darkSpyro

There was plenty of room in the wetland, so Mambo could dodge her very easily. Though he occasionally came close to her to give her a fair advantage.
"Not as easy as catching a pigeon, is it?" Age said smiling, knowing how dumb those poor birds were. They couldn't even defend their eggs. Mambo didn't have that many natural predators back in his original home, so it was quite surprising how he managed to elude Rose for so long.

"Well, but I gave you more trouble than the pigeons." Mambo said, knowing Rose would've never caught him if he didn't give her so many advantages.

"Yep indeed. Too bad Miss Sybil and Mr. Crocux couldn't be here. They would double the fun." Mambo said, also loving playing with them.

"Say now, I have noticed that Sybil has been spending quite a lot of time with him. What do you know? What do you think it is? Is Sybil trying to maintain him in shape, or do you think she's just trying to keep him on his good side?" Mambo asked, knowing that Sybil was once terrified of him.

"Well... if you say so." Mambo said, deciding to believe her.

"It's funny though, how this Haven turned out to be. All of us meeting species that are very far away from our home. Creatures that we wouldn't have never met in our lifetime if it wasn't for this island. Many of us that would be enemies under natural circumstances, and yet here we are." Mambo said, almost in a poetic way, still fascinated by all the Haven has done for so many.

"A gift you mean? Hmm, that might be hard. We may have known Sybil for a while now, yet we don't know the things she likes most. She's always here and there doing different things..." Mambo said, when it then hit him.

"Hey, that's it! We should give Sybil a little vacation. The poor lass has been so busy and stressful with everything that has happened. You know, last time I was at Hunted island, Barloc was building a playground. Maybe it should be done by now." Mambo suggested, correctly assuming the playground being done, though unaware that Sybil was already invited. He knew however, that it was going to be hard to convince her to be away for a while, since he knew how serious Sybil took her responsibilities at the Haven.

Speaking of Sayan...
Quote: Shadow-Cipher

"Ah, good. I would much appreciate that," Raul responded with a friendly smile and a shift of the head. "Do lead on."

Harland did not immediately take notice of Raul and Sayan moving away from the area, slow as the movement might have been. His eyes were still locked on the beautiful fish in the river, fascinated by the glistening of their scales and their wiggling of their tails. Then, he glanced up, movement catching his eye. The duo were not too far away, given the casual pace, and Harland didn't need much effort to cover the distance. "Oh! Hey! I'm coming too! Don't leave me behind!" He knew they wouldn't, but he still cried it as le leaped to clear the distance between him and the others.

"Come along... we won't leave you.," Sayan simply smiled. They began to pass through the woods and on their way to the swamp. "So... I take you two have known each other for awhile?," he asked along the way. The river got smaller and smaller in the distance and smells/sounds of nature soon filled the air. He rather enjoyed the sights and smells... and the walks he and Rose from time to time.

Quote: Spyroconvexity

"That's a great idea! Me and Sayan could take over operations for the time she is off. Sybil has done so much for all of us and she deserves it." Rose said.

"Well good luck convincing her. Silly civet thinks she can do everything on her own. Why did she hired us? Why did she made you her successor? Still can't comprehend why she insist on doing everything on her own. She even went to visit that python all on her own the first time." Mambo exclaimed, being aware of Sybil's first visit thanks to the warblers gossiping like always.

"I sometimes feel like she's contradicting herself. But anyway, no harm done so far, so it looks like the deal is genuine. My flock will still keep on guard though, just in case. In the meantime, let's find that silly civet and give her the little surprise." Mambo said excitedly, believing that Sybil was with Crocux in the cave.

"I don't know. Aren't the orcas going to be mad at you for not playing with them in such a long time?" Mambo said, referring to both Rose and Sybil. The orcas were really nice beings, but since the Haven residents stopped appearing at the beach without even explaining to them why, he was concerned on what was going to happen.

