River 4} Dewwey and Ezrane

Dewwey played by Clover, Ezrane played by Orange

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Along the riverside, a bright sun barely inches up towards the dark sky and meshed into it with a cascade of purples and blues. A rather frantic deer, standing at 11 feet tall from its toes to the tips of its horns, trampled along the river and sniffed. Oh no. Oh nonono NO. Dewwey had vanished from the forest, and into that damn city! The scent trail became stronger the closer she got to the city. All the more motivated, the deer started stampeding for the city, knocking over everyone and everything that stood in her way.

Ezrane, having finally finished her unlimited breadsticks and salad, was taking the scenic route back to her hivestem. She'd have to tell Cydorn how the night went, once she was back. The flip flops she'd been wearing inside were wrapped up in the shirt she'd also worn for the explicit purpose of not getting kicked out, and she was carrying both. The ground was nice and soft under her feet, all seemed right with the world.
Wait. Was that... a lusus?[/container]

Sniffing the ground, she caught the freshest scent of her little troll... A single piece of cloth that was torn from its original clothing. This... This was a piece of Dewwey's scarf. Outraged, the deer opened all 4 of her eyes and let out a mighty call, taking a thorough search before following the scent once more. Ending her search, she sniffed until the trail lead her to- a tealblood? The lusus raised her head and seared her gaze into the troll below her in judgement and scorn.

Why was a lusus running through here? They weren't exactly a common sight. And why was it... staring at her? She tried to walk past it, choosing not to look it in the eye. Probably on some errand while their troll slept, something like that.[/container]

The deer stepped in front of Ezrane whenever she tried walking around, now lowering her head and false charging to get her to back up. With one hoof, she scraped the dirt and lowered herself. If the troll wasn't going to try avoiding admitting their supposed crime, she would beat it out of them. She picked up the cloth and threw it at Ezrane before returning to her attack position.

Taking a few steps back once prompted, Ezrane was still oblivious to whose lusus this was. Then she saw the cloth. Oh, that must be... the bronzeblood's. Dewwey's lusus. Huh. Why did it seem so aggressive? Would speaking really help? Well, confirmation certainly couldn't harm matters. "Who are you ?"

With a huff, the lusus pushed the cloth further. It seems like questioning wouldn't be the solution here. Their two open eyes started narrowing on the tealblood, convinced that she had something to do with Dewwey's disappearance. Her look of judgement turned into one of hatred and impatience. It was clear that one wrong move and she would attack.

Yikes, tough crowd. This might be shaping up for a fight. Oh, well. Emotional turmoil could wait-- Ezrane had almost made up her mind. And began reaching into her pocket, slowly, slowly... If it came to it, at least, she'd certainly win. There was no doubt about it. Even beyond the regular narrative omniscience.[/container]

With this, deermom took charge. Already lowered, she ran into Ezrane with her antlers. Fortunately, they're big enough so that a troll wouldn't be impaled if chared at head on. However, the force could easily flip her over. Taking advantage of this, the lusus attempted to trample Ezrane, but misjudged and tripped, getting her antlers caught in shrubbery nearby.

Oh, this was definitely a fighting situation. Watching the lusus get caught up in the bushes was a sight to behold, and frankly, Ezrane was considering just running away. But then, the lusus was a deer, right? Way faster than a troll. So it probably wasn't worth it to try and escape. She did run off enough to get some distance, waiting for the lusus' next attack-- this time, she would be ready.[/container]

For a second, the lusus lost sight. Instead of letting this troll get away, she opened her other two eyes and began tracking once more. Aha! Finding the scent and its direction, the deer charged once again towards Ezrane. The charge missed the tealblood, but at least now the lusus could see where she was. With another call, she stamped the ground to create a rumble. The loose rocks next to the river slid, and a plan formulated in deermom's mind.

Oh man, this lusus wasn't very... accurate. Ezrane jumped away from the riverbank, though, once she felt the ground begin to shake. They candoth at!? she was thinking, still in reaction mode. There would be a better opening at some point, and she would, hopefully, be able to take advantage of it. She drew her singular nunchuck out of her pocket, ready to throw it whenever.[/container]

The lusus bared her teeth- yikes, how sharp are those fucks?! Do deer even HAVE sharp teeth?? She lifted her head and let out a wail, different this time. This one was longing and almost depressing. She kept like this for a few seconds, even lifting one of her hooves. Maybe, if she called out to Dewwey, she would return without having to murder the "kidnapper".

Ezrane continued to not understand the situation-- after all Dewwey was definitely fine-- and saw an opportunity. Taking the time to wail sentimentally was nice and all, but also left you open to a singular thrown nunchuck. And Ezrane was aiming right for the lusus' face.[/container]

The nunchuck managed to get a good hit on the lusus's jaw, causing it to back away and cough profusely. Yeah, calling out for Dewwey maybe worked definitely didn't work at all nope. The lusus bobbed their head down and let dribbles on blood pour from their mouth. Oh, it was ON. With a new rush of anger, she charged at Ezrane and knocked her into the riverbed of small rocks. Without another thought, she began to stomp as hard as she could.

