I THINK [joining]

[Owlie]

ALDO

THEREFORE I AM

You are a curious creature. You do not have a brain. You do not have a heartbeat. You do not have nerves. You do not have systems to maintain water. You do not breath- that is, you do not breath how fish do, either. In a sense, you do not feel. You have never felt thoughts or worries, perhaps only a senseless need to survive.

You cannot see. You have light-sensitive organs, little spots. They do not form images but can detect light and let you determine up from down. You are small, unnoticeable, the size of a dime. You glow. You do not know how old you are. Typically, beings like you only live a few hours to several months. In thought, that is a rather unfortunate existence. To only exist for mere hours? Your entire existence is less than a day? What kind of life is that? Is that a life at all?
You are special, however. If you are exposed to environmental stress, physical assault, illness, age, you can revert to the polyp stage, a younger form of yourself. In a sense, you can cheat death. You have lived for a very long time. You are not sure how long.
This raises a new question.

Do you have emotions? Do you live? Do you have a name? Do you have a conscious? Are you just some poisonous thing floating and pulsing without direction or purpose? Can you think? You must be, right? You can ask questions. You can think. You are able to reason.
You don’t understand. What are you? How long have you been existing? You are something in a void of nothing. You are a single cell floating with your colony, in the dark ocean. You want to understand. You want to see. You want to hear. None of this comes to you. Only darkness. You have reverted too many times now. You cannot die. You are pained to an existence of floating with eyes shut, ears deafened, mouth clamped. You use your limbs to push, but not much more.

You stray away from the colony.
You are taken in the currents, your thin form swept up and up- your “eyes” can sense oncoming light. So much light. You’ve never experienced so much light. You cannot hear. It is dry, cold air, blistering sun. You are in pain, flattened, you are washed up on a beach.

This is how you die. There is no water. You cannot revert. You cannot function. You lay there, suffering. So strange. It seems you have the ability to feel pain. You are going to shrivel up and die, right here. No more existing. Maybe it would be better this way. After all, you’ve never really felt what life is. Just existing. Maybe this would be a peaceful send off for you.

Again, you are wrong.
The next minute is filled with a pain like no other. Perhaps, this is your body trying to revert. Your body grows, you sprout a tail, a snout- some brown substance you have never felt or seen before. You have a heartbeat. You have blood. You have a brain. You have ears. You are a giant- a fat giant. You have a pocket in your skin. You have SKIN. You have vocal chords.

This is form entirely different than what you are. It has the capacity to understand what life is.
It does not stay, and you start to scream. Your body is in absolute pain. You gain scales, you flop like a fish, you lose scales, you grow fur, paws- you change, over and over again, and you do not understand. Finally, you settle on a form. You are writhing, whining. You are letting out screams. You have teeth. You have four limbs, stripes, you have a large jaw, you’re the color of the ground.
You try to swim but only kick around sand. You roll onto your side and flail around, trying to swim, trying to push. You manage to roll onto your stomach and flail more, unaware that you can stand. You writhe and squirm, clawing your body back towards the water, trying to push yourself back into the ocean. You want the water, you need the water. It is your only home and your safety. Where was the colony? You need the colony! You push until you are halfway in, and finally dunk your head under, saltwater filling your large mouth and burning your eyes. You pull your head out, beginning to choke and reflexively standing. You stumble, tripping over your own limbs and landing on your shoulder, heaving and spitting. Why had the ocean rejected you? You didn't do anything! You wanted to go back!

You let out a thick cry, eyes turning to the ocean, and whimpering.

// this one will be written in second person for style, all subsequent posts will written in 3rd person. TLR Jellyfish shpaeshifts into Tasmainian Tiger to save its live, is now lying on the shore and is very confused.

© LEXASPERATED

[dovedeparture]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 70%; min-height: 9px; font-family:; line-height: 110%; text-align: justify; padding: 20px"]❥ The ability to sense different things - sight, sound, smell, touch, taste - was a blessing. It opened up the world around oneself; it breathed actual life into everything. Dovedeparture was lucky in that she had never failed in these aspects. What was more was that her senses were heightened. She experienced everything more vividly.

It wasn't all sunshine and roses, however. No, sometimes the sounds were explosive. Her eyes would observe too much. Often, too many different scents assaulted her at once. At times, it felt as though the atoms in the air pressed too tightly against her skin. And food was so full of different tastes that it made her sick. Because of this, she often found herself numbing her abilities so that only sight and sound were amplified.

The sound of a scream ripped her forcefully from her nap among the wildflowers. Her heart felt as though it were going to beat out of her chest, and she took a few breaths to steady herself. She scanned her environment but could not locate the source of the noise.

And then it sounded again. The haunting melody was so pained and confused that it caused Dove to wince. The wildcat supposed she ought to check out what was happening, but seeing as she didn't recognize the voice, she readied herself for the worst. Perhaps this was an attack of some sort.

When the angel reached the creature, puzzlement etched itself onto her delicate features. 'Certainly not an act of war.' She watched it squirm in the sands, as if it had never walked before. The tiger's fur was partially drenched, and she wondered if the odd behavior was a symptom of near-drowning. "Uh... Hey, big guy, are you alright?"

[celestialrobbery]

[table]
[tr][td]

crash and burn

[/td][/tr][/table]
[table][tr][td]

didn't mother warn you?

Celestialrobbery, too, was drawn by the sound of the screams. Of the cries of sheer terror. She'd been wandering around the new territory-- just letting her paws pull her forward in hopes that she'd stumble across the relic she had been so desperately searching for. But that search was interrupted, and soon Celeste found herself running towards the source of the screams.

There was a brief moment where Celeste considered that this might be some sort of trap -- an enemy group using mysterious screams to lure out someone like herself, and she knew she should've gone back to camp and gotten some more help, but the soft heart beat inside her chest. She didn't turn back-- she didn't turn back because someone could be in trouble and if she hesitated it could be too late.

