Sometimes the beach really is unbelievably beautiful at night. This happens to be one of those nights. Clear skies, glittering stars, a slight chill in the air that just brings everything into sharp focus. Yeah. Definitely one of those nights where it makes total sense to be out on the beach looking around at the beauty of Oahu. There were clumps of people gathered, here and there, stargazing and enjoying the night sky along with the sound of waves breaking. The glorious evening had lured a couple of boats to park themselves just beyond the banzai pipeline out on the water and while they didn't have any lights on, there were people out on deck gazing up at the pristine view of the stars overhead. Even the cops were just sitting around, laying back on the hood of their cop car, watching the stars rather than running people off the beach tonight.
A lean, lone figuring came ambling down the beach in the evening, a young man in his twenties. Dressed in an open Hawaiian print shirt and a pair of shorts, he moved on long, muscular legs across the sand, his feet clad in sandals that let his toes push into the sand on occasion. He pushed short black hair away from his eyes as he paused to enjoy the sight of the water, and more importantly the beautiful waves. He eyed the cop car for a moment before moving past it, shrugging his shoulders with a small grin.
Robin is one person who isn't looking up at the stars this evening. He's taking advantage of the cool night air to practice some of his martial arts moves. The young man follows a steady pattern of rapid hand movements and strikes, with the occasional footsweep as he battles imagined foes. He is dressed for it too, in what is considered a traditional tai-chi uniform. The shirt is dark green, with white pants. On his feet, a pair of black Converse shoes. He offers the occasional nod or aloha as people wander by.
A moat had been dug and the sand mounded in the center with a shovel planted in the circle of water. A beast of a man sitting atop the makeshift throne on the mound. Staring out into the water, the man maintained a smile as he waited for the waves to come in and batter its way into the moat. The man was dressed only in a pair of red surf trunks, showing a variety of tattoos on his arms and chest. Laughter rumbled within his chest, "Burning balls of gas is a far less entertaining explanation of the stars. I prefer the thought they are the echoes of glitter off the surface of the water."
Not too far from the water's edge, a single oar is stuck into the ground, butt first. Hanging off if it are a pair of boots, tied together by the laces, swinging lightly in the breeze. Because the owner of both is out on the water. Hopefully that bodyboard Lola has is rented. It might be. Either way, she's out on the water, fiercely seeking to master the art of bodyboarding. Which she's modest at, at best. But while most are eyeing the sky tonight, her focus is more terrestrial and she haphazardly makes her way through a curling wave, a fierce look of determination on her face, red and black hair plastered down by the water. She wobbles forward, unable to keep balanced, rolling into the water as the wave overtakes her, the woman vanishing beneath the surface.
Nala was out with Akhlut, as she usually seemed to be, relaxing with him on the beach and enjoying the clear night. Well, relaxing with him might be a slight understatement, it was more she was relaxing /on/ him, as she sat on his lap on the makeshift 'throne' he'd built up and surrounded with his moat. She'd dressed in a simple swimsuit, a one piece layer of pale, pale green that looked almost like mint, but more like that 'mint' that was claimed by a bottle of milk of magnesia. Still, it didn't do anything to detract from the rather well-formed musculature of the woman wearing it. "I don't think it matters which story you believe so long as you realize that some stories have actual science behind them, even if they're more fun to tell the other way." Nala chuckled and lifted her chin to plant a sound kiss onto Akhlut's cheek, her bright blue-green eyes still notably pale in the starlight. When she spotted Lola, Nala's brows rose into a fine set of twin arches. "Hmmm, we might have some tasty morsels coming up toward shore tonight with people out there bodyboarding this late."
The beauty of the night wasn't lost on most people there and their attentions were latched onto whatever they were spying with their little eyes. However, some people did manage to catch something odd out of the corner of their eyes. Some people seemed to be looking right at the something odd when it happened.
It was a flash. Bright, bright enough to illuminate the top of the rock out past the third layer of reef. That plataeu of blackness against the night sky was illuminated like it was a summer's day for a brief moment, revealing the form of 3 tall, darkly clad women standing in a circle with their arms raised to the sky. The source of the flash of light was from somewhere just above their heads, and it looked to be the color of bright blue, almost like a gas-burning flame. It wasn't in a simple ball or an arc, but a sweep of that blue flame moved over the top of the whole rock, about 2 feet wide and 20 feet across, then the light was gone. It would have been easily missed if someone weren't looking just that direction at just the right time.
Felix had paused near Akhlut and Nala's fortress of snugglitude to stare out across the water, catching sight of Lola as she did her darndest to bodyboard in the evening. He grinned over to the couple, shaking his head. "I gotta be honest. I sort of agree with the big guy. Science is great and all, but it lacks a certain romance." Chuckling, his attention turned to where Robin practiced down the beach, noting the man's movements and raising an eyebrow at the public practice spot. He shrugged. "Advertising for a dojo maybe?"
The rest of his thoughts were cut off as the brilliant burst of light. The rest of his mouth kept running though. "Oh holy shit! What the motherfuck balls is that?!" He looked around wildly, eyeing the two nearby. "Are you seeing this shit? What the hell is going on?"