Quote: Felines

Nia was very happy to have gotten some attention from him, since after inviting Sybil to the playground, she was going to ask her to introduce them to him.
"Hey, I'm Nia. And this is my cousin Angus." she said ecstatically, very exited to meet them both, but Crocux more since she already saw Marina from a distance more than once.

Angus was a bit more nervous around him, being almost as paranoid as his uncle when it came to predators, even if he was much more open to them in comparison. He was more interested in Marina.
"Woah Angus! Look at this! His teeth are bigger than our own heads!" Nia said excitedly, getting very close to him, showing not even an ounce of fear. Angus didn't share the same feeling, as his approach to Marina indicated. It was almost as if he was trying to find some comfort on the dolphin.

"Nia please, don't get weird again. Respect space!" Angus scolded, but Nia completely ignored him. She just continued to inspect his teeth, almost as if she was counting them, and then looked at his vertical, long eyes, pretending to be hypnotized. Angus simply sighed, and even though Sybil didn't know Nia as much as her cousin, she could tell by his annoyance and past experiences that Nia got overexcited when meeting someone new, especially if they were predators.

Crocux chuckled "it's okay rlly. you have nothing to worry about ether, my baby sister is a Plover, I would never hurt a bird of any kind." Marina says "it's true and the big lug did save my life" Crocux says "I did get my favorite scar to remember that day by."

"Plover?" Nia asked, still spaced out. She could still talk, but she was still under that fascination that Crocux brought to her.

"Plover Nia. Don't you remember? The birds that clean other predators teeth. Uncle Barloc calls them the birds with a death wish." Angus explained, with his uncle having a huge dislike for animals that risked their lives as stupidly as that.

"Oh right. So what? You know how paranoid dad is. There are fish that clean big fish's teeth and nothing happens to them. Mr. Jet told me. It's just another job of nature. Nothing to be afraid of." Nia said as she now inspected Crocux's spikes, demonstrating she was nothing like her father in terms of predator views. She was so happy to meet a crocodile, and what was better, a gentle one as far as she could tell.

Raul tilted his head. "We were not particularly close, but we crossed paths several times. I found Harland challenging to keep up with," Raul hummed in response, keeping his gaze on Sayan.

Harland chuckled as he caught up, bounding through the tall grass. "Yeah, we didn't talk much. But he told good stories, so I'd sometimes stop by when I was ill or tired and listen to him talk." Raul smiled a little.

Quote: Spyroconvexity

"I'm sure I'll be fine. I will explain if I have to Rose said.

"Yeah, you're right." Mambo said smiling, panting a little after that intense game with Rose. He usually could take much more than that, but the lack of activity had him a little out of shape.

To kill time along the way, Mambo decided to ask something he has been curious about for a while.
"Hey Miss Rose, now that hopefully the python threat is taken care of, what are you all going to do next? Are you going to continue the orca game, or do you have something else in mind?" Mambo asked, knowing it was more than a week ago the last time the orca game took place. He kinda missed watching the Haven residents getting thrown silly by the huge marine animals.

"Oh right... those dreams." Mambo said, finding it astounding yet terrifying how a spirit could communicate and torment through dreams.

"Man, that's such a bummer. That dumb lizard can't leave you all alone, can he?" Mambo complained, very annoyed on how he thought Shadow was a name he wasn't going to hear ever again.

Sybil rolled her eyes as Nia continued to inspect her new idol, while Angus perched on Marina's dorsal fin, feeling much safer with her. She then took notice of Mambo and Rose.

"Hey you two. This is a bit of a surprise. What are you doing here at the beach? Oh wait, don't tell me, Mambo thought of a game." Sybil speculated, knowing that kea too well.

Mambo shook his head, and when he was about to tell her the reason, he took notice of his young cockatoo friends. They were quite pals back when the keas lived at Hunted island. He waved them hello, but only Angus responded back, since Nia was too distracted.

Quote: Felines

"Plover?" Nia asked, still spaced out. She could still talk, but she was still under that fascination that Crocux brought to her.

