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 Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 8:59 am
Slipsand gave Carmine a relieved pat with her finned tail. She wasn't sure she would have been able to find a unicorn, at least without getting lost. It was better that she was able to stay with the group instead of running off to be eaten by some giant snake. She also noticed the kalona features but, unlike Lorenna, didn't have any negative associations with them. If full blooded kalona like Xelloss and Othelia could be all right, she didn't think they had anything to worry about a crossbreed.
"Don't be mean to him, Lorenna!" She looked imploringly up at the sternest member of their group.
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Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 9:26 am
Othelia snorted at Beryl causing her to quickly regain her usually indifferent posture. If there was a kalona mother around then they'd be lucky to not run into her. There were few things in this world more terrifying than an angry kalona mother.
"I will take precautions as they are needed, Slipsand." Lorenna said meeting the nixie's eye for only a moment before fixing her gaze on the stranger in their midst. "It is necessary...particularly with their kind." She sneered slightly as she spoke not bothering to exclude Othelia or Xelloss from her assessment. Just because Othelia worked for them and Xelloss hadn't directly assaulted them was no reason to underestimate what they were capable of. Even a half breed could be dangerous, perhaps more so if they felt they had something to prove.
"Now, Carmine I implore you to get away from him until we better understand what is going on. The last thing we need is some hostage situation developing."
As usual Carmine ignored Lorenna's demands to be cautious and instead got to her feet to look the little boy over. He couldn't be as bad as Lorenna was making him out to be. He looked so sweet. Even her own daughter didn't have eyes that big and innocent. Acting on impulse she opened her wing and draped it over his side pulling him closer to her.
"It's okay kiddo, don't you listen to Renna over there. She's a real sourpuss." Carmine stuck her tongue out at her friend. "Now, why don't you tell me where you were rushing back to. Maybe we can help you. Right guys?" She asked looking about at the other members. She suspected Slipsand and Beryl would have her back at the very least.
Phibrizzo was getting the feeling that the black flutter mare was going to grow to be a very large thorn in his side. She spoke like an angeni. How irritating. He would have to do something to either win her over or dispose of her. Either way would work just as well. For now he would focus on the others that seemed more open to his presence given how they were already defending them.
He opened his mouth to answer the more pleasant flutter mare when he found himself suddenly pulled up next to Carmine's side. Well, they were very trusting indeed. "Well...you see...I was going back to some ruins I found...I lost something there that is very precious to me...you see...my mother gave it to me right before she..." He allowed his voice to trail off as he stared off into the distance. "Died..." He concluded, voice barely above a whisper.
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Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 8:20 pm
"Oh no!" Slipsand immediately took up position on the stranger's other side. She had no wing to drape over him but hoped that her presence would be comfort enough. She was full of compassion and sympathy for him. He looked so lost and alone. She couldn't stand the thought of leaving him wandering the jungle without anyone. She thought of her own mother and felt a twang of pain. Though her mother was alive and well, she couldn't think about her dying without imagining how horrible it would be.
Beryl didn't rush over to embrace the foal like Carmine and Slipsand, but she found herself being uncommonly concerned for him. She definitely wasn't the touchy-feely type and had never had any maternal instincts to speak of. It was probably that the little flutter was so similar in color to her. He looked almost like he could be a member of her own family, and her family was a hidden soft spot in Beryl's heart.
"How about it, Renna?" She looked hopefully over at their most coordinated member. "He's not going to hurt us. We got two full kalonas on our side and he's just a kid."
"That's right," echoed Xelloss from one side. "He doesn't really look that dangerous, does he?" No one but perhaps Othelia knew just how ironic that statement was. Of course Hellmaster didn't look dangerous. That was the key to his powers. No one would realize that he could kill them all until it happened, and maybe not even then.
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 8:51 am
Phibrizzo suddenly found another mare squashed up next to him, though this one was no larger than he was currently. It was probably a good thing that most of this group was made of mares. It was much easier to play the orphan card with females. It probably had something to do with their natural maternal instincts. It looked like he only had one member left to convince.
He looked towards the black flutter with hopeful watery eyes and found himself blinking in surprise. How long had that uni mare been standing there? No matter, she didn't seem to have an opinion either way so that still only left one to convince. Luckily Xelloss was finally speaking up.
"As I understand it looks are often deceiving, Xelloss." Lorenna replied not taking her eyes of the child. Beryl had a point that they had two kalona with them but what was to say that those kalona would fight for them at all? "I still think it's a bad idea."
"Aw, c'mon Renna!" Carmine said sounding impatient. "He's a little kid and he hasn't got anyone to look after him. That's no way for a kid t'grow up. We can look after him, I mean we got two flutters and two kalona and he's half and half so he could definitely get a proper upbringing." She grinned and patted the little flutter-kalona with her wing. "At least until we find whatever he left at the ruins, I mean who knows maybe it's one of the things Beryl's got." And wouldn't that be a bit of poetic justice?
