It's a Loverly Spring, Charlie Brown! [Open]

[JunoZXV]

"Jeeze what a drama queen." Came a familiar voice from the crater's edge as a familiar neko strolled in from the edge, disoriented from his portal travel. "I leave this place for like what? Half an hour? And melodrama just runs in! What the hell did I..."

Juno's eyes gazed around at the bodies of the dead monsters darting around as his mind went into a few recalls about what he had witnessed from his previous departure. He was used to weird stuff all the time. Strange things happening. And this... all this carnage and death...

"...miss?"

There was an awkward silence as he saw the victors resting up, his once allies trying to revive and protect the tree. He proceeded to glance around and noticed it, two of them, the fanged creatures, tied up. There was still some hope. Making his way he got close to the bonded up critters and placed a hand to his mouth in classical *sssshhhh* fashion as he worked promptly to release them. This would be hard since it would probably bring down the whole forest against him.

So be it.

"Gwar?"

"Oh I'm sorry. Here, there's a sandwhich in my back pocket. If both of you are good, I'll split it."

[Voice of Deep Forest]

Bodies, limbs and blood lay still where they had ulimately fallen. The portals swirled in silence as if nothing had happened, and the tree stood still as it had the whole time.

The two remaining creatures did not show any sign of having accepted defeat, instead writhed in their earthen bindings, claws trying to scratch their way free from an angle did not let them do so. Juno's approach made them hiss and growl at him eagerly, wrestling even harder at the prospect of release.

Simi's approach to the tree was unhindered, leaving a few small green sprouts in her wake. The touch of her horn on the bark did not ignite the barrier, or anything else for that matter. The unicorn however could clearly sense a distracted warmth of approval, mixed with a much larger dose of warning and desperation. The first seemed to come from the tree itself, the second from a source much further away. If put into words, the warning indicated the need for the unicorn to turn around, and direct her attention away from the tree, and to the ones behind her. The desperation was focused completely on the struggling monsters.

Slowly this faded and all Simi could perceive was the absent approval the tree sent her, though it's source of distraction that kept it from giving her anything else was closed off from the unicorn.

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

Shame filled him when the masked person's words hit him. While Jahran was not standing close enough to actually see his eyes when he looked at each of them, he still flinched. He hadn't actually killed any of the monsters himself, but he'd injured a couple, that was bad enough. Had they really ignited war? Panting hard with smoke still coming from his tendrils the stallion let his ears droop, then suddenly frowned. No, those things would have killed him,all of them. They acted in self defence!

The loud crack made him jump slightly, and he couldn't figure out how the other had just disappeared, then figured it must have been some kind of teleportation. "They started it!" he shouted at the now empty spot the Preacher had stood. Then felt silly for having done so, and quickly looked at the others, hoping they somehow wouldn't have heard his shout.

This brought his attention back to Lyrial and the tentacles made of the earth beneath them. Two of the things were still alive, and very much kicking. Doing his best to ignore his wounds and the trickle of blood coming from them as he did not wish to accept the the help from either healer right now, he walked closer to them. Seeing Juno move towards them he felt a little alarmed and hesitated, "What do we do with them?" he asked nobody in particular, though he glanced at both Lyrial and Entropy as they stood closest, while hoping Juno wasn't about to let them go. Looking back he reconsidered getting this close, and started to take a few steps back again.

He caught sight of Simi by the tree then, and hoped nothing would bad would happen to her while she had her back turned. Just in case, though feeling foolish about it, he carefully walked between the tree and the monsters.

[Windra]

A man near the treeline boomed some accusations and vanished as if he never were there to begin with. This was some cause for concern. Not his vanishing, but the words spoken. Were they really about to start something they might not be able to finish? Like Jahran, Naira thought they were acting merely on self-preservation. These creatures had no qualms about killing them. Why should the Forest's population follow a more polite etiquette when their lives were at stake? The Reaver pondered this dutifully. She perceived the world through what were now Scarlet's eyes. Both oculars remained hazy, yet the right orb was beginning to clarify: bright green peeking through a sea of misty blue.

Familiar scents traced the air and vision transferred from the tree, to Lyrial and the new arrivals ... and finally to the bound beasts growling on their rumps. Nothing unusual there. Naira found herself vaguely amused by their situation and Scarlet reiterated it with a blatant laugh. Then there was a familiar streak of pink ... and a very obvious Captain slinking his way to those who were temporarily incapacitated. If he was trying to be sly, Juno was failing in the most epic way. All eyes were on him.

Dread formed. Naira furrowed her ghostly brow. You really aren't about to do that, are you? she asked loudly. Nemo heavily doubted the protest would be heard considering she was merely a voice in the back of possessed body's head ... but who knew? With that wonky eye of his, anything was possible. They'll claw your face off.

"I dink seshy is gonna let 'em run!" blurted out Scarlet with a maniacal grin spreading wildly across her flushed features. Had her limbs been able to move, the V-ACT 32 would have been clapping her claws together wildly. "Do eet! I'll chase!"

A stern yank on the proverbial leash told Scarlet that Naira was not pleased with her thoughts. We've been going about this all wrong. And you ... I'm gonna be sick as a dog whenever I finally take over again ... She sighed arily, undeathly breath echoing over the chasm of her subconscious. Scarlet already devoured quite a few of these critters ... filling the Reaver's stomach with undesrable contents that would undoubtedly make her sick in a very short amount of time. Well ... desperate times call for desperate measures. Right hand!

A red-tinged clawed palm jerked into the air. Scarlet's focus shifted there, curious about the asserted control that she had nothing to do with. "How're ya doin' dat?"

I've had this body for almost six hundred years. I should know my own wiring by now. Right pocket!

Claws dove into the seemingly bottomless pocket of Naira's blood-soaked duster. There they found something small and metal and ... Scarlet's grin paved way to a belly-aching, bellowing laughter. "For srs?!"

