Out and About - Zardyoshi

Hmmm. Yoshi thought aloud as he inspected the chunks of carved bark he had peeled from the trunk of the tree. He scratched the top of his scales and frowned, unsure if it was worth keeping, but then again he had yet to pick anything up that hadn't served a purpose in this world. As such, he decided to keep the bark scraps for the time being. He was about to move on to another tree when rustling above him caught his attention. He assumed a defensive stance and scanned the foliage for a predator or attacker. He was surprised an enemy would venture so close to the burrow, but it was entirely possible, or perhaps Rex had set a trap and waited for him outside, where the other Zards wouldn't stop him from finishing the job.

When he finally did spot the Lizardfolk in the tree, he initially assumed it was some sort of beast or monster and began a low, throaty growl to ward it off. However, upon closer inspection and seeing the shimmer of scales in the pale sunlight, Yoshi relaxed a bit. Umm... Yoshi began, wondering how to approach this strange looking Lizardfolk. However, he wouldn't have time to find his thoughts as the lizard suddenly jumped and, to his utter amazement, flew through the air to another tree. Yoshi could feel his jaw drop open, hanging loosely as he couldn't believe what he had just seen. Gathering himself, and picking his jaw off the floor, Yoshi hurriedly made his way to the tree where the female lizardkin had landed. Um, hi, yes hello. Uh how did- I mean, you- you just...I...who are you? Yoshi's befuddled brain finally landed on as an option for introduction.

"Yesssss tisss I Zardeggy… You likesss I can sssoar through the air" Zardeggy said introducing herself with a short bow before spreading her "wings" again and now that he was really paying attention to her he could see that the leaves were actually reinforced with what seemed to be skin of some kind of furred beast all in all it was a lot more advanced of a set up that what it seemed like at first glance. She would jump off the branch again and would glide down to where Zardyoshi was just as Zwardsnow got back to him and would twirl around a bit when she landed though in hindside she regretted doing that because it took so long to climb up trees in the first place. "Are you hunting today? I can come with but no ssssshares what I kill" she said tilting her shell covered head with a bird like motion.

Yoshi was mystified, truly stupefied by the wings that Eggy had created. Did you...did you make these yourself? Yoshi asked, admiring and looking over the wings as Snow approached. We were planning on hunting later today, yes. Snow said, a bit perturbed by this new stranger's arrival. Something about the way Eggy spoke and was dressed certainly didn't sit right with Snow, or maybe she just didn't like how much attention Yoshi was giving the new lizardfolk. Right, we're heading out now. Come along, the more kin, the better. Yoshi said, though he was a bit annoyed with the mention that Eggy had no intention of sharing. Another Rex as far as he could see, but maybe this one was a bit more reasonable. He'd deal with that later, for now he simply needed to know how Eggy had managed to come across these makeshift wings. If I gathered more leaves and skins, could you show me how to make those? Or anything? Yoshi asked, excited at the idea of being able to do more than just skin creatures for their pelts.

Zardeggy would nod while showing off their design a little bit with another twirl before stopping when she saw Zwardsnow approach turning her head away from her. "I did make thessssse, I can ssssshow you how to craft but I can not sssshow you how to glide you mussssst make progresss on your own. Come I know of ssssspot with lot of water. Sssspecial spot told no otherssss" Zardeggy said with another florish before running towards one of the somewhat dead trees of the wasteland and climbing up it before jumping off and gliding westward. It seemed like she knew where she was going, it was only up to Zardyoshi and Zwardsnow to follow her to where she wanted to lead them. She was eccentric for sure, but it seemed like the three oldest lizardfolk all were eccentric in their own ways, Zardj'tali was friendly and kind, Zardrex was surely and violent whereas Zardeggy was odd and mysterious.

Spoiler:

Yoshi regarded his shabby cloak and even worse loincloth. He thought of the bark shavings in his cloak and nodded, Yes, please teach me how to craft things. I can carve up an animal or tree, or anything else, but then I just have materials and nothing to do with them. Yoshi and Snow watched as the strange Lizardfolk scampered up a tree and took flight once more. Yoshi made to follow her, but Snow suddenly grabbed his forearm, She's strange, can we trust her? Snow asked. Yoshi paused for a moment, Can we trust anyone? I don't even know where you came from. Yoshi said, turning to run after Eggy, Come on, I don't want to lose sight of her. Yoshi said, breaking out into a brisk run to catch up to Eggy, who could easily cover more ground while gliding over the trees than he or Snow could running around the trees. After a moment of stubborn hesitation, Snow followed, still on edge about this Eggy person and Yoshi's utter fascination with her.

