Rhys Warren's Story

The roar shot right through the semi-consciousness of his mind, forcing him into an abrupt awakening. His defense mechanisms immediately responded to the presumed danger, and muscles rose him on all fours before locking in place. Large amounts of keratin released into his once soft hair, quickly transforming it into a shield of protruding dirty-white quills that poured off his back. His eyes darted wildly only to see the limbs of trees and other warm-colored shrubbery. His muscles relaxed as he realized the sound was coming from a distance away right before it ended. This... wasn't the habitat for a lion. So the vague location the damaged pods gave off weren't that off after all.

"Tskk", he was only dispatched to this forest like what, an hour ago? He wanted to enjoy the different scenery, but work came first. Rhys crawled over and climbed down the the tree's rough surface effortlessly. He quickly scampered off on all fours, running towards the direction of the prior sound. Jeez, he hated running. He wasn't as speedy as the other rodents, let alone the 'cats'. Not to mention his quills often rattled, which could really get to a guy after a while. But his preferences didn't matter; his priority was satisfying his father and helping the human race. For that, the hybrids would have to sacrifice some freedoms. Rhys would make sure the selfish beings did just that.

It didn't take long before Rhys began carrying himself in slow, cautious strides as he got closer to the lion hybrid. Ugg, the smell of hybrid filled his sensitive nose... Disgusting. From behind a tree trunk he peered at the back of the male's head from a safe distance away, probably half a football field. Could he smell/hear him as well? He hoped not, but then again he had no experience with other hybrids so who knew. The male dug his claws into the bark, ready to climb if necessary. He hoped it wouldn't come to that and the male would lead him to the others and bring his search to an quick end.

Lovi's ears perked up as he heard movement a ways away. He scanned the trees a few times, but he was soon satisfied that it was nothing to be worried about. He sniffed the air, and caught a strange scent. Just as he was going to track it, he was distracted by something back at camp. Dax and Kira were talking to a boy he recognized slightly, although everything was starting to look familiar, so he couldn't separate the emotion. He heard that his name was Seth as he and Kira spoke. "I'm Lovi." He said and nodded to him. Seth, the fox-hybrid. Lovi bit the inside of his cheek and glanced back in the direction the odd sound had come from. He walked the rest of the way back to camp, which wasn't far. "Listen up, everyone. Farai's right," he glanced at him, then continued. "Let's get cleaned up, but be careful. Spot, lead the way. After that we need to get moving," Lovi said and started walking. He reached a hand out to Bleu to help her up. He wasn't going to carry her, unless she needed it. Exercising the leg would be god for it. Painful, and it might cause bleeding, but that's better than it getting stick. "Come on tiger," he said to her. As they all made their way to the water, Spot in head, Lovi began thinking the best way to share his concerns.

"Alright, we all need a 'partner', someone we are accountable for. That doesn't mean you have to be with them every waking moment, however. No one goes off on their own without letting someone know they're going. If you leave and no one knows you're gone, and you don't show up within a day, we'll assume you left by choice, and don't want to return, is everyone clear?" Lovi said. He rubbed his face. "Everyone has their own strengths, and we'll need each and everyone one of them to survive," He scanned over the group. He was easily the biggest one there. "Clearly my strengths is well.. leading and strength itself. Spot and Farai, I know you can both hunt. Last night, I got lucky. I'm not the best.. What else are you good at?" He asked them. He then turned to Kira. "You're the fastest here, and Dax, you're the only one who can fly. Marne and Nikki, you two have stealth. Bleu, you're second in command, so holding the group together. Strength, too? We're the alpha felines, strength and leadership should come naturally," He sighed. After a few seconds, he realized that the last comment might have been offensive to Kira and Spot, but he decided he didn't care.

"Last but not least, we need to have each other's backs no matter what, okay? We have to become a team, whether our species mix or not," the lion concluded. He looked tired, and not once in his speech did his face change from the half worried half heart broken look he had.