Akhlut patted Nala's thigh, giving her the slightest shake of his head. "Massive balls of gas are immaterial. The weight of the feelings they create in the observer is much more important. Science is the attempt to sanitize what should be felt." The man's brow knit together as he stared out into the water at the three figures standing upon the reef, clicking his tongue. "And I suppose I would hear much the same about them, more balls of gas over the water and nothing more?" The man grinned as he patted the woman's leg. "We have more fools in or on the water it seems." The man offered a nod to Felix, raising a hand in greet, "Hola there! Romance or not, the motherfuck balls generally do not stay within the bounds of their labels." The man really didn't seem all that surprised at the insanity. "We could swim out to them, though I didn't expect them to understand the clicks and whistles." A fierce grin appeared as he looked to Nala once more, "Would you care to ride out on my back?"
Lola surfaces with a throaty growl. Though one that speaks more to contentment than fury or upset. She just sweeps the water from across her eyes when the flash draws her attention. Her head snaps towards it and she stares. Her pupils dilate slightly and she is still for an instant before she bursts into movement. "Bitches!" The word comes not entirely clearly. Her eager, reckless swim against the water not preventing some of it from trying to go down her throat. But she ignores such things as she tears for the shore. Fortunately she's not too far after being pushed towards it by the waves. She stumbles out of the water raggedly at first, too in a hurry for her own good. But she ends up where she wants to be. Snagging the tied together boots. She glances towards all nearby, not so caring who answers her as she wrestles with her boots. "Get me to those bitches. They need to be smashed!" This she states with a fierce intensity.
"Such language is unnecessary.", said a starn sounding voice. The gentleman in the tai-chi outfit approached the two lovebirds and their admirer. "And I might have thought it was natural gas.", he continued, looking to Ahklut, "Were it not for the three forms backlighted by the flames. It could still be natural gas, but no matter, you have to wonder what it is they are up to."
The man glanced between Akhlut and Nala. "You aren't considering swimming out there, are you? That is somewhat dangerous, don't you think? Would it not better to call the police or coast guard?"
Then Lola yells down the beach, and the young man turns to look at her. He shakes his head, and glances back to the larger man. "I think she's asking you for a lift."
Nala chuckled softly and shook her head. "Yes, I get it, it's all about the romance and the feelings. But still, there's a scientific explanation for how most things make you feel. Even the really, really good things, they have reasons behind them. Not that I think about it when I'm feeling them, of course."
Nala shifted her gaze over to Felix and offered him a slightly distracted smile. "Aloha ahiahi, I don't know what it was. But.. I definitely saw it." She blinked, then looked at Akhlut again, shaking her head. "I have no idea, maybe it was just a bunch of burning gas, I mean it looked like it. Kind of. We can always go see?"
Nala grinned and slipped off of Akhlut's lap, winking to him as she reached back to pull all of her long, dark, waving mass of hair into a quick, whip-like braid that reached nearly to her waist. "I can swim out there without riding on your back, ko'u aloha. We can have a race? Just in case what we find is less fun than we're hoping for?" She eyed Lola as the woman insisted on someone getting her out to the rock. "I'll swim out, you can bring your board if you paddle to help the way, Lola."
Turning her gaze to Robin, Nala shrugged. "Go ahead and call them, there's nothing wrong with bringing them in. You can probably tell those cops over there and they'd send someone. I'm curious, though, so I'm going to go take a look." And then Nala started walking toward the water with the confidence of someone that didn't worry for the slightest about stepping into a black ocean at night.
Now that attention had been drawn to the top of the rock jutting from the ocean, there was some indication that there might be actual light up there. It was intermittent, but every so often a flicker of normal, orangy-yellow flame could be seen. Then it would be gone from view of those below on the beach and even in the water. Likely it was only the distance from the rock itself that allowed any view of the flickering light at all.
Felix just stared, shaking his head in awe and a bit of amusement. He looked to Lola. "You know them?" He thumbed towards the women and watched as Akhlut and Nala started heading towards the water. He thumbed after them as he spoked to the red haired woman. "I can try to get you there but it might be a bit of a struggle. And uh... you can't freak out." He shrugged, grinning. "I'm going over either way, so the ride's open." He started heading for the water as well, allowing himself to get away from the whatever light was on the beach as he shifted. There was a brief series of hideous cracking noises as bone and tissue shifted, expanded and reformed. Limbs elongated as the body hunched over and became both quadrapedal and digitgrade. A tail grew spines as the young man's spine elongated, and his eyes closed for the moment it took his face to stretch, split and heal itself, the mouth now full of razor sharp teeth. Blue eyes looked to regard Lola from a reptilian face full of sharp teeth, the tail lashing as wings extended themselves. It gave a saurian shrug as it rested itself on the knuckles of it's front limbs.
Akhlut nodded to Nala, "And yet there are creatures that understand that some things are too large to fit into their mouths. Arching an eyebrow, he stared at the shifting Felix for a moment, his grin returning. "See Nala, even the men of this island become gulls and expect that I don't eat them, and you want to swim out to the reef." Laughter thundered from the man as he stood up from his sandy perch, stepping over the moat as he made his way to the shoreline, rolling his shoulders. "I'll try to avoid the chains this time." And he started to march out into the water and swim.
