Jeesh, It Smells Horrible Out Here! [Cluster Only, Hive-wide Meet-and-Greet]

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  • [align=center][img width=509 height=510]http://i.imgur.com/wDHI3Zb.png[/img]


    [color=lightgreen]Ugh.


    Mother cracked open her only working eye. And when I mean cracked open, I mean cracked open. Obviously her mutant spirit-fueled skin cancer had, once again, progressed during her sleep, killed her, then receded back to its original state, leaving nothing but a few pockmarks and trails of scabby mucus on her otherwise flawless (albeit hairless and wrinkled) side. As for the otherside... Well, the blistering, scabby skin ached and flaked, but at least it wasn't growing at an exceedingly noticeable rate. However, it was a bit numb from being slept on. Already she could tell it was going to be one of those days.


    Ugh.


    Still, she had to get up. Mother stretched her gangling limbs and hissed in both relief and pain as the joints popped. Her good eye, one that was a sickly pale yellow shade, blinked a few times to clear away the dried mucus her condition had left behind. Come on, time to get up. The old spynx cat gave a loud moan, then slowly rolled off the tattered pilot's chair that she had claimed as her bed and fell to the floor with a loud thud. The pain didn't even seem to register in Mother's mind. She simply laid there on her side in the exact position she had landed, facing away from the rest of the higher ups. She gave another moan.


    Don't wanna get up. More sleep.


    Mother curled up on the freezing floor of the cockpit, her long, veiny ears resolutely pinned back to show that she wasn't in the mood to be bugged. But you have to get up, she internally told herself. You have a meet-and-greet today. Mother audibly huffed. F*k that. I'm the damn leader, so I'll do what I friggin want. The hairless cat wrapped her frontlegs around her face to block out the light filtering through the window. But you have responibilities! Mother's ear twitched irritably. And I have power. The she-cat gritted her teeth. But think of the children! Mother shifted her forelegs so they blocked her ears instead of her eyes. Think of the mother! Mother was completely still for a few moments before her internal debate came to an abrupt close. If you don't wake up, Calliphora will wake you up. Mother's good eye snapped open. Buzzard dung.


    The old she-cat immediately rolled to her feet and ran out of the cockpit like her tail was on fire. The last thing she wanted was that hyperactive freak of nature breaking out the party poppers.


    Mother slowed her hectic pace once she neared the entrance to the hive. After all, she had to look as badass as possible when she stepped out into the- SHEEEEEZNUTS it's bright! Mother flattened her ears as she stepped outside. Though it was barely past sunrise, the sun was so glaringly bright that the light seemed to hit the still slightly groggy hive leader like a wall. Immediately a snarl flashed across Mother's face, revealing her fabulous grey gums and slightly yellowed teeth. Mother blinked a few times as her eye adjusted to the harsh desert light. She had a point to stare at the Blackpool, which seemed to absorb every ray of sunlight that got relatively near it. Thank GEEEAAAAWD for that.


    Mother sniffled nonchalantly as she continued padding outside, stopping only to pick up a fist-sized stone before jumping up on top of the dead metal starbeast that the Cluster called their Hive. Mother glanced around the camp at all the unsuspecting soldiers and whatnot going about their business before throwing the stone down so hard it left a dent in the starbeast's hide. The horrible sound the stone made whenever it hit the starbeasts hide rang throughout the camp, drowning out all other noise for an instant before slowly fading to a dull echo. Mother cleared her throat.


    "We've had a lot of new brothers and sisters join recently, so it's time for our meet-and-greet, dearies," she crooned in a loud yet sickeningly sweet voice. "Come to the Blackpool and meet your new siblings and chat with your old ones! As usual, no swimming allowed!"

