darkSpyro

OOC: You can always ask for a recap so you don't need to read so much.

Sybil smiled after Sayan's statement. It was good to be back to normal again. She could barely wait to show herself to everyone again and explain everything, especially poor Jaerl. However, since she didn't know what happened that day, she was very worried about Sholeh (though she didn't show it). If Sholeh saw she was still alive, she was afraid that the mongoose would once again try to find a way to kill her...

Back at the forest, Warren was about to search for Rose, but he got distracted by the variety of leaves, trees and insects that the forest had to offer. Even though he has been there very often for a month, it was always at night, so he never had the time to appreciate it all. While he was curious about what Sholeh told him, he wasn't impatient, and continue to explore a bit more, happy with that allowed freedom. His talk with Rose could wait.

While Warren was quite happy at the moment, Sholeh wasn't. It was such a relief getting back to the tranquility of the forest, but at the same time a pain. She believed Cairo when he told her that Sybil was still alive, even though she hasn't seen her in person yet. But it didn't matter to her. Dead or alive, Sybil was always going to torture her in some way, no matter the civet's status, so she was going, for the time being, stop trying to destroy her and learn to live with both her presence and influence, mostly because she was afraid of Rose's threat. But after pondering about all that, she wondered what kind of trouble Rose talked about that she must stop causing. She imagined that it was to stop conspiring. She already vowed not to do that (for the time being), but then she wondered if that also extended to her egg stealing habits. She was craving for delicious warbler eggs right about now, but knew everybody was going to suspect her if one went missing, especially since the time for incubating eggs was low that season, so there weren't many of them...

"Yes, yes I saw it..." Sybil answered, feeling honored but a bit bad on all the work Rose had been through for her. But now that the truth was out, she was content, especially since Rose didn't show any signs of being angry with her...

"Maybe just a nibble..." Sholeh whispered to herself from her new tree, still craving for warbler eggs. They were like a drug to her, and now that she could finally be established at the forest after so much time, she couldn't resist the urge. She left her tree, taking advantage of the darkness provided by the foliage of the trees and her deep brown fur like the dirt she was walking on, and went to search a target. It didn't take long. Sholeh had located a tree quite populated with warblers, who were just freed a few minutes ago by Royal. As Sholeh suspected, there was somebody releasing them, and after all her hard work to make those knots. But now she didn't cared. In fact, now that was to her advantage. The warblers were so happy with their freedom that they all left the tree, flying very high, enjoying their recent freedom, which is when Sholeh made her move. Nearly all the nests were empty, save for one of them. There were two eggs, and making sure nobody was watching her, Sholeh greedily took both of them. She put them in her mouth, swiftly getting off the tree and leaving towards her new home, ready to eat the delicious eggs in peace and privacy...

Royal finishes cutting the bounds of the warbler that he is working on. The great eagle then speaks briefly with the mother warbler before flying down to the ground. Landing on the ground, beside Voracivenom, he speaks.

"What is it you need my scaled friend," he asks.

AJ:

I look up at the dingoes, trembling as I do. Seeing the female dingo he hopes that he can appeal to her motherly side. His deep, dark midnight blue eyes gleam in the sunlight.

Finally at the peace of her new home, Sholeh settled the eggs inside the tree's dark cavity, which was similar in shape as Sybil's tree. She didn't even cared that Warren hadn't returned. She entered the cavity herself, and drooling, she took one of the eggs, and opened it up with one of her claws. She then started slurping, practically going in a trance. It has been so long since she ate one of those, it was like Heaven to her. After she had finished with the first one, she wanted more. Without delay, she grabbed the second egg, and with the same procedure, started eating. It was such a happy moment, and she wanted to enjoy every minute of her feast. After a few minutes, both eggs were empty, but Sholeh knew that with the eggs missing, whoever was the mother was probably going to report to Rose. With no time to lose, Sholeh took the empty shells and after walking at a considerable distance from the tree, proceeded to bury them under the dirt of a brush. She dug as low as she could, and disposed of the shells. As fast as she could, she settled once more into the cavity of the tree, creating excuses in her mind in case Rose came accusing, but even with that, she was still happy, rubbing her stomach after that heavenly dinner.

