darkSpyro

Crocux realized he made a poor choice of words "wow wow. easy their. You out of anyone else should know that humans have some creatures as pets. so why is this news to you?"

"Human? You believe in that human story?" Sybil asked surprised, but if it was indeed Guardian who raised him, then why Crocux remembers a human? She didn't want to think about it, so she changed the subject.
"Anyway, I suppose I have not much in the saying. Let just continue onward." Sybil said, not wanting to continue the subject.

Crocux started laughing and said "you don't believe it do you? haha, oh man that's funny. ok I think their's something I need to show you that might make you change your mind. fallow me" and he started heading to the beach going for the boat that Jack arrived in.

"Where are you going!?" Sybil asked startled, noticing he was heading to the beach, when it was off limits.

Back at Hunted island, with the help of a cockatoo he encountered by chance, Mambo found Whirlpool's burrow, and explained his dilemma. He then introduced himself to the serval, but since he was dozing, he got to the point.
"I need medicine for a mongoose." he said, with Whirlpool searching.

"Oh, hello there. You must be Jack the chimpanzee. I don't believe we have met, but I had seen you once or twice back in the orca games." Mambo said, having several times stayed on palm tree branches to see the Haven residents getting tossed around by the mighty animals.

Jack smiled and said "I am Jack. and you must be Mambo. a pleasure to have meet you. Now I think I heard you say you're here for medicine for a mongoose? may I ask what happened to Sholeh?" unaware that he is an uncle as well as a new resident had arrived at haven.

Crocux looked at her and said "remember that boat that Jack arrived in? well I pulled it in at high tied so the orcas can't reach us. their's something their that I've been meaning to collect that I want you to see."

"Actually, it's another mongoose. He injured himself having a very low self-esteem. I believe he called himself... Jr." Mambo said, imagining that being there, Jack had no way to keep himself updated of everything that was going on at the Haven.

Sybil wasn't that convinced, but decided to trust Crocux that time. As long as the boat was far away from the shore as he claimed, they will be alright, though her walking all alone with a crocodile made her feel a bit uneasy.

Jack looked both surprised and confused "really? well then what's the rest of his name? if he goes by Jr he must be named after someone." he overlooked the fact that the mongoose hurt himself.

once they reached the beach Crocux stood next to the boat and said "well hop in. I would get it myself but I'm too big."

Unfortunately, Mambo couldn't remember the name, but remembered something else.
"I don't remember what the rest of his name was, but I'm pretty sure it started with a T." he answered, though not as sure as he declared.

Sybil did as told, wondering what in the world Crocux was panning. That was a human boat indeed. She knew them well... too well in fact, so it felt a bit terrifying standing on one again.

in the boat their was a sloppy container installed in the hull. "you see the container in their? just open it up, their should be a picture inside it. pick it up and hop out."

Jack thought about it for a minute as he got Mambo the supplies he needed. "by any chance would the name be Terrance or something like that?" he asked guessing.

Sybil did as told, opening the container with some difficulty since she didn't have thumbs. With her teeth and both paws, she opened it, getting down to where Crocux was...

"Hmm... yeah, I believe you're right." a confused Mambo said, wondering how would he have guessed on the first try... unless he knew that particular mongoose...

Jack was surprised himself "wow first try and I got it right. wait, I was right! it can't be, unless, na, that would be ridicules, unless, was he by chance upset about something like angering his own species or something?"

Once Sybil got off of him he said "ok now can you please set it down and clean it off?" since he knew the frame the picture was in was dirty and you wouldn't be able to see the picture itself.

Mambo didn't know what he was talking about, since he wasn't aware of what happened at Sholeh's tree. However, just as he was about to reply, Whirlpool came with the needed medicine.
"Thanks dude. You're the best." the exstatic Mambo said, giving him a high-five.
"Well Jack ol boy, I need to leave now, but I will visit frequently. Let's talk more later. And my best wishes to our friend there." he said, pointing at the serval and proceeding to leave the burrow.

Sybil used her own tail to clean up the picture. She knew what a photograph was, and she was certain that whatever Crocux was trying to tell her, the answer was going to be in that simple picture.

on the picture it showed a much younger(and smaller) Crocux who at the time the picture was taken was the size of a normal adolescent. Saris was on top of him with Jack (looking much younger) clinging onto a human giving his classical misadvise grin and in the humans hand was Shilise who was much smaller at the time. as for the human he was long and lanky with crazy hair but the normal for human ends their, he had snake skin and you could tell by looking at it, it was no rash and with a goofy grin showed two abnormally long k9's. It was guardian though, he still has the same eyes and the same skin as ever.

