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Post by Emery on Mar 20, 2024 14:27:00 GMT -6
For a little while she and Moxie walked through light woods, with just as much sunlight as before, but soon they were in deep thickets of bushes. It took all Emery had to keep checking her compass to make sure they were still heading north- hopefully they wouldn't end up too far in either direction. Though if the map was correct she could still navigate via landmarks and make her way to the nest. But who knew how much time that would take. Soon though, night's gloom began pressing in too close for comfort, and Emery realized she had to stop and rest for the night. She pushed through the bushes some more until finally she found a spot where a massive tree had fallen, creating a clearing among otherwise dense trees. As she got the tent set up, Emery gazed up at the stars sparkling overhead, the moon shining bright.
Emery 1 Moxie 48.1/48.1 16
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Post by Emery on Mar 20, 2024 14:31:52 GMT -6
To the uninitiated it might have looked like she was in awe, but really she was just trying to figure out if she was still going in the right direction. She found a few constellations she recognized and they all appeared to be in roughly the same spots as when she left, so... she was probably fine? Probably. Emery groaned to herself. This was so inefficient, but what other choice did she have? Her tent didn't seem to want to unfold either, and frankly she was just... too tired to get anything set up properly. She sighed and leaned against Moxie, who was eating dried meat out of the bowl she had set up for him. At least that was something she could do. She slid down against his flank. He was actually... very warm and comfortable, now that she noticed it. Occasus kito were fire breathers, so his body was like a particularly round electric blanket.
Emery 2 Moxie 48.2/48.2 17
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Post by Emery on Mar 20, 2024 14:37:15 GMT -6
In fact, none of her food needed cooking either. She mostly had protein powders, which were easy enough to mix into her water supply. It looked and tasted like liquid concrete, but Emery didn't have much of a sense of taste anyway. She quickly chugged it while Moxie ate the rest of his meal. And then she realized... maybe she didn't need a tent. Or a fire. She could just sleep here. She dragged something else off of Moxie's back- a sleeping bag. It took a few minutes to get set up, but soon she was snuggled up inside it, using Moxie as a pillow. He seemed to get the picture and stretched his legs out luxuriously before setting his head on Emery's lap. He was so cozy and warm. She didn't have a fire to scare off predators, but she highly doubted any of them would mess with Moxie. As she drifted off to sleep, she was sure nothing about this was going to go wrong.
Emery 3 Moxie 48.3/48.3 18
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Post by Emery on Mar 20, 2024 14:45:36 GMT -6
Oh god, her bones. Why did she do that. By the time Emery woke up the following morning, the sun was already high in the sky and horrible pain had seeped into all her joints. She had chosen to sleep on the hard ground with no air mattress at a strange angle, and her body had counted up the price and taken its payment. Emery simply laid there in pain for a few minutes, willing her joints to unlock. Slowly, painfully, she regained the ability to move and reached for her bag for pain medication. That was. A bad idea. To add insult to injury, Moxie had also severely damaged her sleeping bag by drooling all over it in his sleep. She had gotten lucky that the outer layers of it had taken the brunt of the damage from his acidic saliva- her own clothes were untouched. The kito stared at her happily, undisturbed.
Emery 4 Moxie 48.4/48.4 19
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Post by Emery on Mar 20, 2024 14:49:05 GMT -6
Emery sighed. There was no point in getting upset with him about it- it was her own fault. She went through her morning routine in short order. She took her pills. She set out more food for Moxie, who was suitably distracted by it while she packed up. Sleeping bag washed off with some excess water- perhaps she could fix it when she got back. Drink water. Protein shake breakfast. Bathroom. Washcloth bath. Soon she was packing up the last of her equipment. While not getting unpacked had proven to ultimately be a bad idea- she was going to have to take it slow today- it did make her re-packing go a lot more quickly. Even though she had woken up very late, she had finished packing at about the same time as if she had gotten up early. It didn't take her long to load Moxie up again, and then they were off.