Zardeggy would keep gliding actually looking for something that she could use to further refine her ability to soar through the air but unfortunately she couldn't see anything from up here that really stood out to her. Either way they would quickly start to cover ground before Zwardsnow would see Zardeggy suddenly twirl in the air before shooting downward and after that they would hear a thumb and a cry of pain of distinctively non-reptilian origin. Once they caught up they would see that Zardeggy had divebombed a Red Fawn from above knocking it over as it was grazing from some grass on the ground. Whatever she did it had done some damage to it though it was still okay albeit on it's side and getting up with a huge bruise on it's neck. As for Zardeggy she seemed to be running away heading towards another tree and cackling madly.

(You can control Zwardsnow for this fight)

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Yoshi watched the scene unfold, seeing Eggy run off ahead of them, Wait, urg. He called after Eggy, conflicted with what to do. Going after the fawn. Keep an eye on Eggy. Yoshi said to Snow behind him, who, begrudgingly nodded. With that, Snow would continue running, going the long way around the fawn and looking for Eggy. Meanwhile, Yoshi would actually pick up speed, making a bee line for the injured fawn as it began to rise to its feet. The bruise caught his attention and Yoshi licked his lips in anticipation, his teeth and claws eager for a taste of the fawn's flesh. He lunged forward, attempting to bite down on the bruised section of the fawn's neck, raking its face and abdomen with his sharp claws in the process. He wanted to end this quickly and follow after Eggy. She was strange to be sure, but he wasn't letting her get away until she taught him how to make those wings, or at least something.

Spoiler:

The Red Fawn would be set upon by two different attacks and while it was still reeling from the first one a Lizardkin would come out of no wear and bite into it's already injured neck hurting it further and causing it to kick it's legs wildly as it tried to stand up on it's own. Unfortunately it couldn't stand up due to the added weight and while it tried to get free Zardeggy was already in the process of climbing another tree while Zwardsnow watched her. It seemed that she wasn't actually running but merely tactically retreating to get a better vantage point in order to dive bomb the Red Fawn yet again. It was interesting to see really to see the depths of Zardeggy's strategy in action as it literally consisted of her finding a high place and dropping down on something from above with enough force to try and knock it down so she could do it all over again. Meanwhile Zardyoshi's claws would scratch at it's face but besides renewing it's struggling he didn't seem to be really inflicting as much damage as he needed to take it down, fortunately at the moment it couldn't get back up but otherwise it seemed like the monsters in this part of the forest were very tough.

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Yoshi would continue to bite down, feeling the fawn collapse beneath his weight. His claws raked its pelt, but the result was a situation that reminded him of his battle with Rex. It seemed futile, he was still too weak even for this deer. Frustrated, he bit down harder and attempted to thrash his jaws back and forth. He wished to rip and tear his way through the fawn's throat, his anger and frustration getting the better of him as he did so. He slashed again at the fawn's face, this time aiming for its eyes in an attempt blind it, or at least puncture a softer and more vulnerable area of its body.

Meanwhile, Snow had followed Eggy to the tree and watched the strange Lizardfolk climb back up a tree. This seemed to be a pattern for her, and for a moment Snow was worried Eggy would take off, forcing her to chase her even more and leave Yoshi behind. However, she noticed Eggy facing back towards the downed fawn and Yoshi. Satisfied that, at the very least Eggy would stay in the area, Snow ran back to the clearing where Yoshi was struggling with the fawn. She wanted to dive in, but once more knew her place and to wait until Yoshi signaled for help. This was something he had to do on his own if possible.

