Claustrophobia

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(I swear I read everything like three times...can't tell if I'm confused about where everyone is soo if I am let me know and I will fix. |D)

Luna waited, and waited, and waited, for her eyes to grow accustom to the dark. It didn't happen, and while she wasn't as suspicious about some sort of trick, like the elves were, she did decide that she wasn't going to get anywhere by just sitting here. Ophyra's voice might've surprised her, but she let out a breath of relief more than anything knowing that she wasn't alone. "Oh thank god." She said, which didn't really answer her question. What was making it so dark down here? Wasn't it just that...they were in a cave? Weren't caves dark? "What the heck is this?" She did hear flapping, but she also thought she heard the scraping of metal. And while she wasn't as perceptive as the others, she could definitely feel something. Glowing eyes, of course, but the Dante's Inferno Scourge presence was also not lost on her because she could feel that she was being watched. It was hard to explain, so she remained wordless about the matter.

She reached around herself, sliding her hands against rocks and floor, scrambling onto a sturdier stalagmite, allowing her to stumble to her feet. Everything in her entire being wanted her to sit right here and be miserable until she woke up from this nightmare or until everything just went away, but she also knew that the only way to get out of here was to do something. And while being near Ophyra would certainly make her feel better, it'd be hard for them to follow each other unless they were literally holding on to each other.

"The birds?" She echoed Iskotyra, realizing that the birds must be referring to the glowing eyes. What the hell kind of birds hung out in caves? Though, she was beginning to think in her time here that nothing, absolutely nothing, was normal. She flailed her arms in front of her like some sort of funky mummy, trying hard to ignore squawks, the drips, the clattering of rocks. She tried really hard to use her other senses, smell (hah), hearing, touch? She mostly succeeded in stubbing a toe, and swiping a hand over something sharp. She could already feel some blood welling on her finger.

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The Sniveling Infant Legacy seemed fairly content with his perch on Tiberius, once he got high enough not to be at risk of the damp- or worse, of walking. While he certainly did nothing to stop his claws from digging through the boy's shirt and into his shoulder, he didn't actively tighten his grip, either. That had to count for something, right? When Tiberius slipped, the Legacy let out a loud shriek of dissatisfaction, flapping razor-lined wings dangerously close to the boy's head, but he managed to keep his own balance on the dry shoulder. There was an angry sounding rattling of his beak in response to that little slipup, but no further reaction. His goal was still ahead, and biting off Tiberius's ear would probably result in having to carry himself over instead.

It continued to get wetter as boy and bird continued their trek farther into the cave, but it wouldn't be too long before Tiberius would notice it becoming slightly easier to make out shapes around him. There seemed to be a glow in the air coming from what might have been an open space ahead. There was certainly more of an echo to be had, if Tiberius's ears to be believed. The trickle of water became much louder, more insistent, and after a short while longer, the tiny stream poured itself down a short, rocky heap in a sad little waterfall that was more slippery than it would ever be impressive.

At the base of this waterfall was a lake.

Well. Okay, maybe "lake" was an excessively generous exaggeration. It was a body of water, to be certain, a good twenty feet across, maybe two feet deep, and clear enough to see the loose pebbles at the bottom. And Tiberius would be able to SEE those pebbles, too, for domed ceiling that arched over this subterranean lake was completely dripping with writhing bioluminescence. Whether they were worms, or fungus, or something else, it was hard to say, but their blue-green glow reflected brilliantly from the rippling waters. In the pool itself was more wriggling, as colorless, eyeless... things... crawled and splashed across one another and under the waters, fighting blindly to snap up any glow-thing that dropped from the ceiling.

On the other side of the "lake", the Hope You Guessed My Name Remnant watched calmly, perched on a snapped-off stalagmite. And he was not alone. At the big Requiae's feet was a hunched, moaning shape, shivering visibly in the cold dampness and hiding it's face in it's arms. From it came a thin, quavering whimper of agony.

Ophyra would be having a far more comfortable time with the In Memorium Lament. The elderly Requiae continued to sit comfortably on her perch, watching the witch with calm, unjudging interest. Did Ophyra really expect to have the Apparition's secrets revealed to her so easily? Again, there was no answer from the white bird... save for her closing her eyes. A hint, perhaps? Or simply a tired old bird resting for a moment?

Iskotyra certainly seemed to be trying her best to get the All That Glitters Legacy's attention, but she was fighting a losing battle. The little Legacy continued his assault on the rock face, oblivious to the girl's approach, and to her awkward attempts at climbing up to him. Even the faint scent of blood from her abraded hands wouldn't get him to look up. However, when she started to unload her pockets, producing a handful of glittery, shiny things, the bird momentarily fell still, head cocked in the simplest form of curiosity. It was not to last, though.

To say that Alice caught her tormentors off-guard would be equivalent of saying that water was a little damp. The Skeleton in the Closet Phantom and Spiteful Tittering Omen flat out did not see her reaction coming. One moment, they had a sad little mouse pinned, all helpless and pathetic, and the next, they had a snarling lioness lashing out with fang and claw. Mistakes had been made! There was a brief and exceedingly loud moment of chaos as the two Requiae scrambled to try to take off, succeeding only in smashing into one another in a tangle of blades and feathers. The Omen freed himself first, scrambling back the way he came. He managed to more or less fall headlong down the vertical rock face, very nearly dislodging the All That Glitters Legacy in his panic, and possibly catching poor Iskotyra upside the head with a bladed wing as he awkwardly managed to catch the air just in time to avoid crashing to the ground. Tumbling in the air, the Spiteful Tittering Omen sped back into the main cavern like his tail was on fire, landing with another undignified crash and scatter of gravel, feathers akimbo. That had NOT been part of his plan. Good thing no one saw that, though, right?

Right?

They should all be looking at Luna, not him! Look! She was fumbling around like some kind of zombie in the dark! See! Too ruffled to do much tittering, spiteful or otherwise, the Omen shuffled himself upright, trying very hard to look like he hadn't just made a fool of himself.