If Lola is bothered by transforming people, she doesn't show it. "Too slow," she tells Nala on the board idea. And she is so ready to get going. But she has a solid offer and the moment she has her boots secure enough, she snaps up and takes up Row'an in an eager snatch, the heavy oar handled as the weapon it is. "Let's ride!" A broad, feral grin on her face as she approaches Felix. As long as there is a spot on him to death grip, she will scramble on and set herself to ride into battle. She won't be gentle, he looks like he can take it.
Robin eyes Nala a moment and glances off to the two cops laying about on their car, and then looks back to her. "I might do that, but that doesn't make it any better, you folks going over there. Curiosity killed the cat, they say. Will satisfaction bring you back?"
Felix's transformation causes Robin some pause, the man considering the creature that takes the other man's place. "Calling the police at this point would probably cause more harm than good, yes?", he wonders, casting another glance at Nala. With Lola running over, and Akhlut simply diving into the water, the young man lets out a breath, and climbs up onto the winged beasty's back. "Fine, I graciously accept your offer of a free flight. It looks like it has no amenities, so the price is just right."
Nala just shrugged in response to Lola's denial of a swim-aid and then looked at Felix with her eyes glittering in some amusement. "I imagine you'll have some interesting pictures in the local rags tomorrow." When she looked back at Akhlut, it was to watch him come closer, and she stopped moving about thigh deep into the water, grinning. "Yeah, far too big. And I think that's a good plan, they were a pain last time. Dumb things make a straight shot almost impossible." She winked to the mountainous man and moved to follow him into the water.
When Robin asked her about satisfaction, Nala's eyes glittered brightly as if they were reflecting the stars. "I'm no cat, kane. Curiosity just finds me dinner." And then she slipped herself into the water with the grace of someone born of it, the surface welcoming her more than fighting her.
The sparse light at the top of the rock's plateau continued to demonstrate, like the flame causing the illumination was erratic. There were no further flashes of blue fire, though.
The wyvern that was formerly Felix gave Akhlut a wink. He watched as he and Nala moved into the water and disappeared with in it, tilting his reptilian head in curiosity. Then someone sat on him. There was a slightly wheezy grunt as Lola clambored up on to his back and his tail thrashed irritably. The voice that came out of his muzzle was gravely and surprisingly high in pitch. "Carry you! I'm gonna carry youooof!" He buckled and hit the ground under the weight as Robin climbed on too, squawking in outrage. "Gerroff me you mugs! I can barely carry one!" He shook himself free, swinging his head back and forth and hissing in frustrating. He stood to his full height, front limbs uncurling to reveal long fingered hands that ended in talons. "Upsee daisy" He gripped Lola under the armpits and stood her up. "Hold on to that thing. It's gonna be bumpy." His wings fully unfurled then, brightly feathered like the scales of his body. With three wing beats they were in the air, his head and tail helping to guide them as Felix carried Lola across the water. He growled out carefully. "Don't squirm."
Akhlut continued marching out into the water and just as he was about to swim, he was slapped by a water. Coughing and growling, he swept the water off his face. "Why would one choose to have them breathing holes on the front is beyond me..." Shaking his head, he dove under the next water, immerging several yards away as he paddled out towards the rocks and the three figures upon it.
Lola grunts as she shaken off. Rolling to the side with her oar. She pops up almost at once, glaring at Felix. But her ire evaporates a moment later when it's clear she's getting a lift. She allows herself to be snagged, both of her hands gripping her oar. "Just get me to the bitches before they bother the dead!" Details are not something that bother her. Riding or being carried, the goal is going to be met. She glances up at his admonishment. "Don't drop me until I can drop kick one of them in the head," she rumbles gruffly. She doesn't squirm, but Felix can feel her almost vibrate with excitement. Or is that bloodlust?
Robin raises an eyebrow at Nala right before the beastie shakes his passengers off. The young man stands up and brushes sand from his outfit. "Alright then, well, have fun storming the castle.", he says as the winged creature picks up Lola and flies off with her. Shrugging, he turns and heads off down the beach.
Nala swam under the water a good long time, really, before surfacing to look back behind herself, then up at the sky where there was a bird carrying a red-headed, oar wielding anger ball. When she spotted Akhlut coming up out of the waves to take a breath, she nodded and dipped back under. The next time she came up for a breath she was just outside the breakline of waves crashing against the base of the rock, having swam like some sort of torpedo. She was even further across the open expanse of waves than the bird in the air, and looking for a good place to start climbing up the rock.
As people approached the rock from the water, the glimpses of the firelight above it were gone completely and they were really moving in the right direction based more off the black patch against the starry sky than anything else. Those in the air, however, received a more obvious view as they approached. There were, in fact, 3 tall women with their lithe, thin bodies covered from neck to wrist, all the way to their toes, in nothing but form fitting black. Their hair was shorn tight and close to the head, less than an inch of it covering their heads, like they'd recently taken clippers to their hair to remove it entirely. The firelight was due to a small, conical fire that had been started and had leant the scent of sweet, smokey wood being burned to the air. Notably, there were a few candles in a widely spaced circle around the three women, 5 candles in total, each of them with high sides and lids that had only small airholes to prevent the wind from blowing them out but also prevented them from being snuffed via lack of oxygen to the flame.
