darkSpyro

in the dream scape the opening dream begins yet again. same as always really, the hill with the tree that overlooked a large clearing and in the clearing was the whole family spending time together, pleanty of old faces some so old to that Sybil never got the chance to meet them, or any of the residents for that matter, most notibly a Rino. Guardian was at his usual spot but he was standing a grim look on his face.

Sybil believed that the reason why it was getting harder to contact Guardian was because the dream kept filling up with new beings, thus making it more difficult to find him. She was in no mood for introductions though, since she wanted to see Guardian right away.
"Oh Guardian. Finally here you are. It was very hard to find you. It's almost as if the dream was being blocked." Sybil said, associating that with the families that gathered in the sequence. The place was still the same, yet it felt glum. The sky was very cloudy, almost dark clouds. She has never seen it like that before, and she wondered if the rain outside was interfering with the dream itself...

Guardian shakes his head "no not at all, in fact this is what my dreams were like minuse the clouds. no you see i managed to get a glance at our mysterious preditor, i didn't get a good look but i know it was a snake of some kind, and it seems hungry."

OOC: We can say that Guardian has a hard time locating the python because it is Shadow who is blocking him and he just doesn't know it.

Sybil lowered her tail and ears and felt so miserable. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Are you sure? It... exists?" she said, still refusing to believe it. If Guardian was so sure of what he was saying, that meant that the disappearing warblers were due to this so called snake, and not inmigration as everyone else thought.

Guardian nodded "I know it for a fact, sadly i didn't get a good look so i don't know what kind of snake it is."

ooc: but Shadow basically reformed when he died, Guardian is still new to the whole being dead thing so we can blame lack of experience.

OOC: We'll let that reformed thing be explained by Soyroconvexity later.

Sybil grew increasingly worried, and she even tried to wake up forcefully, but she wasn't able to leave the dream.
"All this time... the warblers were in danger for real." she said, feeling incredibly guilty. Something out there was consuming the poor warblers and nobody had been able to stop it.

Guardian says "it's okay Sybil you didn't know. I'll let you wake up, I managed to see it over by Rose and Sayan's cave. good luck" and with that the dream ended.

The dream ended, but it took a while for her to wake up since she was still too tired of everything that has happen in the last days. When she finally opened her eyes and took off her headgear, she could see that it was just a few minutes until morning, and Crocux snoring as loud as ever, and started to feel bad for not feeding him a bigger meal yesterday. But that was of little concern now, since she did what Guardian said; head to Sayan's den. She imagined that this mysterious predator was somewhere around there, and since his place was pretty far from Crocux's, she picked up the pace, with so many thoughts going around her mind while on her way...

Even though the two big cats had struggled all night to keep an eye on Peepers, it was already morning, and even though it stopped raining, it was still night. Nobody but the python was certain what was going to happen now...

While the entire Haven was still sleeping save for a few bats, Sybil was looking around the foliage, every little rustling making her jump. Now that Guardian was certain that this predator that has been terrorizing everybody's minds for weeks really does exist, she was nervous to no end. All she knew it was a snake. But how big was it? They came in all different shape and sizes. Since it was only targeting warblers, she hoped it was small so that it would be easy to defeat, but not even that mind was enough to soothe her worries...

Peepers was waking up, and he had quite a lousy night. He opened his eyes every half hour to see if everything was fine. It was still night and nothing has happened, yet he was still nervous, bit as much as Sybil, but still.

Sayan remained awake, though visibly tired and drained.

The creature, meanwhile, was slithering closer and closer...

The creature slithered back, going back into the grass it came from.

Sayan suddenly became alert at the scream. "Peepers?!," he asked not entirely aware of the warbler's status.

Peepers jumped so high he almost hit his head with a branch above him, which was almost three meters high.
"What! What!" he asked startled, Rose's scream the only thing he needed to wake up completely.
"Miss Rose! Please don't do that! I'm old! My heart is not as strong as it use to be." Peepers begged, understanding her concern but finding that chillingly loud scream unnecessary. Little did he know that was almost certainly what just saved his life.

Before Rose could respond, Sybil appeared besides Peepers, having heard Rose's scream as well since she was patrolling only yards away from Sayan's home.
"What is it Rose! Peepers?" she asked, very confused on what was going on.

"Relax Mistress Sybil. The young Rose simply had a bad dream." Peepers explained, correctly assuming that the source of such a loud scream must have been that.

"You see? No harm done." Peepers assured, feeling Sybil's tension, which only grew once she realized where he was.
"What are you doing here anyway? Don't tell me you slept here... last... night?" Sybil said, containing her urge to scream once she saw Peepers had a nest so low to the ground. The warbler then proceeded to explain his plan like he did to Sayan and Rose.

