Bigger, Better, Blacker - Zarbyoshi

They would head south and eventually come across an area where there were three messenger locusts eating the leaves off of a tree. They seemed pretty unconcerned with their surroundings for the most part and due to their status as herbivores they weren't all that interested in the group that approached them, they didn't even know what a Hind Cub was so short and unfulfilling their lives were. It was truly sad that these Lizardkin would most likely end these "peaceful" monsters lives but such was the law of the great forest, if they were attacked they would most likely either fight for their lives or just flee.

Spoiler:

Yoshi held up his hand, signaling for Ursa and Snow to stop. He crouched low in the tall forest grass, surveying the strange bugs as they buzzed about. He pointed at Snow, then to the left, telling her to go around and attack from the side. He then pointed at Ursa and indicated he wanted him to charge forward into the bugs, while Yoshi would attempt to sneak through the tall grass as quietly as possible and attack the locust on the right. Ursa would move first, charging through the underbrush and slashing at the locust in front with two meaty paws, attempting to make as much noise as possible and draw attention to himself. Meanwhile, Snow would spring from the grass on the right, jumping out and slashing with her own claws at the wings of the locust on the left. Simultaneously, Yoshi would jump from his own hiding place, bringing his claws down on the head of the right locus while aiming the Black Breath attack he had been training with Snow. Initially he had considered using the new club for this, but considering he had no idea what these things were, he wanted to stick with what he knew for now.

Spoiler:

A solid tactic, marvelously executed... It all started with a rampaging cub. A roar. It stirred the bugs but alas. They were simply lounging about and thought they were safe. As they tried to fly away one got pinned and decimated by the Bear, the other... Ganked by Snow. And finally the last... A face full of corrosive breath. The Locust's face had been successfully melted off. One fell swoop and these creatures had been successfully ambushed. Good job!

Spoiler:

Yoshi looked around at the carnage and smiled as Ursa and Snow finished off their prey. A hunt hadn't gone this well since...well actually it had never gone this well for him and his party. He clenched his hand, tightening his muscles as he felt the new strength of the rank up flow through him. He grabbed the carcass of his locust and dragged it over to where Snow and Ursa had dropped theirs, splitting the kill. I'm going to start carving these. As soon as I finish, we'll eat. Yoshi said to a disappointed Ursa. The big cub was constantly ready to eat, whether he was hungry or not. Snow, you should go look around the area, see if there's anything of interest to eat or use later. Ursa, stand guard. Yoshi said as Snow wandered off a bit to search for some berries, nuts, or other useful plants. Meanwhile, Ursa would stand guard...mostly over the pile of dead bugs, but guard nonetheless, while Yoshi got to work trying to pick the locusts apart. He worked them over, they were weak, but their carapaces seemed somewhat durable. At the very least, maybe he could walk away with some weapons or armor for the younglings.

Spoiler:

Quite the successful carve. Zarbyoshi would get quite the haul from the Locusts as ZwardSnow was out and about looking for some simple food. CubUrsa would laze about as it seems the area was quiet. Only the scraping of innards could really be heard. ZwardSnow would come back with two roots in hand. Not being able to find much else she'd pet the Cub and wait for Yoshi to be done. As all was said and done, the Black Zard would have some meh armor and a fancy new needle like shiv. The air began to shift a bit as the sky got overcasted with clouds. Seemed rain would be coming soon.

Spoiler:

Hmm maybe the young ones would appreciate those gifts. Snow mentioned as she watched Yoshi finish the armor and weapon. Mhmm, might get some new egglings to join up when they see the stuff too. He said as he bundled it all together and took a bite out of some of Snow's left over locust meat. Ursa had finished his share earlier and the last piece would be saved for later. Feeding a cub required a strict schedule of always keeping him full. Looks like rain soon. He said with a long thought before sighing and patting Ursa on the head, A little water never bothered us though, right boy? So, with that the three would continue their hunt. While the locust fight had gone better than anyone could have expected or hoped, Yoshi was eager to encounter bigger prey. His mind went back to the Night Viper they had taken down the previous night as the three trudged further south into the forest.

OOC: So since I’m allowed to make skills on the fly for the Mons.... forgive me lol.

A chittering could be heard far off in the distance as the rain came down. A mating call perhaps. Through the rain clouds an orange hue could be seen piercing through the bit of clouds that signaled the day had come to an end. Seems peril was soon encroaching. Another chittering. Above! A series of blades, came down and intersected the trio. Their own trio of Poison Manti. The same chittering growl as the trio could see in the lowering darkness the Poison Manti had dollops of purple foam frothing forth from their mouths. The Manti would aim for the legs of the trio to stop them from running away. They’d all swipe with the sickles that were attached to their arms. It seems this trio had been hunting together for a fair amount of time.

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OOC: I can't believe I'm hurting myself more, but to be fair, see the spoiler below.

Sun is getting lower. Yoshi said, raising a forearm to block out the cool evening rain. Rays of sun poked through the grey clouds, making for a soft, lazy rain. We should head back so- Snow started until a strange chirping broke the calm air, growing agressively louder with each passing second. All three hunters were on edge now, searching the forest for the source of the sound. As the mantis descended upon them, Yoshi and Ursa cried out more in surprise than pain as insect blades cut into the flesh of their legs. Snow, being resourceful with her shield, managed to mitigate some of the damage, though the sheer force of the blow still impacted her shins, making her grunt in annoyance. The three didn't even communicate as they were brought face to face with their new foe, or rather prey.