  • [sup]next to wake up was calliphora. "no mister cupcake, i'm not finished eating you..." groaning, the ashen-brown femme stretched her legs, opened her emerald optics ever-so-slightly, and promptly fell to the floor. HARD. i don't get why they say cats always land on their feet. i mean, i'm living- "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK BILLY SERIOUSLY IT'S TOO EARLY FOR THIS." yep. calli had just stepped in genuine snake shit, straight from her pet snake william snakespear's butt. stumbling through the dark, she somehow managed to get her tattered red scarf, her prized possession, around her neck without choking herself, and headed outside.


    so. it's the crack of dawn, and time to play guess the temperature. pleasantly cool? nope. warm enough to swim? close, but no. pretty fucking hot? ding ding ding, correct. the moment calliphora stepped outside, the full force of the desert hit her full in the face. "ew, sunlight. can it just not?" taking a leisurly stride towards mother, along a path that would have most people sprinting for the heat, the elite gave her scarf a tug, before stretching it out and sitting on it. "morning, mummy dearest. you had breakfast yet? i can get willy to go get some if you want." she gestured to her neck, where her pet had somehow took the place of her scarf. "crikey, i had the weirdest dream last night. i was in a rainforest, but instead of water there were tiny pink fluffy things, and they all stuck to me, and then a giant cupcake appeared, and- HEY LOOK A SCORPION BILLY FETCH!" did i mention calli had an absolutely terrible train of thought?

  • Eos had already been awake and flicked her ears at the sound of Mother's voice. A meet and greet? She thought with a bit of glee. Sounds fun! Quickly dropping a fresh vulture onto the kill pile, she bounded over to the Blackpool. Taking a quiet seat on the edge of the dark, toxic goo. She felt as the sun burned on the back of her pelt, making her uncomfortable and sweaty.

  • [align=center][color=lightgreen]A terrible train of thought? More like a derailed train of thought. Mother waved Calli off with a gnarled paw. "No dear," she said kindly, although her voice pricked with annoyance as the crazy she-cat went off on a tangent. "And you should scrape off your bedhead and go bug someone el- er, I mean go visit with your brothers and sisters." Mother's good eye twitched as she struggled to maintain her kind "motherly" attitude. "In fact," the deformed sphynx said as Eos appeared in the edge of her vision. A small smirk crept over Mother's half-covered maw.


    Quick as a kit with a bowel disorder, Mother snatched Calliphora by the scruff of her neck and half-led half-drug her over to the lone she-cat as Wendigo apologized profusely for the brief powerplay. The frail femme was much stronger than she looked. Mother unceremoniously shoved Calli away from herself and next to (or even onto, depending how this played out) Eos. "Why hello there..." Mother stared helplessly at Eos for a moment, her face frozen in a false smile. Buzzarddung. What was her name? Didn't it have an A in it? Honestly, one couldn't rightfully expect one she-cat to remember every single one of her children's names. "...Sweetie! Have you met your dear sister? She's just dying to meet you!"

  • [sup]sheesh mum, take it easy!" rubbing her neck, calliphora grimanced. sure, that didn't actually hurt, but still. her discomfort vanished immediately, however, when she realized she had landed atop her 'sister'. "mornin'," she beamed, toothy and not-entirely-sane grin taking up her face. "i'm calliphora and you are... well, i don't actually know your name, because frankly, i'm absopooply shit at them, so i'm just gonna ya bob. how ya doin', bob-eeeee!?" just from that sentance, you could see it was a wonder that the elite had even ended up in a position of power in the first place.

  • Eos' ears stood straight up in alarm and gasped as her 'sister' was thrown onto her, "A-Alright." She stared at Mother for a second and then looked up at Calliphora. "My name is Eos, you know." She muttered, flattening her ears to her head with an annoyed look. "Can you please get off me?" Eos whined as the she-cat was very heavy and the snake was creeping her out.

  • [sup]still smiling, calliphora rolled onto her side, and down the hill, stopping just short of the blackpool's shore. "hehehe, whoopsie! that was close!" a frown suddenly popped up on her face (something that looked even more insane than her smile), and the chocolate femme's neck snapped around to look at the hive entrance, where billy had gone and cornered a particularly-tiny pupae. "NO! BAD SNAKEY! LEAVE THE KID ALONE, OR YOU'LL GET NO DIN-DINS!" once she was happy that her pet wasn't going to eat a kid, calli's face resumed its usual crazed smile, and she strode back to the group. [b]"sorr-ee! billy was just being a little shit. so, eos, huh? that sounds fun to say. EOSEOSEOSEOS- say it with me- EOSEOSEOSEOSEOS! heh, i sound like an ambulance."

  • Eos's ears pricked up and watched as Calliphora stopped her 'pet' from eating the kit. I hate snakes." She muttered. Hearing Calliphora contiously repeat her name slightly made her irritated. "An ambulance huh?" Eos managed to grit through her teeth. "Yeah...alright."

