Ankyra Sound i'm radioactive, radioactive

@Caiaphas — In which Zombie joins?! Or is lured/taken. ;)

Present day, in the edges of Monolith Forest.

Somewhere, Zombie had taken a wrong turn. She was occasionally plagued by waking nightmares, now— with Jinx presumably gone, forever, Zombie's purpose wavered and her hold on reality was cracked. A smell would bring on visions of cold steel and strange instruments, then fill her mouth with the taste of blood and piss. And Zombie would run— sometimes in the direction she intended, towards the meadow, but more often in a course more random. Her latest fit had been what brought her here.

The femur still clutched in her jaws, bits of ice still frozen on its knots, Zombie's eyes fluttered upwards toward the canopy of the giant sequoias. Not quite back to her lucid state, she didn't realize that she had crossed into claimed territory— the scent of salt enveloped her senses, somehow relaxing and soothing, though it caused memories to flit at the edges of her consciousness. Though she knew there was something important she needed to do, Zombie was unable to remember it at this precise moment... and instead she remained, frozen and enraptured by the biggest trees she had ever seen.

Making a bit of a cameo to get Kevlyn back to a semblance of activity. Also I can't resist trespassers. He'll probably leave when Caiaphas shows up!

Having grown so much into an imposing, tall stature, it was no surprise that Kevlyn went from fat to gangly in a matter of weeks. His transformation did little to make him think less of himsef—as if sheer narcissism could be dulled in him—but he did find it oddly chilling not having so much puppy fat on him. His height also presented its own challenges; more than once now, he'd smacked his head against the low overhang of a cave or a tilted sequoia branch.

For not-the-first-time-that-day, a sharp crack on his skull made him wince and hiss between his teeth. This time, it seemed the trees were out to get him, for the offending branch snapped back into place almost as though the tree had reached out to strike him. Frowning pensively at it, the silver male darted around it, ignoring the ringing in his ears... and that was when he spotted a female with a bone in her mouth.

His approach was cautious at first, for it was the greatest sin to show any signs of dominance or aggression toward a resident female, but Kevlyn couldn't be sure she was resident. In fact, when he saw the metallic glint alongside her ear, he was made positive she wasn't; she might not even have been a wolf. Snarling lowly, the young consort began an all-out charge with which he hoped to flatten Zombie to the earth; at the same moment his gallop began, his head tossed back and a sharp, short and loud howl ripped out of his throat, alerting both the pack and the lone female herself.

Zombie was transfixed, her damaged mind slowly attempting to work out what on earth could cause trees to grow so large— or perhaps she had grown smaller, shrinking, shrinking— and this forest would be inhabited by giant wolves that could crush her body underfoot. Gazing up the thick trunk of a sequoia, the female took a tentative step forward.. perhaps to touch it, to determine if it were reality or another waking dream. But she never found out, for a sudden noise broke her from the rapture.

Her head turned, green eyes taking in the wolf that had made the sharp would, barely registering that he was charging towards her. "Not giants, not giants," she mumbled, confirming it for herself, but Zombie remained still as she tried to work through the multitude of questions that took its place. She glanced back at the sequoia, disregarding the youth that was barreling down upon her, wondering...

Caiaphas was only a short distance away when she heard the alerting howl -- instantly her hackles flared and she tore off in the direction of Kevlyn's voice.

This was a second time the youth had alerted them to trespassers -- Caiaphas, for the first time, was (wrongly) irate that neither @Spyridon nor @Nakai had secured the borders from this apparent intruder. Much like Kevlyn, Caiaphas barreled towards the two, her head low and ears flat as tree and fern alike were pushed aside with blind intent.

She saw only Zombie and the thing she carried with her -- with a furious howl (one she hoped both of the males would hear) Caiaphas took two staggering leaps to build her impulsion before she bounded upwards on stilt-like legs, intending to ram into Zombie's flank and hopefully stagger or daze the strange wolf enough that Kevlyn could keep her forcibly facing the ground.

[size=medium]A short, loud howl ripped through the otherwise eerie calm of the sequoia forest in which the grey coated male had been carefully stalking a stray elk in hopes of bringing home the calf to feed the sisters and his fellow consorts. He immediately diverted from his set task and bounded off towards the howl, that was still so young in voice that it could only have been called out by Kevlyn. How could he have been so careless? Inwardly he chastised himself, wondering how his vigilance could have been so impeded by the hunt, that he had neglected to notice danger. A whiff of stranger was in the air, a scent that he knew had never graced the coast before, at least not during his residence in the territory. Praying to whatever gods or powers that might help him, he picked up the pace, barrelling through the forest at terrifying speed aiming to protect the howling pup at all costs if needed.
He arrived on scene soon after, ears flat against his head and legs stretched in a gallop as he took in the circumstances. The stranger was indeed just this, a stranger, and from the look on the grey pup's face and the way his alpha barrelled towards the unknown female, he knew what to do.
A low growl escaped his throat and Nakai followed Caiaphas' lead, launching his large frame at the smaller creature as his alpha did the same. He aimed to pin her down, remembering too well how Spyridon had done the same to him. Female or not, she was apparently not pack and thus, she needed to be immobilized until the Siren Queen decided her fate as she had his own. And with that thought, Nakai leaped off the ground, teeth flashing and growl tearing from his throat in warning.[/size]

