- IC Time: Wed Oct 10 18:22:01 2018 ***
- OOC Time: Wed Oct 10 18:22:01 2018 ***
By the time Charlie awakens she finds herself in the mud. Maybe a product of the rain, and she simply conked her head when exploring around the forest. Nope. No such luck. The sky bleeds red quite literally, and the sun hangs low at the horizon. What brought her from her slumber is the presence of a constantly shifting mess of fur, scales, and feathers that never stays in one shape. A beast constantly in flux from predator, prey, and everything in between. "Run," it urges with a hiss and a growl. "Fight. Flee. Kill. Hunt. Hide."
Waking is rough, blinking up at a bloody sky that drips like the cut throat of a deer. The shifting, slithering motion of the thing is worse, the girl scrambling back, off(?) of it as it hisses and growls at her. Words. Orders? Help? Nervous, she runs her tongue along her lips, then nods, taking a moment to slather herself in the mud, from head to toe. It'll keep bugs away, maybe, make it harder to see her or smell her. She's not a hunter, but she knows forests. How much help it might be in a place where the sky bleeds red, well... that gets chalked up to a learning curve.
It's hard to see in that mess of creatures, but maybe a smile? A frown. Really difficult to say. What the thing does do is finally settle on a shape. That of a fairly massive avian raptor with a height from crown to feet that's as big as a house. It screeches at her as she makes her departure, and takes to the sky.
A bird? A beast? Is it hunting her, or helping? With it taking to wing, she doesn't stick around to ask. She'll need water, things to make into weapons, food... Charlie heads deeper into the forest, looking for signs of water and edible plants, certain types of stone or fibrous plants. Things to make into things. Tools.
GAME: Charlie recovers from all damage.
-> >> Charlie to Here << <-===========================================
Rolled 4 Successes
< 6 7 7 7 9 9 10 10 >
=====================-> >> Wits + Survival.Adroitness No Flags << <-
Game: Charlie has a 1-point "Holistic Awareness" Merit.
Nary a sign of water to be found, and she's damned well not had something to drink for some time. However, it's difficult to say for how long. Plantlife is plentiful, but nothing of it is anything she's ever seen before. Grass that goes up to her waist, trees as tall as mountains, and greenery that moves with every beat of the heart. She can also hear other things moving about. Nothing quiet either. The worst of it comes from a pack of howling beasts at her east while the bird still gives chase from the southeast. Much, much further out and to the west something roars. Loud enough that the ground shakes, and the howling she heard turning to whimpering that disappears into the coming nightfall.
South. Southeast. West. Pushing her north or northwest? Prey or predator? Ducking into the long grass, tries to think. The wolf-man-shadow said it was easy to push her, to herd her away from the border and deeper into the west.
The west seems dangerous. Or at least, moreso. Covered in mud, she starts gathering the grasses and moving low, on her belly in the dirt so she doesn't make a bald patch for the bird to see. A bit of grass here, some there, creeping into the shadow of a mountainous tree to braid some of the grass to tuck and work more of the foliage into- the intent to make a cape and hate with irregular patterning to help her earthy, muddy self bland in better.
The bird can't find its prey, but something else does find her. It's hard to see it as things turn to night, but she can just barely hear it. It's moving through the grass, and doing so fast. The beast from the west, likely coming for her. "This is my realm," it roars. The words come from all around, setting off that flight or fight response in her head. "You will bow, or you will break."
Does it know she's there, or is it hoping to spook her out. She forgets to breathe for a moment as adrenaline surges, making her shudder. She clings to the ground, fingers digging into the earth before she rises, breaking her cover. "Are you Awakodan?!" she calls back in challenge.
"What I am is your master." The ground shakes beneath her, making it difficult to run normally. The thing was a chimera of sorts. Bigger than a house with a row of heads that spoke in unison. Wolf. Snake. Bird. Fox. Spider. Rat. It looked like she might have some ground. Maybe. That proved to be untrue as it leaped on her with as little effort as her swatting a fly away. It pins her to the ground, pushing her further in and down into the mud. "Are you prey? Are you predator? Make your case now, or you /will/ perish, pup."
Knocked down and held, she stares up at the heads, looking from one to the next to to the next until she settles on whichever seems to be more 'center' of them. "I'm not prey." she snaps, trying to shove it's.. paw? Claw? whatever it is it pins her with, off of her. Though she doesn't contest being an owned thing - the shadow wolf as much said he was selling her or stealing her.
It, they, snarl, and leans down to face her properly. Or as best it can, at least. The wolf is in the middle. "You are not prey. Then you will hunt." The weight of it should break her bones, but nothing shifts. "Will you not hunt!?"
Silent, staring up at the heads, the wolf in the middle. After a moment she grimaces and looks away, "I will learn." she says after a span. She's no hunter, but it's better to try than be eaten. "I don't know how to hunt."
It smiles. They smile. "No, you will hunt." He presses down again. This time quite literally flattening her out into the earth. The heads bite down into flesh, but nary a bit of pain. Flesh, clothing, bone, and meat. It's all consumed and torn away. At least it didn't hurt. However, there isn't death. There isn't a sweet release. Instead just momentary darkness.
