Nightfire

Sorry abt forgetting to post last weekend- i was sick, whoops

Sorry abt forgetting to post last weekend- i was sick, whoops

Fox Heart ain't a good character by any means, but she does have a conscience that sometimes wins over and she does good things. she could still affect a tribe after death, but she certainly doesn't have to. Or be bothered enough to, in most circumstances.

Chapter 11 - Nibhui Perspective of Nibluis Nibluis wondered how she could give birth to this.. thing. It must be because she's near the Evils. Maybe her child had been infected. "She's beautiful!" Common remarked, patting the child's head. Of course a Common wouldn't think poorly of anyone or anything. "Y-Yeah.." Nibluis forced a trembling smile. "What are you gonna name her?" Common looked at Nibluis, too bright and too excited for comfort. "Nib-" She is red. "-uh.." "After yourself?" "Yeah, yeah, that." Nibluis suddenly got a thought. "We'll name her Nibhui." Hui; a shorter word for curse. Named after me. My curse. "What a pretty name!" Common grinned again. "Slate!" Nibluis looked around, and the coral-orange nicheling came over. "She's very pretty. What did you name her?" "Nibhui." Nibluis had said the words hesitantly. Slate instantly knew what the words translated to, and shot a sharp glare at Nibluis. "Oh. Uh, interesting." Slate's teeth gritted and his gaze almost made Nibluis flinch. "Wellllllll. We should better get going soon-" "Awh, why?" Trickery grabbed Nibluis's paw. Nibluis swatted the scorpion-tailed nichelings paw away. "Because, we can't stay here forever." "Why would you want to leave Nibhui?" Common had the young nicheling sleeping into her fur. "She's old enough to survive on her own." Nibluis looked towards her traitorous companion Slate as he made no effort to speak. "A bird could eat her with ease. She's not safe." Trickery's voice was hypnotizing, and Nibluis shook her head, blinking rapidly to break the trance. "We can't stay here forever.." Nibluis could barely keep the frustration in her voice at bay. "Then at least stay until she's a teen and can decide where she wants to go." Common reasoned. "But-" "We can stay for a little longer..." Slate said quietly. What are you doing you useless lump of fluff!? "Okay, majority rules." Trickery grinned, practically dragging Nibluis back into camp. "3 to 1, you're all staying." Nibluis felt as if everyone was against her.. which was true. Even Slate?

Fox Heart is an evil nicheling that comes back to life to cause chaos upon the tribes after her own original one abandoned her. Now, of course, in some lives she isn't evil and saves the tribe in some way. I'd say it depends on perspective, she could be cursed and be a curse herself because of it, and maybe seen as a curse to the tribes she's in.