A ghostly Naira sat back, crossing her legs and arms. Her stern voice took a sudden turn for he humored as a coy smile stretched across her features. He's a CAT. Use it!

Scarlet suddenly whipped her arm from the pocket and flung it forward. It was the only thing of her body to move - the rest was as still and solid as stone. Clasped within her grasp was a laser pointer with fresh batteries. A simple button click flashed a red beam onto one of the bound creature's skulls. It was directly in front of Juno. She flicked her wrist! Now the crimson dot zipped to the ground and span circles about the Pirate.

Harbinger of Chaos, meet two dollar toy.

[Sky Lily]

By some miracle, life grew in the wake of Simi's touch not just once, but twice. Then three times. In fact, for every time that she paused to touch the earth, little shoots sprung forth in answer. Despite the growing apprehension in her stomach as she drew closer and closer to the tree in the question, the unicorn couldn't help but see this as some sort of good fortune. She was showcasing her intended goodwill rather well. But did the tree take note of her efforts? Did it care?

That remained the most important inquiry, for if the tree did not care, Simi was quite sure that her risky, perhaps even courageous idea might be for naught and there would be, for lack of a better term, hell to pay. Fiery, fiery hell to pay. Augh! That thought alone made her shudder. Hell was such a dreadful word for her to use! But really, it described the previous assaults of this area very well. Despite the growth she was managing to grow in her path, Simi continued to tread carefully.

She lowered her horn again, but when she found her hooves standing atop the very roots of Meali's Tree, the Shifter paused before gazing upward at its branches in honest wonder. Admittedly, she really had half-expected to be deterred one way or another, whether it was through barriers or... rocks or... lava...

...

Gahh! Never mind all that, what mattered was that she was here!

