Egress Unveiled Event: The Brutes
Draw or write your Reosean partaking in a free-for-all trial of combat. Each contestant is tasked with gathering golden rocks, you may be a warrior to fight tooth and nail for your prizes, or maybe you sneakily take a few from another. The winner will be decided by who has the most golden rocks at the end of the timer.
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Just here for the CP:
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3092 Words
By FourDayz and Renya06
"Something smells off," she'd said as she ran, long tail whipping around like a wayward flag, guiding Naros to wherever she wanted to spread chaos to next. He hadn't smelled anything, but then again, she was probably talking about what he referred to as 'magic smell'. He'd gotten used to the fact that Kinosa was magic; it oozed and flowed in and through her, mingling with her senses in such a way that she often confused them. She saw, tasted, and heard in spectrums that would never be attainable to him or anyone else.
By the time she stopped, the sun had set, and they could see the soft moonlight glinting off an oddly frozen scenery. Patches of it had clearly been cleaned off, and many sets of feet had trampled the way to a cave entrance.
"It's that foul thing again." She said as they got closer, face scrunched up like she'd eaten something rotten. Naros thought the snow looked beautiful, even in its half-melted state, but he wouldn't dismiss her words. She was deceitful and cunning, and he wouldn't put it past her to lie to him to better serve her goals—she'd done so before—but he was getting better at recognizing her tells. He even felt a little pride that he was probably the only being who had ever come close enough to the elusive Camo Hunter to do so.
"Someone's coming," she said, and in a blink, she'd merged with the surrounding gloom, leaving him to face whoever it may be on his own. Unsurprising, but it still hurt; how easy it was for her to leave him when the opposite was so very hard.
Not wanting to be caught unaware, he tiptoed closer to the opening and, upon not seeing anything, leaned forward to glimpse into the dark abyss below. 'You know, the point of me warning you was so you'd hide' he startled as his shadow spoke to him. Looking around to try and spot his companion, he lost his footing on the ledge and began sliding downward in an ungainly pile of limbs, screeching her name as he picked up speed.
Indeed they weren’t the only creatures by the entrance of the crevasse. Another vayron, a runner, stepped out from the shadows of the rocky walls. Moonlight washed over the white on her mane and coat, practically setting her and the surrounding snow aglow. She shouted three names into the night, three reckless pups, only a few years younger than herself, yet she worried for them like a mother for her own kids.
Hearing no response, she debated whether she should continue her search outside the chasm or head back in. She had a job to do after all. Political alliances were not won through babysitting, or well, so one might think. She didn’t think they could be won through thievery and yet she had earned The Forgotten’s assent just so.
There was a sound akin to scratching coming from above her. Pebbles and snow rained down the walls. She looked up just as a figure slipped out of the moonlight and into the shadows. It slid down the rock, claws scrambling for purchase and screeching something she couldn’t quite make out. She gasped as it landed with a heavy thud and an oof.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” She asked. She reached out to help but seemed to think better and withdrew it, keeping her distance from the other vayron.
"Nope, 'm fine." He grunted from where he lay on the floor. Unabashed cackling could be heard filtering through from above, and he got up to glare at it. She could've helped; he knew she could've. He looked around, and his jaw dropped, "Woah... You're beautiful!" The stranger's swirly white and blue coat left him breathless, and he couldn't stop staring. He quickly got up and cleared his throat, glad that his pink fur would hide his blush "Huh, yes, Hi! I'm Naros. Are you okay? This place isn't natural. "
She blinked then giggle at the quick change in conversation, forgetting her brief shock in seeing him tumbling down a fairly tall rock wall. "Formalities escape you, don't they?" Deciding that the puller called Naros must be fine if he was so willing to conversate she continued. "I am fine but you haven't seen three pups up above?"
He frowned, “Pups? No, no there wasn’t anyone up there. The traces in the snow looked fairly faded as well.” He hoped they hadn’t encountered the thing that had made Kino wary. They’d never managed to even see it, but the frozen scapes it left behind always put her in quite a mood. If this lady hadn’t encountered it either, it would seem they had missed it once again. But, speaking of the fair stranger, “I apologize for my rudeness, I was simply worried that you may have met whatever caused this mess.” He gestured to the sparkling icicles slowly dripping onto the cavern ground, “May I ask your name?”
"Ethel. And no need to apologize. I just found your lack of introduction fairly charming." Her smiled faded as she examined the half-melted snow around them. "Better they remain trapezing about the caverns, then. If you are entering the haedian's home land then allow me to take to through the tunnels. Other have lighted the more well tread routes but it's easy to get lost. Maybe you can tell me more about the entity that causes this snow? You seem have more experience with it than I."
"Ahh, I'm sorry to say that I don't know much. We-I," he could practically hear Kino's chastising at the near slip of revealing her presence, but this lady was making him flustered, okay! "I've never seen the thing for myself. I just know it's bad news. And-"
A distinctive laugh cut him off, a predatory snapping of sharp teeth echoing ominously.
As the Camo Hunter slunk out of the shadows she'd been merged with, the glow of her crown bathed the area an eerie purple. "Headians, you say? Now that's a word I haven't heard in a long, long time."
He gaped as she came forward, her diminutive body offset by her impressive presence. Those 'headians' must really be something else if they could get the elusive Kinosa to show herself to a stranger.
Ethel turned sharply, startled by sound of someone else speaking. She was sure it was just to the two of them here. Her eyes flicked up to the purple sigil atop the chaser’s head.
Ah, Magicborn.
She took a few steps away from Naros and the newcomer. Was the “we” Naros was covering for?
“So, you’ve already heard of them? That’s a rare occurrence.”
Naros could see by the telltale flicks of Kinosa’s tail that she was getting irritated. She hated having to reveal more than she was willing, especially when it pertained to her past. He didn’t want to unleash her ire on Ethel, so he promptly jammed himself between the two, “W-well, that’s not very important right now, is it?” The puller begged Ethel to drop it, eyes pleading. “Weren’t you looking for some pups? Our quarry also seems to have vanished into these caves, so we might as well travel together!”
“Hm, I guess your right...” She was about to turn to the caves when another figure at the top of the ridge caught her eye. They were mostly obscured bar the slight glow on their face and tail, a detail that would lost in the daylight.
“ETHEL! WAIT!” He shouted while quickly making his way down the wall as well.
She sighed. “My apologies. We’ll be having an additional member our party.”
She instantly bristled at the sound of yet another newcomer, and in the span of a blink, the purple hue that had been tinting their surroundings vanished. Naros was ready for it this time -he caught sight of the minute way his own shadow had seemed to darken and sighed. At least she was still close by.
"Ah, don't worry about her." he answered the quizzical look sent his way, "She's just not a fan of crowds... or any company, really. She'll be back if she feels like it." He smiled, deciding to stay vague on her actual location.
Then again, what did he know? She could have already jumped to another place and he would be none the wiser. "Who's your friend?" he said, looking at the faintly glowing vay making his way down the precarious incline.
“You can call him my shadow.” Ethel said as the other runner met up with them. He stood quite close to her, practically in front of her.
“Where’s the other one? I know I saw two of you.” He narrowed his eyes at Naros.
“This is Mendras and, please, don’t mind his suspicions. He was taught to be this way. Mendras, this is Naros, be nice to him.” Mendras gave a small nod of his head but said nothibg. Ethel continued. “I don’t believe your chaser friend introduced herself. Do you mind giving us a name?”