Sybil inspected the photo, but she didn't know what to make of it.
"So, you told me that you and your family were raised by a human. I know that..." Sybil said, noticing that the cobra was absent.
"I suppose Guardian came to your family later." Sybil said ignorantly, still refusing to believe that a human could simply morph into an animal. She didn't want to understand that those extraordinary things could happen. In fact, Ivor, the friendly badger that died during the Battle for the Haven, was himself a reincarnation of the eldest elephant brother (hence the same name), yet she never knew that.

Crocux laughed and said "oh man, you must be dense or something because you're looking right at him! look closely at the human and see the similarities he has with the cobra that you know and love. you will notice that they have the same eyes and the same scaly skin. I don't get it much myself but when he arrived here he was dead, i even buried him with his favorite machete as a headstone then the next ting i know i hear the exact same voice coming from a cobra that has the same eyes and skin as the human that raised me. I find it hard to believe myself but their can only be one explanation, dad died and was somehow reborn as a cobra."

OOC: Hey ShadetheDragon, don't forget to delete your double post.

Sybil had seen the resemblance from the very beginning, but refused to believe it. Due to the biologists that spend time with her, she had a too much scientific approach about all that.
"I'm sorry. But I don't believe in the supernatural." was all she said, leaving the photo with Crocux and walking away, to the direction of Sayan's den. She didn't believed it at first and she still refused to believe it.

After getting lost in the fog for a while once again, Mambo finally got able to get out, and once again, he was flying very close to the water. He didn't want to let a silly panic stop him from doing what he loved.

Crocux chuckled "we nether do i. but to be fair that human in the photo isn't a normal human since his own kind did experiment on him. so the only other explanation is that the experiments lead to his body mutating until he stabilized as a cobra. but that doesn't explain how he came back from the dead."

Now that part Sybil believed. Humans were evil enough to do terrible thins to their own kind, and she knew it very well.
"Well that doesn't surprise me. Many humans are just plain evil." she said, knowing that not all humans were bad, but still, it was so hard to find those genuinely good.
"Anyway, if Guardian knows you and you know him, then that's all that matters." Sybil then said, almost mentioning that Guardian knowing Crocux was what saved her from the crocodile back then, but she knew it was probably a bad idea to bring that into the conversation.

Crocux smiled "yea. besides i don't really care what the reason is that he's a cobra i'm just glad that he's alive. now lets get going, the keas aren't going to be their forever." he picked up the picture and started heading in the general direction of the kea tree.

"Right..." Sybil said, almost forgetting that's where they were originally going before they got sidetracked. As they walked, Sybil was having an idea on how Crocux could lose weight, and even though she still didn't trust him completely, she decided to give it a shot.
"Hey... you know, if you really want to lose weight... then... what better way than play the game the orcas play?" she suggested, knowing how in the month the orcas played with them, they were in excellent psychical conditions.

Mambo was now halfway towards the Haven, and he was his usual carefree way. He even drenched his talons in the water as he flew, finding it very relaxing. He pity the poor marine birds that left, whose fear of the water now made them leave their own home.

Crocux thought about it and said "that might work. since it's on the way i'm going to drop the picture off at my den. after i drop it off we can play ok?" feeling a bit nervuse since a crocs biting power could lead to him accedentally killing Sybil but he had enough confidence to be able to avoid that.

Sybil wondered if they should visit the keas first, but since she want all that to be over as soon as possible, she decided to do the game first if that's what he wanted.
"So then... how good you are at running?" Sybil asked, wondering if a game of chase was better than the ambush. She knew that the orcas were in shape not because of the stalking, but because of the tossing, but there was no way she was going to try that with Crocux... at least not yet. Sybil was going to try not to be afraid though, since she believed that if she could tolerate the orca's merciless shaking, she could stand anything.

Crocux smiled and said "i may not look it but you would have trouble keeping up with me."

After a second, Sybil understood what he said. He thought he was talking about a race right now, when she meant a game of catch. She was glad he misinterpreted it though.
"I wasn't talking about a race... right now. But that is a good idea. Racing is great exercise!" she said happily, very relieved. A race was surely better than getting chased... but then again, it also drained a lot of energy (which she in particular couldn't afford), and she didn't want Crocux to do it by himself, believing he needed a motivation...

He smiled at the idea and said "ok then let drop this thing off at my den first then go visit the keas and if their's still some daylight left we'll race."

