Prompt Opportunity

[Embers]

PROMPT THREAD

situation

A passerby spies the decomposing bodies of two aboriginal natives partially buried on the receding shore. In time, the body begins to draw a small crowd.

characters

Three to five characters are involved, each posting a minimum of three times.

prize

Fifteen (15) EXP to all participants.

[Deleted]

Lukasse wandered alongside the river, her talons splashing in the occasional puddle in her path as she searched for food. Gathering enough prey for her small group had never been an issue before, since all three of them were capable of catching their own dinner most of the time. Kota was hurt, though, and she felt like the decent thing to do was to take care of him. Sure, it was only a leg wound, but it would affect his stealth and make it harder for him to hunt. Not only that, but he had to make sure he ate his fill so his body would have enough energy to heal the wound.

A strange scent wafted toward her and she froze. It smelled both delicious and alarming, and she couldn’t figure out why. But of course she couldn’t. She couldn’t see where it was coming from. Should she investigate?

Her eyes answered that question for her as they caught a glimmer of something in the shore. She took a few hesitant steps forward, studying the glint. Movement rewarded her with a better glimpse of black and orange scales and matted gray fur. A few more steps revealed the shapes of a reptile and canine. The scent was strong here. It couldn’t be these two! …Could it?

Another step. A better view of the bodies. They were partially buried, but what she could see was in no position she’d think of as comfortable. They were unmoving, their eyes open. Their eyes…she didn’t know how to describe them. She didn’t want to describe them. They were off in the worst way.

And then she recognized the scent. It was a similar scent to a rodent she’d seen a while back – an abandoned kill that had been left to rot in the sun.

Oh…

Oh.

Oh no.

Lukasse reared back and hissed, tail lashing from side to side. Something was wrong here! Something was very, very wrong! What had happened? Was she in danger? What about her friends? She’d have to warn them! …But…she couldn’t move her legs…

[Terris]

Morse came bumbling along the riverbank at an unhurried trot. Her deep amber eyes drinking in all the new sights, as her ears flicked this way and that at the slightest of sounds. The sun was warm and pleasant on her black coat, though if it got much warmer she would begin to feel the effects.
She stopped in her tracks, over there in the sands of the bank was a strange creature. A reptile, something she had not yet encountered. She scented the air, the stench of decay greeting her as she did so, and released a "chuff" sound as she expelled the scent. She caught undertones of other things also, the scent of the reptile, so different from the musky smell of canine, the smell of water, crisp and clean, the rotting leaves, turning to mulch, so many things, but the scent of the decaying bodies was the most prevalent.

She moved forward on silent feet, cautious of the situation, and slightly suspicious of the reptile, and took her first glimpse of something dead....well, two somethings. A canine like her, and a reptile, like the other creature on the scene lay half buried by the river bank. She cast her amber gaze over to Lukasse, and spoke, keeping her tone calm, and quiet. There was no use jumping to conclusions about the reptile.

"What happened here? Do you know them?" she asked the other female.

[Deleted]

Kota limped along the riverbank solemnly, only setting his injured leg down the slightest bit so as not to hurt it any further. Before that strange, four-legged reptile had bitten him, he thought falling down was the worst pain one could experience. He quickly discovered that a healing wound was much worse. The lesser native had bitten him just above the paw, and its short, sharp teeth had penetrated the skin. Now, the punctures were thick, crusted scabs, but it had taken a few days to earn even that relief. He hadn't known he shouldn't move his leg as much as he usually did, which caused the injuries to split open fresh scabs over and over again, spilling his blood more than he liked. But, his faithful companions had taken care of him, as they had since his first day. With their help finding food, he was regaining strength every day, but not nearly as fast as he would like.

Huffing a deep sigh, Kota stopped and gingerly sat his rump down upon the smooth, round rocks of the riverside. Using three of his legs for the vast majority of the day wore him out more easily, and he was forced to take breaks more often. Now was one of those breaks, and the sudden halt of his routine stroll made him wonder where Lukasse and Dragonfly had gotten off to. Because they were gathering food for him, they seemed to be absent more than usual as of late. Though he wished he could help, it was nearly impossible for him to catch fish like Dragonfly, and especially not the rats that Lukasse seemed able to snatch up. Berries, flowers, and even moss were adequate enough to keep him alive, but not enough to lend him any true strength. Thus, he depended solely on his companions, and decided to patiently wait where he was for a few moments to see if either would come into sight. When they didn't, he huffed out another sigh, and pushed slowly back to his feet, ready to move farther downstream in hopes of finding them.