To avoid screaming, Sybil hyperventilated for a while, and once she was calm, she talked.
"Well it's a mad, stupid plan. Can you imagine the chaos that will happen here if something happens to you!?" Sybil asked, not only worried for his safety, but also the panic that Peepers demise would cause, especially since he was one of the few warblers who could calm a riot among the other warblers.
"You disobeyed me, you disobeyed me and I don't like it! You are going back to the original nest near the warblers. The possibilities of this predator existing is too high, and I won't let you take such an outrageous risk!" Sybil said furiously, forcefully grabbing Peepers by one of his wings and takin him to his original nest.

"Precisely why I need to do this Mistress! Rose and Sayan can protect me, and at the same time take a look at our unpleasant guest!" Peepers explained, struggling to get free, and when it seems Sybil was ignoring him, he turned to Sayan and Rose.
"Somebody, please reason with her!" he begged, Sybil having quite a hard grip on him.

The group's arguing and yelling attracted the attention of another resident. The underbrush rustled as Skaliscin emerged from the bushes. She had been hunting that night, when Rose's scream rang out. She went to investigate in case someone-- in this case, Peepers-- was hurt.
"What the heck is going on? Is somebody dying?"

"It was a ruse... everything is alright.," Sayan said looking at Skaliscin. "Rose just had a bad dream... that's all.," he clarified.

The creature was getting more and more desperate... and hungry as he waited.

Sybil let go of Peepers, knowing that she couldn't force him to do her bidding. He was an old free spirit, and she knew that, just like Crocux and almost everyone else at the Haven, she couldn't boss everybody around. She was, however. Disturbed on how Rose was prepared to have Leepers take such a risk.
"Alright. But I'm trusting you guys..." she said, leaving a lot of things out.

Peepers landed on the rock besides her and then looked at the slithering.
"My my. Skaliscin. I haven't seen you in a while girl." Peepers said, recognizing her almost immediately. She knew birds were off her diet, so she couldn't be the culprit.
"You see Miss Rose? If Skaliscin was nearby when you were sleeping, it was probably her whom you heard, and that's why you got scared." Peepers assured, believing it was Rose's subconscious that tricked her.

"Are you guys looking for something? Or, someone, as it sounds?" the serpent inquired, her tail curling behind her. "Does it have anything to do with that mystery predator eating the warblers? I thought that was just a rumor."

Quote: Waaksian

"Are you guys looking for something? Or, someone, as it sounds?" the serpent inquired, her tail curling behind her. "Does it have anything to do with that mystery predator eating the warblers? I thought that was just a rumor."

Sybil lowered her ears, Skaliscin observation reminding her that warblers had been dying because she neglected to listen to the rumors. She snapped out of it and proceeded to answer her.
"We believe that is the case. But we are on it. Listen Peepers... if you... want to act as bait... then... do whatever you want. Rose, Sayan, you keep an eye on him. And you Skaliscin, we believe that this so call predator is some type of snake. I hope you take no offense to that. But if that is indeed the case, maybe you can find a trace." Sybil said, unintentionally rhyming.
"As for I, I will surveil the area around Sayan's den. If I find anything suspicious, I'll call any of you." Sybil assured, proceeding to walk away near Peepers's nest, wanting to keep an eye on the warbler as well, and very unaware that the creature was far more closer than she expected...

"Same could be said about you old man," Skaliscin replied, but in no way disrespectful. Most of her insults at this point had become more affectionate than malicious. "Although that's really my fault. I've had a lot going on, making sure the kids don't get themselves killed and all that."
She turned her attention to Sybil. "Oh no, I'm not surprised. I'm a snake myself, I know how us *******s can be. Must not be a very big one, though, if they're only going after the warblers. Anyways, yeah, I'll be sniffing out for anything."

"Thank you... wait... kids!?" Sybil asked, very confused, but Peepers stepped forward.
"Oh yeah. She and Voracivenom. Didn't the keas told you?" Peepers asked, wondering why, Sybil of all animals, didn't know that. It had been a while after all. And if she was told, she had probably forgotten.
"We'll talk about it later. We have more important things to be done right now." Sybil quickly said, not wanting to be distracted by any late news and resuming her walks around Sayan's den...

Sayan looked at Rose worried... as if to ask 'What if it really was the creature?'.

The creature, meanwhile, waited to see if the two would leave the warbler's sight. Perhaps it could slither behind next without anyone even noticing....

While Sybil was looking for the mysterious guest, she wondered if she could possibly make contact with it and try to make things work, even though the warblers would probably not agree with her after what it had done...