Spoiler:

the red fawn would try and kick out with it's legs but when Zardyoshi clung on and started thrashing his head he would deal more injuries to it causing it to bleed with with blood starting ooze out of the wounds his inflicted, his scratching would blind it in one of it's eyes causing it to finally get up. Unfortunately for it at this time Zardeggy was sailing towards it and would land on it's back causing it to cry out yet again and fall down to the ground. She would snicker this time and run off again to try what she did a third time, and would pause to look strangely at Zwardsnow for just standing there but would shrug it off and head off to try and climb the tree again. After about three repetitions of this tactic, the poor Red fawn was far more weakened than it was previously the combination of injuries slowly getting to it and causing the final thrash to cause it's life to slowly fade from it's eyes

Spoiler:

Yoshi disengaged from the fawn, opening his mouth and dropping its neck. He swallowed the blood that had pooled in his mouth from latching onto the fawn and licked his lips. Snow watched him carefully but said nothing. Yoshi turned to Eggy, Zards are stronger together, huh? He asked, seeing if she would agree or he was simply surrounded by a world of lone wolves. Yoshi would bend down and extend a single claw, beginning to slowly carve the useful bits from the creature. You said you don't share your hunts Eggy, but we worked together on that. How do you want to split this? He asked, with some part of him starting to wonder if this would somehow turn into a fight between the two Lizardfolk. Regardless, he stayed on edge but continued focusing on the work at hand. He wanted to get better at this, to improve.

Spoiler:

"Will sssshare when help kill, no sssshare with freeloaderssss." Zardeggy said before immediately wanting to start to eat at the belly of the slain Red Fawn the only part of her head not covered by her shell being her lower jaw. She would stop herself however before turning and looking at Zardyoshi. "Carve thisssss, then I teach how to craft." she said and once he finished carving she would eat part of the Red Fawn finishing a meal before backing up and trying to see what he managed to carve so that she could figure out how he could potentially craft with it. Unfortunately it seemed that his tension made him fail at managing to carve the Red Fawn whereas Zwardsnow would pick up his slack in order to remove its skull with the small horns still attached.

"Need more materialssss...let's go!" Zardeggy said after staring at the skull for quite a while before suddenly running away in the opposite direction heading further west so that she could show them the large body of water she had found.

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Thanks. He said to Snow as she helped him with the fawn, and he truly meant it even if he was frustrated that he still couldn't quite do this right on his own. With the bloodied skull in hand, Yoshi would look to Eggy only to find her running away once more. Erm, she's quick. He said with a grunt. Unsure of what to do with the skull and with nowhere to really put it, Yoshi placed it over his head as a helmet for the time being. Snow laughed a moment, Not bad looking. Yoshi shot her a glance for teasing him, but flashed a smile beneath the fawn's skull and said, Come on, she's getting away! Yoshi and Snow both took off after Eggy, chasing her to who knows where. She was strange, but Yoshi had to admit she was a force to be reckoned with in a fight and he couldn't complain about that.

As they continued to run eventually they would be able to see a river in the distance, it seemed that as they continued onward they would notice that the great forest was a lot bigger than they already thought. Still the river was still a fair bit away and they would run into a pond that the river seemed to feet into with a Hind Cub drinking from the pond water. As for Zardeggy she was nowhere to be seen at least on the ground as they would be able to see that she was on a tree a fair bit back but looked as if she were rocking back and forth in preparation for jumping off. The Hind cub was something neither of them had seen before and despite only being a baby it was utterly massive, being Medium S in size truly a terrifying creature regardless of if it hadn't ranked up or not.

Yoshi and Snow would make their way through the forest, skirting around trees and underbrush. They had lost sight of Eggy moments earlier, but could still hear faint movements in the treetops. As they came out into a small clearing, the first thing Yoshi noticed was the river, a sight he had never actually seen before. This much free, running water was truly glorious to behold. The second thing he noticed was also something he had never seen before and it rattled him. He backed up a step, motioning for Snow to hunker down and slowly back up, doing the same himself. Yoshi’s eyes searched the trees for Eggy, finally finding her. He was confident they were far enough back, but spoke in a hushed tone just in case, Eggy, I’m not sure about this one. That’s a big beast, even for three of us. Yoshi hissed up at the bird lizard.

