Fire Emblem: Curse of the Goddess [IC / Conditional Acceptance / PG-16]

[The Last Occultist 16]

Ciela Celestinia

"Yep, that's me! I'm Ciela."

Well, there was a lot of things for Ciela to really process even as she waved at Citron and her wyvern. Primarily, the injuries that she, and Link especially had. Citron's at least seemed like it was already being treated by someone else, but Link and his arm would be more of a concern for Ciela right now. Finishing her greeting, her attention went towards Link instead, but before she could even reach him, she relented instead. Perhaps it would be better if she watched over him for now and just see wahat atually happend to it before continuing, so that sohe fjlf correctly decide what sort of treatment she could use for him.

 

Adelheid Sigrdiva

The three who had left had brought back Licorice to the group, and now she didn't feel[[lesser things even caring too much over tbe beautiful maiden. she had no idea how it happened but she was confused. Licorice was back but things are going ot=t bw mre dangerous. I don't see any usage of tbe age system would really mean anything because everything was already hardcoded into the mechanics. It was a shame, really, soHow would youeven deal with all this sort of mess and confusion? Adel had no idea. She just wanted to go home and sleep like always. Cats are verhy nice.

[Cheshire Toon 141]

Faced with a not so subtle order from Catriona, Link had no choice but to rest, which was easier said than done. 

The house was cramped. Too many people shoved into too small a space. It made him antsy, yearning to leave the hut and scout the village or patrol the area—something, anything, aside from huddle into a tiny corner in a stranger’s home. But that was exactly what he did, leaning back and propping one of his feet on the wall, head tilted and his cap pulled down to cover his eyes in a bid to avoid eye contact. It wasn’t a very comfortable position but, considering his arm, there weren’t many comfortable positions for him in the first place. 

Silence reigned, disrupted only by Edrick’s snoring or the occasional awkward attempt at conversation. It probably would have gone on forever were it not for the merciful knocking at the door after some time. 

The others had arrived. Chaos immediately ensued. Link backed further into the corner. Princess Penelope glanced at his arm and started to quiz him, before getting distracted, and he could feel Ciela’s gaze resting on him as well. Fresh shame washed over him. How could he have been so stupid? He was supposed to be among Galtea’s most prestigious soldiers, and here he was, stumbling and falling down chimneys like some sort of bumbling idiot. 

He broke out of his panic to notice someone approaching. Licorice, the fox, and she was holding… Link felt his heart skip. Rohns hung limply from her grip. His eye was gashed and his whole muzzle was crusted with dried blood. He whimpered when he saw the soldier. “....” 

She held him out to the green-garbed soldier. "Rohns got injured, we think by a hawk." She looked a little guilty. "Sorry. If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have been out there. You should probably take a look at that eye, or have a healer look at it."

Link reached out and gingerly took Rohns by the scruff. The cub whined, paws swiping wildly at the air. He quieted when he found purchase on the soldier's chest and rested his head on the man’s shoulder, whining again.

Licorice departed before he could say anything. Link bit the inside of his cheek. She was suspicious; magic was a mystic art and she seemed to know more than she let on about it. On the same hand, he owed her a debt for returning his cub to him. His cub? He shook his head. Rohns was a wolf. Wild, strong-willed, not at all like the hounds the military trained. Nobody owned him. 

Still. He needed medical attention at the moment. Link scanned the room for Ciela. When he found her, he walked over to her and sat Rohns down at her feet. The cub growled and show his teeth when the soldier put him down, but Link quieted him with a piece of jerky. 

“Do your magicks work on animals?” Link asked. He was crouched down and still petting the cub’s head. “I... Wolves are an important symbol in Galtea. It wouldn’t do to deny an injured cub aid.” Did that sound reasonable? It sounded dumb when he said it outloud. 

Rohns, oblivious, gripped his jerky between his paws and tore another strip off.
 

Edited September 4, 2019 by Cheshire Toon

[Sethera 290]

Catriona nodded, satisfied with herself. While she was not particularly savvy in the ways of etiquette, she felt that she had performed this admirably. Short, sweet, and to the point. Still, I feel as if I'm forgetting something, she thought. Pausing to mull it over for a while, the woman came up with a thought. Oh yes, I forgot to introduce Rohns. Still, he was an animal, and in the middle of being looked over by Link. Aside from him, there was nobody else she could have forgotten, save for the other mounts, who weren't even present at the moment. Yes. She nodded. It was fine. Everybody was introduced.

“Penelope, Ciela, Sienna, Tsetseg, and Liiicorice. Got it!” Citron smiled, crossing her legs. “Nice to meet all of you!” She beamed. “As the Boss-Looking-Lady said, I'm--"

If she had said anything else after that, Catriona could not say. She had frozen in mortification, though there was no outward sign of her embarrassment save the unnatural stillness that had taken over her. That was what she had forgotten. I forgot to introduce myself. She cleared her throat. "Ah. I am Catriona." She paused, realizing the mistake she had just made. So caught up had she been in her faux pas that she had gone and made another one. Still, this was a small, remote village. It was unlikely that anybody there had heard the names of the princesses of Galtea. Or that, even if they had, that they would remember them.

She kept quiet after that, listening to Penelope speak. Yes, that's Penelope. Her sense of humor...never changes. She supposed if anybody wanted to pretend to be her sister using evil magics, she would need only observe whether they engaged in pranks or not. If they did not, then they were obviously an imposter.

The girl continued to speak, approaching Peaches. "Did you know that some say Wyverns are born of the Great Dragon themselves? That they were created to be the Great Dragon's guardians? There are legends that say every wyvern, whether they know it or not, contain some part of the Great Dragon in them. And that, when the time comes, the Great Dragon will use this to call all of the wyverns of the world to their side once more."

Catriona had never heard this legend, but she supposed it could be true. Citron gave a nervous response to that, but the lord's attention had shifted to Tsetseg, who looked somehow intimidated by both the merchant and her wyvern. She could not say why that was, but perhaps, like herself, the girl was unused to wyverns. Catriona had given the beast a wide berth. She was bad enough with animals, let alone giant ones. At a time like this, she should perhaps say something, but she was at a loss as to what exactly that would be. It would be pointless to ask after her well-being, as this was a matter of emotions rather than health. And telling her not to worry would be foolish. This was a wyvern, a species notorious for being both dangerous and temperamental. No, Tsetseg was right to be wary. So there is nothing I need to say. With that thought in mind, Catriona continued her survey of the room.

To the side, Link was approaching Ciela, and Edrick was currently sleeping against the wall. The woman was loathe to wake him. Not too long ago they had been fending off beavers and working to cross a raging river, and little more than a day before that they had been fighting for their lives in an abandoned shrine. They all deserved a break of sorts. Still, he would have to wake up soon now that the others had returned. If they wanted to get to the bottom of the problem plaguing this village, then they would have to investigate. It would be optimal that he be woken now, that he would be ready to leave by the time they set out. With that thought, the woman approached him, hand outstretched to shake his shoulder. He muttered a name, but it meant nothing to her. Perhaps the name of his horse? Or a family member?

And then the boy's lips curved up into a smile. When was the last time he had smiled like that? Not for quite some time. The woman's chest hurt slightly at the thought, and she frowned, an unpleasant feeling bubbling in her gut. He shouldn't be here. And not because he was a Pontic. He had already proven himself in the last fight. He could have turned on them. After all, they were fighting the goddess's own troops. And yet...he had not. While it was true that the enemies were unlikely to discriminate between their targets, he could have easily run away in the confusion. After all, it wasn't him that they were after.

