darkSpyro

"If I wanted to leave-- I could have left anytime I wanted. But I didn't and I stayed... and I'm not asking for much.," the voice responded both in part to Sybil to the voice of Shadow. And getting closer. The creature was going more and more impatient as well... And hungry...

"I am not here to impede in what you're doing and I have chosen to avoid being seen-- for a reason. I simply wish to remain safe and to have a purpose-- and I found one. I was raised on warblers and I've grown to somewhat enjoy them. But grew tired of my tired existence and was offered to be brought somewhere where I would be... needed.," it said again this time sounding even closer. "I don't require much, but I can only fast for so long...," it then said with a large shadow beginning to loam over the civet.

Sybil opened her mouth to speak again, but then she noticed the shadow that was looming over her... and realized that this creature was quite possibly far more bigger than she originally anticipated. All her life she had pushed her luck and had close and dangerous encounters that had almost ended in her death, but for the first time in many months she felt she was in danger. She tried to look where the shadow was coming from, but the rays of sun going through the foliage prevented her from having a better look. She now had cold feet, so she remained put, trying to maintain her original composure.
"Come on sir. Can't you serve your purpose elsewhere? This island has become sacred for many. You can't pursue the warblers." she insisted, though with a different tone of voice than before. Now she was trying very hard not to make the creature angry.

Crocux wakes from his slumber. in his dreams Guardian filled him in and before Jack could say a thing the half sick croc was out of their like a bullet going strait for Sybil's location not even bothering to be quiet.

Mambo had just left the cave and was about to head to Humted island, when he heard the rustling of the grass below him.
"Hey Crocux. You're up at last." Mambo said, but when he saw the crocodile running, he followed.
"Hey Toothy! What is it!?" the kea asked, trying to keep up, but he wasn't use to flying so low, so he crashed with many brushes and branches while trying to keep up...

Jhen playfully pounces on Cairo, encouraging him to play as well. He does the same with Jet as well as other members of the pod. He is not ashamed of his playfully nature, in fact he is glad that he got over what was bringing him down for so long. He is showing as well as expressing to the others that he is feeling great, free of his pain and sadness. Still there is something that continues to chew at his insides, he wonders if he has any actual family, a father or a mother, or something in this "family" that is the pod.

Cairo was very glad that Jhen was finally over that depressed, gloomy state of his, and the pod was more than happy that they didn't need to watch over him anymore. They were bored though, and many of them missed the games and wondered why the Haven residents haven't come to play yet. I has been quite a while after all. Luckily, Cairo reminded them that the Haven residents had been doing the game for quite some time, and deserved the rest and all the time-off they wanted, and that they were all probably busy and shouldn't disturb them. He didn't suspect anything else beyond that.

Dagger was more into this playful Jhen, and was the one who went around him the most. For most of the adult orcas however, the exitement was at Hunted island. The cockatoo cousins have been talking about the playground that Barloc ordered to built, and it was appearantly getting so awesome, it was the talk of the week around the island, even among the non-cockatoos. The orcas really wished they could see the construction in person, since the idea of a playground seemed like the best at the moment.

Quote: Wyrstel

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.

Odette and her friend listened to AJ as he told them about this predator. It seems that Savannah's suspicions may have been confirmed: there most certainly was something out there hurting the warbler population.
"I guess we were right about the predator. At least the Haven's aware of it, now," Odette said.
"We need to tell Savannah. That might help her feel better," the male said (who hasn't had a name for almost a year so I'm just going to name him Joshua).

Crocux says "preditor was found, Sybil's in danger cant talk." he picks up the pace to a gallop

Mambo tried to fly after him...
"Why? How? How do you know?" Mambo asked desperately, but a crash with a rather large brush made him lose sight of the incredibly speedy crocodile. Even though he was very eager to see the cockatoo's new playground, Mambo knew that this situation was of far more concern. He headed to his tree to prevent the flock of the upcoming danger, still wondering how Crocux even knew that Sybil was in danger.

Meanwhile, the civet waited for the huge snake to reply, though the silence between sentences was creeping her out. She believed that nobody was going to rescue her unless she yelled for Rose and Sayan, who were a little more than a quarter of mile away. She had no idea what the predator was thinking right now, but she really hoped to get a better glance, and more importantly, that she was getting through to him...

Crocux kept going already more then half way their.

Quote: Felines

"Come on sir. Can't you serve your purpose elsewhere? This island has become sacred for many. You can't pursue the warblers." she insisted, though with a different tone of voice than before. Now she was trying very hard not to make the creature angry.

Quote: Felines

She had no idea what the predator was thinking right now, but she really hoped to get a better glance, and more importantly, that she was getting through to him...