Zardeggy would look between the Hind Cub and then back at the other two Lizardkin, before looking back at the hind cub and then back again to the other two, she would then relax before sitting down on the tree branch and deciding to wait as she was high up enough that she wouldn't be spotted so long as she just remained very still regardless if it decided to stick around or not. The trip had been because of water and crafting after all no need to mess that up by turning it into a big game hunting trip. The Hind Cub would leisurely keep drinking water before it would straighten up on it's hind legs and use a paw to scratch at it's belly while yawning showing off it's fearsome fangs and claws

Yoshi nodded, satisfied that Eggy wasn't going to suddenly fly off again. Snow however, had seemingly reached her breaking point. She was tired of Yoshi following Eggy's lead ever since running into her. I think we should go after it. Snow hissed to Yoshi, You're the one that's always talking about kin being stronger together. There are three of us here. With that, she'd turn and begin walking back towards the Hind Cub. Yoshi, speechless would turn to Eggy, Get ready, I have a bad feeling about this. He said before taking off after Snow as quickly, but quietly as he could. Snow, already well ahead of Yoshi, would emerge from the brush of the forest and raise her shield. With its back to Snow, she'd run forward, attempting to get the surprise attack on the beast by raking her claws across the back of its stumpy hind legs. Meanwhile, Yoshi would keep an eye on Snow for when she needed help, but would stick to the edge of the brush, attempting to sneak into a better position without being detected and catch the large beast off guard.

Snow:

Zwardsnow would approach before suddenly running forward as the hind cub lazily stretched out in the air before her claws sliced at it's knee joint causing it to roar out in more annoyance than pain as her claws barely penetrated it's dense fur to scratch at it's flesh. However that wouldn't stop it from spinning around and swiping at Zwardsnow aiming to take her head off however she managed to raise her shield in time so the blow would cause her to tumble a bit but she was pretty sturdy herself and thus she would manage to mitigate good portion of the blow. It would start to roar however a missile from above would shut it up prematurely the impact causing it to reel a bit but over all it hurt just a little more than Zwardsnow's attack but overall it was like it wasn't even hurt.

Spoiler:

Urg, knew we shouldn't have picked a fight with this thing. Yoshi grumbled from his hiding place within the brush. He watched Snow get tossed away from the cub like she weighed little more than a bundle of sticks. As Eggy dove, crashing into the cub to stop it from roaring, Yoshi made his move. With the cub distracted by Eggy, he hoped to have the element of surprise, but who knew with this beast. He would run up, charging at the creature, but run past it, attempting to rake his claws along the side of the same leg Snow had sliced. They were never going to win by attacking that thing head on, but if they could hurt its limbs and other useful bits, they might be able to make it useless enough to go in for a kill shot. He'd run past the beast to the edge of the river, turning and preparing himself for the creature to lash out.

Meanwhile, Snow sat up, now several feet away from the creature. She was bruised and a bit dazed, but otherwise okay. She stood up, looking at the spectacle she had created, disappointed that her attack had done little more than annoy the beast. She saw Yoshi attempt to run past the cub and position himself behind it, giving her an idea. She was by far the weakest of the three, but if she could keep the creature distracted, perhaps that would be enough to give Eggy and Yoshi the advantage they needed to take it down. Snow picked her shield up and ran to a spot within three feet of the creature, what seemed to be just out of range if it took a swipe at her with one of those meaty paws. She raised her shield and began banging on it to get its attention, Over here you ugly beast! She goaded it, doing her best to provoke it.

Zardyoshi would run past it relying on the fact that it was preoccupied with the other two, namely Zardeggy sprinting away once she landed her hit and Zwardsnow trying to pick herself up after dealing with such a blow. Fortunately his strike would land and would aggravate the wound further causing it to roar in pain this time rather than annoyance as he managed to open the wound so that it slowly began to ooze blood. However due to this Zardyoshi would find the Hind Cub could move pretty quickly when it needed to and thus it would whirl around on it's good leg before swiping at him and knocking him away just like it did to Zwardsnow with it's claw marks tearing deep into his black wolf pelt. It seemed that Zwardsnow's attempt at trying to taunt it wouldn't work perhaps she wasn't that good at it and it would roar before chasing after Zardyoshi before opening it's mouth and attempting to bite down on his midsection.

