OPEN you're depraved! // post-eruption survivor regroup

[VALE]

graphic gore ★ genderfluid ★ three eyed crow

Two days after the eruption began, Vale returned. Xe landed on Main Beach and then dragged a net bursting with oversized coconut crabs over volcanic rocks. Only took a hundred meters for Vale to find the entrance to the Descendants of the Departed’s volcanic caves. But Vale wasn’t ready to go underground. Instead, xe placed the squirming crabby net next to a pool of freshwater from the volcano’s mysterious waterflow. Then, xe dropped the net full of crabs into the hot spring.

Vale shapeshifted out of xyr birth body “gotta carry shit” lion-form (because then people would know, at a glance, what xyr assigned sex at birth was, and, ew, gross) and into xyr usual three eyed crow. With a beak click, xe flicked a wing at the hot spring and summoned flames to bring the hot spring to a proper boil.

The water bubbled. The crabs screamed. Haha, even not-sentient animals screamed in death… this was Vale’s favorite part of hunting the stupid buggers.

While the crabs cooked, Vale hopped closer to the cave entrance. A hesitation; Vale preened a wing. When the earthquake and lava flow had first been noticed… well, the inquisitor had flown for a better roost. The others might not have noticed? Everyone was too busy in survival mode… sure, Vale had the right sort of elemental powers to be useful in helping spare the island of lasting volcano damage, but… haha, no, Vale still didn’t feel a lick of guilt over xyr choice.

“HEY! FRIENDS!” Vale cawed. “FOOD! FRESH! CRAB! VOLCANO HAS NO MORE ANGER!”

By now, the crabs had stopped their screaming. And the pool had settled into the proper cooking temperature for those giant coconut crabs. Vale was pretty pleased with xemself for this. Vale hated the taste of coconut crabs. This was a very selfless thing for Vale to do, to help everyone who was probably hungry as fuck from two goddamn days of volcano survival hell! This was a very helpful public service!

“Anyone seen Pharaoh Valerius? Vizier Meteor?” Vale tilted xyr head as the first Descendant approached the feast. “Damn, I really hope I’m not the highest ranked survivor! I am sooooo not down with organizing all the fuckshit required for, like, a post-eruption tropical island home.”

YOU NEVER TRUSTED ME ★

BUT I’M OVER IT NOW

[W]isker

[kole.]

No small surprise that Kole was the first to show. He'd like to say it was because he'd missed Vale; and perhaps there was some truth to that, in some capacity; but, realistically speaking, the chances are Kole had just decided to grace the enigmatic crow with his ever-'delightful' presence because he thought there was something to gain from doing so. In this case, food.

"Vale," he simpered, eyeing the boiling coconut crabs with no small amount of almost feverish hunger. He didn't even eat fresh-kill like that, but even his long-withered stomach was grumbling at the scent of fresh crab in the air. As much as he'd a sip of some warm blood right about now, even Kole wouldn't turn down food in a time of need. "What a surprise to see you. I was beginning to think you'd dropped dead, my darling," he hummed, his slender multi-toned body hunkering down at xyr's side, "and with gifts, no less? How thoughtful."

[METEOR]

METEOR

Meteor’s ears twitched as he heard Vale’s caws. His paws already walked the river’s banks to the cave system; he didn’t have the stamina to rush. Caked in dirt and blood, Meteor looked like he’d suffered the last two days in the fight pit. Fuck, he wished he’d suffered the last two days in the fight pit.

When the lava overflowed and the earthquakes began, Meteor had assigned various teams of elementals to minimize the damage to the island. Of course, Meteor the vizier had done this; Meteor’s father, Valerius was—in Meteor’s view—a narcissistic sadist who forgot one simple problem with gorging on suffering: when you allow catastrophic pain to occur, people die. So who, then, would pay the narcissist their attention tax when everyone ended up dead from Valerius’s incompetency? Meteor hated his father for that. But perhaps that was the difference between a sadistic narcissist and a sadistic psychopath.

Meteor prided himself on efficient sadism. It was Meteor who outlawed the pit fights to the death. Valerius had thought it entertaining to watch Descendants with nothing to prove slaughter each other for pointless posturing. Outsiders, of course, still needed to kill other outsiders to prove themselves as a true Descendant of the Departed… but long gone were the foolish days of bleeding out their ranks for Valerius’s inefficient sadism. Naturally, Meteor's efficiency had kept the group running despite his father's incompetency.