"Clearly my strengths is well.. leading and strength itself. Spot and Farai, I know you can both hunt. Last night, I got lucky. I'm not the best.. What else are you good at?"

Spot’s ear twitched at the sound of her name being called- she still hadn’t forgave him for hurting her leopard pride; more so over, she hadn’t allowed herself to let go of the annoyance she had for actually following him around. Spot allowed him to finish speaking, before her blue eyes pinned Lovi down like he was prey, despite him being nearly twice her size. Her eyes panned over the group, realizing that there was a new face; a fox like hybrid- though, it didn’t really stop her from opening her mouth. First impressions didn’t matter if the person didn’t matter; which they hardly ever did.

“Well, allow me to give you guys a bit of a wakeup call.” She stated, her voice filled with a bit of annoyance and crudeness. “From the looks of it and how we prepare ourselves, I’d say we have about a 10% chance of surviving till the next sunrise.” Her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against her hip. “But of course, that isn’t my problem.” This time, her voice was almost as if it was testing Lovi; as if she was signaling for fight- though, Spot hadn’t known of the annoyance and testing that was filling her voice. Though, her statements weren't exactly false; she had felt as if she and the group was being watched- yet, she couldn't exactly tell whether it was paranoia or true, so she just ignored it... for now.

Anyone would be a bit crabby having their own ‘owner’ throw them away after years of staying with them; not to mention the soreness and achiness of her body as well as the bitter cold that continued to bite her ass. Though, it was only a few seconds later before she realized the change in her voice. “Anyways, I will lead the way; but for now on, we have to be more observed of our surroundings. If not, then they could easily catch our trail and kill us within a matter of seconds- and I am not helping anyone but myself when that time comes.” Her statement was back to its blunt, Spot-like composure as she began to lead the way; ignoring whatever was said.

Though, it was true; she wasn’t like others who hid their true intentions- if the time came to it, she’d leave them. She’d leave eventually; in fact, once they arrived on the brink of society- if they arrive around society, Spot would silently disappear. Kind of how she would on missions; the way she’d leave her ‘comrades’ when the job was finished. Spot was often known for that; in fact, she became a bit famous for it- until the agency started to assign her solo missions. Though, there was always that problem of Spot not doing it until a week or so after they assigned it- and that was only when they bugged the absolute crap out of her.

Though, Spot suddenly stopped in her tracks at Lovi’s final sentence. "Last but not least, we need to have each other's backs no matter what, okay? We have to become a team, whether our species mix or not," With that sentence, Spot slightly cringed; a team? She was fine with partners, but a team? Words like family, team and friends made her stomach twisted up in knots; perhaps it was because she’d never had anyone like that? Or perhaps the ones she had either betrayed her or she killed them with her own hands. Within seconds, Spot began walking, irritation radiating off of her body as she lead the team to the water source; the bitter words still being pushed and shoved by her tongue in her mouth.

Despite the irritation that she had harvest, Spot knew she couldn't act selfish- though, it was very hard counting her entire personality was a bundle of selfishness and solitude. Spot knew that without the group- or to put it in a more correct term of words- without the few people she could stand within the group, Spot knew she’d be a bit lonely. Without the bossy lion, Spot knew her mind would be somewhere else- somewhere in darkness. She released a sigh, seeing the water source as she stepped aside.

It pained her greatly to admit this-really. Spot’s face slightly contorted as the pain within her stomach began to grow; it really was something absolutely painful- nearly unbearable. Within seconds, Spot’s face before twisted with distress as her stomach began contracting; her blue eyes looking at the faces of the other before she tried to mask it. Then it came up; her body jerked around a tree and she vomited up whatever could vomit. Blood swished around in the puddle of clear liquid and whatever else was in her stomach; dying it crimson color.