Felix soared through the air easily, bobbing slightly at one moment but regaining his altitude and speed with a single push of his great wings. His only explanation was "Bird." Beyond that he was silent, save for what sounded suspiciously like crunching. He moved both himself and Lola with ease, swooping along the water to pass Akhlut. The man got a nod and a quick "Godspeed!" before he zoomed along, flying upwards as they neared the rock, eyes focused on the top as his wings beat heavily. As they passed Nala he let out a whoop. "Wooohoo! See you at the top!" his tail lashing as it fought to grant him proper control. With a final push and a grunt of effort, he sailed the two of them clear of the top, screaming in triumph in his strangely pitched voice. "FIRST!"
Akhlut arms and hands cut at the water and legs kicked to dive underneath the waves as they came. Nearing the rocks, he slowed and tread water slowly moving up against the rocks to sort out hand holds. Clicking his tongue, he thumbed to the rocks as he watched Nala. "You can climb me, it should get you past the tide line so you can find better handholds." Feeling along the rocks, he felt around for holds to support more weight. "I'd ask why they are out here... It seems the proper way to do things."
Lola is all trembles, especially when she can confirm visually.. "It's them!" She squirms now, not waiting to be set down before she shakes herself free. "It's not a long free fall, but she aims herself right at the nearest of the women. Snapping Row'an in a quick, unplanned backhand. It's a glancing shot, but the woman still gets a smack across the head from the broad paddle as Lola crashes down right beside her, jamming her shoulder against the rock. It's an ungainly landing, but she hardly seems phased, snapping up to her feet at once. "I'm going to feed you bitches your own butts!" Fierce bloodlust soaking into every word.
Nala grinned at Akhlut and nodded to him, blinking water from her eyelashes. "Mahalo, ko'u aloha." She chuckled and moved over behind Akhlut, swimming the last bit before she could make her way up the big man's back. Then, she began her climb. It wasn't a horrible climb, really, and she made it almost to the top with a good bit of effort. "Come on, baby, I don't think we can talk to them much, Lola's already attempting to beat someone's head in..." Nala's tone was somewhat wry as she heard the crack of the oar across one of the tall women's heads.
As the form of the red-headed, oar-swinging, Lola comes down onto the top of the rock with obvious intent to do harm, the trio of women seem to be scrambling. Nivia, closest to where Lola ended up landing after her fall, turned and attempted to straight up mule-kick the woman in the chest after her oar had swiped at Nema's head. That same oar blocked her leg and Nivia had to step back or risk falling over.
Nema, on the other hand, glared at Lola and spouted something nasty under her breath, lifting her hand and pointing toward Lola. A moment later, lightning streaked from her fingertip and hit Lola dead on, causing the bright red hair to stand up and out a bit as the blue light arced between filaments and caused them to singe, giving off the scent of burnt hair. "Not if I cook you first, bitch!" Was the reply to Lola's threat.
The third woman was actually closer to Felix, and she pushed her arms out with a confused expression on her face, attempting to shove the large bird-thing away. "What the hell?!" Poor Nalana sounded just as confused as she looked, to be sure.
Felix stared in surprise at the three women, coming down on the rock and watching as two of them swarmed Lola, the red haired woman fighting with an oar of all things. He flapped his wings and moved away as Nalana tried to shove him off, keeping his footing as he snapped at her, tail lashing. Baring his teeth, he grunted at her. "Dunno what the hell you're up to... but what's dead should stay that way!" He snapped and started running towards her on all fours, finally throwing himself in the air to smash into her and send her perilously close to the cliff edge. He grinned as he slithered back and prepared for another strike. "Bitch I can fly... can you?"
Akhlut slipped his hands and feet along the rocks, giving a grunt of approval when he found the handholds that seemed to be the right fit. The man started climbing, making short work of the rocks until he made it to the top. Narrowing his eyes, he scanned the figures there, nodding to himself. "I believe I agree with the oversized gulf, the dead should remain as they are... Is the plan otherwise?" He looked at the three women for an answer.
Lola sweeps her oar in a spin that blocks that kick at her, a simple maneuver, but that can't defeat electricity. The red haired woman juddering in the wake of the shock, a throaty rumble of pain rolling in her chest. "Cheater!" Snarled with a fierce grimace. The near push of her ride and the totter inducing response catches her attention and she tries to snap a sweep of the oar at the edge walking female. Letting the momentum itself pull the oar outward, extending the length of her attack. But she arrests it a moment too soon to get a solid smack, getting an ineffectual graze due to dastardly evasion.
Nivia seemed completely nonplussed by the fact that Lola was there at all, and she attempted to bring her fist around on the woman, aiming for her nose, and promptly hitting nothing but oar. "SHIT! Ouch.. goddamnit." She looked over at the huge form of Akhlut then and glowered. "It's none of your business, big man. We're here doing a little something, but I can promise we aren't raising any dead tonight that don't want to be raised!"
Nema seemed to have total focus on Lola, whom she smiled cruelly to. "It's not cheating if it gets you cooked to a fine brown, little girl." And then she opened both hands, aiming them at Lola like she was harnessing Chi and this was one of those terrible kung-fu movies based on an anime. "Now cook!" Then she grumbled the same nasty word she'd said earlier, at least it sounded nasty, since her tone was filled with all sorts of aggression. The next moment lightning shot out across the top of the rock at Lola and hit the woman hard. Hard enough that she literally smoked from her hair and fingernails as they turned black. Every bit of hair on her head, her eyebrows, her eyelashes, and even the hair on her body, including pubic hair, turned brittle and dry, some of it falling off with the nasty scent of LOTS of cooked hair. "Next shot's dinner."