Lorenna frowned and didn't bother to point out that as Carmine told it she was largely raised without anyone to look after her and then had turned around and done practically the same thing to her own daughter once she was old enough to wander on her own. She might have if Carmine hadn't seemed so dead set on helping the kid even if her logic on the matter was completely backwards.
"Have it your way." She said fixing the foal with a deadly serious look. "Take care of him for as long as you like but don't say I didn't warn you when something goes wrong. And don't expect me to help raise him." She said flicking her tail and moving to stand well apart from the others. "He's a perversion of nature."
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 11:29 am
'Perversion of nature?' Beryl thought that Lorenna was being a little overly dramatic. Kalona/flutter was an unusual cross, but not really a perversion. Carmine's regular hobbies were probably more of a perversion than any cute little foal was.
... Wait, did Carmine just suggest that she'd have to give her treasure to the kid? Beryl grew suddenly less sympathetic. She took a protective step back and partially folded her wings over her embroidered bag. "No way. It's not my stuff. He'd have said something by now if it was, right?"
"Well, why don't you just ask him exactly what it is he's missing?" Xelloss suggested. Yes, why don't you tell us why you're here? he thought. While he knew that Hellmaster could play these games with them all year, he preferred to skip to the important part. For once, Xelloss didn't want to deal in ambiguity and secrets.
"I found something too," added Slipsand. "It's this rusty metal thing. I don't know what it is, but if it's your treasure... you can have it!" She decided that she was being exceptionally generous. If it was a gift from his dead mother then he deserved to have it, even if it meant parting with her special treasure from the adventure.
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 12:11 pm
"Maybe he wasn't looking at what you had on, Beryl." Carmine countered nudging Phibrizzo lightly. "Why don't you go take a reeaally good look at what she's got?"
Wolf just shook her head at Carmine's insistence that it was something of Beryl's when Beryl was probably right. If the foal was looking for something specific he would have spotted it immediately. Slipsand was no better. There was no way that thing she had belonged to the kid. It had clearly been in the water for a long time. Xelloss had the most logical idea. The fastest way to understand was to ask. "What was it?" She asked finally moving from her position.
Phibrizzo stumbled forward slightly at Carmine's nudging. "No miss, it's nothing of hers..." He said nervously glancing back at Carmine. He then looked between Xelloss and the uni mare, now would be a decent time to try to pass the message along. "They're little balls of gold, in a leather pouch...but I met someone there, a large black mare, and I forgot to go back and get them." He frowned sadly. Hopefully that would get his personal valuables back but getting them after the other treasures would take a bit more.
Lorenna snorted in laughter. "Well Carmine, it looks like you get to help him get his things back quickly." With any luck that would rid them of the child's presence.
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 7:13 pm
Phibrizzo had met with Beastmaster? Xelloss' mind raced. His lord hadn't told him anything about other mazoku in the area. That meant that she probably hadn't known about or met with Phibrizzo until very recently. It was a bizarre luck that brought them all in the same area at the same time, though Xelloss very much doubted it was mere coincidence. "I hope your meeting with this 'big black mare' was productive enough to make up for forgetting them," he said, carefully choosing his words but saying them with his usual playful air.
Beryl blinked in relief. It wasn't her treasure. With that out of the way, she had no compunctions about pointing out the real culprit. "Carmine has them." She directed a pointed wing in Carmine's direction. "Now why don't you hand them over and do the kid a favor?" Beryl was enjoying this far too much. It was priceless that Carmine's best treasure was something she couldn't even keep. Her guilt hadn't lasted long, and now she was back to teasing as usual.
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 8:30 am
"Well...yes it was but I'd still like them back..." He said to Xelloss while turning to face Carmine with a perfectly executed look of surprise and delight. "You mean, you already found them?" He asked excitedly with his green eyes growing impossibly large.
Carmine grumbled as the truth came out. Of course the one thing the kid was after was the only thing she had found over the entire trip. She just had no luck. For a grand total of seven seconds she considered pretending to have lost them herself and then she met the kid's gaze and her heart melted. "Yeah, I found them." She said silently cursing the child's cuteness. "They're in here." She nudged at the bag before working it open to give them over. This was so wrong. She was a thief, what self-respecting thief gave something back that they had taken?
She pulled the pouch out of her bag and awkwardly tossed it at the child's feet. The answer to that question? The kind that was stuck staring down a little kid who only wanted the last thing his mother had given him back.
