darkSpyro

Even as a leader, Mambo has messed up big time in the past, but that has been his flock, which they could do pretty well on their own, but there were cubs involved this time, inexperienced youths. He knew this matter was urgent.
"We have no choice but to stay here. We can't risk getting more lost. Let's wait under this tree until the fog clears out, alright?" Mambo said, knowing that was the most rational thing to do. They could still call for help, but he didn't want anyone else to get lost in this dense fog trying to find them, so the best thing to do was stay put and wait it out. The Haven was relatively a safe place, with a few treacherous terrains, and the only truly dangerous animal living there was the python, but Mambo believed that the chance of encountering him were extremely low, so he sat with the cubs to wait for the fog to clear out...

"A wolf?" Mambo exclaimed, shielding the cubs with his wings. Despite not having them back in his old home, he knew what a wolf was.
"Listen lady, we don't want any trouble. We're just waiting for this dang fog to clear up." Mambo assured, not wanting a confrontation. He knew how to fight in case things got ugly though. There he was, thinking that the python and some terrain were his biggest concerns. He knew about dingoes. Since when did the Haven had wolves too?

Snow's word was enough for Mambo to calm down and lower his wings.
"Oh, fine then. Glad to have company. We rarely get fog like this... and... we got lost." Mambo explained, leaving behind the reason. It was too embarrassing to admit his own fault.

Mambo was rather glad to hear those words and followed Anue. He wanted to find his way out already, and he knew a wolf's sense of smell was fantastic. Snow said she trusted her, but even though Mambo was very easygoing and ready to give chances to anybody, there was something about this canine maiden that seemed... off.
"Snow dearie, are you sure we can trust her?" Mambo asked, still following Anue for she was their only chance of leaving, not to mention he was desperate. Still, he wondered if trusting her was the correct thing to do...

"Uh... Snow? How exactly do you know this wolf?," Hunter asked unsure of the newcomer.

"Depending on how far Mambo took them-- they could be anywhere. But I know he'll all he can to keep them safe.," Sayan said worried but trying to reassure.

Elsewhere-- some poor pigeon that got lost in the thick fog soon met with the deadly hungry Naga. 'Ah... It's such a shaame you got lost little birdie.,' Naga thought as he happily swallowed the poor thing. He felt very much at home among the fog and the ever growing fog made for a slightly more challenging hunt.

OOC: You could've used the next post, but that's fine too. Keep it up

Mambo could barely see Anue's tail as he followed her. One thing was certain; this was the last time he ever played among a fog.

AJ: Having woke up some time after Mambo and my nephews, Snow and Hunter left to play, I yawn and stretch, to see Uncle Sayan and Aunt Rose. Seeing the fog and hearing them telling Mambo not to take them too far, because of the fog. Something within me tells me that Mambo and the others have gotten lost in the fog. It is a good thing that I am here, as from living in the Talamankas of Costa Rica, this fog will be easy to navigate and even if it wasn't I have made signs to tell me where to go, depending on what direction I am going. Turning to Uncle Sayan and Aunt Rose, I rub my head against them.

It still wasn't enough for Mambo, but this wolf was all they had right now. Who knew how many more animals were out there that weren't as friendly as soft spoken as Anue? He just wanted to get out of this awful fog, and wasn't going to play until it has disappeared completely. He learned his lesson. He wasn't going to play again unless the weather was nice.

AJ: After spending a little bit of time with Sayan and Rose, I head out into the fog, to find Snow, Hunter and Mambo. I have no idea that I am about to run straight into a stranger, another wolf, like Chica, but not her. I miss her dearly, she means so much to me. It was her that took me in after my parents were slaughtered by man and I nearly befell the same fate, if not for the rangers. I was taken to a reserve made by the rangers and that is where I met Chica and I felt whole again, in her embrace and through her love as well as her affection. As I step into the fog, I come face to face with Anue. At first I think Chica has returned to me, but when I see them clearly, I scamper up and tree and hide, as she passes, with the others.

