darkSpyro

"Barloc? Now how was he planning to do that?" Sybil asked, shocked, though the question was more to Shadow than Rose. How can a cockatoo do harm to a Komodo dragon? She knew that Barloc wasn't the most pleasant of cockatoos, or birds for that matter, but she never would have imagined he had that much malice.

"Termites? But termites can't do you harm. How..." but Sybil finally understood what he meant when she took notice of the tree just besides him, and that little termite road. It had quite a wide trunk, enough to crush even Shadow. Termites were attracted to decaying trees, and that one was healthy. Those termites couldn't have gotten there by themselves.
"It looks like Barloc has quite a heavy grudge on you. And who could blame him? You stole his tree and banished the entire family!" Sybil scolded, though she found killing quite barbaric, even with reason. However, if Shadow remained trapped, he would die of starvation anyway. She was in quite a moral struggle, but knew that Shadow couldn't be allowed to roam free, so she felt like she had no alternative.

"Barloc! Come out here-- now!," Sayan yelled hoping to get his attention. "Face us! Face the one you are about to kill!," he enticed. He eyed the tree and the trail of termites coming from it.

Sybil understood, but that was quite a predicament. While Sayan yelled to Barloc, she gently pushed Rose away from Shadow to talk to her in secret.
"Listen, I... I'm not sure what to do here Rose. To Barloc try something like that, it's understandable, but it's also insane. However, if we leave Shadow there, he will die of starvation anyway, and what's worse, there can be a tiny risk of him escaping eventually." Sybil warned, remembering how he could almost get out when he tried to scratch her.
"I'm... really at a loss. I don't know what to do, and I really doubt I can convince Barloc to leave Shadow alone." Sybil then concluded, really now knowing what to do at a situation like that.

Quote: redwes

"Barloc! Come out here-- now!," Sayan yelled hoping to get his attention. "Face us! Face the one you are about to kill!," he enticed.

"No, it can't be! Is that the leopard I saw earlier? Impossible!" Barloc said, dismissing it as his imagination and continuing his quest to find something to tear up that tree.

Sayan ears perked as he listened for any signs of a response or movement. "Listen! We can talk, figure something out!," he yelled as he followed and tracked the sound of the voice.

"Sayan, can you please find Barloc? We need to talk to him urgently." Sybil commented, noticing that he was determined to find the violent cockatoo.

Sybil believed that was a good idea, even if she had a little grudge on Shadow herself for all the trouble he caused.
"Say now, that is actually a great idea. Though Whirlpool is probably tired working on that trap... but there is no harm in asking." Sybil said, quite happy. Rose just had another brilliant idea, however, this one had a flaw.
"However, there is one tiny problem... Barloc. I know he hates predators, and based on what he just tried to do, it might be quite a challenge to convince him." she then indicated, though she was willing to try.
"I will get Whirlpool first, and if Sayan finds Barloc, I will then talk to him. It may take a while, but I'm pretty sure I can convince him somehow." Sybil assured, heading to the jungle to find e wombat.
"Yu don't mind staying here, do you?" she asked before going, knowing she will be alone in the beach with the trapped Shadow.

Without response, Sayan sniffed the ground and then proceeded into the woods. He appeared to have a general direction, or at least an idea of one. "There are other ways!," he shouted listening again for a response and more precise location.

Twice was too much. Now Barloc knew it was not his imagination. Finding his way to Sayan very easily, he recognized the leopard in one single glance.
"You here!? What are you doing in my home?" he asked rudely, desperate for an answer so he could continue his search.

