[ORP] The Flood

[phoenix kiss]

The grey kiokote looks far more relieved than it ought to be; for a moment it nearly droops with exhaustion, but then looks around at the floating folk on logs, all of the creatures clinging to their kimeti, and nods to himself. "I am the only one I have seen so far -- beyond you. These waters will not recede for some time, I think." It sounds disappointed; tossing its short mane out of its face, it sighs. "We must move farther into the swamp, where the destruction is not so great." It pauses. "At least, it shouldn't be."

Not entirely convinced of the solidity of the plan, the kiokote shrugs and smiles thinly. It is, at least, a plan. "And pick up any others along the way that we find; perhaps the rest of our kind have outpaced the flood."  

[fluorescein]

The Swamp slowed to highlight every millisecond it took for Look-see to succumb to the waters and was freed by her unknown helper. Her dim sight compacted her fear, constricting her throat, but instinct forced her lungs to gulp air down. There was a familiar burn of exhaustion riding her body. It was that voice again. Vanity would be her death. Adrenaline still raging through her blood, she kicked the waters furiously, keeping afloat. "Thanks" she said to where she thought the other kimeti was. He called her "Miss." What was that? Or did he mean she just missed being hit by something in the water? She swam closer to the other kimeti. "I can't see where I..." time lagged "I'm getting tired." She placed her forelegs on his back, willing her heart to not burst out. She hoped he would get her to safety. Distantly she heard Doom and Gloom call after her.

Gloom aged 20 seasons just by watching Look-See go under only to be saved by a purple and white buck. A strange emotion blossomed and it was purely illogical, at wars with his methodical personality. He was seething something close to jealousy. He was slightly taken back. Someone else had saved her, not her family. ********. In times of stress he allowed loss of control over his emotions. And looked to his side. Great. Just what he needed. MotherFather thought his life would be so much richer if it included a judgmental kimeti and her riled up eaglehound. He bared his teeth and then realized his rage was misplaced. Scaling back he addressed her with a look before shifting to allow the dead kiokote's head pop up from the water, its dull eyes staring at the other kimeti head-on. "I assume this is a kiokote." He stepped on the head lightly to have it bob in agreement. Macabre sense of humor this one.

Determination gave her tunnel vision. With Look-See saved and Gloom surfing the waves on his makeshift float, Doom scanned the waters for something climb on. Her hair rushed forward in wet tendrils. She flicked her head to the side and over her shoulders caught sight of a large logging make its merry way downstream. It was just the right size. She swam to the side waiting for it to come down but not before noticing it was already filled with inhabitants. Time to mingle.  

[Nyqol]

Take Flight watched as the waters elevated higher and higher. It seemed almost impossible that they would ever reach any place that would be safe enough. He sighed at the question. Even he didn't really understand what it was he wanted to do next. There was just too much going on to decide what the right thing to do was. "I don't know yet... What about you? Do you have any other plans?"

The buck didn't worry so much about his lost home. He could always rebuild one once the flood was over. And he didn't have much valuables to begin with anyway. All he was worried about was how King was doing and everyone else was safe. It seemed as if they were on the wrong side of the swamp but he followed Peregrine and Triage anyway. It's better to travel in a group than to be alone, he kept telling himself.

"Hey, aren't you tired..? I'm getting really tired. I wonder how much longer this is going to take..." he panted and whined, his ribs were starting to ache and his legs were trembling from exhaustion after swimming for what seemed like hours. Take Flight leaned against a log that was floating nearby. "And I don't see anyone else around. Are you sure we are going the right way?" he asked, a bit concerned. I hope we're not lost...  

[hybridic]

Bowlegged thought she might have heard her name again and swam faster in response, but was distracted when a far closer voice called out. "HELLOOO? ANYBODY THERE?"

The sound came from the same direction the other had, but was much closer -- so close, she realized, that she could see the kimeti who had spoken. Maybe he's seen Holly, Stumble thought to herself hopefully as she swam towards the purple buck.

"Hello! Um, I'm here!" she said as she approached him. "I'm looking for my sister, Hollyhock...she's black and white, with streaks of red...I'm really worried...she's blind, you see..."  

[hybridic]

Thoushalt spat bits of twig and bark out of his mouth as he emerged from underwater. Ungentlemanly behavior, perhaps, but at least he had freed the poor doe from that tree branch. "No need to thank me, Miss," he said. "I couldn't very well let you drown."

At her comment about not being able to see, Thou swam closer, worried that the doe had gotten debris in her eyes and damaged them -- but then he saw the milky clouds over her eyes and understood. "Oh! Oh, I'm sorry," he said, surprised, "I didn't realize..." embarrassed by his rudeness, Thou shook his head. "Here, um..." he looked around for something for her to rest on but found nothing. "...swim with me and rest yourself on my back until I can find us a log or something to float atop of. My name is Thoushalt."  