As he limped along, Kota spotted an unfamiliar figure ahead. It was going faster than him, which wasn't hard at his pace, but even from his position he could tell it was another creature. It stopped suddenly, making him do the same since he thought it had somehow noticed him. But instead, it turned its head to the side and headed straight for the river. The blue-grey male was both intrigued by this stranger, and fearful of what it would do if it discovered him. After all, his last encounter with a strange life form hadn't left him in good shape, so he was weary to meet the same, or a worse, fate. Straining his large, fan-like ears forward, Kota caught the barest traces of what the creature said, though he didn't know why it would be talking, or who to. Limping forward a few paces, the male crouched down and peeked through the patch of overly tall ferns that grew alongside river which obstructed his view of the where the stranger had gone to.

Lukasse stood in the shallows of the river, with her back facing the stranger. She was looking at something on the other bank, he thought, and so was the other, dark colored creature. Now his curiosity grew larrge enough to triumph his fear and he eased back up to his paws and stepped through the ferns. As he did, a foul, putrid odor slipped across the river on a breeze, winding its up his nostrils. He crinkled his large, flat nose, but didn't stop his slow progression forward until he had reached his companion and the stranger. With a glance over at the other creature, he then took a long look at Lukasse. She barely seemed to notice him though, or the newcomer, and just stared at the same spot on the other bank as she had when he first saw her. Turning his head, the male finally saw what his reptilian friend was so wrapped up in.

Two bodies lay half-submerged in the mud and rocks on the other side of the river. One was a reptile, or so he thought, since its black and orange scales still glistened in the sun. The other looked like the dark stranger across from him, but with lighter colored fur. He wasn't sure why, but the fact that there were others like this newcomer, even apparently dead ones, made him sad. Were there no others like him? Whatever he was, he thought sadly.

[meixiaotian]

Mud squished around Dragonfly's feet, submerging her talons halfway in a warm, slimy feeling before attempting to keep her there. The land failed at claiming her, but made it harder to escape. The reptile was grateful her legs lacked feathers, it would be a pain to clean it out. Why she had decided to go back to the bank on a muddy stretch, she didn't know. Oh well. In her mouth was a fish she intended on sharing with her companions. She knew Lukasse had also set out on a search for food, so they would have a good lunch. Her violet eyes glanced around for Kota. He wasn't where he'd been when she left, but his paws left clear tracks in the muddy ground. He seemed headed to the river downstream, where his tracks disappeared on the flat stones. She knew he wasn't too fast at the moment and he wouldn't wander far from the bank.

Her feet were cleaned by the river current as she walked in the shallow water. Her jaw was slightly sore from carrying the fish and she considered taking a short break to put it down and take a drink. A break wasn't needed yet so she continued on. Once she was satisfied with the cleanliness of her feet, she hopped back onto the stones. Her jump jostled the meal and she bit down harder in order to keep from losing it. She missed her chance to have a short rest. Maybe she could carry it a different way... She did have arms, after all. It took some time for her to realize they were good for carrying things her mouth couldn't if it was already full. She'd only carried plants, but maybe she'd be able to temporarily relieve the burden from her mouth. It took a few seconds for her to get a secure grasp on it. She realized she'd have to transfer yet again soon, but by then she'd be ready for that.

A mediocre sense of smell and a fish underneath her nose prevented her from noticing the smell of what was ahead. She could see a gathering up ahead with Lukasse and Kota there. There was also a canine, something she remembered seeing when she first emerged into the Orchard. In fact, She hadn't seen anyone but her two friends since she left the Orchard. Dragonfly almost ran in her eagerness to meet someone new until she realized that would lose the fish. She made do with a fast trot that slowed when she realized they were all looking at something. It was something that unnerved her, something that shouldn't have happened. A closer view identified what was so awful. A reptile and a canine, half submerged in mud, sand, and dirt. They... They weren't alive, were they?