The Phantom was not quite as quick on his feet (or wings) as his brother, and Alice would be left with a mouth full of jam-red-and-purple tailfeathers before the shrieking bird managed to extricate himself. Without tail or dignity, the Phantom BOOKED IT up the cliff-side path, continuing to squawk in alarm as he fled. The path he took continued to be broad enough for even a lioness to walk along, though it was clear that the stone was in poor condition. With every step Alice took along it, more bits and pieces would fall away down into the darkness, some of them bouncing and clattering down the sides, others falling through still air for several seconds before hitting anything. With feline senses, though, Alice would be able to pick up on something new up ahead- a thread, just a whisper, of what could almost have been a breeze, or a breath of fresh air.

Utterly delighted with this chaos, the Dante's Inferno Scourge threw herself up to the top of the cliff to watch the show, cawing loudly in encouragement. Rip him to pieces! Eat him! Make him pay!

If Leonard wanted a chicken dinner, he was going to have to work for it. Some Requiae were a lot smarter about pissing people off than others, it seemed. The Wolf at the Door Allure seemed to have a very clear and precise knowledge of just how long the man's reach extended, and kept herself carefully beyond it. This was not to say that she stayed far enough for Leonard to lose her, no. Where would the fun be in that? Rather, as the treacherous path narrowed and narrowed, forcing Leonard to squeeze himself sideways through what had become solid walls of uneven rock, she kept near enough that he'd be unable to miss the gleam of her eyes reflecting from the fork that she grasped tightly in her beak. Before long, there wasn't even space for the Requiae to spread her wings, and she settled for hopping from wall to wall, clinging to the bare stone with the confidence of a mountain goat.

There was a twist in the path, a sharp corner that was tight enough to force a grown man to hold his breath to squeeze through, and Leonard would abruptly find himself facing a particularly dark space in the near distance.

The moaning was louder here. Louder, and clearer... and were those words, being babbled in the middle of those groans? Rather suddenly, the keening noises of pain became sharper, more insistent, before twisting themselves into an eerie cackle of crazed laughter and gibbering. There was a hint of movement from the cavern ahead, and as Leonard's eyes adjusted, he'd be able to make out some kind of... shape... writhing on the ground. A shape with three smaller ones perched on it.

One holding a fork.

The gibbering rose sharply again as one of the smaller shapes reached down and tore a piece from the unidentified form.

Back in the main cavern, the In Memorium Lament opened her eyes, caught Ophyra's gaze, and then... winked?

And it was then that things started to get particularly strange.

As Tiberius crossed the shallow pool, up to his knees in icy water and feeling sightless nightmares nuzzling at his ankles, his feet would abruptly go out from under him. Nothing grabbed him, he did not slip, but rather the level gravel surface of the pool just seemed to suddenly drop away under his feet, dropping him roughly into the... air, and down a steep, slippery slope of scree and loose stone debris. The Sniveling Infant Legacy shrieked in alarm and took off as the boy plummeted.

Alice would find the path she was on abruptly crumbling under her claws, sending her head over tail down a steep, slippery slope of scree and loose stone debris.

Leonard would find the cavern floor ahead of him just plain wasn't there, and instead, there was a steep, slippery slope of scree and loose stone debris.

Dumping all of them unceremoniously in the main cavern.

The Remnant sat comfortably on his broken stalagmite perch, no whimpering form shaking at his feet, unless one counted the Sniveling Infant Legacy, who was promptly tucked under a wing as he butted up against his father's side. The Spiteful Tittering Omen promptly got himself back off the ground and out of reach, clinging to a high perch on a stalactite. The fleeing Phantom all but threw himself at Leonard- who happened to be the largest person there, and the most capable of shielding him from raging lionesses- and hid himself behind the man, while the Dante's Inferno Scourge was quick to appear at Alice's side, hopping excitedly and jabbing her flank in encouragement. Finish him off! Off to the right, the Celestial Beauty Allure, the Isolated Melancholy Omen, and the Wolf at the Door Allure perched almost innocently on their perfectly normal rocks, nothing bleeding or gibbering at their feet at all.

There was a bright, tinkling jangle as a bloodied fork was dropped on the stone floor. Was it possible for a bird to smile? Because the Wolf at the Door Allure was certainly managing a SMIRK, if not a smile.

It was a very, very KNOWING look that Ophyra got from the old white Lament. Was she starting to get the picture?

... and up ahead, on the almost sheer rock face above poor Iskotyra, there came a dull, clattering, repeated thud, as the All That Glitters Legacy, a chapter or two behind everyone else, returned to his single-minded task of banging his head on a rock to get at a shiny pebble, all other chaos and drama forgotten.

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Annoyed as he was, and perfectly aware he was being led around like cattle to slaughter, he still followed the Wolf at the Door Allure through the increasingly narrowed spaces. It was tight and uncomfortable, though Leonard had no real issues with being stuck in increasingly close quarters. He had issues with goddamned razor birds, and the increased noise of pain, and the stinging in his fingers. He might still have his salad, but, you know, he just wasn't feeling that much at this point. Goddamned roast chicken was sounding far better. Not like he was that strict of a vegetarian, anyway.

Wordlessly pressing forward, he squeezed through another tight spot, as the pained noises got louder and louder and there sounded like something was talking, though he couldn't understand what was being said. Frowning, he found himself in a bigger space, and after a moment of his eyes adjusting, he saw some....thing on the ground ahead of him. Writhing around like it was in pain. And oh, look, his dinner, his damned fork, and her friends. And while the ex-reaper was almost positive most of what he was seeing was fake, that didn't mean he didn't twitch when one of them ripped off a piece of...flesh?...from the tortured creature. "I'm going to feed an entire village with you -insert inappropriate term here-." He promised.

He took a threatening step forward, but then the cavern floor was gone and down a familiar slope he tumbled, and there was a lot of cursing.

He had spilled some of his salad, too. Ugh.