Almost an hour had passed, and after a lot of flying and messing around, all the warblers returned to the tree, with some talking to the neighbors while others started either eating or sleeping. The mother who was robbed returned to her nest... and almost gave a squeal of terror when she found not one, but both of her eggs missing. One of them noticed the female's distress, and went for her.
"What's wrong Bonnie?" he asked, but with one look at the nest, he knew what it was. Thinking that the eggs may have fallen, they searched the ground, but there was absolutely no trace of them whatsoever.
"Some animal must have taken them! I just know it! My babies!" Bonnie said horrified, and the male, feeling sympathy for her, flew away to report the case to the new Haven leader, Rose. Neither he nor Bonnie suspected Sholeh, since neither of the birds knew of Rose's little arrangement with her...

"Yes. We must. Let's start with Jaerl please. He is so distressed, and I fear that he could die if he keeps up like that." Sybil explained, visibly worried about the falcon. She then headed with Rose to her tree, where he probably headed after she left him.

The male warbler soon reached the beach, a place where he knew Rose frequented a lot. He just missed her, but fortunately, he noticed by chance the well marked footprints she left on the sand when she retreated, and followed them back to the forest, unknowingly following them to Sybil's tree...

Sybil knew Rose was right, but before entering, she drank plenty of water from her creek to try to mellow down the effects of the fruits. Trembling, she started to climb, very, very nervous on what Jaerl's reaction would be if he saw her right in front of his eyes, in the flesh.

As Sybil slowly climbed, the rather young male warbler landed right besides Rose, not noticing Sybil on the tree in front or even where he was at the moment.
"Me lady, so glad I could found you. One of my neighbors is in complete distress right now. Her eggs just went missing, and she thinks some sort of animal stole them." the warbler explained, though he found it hard to believe. Ever since the mongooses retreated to the outback, all of the birds eggs have been safe, but either way, he found it too mysterious on how they could have disappeared if they didn't fell...

Jaerl is fast asleep within the tree. Tears stream down his face as he sleeps. The pain is visible within him.

Slowly and shaking, Sybil shows her face inside the entrance. Not even the times she thought she was going to die made her more nervous than right now.
"...Jaerl?" she says faintly, with her normal voice, yet with a few traces of her Matthews voice.

Jaerl slowly opens his eyes as he hears her voice. His light blue eyes glint in the sunlight. Turning to face the direction of the voice, he speaks.

"Sybil, is that really you," Jaerl asks as he struggles to stand, his entire body trembling as he does.

"I suppose I owe you an explanation. And I promise I will give it to you. Just, please, get well." Sybil begged, hurting her a lot seeing him like that. She hoped that, now with the knowledge that she was still alive, Jaerl's spirit would be rised and his will to live could return...

Jaerl weakly nods and lays back down on the bed of moss he is on. Slowly he falls back asleep, his silvery blue eyes closing. Tears fall down his cheeks as he does, both from joy and pain.

Sybil, lowered her ears. She thought Jaerl was going to be happy about her presence, but now she could see that he was either too weak for that or simply processing all, or maybe a bit angry with her for hiding. No matter the case, Sybil decided to stay with him for a while, and let Rose figure out that she had decided to remain there a bit. She was starting to feel sleepy herself, and of course, feeling the old leaves and moss inside the cavity of her tree after such a long absence made her fall asleep much faster. At least with her there, Jaerl could see that all was real and not a dream once he woke up.

Warren was nearer than expected, but he has completely forgotten about what he was going to ask to Rose. He was distracted with a line of ants moving food to their burrow, admiring their hard work. Even something as common as that exited him, since that kind of spectacle was never around the outback, though there were some occasional scorpion fights. Everything was distracting him. A lot of activity at the forest, and he wanted to learn and explore as much as he could. He occasionally thought of Sholeh, but imagined that with Rose allowing her to stay, she was out of danger. Plus, he had trusted that Sholeh was intelligent enough to not get into trouble and that she would take advantage of her permission to stay in that wonderful place he was starting to love himself...