  • [align=center][color=lightgreen]Escape was in sight. Mother glanced to either side of herself as she discretely looked for a way out now that the dusty brown she-cat had someone else she could bug. Calliphora had always annoyed the living snot out of the hairless femme. Honestly, she always had to remind herself why she kept the babbling maniac around so she wouldn't personally drown her in the blackpool just to get five seconds of peace. Mother's ears twitched slightly as Eos muttered her name, but honestly at this point it didn't really matter anymore. Still, Mother made a mental note to remember Eos; while Mother may rip souls from dying bodies and murder heathen kits who would not conform to the hivemind, she still had enough heart to make it up to anyone she dumped Calli on.


    Mother scowled at the whole Billy-almost-eating-a-pupae thing. "Calli, if you must feed your worm a cat, feed it a drone's spawn or a prisoner. Not your brother. I let you keep that thing because it keeps away bugs, not because I like watching it torment my children." Mother tilted her nose up in the air slightly and gave a haughty sniff, instantly recomposing her nonchalant and rakish look. "Now that you two have been acquainted, I believe some sisterly bonding time is in order!" Oh yes. This was happening. Mother gave the two a sly smirk as she continued. "I think that it would be a brilliant idea if you two went buzzard hunting. Judging by what Eos left in the pile, she's got enough skill for the both of you. A dynamic duo! Brains and... and... Calli!" Mother jovially threw a forepaw over Eos' shoulder. "A spectacular fit, if I do say so myself!" Mother then lowered her voice to a hushed whisper directed solely at Eos. "I'm doubling your water ration today and you have my permission to steal feverfew from the herbalists' stash when you get back, sweetums." Then, just like that, Mother had pulled away and raced off, calling over her shoulder "Catch a big one, darlings! Leave when you're ready!"

  • [sup]giving a huff, calliphora threw her scarf back on, and scooped up the king cobra. "how could you hate snakes? just look at him, he's adorable!" yep, calli had ears like sattelite dishes. too bad they weren't tuned to pick up sarcasm. "see, look! he's play-biting- aww, mum, don't be silly! billy's a snake, not a worm! the ground is wayyyyy too bad for worms to live in." plunging a paw into the coarse sand, the elite grinned. "see! nothing there but rocks and really scratchy sand. and- HEY! muuu-um, who was it that caught five buzzards in one day all by herself last week? not eos, not billy, but moi. so i'm gonna lead this bonding thingo. we're gonna go hunt over... uh... wherever eos wants to. BUT ONLY BECAUSE I DON'T WANNA BE RUDE." and the prize for largest and least subtle ego goes to...

  • Eos nodded to Mother. "Yes ma'am. I will, thank you!" She then looked over at Calliphora, "You wanna bet?" Eos challenged. "I bet I could catch more buzzards than you." Her tail flicked with eagerness at the idea.

  • [sup]a snort of dirision escaped calli's mouth; clearly, the promatriach belived that she could do better than eos. "huh, you wish. but i'll take you up on that bet. whoever catches the least prey by the end of the day... uh... has to spend the night sleeping all tied up like the prisoners. THREETWOONEGOEATMYDUSTEOS!" sprinting away, calliphora headed straight for the mining town. rats hung out there a lot, and where there were rats, there were things that ate them. such as birds of prey and massive big honking lizards that could swallow a pupae whole. well, actually, they weren't that big. but they were pretty damn close. anyway, eating children was more billy's schtick.

    The post was edited 1 time, last by marty. ().

  • [align=center][color=lightgreen]Mother watched the two race off with a satisfied smirk. Now she could go about her day without her successor blabbing her ear off. Not to mention her two best hunters were now at work.


    Clearly pleased with herself, Mother then hopped back up on the wing of the hive and flopped on her side, the still rising sun gently warming her ragged skin. Oh sleep, how I missed you.

  • [fancypost bgcolor= opacity: 0.5; borderwidth=0px;][justify][font=georgia][color=white]Bre had slept pretty bad last night. There wasn't really any particular reason as to why, he just couldn't fall asleep, and when he did finally close his eyes, he slept fitfully, coming in and out of the waking world. But, when he finally did achieve a deep sleep, he shouldn't have been surprised to hear Mother's voice cutting through, surely summoning them all somewhere.