Carefully extracting himself from anyone that might be around him, Leonard took two steps further into the cave, when he heard the sound of his fork dropping. And there were was his damned DINNER and her friends. He focused on the Allure for a moment, and grinned at her, all teeth. "Why don't you come over here so I can show you just how much I appreciate you." He taunted. Not that he gave her anytime to really respond, as he promptly took aim and threw his bowl at her.  He was definitely aiming for the Wolf, but he really didn't care if he hit any of the other birds.

And then another bird all but flew into him. Past 'annoyed' and more into real anger, he didn't take too kindly to that. These damned things were screwing with not just his head, but everyone's here, and Len didn't take well to the danger everyone was in. Uncaring for his hand, fingers, or really anything else, he lashed out and tried to grab the Phantom by the neck. It was missing some tailfeathers, so clearly someone else here had gotten to it. "If you think I'm gonna save you, you're wrong." He growled out. "Might just hand you over to whoever wants you, though." And if he caught the little bastard, he wasn't going to be letting go anytime soon.

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Tiberius's shoulder was going to be a sore and bloodied mess by the time this was done. And he could only hope that would be the extent of his injuries. Had his doubts, but he could still hope. Though, the further he went, and the slicker it got, he really just gave up on that hope. If he got out of this alive, he'd be happy. But he still had to keep going forward, feeling his way in the dark and damp, but, slowly, he would notice that it appeared too be getting a little lighter. Shapes were easier to pick out, and while it didn't make it that much easier to keep going, it helped.

Open space seemed to be ahead, but the teen didn't rush. The sound of water was louder, as was the noises of pain. But it was echoy and confusing, and he really didn't know what to expect when he finally got into a more open space. And then, what he did see, well. He wished he'd just stayed back in the main cavern.

There was a poor excuse for a waterfall that was making far too much noise, and a...giant puddle, basically. Maybe a deep and large puddle, but not a lake or stream or river. Might as well have been, though, when he inched a little closer to see. And see he could, because of the bioluminescent things up on the ceiling. That were dripping down into the water. He was...mostly okay with that, worms or fungus or some other unnamed creatures, even when they dripped on him...but he wasn't okay with the things in the water.

It was impossible to focus on that for too long, because he could still hear the sound of pain. And now he could see clearly enough, too. Across the big damned puddle was the Remnant and...something at his feet. Something cold and hurting and in pain. There was a brief second where all he wanted to do was believe that the Remnant had led him here to hel, that it wasn't the cause of the beings pain and suffering, but. But.

That innocent, hopeful little part of him had seen far too many cruel realities in his short life, and he could not, nor would not try to fool himself. There might not be a lot of proof, but he blamed the Remnant right away.

He couldn't just stand here, though. He didn't know how to save that thing, and there was those horrible things in the water, and that was all between him and the Remnant. Angry and frustrated, Tiberius paced back and forth for a moment, along the shore, calculating. The water scared him, but leaving was not an option. But moving forward was not an easy option, either. Even if the things in the water didn't hurt him, would the giant Requia harm the being with him, if he got closer? He'd never be able to get there fast enough, and then what?

And...

Huh.

Even in his pacing, he'd been careful not to jar the Requia on his shoulder. That one wanted to get over there, too, didn't it. Could it fly? Was it young? Did the Remnant have any loyalty to it? Did it care about it? Could it be used as a bargaining chip? He knew nothing about these creatures, but some of them seemed smart enough that this could work. And he couldn't just stand here forever and be afraid.

Screw it.

Determined and stubborn now, he wasn't going to just roll over and fail. There was a way to succeed, but inaction wasn't the answer. Staring down the Remnant for a moment longer, he finally stepped to the water, carefully squatted down, and shoved his hand in. The things in there bumped into him and sometimes even mouthed him, but there was no bloodshed, no burning skin, nothing that would make him need a new plan in crossing.

So he got up and started to wade in. He kept an eye across to the Remnant and the shivering creature. Tense and prepared for cruelty, the plan was very much to snatch the Legacy on his shoulder and shove it under the water once he got about halfway through. Threaten to drown the damned bird, in hopes the Remnant would back the hell away from the injured being. And once he got to it, he'd let the Legacy go and snatch the other creature and go from there. Sure, the plan probably involved his hangs being mangled by the sharp feathers, and he didn't know what he'd do if the Remnant didn't back off, or attacked him afterwards. But he'd figure it out, then. One step at a time.

Except....that never happened.

He had gotten to the halfway point, and had been about to make a move to snatch the bird on his shoulder, but suddenly there was nothing under him. He was falling, not into the water, but through air, down a slope and was...back in the cavern. The main one. With everyone else.

It had been an...illusion? Fake? All in his head? Which, if that were the case, he had to wonder what else was fake, if the people here with him were actually here, if they were in a cave, or if he was home, stuck in a nightmare.

Shaking from the cold, his clothes soaked and clinging to him, Tiberius couldn't even bring himself to get up right now. If that had been fake, and the thing that was hurt wasn't real, he had very much been planning on damn near murdering an animal to save it, and that didn't set too well with him, either. But he did spot the Remnant and the Legacy tucked under the larger one's wing, and well. Maybe his plan might have worked a bit, after all. Maybe.

Scooting a little backward to lean against the cavern wall, Tiberius just decided that no, he wasn't moving right now. Wasn't quite up to another fun adventure. He was just going to sit here and contemplate his next move.

[Deleted]

While she was disappointed that the Omen got away, her real target had been the Phantom anyway. He was, after all, the one who had plucked her up and carried her off like prey.

No matter their form, Beast Clan were not prey.

She felt the tail feathers in her teeth and shook her head, like she might if she were breaking the neck of a gazelle. Though it unfortunately did not break the neck of the Phantom she was still pretty pleased that at least he wouldn’t exactly be capable of meaningful flight for a good while. She hoped he liked going in straight lines.

Alice was mostly content to leave it at that, until the Scourge decided to put in her two cents. To that Alice took a deep breath and roared. A loud echoing sound in the contained space. Do not think to command her, little bird, or she would take more than just your feathers.