No, he should not be here because he was young, far too young to join them on such a long journey away from all the comforts of home. People like him, Penelope, and Tsetseg did not deserve to be here, fighting for a cause they had no personal stake in. She had forgotten that, had watched as all three's eyes grew a little duller, a little harder, and a little older.

But here and now, smiling as he was, the woman could not help but remember his youth. Her hand stopped, hovering over his shoulder by a few barleycorns. Staring at his face, Catriona retracted her hand, turned around, and walked back. These past few days have been long. A few minutes more will do little harm.

Returning to her previous spot, the lord glanced to where Adelaide was. The woman had been quiet for quite some time. "Are you well?" Catriona asked, noting that she looked a little overwhelmed. She is not the only one. Still, this was an improvement to the shrine. An abundance of animals was not quite so unnatural as people rising from the grave.

--

In the hut, the wolfhound barked at the question, before exchanging a look with the beaver. The beaver then picked up a bone and began to walk around unsteadily on its hind legs, using the bone as a crutch or cane. It approached the dog, dropping the bone to spread its arms wide. The dog shook its head vigorously, nose in the air, causing the beaver to hiss. At that, the dog covered its eyes with its paws, spun around in a circle, and fell on its back, tongue lolling out. Opening its eyes soon afterward, it hopped up from its prone position, tail wagging slightly as it stared at Alois.

Meanwhile, the still-naked man was looking worriedly at the wolfhound, letting out a confused whine.

Edited September 10, 2019 by Sethera

[The Last Occultist 16]

Adelheid Sigrdiva

"Are you well?"

"...Not exactly, no. But don't worry about it. Maybe it was just a side effect of the beaver encounter yesterday"

It was, inconveniently, a sudden feverish feeling. Adel wasn't sure where it even came from. It was suddenly hard for her to think, as if her brain suddenly stopped functioning for a short moment. Was it just something that came from how much she was overthinking this situation? Or maybe it was just her age affecting her more than what she expected. She gave Catriona a smile, not wanting for her to worry too much about her when there was something more important to handle this time.

"If I had to admit, Leader, this sort of event was not exactly what I had in mind when Urvan told me to join you." Not that she minded it that much, personally. All of this surely had been quite interesting in its own right. "I'd expect assassins, bandits, perhaps some wild bears or two or a dozen, but I haven't been here for a week, and we had already faced off against an undead army, hostile beavers, and now...this. For such a group filled with radiant youths like this, our luck sure was a special kind of rotten, huh?"

[LordCowCow 841]

Catriona...dang it, why did that sound familiar too? "Penelope, Catriona..." Cora muttered, not realizing she was speaking out loud. What was that weird tickle in the back of her head like she heard those names before?

"yeah, they do. Aren't they great! They're so nice, large and fluffy. Soft to touch and warm and absolutely fantastic!"

Cora gave the girl an awkward smile. "Yeah...fluffy." She said. Was this girl daft? She seemed to be rather childish. Proving her point more the girl ran behind her, a stranger, for cover when she saw the wyvern. "Um. Hello there." She said, stiffening up. "You know...I don't think it can get to you in here...unless you go pet it." she said, trying to get the girl to move away. She looked around at the others for some help but, unfortunately, it seemed like everyone was wrapped up in their own thing. Leaving no one but her to deal with this child-girl.

"Um...did you want to...go to the other side of the room? Or...something?" She was completely out of her element here.

---

Penelope had glanced out of the corner of her eye at the strangers as Catriona gave her name. The one from this place seemed to momentarily notice something but, thankfully, she was fully distracted by Tsetseg.

That girl sure was helpful even when she didn't realize it.

The Tactician scanned the room. Healing and resting was being done. Catriona was checking on the others. And some, specifically Edrick, was sleeping. He seemed rather peaceful. Which was good. He had been rather....jumpy, as of late.

All this meant that she couldn't do much. There was no real point in investigating. Though, now that she knew where this was, she might head off to check things out herself later.

In the meanwhile....

“And, um… Well, I hope if that time ever comes, Peaches would take me with her, or something like that. I’d like to stick together for as long as I live, y’know?”

"I'm sure. I know someone who I'd be rather lost if they left as well."

Off in the distance Gunther had a strange feeling he was again being compared to a reptile.

"You know, I've read Wyvern Riders, those that are more experienced, start to take on wyvern-like mannerisms." Penelope got closer to the girl, leaning forward, staring at her mouth, as if trying to check her teeth. "How do you feel about raw meat?"

---

Right. So. Either he wasn't crazy or Alois was also crazy. The boy confirmed to them that not only did the owner of this house turn into a dog. But he in fact swapped places with his dog. "Wait does that mean all of your bodies are running around like him?" He gestured at the naked man.

The beaver and dog...or, rather, two of the townsfolk, began making somewhat cryptic motions.

"If I'm getting this right....Someone, old, or injured, came to this place...asking for help? And then...they were refused?" But that last part. "And...someone died? And you were....cursed?"

That sounded insane. Who could have been so powerful to do this but so weak they desperately needed help? He was sure he was missing something. He wasn't as observant as the others. Nor as smart. Hopefully the other two could help piece this all together.

Spoiler

Sooo, depending on talks with Sethera, to check if I misinterpreted some things, might edit the Gunther part later.

 

[Wind Rider 10]

Everything seemed to happen so quickly, the encounter with Citron and her wyvern, the reunion with Licorice, the apparent curse that the villagers were under. The curse part stuck out to her the most for obvious reasons. What kind of magic could not just change people into animals, but make them switch bodies with the animal they were turned into. Her ears twitched at the thought of how a spell like that could be in other, possibly worse ways. She shivered at the thought of swapping lives with a total stranger.

She sat down with Licorice and just watched as some of the villager animals wandered around. There was no telling how long they've had to deal with this curse, but from the looks of things they were getting along, all things considered. In fact, all of this would explain the overaggressivness of the beavers that attack the group. They probably weren't beavers in the mind, but... Then that meant.

Sienna's face turned to a horrified expression when she realized what she may have done. She glanced at Licorice for a second, before looking back at the ground. "Those beavers that attacked us... They were... Are... The people from this village... I... I struck one down... Saw it's body float motionlessly down the river..." She looked back at Licorice. "Did I... Did I kill someone?" She said in a shaky voice.

[Skaia 578]

Tsetseg kept behind Cora, continuing to keep her eyes trained on the wyvern. As the woman she was using for cover made her comment about the wyvern and her going to a farther corner of the room, Tsetseg's eyes looked back to the girl, shaking her head. "No no. It'll break through the walls and go to all the sides of the room!" Seeing her friend still near them, and looking at the Isaurian girl, Tsetseg called out, "Penelope you should get away from it! They're nasty, and eat people whole. And then your horses. And then your crops!" The girl continued to use Cora as cover, unmoving from her spot and continuing to glare at both the wyvern and its apparent rider. 

Seeing that his first assumption was right, he looked to Gunther as he asked Amas his question. "Well, it's not that their bodies are running around, it's more like uh..." He pointed at Shiro. "Something like you, and your kind. I haven't seen that guy before, so he's probably not one of the villagers." As the wolf and beaver began their next round of charades, Alois raised an eyebrow at what they were trying to convey. As the knight had tried to guess it as well, Alois shrugged saying, "sounds about right." Looking at the two of his companions he said, "oh, right, Licorice also figured that they angered someone powerful or, something. So, matches up." Looking back to Amas he said, "so, was it the mayor that angered them? I bet it was him." 

