Alma
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Post by Alma on Oct 27, 2019 18:40:57 GMT -6
A moment later, she was surprised by a click from behind her, her laughter dying down to a chuckle as the halfbreed ran in front of her to gather the meat that had been thrown. She made no move to stop the halfbreed, though the dead thing took a step forward as though it planned to. The dead hatchling did nothing else though, only watching her less than furious reaction.
With her beast returned to her and apparently willing enough to come when called, with the pocket pets of the dead hatchling secured and the dead hatchling in question seemingly uninterested in doing anything more than acting as a hatchling might, she finally relaxed enough to go to the fountain and proceed to do her best to scrub away some of the syrup from the pocket pet and the lingering sap on her arm. With the beast and the slave both still wary around one another but staying close to her, she wondered why the priest was taking so long to make an appearance.
Then she felt it, as if it had been waiting only for her to seek it out rather than focusing on all the little things running around her. Something thrumming, something that did not feel right at all.
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Alma
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Post by Alma on Oct 27, 2019 18:41:14 GMT -6
She did not rip her arms from the fountain in a huge splash of algae infested water, did not run for the front of the soft-skin property nor call out to the beast with her to do anything. She continued to wash her arms as if she did not feel the thrumming on her scales, in her bones, the warning that the priest was nearby and no doubt just as aware of her as she was of them. She would not be able to surprise it that way, and surprising them would be her only hope of taking them down.
Neither the dead hatchling nor the living halfbreed showed any sign of reacting to the power she felt, so she suspected it was meant for her, to intimidate her before the other priest went in for the kill. They would not find her so pathetic as to grovel and cower, especially with what she knew of the priest’s shortcomings. She removed her arms from the fountain when they were mostly clear of sap and goop, expecting the priest to step out at any second, impatient with her lack of a response. Yet no sign of them appeared, not even the sound of a breath that was not her own or from the halfbreed beside her.
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Alma
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Post by Alma on Oct 27, 2019 18:41:28 GMT -6
It was her turn to become impatient as she double checked the sack for any sign of escaping pocket pets, as she fed more of the treated to the halfbreed. She would not need them for training now, not when she intended to either die that night or go home to sleep after a bloody fight. The priest was refusing to appear, the only sign that it had to still be there being the maddening thrum. She almost felt she could make out the direction it was coming from, the source of the feeling, but her casual glances revealed nothing but more carved stones and mounds in that direction.
“[Fine.]” she muttered, then, switching to Common to show just how she felt about the priest, she snapped, “Thine! Con out den, ye-ou coward!” There was no response, not a laugh of something about to make her regret her choice of insults, nor even the slightest shuffle of movement at her words beyond the startled twitch of the halfbreed beside her. The dead hatchling merely tilted its head to the side. There was no sudden change that suggested it was back under the priest’s control any more than there was a reaction by it to the thrumming at all.
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Alma
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Baly-gor
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Post by Alma on Oct 27, 2019 18:41:40 GMT -6
She wanted the priest to come out, to challenge her, to expose themselves, to do something more than continue the long wait. The halfbreed would be next to useless in the upcoming fight, it’s only use to her being to hopefully draw the eye of the priest as it fled to somewhere safer on the property. The dead hatchling appeared to have no thirst for vengeance, and therefore could not be trusted to assist in a battle that it would be the cause of.
She wished she had the cursed knife at least. Maybe, if she was lucky, the priest would somehow kill themselves with it after they looted it from her body.
No, she would remain positive. She had her teeth and her claws, the bit of rope she had tied into a noose that the halfbreed had slipped out of. If she could get it around the priest’s throat, she might be able to kill them yet.
With that thought, she slowly unwound some of the rope, hoping there would be enough slack for what she would need to do. If the priest lacked a knife, she might even manage to simply choke him to death. She began to walk over to the stones left of the source as if she expected to find something there.
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Alma
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Post by Alma on Oct 27, 2019 18:42:01 GMT -6
The halfbreed followed her closely behind, the dead hatchling lagging behind a few paces. While she was still yards from her apparent goal though only feet from where she suspected the priest hid, the thrumming to her side grew in strength, confirming the location of the stupid priest.