Nalana narrowed her eyes at Felix, grumbling under her breath. "OH fuck you birdy." And then she whipped her hand outward, literally pulling some of the very rock they were standing on and throwing it at Felix with the power of magic. It almost hit him real bad, too, if the bird hadn't managed to dodge away a bit, and had the big hunk of solid rock roll down the length of his side and off his leg.
Nala, in the meantime, had been climbing up the side of the rock, then popped up next to Akhlut, looking at the situation with surprise obvious in her eyes. "What on earth's going on up here? Why the hell are... HEY!" She cried out sharply as she watched people throwing magic around, and looked like she fully intended to do something about it, once she could get over there.
The ocean at the base of the rock made a horrific, strange, sort of bubbling noise before something came to its surface. It reflected the light, sure, and luckily there was starlight to see it by, because otherwise it would have been lost in the darkness. Four long, slithering, thick tentacles came up to the base of the rock and started slapping at it with the sound of suction cups. The scent of rotten, dead, ocean flesh filled the air in a nauseating flood, pulling tears to the eyes and vomit to the back of throats. It was, for lack of a better word, utterly nasty.
Felix hissed at Nalana as the rock came flying his way, calling out in pain as he was struck. He grimaced impressively at the blow and looked back to the woman, showing teeth in what might be called a smile. Reptilian nostrils flared as he scented something and looked over the side, retching. Quite the sight to see on a six foot long dragon. With a snarl he whipped his head back around to Nalana. "What the fuck is this shit?!" He bunched up suddenly and threw himself forwards, wrapping up and around Nalana quickly, wings beating hard as he bore her aloft and started flying out. "What the shit is this? Who are you people?" His wings were beating furiously, fore and back limbs holding her as his tail lashed behind, moving away from the rest of the fight. "Let's get some distance." They began to rise.
The magic being tossed around didn't seem to bother the ox of a man, but then again he wasn't the target. The bubbling sea spitting up the creature of the depth earned a wicked smile that showed far too many teeth. His eyes moved to Nivia, "I think we should find out exactly how grateful your beast is." The man took two steps and leap at Nivia, grabbing the woman's wrist, spinning her and tossing her over his shoulder like he was a cave man. "Let's go see!" The man edged to the side of the rocks above the creature and yelled, "I bring gifts for this battle!"
Lola looks fried. She feels fried. Danger close. She laughs, though it comes out more as a thick cough. "Well fuck.." She drops to her knees, leaning on the oar. Then collapses forward. Dead? Maybe. But she's down. And the number of warm bodies are growing. More targets, greater dangers than some fallen woman who looks finished.
The creature from the oceanic depths seemed to be crawling up the rock, moving toward those living things above it. The sound of suction cups sticking to the slick surface here and there is loud, impossibly so, and the stench just gets worse while it comes closer. 6 of its tentacles can now be seen as it starts its way up. It was a disgusting thing, too. It had obviously taken insane amounts of damage at some point, as its head was still oozing black ichor onto the rock it ascended. Its eyes were milky and white, huge on the side of its head, and it looked like an octopus, but one of nightmares as it was black as an empty night sky with the sense of pure 'evil' rolling off of it in cold, clammy waves of malevolence.
Nivia screamed, her voice high pitched and terrified as the massive form of Akhlut came up to her and literally jerked her off of her feet like a sack of potatoes, throwing her over his shoulder. She fought, and she fought hard, but he held onto her like it didn't take him even an effort, and it had her screaming her head off in continued terror as he brought her to the edge of the huge rock. "No! NONONONONONONO!" Really, she seemed unable to make any other words.
Nema looked like she was going to continue attacking Lola, but when Nivia began her screaming, it took her attention away from the smoking woman laying on the ground. Her eyes widened and she lifted her hand toward Akhlut. "STOP! Give me back my sister! You can't have her!" She spoke another word, this one gutteral and filthy as well, and then rocks started to form into spikes around Akhlut's feet. Instead of piercing him and forcing him to stop his forward progression, though, Akhlut simply walked around the growing spires of possible pain like they weren't even in his way.
Nalana was still caught up in Felix's clutches, and though she squirmed and wriggled around, she seemed utterly unable to even break free, which caused her to open her mouth wide and scream up at him after he asked his questions. "LET ME GO, Birdbrain! This is none of your concern! LET ME FUCKING GO!"
Nala looked somewhat surprised, still, but then the simmering of anger came to her eyes as she watched everything unfold. "Oh hell no, bitch." Because Nema had decided to do precisely the wrong thing and attack Akhlut, Nala didn't seem even slightly OK with letting it slight. She walked up to Nema, with anger written on her face, reared back her fist and sent it solidly into the other woman's nose, causing it to snap and blood to run down over her lips. "You don't touch him." Her tone had gone cold as she stared at the magic user.
Felix flew about, sweeping this way and that as he spun around in the air, still holding the screaming Nalana fast. One eye rolled down to look at her, it's nictitating membrane coming across and back. "So what you're telling me is that you're not telling me. Fine fine fine." He swooped back around towards the Kraken now struggling it's way out of the water, hind feet letting her go. "You know what... I'm just gonna kill your ass with irony." There was a scream of triumph as the wyvern swooped down, launching Nalana like a makeshift missle as he let her go and sending her careening into the giant sea monster. "That's what you get! That's what you get! Whoo!" He spun around in the air and flapped.