"Plover Nia. Don't you remember? The birds that clean other predators teeth. Uncle Barloc calls them the birds with a death wish." Angus explained, with his uncle having a huge dislike for animals that risked their lives as stupidly as that.

"Oh right. So what? You know how paranoid dad is. There are fish that clean big fish's teeth and nothing happens to them. Mr. Jet told me. It's just another job of nature. Nothing to be afraid of." Nia said as she now inspected Crocux's spikes, demonstrating she was nothing like her father in terms of predator views. She was so happy to meet a crocodile, and what was better, a gentle one as far as she could tell.

Crocux says "you better hope Sozen or Jack doesn't hear you call Shi that or you would regret it. especially Jack that chimp would make ur life miserable." Marina says "Its true and the painful part it is that Jack wouldn't hurt you just make you miserable with his pranks." Crocux shudders "pls don't remind me." Marina says "right srry Crocy" then some pain started acting up in her scar casing her to cring in pain. Crocux "Marina! are u ok?" Marina says "i'm fine Crocy, the old scar is just acting up again, u worry to much."

Angus stopped perching on Marina, believing it was his fault. Nia looked slightly concerned, but after she said it's nothing to worry about, she returned to the original subject.

"Jack? You mean the chimpanzee Whirlpool told us about?" Nia asked, with the wombat still appreciating all if Jack's previous help with medicine.

"He believes he's the best prankster!? HAH! Then he clearly hasn't met us. It will be welcome to Prank-ens-ville." Nia said enthusiastically, as she now inspected Crocux's tail and cutely tried to lift it up with her own two wings. Angus nodded at her last comment. As different as the cousins were, they did love pranks and games, and they were now experts at it thanks to Mambo's guidance back when he use to live on their island. Mambo gave a wink at them, also remembering those precious memories.

"Hey Rose." Sybil greeted back, although a bit nervously since she didn't want the tiger to be there once the orcas returned.

Marina says "oh no Angus it isn't your fault. my scar just acts up from time to time." she showed two the scar on her side. Crocux says "hey Nia try to guess which scar is my favorite one and I'll give you a hint, it's not on my belly."

Nia walked all over Crocux, now with a reasonable excuse to continue inspect him. His skin was quite the puzzle, since it was hard to tell what was a scale and what was a scar, but then she remembered when she looked at his eyes, and something was off.
"Is that scar over your left eye?" she guessed, loving that little game.

Angus got a bit closer to Crocux, but not by much. He didn't dare perch on Marina now with that sudden scare he got. Crocux's presence made him really uneasy, though he tried very hard not to show it. He didn't want to admit he and his uncle were more alike than he wanted to acknowledge.

Sybil saw how things seemed under control between the cockatoos and the odd couple, so she went towards Rose to have a little private conversation.
"Rose. Nice to see you here at the beach, but you should come later. Ami was here earlier and told me about Cairo being upset. I doubt it's about the game, so if it is something else, I don't want you to be close. He can be... a little unstable when he's angry." Sybil warned, knowing that orca for years and how dangerous he could be. Thankfully, he hasn't hurt any of his friends when upset, but he has come awfully close to it.

Meanwhile...
Quote: Shadow-Cipher

Raul tilted his head. "We were not particularly close, but we crossed paths several times. I found Harland challenging to keep up with," Raul hummed in response, keeping his gaze on Sayan.

Harland chuckled as he caught up, bounding through the tall grass. "Yeah, we didn't talk much. But he told good stories, so I'd sometimes stop by when I was ill or tired and listen to him talk." Raul smiled a little.

"Aw... well... that's sweet anyway. It's always nice to have someone to talk to. Someone to keep you company and someone to make the days seem less long.," Sayan commented recalling the reason he originally came to the haven. They began to pass by Shalah's tree, though he was too occupied by the ongoing conversation. "You'll find that the residents here can be quite pleasant-- and many here have even found companionship when they otherwise wouldn't have.," he then added with a slight smile.