She bared her teeth in distress, growls being released from her throat left and right; Spot’s eyes watched it before stood straight up and regained her composure. Her face going back to being blunt as her eyes hid the pain that began to escalate. A burning sensation trickled up her throat and left her nose; she cursed underneath her breath. Within a few seconds, Spot turned back around, as if nothing happen; a look on her face that almost warned others that if they asked her about it, they’d get bitten. Though, it was obvious that she was still in pain, her body slightly jerking and her breathing becoming heavy; finally, Spot walked across the plain and over towards a stream and bent down to get a drink, ignoring whoever was cleaning their wounds in the pond- or who was speaking to her for that matter.

The cool water washed down her throat, easing whatever fiery pain that resided in her throat; her stomach’s pain had even stopped for a short while, almost thinking of how it should react to the cold water. Though, once she drank her fill, the pain started up again.

((Sorry, everyone is a bit scattered now, so I just decided to kinda include everyone in the post... if I am wrong, just tell me and I will edited to your likings. :) ))

Rhys slowly followed behind the lion hybrid as he led him straight to the circus. He made sure to keep his distance, choosing to hide up one of the sturdier trees so he could peer down at the group only when necessary. The thick trunk and leaves provided good cover, and he wasn't a carnivore so the scent he gave off wasn't nearly as strong as the others. Despite knowing this, he just couldn't calm down. He never had to hunt before, and tree bark didn't exactly give him the same fighting experience. Rhys laid his forehead against the trunk of the tree and gritted his teeth at the thought, only to perk up as one of the females started talking.

'Observe your sourroundings'? Great. Though what really caught his attention was the sound of puking that followed. Rhys calmed himself for a moment and focused. His nose twitched slightly. Blood, and a decent amount of it. So at least some of them were wounded. Rhys probably wasn't the sharpest porcupine out there, but he knew that wounded or not, he was outnumbered and trying to take them all on at once would just be suicide. So he followed them to the river, keeping silent and safely far away only to scamper up another tree with the destination. Guess he'd just have to wait for someone and their 'partner' to seperate from the others just enough so he could finally pick them off.

Lovi bit the inside of his cheek when Spot began speaking. The way she was looking at him, like she wanted to kill him, was obvious. he knew she had no match against him. Maybe if she had a weapon, she could stand a chance, but he knew he could snap her neck in half, so her looks didn't worry him. She was blatantly fighting his authority and it was pissing him off. He could feel the anger inside of him growing. His swallowed it back and continued walking behind her. "If not, then they could easily catch our trail and kill us within a matter of seconds- and I am not helping anyone but myself when that time comes.” Spot said and continued to walk, not glancing back at the group. His lips raised up, revealing his sharp canines. His breathing was heavy, and bordered a growl, but he tried his best to control himself. Her words were harsh, and Lovi wasn't going to stand for it.

As they approached the water, the other hybrids began to wash themselves off, but Lovi approached Farai and Spot. She was wiping off her mouth after throwing up, and Farai was asking her if she'd eaten anything that might have upset her stomach. She took a drink of the water to rinse out her mouth, and from the look on her face, Lovi assumed that her stomach began hurting again. He looked back at the group. Bleu was sitting on a rock, smiling at the sun. He turned back to Spot, and stole a glance at Farai. The lion was considering asking Farai to step away, but he knew everyone would hear anyway; he wouldn't be able to help himself from yelling. "Listen to me Spot," he started. He grabbed her arm and looked into her eyes. He bared his teeth at her and let out a low growl. His golden eyes turned black as he began to speak again. "If you think you'll do better on you're own, you be my guest. Get out of here. Right now, you're being a selfish bitch. If you think you don't need us then leave! If you're going to stay you better keep your mouth shut," He growled at her and began to turn away. He grabbed her jaw and put his mouth by her ear, breathing deeply. "I swear to God if you put any of us in danger, I will kill you." His voice was a dangerous whisper. It should at least strike some fear in her. He leaned back and looked in her eyes once more. He growled at her and leaned in, so they were almost nose to nose. "I hope I've been clear." With that, he pushed her away and made his way back to the group.