[gooberfeesh]

Crimson Tears offered the color-speckled doe a small smile as he swam beside her. When she mentioned a resting area, however, he nodded and turned slightly to the right.

"Follow me, it's not far," he told her, leading the way.

In a few short moments they were back where he'd previously been with the other buck. The tiny patch of land barely housed their two forms comfortably, so Crimson decided to stay in the water while his newly found companion took advantage of the resting spot.

"I'm Crimson Tears, by the way," he introduced himself.

The Big One looked at her.
He was different from other Big Ones.
He had rocks on his face.
A little frightened, yet still very much concerned for her safety, Quicks Paws held on.
She was afraid of deep water.
There was no more long branches she could climb on.
Her fur bristled when the Big One she rode screamed.
She chirped back angrily, upset that he was loud.
Still, she didn't let go of his back rock.

 

[Xerianthe]

“Oh! You saved the foxbuns. I wasn’t certain you would, some kimeti do not care for them and though they are quite cute and adorable they do not have much of any other use. I suppose I could say thank you, perhaps on behalf of my friends here? We have gotten quite close in our fishing time.” Nocturne bobs along happily, bopping her head to the sound of waves. The foxbuns on her back chitter restlessly, moving along her back until the doe shushes them. At the other doe’s question, she pauses thoughtfully, “I do suppose you could say I rescued them, and I do suppose it took all day. There really wasn’t much else to do, was there? I’m not physically able to carry another doe or even a foal, so at best I would just drown anyone I attempted to aid quicker. Easier to sit in a tree and fish for foxbuns, and very rewarding.”

As the other two began to speak to each other about a destination, Nocturne remained uncharacteristically quiet. It could easily be attributed to her thoughts on how to re-work her little ditty to reflect their new predicament, being no longer in a tree. She returned to the world of the living when the other two began to swim off, and paddles after. “I hope you don’t mind if I follow you, there really isn’t much of another place to go. And we can let all of the foxbuns off at the same place so that they will be together.”

The group swims for a bit, and finally Nocturne tires of her sotto voce humming. “I wonder where all of the alligators are. I haven’t seen any at all today. With all of the dead around, you would think they would be swarming. Yet I haven’t seen a one. You two have been roaming, have you seen any?” she questioned curiously. Then she frowned for a moment. “Oh! I am Nocturne of Shadows. I may presume that you are siblings, at least I hope that is all that you are but sometimes trees just get so gnarled…”  

[Xerianthe]

The plunge into the water shocked him momentarily, and Alder spent a moment peering vainly into muddy water before he realized what had occurred. One kick sent him to the surface, spitting out water in a fountain. His eyes immediately sought out the children, and finding the filly resting on the turtle he sought out Whistles Twice, finding the colt moments before his frantic cries.

Worried that the panic would cause the colt to drown Alder was quick to reach his side, nudging his head underneath Whistles’. While he didn’t take the colt onto his back again, he made sure that he was close enough that it was possible should Whistles Twice suddenly start to sink. The foal had been swimming fine earlier, and Alder assumed that it was only his fear that was making him uncertain. “I’m here little one. Just keep swimming.”

A piece of debris drifted by; a thick branch, perhaps one that had been caught under the cypresses; Alder snapped his teeth around a thin twig branched off and dragged it through the water to where he and Whistles Twice were bobbing, hooking a leg over the thickest part. “This should do to rest on should we need it.” His second thought is to find the legendary, the stag having been unconscious only moments before and Alder wanted to make sure of his safety.

Slowly, and being sure that Whistles was still right next to him, Alder kicked the branch over to the stag, bobbing along next to him. “Would you like to share the branch with us? It is sturdy enough to do for now. And you were not long ago exhausted.” The grey kiokote is not the only one worried about sticking together.  

[elufae]

Mourning Fog sighed with relief as heads poked above the waters depths. Hearing the colt cry out, he was about to give assistance, though Alder reached him first. Smiling, he watched the buck as he aided the colt. When the buck offered to him a portion of the branch, he gratefully accepted. It seemed that this buck was helping him left and right. But he didn't mind. He wasn't above accepting help. Smiling, he put some of his weight on the branch, immediately feeling as though the swim would be much easier from then on. Looking up, the stag spotted more kiokote joining up with the grey one from earlier.

Turning to his branch-partners, he spoke, "Let's catch up to the kiokote, perhaps those new ones know where the rest of their kind are." That notion was tugging at his mind. He had seen so little kiokote so far, but hadn't the flood come from their lands? Surely...surely they weren't all...gone.  

[Amizade]

"Be nice, Tooth," chided Brume as the snake hissed suspiciously at the doe. She did not like other kimeti, and certainly not other female kimeti. The snake stopped hissing, but her eyes remained locked on the newcomer, her forked tongue darting out quickly.

