The windward coast was seeing a massive fog bank roll in, but with it had come a multitude of interesting sea life. Creatures that didn't always come up to shallow water seemed more willing to do so in the cover of foggy nights, and most of the beaches of Oahu were filled with eager onlookers, peering out into the randomly breaking fog to see eels splashing up out of the water. Or sharks. Many a dolphin had come up and been playing in the fog along the shallows as well, causing much delight whenever the wind gusted or a wave hit hard enough to push the fog aside. Most of the locals, or those who had local friends, had gone to quieter beaches to take advantage of the oddness. Forest Beach was one that hadn't been hit by as many because it was so odd to get to even in full light, but if you knew the path, it wasn't so bad at all. The few people that had arrived were almost assuredly fully native, and came in full dress, speaking softly in Hawaiian to the water in a small huddle.
Conni is walking slowly along the beach, a long staff in one hand which she leans on as she walks. Dressed for a walk more than the beach, Conni is wearing a long sleeved white top, the sleeves comings down to just before her elbows. The bottom of the t-shirt just obscures the top of her loose fitting cotton pants, the work-out variety with a draw-string waist. White sneakers cover her feet and her ever present artist tube is slung over her left shoulder, any exposed skin shows the sheen of the sunblock that she has literally slathered on today, the Nordic blonde not risking another burn.
Arriving to stand awkwardly apart from the native crowd is an imported man. Wearing a bright yellow-to-red Hawaiian shirt over plain long shorts, hiking boots and - perhaps oddly - a yellow silk scarf tucked neatly in the shirt, Amalesh's family definitely didn't come from around these parts, but he's either local enough or with local friends enough to know both that this beach exists and how to get to it. He's got a small pack slung over one shoulder and a bright smile, albeit one that dims slightly and nervously when he realises he's the only one here who isn't wearing grass or leather.
Dressed for the trip into the forest, Aksel was wearing pants against the chill, and a light jacket that went down past his waist. Over one shoulder he carried a light rucksack, a large piece of cloth tied securely to one side. He had a good light clipped to the strap of his rucksack, brushing the condensation out of his face as the beam cut through the fog. His eyes followed the ground and the line of the beach, watching the sea life play with a surprised look on her face. He stopped, turning his full attention to the sea to watch, the light on his chest marking his location in the dark of the night.
Wren, of course, was at Forest Beach on a night when the weird things might roam closer to shore. It's nearly impossible to live on Oahu your entire life and not learn where it's less likely you'll be overrun with tourists and more likely you'll just get to enjoy a rare experience with people that live there, for the most part, and know it for the rare event it is. Coming down a path through Hau'ula, Wren seemed to be settled and happy. He didn't look any different than usual, what with his dark brown cowboy boots and their well worn, well worked in lighter brown stitching. His jeans were the usual cut, fitting comfortably but without any extra slack, and it's obvious the man hadn't once given thought to letting them sag below the normal beltline. For a shirt he'd put on a long-sleeved, white, rib-knitted henley that fit close but made him stand out a little for the brightness of the color, at least where the fog wasn't like pea soup. He walked through the thick fog at the mouth of the path he'd been on and started across the brief strip of beach, stopping only when the texture of the sand under his boots was no longer soft, but firm. The local seemed to be staking out a place for himself to watch and listen during the oddness of the heavy fog.
Her voice sounded perturbed. "I'm saying no! You are lovely and beautiful and I have no doubt that a moth or..." Volya nibbled on her bottom lip and giggled. "I meant legion of moth will visit your petals. That is what sweet nectar is for." Gesturing with a roll of her, the multitude of bracelets rattled and clicked. "No, there are no bees buzzing about at this time. Yes... Yes... YES! I'll invite them, go to sleep!" She narrowed her eyes, "It's not my fault you woke up so late!" Blinking, she tilted her hand, "Night time is the best time? Oh... Fine. I will attempt to find a moth or two in the fog." With a heavy sigh, Volya, clad in a pair of oversized cargo shorts and a black and tan baja hoodie came stomping through the end of woods and out onto the beach. Scrutching her nose, she stared up into the fog. "And now we have to figure out how to track a moth. Oh moth! Come out and play moths!"
Aolani is a Hau'ula regular, so when the eerie fog rolled in, the dark-haired dancer made her way to the secluded forest beach to see for herself what was to be seen. She's not wearing grass, but she is wearing an indigenous print wrap dress in shades of cream and Lehua red, the ends of the cloth tied up around the back of her neck like a halter. The shifting fog plays havoc with the gauzy fabric and her long, loose hair as she walks right up to the water line, looking in the direction of the animals but doing her best not to seem like she's eavesdropping on the people in native dress. As the tides roll in and out, Aolani marks out a few hula steps, echoing the ebb and flow with her movements.
Lief was on the beach and while mixing a bit with the Native Hawaiians, was still very much an outsider. A young man with him just on the cusp of 16 and very much Native was running with the P.I. He'd ocassionally stop to translate for Lief just so he didn't feel completely left out. Though the boy had to stop to explain that Leif was his cousin's fellow and the kids ride. Lief was wearing a red long sleeved bilabong T-shirt, khaki cargo shorts, hiking boots, and a black baseball cap with the Vikings symbol on it. Though he does seem to be hanging out with the kid trading jokes and quips. It's when the boy heads to the water Leif puts a hand on his shoulder, "That's not part of the deal Alika, you get electrocuted or sharke bit. Ki or your mother will murder me or take turns murdering me." The boy huffs, "Leif, just about the time your cool, you go all cop." Leif shrugs, "Sorry kid."