But she had one path before her, and so that was the path that she would take. Heightened feline senses further enhanced by her vampiric nature could feel how unstable the ground was, and she was more than ready when it did crumbled on her weight. As it fell she leapt, paws pressing against the opposite wall and launching her back towards the first, in this manner she zig-zagged her way down to where the birds seemed to be collecting the would-be rescuers.

As the Phantom made to flee from her she snarled at it, though she made no move towards it. She did not care that much, she simply wanted to give him a start. Also it picked a fairly good human shield, she liked Leonard well enough and didn't want him caught in the crossfire. Her eyes looked over the Remnant, watched the two Allures and the Omen; don’t think she would forget your escape little bird; before the Scourge snapped at her flank. In a flash Alice whirled on the bird, her jaws snapping as she threw her weight towards it.

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The Wolf at the Door Allure was not oblivious to Leonard's state of mind. Her silvery eyes were watching his every move, even as the man glared and grumbled. Temper, temper, doctor. Did his mother never teach him not to play with his food? Or not to fling it furiously at the local wildlife? The Wolf at the Door Allure saw the salad bowl coming a mile away and leapt easily to the next stalagmite over, but her siblings weren't nearly as observant. The hefty wooden bowl caught the Isolated Melancholy Omen square in his narrow chest, knocking the undersized bird clean off the stalagmite and onto the floor.

There was a shriek of horrified despair as the little Requiae flapped awkwardly and struggled onto it's feet. It was doused in dressing and lettuce and bits of soggy crouton. Why did things like this happen to him? What cruelty inflicted by the universe! A look of despair and betrayal was thrown towards Leonard. He could not believe the man would do such a thing, but as the band says, the best part of "believe" is the "lie." Man, if Requiae had computers, he'd be blogging about this tonight.

It wasn't just the Isolated Melancholy Omen to bear the brunt of Leonard's temper. As the bowl struck the small fellow, a single well-dressed leaf of chopped lettuce was flung just far enough to the side to land on the beautifully kept foot of the Celestial Beauty Allure. The Omen's shriek of despair was easily drowned out by the shrill cry of pure insulted rage and distress that the Allure let out. Her foot! Had! Been! SULLIED! SHE SMELLED LIKE OIL AND VINEGAR. THIS WAS AN OUTRAGE. Disgusted and radiating pure hate towards the doctor as she worked herself up into a proper royal FIT, the Celestial Beauty Allure threw herself towards the cleanest surface she could spot at this point- which happened to be Luna's shoulder. The girl would find a heavy jewel-toned bird slamming onto her like a ton of feathery bricks, frantically wiping her besmirched foot on her shoulder, in her hair, on her neck- whatever angle the Allure could reach to get the offending salad dressing off. Ugh. Leonard was the worst.

The Skeleton in the Closet Phantom was really starting to regret his life choices. It seemed Leonard wasn't nearly as cooperative of a shield as he'd have hoped. He was fortunate enough not to be within bowl range, and at least Leonard was disarmed now, but that didn't seem to stop the doctor's violent temper. Why was everyone lashing out at him? He was just mentally torturing them! They didn't need to take it so personally! With an awkward "squawk!" the Phantom ducked Leonard's initial lunge, and took a brief snap at the man's bloodied fingers before awkwardly hopping and flapping himself farther out of range. Flee!

From his safe perch on a high stalactite, the Spiteful Tittering Omen didn't seem to be able to resist a shrill mental giggle, which came out vocally as a sharp, stuttering whistle of amusement. It was easy to forget his own near brush with devour-ment when everyone else was so miserable. He wasn't the only one amused, though. The Wolf at the Door Allure had not taken her eyes off of the temperamental doctor this entire time. It did definitely seem to her that she was never going to lack for entertainment with Leonard around, and it'd be a shame to leave him feeling like he'd WON this somehow. With a sharp mental jab, like talons lancing through flesh, the bond was made. Good luck, doc.

Bond! Wolf at the Door Allure to Leonard!

It seemed that it wasn't just Requiae that were having a rough afternoon in here. Tiberius seemed to be having a rather unpleasant time of things, given the way he was wandering off and slumping down against a wall. That certainly wasn't going to get him out of the cave any faster, but it did at least capture the attention of the In Memorium Lament. The elderly bird gave Ophyra a soft, chattering little noise of apology before spreading stiff, pale wings and hopping down off of her perch, gliding through the dim-lit cavern to land a little awkwardly on the floor next to the boy. Tiberius would soon feel some of the weights of fear and distress lifted from his chest as the Lament watched him with a cocked head. There, there, dearie. Doesn't that feel better?

Underneath the Hope You Guessed My Name Remnant's wing, the Sniveling Infant Legacy peered out, seeing that Ophyra's attention was momentarily available... but wait! That was the one that had insulted him before! With a shrill, trilling little cry, the youngster hopped away from the Remnant, shuffling on the floor and bobbing his little head in Ophyra's direction. Her! Her! That's the one that was making fun of him! To his credit, the Remnant did not immediately leap to the Legacy's defense, and indeed did not move from his perch at all... but those dark, intense eyes were now focused sharply on Ophyra. Had she been tormenting and insulting baby birds? He wasn't sure he liked that. Not at all. He would be watching her now.

Alice's Beast Clan instincts doubtlessly served her well in many ways, but this wasn't necessarily one of them. While the Dante's Inferno Scourge had not been put off by Alice's roaring (indeed, she had figured the sound to be one of enthusiastic agreement), she certainly hadn't expected to be LUNGED at. Did Alice not recognize the difference between encouragement and attack? The big female easily dodged the attack and took to the air, shooting the shapeshifter a rather insulted look. Rude, much? She was on Alice's side!

Aaaaand off in the distance, there was a hoarse "RAWK" as the All That Glitters Legacy FINALLY managed to get the shiny pebble out of the crevice. Victory! Maybe NOW he'd deign to notice Iskotyra's collection of even shinier objects, but I wouldn't bank on it.

