground, his shield in tatters and on the point of collapsing. The mole wasn't in much better condition himself, but he staggered to his feet and pushed his glasses back on his muzzle just in time to see Witt blast a hole clean through the monster's body with the guns he'd filched from Pandora's airship, and Keaton — how had she survived being swatted like a fly? — charging forward swinging her mace.

The huge Gryphon looked terrible: unbelievably, it seemed they might be able to drive it away or even beat it. Fal'taq quickly changed his strategy and launched a small fireball aimed right at the monster's gaping beak. If he could detonate it in exactly the right place, that would definitely give the creature something to think about.

A moment later, a pair of wings came into view, fluttering somewhere behind the monster's neck — Paige's wings. Fal'taq didn't know what the 'Cubi was doing back there, but if she didn't get out of the way in three or four seconds, things could get very hot for the wolf. Oh dear. How sad. Never mind.

[e_voyager]

epyon let the were bird tug him further away form the griffin his whittling project put on hold and he gather up what clothes she'd shed/ he'd considered asking her to make the change himself but had felt it would be rude.. "okay okay i'm coming werebird. just lead the way"

[Sunblink]

((OOC: In case it isn't clear... this post is addressing the three different groups of people individually. Group One is Keaton and Cogidubnus's party, Group Two is Axiyne and his captors, and Group Three is the Gryphons of the village and Ren Gaulen's character. They are in separate places.))

...Group One:

The Gryphon had died almost instantly. Cross's tentacle effectively speared the Gryphon's brain, terminating whatever activity was still lingering in its abused body. There was no tremendous, anguished battle cry, no dramatic roars or thrashing or resistance: the monstrous avian simply died the moment it slumped to the ground. The resulting shock was somewhat reduced by the Gryphon's already sagging posture, but nevertheless, the impact of the beast against the earth sent a small, resonant quake through the soil, vibrating the ground briefly beneath the adventurers' feet. It was almost like the thunderous finale to all that had occurred. There were no more disturbances; just an extremely uncomfortable, electric silence that was eventually broken by the frenzied cries of distant birds.

Keaton's mace was thoroughly lodged in the Gryphon's tree-trunk limb, and it took her some effort to pry it loose. When she finally freed her beloved weapon from the Gryphon's mutilated bone and skin, she pointedly ignored the resulting spray of blood and examined the Gryphon's cadaver nervously, although evasively – every so often she'd look away, as though she was trying to shake something away from her head. The moments after she took a life, the realization and the fatalistic examination and the moment of the adrenaline slithering away, was when she was most vulnerable to her host of mind-voices. The Owl most especially. But when Keaton realized that there were no taunts or detached conversations filtering through her thoughts, she felt inexplicably proud.

On some level, she – or, rather, everyone in the group - had proved Cross wrong, and she felt she should be rewarded for that accomplishment. "It's dead," Keaton announced, not paying any attention to the grisly sight of the Gryphon's body. She turned to Cross, affixing her most convincing half-glare on him: one that screamed of triumph and assertion, like she was automatically challenging any insults or objections to her authority. The stammer, however, crept back into her voice, trickling betwixt the passing syllables. "Told y-y... told... to-told you t-that it could be ki-killed..."

Almost immediately, Keaton's triumph retreated, scampering away into the darkened, forgotten corners of her unreachable subconscious, and her nausea set in when she looked at the Gryphon's eyes. She would have looked away if she didn't feel absolutely petrified – as though each second spent before its dead gaze had collaboratively resulted in her frozen state. She stared; the Gryphon stared back. Its enormous eyes, once a vibrant sulfur-yellow in life, were corrupted and polluted with a dull haze. One eye was tarnished with a latticework of blood, wreathing outward from the pupil – once again, Keaton observed that the pupil looked like a cold, dead stone beside all those other colors – the fringes of the delicate veins contaminated with blood transitioned from red to orange. The other eye, although undamaged, was nothing more than a lusterless orb, drained of the sulfur color. Gouts of blood trickled down the Gryphon's face from the almost surgical laceration in its skull, a grotesque complement to its thanatoid visage.

Keaton felt violently ill.

Keaton started to feel her vision tunnel and her head spin; her brain was whirring excitedly and regurgitating every event that had just occurred from her memory. Feeling disoriented and more than slightly overwhelmed, Keaton slouched against a nearby tree, unaware of the fact it was the same one under which Fal'taq had taken refuge. Her head tipped back, resting against the rough bark, and she closed her eyes, waiting for her headache to subside.