Lovi dipped his head in the water and pulled it back out again, shaking to get the excess water from his mane. He washed the blood of his chest and arms and scanned the tree line. He got the feeling of being watched again, just like before. A little ways away, he saw movement. Tree branches moving. He took a step and squinted to see better. A squirrel jumped off the tree and ran in the brush. Lovi let out a sigh, but he wasn't satisfied. "We need to get moving," he said.

Spot’s hands were firmly placed onto the ground; not moving. The pain jolted her body and she could no longer hold back from showing her pain on her face; yet, she stayed silent as she hunched over the stream, the burning sensation from puking returning to her nose and throat. Suddenly, her heart race began to escalate as she felt the pain slamming itself against her stomach; a growl which showed off her teeth where planted onto her face. Even during this unspeakable pain, Spot wanted no contact- she wanted to be left alone; left alone so she can deal with this by herself.

Finally, after what seemed like forever to her, the pain suddenly stopped, but a new one rose; it was the feeling of becoming weak, her senses draining from her body- so much, that she barely detected Farai heading towards her. Her blue eyes scanned him distrustfully as she watched him sit down, repeating the words she had spoken before with such crudeness. "...We need to get a move on and you vomiting will only ssslow usss down… We can't afford anymore wassssted minutesss..."

His voice was calm- was he soothing her? For what reason? She had just told off almost everyone in the group; she was extremely bitchy and nearly claimed herself as someone not worth helping, so why was saying this? Perhaps it was feelings Spot hasn’t been able to experience; feelings that where completely foreign to her in every way possible. Her blue eyes starred at him for a while before she smirked, slightly showing her canines off. “You don’t have to force yourself; you can laugh at me- I would.” She bluntly said; though, her words where true, she’d laugh at herself if she saw how utterly pitiful and pathetic she was- so utterly pitiful and pathetic, that she had a cold-blooded snake come over to her to try and comfort her.

Another words Spot despised; it was a nicer word for the weak- or at least, that was how it had been taught by her. Though, her thoughts where interrupted by an abrupt pat to head; a moist cloth sticking to her forehead- what the hell? Now Spot was completely confused, which only fueled the aggravation that had seeped within her. Her petite fingers uncurled from the dirt beneath and slightly touched the cloth that was given to her; the cold of the cloth bringing color back to her face that was lost. In distraught, Spot’s blue eyes looked above her, and onto her forehead, trying to see the cloth he had handed her. Her mouth opened slightly, but nothing came out; right when she was about to speak, after she had thought through her words, Farai spoke in her place.

"Put that on your forehead..." Spot’s eyes shot towards him, almost questioning him on why he would do such a thing. "I'm not much of a doctor but I recommend not eating sssolid food until the nausea subsides ." Of course you aren’t a doctor; why should your recommendations even apply to me? Her mind questioned as her mouth still continued to hang open, still in an almost shocked way. Though, her mouth did raise, into a snarl like position, but she meant no harm, nor did anything leave her throat; Spot just watched him, as if he was a type of toxicant that would turn around and bite her once she’d given him her trust- oh wait, he was a type of toxicant that could bite her. Finally, her mouth closed as she leaned back onto her knees and sat down on her feet, listening to him as he continued to speak once more. "Do you...Know why you vomited? I read that people who are ssstresssed vomit...But that'sss only for sssevere cassesss...Maybe your ssstomach jussst didn't agree with sssomething..."

“No; I didn’t eat anything that would cause me to vomit.” She said finally, after a while of silence between the two; her response becoming confident and almost sure that she hadn’t eaten anything. “And I doubt it’s stress; I am the least injured, so why would I be stressed?” She questioned. In Spot’s eyes, she shouldn’t complain a tiny bit; though, her words a while ago had completely contradicted what her thoughts where now. “I have no stress.” She argued slightly, before she placed the cloth down on her knee, watching the jacket that stayed at her side. “Why are you helping me?” Spot’s voice was demanding almost as she asked the question, her eyebrows raised.