[Deleted]

Poor Luna, all blind and bumbling and not knowing what on earth was going on. With a squint and a blink, the girl thought she could see something in the darkness, maybe, as she pawed around blindly, making her way ever closer to...wherever forward was. She took a step, and another, and then she heard a crash, felt flecks of gravel spray onto her, and then caught a look at another pair of glittering eyes (she assumed), and could tell if she liked that or not. Maybe it was time for her to pull out The Odyssey now or something, yeah? But before she could pull the scimitar out of its scabbard, strapped to her, she heard more sounds, more thumps, and then there were more eyes.

That right there? She was pretty sure that the thumps all around her were feelings of dread.

She couldn't really tell if she was glad that she could see something now or not. And while she couldn't see anything, she could certainly hear the fighting and the, well, it sounded kind of like growling, like some sort of predator (and predator Alice was). She heard Leonard say something about saving, and wanted to shout out that YES she WOULD LOVE SOME SAVING PLEASE, but she kept her mouth shut, because there was just so damn much going on. She felt like a newcomer to Everworld, a level one newbie thrown into a new world where all you had to defend yourself initially was a stick and three citrus-y berries that healed like 3HP each. She hadn't felt like that in a long, long time. The metal scraping against one another, an unnatural sounds outside of the context of swords or daggers clashing against one another for Luna, made her decide that, damn it, she was going to stand and fight and not be made a damn fool when, of course. She was used as a towel. Not that she really knew that.

If there was any whirling and fighting all about her, Luna now sort of understood it. The claws of the Celestial Beauty Allure would tangle themselves in Luna's nice hair (which, in her new, permanent-avatar-form, made her for the first time sort of care about her hair) and the wild flapping and scraping would earn the girl a few small nicks in her shoulders and arms. After she was completely winded of course, only keeping her balance because her arms were already out, and she was able to flail them around wildly and keep herself from falling over. The flares of pain caused alarm to run through her at first, she was hardly used to anything beyond headaches and maybe stubbing her toe late at night. Regardless, it was unpleasant damnit, and she decided that if trying to crawl out of her on her hands and knees wasn't going to work, maybe she'd brute force her way out. Or at least get this thing off of her.

Completely unaware of the metal parts of a Requiae's feathers, she sort of waved her arms about, trying to get the Allure away from herself. She knew it wasn't a bat, and was able to sort of gauge the vain creature's location by her eyes. She was sort of starting to put it together that the squawks and the flapping, there were a bunch of them. She just wasn't sure she could place where on earth the roaring came from, but hopefully that was something she could, uh figure out later.

And she was praying to God, Buddha, Tarzi (she'd heard that one once before at a local bar) whoever that the thing's were not...stuck.

[Deleted]

Leonard was feeling completely satisfied by the chaos he’d caused. Maybe his bowl didn’t hit the Allure he was aiming for, but it certainly inconvenienced enough of them. He was disappointed he hadn’t managed to grab the Phantom, though he did manage to jerk his hand away before the damned bird could cause more bloodshed to his fingers. He was almost tempted to go after it, but it wasn’t worth it.

Of course, then he got promptly distracted when he felt a bond snap into place, a jarring, uncomfortable feeling as the Allure claimed him. He turned back to her, annoyed by the turn of events. So these damned things did bond, and they were a hell of a lot worse than anything else he’d come across. “C’mere, Shake’n’Bake, let me show you how happy I am.” He was going to make dinner out of her if he ever got a chance.

Like the Allure was that stupid.

Leonard muttered to himself, and looked around, as best as he could. It was still dark, and they still needed to figure out a way to get out of here. It was mostly obvious by this point that there probably wasn’t anything that was stuck in here in pain, unless Len was counting them now.

Sigh.

He was still a doctor, though, and for the moment, he felt the slightest bit bad for the Isolated Melancholy Omen. Not for that other Allure, though. Because all Allure’s clearly deserved it. He carefully picked his way over to where the dressing-covered bird was still on the ground, and awkwardly nudged him with his foot. “You still alive?” Nudge, nudge. He didn’t really want to patch these demons up, but, well.

He still was gonna cook that damned bond of his, however.


(The Allure is amazing and Len and her are going to have a very...uh, interesting...relationship. :3 )

[Deleted]

Tiberius was just sort of frowning at the world in general. Emotionally drained, and not quite sure where to go from here, he just leaned his head back against the wall and had to try to decide what to do from here. He obviously needed to find a way out of here, but he wasn’t all that interested in heading down a random pathway to see where it went. He could just guess that the way they got here wasn’t the way to get back out...that was far too easy. Though, he supposed, he might want to check that out, just in case.

That meant moving, though, and he wasn’t sure he really wanted to do that. There was far too much going on around him, from the angry roaring, to the sound of the demon birds, to other flailing. And quite honestly, he didn’t want to get involved in any of it.

He couldn’t help but twitch a little when the Lament landed next to him. He didn’t notice her approach, but he certainly noticed when she was right there. He tensed and eyed her, wary, but nothing painful happened. He just...started to feel better? Well, wasn’t that suspicious.

Though, he supposed it made some odd sort of sense. If they could mess with his head in a bad way, maybe some of them could help a little.

Tiberius obviously didn’t trust that.

But he couldn’t keep sitting here.

“Thanks.” He told the Lament as he stood up and brushed off his hands. The cavern was dimly lit and he could make out birds here and there. There was that damned little one that had climbed up his back, but he wasn’t really wanting to deal with that mess again, if he could avoid it. “Don’t suppose you know the way out of here?” He asked the Lament, glancing at her, but obviously not expecting an answer. Wasn’t sure if he would trust it anyways.

Maybe he would see if he could get back up that slope.

[Deleted]

Alice was not really interested in being on the "Side" of any of these birds, thank you very much. That Scourge included. Maybe if you didn't want to get snapped at by a lioness then maybe you shouldn't go snapping at them first, hm? Cold grey eyes eyed the bird at is took flight, snorting and then turning her nose up at the creature. A universal sign of disdain.

