[Padme]

ooc: after her getting attacked by moxie, gonna preface this rn, this is going to be a failed escape attempt

#9778cc

The world around her was just one big blur, colors and shapes melding into one blob that was unreadable and her eyes kept forever searching forward as she pushed further and further. Her breathing ragged and her heartbeat fast and off beat with every shaky breath she drew in. Was he still behind her? She could have sworn that she still heard him snapping behind her, jaws catching air as she scrambled into a clumsy pace to save herself.

Though it had merely been her ears playing tricks on her now, but Padme was  much too afraid to look back.

When did it all go wrong? The tears streaming down her face, the humid air caressing a bleeding cheek and god did it sting. She had nearly forgotten all about the sprained paw with how much pain was being focused onto the puncture point.

Wide, pale eyes caught sight of her chance at freedom, the tunnel that spanned before her, and if it were even possible it felt as if her heart quickened and left her absolutely breathless in that moment. Freedom, safety, sanctuary. As she pushed herself forward at that same, wild, galloping speed the poor girl missed the jutting roots of a tree and caught her injured paw on her. Jaws flew open to shriek out in pain, scattering birds from the trees as her body collided with the ground, skidding across the dirt and rolling to a stop that left her shaking in pain.

Exhaustion finally gripped her body, but her legs were tired and wouldn't cooperate as pain from both the bite and her sprained paw finally hit her from both sides. A mere few feet from the tunnel system, freedom was a within her reach and yet miles away all at the same time. "No-nonon-noonono n-no. NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I D-DON'T WANT.." She struggled breath quickening as she nearly began to hyperventilate struggling to attempt to crawl towards the tunnel and failing to drag her body even a centimeter. No, please. PLEASE!! The girl's body shook with sobs, the tears now streaming down her face and soaking the already damp earth. The pounding of her head, her shot nerves, and even the senseless chanting of her mind, it ebbed like waves. The world beyond is a kinder one, the world beyond is a kinder one, the world beyond it a kinder one.

[Crocodile]

    Crocodile had spent a good few hours doing his job, waiting to hear the call of anyone who wanted in. But of course there was no one (of course? He didn’t know this place and how many people came in). The boy paced in the pack lands, his lizards crawling through his fur. Part of him wanted to find Ku, the only friend that he had and really the only person he knew. Sure, he had met others, but had he really? The boy was around the tunnels, wondering if he should go out and search the borders, just in case. But then he paused, stepping back as a figure ran not too far off, towards the tunnels.

    The panic the person gave off made the boy run after them, running through the trees at their side, as if trying to hide. This was the only place he knew well, where he could place his paws with confidence and not fall. His monster eyes caught onto the purple of the wolf, and recognized her. The girl who had asked why he didn’t leave, as if she had thoughts of doing so herself. At the time he would probably had just watched her go, shrugged it off. Let them leave, right? But some time had passed, and now there was some kind of loyalty he held to this place.

    As Padme hit the ground, screaming, he would go in to bite her hind leg, drag her away from the tunnels she tried to crawl to. He ignored the shaking that overtook her entire body, the sobs that echoed through his ears. If she kicked at him, he wouldn’t even be kind of enough to grab the meat of her leg he had planned, and would take anything that came at him. The boy expected others would be there soon, having either seen her running or heard her yelling. When he had her far enough from the tunnels, he would start to get loud too. “WHAT do YA THINK yer DOIN’?!” Snarling, ready to grab her again if she tried to pull away. When others would show up, he’d finally back up some, thinking she wouldn’t run when surrounded. Crocodile would go quiet, wanting her to speak, but also seeing what the others thought.

[plum]

Today was going to be a nice day, Plum had decided. The birds were happy despite the lowering temperatures, chirping and singing amongst the leaves as the petite pup maneuvered around the branches. Hibiscus was happy as ever, waddling around in pursuit of Plum in order to keep an eye on the constantly moving youth. She was always on the roll, traveling in search of something new to entertain herself with and to pass the time. She had found food early on in the day, enough to sate her hunger but, admittedly, not enough as someone her age should be eating. Regardless, the day was going well and seemed to be going smoothly.

Or, so she had thought. She had been chattering to one songbird when a scream had rung out, one that spooked all the avians surrounding the child to take flight and flee. Even Hibiscus looked nervous, tittering and clicking her teeth before scampering off. Disturbed, Plum had looked in the direction of the scream with a puzzled expression. Then she realized who the scream belonged to. She knew the voice, she knew it from nights spent in darkness amongst warm blankets, telling stories and playing games to pass the time until they both fell asleep. It was Padme. Padme, who was her only family left to latch onto. Whom had screamed with a fear that set Plum's growing feathers standing up.

Stumbling from her perch on a branch, the pale-furred child landed on the forest floor with a gentle thump. She was normally one to traverse the leaf litter with a quiet ease but, in her panic, she stumbled over plants and roots in her way. She was taking too long. What if Padme was in danger? Oh, she was surely in danger. What if she was hurt? What if she was dying? Plum didn't want to see another person die again. She didn't want to see Padme die. She had seen that sight too many times.