It's an odd sensation, to be smooshed without pain. Pressed into the earth and consumed, stripped to nothingness as the darkness comes for her.
She's in that darkness for however long. She's eventually spit out in the morning. It looks the morning. The sun is up, as red as ever. She bathes in the crimson light and sees that at least some of her is no longer as it was. Hands are gone for furs and paws. Her feet for scales and talons. Her skins covered in an odd mix of fur and feathers, and her voice makes this abhorrent sound every time she tries speaking.
Twisted. Different. Knowing as she knows of the Lost and the Gentry, it isn't wholly... unexpected, but it IS a shock. No thumbs. No speech, just that awful sound from warped vocal chords. She flops and rolls, trying to catch her fee-- Not-feet. Cats suddenly make so much more sense. Panicking, she twists and rolls, trying to find some sense of balance. Of self. Finding only fur, scales, and that awful voice that isn't her own. Mourning the loss, she howls to the wet looking, bloody sky.
The howling draws the attention of others. Likely of her ilk. Amalgamations of various beasts without any true thing in the world. The largest of them is just a bit bigger than her, and comes to the fore. The number of beasts is around half a dozen. The biggest growls at her, head sunk low as it starts to circle the area.
Paws, feathers, fur. The others draw near and the newly made predator bristles, feathers standing out, fur fluffing. Can she trust them? It isn't worth thinking about when the biggest begins to circle. It's hard to read the other's posture, and her own remains.. defensively aggressive -like a fear biting dog, a low growl rolling at the back of her throat and uncertainty in the tuck of haunch and overall posture.
The one facing her looks something like a dog. Overlarge and canid. Canine-adjacent really. It's covered scales closer to that of a snake that lift and move with it. It grows, head low as it approaches. It snaps its teeth at her, footsteps silent as it nears closer and closer with its movements. Another bite comes, this time aiming for what looks like her tail.
Somehow, she missed the tail in her focus on feet and handpaws and the rest of it. The other beast... doesn't miss. Yelping when bitten, she whirls and lashes out with both front... things. Paws? Paws. Claws? Maybe? She's still trying to figure out what mishmash of parts she has. Is.
-> >> Charlie to Here << <-===========================================
Rolled a chance die for a failure
< 7 >
===========================-> >> Strength + Brawl - 4 No Flags << <-
Game: Charlie has a pumped "Defense" of 5.
-> >> Raymond to Here << <-===========================================
Rolled 2 Successes
< 3 3 5 8 9 >
=========================================-> >> 10 - 5 No Flags << <-
Game: Charlie takes 3 Lethal damage.
Charlie's swipes are met with growling as she dives at her. The alpha's growling turns into a sharp, painful bite at the nape of Charlie's neck. "Hunt or hunted," the other beast growls with Charlie's feathers and fur in its mouth. "We're hungry. Please say hunted."
Another yelp and she half-crouches, as if that'll ease the painful bite, a serpent-like hiss a response. "Not for hunting." Trying to find the words with her new voice, growling lowly and tucking her tail under her to protect tue bitten appendage.
Lowering herself does lessen the pain and the other beast's grip. Not by much, but it's better than the pain of before. It takes the beast a second. More like a minute for hte gears to start moving. "You are prey, not for hunting? Are you predator that does not hunt?" Despite the wordings coming in growling, the confusion of the larger beast is rather obvious.
"Learn. Made to learn hunt." The beastly thing replies, lowering herself a little more as that pain lessens from the teeth of the Alpha. "You teach?" This a more plaintive whine.
The beast lets go of her. Teeth still bared as she begins circling Charlie agian. A brief bout of cachinnation follows. Something similar to hyena laughter that cascades into a whimper. "Funny. You follow. You learn." She nods her feathered head. "No more, no less. You understand?"
Charlie's fur slicks back down and she shakes herself all over, fluffing amd settling. "Follow. Learn." Agreeing to the terms. Better to be an omega to the pack than have her throat torn out as a food-thing for them to eat. She finally looks from the Alpha to the others arrayed around her, taking in their appearances.
They're quite obviously the predators of the bunch. Canine or feline in appearance, although nothing close to normal. Some with wings, others with splayed fingers with webs. Only one is without fur, feather, and scales. As ugly and naked as a spinx cat, but with a mouth that ends in a beak. "Follow," the alpha commands, and starts running off to what may be the south.
Poor naked catbird. Charlie waits until the others have moved to follow the Alpha, bringing up the rear - the best place to be to do sone watching and learning. Running feels wrong and right at once. Natural and not. She's too low to the ground, but more balanced. A few times she trips, eventually finding the right rhythm to keep pace woth the misfit pack.
-> >> Charlie to Here << <-===========================================
Rolled 3 Successes
< 1 2 3 6 6 6 8 8 10 >
=================-> >> Wits + Survival.Adroitness + 2 No Flags << <-
The pack is fast. Supernaturally so it seems. However, Charlie's able to keep up. She can soon pick up the subtle cues that they're all following. Footprints thrice as large as her torso. A musky scent that causes a stir in her belly. God only knows how long it's been since she's actually had something to eat. The thought of food tickles at the lizard brain just that little bit. Whatever it is they're chasing is huge, even for the freakshow that is Arcadia.