It was after that momentary hesitance that Simi had gently rested her horn against the bark.

~~~~~

The unicorn was hoping for indifference at best, but never would have guessed that the tree would go so far as to actually communicate back. The contact of another living being was jolting, and Simi's head jerked slightly as her eyes widened in surprise.

Yes, the tree was communicating to her, though it wasn't through words. It seemed-- no, rather felt-- as though it was expressing its very moods through their shared touch. Simi was sure of it. She could literally feel the tree's emotions, and though unaccompanied by any visual or auditory senses, it could not possibly be anything other than some sort of sentient communication. The thought in itself was humbling. Simi had been told that the Forest had a mind of its own but on this sort of level...!

The tree was very distracted about something, but for whatever reason it compromised its attention from an unknown focus for Simi to feel its approval of her, which was warm with acceptance. However, behind that emotion there was another. Desperation, alarm, fear. She wasn't quite sure this was from the tree itself, for these emotions of anxiety were either lying far underneath the tree's recognition and approval or an extremely secondary expressed concern.

Simi felt an urge to look behind her in an oddly specific direction, and knowing that it would be best to cooperate, she turned around, her eyes locking on the two monsters left alive and binded in Lyrial's earth-tendrils. The message here was obvious.

Keeping her place by the tree, Simi lifted her head as she called out to her companions. "The tree! It... wants them gone. It's... scared," she finished rather lamely with a little wince. She secretly hoped that Lyrial might just toss the things far away from this clearing instead of... instead of resorting to more violence. She'd had quite enough of that.

Simi stole another glance at the creatures before noticing Juno's suspicious behavior.

"H-hey, what are y--"

...

Wait, what was that red dot doing there?

Simi's ears went back. Random, questionable things simply kept happening, didn't they?

Oh, wait...

The red light seemed to be coming from a disfigured-looking Naira.

Of course! She was trying to distract him! Surely Juno wouldn't be able to resist this bright, zippy light!

[forgerofsouls]

Lyrial blinked in mild surprise at Juno's appearance. Did he not just leave...and why is he moving towards the creatures she had captured. Did he intend to set them free?! "Uh...Juno....how about you not do that?" Than Lyrial saw the laser point. She was not sure if that would be the smartest thing to do or if that would even work.

"Lyrial, can't you do something to make these two creatures...vanish?" Klinge asked her.

Lyrial looked over at Klinge. Than smiled. "But of course I can! What a splendid idea!" With that said she turned towards the two incapacitated creatures. She struck her palms together and than thrust her palms directly in front of her. A magic circle appeared in the air. Comprised of three circles in total the circle floated from the air to underneath the two creatures. And than she snapped her fingers. And suddenly, the two creatures vanished. In their place was a small dome like structure with a small hole at the top.

"Not what I meant, but that will have to do for now." Klinge said.

Meanwhile...

"Bring back the boat! I want to be on the boat again!" Screamed one young voice at the top of her lungs.

"I don't think he can hear you from over here."

"I know, doesn't hurt to try."

[Sky Lily]

Once again, Lyrial's incredible manipulation of the physical realm showcased itself when the girl created a little dome to house the two monsters. From the looks of it, the structure seemed as though it would be strong enough to hold them in, and besides, Simi was pretty sure that they were still tied up inside of there, anyway. She let out a small sigh.

It was wonderful having Lyrial around. With her, problems sure were solved rather fast!

After enjoying a moment of relief, the unicorn turned back to the tree, again resting her horn on its trunk to see if the feelings of distress were now eased. But while she was at it, and since the whole "going out on a limb" thing seemed to be working out for her right now, Simi attempted to communicate her own emotions back to the tree. Silently, she tried to focus everything she was feeling as a direct thought, and hoped that she was not being overwhelming.

Equal nervousness toward the monsters.

A strong desire to help in any way that she and her friends could.

The frustration of being at a loss for what to do next.

A hope that somehow, the tree might give answers.

[JunoZXV]

"Alright I almost got the two of you ou-" Red dot.

Sitting there. Blinking in the light. Dancing about.

Play with me~ The little light seemed to sing to Juno. Catch me if you can~ You know you want to.

There seemed to be an internal struggle inside the Neko as he couldn't seem to look away. Turning from the captives he prowled on all fours, tail up and legs wired. With graceful form he leaped and then-

*THUD*

Face planted right into the inner wall of Earth that Lyrial had summoned trapping him with the two monsters. Leaving a nice face print on the outer wall.

Luckily it shielded him from the distracting light and regained his senses.

"And there! You're free!"

Juno proclaimed finishing the untying job of course he just now realized the stupidity of being trapped in a small confined dome with two fanged freshly released creatures.

"I swear this worked so much better on pap-"
_______________________________________________________

BONUS ROUND: Other closing lines.

"OH GOD THE TEETH!"

"I regret nothingggggggg!"

"Parley?"

"My Spleen!"

"I should have seen this coming!"

[Windra]

Ohhh, that was an all-too perfect synchronization of events.

"To be honest, I didn't think that was gonna work," blurted Naira. Surprise illuminated her face. Did she just speak through her own mouth? Tentative fingers reached for her throat. Yeah, body heat definitely went down. And her digits were no longer tipped with oversized claws. Skin receded back to its normal hue. Naira sighed in relief. Scarlet had been doubled over with laughter. She guessed that subsided the lingering bloodlust that kept her in power. "Thank gods ... "

Then she remembered all that Scarlet did while in possession and felt the need to hurl. It was restrained through a great deal of swallowing, though the acid burned her throat and made her eyes water.

"I hate you for this."

You know ya love me! chimed the V-ACT 32 from her resting place within Naira's head. Laughing, she added, Dat was a riot!

The Reaver chuckled, rubbing her chin while listening to the pirate play a painful game of tag with the crreatures creeping inside Lyrial's strategically-built dome. "I kinda feel bad now."

Foo' brought it on himself.

"Yeah. But maybe I should get him out?"

A lengthy pause. Both minds converged and nodded upon an agreement.

"A few more minutes ... "

A few more minutes really only turned to one. During that time Simi did her communication with the tree. While the unicorn did her thing, Naira crept towards the dome and clambered carefully onto it's sleek edge. She reached the hole at the top and, very slowly, made it so that her feet were hooked on the opening's edge and lowered herself in. One quick movement enabled her to grab Juno by the shoulder and fling him past her, through the opening to sanctuary.

"Ally oop!"

In the pirate's absence they turned towards her. One sickle-like claw cleaved her across the face, temporarily blinding her with pain. Naira bit back the urge to retaliate and hoisted herself back up before the two renegades could pull her down to be their next meal.

Sitting at the dome's opening at the very top, Naira brushed fresh blood from her features and offered a very miffed gaze at Lyrial and Klinge. "This blows. Can't we just kill them and be done with it?" Compassionate towards her friends, Naira held little to no toleration to those who brought harm upon them. And these beasties really did a number on their lot. She was grateful for the escalated healing rate of her kind when the burning sensation stretching across nose and cheeks receded into nothing, but it did nothing to quell that silently seething irritation.

[Voice of Deep Forest]