A shiver ran through her. How did they die, why were they rotting there? Were they friends that had met some awful fate? Was... Was that what had happened to Artemis? Oh no, that couldn't have happened. She shuddered in horror of the idea. No, that couldn't have happened, Artemis had just... Maybe the Orchard had decided to reclaim a couple of its children. Her eyes glanced over her friends to make sure they were still alive. They were fine, or were they? Lukasse didn't seem as okay as Kota, her body frozen and eyes wide in horror. She remembered how she was the one who often lead her group exploring and the one that had shown the most courage. She couldn't be horrified now. She forced herself from the glazed over eyes of the decomposing canine and stood next to Lukasse. She couldn't think of anything reassuring to say, so instead she turned to the black breathing canine.

"Hello, do... Do you know what happened here?" Her voice wasn't as sure as normal, but at least she could speak audibly. She focused more on the canine and realized she probably should have said something else before that. "Oh, and what's your name?"

[Terris]

Morse yelped in surprise as a voice sounded seemingly out of nowhere. She was so engrossed with the one reptile that another, wait, no, two other creatures had managed to sneak up on her. Her ears pinned back to her skull and her hackles raised, making her appear bigger (and probably a lot more vicious) than she actually was. She was not scared, no...canines do NOT get scared...she was terrified, but made her best effort to hide that fact.

It occurred to her that none of the three living creatures had attempted to maul her, one had even spoken to her, politely, too, and after a long moment, the ears flicked forward, the hackles lowered and her heart, which was racing like it might burst, slowed to a more sedate speed. Her amber eyes locked on the reptile that had spoken to her. She was clearly the same species as the other, but was a different colour, and had no stripes like the first one she had encountered.

When she spoke, it was with slow, cautious words.

"I came across that one on my travels" she jabbed her muzzle in the direction of Lukasse before the continued.
"These two were already...well, where they are, in that condition when I arrived. I asked that one what had happened, but they must not have heard me. I'm Morse by the way." she looked nervously around now. The entire situation was unnerving at best, and now she was in the company of three creatures she didnt know to top it off.

What if they hurt her? What if they wanted to make her...dead...like those two in the water...what if....but surely if they were going to do anything, they'd have done it already...there was no sense in panicking.

She allowed herself to drift away from the corpses and the two reptiles for a moment, her soft paws making no sound on the ground below as she moved toward the feline, curious, she extended her nose, sniffing him discretely and her eyes grew wide.

His scent triggered a playful instinct in her. Under other circumstances, she would have wanted to chase this being, romp and play with him, but right now, with the...the dead things...and the strange reptiles, she subdued the urge, though her tail still wagged slightly of its own accord.

"I'm Morse, who're you?" she asked.

[Deleted]

While she stared in horror, unable to pull her eyes away from the gruesome sight before her, three other creatures had joined her. Two of them were her friends, but one…she didn’t recognize the one, and that made her uneasy. The canine…had it done this? The dead creatures had been that way for a while, but what were the odds of two creatures finding the bodies by chance at around the same time?

The canine’s hackled raised and her ears flattened. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew that was a hostile pose and reacted accordingly. She took a couple steps back and did her best to fluff out her own feathers. Running away wasn’t an option. Not with Kota hurt. If it came to it, she’d have to fight. She really didn’t want to, though. Fights were scary, and she didn’t want to end up like…well…them.

The canine eventually flattened out her fur and lifted her ears, but Lukasse kept her post. She didn’t trust the canine just because she’s stopped looking ready to attack. She’d been ready to before, and it was suspicious to her that that had suddenly stopped. Not only that, she didn’t like the way the canine referred to her. “This one”. “They”. The way she was almost talked about like she wasn’t actually there. It was insulting, though she didn’t know if it was supposed to be or if it was just her, or the situation.

Then the canine moved toward Kota. Lukasse sprinted forward, intending to put herself between the two. She was frightened of the unfamiliar creature, but Kota was her friend and his life was more important than hers. He couldn’t defend himself in his current condition – that she knew of – so she’d defend him instead. Her eyes widened, her feathers bushed out, and she breathed deeply, ready to act in whatever way was necessary. Hopefully not a fight, but anything could happen.

Then the canine introduced herself. Lukasse stared at her warily, and then turned to Dragonfly. She really didn’t trust this canine, and had no idea of her intentions. Should they trust her with their names?