[Tiamat's Circus 117]

Citron’s stomach nearly turned as the woman who she had been talking to, who had been examining her Wyvern, switched gears, quickly closing the distance, and examining her. Something about the way the woman was looking at her gave her the creeps; a creepy, analytical look seemingly staring into her soul. Scanning around the room, Citron looked for any sort of… Escape from all of this, but her look was met with some sort of death-glare from a young woman. A young woman, who’s name her headache was impeding her from remembering, despite being on the edge of her tongue… Tsetsugg Tse….Ts… Eggegg? Eggegg. It had to be Eggegg.

 

But that was a thought for another time; or at least, another few minutes, as the scary analyst woman began to speak again. Citron’s skull ached dully as she focused on the ideas the woman was suggesting, particularly, the idea of eating raw meat, or getting more like Peaches. Picturing the meat in her head, slimey or... Floppy as it was, the exact texture escaped her for far longer than she'd like to admit; or remember, for that matter. As for the taste, she didn’t remember enjoying it all that much, especially not due to context. “Um… Other than a few times I’ve had to eat it because it’s all Peaches and I could come up with, I’d say that Raw Meat is… Kinda bad.” She’d hesitantly nod, trying to give the ‘right’ answer.

 

At this point, Citron had resigned herself to the thought that this exchange would go on forever. She had assumed, that the woman would slowly ask for more and more information, eventually examining her physiology until she decided that Citron needed to be cut open for her organs and insides to be examined, like the villain in some horror-tale her grandpa would tell at the camp-fire. She had assumed this, that is, until another voice broke the bubble of the conversation, and and gave Citron an easy escape. The girl who Citron couldn’t remember the name of, and who had been giving her death-glares… Suddenly burst out yelling, while talking to that Cora woman who had let them stay in the house. Just as Citron was about to ask, and clarify if they were talking about Peaches however, her suspicions were confirmed; and a frown was cast on her face. The young girl had given the reaction she expected most people to give a Wyvern, as they spouted out folk-tales of their own, and told the, frankly scarier than Peaches, ‘Penelope’ to get away from her.

“Alright, alright,” Citron would speak up, trying her best to focus as she glanced away from Penelope; towards the girl who was still giving her a stink-eye. “I don’t know why you’re so afraid of Peaches here, but she won’t burst through the wall, and she’s not nasty.” Citron tried to clear up, crossing her arms, as a small smirk rose up on her face. “... In fact, she tends to dunk us both in nearby rivers whenever we leave towns just so she can get any grime off her scales! So as you can see, she cares a lot about hygiene, thank you very much.” Citron explained, laughing a little. “Though, I do wish she’d let me climb off her first, and at least keep my clothes from gettin’ soaked.”  She grinned, before shaking her head. “And, now that you mention it, she’s also preeeetty picky,” she added, glancing back towards the still, confused-ish looking Wyvern. “She doesn’t even like horsemeat, rotten thing. Makes me buy more expensive meat she’s picked out.” She huffed, moving a hand to rub at her forehead. “But… Yeah. Peaches won’t hurt you. She’s a good girl.”

[Saikazo 241]

"Well, I suppose this is pretty crazy but..." Alois looked at the dog. "Amas?" The dog in question nodded at him, giving a woof of confirmation. He then turned to the nude man, "so...Icelias?" The man seemed to get excited at this, sitting up straight with their head cocked to the side. "well, guess that's that." Looking to Shiro, and with a joking tone, Alois said, "hate to break it to you, but I just don't think frogs and dogs were ever meant to be." His tone going more flat he said, "that man over there is Icelias. A dog. And this dog over here is Amas, the guy who owns this place." Alois made a little bit of small talk before asking the question they all wanted to know. "Can't imagine this was your fault, but the hell did you guys do to end up like this?" 

The resulting theatrics the beaver did were amusing, but confusing. However, Gunther seemed to try to have an interpretation.

"If I'm getting this right....Someone, old, or injured, came to this place...asking for help? And then...they were refused?" But that last part. "And...someone died? And you were....cursed?"

"So basically what we have here is a case of human sacrifice, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria," Shiro concluded. "Figures that humans would turn away one of their own...,"

"Sounds about right." Alois spoke up, "Oh, right, Licorice also figured that they angered someone powerful or, something. So, matches up." Looking back to Amas he said, "so, was it the mayor that angered them? I bet it was him." 

Shiro stroked his chin before looking at Alois. "So, just to make sure the report to Catriona is correct, the animals are humans that got turned into animals, and the animals have been turned into people. This is probably due to the town not giving shelter to a... wounded, or old person, and they were cursed. Am I missing any information?" He asked as he headed for the door. He needed to get out, it was way too crowded in here, and he needed to process all this.

[The Last Occultist 16]

Ciela Celestinia

“Do your magicks work on animals? I... Wolves are an important symbol in Galtea. It wouldn’t do to deny an injured cub aid.”

"I...it should. I apologize, I'll handle him now."

Seeing the pup that Link held before her, Ciela let out a pained expression. She had been too busy with the idea of reuniting with the group and her own thoughts about the situation that she neglected to even think about the pup, despite him already with them for a while. It was shameful, really. And unlike people, pups don't really deserve any of this. She brought up her staff forward, and chanted a prayer towards the Goddess. The magic that surged from the prayer passed from her staff to the pup, and its wound began to close in real time.

"I'm not sure whether this would fix everything. My negligence kinda delayed the treatment, after all. Just I guess, I hope that it'll be alright."

At least, Ciela was sure that it would work. She had used her magic on Remy a few times already. At least, she hoped that she wasn't being too late just due to her own self-absorbed mind.

"And... are you even alright right now, Link? You look like a mess. Need me to do anything?"

[Sethera 290]

Adelaide smiled at Catriona. "If I had to admit, Leader, this sort of event was not exactly what I had in mind when Urvan told me to join you." The woman continued, "I'd expect assassins, bandits, perhaps some wild bears or two or a dozen, but I haven't been here for a week, and we had already faced off against an undead army, hostile beavers, and now...this. For such a group filled with radiant youths like this, our luck sure was a special kind of rotten, huh?"

The lord nodded. "Yes, fortune has not been in our favor. Nobody expected these sorts of fights." Well, she had suspected there would eventually be some action taken against the group by the goddess, but even so, the presence of the Awakened had made for a rude awakening indeed. "I can only hope that further trials will not be so outlandish." She glanced to the side, where Tsetseg was using Cora as a shield. "Though I do not think it wise to discuss this further in such a location." Thankfully, it seemed the villager was well distracted.

Penelope was currently conversing--no, studying Citron, and the merchant looked as comfortable with the idea as anybody would be at such an inspection. Catriona shook her head. When she was younger, she had wondered whether her sister was secretly a child of House Pharos rather than Nabudis. The members of that family were notorious for their pursuit of knowledge...to the detriment of all else. Then, other times, for instance when playing draughts or just when lost in thought, her face would take on an expression alike to their father.

Tsetseg did not look comfortable with the inspection either, but for different reasons. "Penelope you should get away from it! They're nasty, and eat people whole. And then your horses. And then your crops!" The girl continued to use Cora as cover, unmoving from her spot and continuing to glare at both the wyvern and its apparent rider. 