The frustrated hissing and growling quickly turned to howls of outrage when the monster realized they had somehow been placed in an enclosure they could not get out of. They struggled against their bonds, but then grew still as Juno came toards them once more. They hissed in anticipation. And then they were free! Their claws were used to scratch violently at the circular wall in an attempt to get out, and would have continued to do so until they drew own blood from doing so,except there was something else in there with them, something much better suited to release their fury on. As one they turned on Juno, fully intent on reducing him to a bloody smear on the ground. As Juno was agile enough to postpone this result, the creatures' growls grew more aggressive.

Until he was suddenly pulled up. Even the half body leaning into the dome from the hole out of their reach pulled back up before they could do some serious damage. The sounds coming out of the small domed enclosure became louder, desperate even, as their claws raked the wall in fury.

Simi's touch allowed her to feel the same absent aproval coming from it as if nothing had happened, either calmly accepting what the unicorn fed it, or ignoring it. But after a few moments of this, right as Simi conveyed the desire for the tree to provide insight into the situation, the approval wavered and was replaced by clear, undeniable confusion radiating from the tree at her request. Suddenly the second source burst through again, much more forcefull than before, but this time the desperation and warning it had previously sent the unicorn were smothered by an overpowering sense of disapproval, holding the tone of a severe scolding. A single word formed in Simi's head while th rest of her was once more strongly urged to focus on the now encased creatures: "victims". The second source disppeared then in a bursting cloud of pain, and only the original placid confusion remained, now joined by something that might be indentified as a rapidly building sorrow, though it was not directed at Simi, nor the creatures.

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

Nervously Jahran watched the creatures, what were they supposed to do now? Execute them? The idea made him feel slightly sick, but he had a feeling the more hardy people here might feel differently, so he tried to swallowed those feelings away. While watching the odd display of Juno and the little red light, followed by the extremely alarming encasement of both horrble monsters and Juno alike, Simi's voice made him turn towards her instead. The tree was talking? What?

But his mind suddenly started to work quickly as he he tried to remember something. Something that had grabbed his attention earlier, but had then been pushed from his thoughts by the portal, the creatures, the battle, the pain and finally the guilt. But Simi's words had returned it, and suddenly it clicked. Raising his head excitedly he was instantly stopped by doubt. But as the creatures were now safely trapped by Lyrial in that weird looking structure, and Naira has spoken and thus proven to be out of harm's way as well as Juno for now, he felt he had to speak up so he could at least put their minds at ease about one little detail, insignificant as it might be.

"Ehm, excuse me?" he called out, "I just wanted to say, that earlier, that barrier? That pushed us away? That wasn't the tree, a tree can't do that. No, I mean, a tree can't do that by itself!" Whoa, better get his thoughts in order before he'd start to ramble out nonsense. "That was my sister, Meali, she makes the barrier. Sort of anyway, with the tree. My father used to do the same with the Meadow south from here years ago. It can't do it by itself. It's her. I could feel it." Then this thought brought him to an unhappy conclusion, "Oh, I guess Meali pushed us away then..." Quickly followed by, "But I'm sure she had a good reason for it!"

[Sky Lily]

At first, the unicorn could only sense the same distracted approval emanating from the tree's conscious that she had received, before. But as soon as she expressed her own emotions, the tree responded with confusion. To her surprise (and frustration), the tree seemed puzzled, to say the least, by the unicorn's desires. Bewildered.

Which in turn bewildered Simi a great deal. Her ears rested against the back of her skull as she opened her mouth slightly, as if she was about to try and stammer out a detailed explanation, but it was then that a second wave of emotions quite forcefully shoved through the previous confusion to relate a roiling wave disapproval. The strength of the emotion was overwhelming, and a memory suddenly flashed through Simi's mind of a time when she'd strayed from her mother and gotten lost in an outer part of the woods. The anger in her mother's eyes when she'd found her had made the little foal want to kneel in the soil and shove her head between her fore-knees.

Victims. The single word was directed very clearly to the creatures trapped within the dome, before a single burst of pain was followed by a now throbbing sorrow.

Right now, thinking of the shame she had felt in front of her mother, Simi was wanting to bury her face into her fore-knees all over again. Her ears pressed even harder back and her back legs began to fidget as her eyes shifted to the side. In turn she had begun to express herself through feeling once more, though this time without really thinking about it at all. The unicorn couldn't help the confused guilt rolling around in her stomach, or the very loud thought that they had tried to make peace with the creatures and any claim that they were the victims in this whole ordeal was dreadfully confusing!

But what was even more confusing was that the original subtle approval emanating from the tree had returned... even though Simi could still sense a deep sadness behind it. Now this was puzzling, indeed. How could one both approve and disapprove at the same time? In fact, now that she thought about it, the transition from the emotions she'd been receiving was very odd. It was as if one set of consciousness had been shoved aside by another. The tree had been very... confused, by the things Simi had been trying to convey to it. It was like...

"Ehm, excuse me?" Jahran's voice carried to her, just then. "I just wanted to say, that earlier, that barrier? That pushed us away? That wasn't the tree, a tree can't do that. No, I mean, a tree can't do that by itself!"

Simi balked.

"B-but, what?" The unicorn stammered as she turned to face him. "But the tree's--"

"That was my sister, Meali, she makes the barrier. Sort of anyway, with the tree. My father used to do the same with the Meadow south from here years ago. It can't do it by itself. It's her. I could feel it." There was a pause. "Oh, I guess Meali pushed us away then... But I'm sure she had a good reason for it!"

The Shifter's eyes widened.

"Oh, I... oh my goodness! Then it wasn't the tree doing that! This explains it!"

Oh, whoops. She forgot that no one would really know what she meant by "it."

"Uh, erm... s-sorry, if you could excuse me? Also, please don't hurt the... creatures."

Jahran's statement was surely enlightening on the current matter, but it had also led Simi to another conclusion; if the tree wasn't the one controlling the barrier, then maybe it wasn't the same entity expressing disapproval over the actions that she and her companions had taken. It would explain why the tree was confused by the frustations and thoughts she had shared with it.

Almost immediately Simi rested her horn's tip on the bark again, lending a small second helping of her growth energy as well as expressing apology for the fact that she was apparently using the tree as a medium to communicate with someone else entirely. After a small outburst of frustration directed at this mysterious being-- something along the lines of "We've already confined the creatures so no harm will come to either us or them and that's the best we can manage"-- Simi also related a secondary sense of frustration with a different 'accent' to it, one best described as "what would you have us do?" She again reiterated what she had been feeling before. She and everyone here had tried to make peace with these creatures and had only been taken advantage of in return. To scold her or anyone here was unfair.

Still, the question remained. What were they to do next? And why 'Victims'?

If this didn't work, then... perhaps she could try to use the tree to communicate with Meali. She'd have to ask Jahran if it was possible, though. In the meantime, she would wait for an answer.