Aw, my lil' consorts are doing such a good job! *pats you both* Feel free to skip me in subsequent rounds. I'll post when I can!
Julie, would you mind adding a blank line between your paragraphs? Makes for easier reading. :)

Spyridon had been on the opposite side of the sound's lands when he heard Kevlyn's call. Dropping the piece of driftwood he'd been carrying, the dark, imposing figure lurched forward and pounded the ground with his feet as he ran toward the call. His ears pinned back against his skull, there was little that could have stopped him, knowing that Kevlyn had often alerted Ankyra Sound to danger and had never been wrong. There was a deep sense of duty to the boy as well, and Spyridon would have never forgiven himself if something were to happen to the spawn.

As he crested the final hill that blocked his view, Spyro slowed his pace. Caiaphas, Nakai, and Kevlyn were all barreling toward the intruder. Puffing, Spyridon held back for the time being. If she managed to escape them, he wanted to ensure that he reserved his energy in the time between now and then. Not only that, but he wanted to observe how Kevlyn and Nakai handled the situation without him there.

Have permission for this!

Apart from a passing glance, the intruder seemed to pay no attention to Kevlyn. Big mistake, thought the Spawn as he bunched his shoulders and pushed himself harder. He made one, two bounds and then kicked hard off the ground, launching himself and feel his solid mass connect with Zombie's shoulders as she glanced back at the sequoia tree.

Wasting no time, the young consort secured a tight grip on the skin between the lone female's neck and shoulder and unkindly shoved her down, hoping to pin her and keep her there. Caiaphas and Nakai arrived shortly thereafter. They must have been close by. Spyridon lurked as well, but Kevlyn's back was turned to him, so he neither noticed nor acknowledged his mentor and idol. Instead, his eyes turned slowly to watch Caiaphas and Nakai seek other parts of the loner to hold down, and he growled a muffled warning in case she tried to put up a fight.

I put Zombie back in the LW group since I'll be bringing in a different character for AS— sorry for taking so long on this. I'm not sure how that will affect the outcome of this thread, but I'm willing to roll with things! <3

The sequoia held her attention, her broken mind struggling to comprehend its vastness in comparison to the very normal sized wolves— but, perhaps, they had all shrunk in size. Zombie contemplated this implication, prepared to assure the wolves that had gathered that this was not her doing. The Loa were mysterious, she knew, and it might have been that they were attempting to teach in their own way. She turned her head to face the gathering storm of her brethren, for her ears had told her of their coming, even if she hadn't yet acknowledged them— but it was then that the young male made contact, knocking her roughly to the ground.

"Oh—" she said softly, as the wind rushed from her lungs. Whatever else Zombie might have said was lost, as she gasped to regain her breath. Stars lit up behind her eyes as the metal lodged in her skull met the earth, a sharp pain lancing through her head. The smell of salt and brine and blood flooded her senses, and Zombie heard rage-filled shrieking— not knowing that it was her own voice, the pitiful wolf believed it was Jinx, telling her this was wrong, this place was wrong, not here, not here.

no problem!!! last post for phas!

Caiaphas fully expected some sort of panicked explanation -- perhaps a plead for life, or anything -- and when nothing came save the dulled utterance of slow realization Caiaphas felt disgust rise in her stomach. Her hackles bristled outwards and she watched with a hardened expression as Kevlyn fell upon the deranged wolf.

She watched nonplussed as the gaunt and soulbent thing started shrieking -- her ears laced back and she pulled away smoothly, her countenance dark. Απορρίψτε της. The icy Siren Queen commanded, her voice possessed of a coldness only ebbing death could rival. She trusted the three consorts to deliver this wretch to her early dissolution -- and as a Queen, she felt it was not her deportment to witness the grisly details. With one last contemptuous stare the she-wolf turned back towards the sound and left the males to do her bidding.

The pitiful thing shrieked, prompting Kevlyn to snatch back his ears and falter. He heard Caiaphas' command through the piercing squeal, and knew he must obey, but he faltered anyway. This animal, this wolf, was sick. He could not only smell it, he could almost taste it. Shaking his head and pinning his ears more tightly against his scalp, he snapped at her again, knowing Spyridon and Nakai would soon join him in harassing her.

With any luck they would take a chunk of her flesh from her, to remind her why wolves never messed with Ankyra Sound... but simply removing her from the territory would suffice if that was all they could manage.

slight PP of zombie so we can wrap up.. hope that is okay!

caiaphas cast an ear behind her as more shrieks followed -- she did not look back. she knew kevlyn and spyridon were perfectly capable of removing such a blight from her presence, and as she strode down to the sea it was with a confidence to her jaunty step.

soon she would forget all about the madwoman, and would think no longer of her blathering cries. the caches needed attending, the borders needed patrolling -- duties in which the siren queen was delighted to spend the rest of the day tending to.