She was honestly curious; not only would Spot make fun of herself at the moment, but she’d leave herself. Leave herself within a heartbeat- those who where unable to go on, where unfit; right? Before Farai could answer once more, she went on speaking. “You are the last person I’d thought who would come over to help me; I thought you’d be all for the idea of allowing me to stay behind.” It was as if she was joking about this; her voice portraying as if she was playing jokes- though, she was completely serious about this. Perhaps Farai knew more about the feelings she was incapable of knowing; things like family, or friends, pals or even acquaintances. They where either allies or enemies but no in between or neutrals; one or the other. That was it.

Before she could open her mouth once more, Spot was suddenly pulled up by Lovi; which indeed had made her jump and her heart race from the unsuspecting event- boy, was her senses this dull? Though, they quickly came back, as if a semi truck had been slammed right into her head; if it wasn’t for Lovi’s tone of voice and the slamming sensation that returned to her head, she would’ve certainly have bit him- hard.
"If you think you'll do better on you're own, you be my guest. Get out of here. Right now, you're being a selfish bitch. If you think you don't need us then leave! If you're going to stay you better keep your mouth shut," Through the throbbing feeling that resided in her head, Spot snarled a little, her arms trailing up his and gripping onto his hand.

Was Lovi’s arms always that big? It they where, Spot hadn’t noticed until now; her grip was weaker than her usual one, but it was enough to dig into his skin as her teeth continued to bore at Lovi, knowing how empty her silent threats where. "I swear to God if you put any of us in danger, I will kill you." His breath crept into her nose, making its way through the scent of vomit and processing itself within her brain; it was a bad smell, one that she’d comment on if she wasn’t trying to fight off the earthquake that rattled her brain. It was when he seemed to become closer that her horrid migraine began to cease; has she always had these things? No, this was a bit different; perhaps it was too much stress? Or maybe it was internal bleeding from the crash.

Though, her thoughts didn’t make it far before Lovi’s dangerous growl pulled her back to reality. "I hope I've been clear.” Spots eyes squinted at him as if she had blanked out on his entire speech, though everything came back as a rush of memories flooded her head as well as the piercing pain; as if she was being thrown onto the ground- oh wait, she had been. A growl escaped her pink lips as she glared back up at Lovi, her eyes not moving from him as he turned back towards the group. Boy, wasn’t that embarrassing? Spot knew she had it coming for her; one of the main reasons she said it in the first place. Wait, no, she said it because… because… “Because…” She whispered, her lips barely moving as she pondered on why she actually said it in the first place- oh, that’s right. Her arrogant and selfish attitude wouldn’t have allowed her to stay quite any longer.


For now, she’d stay with them; though, the first chance she’d get, Spot would be gone. Then, it was then, that Spot felt the same presence she’d felt a while back; once again, she wasn’t able to decipher on whether it was paranoia or an actual person following them. Of course, the government had to be following them; but it wasn’t this type of feeling, it was as if, someone unwelcome was secretly hiding within the thickets. Her eyes scanned around the area; a bit too stunned to spew something smart assy out in her defense from Lovi. Despite her creeping feeling, she said nothing, nor did she voice anything out. Perhaps, if the feeling became stronger, she might slip a word to Nikki, Bleu or Farai; but that was it. Lovi and the others could die for all she cared- in fact; everyone could burn in hell for that matter. Or at least, this was her thought at the moment.