[Deleted]

The next couple of moments seemed longer than they really were, probably because some sort of shock was setting into Kota. He stared at the two bodies, which only looked more grotesque and disturbing the longer he did. The parts of the reptile that he could see were only vaguely similar to his two companions, what with the scales and the shape of their faces, but the eyes were all wrong. They stared blankly at the sky, with small bugs crawling over their murky surfaces without care. No sense of intelligence, or life, was left in them at all. He had stared into a lesser native's eyes recently, and felt the difference between himself and it. It could not think like he could, could not speak or understand. Yet this...this was nothing. A shiver of fear racked his broad, muscular frame just as the sounds of approaching footsteps reached his large, fan-like ears. They twisted before he did, but after another moment, the feline was finally able to tear his bright blue gaze away and see that Dragonfly was coming up.

Kota nodded at the brown, female reptile, but made no move to smile. This wasn't a situation that required happiness, or so it seemed. He didn't know how the two creatures died, but obviously it wasn't common by everyone's reaction. Most of his beliefs about the world had come from experience, and what Lukasse and Dragonfly explained to him. Death wasn't something they had really talked about, but he knew that the fish and rats, and occasional bird, were dead when they ate them. So, could something have hunted these two, and then the remains just washed down river? Just as he was beginning to wonder what was large enough to hunt something as big as him, Dragonfly spoke up, talking to the newcomer, which he had momentarily forgotten about. Turning his head away from his companion, he regarded this new creature, which seemed to have the same intelligence as him and the two reptiles. Now that he noticed it again, he realized that its scent was vaguely female, though obviously different than the two others of its gender due its difference in species. He thought about asking her what she was, in fact, but the moment he did she finally took notice of him and Dragonfly.

The dark furred female didn't seem to take kindly to being addressed though. Her head whipped around, ears pinning to her skull as the fur along her neck and shoulders rose, making her seem larger than she already was. Kota's electric blue orbs widened in surprise, and he glanced from Lukasse to Dragonfly to see what he should do. No one had ever shown actual aggression towards him before, but he knew it wasn't right. Instinctively, his own ears went back, and the fur along his half-tail bristled as fear and confusion pumped through him with every racing beat of his heart. What was going on here!? The feline thought desperately, before the stranger finally started speaking. Her voice was low, and slow, but she explained herself well enough. He had seen her walk over, apparently toward Lukasse, and had heard a bit of her asking his companion what was going on. However, her behavior and the fact that she was in this area at all made him think that she could have something to do with the 'condition' of these other creatures. Had they confronted this brown tipped she-fur and met their death at the points of her fangs? Before another shiver could run its way down his spine though, he noticed the stranger's attention solely focused on him, sending him rigid as she crept toward him.

When she got close enough to sniff the air about him, Kota did the same to her. She smelled similar to him, probably because they both had fur, but also completely alien. Once again, all he could think was, what is she? Now that she was closer though, he could tell that her coat couldn't be much longer than his, it just appeared longer due to its inky hue. Also, though her legs were long, giving her a height advantage, she had the same stocky build as him. All in all, he wasn't quite sure what to make of this she-fur, so kept still until she introduced herself again. He had heard her before, barely since his thoughts were about her harming the now dead creatures, but he didn'tsay so. Instead, he curtly dipped his head and parted his maw to speak, before Lukasse suddenly appeared in between them.

Having one of his friends so close was comforting, but Kota wasn't sure how Morse would take it. So, in an effort to keep the she-fur's friendliness going, he smiled at Lukasse and then went on to say,"I'm Kota, and these are my friends, Lukasse and Dragonfly." As he introduced each reptile, the blue-grey male nodded to them in turn, before continuing. "We have lived along the river for a little while now, and we have never seen these two. It is a surprise to see them, and you, in the same day is all." Kota had no idea of the implication of his words, they were merely what he was thinking. Nonetheless, they were said and out there, and he would have to deal with the consequences of them, despite the the fact that he was only trying to explain his and his companions' behavior to Morse.

