Appearance; Birds of a Feather

In the midst of the moonlight, shining large and blue, a flock of mysterious creatures hovered in from the depths of the woods and out into the plains, all in unison.


Traveling on the same frequency and moving on the same wave, each of them moved in tandem with the next; where one went right, so would all the others. Where one turned left, so would all the others, as though they were all of the same mind. When they reached a clearing that all of them could fit, they each drive their spike-like legs into the ground and began to bob up and down in unison, piercing the ground with their beaks and drawing in the nutrients of the earth to eat.

It didn't take long for the Werewolf Clan to skid down the Midnight Mountains and into the forested area of the Twilight Wilderlands. Alpha's nose wasn't wrong; a flock of strange birds had congregated around the lake where the Blue Moon hung high, which was now slightly less bright due to the rising of the Sunset Dawn over the Dusk. The pack didn't get too close, but watched from the distance as the birds fed.

"There they are..." he whispered to them, their ears acute and able to hear the slightest of sounds, even if barely audible, "... Our prey." Since the sun was out now, which would only be for a single day before the perpetual Midnight washed over the land again, their prey had heightened visibility... Which was to their disadvantage. Though the Werewolves had the power to perceive just as well in the day as they did in the night, if not better, it was best for them to hunt in the darkness. This was going to require some expertise.

"We'll have to surround them from every angle and creep up as close as we can without drawing their attention or blowing our cover," he said, peering from behind a thick tree. "If we get exposed, they might fly off and we'll miss breakfast." Lord knows they were all starving... Since the night of the Red Moon, they hadn't had a chance to eat anything. Being survivors also meant being able to survive... And that's what they were going to do.

"Alright, guys... Move out." They would spread quietly, but swiftly through the trees under the cover of the shadows...

The strange, glass-like birds continued to harvest whatever nutrients that'd acquired from the ground, be it the actual earth itself or creatures that were underground at the time of their picking. Some even floated to the water and lightly sat atop the surface, sticking their beaks inside and drinking some of the water. Those that drew nectar from the plants would store them inside of their bodies, and their translucent forms would begin to glow with the color of the plants. Nothing that was inside of their bodies remained physical; in fact, it seemed to have taken on a rather aqueous form, as though having been converted into raw energy. Those that consumed animals underground would glow a different color, more associated with the color of the ground itself. Those that absorbed the water would glow with the light of the lake, thus painting the flock in a healthy palette of Green, Brown and Blue in accord to the energy they'd consumed.

Though they were minding their own business and could not physically see something nearby, their highly receptive bodies picked up the alterations of wavelength in the air coming from the movement of a creature nearby and the beating of their hearts and thoughts at the same time, alerting the flock. They immediately plucked their beaks from the ground and started to hover in the air in unison, as if all of the same mind and wave. They were about to hover away before danger could strike. They turned to the lake, finding that to be the safest place, and started to hover toward the water.

'Shit!!' the Alpha thought, wondering how they were spotted. "Go! Go! Go!" he cried, the pack immediately shooting out from behind the trees and toward the targets, fangs bared and claws out. They were far faster than the slowly hovering birds and would easily be able to snatch them out of the sky before they got too far, going straight for their long, slender necks. It seemed to be their weak spot and could incapacitate them quickly, which the eyes of the wolves were always watching out for; the best way to take down their prey.

Sensing the accelerated heartbeat as an indicator of high speed movement of what seemed to be a threat about to come into motion, before the wolfmen even began to move, the birds would have traced them, faced them and pinpointed exactly where they were each coming from based on the quickness of their heartbeats. Their heads, being very thick and hard, would serve as powerful shields to protect them from the initial attacks, being able to easily endure the strength and sharpness of the claws and fangs without being scratched nor punctured. It was a sort of exoskeleton that was much thicker and more durable than any normal skeletal structure, in order to effectively protect the fragile glass-like bodies that harbored their harvest.

When struck, it sounded as if the claws were striking steel. The resonating force would quiver through their bodies, being absorbed and focused throughout their form, creating a high pitched hum like that of a finger circling a glass filled with liquid. With a well placed repulsive headbutt using the same force of which was taken into their bodies, the birds would force the wolves back down to the ground using their own power against them, always remaining in a perfect harmonic lock with them wherever they moved. They continued to hover slowly over the water in the opposite direction, yet remained facing each wolf man in exact accord to their current position. Some of their eyes began to glow, energy bubbling in their bodies like a beaker and shooting up through their necks to assimilate with their brains. Whilst some had glowing eyes, others would have glowing beaks, and others even still, would have entire heads that would change to match the color of the energy glowing in their glassy bods.