[Luxon Cobrat]

Isala simply watched with no sign of emotion as the stranger admonished the group, her own thoughts on the matter inscrutable. Zom and Entropy were both visibly annoyed, not at simply being criticized, but because the criticism was based on premises that were patently false and unfounded. Only Nei seemed conflicted, torn between guilt over going so far and the feeling that doing so had been necessary to keep everyone here alive. Before anything more could come of it, though, the being disappeared in a loud and brilliant explosion.

And then Juno was there, and it looked like he was about to free the captive monsters. Alarmed, Entropy started to move to stop him, but then a dome appeared, trapping the creatures and the pirate all inside. The succubus just stared blankly at that scene for a minute, then sighed and shook her head once Juno had been safely fished out.

When Naira proposed killing the trapped creatures, though, Entropy landed on top of the dome in front of her.

"No!" she declared forcefully. "The fight's over! We're not killing prisoners!"

Meanwhile, with Jahran having turned down the offer of healing, Nei and Isala were walking up to the dome too.

"You know," Nei observed, "Those things were awfully well-coordinated for not being able to talk."

Entropy hopped down and looked at the two.

"Yeah, they kind of were," she agreed. "You don't suppose there was something... psychic going on, do you?"

"That would seem likely," Isala answered. "Perhaps they were even being controlled. That would explain why the flame you mentioned asked that they not be killed."

Entropy and Nei both shuddered at that thought.

"Wish you'd thought of that before we massacred them..."

"Hesitation to kill would have been ill-afforded."

"You really take that 'snow queen' thing seriously," Entropy muttered under her breath. Then she looked to Nei. "So... I guess you're up."

Nei nodded, then moved to the side of the dome, touched it with one hand, and placed the other on her forehead. Reaching out with her mind, she reached into the creatures' minds to try and see what she could see.

[Windra]

Naira's comment was definitely not made in jest. She meant every word. It was evident in her tone, in the way her eyes narrowed and gleamed, and the frown set upon her face. They weren't getting any closer to solving this riddle. But several implications gestured towards having the beasts, who had nearly killed some of their own, unharmed. The Reaver's proclamation raised alarm in Entropy, who flew from her spot to perch upon the dome, towering over her only because she was standing while Naira remained seated.

"No!" the succubus insisted forcefully. "The fight's over! We're not killing prisoners!"

It was evident in Naira's expression that she disapproved of this mercy, but the half-dragon dipped her chin towards her chest and offered the winged-one a bitter smile. Entropy had a good heart, which was a little amusing considering her alignment. The Reaver valued her camaraderie deeply. "As you wish, boss," Naira acknowledged, before adding in warning, "but if things go chaotically awry for some reason or another because of them, I'm stepping up." There was a dangerous bite to her vocalization.

Nei and Isala were approaching them now. Naira uncrossed her arms and leaned forward to catch bits of their conversation. Admittedly the idea of these creatures being mind-controlled in some manner, forced to attack them ... it stirred a disturbed feeling in her gut that had nothing to do with Scarlet's earlier buffet. Oh crap. What if they'd been innocent this whole time? Attacking without control over their own bodies?

Nemo shook her head, resolution pushing the negativity away. "It's not like we could have known," she said in agreement with Isala's icy statement. "We were getting attacked. Self-preservation kicks in, especially when some of your allies are near death.' Her half-blind gaze flitted to Simi briefly. The unicorn was deep in concentration again, attempting to communicate with the tree (or Meali, as it were) to gain clearer insight into their situation. Naira ten studied the mutilated bodies strewn about the playig field and grimaced. "But if that's the case ... I really hope we have a master healer on hand ... "

Nei pressed against the dome. Was she trying to mindspeak? Whatever the Newman was doing, it placed her deep in silence. Naira turned, laying chest-down on the dome's tip with fingers clasped around the hole's lip, peering down to get a better look at what was going on. Her draconic tail coiled and waved behind her in sync with her restless agitation. There was plenty of room on either side of the Reaver for other onlookers to gaze upon the sight it they so chose.

[forgerofsouls]

Klinge could half agree with Naira, they did attack the others before he and Lyrial arrived, thus it might have been a good idea to execute them. But, something told Klinge that was not the right answer. He couldn't put it off, but something was still off. Maybe his draconic instincts were kicking in? Or maybe the teleportation had left his food behind making him hungry. He did not know. But something was off with the situation. "By the way, can someone explain what happened that made these creatures appear in the first place? Klinge asked to the group.

Of course the possibility that the creatures were mind controlled did not cross her mind. Than again, she also did not know why they appeared. She and Klinge had arrived mid way into the fight so to speak. But after that notion had been brought up, even Lyrial couldn't help but wonder if the creatures were just victims in this to. At which case it might be wise to use some resurrection spells and bring the dead creatures to life...and also perform a spell that would negate the mind control. But first things first...what was that person doing with her hands on the dome? Lyrial watched Nei, wondering what she was doing.

"Sigh, the fighting is over it looks like, maybe we should start heading over there? Instead of hiding over here."

"You're right, they might need help with something."

"Not exactly why I suggested moving out, but thats a good reason."

"Oh? You just wanted to be there in case another fight broke out didn't you?"

"Gah, n .... no... Maybe."

"You mustn't fight! Promise me you will not fight!"

"Fine, I promise, no fighting!"

"Good, now lets go!"

And with that, the two that were hiding at the edge of the place started to move towards the main group at the center. Silent and Sera waved at the group to show that they meant no harm...hopefully thats the way it would be taken.

[JunoZXV]

(I got nothing. If you recall this is WILLY NILLY posting times. So yeah post whenever, right now I'm calling in an uncreative "pass")

[Voice of Deep Forest]

Simi's final communication with the tree got a warm response in return, a tingling feeling of contentment that tried to reach out with warmth towards her, but lacked the strength for doing so. Instead it settled for pulsing passive gratitude. It did not really respond to her other communications, nor did the second presence reappear.

Entropy's sudden declaration on top of the dome was met with furious howl and growls from the opening below her, claws scratching wildly at the walls. Naira's verbal agreement only made it worse, giving the first indication the creatures could follow what was being said by the others since they arrived at the scene through the portal. As Naira looked in when Nei touched the dome with her hand, she could see the creatures drooling and frothing with madness instead, the sight of her face enraging them in futile attempts to jump up and scratch it off of the rest of her head.

Nei's touch to the creature's minds was easy, nothing resisted her, but what she encountered was not what the wild picture Naira was seeing suggested. What could only be described as two minds in each creature answered her touch. The smallest resembled that of a small animal, frightened at the sight of her yet unable to rush away and hide in the bushes; the other dominant presence instantly lashed out to her with a psychic burst of energy that somehow didn't make it all the way through to Nei. At best only a small stab of harmless pain reached her. The smaller animal mind was indeed being urged to destroy, enraged beyond it's ability to feel fear.