    Apparently it was just going to be one of those days.


    Dragging himself to his paws, the massive feline made his way out into the open, yawning broadly as he stepped out onto the hot sand. The tabby had long since grown accustomed to the heat, though hat didn't mean he liked it. "Morning, Mother," he rumbled, spotting her up on the wing of the star beast. The old Sphinx actually looked pretty peaceful up there - perhaps he ought to leave her alone. Maybe he should go investigate what Calliphora and Eos were doing - when Calli was involved, there really was no telling, and she looked pretty excited, running ahead like that.

  • *shoehorns angsty self into thread* He won't always be like this, I swear. :< sosorry


    [img width=150 height=150]http://i61.tinypic.com/2z4d6kx.jpg[/img]
    ℓυcιαη
    тнє cℓυѕтєя



    At this point, Lucian was fairly certain he'd already died. Over the last few hours, his vision had faded - the horizon was nothing more than a vicious splatter of grey and black, hiding the dizzy spots behind his eyes. Even his paws had stopped feeling the ground under them. The Jaws of Death loomed, dark against a spinning silver sky, with that softly-pulsing star between them. It had a shape to it, but the young caracal couldn't see clearly enough. He was very close now. Would he even have a chance to see the star before it was upon him?


    Lucian had never been this hot in his life. There were always bad times in the desert; his mother said she could feel them coming, and she always hunted beforehand so they could lounge in the burrow all day. But his mother wasn't here anymore, was she? He'd left her in the wastes, bloodflies already gathering in clouds around her. She'd told him to run away - Lucian thought she didn't want him to see, so he refused, wouldn't let her die alone. Then the poison overtook her, and he understood. Lucian didn't run away. He was pursued.


    Mother didn't hurt him. There was a slash across his flank, dripping red on gold, but it didn't sting. The loss was a worse pain, anyway.


    He squinted. For a moment he saw shapes in the distance - they looked like animals, but were they real? They could be mirages. Lucian thought he preferred mirages to the alternative; whatever dangerous creatures roamed the realm of the dead, he wasn't sure he wanted to meet them.



  • [align=center][color=lightgreen]Mother's ears flicked forward as she briefly acknowledged Bre's hello. The sun pierced her thin yet slender ears, the veins embedded within the ragged skin casting slim shadows that spiderwebbed across the sphynx's wrinkled muzzle. A slight breeze graced across Mother's face, cooling her just as she was about to grow too hot. While Mother would have usually enjoyed this sensation, something else came with the breeze. A metallic tang, all too familiar to the old shecat. Mother lifted up her head. It couldn't have been Eos and Calli's kill; buzzard blood had a sour tang to it. Slowly, the shecat stood up on the wing of the shuttle and squinted at the brightening horizon. A small smudge appeared at the very edge of her field of vision. Hm.


    Mother frowned then closed her good eye. Behind the thin wall of skin that has long corroded the right side of her face, her ruined eye moved. It flicked up to the blinding sand and slowly traced the smudge on the horizon. The spynx inhaled sharply as she activated her heat vision.


    "Bre, darling," she said, somewhat puzzled. "It seems we have a wanderer." Mother reopened her good eye. "Prepare to intercept..." The shecat frowned once more as she continued to study the smudge. "You know what? Scratch that. It seems to be heading towards us." Mother hopped off the wing of the hive and skidded down one of the large stone fangs that held it aloft. "I want to see if it makes it here."

  • [size=12][justify][color=gold][font=constantia]Not a star, then. Some kind of structure. And the fangs were beginning to look like great spires of rock. Not the Jaws, but a landmark.


    Lucian's paws left wet prints in the sand as he took step after laborious step. The scratch on his left side had softened from a pang to a low ache, and the blood in his fur had cooled. More than anything else, he wanted a drink. There was a liquid shimmer between the spires - water, and hopefully not a mirage, he thought. I might live through this, if I can just reach it. But I don't think I will.


    The animal-shapes. One had a swerving trail behind them, like a snake, but he must have imagined it. Lucian blinked hard, narrowing his eyes. He hoped they were cats, caracals perhaps; a creature of his own kind might have more sympathy for him than another. Regardless, they were living things, and to stay alive in this place you had to know what you were doing. If he was lucky, they might share their knowledge. Luckier, and they would give him water.