Akhlut looked puzzled as the ground sharpening and just stepped over it. "It will not be pretty, not you will know your creature upclose." Grabbing the woman, Akhlut maneuvered her over his face as he leapt off the rocks. His body blackened and swelled to that a massive Killer Whale that whistle and clicked something about big and round, and that it was best to call it ground. The necromancer managed a scream as she rode out the journey on the front of the whale as they all crashed together into the undead creature of the death. No one should have been happy about this turn of events, but a moment later, the Killer Whale breached and turned midair to a flipdrop against the surface of the water, sending a jet of mist from its blowhole.
The huge, undead cephalopod let out a horrid, shrill scream of a cry when things started being dropped on it. Maybe it was pissed that the things weren't delivered to its beaked mouth. Maybe it wasn't a fan of deep tissue massage. Either way, after the Orca made its resounding dive onto it, leaving behind the meat past of a once-alive Nivia, a long, dangerous tentacle flashed out into the night and caught the huge Orca in the side. It was a solid hit, too, making a very, very loud noise that could suggest that the hit itself could have seriously damaged someone.
Nema wiped at her nose with the back of her hand, looking well and truly pissed. She eyed Lola for a moment, some sense of movement or something, but then she was quickly ignored for the fact that Nala deserved to be compensated for the broken nose. She lifted her hand toward Nala and spat out a vicious curse at her, and while in another language it was easily recognizable. Then she muttered that same, quiet word she'd used when hitting Lola before, and lightning struck out toward Nala, intent on making her night very, very bright. Luckily, Nala had some quick feet and managed to roll like a gymnast off to the side, avoiding being touched by the bright blue light in the slightest.
Down in the water with the huge beast, Nalana rolled over and off of its hide with a hissed breath of pure pain, a couple of bones looking entirely like they weren't serving their purpose anymore. Once she was in the water, she started moving to the other side of the rock, letting the waves do some of the work for her. It was obvious she just wanted to get away, and that she didn't want to stay in the water where the undead creature was.
Nala frowned sharply as things seemed to go entirely to shit. Akhlut was off the edge with one woman, the huge bird-thing was dropping a woman onto whatever stank like dead fish down below them. And she had another woman throwing LIGHTNING at her. Growling under her breath, Nala rushed forward at Nema, attempting to wrap her strong arms around the other woman. She did grab her, but it looked like one of those situations that could quickly turn around on Nala in a heartbeat. "HEY! Just tell me what you guys are even doing? Why do you want something that smells this vile out in the world? Are you seriously calling something up from the dead?!" Nala was a bit incredulous as she questioned the woman she currently had in an aggressive hug.
Seeing Nalana manage to crawl away from the kraken and start moving around the rock, Felix screaming and took to the air again, moving high before he went into a deep dive. His call was wild as he came in fast and slammed Nalana against the side of the rock, pinning her with his claws as his wings flapped for stability. His reptilian jaw opened wide, revealing the second row of teeth behind the first, flat and platelike for grinding. His muzzle clamped down on her shoulder and started to gnaw and gouge, tearing hunks from her flesh as the monster took her apart.
The orca took its beating from the undead creature without breaking its line as it race some 50 yards away and made a slow turn to head back towards the beast. The fact that 13000 pounds can build up to speeds of 45 miles per hour underwater is ridiculous. And Akhlut did just that, a mad dash that almost effortless as it rammed the creature, turned and slapping it with his tail. The orca sending out another whistle and slow clicking sound to keep track of the creature in the darkness.
Suddenly that dead body snaps up. It likely hurts. Who knows what kind of terror is going on inside her body after as much energy as has poured into her body. But somehow, Lola manages to snap herself to her feet. Well, almost. A foot and a knee. Enough purchase for her to snag Row'an and wrench the oar upward. She looks like hell, but she still manages a feral grin as she snaps, "Gotcha bitch!" She might have time to glance, but then all she'll see is the flat paddle of Row'an as the oar proscribes a fierce arc. Had she not been i the condition she is, the hit would be harder. But she has enough hate left to pound against her already broken nose, small shards of bone snapping off to sink deeper into her flesh. It has to be excruciating. And Lola knows it, given that terrible grin of hers.
In the water, the huge, horrific black form of what could only be described as an undead Kraken flashed out toward Akhlut, giving way from its climbing up onto the rock and venturing out into open water after the blackfish. One of its tentacles whipped out and wrapped around the tail of the Orca, much like a loose bracelet. It wasn't quite a killer hold, but it was the best the creature to get on Akhlut at the moment and it went for it, planning it's next move to likely involve beaks and blubber.
Nema squirmed in Mila's arms. And then there was the hit to her face by Lola and Nema seemed to go liquid, actually peeing herself as her body attempted to give way to death right there. In a last ditch effort to get away, Nema brought her head back hard agains't Nala's forehead, distracting the strong woman enough that Nema could break free of the hold and push away from her, moving to the edge of the rock blindly to try to get out of the reach of the oar-weilding Lola.