Citron was quick to reassure the girl, but Catriona was not so sure of the wyvern's supposedly safe nature. She had seen its threat display when facing off against the beaver, and before its rider had woken up, it had looked pretty dangerous. No, she would keep herself at a distance from this beast. Turning to Link, she saw that he looked in the middle of getting Rohns cared for. Satisfied that everybody was together, save for Alois, Gunther, and Shiro, the lord turned back to the group. "Now that  we're all in one place, we should search the village and find out why it became like this. However, it would be prudent to meet up with the other three first. They should still be at the square, unless they have moved on."

Catriona glanced over to where a certain boy still slouched against the wall. The woman approached, heart souring at the thought of waking him up. Still, they would be departing soon, and it would not do to leave him behind. Reaching out a hand, she paused at seeing blond hair framing his face instead of dark brown.  The shade was similar to that of her best friend, a young noblewoman of House Balfon. She had always found it odd that the Balfon family, who opposed Pontus with such vigor, looked as if they could be citizens of that country themselves. Before she knew it, her fingers had outstretched, as if to brush against the pale strands.

Coming back to herself with a start, the lord clasped Edrick's shoulder and shook him briefly. "Wake up." Her voice was low, but clear.

Once the lancer was awake, the woman would back up slightly and look to the door. Now that they had gotten some rest, or as much rest as they could get for now, Catriona just wanted to leave. The sooner they could undo this, the sooner she could get some answers, if the town had any. If it did not, then they would depart, and be that much closer to finding the whereabouts of the Great Dragon.

--

Outside, Licorice said nothing to Sienna, staring off into space. While she maintained a physical presence here, mentally, she was far away, lost in her own thoughts. She likely would have stayed that way had the other Protean not spoken up.

"Those beavers that attacked us... They were... Are... The people from this village... I... I struck one down... Saw it's body float motionlessly down the river..." The white fox looked back at the other. "Did I... Did I kill someone?" She said in a shaky voice.

Licorice frowned, turning back to Sienna. "Perhaps," she said frankly, softening a little as she took in the woman's expression. "Don't beat yourself up over this. You couldn't have known that was a person. Not to mention, they attacked first. You were only defending yourself." She turned away. "They made a choice to attack, and faced the consequences of their actions. That is how life works," her tone grew slightly melancholy.

--

The wolfhound shook its head at Gunther's comment about the bodies, but barked in affirmation at his following words, tail wagging slightly.

Alois began to make some guesses of his own, "oh, right, Licorice also figured that they angered someone powerful or, something. So, matches up." Looking back to the dog he said, "so, was it the mayor that angered them? I bet it was him."

The wolfhound nodded, lips curling back into a slight growl, before letting out another loud bark. This caused the strange man to cry out in surprise. He dropped to the floor, crawling on his belly toward the dog, head tilted up, eyes wide, whining. The beaver turned its head to the side with another scoff, crossing its two front paws over each other as if folding its arms.

Shiro had started to make his way for the exit. Outside, he would discover that the animals looked to be well on their way to cleaning up any spilled produce from the various stalls. Most of them had gathered around the stand that the Isaurian merchant and her wyvern had broken, and were currently attempting to fix it as best they could, though they couldn't do much, being animals. A few looked to be comforting the hare from before, who was stamping its feet on the cobblestones of the square in anger.

OOC

Spoiler

I'm thinking of having us depart from Cora's house next round. If you want to stay a couple more rounds, that's fine too, just let me know. Otherwise, finish up whatever you're doing this round so we can be ready to move on.

Edited September 11, 2019 by Sethera

[LordCowCow 841]

"No no. It'll break through the walls and go to all the sides of the room!"

"That's, um..." Cora was going to say that wouldn't happen. But truth be told the walls weren't all that strong. So the girl couldn't help but glance back at the wyvern with a bit of unease. Maybe it could break through? She doubted it'd eat them but...she'd rather not have her parents come back only to have to explain why they were missing a wall.

“I don’t know why you’re so afraid of Peaches here, but she won’t burst through the wall, and she’s not nasty.”

This should have made the girl more at ease but then she followed it with saying that the wyvern had a habit of doing things without its rider's consent. She knew how strong Abel was and knew that when he got something in mind it was hard to stop him.

"Er...You sure she won't get....overeager?" Cora asked. "If she, ya know, really, reeeally wanted to get in?"

"Now that  we're all in one place, we should search the village and find out why it became like this. However, it would be prudent to meet up with the other three first. They should still be at the square, unless they have moved on."

Cora jumped a little. The tone the girl used reminded her of the militia captain and she found herself snapping to attention for a moment. Relaxing as she remembered where she was she rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, hoping no one noticed. "Hey, um, I was thinking. If all the villagers are gone, what about the animals? That is the animals that were here before. My, um, friend has a horse named Cain you see. If we find him, maybe that'll tell us...something?"

---

“Um… Other than a few times I’ve had to eat it because it’s all Peaches and I could come up with, I’d say that Raw Meat is… Kinda bad.”

"Hm, hm, I see I see. So it hasn't gone that far...perhaps it takes more time. Or maybe it's only if you go into combat with them? Interesting, interesting...." Penelope could tell that Citron was feeling awkward. Truly, as a diplomat, she should stop. However this girl was just a simple traveler. It was refreshing to talk to someone she didn't know who she didn't have to worry about appeasing. It had been a while. So she was more than willing to continue with the conversation to see just how the girl would react.

"Penelope you should get away from it! They're nasty, and eat people whole. And then your horses. And then your crops!"

"It's okay, Tsetseg, I don't have a horse nor any crops!" She tilted her head, and tapped the side of her head with a finger, pretending to be thinking it over. "Though I suppose right now you all would be included in the 'people' portion. But I'm sure we'll be fine. It's not the first time I've almost been eaten, anyway, as you know."

Citron used the opportunity to slip away and before Penelope could try and continue Catriona remarked that they should move out. The younger princess's face grew more serious as she nodded. "Yes, I'd like to see things for myself. Whatever happened here is most troublesome and I'd like to find a solution soon. Perhaps Gunther and the others have learned something."

---

Gunther couldn't help but feel a bit proud he had managed to decipher what the animals were trying to say. Even if he felt that it might've been easier had they been real animals.

But wait, if there were people running around that were animals what about the beaver that they had encountered before. The ones that he had been petting, especially...His eyes trailed to the beaver that was following them around. At the actions he grew curious so, as the trio set out to meet up with the others, asked them "Is something the matter? Apologies if I'm prying but you seem...upset. Though, I suppose anyone turning into an animal is bound to be upset...." He looked up at Shiro. "No offense intended."

[Skaia 578]

"Well, figures as much," Alois said, as Amas had confirmed his suspicion. As the group began to leave the house, Alois watched the other animals with some degree of curiosity but also an equal parts confusion. There was also Gunther, who was speaking to the beaver of the group. Though the boy knew the situation, he still couldn't help but find it amusing that the knight was being considerate about "prying" into the affairs of a beaver. He also couldn't help but remember Tsetseg's comment on everyone being a protean as he made his comment to Shiro. The boy sighed, mostly at himself, but just said, "no frog boy you're not missing anything. Let's just...meet up with the others and get this problem solved already." 

Tsetseg didn't seem to be any bit calmed down by Citron's words. It was less that the words themselves were unconvincing, and more so that the girl just seemed generally distrusting. of the speaker. Nodding her head as Cora made her comment about the wyvern being able to break through, Tsetseg continued to glare between the Isaurian and their wyvern. The girl then turned her attention, to Penelope, seeming more assured by the girl's comments, though even Tsetseg took a few seconds to process the last thing she had said as "normal." All the same, she begrudgingly said, "well...if it's fine with you...but be careful! I bet it's not nearly as nice to be eaten by a wyvern as it is a fox!" The girl then moved out from behind Cora, moving to the square with the others, though keeping her distance from Citron. 