Frostbitten WAKE UP! Koi, wake up. They need you. Whose there- Koi jumped back instinctively as Finch lashed out again. She was surprised that it had worked, a jolt of fear reviving her, and whatever had been talking to her. But then the pain streaked through her bones again, and she gritted her teeth. The eerie blackness of the world was still shrouded around her. It was unnerving, fighting in pure darkness. Finch yelped, and then his voice became distant. Koi didn't hear anything, although Arctic's scent became stronger and the screeches of Alecto hurt her head. Suddenly, Arctic's scent became covered in the stronger tang of blood, and some sort of liquid hit Koi's face. It smelled like blood. Leaping up, Koi turned to run, but she hit several rocks behind her. She shoved them, trying to move them, when jaws grabbed her scruff and flung her onto the bare mountain. The surprise of the attack made the hit stronger than it already was, and Koi fell back into unconsciousness. Alecto felt a bit more hurt by her own feelings than the injuries Arctic had hit her with. Koi had always been a kind and bright nicheling, risking herself for others. Alecto had always gone against her, because, well, orders, but in reality, she was quite fond of the red-white nicheling. Now, Koi's face was covered in blood, and Finch had put a nasty scar over her eyes. From Finch's expression, it was clear he was trying to hide how bad he felt. But Alecto also stung from another betrayal and order.. killing Arctic. They had always been a nicheling Alecto looked up to. Alecto always challenged herself and told herself that she wanted to be stronger than the powerful, smart nicheling. While cold, Arctic had been kind enough to Alecto, and whenever she asked, would teach Alecto things. Alecto even thought that Arctic was more fond of Alecto than they ever let on. Maybe more than any other nicheling. Almost like Arctic thought of her as a child. And now that Alecto surpassed Arctic, they felt a sting of regret, the tang of pride, and the pure numbness that hit her. She'd wanted to be stronger than Arctic and make Arctic proud of her. But not in this way.. Arctic, forgive me. Alecto's head began ringing and her breath quickened. Ẉ̴̄h̵̙̆ȃ̶̞t̸̮̃ ̷̊͜i̴̠͐f̷̼̈ ̷̧̈́t̷̰͐h̷̟̿ė̴̮ỵ̵̔ ̶̹̃d̷̡̍o̸̞̊ṇ̶͛'̵̨́t̸͚͆ Shadows crept closer in at the edges of her vision. W̸̢͝H̶̖̔Ạ̶̗̲͉̖̟͌̑̄̃͗̚T̷̠̤̝̟͎̮͐͗ ̸̛̬̠̤̈̓̅͐͝H̴̲̖̀͌͒̔̉̈́Ȁ̶͕͇̼̞̓̾͠Ṿ̵̢͔̥̒͐́̄͆͠E̶͇̹̥̝̻̋͗̑ ̸̩̟̖̬͎͗I̷̦̼̥̭̾̔̋ͅ ̵͕͉̝͙̱̈̍̽̃̚D̴̥̞̘̹͍̥͛͂̋̂̈́̚Ơ̶̭̹͖͑̿͒́̑Ṋ̵͕̑̓̚͜Ê̶̟̮̲͗͐̏̊̔͜ "Let's leave Koi here." Finch broke into Alecto's thoughts. "Hmm-?" Alecto blinked, the panic-caused darkness and strange ringing that had been creeping in at her vanished. "Let's leave Koi in the hotsprings." Finch repeated. "Oh- uh, sure." Alecto tenderly grabbed the Red-white nicheling, avoiding looking at anyone in particular. The blood on Koi's fur saturated the snow, turning it scarlet. (Ignore the snow color, visual glitch) After setting Koi's unconscious body into the hotsprings, Alecto grabbed a rabbit, killing it instantly, and dropping its body down near the hotsprings. Finch nodded at Alecto, very clearly avoiding eye contact as well. Alecto couldn't bring herself to look backwards at the disaster she caused. No matter how strong I get, I am still the same coward I was before. She leaped across the snows hastily. I'm so sorry, both of you. Horizon, you are a real monster.

yes. And then I traded em and now I'm rich :>>>>

Not gonna be posting this weekend, its spooky season and I'm tricking and treating on both Saturday and Sunday. Double the candy haul.

Not gonna be posting this weekend, its spooky season and I'm tricking and treating on both Saturday and Sunday. Double the candy haul.

she could predict the future due to pretty much being a ghost, but that's about it. I haven't really decided if she can possess bodies, more so that she can be reborn into tribes at will.