The people that had gathered in native garb continued to make their voices soft as they spoke to the sea. One of the men lifted a shell and softly blew into it, the huge conch creating a mournful cry similar to a horn, but with a lower bottom end to the note. A brief moment of wind caused the fog along the water and beach to swirl, like creamer into coffee, and exposed the curving, moving bodies of several long, eel-like creatures that were swarming right on the edge of where the water hit the beach.
Hearing a note call out, Conni stops and looks in the direction of the natives. Casting her gaze around, she spots some familiar faces but she doesn't call out, the solemnity of the situation palpable to her and so she trudges along in silence, somewhat relieved when she hits firmer ground. She does offer friendly waves, nods and smiles to those she does recognise, although less with the nodding after the first attempt her grimace. Heading over towards Wren, she touches him lightly on the arm once she is within range by way of greeting, smiling again as she comes to a stop.
Amalesh gives the group of gathered natives a respectful nod whether any of them are paying attention or not, then glances forestwards. A few moments later he's meandering away from the group, politely giving the natives some space and casually giving the sea some room, glancing over the other arrivals and moving towards some of them instead. When the shell is blown he looks towards the sea and at the sight of the sealife he moves a few paces further back, then glances forestwards once more.
Aksel stopped and watched, eyes dancing with curiosity as the creatures seemed to respond to the call. He smiled softly, ears catching the sound of others walking along the beach, looking this way and that to see himself around entirely new faces. His smile was broad as he offered a nod to those he could see, eyebrows arching slightly as he took in Volya's discussion with... something. He shook it off with a smile, bemused by whatever thought had come into his head. Conni and Amalesh both get a friendly wave, his gazing noting Wren's apparent keen interest in events. That perked his ears up a bit, and his attention as the horn sounded swung in that direction, taking in Aolani. Spotting Leif, a familiar face amongst the small gathered crowd, he gave him a wave, unclipping his light and setting his pack down before producing a cigarette and a brief hint of flame.
Wren seemed to be truly enjoying the evening. He had a warm, quiet smile on his face as he watched the water come visible for a few moments, and seemed relaxed even further by the sound of the conch horn being blown. Spotting the light on Aksel's chest, he gave the man a nod as he was a fellow beach watcher. "Aloha ahiahi, that's a nice light you have there." The smile he gave was genuine and friendly, but it bloomed into something wider and warmer when he felt the touch of the hand at his arm. Turning his attention to Conni, Wren nodded to her and lifted his arm out a bit in an unconscious gesture offering it as a place to rest a hand. "Aloha ahiahi, Miss Conni. I'm happy to see you've found one of our little local treasures. I hope you're enjoying this rare little display?" He glanced at Aksel again when the man lit up a cigarette, the flame catching his attention. A moment later, though, a furrow appeared in the tall farmer's brow and he turned his head toward the Hau'ula forest, eyes narrowing as if he could force his vision through the fog that at least half hid the world. He heard Volya come trudging out of the forest, and it caused him to grin, but his attention stuck to the trees. "It's great to see everyone, but does anyone else hear that?" He shifted a little, turning to face towards the forest and taking one step that way, essentially switching arms he'd offered to Conni.
Volya continued to stare at the fog and from the look on her face, she may have been trying to sort and track individual droplets moving through the air and failing thoroughly. So she started wandering on the and staring up in the air. "Here moths... Come here moths." Then her mouth fell silence, she started absently chewing on her finger and humming to herself. The sudden blare of the conch caused her to blink and stumble as if she were expecting a cruise ship to beach itself. Taking a few steps back, her feet found water and the slimy and wiggly touch of eels. The woman let out a loud shriek, followed by throwing her arms in the air and a prolonged scream as she went running aimlessly in the fog as she wildly slapped at her feet.
Aolani whirls around when she hears the conch horn and breaks into a great big smile. "The sky is reaching down to touch Mother Earth. They're paying their respects!" She's spotted Conni and trots over as she explains, her sandals swinging from her hand. The dark-maned girl nods to Wren as she approaches the man next to Conni. "Aloha," she greets, "isn't it wonderful? Even the ocean came to investigate." But then, there's a Volya. A screaming, slapping Volya. "What is this crazy haole doing?" She muses to herself, dropping her shoes in the sand so she can chase after the bolting Volya. "Uh, Miss? Are you okay? Do you need - if you stop flailing I can - literally next to nothing is solved with flailing - okay, just slow down - or not..." and so on.
The sound from the forest draws Leif's attention and then it dawns on him that those in Native Grab are chanting something delicatly almost queitly. A frown slips across his face as if he realizes something. " Al. I want you to go wait in the jeep." The boy begins to protest, "But I want to stay. This is cool. It's my culture." Leif says producing the keys. "Actually I want you to take the jeep back to your house. This isn't anything you want involved in." The boy protests and Leif produces a twent to go with the keys. "And I'll pay your way to the movies." That spikes the kids intrest. "But what about you? Ki will be sore." Leif shakes his head, "I'll be fine and I'll catch a ride. Ki will be fine. She's distracted with a surf competition next week." The boy takes the keys and the twenty taking off running as Volya's screaming encourages him. The idea of joy riding in Leif's jeep winning out. Lets hope Leif's jeep survives the experience.
Aksel gets a nod when he sees the man light up. Lief makes his way to Aksel, "I don't know if you want to be drawing light on yourself. I think we're about to encounter one of those things you were talking about last night. They're greeting the Sky God." He says pushing up his shirt sleeves. He calls out to Wren, "Yeah, something big is coming this way."