Phibrizzo let out a delighted gasp when Carmine produced his prized possession. From the look of the bag not a single orb was missing from the lot. Now that this matter was settled it was time to get a move on with the rest of his plan. "Thank you miss!" He exclaimed. "Now that I've got these back I can get started looking for those things that she wanted." He smiled a bit absently at the bag waiting for someone to take the bait.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 1:25 pm
"Other things?" Slipsand walked straight into the foal's conversational invitation. She was glad that they made him happy and were able to give him his things back and it looked like there might still be more to the story. "Are the other things... treasure? Did your mom know where treasure is?" Much as she liked her rusted piece of junk, she forgot all about it when she thought about the gold and gems that they could find.
"We'll help you find it if it's treasure!" blurted out Beryl. "For a share! We could give the kid a share, right Lorenna?" She looked hopefully at their accountant and manager. The trip might not be a total bust after all if they could get the kid on their side. A native guide! Why hadn't they thought of that earlier? They wouldn't need to blunder around blindly if they had a sharp little kid to point them in the right direction?
Other things. Xelloss didn't realize how tense he was until he started relaxing. This wasn't going to turn into a physical confrontation just yet. It sounded like Hellmaster was trying to recruit them for a mission. The Underground didn't realize how lucky they were that he took the time to manipulate them into doing whatever he wanted rather than by threat and torture. Now, he probably wouldn't kill them until after they stopped being useful, at the very least.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 3:23 pm
Phibrizzo could grow to like this miniature mare. She had warmed up to him instantly and now she was just feeding him ideas to better sell this quest. "They are treasures and my mother did tell me about them but I thought they had just been stories until recently...but well...you see I need those to unlock the real prize...so...I'd really need all of them..." He looked at the ground and nudged at the bag in front of him as though uncertain. For several moments he muttered under his breath shaking his head every so often for effect.
Carmine frowned and her wings drooped. Well so much for that idea. If he needed to keep all the treasure there was nothing in it for the UG and that meant there would be no deal. They didn't work for free. She looked around at her little gang of friends, they would have to find something else to do instead.
"Hey! I know!" He exclaimed suddenly. "If you help me get the seven treasures I'll let all of you get the first shot at the big prize at the end!"
Before anyone else could jump on Phibrizzo's offer Lorenna rounded on him. A deal like that sounded too good to be true and if it was too good to be true than there was probably some catch. Lorenna needed to know what that catch was and if it meant danger for the group. "You're going to let us take our pick from this big treasure just like that? Why do I get the feeling there's something you aren't telling us? Is there even a treasure at all or is that just a rumor? I'm afraid we need some assurance here before making any deals."
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Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 5:46 pm
Slipsand wanted to have full trust in the little foal but Lorenna actually had a point for once. It was a little fishy. Objectively, it was strange that a colt would know so much about treasure locations. She had told some pretty outlandish stories when she was a foal and wondered if their new friend might be trying to do the same to them. She didn't blame him at all for it, but had to acknowledge that it was a possibility. "And are you sure that you you know enough about where they are for us to find them?" It was a weak protest, but she didn't want to accuse him of anything.
"Isn't the possibility of treasure worth it anyways?" asked Beryl. Her greed had awoken and wasn't going to be quelled by any of Lorenna's common sense. "It's not like we collect anything of real value most days back at home anyways. If we take a risk it might get a big payoff!" Their jungle expedition was their first big risk. Though the others might not agree, Beryl was very pleased about how things had turned out so far. If she played her cards right, she could end up even richer by the time they got back to their normal haunts.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 8:55 am
If Phibrizzo was to be completely honest with himself then the pastel-winged mare's protest was expected. It just didn't fit into his plans as well as what some of the others were playing. That was okay, he could think on his feet.
"It's not a rumor!" He exclaimed focusing specifically on the brownish nixie. She seemed the most eager to believe in him right now. "I do know where to find them. It's just...well they're scattered and...it would take me so long to gather them by myself." He scuffed at the ground with a hoof casting his gaze down. "I suppose you don't have to believe me but I'm telling the truth, honest."
Othelia finally came back to her senses and decided it was time to chime in, some how she got the feeling that if this was another mazoku she was expected to assist being half herself. It was also the perfect chance to get at Lorenna and the kalona mare was always happy for those chances. "You said it yourself, Lorenna." Othelia said quietly slinking closer to the black mare. "Our source back home is running dry. You say we need new clients and now that one has appeared you're running away from him." She hissed softly glaring at the second in command. "There is no more danger in this hunt than in coming to the jungle."
Carmine jumped half out of her skin when Othelia spoke. She had almost forgotten that she was there. Once she settled she did what she could to think over what was being said seriously. Everyone was making sense. She hated when that happened, it made decision making difficult. It seemed like the majority of her little gang was for going off to find these seven treasures. "Well, majority rules...but!" She turned to look at the little flutter-kalona in their midst. "If we get everything and there's no big treasure we want five of the little ones in payment. If you won't give them to us then Othie will take them...and maybe Xelloss...if he feels like it." She cast a hopeful glance in the trickster's direction.