[Saikazo 241]

"Is something the matter? Apologies if I'm prying but you seem...upset. Though, I suppose anyone turning into an animal is bound to be upset...." Gunther looked up at Shiro. "No offense intended." The Protean just shrugged in response. He didn't really take offense to it. They couldn't imagine how good it was until it happened to them, it wasn't their fault. 

"No frog boy you're not missing anything. Let's just...meet up with the others and get this problem solved already." Alois added. Shiro nodded as he headed out, but then he noticed that the animals were trying to fix the stall, and were not really able to. A lack of opposable thumbs would do that to them. He should just ignore them, they were just humans, and it wasn't his problem. However... well, that kind of callousness got these people into this mess in the first place, wasn't it? 

"I will help them clean up a little," Shiro suddenly announced to Alois and Gunther. "Just come and get me when we decide our next move," He said as he walked over to the stall, crouching and looking over the mess of a stall, studying it and seeing what could be salvaged and fixed, and what just had to be scrapped. He wasn't a carpenter by any stretch of the imagination, but he figured he was better than nothing. 

[Wind Rider 10]

"Don't beat yourself up over this. You couldn't have known that was a person. Not to mention, they attacked first. You were only defending yourself." Licorice turned away. "They made a choice to attack, and faced the consequences of their actions. That is how life works,"

Her words only made Sienna feel worse. "B-but... They could've a mother... Or a father... Even a reckless child." She stated as she held her tail in her arms. "Whether they made a choice or not... I still killed an innocent person... Someone stuck in a cruel curse..." She began to tear up a bit. "What if this happened to our village? What if some random person came and cursed us? Destroyed our lives worse than what happened between us and the Frogs?" She said looking up at Licorice. "What would you do then?"

[Tiamat's Circus 117]

Everything seemed to be conspiring against Peaches’ good name, Citron concluded, as everyone seemed to mostly disregard her defensive words for the lizard. Even Cora, the guardswoman, turned against her; asking whether or not Citron was sure Peaches wouldn’t get overeager. “I’m suuuure,” Citron added, her tone almost getting frustrated as she rolled her eyes, before sliding herself off the bed. “Especially if we get out of this house, and ro looking into whatever’s going on with the villagers, like their boss-lady said.” She grinned, giving a thumbs up as she gave a stretch, and did her best to balance herself. 

 

Her headache had slowly diminished during the rest, to a point she hadn’t really noticed. Now able to balance herself and walk, only a dull ache made itself known as she glanced at whatever the brightest source of light was, much to her own chagrin. Wincing, she turned away from the light, and back towards the door; her destination, while quietly remarking to herself how stupid a way to test if ‘it was gone yet’ that was.  While she knew her head wasn’t completely free of ailment yet, this was at least a nice turn of events, all things considered. Just as she was about to make her way towards, and out the door, a few words from the creepy, analytical person caught her attention; prompting her to spin on her heels.

 

“Did… You just say that you’d almost been eaten?” Citron asked, her tone a mix of confusion, as she examined the woman up and down. “Like… By a wild animal? Like a giant, man-eating cow? Or wolf?” She asked, scratching the top of her head. “And is it-- Is it normal when not in Isauria to talk about such things with that kind of enthusiasm, or…?” She continued to question, her hand moving to rub the back of her head. Is this what people meant when they said she talked way too happily about events sometimes? It had to be, right? “Do you mind, um… Expanding on that, orrrr...? Like, what kind of 'almost eaten' are we talking? Giant monsters, or an angry kitten?”

---

As Citron herself got up, the Wyvern let out a quiet, tiny screech; glancing at her rider. Seeing that the woman had her eyes locked on the door, the Wyvern slowly removed her head from the window; taking great care not to smash the frame in the process. While Peaches didn’t really feel like leaving yet - having failed to sleep as she tried to get every-person to pass her by to pet her - her limbs were getting a little stiff, so she wouldn’t really complain, maybe save for dropping her Rider in a mud-puddle. 

 

She just had to find a mud-puddle first.

But that, was a thought for another time; and vengeance to be carried out once her dummy-rider had actually left the house. Having made short work of the walk around the house, and to the pathway in front of the door, the Wyvern simply sat down on the path; staring intently at the door, and any who would come out. In fact, she’d let out a quiet, almost pathetic screech each time someone who wasn’t Citron came out from the door, getting louder with each one as if showing her impatience.

[Asriel Dreemurr 38]

And just when his dream was getting to the good part...not that he could actually remember the good part, a hand came down onto Edrick's shoulder and shook him. Catriona probably hadn't meant to, but she did manage to knock his head against the wall in the process. Which...led to the boy rather quickly starting awake and flailing wildly about for a moment or two while he made sense of what was going on around him.

"Ce se întâ-" he caught himself, realising he was speaking Pontic, and managed to roll into an upright sitting position. "What's happening?" Not that anyone really needed to answer. He was smart enough to figure out that they were getting ready to head out even if he hadn't clearly heard the explanation of that. Everyone was getting ready to walk out the door of the house, and it sounded like the Wyvern was screeching at the people outside. Well that...was something. He was just getting to his feet when he caught Citron's question to Penelope.

"No," he answered before the younger princess could, "that's very much a Penelope thing. Get her started, and she'll keep going off on any even vaguely related thing she knows about." By this point he had found his lance, and once more brought that enormous pack of his up and secured it on his back. Thusly prepared he made his way to, and then out, the door...directly into a very stressed-sounding Wyvern. Well he wasn't sure about giant reptiles, but most of the horses he had been around liked it when he scratched them on the chin. Maybe that would help? So in his still faintly delirious state, Edrick reached out a hand to do just that: gently scratch under the pink creature's chin. Was he sure he had heard right about Wyverns being incredibly dangerous creatures? This one certainly didn't match that description.

[The Last Occultist 16]

Adelheid Sigrdfa

"You're right. This will just bring down everyone else's mood."

Talking over things with Catriona, despite the boss being as much in a loss on what was happening, helped Adel a little in focusing on the situation and calm herself down. She was getting too worked up for what was happening in the village. Catriona soon rose up and addressed everyone present. They were to leave the house and regroup with the rest, before everyone would find everything they could on the culprit of the "curse" hitting this village. The one villager that escaped the fuckery, Cora, said something interesting in response, talking about the livestock and animals in general on the village. If everyone eslse went missing and they instead got these strange "animals" instead, what about the actual animals?

"I can try looking for Cain. I do also think that we can find out more about this situation should we figure out what happened with the village's livestocks. Who knows, maybe they're all walking around naked as mindless "humans" now or something. That would be amusing."

 

 

[Sethera 290]

The wolfhound worked to calm the man down, tail wagging slightly. It didn't look like the pair would be leaving the hut anytime soon. The beaver, however, followed the others out. After Gunther asked his question, the creature glanced up at him. It shook its head vigorously, letting out a few angry chitters, before walking a little faster so that it was ahead of the duo.

Shiro's help was met with guarded stares and angry hisses at first, but the longer he helped, the warmer the reception became, shifting to grudging acceptance and gratitude. The most grateful was the hare, who, while still stamping its foot every so often, had calmed down enough it was able to direct the others in what needed to be done with a series of pantomimes.