She had planned to turn her attention back up towards the Tittering Omen and it's nonsense, eying the rock walls for a way up, before the clattering and screeching of the Celestial Beauty Allure and it's tussle with Luna caught her attention instead. In an instant Alice took the situation in, reaching inside and tapping into her stores of blood to double her already inhuman speed she bounded towards Luna and the bird assaulting her, jaws seeking to lock around the birds extended leg and pull it away from the woman.

"Are you alright?" She asked, partially shifting things around internally to be able to speak in a more human tone, though her body remained that of a lion. Of course it was (hopefully) muffled anyway considering her whole plan was to have a bird-leg in her mouth, metallic feathers be damned.

[Deleted]

The Celestial Beauty Allure was having a hard time getting her foot properly cleaned off. All Luna's flapping and flailing was accomplishing was throwing them both off their balance, making it hard for her to keep her perch. Ugh. Forget Leonard, ALL humanoids were the worst. Didn't Luna understand that being a towel with which to clean her talons was the greatest honor a lowly being like Luna was ever going to receive? If she would just stop trying to smack the Allure off, they'd both be DONE with this nonsense by now.

How fortunate for Luna that the local shapeshifter was willing to come to her rescue!

And how unfortunate for the Celestial Beauty Allure.

The vibrantly colored Requiae had not even spared Alice so much as a glance, utterly disinterested in the the woman's drama and her roaring and the like, and thus had not in any way anticipated the attack. There was just suddenly hot breath and sharp teeth and a wet, sickening, awful CRUNCH. The calls of annoyed distress instantly shifted pitch into shrieks of outright agony as the Allure was dragged off of Luna's shoulder, her delicate avian leg broken by the lioness's strong jaws. Steely flight feathers or not, Requiae were still birds, and fine hollow bones were fine hollow bones.

Across the cavern, the Hope You Guessed My Name Remnant bellowed out a loud call of fury, eyes flaring brightly in the darkness... and, rather abruptly, Alice was gone. The Allure fell to the ground, fluttering weakly, still shrieking in pain from the mangled leg, but the lioness that had been holding her was absent.

Alice would find herself up to her feline chin in freezing, crystal clear water. Bioluminescent organisms writhed above, lighting the cavern, and the water rippled as blind, eyeless wriggling creatures swam and splashed. On the other side of the shallow pool, some vaguely humanoid form sat hunched, shaking and moaning. It was, without question, the same place that Tiberius had found himself recently transported out of. But there were no Requiae watching Alice here. Just the blind wriggling things and the moaning shape in the distance.

Back in the main cavern, the Dante's Inferno Scourge let out another sharp cry of excitement and delight. More chaos! This time with bloodshed! And suffering! And DESTRUCTION! It didn't matter to her that her sibling lay crying out in agony in the dirt. This was exactly her cup of tea, and Alice was the one who kept making it happen. Clearly, Alice was going to be the answer when it came to keeping her entertained, and keeping her nest well stocked with bones and offal. With a cry of triumph, the Scourge took off down the left-most passage, her mind reaching out ahead of hers to find Alice's. She wanted more of this!

Bond! Dante's Inferno Scourge to Alice!

Still on the ground, unmindful of lionesses and their potential hazards, the Isolated Melancholy Omen continued to sulk. The look he turned in the Celestial Beauty Allure's direction was one of pure bitter disgust. Of course she was making this all about HER! Couldn't she see that his suffering ran deeper than mere flesh wounds? His was an agony that ran below the veins, and salad dressing was only the... the dressing... on the metaphorical salad? Ugh. He wasn't a lyricist, dammit. Leonard's prodding foot didn't earn more than a disgusted and sullen glare from the little Omen, which soon shifted upward to where the Spiteful Tittering Omen was watching and CONTINUING to giggle like a damned fool.

The In Memorium Lament's expression was much warmer, as much as the expression of a blade-winged soul-sucking demon vulture could ever be described as 'warm.' She cocked her head in response to Tiberius's half-hearted inquiry, and issued a sound that was somewhere between a cluck and croak. If it was an answer, it wasn't an easily transcribed one. She didn't seem too interested in staying on the floor, though, and with an awkward and rather arthritic sounding grunt she got herself back into the air, taking a somewhat higher perch than before. It was cold and damp down on the floor, after all, and if the poor little Allure was any indication, you could catch your death of lion that way.

Completely uncaring of his sister's misery, the Sniveling Infant Legacy continued to hop and whine, his tone becoming more shrill with irritation. Why wasn't his daddy listening to him and eating Ophyra's face off? She made fun of him! That one! Who cared about lionesses and bloodshed- she made him feel bad! The Hope You Guessed My Name Remnant did not have time for his youngest's tantrum, though. The big requiae's eyes were firmly latched on the left-most tunnel, where he'd banished the violent Alice to. From his safe perch, the Skeleton in the Closet Phantom watched that tunnel as well. Once bitten, twice shy, after all.

Upon seeing the Phantom shift position, the Spiteful Tittering Omen burst into a new mental guffaw of laughter. Look at his bare, plucked bottom!

And, on the far side of the cavern, there came a triumphant "glug" noise as the All That Glitters Legacy swallowed his newly acquired shiny pebble.

Followed by many more frantic "gluggings" as he promptly began to choke on it.

There was a flash of ill-preened pinions as the little fellow flailed against the cliff face ineffectually, followed by a loud clatter as, seemingly oblivious to his own ability to fly, the Legacy plummeted down to the ground. Thankfully he seemed to be made of stronger stuff than the Allure, or else the dirt was softer than it looked, though, because there was less of a 'crunch' and more of a 'flumph' as he hit the ground... as well as a strangled-sounding "awk" as the pebble was promptly coughed back up by the impact.