"Dee-! What the hell is going on?" Celeste asked as she scrambled onto the scene, protectively taking place next to her winged companion. After realizing that this creature was no threat, and in fact looked in need of help, the mutated fem ran to the Tasmanian Tiger's side. "Hey, buddy, what's going on? Need help getting up?" She asked, immediately attempting to help him up without waiting for a response.

now she's gonna mourn you!

[/td][/tr][/table]

[Owlie]

ALDO

THEREFORE I AM

The creature's head turned as the first figure approached. Unable to walk, they stumbled and tripped over their own limbs, and trying to squirm and push away. This was not the comforting water, whatsoever. They could not get away! They whined and whimpered, trying to squirm away and shaking his head.

They couldn't feel or express much more- their mind was in a state of panic, in need to escape from this predator. He wanted to swim away but didn't know how. They stared her up down, noticing her legs and how she was up. He had those too. Could he? He saw the other creature coming towards him, and start pushing on him. They screamed and yelped- they didn't want to be touched! The thylacine gripped their paws into the sand, then stood up on shaky legs, as if they had never walked before.

They took tentative steps back, whining and whimpering, looking towards the sea then back at them. The water was no longer safe, then what was? They were scared and gripping with feeling emotions for the first time- they yelped. They wanted to get away and to get back in the water, but they were stuck frozen, standing and shaking.

© LEXASPERATED

[deimos]

A nightmare for some. For others, a savior, I come.

My hands, cold and bleak, it’s the warm hearts they seek.

Being rather absent as soon as he arrived didn't help the lion. Velarin knew none of these people, but the scent clinging to two of them over the third told him as soon as he arrived who to stand near. The large, almost oversized lion, white pelt blaring, stood next to the other two with his hair on end. When he was born, he thought to himself, he had felt that same way. Confused, lost, and hungry- hungry to return to his mothers womb.

His mismatched eyes scanned the writhing and afraid lion. Slowly, carefully, Velarin's ears perked as he laid down. He pressed his ears back, before laying his head down. Velarin's mismatched gaze remained on the being that was trying to flee, but he stayed silent and unmoving. He glanced at the others, then back towards the tiger with a small grunt.

"SPEECH"

template by orion

[idyllfields]

idyllfields

stars did fall

idyll was sympathetic to the confusion the creature faced, but could not understand it. they had not seen the transformations he had gone through, nor were they present to see how they had even ended up it. though it was not uncommon for poor unfortunate souls to wash up on their beaches half-alive, it was concerning still. idyll swallowed hard, their front paw lifting attentively to avoid the mucky parts of the sand. they were close enough to the water where they were... but their oath as a sage still called for them to be here.

"can someone help him to me? i... i would but..." their fear was no secret throughout the typhoon, but these were barely recognizable faces. perhaps some newcomers had slipped past them over the previous few days. "i can check his vitals and perhaps communicate. do you have a name?" they called their last inquiry louder, trying to get his attention.

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[celestialrobbery]

[table]
[tr][td]

crash and burn

[/td][/tr][/table]
[table][tr][td]

didn't mother warn you?

"I'm on it!" Celeste chimed, noticing how the creature drew away from her and deciding to use that to help push them towards Idyll. It was blunt and a bit abrasive, but it would ultimately help the other, she rationalized. Moving behind the Tasmanian Tiger, she tried to push them from behind towards Idyll. "Incoming!"

In all reality, she would've preferred not to get her feet wet. A being of fire and flames, a fallen star she was, did not mix well with the cool touch of water. Still, she knew that she would persist through the discomfort, not only because she had to, but because it was for someone else's sake. Someone needed help, and if she had to be a little uncomfortable in order to lend a hand, she'd do it happily.

// im so sleepy im sorry if this post is incoherent i'll reread and possibly edit in the morning

now she's gonna mourn you!

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[dovedeparture]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 70%; min-height: 9px; font-family:; line-height: 110%; text-align: justify; padding: 20px"]❥ Dovedeparture frown. "Poor thing," she murmured, "he seems so confused. I wonder what happened." Jade eyes studied the creature closely, watching as he trembled and kept looking into the water. Surely, this had to be a case of near-drowning. Perhaps this creature was in shock? That had to be it, right?

As the great lion approached, Dove tried to identify the unfamiliar face but failed. Instead, she smiled sheepishly, wondering if the male thought she and her friend's efforts were fruitless. Choosing to ignore the self-doubt that danced in her mind, she turned back.

And then she heard Idyllicfields. She offered a them a grateful look, relieved to have a healer on standby. At the Sage's inquiry, the angel moved forward, but Celestialrobbery was quicker. "Oh, sunshine, - no - maybe we should -" she tried but was too slow. The lynx's wings moved forward to shield her eyes from the scene that was about to unfold. She could tell this wouldn't go well.

A single emerald eye peaked out from the feathers. "Let me know if I can be of any assistance," she told the eastern coyote.

[Owlie]

ALDO

THEREFORE I AM

These were predators. He didn't know what they were, but they were dangerous to them and he didn't like it. How could they get away? They felt the feline come up behind them, and start urging the thylacine forward. They let out a few barks as the stumbled forward and towards the coyete. They whined and shook their head as they were being corraled away from the ocean, and looked at it as if the thylacine were being pulled away from their home.

Their words were all gibberish to them, nor could the thylacine understand them. If they were in a calmer state, perhaps they could deduce what they were trying to say to them. The thylacine had never come into contact with any amount of language, so speak to others was an unknown concept to him.

Finally pushed towards the coyote, they stood still, a final long whine leaving their throat as their eyes glanced between the coyote and the ocean.

© LEXASPERATED