Within the welcoming, or perhaps impeding, blanket of the thickened fog, a sound becomes more clear after the pitch of Volya's shriek through the night. Scrape. Thud. Grind. Scrape. Thud. Grind. Repeating. Getting closer, but dull and hollow, like the fog might be stealing some of the timbre from the sounds themselves. A soft, rustling sound and then a few sharp cracks come in time with the scrape. And then another scrape, happening at the same time as the first, but ending just after. Making the noise louder still and loud enough for everyone to hear.
Taking the offered arm, Conni does her best not to lean on Wren to heavily, flashing him a smile of thanks that quickly turns into a frown as she hears his question. The wrong rapidly flashes over to mild amusement as Volya breaks the hushed tone of the scene, some concern showing on her face which is lifted when Aolani goes over to help. "Is this all part of the ritual and uh...does it usually go like this?" Her expression stills as she hears the louder thuds coming from the fog, her grip tightening on Wren's arm until she has to offer him a look of apology as she realises what she is doing. Taking back her hand, she grips the strap of her artist tube and swings it in front of herself, popping off the leather top and reaching inside for what turns out to be a foot of polished, gleaming steel. Working quickly, she screws the spear head onto the top of her staff, rolls her shoulders a couple of times and then takes off at a run, spear in one hand, sanity firmly behind her.
Amalesh starts lurking again when he realises the other little group of people also seems to know each other. Volya's shrieking gets her stared at, and the call from Leif has him looking round towards the forest again. The louder sounds from within have him edging away nervously, staying away from the sea but trying to keep out of the way of whatever the thing is that is coming out of the woods. One of his hands lifts to touch the scarf at his throat, and his lips move in near-silence - until Conni speaks, at which point he looks towards her, and stares at the spear. Raising his hands, palms-outwards, he says quietly, "We should not interrupt the sacred." That accent didn't come from here any more than the rest of him. India - or possibly Bangladesh - is missing a son.
Turning to Conni and Wren, Aksel smiled, his hand coming up in a greeting that trailed the coal of his cigarette through the air. "Hi there. And thanks. All I need is a good ship and a star to sail her by... and so on." He grinned, raising an eyebrow at the words from the man, before Volya's scream cut through the night and he turned, scrubbing a hand through his hair in confusion with a wry look on his face. "Overwhelmed by the experience maybe?" He shrugged, his attention going back to the ritual taking place. He'd heard what Aolani said, brow furrowing slightly as he tried to puzzle out what that meant, but let the thought go as he turned to look back to the forest again, wondering what was coming. It did cause him to shut off the light, though he kept smoking his cigarette, moving it to his left hand. "Something big good, or something big bad? I'll be happy with something big neutral too." He sighed and took a last drag before crushing it against a boot and slipping it into a back pocket. "Right..."
The sounds coming from the forest made the hair on the back of his neck rise, and one hand slipped carefully towards his jacket. "That is neither a good nor neutral sound..." He took a good few steps from the tree line, looking back to where the locals were standing on the beach in the midst of their ritual. "Are... they calling it, or is it just responding? I mean..." He started to eye the forest and the space where the sound was coming from, palm slapping away at his leg while he jittered for a moment. Then he started moving forwards. "Ah man I can't miss it!" He looked back at the ritual, then to where Conni had started running, spear extended. With an annoyed grunt at not being able to be in two places at once, he shrugged and he pulled a thick, recurving short sword from a sheath behind his jacket and took off after her. "
Wren's attention had been momentarily consumed by the scream of Volya when she'd plodded into the edge of the water and met her unexpected new friends there. He stiffened, then seemed to relax slightly, recognizing the voice of Vee and taking a slow breath. "Mahalo for seeing to her, Ma'am." Wren nodded to Aolani gratefully as she rushed over to help Volya get a handle on the creepy crawlies. Conni's hand was patted softly, assuring her it was alright that she'd squeezed his arm, but then the woman was gone, and Wren was blinking at the fact she had just rushed off toward the Forest, spear in hand. "MISS CONNI!" He called after her, surprise evident in his voice. "What on earth are you doing?!" He seemed shocked still, nodding in response to possibly to Aksel, or more probably to Amalesh's voice. "You can't just run in there and... YOU HAVE A SPEAR?!" And with that, Wren was rushing after Conni, intent on stopping the Valkyrie from doing whatever she might be intending. Of course, chasing someone in the fog required a bit of care, so one didn't end up greeting a tree instead of a woman when he would be able to reach out and grab her.
Volya stopped in place as she started doing a frenied schuhplattler, her hands slapping and patting her feet, ankles and knees. Then she started dragging and kicking her feet through the sand. The screaming ended and she was left panting. As Aolani came over, Volya grabbed the other woman's shoulders getting nose to nose with her, "It was slimy!" Her expression settled into a warm smile when she recognized Aolani, "Aloha. Beware of the water as it may contain seaweed, jellyfish, snot, or possibly dead imps. I'm really not sure." A shiver ran through her body as she released Aolani and continued to exfoliate her feet on the sand. She had a dancer's timing and took to the beat of whatever was moving through the forest, and she stared down at her feet with confusion. "That's... Not right. OH!" She smiled at Aolani, "I should really check." Listening for a moment, she headed back out to the shoreline, her steps softening as the sand harden with the retained water and she hunched over on her way back to the waves, holding the hair to the back of her head.