And so, without a shriek or battle cry that might have given away her plan, she twisted her body mid-step and lunged at the space behind the stones, rope swinging out before her to foil as swipe and hopefully snag on something important. It did neither, falling to the ground as Haix landed her pounce in the middle of absolutely nothing.
There was no priest, not smells that suggested it had ever been there, but the unpleasant sensation that had lead her to believe the priest hid there was just as powerful. No, there was no priest, but there was a gem on the ground before her, as if the mining familiar had somehow summoned it. The feeling came from the rock, and yet, in her tiredness, she picked it up anyways to look it over. Once again, there was no blood, no sigils, just a smooth uncut surface like the dead hatchling.
That particular being just stared with the halfbreed as Haix stood up, brushed some dirt off of her scales, and dropped the gem in the bag. At least the pocket pets and the sack seemed to be dampening the thrum a decent amount.
She was still more than ready to leave now though.
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((Haix levels counted.))
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Post by Jack on Oct 27, 2019 18:44:24 GMT -6
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Alma
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Post by Alma on Oct 27, 2019 18:56:39 GMT -6
Well. That was not something you saw every day.
Haix looked at the extremely familiar creature that paused before her, then to the one who had just joined her a short while ago, then back to the dead hatchling's apparent twin. This had to be a warning of some sort, the priest was just toying with them at this point. "[Just...How many versions of you are there around here, juggling one?]" She kept her tone calm, wondering if this one would prove to be violent, the emotions cleaved from the living and split between two skeletons. Though that did not explain how a second skeleton would have bonded so well. The mining halfbreed was less impressed, only yawning as the creature crossed their path. There was nothing to eat on it, and this one did not look like it intended to fight.
As she stood still, the bone familiar who had joined her had no such shock at seeing another one of it's kind. It did not rush over to it, but it did manage to take a step towards it's mirror image before Haix slowly crouched beside her pets. The words she spoke would be gibberish to all but her, but at least the tone was soft and even, hopefully nothing in it that might enrage the second skeletal hatchling.
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Post by Jack on Oct 27, 2019 19:10:12 GMT -6
The bone familiar stared for a moment and then mirrored the step forward that the other familiar did. It tilted it's head a little and stared at the Ssashirk for another moment and then took another step forward to sniff at her a little bit. Hmm, that was interesting at least, it didn't see much of these things in the mansion.
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Alma
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Post by Alma on Oct 27, 2019 19:51:49 GMT -6
The bone familiar that Haix referred to as Juggler was overjoyed to see that the other one like it had decided to approach. It watched as the other came closer to sniff at the big green lizard, it's glowing eyes brightening in testament to just how happy it was. Of course said glow went largely unnoticed by Haix and the crossbreed, neither of which would have been able to understand the meaning behind it. That was fine with it. It just wanted to greet the other properly.
The halfbreed certainly did not care, moving behind Haix to flop down and rest.
Seeing as it was only sniffing her, at least that was what she assumed it was doing, instead of sinking it's pointy teeth into her, Haix felt fairly hopeful that she would make it out of this encounter alive as well. It had stepped forward after her dead hatchling, for she would think of it as such at least while the twin was there, which suggested the two were connected in some way. Have the priest sacrificed two mutated twins and made them into the skeletal things before her now? "[Where is the one who sent you, little one?]" she asked it, ready to throw herself backwards if the sniffing turned into a bite.
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Post by Jack on Oct 27, 2019 20:58:27 GMT -6
It tilted it's head the other way at the voice, it was... soothing, in a way. The eyes glowed a brighter red, and it went forward some more to rub up against the familiar sight in front of it. It was happy to see another of it's kind, it had been too long.
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Alma
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Post by Alma on Oct 28, 2019 0:15:16 GMT -6
The head tilt again, nearly completing the similarities to hers. This one was showing no interest in juggling, though she guessed the first dead hatchling would not have juggled had it known she and the halfbreed were there. The head tilt, the appearance, and the way it had yet to attack or speak is enough to convince her that this one is no greater a threat than the one she had been journeying with. She made not move to block it as it stepped up to her dead hatchling, and she wondered if she would have to call the first one something beyond 'the dead hatchling' if it's twin decided to come along with them. Juggler would work for now. Wary of disturbing the dead creatures as they communed, she looked around for any sign of the priest who had to be taunting her at this point, but did not see any sign of them.