[hemlock]

ig. just ig. 

always alone, always independent. 

it had been a long while since he'd found interest in venturing towards the river.


he'd never been overly fond of being near the current. an imperfect child of this reality, he'd been misshapen upon birth. outwardly beautiful, physically near exemplary. his fine angles, and natural talent for elegance. he was worthy of envy, of covetous looks. but, something had happened. something inward had vented the perfection, and pooled between his ears. it stunted his abilities, causing the feline to adapt and overcome. and part of this, was avoiding the one place that would only further hinder what was left of his hearing. it was the gathering that had done it. a gathering was growing in the distance, and ig was far too curious not to investigate. his pace was swift, but far from the delicate sway that oft carried the blue-ticked feline. coming upon them, his inquisitive expression seemed to brighten. a smile nearly touched his lips. after all, the gait he had used was nothing short of cavorting. an exuberant, and youthful jaunt. 

of course, it  was not long before the feline recognized the darkness within the moment. and confusion lit across his face as his eyes found the decaying remains. it was not long before their reach was directed towards the smacking mouths and dancing lips of the company. 

the right ear pushed forward to catch the words his left had garbled.

their words smothered as it entered the canal, washed out and lacking substance. his features were touched, visibly removed from the glee he'd been practicing earlier.

peering at the gathered creatures before him, he'd timidly draw nearer. his head descended between the angular peaks of his shoulders, the extraordinary length of his tail had fallen, it's tip coiled around an ankle as he'd fallen still. eerily, his lips twitched upwards, gums showing beneath the pale flesh of his mouth. his nimble paws drew him nearer, the ill-reaching grasp of his hearing flaying his comprehension. his features did not betray the frustration the curious feline had felt. instead, it adopted the look of concern: worry. the sharp electric caress of his eyes found themselves on the last to speak ( kota ), and having misheard; took up an assumption that was surely wrong and that would certainly draw the warmth of shame to his cheeks.

"my condolences." the words themselves were slurred.

his pitch and range imperfect from the affliction he'd suffered since his birth. 

[meixiaotian]

Dragonfly leaned back from the canine's aggressive stance. Perhaps she had surprised her. Her feathers raised for a moment until the canine calmed down. Part of her worried about how the situation could dissolve into fighting. Something about that attracted her, but only if it was actually fun for everyone, No, she most certainly wouldn't enjoy a true fight, though she thankfully had no experience in that. She relaxed even more as the furred creature felt safe enough to talk, but her tail twitched as the canine-Morse, talked about Lukasse. "This one," "they"? Didn't Morse know how to distinguish gender, or was she just mad at Lukasse for an unknown reason?

Morse turning away relieved her a bit since she couldn't think of anything much to say. The canine turned to Kota with a small wag of her tail. Dragonfly had seen multiple canines before, her experiences and instinct told her a canine's wagging tail meant happiness. Part of her was happy the tenseness seemed to go down, despite Lukasse's leap forward. Another part was slightly annoyed, maybe even more, at the fact that Morse was relaxed and excited by Kota, but afraid and tense with Lukasse and herself. Was the newcomer afraid of reptiles or somehow prejudiced against them? There was no reason to come to conclusions, she'd noticed reptiles were rarer in the Orchard. Maybe Morse just hadn't encountered reptiles before. The circumstances of their meeting wasn't going to leave a great impression either...

A couple seconds after Kota spoke, Dragonfly tensed again. There was a small implication that Morse had... Well... Caused the deaths... She glanced at Lukasse and Morse. Did they think the other had done something like that? Maybe... No, absolutely not. That wasn't what happened. She didn't know much, but she knew unless there was more than just a meeting at an unfortunate location, there was no reason to think anyone had done something wrong, especially since nobody except Kota was even injured. If there had been a fight, it would look more than perfectly healthy aboriginals meeting.

"Um, we could see what happened to them, in case this area is dangerous." The reptile realized that would probably mean digging near... Oh yuck. Maybe it would calm suspicions without completely disregarding anything. Then another came, a fine-looking feline. As she watched the newcomer, she realized she had never seen a feline besides Kota. Oh well, now she had, though the feline's words were confusing. Did Morse know the dead, and the light colored feline know Morse? Was that why the canine had been so aggressive? No, it hadn't sounded like it when Morse spoke. Oh dear, it was all becoming more and more overwhelming.

[Terris]

Morse was beginning to realise, that perhapes her newness in this world was a bit of a hindrance. Her lack of experience was showing, or, at least she felt it to be, but that did not mean she was going to give up any ground, oh no, that would make her look weak, and Morse was not going to look weak, not in front of these strange creatures.