"You're welcome, please stop Conni from being insane!" Aolani hollers back at Wren, adding, "Conni, get back here! Let them do their ritual! It's not like they're greeting the fluffy baby kittens of the sky, here, it's the Sky GOD! God, like smite-and-wroth-god! Get back here you insane yellow-headed stilt-walker!" But it's a lost cause, the Valkyrie is gone. Then Aksel is going too?! "Wait! Don't go after her, did you hear the bit about the smiting?!" and now Aolani has to skid to a halt to avoid crashing into the now stationary Volya. "Volya?! What're you...snot or imps? Oh, give me a break, not here, too. Are you okay? You want me to look at your foot?" Ske asks to Volya's retreating back, bewildered. Her mouth is literally hanging agape when Aolani trudges back onto the beach next to Amalesh. "We're surrounded by crazy people. Who clearly don't know the difference between being Smitten and being Smote."
Leif looks at Aksel, "You ever seen something big good show up and put on a show." Though he's watching Conni and Wren. He'd met the pair before. Then she takes off running towards the danger with the spear. He looks at Aksel, "Yup, I hope you're right." He says cracking his knuckles, "Because between your 'I got a bad feeeling about this,' and the Nordic sunburnt warrior woman. I have a feeling this is going to hurt." Then Leif takes off running down the beach following Conni. He mumbles, "She better not have wings. She better not have wings." as he follows not to stop like Wren but to add to oncoming smack down.
The sounds were getting louder. Thud. Scrape. Thud. Scrape. They weren't speeding up in the slightest, just coming closer. Intensly heavy. A bush was shaken and made a harrowing sound as it snapped then pummeled the ground several times, sounding like someone was beating a carpet with a branch full of green leaves. As those coming closer to the forest neared the source of the sounds, huge, looming shapes came into view. Looming not so much as they were tall, but simply gigantic. The closer they came, the easier it was to make out what they were. Huge, heavily armored, turtles. They weren't tortoises, they had viciously spiked maws that were only found on those dangerous shelled creatures, the Snapping Turtle. But these were the size of the largest Sea Turtles in the world. There were 2 of them, and they had just emerged from the forest onto the beach, breaking foliage along their way and dumping a couple of now dead bushes onto the sand.
On the beach, a soft clicking, and a strange, chitenous grind sound of movement. One moment the things making the sound were almost silent, then there were two very large bugs, or what had to be bugs, right?, moved past Amalesh and Volya, landing into the rich fog along the sandy beach.
"Monsters, I knew it!" Conni seems almost happy as she spots the two forms coming out of the gloom and is more than a little relieved when she manages not to run into one of them. There is a flash of steel as Conni attack, twisting her body as she brings her spear round in a wide arc. The spin though, wasn't a plan and the Valkyrie stumbles at the last moment, missing her mark but fortunately not hitting anyone else.
Amalesh's words of peace and harmony die in his throat at the sight of the giant snapping turtles, only to return in the form of a strangled yelp as he gets out of the way of something just before it runs him over. In the darkness and the fog he's not entirely sure what he got out of the way of, but some things just don't bear investigation. "Please! There is no need for violence!"
Aksel laughed, calling back to Leif. "Not yet!" He might have slowed slightly when Aolani started talking about Sky Gods, but frankly that just made him speed up more. He did put the weapon away though, pumping his arms and legs as he went through the underbrush. His senses took in everything, happily exploring as he stepped over roots and scrub. And almost straight into a huge ass turtle! He started for a moment before scrambling away, eyeing them with absolute fascination. "Giant... turtles? That's not really what I would think of when I think of a Sky God... where's that lady?" He looked around, not spotting the woman who had yelled. "Sky Gods are more... fly-y aren't they?" He was staring, trying to process what he was seeing and doing his best to get the hell out of the way in the process. He'd kept his blade away, holding his hands up to the two tortoise things. "Hey there... come to join what's going on on the beach? Uh..." He watched as Conni struck at one of the turtles, her miss corrosponding to the breath he let out afterwards in relief. He looked back to the two turtles. "Friendly?" There was a note of desperate hope in his voice.
The turtles don't seem phased by the conversational skills of Aksel. Though nearby some tree dwelling lizards that had likely escaped from someone's home did crawl down out of the tree to come investigate the nice person talking, and were heading his way.
Wren was running after Conni. His concern for more than just her welfare but also the appropriate completion of whatever the natives were doing and the ritual they were performing for the god of the Sky made him uncharacteristically maladroit. One moment he was running, moving faster than he likely should have been. The next moment he found himself taken out below the knee as his cowboy boot shoved under the massive, armored edge of a gigantic turtle. He flew over the top of it, feet flying over his head as he literally upended himself, and then splated to the ground with an ungainly sprawl of legs and arms. He slid, running dead on into a tree with his shoulder and arm, and stopping against it in a heap of groaning male. "Maikai ho'ike, Atworth." His voice was harried, with a sort of rough edge about it, and he was obviously uncomfortable with his shirt newly filled with sand from the fall, and his new best friend the tree.
Volya stepped out of the way out of a... Giant bug. Her eyes went wide as she stood in place. "It has come to my attention that I did not take the pills that mother gave me." Rubbing the back of her neck, she expected an overwhelming sensative of tactile simulation. Reaching out, she picking up a handful of sand and held it in front of her to stare at it, expecting the grains of sand to be the size of pebbles or larger. Swepting her foot on the ground to test up the height of the ripples of sand, wondering if dunes should be bigger. A giggle slipped from as she continued to analyze the sand in her hand. "Alright, can anyone tell me what I took? I remember something about honey driving people insane and it had something to do with poison."