Nose to the ground, she catches the scent and footprints, following the group as they run, and trying to pick up the details of the chase. That they might eat what they hunt makes her belly clench up and drools drip from her jaws. Makes her chase faster, hurrying.
They eventually come upon their quarry. A massive, furry thing. More mountain than beast. Each step shakes the land, and it doesn't feel the same as Awakaodan. It's the natural movement of the earth below their feet struggling and straining under so much weight. It lifts a tiger-like head that ends in an overlong snout as it bellows out.
Faltering, she's brought up ahort by the sheer size of the thing, the markings and the continued mismatch of parts and pieces. Hanging back a little, still seeking to watch and learn, she whines nervously with her tail slightly tucked.
The alpha growls at the sound of her timidity. "Move. Hunt." She takes off first, and the rest of the pack does as well. Charlie, like the rest of them, are large for predators in the real world, but this thing is still on another level. The alpha leaps up, sinking teeth and claws into the prey's hind legs and it starts stamping about. Another follows behind it, going for the tail. When its teeth sink in the smell of fresh blood hits the air, and it's like a dinner bell for the others.
The scent of blood does more than the bark of order from the Alpha. Stomach aching for food, she watches, then surges forward, springing up to try and grab hold of something woth her teeth and claws, scabbling to get a good grip on the massive beast, to tear into the thick hide.
The cleanest space for her to get ahold of is the animal's backside. Luckly there's more than enough room on its ass cheek for three of the beasts, if not more. Claws and talons find purchase in flesh and fur. More blood, and more muscle and gristle to eat. As she holds on the beast starts pushing itself up on its hind legs, but there's not much good it does for now.
Charlie's locks her jaws in, holding tight and using those wickedly clawed, scaled hindlegs to dig deep gouges into the creatures. Blood flows and is lapped at by her tongue behind that harsh grip of teeth to hide.
The beast buckles under the pain and weight of the predators. It falls to one knee, struggling to get away. The predator starts shaking furiously loosening some of the beasts from its body. Charlie's one of them knocked off, and it appears only two remain on it still. However, it's limping. Slowed. To hurt to run, and to heavy to simply bound off easily enough.
Shaken loose, the newly made member of the pack licks the blood from her jaws and sprints to get in front of the beast. Attempting to cut it off, she leaps towards the face of the thing, seeking to slow it, stall it, to let the others have a chance to latch on.
There's much to grab ahold of. It doesn't much like the predator getting near its face. It swats back at her, but to no avail. She gets a hold of that trunk first. Charlie's weight drags it down quite litereally by the nose, allowing her the ability to climb up closer to the prey's face.
There's surprise when the beast goes down, following her painful hold on it's trunk. That was easy! The notion of bulls and nose rings never crosses her mind. Starving, the taste of blood is intoxicating and she climbs that trunk, latching onto an ear and digging her teeth into the flesh. Anchoring with her front feet, a bit like a cat, she digs at the massive thing's face and eyes with those wicked, scaled hindfeet. It's not /elegant/, and dying this way is surely terrible as the pack just tears into them.
It's not dead yet, but it's nearing its last legs. It roars in pain when she digs at its face, unable to see a thing now. It screams, kneeling down on all fours now. This allows the others to jump on it, slowly dragging the beast all the way down. There's little fight left in it as it breathes its way off the mortal coil. Blood pools beneath it and stains its fur, eyes haphazardly looking this way and that.
Caught up in the pack mentality, swept up in the intensity of the hunt, the newest member of the pack rides the beast to the ground. Claws and mouth full of blood, she throws her head back and howls, then lolls her tongue out at the Alpha before jumping down off the thing and tearing into the flesh to feast until she's fit to burst.
The alpha immediately goes the throat when the beast it brought down. The problem is that there's a lot of throat. The prey fights. It kicks. It roars. To no avail. Eventually there's nothing left after the alpha's basically eaten much of the beast's throat. No more struggling and no more fighting. Just warm meat, fresh blood, and the thrill of a new kill.
Ripping, tearing, all but bathing in the spill of blood from the mountainous beast, Charlie shakes herself and sprays blood from her furred parts, the scales shedding the fluid naturally, while the feathers will need more delicate grooming. Glutted, belly distended, she finds a spot to flop out, trying to figure out how to clean the blood from her feathers. "What was it? I have never seen a thing like this."
While Charlie may be full the Alpha most certainly isn't. She's the last to finish eating. The others lick their chops, rest, or simply snooze while they can. The only answer Charlie gets about the beast is simple, "Prey." She goes back to eating until she's had her fill, and then the feathered wolf makes a nest for herself out of the bloodied grass.
Predator. Or prey. There's a thoughtful look to the fallen beast. Dinner. It died screaming. Fur slicks down and the meal flipflops in her belly before she huffs and turns her back on the prey. A terrible end. One that could have been hers, if she hadn't been willing to learn, or had Awakodan not believed her.
Maybe still her end, if Awakodan changes it's mind.
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