His family. They needed him more than anything. He wasn't about to give up, he'd go down fighting if that is what was needed. Earthed tones turning darker as he stalked within the woods around them. Casting a cold stare at the beast before them. It was aweful but beautiful. Sounds of others becoming hurt was drowned out stepping over near his family he gave each one a gentle nudge. He went in for the worm then, knowing just what had to happen. Or hoping that he knew what he was doing. Twin peaks lace back against his cranium blocking thoughts and images of the family and others around them. It was a monster that had to be brought down. It was a threat that needed to be brought down. They all known it. Kiska, forgive me. He ran forwards as his tail went high into a dominant and threatening stance. He went in for a arm, his jaws closing tightly around the much larger arm. Securing his spot, the foulness stinging his nostrils as he growled out viciously. A side of him none of his family had ever taken witness too. His eyes locked onto it's target. His claws digging at anything to help his attack. He wanted this monster dead!

CODE BY SIN

The worm shifts.

As more wolves begin to swarm it, some striking it without warning, it hesitates for a moment. It waits, calculating. Its many glassy eyes blink in unison, attention roving across the chaos it has created here.

The worm strikes.

With impressive speed for a beast so large, it lashes out, clawed tendrils hissing as they blur through the air. One arcs low toward Idris as he lunges for it, catching the ankle of his back right leg. The bones in his ankle shatter, sending a shockwave of pain through him. With a start, he realizes a bone has broken through his skin, and blood trickles down his limb onto the ground below.

The fate of the wolves directly in the worm's pass is sealed as it charges forward.

One wolf, Milo, was drawn forth the commotion. Already on the move, the worm hardly hesitates before it moves to chase him down, as if egged on by him warning the others.

Milo's body falls lifeless as the worm crushes him in one merciless movement, barely pausing to register the carnage as it tramples over him.

The worm is not blind to the attacks unleashed upon it, though it seems to have trouble deciding who to focus on next. Kaizen grabs hold of a drooping vine, rending it clean through; Widow aimed to worsen a wound that had been inflicted upon it. More attacks are unleashed upon it, by Hanaryō, by Asahi, by Atreyu, by Laniatus, by Setekh, by Morticia, by Azriel. By so many wolves.

Overwhelmed, the worm spins its body around, twisting and rolling as it lashes out at Sorcerer first. The tip of his tail is suddenly caught in the claw that tips one of the worm's appendages. Sorcerer's tail is broken with a sharp, audible snap.

Likewise, Gossamer is shoved backwards hard by the worm. She lands with a thud on the ground, scraping the right side of her hip in the process.
Vayne catches its attention next. He'd called out, trying to rally those around him, just a moment before- slipping into the underbrush only to move to strike. The worm's attention follows him, multitude of eyes blinking, eyes as sharp as razors.

Two clawed tendrils suddenly reach out, grabbing hold of him roughly. In a split second, something horrific happens- the worm's maw parts and Vayne is pulled inside.

The sound of him being consumed is loud, wet and sickening as it echoes off the surrounding trees.

(Kaizen finds 250 Gems; they have been added to your OOC credits.)

Had they just left the creature alone, perhaps all of this bloodshed would have been avoided. The wolves of the world were attacking the planty beast just because it was different, because it was "other." Star didn't agree with this by any means. She felt that she was "other" often enough with her disorder. For all they knew, the creature would have been placated with her offering of a meal. It could have been friendly. Now, it was forced to defend itself. It's life was at risk.

One wolf fell, then another. Starchild winced as blood flew, spattering the leaves where she was hiding. She hoped that the beast would retreat back into the hole that it had popped out of. She didn't want it to die. If there was some way to help the worm, she very well may have, but what could one little wolf do against an army?

Sadness in her heart, Star retreated further into the jungles of the isle. She could still hear the screams of pain from both the creature and the wolves seeking to kill it. Curling up beneath a thick palm, Star placed her paws over her ears and buried her face into her tail. This was all very nightmarish.

"Starchild"

As Cerberus had placed himself in front of the beast, it still spun around and struck at it's attackers. Soon the wolves would pay the ultimate price. With one wolf falling lifeless to the ground, Cerberus would see the true danger the beast spawned here at the Isle. He wasn't the cowardly type, but he did start to take a few steps back as he kept a defensive stance in case the worm came at him. It was when the monster crushed another one of it's opponents that he took the opportunity to break from the pack himself. It was probably cowardly, sure. But he wasn't the one who started this mess.