Yoshi would attack his mantis first, lunging at the creature with sheer abandon as he used his sharp claws to attempt to slice the creature's sickle ended arms from its body. Snow, being weaker but more resourceful, would instead keep the low stance she had been in for the block and aim her claws at her own mantis's leg joints. Unsure if she could kill it on her own, she'd at least be able to down the creature and finish it off after. Finally, Ursa was all rage and sheer power. The large cub would swipe at the mantis, attempting to knock it down before lunging in to simply bite the creature's head clean off. These strange bugs in the southern forest had quickly become the least interesting prey Ursa had come across and he wanted this over with quickly.

Spoiler:

OOC: Jeez talk about ambush killers. I see. If i would've just triggered all those stealth effects they'd demolish you lol. Oh well now I know.

"This is no place for the weak, or the foolhardy." The Ambush had failed immensely and the manti had gotten obliterated. Torn apart. Eviscerated. Shiiiiiiii- his brother got his head torn off. The finally beaten and battered Mantis opened up it's wings and immediately flew up. Trying to escape it looked down and the foaming bubbles from it's mouth grew more violent as it spewed poison over the trio in a vain attempt to run away. It continued to fly up not wanting to die, trying to gain it's escape through the trees.

Spoiler:

No you don't! Yoshi said as the last mantis tried to take off. He wasn't going to let the creatures who attacked them get away. This was their mistake and they needed to learn from it. Yoshi sucked in air, inadvertently swallowing the fine poison mist the mantis had covered the surrounding area in. He then expelled outwards, attempting to engulf the Mantis in the same black breath attack he had used on the locust hours earlier. Seeing Yoshi, Snow followed suit, using her own breath attack on the creature. Both Yoshi and Snow had little practice with these attacks, so it was a true roll of the dice to see if they would be successful, but it was their only chance of finishing off the last mantis.

Spoiler:

OOC: 9 and 3 :c

It continued it's flight and would desperately flew away from the viscous Zards and bear. The Mantis was now gone. It was hoping to lick it's wounds and feed on easier prey Need to find a mate now... The Zards had tried to blast away the poison and mantis with their breath weapons but all that came out were puffs of their respective element. The poison coated the two Zards and they'd feel the poison seep into there pores causing a rather discomforting burning feeling. If this problem persist for more then four hours please contact the nearest ZardShaman.

Yoshi grunted in annoyance as neither he, nor Snow's attack seemed to work. The creature had gotten away, but it had left its brethren behind. He cringed as a wave of pain and nausea passed over him from the poison. He looked to Snow and Ursa, who seemed to be feeling the same way. It wasn't terribly potent, they'd survive, but it certainly wasn't an enjoyable experience either. He noticed the scales on Snow's leg from where the mantis had attacked begin to shed, flaking off to make room for new ones. He looked down to his own legs and found the same thing happening, apparently this was something he could do unconsciously now. Come on, we've got enough meat for the day. Let's head back. The black lizard said to his friends as he dragged the corpses of the mantis over to Ursa and tossed them across the broad back of the cub. He'd carve those later when they got home. From there, the three started making their way back to the burrow.

OOC: Attempting to go home, I think I need another post from a mod because it's night.

Spoiler:

As they wandered home they would come across a Blade Rabbit who was happily nibbling on some grass and would pause upon hearing their stomping feet before looking at the approaching group with clear wariness. It would brandish it's horn and actually stand it's ground essentially trying to warn them if they approached that it would attack. Now this left them with three options, the first was to turn around and find an alternate route home which would probably cause them to linger longer in the forest, the next was to continue onward and fight the damn Blade rabbit and the last was to try to run past the Blade Rabbit and flee if it tried to attack them.

The three didn't so much as look at each other before unanimously agreeing to attack the bladed rabbit. Ursa would charge forth with a vengeance, eager to bite into familiar flesh as opposed to the crunchy insect hides he had been snacking on all afternoon. The large bear would lunge forward, attempting to bite down on the rabbit's neck while swiping at its body, holding down the creature with his big, meaty paw. The Mantis hides he had been carrying on his back would be dropped by the sudden movement, but they would be easy enough to pick up after. Yoshi and Snow would follow the bear, with Yoshi slashing at both of the creature's eyes and Snow attempting to slash at its hind legs, preventing it from escaping as the last mantis had only minutes ago. All three were breathing heavy, the effects of the poison having taken its toll on them, but they could also feel the poison lessening and dissipating through their blood streams.

Spoiler:

The group attacks would result in the rather swift death of the Blade Rabbit with the poor thing not even managing to get an attack off before he was suddenly pinned and savaged to death by the combination of a Hind Cub and two evolved Lizardkin. With that the battle would quickly end and they would now have a Blade Rabbit carcass to add to their spoils when they eventually got home. However long it would take to get there at least.

Spoiler:

Good job. Yoshi said to Snow and Ursa as he picked up the corpse of the Bladed Rabbit and slung it over his shoulder. Ursa would hunker down while Snow draped the mantis corpses from earlier across his back once more. The trio would survey the area before continuing on their journey home, hopefully making it without much more trouble. The rabbit had gone down with little issue thanks to their combined hunting efforts, but Yoshi knew if they ran into bigger prey, or worse multiples like those Mantis, things might get a bit difficult. Besides, he was looking forward to getting home and seeing what he could do with this new rabbit hide. Its blade looked interesting to say the least.

OOC: Trying to get home v.v

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