--

Sienna's expression worsened. "B-but... They could've a mother... Or a father... Even a reckless child." She stated as she held her tail in her arms. "Whether they made a choice or not... I still killed an innocent person... Someone stuck in a cruel curse..." She began to tear up a bit. "What if this happened to our village? What if some random person came and cursed us? Destroyed our lives worse than what happened between us and the Frogs?" She said looking up at Licorice. "What would you do then?"

Licorice looked a little confused by Sienna's outburst, patting her on the shoulder. "Don't cry. You don't know for sure they're dead, after all. And even if they are..." The fox sighed. "Killing, death, those are part and parcel of life. You just aren't used to it, is all. The fox village is so isolated..." she trailed off, then started muttering to herself. "Too isolated. Stagnant. We reject the teachings of old and the wisdom of the outside world at the same time. At this rate..." It seemed that she had forgotten about Sienna's last question, caught up as she was in her thoughts. She would not be shaken out of them until the rest of the group exited the building.

--

Catriona was not quite sure that Adelaide understood what she was trying to say, but she had never been good at expressing herself to begin with. It seemed that the pegasus knight's mood had improved, at least, and that was something.

To the side, Link was with Ciela, and it seemed as if things were going well. She caught sight of the bright light of healing magic, anyway, which, actually, might not be a good idea to use in front of somebody, but it seemed that Cora was well and thoroughly distracted by Penelope, Tsetseg, and Citron. Tsetseg was rightfully wary of Peaches the wyvern, Citron was defending it and calling her boss-lady still, and Penelope was...regaling everybody with her experience of almost being eaten. Fighting the urge to shake her head, the white-haired woman listened to Cora's reply.

"Hey, um, I was thinking. If all the villagers are gone, what about the animals? That is the animals that were here before. My, um, friend has a horse named Cain you see. If we find him, maybe that'll tell us...something?"

"I can try looking for Cain," Adelaide suggested. "I do also think that we can find out more about this situation should we figure out what happened with the village's livestocks. Who knows, maybe they're all walking around naked as mindless "humans" now or something. That would be amusing."

"I do not know about amusing, but it would certainly be...interesting," Catriona replied. "However, that is a good idea. Perhaps that will help us determine the exact nature of this...affliction." She did not know much about magic, but that sounded right to her. The more one knew about anything, the better one could combat it. That was what she had been taught, anyway.

After shaking Edrick awake, he looked a little disoriented. "Ce se întâ-" he paused, and managed to roll into an upright sitting position. "What's happening?"

"We're leaving," Catriona replied, choosing to ignore the Pontic words with some slight discomfort, already in the process of getting up from her crouch. Thankfully, she didn't have to crouch that far, as the boy was rather tall. Turning around, the woman caught sight of the wyvern slowly removing itself from the window. And, once the princess walked out the door, she found that very same wyvern...sitting on the path, screeching at her. A little intimidated, the woman stared the beast down before moving out of the way. Still, that cry had been...a little odd. Turning around, she waited for the others to appear, noticing that with every person, the wyvern screeched a little louder. A little concerned, the lord put a hand on her sword hilt. If the situation turned south, and Citron was not able to handle things...well, it was more important that none of them get hurt or killed, even if Catriona had to take the beast down to prevent it.

Edrick, on the other hand, seemed perfectly happy to scratch that dangerous creature under the chin. Why he thought that was a safe thing to do was beyond her.

Once they had all vacated the house, Sienna and Licorice joining, the group started to head for the market square, where they had last seen Alois, Gunther, and Shiro. However, they ended up meeting both the fighter and the knight almost as soon as they turned the corner from the house, accompanied by the beaver from before. "Hello," Catriona greeted, then quickly introduced Gunther to Cora. "Cora, this is Gunther, one of our number. Gunther, Cora. She's a friend of Alois, and was kind enough to let us rest at her house." With that out of the way, the lord frowned. "Where is Shiro?"

Continuing toward the square, the group would find Shiro soon enough, helping out the animals to clear up the broken stall. Which was...quite an odd scene, to be sure. Catriona was not quite sure how to describe it. Baffling? Mystifying? Her sister could probably think up a fitting enough word for it, but for the lord, she could only shake her head. The Protean looked to be just finishing as they arrived. Unfortunately much of the stand had been destroyed, and there was little enough left to save. The hare looked dejected, but thankful all the same, and the surrounding animals' gazes had become a little warmer.

By now, the sun shone high in the sky. It was noon, and while normally, that meant it was time for a meal, they had just finished resting up, and they needed to get this investigation underway. Lunch would have to wait.

The woman then faced the group. "Before we begin, we need to make sure we're all on the same page. The objective is to figure out how, and perhaps why, Phar was thusly transformed, and with any luck, resolve it. There are multiple ways to go about this. Alois suggested earlier that we search the mayor's house. Cora suggested that we find Cain, a horse belonging to her friend. Perhaps whatever has been done to the humans of this village was done to the animals as well." The beaver jumped up at that, chittering angrily. The white-haired woman glanced at the animal briefly before returning her attention to the others. "But before that, did any of you find out anything concerning this situation?"

Catriona took some time to stare at each person in turn. While she did not believe, for instance, that Penelope and the others who had followed Licorice had found anything pertinent, they very well might have discovered something. And perhaps Gunther and Shiro had managed to identify the naked man she had seen in the hut. Still, she thought it best to volunteer first. "I will share what I have discovered so far. This village is filled with strange animals who do not behave like regular animals. I am not quite sure what is going on here, but it is assumed to be something beyond the natural occurrences." She shook her head. Magic. She still could not quite understand it. She did not like it either, especially after seeing the state of this village.

After the others had explained what they had found, the lord nodded and was about to speak when the beaver that had been lingering near the group let out what sounded like an impatient snort before turning and running away. Catriona hesitated for a second, glancing at the others, before following the animal. After all, it had not led them astray yet.

The beaver eventually stopped in front of a house that would be quite familiar to both Alois and Cora. Similar to Cora's in design and size, it also had a sizable backyard. In said backyard was also a small stable, and in it, sitting on a pile of straw, was a young man with red hair, naked save for the cloak draped over him, a rope tied around his wrist, the other end attached to the stable. He looked up, and, seeing the beaver, stood on all fours, letting out a strange noise that sounded like a soft chortle, except he wasn't actually laughing.

It was strange, but at least they had found another person. Though why they had both been naked, and probably still were, was beyond Catriona. It was then that she remembered what Adelaide had said. The woman shook her head. No, that can't be. That would be too ridiculous...right? The power it would take, no ordinary person could do this...transform people into animals and animals into people. Not on this scale. She refused to believe it. There had to be a more credible explanation.

OOC

Spoiler

Okay, this post has us moving on, but feel free to have your characters explain what they discovered in your posts as well. If not, that's fine too, since I have us moving on assuming everybody is caught up to speed, at least on the pertinent events.

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Sethera

[LordCowCow 841]

Cora let out a sigh of relief as Tsetseg moved away from her. She hadn't been sure what to do about the strange girl and was glad it was out of her hands now. Which also served to draw her attention more on the Citron girl. She was getting defensive and frustrated and it put Cora on edge. Deciding it best to just not respond, despite still being uncertain about the wyvern, she just nodded and went along with the group's leader as they went to the square.

After meeting with everyone, and having a brief spree of introduction, the blonde Knight among them started to explain what they had found. "It sounds, well to be blunt, insane. But it seems that someone came to this town, injured or old, and asked for help. The mayor refused them and best I can tell cursed them...And er...well, the animals apparently are actually the villagers. That is, if I understood correctly. It's not as though they can talk." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable that he was giving this crazy tale based on an animal's gestures.