Oh shit ow. And what with all that stomping, Ezrane was practically falling into the river itself. The ground sure was full of hooves, all of a sudden. If she still had her left arm, it definitely would have gotten crushed-- her coat sleeve was definitely receiving some abuse. Maybe... she slipped out of the coat entirely (no use being pinned like that, at least,) and into the river.
Oh it was very cold in the river, and the amount of sudden new scratches she just received did not like it. Her plan was, to scramble out of the frigid water as soon as possible, and get her nunchuck back. That involved getting around the enraged lusus, of course, which seemed occupied enough with making sure she'd need to patch her coat up more. There we go, she's grabbed it, and getting to her feet. Good thing it's morning, and not so cold right now. That water was positively glacial.[/container]

The lusus continued stomping before noticing an audible SPLASH! Satisfied, she softly padded over to the river to see if the troll had drowned yet, but was surprised to see the body was completely gone. She lowered her head to see if the troll had sank into the water, backing off and looking around to see if the troll was around her.

All the lusus would probably have the chance to see is another nunchuck! The one that Ezrane was chucking (I held off as long as possible on making that joke I swear) right at deermom's face again. She really wanted her coat back at that point, A shirtless standoff with a deranged lusus is not how she had planned on spending her morning.[/container]

This time, the nunchuck directly knocked into her eye, causing her to back away and shake her head. If the jaw thing wasn't enough, now her eye was bruised and would probably bleed soon. She took the nunchuck into her mouth and spat it into the river, turning to face Ezrane again and this time charging. When the troll met the lusus's head, she flipped the troll onto her back and slammed her into the ground with her bodyweight. Fortunately, nothing was severely damaged.

Ezrane practically let this happen, dumbfounded by the fact that the lusus just... threw her nunchuck into the river? She was never going to get that back! Unless she just used the other half of the pair, which was up in her hivestem. But the symbolic gesture was the heinous part, and oh no she's being flipped over. Oh jeez that hurt, the rocky ground was digging into her back (never mind the weight of a full-grown deer,) and she was somewhat pinned under the creature. Time to resort to desperate measures.
By which I mean she just fuckin' chomped down on the lusus' hide, as hard as she possibly could.[/container]

With a horrific sounding, blood-curtling cry, the lusus shot up and backed away, but still wasn't deterred. Instead of giving up, she decided to bite back. She attempted a bite at Ezrane's side, trying to grab on and throw her back into the cold river and this time push her hoof on the troll as to drown her.

The only consoling thought Ezrane had in that moment was something along the lines of "well, at least deer don't have very sharp teeth," before realizing how non-deerlike the lusus' teeth were. Managing to shove herself away from the bite (ow-- that was definitely going to leave a mark or fourteen,) she absolutely rolled into the river again. Why didn't she just move further away before? It was no less cold than before, and now there'd be teal blood running through the water.
That was a hoof. On her chest. Ow. Well, more ow than everything else. She needed to get out of here, and she needed to get back to her coat. Well, trying to pry the hoof itself was an idea, though she didn't exactly have a large breath of air to work with.[/container]

The lusus pushed her deeper... and deeper... and deep-

"I-is someone out there?" A faint but definite voice called out from far away.

This ripped away deermom's attention from drawning the supposed kidnapper, letting her go from the watery prison and turning towards the voice. The lusus sniffed the air gingerly and took gentle steps towards that voice. The coat? The coat was right behind the lusus, out of its sight and placed on a soft bed of dirt.

Oh thank goodness-- Ezrane bobbed up to the surface, crawling up on the bank to try her hardest not to cough or take very loud deep breaths, and reach for her coat. Dragging it over, she dug through the pockets (which were thankfully untrampled, somehow) and pulled out her other weapon. A revolver, that worked about half the time. Hopefully that half would be now.
What was the lusus looking at, though? Surely it wouldn't hurt to take a look, too.[/container]

A small troll's figure could be seen, even if it was quite far away. The lusus let out that same wailing again, this time in a relieved tone. Because of the eye injury, it couldn't quite see the figure so she ran in circles to get the attention of the troll.

"...I-is that you? A-are you back from foraging?!"

The deer let out another happy wail, dancing circles and standing on its hind legs and leaving the chest exposed towards the river.

In a moment of resolve, Ezrane took the shot. Thankfully the gun didn't jam up anticlimactically or anything, as it was prone to do all the time. That was pretty loud.[/container]

With a sudden gunshot, the happy wails turn into silence. The shocked expression turns into one of death as the staggering beast fell forwards, the blood from its chest painting the ground as the sun rose and shone on its gorgeous white fur.

From the distance, the figure moved forwards with a certain caution. "A-are you there?"