Sybil smiled back as they were near the kea tree, but before they reached it, she believed it was time to express the problem.
"Of course you see, I can't race with you for very long. I can easily run out of energy, and since I have eliminated fish and meat from my diet, well..." Sybil pointed out, knowing that fruits and berries alone weren't enough. She got most of her energy from the fish of her creek.
"I can still eat insects, but..." she then said with shame, very embarrassed. She had a nasty experience with one, which is why she didn't want to include them in her diet anymore.

At the beach, Mambo arrived, unharmed and without delay.
"See? I'm fine." he said to the sky, almost as if he was trying to communicate with the marine birds that left. He believed that the extreme cautiousness and fear in part of them and the Haven residents was exaggerated, and that an orca attack was something that was never going to happen.

Sunflame, the serval mearly nods as Mambo enters to get medicine from Whirlpool. The male serval is far from better. His wounds are not at all like anything the others have seen. They were not caused by claws or teeth, well not normal natural ones at least. The wounds are the work of man-made steel and thus deep and more gruesome.

Jaerl lands on the branch beside Cole and Cheryl, before draping his wings over them and smiling.
"How are two of my favorite keas, doing," he says, his sapphire blue eyes glistening in the light.

Meanwhile Royal returns to his tree beside the warblers. His golden eyes shimmer in the light as he watches some of his closest friends. Seeing the group that have been injured by something, evidenced by the lack of feathers, he swoops down and lands beside them.
"Dear me, tell me what happened here," Royal says looking at the group with genuine concern.

Whirlpool had been treating Sunflame's external wounds, and while he was confident that his medicine would do wonders, his lack of recovery made him realize that the problem was deep inside. But he had one big dilemma with that; he had never done surgery. He was always about applying medicine and closing up wounds, but it was the first time he had deal with an interior wound. He had also noticed that when touching the serval, there were some parts that that felt too hard to be skin. Now it was the time to Jack to act. With one look Whirlpool indicated that he urgently needed help from the chimpanzee. Having been acquainted with humans, the wombat assumed he must know about surgeries....

"Hey man, you keep disappearing on us. You know you can come often." Cole said happily, in a matter similar to Mambo. Cheryl greeted him with a smile. She usually treated everyone with a bit of disdain, but she kinda liked Jaerl.

The one to answer the mighty eagle was the most injured warbler of them all.
"A mongoose. That's what happened. Miss Sybil couldn't have enough of allowing just one mongoose living here, now there is a second one who mercilessly attacked us." he complained, glad to have somebody to talk about that besides his warbler friends.

Jack nodded in understanding and said "i'm not an expert in surgery but i'll do what i can." as he gathered supplies needed for the operation.

Jr smiled at the newcomer and said "hello their. I'm Terrance, Terrance Jr. And you are?"

Crocux nodded in understanding and said "ok i understand. You don't have to if you don't want to. Please wait here for a minute. I just need to drop the photo off. I wont be long." and headed off.

Sunflame trembles at the mention of surgery. He is afraid that he may not make it through the process. Too weak to fight, but scared nonetheless, Sunflame shakes like a leaf as Jack gets the necessary things for such a process.

"I know, I know. It's just with the drought and all, I'd hate to hurt any of you, because of my instincts. However, I think I can fight it. I'll come as much as I can, I have a tree nearby so, its not that far. Oh, hello, there new comer, I'm Jaerl. It's nice to meet you Terrence Jr."

"What another mongoose? Wasn't one as dangerous and mischievous as Sholeh enough? Now another one has come here. Ugh, well, don't you worry my little feathered friends, no mongoose will lay a claw on you, while I am here. I'm sorry I should have been there to stop it," he says, tenderly stroking the warblers with his wing.

Jack saw his nervousness and said "don't worry Sunflame, I may not be an expert but I've never lost a patent before and I'm not planning on starting with you."

Jr smiled at how kind he was then asked "do you have any advice on getting on Sholeh's good side? anything would work like a favorite snack or something she likes to do or something?"

Quote: ShadeTheDragon

Jack saw his nervousness and said "don't worry Sunflame, I may not be an expert but I've never lost a patent before and I'm not planning on starting with you."

Whirlpool was glad to have the chimpanzee now. Surgery was something new to him despite hearing so much of it before, and was ready to bring Jack whatever he needed for the procedure.

Quote: Wyrstel

"What another mongoose? Wasn't one as dangerous and mischievous as Sholeh enough? Now another one has come here. Ugh, well, don't you worry my little feathered friends, no mongoose will lay a claw on you, while I am here. I'm sorry I should have been there to stop it," he says, tenderly stroking the warblers with his wing.