In the water, Nalana let out a series of excrutiating screams as the bird attacked her, and as the chunks of flesh and bone were pulled from her, she brought her arm up to try to splash the bird and wet its feathers enough to keep it from flying. Of course... with a severely broken and dislocated arm, all she managed to do was flop in the water like a dying fish, sending a couple of ineffectual droplets into the air and nothing more.
Nala gasped in shock as Nema's head came back and solidly contacted her own, making her see stars. She rubbed at the front of her forehead, blinking, then came away with blood, which made her stare at her hand even more confused. "But.. I'm not bleeding." Then she looked at Nema, and her jaw dropped. Oh yeah, it was definitely Nema's blood that had gotten on her face. "Wait... just tell me what's going on!" She looked at Lola, then at the other woman, then moved foward to look over the edge in time to see Akhlut's tail get wrapped up in the sickly tentacle of the undead sea monster. "No. NO!" While Nala might have been interested in answers before, it was no longer the case. And the woman simply dove off the side of the rock into the water, leaving Lola and Nema alone on the plateau at the top.
Midway into the water, the form of Nala shifted into something much, much larger. Her swimsuit was shredded away as her body became that of a huge, female, Orca, much like Akhlut, but smaller of course. A few thousand pounds smaller, but no doubt massive in her own right, to be sure. When she hit the water it was with a clean, deadly slice under it, her fin kicking her down harder so she could position herself below the Kraken, setting herself up for the hit she planned against the massive beast.
Felix pushed aside the attempt to soak his wings and lashed out at her. The arms pushing at his chest kept his saurian muzzle from finding purchase as he snapped at her, tail lashing about behind him as his wings kept beating, keeping hims steady in the air as he attempted to savage the woman.
The orca was held and it was more like grabbing a locomotive. The whipping and thrashing sent waves of water onto the rock was the undead monster was dragged across them. When the tentacle loosened on his tail and Akhlut immediately turned with his mouth open to get as much as the creatures body into his mouth before rolling and twisting his entire body to rake and rip as much of the creature off before swimming away with it allowing the chucks to fall from his mouth, chumming the water.
Lola is fine with being left with Nema. She gets to her feet slowly, leaning on Row'an as she does so. She's probably got something.. not right inside of her. If the pain gets to her, she doesn't show it. Outside of that struggle. "Crawl.. crawl away prey.." Harshly rumbled, her usually rough voice only made more so by her injury. She steps towards Nema, sweeping Row'an at her. Missing intentionally to get a reaction out of her. Once.. twice.. herding the woman. That primal fear.. it has to be in there. No one wants to die. No one wants to be helpless. Hopeless. Lola assumes all of those are in there, right or wrong. And it makes her smile. "Maybe I"ll see you around." Which Lola may well. but not in the flesh. She hauls back and swings Row'an like a bat. Slamming the blade of the oar, edge first, into the back of her skull. The wet crack could be nauseating, but Lola only seems.. thrilled by it. And she swings again, as the body topples, bringing the flat down hard atop her skull. Between a rock and Row'an it caves in just so. "Mmmm, yeah.. sweet," Lola rumbles huskily before she drops to a knee again, willing her body to work properly, yet the effort behind double tapping Nema has depleted her again.
In the water, the huge form of the undead Kraken was obviously in pain, but the keening sounds it made were more akin to hunger than anything. It really, really wanted to eat the AkOrca. It tried again to lash out at the blackfish that was making such an easy job of stripping the Kraken to ribbons. It missed entirely this time, making its movements look even more clumsy and ill-coordinated.
From her position against the rock, Nalana had managed a solid handhold. She stared hateful daggers up at Felix and hissed at him violently, before she lifted her only unbroken arm and threw a fist sized rock at Felix's head. It managed to hit him in the chest, but it still seemed to vindicate something within the woman and she growled triumphantly at him.
It would seem that the Orca version of Nala was actually quite good at some things. Like jumping. Yes, Nala the Orca could likely jump like nobody's business. And really, it didn't seem like anything provided much of an obstacle to her. So, when she surged up from deep beneath the surface, directly under the form of the undead Kraken, it was with the force of a freight train driven by a powerful, agile tail. The initial thump caused the Kraken to bow up out of the water, the ocean shuddering around it as all of its muscles went into a frenzied state of seizure. And then, there was the second thump. This one actually lifting the body of the kraken out of the water and flipping it over, causing black, nasty, ichor to spew into the night from a deep enough gouge into its flesh that it was obvious even with just the starlight. The third time Nala came up out of the water, it was just next to the mostly dead beast. And when she landed, it was with the force of over 5,000 pounds landing onto the mostly dead form, which finally finished it off. The Kraken sunk fast, and the form of Nala the Orca followed it down, driving it deep to the ocean floor.
Felix continued to thrash and snap at Nalana, but the woman fought with ever last ounce of strength she had and was able to keep the wyvern at bay. With a finally frustrated scream he finally released her, flapping back and calling out. "Someone come kill this bitch!"
Akhlut slowly circled back, emitting a slow, long clicking sound to detect any movement around the undead creature. They were really the lazy sort of movements. The screaming on the surface drew his attention and he swim that way. Breaching just his head, the orca snagged Nalana and just kept on swimming with not even a tail slap. Just the sound of waves crushing against the rocks.
