[Kyrit]

As normal for any puppy, Runt didn't exactly have the attention span to figure out what had been laughing at them, if it had really been laughing at him at all. Oddly enough, the fact that Nandi's paw went right through his flesh didn't seem to cause any harm to the Kirund. He didn't really even notice that she was trying to get his attention until she spoke up. His ruby eyes looked at her, head cocked to the side slightly, as if confused by her question. Well.. That probably at least answered one of her questions. If he had been in pain, he surely would have yelped and ran away or something.

As Nandi's tail started trashing about, Runt crouched down in a playful position again, his flopping down splashing up the bloody mud that had been around his body. He had given a nod to the final question, although it was pretty hard to tell if he really understood what she was saying. Didn't help that he couldn't give an answer either. He could bark, growl, yip, and what not, but no talking like a human.

He did scoot back a few inches and let out a whimper though as Mooph started to yell. Maybe he really had wanted to join them..? That or he just didn't enjoy being yelled at. Maybe a combination of both even.

[Moofius]

"But daddy," the mekka whined, also drooping along with her new friend, "Look, you upset him. And how is he dangerous? He's falling apart, hahaha. And and and, he's cute?" Nandi gave her dad the irresistible puppy eyes (doubly impossible to resist when she was a big scary mekka, right? Right?). Mooph just glared at her, then back to the thing and.

"Nandi, honey... It's bleeding, it's hurt. It should go home and get... un-hurt." The lucain was well aware of the rotting things condition, if you will. It could bleed and bleed and be fine. But if Nandi thought it was hurt and should go home and rest well, all the better for his safety and his child's safety.
Nandi looked and, noticing the muds strange, blood tinted colour, gasped, "Oh my Yepha! Dad's right, you ARE bleeding! We have to get him help, daddy! He has to come with us now!"

Complete plan backfire? You bet. Mooph frowned before... letting out an exasperated sigh. His daughter (who was grinning ear to ear. She knew when she'd won.) would bring him to an early grave; well, if Moofius didn't do that first.
"Okay, then we should go back to town to get him help."
He was sure that, even in the slums, towns folk wouldn't allow a kirund to run around and terrorize, right? They'd chase it out and Nandi would be safe.

[Kyrit]

As Nandi started to talk, the Kirund pup began to inch closer to them again, wiggling through the mud so slowly that he was barely getting anywhere at all. His ears had also perked up, flicking back and forth as he listened to the Mekka and Lucain chatter back and forth. Mouth open, his tongue was lolling out to the side as his tail flopped around slowly behind him. If he weren't rotting... it probably really would have been quite the cute puppy pose.

For a moment he took on a look of confusion once again, head tilting to the side as Nandi noticed the blood mixing with the mud. He was so used to it that really, it was nothing big to him. His parents had been the same way, so was it so bad? Runt rolled over on his back, looking at Mooph upside down with a smile on his silly little face. Why did they think he needed help?

Oh! Oh, were they going somewhere? Rolling back over, the Kirund jumped up and darted in a few circles around his two 'companions'. Yay~ They were going to take him with them. Where were they going though? Would it be some place with lots of people? His tail was flopping around faster at the thought. Finally staying still for a moment, he stopped in front of Mooph and made sure to drag his tongue across the Lucain's cheek.

[Moofius]

Watching that alien, undead creature circling them like this, it really unnerved him. Mooph couldn't help but think wolves and... and Jaws! Man, that movie had been pretty scary. The lucain would be the first to admit cowardice, but in his defense cowards often lived longer then their braver opposites.

Nandi seemed to continue her innocent love of the kirund and went from mekka to kuni which only made Mooph more worried. A kuni would only be a bitesized snack to a kirund. In her defense though she'd probably be faster than a kirund in this muddy/soupy place. Mooph already knew he was in big trouble when this thing decided to attack.
As Mooph watched the strange, un-natural creature he seemed to be... well playing. Mooph shook his head; don't fall for it's tricks! It's just trying to catch you off guaRD!?!??!!
His eyes flew up only to close again quickly to avoid direct tongue-to-eye contact. The diseased, rotting, gross THING had just... just licked him! Probably tasting him. Mooph grabbed Nandi and backwed away from the kirund. Once again he was all puffed up and looking angry.

While all of these thoughts ran through her daddies head Nandi watched the kirund as he circled them, playfully flopping towards him when he was next to her. She'd always prefer her kuni form as it was the one she was born with. So she left herself as a kuni, flopping around and giggling with the playful kirund.
When he licked her dads face she squealed.
"Aww! Daddy he likes-!?!?" she screamed when he pulled her out of the mud so suddenly. It hadn't hurt but it had surprised her. Still in shock she dangled in his jaws, "You? Daddy! He was just bein' friendly!"
She was a fighter so Nandi regained herself and flailed in his grasp. Man he was such a wimp sometimes!