Quote: Spyroconvexity

"That's not why we came here. We came to give you a vacation. You work too hard. You need to relax and let the haven to me for a little while." Rose said.

Sybil looked confused for a while, then she glared at Mambo, believing he was the one to blame. She did appreciated the thought though.
"Well, isn't that nice. I know, I could use a vacation, but there are still a few things I need to solve things on my own. Besides, you know I can't have a vacation just yet until I know for certain that python won't be on the prowl again." Sybil said, admitting that she needed a time off, but also knowing she won my be able to enjoy herself if she wasn't certain that the Haven was safe once more.

Mambo just rolled his eyes, knowing Sybil would try every excuse in the bold to deny herself of a time off.
"Aw come on! It's not the first time Rose has handled the Haven. Besides, she will have help." Mambo expressed, feeling the civet was getting too much on her shoulders. But Sybil still didn't oblige.

"I know, and it's not that I don't trust you Rose. It's just that it wouldn't feel right me being on vacation when so many still count on me." she expressed, with Mambo sighing. He decided to let e convincing to Rose, since the knew the civet for much longer.

Raul exhaled clearly. "I take life very slowly, prefer to enjoy everything for the entirety of what it's worth, no matter how little that might be." He closed his eyes as he came to a pause, a small smile forming on his face. "I have plenty of tales to tell, but found my herd thinning each and every day. I was hoping I could find solace here, and possibly someone else who would listen to my tales."

Harland bound forward and flicked his tail. "I followed him here. I thought this place could be exciting, fascinating and curious." He was almost shaking from excitement. "It looks beautiful thus far. I bet there are many mysteries here."

OOC: You have a repeated post.

Sybil sighed, knowing she wasn't going to be left alone. She was relieved however that the vacation was tomorrow and not today, since she still had a few things to do.
"Well, alright, alright. I know you won't leave me alone of I say no." she said sarcastically, shrinking her shoulders.

Back at the Hunted island waters, the orcas had quite a heavy feast. The pod had been hunting fish for a while to give the seal population a chance to recover and return from the drought, but today, they decided they had enough time. The seals were fatter and more numerous now, it was almost as if the island's resources were better than before the drought hit. The only orca who didn't eat well was Cairo, who was too upset to do so after the python news...

Quote: Felines

Nia walked all over Crocux, now with a reasonable excuse to continue inspect him. His skin was quite the puzzle, since it was hard to tell what was a scale and what was a scar, but then she remembered when she looked at his eyes, and something was off.
"Is that scar over your left eye?" she guessed, loving that little game.

Angus got a bit closer to Crocux, but not by much. He didn't dare perch on Marina now with that sudden scare he got. Crocux's presence made him really uneasy, though he tried very hard not to show it. He didn't want to admit he and his uncle were more alike than he wanted to acknowledge.

Sybil saw how things seemed under control between the cockatoos and the odd couple, so she went towards Rose to have a little private conversation.
"Rose. Nice to see you here at the beach, but you should come later. Ami was here earlier and told me about Cairo being upset. I doubt it's about the game, so if it is something else, I don't want you to be close. He can be... a little unstable when he's angry." Sybil warned, knowing that orca for years and how dangerous he could be. Thankfully, he hasn't hurt any of his friends when upset, but he has come awfully close to it.

Crocux smiled "you're right. do you know why it's my favorite scar?" Marina rolled her eyes "you just want a exuse to tell them how we met and how you saved my life." Crocux says "hey you just gave her the answer." Marina "oh like you wouldn't have told her anyways if she didn't know." Crocux says "well true but it's more fun to try to make them guess."

"Ooh, does this mean story time ?" Nia squealed with exitement, also loving a good story, especially if it involved romance. Angus also loved stories, so he approached Crocux, though not by much. It was when Nia forcefully pulled him to her side that he got a closer look at the crocodile.