After a brief moment of stillness, the All That Glitters Legacy rolled itself back onto it's feet, and cocked a head at a suspiciously damp gleaming stone that had appeared near it like magic. Ooh! Shiny! Lunging forward, he promptly went right back to trying to devour the pebble that had almost killed him a moment ago. He was a special little fellow, that Legacy.

[Deleted]

Leonard was glad the Isolated Melancholy Omen wasn't at all hurt, physically, by his thrown bowl. He couldn't much help with his psychological issues, as he wasn't that kind of doctor, but still. He didn't have to worry about the Omen, as all hell broke loose elsewhere.

It didn't matter that he had spent most of the last hour threatening Shake'n'Bake. Didn't really matter that he would continue to, and wasn't thrilled by her claim. He might not like these razor birds, but a scream of pain was nothing he could ignore. It went beyond mere concern -- he felt it in a way that he wasn't interested in describing. He couldn't ignore it, didn't want to ignore it, and was blindly furious for a moment.

He turned towards the sound, making out the shape of Alice again. He saw the bird in her jaws, and was on the verge of shouting at her. Kill it, if she must, Leonard couldn't blame anyone for snapping these damn thing's necks, but hurting them, making them feel that kind of raw pain, was beyond anything anyone deserved. Common sense, however also pointed out that it could be an accident...there was someone else there, a girl on the floor, and he didn't know the full story.

And then Alice was gone, and the Celestial Beauty Allure was on the ground, still screaming in pain.

A glance was shot at the Remnant, but he didn't linger, moving over to the injured creature swiftly.

He knelt on the ground next to her, annoyed by the lack of better light and the fact he had no medical supplies with him. And with whatever was happening here, it was clear his own set of magic was off kilter. He should be able to see, dammit, and even his finger was still bleeding sluggishly. That shouldn't be still bleeding. "Peace, little bird." He murmured to her, and, unafraid of her sharp feathers, he carefully scooped the Allure up to rest on his thighs. The leg was obviously broken, and he had nothing to set it with, and there wasn't too much around in the location that he thought he could use. But still. Perhaps things would work out, somewhat.

"Are you okay?" That was asked to Luna, as he couldn't be sure if she had been attacked or not. But even while he was asking, he brought a hand to gently support the broken leg of the Allure. Even with any cuts and gashes he might be getting, he didn't flinch away, just let that hand start to warm. Any other time, there might be a faint blue light, but here, in this damned cave, there was nothing. Hopefully, though, his magic would work, and the pain would start to die down to a quiet simmer. The problem wouldn't be gone, but she didn't have to be suffering until the leg was fixed.

"If you hurt her..." Len started, finally looking up from the Allure and to the Remnant, not caring that his attention was on a path, "I will come after you." He didn't know where Alice was, and that brief flash of anger at her had faded. Purposely or an accident, these damned birds started it. He might not agree with it if it was on purpose, but he wasn't about to leave Alice to the wolves. So to speak. "Your mind tricks won't work forever." He'd get up and go find her, if he could figure out what to do with the Allure.

Not that he was thinking of handing her right over to Luna.

That would be mean.

[Deleted]

It sounded like Tiberius wasn't the only one having a bad night. Hell, it sounded like he was actually having a good night, compared to some. And who could blame him in promptly deciding not to get involved in the mess that was an injured Requia and missing big cats. Things sounded painful and messy, and frankly, the teen had better things to do. Especially when it looked like help was already on its way over.

He wanted to get out of here, not deal with more Drama.

The Lament was of no help whatsoever, or, at least, no help that Tiberius could understand. And she was already flying off, probably in hopes of not being dragged into more problems. Couldn't blame her, either. But even as the teen eyed the slope they had all fallen down on, there was another noise that was catching his attention. It sounded like something was choking. Very much not wanting to get involved, but also too much of a good-guy type to ignore it, Tiberius turned away from the slope and looked around. He should ignore it. Caring was what got him into this place to begin with.

But as he carefully inched his way towards the sound, being careful to give the Spiteful Tittering Omen and his Phantom brother a wide berth, the kid managed to get near enough to see the All That Glitters Legacy crashing down onto the ground. And...well, okay, so he wasn't choking anymore.

...And then the damned thing was going after the pebble again.

"Hey!" He lunged forward, making an attempt to snatch the gross, damp feeling pebble before the stupid demon bird could eat it again. "Don't do that. You'll choke." Why he should care, he didn't know. These things were evil. And he was such a sucker.

[Deleted]

The All That Glitters Legacy was confused when Tiberius approached him... but this was no surprise, as confusion seemed to be the poor creature's default state of being. The Loud Featherless Thing made a Loud Featherless Noise at him and then, gasp! Stole the shiny rock! But it was shiny! The Legacy gave a loud "awk!" of consternation, hopping towards Tiberius with an awkward shuffle, only for Tiberius to continue to make Loud Featherless Noises. Maybe it was Loud Noise Time? Cocking his head, the All That Glitters Legacy proceeded to let out a loud and rather jubilant string of "awk!" and "rawwwk!" and even the occasional "squawk!" This was fun! They were sound making buddies! Awwwk! Maybe he'd stick around and see if they could also be "giving him back the shiny" buddies!

Bond! All That Glitters Legacy to Tiberius!

At least someone was having fun out here. The Celestial Beauty Allure most certainly was not, and she was determined to assure that Leonard wouldn't be, either. No matter his bedside manner, the Allure was NOT interested in having anything to do with the salad-flinging maniac that had started this. Leonard's fingers and forearms would be well and truly cheese-grated by the furious Requiae's bladed wings as she flapped and struggled in his grip. Even after his magic soothed the searing pain of the broken leg (which did at least accomplish getting her to stop screaming), the Allure only repaid that kindness by hissing like a furious cat and attempting to bite one of the doctor's fingers off. There were some differences that could not be reconciled, and there was no way the vain little bird was going to forgive the man who had sullied her. It took a lot of flapping and struggling, but she eventually wrested herself free, leaping back to Luna's unprotected shoulder to cling hard with her good foot. That's right, doc- she'd rather have the TOWEL than you. How's that for gratitude?