"Noooooo!" Aolani bellows after Leif as he too dashes into the ocean. She plants her hands on her hips and shakes her head, about to say something but then her ears perk. And her head rotates an almost alarming degree without her shoulders moving. "Uh...Volya? Sir with the yellow scarf? You have giant mantises trying to solicit uninvited piggy back rides. And they are definitely -not- supposed to be here." Clearing her throat, she leans towards Amalesh. "I am all for peace and harmony and aloha...but if you need to use, um, vigorous force to keep that off of you, it's probably okay. They're out of place here, this isn't right, see." She grins back at Volya. "I don't think you're poisoned, Volya, but don't let that bug touch you if you can help it. They've got no business being here." The lithe, bronze-skinned woman crouches low and squints into the fog. "Okay, Mantises. If you can understand me, you need to go. This isn't the place for you, and you're upsetting the balance, so if you don't leave, you're going to have to be removed." It's earnest. Not a threat.
Lief is running as fast as his Leif legs could take him as he dodges through the trees. Then the big evil monster or monsters come into sight. "Turtles?" He says as it dawns on him at the last moment. He catches a toe under one of armored creatues. He goes rolling and lands in a pile of leaves under a tree. "Ow.. We're not telling people Donatello just kicked my ass."
The huge turtle that Conni had attacked slowly turned its massive body towards her. Incongruously, it's head darted forward with a speed that defied reason. Those vicious, dangerously beaked jaws latched around Conni's staff and it jerked the pole free of her hands, holding it in it's vice-grip of a bite once Click had disarmed the Valkyrie.
The other turtle, after being tripped over by not just one hale and hearty male, but two!, continued its slow progress towards the sea. Scrape. Thud. No longer were there the sounds of breaking branches and swishing leaves, but that sound was certainly the same, even on the beach, as its massive body lurched.
One of the bugs that had flown past the crew still right there in the water came back into view as the fog thinned slightly in front of Amalesh. It was, indeed, a HUGE preying mantis. The green bug made some odd, walking movements and then quickly scampered up the scarfed man's leg, using its feet to hold onto the man's pants.
The other bug became clear a moment later, as it rushed forward to try to climb up Volya's leg. The honey-haired hippie had the moves required to avoid the confrontation entirely, however, and left the cat-sized creature lifting its arms like it wasn't sure how on earth her leg had moved that far, that fast...
The loss of her spear is something of an emotional blow for Conni and her expression turns to rage as she eyes the feisty turtle. Ducking around the side of the turtle, she gets a firm grip on the opening of the shell just above its head. Digging in her feet and lifting will all her might, she gets its front feet off the sand and starts to rock the creature, hoping to get enough momentum to swing it onto its back. She is distracted moments later when she hears a familiar groan, looking up with alarm as Wren takes a tumble. Quite wanting to help but finding her self in a bit of a situation, she calls out. "Wren? Are you okay?"
Amalesh's scream at the sight of a giant insect trying to climb towards his nether regions doesn't sound nearly as manly as he probably hoped it would. He babbles something that can only be the equivalent of 'Getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!' in whatever language he calls his own and, unslinging his backpack, uses the built-up momentum in the bag to try and do just that - that is, until the bag slips from his grasp and hits the ground before it can hit the bug. Amalesh is not having a good night.
Aksel stopped and blinked at Leif. "Donatello was a badass. There's no shame in him kicking your butt." He shrugged, looking to the other three there as the turtles ignored him and continued to move past. "I... don't think they're monsters. I think they just want to get to the water..." He looked to Conni, blinking as she launched herself at it. He sighed, trying to talk to her after the failed attempt with the turtles. "Miss? Hello? I really don't think they're monsters. They just want to go that way." He pointed down to the water. "Maybe it will give that back?" He shrugged, wincing as he spotted Wren and Lief sprawled after their surprise encounter with the big, bulky behemoths. "You two ok?"
Wren winced in pain but slowly rolled up onto his haunches, then finally pushed himself to standing. He cleared his throat and shook his head, looking at the turtle that was continuing its walk to the sea. "Did anyone get the license plate of the truck that just hit me? I might just need to give the owner a call and offer to clean up the paint I must have torn off during the crash." He chuckled softly and sauntered over towards Conni as she wrestled with a turtle, that had her spear in its jaws. "It looks like you're having some funn, Miss Connie. But really, why don't we put the turtle down? It likely just didn't want to be poked, and those jaws could easily have snapped on your leg instead of what it saw as the stick being used to try to shell it." He offered her a smile and came closer, reaching out his hand towards her and motioning that she should come his way. "Why don't you come over here, and we'll just tug it out of his jaw, or get him to drop it by poking him with another stick or something? But not to hurt him, just to get him to forget he's already got one. Then you can get the spear back, and we aren't hurting a heaven only knows how old turtle in the process?" He shrugged softly with his better shoulder. "Besides, turtles this old make terrible soup, and I can make you a far better meal after this is all said and done."
Volya glanced over her shoulder at the oversized bug, her feet hurried into two steps as she took to her toes and leaping, her legs spread wide in her grand jete. And for all the grace and flow of movement, upon landing to continue a series of stepping pique turns, she screamed, "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?!" The stress of the situation was damaging her calm. "That's it!" With a roar, she started running across the sand, scatter and searching for anything that looked like it like a weapon or at very least, would hurt more than a fist or knee. Stumbling to the ground, she gripped the sand in ever-tightening fists. "FINE! Sand it is!"
Aolani groans. "Okay, unsurprisingly, the mantis does not speak English." She briefly considers trying again in Hawaiian as she moves back into the fog, to a place she judges relatively private in the fog, a good 10 feet away from where she last knew Volya and Amalesh to be. With that, it's the simple matter of untying the cloth knot behind her neck to let her dress fall away, and she bows her head and stretches out her arms. A polynesian tattoo of lehua red ink flares to life and the owl printed there stretches its wings over her arms like a cloak. A flash of red and then only a brown, spotted Pueo owl is left hovering over the discarded dress. But not for long. The creature slices through the fog, no where near the bug but at least making its presence known before disappearing into the fog again.