Somewhere nearby, Pandora, still confined to a feral woodpecker's body, fluttered to the ground with a few beats of her iridescently pink wings. Once her feet touched the earth, her legs instantaneously extended to their usual length, propelling her form back to her proper height, and the rest of her body elongated and filled and inflated until she was exactly proportionate to how she was as a furre. Her clothes were still intact; she apparently had the sense to buy some clothes that could magically adapt to her transformations or disappear when they would impede her movement, other than her irreplaceable pilot's cap and goggles. Pandora walked over to Epyon and took the discarded garment from him, resting the pilot's cap on her head and strapping the goggles in place.

"We... what's the plan?" Keaton asked Pandora. Judging by the exhaustion, the burden in her voice, she wanted a succinct, easy answer.

Pandora provided. "Find Ax," she explained, "I'll fix th' shi'."

"Any ideas w-where he might be?"

"Nada."

"Where'd he go?"

"Over 'ere," Pandora instructed, and guided the group to the nearby clearing. Along the way, they were obstructed by a few fallen trees, but were easily able to overcome those obstacles. Pandora indicated the grove where Axiyne had gone to wash himself, venturing forward – she noticed his goggles dangling off of a nearby branch and gasped, snatching them up protectively. Just as she was about to open her mouth, she stopped abruptly – her eyes trailed along something on the ground.

At last, she had seen what she was looking for. Tracks. Large, taloned footprints imprinted into the soil, slightly larger than Axiyne's own – beside them were a few frenzied scrapes and divots cleaving the earth, evidence of a struggle, and the patterned soles of heavily reinforced boots. As Pandora digested her shock, Keaton immediately dropped to the ground, falling to her knees – just as anyone suspected that she was having a panic attack or something else catastrophic, they noticed that she was clearly sniffing the soil, hunting for any incriminating scents.

"...What are you DOIN'?" Pandora asked, looking revolted.

Keaton didn't answer. She kept inspecting the tracks, sniffing and scraping around as though salvaging every fragrance she could find, until she finally stood up and gestured for everyone to follow her. "Pandora," she said, "Stay behind. And take care of Cog for me. We'll bring your G-Gryphon friend back."

Keaton turned to everyone else while Pandora reluctantly left the clearing, heading back to the airship. She had a scrutinizing look on her face as she analyzed the scents she had detected. "Something's not right..." she murmured, leaning down and scooping up a handful of dirt. She piled it into her opposite palm, running the dollops of soil through her fingers. "I r-recognize this scent. I smell Axiyne, but...

"I smell something else, too. More Gryphons. And they smell too civilized to be more of those big Gryphons."

She pointed to the distinct boot-print. "And there's someone else with t-them."

---

...Group Two:

Axiyne was flailing and snarling, thrashing against his restraints and trying to jerk away. Given his situation, this was a difficult task – he couldn't fly, since his wings were bound together, and even if they weren't, he couldn't achieve the momentum necessary to ascend due to the heavy collar around his neck. An equally weighty length of chain sufficed as a primitive leash, one end connected to his collar and the other end held in the hand of his captor. Even breathing was difficult (when Axiyne was on the verge of hyperventilation he found this particularly frightening) due to the muzzle used for his beak.

There were two of them. A wolf furre with salt-and-pepper fur, surprisingly devoid of any characteristics that would indicate Creature ancestry was holding the leash and leading Axiyne along. The other aggressor was a bipedal Gryphon, unusually androgynous but still definitely female, even though she was wearing men's clothing. Her fur and plumage was colored with hues of sandy ginger, light brown, and accompanying shades of chocolate, with the exception of her hair and the tuft of fur on the end of her tail, which were black.

"Shush. That's enough," the bipedal Gryphon scolded Axiyne. Once more, she glanced back and forth, surveying the area, and trotted over to the wolf so their pace was evenly matched.

The bipedal Gryphon rustled the knife holstered in her belt and glanced off to the side. One of the trees in the clearing was marked with a distinguishing symbol, unrecognizable from any recorded language in Furrae. In actuality, this was just an artistic nuance, something used as a landmark. Something inconspicuous was needed so their destination wouldn't be so easily discovered by outsiders or adventurous explorers.