Therefore, when the volcano erupted, Meteor had assigned himself to keep the winds from blowing into the heartland of the forest. Knowing that Valerius’s self-assignment of arrogant stupidity would force his old man to retreat into the forest….

Efficient, then, to protect an important piece of the island’s ecosystem while killing his father.

Meteor arrived at the lip of the pool that Vale’d repurposed for boiling crabs. He blinked at the Vale weirdness, then shrugged, and sighed as he sat near—but not directly next to—Kole and Vale. He flexed his claws and shook out his paws, grimacing at the grime. He’d have to wait for the crabs to finish cooking, for the tasty treats to be pulled out before he could wash out all the blood.

“Clearly, I survived.” A lip curled for a lopsided smirk at Vale. Honestly? Meteor expected the inquisitor to fly out and never return. The fact Vale returned at all and brought much-needed food? Perhaps the shapeshifter wasn’t a complete waste of an inquisitor. 

His gaze skipped over Vale and lingered on Kole. “Good to see you survived, Kole.”

Meteor pulled off his satchel. He unfastened the hatch, then showed the lion skull within to Vale and Kole. The skull had his father’s characteristic sabertooth fangs. And, clearly, tooth and scratch marks, even the brain cavity cracked open and cleaned out… clearly, Meteor had already cannibalized his father, which was sensible given the cataclysmic disaster.

“Pharaoh Valerius is dead. I suppose my first year at leadership will be a trial by fire.” Meteor laughed, but it wasn’t a happy laugh.

[VALE]

graphic gore ★ genderfluid ★ skullfaced white wolf

At hearing xyr name, Vale looked up. Immediately, xyr beak fell to the gray stone.

And the crow’s body contorted. Joints snapped. Black feathers sloughed off to reveal white fur. Before Kole was halfway through his words, Vale had become a skull-faced white wolf. Cackling, xe flopped to the ground.

“Hahaha, I’m glad you’re alive to appreciate my feast!”

Black sludge—smelling of rot, decay, and nothing like how blood should smell—seeped from where the white fur met bone-yellow skull. “Me? Drop dead?! Haha, even if this body should die, my soul’ll slip into another skin.” Vale waved a paw. “It’s happened before, and it is sooo unpleasant!”

When Meteor arrived, though, Vale serious’d. The lion had enough reason to think Vale was a lazy piece of shit, xe didn’t need to hear a lecture about how everyone else put their life on the line to help minimize the damage to the island… or, whatever, ‘cause, like, what did Vale care about this island? If it became inhospitable enough, the cannibals would just migrate to the mainland and eat some fuckers to take their territory, right?

Still… the fact Meteor hadn’t outright told Vale to fuck off or get eaten (haha, who would want to eat Vale and all the gross decay?!) probably meant that xe scored some friendship points by bothering to return with coconut crabs.

Vale’s head tilted as xe listened to Meteor. Then stared at what was obviously Valerius’s skull. Xe clutched a paw to xyr skullface and sighed dramatically. “Ughhhhhhh, Valerius was my second best friend! This is an irreplaceable loss!” Vale’s voice actually cracked at the end. Xe was genuinely upset, though the fleshless skull didn’t communicate emotion.

Xe licked xyr fangs. “Eh, well, you were doing most of the bitchwork for leadership, right?” Xe glanced at Kole, as if expecting the coyote to back xem up on this. “The timing’s fucked, but, eh, maybe Requiem and Vayu were pissed at Big Toof Prometheus? Hopefully the gods are done with their angry shit now!”

YOU NEVER TRUSTED ME ★

BUT I’M OVER IT NOW

[W]isker

[Chernabog]

Chernabog descended upon great dark wings, with a slight gust coming from each wingbeat. Her wings were still sore, as a consequence of both getting fiery rocks pelted on her and taking time to create scorch lines along the volcanic base. Her lungs were still rattled by the smoke, even two days after the eruption. She came to land just as she heard Meteor.

"Valerius is dead?"  Her voice was a calm thunder, as she landed near the hot spring. Her golden gaze moved from Meteor, to Kole, and then to Vale. Her expression remained that stony scowl as she looked at the boiling crabs. Nothing like a post-disaster crab boil to ease the tension.