Chapter 10 - Twisted Horns Perspective of Common Common had been plucking away at a berry bush, absentmindedly tapping her claw, when she saw a figure emerge from nearby grasses. It was a male, with a paw for a stub and a twisted snout. Despite this, Common felt no hesitance in speaking to him. "Hey there!" She beamed, and the orange-beige male blinked at her friendliness. He looked over her yellow gemstones and the lack of horns, and his gaze softened. "Uh. Hi." The male tapped the berry bush hesitantly with the stub. Common passed over a handful of purple-pink berries. "What's your name? I'm Common!" The male looked subtly amused, before calming once more. "I'm Zircon, nice to meet you." As he spoke, his gemstones faded into a pure black, darkness consuming over their once green coloration. Common wondered what it meant, but said nothing. Instead, the male spoke. "Do you know what Evils groups are?" "Uh- no-?" Common was confused as to the seemingly random question. "Oh. Well, that makes sense, considering your name is Common." Common took no offense to that, being, well, a Common. "What is an Evils group?" "A group of nichelings, usually 5, each with a trait that signifies a different branch of evilness. With one nicheling who has every good trait. A Sanity,"-The male looked a bit embarrassed at the Sanity mention-"A Trickery, an Ambition, and an Outrage. The one with good traits doesn't have horns and almost always yellow gemstones; a Common." Common was a bit confused. "Oh, okay?" "Most of the time when they reach here," Zircon was quite casual in his speech, as if the Evils groups were regular occurrences. "They keep the name matching their traits. But when they figure out that their names are literally their personalities, they usually change them." "Common is a nice simple name. Can I keep it?" Zircon shrugged. "Your choice." It was a bit awkward, and Common considered changing her name to appeal to Zircon. But instead, the orange male noticed something, and trotted off towards a strange coral-orange-red colored nicheling. Common went over to watch them. "Koreko?" Zircon looked a bit agitated. "What are you doing here?" "I didn't know where to go!" Koreko, that seemed to be her name, itched at her arm. "Y'know, I thought we would just vanish after Yesterday died. I didn't plan to go anywhere!" Zircon sighed. "Well.. I suppose you can stay here. But you better not immediately declare yourself ruler or anything-" "I won't!" Koreko looked a bit desperate, and that made Common feel horrible for her. "I'm not an Ambition anymore, pumpkin guts." Common was shocked. These nichelings had pure black gems, and they didn't have ram horns, the symbol of the Evils. "Don't call me pumpkin guts!" Zircon's snarl caught Common off-guard. But before either could fight, Zircon calmed himself. "You better be careful around here." Zircon glared back at Koreko before stomping off. Koreko let out a breath of relief. Common's mind was twisting. What were these nichelings? Who were they? Are they Evils? Who was Yesterday? Why does Zircon hate Koreko? The sun was setting, so he curled into a ball of confusion, but he feared that sleep was a long ways off.

Orders (Sorry for smaller post, I forgot to take screenshots of most things) Fox Heart was looking across the snowy tundra, watching as the white speckles began to transform into puddles of cold. She exhaled, seeing her breath on the wind. She heard someone clear their throat, and turned. "Fox Heart, is it?" A bright group of orange, blue, purple, pink and gray were watching her with bitter eyes. "What do you want?" Fox Heart didn't try to hide her weakness; the blizzards had chipped at her health horribly so, and age was weighing her down. But I'll just be back later. "Wow, your name is very fitting." The pink nicheling's eyes were slits. "I'm aware." Fox Heart stared back at the pink nicheling with a calm glare, refusing to flinch. "Let's cut to the chase." The gray nicheling snarled. "You killed my family. My brothers, Soil and Dirt, were so young. And now they're gone." Fox Heart was amused at his effort to keep his voice from wavering. Fox Heart shrugged. "Orders." "Orders? From who?" The gray nicheling's fur was puffed, and he stalked towards Fox Heart. Fox Heart let out a small smile, pushing him over the edge a bit more. "Horizon, obviously. Who else would I let tell me stuff?" Fox Heart's tone was edged with ice, but truthfully, if these nichelings wanted to kill her, they should hurry up with it, so she could come back again. The blue nicheling looked stunned, before shaking his head. "Horizon? Sister of Evergreen and Tiger's Eye? Absolutely not. Stop blaming her." Fox Heart chuckled. Horizon, you've really got everyone fooled. "Don't be so trusting." Fox Heart's eyes flashed the fiery crown from her visions of the future. "Horizon's not all that good if you weren't looking through rose lenses." "At least think of a better excuse." The orange nicheling now spoke up. "You're going to die either way." Horizon flicked an ear. The orange nicheling leaped at her, knocking Fox Heart off the stump. Fox Heart sliced into his mane, careful to avoid slicing his toxic body. The nicheling yowled. Fox Heart flung him away. Fox Heart prepared to leap into the orange nicheling, and slice his neck while carefully avoiding the poison that would leak out. But her eyes flashed again, and she saw that she couldn't let this nicheling die, if the Empires were to live. If her daughter were to live. Fox Heart didn't move, waiting for the orange nicheling to get back up. Koi, you've done great in your life. I would really be horrible if I were to erase that all.. Fox Heart closed her eyes. Death was familiar at this point. You'll be one of the ones I remember, Koi. Carry on, my beloved daughter. Koi's eyes sprung open. Something bad was about to happen. Every time something good was happening, a bad thing ruined it. She couldn't give up now. First her entire birth. Then the Outsiders visit. And now, here. Finch had leaped up behind Koi. His eyes were hidden, but he seemed numbed at this point. "Sorry, you two. Orders." Koi was right. She gripped onto Finch's wing, slicing into its feathers, but the larger nicheling was stronger, and easily sliced Koi down. Koi heard the cries of Arctic, and looked over quickly to see Alecto jumping down as well. She tried to block the nicheling's blows, but they came faster and stronger, seemingly each time. Suddenly, claws cut across her eyes. Pain shot through every inch of Koi's body, and she screeched, before the white snows went black, and Koi's world was flipped. Am I going to die? No, I can't. Koi, wake up.