"We're almost there," the Gryphon spoke again. She turned around to look at the furre flanking Axiyne, pointedly ignoring his palpable fear. "Miss" – she paused indecisively – "what is your name again, if you don't mind me asking?"

---

...Group Three:

The settlement was modest, mostly dilapidated, but clearly sturdy in spite of having weathered both age and calamity. Most of the buildings were situated amidst the tropical foliage and trees, providing some concealment, intended for residence, but there were others constructed in the canopies of trees overhead or surrounding the village's border. Not far from the village, the jungle broke away to the shore, where the docks were built. Even though most of the flora in the center of the town had been cleared away for proper living, a great deal of the forest had been preserved even as the town expanded in size, leaving the inhabitants to reach a compromise between keeping their precious camouflage and making new homes by building the more environmentally-friendly houses.

One of the many outposts strategically organized around the town was used to observe the jungle from afar. A bipedal Gryphon with russet-colored fur and vibrant blue eyes pried his gaze away from the binoculars he was using to view the scenery, frowning with concern. The monster-Gryphon they had sent to investigate the enormous, flying vehicle that had crashed in the distance hadn't returned yet, which made him assume the worst. His instructions had been very clear when he was conversing with the enormous Gryphon – find and kill all survivors while the other two dispatched (a mercenary and one of the village's own warriors) searched for any useful-looking specimens to take as prisoners – so certainly the beast hadn't thought to wander away without returning.

The russet-one snorted and relinquished the binoculars, then gestured to another Gryphon (also bipedal) waiting nearby. "You take over. I'll be right back," he instructed, and climbed down the ladder until he reached the ground. While the other Gryphon scaled the watch tower, he made his way through the village, bypassing a certain hut located on the outskirts.

This particular structure was purposefully quarantined from the rest of the village. It was intended for those who were sick, normally with an affliction that was contagious, but not at risk of obliterating the population of the village. In the case of Ebola virus or an equally unpleasant disease cropping up among the villagers, euthanasia was recommended to prevent the widespread contraction. In a jungle where wildlife was plentiful and largely unpredictable, there were often outbreaks of disease – sometimes illnesses that required more modern medicine beyond the herbs, berries, and formulas prepared by doctors.

A tall female (bipedal) Gryphon walked to the door of the hut, a basket stuffed with fruits and other harvested goods in her arms. She reached, with some effort, toward the door and knocked on it twice. A panel slid away from the door, revealing a pair of scrutinizing eyes, then it closed after this examination and the door opened. The Gryphon woman entered. A Gryphon child, barely pubescent, was resting on a clean white bed in the hut, being tended to by the doctor.

This doctor, unusually, was a charitable soul who had blundered by their village – normally he would have been slain or sent away the moment he stepped into the territory, but in his case the villagers found his skills valuable enough to warrant sparing his life. The other doctors in the village were skilled in more primitive forms of medicine, but due to the isolated nature of the settlement, more advanced equipment was hard to come by, and was often requested during the routine exchange of goods. They also could not recognize certain illnesses. The fact this new doctor was familiar with the symptoms of the Gryphon child's affliction and could treat them led the villagers, despite being apprehensive of his appearance, to keep him in detention until they no longer required his services. Until that day arrived, he was cared for and mostly treated with respect (as far as captives went), but his every move was closely supervised by a few volunteer guards.

The Gryphon woman dropped the basket in a safe little corner nearby. "I have some fruits for you to eat," she said cordially (she had been chosen to deliver food to the doctor because of her conversational, eager nature, which would hopefully make the doctor's imprisonment tolerable), "I made sure they're all clean. How's little Rik? Is he well? Is his condition improving?"

[Tapewolf]

Cross' eyes narrowed.  If there was a settlement, it was either well-developed and under the jurisdiction of the Family (and therefore dangerous) or entirely primitive and isolated.  And probably dangerous.

"Do we have a plan?" he asked Keaton.  "A strategy?"  He paused and his eyes had a dreamy look for a moment.  "You know, I've always wanted to massacre a small town with neutron radiation... but then again, Axiyne would die as well."