Nei's touch, and the unsuccessful mental attack on her, sent the dominant presence fleeing. The whole thing taking place in maybe a second or two before the two trapped creatures' mind housed only thoughts of confusion, and radiating fear. Naira would see the transformation as the two creatures suddenly stopped jumping, and froze on the spot as their enraged faces suddenly relaxed as they stared up at her, their three eyes going wide. The sounds they made were different as well, sounding like soft chirps completely in contrast with their previous growls and howls. They tried to retreat away from Naira's face now, though with the circular structure offering no corners to hide in they instead huddled down as they stared up at her in complete silence now.

Over by the tree something happened as well as on either side of Simi a heavy blue body fell down from their floating positions around the trunk. Geaven's dark blue form dropped with a heavy thud followed by a gasp as he desperately gulped in air. It followed by a scream of pain while he scrambled to stand on his hooves, keeping his head close to the ground as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. Unlike Jahran he luckily did not seem to have injured himself in the fall. Meali's light blue form fell on Simi's other side, though the mare almost instantly flared out her wings to either side. While they didn't exactly slow down her fall, they did help her balance herself just in time to land on her hooves, instead of a pile of unicorn.

Finally, with a few moments of delay, Gaeva's form dropped as well. Like a ragdoll the lavender unicorn hit the ground and rolled to her side where she remained lying motionless among the tree's roots with her eyes closed.

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

Jahran did not know what to think. Those creatures scared him more than he was willing to admit, yet they were tucked safely away, so at least for now they were no threat. Now both Simi and Entropy were quite adamant about not killing them, and seeing as Lyrial didn't release them either, she probably agreed with that as well. So now what?

"By the way, can someone explain what happened that made these creatures appear in the first place?" Klinge asked then. As nobody answered Jahran cleared his throat while keeping an eye on Nei who approached the dome, "They came from that portal over there," he indicated, "Except it had turned red when they did."

It wasn't lost on him when the loud noises the creatures were making went silent, but the young stallion had no idea why. Maybe they grew tired? Gave up? That last option would be good.

Still standing between Simi and the earthen dome, he had to turn his head around when he heard the sounds behind him. Feeling a rush of shock, excitement and dread he saw first his father and half-sister fall down, then his aunt. Jahran flicked his ears back at the scream uttered by his father, and his first instinct was to take a step back, away from the tree. He still clearly remembered the large stallion's reaction while he had shown up in his ghostly form. Would he attack them again? His aunt wasn't moving...

Meali however was already standing up straight, and turned her head to look down at Simi.

***************************

Meali found herself panting as if having run a long distance. She slowly pulled her wings back in and folded them against her sides. Her eyes then fell on the much smaller unicorn, "Oh, so it was you. You don't catch on quick, do you?" she commented before taking in a deep breath in an attempt to even out her breathing. Without waiting for a reply she cast a glance at first her father, then her aunt, sadly shook her head, but did not approach either. Instead she walked away from the tree and closer towards the core group, casting a few disgusted glances around her at the bodies littering the immediate area around them.

"Right. Thanks for that," she finally said, not indicating whether she was being sarcastic on the body count, or being genuinely grateful for her release.

"Unfortunately this was all a damn distraction. Not just for you, for all of us. This attack..." Meali gave a quick sweep over the destroyed lands, "...was meant to kill us off. Or Gaeva anyway, the rest of us just got caught in the blast. And it still would have killed us if all of you hadn't shown up when you did." she shook her head, "I'll happily go over the details later, but right now we're dealing with a deadline. While we were all getting distracted here the real problem has been growing in the swamp. Apparently there is a massive portal there, like these little ones here. It's supposed to be a direct gateway to...wherever this bastard is locked away."

Meali blinked then as if trying to rally her thoughts for a moment, "Hethrir, don't know if the name means anything to you. He created this forest forever ago. He wants it back now. To suck it dry and feast on death. A direct quote from his as I understand it." Meali glanced around again at the bloodshed, but made no comment. Instead she finally started to make eye contact with everybody, then sighed, suddenly looking tired, "There's too much to explain, and I don't have the time for it. I have to ask for your help though, my aunt has been struggling with this Hethrir from the moment the attack knocked us out. I managed to stay in contact with her though. Yay telepathy."

"Right now what you need to know are two things: one is that the only way for Hethrir to take over this forest and use it and all the magic connected to it is by removing my aunt. Kill her. And he's actually doing pretty well so far, if you all hadn't interfered she would have died. Us too." This time, though she didn't use the actual words, Meali actually sounded completely grateful. "But he still has managed to suck her into whatever prison he resides in, mentally. This is going to sound weird, but her body by that tree, it's only half there, the other half is being pulled away, and if he succeeds that's the end of it, for her and for everybody here. We need to pull her back here, to this reality. We need something of my aunt, physically hers, that is completely here already, bodily present here. The most obviously choices being feathers or hair, but good luck finding one of those." Meali snorted, annoyed, "Except there's one feather that can be tracked down, being worn by a little humanoid girl, Willow. My aunt assured me she could not detect her presence, meaning she's most likely in the mountains right now, hiding somewhere. With that feather."

Another snort, angry this time, "And the second thing you need to know is that, like I said, the real problem is in the swamp. I don't know where or what is going on, but we need to get Gaeva there. So yeah." She backed her ears, "So I need to ask for your help, again, to find that damn girl with the feather in the mountains, and help me get my aunt to the swamp somehow...."

***************************

Jahran gaped in silence at his sister. How did she know all that?? He'd been completely useless when the others managed to free him, yet now here she was being a fountain of information. Had she really been in contact with their aunt the whole time? What wasn't she telling them? But what bothered him the most was that she hadn't even acknowledged him. He was her little brother, standing right in front of her, bleeding! Almost petulantly he wanted to get some attention from her, but got none. His eyes went back to his father and aunt then and stayed there while listened to the rest Meali told them. He didn't want to believe it, but the name Hethrir was very familiar to him, he'd heard the stories growing up.

When she reached the end he only had one question, "...What about father?" Jahran almost regretted asking when Meali visibly flinched and finally made eye contact with him. He felt a chill when he looked back at her. This was his big sister, definitely telling the truth, and definitely holding back parts that were bothering her personally. He backed his ears in apprehension.

"He's having an entirely different problem...I...I don't think we can help him right now. He's confused, and may lash out. Leave him alone," Meali replied, making it sound like an order.

OOC
One round of replies then I'll provide outgoing links for the ones who wish to go to either location! And sorry for a slightly bitchy Meali.

[Sky Lily]

OOC: And the plot thickens! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