To the surprise of the Lycan Clan, their brute strength and speed seemed to be completely useless against these seemingly defenseless birds. They were shot back to the ground just as quickly as they'd leapt up to attack, coming to a skidding halt as the birds started to glow.

"What is up with these things?!" someone shouted, "They're stronger than they look...!"

Alpha, who was far more privy to the detection of 'Wavelength' than the others due to his prior experience in the Veritas, would be able to tell that these animals in and of themselves were proficient in the use of it naturally. He was distraught and pleased by this, knowing that if some creatures like these weird birds could use it that well instinctively, then his clan would be able to as well once they were taught properly. "Hrrrghh..." he growled, trying to figure out a plan. They seemed to move in accordance to where each of his men were stationed, keeping a watchful eye and always on point with their movements. Maybe, they'd achieved some sort of natural soul resonance?

"We can't let them escape! If they get over the lake, we're done for!" said one of the women, awaiting an order. They hovered slowly, but being so close to the water meant that they could flee very easily. They were in a mind.

"Hruph!" cried Alpha as he figured out a method of combating them, "... Commence with a dual strike! Two of you on one! One of you take the head and be a distraction, the other strike from the other end! They only have one head and probably can't fight two against one!"

"Right!" they said, executing the plan as swiftly as possible. Those who jumped up first would confront the first five head on, anticipating on being blocked. The next five would then strike from any other available angle, going straight for the necks in order to snap them in two. Alpha, himself, continued to keep watch to make sure he could give them proper orders, awaiting his own time to take some down...

Still hovering backward, the birds remained locked onto the wolf men and blocked their initial frontal assault as planned. As they did, however, those with glowing eyes would release a condensed energy blast from their wide sockets and straight into the chest of whichever was attacking them, shooting them straight to the ground. Unfortunately, like the Alpha said, with having no means of protecting their back once they were dealing with something in the front, they would be struck down with necks snapped like the stem of a wine glass, loosing the energy stored within like blood as the decapitated head and body fell to the ground.

For those that were struck that had glowing beaks, they would, after blocking the initial strike, stab them into the abdomen of the assailant and begin to suck out their nutrients. Blood, marrow, vitamins and the like were all useful to them, and would be swiftly siphoned through their syringe-like beaks, probably killing their target. Even so, they, too, would suffer the same fate as the others and be struck down with a snapped neck, body and head falling to the ground. If the wolf man they were siphoning didn't die, they would be severely wounded from blood loss, dehydration, lack of minerals and vitamins and do forth, and would probably die soon from numerous physical deficiencies that probably wouldn't be recovered very quickly.

Finally, for those that had entirely glowing skulls, they would, as soon as they were struck, release a resonant explosive blast that formed a larger barrier in the direction that their heads were facing and remain protected. Eventually, this barrier would completely surround their bodies and protect them all around from even the assault from another direction, which would repel the next assailants and leave them unharmed.

Those that weren't harmed nor attacked would focus on the downed wolf men and release pinpoint beams of energy from the tips of their beaks or large blasts from their large, hollowed eyes as a means of keeping them at bay whilst they escaped.

It seemed like all was going well, more or less, in their assault. They'd killed a few of them, but there were some unaccounted for casualties that hit the water. "Dammit!" he cried, knowing he had to save his kin, "Take down as many as you can! But watch out for those beaks!" He'd seen that the ones with the glowing eyes shot out large energy blasts, the ones with the glowing beaks shot out thin, penetrating energy blasts and the ones with glowing heads made barriers. "Don't attack the ones with the glowing heads!" he said as he darted off into the water to save whomever had been pierced.

Meanwhile, the Lycans that had been hit with the energy blasts from up close would cringe a bit, feeling the pain but were relatively okay, since it didn't do any serious damage. They listened to the orders of Alpha and took off, careful to avoid the beams being fired from the other ones in the back. They pulled off their strategic assault again, this time with a little more caution, and striking only the ones with the glowing eyes or beaks, careful to take them out quickly before they could retaliate with an attack and injure another one of their own.

Again, the birds were attacked in the same method before they could get too far over the lake and out of reach of the hungry wolf man pack. They were taken down just as easily as the others, their bodies falling along with their severed heads.

This, however, alerted the others to band together in order to protect what was left of them, wherein they would huddle together at the rear through the connection of waves between their receptor-like tails, drawing near rather quickly like high powered magnets. Each of their heads would glow brightly and release a powerful barrier around the remainder of them, ensuring their safety from anymore attacks once they realized that fighting offensively was not effective. They would, now protected completely from anything coming from anywhere, continue to hover off further over the lake and out of reach of the clan.