"Don't worry. The orcas can take care of us." Mambo said, relieved that Anue didn't mean harm and that she brought them to a familiar place. He would've preferred if she had lead them to Sayan and Rose directly, but the beach was a comforting place nevertheless, and indeed a good place to wait the fog out. He only wished Anue would leave, but he didn't want to be rude.

"Hmm..." Mambo hummed quietly, not very keened to the idea. He secretly beckoned the cubs to get closer to the water, just in case this wolf wasn't as friendly as she appeared. The orcas could save them if something went wrong.

AJ: From my hiding place in the trees, I watch as everything goes on. It brings tears to my eyes as I long for Chica. Will I ever see her again? I continue to hope and in my heart, I must believe that we were meant to be.

Mambo felt just gradually safe with Anue around. He at least had the comfort of having orcas as allies. I was quite a big pod, so there was bound to be one near the Haven, in particular the very intimidating Cairo.

While the fog intensified, Sybil was only concentrated on playing the mushroom prank on Crocux. At least for today, she had the excuse of the fog in case Naga questions why she didn't came to finish the game. She wasn't planning on visiting him for a long while. She wanted to get reacquainted with Crocux. Why was it so important for Naga to have one last game with her when the rabbits and mice were going to fulfill her role now? She believed that, since this last game had a spectator, it was all a matter of pride for him. Even though Sybil felt happy the one time she managed to dodge the python, she started to think whether that truly happened or if it was just him sparing her. One thing was for certain; she didn't want to play that terrifying game with him ever again, especially if it meant another squeeze from those deadly coils.

as soon as the taste reached his tounge being a mouth breather in is sleep, he recoiled from the taste waking up spitting out the mushrooms and went ahead and started eating a pile of dirt to get the taste out only to end up throwing up. Crocux says "ughhhh man why me?"

Sybil felt a little bad when he went as far as throwing up, realizing she exaggerated the dose. She pretended not to feel guilty, and gave a very mischievous smile.
"Good morning." she greeted with the same smile, knowing he probably wasn't going to be happy with this very rude awakening, but that was part of the punishment for his sudden absence.

Mambo didn't hear anything, but he imagined wolves would have much better hearing than him.
"Stay close to the water." Mambo whispered to the two cubs, hating the idea of leaving them alone with Anue, but he was desperate to bring them to their parents and forget about his mistake of getting them lost in the first place. He made sure he didn't get very far and walked a straight line, not wanting to lose sight of any of them.

"Miss Rose!? Mister Sayan!?" he called as loud as he could, knowing that if they couldn't hear such honking, then they weren't that nearby...

Hunter stayed close to Snow, both because he was still unsure of Anue and also to protect his sister just in case things turned ugly.

"Snow! Hunter! Mambo!," Sayan called out possibly hearing something in the distance. "I think I hear something-- this way.," he then said going towards the sound of the distant voice and hoping that it was Mambo. He shuddered thinking what would happen if someone else had found them.

Elsewhere-- Naga wondered looking for something else to prey on. He still had yet to try the new rabbits or mice, but he was bound to come across them eventually with how fast their species bred...

Mambo thought he heard Sayan at the distance, but he stopped going to the source once he heard what he believed was yelping behind him. Since he marked the sand behind him to make sure he wouldn't get lost and to assure he would lead Sayan and Rose to their offsprings, he followed this line to where he began, only to see nothing.
"Snow? Hunter?" he called desperately, while pulling a few feathers from his neck. Since he had marked the location, this had to be the place, but where were they? He just knew the wolf had something to do. How could he have been so irresponsible? Snow said she trusted Anue, but Mambo should've known better. Snow was a cub, lacking malice and judgement. He should've followed his instincts with this one. How was he suppose to face Sayan and Rose now?

"Let me go! Mother!!! Father!!!,," Hunter said as he attempted to bite his captor to no avail.

"Hunter?!," Sayan said believing he had heard the voice of their son. "Come on-- we gotta hurry!," he then said rushing forward and using his speed to try to catch up to whatever was happening. "Please be okay... please be okay...," he desperately thought out-loud.