He was right. It sounded insane. Could something like that actually happened? The first part of it she could, as much as it shamed her, believe happening. But a curse that could actually turn the animals into people? Her eyes strayed to the beaver with the group. Could it be...

When the beaver took off and Catriona followed Cora decided that it would be in her best interest to tag along. She didn't know why but it just felt right.

As it turns out the beaver led them to....Acantha's house. The place that Cora had meant to go searching first. As it turned out Cain wasn't there but instead....

"Wow...I didn't realize Acantha liked things like this." Cora said, startled at the sight of the tied-up naked man in the yard. "Wait...he wasn't here before. I've never seen this man. And why...why is he making that noise?"

That was when she felt a sharp slap across her face. The beaver that had led them here had climbed on top of Gunther's large frame, leapt from his shoulder, and used its tail to smack her across the face.

She stared blankly at the creature for several moments, touching her throbbing cheek, before something clicked into place. "A-Acantha?" She said to the beaver.

---

"well...if it's fine with you...but be careful! I bet it's not nearly as nice to be eaten by a wyvern as it is a fox!"

"I would think neither preferable, but I don't think you have to worry."

“Do you mind, um… Expanding on that, orrrr...? Like, what kind of 'almost eaten' are we talking? Giant monsters, or an angry kitten?”

"Oh, no, not a monster. But they were quite large. You already met one of those who nearly did it actually." Penelope left it at that until they left and met back up with Licorice. Upon getting back together Penelope gave Citron a meaningful look and nodded in Licorice's direction.

Smiling all the way towards the square Penelope wasn't all too surprised by what Gunther had found out. "If it's some sort of curse then the person who did it could still be here..." Her expression turned more serious, and her eyes flicked side to side, contemplating the situation. "Indeed, I think it quite possible, especially if they were hurt or sick, that whoever did this may have set up residence somewhere in the town."

She followed after Catriona, almost without thinking, as her thoughts were turned elsewhere.

After the beaver attack a thought came to Penelope's head. She glanced over at Licorice then, hesitatingly, asked Cora. "There was a woman we saw earlier. She didn't seem to intend any harm. Nor did they seem injured, but have you seen her around here before?" She then described the woman for the villager.

"Hm? No, doesn't ring a bell. She could be a traveler I suppose but...I've never seen her."

Penelope frowned and grew silent. She gave Licorice a glance and gestured for her to follow and moved a bit away from the group. "Your friend....she wouldn't have done anything would she?"

She was disheartened to see the cagey look about the woman. "She wouldn't if they didn't deserve it"

Frowning, Penelope responded "If she did I only hope her definition of deserved doesn't differ from my own."

---

"Ah....fiddlesticks. Not another one." Gunther's response to seeing yet another naked animalistic man in the same day was one of exasperated acceptance. "Suppose that means there's some sort of pattern here. I can only imagine this is someone's pet...er, n-not that I mean people have naked humans as pets. Just...you know, a pet that became a person."

He waited a moment, expecting Penelope to interject with some obscure and shocking fact about human pets, but he noticed she was off to the side talking to Licorice about something. He was curious as to what they might be talking about but right now he was more curious about the beaver's responses. Cora had called them a name and the beaver had angrily chittered and shook their fist at the woman.

It was becoming increasingly natural for Gunther to see these animals as people. It might help that he often was more comfortable with animals in the first place. He wondered briefly how he'd feel once these villagers turned back into human but shook that thought out of his mind.

"Do you perhaps know who this...man, is?" Gunther asked the beaver. To his less surprise than he thought he probably should have given the circumstance the beaver responded. By giving a nod, pointing over at the man, and started to make galloping motions.

Gunther sighed, closed his eyes a moment, then looked up at the group. "I think that naked man is this beaver's horse." His shoulders slumped. "I'm starting to wonder if I fell asleep at the castle and have been dreaming since."

[Tiamat's Circus 117]

Growing a bit more impatient, Peaches shook a bit as person after person filed out of the building; yet none of them were Citron. Crying out a bit louder, she lightly stomped one of her haunches as the blood-caked man who had helped her came out, who very much wasn’t Citron, before screeching out loudly again; a reminder to her slow rider that it was time to go. Just as she was about to let out another, much louder cry, a soft, fleshy object--- A hand brushed up against the bottom of her chin, scratching in much the same way Citron did. Shaking her body in much the same way a bird would, she lowered herself into the scritches, letting out a quiet, or at least relatively quiet, coo. Blood-caked man? Trustable. Very trustable. Rating? Trustable out of trustable.

---

While Citron’s head had stopped impeding most of her movements, that didn’t mean she wanted everything to happen quite so… Fast. And boy, did the events following seem to move quickly. First, her questions were answered; or, well, sort of. Edrick, as he left the room, reassured her that there wasn’t any sort of cultural dissonance, but that that was just how Penelope was as a person. Promptly after that however, Penelope explained the situation more; leaving more room for questions than before, really. “If, it wasn’t a monster or monstrous animal, and if I’ve met them, then--” Citron cut herself off, trying to connect the dots in her head. She had heard about some slang for eating, could that have been it…? But, only one type of slang would really fit in that context, and-- Shaking her head, Citron brought a hand up to her mouth, her face growing redder by the second. “...Ah-ah, I really shouldn’t ask about things like that…! Sorry!” She scratched the back of her head while backing away; doing her best to be polite, before excusing herself outside the house.

As she left the house, the next thing that would happen was just as strange. Peaches, who by all accounts should have been on her haunches, wings extended, screeching at her at the highest of volumes as if to say ‘you are late again, dummy!!!’... Was nuzzling into the hands of yet another one of the people who she had temporarily joined up with. Tongue lolling out, the lizard was… Frankly, adorable; with much more of the demeanor Citron preferred to deal with, when compared to what she had been expecting. “Thanks for calming her down,” Citron smiled as she walked up towards Edrick and her temperamental… Steed? Yeah, steed. “She tends to get antsy when she thinks we’re heading out, so I guess I talked too long.” She laughed a little, scratching at the back of her head.

And, as everyone had left the house, and the two that had left them earlier joined back up, it was time to… Return to the market square. Leading Peaches carefully, she winced as they returned to the market square, and she was reminded of why it hurt to stare at any light sources, or to hear anyone yell. Her stomach shifted a bit as she thought about what the owner of the stall was going to think, or say when they found out; either yelling or guilting her, one way or another. Of course, it wasn’t like she didn’t deserve it, she just... wasn’t looking forward to it, was all. “...Stay here, okay?” Citron commanded, tapping Peaches’ foot, and then the ground.

Then, as the Wyvern ‘sat’ down, she began her own agenda. Looking around for her stall, she would eventually find it near the broken, mostly destroyed stall, a feat that was more difficult than before due to the lack of… Well, remaining broken pieces from the original stall. But, nonetheless, she did find the make-shift stall, and more importantly, her supplies that had been stowed beneath it’s table. Namely, her fruit. Her fruit that, if she recalled correctly, was the same type of fruit that she had seen being sold at the ex-stall across the way. Taking a large assortment in her arms, practically dropped it as she turned from her stall, she slowly and steadily made her way to the bare remains of the crushed and broken stall; kneeling down and laying the fruit on whatever remained. “I know you’re not here, to hear this,” she began, muttering somewhat quietly as she stood back up. “But it’s gonna eat at me all day if I don’t apologize, so…” She lowered her head. “I hope this can suffice until I can make up the money to repay you, wherever you are, Miss or Mister stall owner.” She scratched at her neck, before turning on her heels and returning to the group…

Just to arrive late to whatever explanation was going on. It seemed like everyone was trying to pool their information, much of which… Didn’t really make sense to her. It sounded like something out of a story, or a fairy-tail as they described it; the villagers had just been whisked away, into animal forms? They had just… Poofed, right into animals? The confusion and disbelief was evident on her face as she tilted her head to the side, before turning to shock as she noticed that everyone had started walking. These people didn’t exactly mess around. Scratching the top of Peaches’ nose, she motioned for the Wyvern to follow her as she followed behind the others; a bit curious as to where they could be headed. 