[ShadowStitches]

(uhm...can I still join?)


Adam

Alice

Adam sighted slightly, puffing up his primitive feathers and laid them closely to his body
again. When Alice told him she wanted to go on a little 'flight he didnt expect her to
go here. Why here anyway? Okay, so it was a little dark and swampy, and that was what Alice loved,
but come on...this wasnt worth it, at least not in his opinion.
"Come on Adam, or are you tired already?" The light colored Corbine infront of him chuckeled,
and flew  a little faster. /Even though she acts so grown up and serious, she really still is a
child at heart/ The winged Gyrraptor thought, flapping his wings faster. After a while of flying arround
and chasing each other, both of them rested on low branches, about 5 meters above the mud covered ground. "Do you hear that?""What?" The Raptor tilted his head to one side, listening closely.
Voices, and splashing of mud, and then a Lucain, a Kirund, and what seemed to be a odly colored Kuni
came to sight. The Lucain seemed to be greatly irritated by the obviously young Kirund, while
the Kuni seemed to like it. Alice hopped down on a branch a little lower. She never saw a Kirund behave like this./Interisting.../ "Alice. Come back here" Adam hissed nervously. He didnt like strangers,
and he hated the fact that he, who was much heavier then the Corbine, couldnt move on the branches without making a lot of noise. So he stood where he was, watching with concern as Alice slowly 'crept'
closer to the 'newcomers'

[Kyrit]

(Sorry for the wait Shadow. You happened to join while I was out of town. ^^; Anyways, you're certainly welcome to join. Especially since you threw the sexy Corbine at my thread. o3o)

Runt really hadn't meant anything by the lick. Well, nothing bad at least. It had just been a friendly gesture, the same as when a dog were to lick its owner in greeting. He seemed to be quite confused when Moopheus took it to mean that he had been tasting him. His ears hung down, his head sinking down slightly as well. He didn't know if he had done something bad or not really, as the smaller of the two still seemed to be quite thrilled for him to be there.

While his head continued to hang like a shamed pup, his ears didn't stay down for long. They perked up as a new voice came to them, flicking up and down a few times. New visitors? His interest in Nandi and Mooph was lost for a moment, turning around and looking around for where the voice had come from. He didn't instantly catch sight of either of them, so he let out a whimper and turned back to his current companions, inching closer to them. It was almost as if he was whining about not being able to find something. Or maybe he was asking Moopheus, the oldest of the group, to tell him what was there?

[Moofius]

Moopheus just wanted out of this crazy swamp! He loved Nandi, more then anything! He loved her more then Moofius' cooking, or napping, or playing with the other lucain or the kuhna's pups. He loved it more then messing with Moofius or talking with Olive. He loved his little girl and would do anything for her but why this swamp? It was too dangerous and he should have told her no.
But by Zu'hai's robe it was so hard to tell her no.
Did this make him a bad father? Well, yah, getting your daughter killed by wild creatures in a swamp wasn't exactly near the top of the "#1 Dad" list.

The kirund seemed distracted by something for a moment so Moopheus took this opportunity to trudge forward through the muck to try and get away from the kirund. Unfortunately he didn't stay distracted. Setting the still flailing and grumbling Nandi down (at his side, away from the kirund) he growled:
"I don't know what you want or who you are or what kind of sick game you're playing but leave. Us. Alone!"

Oh man, Moopheus was acting more irritable then usual but with all those thoughts in his head, well, you'd be scared and angry (for being so scared) too.
Nandi was also angry, but more so at her father.
"Daddy he's not hurting anybody!"
But somebody did happen to want to hurt Nandi today, it just wasn't who Mooph was expecting.

The mud blinked one yellow eye. How long had this lump of mud been watching the group? About the time it noticed they were carrying off a tasty morsel of a kuni. So far though the lucain proved to be a bit too defensive of his own food and so the mud had waited, and waited. Then the kirund creature. At first it had become unnerved by the rotting flesh but here, in the swamp, you had to be able to adjust; the only other option was death.
So adjusted the mud waited and waited just for such an occasion. The kuni wasn't far from the lucain but she was far enough; one could sense these things from the mood that the lucain gave off. The kirund was too terrified (a defective kirund, just his luck) to do much of anythiung right now.
The eye disappeared in a wink and did not resurface.