Elsewhere-- Naga perked up as he heard the signal. 'It is time.," he thought to himself not entirely optimistic about the plan now.

AJ: Frightened but seeing Snow and Hunter being carried away, I forget my fear and leap from the tree and onto Snow, angrily biting and clawing at the wolf, with my tiny form. I will not let them take the two away, not while I have the ability to do something about it. Being as small as I am however, I don't know how much I can do. In the long run, I believe they will overcome me, wounding me to the point, where I will be unable to do anything more to save the two.

Mambo, who had been wallowing for a while, couldn't take it anymore. Even if he got lost, he navigated this thick fog in order to search for the cubs himself, knowing that sound will be more important than sight. He so wanted to give that treacherous wolf a good peck, and since he was a carnivorous parrot, he knew that was going to hurt so much...

Mambo headed to every source of sound he could hear, but he only managed to get himself more lost. It wasn,t after a while that the fog finally showed signs of dissipating, but it looked like it was going to take a while before vision was complete again...

The fog was slowly fading away, but visibility still was limited. Mambo could only see the top of the tallest trees among the rest of the white curtain.
"Ooooh, what am I going to do? If I can't find those kids... they'll... they'll probably bite my head off!" Mambo said terrified, believing Rose and Sayan wouldn't forgive him for losing their children like that. They were under his supervision after all. Why would that wolf abduct them? Mambo wasn't one to think the worse, but the scenario wasn't looking very positive. Why would Anue do that? It couldn't be for food, could it? Cause in that case, she probably would've grabbed him as well. Why did she want the cubs only?

OOC: Umpteenth time is the charm, I hope.


By sheer coincidence, someone else was looking for another child. It was Speckles; he had been assigned to find one of the centipede-eaters' daughters, Coquina. The young serpents had a habit of camping outside of home and not disclosing their whereabouts for days on end. It had been three days since this particular rascal left, and three others had been gone for even longer. Voraci and Skali were looking for the latter ones, and left their velvet worm companion to search for-- who they considered to be-- the far easier one to deal with. Coquina would at least comply when demanded to return on the first try.

It had been a few hours, though, and the little invertebrate decided to take a break and nestle under some leaves, letting the fog moisturize his skin. That much travel in one day made him parched. However, his quiet self-care was interpreted when he heard the sound of rapid pawsteps. From what he gathered of the vibrations, there were three of them shooting by, along with panicked protests. Speckles hadn't been around the other residents much, and most of them he didn't recognize by voice alone. He couldn't tell that he was hearing Snow and Hunter call for help. Despite that, he knew that someone was demanding to be let go of, and it immediately put him on alert.

It wasn't long before Rose came barrelling down, conveniently collapsing close to Speckles's resting spot. He quickly gained a better understanding of what he had just heard, and scrambled out of his hiding space at the realization of how dire the situation was. "Rose, what happened?! Did someone just kidnap them?"

"HUNTER!!! SNOW!!! Whoever you are-- I'll get you for this!," Sayan roared both out of rage and desperation. He stopped as he realized they were too late and witnessed his mate collapse on the group out of grief. "No... no... they're gone. Hunter and Snow-- please be okay. We're coming for you. We're coming...," he said too distracted to notice the tiny Speckles. He laid down next to Rose and looked off into the distance ashamed for managing to lose their own cubs. They were young and their kids-- and they were gone. 'Whoever you are... I'll find you and I'll get my kids back. That much I promise!,' he vowed to himself.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted you. Let us go-- let us go NOW!," Hunter yelled at his captors.

OOC: Indeed. Welcome back!

"They'll be okay.. where-ever they are-- they're tough and they will manage. And no matter what happens-- we WILL find them and I'll make whoever did this PAY for what they've done.," Sayan said enraged but also trying to be slightly comforting to the distraught Rose. He had never been so angry before in his life and never before had he lost so much all at once. Their kids were everything to him now and they had lost them.