Sybil went to the waterhole, where only Nia was.
"Oh hey Sybil. What are you doing here? I thought you were back on the Haven." Nia asked, thou she didn't mind and told her the news.
"Oh guess what miss Sybil? Father was here! Can you believe it? He's back! That means mother must be somewhere around here too. Wait 'until I tell Angus!" Nia said happily, making it clear that Barloc's plot to kill Shadow was his own. But Sybil decided not to tell Nia so she wouldn't spoil her good mood, and went straight to the point.
"Listen Nia, is Whirlpool here? It pains me to ask this of him after all he has done, but we want to make sure Shadow doesn't escape, so I need him to build a wall around him to prevent that." Sybil explained, not telling her everything behind that wall.
"Oh Whirlpool? He is in his burrow sleeping. I know he wouldn't say no, but he is very tired right now. Can you wait for a while? Or maybe tomorrow? He's exhausted." Nia replied.
"Ok, tomorrow it will. I understand. See ya later." Sybil responded, leaving. Nia was tired herself, so she went to a nearby branch to sleep for the night. Sybil wanted the wall to be ready as soon as possible, but she didn't want to exploit Whirlpool, so she headed to the beach where Rose was.

"Trying to stop you from making an terrible mistake! That business with the termites and Shadow-- you do not want to do this!," Sayan explained urgently,

"Oh, so you know the drill, don't you? Listen you, it's too risky to keep that scaled monitor alive! He could escape and take my home again! I've lost too much because of creatures like him... and you." Barloc cruelly said, looking at his eyes, the eyes of a predator in his eyes.
"Really though, you must understand the threat that lizard represents. Why would anyone would be against it's death? I thought someone like you would understand." Barloc then said, glaring at Sayan's neck. A injury that ugly could have only been done by humans, and Barloc knew it well.

The sun had already set, and the Outback's heat was quickly fading away into its typical chilly night. Among the dried brush, three dingoes were searching the area. They were looking for something... someone.
"Don't you think she would be asleep by now? We should just call it a day and--"
"Mongooses are nocturnal, you dunce! Besides, it would be easier to find her if she were asleep!"
"It should be easy no matter what, you two. She's probably disorientated from being trapped in that wombat's labyrinth. Hold on, I think I smell something..."
"It could be any mongoose!"
"But this one smells sickly."
"She was only in there for a day! She couldn't have been starving to death in there!"

The sun has already set. It was dark and chilly, especially in the Outback. A mongoose with a very heavy grudge created her home under a rock. She didn't want to do anything with burrows or tunnels. Right that afternoon, she had befriended a vulture that afternoon, who would become her eyes in the sky. That was just part of the plan to get revenge on those three she hated the most; Sybil, Jet, and Royal.

The female was on the trail of a mongoose, the other two following close behind. The scent was strongest in a small, crinkled bush. Thrusting her head inside, a shriek emitting from the little home, she pulled out a dark gray creature.
"That's not it! She's brown, not that sickly shade of gray!"
"Well, I can't smell color," she retorted after spitting the struggling creature out, where it scampered back inside. "Color doesn't have a scent. It's not my fault--"
"From now on, I'm leading!" the male said, turning his back and trotting away. "Never leave a female to do a man's job."
She gave him a hateful scowl before following.

Sholeh was resting under a rock, hidden by some deser brushes and a small cactus. She was about to take a rest from hunting, when the flapping of a rather clumsy bird interrupted her.
"Warren! Why you idiot! I told you to watch those crash-landings of yours." the mongoose scolded, seeing how the dim witted vulture just destroyed one of the dry plants.
"I'm sorry miss Sholeh, but this is too important. There are dingos on the prowl. I heard two of them talking from the distance. They are looking for a specific mongoose." the desperate vulture informed, but Sholeh didn't want to believe it was her specifically.
"Well, do you know what they want?" she asked, as patiently as possible.
"I don't know. They didn't say. All I know is that they caught a gray mongoose, but it wasn't the one they were searching, so they let go." the vulture explained. That was rather odd indeed.
"Well spy them! Let me know what they want." Sholeh ordered, with the clumsy vulture flying off. Did the dingos find out that she went to the Haven? She was starting to suspect it was her they were looking for, but what did they want from her exactly?