As he started to lope out of the commotion, he noticed the black, white, and gold woman he had spotted earlier, now hiding in the bushes. Gently pulling some of the brush to reveal her he offered, "Come on, I'll help you out of here." At least watching her back as they ran off the island. Anyone else who wanted to flee he would run with.

-Exit?-

"Cerberus"

Her digging into the strange plant worm beast was successful! So far she had experienced no retaliation! So far away from the front of the worm, she was oblivious to the wretched sounds of it eating the other wolf and the attempts her siblings were making at the beast. All she knew was that this thing was going down. The carapace peeled before her and the stench wrinkled her nose from the vileness. She nearly puked as the slick ooze covered her paws as she attempted to dig further into the body. She attempted to climb up onto the back of the writhing beast so she could ride it while she dug and clung with her teeth at another section along the back of the strange monster.

Speech // thought // Nihongo

Gossamer collided with the worm but before she could get a grip it twisted sharply sending her flying off its back and landing hard in the debris of a former human structure. A beam of metal cut into her right hip and she flinched at the wound. It took a moment to get her breath but she dared not linger. She heard the vile crunching of something getting eaten and could only assume it was another of the wolves. Determined to land at least one attack she set her defenses and charged once more.

This time she came in perpendicular to the worm, jaws open and seeking its flesh about three feet above the hole it was sliding out of. Her goal was to sink her saber fangs in as deep as possible and rip the flesh open.

The strange plant creature is angry, striking out at the wolves that seek to end it and one long claw-tipped vine reaches for him, catching the tip of his tail. A sharp pull engulfs Sorcerer’s world with pain and with a gasp of pain, he realizes that his tail is broken. The sickening sound of snapping bone brings a white hot, pulsing pain to the forefront of his mind. He pushes through it, forcing it to the back of his mind as he watches a wolf be consumed.

Gums pull back from his teeth as the wet crunching sounds through the land and he spies two wolves breaking off the group, a single thought burning hotly in his mind as he briefly watches them retreat; cowards. A snarl rolls from his lips as his gaze snaps back to the creature, every part of him loathing this deadly thing and knowing that he cannot ran away while it still lives. Sorcerer lunges back in, aiming for the scaly side with a sharp bite as he seeks to rip and tear this plant apart.


"Sorcerer Vyle-Klein"

Intense pain radiated from his leg. Blood seeped into the ground, not only from him, but by so many others. Not one, but two wolves were vanquished by the beast. Idris, full of adrenaline, attempts to surge forward again, but is stopped short. A cry of agony unleashes from his maw as his broken ankle skids through the mud. When had that happened? Confusion flicks across his gaze, but only holds him back for a moment.

The beast must perish.

Focusing back on the worm, he watches it. Sees how it looks at them, notices that it becomes confused, unsure of where to attack. It was a weakness. A weakness he could exploit.

Uncaring about the wolf that was sucked in through the jaws of the monster, Idris pounces. Leaping into the air and landing on the beast, he begins to climb. Using his teeth and dull claws to paw his way up to toward the worm's tendrilled head and multiple eyes. Blood continues to drizzle from his broken ankle, but the adrenaline assists in keeping the agony at bay for now.

When he's high enough up, as close to the face as he can get, Idris begins attacking the eyes. Swiping his paws and lunging his open maw full of sharp teeth at the monster's face.

There was a lot going on. Others were getting hurt, and one was apparently being eaten. Widow stared in horror for a literal second before shaking the fear off and snarling. This monster couldn't just eat others and get away with it! At least the lost was unknown to her, a stranger and not one of her own. If she wasn't in the middle of trying to destroy this worm, she'd probably wish it was medusa or erebos getting eaten instead.

At least morticia was here, though Widow wasn't even sure she could trust the girl. She'd always liked her and Medusa's other children, but did they condone her choice? Part of her wanted to yell at her for her mothers transgressions, however it wasn't morticia that had done these things... so should she be made to pay and suffer through the pain and anger Widow felt? Even Widow knew that wasn't fair.

With a roar she lunged again, a new fire burning inside her. The worm must die before any others perish in its jaws, and Widow was determined to make sure it would be soon. Reaching for one of the tendrils, she sought to grasp it tightly between her jaws and sever it from the monsters body with clenched teeth and a strong yank.