(You can control Zardeggy for this fight as well)

Spoiler:

Yoshi grunted as the paw swiped into him, the wolf pelt cloak doing little to protect him from the blow. He'd hit the ground and roll several feet. Snow did her best to get the beast's attention, but it was more focused on the creature that had actually drawn blood from it, Yoshi. Yoshi struggled to his feet, trying to ignore the pain in his chest from where had been swiped. The cub bore down on him, a mouth filled with sharp, massive teeth rapidly nearing him. Yoshi attempted to jump out of the way just as Eggy flew in and headbutted the cub on the side of the head, knocking its mouth in the opposite direction of Yoshi's dodge and hopefully allowing him to get away. If he did manage to get away, Yoshi would spin and face the creature again, now on its side right side, the cub was between Yoshi and the river.

This thing is too tough, we're barely doing anything to it. We need to force it to the river. Yoshi thought as Snow charged in from behind the cub, shield raised once more. She attempted to rake her claws yet again across the cub's exposed, bleeding hind leg. Yes, if we can damage its legs enough, maybe we can drown it. Yoshi thought as he would run towards the back of the cub as well, attempting to slice the uninjured hind leg with his claws. Meanwhile, Eggy would return to the edge of the woods, positioning herself in one of the trees for another strike.

Spoiler:

It would of been quite painful for Zardyoshi luckily Zardeggy was looking out for him and thus managed to divert the jaws of the Hind Cub. It would roar in anger though that would change when Zwardsnow attempted to swipe it's already bloody leg. It would turn on a dime and lash out with it's jaws crunching down on the Armored Tanuki shield and with a second bite cracks would start to form on it as it bite down harder trying to crush her shield within it's jaws. Unfortunately for it this would be when Zardyoshi would strike and as a result it would let off and try to shuffle back to keep them both in it's sights at the same time but due to it's proximity to the river it's more injured leg would slip on the muddy river bank causing it to stumble a bit yet it would snarl to try and deter them from trying to attack it in it's moment of weakness.

Spoiler:

Snow would step back, glancing over the shield to see the cracks and signs of shattering already appearing. The shield wouldn't be able to take much more, that was for certain, but technically it was still in one piece for the time being. Meanwhile, Yoshi watched as the Cub stepped back, sliding on the muddy bank behind it. Somehow, to Yoshi's surprise, his plan actually seemed to be working. He glanced at Snow, who nodded back to him in unspoken understanding. Yoshi would circle around to the creature's right side as it attempted to keep both him and Snow in view. Meanwhile, Snow would move more to its left, attempting to focus its attention on her as well. Both would attempt to roar or scream, their only goal now to confuse and disorient the creature, giving Eggy a clear shot at the creature's face. As they did this, Eggy would swoop down from the trees, gliding over for another headbutt directly aimed at the Cub's head in an attempt to knock it backwards even more into the river. If Eggy made contact, Yoshi would rush forward and attempt to rake his claws along the soft underbelly of the cub, damaging it even more.

Spoiler:

The Hind Cub wouldn't be intimidated by their simultaneous roars as when Zardyoshi tried to do it his voice cracked while Zwardsnow sort of half assed it. Still it would be aware of them following their movement so that if any of them got close it would try to take a swipe at them however this wasn't the case and Zardeggy would fall from the sky and impact it's head causing it to roar and lash out sending a paw to smash her to the ground. Zardeggy would try out but would tuck into a ball so that the paw hit her head rather than the rest of her body relying on it's natural hardness to blunt the impact. Still the Hind Cub would try to make sure she didn't escape by moving so that she would be underneath him.

Spoiler:

The ruse had worked...somewhat. While the cub seemed hardly bothered by Yoshi or Snow's battle cries, Eggy had managed to land her hit, giving Yoshi the opening he needed to slash at the underbelly of the cub as he ran along its right side. A sense of dread washed over Yoshi as he noticed Eggy swatted from the air, rolling underneath the cub. To his joy however, Eggy proved she was a fighter and would immediately start punching her claws forward while lying on the ground beneath the cub, trying to puncture the cub's belly just as Yoshi had. Meanwhile, Snow would run forward, shield raised and jump towards the cub's front left leg, attempting to throw her full weight and shield into the leg, causing the creature to lose its balance. The sounds of the moving river kept the trio of Lizards motivated. They knew their odds of victory were diminishing with each passing moment against this monstrosity, but if they could get it into the water, they just might stand a chance. At the very least, it'd present them with an opportunity to flee with their lives.

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