Emery 5 Moxie 49.0/49.0 20
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Post by Emery on Mar 22, 2024 9:24:25 GMT -6
She checked the map. If the stars were where she thought they were, they should be making their way out of the forest that day. Emery put the map away and started thinking. That meant they were getting close to the chiryma. She was going to need a plan for how to handle it. Chiryma were usually quite sweet, genial creatures. Easy for beginners to train, and common as mounts to ride around the city. But she doubted a feral chiryma was going to have the same disposition- a creature like that was going to need to be a lot more grizzled to survive out in the wild, and would likely be hyper-vigilant against any potential threats to her nest. So Emery was going to have to treat the creature how it was- as a large, dangerous bird that was taller than she was and several hundred pounds in weight.
Emery 6 Moxie 49.1/49.1 21
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Post by Emery on Mar 22, 2024 9:29:36 GMT -6
That would be tough for anyone to handle, but luckily Emery wasn't GOING to be the one who handled it. That was what she had brought Moxie along for. Emery couldn't be sure what breed of chiryma this was, but just about anything would be a fair fight for Moxie. He was stronger and heavier than the average chiryma, and had control over fire. Even if he didn't win, they didn't NEED to win. All Emery actually had to do was grab an egg, stuff it in her bag, and get out. The average chiryma couldn't count very high, so the creature would likely calm down once she realized her nest was no longer in danger. She would consider herself to have done a good job of protecting her nest, forcing the attackers to back off, when in reality Emery would have slipped their prize right out from under her.
Emery 7 Moxie 49.2/49.2 22
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Post by Emery on Mar 22, 2024 9:42:09 GMT -6
That was the idea, at least. They still had to get out of the woods so far. The forest was clearing out a bit, but Emery now had to contend with a series of streams she had to pass over. For a normal person this wouldn't be an issue, but for Emery she either had to find a spot that was narrow enough where she could safely hop across, or try and build some sort of makeshift bridge. She couldn't allow water to touch her electronics. Moxie found tis all terribly odd, and would just splash through the stream once Emery figured out how to cross, stepping onto the other side unharmed. (If wet.) Once she got past the criss-crossing streams however, she finally exited onto the plains. There was only a tree every several hundred feet now, and Emery knew she had to be getting close. So close in fact, that she should probably check the map.
Emery 8 Moxie 49.3/49.3 23
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Post by Emery on Mar 22, 2024 9:44:56 GMT -6
She pulled it out and took a look at the area on it where the plains met the forest once more and found- to her surprise- a noted crisscrossing of streams close to where the chiryma nest was. She had managed to come out right next to it! Or, theoretically right next to it. She still had to find the beast. As she put the map away however, she saw Moxie standing at attention, his neck straight up in the air. "Moxie, what-" Emery said, following his gaze- and then she saw it, nestled against a hill. A black chiryma, curled up on the ground. It had brown streaks in its feathers, but overall it stood out against the pale green stalks of grass. Emery grabbed Moxie's lead, trying to think of how she should handle this. She didn't want Moxie to actually injure the creature- that would be a waste of an interesting specimen.
Emery 9 Moxie 49.4/49.4 24
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Post by Emery on Mar 22, 2024 9:52:37 GMT -6
Instead, she pulled his muzzle out from the pack and quickly strapped it over his face. He croaked with displeasure, not wanting his mouth to be restrained now that he had finally sighted something REALLY good to eat. But Emery knew that if she let him have his jaws free, then he wouldn't stop until he had eaten this chiryma. This way she could pull him off of her if needed and they could make their escape. With that done, Emery made her way around the side of the chiryma. Hopefully she could push it parallel to the hill away from its nest, rather than trying to back it up the hill. Then while Moxie and it were busy, she could rush in and grab an egg. The plan, of course, almost immediately failed. Before Emery could get within fifty feet of it, the chiryma's head popped up, regarding them with a bright golden eye.
