The pack stood before Kishi and Naveen, their heads and tails tall. The glare of the noon sun wrapped around their silhouettes, reshaped them into more imposing figures than they were. Their Matriarchs, an orange kadin with dark-and-cream points and a stone kadin with a vivid blue ember and white paws, stared down at the pair like they were something nasty that they’d stepped in. Their toas scattered around them, heads low and tails lashing. Snarls filled the air. It was a stunning display that had Naveen quaking beside Kishi. The harpy scowled and tugged the corpse of his and Naveen’s prey closer to himself, meeting the orange kadin’s gaze evenly. He knew these games. Kath had played this game and watched their competitors play it. He wasn’t going to let this pack bully them. “Hand over the snoot.” the orange kadin demanded. In the intense light, the plumey feathers around her frill looked like spines. Naveen gulped beside Kishi. Kishi continued to hold the kadin’s gaze. “No.” he

Kishi was a lot more patient than he was, Naveen decided. They were deep in the forest of Salamander Island, and Kishi had been stalking some leivris for hours. His nose to the ground, his body held low as he slithered between ferns and young palms and nutili burrs. It was honestly impressive, watching his friend carefully pad between long palm leaves. It wasn’t like leivris were actually all that much food. From where Naveen was laying (quite comfortably across a very nicely warmed rock beside a shade-covered pool), what Kishi was doing was wasted effort. “You know, we could hunt quaggha instead.” he suggested when Kishi came a little closer. One dark ear twitched towards him, Kishi’s lace-banded frill lifted off his neck in warning. One very green eye fixed on Naveen for a moment. “Or you could help.” Kishi barely whispered it. Naveen sighed and lowered his chin to his paws. “Leivris aren’t worth the trouble. ‘Sides, if you break into their burrow they’ll swarm you.” He didn’t bother

Antikutan was a miserable place. The air burned at Kishi’s lungs, everything had a thick purple haze over it, everything stank of acid, and he felt weaker just Existing there. He assumed that was why they had an escort. An armored charcoal with vicious spines sticking out of his back and his ankles, who’s confident steps somehow reminded the toa of a bird. Maybe it was just the toa’s name. Either way, Kishi was miserable, and he was blaming Kaleo. If Kaleo didn’t need morban for whatever dye he was short on, they wouldn’t be here and he’d still be at home with Naveen, or curled up on the beach of Salamander Island. Not here, looking for a carnivorous plant that would try to kill them, and getting slowly eaten at by acid. Kaleo’s muzzle brushed his shoulder. Another apology for dragging him along, he was sure, but he was too annoyed to forgive his mate in the moment. “You really need this shit fresh?” their escort, Kestrel, asked, looking back over his spiny-armored shoulder. Kaleo’s

unbeguiled: HELLO WORLD fureveryoung: oh, new people. Hello there. unbeguiled: aaaaa it’s working!! hi! hold on i’m trying to patch some friends in, too but the tech’s acting weird Cinnecot: You’re in the Chasm of course it’s weird. Move your pet fern three fingers to the left. unbeguiled: HI OTHER DAD! dad’s trying to get in and unbeguiled: MOVING THE PLANT WORKED! fureveryoung: Somehow I don’t think I’ll ever understand the chasm. Kinenor: Greetings. Cinnecot: afkaerngaerkjngaerkjrtgktrgkjreg HON WTF!? THAT NAME?!?!? Kinenor: T’is accurate. Cinnecot: krfnaergknrtkjnerknerakjergkjnergaernk fureveryoung: wut unbeguiled: DAD PLZ fureveryoung: I’m missing something Cinnecot: I’m not translating. Just no. >////< Hon why are you like this IWantAMochocoChaos: LAWL yeah he would Cinnecot: Hey CC unbeguilded: Hey bro! Kinenor: I feel that you disapprove ;p Cinnecot: most folks don’t know who you really are here and can’t call you something else, or will nickname you based on it. Kinenor: I

Brekarus’s snarl sent freezing terror up Aniru’s spine and he ducked just fast enough to avoid his father’s massive claws. They swiped viscously where his head had been and slammed through a branch of the dead tree that Aniru had moment’s prior been sharpening his claws on. The -CRACK- of the dead wood shattering under his father’s claw, and the eruption of bark, splinters and wood rained down on Aniru’s golden pet like sleet from hell. He cowered only for a moment, before he was smart enough to /move/, throwing himself sideways when Brekarus reared up like a fox about to plunge into a mouse’s winter burrow. Still his father snarled, his eyes, like burning ice, wide with fury and disapproval. Not four tail lengths away, his littermate sat and watched, her pretty head tilted to the side and her tail curled almost daintily over her paws. Aniru’s heart thundered in his chest, and he gulped. He scrambled to his paws, backwards, away from his father, and he looked to Kamakshi for a