Alpha swam up from the depths of the lake with his kinsman in his jaws, watching as the flock of strange birds hovered away in a protective force field of sorts. They were long out of reach and too heavily guarded, so there was no point in pursuing them further... Especially not with an injured man and over the water. It was best to just stick with what they had.

When he got to the shore, he pulled his kinsman from the water and onto dry land. The others, who had collected the spoils, would all gather around the injured one and begin to inspect. "Is he going to live?" someone said, Alpha looking him up and down. "... Maybe," he said begrudgingly, "... But not without some sort of medicine."

Fortunately for them, inside of the glass containers that were their bodies, there were concoctions that seemed to be of a healing variety based on the elemental attribute affiliated to whichever bird they'd killed. "Here," another one said, "Take a whiff of this and see if it'll help." She gave him the blue vial. Alpha quickly used his superior sense of smell to determine whether or not it would be effective in treating the wounds, sniffing out whatever chemicals were inside as best he could. "Hmmm..." he muttered with a hint of concern, "... Seems more water based. May help with the blood loss." For some reason, Alpha seemed exceedingly knowledgeable about these sorts of things... Perhaps because in his time here, he'd picked up a lot of useful tricks and skills from just wandering around the Veritas for so long and getting accustomed to its Resources. "But to help treat the wound, we need something more Earth based..." Naturally, in terms of just basic science, it also made sense that there would be more minerals inside of an earthy tonic necessary for replenishing the physical form, whilst something of a more watery base would serve to replenish blood and other bodily fluids. It was just common sense, even for them.

"H-Here!" someone else said, extending his vial with the Earth Potion, "... Try this. It looks kinda... Earthy?" Alpha would give some of the Water Potion to the wounded member, then take the Earth Potion and sniff it. "... Hmmm... This would probably give him some essential nutrients he needs... As a substitute for solid food." He looked up to the others, wondering what else they had. "You don't have any real meat, do you?" They looked down, shaking their heads. He sighed. "Well, those were glass birds after all... I guess it will give us our strength back, regardless of if we want to taste meat or not." He would give some of the Earth Potion to the wounded kin. "... This won't help recover his wound, though. What else do you have?"

The next would give him the Green Potion, the Plant Potion. Naturally, he sniffed that one, too, to see what he could get from it. "Hmmmm... Seems kinda naturey..." he said, scratching the back of his head. "Got more of a plant feel to it than the other one. Might have some of the regenerative properties of a plant." Plants, having chlorophyll in them naturally that helps them to regenerate more swiftly could also be used in the same method for other living beings. Granted, Alpha wasn't aware of the sciences behind these all too much, but he knew the basics enough to figure out that if a plant could heal itself naturally, then it probably had something in it that could be done the same for any other wounds. He quickly gave some of the tonic to the injured. "How do you feel?"

He coughed weakly, holding the part where he'd been pierced. It looked like a bullet wound. "... Tired..." he said dryly and weakly, more dehydrated than anything. "... Water..." The wound wasn't that bad, but he did have a lot of blood sucked out of him, so if anything, the Blue Potion would probably be best for him. "Alright, here," Alpha said, giving him the Blue Potion to drink. "If need be, change into your wolf form. We may need to take you to a medic if you don't start feeling better soon. Since there's a lake right here, we can just drink that water and not go thirsty... But I think our only food for today is gonna be that earthy type potion."

"Ah... right, boss..." the wounded wolfman said, weakly attempting to shift into his lupine form. It was a rather difficult and slow process, for his body was very weak and he didn't have much energy in order to transform, despite now having enough to remain conscious.

"It's going to take him a while to revert, much longer than what it would for any of us normally," Alpha said to the rest of the pack, lying his brother down on the ground near the water, just in case he felt strong enough to want to drink, yet not too close where he might accidentally fall in or get snatched up by something within the lake, if there were.

Pack Member: What do we do until then?

Alpha: Now would be a good time to go out into the city and scavenge for a place that we can take him. Whatever you do, do not shift in front of anyone. I'll stay here with him and protect our brother from any threats. Some of you, remain in your forms as men and gather information from the people in the city, then report back by the time the sun goes down. Our power lies in the moon, and this land is known for having very long nights and very short days.

The Pack Members that heard the Alpha's plan nodded, congregating among themselves to organize which of them were going to do what. From there, Alpha continued to watch over the fallen, as well as speculate the surroundings whilst also thinking of what to do next. It was imperative if they were going to survive here. He knew what it was like in the Dusk... He'd been there with the Snake and the Frog for a long time. When each of the Lycan, both shifted and human, knew what they were going to do, they split up in two groups into the Dusk.