    There was a shape below the 'star', too. It moved as Lucian did, coming to rest at the base of a spire. He thought it was watching him, waiting for him to cross the few tens of metres between him and it. They would not be easy.

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  • [fancypost bgcolor= opacity: 0.5; borderwidth=0px;][justify][font=georgia][color=white]Bre, spotting Mother's gaze shift to something in the distance, averted his attention that way as well. He had been a wreck when he first got here, he remembered quite vividly his first days in the Cluster. Hell, he had been bleeding out - those damn rouges had just about torn him to pieces, and his clouded, sickly eye proved that, along with the many scars he wore. Without Mother and the rest of the Hive, he never would have made it.


    Flicking his ear in acknowledgement, the tabby kept his attention on the figure, shuffling his paws into s more comfortable position. He understood how that dude felt - injured, on the brink of death, and just to top it off, like you had just walked into a really, really smelly furnace. Inwardly, he was sort of rooting for the feline - he had been in his place once, and he was interested to see exactly what was up if he made it.

  • [justify][color=gold][size=10][font=constantia]Just a few feet away now, and Lucian couldn't walk anymore. His nose was literally inches from the pool - which, as it turned out, was not water. It was black as his blood and stank like a carrion-eater. If this was supposed to be a higher power's cruel joke, he must have missed the punchline.


    He felt slightly better now. His legs were dead, but he had no issues with staying still; the metal husk above cast a benevolent shadow on his overheating body, and Lucian was content to lie here until the buzzards found him. Snoozing and lightly steaming until death didn't seem like such a terrible idea.


    And you, my friend, smell like death. He mentally told the black pool. I think a sip of you might kill me instantly. So thanks, but no thanks. Well. At least his brain had fixed all the charred synapses. Or most of them, anyway.


    He looked up and squinted; his neck bones popped, and he winced. There were two creatures before him. One of them was a half-blind tomcat, one the caracal deemed formidable. The other... Well, she or he or it was sending him mixed messages about his state of mortality. Lucian had never heard the word 'zombie', but if he had, he probably would have applied it here.

  • [align=center][color=lightgreen]Mother smiled down at the half dead caracal. Or she half smiled; the deformed side of her face couldn't really show expressions all that well. She glanced over at Bre. "The little one has proven himself. Only a long lost brother could have made that walk. It seems you have a new brother, darling." Mother looked up and pointed at a random drone. "You there with the stupid expression. Heathen. Fetch me two skulls from the ET." The drone paused, unsure if Mother was actually talking to him or not. She usually wasn't the one to boss Drones around when she could have what she deemed "more competent animals" do things. "Now!" she snapped. The Drone scuttled off in a panic. Mother whirled around so she could pick another random Drone. "You there with the ugly face! Yes, you! Our herbalist is currently indisposed, so fetch me..." Mother suddenly looked unsure of herself. Ugh. What where those herby things again? "Fetch me some wrappings and a... some..." Uh... It was a mushroom, right? "Some penicillin! Yeah, that's what it's called!" Normally herbs wouldn't be wasted on some stranger, but this was a caracal. They were big. Big means good.


    Mother then returned her attention to Lucian. "Hello dearest," she said with the vain hope that he could still hear her. "I know you don't know me, but I know you. And let it be known that I've waited for you ever since you were lost from us." Mother put her regular paw underneath Lucian's chin and gently lifted his head up so he could stare into her one sickly yellow eye. An expression akin to kindness filled the luminous orb, but somehow it seemed almost mockingly so. But it could have been the cub's imagination, right? "You've been missed so much. Don't worry, Mother still loves you very much and will do everything she can to make you feel better." A small cough to her right indicated that she first drone had returned. Mother almost growled at him. "Well don't just stand there! Open a skull and put a bit of moss on his head!" The hairless cat then turned to Bre, her voice immediately changing from venomous to sickly sweet. "Bre, darling, would you be a dear and get your brother to drink a little water from the moss in the other skull while I figure out how to do this herby-thing?" Mother finally set Lucian's head down then wandered to the caracal's side without waiting for an answer from the large tom. "Thanks."


    Mother then began to peer at Lucian's wound, looking disconcertingly confused.