The sun already set , when Sybil arrived to tell Rose the news.
"We'll Rose, the wall will have to wait until tomorrow. Whirlpool is sleeping." she explained, thinking that maybe they could do the wall themselves, but only Whirlpool could think own the adequate materials to do it, so she dismissed the idea.
"Let's call Jet and return." she then said, not even caring if Shadow saw him at that very moment.

Sybil was starting to regret that. She remembered how he made Shadow believe that Jet was working for her against his will, and she wanted the komodo to still believe that, and if Jet arrived, he was probably going to tell Shadow that he was there on his own free will, or maybe even tell him that the orca pod was away. So she tried to fix things as best as possible.
"Well Shadow, I already told you that Jet is helping us now. I'm sorry, but I've decided now that I won't allow you to see him." Sybil claimed, hoping not to sound suspicious. After all, why would she call Jet specifically?
"Come on Rose, let's get to the other side." she then said. Shadow was visible from that shore, so walking further away by the side was the best option if she didn't want Jet to see Shadow.

Quote: Felines

"Oh, so you know the drill, don't you? Listen you, it's too risky to keep that scaled monitor alive! He could escape and take my home again! I've lost too much because of creatures like him... and you." Barloc cruelly said, looking at his eyes, the eyes of a predator in his eyes.
"Really though, you must understand the threat that lizard represents. Why would anyone would be against it's death? I thought someone like you would understand." Barloc then said, glaring at Sayan's neck. A injury that ugly could have only been done by humans, and Barloc knew it well.

"Listen, I understand how you feel. You.. you are the not the only one who has lost something to a predator-- rather it be someone like Shadow or someone worse.," Sayan said sympathizing with the cockatoo. Both creatures likely knew what he meant by someone worse. "Just don't become him. Don't become a killer-- a predator. I've seen my kind suffer, but never would I commit to the act myself. Don't do this to yourself and don't give yourself something that you'll end up regretting later.," he added trying to convince Barloc with all his heart.

Barloc pretended to ignore him, but he actually understood. However, he still stubbornly refused to act by a conscience.
"You are one weird predator. Don't you know that in nature, it's just about plain survival? The death of that thing will mean that we will survive. Didn't you see my wife!? She lost all of her tail feathers when that idiot tried to eat her!?" Barloc yelled, almost pulling off his own feathers. Nonetheless, he knew he had no choice but to admit that it was partially his fault for antagonizing Shadow so much. So after thinking things through, he had an idea;
"Ok then, I'll make you a deal. Whirlpool built that trap, and I trust him. I wont try to kill him anymore, for now. But know this; if the Komodo manages to escape and you guys can't do anything about it, or worse, if he manages to kill one of my own, not only will I hold you responsable, I won't allow Sybil to use this island as a haven.. Barloc said, sounding threatening, and hoping he wouldn't regret that decision.

Once they were far enough, Sybil called;
"Jet! We're done here. We wish to go home." she said, though getting hard to hide her worry. She didn't want Jet to visit Shadow, but he was visible from the shore if you were standing in the right direction. But she hasn't seen Jet around that specific part, so she hoped he didn't ventured there after he dropped her and Rose off.

Sybil then looked at Rose, realizing that they almost forgot about him.
"You're right. We were in such a hurry that we almost left him behind. He is probably still looking for Barloc." Sybil assumed. Though Shadow was trapped, she still didn't like the idea of him and Rose being so close to each other.
"Alright Jet, I don't want to overwork you, but could you take Rose to the Haven? Me and Sayan will stay behind to guard... the island." she explained, almost sayingShadow, but didn't find it prudent.
"Rose, please go with Jet. I'm sure Sayan won't mind staying here for the night." she concluded, though she still didn't know Sayan well to know what would he rather do. It was turning into quite a predicament not having the rest of the orcas around, but everybody would have to deal with it for a while.