Chapter 9 - From the Dark Perspective of Sanity Sanity had maintained a medium distance with the new nichelings, watching them with their blank eyes. Their tail twitched, and they heard a twig snap behind them. Instinctively, they turned around, hissing. A dark brown figure with sharp fangs and beady eyes snarled back. Its back was arched, its claws were extended, and its jaw quivered with power. Sanity leaped backwards, jumping out of the way of which it landed, preparing their fangs for a shot of venom. The brown figure was familiar; Sanity recognized it as the terror that chased them out of their old temporary camp, of which the group was in the process of returning to. But this one was a lighter shade of brown, its body a bit smaller than Sanity remembered. It seemed to be a younger bearyena, maybe the last one's child. Sanity saw the dead older one flash in their head, and shuddered. A shriek of horror brought back Sanity's mind, and they sprung to the side of the beast, slicing at it with their paws. A flash of pink-tan fur streaked by, followed by the scarlet of blood. Ambition seemed to appear next to Sanity, the bearyena yowling in pain. It recoiled, and Trickery leaped onto a stump, stinging their tail into the animal's back. (Ignore bottom right savanna horns) The bearyena growled at Trickery, biting at them. Sanity had little memory of how they felt towards Trickery, and hesitated, but lashed out again. Ambition pulled back, letting the red and beige nichelings fight. Sanity saw a glimmer of pleasure as Trickery screeched. The predator clawed at Sanity, who did all they could to hold its paw out, before turning their head down and slamming their claws into its chest, just below the paw. The bearyena let out an earsplitting screech, and Sanity lost their grip on its paw, rolling beneath the predator's stomach and shooting venom straight into its chest, as Sanity rolled out the other side. Trickery had been grappling at the bearyena's face, clawing and growling viciously as they tore into its eyes, ears and muzzle. Sanity was breathing heavily, as Trickery, released its head, dropping the brown creature and rubbing at a small tooth mark that was bleeding. The bearyena toppled down, crumpling into a pile of meat. Trickery promptly picked it up, and threw a piece to Sanity, glaring at Ambition. "We're not blind. We saw that." Sanity gazed at Trickery warmly, a new gesture of kindness outweighing that of Outrage. They ate the meat, thinking about how brilliant Trickery was, wondering why they hadn't realized the scorpion-tailed nicheling's kindness sooner. (Again, ignore bottom right savanna horns) "Well. I want to make sure I'm not allies with weaklings." Ambition ruffled their mane. "A test of strength is just what I needed." Trickery snorted. "Test of strength? So you brought that thing here?" Ambition glared at Trickery. "No-" "Yeah yeah like I believe you." Trickery's gaze turned haughtily cold, making Sanity feel as if ice was pulsing through every inch of their body. "I know you want me dead, Ambition. Just so you can become our glorious ruler or whatever." Ambition faltered backwards at Trickery's eyes, turning away. "And you want the same for me." "Then why don't we have a test of strength between us both?" Ambition turned back to Trickery, looking just below their eyes. "What do you mean by that?" Trickery's tail uncurled, the venomous barb twitching as if it were awakening from a nightmare. "We fight. Winner lives, and becomes the tribe's leader. Loser? A heap of bones on the forest floor." Ambition blinked. Sanity watched the two with careful expressions, wondering if Trickery would be hurt. That would be terrible. At long last, Ambition looked into Trickery's eyes, with eyes of fire. "Deal."