~~~



There was a tingling feeling of contentment emanating from the tree, which gentled into pulses of gratitude. But to Simi's dismay, the second presence had vanished altogether. All the unicorn could sense now was the tree, who was, perhaps, at even more of a loss than she was.

Please... she begged, eyes shut tight as if in prayer. Please. I need answers. We need answers.

"...Please..."

The building exhaustion of the day had finally given way to that familiar feeling of hopelessness. Sighing, Simi gently lifted her horn away from the tree as she leaned the side of her face against its bark. The last entity who could possibly give them answers, and it was gone. She was ready to collapse. Ready to give in to her despair.

... And that was when they fell.

"O-oh my?!"

Squeaking, the Shifter leaped nearly her own height in the air as two heavy thuds shook the earth on either side of her. The darker blue unicorn, whom she quickly recognized as Gaeven, had woken with a sharp gasp; while the shadow of Meali's massive wing loomed over Simi, who then swung around to look up at her in nothing short of shocked amazement, and then...

... overwhelming rapture.

It was... It was Meali! And Gaeven, and Gaeva! Whatever spell, whatever force had been holding them in place... i-it was broken, now! They were free! Gaeva's family had been freed!

She wanted to leap into the air over and over again, to dance in her excitement, but Simi knew better than to act so foolishly and settled for a humble smile. Her mouth parted as she tried to think of some suitable greeting, but Meali cut her short.

"Oh, so it was you. You don't catch on quick, do you?"

And almost instantly, Simi retreated within herself once again with a flinch.

Meali was quiet for a few moments as she scanned the area. She must have cared a great deal for the bloody mess across the Prison, for her face was contorted with disgust. "Right, thanks for that."

Simi leaned just slightly against the tree with a look nothing short of child's shame. She considered stammering out an apology, but it seemed as though there were more important things to be said and done. And Meali wasted no time in sharing.

"Unfortunately this was all a damn distraction. Not just for you, for all of us. This attack..." Meali gave a quick sweep over the destroyed lands, "...was meant to kill us off. Or Gaeva anyway, the rest of us just got caught in the blast."

...The timidity that had held Simi moments before dissipated as bewildered horror slowly sank in. "Y-you mean... someone made this happen?" She had assumed that the earlier explosion was a side-effect of the forest losing its reality, but...

Oh my goodness...

Th-the spouts of lava, the missiles, the explosions, how much danger had they truly been in, all this time?! Who had been orchestrating this events? If there was anyone wreaking havoc, then who was it? Surely they were in hiding? Or were they... were they somewhere here, working in secret? I-it couldn't possibly be Naira... Nei... Zom? Entropy? N-no, that'd be stupid...

This newfound revelation had sent her reeling. "H-how... how could anyone have that power?! H-how is it possib-"

"... of you hadn't shown up when you did."

Gah, pay attention! You're missing things! Simi straightened her shoulders, shaken as she was, and tried to keep her eyes steadily on Meali.

"I'll happily go over the details later, but right now we're dealing with a deadline. While we were all getting distracted here the real problem has been growing in the swamp. Apparently there is a massive portal there, like these little ones here. It's supposed to be a direct gateway to...wherever this bastard is locked away."

Her ears perked forward slowly at the words 'massive portal.' There was a... portal, in the swamp, this whole time? And this was where that terrible being was hiding?

"Hethrir."

Her legs tensed. She did not know its meaning or its claimer, but something about it... something about that name made her wary. Afraid. Not in the way she had been afraid of the monsters from earlier, but.. something deeper.

After all, she thought to herself as she looked around the ruined clearing, stones in her stomach. It is the name of a destroyer.

"... created this forest forever ago. He wants it back now. To suck it dry and feast on death. A direct quote from his as I understand it."

So not only did he, this... Hethrir... want to kill Gaeva. He wanted to destroy the forest.

All of it.

And all of us.

Meali released a weary sigh. "There's too much to explain, and I don't have the time for it. I have to ask for your help though, my aunt has been struggling with this Hethrir from the moment the attack knocked us out. I managed to stay in contact with her though. Yay telepathy."

Her jaw went tight. "You mean, h... he's the one who first--"

"Right now what you need to know are two things: one is that the only way for Hethrir to take over this forest and use it and all the magic connected to it is by removing my aunt. Kill her. And he's actually doing pretty well so far, if you all hadn't interfered she would have died. Us too. But he still has managed to suck her into whatever prison he resides in, mentally. This is going to sound weird, but her body by that tree, it's only half there, the other half is being pulled away, and if he succeeds that's the end of it, for her and for everybody here."

Simi recalled the spectral Jahran and Gaeven that had appeared earlier, and was able to at least understand this... though it was terrifying to hear. She'd been wondering why Gaeva herself wouldn't show, and now she knew. Her spirit-half had been taken by this... by this Hethrir. The Shifter's blood ran cold. Were it not for her fur, it would have been easy to see just how pale this news was making her.

"W-what can we do?" she quickly asked, though her voice was meek and she had likely gone unheard. Thankfully, Meali was already getting to that. Perhaps now was the time to remain quiet and simply listen. Simi wasn't doing anyone any good as it was.

"We need to pull her back here, to this reality. We need something of my aunt, physically hers, that is completely here already, bodily present here. The most obvious choices being feathers or hair, but good luck finding one of those." Meali snorted. "Except there's one feather that can be tracked down, being worn by a little humanoid girl, Willow. My aunt assured me she could not detect her presence, meaning she's most likely in the mountains right now, hiding somewhere. With that feather."

Another snort, angry this time, "And the second thing you need to know is that, like I said, the real problem is in the swamp. I don't know where or what is going on, but we need to get Gaeva there. So yeah." She backed her ears. "So I need to ask for your help, again, to find that damn girl with the feather in the mountains, and help me get my aunt to the swamp somehow...."