After a long moment of silence, the snake spoke. "Relax... Civet. I am not here for you. However-- I cannot ... I will not return to whatever meager life I may find elsewhere. In fact-- I am intrigued but atlas I feel our... conversation ...may be cut short. Someone... someone is on their way.," he said stopping just short of fully reviewing himself to the civet. The shadow soon began to lift and presence of the creature seemed to disappear among the trees.

OOC: Reviewing redwes? And better luck next time Spyroconvexity. You'll get your chance. I want this new story to last as long as it can

Sybil only took one shadowy glance at the unwanted guest, but she still couldn't pinpoint what exactly the species was.
"Wait! don't go! I still need your answer!" Sybil said, now not knowing if her words worked and the predator was going to stop in his pursuit for the warblers, although she immensely doubted. Even though she couldn't tell what species the predator was, she had seen enough. She knew it was a snake, and a humongous one at that. The only thing she could tell that it was either an anaconda or a python, since no other snake could possibly get that big. That was very troublesome news, since a snake that size could wipe out the entire warbler population in a short time if it wasn't stopped. What was worse, since it swallowed prey whole, it doesn't leave any remains to track, and added with that camouflage, it was going to be nearly impossible to find him again. Sybil believed that she found this snake only because it let itself be seen just this once...

Just as the mysterious snake slunk away, Skaliscin arrived. She had been following his scent trail, but stopped when Sybil was in her sights. "Man, I'm surprised that he didn't try to eat you. It smelled like a python, to me."

"A python... I knew it." Sybil said concerned and with droopy ears, terrified on what she should tell the warblers now. They had been hunted all this time after all, and she didn't even know until now.
"He didn't attacked me... in fact, he spoke to me Skaliscin. I'm not sure if it was just doing a little introduction before striking, or if he was just being intimidating, but I did have a conversation with him. I tried to explain the rules here, and how he shouldn't continue hunting the warblers... but... I doubt I got through to him. He just left as soon as he appeared, saying that someone was coming. Perhaps he doesn't want to be seen by anyone else." Sybil explained, thinking that the python left because it could sense Skaliscin approaching.

"I heard him talking. I'm just surprised that he was being civil. That's a rare trait in a snake. By my experience, anyway. With, you know, being a snake." She flicked her tongue and turned her gaze to where the predator took his leave. "Should I follow him?"

Crocux showed up stopping and stepping on the fleeing preditors tail after noisaly rushing through the plant life. "sorry i'm late, dad took his time to fill me in on what was happening."

Sybil was about to respond to Skaliscin, but she was now more concerned about Crocux's sudden appearance.
"Crocux!? What are you doing here!? You're suppose to be resting!" she said, almost scolding him, knowing by his look that he ran all the way. She started to wonder if the python left because of Crocux and now Skaliscin, since a crocodile was far more capable of putting up a good fight than a little snake.
"Oh no Crocux! I was speaking here with that predator! Quite a rare chance I got! And I think you scared it away!" Sybil said, now even more furious with the crocodile since he probably ruined her chances of getting to know the creature better.

Skaliscin turned her head back, glancing between Crocux and Sybil, trying to figure out what was going on. "You look like you've had a rough night. Wait, hold on. Did you say your dad filled you in? Isn't he, you know, not here? And on what, what the heck??"

Crocux says "really then why is it stuck under my foot?"

Sybil then saw that Crocux was actually trapping Skaliscin, and then remembered that those two have never formally met.
"Crocux... that's not the predator. This is Skaliscin. I think Guardian met her, but you two haven't met yet. She is a Haven resident Crocux! Let her go!" Sybil demanded, hating the rushed conclusion the crocodile reached into thinking that Skaliscin was the threat they all had been looking for.

"Wait, we haven't met yet?" Skaliscin asked with surprise, looking up at Crocux, comically unfazed by the fact that he was trapping her between his claws. She figured that he would assume that she was the predator, since there was talk of a snake when she came into the picture, but she thought for sure that they had met some time ago.

Sybil was trying so hard not to slap Crocux for his incredible mistake, and if he and Skaliscin did indeed met, it made things worse. Skaliscin may be a snake, but she wasn't scary large, so it was hard to imagine Crocux believing she was the threat everybody was talking about.
"Crocux... the predator is a python." Sybil said calmly, hoping Crocux understood now.

Crocux went wide eyed "ops sorry" he got off her. "my bad dad really took his time but I can't believe he let such an important detail out."

"Again: what do you mean your dad's talking to you? Am I missing something here?" Skaliscin repeated impatiently, not moving from her position on the ground. "Is there some other 'dad' I don't know about??"