Peepers in the meantime, was getting some breakfast, though staying at Sayan and Rose's line of sight just in case they worried too much, not to mention that whatever this creature was, it probably could climb trees if it managed to successfully target warblers so much...

Sybil looked for fifteen minutes, but whatever this creature was, it could camouflage too well. It did't help the fact that Sybil, being a civet, couldn't see color very well. As she continued searching, skipping breakfast and all, she hoped Crocux would forgive her for not receiving him in his cave and not bringing him breakfast like she had done for the last days.

But while Sybil continued her surveillance, Peepers was done with his meal and settled into his little nest. The other warblers lived very close to each other and near the kea tree, always under the watchful eye of every parrot. So he was the only one who was the most exposed and vulnerable. While he was terrified at the beginning, now he was determined for th creature to appear and strike already, since that madness had to stop for the sake of everybody at the Haven.

Skaliscin had laughed at Sybil's surprise and was out of sight without another word. From there, she used her tongue to search for any foreign scent, particularly of the serpent variety. Eventually she picked up on something, but it didn't seem too unfamiliar. However, it certainly was not a frequent occurrence in the Haven. Honing in on the trail she found, she followed it.

The search continued, and still nothing at all. If the creature was hanging around Sayan's den as he claimed, then that means either it already left, or it was small. Sybil started to believe that maybe this predator was about the same size as Skaliscin and Voracivenom, but with a very different diet. It may be a terror to the tiny warblers, but Sybil was convinced that she was bigger than this thing, and the more she searched, the more confident she became that she was dealing with a small, yet sneaky carnivore...

The creature slithered through the grass... already much closer then anyone expected. 'A snake? Another snake... already here?,' it thought as it soon detected the scent of something following it. He kept on course-- not one to be intimated by another of his kind.

Sybil looked around, and even though the creature was just yards away from her, she couldn't see it. With the drought over, the foliage was growing, thus making it easier for the python to hide. Growing desperate, Sybil went to the corner of a tree to make sure Sayan, Rose or Peepers knew she was there, and with a calm and soothing voice, she tried to call the predator.
"Listen, I doubt that you can hear me... but if you're nearby, please show yourself. You are pursuing my friends. I just want to talk." Sybil called, expecting the snake to be about the same size as Skaliscin, when it was far more bigger than her and much more dangerous...

The creature heard Sybil loud and clear, though he hesitated before responding. No-one had ever wanted to talk to him before, other then the infamous Shadow. And even then-- he wasn't sure if the voices in his head were Shadow or some manifestation of his imagination. Yet-- he was also intrigued by the Haven and its inhabitants.

"Talk? ..And why would I want to do that?," it said its voice going in-and-out as if it were keeping its distance. It hid itself in the tall grass, not wanting to make itself seen. "I know you are pursuing me.. I know you don't want me here..," it said again speaking in almost a slithery whisper to keep its position unknown.

Sybil's heart skipped about ten beats when she received a reply from the creature. That pattern of speech confirmed that it was indeed a snake, and more importantly, that the rumored predator existed? She moved her ears to try the pinpoint the location of the sudden guest, but it was hidden so well in the foliage and the voice created echo among the trees, making it impossible to know where the snake was. She took a while to respond since she hadn't expected a reply.
"Listen... I don't know for how long you have been there... but you are creating a heavy disturbance in this place. The warblers... they are my friends, and you are hunting them. I'm not sure if you know this, but this is a Haven, and we have certain rules here." Sybil explained, though thinking about how somebody has been eating warblers for a long while both terrified her and disgusted her.

AJ: As I spend time with the Odette and her mate as well as some of their friends, I tell them all I know about this said mysterious predator. Odette and her mate have been like the mother and father, that I never had. I really want them to be able to be part of the family without having to be in secret.

Jhen sneaks up behind Cairo and playfully pounces out of the water, tackling him.

As Sybil waited for a reply, she felt eerily uneased. She dismissed it as the presence of this mysterious predator, when it was actually something much more sinister than that...

Sholeh was home, having a dinner of (surprisingly), pigeon eggs. The egg that Rose returned was rejected by the parents due to being away for too long, so Sholeh took one so that it wouldn't go to waste. They were nowhere near as good as warbler eggs, but she knew it would have to do. Pigeons eggs had more cholesterol than eggs, which is why she despised them, but she knew she had no other choice. As she ate, she wondered for the first time where AJ was. She was actually worried, but she wasn't going to admit that to herself.

"Rules... warblers... why bother? Why protect that which is already a nuisance? Get rid of one ... and five more pop up in their place.," said the voice referring to warbler's ability to breed like rabbits. He had been raised on them and didn't understand why the inhabitants were so content on protecting them. "And you... why are you here? Why are you in my head?,"it said again this time in a much quieter tone. He never know what had happened to the great Shadow or why he kept hearing his voice.