At Long Last Ghost was curled in the nook of the mountaintops, his body warming his companions. Well, he thought they were, at least; Horizon seemed off, and two of them had attacked his family. He tried to assure himself that they had changed, but that was long ways off. Horizon yawned, pointing her claw around tiredly. "Arctic, Koi, Alecto, Finch- go hunt, will you?" she sighed. "Ghost, you stay here. I need someone to keep me warm. It's getting colder by the day, I swear." "Oh, uh, sure." Koi exchanged a worried glance with Ghost, and she jumped up. Alecto began to lead the way, trotting down the mountain, her face pointed at the ground. It unnerved Ghost. Arctic seemed as emotionless as ever, but there was a sliver of caution in their gaze. Finch seemed strangely happy, as if he was trying to be incredibly oblivious. "Bye." Ghost murmured, getting led away by Horizon. "See you." Koi's tone sounded as if she was trying too hard to seem positive. Arctic sniffed the air. "This way." Ghost couldn't settle the terrible instinctive feeling in his stomach, as if a million rabbits were running loose inside. But he prayed that everything would be okay. Snow began to cover the slopes of the mountain. Koi leaped down immediately, landing on a fatter hare. Upon looking back, she saw Arctic dropping the carcass of a recently slain rodent. "Nice catches." Finch sniffed around. "Let's head further down the mountain." Alecto nodded in agreement. Arctic stashed away their prize. "Alright!" Koi felt a burst of calm, as if she finally felt that nothing would go wrong. And for once in her life, she felt the skies coming closer, as if everything she'd wanted had finally come into her reach.

I'm fine with any pronouns.

Good news! Script is fully written, it's several pages long and has brought back my motivation to write this series. Definitely will begin posts again on Saturday, thank you all for your patience! And also, thank everyone for getting this playthrough to 9k views. That's just,,, insane. I don't even know if there are 9k active users on this forum, and that's such a big number for a small little playthrough of two siblings who show up to a snowy mountain.

Chapter 8 - To Stay Perspective of Slate Slate was about to head off with Nibluis, in search of a new hunting ground, when a bright beige nicheling raced over. "Ooo! Visitors! Friends!" She looked between the two nichelings, noticing their strange wings. "What are these?" "Uh-" Nibluis pulled her wing towards her body a bit more. Slate scanned the she. Her fur was sleek and well-maintained, and her eyes gleamed unnaturally happy despite the black color. She looked perfect in every way, despite the basicness of her genes, and her gemstones were a yellow. A Common. The Common looked at the two wonderingly, then blinked and spoke again. "Oh yeah! What are your names? I'm Common." Slate and Nibluis exchanged another glance. What basic of names. Nibluis looked amused, Slate sighing. "I'm Slate. And this is Nibluis." He explained. "Ooooo. Pretty names." Common was very happy about meeting new people, so much so that it scared Slate a little. "Why do you have wings?" "Lucky genes." Nibluis responded. Slate was about to say it was time for the duo to leave, but then they heard a shriek from the darkness. Trickery was fighting off a rogue male, tearing at his chest with her tail. Common raced over to call out to Trickery. Slate jumped forwards, being a fellow male and unbreedable. With a fast slice, he tore into the rogue. Trickery gasped behind him at his skill. The pink rogue body-slammed into Slate, making him fall into a berry bush. The rogue wandered off, and as Slate regained his strength, he saw exactly who the rogue was going after. "Nibluis!" Slate was out of energy, and his friend was the same. Trickery shrieked in fear at the sight of the rogue, looking for a way to safely sting him. But there was no route, and the rogue was creeping closer..

oh yeah forgot about those antenna nichelings are considered gods among the native nichelings. due to the ability to predict the future, they're usually hidden away so that Evils groups can't find them. Most antenna nichelings also leave the island after learning of the 'dangers' from the Evils groups. (added to the main post as well)