Sybil scratched her head, trying to find the proper words to explain the phenomenon.
"Well... let's just say Guardian is talking to the two of us through our dreams. Creepy I know... but it's the truth. That's how we knew the predator was some type of snake. He just didn't know the size and species." Sybil explained, imagining that's why Crocux attacked Skaliscin. Since the predator was only targeting warblers, everybody underestimated it's size.

Crocux nodded "it's true. he's dead but his spirit still lives watching over Haven."

While Sybil left Crocux to explain things a bit further, she was now pondering on how the python ever got into the Haven in the first place. She doubted any of the orcas brought him to the Haven, otherwise they would have told her so... unless the python either passed as another Haven residents, or... unless...
"Well, there will be time to explain about Guardian later Skaliscin. I have a big question. Do pythons swim?" Sybil asked, imagining that with her being a snake, she probably knew something about that.

Crocux says "all snakes can swim but to Hunted highly unlikely, just to far."

"Oh, oh. Okay, that makes... a little more sense." That was enough to satisfy her, given that she was no stranger to supernatural occurrences. "Oh yeah, pythons can definitely swim. And well, too."

Sybil thought so. She didn't know much about pythons, but knew enough about their scary reputation.
"Well... that's... unfortunate. You see, the rumors of a predator started during the drought. What if that python arrived at the Haven because we didn't have the orca's protection?" Sybil thought, believing that was a high possibility.
"Of course, maybe it came from Hunted island since I'm not sure it would have been able to survive the sharks beyond the current... or maybe an orca brought him without knowing his intentions. Gosh, it's so hard to imagine what happened! But urgent matters ahead guys. We got a major emergency here! Crocux, go to the kea's tree and find Mambo. Tell him to gather the warblers for an extremely important meeting. Skaliscin, you keep tracking that python. Try to convince him to come out of hiding and try to persuade him to stop taking the warblers. I'll go to the beach and ask the orcas if any of them ever brought a python to the island. I'll come back later to meet with the assembled warblers." Sybil ordered, knowing that from now on, the important thing was to stop the python from exterminating the poor native birds.

Crocux nodded "you got it. oh and my guess on how it got here is maybe it was a gift from Shadow. that's just my guess." he then took off to get to work.

Sybil did hear Crocux, but she found that highly unlikely. The last time Shadow invaded, he probably didn't know he was going to die. Did he really had a trump card for when that could happen. Before heading to the beach, Sybil made a quick stop at Sayan's den, giving them the warning.
"Guys! Quickly, protect yourself. I just spoke to the rumored predator. He's real! And he's an incredibly large python! I don't know why he's targeting warblers only, but based on his size, he could overpower any of us!" Sybil warned, looking particularly at Peepers, who was resting in his little nest. Even though he wanted to stay and keep Rose and Sayan company like he use to, the objective of figuring what kind of predator they were dealing with had been fulfilled, so there was no reason for him to continue endangering his own life.

"I'm on it. Maybe another snake will get into him," Skaliscin said before leaving, following the scent trail the python had left. She didn't know how long she could track him before he'd go somewhere that would destroy the scent, like water, but she'd try her best.

Sayan nodded, agreeing with his mate.

The snake, meanwhile, was putting distance between himself and the others.

Sybil nodded, greeting that Peepers should move immediately to his original home.
"While you're at it, help Mambo gather the rest of the warblers. I already sent Crocux to give the word." Sybil explained, knowing the big influence he had among the community.
"Understood." Peepers said, and knowing it wasn't necessary anymore to keep risking his life like that. But then he looked at Sybil and realized that even she was in danger. Peepers was a warbler that travelled the world in his youth to give the news about Sybil's Haven, and he knew what a python is. He knew the humongous risk the civet took by being all alone with a python.

But while Sybil and Peepers went their separate ways, they both had the same question; why was such a large python targeting warblers alone? They were small, and not the best food source. What was worse, if the python wasn't captured on time, he may continue with this pursuit, even if the warblers did had the now not so protective eye of the keas...

"Thank you Miss Rose. And sorry to have kept you worried. But finally, we know what the mysterious predator is..." Peepers said, as he travelled on Rose's back to have a rest from flight.
"Mistress Sybil says that she saw the python, meaning that it was close to her. Why didn't he attacked her? I'm not sure if that's a relief or cause of concern." Peepers expressed, knowing that a python could consume almost any animal it wanted to if given the chance.

While Peepers was being escorted, Sybil turned her attention to Sayan.
"Alright Sayan. Listen to me. I need you to go to the wetland and catch a pigeon. If this is a python with a taste for birds only, I can try to convince him to pursue the pigeons instead. I'll try to make contact once more and offer the pigeon as a peace offering." Sybil explained, hoping it could work. Pigeons were bigger after all.