"Hello!" Brume greeted. "Hollyhock? No, sorry. I'm looking for a different sister, Bowlegged." There was a momentary pause as he processed what the blue and yellow doe had just said.
"OH. Ohh, so you're the elusive Bowlegged. Pardon me! Uh... well, it's a good thing you're alright! For a moment there, I thought you might be," and here he whispered for dramatic effect, "dead." He paused for a moment to allow this fact to sink in.
"And I'm afraid I don't know where your sister is, but I did hear someone call out for you, so we should head that way... are you alright in the water? Don't suppose you would want to get up on this log now, would you? I'm Pearlfisher, by the way, and this here is Tooth," he said, nudging the green and purple snake with his head. and here he whispered for dramatic effect, "dead." He paused for a moment to allow this fact to sink in.
"And I'm afraid I don't know where your sister is, but I did hear someone call out for you, so we should head that way...
Are you alright in the water? Don't suppose you would want to get up on this log now, would you?" The buck smiled at the doe in a welcome manner.
I'm Pearlfisher, by the way, and this here is Tooth," he said, nudging the green and purple snake with his head.  

[Annora Lyrisa]

Hearing the strain in his voice, Opal came back to herself, her eyes opening. She had no idea how long her mind had drifted, but two things were immediately clear to her. They were no longer anywhere near the others she'd glimpsed, and she had rested long enough to be able to give him respite from her weight. Rolling off of him into the water again, she shivered at the cold and looked around.

"Where are we?" she asked, her voice soft. Her glowing eyes didn't look at him. Instead, they were busy searching out any hint of safety in their surroundings, as the current continued to suck them along deeper into the swamp. "Did we get washed away from the others back there?" Her voice was stronger than before, not just in energy but also in emotion. Having someone beside her had made things so much less terrifying, allowing her to focus and giving her the belief that things would get better.






"Rest and gather your strength," Freedom directed as he felt her begin to shift weight on his back, moving her legs to help him. A few minutes later, he'd reached the branch, and shifted to let her climb up on it. "Here we are. Now we can all rest and gather our strength. Swift?" he called, and the cheetah looked up at him from where it lay for a moment before rising and padding to one side of the thickest part of the branch. "Lay down, Shadow," Freedom directed. "Swift will curl up against you on one side, and I on the other, and we'll keep each other warm until we dry somewhat."  

[Draigathar]

As Freedom shifted for her to climb on the branch she tried to do so without kicking him to much and was very grateful to have both him and his little friend lay around her so they could all warm up and dry. "Do you think we will be ok here, really? The waters seemed to have stopped rising and don't seem to be moving quite as fast but I just don't know..." Shadow said realizing she was rambling. Deciding that one last thing was in order she spoke one more time..."I am sorry if I have been overly chatty. I haven't had anyone to talk to for so long and I have been a bit nervous with all the rain and rising water. Thank you again for helping me." With that said Shadow drifted off to doze a bit with the warmth of the cheetah and the Kiokote surrounding her...  

[Bloody Anubis]

He'd been in this situation before, and yet, never. As the waters quickly rose, making muck, then soup out of the swamp he had known, Hollow knew it would be best to head further inside the haven of trees. And yet, out he had gone, traveling old paths that decidedly detoured from safety. And it was why he was here, now, kicking along with the current and forcing his head to stay above water.

To the outsider, it looked as if the buck had had an unfortunate encounter with floating debris. Sinews of a plant wove its way through his branching horns, weighing down his plight to keep from drowning in the floodwater. However, Hollow was quite content to be burdened in this way, and found the trailing weight of the sapling on his back to be reassuring. This was his brother's Tree, or so it had been claimed. Needless to say, when the buck known as Sturdy Oak had proclaimed a mere weed of a tree to be his Vessel, Hollow had scoffed and questioned his sanity. But when the rain came and stayed for more than a day, of all his kin, he feared for Oak's Tree the most. It was hardly more than a sprout, roots barely spanning the width of his back. Even as he bobbed uncertainly above and below the water, he commended himself on his foresight. Were it not for him, this sapling would have, most assuredly, been uprooted in the flood and left to perish squeezed between the corpses of tree and animal alike.

He was beginning to navigate his way to his own Tree when he heard what he thought were voices on the air. His hooves found some temporary purchase on a limb sunken beneath the water and, while resting, he was able to turn his head and get a better look at his surroundings. Sure enough, a convoy of kimeti (And kiokote? Strange!) were drifting down his way. Hollow would wait, he decided, and join at the end of the line. He had little inclination to lead a herd of strangers or find himself smashed by their bodies.

"This is your fault," He murmured to the sapling, as if the smarmy Oak really could hear him. That was something else to worry about: he had kin out in this flood. He silently hoped to see one of them along the line of survivors, if only to know right now that they might be alive and not returned to the Motherfather.

[[ Note: Anyone trying to take that sapling off of him is going to be met with nasty resistance ]]