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Back a ways from the large, steaming corpse, a few bushes started shaking, followed by a short, sharp stream of curses, then a few loud cracks. Moments later, a stumpy helmet appeared, spike first, followed by a seriously grumpy spiny critter. He stamped out of the hedge, and shook himself. Stuck to his back were three fairly hefty branches, impaled on his spines. He muttered, then tucked the shotgun under one arm, flicked the pistol open one-handed, removed the empty casing, dropped it, and reloaded, then grabbed the shotgun, and put the pistol away. He then cranked the shotgun, fished out a handful of shells and reloaded that, too, before tucking it away, somewhere under the jacket.

He then heaved a large sigh, glared at the corpse, and reached one hand behind himself to grasp one of the branches. Attempting to pry it off the spines, he failed utterly, and muttered - fairly loudly - some choice words you'd never use in front of your mother. He then stumped over to a tree, turned to place the end of the snapped-off branches against the trunk, placed one boot squarely on the trunk, took a deep breath, then placed his palm against the tree, and explosively exhaled, pushing off. The branches snapped free of his spines, and spun back into the forest, leaving just a few twigs and leaves stuck to him. He swore, running one hand over his left ribcage, and winced, then reached up with both hands and pulled his helmet off.

Or at least attempted to.

Some more choice words floated over, as he struggled to remove the helmet, finally managing to pry it off the spines on the back of his head. He looked mournfully down at the poor, battered thing, lying in his hands, then, taking it between his paws, he straightened the sides out, and looked at the dented top, and the holes in the back side of it.

"Shit. This is going to take a little work." He was speaking rather louder than necessary. He glared, again, at the corpse. "Bastard. If you weren't dead, I'd take it out of your bloody hide." He clapped the helmet back on his head, and limped over to the corpse, one hand cradling his ribs, aiming at Paige, standing on the back of the thing, holding on to the sword embedded in the back of it's head. "And you, missy. What the everliving fuck do you think you were gods-damned playing at?" He almost shouted up at her. He limped over to the wing, and made his way up it to the shoulder where she was standing, haranguing her the whole way. "Damned stupid idea throwing yourself into the fight like that without looking at what the fuck was going on, you coulda been bloody injured or killed, didn't your mother ever teach you not to beat on things with eyeballs bigger than you are? Worse yet, you coulda got me with that overgrown pig-sticker you were waving about. Even worse, I could have hit you, my girl. And that would have made one fuck of a mess. And not even a good mess. Are you totally mother-fucking crazy or something? Not only that, you dropped the entire bloody thing on me. Damn near broke me in two, for fuck's sake." He whipped the helmet from his head, and waved it in her face. "And you dented my fucking helmet! Look at this! It's gonna take weeks to bend it out again! Weeks!"

He slapped the helmet back on his head, and sat down on the forefront of the wing. He winced, and shook his head, dislodging a few leaves. "And I've got a headache like you wouldn't fucking believe. Fuck me. What a bloody day."

[Paladin Sheppard]

The White winged succubus was just about to unleash her lance spell, when she noticed the fireball rocketing towards the Gryphon's  head, and incidentally her.

Aborting her spell, Paige flattened herself atop the Gryphon. "Watch the friendly fire damnit!!" She shouted at the others as the fireball missed her (and the Gryphon) by a few feet.

She was just about to stand again when Cross broke through a weak spot in the front of the beast's skull. Dropping to her belly again as she rode the massive corpse to the ground.

Once everything stopped shaking Paige tentatively raised her head, and once satisfied that the fight was done got to her knees.  The fall had loosened her sword free, and Paige returned it to her scabbard.

The fight had gotten her pulse up and she was feeling just a touch hyper...which wasn't that much different from her normal behavior. The Wolfess  became aware of someone yelling at her, and grinning spun around to face Witt.

Now the hedgehog seemed to be a little put out, but thanks to the short time she'd known him she knew it was mostly posturing when it came to her. But that aside she thought she better calm him down. Placing a hand either side of his head Paige stared into his eyes. "Witt? Shuttap will ya? I'll fix ya damn helmet" And then proceeded to kiss him full on the lips and hold it.

[Yugo]

Kaela closed her eyes briefly, muscles bunched up in her arm to keep her charge still, and took a deep whiff of the jungle air. It was smooth, wet, and electrically charged, as was typical with the smell of a rainstorm. However, there was more to it than that. It had a fresh quality to it that reminded her of home. Many of her young days had been spent stalking the flooded jungle floor of her homeland from the day she had been old enough to hold and shoot a bow, and for a moment she felt like that carefree girl again. A sharp twinge in her hand destroyed the hallucination. It appeared the humidity was also having an effect on her rheumatism, which did not at all befit a child of ten years old.