Leif rises to his feet, "I'm fine." Though how he stands changes just a bit as he seems just a bit larger than life and a bit more sure of himself. His eyes lock on the turtles and Conni. Though not for long as he flinches like somebody try to look at the sun. He looks away and gets an eyeful of those around him and begins to understand those a bit more. "Conni! They're tied to the spirt of the island! Tell the turtle your sorry and aloha. I think they need your spear on the beach! I hear screaming and battle to be joined." Then he goes running back the way he came.
Out of that fog bank comes that owl again, silent as the grave and intent on having mantis for dinner. Owlani dives for the cat-sized mantis on Amalesh's leg, latching on with razor-sharp talons that dig into its body with a satisfying crunch. Then the pueo and its prey disappear into the fog bank again.
Click, the turtle that Conni was helping pull a 'wheelie' let out an aggravated groan that could have come from someone's biker uncle after waking up post-bender. It whipped its head back and forth, and with the long pole-arm still in its mouth, and Conni lifting it by the shell above its head, it put her in perfect position to be liberally thwapped by her own spear. The turtle's stumpy, claw tipped legs wheeled in the air, attempting to find purchase, as it made its displeasure fully known.
Clack, the other giant turtle, was making its way to the water and suddenly stopped stalk still. It seemed to be staring at the Mantis that had attempted to climb Volya and was still looking like it was confused as to why it wasn't on her. No matter the state of confusion in the mantis, however, that large creature with jaws that were more than capable of cutting even a leg off a human was just stopped, staring at it. Unwilling to move as the bug was between it and the water.
When the owl suddenly swooped down to pluck the extra large size mantis off of Amalesh's leg, it was definitely felt. In fact, the mantis left behind one of its feet, hooked into the fabric of Ama's pants, twitching.
The Mantis whose upward progression had been stopped short by Volya's gymnastic prowess seemed slightly put out when the woman went off running for... sand? So it turned its attention to the now unencumbered Amalesh. Moving foward towards him in a skittering motion must have alerted the man fairly clearly to its intentions, because Amalesh dodged out of the way before the creature could even get a grip on his shoe. Perhaps he was just gun-shy because of the last, cat-sized preying mantis he'd had on his leg?
Feeling perhaps a little silly, Conni looks from Wren to the turtle and then back to Wren again. The realization of what the scene must look like finally filters through to her battle lust riddled mind. There is a thud as she lets go of the turtles shell. This is followed by a hollow thud as Conni's own spear, wielded by the Turtle, smacks into the side of her head. Ignoring the thing trickle of blood that starts to trail down one side of her face and hearing Leif call out, Conni steps over to Wren and then addresses the turtle. "Mr Turtle, I am very sorry for attacking you, could I please have my spear back?" Finishing her apology, she looks to Wren, hoping she doesn't look as foolish as she feels. "Today is starting to feel very silly. Can we uh...pretend this didn't happen?"
It seems that Conni isn't the only one who'd rather pretend tonight hadn't happened. Amalesh is busy being assaulted by a cat-sized mantis when an owl swoops out of the fog and takes it off him - only for him to have to dodge the other mantis again. He picks up the bag and hefts it again. "I do not wish to hurt you," he tells the remaining mantis, brandishing the bag as though it were a lethal weapon. "Begone."
Aksel let out a breath of relief as Conni dismounted the turtle, wincing once more as she got noggin bopped by her own spear. Relaxing a bit, he stepped aside to let the other turtle pass before looking to Leif with a raised eyebrow. "Battle to be joined? What?" He turned his attention to Conni and Wren, giving them both a wave and a shakey smile. "Hey... really something huh?" His eyes went to where the blood trickled from Conni's headwound, and he scrubbed through his hair. "Sorry about your spear... hopefully you'll get it back?" When the screaming on the beach finally reached him, Aksel looked over, curiosity getting the better of him as he started going that way. "Turtles and....?" He started heading back towards the beach.
Wren gave Conni a crooked grin, the twinkle in his eye indicating he might like to laugh hard at what had transpired. "If you're willing to overlook my inability to properly move across land at speed, I'm more than willing to forget you decided to use a turtle for a drum." He winked to her and stepped a bit closer, wincing sharply and reaching out as if he'd try to stop the turtle from thwacking her with her spear. "Oh, Conni, that had to smart. I tell you what, I'll get that thing back from our good friend Grump here and you step to the side, so he's not thinking you're just taking it back to go on denting his shell?" He made a wide half circle around the turtle and came up towards the creature once he passed the business end of the stick. "Aloha... turtle. I'll just get that out of your way so you don't have to worry about taking it with you? It's not that you don't know how to use it well, just that I imagine your jaws are better equipped to your lifestyle than an Amazon's spear?" He chuckled and glanced over at Conni, grinning at her. Reaching down, he took hold of the end of the spear and with a harsh grunt, he grabbed it, and wrenched it free of the turtle's jaws. "Mahalo, kind turtle. Enjoy your walk in peace!" And he started walking back to Conni so that the turtle knew he wasn't sticking around to keep accosting it.
Volya sprang up to her feet, cackling like a crazy person, the fistfuls of sand draining from between her fingers. "Alright! Who's first!" The woman did a hop turn to face behind, still cackling, then another. Her eyes scanned the fog for movement and she took two quick steps, making another jump and a loud, "HAH!" The hippie's cackle started to soften into a giggle. "So... Am I playing alone now?" She leapt into the fog with another shouted, "AHA!" And she continued to descend into giggles, biting her bottom lip. "I think I may have been playing alone the whole time." The woman starting laughing, gut-busting laughed as the sand drained from her hands completely as she stumbled around. In the breaks in the laughter, she waved her hand in the fog, "Dudes! Dudes... I may be... Playing with... With my... Shadow!" Lost in the fog is mostly nonviolent.