Quote: Felines

Barloc pretended to ignore him, but he actually understood. However, he still stubbornly refused to act by a conscience.
"You are one weird predator. Don't you know that in nature, it's just about plain survival? The death of that thing will mean that we will survive. Didn't you see my wife!? She lost all of her tail feathers when that idiot tried to eat her!?" Barloc yelled, almost pulling off his own feathers. Nonetheless, he knew he had no choice but to admit that it was partially his fault for antagonizing Shadow so much. So after thinking things through, he had an idea;
"Ok then, I'll make you a deal. Whirlpool built that trap, and I trust him. I wont try to kill him anymore, for now. But know this; if the Komodo manages to escape and you guys can't do anything about it, or worse, if he manages to kill one of my own, not only will I hold you responsable, I won't allow Sybil to use this island as a haven.. Barloc said, sounding threatening, and hoping he wouldn't regret that decision.

Sayan paused before replying, thinking of the serious consequences that would occur if they were unable to keep the lizard contained. "Very well. If we fail to contain the komodo-- it is your island and you do have that right. If something goes wrong, I will personally go after the thing myself if I have to. Thank-you for considering and for giving us a chance.," Sayan said sounding respectful.

"I'm not asking your permission Rose. Go to the Haven right now, and that's an order!" Sybil demanded to Rose, sounding a little menacing. Although the possibilities of Shadow escaping the trap were small, they were still there, and Sybil didn't want to take any chances. Rose had many too close calls to want to take chances in that matter.

Quote: redwes

Quote: Felines

Barloc pretended to ignore him, but he actually understood. However, he still stubbornly refused to act by a conscience.
"You are one weird predator. Don't you know that in nature, it's just about plain survival? The death of that thing will mean that we will survive. Didn't you see my wife!? She lost all of her tail feathers when that idiot tried to eat her!?" Barloc yelled, almost pulling off his own feathers. Nonetheless, he knew he had no choice but to admit that it was partially his fault for antagonizing Shadow so much. So after thinking things through, he had an idea;
"Ok then, I'll make you a deal. Whirlpool built that trap, and I trust him. I wont try to kill him anymore, for now. But know this; if the Komodo manages to escape and you guys can't do anything about it, or worse, if he manages to kill one of my own, not only will I hold you responsable, I won't allow Sybil to use this island as a haven.. Barloc said, sounding threatening, and hoping he wouldn't regret that decision.

Sayan paused before replying, thinking of the serious consequences that would occur if they were unable to keep the lizard contained. "Very well. If we fail to contain the komodo-- it is your island and you do have that right. If something goes wrong, I will personally go after the thing myself if I have to. Thank-you for considering and for giving us a chance.," Sayan said sounding respectful.

"Very well then. You have been warned. Heh, I must be crazy trusting a predator!" Barloc exclaimed, though saying the last sentence more to himself than to Sayan. It was true that he won't try to kill Shadow anymore, but he did it more to get Sayan to leave him alone rather than compassion.
Before letting Sayan reply anything else, he flew off, to Whirlpool's waterhole to see if his nephew has returned from the Haven...

After Sybil left Rose alone with Jet, she started to get a little worried, but dismissed it quick, believing that if Jet was still working for Shadow, he would have helped him by now.
One would expert that Sybil's next move was to look for Sayan, but surprisingly, she didn't. Sayan could take care of himself very well, so instead, she headed to where Shadow was, laying just in front of him, very close but away from his reach.
"Well then, I hope you are grateful to Rose for letting you live. Tomorrow, we are building a wall around you so that you can't escape. You will stay here... but you will be fed. I'm sure that Sayan will convince Barloc out of his insanity, and this madness can end." Sybil explained, proceeding then to explain her action of now.
"I'm going to stay here all night, watching over you." she said, sounding caring, but she was actually doing it to be vigilant and prevent him from escaping. She was a nocturnal creature, so she trusted she would be awake all night. However, she didn't consider all the hard work and stress of the last days, and unknown to her, she was slowly but surely falling asleep, which could prove deadly if Shadow did managed to escape.