Her ears flicked forward at the approach of another feline, and again, that sudden urge to play sprang forth. She pushed the feeling down forcefully, still so new in this world that she did not quite understand that this instinct to play was her body's way of getting her to hone her hunting skills. Why this had linked itself in her mind with the feline scent was a mystery that would never be solved, but it was wht it was.

It seemed there were a lot of things she did not understand about herself, like why the wariness of the other species, the furless ones? Was it because they were so different, or was it just the tense situation? The bronze one seemed fairly nice at least...and she could see herself tolerating, perhaps even forming a tentative friendship with that one. They were a conundrum, those reptiles were, so different from the furred creatures she could not even discern their gender. She would have to ask how to tell the difference at some point she supposed, but not now, now there were other things to worry about.

The white feline spoke. She assumed he had given his name, which seemed to be the polite thing to do on greeting, so she turned, her tail still wagging ever so slightly and gave her own in response, then, quickly turned her attention back to the reptile who had suggested the exhumation of the bodies.

"Yes, I think that might be wise, let's see what happened"

[Deleted]

Kota smiled at her and introduced all of them. She glanced again at Dragonfly, but kept silent. She was still wary about the canine, but for some reason both of her friends seemed to trust her. She should trust her too, she supposed, but she simply couldn’t relax.

She kept her eyes on the canine, not noticing her friends for the moment. She trusted them still and knew they wouldn’t do anything violent. The canine, though…

The canine noticed…something, and Lukasse finally did turn away from her so she could see what was going on. Another new creature – a feline – approached them and said…something. It took her a couple moments to realize what had been said – partly because the words were slurred and partly because “condolences” wasn’t a word she’d heard before. She dipped her head to the other feline, trusting him more than the canine since he showed politeness rather than what she had taken to be aggression. She wasn’t sure if correcting his assumption was the right thing to do or not, so she let it go.

Dragonfly then suggested they see what happened to the bodies. That…was a good idea, actually. Before she could respond and while Morse was replying, sudden intense pains shot through her. She was vaguely aware of a shriek that might have been hers, and the next thing she knew she was on her side on the ground. She flailed, looking for a comfortable position that might ease the pain, but there was no relief. In fact, the pain steadily got worse. It felt like her body was being pulled and stretched into an unnatural shape. She had no way of knowing, but that was close to what was actually happening.

Eventually, the pain died down to a manageable ache. Lukasse remained on her side, her breathing ragged and uneven. She stared ahead, eyes unfocused. What…what had just happened to her? That hadn’t been an attack, had it? She was still alive, after all.

((For easy reference:
<<Occult reptile. Just apply Lukasse’s markings to that base. Aries is still working on her picture.

I think after this round, everyone but Ignatius will have had three posts. Once Ignatius has posted for a third time, I’ll give everyone their experience. After that, we can keep going until the thread has reached a natural conclusion. ^.^))

[Deleted]

Another set of footsteps made Kota's ears twist about, tracking the sound of each, light step that the approaching creature made. However, he didn't turn his head to look, because he was too focused on Morse's reaction. Also, he made sure to glance between his two companions to see how they felt, since he had just thrown their names out there without asking. Introducing one's self felt natural when another creature though, so he had just assumed it was okay. As the blue-grey feline tossed one thought after the other through his head, he missed the other feline's words. It was the sound of its voice that made Kota focus back on everyone though, and his bright blue gaze couldn't help but be drawn to his peer.
For a whole minute, Kota just stared at the other feline, shocked at finally seeing someone else that looked like him. For some reason, it was a little more surprising than meeting Morse, who was another kind of intelligent species that lived in the world. He still wasn't sure what exactly to classify the dark she-fur yet, but that really didn't matter now. So entranced was he at seeing another feline, and one of his own gender, that he didn't notice Morse's lack of a response to his words. He just gazed at the newcomer, uncaring of what he had said, just grateful that was he here.

It was Dragonfly's voice, and suggestion of investigating the bodies, that finally snapped Kota out of his stupor. He jerked his head around to the dusty colored reptile, then toward Morse as she agreed to the plan. Thinking that Lukasse would probably say something next, he turned his head just in time to see his companion seize up and then fall over. For no apparent reason, the varicolored female thrashed about on the ground, hissing from pain and gasping for breath. Within seconds, he was forced to reel back from the reptile, since her legs were somehow reaching farther in their lashing than they had before. Just to be sure that Lukasse wouldn't hit him, Kota limped a few tail lengths away and then turned back to watch as she finally went still.