Nandi was fuming and had no idea what to say, besides, her dad was so angry right now; it was a little scary.
"Daddy... I... I ju-Ah?! DAH-!!" And she was gone, like that. It took less then a full moment for his whole world to go out. He heard the distress in her voice as soon as her voice rose the octave but even as quickly as he turned her head she was gone. No sign or trance of her, like she never existed.
"Nandi...? NANDI!?"

(( What a twist! P= ))

[ShadowStitches]

(Dun dun dun! )
The feathered pair stood stock still when the attention of the group was turned towards them.
Alice wanted to know more about them before meeting them, and Adam did not even want to
meet them at all. The Corbine tilted her head slightly. The Lucain obviously was stressed out,
and didnt like the Kirund at all. /Aw...he's just a little puppy, everyone can see that.
This guy really is overeacting/. While Alice analysed the behavior of the Group, Adam glared at
a suspicious looking lump of mud. "Uhm...Alice?" he said, looking closer.  "I think the little
Kuni might end up as..." Whoosh, Nandi was gone "Oh my!" Alice said in shock. "We have to help her!
Adam! do something already!!" "Wha-?No Why, we dont even know them an..""ADAM!"
The Corbine picked at one of his toes, drawing blood. "Ouch!! okay okay!"  
The winged Gyrraptor lept off the branch and swooped down. He flew close to the ground,
and suddently dug his feet into the mud, a few meters away from where  Nandi dissapeared.
Adam really hoped that he interpret the little waves on the surface correctly...
Alice started shortly after him, flying towards Runt and Moopheus"Its okay, he just
wants to help". She was afraid that Moopheus, who looked as if he was going to snap,
might think that Adam tried to attack them or Nandi too.

(2/2)

(oh, its okay Draiz^^ and thanks )

[Kyrit]

Leave them... alone..? Ears down and tail lowering, the young Kirund took a few steps back from the Lucain and Kuni. But... They had said he could travel with them, didn't they? Back when the little one was fretting over nothing. Had he done something wrong? He just wanted to play, really. He couldn't understand that Mooph was just acting upon fatherly instinct.

Ready to turn with his tail between his legs and slink off, Runt didn't get the chance. Nandi's short little cry sounded through the air, and suddenly it seemed like he was a completely different being. His body became tense, eyes narrowed, and his lips curled back in a snarl. Sure, his nature was usually playful, but Runt knew what was needed in a time of danger. This... seemed like a great danger. The one person, or rather Kuni, that had accepted him and even wanted to play with him had just gone missing. Whoever had taken the little one would surely pay a great price.

Eyes flicking over to look at the Corbine that was flying toward them, Runt snarled and let out a deep growl. He had seen the Gyrraptor, but wasn't quite sure what to take of it. Was this Corbine trying to distract them while the other took off with Nandi? Now wasn't the time to take the chances of them possibly actually being there to help. Running toward the feathered reptile, Runt lunged at him. Maybe it'd be a good idea for Adam to move, unless he wanted the claws and fangs of the rotting canine to catch him. With any luck, if Adam had in deed landed on what had caught Nandi, it would stay caught even if he moved, what with the angered beast that was aiming to land in that spot as well.

[Moofius]

If Nandi hadn't of gone missing Moopheus would be rid of that kirund... thing. But Nandi had gone missing so the kirund (who had clearly not been the cause, at least not directly) was here and for once since he'd seen the creature Moopheus didn't mind.
He did, however, mind the sudden appearance of a strangely coloured corbine and the strange mutant gyrraptor Moopheus didn't even know what to do about them. Were they helping him or were they going to help themselves to a kuni snack?
At this point in the game it could be either so all Moopheus could manage was a bark and a warning growl at the whole lot of them. His attention turned to the darkly coloured gyrraptor who had tackled the mud. Under the reptiles claw could be seen a squirming bit of swamp which suddenly revealed enough of itself to be identifiable as a hydrolisk; a very angry hydrolisk.

---

So they'd noticed the kuni (now firmly in his claws) cry out but they had no idea where he was. Or, so he thought until he felt a huge weight of something heavy falling on his back. The shock of the hit almost drowned him but he regained himself (still holding his lunch under water) and artfully twisted his body,  opening his mouth to let out an angry hiss. The hydrolisk hoped to bite his attackers leg and make a quick escape.

---

Thank Zu'hai for gills! Nandi wasn't drowning, at least, but she was hugely in shock. She could feel four sharp pains digging into her chest along with two on either side of the fin along her back. His claws were sharp and it was impossible for her to transform under water. The bell couldn't exactly ring down here.

