[EVENT] Something Dark in the Woods

[Zosie]

After listening to the questions he felt slightly more prepared for the task ahead. An attack from above, eh? He guessed everyone would be okay if they kept their wits about then, but then again there was nothing to suggest that that was what the victims were doing. It certainly was scary, but thrilling too.

Bataar took everybodies opinions into consideration before he spoke. He thought that going to the scene of the attack would most likely end in something ugly. As much as he wanted to get this sorted he knew they all stood a better chance if they had more resources and information. Nodding to agree with the others that had also voiced this situation, he spoke up. "I think we should go to see the leopards, too, we need as much information as we can to deal with this beast!"

As he finished he cast his eyes to the trees, and saw, to his surprise two large turquoise orbs, followed by a huge smile, and a voice. Looking to the blue striped leopard, he said "Not particularly, friend, we're looking to defeat a monster responsible for.. several deaths in this area." He nodded.  

[wooga Paes]

She hadn't heard Amali's question about a cub, since there were so many people talking. But Kimaji did locate the leopard in he trees, his location allowing his voice to carry somewhat more easily. She smiled and made her way over, passing right between Amali's legs.

By the time she got closer, Bataar had already answered the leopard's question, but she was still happy to reaffirm it. "We're hunting a monster!" She nodded. How delightful that a leopard had found them! "Do you know anything about it?" Since he was a leopard and all.

-

From where Moto'spaki stood, he could not see Kimaji, though he could tell by the voice there was a cub around. This seemed no place for a child, but he wasn't about to go dealing with it himself. He did move a bit further towards the front of the crowd, however, to get a better look at the leopard. The white male was immediately suspicious, that grin hardly inspired trust. If this one was to join their group, he'd probably want to keep an eye on it.

For the time being, he just looked about to find Moto'seide, and see what she might want to do about it.  

[Princess_Feylin]

The fact that he had been overheard probably ought to have bothered Sandor, but he simply wasn't the type to care what others thought of him except for his masters at the temple. And even then, he knew he wasn't well-liked there and wasn't perturbed by it. He knew himself to be a pretty unlikable lion. He had just cause for being so, and it wasn't as though he wasn't also very loyal and obedient to his masters. Most of the time. Except when he went off and did things for his own personal gain, like this.

He ignored Bluu's further contributions as they were obviously attempts at humor and while Sandor had a sense of humor, it didn't match up with hers. He also was conscious of the jibe she'd directed at him, whether or not she knew him to be one of those prize-seekers among the group, and thought she was a moron for disdaining those who did such things for rewards. They were the type to stick with the pursuit even when it got dangerous or ventured into questionable moral territory.

For her cheer, Bluu earned herself another scowl, which was more than Tahir's remarks about dogs' senses being better garnered. Sandor didn't even glance in his direction.  

[Mogami]

Bokkie hadn’t been raised around non-lions but he had seen a few during his quest. While he was a little curious regarding other felines, he was not interested in any further interaction with them and he shook his head ever so little every time someone mentioned the leopards. He sat down and listened to the voices around him before making a decision.

“This is a large group but I don’t think we should split up. I think we should go to the scene of the attack and the more experienced trackers will lead the way from there.” If not for the gruesome nature of their gathering, this was actually a rather exciting adventure and Pam could feel a ripple of excitement running down his spine. He frowned when a dark leopard dropped gracefully from above but said nothing more.  

[Tanakako]

The typically large firekin male had been following along in the back of his band of sentinels as they had approached the gathering, and since had made no effort to push himself forwards. As the gathering grew larger he sat quietly amid the other firekin, listening to the hubub of conversation around them. Though he did smile at the greeting between the sisters, he personally was of a younger generation than the two of them and had no intimate ties, so he simply sat and watched, remembering other hurai that he had know and wondering how they were doing.