Bond! Celestial Beauty Allure to Luna!

The Hope You Guessed My Name Remnant was watching the proceedings carefully, not oblivious to but uncaring of Leonard's threats to him. It was with a grim look and a not inconsiderable amount of disappointment that he looked over the scene before him, before issuing a sharp, echoing cry, drawing the attention of all the remaining Requiae to him. Perhaps, the call almost seemed to say, this had gone on for long enough.

Both suddenly and subtly, the room... changed.

The effect was rather like a magic eye picture, where the swirls and dots and background patterns abruptly shift, revealing the shape they had hidden in plain sight. Nothing around the unfortunate explorers physically changed, except that it did. The shapes were all in the same places. Requiae still perched around them. A bowl of salad still lay scattered across the floor, and a bloodied fork was discarded off to the side. The Celestial Beauty Allure's leg was still broken.

But it wasn't a cave they were sitting in.

It was a storeroom.

A dusty old storeroom.

The same dusty old storeroom they'd entered at the start.

Piles of boxes were stacked and draped with tarps. A cold draft was blowing through from the hallway, kicking dust into the air. Off to the side, a row of sinks jutted out of the wall, one cracked and rusted, leaking a puddle of water onto the floor (that Alice was sitting smack-dab in the middle of). There was no stone. There was no slime. There were no blind wriggling things or glowing worms or gibbering shapes moaning in the darkness. There was no darkness. Just a dimly lit, drafty storeroom, full of boxes of forgotten junk, and an Apparition of Requiae.

With a final commanding caw, the Remnant took flight, the remaining Apparition following close behind him, the razor-winged birds darting out the doorway while the explorers were still catching their bearings. Perhaps they'd find more fruitful feeding grounds elsewhere in the Weyrd. Perhaps not.





((... I've been struggling with what to add here, so I'm just going to try to keep it simple. This is the first bonding I've held in over six years, since back on Acornrack Whazzit. I put a lot of work into this and was super excited for it. I've been having fun, but, like, it's becoming increasingly, painfully obvious that, with a couple of exceptions, y'all just... aren't. Maybe it's just the time of year. Maybe people just don't like soul-sucking demon birds as much as I do. But I don't really feel that continuing this for it's last two weeks is really going to make much of a difference, given how it's gone so far. So I'm wrapping this up. No hard feelings, good luck to the next Requiae bonding holder, and peace out, girl-scouts <3))

((Also, y'all have until Jan 14th to name-and-claim your beebs or they're going to follow the rest of their flock and go wild.))

[Deleted]

Tiberius wasn't quite sure what to do with the Legacy. At first, he was a little wary and intimidated that it was going to get aggressive, but that was quickly proven wrong. The Requia seemed to be completely oblivious that it had wings, and could, you know, fly, and then it just started to screech at him. Right.

Some ferocious death bird he was.

"You're not getting the rock back." The teen told him, stubborn, and shoved it in his pocket.

There was a great deal more squawking and other Loud Noises, and Tiberius just had to sigh. "No." He told him again. And this was obviously something that could go on forever, if things just hadn't stopped.

They were back in the storage room.

There was a giant cat in a puddle, off to the side, and...they were never in a cave at all.

Tiberius's head was aching.

He was half tempted to leave the damned Legacy, who, by this point, had spotted his shoe laces and was trying to eat them. But he had a feeling if he did leave the poor stupid thing, it'd be dead in an hour. Sigh.

Muttering to himself, he attempted to get the damned thing to sit on his arm so he could carry it home. His head ached, but maybe he could dump Marbles off at the cave and then go find Aurora and see if there was mail that needed delivering. He wasn't so sure about letting the Legacy find the unknown egg, but screw it. If the damned egg could survive Whers playing with it, it could survive a too-stupid-to-live Requia poking at it.

(Marbles is adorable and I love him very much. Thank you <3


Egg 10/20)

[Deleted]

(I'm sorry Pip ): I am supremely excited about her, though. <3 I had most of this post written for days and FINALLY came up with a name. )

Luna let out a gasp, not sure if she should be filled with relief or even more terror as she heard roaring and the talons of the bird thing (she didn't really know), was ripped right off of her. She was about to shriek, not really sure what she should do, weapons, flailing, screaming, arms, but then she heard a kinder tone, something between human and not human (hell if she knew that Alice’s chosen form was a lion). She couldn’t even tell that this was a half voice, maybe there was actually just something that sounded like this.

“I, I think…” but suddenly the warmth of the lioness’ body was gone, and there was a sudden silence where the woman had been. Confusion wrapped around her, no really sure what was up or down anymore because something in her gut told her that this place this place was continuously changing. And how the devil was she supposed to make her way out, help the lost children (old point, Luna, even she realized that was probably part of the trap) if the place was changing, much less if she couldn’t see a darn thing!
And then, with that, there was pain again, pain in her shoulder. The wicked(ly beautiful) Allure felt steady pain her leg, but not anymore than the triumph that she felt getting her way and spiting the other humans. A triumph that Luna could feel at the corners of her brain, that felt way, way more like sheer and utter horror than any sort of good thing.

“Oh god.” A deep feeling of dread had settled in her, but the next time she blinked, she could see again.

She squinted, looking around at all around her, boxes, dust, light, with others that she recognized (some that she did not), but what really caught her eyes was the rest of the Apparition. They were leaving, or it seemed like it, but Luna was NOT about to stick around to find out. She knew when she was outmatched, and though she sort of thought that maybe the soggy feline was friendly, she couldn’t risk that either.

She didn’t even bother to pry the Allure off of her. And sooner or later she started calling her a name, grabbing her shoulder and glaring every time (for days, weeks maybe christ) she even looked at Bellatrix. It pretty much always seemed like the Requiae was amused right on back.

[Deleted]

((Naming deadline has now passed. If you didn't claim your requiae, it's now wild. That officially wraps this up, folks <3))