Leif goes running back through the forest the same way he'd came as he goes grabs a gnarly tree branch broken by one of the two turtle. It would make a good club. His eyes are locked on what looks like a oversized preying mantis to mortal eyes. His eyes see a foul and diseased energy. His expression turning into a snarl. He goes charging towards the creature and swings the club as hard as he can at the bug. "You have came far enough. You will come no further."
Another grunt of dissatisfaction was heard, made by the turtle that had been divested of his newly acquired spear. When none of those surrounding Click made an attempt to attack him further, however, he started his slow progression forward again. Scrape. Thump. Scrape. Thump. It wasn't until he got up right next to his statuary of a brother (sister?) that Click the Turtle stopped moving forward entirely, frozen into position. Now, both of the turtles were there, perfectly still, watching the singular, huge mantis on the beach as it was thwacked with the fallen branch of a tree, wielded by Leif.
Tock, the only mantis left on the beach, took the hit that Leif delivered and swayed hard to the side, dropping flakes of its carapice to the sand beneath it. A strange, chittering sound was heard, and then the Mantis creature was on the move. It took no time at all for it to latch onto Leif's leg. The next movements were surprisingly swift for the creature as it climbed up Leif like a tree, and circled around to his back, leaving Leif under the pressure of at least 20 lbs, as the animal hooked into his shirt and attempted to gain purchase on the skin beneath.
Sidling up to Wren, Conni gives him a quick peck on the cheek as she reclaims her spear from his hands. "This means a lot, thank you." Taking a deep breath, she raises the tip of her spear to the sky and concentrates as she starts to draw in power. Looking back to Wren, he flashes him a wolfish grin. "Oh and it's not amazon, it's Valkyrie." Finishing the sentence, she lowers the tip of her spear and aims it at the Mantis that has tried so unsuccessfully to get a date this evening. Speaking a word aloud, she releases her power and a wrist thick bolt of lightning arcs from the tip of her spear, crossing the beach and hitting the manits. "Much better!"
There's a moment to breathe when the bug decides to pick on someone else - but it's decided to pick on someone else, and Amalesh can finally say that it's definitely not friendly. With the internal conflict resolved, Amalesh hefts his bag and, a moment after the lightning's flicker, brings it down on the bug in absolute silence, smashing it off Leif's back and onto the ground. What on earth did he have in there, half a hod of housebricks?
Always something new to see. With the turtles back on their way to the water, Aksel was happy to follow them to see what happened next. He stopped as he saw Leif taking a swipe at the large mantis skittering around on the beach, eyes going wide as it scaled him. He started reaching for one of the heavy rattan sticks he carried under his jacket when a freaking bolt of lightning came crashing out from the forest, blasting into the mantis! He just stopped, blinking in awe as he looked back towards the two, eyeing her with a sudden vast curiosity. As if the spear hadn't been surprise enough really... "Healani will never believe this..."
He shook himself from his reverie, seeing the mantis still moving, raising the baton to throw as Amalesh slammed his bag down on top of it, squishing it good. He waited for a moment, watching to see if it was still moving and when the mantis gave a twitch and struggled back to it's feet he just sighed. "Oh... fuck it..." He hucked the weapon forward, watching it hurtle through the air like a missile to smack into it's head, cracking the carapace for good and dropping it like a stone. He let out a cheer, throwing his fists into the air and calling back into the forest. "It's not a freaking bolt of lightning, but it gets the job done! Whoo!"
Wren accepted the kiss to the cheek from Conni with a slight smile, then shook his head slightly. "I'll be sure to get that right in the future should I need to remind someone of your Warrior's nature. I was more than happy to get the spear back for you, though, as it seems far more like it was meant for your hands to hold such a rod, not the giant jaws of a snapping turtle." He stepped back a bit as Conni lit up the night. Then Wren watched as people just pummeled the crap out of what looked to be something big and green, the size of a cat, on the beach. "What on earth is going on tonight? I've never seen anything like this happen during one of these fogs." He nodded as the thing finally gets hit by a thrown stick from Aksel, then looked over to the man with a smile. "Nice aim, I'd bet you clean house playing horseshoes." Tucking his thumbs into the beltloops of his jeans, Wren looked at the turtles to see if they were going to continue their trek onward.
Sighing away the laughter, Volya's head snapped towards the sound and glow of lightning as her mouth formed wide grin. "And it has killer visuals." One foot after another rolling over the sand to carry her through the fog, and she was skipping before long. When forms started taking shape and shapes decided they were people, Volya slowly to a prance. Raising her hand, she wiggled her fingers at Wren, "Ahola there." Her eyes went back and forth between Conni and Wren as an impish grin appeared. "Oh Conni... You're so happy to see me that your spear seems to have risen from its hiding place." She clicked her tongue, looking back to Wren, "It's so long that it seems only polite to share." The blonde errupted in the laughter, but frost as her eyes locked onto the deceased mantis and she pointed at it, "Please god tell me someone else can see that!"
Leif's life has been hectic in the last few moments. He's assualted a bug, been assaulted by a bug, the bug was hit with a lightling bolt while on his back. His cap had gotten lost somewhere along the way, now his short hair was standing on it's ends. Then somebody smashed the bug off his back. Then Askel killed said bug. Leif turned around and pokes the bug with his his club. Then he looks at Conni, "Next time, Less lighting if it's on me! I don't want to be choosen yet! Besides wouldn't that be cheating?" He frowns, "Oww. Great now I'm going to need aloe."