The warblers were pleased by his defense. If Sybil wasn't going to do anything about Jr. he hoped Royal would. They didn't care what punishment he chose, as long as it was done. They have gathered too much hate after the attack, and ere even willing to defend Royal from Sybil should she scold him or penalize him for whatever action he took.

Quote: ShadeTheDragon

Jr smiled at how kind he was then asked "do you have any advice on getting on Sholeh's good side? anything would work like a favorite snack or something she likes to do or something?"

Before Jaerl could reply, Cole answered that question.
"I don't think you can appeal to her in any way. That mongoose is too angry with the world to actually care about anybody." he explained, not knowing Sholeh personally but having seen her by chance several times and having heard a lot about her through the warblers.

Quote: ShadeTheDragon

Crocux nodded in understanding and said "ok i understand. You don't have to if you don't want to. Please wait here for a minute. I just need to drop the photo off. I wont be long." and headed off.

Sybil waited patiently for his return, thinking on how Crocux could be entertained but exercise at the same time. He could engage in the same game as the orcas, but there was no way she was going to volunteer to be the toy. Not only she didn't trust him enough, those jaws seemed like they could do much harm without trying, not to mention they weren't as big as an orca (which meant he had less control of his bite). If only she could find something inanimate to act as a toy he could shake...

After Crocux dropped the photo off he went back over to Sybil. He then smiled having a great idea "I have an idea Sybil, why don't we go for a ride?" he suggested.

Sybil always liked rides, but what kind of ride?
"A ride... to where. And will it be on land or swimming?" she asked, wondering if he meant right now while heading to the kea tree or if he meant the body of water that he has called home. Either way, she believed that was a great way of bonding.

Crocux chuckled and said "well on land obviously and since we're heading to the kea's tree why not to their?"

Sybil felt like it would be abusive to hitch a ride on land, so she decided to decline.
"I bet it would be fun... but since we are already close, I must not." she said, noticing they are just about one hundred yards away from the kea tree now.
"But... you can swim me around your lake. I've always wanted to see how crocodiles swim." she said, imagining that would be a great experience. She then believed that she might as well spend some time with Crocux for the days to come, since she feared that she will probably need to avoid him soon like what's she's doing with the orcas.

Quote: Spyroconvexity

"Me too Sayan. " Rose said.

"When all this is over-- we should give them a visit. I had always wanted to go, but would have only been tossed around.," Sayan said referring to the orca games with a slight snicker.

Finally, Mambo had arrived, with the special medicine needed to cure Jr. He was welcomed heavily by Cole, glad that he made it.
"Oh please, don't exaggerate. It was only a ride." Mambo assured him, since his bodyguard was overreacting. He saw that Terrence had eaten well, and that was a welcoming sight.
"Alright you, come on. Whirlpool has already given me instructions on how to aplly this. Come here." he said, ready to play a doctor. He knew that was a responsibility, but he couldn't stop being exited.

Back near the Antarctica, Cairo was finally reaching his pod. It had been a long journey, and he would have rather stayed at the Haven, but it was nice to return to the chillier climate, in which the abundance of food was so amazing. It was a moment of relief for him to finally be back there, but also a moment of anger since he missed the beloved Haven and really worried him how the rest of the Haven residents were going to bear all the extreme limitations that the drought was going to bring.

Crocux chuckled "what's the matter afraid that you wouldn't be able to hold on?" he said teasingly. He sighs and says "ok but one problem with that whole lake thing. I don't got one. the ocean is my lake and I can't go their since it's too dangerous." he then looked ahead and said "hey I think I see Rose and Sayan from here."

Jr got up and limped over, since he still had a broken leg, and fallowed Mambo's instructions.

"Wait... no lake?!" Sybil asked surprised. She has never seen Crocux's home, but she had assumed that he... being a crocodile, would choose a place with a body of water.
"That's not right. Crocodiles need water." she said, knowing that if Crocux used the ocean to swim that was now out of the question. But then she had an idea.
"Oh wait, I got it. The wetland. There is a big lake there, and probably won't dry completely. You can choose that as your place." she suggested, knowing that the wetland was ideal for him, even if it wasn't the cleanest of waters. There were some fish there as well, but they were hard to catch and very deep indeed, which is why her, Rose and Sayan couldn't fish there.

Quote: Spyroconvexity

Rose smiled. She then heard Mambo. "Mambo is that you?"