A strange mist rolled over the lake, like a cloud close to the ground. It did not take long for it to envelope the Twilight Wilderlands, as it had been less thick for a while. The wolf who harbored open wounds and low energy would suddenly get snatched up by the environment and become part of it.

(*Note; Characters that get taken by NPC's are to be played further on NPC accounts by the person who is said character, in which they will also have rights to whatever the NPC account entails along with being captured by it. An example is being done below)

The wounded wolfman would start to go through many serious changes, as if the realm itself were taking his body into its possession due to him being unable to keep it from dying. Almost as if some sort of artificial respiratory system, the 'Myst' that rolled that rolled over him would heal his wounds and bring him energy, but at the loss of control over his body. He would belong to Nature Itself now, and the Myst seemed to harbor some sort of chemical inside that would alter the body of the wolfman to become more mechanical, so that breathing the Myst would become easier. He would go Feral for a while, unless he found a method to control the speed in which the Myst hastened his recovery and thus his emotions as well.

Very quickly, where he was wounded, the cells would harden into what looked to be a metal plate over it, like a scab forming.

(*This is an example of how to 'Capture' a character, as opposed to how to 'Share' a character. Given the current conditions, as well as power, the character mentioned in the story by the Beastkin is now captured by the Veritas, to be utilized by the Veritas as seen fit. This applies to any and all characters, and this is an example of how to logically and fairly acquire other characters, techniques, monsters, Chomao, items, equipment, etc. etc.)

Quote :

The Myst produced by is atmospheric pressure made gravity more intense and caused the molecules in the air to become more pressurized and visible to the naked eye, in order for it to be perceived, as well as any and all energies within it. This was because of the portal from the First Arm being opened as a gateway to the First Hand, which channeled the energy from the First Moon.

*Note: All Energy in the Dusk is Visible to the Naked Eye, even if it was not Previously So.

Quote :

unleashing a Natural Occurrence into the land. The normal and least disruptive manner of her intervening with problems was to first release the Natural Response based on the Environment on that part of her Body. Therefore, the 'Myst' would be released into the Dusk to remedy whatever issues were going on Completely Naturally. Things would immediately be set in motion in the Dusk due to this response, and whatever was involved with the Dusk would be brought to a stir, signified by the Myst rolling over and coating the entire land, just like it did a long time ago when the Tree of Life awakened in the Dusk the first time, on Vescrutia.

The injured Lycan, of whom was exposed now to the Natural Bodily Response of the Veritas, would be consumed by the Myst, which would seep into his wounds and seek to heal him. It was because a large amount of energy was not only in motion, but had been rushing over them all at once, as opposed to the low amount of energy that was depicted by the thin amount of Myst before. However, in that, the overwhelming power of the great energy surge enveloping them from the planet's activation would be a lot to handle in such large quantities and accelerated blood flow and heart rate. With his natural Instincts coming from the speed of his heart, he would immediately shift into wolf form and wriggle viciously on the ground and to his feet. During his fully recovery, he would be unable to revert back into his Human or even partially Human form.

He turned to his Alpha curiously, looking rather confused, panicked and as if he were ready to attack. Too much was going on at once, which made him anxious; like he were on the hunt. He didn't understand why he felt like he was hunting, but he could not control it, it seemed. Whatever he was feeling was powerful enough to overcome his normal senses and send more powerful feelings into him that were beyond his level of control. Therefore, the Wolf would effectively become under the Veritas' Jurisdiction.

(*This is an example of a 'Capturing Post.' It must make complete sense in terms of all events that have happened in order to be an acceptable post, otherwise, jurisdiction will still remain with where said target originated, no matter to whom or what it belonged previously before capture attempt.)

As the Myst poured over Alpha, thickening in the area and diluting the air, his vision became strained, yet his body felt surprisingly rejuvenated. "What? This Myst...?" he knew about it from his time in the Dusk many years ago, but something was different about it this time. "What could...?" Before he knew it, his brother was already shifting into his Wolf form, of which it seemed he was originally too weak to do, and also now better than ever. "Hrh!? What are you doing?!" It seemed as though his brother, in a fit of confusion, suddenly turned against Alpha and looked as if he were about to attack. "Stop this... You know I don't want to have to injure you any more than you are..." The Myst was thick enough to obscure his vision, but his eyes were sharpened enough to be able to see his target even through it. "... I'm not the Alpha for no reason, you know..." He growled, hunching over a bit and getting ready to strike, just in case reason didn't work.

In the density of the Myst, the shape of a wolf's head shaped out of it, though not enough to be visibly witnessed. Remaining ambiguous, yet watching cautiously, the head of clouds rolled through the trees, folding into the Myst and becoming lost in the formlessness of the billowing haze.