Once the bug was thoroughly smashed by bag and stick and lightning, the thing smoked on the ground and started to decay, falling into a disgusting pool of ectoplasm. Even the ectoplasm finally started to lose its bug-guts color and went clear befire it dissipated entirely.
The moment the bug was gone, both of the huge snapping turtles started moving foward again. Their scrape. Thump. Scrape. Thump. carried them all the way to the edge of the ocean. They didn't get in, no. Instead, the snapping turtles began wresting eels out of the surf. One at a time, they ripped them clean of the water and began devouring them. Eel after eel was sucked down the maw of the two turtles, like they were enjoying a spaghetti plate. They ate more than it seemed they could hold, and faster than they seemed they could be hungry. Until there were no more eels winding among one another in the line of the surf.
As the turtles moved up and down the beach, eating their fill and beyond, the group of people in Native garb moved with them, continuing their chant as the blessed turtles performed their task and divested the eels from the sea touching Forest Beach.
"Sorry about that, I need to blow off some steam." Conni looks rather embarrassed now, especially when she gets a good look at Leif, wincing as she offers him an apologetic shrug. Testing the blade with the back of her fingers and happy to find it not too hot, Conni quickly unscrews the head of her spear and puts it pack in her artist tube, sealing the tube shut and then slinging it back over her shoulder. "I think I should probably go. Feeling a little foolish right now and I think only a few beers will help take that heat off." Looking to Wren, she smiles. "Thank you for getting my spear back. It's an heirloom and I'd have been upset to lose it. I have however, made a bit of a fool of myself so I'm going to find a hole with a beer barrel in it." Conni doesn't head off yet though, waiting for the paths to clear before trying to make a subtle exit.
Bug smashed into tiny pieces, bug dissolves into goo. Amalesh stares at where the good had been for quite a long time, then picks up his pack and slings it over his shoulder again. After another long stare at the spot where the bug vanished into thin air - literally - he takes a few moments to look at where the others are. And then with a shrug he goes to watch over the rest of the ritual, giving them a polite distance and making sure they stay uninterrupted.
Aksel laughed, favoring Wren with a wide grin. "Horeshoes and hand grenades. Though I prefer skeeball. My tickets are vast and mighty." He looked over to check on Leif, the man looking rather singed, though he smiled when the other man started yelling. "Oh good. He's ok. More or less..." His attention turned to watch Conni go, and he gave her a brief, slightly confused wave. With a shrug, he looked around, noting the missing Aolani and the rapidly freaking out Volya. He walked over to give her a friendly nod. "Yep. You, me and the rest of us. Conni... I guess deep fried it." He stopped, thinking for a moment and looked to where the large bug sizzled away to nothingness. "Too late for that thought. Oh well." He shrugged, watching as Amalesh moved to watch the rest of the ritual. "Hope he's alright.." While the turtles made their way down to the beach and began devouring one eel after another. Having apparently decided that enough was enough, he plunked himself down into the sand, retrieving his baton from nearby as he stared. As they moved further away, he looked to the others, smiling and holdin up two fingers in a brief salute. "Hey there. Aksel. That's me." He chuckled weakly, a bit out of breath from the excitement and sheer spectacle of the evening. "This sort of thing happen a lot? Not the big turtles, but the bugs?"
Wren reached out with a gentle hand and placed it onto Conni's shoulder, squeezing only once before he let go and gave her a warm smile. "There are worse things in the world than being willing to run in when others hesitate. You be sure to stop by the farm when you're up to it and willing to have that lesson. I'll still be there." Wren nodded to Conni surely and looked over at the beach. "I'm going to go check on everyone over there and make sure they're alright. If you need help navigating your way out of this fog and back to the trailheads, let me know. I'm just a wave away." He stepped away from Conni then and moved towards the beach, looking at those gathered. "Aloha, Aksel. I'm Wren, a pleasure, even under such odd circumstances. And this sort of thing, with the bugs, I've never seen bugs that big. Except for maybe in videos from Australia." Wren smiled and looked over at Amalesh, nodding to him. "At least everything worked out with what the turtles needed to do. Apparently the eels aren't needed or wanted on the island. I don't know if I've ever seen a more clear welcoming party." Finally, Wren glanced over at Leif and offered him a nod. "Well handled, I don't think I'd have appreciated that thing on my back either." Looking at everyone there, Wren offered out loud "If anyone needs a ride back to central, I'm headed that way and parked at the other end of the trail."
Volya knelt down and stared at the mantis oozing and discorporating and she tilted her head to the side, "What once of flesh drifts into memory and then into nothingness, the world no wiser for its passing..." Making a popping sound with her lips, she watched the turtles continued on their murdering way and hummed. "I'm starting to think that I need to spend more time in culture to get a feel on the whats and whys." A frown touched her lips as people continued introductions, standing back up, she leaned in and sniffed at Leif, "You smell like an unhappy circuit breaker." Volya laughed and shook her head, "I mean that in the most inoffensive way." With a happy sigh, she shook her head, "I need to find some solid ground, I think."
Leif frowns but accepts the hand up. "I dunno Aksel, but things are like they're suppose to be." He shakes his head, "Bugs that size in Australia? Not going there. The eels are nurishment and were sent here. They are not decay like the mantis were." He looks at Conni and then grins, "Seriously thank you. I thought I'd killed it. Drink a few for me. I'm bought to go find my own keg." He stops as he's informed of what he smells like, "Okay, It fits. I feel like one. Aloha folks see you around." Then picking up his club. He then trudges off into the darkness and to a short cut home.
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