Speech ─ Think

─ by Skelle !

Chaos erupting from all angles, Ryo doesn't relent. She can't, especially while the worm is doing numbers on everyone around her. As long as it kept her siblings out of its yawning maw, then that's... that's good enough. Taking advantage of the distraction that came from consuming one of the others, there's a grim pragmatism settling over the girl. Biting back the aching in her ribs, the girl launches herself at the worm once more. Teeth first. Head first. Use the opening created by those fallen, she'd do what she could. Trying to find purchase with her teeth, despite the disgusting texture of the worm beneath. Ignoring the pain in her side, bearing down, and doing what she could to neutralize the threat. It should be as easy as that, though there was no telling what kind of tricks this fucker had up his sleeves.

Kaizen didn't want to look- to see what was happening, but he couldn't find it in himself to look away, to avert his eyes. He had never seen a wolf die before- but now he had. It was slow to sink in, the finality of death, how a wolf could be alive and breathing one moment and just...gone the next. A snarl tore from his throat, because if it could happen to a stranger, who was to say one of his siblings wouldn't be next? No, Kaizen would simply not allow that, the beast would die at his paw. Or rather theirs, as it would no doubt require all of their Hattori might combined.

Grabbing onto a fern like leaf, Kaizen made to rip it off and toss it aside. Layer by layer, strip by strip it would be torn apart.

He was able to tear one of the tendrils free much to his own dislike of harming the creature that had only been fighting in self defense. Maybe it would burrow away, maybe it would retreat to the hole it had come from, and the other wolves would leave it alone. His ears flattened in his own dismay. He was a soldier, here to protect the weak and innocent and here he was trying to destroy a creation of Kiska that had not hurt anyone until it was harmed. All creatures deserved the same courtesy right? Atreyu was launching at it with him as was Vayne. Good maybe enough trauma to it's face would cause it to retreat.

Then there was a moment that time stood still. A glimpse of brown and rosette as the creature lurched and snatched Vayne in it's maw. The sound sickening. He was Powerless to help but a glance to Oath and then Atreyu. A command shouted as fire burst in his mind's eye. Screams in his ears. Memories becoming reality again. "Run! I'll kill them and find you!" Those very words he had yelled at his Morningstars the dreadful night. Then there was a feral snarl. His body leaping for the worm, jaws clamping into it's cheek, wrenching, ripping and tearing anything he could get a hold of. A beast set forth that only Oath had seen before. He was a monster himself, child of Cudros. A demigod of death in his own right. He had a promise to keep in his own mind and he would. He would make it out of this personal inferno and find them. They knew the stories of the shrines of another land. He would find it and them. Judila would survive!

"Atreyu" || "Azriel"

code by bird, art by asena

Injuries, death, the smell of blood is in the air. The hunt is shifting from joy to survival. Her fangs tear through the limb, oozey liquid welling up from the beast with each chunk she takes out of it. Morticia snarls, her gaze narrowed as she tried to keep up with the beast and prevent it from getting too far ahead. She hates it, she hates this damned thing with everything she is worth. A wolf is killed, consumed, and Morticia swivels inward, toward the worm’s body. “Bad monster! The girl snarls. She seeks to lunge herself at the bulk of the worm with open jaws. All she can think is more damage to bring it down. Even after a wolf has been trampled she dares get in close; if it means bringing this beast down, so be it! …and maybe she’ll be able to take a claw when it's dead. Maybe. "Speech," 'Thought.'

There was so much chaos happening around him. First, Oath was attacked. Atreyu went to stand over him. So much commotion. The sounds of battle all around him. His mind flashed back to the Freeman's Guild. To the war. To Jackdaw, to his death. Maul let out a bark, breaking the Warmaw from his thoughts. "Stay back you two!" Alaric barked to the cane corsos. He wouldn't risk their lives here today. The two cane corsos backed away reluctantly. No, instead, he took a deep breath and analyzed the chaos surrounding him. That's when he saw it: Vayne was being devoured by the creature in this very moment. Shock filled him as he watched helplessly. His orange gaze flickered quickly to Atreyu. Fuck it. No more standing around. Alaric's black maws parted and he charged towards the worm. He darted to the side and aimed to clamp down on side of the worm. He was trying to bite down and peel off its armor, leaving more of a weak spot open for more attacks.