Sybil only heard the first sentence, being creeped out by that voice as if it was a wandering ghost. But due to the scary, stressful situations she had been through before, she stayed put and continued talking to this mysterious predator, knowing how lucky she was that she had managed to get on contact after so many month of hiding from this creature.
"That's not how things work..." Sybil then said, disturbed on how much this creature and Sholeh thought alike about the warbler population.
"Warblers aren't just any animal that you can exterminate at your own pleasure. They are a community full of kindred spirits and beings that want to help us make a difference in this messed up world. You can't just treat the as a simple food source!" Sybil said angril, anxious at being deprived of the appearance of this snake. She still believed it was a small snake...

It was till early morning, and Mambo had woken up. He wondered how Crocux was doing, and thinking he was probably still resting, he decided to fly there to see for himself how the crocodile was managing that morning, bringing with him a medicine made from his own talons. It was quite famous among the kea community, and hopefully, it wasn't going to taste as bad as Sybil's concoction, since he added pieces of fish and seal meat, courtesy of the orcas.
"Hey Toothy! Are you in here?" Mambo asked at the entrance of the cave, seeing that it was as dark as ever...

Crocux's snoring could be heard. Jack came out and said "hey Mambo. what you up to?"

"So the big, hollow log with legs is still asleep huh? That snoring is like a mountain crumbling. I can never tell whether it is him sleeping or something in the cave falling apart." Mambo said funnily, though not surprisingly. He knew that Crocux was a heavy sleeper, and now even more so if he was still sick.
"Well, give this to him once he wakes up. It's a little soup when us keas are sick. It has walnuts and a few beetle juices, but I added a few fish and seal meat to quench the taste. I wish we could have thought of that earlier. It is really quite delicious." Mambo explained, knowing how medicine had the reputation of being yucky.

After carefully placing the bowl (which was just a coconut half), carefully onto Jack's hand, Mambo prepared to take off.
"Well, I'm leaving now. I would love to wait for the old boy to wake up and play, but it's not fun when he's sick, not to mention Miss Sybil is already use to our pranks. I need to get some new ideas, so I'm off to Hunted island." Mambo kindly explained, knowing that he hasn't visited that island in a while, and he urgently needed a change in scenery to eliminate his boredom and think of brand new practical jokes.

"You.. you may have saved me, but you also stranded me. I was content with my life and you promised me something better-- but now I no longer know why I am here.," the creature spoke to the voice in his head showing some signs of resentment. He then spoke up-- referring again to the resident he had found himself in conversation with.

"The world... the world is what it is. And the warblers-- they are what they are. They have always served as such before, so why should things change now?," the voice said again comparing its own nature to that of the unchanging world.

Quote: redwes

[i]"The world... the world is what it is. And the warblers-- they are what they are. They have always served as such before, so why should things change now?," the voice said again comparing its own nature to that of the unchanging world.

While Shadow's voice spoke, Sybil also spoke, determined to know how this creature got here, and if lucky, make him show himself.
"Well that's not how it works here! Like I said, this is a Haven, and we have rules here. The warblers, this is their home, and we must respect that. They are helping animals like you and I escape the pressures and tragedies of the world, and we must be grateful for it! This island houses predators such as yourself, and each and every one of them follow the rules without problem. There are many animals you could still feed on, and leave the warblers alone!" Sybil exclaimed, with every sentence forcing her voice more, actually scolding the creature but trying not to sound disrespectful. She was starting to believe that if this predator hasn't harmed her already, it was either indeed small or had no intention to, since he would have done it already.

"You don't know me-- or what I am capable of.," the voice said with a hiss sounding closer then before. "I never came here on your terms ... and I never agreed to any such rules. But for better or worse-- I am here. And I know the warblers are only getting too numerous for their own good. You know this to be true, I know this to be true, and we were never the only ones.," the voice said again this time with a bit of irritation as Shadow's voice spoke over their conversation.

Sybil was growing both angry and impatient that this snake seemed only to care about his own rules, but she was strict when it came to the Haven, and she wasn't going to allow somebody who probably just recently arrived to live by his own rules and disturb the peace that was established on the island.
"Now see here whoever you are! You can't just make your own rules and distrust the balance that has already been established here! The warblers are my friends, and friends with all of those taking shelter here, even the other predators! You can't kill them just because you believe they are too numerous! That's just preposterous! If you don't stop pursuing them, then I'm afraid I'll have to remove you from the island one way or another!" Sybil said determinedly, feeling the presence closer. She wanted the snake to be cliser look at this mysterious guest to know what she was dealing with...