Following the others as they moved to see the healer, he had to wonder at the big brown male with all the things in his hair. Sure he was pretty and really rather eye-dazzling. And even Souzan could tell he was rather handsome, but something seemed odd about him, more than just being a healer, though those that practices the more extreme version of the job gave Souzan the heebiejeebies on a regular basis. Possibly something to do with that one lioness he had met briefly

Glancing over as the blond lioness laid out their options, Souzan caught sigh of a scared male who seemed to be enjoying the situation a little too much. Deciding to keep an eye on him, and well... everyone really, since Souzan didn't want want anyone needlessly dieing... he turned back to pay attention to his leader and her sister, waiting for the order to move to be given.










Eerie fire-hued eyes gazed malevolently out from the shadows. Their target the scarred face of a certain jedi. It was not that Ruyken had followed the jedi male all the way from the Mizani'Ulimwengu, but when one ran across an enemy way out in the wild roguelands, one did not simply pass on by. The red and black leopard curled his lip upwards as he stared out at Sandor, tail flicking behind him stiffly. He had heard about this group some time ago and had been bored enough that he had decided to follow a few of them, finally being led to this gathering. Now a jedi was here and it almost pained him to acknowledge that he couldn't simply slip away now he had spotted one of the sith's hated rivals. As little as he personally cared for the do-gooder pride, he knew his own kind would expect him to stay and keep an eye on the lion.

"Great... reduced to a damn babysitter." He hissed under his breath, eyes narrowing at the smirking face of his target. Grumpy at the unexpected complication to his day, he pulled himself up onto his paws and stalked after the disorganized group, staying off the path and in the thick shadows of the forest but keeping his target in sight. He could care less about the mission this bunch of idiots seem to have undertaken, but he had to watch that damn jedi until the male took his a** back home.  

[ChaosTheories]

Shebh didn't exactly feel comfortable with some of the debate going on around him and he frowned, thinking. He wasn't the sharpest of lions but he didn't want to rush into a decision without thinking about it. It didn't seem like a good idea to go speak to the leopards in case they took it the wrong way, and all they could gather from the bodies seemed to have been observed by the healers already. Which left only the option to go to the scene of the attack.

He lingered by those who also believed that was also the best option to listen. He didn't really want to split up since he felt safe in the large group, but then again... If they all went rushing in at once, it would likely just end in chaos. He couldn't really provide any specific help, either, but his body was sturdy and his claws were sharp. At the very least, Shebh could help fight if things went south.  

[~Masamune~]

A grey male lion was the first to address him. In fact, he refered to him as 'friend'. How charming. The grinning leopard's eyes glimmered as they focused on the grey male. "A monster you say?" He looked somewhat shocked, although his eyes couldn't get any wider than they already were. "How frightening." The leopard's accent was strangely formal, and although his tone of voice didn't suggest sarcasm, it was somewhat hard to tell.

Next, his attentions turned to a small grey and white cub. The dark grey male tutted, his disapproval of the presence of a cub a bit more obvious. His grin remained however, despite the grim topic of conversation and the presence of the cub, as he once again looked over the group as a whole. "Oh yes, ghastly business that." Of course, he was refering to the deaths. "It...tears me apart to even think about it." Apparently, the leopard had a very dark sense of humour, as a small chuckle radiated in his throat.

Obviously he knew something about the deaths, but his little joke on the matter seemed to state his unwillingness to help. The bottom of his tail twitched contentedly. In reality, he knew very little about the deaths, other than a few limbs he had found scattered in the lower parts of the trees. It intrigued him to no end, yet he had no fear whatsoever of whatever creature it was that was commiting such horrific acts. His curiousity was far too overwhelming.  

[Mimsey]

It seemed the group was quite evenly divided between two options. Investigate these leopards, or go to the attack scene. Veru arched his neck, working out a bit of stiffness. It had already been a long trip from the Bonelands. But after a traversing hot plains, the idea of being in some spooky shaded woods seemed almost ideal. "Well, life is not a democracy, but we do seem to be at odds. The scene of the attack is within the wood, right?"

"Yes, it is. Quite deep within it," An reported. As she spoke her eyes fell upon the young cub. She'd been wild as a cub herself, and privately made not to be sure they were not going to add another tally to the list of victims. "The leopards should be along the way, if we are lucky."

Veru tossed his cohorts a look, before standing up with a slow stretch. "Then we'll head to the leopards, and then the scene of the attack."