"...What about father?" Simi turned at the sound of Jahran's voice, but seeing the look of worry on his face, she felt rather sorry for him. If only something could be done for Gaeven...

"He's having an entirely different problem...I...I don't think we can help him right now. He's confused, and may lash out. Leave him alone," Meali orded.

Simi's sympathy only grew, but unfortunately, now wasn't the time. Everything they had feared was true. An enemy was in their midst, the Forest was in peril, and... and Gaeva was dying, the only hope of saving her lying in the dreaded Mountains. They needed to act fast. Perhaps she could fly there, and get a small headstart? A bird's eye view might prove useful scouring the mountainside, after all. Anything to help...

Simi kneeled down and closed her eyes, shifting to her phoenix form. However, it had taken a little more time than usual, and as soon as she spread her wings, pain seized the length of her flight muscles, making her gasp from the unexpected agony. With a great deal of willpower she took a few steps forward, wondering if she could try making a running start into the air, but there was simply too much pain and constriction all around her. Defeated, she reverted back to her true shape, hooves, horn, and all.

"I... I will be of no help in the mountains," she panted. The unicorn had to wait a few moments before attempting to stand. "Perhaps I could be of more use in the Swamps... I'm sorry," she blurted out as she turned to the side, ears lying flat against her head. "If it was Winter I could have managed to fly there, but it's spring and..."

Stop it! Stop the self pity! You're doing no one any good! She thought back to how she had been moments before in the battle. Courageous, unthinking, taking action because it was needed. This was the unicorn she wanted to be right now. Not some snivelling, sad little foal. The Shifter straightened her shoulders as she lifted her gaze to the people around her.

"... I'll do what I can here! Good luck to... to those searching for the feather."

She could only pray and wish them luck.

[Windra]

The creatures were huddled in fear far from where Naira loomed over them. She had to admit that it made her feel guilty ... Were they afraid because she had slain so many of them on the battlefield, even partially devoured a few while under the control of Scarlet? Bitterly nodding her head, the Reaver slunk away from the hole and turned her back to it, fighting the clanging pain in her chest. Everything was .. disturbing to say the least. But at least Nei's trick was working. She didn't know what was going on or being said, but it was working.

Activity exploded by the tree without warning. All three remaining alicorns dropped to their hooves and flesh. Gaeven gave a sharp yelp in pain but, unlike his son, did not split his limb wide open. Rather than flee the scene as his host did, the stallion did little more than clamber to footing and stand there silently with his massive skull dipped towards the ground. Meali was much more graceful, was alert and oriented ... But Gaeva ... Naira felt a rising knot of dread at the sight of the lavender mare's listless body. Was she still alive? From this distance she couldn't tell if air was still moving through her lungs. Nemo quietly slid down the dome to land deftly on taloned feet, making to advance and only pausing when Meali spoke.

Of course ...

Of course something would want Gaeva dead. Something would want them all dead. Deep Forest was being torn to little bits. Normal, harmless thins were becoming weaponized with the intent to murder, maim, or cause great despair. Rain, which would have been beneficial to all the plants flowering below, transformed to singing balls of fire that scorched all it came in contact with. The River was nonchalantly belching forth plumes of noxious vapors. Even the earth ... Had it really been a few hours since she, Mishayirth, and Scarlet had been making their way across Deep Forest to it's crater, only to have the land snap open beneath them and devour them whole? If the Inoran Dragon's reaction time were any slower, they would be -

- they were. Naira squinted her eyes shut to give the heartfelt tremor time to pass. Even if Mishayirth hadn't teleported them, they would have been killed regardless ... Three long years in an alternate reality, passing only as a few hours here? It was an incredulous concept, but not all things happened in the order they were supposed to. I'm starting to realize, she thought bitterly to herself, how the Time Lord feels.

Everybody knows that everybody dies, and nobody knows it like an immortal.

So they were left with two options. Meali laid the law down for them, confirmed what was thought and answering the questions that had been asked throughout the evening. If Naira were in a lighter mood, she would have dropped to her knees and thanked the equine for finally being so direct with them after getting tossed multiple phrases with no real definition. And it was a lot easier now: they had a real enemy they could focus on, a concrete agenda ... The traditional bad who nobody felt anything but hatred before. Almost stereotypical, wasn't it? Naira didn't like being forced to pick a side between two beings she cared deeply for - especially when in love with one of them. But one enemy you knew nothing about, and who did nothing but bring pain? Hell yeah, come at me, bro.

"Maybe I should just pick a straight-out neutral alignment," she mumbled under her breath. "If the boss would ever allow it." Somewhere in the distance, the Fourth Wall shattered.

Jahran was speaking to Meali now. Naira took this opportunity of distraction to fish her scimitar from the ground. She flashed it's steel before her blade. The acid pit's ominous glow reflected a luminous red aura upon her visage. Naira procured a cloth from her pocket and wiped the blade clean before sheathing it with a shhnk!. With her back turned, she heard Simi speak and cringed. If there was any question of which path Naira would choose, it was confirmed now.

"This place is my home. I'm finally settling in after years of running, there's no way I'm gonna let somebody take it away." Determination settling in her voice roused a bit of the dormant spirit within. Yes, the previous onslaught (between missiles and beasts) had worn her down to the core, so wind magick was off-limits unless she could somehow get an energy boost. But that wouldn't keep her from thrashing those fists. Her gaze flitted to each and every one of those lingering in the Prison - to Entropy and Nei with a grin, Simi to confidence, and Juno something undefined but very warm. "I have some precious people to protect. Besides, I'm better off as a fighter than a negotiator ... guess I've proven that one too many times." Naira tossed a saddened look to Norad's wrecked ship, it's metal frame encased in kicked-up dirt and rock. "I'll come with you to the Swamps. But how are we supposed to get Gaeva there? I can help carry her, but I can't do it alone."

A lengthy pause as brows creased.

"Whatever happened to Alex?"