With a slow turn of his square head, Kota noted the same surprise and shock he felt on every other face, but his bright blue eyes rested on Lukasse. Her labored breathing was disturbing, but the changes in her body drew his attention and concern away for the moment. For one, she was bigger, which was probably how her legs had been able to reach him. Not just her body was bigger though, all of her limbs were thicker, and more evenly proportioned than they had been before. The feathers that lined her arms' elbows were gone, but seemed to now grow from her nape and tail in even longer plumes. The only thing that was the same about his companion was her coloring, and even that looked a little different over her new form.

"Huh," Kota finally said, before realizing that no one had checked on Lukasse yet. So, limping forward, he came up behind the female reptile's head, and leaned over slowly to check on her. Her eyes were open, which he thought was a good sign until he noticed her blank gaze. Instantly concerned, he leaned down and nudged his friend upon the cheek softly before asking,"Are you okay?"

[meixiaotian]

Morse agreed with her plan and there were no ob-Lukasse's scream made Dragonfly jump. She screamed too, though much quieter and shorter. Her scaled head swung to see her companion flailing on the ground. Panic and terror overwhelmed her. The only vaguely comprehendible thoughts were something like the ground was dangerous and that's what had happened to the buried bodies. They'd have to haul Lukasse out and run, never returning. Fear swallowed up the rest of her thoughts.

Her friend remained alive, though. As soon as she stilled, a shred of rational thought entered the aboriginal's mind and she bounded forward to Lukasse's prone body. Her bronze tail lashed in anguish. It took a few moments for her mouth to work. Her reaction and words couldn't hope to touch Kota's calm.

"Lukasse! You... You're not dead, right?"

Her head examined the reptile's not larger body very closely, with no conception of personal space. She moved her head along Lukasse's body, as if she was a canine with an all-knowing nose. Once she had assured herself Lukasse was not dead and the area was (probably) not cursed, she stepped back. She'd changed to be larger than Dragonfly, Kota, and maybe even Morse. Everything about her looked thicker and sturdier too.

[Deleted]

She wasn’t sure how long she lay there, recovering from the shock and pain that was her sudden change. The pain had eventually eased, though the shock lingered and she still felt strange. She was vaguely aware of stares, and noticed her friends had approached. That made her wince. She’d probably scared them. Why did she have to do that? Now they were worried about her.

Kota asked if she was okay and Dragonfly wanted to know that she wasn’t dead. Lukasse shook her head and awkwardly climbed to her feet. She’d intended to rise onto her hind legs like she’d always had, but she was considerably more top-heavy now and ended up crashing down onto her front legs. Yes, legs…her hands may as well be gone. Her arms had thickened and lengthened and the talons had shifted to closer match those on her hind feet. This was going to make walking awkward and possibly difficult…good thing they had to travel slowly anyway.

Then it hit her just how much she’d changed. She was bigger – taller than her friends and probably even the canine over there. She was also thicker. That gave her power, or at least she felt stronger. That was the first good feeling she experienced since the change. A bigger, stronger body meant she’d be able to protect her friends. Maybe she’d even be able to intimidate any potential attackers to the point where they wouldn’t bother her group. Finally, she had a use!

Something flashed across her vision without reaching her eyes. She blinked several times, though she knew it’d do no good. The image was in her mind. It was a clear one, full of trees covered in small fiery-hued leaves. With the image came a pull in the direction the three had been traveling. What…what was that, exactly? Should she tell them what she’d seen? Perhaps she’d been imagining things… But she now felt strongly that it was about time to be moving on.

First things first, though. There were the bodies. She crept forward and gave them a sniff, somehow managing to avoid recoiling at the stench. She thought she could see injuries on them, though she couldn’t tell if they were caused by accident or attack. Whatever had happened, though, the danger didn’t seem to be present…

She glanced back at the others, gesturing to the bodies. “Maybe you guys can find something I can’t? Either way, once we’re done we should probably bury them and be on our way. I don’t want to linger here.”