Finally, she came to see Crocodile with his jaws around her sister's leg. Blood, there was blood. Not enough to be fatal, but enough to get the child's nerves to frazzle even more. And one of Padme's paws was held awkwardly, yet another thing to add to Plum's list of "Yikes." Not good. No, it wasn't the familiar sight of carnage, but it was Padme and she was hurt and that was not good. And there was some stranger with his jaws around her sister's leg and Plum seemed to be in the mood for jumping to conclusions. If one were honest, the scene didn't quite seem to paint the green fellow in a good light, at least not in Plum's eyes.

Rushing over, the speckled white Aviari would struggle to find her words. Mostly soft, pleading mumbles of Padme and anxious, bird-like notes. Still, her worry would not overcome the child's protectiveness. She was often a coward, hiding around her sister's legs with fluffed up feathers and a nervous disposition. But now she had to step up. Step up and partially stand over her sister, snarling with small teeth at those who came too close. Whether they wished to help or not, she would snap her puny jaws at them and partially raise her not-quite-fully-grown feathers. How ferocious.

As it turned out, today was not going to be a good day.

[Valravn]

VALRAVN

|↕| el dorado |↕|
man with no country; Jay & Raven

It was supposed to be a day like any day, but of course it wouldn’t be. Because that would be too nice and we aren’t allowed to have nice things apparently. Especially when those nice things come in the form of purple Aviari women with pretty sparkly feathers. No. Definitely not those nice things. He had already been stalking not too awfully far from the tunnel when the sounds and sobs alerted him to a most awful calamity. It was as it always was, Valravn was patrolling, it seemed that nothing too interesting ever seemed to happen on these patrols. He was beginning to wish for some intrigue, ultimately, he would take that back. He knew those sobs, that shouting voice, it was Padme. Why did it have to be Padme? Immediately fear and anxiety gripped him, the girl was meek and delicate, and poorly treated. Obviously his first thought was that she was in danger, and so he quickly sped from his location to the source of her shouting and sobbing.

The light smell of blood hit his nose when he got within range and it made him all the more uneasy. It would be just his luck to get even remotely attached to another and then have something happen to them. Val had felt bad for her, felt some sense of understanding and solidarity with her, perhaps most importantly he had felt that she needed someone to protect her. It wasn’t any different than him protecting both sides during the war, an innocent is an innocent regardless of political affiliation. Or at least it was to him, and since he seemed to be damn near the only—save Styg—who felt that way he had been taking on a lot of pro bono guardian work lately. For a moment he thought of Pearle and the red child he’d been feeding, his lips wrinkled up but he didn’t get to think for long before he arrived just in time to see Padme fall and Crocodile grab her and drag her back.

A rumble escaped his throat but there was nothing he could do about her being manhandled, not as the obvious intention of her flight was sinking in. In the distance was the tunnel, it probably looked welcoming to her a girl like her. Chiroptera. He could already hear the chants in his ears. Like a lynch mob with fire, closing in in the dark to do something doomful. Chiroptera. A louder rumble escaped his throat, this time he was angry at Padme. Furious, fuming, if he wasn’t trying to keep his composure for Croc and the child, he might have been something dreadful. The Raven felt insulted, he felt as if she had just not only damned herself, but had damned him and all the other rogues and bastards as well. Padme had been selfish, and at what cost? Would she had really abandoned the child she cared for? Would she have really bailed on her tribe? Her people? The Lark shouted at her, Plum was snapping in the air like a vicious chihuahua, Val was silent with his fangs bared.

He stalked closer with a particularly chilled edge. Nobody abandons the tribe, nobody. It’s about loyalty and honor. It’s about being proud of your people and your homeland. You make the best of it, you make it better. You don’t let the assholes up high win, you don’t let them get what they want. You don’t play right into their fucking hands. Fluffy Sapphire-blood fur was bristling high, if Padme managed to look over at him during this time she might be a little uneasy with the particular look of hatred that was pull all the way across the Jay’s face. It was insult to injury that it had to be Padme, of all the people it had to be the one he had put his faith into. Val was going to try and help her! Purple eyes narrowed into a venomous glare, this was exactly why he shouldn’t have involved himself in such things. The bastard might not be a highblood but he obviously knew how to better conduct himself and he could certainly choose better company.

He had offered a paw and this feeling of betrayal was all too familiar. The icy colored man had offered to help her, to protect her, to build her up after this tribe tried to tear her down and she was running away?! Finally a nasty snarl gurgled out of his throat, snapping back at Plum to attempt to cease her onslaught for a second, not even blinking an eye towards Croc. ”WHAT ARE YOU DOING PADME? WHAT? I? Do you even think?” Val scolded harshly, here he was, having came to rescue her from evil but the only evil was herself apparently. ”This is NOT how you solve problems! Why would you even try something like this? What—“ The Jay stopped, feeling the anger boiling in his throat, he didn’t want to show too much emotion and most certainly didn’t want to show he was hurt.

But his eyes caught the wound on her face and he was reminded that the blood scent had been what originally hurried his pace. Was she fleeing an attacker? Why hadn’t she called for help? Had she done this herself? An accident? The large Aviari narrowed his eyes and drew closer to her face for a moment, ”Who did that?”