Amber iris's gazed deeply into the river. The soothing sound of water running over rocks and across the bank calmed the serpent hybrid. Until the silence was interrupted, Farai looked as if he was deep in thought. As soon as Spots had begun to speak, his true thoughts came crashing down on his head and jolted him awake. His head cocked over toward Spots' side and he studied her expression. “You don’t have to force yourself; you can laugh at me- I would.” Farai didn't say anything. Instead, he just stared at her. His mouth slightly open as he continued to study her. After a good bit of silence, Farai finally spoke. "I do admit...I did chuckle a bit when you regained your composure..." He snickers at the remembrance of her acting as if nothing happened, just as he did when he hit that tree. He stops suddenly. "But why would you think I would laugh at you now? Everyone hasss vomited sssometime in their life...And that'sss no laughing matter..." He states matter-of-factly.

“No; I didn’t eat anything that would cause me to vomit.”“And I doubt it’s stress; I am the least injured, so why would I be stressed?” Farai tilted his head upward toward the canopy of the forest. "A lot hasss happened over the passst few daysssss...I myssself are sstresssssed..." Farai answers as he slumps his back over. He was exhausted, aggravated, and really wanted to be sleeping over a hot heating pad right now. But he wasn't. And in his point of view, Spots looked in a much worse condition then him. She was in a group full of nitwits, their owners practically want them dead, and now, she was puking up a storm. Who wouldn't be stressed? "...I jussst figured..." He states after a silence. “I have no stress.” 'Everyone has stress...' The snake thought. Her following question, and statement, made Farai lift an eyebrow before turning his head toward her again. “Why are you helping me?”“You are the last person I’d thought who would come over to help me; I thought you’d be all for the idea of allowing me to stay behind.” Farai stood up off the ground. He answered her first question, ignoring her following statement. "Well...Issn't it obviousssss?" he asks as if he were quite offended. "Think dear girl...We are ssstuck...in the foresssst...With the government out to kill usss...We need all the protection we could get." He states simply, putting emphasis on the word we. Basically, he was saying that he needed her for his protection or...They all needed each other for everyone's protection. What are the odds of one measly mutant surviving alone with the entire government out for their hide? At least a group had a fighting chance. "And why on Earth would you believe that I wouldn't come help you!?" His voice heightened in tone and his body tensed. His facial expression looked harsh, maybe even saddened. "Isssss it becaussse I am a ssnake!?" He growls. A silence follows before his lips curl up in a smile and he begins to laugh. Ah, it was only one of Farai's many attempts to get someone frightened.

Farai was about to speak once more when his eyes caught glimpse of the approaching Lovi. The lion hybrid returned the glance and, just then, his eyes told Farai everything. The snake grins sheepishly before scurrying back a bit, not wanting to be caught in the middle of Lovi's rage. The snake watched from a ways away as the lion grabbed the girls arm tightly and bared his teeth. Farai flinched and his iris's darted around, trying to find something to entertain him instead of watching Spots get a harsh punishment for her words. He didn't know what, but something didn't suite him well with the predicament he was in. Was it Lovi's presence? Spots's trial? Or was something going on that he could simply not see? What ever it was, he believed it had to be linked with the scene in front of him so, he diverted his eyes elsewhere.


After the intimidating scene had passed, Farai immediately stumbled toward Spots. "Gee, Isss it ssssafe now?" He asks jokingly. His eyes mocking that of fear as his head moved from side to side as if he was watching out for Lovi. Studying Spots' expression, Farai decided to leave her alone for a while. His fun would have to continue later.

Farai returned to the group, by the rivers edge, just as Lovi spoke. "We need to get moving," Farai noticed the uneasiness in the hybrids eyes. Was there something, or someone, among them that they couldn't see? Farai was never really good at sensing a hidden presence. He always had to rely on pure sight, or heat signatures. However, witnessing the scene with Spots not to long ago, the snake was hasty with his decision to not anger the lion hybrid. The snake quietly responds with an 'OK...' as he stands and walks up beside the lion hybrid. His belly churned in distress letting the snake know that he was hungry; again. The snake pushed the aggravating sensation away, repeating in his head that he could wait until they got out of here. Farai placed his fist on his hip, shifting his weight to that side as he impatiently waited for the group to get a move on.