"Does that sound fair everyone?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 1:53 pm
Xelloss watched with great intrigue as Othelia threw her support in for Hellmaster. Banished were any questions or doubts about where her loyalty lay. She didn't even know what Hellmaster's plan was, but she was apparently allying herself with him due to their shared kinship. It was starting to look like Xellas had been right. He should have mentioned her mazoku heritage earlier. It had brought about such an interesting change already.
"Well, I'm in," he added. "I'll help hold the colt to his word in exchange for a share of the treasure."
"Works for me too," said Beryl. She was starting to think she had a taste for adventure. She easily forgot the endless days of whining she'd done during their travel. If the payout was good enough she'd go just about anywhere... not that it didn't mean she wouldn't complain about it all over again. She found it a little amusing that Xelloss was coming with them for a second mission. With the semi-permanent addition of Xelloss and the foal to their group, they were starting to lean strongly towards kalona blood.
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 2:31 pm
Wolf nodded her agreement. It was the logical course of action and she had no reason to argue with Carmine's judgement in this case.
Othelia focused on the colt. Did he know what she was as well? He made no indication of knowing or caring but perhaps that was the point. "You'll have my help as well." She said making no indication of who she was speaking to. For now she was still a member of the Under Ground. Perhaps one day that would change but for now it was best to leave them thinking her loyalties were untouched even though she could feel them shifting.
Internally Phibrizzo was laughing at the absurdity of the group's little arrangement. Xelloss was a better actor than he remembered and everyone seemed to believe that he actually intended to help them. Interestingly enough Xelloss wasn't actually lying to his little playthings. Phibrizzo never told them exactly what the real treasure was and he suspected that Xelloss would certainly make sure that the gang got their reward. Whether they wanted it or not.
Lorenna wanted to bite off her own tongue for with it she was certain she had dug her own grave and perhaps it would be shared. She looked around at the member's of the Under Ground carefully. They all seemed resolute. She didn't believe Xelloss for a second even with his price. Othelia seemed mostly loyal to Carmine at least.
Lorenna sighed. "If you are absolutely certain Carmine then I will protest no further. I just sincerely hope you've thought all of this through. I hope all of you have thought this through." Perhaps she was being dramatic but she had a sinking feeling about this little offer.
Carmine lifted an eyebrow at Lorenna's little speech. She really had to hate kalona to keep taking things so far. They weren't as bad as she made them out to be. Yes they were a bit strange and they were predators but the ones she knew were her friends. As irritating and moody as they could be she liked their company. Where was the harm in making a third kalona friend?
"I'm pretty sure Lorenna. It's fine quite worrying. So, kiddo, where are these treasures?"
Phibrizzo smiled and stepped into the center of the group to be certain he was heard. "Pay close attention. The seven treasures are described as one that is darkness beyond twilight, one that is crimson beyond blood that flows, one that is buried in the stream of time, one that is the magic of the burning east, one that is the magic of the waters west, one that is the magic of the islands south and one that is the magic of the frozen north." After the clues he began to give more details on the locations of each item. They were spread all across the land, which was unfortunate, but he was confident they would find all of them eventually.
"Now, do you have any questions?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 3:26 pm
"No questions here!" Slipsand smiled brightly and without thinking much about the clues. She had tuned out about halfway through the explanation, assuming someone would explain to her which part was important to her later. Instead, she daydreamed about her life thus far and how it could have been different. Deciding to join the Underground had been the best decision she'd ever made. She'd gotten friends, treasure, adventure. It was amazing for her to think that she had been living in the sheltered valley that held only usdia sub-breeds up until just a year or two ago. If she had never emerged, she would have missed so much of the world! It might have been safer there, but she wouldn't trade places for anything.
"But..." She fidgeted and looked hopefully at the others. "I really want to meet a bird before we leave. There's time for that, right?" By 'meeting a bird' she meant that she desperately wanted a bird familiar. She knew that it was a bit of a long shot, but she couldn't help but hope that she might have a colorful bird familiar to take back with her and tell her stories about the jungle.
"There's plenty of time to talk to birds on our way out!" Beryl gave Slipsand a nudge with a hoof, obviously not taking her request seriously. Sio was her familiar already, but she didn't see that having a familiar was a very important part of life. Sio was important to her now, but she wouldn't have exactly been miserable without her. Anyways, it was much more important to mull over the clues they had just been given.
It was interesting that the clues seemed somewhat like riddles. She had no idea what something that was more crimson than blood would look like. It all sounded a little spooky and a little morbid, but that just fanned the flames of her interest. Thoughtfully, she chewed on a lock of her hair. "Are we going to visit each one as a group? Not that I don't like this extended trip thing... but that could take forever."
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