"My sincerest apologies for any inconvenience, sir, but it's about Jaerl. He's so distraught over our dear Sybil, he's fallen terribly ill. He won't eat or drink by himself. He appears to have almost given up. Me and Ivor had been trying to aid the poor falcon."
Voracivenom took a long breath, looking to the side in thought. "He seems to be fairing better, however. He recently took a stroll with that weasel character I'd been hearing about. What was his name... Matt... Math... Manhattan... ah! Matthews! Am I right?"

--

The dingoes were discussing how they should get their plan going, and the possible rewards, until the female dropped out and eyed the margay. She appeared increasingly disturbed at the sight of him.
"How long do you think this thing's been out here?" she finally addressed.
The two turned their focus, quite irritably.
"All that matters is that he's here, Odette."
"Look at him! He must have been out here for weeks! Look at how thin he is!"
The older male grumbled. "Jaeger'll take care of him. He does for all these trespassers."
"We don't have the time, Dolton. He looks barely alive. He's so thin; it's a miracle he's still standing. The poor thing..."
Dolton snorted, turning back to the other male. Before he could start discussing his next apparel, he got up, pardoning himself and walking to Odette, much to his irritation.
"What can he even eat?"
"I don't know."
The older male huffed. He was the older male of the group, they should listen to him.

Sholeh was sleeping, but immediately opened her eyes when she heard Rose's voice. She sounded angry, so she knew what that was about. As calm and composed as possible, she showed herself.
"Yes Rose dear?" she asked, acting completely oblivious on why she was there.
Rose could't notice, but the young male warbler had followed her there. What on earth was a mongoose doing in the forest? And why was Rose calling to her by name as if she knew she was there the entire time? The warbler wasn't much of a thinker, but one thing he was sure of; the mongoose was the one to blame. Making sure that the flapping of his wings wouldn't alert them, he flew towards his home to tell his distressed neighbor what he believed happened to her unborn babies...

Near the Haven's beach, flying away was Barloc. After looking for his daughter the entire day, he had decided to assume that she had returned home herself. If only he would have assumed that much sooner. As he flew away, he noticed an orca's dorsal fin, closer to the shore than usual. He then decided to ask whoever that was if he saw his daughter heading home.
"Oh, it's you Mr. Cairo. Have you seen Nia around?" he asked, not even wondering why he was looking at the Haven so much.
"Not today, no." he answered, so Barloc continued onward. It was then that he realized the orca leader was staring at the Haven too constantly. In other occasions, he would have wondered why, but he was too focused on his daughter to think of anything else...

Sayan joined Rose as the Tiger went to Sholeh's tree. "Get out here-- NOW! You know exactly why we're here..," the leopard yelled equally annoyed.

Royal listens to the snake and nods.

"Thank you for letting me know, my scaled friend. Jaerl loved Sybil, it will take some time for him to adjust. Any help that you and the rest of his friends can give him is appreciated. Now I must return to my work," he says flying up and returning to cutting the bonds of the warblers with his talons.

Jaerl wakes up sometime later. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he struggles over to Sybil, wrapping his wings around her. There is a bright glint in his eyes as embraces her. Weak as he is, he is not about to let that stop him from letting Sybil know how he feels. The feline can see that all though he is hurting inside, he is happy to see her.


AJ:
Shyly and timidly I nuzzle the female dingo and the male, before retreating back to where I was. My deep, dark midnight blue eyes gleam in the sunlight. I silently watch the group wondering what is going to happen. The female dingo could easily carry me like she would one of her one pups, but I don't know if she will. Still she and this other male seem to at least be concerned about me.

Sholeh knew that was the only thing Rose came for, and she really hated Sayan butting in, but yet, she managed to remain cool in all that pressure.
"Oh sure, one of those silly birds lost some eggs and since I'm settled here you automatically think it's me to blame. The eggs probably fell and got carried away by the wind, or maybe they were stolen by some rats. Can't you see I'm too comfortable here? If you don't believe me, you can climb here and tell me if you see some egg shells." Sholeh challenged, ready to defend herself. She had already gotten rid of all evidence, and to make sure, she even shrunk her belly to dissimulate that she hasn't eaten a thing...