For the most part, she ignored her companion, her eyes searching for any movement beyond the hissing downpour of rain. Water glistened brightly upon the curved steel plates that clanked upon most of her body, dripping off onto the black frame of the submachine gun that hung suspended from a lanyard at her side. A click told her the weapon was ready as she armed it, a stab of premonition pushing into her chest. She had learned long ago to trust such instincts. The world around them pattered, flashed, and thundered. It was the perfect place for an ambush. Her parents had quickly taught her that a noisy, distracting environment was the most suited for stealthy maneuvers, and the rumble of thunder overhead could mask the crack of a distant rifle or the snap of nearby twigs. Idle chit-chat between the two of them could get them killed if they weren't careful, and judging by the deep footprints her metal-shod boots left behind her they wouldn't be especially difficult to track either. She stopped quite suddenly as the ground beneath them rumbled briefly but softly, turning in place to look for signs of the disturbance, but the storm above them muffled all hopes of sight and sound.

The scarred patchwork quilt of fur and flesh that was her face twisted into a quizzical expression before she turned back towards her intended destination. If it wasn't something she could actively see or hear there was no use wasting energy worrying about it. She twitched, her thoughts scattering beneath the wind of her companion's voice, and regarded her with cold, hard blue eyes. "Captain Kaela Silverstone, m'am," she replied politely in a thick resonant voice, well aware that diplomacy between her and her employer's other servants was an important part of her job. Improper behavior towards other associates could cost her pay, and that was something she dearly wanted to avoid. "And yours?"

[SpottedKitty]

"Dammit, missed!" Fal'taq muttered as his fireball roared over the collapsing Gryphon's head, almost giving Paige a singed eyebrows-to-tail reverse mohawk in passing. He aborted the spell, letting the fireball fizzle out before the huge Creature crashed to the ground.

"Well now, I was not quite expecting this outcome," the mole said quietly to himself as he inspected the carcass. He spotted his hat, even more battered-looking, lying among a pile of splintered branches. He knelt to pick it up, shook some stray foliage and a multi-legged bug out of it, and plopped it securely on his head. "I had thought we would only succeed, at best, in driving the beast away. When was the last time anything less than an army, or a Dragon, actually killed one?"

He noticed Keaton leading some of the others off along a trail, while Pandora headed back to the downed airship. He decided to follow the jackal: it might be dangerous if she found whoever sent that monster after them, but it would definitely be dangerous back at the airship if the crash attracted attention.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Witt, as expected, thoroughly kissed Paige right back. Once they finished, he looked down at the corpse, then looked back to Paige and shouted "Yes, I expect it bloody well does have six foot fewmets. What the fuck has that got to do with anything?"

He winced.

"Think we should follow them?" He bellowed, waving a hand after Keaton.

[e_voyager]

epyon was grateful not to be in danger anymore but he still felt sorry for the griffin. yet at the same time as it was staggering under the attacks he'd felt a terrifying hunger. he wanted to launch himself into the  bleeding gash the hedgehog  left on the griffin's  chest and chew his way through the  it body to it's heart. that was a bad ideal under all circumstances as eve if he's succeed then there was a chance that the undead virus would work it's magic on the Griffin it was a small chance but a chance no the less. he rubbed his arms frightened as he  hugged them and his wings close to his body. his glowing eyes  closed as he took what were supposed to be calming breaths. they weren't really doing him much good. he was distantly away of pager and witt. witt was threatening the dead monster and for a moment epyon envied it. it was dead killed the way a rampaging monster should be what about him?

how could you kill the monster if the monster lived inside of you? even so he had hope. he had to keep his hope alive became were there was life their was hope so hopefully were this is  hope life would dell as well.

[Boog]

"One hundred and thirteen years ago." Ty said, hearing Fal'Taq's question, "Approximately." He too began to follow Keaton. Stick to matters he understood, like severely harming large things, rather than things he didn't, like engine repair. He caught up to Keaton quickly, as she seemed to be of a similar mindset.
"So, presumably we're dealing with another Gryphon..." The mythos mused aloud, "A or B class. Have you ever dealt with one of them before?"