"Oh come on Angus! Don't be such a scary lame brain! He's a Haven resident, isn't he? Besides, you heard him. He doesn't eat birds." Nia assured, grabbing him by the wing so he wouldn't get away. They were both right in front of his mouth waiting for the story, though Angus just kept staring at him. It was hard to tell whether he was amazed by the reptile's impossibly large size or terrified beyond words.

Sybil nodded, though she hoped the orcas weren't resentful towards them for not coming to o,a in a long while.

The pod was returning to their usual spot near the Haven waters, and much to their surprise, there was Sybil, Rose, Crocux and even some cockatoos, but they were so full, they could barely swim. They knew due to the warblers moving away why they haven't come to play lately, and luckily for Sybil, they understood... except for Cairo.

The humongous orca then beached himself just inches away from Sybil and the civet could tell by his breathing just who it was.
"Hello Sybil..." Cairo greeted, with a voice so neutral and empty, it was almost terrifying. What Sybil was so afraid of is how Cairo left any formalities out. He just called her by her plain name, no Miss or Mistress at the beginning...

"Hey." Cairo answered with a dry voice. Since Sybil didn't want Crocux's storytelling to be interrupted, she had a suggestion.

"Cairo, can we take this conversation elsewhere?" Sybil said, moving further away along with Rose, and Cairo swimming alongside them. Now that they were away and out of earshot from the four friends knowing each other, it was time for business.

"Look Cairo. Ami told me about you. You are upset about something, and I don't think it's due to the lack of the game." Sybil said, and Cairo, still with his dry, empty voice, answered.

"Me, upset? Why would I? Because of some silly game? No. You just came one day, asked me if any of us brought a snake, and then you left without saying anything else. Then all of the sudden, many warblers are moving away because there is a python eating them all. And you never said a word about it. I had to hear it from a tiny warbler. You didn't even have the decency to tell a friend what was happening at the Haven. Me upset? I have no reason." Cairo said sarcastically, with a quiet, yet extremely tense voice. Sybil not sharing the Haven's situation with him was really chewing him up inside.

Quote: Felines

"Ooh, does this mean story time ?" Nia squealed with exitement, also loving a good story, especially if it involved romance. Angus also loved stories, so he approached Crocux, though not by much. It was when Nia forcefully pulled him to her side that he got a closer look at the crocodile.

"Oh come on Angus! Don't be such a scary lame brain! He's a Haven resident, isn't he? Besides, you heard him. He doesn't eat birds." Nia assured, grabbing him by the wing so he wouldn't get away. They were both right in front of his mouth waiting for the story, though Angus just kept staring at him. It was hard to tell whether he was amazed by the reptile's impossibly large size or terrified beyond words.

Crocux says "well I should warn you that this story could make you afraid of me as it is violent and could scare you. are you sure?" Marina says "I think they get that it'll be a bit scary since you and I both got scars to remember it by." Crocux says "true but still don't say I didn't worn them." Marina says partly sarcastically "fine let it be known that the great Crocux terror of the sea's warned them." Crocux says "thank you now then lets start the story. It began years ago back before I ever arrived at Haven and my father Guardian, the previous co-administrator of Haven was still alive. The day started like any other at the time. I was pulling the boat that dad named 'The Headhunter' while dad, Shi, and Jack were in the boat keeping a look out. we were off the coast of a place dad called Japan and we had front row seats at a gruesome sight, for you see the native humans of Japan don't see dolphins as their friends rather they saw dolphins as business and food. they would heard bottle nosed dolphins into a place called dolphin cove. that day they herded in Marina's pod. they would look through the pod looking for bottlenose female dolphins that looked like a show dolphin named Flipper. the ones that made the cut got to live but the ones that didn't were killed. I though dad was messing with me but as soon as I saw them spill blood I went blind with rage and attacked the humans killing most of them on my own before I could be stopped. sadly they killed a few already and Marina was badly wounded. Dad and Jack killed the stragglers of the humans and freed the dolphins. by then I calmed down and saw Marina sinking down and bleeding badly. I dived down and brought her to dad. her pod took us to a near by Island that we could hide at while we treated Marina. I was worried sick but she pulled through. we locked eyes for the first time and," Marina says "it was love at first sight" Crocux continues saying "we been together ever since. at the time I was in such a blind rage one of the humans that had a knife slashed my eye giving me this scar, the human died though and Jack saved my eye, I can see perfectly with it thanks to that troublesome chimp."