OOC: Well Waaksian, great to have you back at last I hope we can motivate you enough to stay

After flying in circles for too long, Mambo's wings couldn't take the cold. He perched on a branch, and he had no idea in what part of the Haven he was. He looked like such a mess. He resembled more a green cockatoo that got struck by lightning. If somebody was to see him, chances are they won't be able to recognize him.
"Oh Mambo, why do you struggle so? Stupid fog! Why did it had to be today? Oh man, they're going to kill me! I just know it! I deserve it though. Who in their right mind would've thought of playing in a fog like this? More so, who would trust a wolf you have never seen before?" Mambo said to himself, feeling misery beyond what anyone could tolerate. After a few minutes of resting, the fog continued disappearing, and at least some of the ground was visible. Mambo then flew off once more, surveilling the area in search for the cubs, but if he found Rose and Sayan first, he might as well explain to them what happen and receive whatever punishment they deemed fair...

After a brief while, Mambo couldn't find anybody. The warblers were all hiding to wait out the fog and he had no idea where the kea's tree was. He didn't recognized this place. There were trees, but not the type he knew. Just where was he anyway? It didn't matter. Since he couldn't find the cubs or their parents, he couldn't stand feeling like this anymore.
"Well Mambo, you hit rock bottom. Like your daddy said, you are no fit to any kind of responsibility. That's why you assigned me Cole, isn't it?" Mambo said sullenly, as if talking to his deceased dad from somewhere. He was the only one of his siblings who survived the hatching, thus the only one next in line to lead the flock, but he has never been particularly responsible, and today was the most severe example of that. The depressed parrot landed on the ground, lying down and blending with the grass. He even started to wait for either a predator or a venomous insect to put him out of his misery. This mistake was just too much to handle...

OOC: Thank you. I'm relieved that I haven't roused anyone's ire over my constant absence.


"Who did? What even happened, who would do something like that!?" If anyone knew anything about Speckles, it was that he easily fell prey to fear, and often became consumed with it, falling into a full-blown panic. That didn't seem to be the case this time, for some reason; it had been a long time since he shared a crisis with anyone, and dealing with the rambunctious snake kids perhaps gave him a thicker skin to such scenarios.

He pointed in the direction he had heard the fleeing abductors. "I think I heard three of them running. I couldn't see them though, do you know who they are?"

Mambo could've sworn he heard Rose's voice a little less than a mile away. He believed it was his imagination, but what did he had to lose now? Even if it was fake, he still followed it. The voice became stronger, and he realized it could be real. But how was he able to face Rose.
"Miss Rose?" he wheezed, being all that was left of his voice. He cried so hard during his search of the cubs that he was almost voiceless, and his eyes were so swollen, one would've thought he was beaten up.

Mambo was baffled by Rose's behavior. He even touched her to make sure he wasn't seeing a mirage. How could Rose be this calm and gentle to him after what he did? And how could she claimed it wasn't his fault.
"I... well... I'll do what I can." he finally answered, with the motivation to get off his helpless misery and finally be useful. He still didn't know where he was, but he knew that he would find a warbler eventually. They were still quite scattered despite their dramatic decrease in numbers.

"Thank-you Mambo. Please... do what you can.," Sayan said not blaming the Kea ether.

Elsewhere-- Naga began to prepare in accordance to pre-arranged plan. Back when the whole thing was briefly started-- his mind wasn't nearly as clouded and his future seemed much more clear. But alas-- the plan was already proceeding as planned...

When Mambo appeared, Speckles did a double-take. He had seen the kea many, many times, but never in... that condition. He didn't know his side of the story, or of his involvement with the situation, but it was clear that he was beyond shaken.
"Wh-- Mambo, what happened to you? Did you fall? Are you sick? Did someone hurt you?" he blurted.

AJ: I will not be shaken off that easily. My claws dig into the wolf's fur coat and I bit down hard. I'm not giving up unless I am too wounded to do anything. I swipe with my claws trying to force the captors to let Snow and Hunter go. Blood drips from my teeth and claws as I fight to free the two from their much larger captives.