As they reached the house, Citron almost gasped at the size of the estate; before her attention was grabbed by… Something else. Or rather, someone else. A loud noise, not quite like laughter but not quite dislike it, prompted her to look around with confusion, until her eyes eventually found a… Man. A very strange man; strange in the fact that he was… Without clothing. Letting out another, quiet gasp, Citron moved a hand to cover Peaches’ eyes - who promptly sat down to the best of her ability - and her own, before glancing away from the ‘sight’ to behold. “This… Isn’t normal around here, is it?”

[Skaia 578]

As Cat had wondered where Shiro was, the boy simply pointed over to the protean who was busy helping out the animals. It was then that the woman had gone to ask what exactly it was that they had found out about the village they were in so far. As Gunther took the lead on that topic, Alois simply nodded along and said, "that about sums it up." As Gunther then explained the animal turned man, Alois nodded saying, "yeah, we met a naked guy earlier who turned out to be Amas's hound." Looking to Cora he said, "they were also with Amas at his place. Old man's a dog now." As the new girl seemed to be taking all of this in, Alois shrugged at her comment. "Village of animals is a first, but I'd say it's about normal for us."

Meanwhile, Tsetseg  had seemed a bit disappointed by the group's new findings. That there was people who were animals was nothing new to her. However, that there were animals that were now people, was something the girl was a bit in awe of. Unfortunately, as she examined the naked horse man, she was met with some small disappointment that they had no animal features about them. Which meant, that whatever was doing this was not at all as wonderful as making the people into proteans. Which meant that this truly was a curse worth fixing! Tsetseg looked over to Gunther saying, "this is no time for sleeping, no no! We've gotta make sure of all the animals get fluffy again!" The girl nodded to herself. 

Edited September 24, 2019 by Skaia

[Saikazo 241]

Shiro was hissed at when first began to help, but eh, it was whatever. They needed a pair of thumbs for this, they would have to accept his help eventually. It seemed the animals were smarter than the average humans... or these humans turned animals were smarter than both human and animal... something like that. Whatever the case was, the animals did eventually warm up to his help, and even seemed grateful for his help. 

The hare seemed to be the one in charge, and after observing what it was attempting to say, Shiro and the other animals soon managed to arrange the rubble from the salvageable things. The real problem here was that the piles were showing that a lot more was trashed than was spared. The hare would probably have a lot of work to do when they were turned back into humans. If they were ever turned back into humans, anyways, gods only knew if they were able to reverse the curse.

Eventually, the group came back to him, and they found another naked man. So if the pattern held true, it would be some sort of animal... but it was hard to pinpoint what kind of animal it was supposed to be.

"I think that naked man is this beaver's horse." Gunther guessed. Ah, horses... they were a kind of animal Shiro wasn't overly familiar with. He knew they were beasts of burden... and that was about it. "I'm starting to wonder if I fell asleep at the castle and have been dreaming since."

"This is no time for sleeping, no no! We've gotta make sure of all the animals get fluffy again!" Tsetseg piped up. Shiro didn't see the problem with letting the humans stay animals. They'd honestly probably be happier that way, living a simpler life with a lot less responsibilities... but... 

"I suppose it would be cruel to leave the animals as humans...," Shiro commented. "We should at least try to help them," They were innocent in all this, after all.

[Cheshire Toon 141]

Link trudged behind the group. That was the best way to put how he was moving at the moment; he was winded and struggling to keep up with the others, and not just because of his broken arm (which for now, he wasn’t letting Ciela heal lest it raise more suspicion). No, the main reason was because of the wolf-cub, Rohns, who was currently straddling his shoulder and refused to be removed. Every attempt Link made to dismount him was met with snarls and adorably sharp teeth. He had taken up his perch after Cielda fixed his eye—which now almost identically matched Link’s own scar—seemingly out of fear, both of the magick that had defied nature to heal him and the noise inside the crowded building. Whatever his reasoning, the cub must have taken a liking to the view, because he had been there ever since.

Not that Link really cared. It was tiresome, but Rohns was warm and his rhythmic-breathing was wondrous at soothing the soldier’s nerves. It was almost enough to get him to relax.

 "I will share what I have discovered so far. This village is filled with strange animals who do not behave like regular animals. I am not quite sure what is going on here, but it is assumed to be something beyond the natural occurrences,” Catriona said.

Almost. Link patted Rohns with his good hand, watching the others. He didn’t have much of anything that he could add to the situation currently; hard-earned wisdom had taught him that, in situations such as this one, it was best to listen closely. 

Rohns must have never learned that lesson though. He suddenly and without warning leaped off of Link’s shoulder and landed unceremoniously in the dirt. Link instinctively went to catch him but shooting pain up his left arm froze him in his tracks, and the puppy picked himself up and shook his head from side-to-side, then pranced over and started to sniff the hare that was bouncing around the area.

… Link decided to just let the cub be. It was better off that way anyways.
 

[Asriel Dreemurr 38]

Edrick was certainly much less afraid of the supposed "winged devils" from Issauria now that he was right here scratching one under the chin. It was nice, having something go the way it was supposed to. With things having been as weird as they had been lately, having an enormous scaly lizard obviously enjoy the same sort of treatment that other animals he handled did was a bigger boost to his morale than he wanted to admit. He could have probably spent the rest of the day and well into the night doing just that, assuming he managed to stay awake any longer. But, as the others began following after Catriona, he had to pick up and go with her fairly quickly before he was left behind. Thankfully Citron had come out quickly enough that there wasn't any risk of the Wyvern having a fit, and had thanked him for calming her down. He brushed the thanks off for now, and set about following the group properly.

The explanation of the situation sounded like a legend he had heard before, except in the legend it had been a castle instead of a village. Plus he was pretty sure people got turned into furniture in the legend. Either way, it was only too easy for him to believe at this point. It certainly explained why the beavers had attacked them earlier anyways. They thought they were defending their village from bandits, and they sure did look the part. Probably smelled it too. Well, it seemed that the others had decided on a direction, and Edrick followed along. He also did his best to ignore the naked man tied up outside of the house, because he had something more important to do in the mean time.

"Catriona." He said, approaching their leader. At least her name was easy to say. It still felt like he was twisting his tongue a way it shouldn't be when he spoke Galtean though. "I still think we need to investigate the chapel in town. With the way things have been going it's obvious that The Goddess has set herself against-" he paused, struggled to speak for a moment, and then continued, "you." It was still difficult for him to consider himself an enemy of her, even if things seemed that way. He...he needed a little longer to think about that. "So, even if whoever did this to the townspeople wasn't a follower of hers we might still find answers in there. Plus the possibility that this was done by one of the faithful is... to great to ignore." Especially considering that the doors to the chapel in question displayed those who had first warred against Inera. The request for help might well have just been an excuse.