The kea tree was restless, full of both the parrots and warblers flying to the meeting room. The seagulls and pelicans weren't informed of the emergency since it was no use startling them. The warblers were the priority now, and after Crocux's command, Mambo was making sure each and every warbler in the island got the message.

"Well, here we go. I'm not sure how to handle the news, but it must be done." Peepers commented after arriving, nodding to Rose to say goodbye and flying upwards, to the loud chattering of the birds upstairs.

While Peepers waited for the rest of the warblers to be reunited, the orcas were having their own fun, breaking clams and using seaweed as disguises. Since they couldn't see the cockatoo's new playground and the Haven residents didn't come out to play, they made their own fun. Only Randy was looking at the Haven's direction, having some sort of bad feeling, which he dismissed it as just missing the game, just like his sister and the others did. They all thought he was waiting for a Haven resident to come and catch, but he knew it was more than that...

After ordering Sayan to go catch a pigeon, Sybil took off without even letting Sayan trying to tell her how dangerous it was for her to try and be alone with the python once again, since she knew that if the snake fed on warblers alone and they haven't been any disappearing for a while, it must be really hungry. That wasn't her main concern though. She was more worried on she was going to break the news to the orcas, and how she was going to ask them about the new residents without them growing concern. They, especially Cairo, got easily stressed when there was danger around the Haven and couldn't do anything because they are limited to water.

Crocux arrives and says "okay everyone. we found the mistery preditor. it's a large python that mean everyone need to stay close together at all times. this hunter can fast for days after a steady meal so no one gets comerftable because it could come back and strike when u least expect it. got it"

Quote: Felines

While Peepers was being escorted, Sybil turned her attention to Sayan.
"Alright Sayan. Listen to me. I need you to go to the wetland and catch a pigeon. If this is a python with a taste for birds only, I can try to convince him to pursue the pigeons instead. I'll try to make contact once more and offer the pigeon as a peace offering." Sybil explained, hoping it could work. Pigeons were bigger after all.

Sayan nodded and soon headed off to the wetland.

The snake, meanwhile, was lost in internal conflict. Between Shadow, himself, and the others-- he wasn't entirely sure what to think.

Sybil went to the beach and hyperventilated, still not knowing how she was going to explain everything. The waters were deserted, and she felt guilty for not have been able to play with the marine animals in such a long while. It was when she touched the water that she realized there was an orca full speed ahead towards her.
"No wait! Not now!" she yelled, thinking the orca was attacking.

"Sorry about that Miss Sybil. It's just that I haven't seen any of you in a while and got really exited." The orca explained. It was of course Randy, who had been waiting for anyone to show up.

Sybil didn't explain e python situation, but she did try to get information in the most subtle way possible.
"Randy. I need a favor; I need you to ask the pod if they have brought any new residents lately. Please don't ask why, just do it." she said bluntly, not exactly as she had planned. Randy was smart, and he suspected something very big was up, but Sybil seemed too distressed already, so he didn't asked her and proceeded to obey her without any objections.

Quote: ShadeTheDragon

Crocux arrives and says "okay everyone. we found the mistery preditor. it's a large python that mean everyone need to stay close together at all times. this hunter can fast for days after a steady meal so no one gets comerftable because it could come back and strike when u least expect it. got it"

The warblers went into quite a violent uproar after finally Crocux explained why they were being reunited. Peepers was kinds glad he didn't have to go to that step, but was upset with Crocux for not letting down the news more gently.
"My family! Listen to me. Now more than ever we must put our differences aside and stick together. I know many of you want to return to your original home, but that can't be so. We will stay close to the keas, and from now on, we will post a kea sentry every night to prevent more tragedies." Peepers said out loud, trying to use his echo so that every complaining warbler could hear. He was the voice of reason among many of them, so the message was loud and clear to the majority of them. Even the parrots agreed.

Yodel didn't leave his spot on the kea tree, but could hear Peeper's voice from there. He was terrified of the idea of a python, since he too knew what type of snake that was... but at the same time he felt safe, since he was the one living closest to the keas.

Sybil, knowing that Randy may take a while and not wanting any orcas to mistake she was there to play, she left the beach and back into the forest to return later. She just had to be present at the warbler's reunion to see how things were going, and at the same time convince Crocux to return to his cave to prevent his sickness from getting worse.

Randy was about to tell his fellow orcas about what Sybil said, but he decided to give the news to Jet first, since he being the leader, had more knowledge about the pod's movements.
"Hey boss. I'm... I received a visit from miss Sybil. She wanted to ask the pod if any of them have brought anyone to the Haven lately." Randy explained, keeping secret the mysterious mood Sybil was in when she ordered him to ask.