Lola slumps down, sitting with Row'an held to proper herself up. "Always feels good to let it all out, you know?" She looks at the fallen corpse beside her. "What's that stupid word.." She turns her eyes upward from it a moment as she considers which word she's thinking of. "..cathartic.. yeah." She laughs, which ends up with her coughing harshly. Sagging a moment, her eyes turned towards the fallen body. She grunts, gripping Rwo'an tight enough that her knuckles are white. She notices a sparkle from her hand and a smirk comes to her lips. She gently lays Row'an down and starts to loot the corpse without a blink. A pair of rings find their way into her pocket. An arm cuff. She can wear that. Pockets? A paper with words? Snag. Matchbook? Fire is fun. The clothing is ruined. Dirty, blood stained. Used to be pretty. But those boots. The woman has some nice boots. And Lola's are old. Weathered. The last struggles below ignored as she works on getting the boots off Nema.
Nalana struggled against Akhlut's Orca mouth on her, but there was nothing she could do. A loud, terrified 'YELP!' came from her as she was dragged into the waves by the suddenly appearing dark, huge form and then.. she was carried. All of her broken bones shifted as she was tugged along, and the arteries in them were decidedly already bleeding like seives, so it wasn't more than a few moments that went by before Akhlut was carrying a limp, unconscious woman through the water as she started to pass away.
The clicking sounds made by Akhlut were returned by Nala in her Orca form and she moved to meet the other of her pod in the arcing motion of his turn, shifting down along his side til she could nose at the limp woman he carried by the leg. Another grating, popping sound then a high pitched whistle came from her before Nala rolled over onto her back, exposing her white and black belly to the stars for a moment, then arched backward into and under the water, disappearing entirely beneath its star-reflecting surface.
Looking haggard but otherwise alive, Felix watched as the two orcas swam off with their prize, shaking his reptilian head in wonder. With a beat of his wings he flew quickly up to the top of the cliff, landing with a thud and thump near Lola. He blinked at her removing the boots of the dead women and sighed, looking at the clothes wearily. "I think you'd better leave those. We're gonna have a lot of explaining to do but I think I have to get you to a hospital. Just... we need to find some clothes on the way. For me..." He moved to help Lola stand. "We better boogie. That guy was talking about calling the cops."
Rather than just play with the creature in his mouth, Akhlut responding to the series of clicks and whistles by turning towards shore. It wasn't a rush, but rather a determined, yet careful movement of body. Following the roll of the wave, the massive orca slid up the shoreline, grinding to a halt and dropping the woman from his mouth. Then with a series of lifting and scooching, the massive orca shifted its way back to the water until it could push its way back into the waves and swim back out, clicking and whistling the whole time.
"Not dead yet," Lola growls at Felix, slapping at his hands a moment before she wrenches on those boots. She has to go, she doesn't have to care about hurting the corpse. Snap a few foot bones, dislocate something.. whatever. A few moments to score something useful. Better boots for stomping. Knot the laces for shoulder slinging and grab Row'an with a free hand. "Alright.. ready. If I'm dying, I'm dying with some good ass boots." She cackles, but it ends up a series of hard coughs again.
Nalana laid where she'd been set, barely breathing. The strange occurrence of a huge Orca whale sliding up onto shore had enough people gasping in surprise and delight. The fact that he deposited a seemingly dead or dying woman behind had people running to the shore after Akhlut the Orca slipped away, and the woman was quickly being seen to by a small mob of people before Akhlut was even far enough out into the water to be back by Nala's side.
Nala lifted her head out of the water and clicked loudly to the top of the rock, as if they could understand her. Then she dipped back into the water and splashed at the surface a couple of times with her tail, motioning toward shore. Once Akhlut came back to her side after dropping the nearly dead woman off, however, she slid up along him and made some more underwater sounds before nudging the huge Orca further out, and sure enough, it looked like the two Orcas were going out to sea. Far out to sea, away from people. The next time they surfaced it was just a spout of water coming out of the water, and a long dorsal fin, nearly half a mile beyond the huge rock.
"Right right. Boots boots." The muzzle bobbed and the long hands reached out to scoop up the dying woman. "Strange priorities on you." He held her a good deal more carefully this time as he launched them both into the air and started heading towards the nearest hospital by his reckoning. He spoke out loud, hoping she was listening and trying to keep her awake. "So here's the deal. When I shift back I'm gonna be bare ass naked and that's gonna look really bad for me. Super bad. So I think what we're going to do is you can tell the hospital you were saved by a giant bird or something. This is Hawaii. I'm sure it happens all the time." He flew on. "I'll put you down, put on a show, be suitably majestic and awe inspiring and then run like a motherfucker before anyone tries to shoot me. Genius right? Genius." He nodded. "So... who the hell were those women? And who the hell are you? And what the hell is with this oar?" He held it clutched in one foot. "It's covered in... stuff so why don't I hold on to this? You don't want to have to explain why you have people bits stuck to a bloody oar while you yourself are uh..." He sniffed and frowned, suddenly flying faster. "Why do I smell pork?"
"Drop her at the Hostel.. you gunna pass it. He'll get it. Me.. I'm gunna pass out. Or die or something." Lola's last words before she sags, her head falling back as she passes out. Too much movement while she was dying before. But Lola isn't known for making logical choices.
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