Juggler, as it was now called, matched the brightness of the other with it's own eyes, rubbing against the other bone familiar with a rattle of bones. It could not remember ever being so happy, now with another of its kind and soon to see the world beyond the fence. But it did not want to leave without the other it had just met, its eyes dimming slightly as it considered losing its new friend. No, they would come too, right? It pulled back slightly, holding out a hand to the other familiar, an invitation it could not express through sound.
The crossbreed, behind the lizard looking around at nothing and the rattling skeletons, decided all of them were dumb with a yawn. It wanted to get out of here, but it would nap if the lizard refused to move on.
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Post by Jack on Oct 28, 2019 17:21:20 GMT -6
Bobbing it's head in a rather sentient behavior, the bone familiar went over to the Ssashirk and rubbed up against her if she let it, signaling that it wouldn't let it's companion leave without it at this point. No, it was too important to leave things alone, it would go with them for now.
[Congratulations, you've tamed the bone familiar!]
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Alma
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Baly-gor
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Post by Alma on Oct 31, 2019 15:44:00 GMT -6
There were no blood trails glistening darkly under the moonlight, no daubed or carved symbols on any of the stones jutting up from the ground that might have been a warning or a demand of a particularly confident priest. Now that she had found two of the dead hatchlings, their appearance completely identical as far as she had seen, she was not sure one of the true priests was even responsible for their existence, which meant she was dealing with a soft-skin or one of the damned heretics the soft-skin hive held so deep within itself.
She would need to look over the newcomer a little further while Juggler distracted it. There would have to be some tell, some minor flaw that would show her that the two were not completely identical. If she found it, perhaps a limp in one, or a cut or blemish on their bones that the other did not have, then she would know for a fact that they were regular dead hatchlings. Considering how long she had been around Juggler, and how long she had been on the soft-skin grounds, she was not sure she wanted to consider the alternative.
The halfbreed did not care what magic had brought the two dead things around.
((While the new bone familiar will be mentioned, they are not gaining levels and are not included in the word count.))
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Alma
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Post by Alma on Oct 31, 2019 15:44:12 GMT -6
Then the new dead hatchling attempted to touch her. Haix had a split second to rein in her impulse to throw herself back and away from the thing before it could touch her and do some terrible thing like causing her flesh to flow from her bones to clothe the dead one, taking its place as a slave while it fled in stolen splendor. She also had to fight to not attempt to kill it, to crush its head before it would bite her and infect her with some form of necrotic poison that would cause her to die screaming, essence forever trapped within her bones to be a slave as it was.
She did neither despite both fighting for control, allowing the dead thing to come closer, much too close for her comfort. Much too close that she could not help but note the lack of obvious differences between this form and the one she had examined earlier. And as she puzzled over that, mind racing as to what it meant, the dead hatchling merely rested it’s head on her leg and started, Juggler giving off a little rattle of excitement as it did so. Confused, she nevertheless spoke to it gently, and it returned to Juggler after a few moments later.
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Alma
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Post by Alma on Oct 31, 2019 15:44:25 GMT -6
It was not the most complex halfbreed in existence, nor the most intelligent or dumbest by far, but it knew very well what it wanted. And that thing it wanted most was food, with water a close second. Rest was also pretty high up on the list, and without any obvious source of food or drink, it had attempted to at least make some progress in securing that. The mining halfbreed had yawned multiple times, ignoring the rattling skeletons with an aloofness that tat-lung might envy, but the noise was enough that it doubted it would be able to fall asleep any time soon. It did not wish to fight them, but it did want them to shut up. Actually, no, it would have been fine if they had been ground to dust.It simply did not want to deal with them itself.
A click in their direction was enough to confirm that yes, they were skeletons without a hint of meat on their bones. So it could not even motivate itself with the promise of food once it was done. The halfbreed yawned one last time, hoping the green lizard would catch on and shut up the two skeletons with minimal racket, or give out more treats.
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