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Penny, still sporting a light dusting of the debris scattered by Fal'taq's rapid departure from his hiding place, swapped out the explosive bolt for one of a different color. If she hadn't been focused on staying as silent as possible she probably would have been muttering about creatures and their ultra-violent natures. As someone unfortunately accustomed to the sight of enormous angry unpleasant creatures throwing tantrums she was quite surprised that they had managed to take it down. The fact that giant gryphons were about as bright as an equivalently sized pile of bricks and too territorial to back off had been to their advantage. The smaller gryphons nearby were the next problem. Bartering or buying was probably right out now that the village guardian was down. The fisher decided her job skills might be needed and followed discretely behind Keaton.

[Ren Gaulen]

The doctor turned to face the Gryphon woman. For a moment he looked at her as if he didn't understand what she was saying; but he quickly snapped out of his stupor.
"Ah, the boy is getting better, my dear. He had a high fever tonight, but he is better now," – the doctor fixed his glasses, - "I dare say he is faring much better than I expected originally. He is a strong boy."

The doctor, a tall man of forty with dark hair that was slowly turning grey at the temples, smiled reassuringly. His smile looked a bit forced, though. His eyes were red from lack of sleep; there were bags under them. He was struggling to bring down Rik's fever all night, and was very tired. More than anything else he wanted to get to bed as soon as possible, and he couldn't concentrate on that woman who was bringing him the food and the news. Right now he couldn't even remember her name, in fact. Well, there was one more reason for his current state, actually: a small flask in his bag, which he opened to "celebrate" the fact that Rik's condition has finally seemed to stabilize.

"Is everything fine, doctor Marko?" – asked the woman, slightly discouraged by the man's blank stare.
"Oh? Oh, yes, yes, I'm alright," – he answered; he wanted the woman to leave, as talking to her and trying to concentrate just on the process of talking was giving him a headache right now, - "Could you call for the village's healer? I need to get some sleep, but I need someone to stay with the boy should his condition worsen again."
"But you said that he got better!.." – the woman started to say, but doctor Marco interrupted her politely.
"Yes, my dear," – he said, - "But I don't want to run any risks. He is a strong kid, but his illness is a serious one. It would be better if someone stays by his side all the time for now."
"Well, I could stay with him myself then," – the Gryphon woman said with a smile.

The doctor gave her a tired look, forcing out another smile.
"Thank you," – he said, - "I'll go get some sleep then. But if anything happens, wake me up."
He turned to leave, but the woman stopped him.
"You haven't eaten, doctor. You should eat something."

Marco gave her another tired look, then turned to the basket of fruit she brought. He slowly, almost cautiously picked up one of the fruit and took a bite out of it. He had no appetite right now, though, and he wasn't sure why he decided to eat. Probably not to offend the woman, he thought. E finished the fruit (it was really tasty, actually, but right now Marco's senses didn't register this fact) and started to walk away again.
"I'll sleep for a few hours.." – he said, while lying down on the couch, - "Wake me up in a few hours, miss, alright?"
"Oh, of course, doctor!" – the Gryphon woman answered, but doctor Marco was already fast asleep.

During his travels he picked up some useful skills, and one of them was quickly falling asleep whenever he had a chance, as he never knew when he'd need to stay up for a whole night looking after his patient. However, sometimes he needed some "assistance" from alcohol to remain asleep; alcohol seemed to keep the nightmares away.

The woman's attention quickly switched to the child who was also fast asleep.
"Did you hear that, Rik?" – the woman asked in a quiet voice, not to wake up the boy, - "The doctor says you're getting better. The doctor is such a good man, trying so hard to make you get better. You'll be well soon, I'm sure of it."

[Paladin Sheppard]

Paying no attention to the (Very) loud verbal dribble coming from the Hedgehog, Paige looked around. She spotted Fal'taq appearing from where the fireball that had nearly took her head off had came from.

'Oh ho so that's how you're going to play is it Mister...Right...I have a sword that could use another soul fueled enchantment...But Meh maybe later, Keaton might get a bit pissy at me if I off him.

When Witt bellowed his question, the succubus grinned, and plucked the helmet off his head. "Oh I suppose so..." And leaped into the air again, but only for a short hop before landing a few meters behind Keaton. Once there she looked back at Witt and licked a finger, placing it on her behind before taking it away quickly as if it was too hot to the touch.... And set about using another of her armor patches to fill the gaps and strengthen the mangled helmet.