(Iyashi has forfeited her turn, sorry for the delay.)

West

Misha springs from behind the Venomspitter, and it barely has time to turn around before it is pinned under a quarter-ton of battle-trained bear. It struggles and twitches weakly, and you discover that it's actually quite squishy, for a vorkid. It must come from spitting as a primary attack. It can't spit, as you have its head immobilized, but it also can't sign or move.

Bluebell jumps out of her tree to search the bushes. She notes a tuft of dark fur caught on a low branch southward of the bush the pup had hidden in. While you search for traces of the lupora, the older zolnixi trots over and stands a few feet away. Now that he's closer, you see that his front legs and chest are rather scarred, with a ragged patch, nearly bare of fur, on his neck. In a hoarse voice, barely a whisper, you hear, "Are you looking for something?"

Raika still stands silently, watching the mother shift from fussing over her eggs to brooding again.

What do you do?

Misha pins the Vorkid's head with her paw so it can't spit at her, but releases the rest of its body so it can sign. "What are you looking for?" she growls dangerously.

Raika continues to watch, trying to understand what is happening. A butterfly flits by but she's so focused she doesn't notice it. Something important is happening down there, she senses. But what???

(I apologize for my absence. My dog's been sick and it's been hard to think about anything else.)

"Not something, someone." Bluebell says frantically. She looks up at the older nixxi noting the fact that the fur is bare alerts her that the wounds are at least a little recent. She is torn does she care more about her own species or the young one. She decides to ask about the wounds because she is still perplex as to where to start looking for the pup. She dashes in the direction of the tuft and turns around to see if the older nixxi is following. "explain on the way?" she asks as she continues to look for the little one

West

After Misha releases the vorkid's body, it signs, We won't tell. We won't betray-- until you press its head a bit more into the dirt. Its eyes close for a minute, and it signs weakly, Majesty, please forgive me. Slowly, but more distinctly, We are hunting the thieves. Our...our Nest was attacked. The truce...they threw away twenty years of peace...to try...to cripple us. It falls still for a few minutes, and Misha shakes it a little. It stirs and signs, The ones that survived...stole our future...we have to steal it back. I hope...you can understand...our queen is...dying, and the last generation lost. As long as...they are lost...and not dead...we have hope. We will search.
This was an odd statement: your regiment never gone to war against the vorkids during your lifetime, but the old ones that remembered the days before the two species had just decided to mind their own business said they were coordinated and devoted fighters. None had ever seen a nest, as they defended the odd territory they kept around those viciously. And you had certainly never heard of a truce.

Bluebell follows the traces of fur and small crumpled plants with the older zolnixi following behind. He also notices the small tangles of fur every ten or twenty feet and notes that you are seeking a small lupora. You ask him to explain the scars, and he whispers as you follow the tracks, "Ah...in lean times, sometimes berries and insects aren't enough. Some prey bites back, or hides in nettles where the less desperate would not go." That would explain the many little scars across his front. "But what is this lupora to you?" You don't need to explain, as you come upon the bush where Raika sits, watching the mother tending to her eggs. He inhales slightly and steps forward.

Raika turns to look at the winged zolnixi she had seen earlier, and notices a new one. Orange and green, male and older, rather scarred. He lowers his head and sniffs you gently. The female aurleon raises her head and swings it around, scanning the bushes, and clacks her pointed Terror Beak warningly at the two newcomers, but settles again.

What do you do?

(Welcome! You're a bit alone for now, too far north I think. Could you choose what your last ability will be? The aurleon-exclusive Birdsong or one of the other Given abilities?)

Lake

It is a chilly day, and mist rises off of the lake. You came upon this area yesterday, noting the crumbling ruins next to it. Your [Light] casts a glow a few feet in front of you, and you can see the water rippling. A sylvorpa or two surfaces every now and then. The silence is broken every now and then by a mournful hoot or the yowl of a vulnyx. You also notice a fog-shrouded island on the other side of the lake. This seems like an interesting, if quiet place.

What do you do?

Misha hesitates for a second, looking at the poor creature laying haplessly beneath her. She should kill it... but she could understand wanting to protect their group's young. "I don't know if you understand me, but I knew nothing of this stolen egg. I will honor the truce."

Misha slowly releases her paw and backs away, keeping her gaze locked on the vorkid. She's not sure exactly what truce she's trying to honor, especially since it's already broken, but she just can't seem to bring herself to kill this opponent. Thoughts of the young Lupora nudge at the back of her mind, another lost child who she hopes knew enough to stay put.

Bluebell is calmed seeing that no harm has come to the little pup. She fallows its gaze. She wants to fly up to the mother and ask what happened but the snapping beak warned her against it. She decides to nudge the little one and say "we might as well try to find food you hungry." She also realizes that she does not know the pups name and adds more questions "what is your name little one? while you were watching did anything happen?"

(Sorry for the delay, and Iyashi has forfeited her turn.)

West

The released vorkid skitters away from Misha, and after a heartbeat, signs, Thank you. You are a beast of honor. We are Alta, for what it's worth, and I hope we would meet again under friendlier circumstances. With that, it scuttles off toward its Nest in the northeast.
Leaves rustle, birds chirp, and the forest continues. Your mind falls back to the pup, and the zolnixi you saw earlier.

Bluebell, after asking the pup its name and whether it's hungry, has her concentration broken by a loud squawk from the mother aurleon, which had been furiously tucking its nest back into shape. Another shape wings its way back, a pink-and-gray male aurleon, seemingly with some sort of fruit clutched in his claws. His feathers seem a bit thicker and fluffier than the female, and he just seems softer and calmer all around. He settles in the nest next to her and begins to preen her feathers as she eats the fruit and quietly complains, "It's terrible, a mother can't get any peace or privacy nowadays. Those giant spiders attacking, ground-walkers gawking at my misfortune..." She mutters indaudibly, the male making reassuring noises, then flutters her wings and alights on the branch next to the nest. "Just terrible. I'm off to fly now, keep our eggs safe."

Raika watches all of this, noting the male zolnixi's greeting and how the female flies off to the south. The male settles in over the eggs, and gently calls over the side of the nest, "Sorry, she's really worked up over the vorkids...I'm not sure why, the truce has held for decades. Could I help you three with anything?"

What do you do?

(Sorry....my dog didn't make it so I didn't even remember this existed until I got pinged)

Raika, noticing a change in the atmosphere, comes forward with a tentative curiosity. What are these things? She sniffs and listens as she walks.