"You mean Sholeh?" Sybil asked, though she wondered why she remembered her name so well.
"Well I'll let you know we've taken care of her." Sybil explained, not knowing there was a third Shadow ally involved besides Jet and Sholeh.
"And why do you keep insisting on having revenge on poor Rose? There have been creatures that have done far worse things to me and I've never wanted revenge on them." Sybil confessed, not understanding how someone like Shadow wanted revenge so badly for a silly scratch that wasn't even permanent.

"Dingos?" Sybil exclamed, taken by surprise with that revelation. That even woke her up a little.
"Well it doesn't matter. We have the dingos contained. Besides, if they do manage to enter the Haven, they still need the orca's help to cross here." Sybil explained, making it clear on what she meant.
"Now, about your stupid revenge, can't you see how pointless it is? Just because of your silly scratches? It was your fault for attacking us in the first place! Besides, look at the rough skin you have. There is bo doubt those will heal in no time!" Sybil assured, getting tired of hearing about Shadow's obsessive and pointless revenge.

Sybil didn't know who Shadow meant by friends, maybe her and the cockatoos? She decided not to ask though. She now understood that Shadow was simply an insane, sadistic beast who just felt the urge to kill someone, and unfortunately, has decided Rose to be the victim of that need.
"Man, what an ungrateful varmint you are. Even after Rose decided to spare you, you still want to kill her. Unfortunately for you, you are trapped here, and I won't allow you to hurt her anyway!" Sybil said with determination, trying to discourage him.
"The dingos are your only allies, far away, and the can't help you. I have a lot more allies; birds, the orcas, including Jet, and even elephants!" she said, trying to discourage him further.
"Now rest. I'm going to stay here all night, watching your every move." she concluded, a little more awake than before. She started to realize that talking to Shadow kept her awake, so the conversation had lots of advantages.

OOC: You are posting quite often today. Fantastic!

Meanwhile, Sayan had started to return to the beach. He wasn't entirely comfortable making such a deal for the haven, but did what had to be done. He only hoped that it wouldn't backfire and that Shadow wouldn't manage to deal the biggest blow yet.

Barloc passed Shadow and Sybil, not even looking down. He was still tempted to get Shadow out of the picture, even through something as simple as throwing him coconuts, but he was a bird of his word, so knew he had to resist. He decided that his priority was to bring Angus with his daughter Nia, so that after the two cousins were reunited, he would go find his missing wife.
The fact was that Kali was heading back to the jungle after she realized she wouldn't be able to find the flock in that unknown terrain. She would stay nearby in hope that his husband would go looking for her.

Sybil realized that Shadow was right. The calm breeze, combined with her exhaustion, would eventually made her fall asleep, so she tried to engage more conversation with Shadow in order to keep awake.
"I can resist. Besides, what difference would it make? You are very trapped there anyway." Sybil commented, pinching herself to keep her eyes open. Unknown to her, there was a change, though small, for Shadow to escape. But she had survived her encounters with Shadow so many times that she was confident nothing was going to happen.

Sybil wondered why Shadow was so eager for her to go to sleep. Not that she cared though. She firmly believed that there was no way Shadow could escape. However, she made one last attempt to discourage him.
"I'll sleep if you do. Not that it matters though. You are hopelessly trapped. Though I must say, the best thing that happened these last couple of days is that you don't have Jet anymore. He's now mine alone." Sybil said to humiliate him. But based on her speech, it was clear that it was only a matter of minutes, maybe even seconds, before she collapsed of exhaustion.

Soon, Sayan showed up at the beach and noticed a nearly asleep Sybil. "Hey. Hey... wake up!," the leopard said as he shook her awake.

That was just the wake that Sybil needed.
"Oh Sayan. Thank goodness you're here! Just here, watching Shadow." she said, not admitting that she was nearly asleep.
"Hey, what about Barloc? Did you find him?" she asked, though almost expecting a no.

"Yes, but its not entirely good news. Which do you want to hear first-- the good or the bad?," Sayan asked before revealing the deal he had made.