Quote: Wyrstel

Jaerl wakes up sometime later. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he struggles over to Sybil, wrapping his wings around her. There is a bright glint in his eyes as embraces her. Weak as he is, he is not about to let that stop him from letting Sybil know how he feels. The feline can see that all though he is hurting inside, he is happy to see her.

Sybil didn't feel a thing. Showing herself to everyone gave her a lot of peace of mind, and relieved a lot of stress from her. She was in a very deep sleep...

"Well it's all a big, messed up coincidence. I'm to lazy to move from this spot." Sholeh excused, refusing to tell the truth.
"Now please Rosie dear, let me be. I was sleeping so peacefully when you arrived." She said, faking honesty. She thought that if she confessed, Rose was going to give her away to Cairo, and that was something she really wasn't looking forward to.

As Sholeh closed her eyes to resume sleeping, the young warbler spy walked besides Rose, making faces of disgust when seeing the mongoose.
"Are you going to swallow all that? There are no rats here, and the wind has been calm the entire day. She's a mongoose me lady. Mongooses can never be trusted." the young warbler whispered so that Sholeh didn't heard, though he was a bit disturbed that, by what he could see, Rose allowed a mongoose to stay there.

"Argh, I told you..." Sholeh blurted out, when she saw the warbler besides her.
"Oh, I see what's going on; the little... bird created doubts in your mind. Warblers hate mongooses, and I can't say I blame him, but I've changed." Sholeh lied, though she sounded very convincing. She had years of practice in the manipulation department.
"You know Rose, I don't know what kind of trouble you asked me to stop, but of course, I assume that stealing eggs is one of them. Do you think I would throw the opportunity to live in my native home at last in the trash?" Sholeh said, pretending to be offended at the accusation. The warbler negated with his head, not buying any of it.
"You have a problem warbler? Say it to my face!" Sholeh said furiously, almost losing it but regaining her composure quickly. The young warbler retreated, not wanting to face her. Mongooses preferred eggs, but they could eat birds too if they wanted to.

"It wouldn't be the first time..," Sayan pointed out. The Amur leopard held distrust more then most and would be harder to convince.

"Yes, before Sybil arrived, I stole a lot of eggs, I admit it, but now I know that with the lot of you here, I can't do that." Sholeh said to Sayan rather rudely, and wanting to ignore him, she turned her attention to Rose.
"Who knows what happened to those eggs, but if someone instead of something is responsible, then what are you going to do?" Sholeh asked stealthy, wanting to know the thief's fate in case that she gets discovered...

"Yodel..." Sholeh said with a deep breath, then gave an eerie pause before speaking again.
"How is he doing by the way? Happy that he doesn't need to guide me or Shadow at night to trap his own kind?" Sholeh commented with a malevolous air, giving Yodel away. Sholeh was still thirsty for revenge on someone, and since it couldn't be Jet anymore, she decided it had to be Yodel.
The warbler besides Rose glanced at Sholeh with fury, but then doubt. Did that explain why Yodel was the only warbler that was never trapped, and also how hard it was to find him lately? He believed that all mongooses were cowards and liars, but Sholeh was making sense for once...

"Still blaming me for that? Well whatever, think what you want, but I didn't do anything." Sholeh said sternly but calmed. She was happy that Yodel was going to get punished. She was also relieved that Rose left her with a warning alone that time. But she knew that she will have to resist the urge of stealing more eggs for a while. She hated that outback with all her might, and didn't want to be banished there again. But for the time being, she was going to enjoy her peace, and with a great sigh, she lied down again, determined to go to sleep once more to digest her latest, heavenly meal.

As Rose walked away, the astounded warbler followed her, in complete disbelief and shock.
"You're letting her off the hook just like that? Come on Milady, don't tell me you believed all that? I admit that she sounded very convincing, but mongooses always lie. That's one of the many reasons why Miss Sybil never allowed them here!" the young warbler expressed, not wanting the mongoose to go unpunished.
"What about that poor mother warbler? What if she finds out that the one responsible will go unpunished?" he finally said, trying to make Rose feel guilty for not implementing justice.

