[ORP-ish] Bloody nails and broken hearts (Completed.)

[Revolutionary Roniel]

This thing we call a corpse, so fearful to behold,
Is already right here- our own body.

((This RP is for Padmapani members who choose to stay and defend the herd against the attackers. I've already spoken to those of you involved in this plot, but if you have a Padmapani member and want to join in, please contact me.

What occurs here is simultaneous with these RPs: Murder of hope, Wheel of suffering. For more information, see this thread. Warning warning warning! The RPs listed here will be of a dark and violent nature. Soquili deaths may will occur!

So far, this RP includes: Hayagriva, Glissando, Nirvana, Parnasabari, Samsara, Zulian, Svanbjorn, Daimhin, Carmilla, Rosiotti, Scythe, Utena Tenjou, Padmasambhava... ))  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

In a flurry of activity most of the herd disappeared. Each one that faded from sight brought Haya a breath of relief. One by one his herd and family were leaving for safety. Revyra had left with them, something he was glad for. There would be someone to protect his mother there if things went poorly. Haya had sent along Bodhisattva with those running away too. She had trained under both him and Revyra and would be an asset in a tough situation. She was far more capable than her flippant personality would suggest.

The rest of the fighters of the herd had stayed behind. This was the most they had ever had in the way of defense for a skinwalker attack. Even Scythe was there. Hypothetically it should be an easier fight than their previous ones, but Haya knew too keenly how quickly the tide of battle could change.

The frozen inactivity that had paralyzed him at the word of skinwalkers had left him and now he was back to his normal self, ready to fight. "Where are you?" he muttered to the empty trees before them. The longer they waited the more painful the anticipation was.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Glissando shifted his weight from hoof to hoof. His whole body betrayed his anxiety. His tail feathers opened then snapped shut again. He snatched a clump of mane in his mouth and chewed at it. He had fought a kalona before but never skinwalkers. Several members of his close family had gotten caught up in skinwalker attacks before and they still bore the scars to prove it. He wondered how many there would be. Three or four, the mare had said? That would leave about two Padmapani per skinwalker. Not as good a ratio as he could have wanted.

"Hey, Dad," he said to Nirvana. "Skinwalker can only be cats and wolves, right?"  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Nirvana shook his head. Few Padmapani members had seen him with anything other than a smile on his face but now he was somber and quiet. He could sense the evil approaching, like clouds on the horizon. This was not going to be a pleasant fight. "No, Gliss. There are also coyote skinwalkers, and other vicious beasts." He glanced upward to a lone hawk circling in the sky. Could it be a skinwalker, ready to dive down upon them?

"Stay close to me," he told him. "I want to be able to keep an eye on you."  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

At any other time Glissando would have caustically snapped at his father that he didn't need to be looked after like an errant foal. Today, he refrained. "Makes me wish I'd found a bear familiar like I was thinking about." He tried to make it a joke, though it fell somewhat flat. "You know, if we had a couple big bears here we'd be-"

He blinked and stared. "Bari, what are you doing here?"  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Parnasabari wandered into view of the others. Her smile was eerie and offbalanced, and on her back she wore the pelt of Sukha, her fox familiar who had been killed by Samsara during another attack. The pelt lay over her back, a strangely obscene treatment of the one who had been such a close friend. She ambled over to Haya and gave a shrill giggle.

"Are the skinwalkers almost here? Can we kill them yet?" It was only too bad she didn't have a pit. Pushing them into a pit would be the best way to kill them, but attacking them herself wouldn't be bad either.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

"Bari!" Haya wheeled to face her and stared at her in disbelief. She had chosen the worst possible moment to lose what sanity she had left. He had to get her out of here. She'd either get eaten by a skinwalker or get someone else killed trying to protect her. "You need to leave NOW!" His voice was loud enough to still all other conversations to silence.

"Follow the rest of the herd! You're not going to kill anybody!" He wondered if he'd be forced to n** her to make her run. They couldn't afford to let anybody go with her back to the herd. They needed everybody they could for defense. "Bari, go!"  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

There would be no more perfect moment of distraction. Haya turned his back on their hiding places entirely to shout at the idiot mare that had stayed behind. Everyone's eyes were on her, no one looking to the rocky slopes around them. Samsara didn't announce the attack, not wanting to lose the element of surprise. She flowed out from behind her rock with supple grace and was dashing down the slope as fast as flowing water. All the others she would leave to her servants. Her target was her father.



Zulian was the second to follow. Even though his tiger form was far larger than Samsara's, he still was infinitely more agile than any normal soquili going the same way. There were so many soquili out there he wanted so badly to maim. After today, he'd be able to cross a few of them off his list.



Where the rest of them ran, Svanbjorn flew. They had been hiding for what felt like hours and his body was cramped from the awkward position he'd been huddled in to stay out of sight. After all that time it was a pleasure to finally be able to spread his wings and do what his body was meant to.

He glided in an arc around the defenders. Samsara would take them from one side and he would distract their energy from the other.



Daimhin had neither the paws of a skinwalker or the wings of a kalona. This left him in an awkward position clambering up to their hiding place, but even more so coming down. He made his way down the slope as quickly as he dared and barely managed to keep his footing. Stumbling down the rocks wasn't exactly a dramatic entrance, but he'd leave that up to Samsara.