[ShadowStitches]

like Alice thought, both the Kirund and the Lucain missunderstood Adam's
helping attempt as an attack on the Kuni. What she did not expect was that
Runt would react that heavily. She saw the bigger 'thread' in Moopheus, because
the Kirund looked sad, and was just about to leave. But she was at fault at that and
damn, that Kirund-pup...thing was fast!  "Hey! Hey stop!!!" She screamed, fluttering
in mid air, not really knowing what to do. She was far to small and lightweight to do anything to stop the
Kirund.

Adam meanwhile found himself caught in an involuntary mud-rodeo ride with a seriously angered Hydrolisk.
He hoped that the shock of him landing on the creature would at least stun it for a short time,
but he miscalculated and now had to deal with a worringly flexible opponent. He hissed
and just wanted to thrust one of his big killing claws on his feet into the Hydrolisk, wich was about to
bit into his leg, when he was distracted by something he saw in the corner of his eye.
Turning his head, Adam saw something no one really likes to see. An angered, attacking Kirund,
jumping at him. He let out a loud screech, (some sort of mixture between threatening growl and
terrified scream) and jumped of the struggeling Hydrolisk, fluttering heavily. This looked chaotic and
strangely funny, but Adam didnt care. He just wanted to get as much space between him and the
snarling 'zombie pup' as possible.

[Kyrit]

If one thought about it in a good light, Runt's frightening Adam could have possibly kept him from having fangs that would have been just as bad as the Kirund's tearing through the skin his his leg. Even if those fangs happened to catch the pup, it wasn't like he'd notice in the least. It was one of the things that characterized him as what he was, seeing as how his species felt little to no pain. The loss of a limb meant nothing to an enraged Kirund, who would fight until its heart stopped beating.

This particular one would stop though, but only after it knew that the little white and brown buddy it had made was safe once again. Landing where Adam had once been, the pup was soon alerted to the real enemy by the angry hiss and the snap of jaws. What he hadn't noticed that those particular jaws had found his leg instead of the Gyrraptor it had been hoping for.

The answer to the hiss the Hydrolisk had lashed out with was a snarl from the Kirund, fiery eyes staring down at the reptile. If it wanted to get anywhere it would have to first get away from him, as, even though he was rotting, he was far from the lightweight the beast had tried to take off with as a snack. Within seconds, he continued to follow up his attack by lashing out and aiming for the Hydrolisk's neck with his fangs.

[Moofius]

Things had gone from good to worse for the hydrolisk. What, seriously? More interferrence from others outside the party? What did they care if he ate some kuni? He was ready to tear off the gyrraptors leg but it was replaced with a kirund. Not a leg was a leg, but when it came to a kirund well, that wasn't really the case. The kirund wasn't going to stop attacking him even if he did rip off the dumb mutts leg and then beat him with it. This had gone from bad to out of control!

The planned "quick escape" was now turning into a "get out quick or you'll die" tangled panic in the hydrolisks mind. He let go of the kirund and tries to wiggle out from under him and swim away. Cranning his neck away and under the murky water he only just dodged what could have been a lethal bite.

---

Nandi was now being pressed into the mud, her body crushed under the hydrolisks. It was getting hard to breath what with mud covering her gills and her whole body, lungs and all, being crushed under the weight of a hydrolisk. In an attempt to get away Nandi started clawing at her attackers fingers. Maybe he'd let her go?

---

As much as he'd love to find out why the gyrraptor and corbine were even here and why they were interferring, time was not on his side. Doing something he tought he'd never do he jumped into the battle with the hydrolisk in hopes of helping the kirund. Yah, helping a kirund was never (and would never) be on his list of "things to do". Life, being a cruel and confusing thing, had thrown Moopheus an unlikely (and rotting) ally to help save his daughter. At the moment he wasn't about to complain about who helped him.

[ShadowStitches]

Alice actually was kind of happy that Adam was out of reach of the Hydrolisk's
snout. He could have been seriously hurt. However, the fight wasnt over yet, and
Alice still couldnt do anything but watch. Flying in circles over them all, she suddently
nearly fell out of the sky from shock. There where a Hydrolisk,a Kirund and a full grown
Lucain pressing poor Nandi into the mud. She was about to get squashed! and if not,
she might suffocate because of all the mud. flying lower, she screamed "wait!
you are squashing her! try to go for the...arms of that thing!" god how she hated
to be so small sometimes. Now all she could do was watch...



-4- -4-

[ShadowStitches]

(split post into two, Draiz said it is okay^^)

Adam meanwhile perched on a dead tree that fell into the swamp,
glaring angrily at the Kirund. He was not one who forgets easily, and after that mutt
nearly gave him a heartattack, he wouldnt be very friendly arroud him...most likely.
He however did care for the little Kuni, and he was on the jump, whenever they
would need his help again. but right now, it would do much more harm then good when he
would joyn the fight too.

(5/5)