"Hi. I'm Seth." Seth flashed a sheepish smile at Marne. Close behind Dax and Kira, Seth followed the others towards the pond spoken of. Once there, he cleaned the shallow scrape that ran up his calf. The water was warmer than the arctic temperatures he was accustomed to, but it worked well enough. He took a moment to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight that was reflecting off the water. Although the temperature was tolerable — even comfortable — for the other hybrids, Seth desperately wished for a frigid drop. He subtly glanced over at Dax and Kira. Making eye contact with the latter by accident, Seth hastily switched his gaze to the tree tops above them. Shafts of warm sunlight seeped through the leafy openings. His ears twitched, picking up a quiet rustle in the distance. Seth's eyes narrowed toward the source, deep in thought about the many wondrous possibilities the rustling could be, like a moving buffet wondering if there were even more hybrids to worry about.

Kira saw Seth cleaning his cuts, and she started to the same. Her cut in the right leg was still there, and was extremely painful. Kira gently cleaned the wound, avoiding looking at it. Ugh, it really hurts!

She gave a quick look to Dax and told him, "You're injured, too, so you should do the same." She looked at the water and saw her reflection; her hair was all messy and she was really dirty. She filled her hands with water and washed her face. Unsatisfied with what she could manage, Kira did her best to clean her hair. After that she tried to comb her hair with her fingers, but in the end it didn't work.

I guess I will have to stay like this... Kira growled a bit and then looked at Dax and Seth. Dax didn't seem to give a damn about the blood that crusted on his legs; he just brushed it off, and used the water to clean his wings. His hair seemed to always be messy, and Kira felt a little envious that he could deal with it so well.

Seth stood up, brushing off muddied grass from his pants. Curious about the unaccounted scent and noises seemingly belonging to no one, Seth calmly walked past Dax and Kira. "I'm going to hunt down a quick snack. I'll be back soon. If Lovi gets upset, stall for me please." He threw in an innocent smile, hoping they wouldn't question him. Without any further exchange of words, Seth disappeared into the thicket. Unseen by wary eyes, Seth's pleasant expression quickly became cold and stern, without hesitation. His eyes scanned for any sudden movements, while keeping his attentive ears sensitive to anything breaking the natural noise. Occassionally, he'd pretend to track smaller prey, in case anyone followed close behind. Yes, he was that paranoid.

After a few minutes past, Seth reluctantly jogged back towards the pond. A sudden prick of pain raced up his arm, halting him immediately. Examining his arm, Seth frowned at a thin, sharp quill piercing his pale skin. He plucked it away and threw it onto the ground. To his surprise, however, the forest floor was littered with plenty of quills just like it. Perplexed, he leaned against a tree to analyze any possible explanations. Clearly the quill belonged to a porcupine. Was this region a habitat for porcupines? If not, where had it come from? Seth's reeling mind was interrupted by yet another pang of pain. Cursing under his breath, he found another quill jammed into the bark of the tree. Without wasting a moment more, Seth followed his intuition up the tree, struggling a bit due to his injured leg. Resting on a branch, he peered up into the tree's sunlit canopy.

There, sitting on the branch above him was a male, porcupine hybrid. Seth grinned. "So you're the one that everyone's been sensing." He held up a quill. "I believe this belongs to you."

Twitch twitch. He batted his nose with his hand and looked off every direction. Twitch. Yeah, the scent's strong, I get it. I just don't see any... The sudden voice broke off his thoughts and his eye's immediately shoot down to peer at the sight just below him. That explains why, he looked every direction.. except straight down. His eye's narrowed in frustration at the sight of the quill in the fox-hybrids hand. Dammit, what was he suppose to do, wear a hairnet?!