Emery 10 Moxie 50.0/50.0 25
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Post by Emery on Mar 22, 2024 11:07:24 GMT -6
It hissed, loud and low, and almost immediately began flapping its stubby wings as a defense mechanism- a version 1 chiryma, apparently. Emery moved to give Moxie the command to strike, but the chiryma moved first. It moved with surprising speed, racing along the hill straight at them. Emery's reflexes weren't great, but luckily she wasn't its target. She dove to the side as it slammed into Moxie beak first, hitting him with the rock hard appendage as hard as she could. Emery glanced back at Moxie, who was moving with a predator's silence. He would be fine, hopefully. She didn't even have to give him the command to fight back- he was already doing so, lashing out with his clawed feet and slapping with his tail. Fire was already starting to puff out around the edges of his wire muzzle as he got worked up. It would be an interesting fight, but not one that Emery could stick around to watch.
Emery 11 Moxie 50.1/50.1 26
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Post by Emery on Mar 22, 2024 11:10:26 GMT -6
She had to make use of this opening while it was there. For all she knew, the chiryma would realize any second where she had gotten off to and would run over to stomp her to death. Unfortunately, there was still a lot of ground to clear between Emery and the nest. She could hear the chiryma shrieking with rage behind her. Hopefully it wouldn't get any closer- she couldn't turn to look back, but it sounded like it was still close to Moxie, duking it out. Emery did her best to keep low to the ground, though she really wished she hadn't dropped her cane on accident back there. She'd have to grab it when leaving again, if possible. Finally, she reached the nest. It was a massive pile of grass, plucked out of the grass and piled high like a hay stack. Presumably, the eggs were sitting inside, incubating.
Emery 12 Moxie 50.2/50.2 27
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Post by Emery on Mar 22, 2024 11:32:48 GMT -6
So much for plucking one off of the top where the chiryma wouldn't notice. Still, Emery crept around to the far side of the nest and plunged her arm in, digging through the cut grass for anything that felt round and smooth. Finally her hand made a connection, and she pulled as hard as she could. Out came, to her relief, an egg. It was just how Emery had researched it- a bit bigger than a softball, ovoid, and gleaming white. Before she could even think about it, Emery shoved it into a pouch on her hip- just the right size for it. Then she bailed out, almost rolling down the hill away from the nest before the mother chiryma could notice her there. Luckily, she seemed to still be well occupied by Moxie- thank goodness for that. Soon Emery was creeping her way back- though she had to figure out how to get the two apart.
Emery 13 Moxie 50.3/50.3 28
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Post by Emery on Mar 22, 2024 11:52:29 GMT -6
Emery couldn't count how long her trip had taken. A minute or two? Maybe three? She hadn't exactly been counting, and the adrenaline rush meant that her perception of time was a bit out of whack. By the time she returned to the fray however, both Moxie and the chiryma looked exhausted. Emery slowly crept up towards Moxie and grabbed his lead before gently tugging on it, walking backwards. She didn't make direct eye contact with it (well, not that she could with a box for a head), but she didn't turn away either. "Moxie, no. We're done. Follow me." She said, praying that it would work. Moxie stepped back, but breathed out one last gout of flame towards the chiryma, who stumbled backwards. Still, that gave the pair the smokescreen they needed to make their escape, hustling back across the field. Emery glanced back every few steps- the chiryma wasn't following.
Emery 14 Moxie 50.4/50.4 29
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Post by Emery on Mar 22, 2024 11:55:04 GMT -6
Instead, it looked like she was returning to her nest. They were in the clear. After a few minutes of walking, Emery and Moxie hit another stream. Not wanting to find a place to jump across right yet, Emery instead opted to sit down for a bit of a break. She opened her hip pouch- the egg was still perfectly intact. She sighed with relief and took the pouch off. She strapped it to Moxie- his large, warm body would make a much better incubator than Emery. She also got out a bowl and fed Moxie as well. It was a job well done for both of them. Now all she had to figure out was how to get home. Emery got out the map again, still not quite able to read it, but by this point she didn't have to worry about making good time. She decided to just take the easy route around the perimeter of the forest. The stress was off- now they just had to get home safe.
Emery 15 Moxie 51.0/51.0 30
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