Chapter 7 - The Winged Wanderers Perspective of ? Slate scampered through the thick grasses with quiet paws, keeping his awkward bat wing concealed against his side and his three remaining paws guide him through the grasses. When he began to reach the final stretch to the shores, he smelled unfamiliar scents. He went to stop, but tripped over the lack of a root he would use to perch on, over the the grasses onto the shorelines. Now, the root was gone, and it gave way to a large clearing, with new scents lingering in it. A sand-colored nicheling with bat stripes and a strange scorpion tail was stuffing toxic berries into their paws, before turning to spot Slate. "Who are you?" The nicheling spoke of the common language. Slate decided to test them. He stood up, brushing his fur off. He began to speak in his native tongue. "You're new from around here?" The nicheling blinked at him with confusion. Slate turned back to common language. "Definitely new from around here." "I thought you were a diseased wombat for a moment!" the nicheling laughed. "What's your name?" Slate scanned the nicheling. They had a scorpion tail curled calmly around their paws, the dangerous tip concealed. Their paws were equipped for gathering, and their fur was sleek and their form was lithe. But Slate's expression twisted as he saw the nicheling's horns, a sign of an Evil. The nicheling's gems glinted with blue coloring, meaning they were an Evil of Trickery. Their eyes were equally as haunting as he'd expect. "Slate." he tried to keep this tone even. "You?" "Trickery!" the nicheling beamed a bit, unfurling their paw to release a few berries, the toxic seeds torn off. "You hungry?" Pretty simple, Slate thought. "I don't need food at the moment." The nicheling nodded a bit. "Alright." Slate padded past the nicheling, letting out a relieved breath when they were out of earshot. All they had to do was meet up with Nibluis, and the pair could head upstream and avoid this group of Evils. But then, to his horror, he saw his friend standing under a dark-red nicheling. He raced over. "Hold on hold on!" Slate raced over. This nicheling was looking down at Nibluis hauntingly, having horns and the color of green. Sanity. The nicheling turned. Their eyes were blank. "Don't hurt her. She's with me." Nibluis was holding a cluster of broken clams in her open paw. She crept over to Slate. (The following is in the native island language) "Slate! What the heck is happening.. is there a new group of-" "I believe so. And I don't thing they understand Sinash." "Alright. What do we do?" "I guess we could move down a bit..." "But to where? They're sure to follow, you've seen Evils before." "True. We'll think about it on the way." (back to common language) "What are you saying?" The dark-red nicheling talked emotionlessly. "Ahaha don't worry about it. We'll be on our way." Nibluis said awkwardly. But Nibluis and Slate exchanged a glance. They both new what these Evils meant; their island of tranquil peace was about to once again be shattered by the appearance of another Evils group. And the one thing natives hated most were the presence of Evils- these new nichelings would be shredded. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's Note So for some clarification: Sinash is the native tongue for nichelings born on the Isle, who aren't part of Evils groups. Sinash was originally created for natives to speak about Evils without the Evils knowing the language. This is why that first nicheling the group met was hostile; the natives don't usually accept Evils groups. Nibluis's name means 'Nightswim' in Sinash. 'Nib' means Night, 'Luis' means Swim. Slate travelled onto the island as a juvenile, not an Evil group, but kept his original name from before joining. Secondly. What do all the horns mean? No-horns: Common or regular nicheling. Commons are distinguished by their yellow gems. Ram-horns: Child of Evil. You can tell which type by gem color. Savanna-horns: You'll find out eventually. Antlers/megaloceros: All nichelings with antlers or megaloceros are extinct. None of them are native, and no nicheling with either gene has been born on the island for over a thousand years. Antenna: these nichelings are considered gods among the native nichelings. due to the ability to predict the future, they're usually hidden away so that Evils groups can't find them. Most antenna nichelings also leave the island after learning of the 'dangers' from the Evils groups. Lastly. Posting Schedule. I plan on posting in Children of Evil every Sunday from now on.

Announcement Because of how crazy every part of this playthrough has been, I'm going to probably be inactive in posting this for a week or two, to write out plot in advance. There's so many different things I want to get into (The Storm Alliance, Evergreen and Horizon, Ghost's dilemma, etc.) and it's hard to make a consistent and follow-able story when everything in it is spur-of-the-moment. After I get plot sorted, I plan on doing posts every Saturday. Sorry about the wait and everything.

yeah, life is being life.