Jaerl lays down with Sybil and falls asleep beside her. His silvery blue eyes slowly close as he sleeps with the love of his life, Sybil. A small smile forms on his face as he sleeps.

All seemed to be going well in the Haven, except of course, for the missing eggs, but even with that, things were rather peaceful. Shadow was captured and guarded by Whirlpool, Sholeh was settled and passive, or so it seemed. And of course, Warren only wanted to explore the wilderness. It was quite calm for now, but not for the poor mother warbler. She was thinking the worst. Since the young warbler didn't show any signs of returning, she decided to search for Rose herself...

Back at Hunted Island, things were in a similar matter. No Shadow meant peace and safety, but the noise remained the same. Barloc has returned, and he was severely scolding Nia for staying at the Haven last night without permission. Angus was use to all that, but that day, he just wanted to be away of it all. So as his mischievous cousin got scolded, he flew to the island's shore, listening to the waves. He was wondering if there was an orca nearby. He was in the mood for some conversation. It could be anyone, Jet, Cairo, the orca brothers, even the mute Marilyn through body language. If nobody showed up, then, it was the same to him. He just wanted to enjoy the tranquility that seemed so rare lately...

The warbler sighed.
"I just hope you know what you're doing. I'll see what I can say to poor Bonnie. That was to be her first time as a mother." the warbler sadly explained, feeling so bad for her.
"Well then, so long." he said, leaving before Rose could reply, feeling very disappointed in her. Sybil wouldn't have let something like that go unpunished, so he was wondering if the young tiger was the best successor for the Haven.
Flying toward his neighbors tree, he came face to face with Bonnie, who was on her way to see Rose. The young warbler explained everything to her, and took her home. He felt terrible that once he left her at the nest, he was answered with a gloomy silence. There was no doubt about it. Bonnie wasn't only disappointed, she was devastated. She sat at that empty nest, while the young warbler retreated to his branch, reflecting on what he could possibly do for her...

Several hours had passed, and it was almost night. Sybil had just woke up, surprised that the sun was just about to hide. Cautiously, she lifted the still sleeping Jaerl and put him carefully on the cavity's floor. She had high hopes than when he wakes up, his knowledge that she was still alive would raise his spirit, and he would start to eat and exercise again. She left her tree, remembering that everybody left poor Whirlpool guarding the tied up Shadow.
"Hello Whirlpool." she greeted, seeing the wombat both tired and bored. He has been guarding the Komodo dragon all that time.
"... Listen, why don't you head home? You deserve the rest." Sybil suggested, and after Whirlpool was convinced she could handle it, he headed to the beach to search for an orca, while Sybil, with her long sleep, was active enough to keep an eye on the dragon...

"Sir, he is very, very sick. He can't hardly stand, he's so weak--" The eagle had lifted himself too far up to hear the serpent's dispiriting description of Jaerl's health. He sighed heavily, and rather irritably. "What could ever be more important than the welfare of one's son?"
Continuing along the branches as the sun was dropping, Voracivenom happened to set sights on a rather depressed-looking warbler, the same who had, unknown to the serpent, broken the bad news to a now ex-mother. His brief exchange with Royal was set aside, willing to help the discontented creature. "Pardon me, fellow, but I couldn't help but notice that you seemed rather down. My I be of assistance in raising your spirits?"

~~

Odette, finalizing her decision, gently acquired the margay in her maw, walking past Dolton with barely more than a simple glance. The younger male followed quickly, with Dolton grudgingly trudged behind them. Hopefully they could make it back to the dens before the tangerine sun vanished underneath the horizon line.

The young warbler was startled at first, but then remembered that a black-headed serpent was a long time resident of the Haven whom nobody ever complained about, so knew he could be trusted. He had to tell somebody else the news to get that off his chest.
"Well you see sir, poor Bonnie was looking forward to having her own fledglings for the first time, but a mongoose that Lady Rose let live here stole the two eggs she was incubating." he explained, not wanting to accuse Rose of anything, but he was very upset of her mistake of letting a mongoose live there. He attributed that to her innocence, but the price was too high for one of his neighbors.