Nia had listened to the story with her beak half open, almost as if she was in a trance. Instead of being afraid of Crocux like he warned, she seemed more fascinated by him. The same thing couldn't be said about Angus though, who was occasionally looking behind him to see Rose and Sybil unaudibly talking to Cairo, and he would've gone to them if Nia wasn't holding his wing.

"So you saved Marina from humans? I've heard of them, but I've never seen one. They sound horrible though. And I've heard they're dangerous, and you just disposed of many of them like it was no work at all? That sounds awesome! Scary, but awesome. And you named... something The Headhunter? That sounds like a cool name! We should use it as an operation sometime Angus." Nia said with fascination, her eyes sparkling with delight. No one could tell if she was brave or just incredibly weird.
"I do believe that daring rescue. Look at those teeth! Look at that mouth! I bet you could fit our whole nest in there!" Nia said, touching one of his teeth. But poor Angus, who was now released from her grip, simply took a tiny step back, still very afraid of Crocux. He tried to hide it though, but one look at the teenage bird and one would swear he was going to have a heart attack.

"And this was... like, when? Two days ago? More or less? And neither of you came to tell me..." Cairo said, in his quiet, yet obviously tense voice. He was glaring at the two of them with fury, almost as if he was going to attack them.

Jhen is not far from the conversation. He can tell through body language that something is up. Telling his friend and companion to be ready to go get Jet, if things get ugly, Jhen is ready to intercept Cairo before he can do harm.

Royal has since returned to the warblers after spending quality time with his son, Jaerl. Flying onto a high branch, he munches on a large fish he caught. Meanwhile Jaerl returns to his hole just above Sybil's home. He is quite content being Sybil's personal messenger.

Meanwhile within their home, Sunflame begins to cry out in his sleep. Tossing and turning he threatens to reopen his wounds. "No...no, stay away... Leave me be... Ahhh!" He screams in agony, waking with a start. Heart pounding, sweating heavily, shaking all over, pale as a sheet and with wide open eyes filled with unimaginable terror, Sunflame looks like he's seen a ghost.

Sybil also noticed that Cairo seemed so angry to the point of looking like he was going to attack, and it made her back away a little. Fortunately for both her and Rose, that wasn't the case at all.
"But of course... what is an old, former leader to do? So many years of trusting me and telling me everything and then all of the sudden leaving me in the dark. Forget that. Leaving every orca in the dark. Not even Jet knew about this. It's alright though. Have it your way. Why trust someone who can't even walk on land and lend a hand I always say." Cairo said sarcastically, starting to retreat into the ocean. It was obvious that he was extremely offended. Sybil looked shocked at his demeanor. You could tell he was tense and furious, but he showed no physical tantrum whatsoever. And one look at his belly and you knew he has been neglecting a few meals. That only happened when he was very upset, and that made Sybil even more worried and with a lack of words on what to say to make him feel better...

Quote: Wyrstel

Meanwhile within their home, Sunflame begins to cry out in his sleep. Tossing and turning he threatens to reopen his wounds. "No...no, stay away... Leave me be... Ahhh!" He screams in agony, waking with a start. Heart pounding, sweating heavily, shaking all over, pale as a sheet and with wide open eyes filled with unimaginable terror, Sunflame looks like he's seen a ghost.

Whirlpool was very use to this occurrence, and his solution was always a warm leave around the feline's head. It didn't stop his nightmares, but it was enough to calm him down.