Chapter 6 - Adulthood Perspective of Outrage A little while after the bearyena encounter, the group had all aged into adults. Outrage was letting out their anger on the grasses (which Common recommended they do, so that they wouldn't attack anyone else, which Outrage wanted to object to but Trickery did make a good point of how they nearly got killed by the bearyena) when their claw hit something. Swiping away the grass, they saw a large, tan-brown rock spiking out of the ground, an unnatural appearance on the calm grasslands. Upon closer inspection, they saw small, yellow-orange shapes moving across the length of the object. And small steps over their paws. Looking down, the yellow things were all over the ground, crawling across Outrage's claws and into their fur. In surprise and anger, Outrage began slamming their claws into the ground, rearing up and shaking wildly. The yellow things raced back towards the brown object, and once Outrage was satisfied, they began to tear at the brown thing. After a long moment, Outrage made a crack in the brown rock. But instantly, red bugs erupted into motion from the crack, climbing onto Outrage's claws. And they began to bite. The bites stung, and Outrage yowled in pain, shoving the top off the rock into the river. Ambition came over. "What are you doing? You look like a bird stuck in berry juice." Ambition turned to inspect the stump of the brown thing. "These little- ow!- red nuisances- keep- ow!- biting me-!" Outrage let out a long growl, backing up, and stumbling into the poisonous berry bush. Rubbing its leaves against the bitten fur, they managed to get off the last of the red bugs. Ambition looked at Outrage in amused surprise. "What did you plan on doing before those things bit you?" Outrage turned to the stump, feeling bursts of heat and anger consume them. They slammed their claws into the top of the opened nest, grabbing handfuls of the red bugs, and crushing them. But the bugs began scattering, and Outrage began to tear at the stump itself. Ambition watched as the brown thing's population was reduced from thousands to tens under their sibling's claws. They didn't look particularly concerned, instead a bit interested. Once Outrage was done, Ambition turned to them. "Do you think I could be as strong as that?" Outrage was still fuming, and let out a strangely emotion-filled huff. "Probably." Outrage walked off into the grasses, returning to their work. But then they looked back. Ambition was at the nest, staring at the remains of the once-plentiful home. They poked at the destruction, their mind clicking into a weird puzzle. Outrage decided to continue into the grass, not giving the rock a second thought. But they could feel Ambition's unnervingly interested gaze linger on them for a bit too long for comfort.

Parting Ways Koi said her goodbyes to the Outsiders. They thanked her for protecting them, promising to repay her, despite her insistence that she didn't need repaying. Fox Heart still looked guilty for what she did to Koi, and kept her distance. (Ignore the bones) And with that, the two groups left each other, wondering when they would reunite. Meanwhile, Ghost was confronting the group of attackers. "Why would you attack the Outsiders? They've done nothing!" "Well.." Finch glanced towards Horizon. "Well!? That's all you have to say!?" "Ghost, let it go." Horizon called out to him. "We've got to return to the camp." Ghost glared at the attackers. "Fine.." Once Ghost had walked out of earshot, Horizon walked towards the attackers. She didn't look pleased with them, but Ghost still felt uneasy about Horizon's involvement. Mind racing, he shivered, scared of the truth, and raced after Evergreen and Koi.

Chapter 5 - Island's Welcoming Perspective of Common Trickery jumped away immediately, following Ambition in their pursuit into unknown grasses. Common ran out, keeping an eye on the entire group, before noticing Outrage race towards the bearyena, glaring and snarling up at it. "Outrage! Come on, you idiot!" Sanity yelled back. Common was surprised that, Sanity, of all nichelings, had yelled out. She watched as Sanity jumped back and grabbed Outrage by the leg, practically dragging them out. Outrage snapped at Sanity, then stopped as they realized the rest of the group running out. "Why don't we try to fight back?" Outrage had picked up the pace. They turned to Ambition. "We can fight it!" "You can. I'd rather stay alive, thankyouverymuch." Common was shocked that Ambition would say such a thing to their sibling, but then something in the grass caught her eye. A blind, orange male was trying to crawl up a stump to get a sight they would never see. Sanity flexed their claw, silently stalking up to the male, looking like an unstoppable thirst was pushing them forwards. "Sir! Run away!" Common called up to him. Ambition and Sanity looked at Common, confused. "There's a bearyena in those grasses." The orange male stumbled away into grasses on the opposite side of Common. Common was happy, while Ambition and Sanity were both a bit disappointed. Common climbed up onto the stump, looking around for any sign of the bearyena. "I think it's gone." She said after a moment. "We can settle here for now, I suppose." Trickery smiled. Then we can have our election. How convenient." Common was happy that her friend wasn't in any more danger, but they had gotten a taste of the Island's Welcoming. And a small bit of her she rushed into the darkness was doubting that the group would be as lucky again.

I have returned :)))