"Wow, how'd ya' guess", the male retorted with his usual cocky smile as he gently shook the long healthy quills that blanketed his back. "Guess I should thank you for returning my quill though", he started, eying the male's injured leg. Why would the hybrid bother trying to climb such a tall tree with an injury? Guess weird logic came from weird creatures... "Let me take you somewhere to treat your wound", the male advised as he plucked off a long sharp quill that protruded from his side with his thumb and index finger. Rhys gestured the sharp point at the male. "Or It'll just get worse...", he threatened in a change of tone, the smile fading from his lips as he crouched down on the branch, ready to act if necessary.

"I'll be right back, guys. I need to do something quickly." Marne said to the group as Seth took off, and Marne leaped from branch to branch, silently following the fox boy from above. She didn't trust him at all, so she was going to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. As she landed in a large oak tree, she noticed that Foxxy had stopped, and was talking to a porcupine hybrid. She snuck a little further downwind of the two, and pricked her ears to listen in on their conversation. From the snippet she heard from the porcupine, he was apparently threatening the Incredible Mr. Fox. So... Either Star Fox was being blackmailed into spying, or Porky was going to try something bad.

"Sorry, but I have no intentions of backing down calmly nor returning to SAPH for extermination." Seth flicked the quill away and crouched down, pressing his lean, robust body against the branch, ready to spring off at once. He grinned, mad with an unsettling delight. "If anything's going to get worse for anyone, it'll be you."

Without any unintentional flinch or words hinting so, instanteously, Seth propelled himself against the tree's trunk and sprang upwards to the branch above, in one swift, fluid motion. Losing momentum due to a weak launch from his leg, Seth was unable to kick the hybrid square in the jaw as he intended. However, he quickly recovered, having mentally mapped out the changes in a few variables. Wary of the branch's weight capacity, Seth hastily planted his feet and threw a daring punch at the hybrid. Barely grazing his cheek, Seth's fist flew over the hybrid's shoulder. Already teetering on the narrow branch and left with nothing to brace himself with, he latched onto the porcupine mutant's shirt. However, it was too late. Losing his balance, Seth tumbled through the air, dragging the hybrid with him. They desperately kicked and punched, as the two wrestled on the descend down. DA DA DA DAN~ SUPER DAX SWOOPED IN AND BROKE THEIR LANDING. EVERYONE MADE PEACE, SHARED COOKIES, AND VOTED SPOT OFF THE ISLAND. THE END.

Marne saw the fight continue between Firefox and Prickly Pete, and knew that without intervening, someone was going to walking away from this covered in the other's blood. Well, if Marne had anything to say about it(And manipulative creature she was, would have intervened anyway), it was going to be to HER benefit.

As the punches flew, Marne took note of Foxfire's leg and Sir Pokesalot's lack of any form of defense on his abdomen. Once the two fell from the tree branch they had been fighting on, and props to them for not breaking it, she scurried down her tree, dropping to the forest floor and picking up two quills. Without hesitation, she poked the tips into her pinkies, a dab of blood forming on each one.

Hunters in the Amazon use the toxins on the skin of the poison dart frog to paralyze and kill their prey, and Komodo dragons are notorious for their bite, which has so much bacteria in it that a single bite can kill several men. Marne took this idea one step further. Thanks to her durability whenever disease and poison were involved, she had taken it upon herself to infect herself with enough bugs, viruses, and and other unpleasant things to almost guarantee a kill if enough of her blood mixed with another's. And like the infectious bite of the dragon, it would NOT be pleasant. Thankfully for the two on the ground, she hadn't had any refills on diseases or poisons for a while, so they would only be paralyzed with pain.

As she snuck up on the wrasslin' pair, she held the two quills in her hands like daggers, and pointed one of the tips at the two on the ground, hiding the other by standing with her right side pointing towards them and keeping her left arm to her body, almost giving her the look of a swordfighter.

"Oi!" She said, her voice raised to grab attention, "both of you, hands where I can see them. One wrong move, and you spend the next day wishing I hadn't shown myself and just killed you instead." There was no hesitation in her voice, but she looked like she couldn't take either of them on even if they teamed up on her. Of course, that was her plan.