Quote: Spyroconvexity

Soon Rose arrived on the beach. "Thank you Whirlpool." She huged him. She then went to Sybil. "Sybil I need your help. It's about Sholeh. She stole eggs. But I allowed her to stay in the forest giving her one more chance. But I'm not sure what to do anymore." Rose looked down.

Sybil was almost as shocked as the young warbler when she heard Sholeh was living there. But she wasn't as surprised with the stolen eggs.
"So you have decided to give Sholeh a chance... that is a nice thing, but letting her live here unsupervised wasn't the best thing to do." Sybil explained, correctly predicting that Sholeh wasn't going to be able to resist the urge of stealing eggs again. She was also worried about the vulture, but he would have to wait for now with what Sybil had in mind.
"It is time Rose. Time for Sholeh to know that I'm still alive. I have realized now how much damage I did to her by banishing her, but if you allowed her to live here... that means you have faith in her. If you do... then... I will have faith in her also. Give her... a chance to change her dangerous antics." Sybil expressed with a sigh, trusting in Rose's judgement but not willing to let Sholeh go unpunished for returning to that damaging habit that hurt her feathered friends so much...

"It's alright Rose. I know your intentions are good." Sybil assured, sensing her great deal of distress.
"I will talk to Sholeh first, then I'll go calm the warblers. Don't worry. Everything will turned out fine." she consoled, having high hopes on knocking some sense into the mad mongoose so that Rose could feel better. She thought it was a near impossible task , but was willing to try anyway.
"Um... do you think you can guard Shadow while I handle everything?" she then asked, knowing how uneased Rose could get around the vengeful Komodo dragon...

Night came that very moment, and that's when Cairo started to spy on Sybil and Rose. Woah! So Sybil was showing herself to everybody now? That was a bit sooner than he expected, but it was better for everybody that way. At least things were going to get a bit normal around there, though he hasn't forgotten about Sholeh. He was waiting for Rose to lose hope in changing her...

"Don't worry.. I can guard him if you wish. You should get some sleep.," said Sayan who hadn't left the tiger since.

"He has been here like this all afternoon. Whirlpool tie him to this rock, and it's holding him up wonderfully." Sybil assured, heading into the forest to deal with Sholeh, and feeling much better that at least Sayan was going to guard him too. She hasn't noticed Cairo very nearby...

Sholeh was still sleeping, without a care in the world and more passive than ever. Warren was retuning from the exploration, almost getting lost with the night. He decided to let Sholeh be, and proceeded to rest on a branch, not expecting any company that night.

OOC: If I disappear in real life, Sayan is unlikely to just disappear and suddenly stop helping everyone. Don't worry though-- I understand and that very much used to be his nature.

"A-Are you sure? I don't want you to get hurt just in case something does happen.," Sayan asked becoming hesistent to leave again.

Sybil was already quite ahead of Sayan, when she realized she had forgotten to ask Rose where Sholeh was residing. But not wanting to turn back, she decided to look for the place herself. She found it way sooner than she expected, since she saw Warren's large silhouette on the branch.
"Mad... Made... Mademoiselle Sholeh? I... Think I am seeing a ghost..." Warren called nervously, recognizing Sybil as the same civet Sholeh and Shadow threw to Jet a month ago.

Since Sholeh didn't woke up, Warren shook her awake. It was then that mongoose and civet shared gazes for a brief moment. Sybil was expecting another attack from the mongoose that hated her so much, but to her surprised, she didn't even moved a muscle.
"Well well... so it was true. You're alive after all. Impressive. I'm not sure how Jet managed to expel you from his stomach that day, and I don't even care. Be happy Sybil. My days of trying to kill you are over. Dead or alive, I've realized that I must learn to live with you either way. So be glad that your dear little successor made a wise choice in returning my home to me." Sholeh explained, having prepared that speech almost out of nowhere. Sybil was so out of words that she has even forgotten why she was there. She was in shock, and so was Warren. Sholeh didn't try to attack Sybil like before, but more so, Warren was present when Jet ate her, so it was beyond extraordinary for him that someone could escape such fate..

Sayan hesitated, but nodded and headed into the woods. The Amur leopard soon found Sybil's tracks and and proceeded to follow them.