Unlike the others, Carmilla stayed hidden where she was. She was in her small flutter form and doubted that anyone would be able to spot her, or have any reason to attack her while she stayed where she was. She wasn't a player in this battle, only a spectator. In a rare impulse, she wished she had gone with Svanbjorn on some of his murderous errands. It would have been nice to have acquired some skills herself, instead of being the useless deadweight she was.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Too late, Haya turned. Bari's importance faded to a pinprick in light of the monsters coming at them from one side. Somehow, they had managed to sneak up on them while they all were busy preparing.

There was Samsara, his cursed daughter. He also instantly recognized the tiger skinwalker that had been with her before. The rest were unfamiliar, nameless enemies he had to vanquish. "Everyone, turn! Skinwalkers!" He shouted, though it would be impossible to fully prepare themselves before the onslaught. It was too late for planning, too late for defensive lines. Too late for praying, too late for talking. Now all they had time to do was fight for their lives.  

[Celestial Requiem]

Like Svanbjorn, Rosiotti took straight to the air. His wings couldn't carry him as high or as quickly as those of a kalona's but his reflexes were sharper and his feline qualities allowed him a bit more agility than normal Soquili. He maneuvered around the group like Svanbjorn but from the opposite side. They would be surrounded, herded into a small clustered and completely destroyed. That's how Rosi saw this battle going and the thought brought a malicious grin to his face.  

[Dixie]

Skinwalkers... he had heard the word that he knew was coming. He had only hoped that they would have been able to finish this celebration before the skinwalkers showed. He watched as Vara turned to take the others to safety. His eyes met her's and he offered a loving expression. There was no time stay and talk, he knew that Vara had to get the others out of the area. He nodded to her, his sign that everything would be okay. It always had been...

Turning he faced Haya and the others that had stayed. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the movement, then recognized the coat of the female walker. "Haya!" He yelled, but he was late. Haya had already turned and spoted the female and the others.

He charged towards the remaining herd, his expression that was normally loving and calm was now charged with the anger in him that these soquili were attacking his family. His fangs bared, his lips snarled... The large stallion headed for the orange skinwalker. If Scythe and his son could hold off the skinwalkers, then the other's could repel the attack of the non pawed attackers.

His eyes set in on Zulian, he was aiming to ram him in the ribs. Though in tiger form, it was still enough of an area to make him a target. As he neared, Scythe lowered his head to use his horns for the purpose they were for, ramming.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Zulian wasn't about to back down from a challenge. He had been aiming at one of the younger stallions, hoping to get a more lively fight, but if the old chained one had chosen him then it had to mean that he was something special. Zulian liked destroying special things. He changed his path with a fierce yowl and ran straight for Scythe.

He was running at top speed when he reached Scythe and this proved to be a mistake. He wasn't able to maneuver fast enough to get around him, so he ended up colliding directly with Scythe's lowered horns. The air rushed out of him but the impact did nothing to lessen his ferocity. He couldn't reach a good place to bite from this angle so lashed out with his paws instead. He tried to grapple them around Scythe's horns, to hold onto the weapons and prevent them from being used against him again!  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Utena was one of the soquili who had stayed behind to defend the herd. Her lovemate Capriccia was in the other group, running away with the children that Akio had sired but that belonged only to Capriccia and her. She was only a recent addition to the Padmapani herd but it was already her home. She gripped her sword between her teeth and narrowed her eyes with determination. The skinwalkers were paired off with combatants, so she'd take the large silver stallion stumbling down the rocks. Her sword would make up for the difference in reach.

She stepped out to meet him, being careful not to get in the way of any other blooming points of combat. After beating Akio and rescuing her children from him, she felt like there was nothing she couldn't do.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Padmasambhava gulped and stepped closer to Glissando as their attackers poured out from their hiding places. She became paralyzed with true fear... but it didn't last long. Everything was happening so fast. Before she knew it, people were pairing off with opponents and the first blows were being exchanged. She stood with Glissando and his father and shot a glance at the two of them quickly before looking at the two opponents yet unmatched.

There was the part-kalona and the flying cat thing. Padma made her decision of who to fight somewhat selfishly. She didn't want to have to fight a kalona all on her own, and the flying cat thing didn't look like it was quite as dangerous. "Hey you!" she shouted to Rosiotti. "Yeah, you! You stupid ugly lame flying chicken cat thing!" She wasn't a cheery person. Now... she could finally let loose all the invective that she normally held back.

"Yeah you, featherbrain! Come here and fight!" She was frightened before. Now she was almost... giddy? It was the wrong reaction to the situation, but it was what kept her from running in terror.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

"Glissando!" shouted Nirvana above the shouting and stamping. "The kalona! Both of us. Come on!" He snapped his teeth in challenge at the flapping kalona and braced his four hooves against the ground in preparation for an aerial attack.

Glissando didn't even recognize the soquili that stood beside him anymore. The way Nirvana was acting didn't make sense in any context. The happy mellow exterior had melted away into ferocity and Glissando didn't understand the transition. "Uh, yeah! Sure!" he replied. He moved to stand beside his father but facing the other direction. This would give the kalona a harder time to divebomb them.