"Both options lead into the wood," An cautioned. "I think it best we fan out, but keep within shouting distance. The leopards can be a bit tricky to find up in the trees."

For a moment, her eyes fell towards the few leopards they had among them- in particular the one who had just arrived. "Perhaps we'll have some expert help with that."

All that was left now, was the wood.  

[Mimsey]

There was an uneasy calm as the group stepped through the treeline. Behind them, Miramar and the other healers watched quietly. They would not be following. The red lion seemed to whisper something into the hyena's ear, and Skall's tail shot up in response. Before the group could disapear into the fog, the black creature followed after them.

He carried in his mouth a piece of root, with a feather tied to the end. He looked about the adventurers, before dropping it in front of the cub, Kimaji. "This is for... any emergencies. The root can be eaten in small quantities to soothe pain." He said nothing about the feather... but somehow seemed to think the cub would understand.

To An, the exchange seemed like something to give the cub to do to keep her out of trouble. Which was a wise plan, she supposed. "Alright, trackers keep to the front. Anything unusual, sound a call."

The woods loomed above, the fog with it. It had rained earlier, and the grass was still slick with dew. It wasn't hard to see how the spooky wood got its name: every where you looked, the earth was tinted green. Moss covered stones, vines crawled up trees. A few astute individuals might even notice a few bright green snakes, blended perfectly into their surroundings.

Its time to begin the hunt!

arrow The next three people, roll a dice 1-10. This will determine any immediate findings about the wood:

1. A bird shouts in the distance.
2. An odd scent lingers to the north.
3. Some bones wrapped in vine. They appear to belong to an ape.
4. A branch falls from the trees. Something is up there!
5. You find absolutely nothing.
6. The world's second largest rat jumps across your feet.
7. You notice some indentations, like an animal was rubbing his claws or horns upon it.
8. You find absolutely nothing
9. You swear that this tree looks just like a face. Guys, totally, this is weird.
10. Some sign of a creature breaking through the underbrush. Broken leaves, some small saplings snapped.

Other characters may react to these findings!  

[Izzy Makani]

Shari did as the blonde lioness requested and spread out away from the group walking within hearing distance of some other members of the group. She lived in a wooded area but her home was no where near this green nor were the tree's so densely populated. It was spooky but she wasn't too nervous. She knew how to control her emotions and keep herself calm. She'd been before many enemies before and that practice of keeping cool then helped her to keep any frightened feelings she had down.  

[Mogami]

Pam was used to foggy and wet environments – actually, he very much missed his swamplands he called home – so it was a welcomed sight that greeted him as they delved further into the woods. He ignored the growing number of leopards in the group and instead focused on their surroundings: the ground, the tree and the creatures that lived them. There were bones but they didn’t seem to belong to a feline of any kind and Pam left them for other to inspect.

“That way… it smells funny.” The lion stopped and sniffed at air, trying to catch the scents lingering in the mist. “I don’t recognize it.” Maybe the more experience lions in the group would be able to say what it was. He eyed the older lions in the group, a silent question in his eyes.  

[Izzy Makani]

Shari stopped just as she came nose to nose with a skull wrapped in vines. Her eyes widened in surprise as she had not expected what she had come across. She glanced around to the others of the group and called out. "I've found bones!"

She turned her gaze back to the skull and examined it a bit closer. She realized it was an apes skull. How odd. She thought to herself. She'd never seen an ape die wrapped in vines before. Something must have happened to the poor creature.  

[Talencia]

Many others spoke their mind, but one of the most unpleasant was the scarred male, who seemed to have something negative to say about everything. She supposed she'd have been as negative if she had experienced whatever left his hide like that, but it didn't mean she had to hang around him. She slipped off into the crowd, avoiding a rather aggressive looking red and black leopard as well. She sensed nothing but bad from some of these folks!

But soon they were on the move. Being neither tracker nor warrior, she paced well behind those in front, off to one side. She missed the discovery of the bones, but she too caught the scent from the north. She paused, one paw in the air, whiskers bristling, nose raised to the wind. What... was that?