She sat up, still at the edge of the river, and finally thought to take stock of her injuries. That mainly comprised of tenderly poking most of her side, which was arguably the worst wound and definitely the bloodiest. She just killed a lusus. Oh well, she'd make it back home, Cydorn would help. She just killed a lusus. Pick up the very-dirty coat, slip it on, stick the revolver back in the pocket, and stand up. She just killed a lusus. All entirely normal things to do. She just killed a lusus. There was definitely blood soaking into the coat, but that was no big deal, dirty wounds never killed anyone. She just killed a lusus.
And it seemed like its troll had just arrived.[/container]

Light footsteps approached the dead lusus, a horrified shriek filling the dead silence. A frantic bronzeblooded troll ran to its lusus and started trying to shake it awake. "B-blitz...? C-come on, you gotta get up..." She started tearing up uncontrollably, trying to pick up her lusus, "We g-gotta go to the hive..." Instead of saying anything more, she buried her face into deermom's neckfur and let herself cry into the limp body that was still warm, but getting colder.

The sun was rising. Ezrane wiped her mouth of any possible remaining spots of bronze blood. There didn't seem to be any-- at least, not any that was discernible from the mud and grime-- on her coat. She refused to look at the crying troll, and started walking away, as discreetly as she could, through the brush. With any luck, the bronzeblood wouldn't see her, and get over it alone.[/container]

Despite trying to be discreet, Dewwey could hear the rustling leaves. She might have been sheltered, but she wasn't entirely useless at everything. "W-who's there?!" She hugged her lusus closer, getting its blood all over her. "Y-you can't hide!!" Dewwey noticed a loose tooth in her lusus's mouth. Despite all of her emotions, she had to survive somehow. She ripped the loose tooth and equipped herself with it. Useless in a strife, but it's something. "Come out a-a-and fight me!" Through her choking and tears, she was able to scream her words of rage. Dewwey stood from the lusus's corpse and glared towards the foliage where Ezrane tried to slip away.

Well, then, so be it. Not the fighting part-- what was the point? But at least the truth. Any tealblood you could meet was like that, they were practically all very bad at that sort of thing, their moral compasses were just too strong. So, Ezrane turned around, and walked out into the light. Soaking wet, bleeding, and muddy, right out into the still-weak sunlight. To look Dewwey right in the eyes.[/container]

Dewwey lowered the tooth, her expression changing into one of betrayal. "You..." Her fury still burned inside like the coals of a furnace, and yet she couldn't bring up any actual courage to face her lusus's killer. "You did this...?" Dewwey dropped her weapon and treaded closer, shaking in fear but pushing it down to give Ezrane steady eye contact. "...Why? WHY would you kill her?" She was tempted to grab Ezrane and shake her vigorously, but instead balled her hands into tight fists. "F-first you tell me the world is out to kill me, a-and then you take the ONLY way I could possibly be safe! SO JUST TELL ME WHY!" Her tears started staining her skin, trickling onto the ground in sparkles like rain on a sunny day.

Well, an outburst from Ezrane about how the lusus attacked her first wouldn't help-- especially considering how it had stopped, once it saw Dewwey. This was the moment. Make or break, which really meant break and make. She held her hand in her pocket, meeting Dew's gaze, speaking in a low tone.
Might as well cut to the chase. "Sh e hadt odie." She wasn't going to hurt the bronzeblood, not even if Dewwey attacked her first-- trolls and lusii were very different, after all. "Youw eren 't safewi thher. Allshew anted wasto keepyoufr om grow ing." She took a step forward. "Likeso mehum an'spet."[/container]

Dewwey considered what she said, though didn't know what to make of it. "H-how would you know this, then? And why... why would you care? Y-you JUST met me last night a-and just think you can decide i-if I die with my lusus or not?!" She ran her sleeve over her own face. "And look, y-you went and hurt yourself badly over it!" Dewwey pointed to the multitude of bleeding wounds on Ezrane. She was still confused, betrayed, and furious, but couldn't help herself from at least caring about this troll.

Ezrane was at a slight loss. Why did she care so much? Was she really that desperate to draw people in? And this is how she was going about it? Well, there was no time for self-reflection now. "It 'smyj ob," she stated simply. "Ifyo uwan t m y prote cti on, yo u ca ncom e withme ." An earnest offer, despite how it definitely sounded. Ezrane firmly believed that Dewwey would get over it, just like every other troll.[/container]

"...I-I doubt you can do much being injured. Please... c-come with me to my hive. I'll try my best to h-help you." She gave the lusus's corpse one last painful glance, tearing up once more. "It's... what she would want me to do..." Probably not considering everything that happened, but hey, at least Dewwey isn't trying to kill Ezrane. She gestured Ezrane to follow and trotted off rather swiftly.

... Sure. Cydorn could hear about it all later. Ezrane walked on after Dewwey, making mental notes off all she would have to catch him up on. Man, her side really hurt. More than all the little scratches, at least.[/container]

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