Mambo gasped happily, having heard her voice from even up there.
"Hey, it's Rose! She's come through!" he said ecstatically, but that soon vanished when he realized that he had a task at hand, and that he couldn't visit her yet.
"Go ahead boss. I've seen how you handle this. I can take care of it." Cole assured, knowing his boss too well. Mambo was hesitant, but decided to trust him. He left the tree, flying below to greet the young tiger...

Crocux thought about it and said "yea that could work. and you're right we need water so I would get drinking water from the stream that leads to your tree. now lets go say hello to Rose and Sayan, their over at our destination after all and you wanted to see them earlier."

Jr smiled, he felt more comfortable with Cole doing it since he felt that Mambo wasn't taking it as seriously as it is.

Sybil wondered what Crocux was talking about, when she looked in front of him. So that's were Rose and Sayan had been all along.

"Hey Rose. It's been so long! I would have visited you instead, but things at the tree have been so darn busy." he said, excusing his absence. Like Cole, he pretended to ignore the vine wrapped around her, since it was such a depressing sight. It was forbidden in his dictionary to feel like that. Just then, he noticed Sybil, accompanied by the biggest reptile he has ever seen.

"Why look who's here! It looks like we have a family reunion at our grasp." he said cheerfully, before looking at Crocux.
"And who is this enormous dude?" he asked, trying not to sound rude. Crocux was really a sight to behold, but even with that, if he was accompanying Sybil, it meant he was a friend, which is why Mambo showed no fear.

Quote: ShadeTheDragon

Jr smiled, he felt more comfortable with Cole doing it since he felt that Mambo wasn't taking it as seriously as it is.

Cole looked at him, and then talked to him as if he just read his mind.
"Yes, I know. Our boss seems too carefree and ignorant, but he has a heart of gold. He means well all the time, and even though he seems clueless and irresponsible, he is one of the best leaders we've ever had." Cole assured, demonstrating both his respect and loyalty.

Crocux smiled and said "I'm Crocux son of Guardian the cobra, younger brother of Jack the chimp, older brother of Shilise the plover, and uncle to Terrance Jr. the mongoose."

Jr looked at Cole with surprise "uhh, are you a mind reader by chance?"

Mambo looked at Sybil, evidently confused. She did nothing but shrink her shoulders, since even she had a hard time understanding the odd members that family had.
"Well whatever. I'm sure we will all get accuainted someday." Mambo said, when he finally realized that one of the names mentioned was that of none other than the mongoose he was just attending. He decided that it was not wise to tell the crocodile what just happened, so he continued with his introduction as if nothing was going on.

"Say now, look at this. You must be one of those African crocodiles." he said, surprisingly knowing about the species. It was thanks to tourists coming from Africa with information back when he was in his native home.
"Look at that snout. Look at these scales. And look at those TEETH! Man, I bet you can shred even a coconut with those." Mambo said singly, examining every inch of the crocodile as if he was a child checking on a new toy. Sybil simply rolled her eyes in shock and disbelief, but then quickly assimilated it, knowing that was nothing but classic Mambo behavior.

Crocux blushed and said "oh please stop. you're embarrassing me. and your close on my species. I'm a salt water crocodile. I haven't tested my jaws on a coconut but I have tested them on a species of melon and it stood no chance against my jaws." he didn't normally brag but he did want to inform the parrot of a fact.

"Melons aren't that hard, but anyways. We keas also have a nasty bite... well, peck. We can even peck through metal." Mambo answered, returning the bragging.
"But either way, that's quite a jaw you got there. Do you chew, or swallow whole?" Mambo then asked, getting overly exited to have a mighty crocodile as a Haven resident.

"Oh brother" Sybil whispered with a face palm, knowing for certain Mambo was going to want to talk more and ask more stupid questions. It was unbelievable that that parrot was the leader of the flock. She looked at Sayan and Rose, shrinking her head and giving them a embarrassing smile.

Sayan simply smiled, embarrassed but glad for the reunion.

At Sholeh's tree, she was feeling very cranky, but also lonely. She hasn't seen Warren all day, and was, surprisingly, starting to miss him. She knew she couldn't count on Sozen anymore now that he had a girlfriend, so his company was out of the question. The other one was Crocux, but she didn't know where he lived. Either way, she cooped herself into her tree, not wanting to admit her loneliness. She instead vowed to think positive. She firmly believed that with Sybil's deal, she was finally going to have a lot of warbler eggs, since many of them probably wouldn't have neither the strength or the resources to raise the chick with the drought in tow.