[w]isker

 

[w]isker

[kole.]

Flesh sloughed grotesquely from Vale's frame, landing with a wretched 'slop' on the ground beneath them as the three-eyed crow changed shape, and before long, it was an alabaster wolf with a skull for a head; flesh nowhere to be seen; that stood before him. He paused, blinking dimly in response to the vale weirdness, as Meteor had so aptly put it, and decided not to question what he'd just seen. As far as Kole was concerned, it was best not to question just about everything where the flamboyant inquisitor was involved, lest the answer be too strange or grotesque for even Kole's mind to comprehend.

And, before he could get a word in edgewise, the man himself appeared; or lion, Kole supposed. He turned his head to the side, eyeing the celestial-pelted feline, and did not miss as he was eyed in return. Aw, shucks! He was going to start blushing if he was left alone with these two for too long. 

But apparently there was no time for blushing, either.

The flap of Meteor's satchel fell open, and Kole promptly decided it was just best if he didn't speak at all, at this point. Too much was happening for him to put into words just how insane all of this was; but, well, they were cannibals, they were bound to be a little crazy. Clearly, given the cannibalised head of Meteor's father sitting in the aforementioned's satchel. He stared at it, lifting a paw to scratch lazily behind his ear, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

Chernabog promptly arrived, and Kole was starting to think there were just too many extras milling about, at this point. Not that he'd ever say that to any of the three in front of him; he'd like to keep his soul in this body. He rather liked this one, even if it wasn't an oversized nature dragon, like his last body had been. Woe is he, hm? He grunted in vague dissatisfaction as the beating of Chernabog's wings skewed his neat, surprisingly clean fur, and decided maybe now was a good time to finally open his damn mouth again. "That's a shame, " Kole drawled, rolling over onto his back, his tail wagging lazily, "but then, anybody could see Meteor would be a better leader than old man Valerius anyway. At least now we've got a competent Pharoah to get us through this... Mess," he finished off with a vague gesture to... Everywhere.

[METEOR]

METEOR

Hearing Chernabog’s descent, Meteor glanced up to watch the dragoness land near the hot spring. He trusted her flight skills, but, with everyone exhausted after the natural disaster, the lion preferred caution. However, Chernabog landed elegantly and he didn’t need to move to avoid her talons.

At her question, Meteor grimaced and nodded once. “Indeed, Valerius is dead. He died valiantly, attempting to save the forest closest to Mnt Halelevu.” A pause, as the lion glanced at the boiling crabs. “If Vale didn’t bring enough coconut crabs for all of you, I can forgo this meal. I already cannibalized my father.”

Then Meteor’s golden eyes slid to the shapeshifter. Out of everyone under Meteor’s command, Meteor found it most difficult to predict Vale. He’d expected Vale to flee and never return, but here the inquisitor was with a crab feast and a gesture of… loyalty.

Meteor wasn’t an idiot. He knew Vale, Kole, and Chernabog would follow him because it was in each of their best interests. Even with Valerius’s inefficiencies and selfishness, he remained in power because of that simple fact. Meteor planned on staying in power that way, too, but with less sadistic egomania. By Requiem and Vayu, out of all four animals circling the hot springs, Meteor was the only one born on this island. If Valerius hadn’t been so amused by watching Descendants kill each other in the pits, would the dead’ve been useful minimizing the damage of the eruption? Would those dead Descendants be useful when the cannibals would, inevitably, have to raid supplies?

The lion sighed and rolled his shoulder, and then settled on the black sands. His front paws tucked under his body while his rear hooves splayed to the left.

Meteor nodded with a snort of agreement to Vale. “If the inquisitor says Valerius’s death to the volcano might’ve appeased Requiem and Vayu, who am I to argue?”

He glanced between Vale and Kole. “I appreciate your confidence in my leadership. I intend to be a Pharaoh worth following.”

However, Meteor knew Vale and Kole would disappear the moment things became unfavorable for them. But that was the way of things. Leadership was not owed. Leadership was a cultivated skill. If Vale and Kole left the Descendants of the Departed, then Meteor would only have himself to blame. Meteor chuckled, and then that sound quieted into a smirk.

His golden gaze lingered on Kole. His expression shifted to contemplative, and he licked his teeth. “You have certain… dietary restrictions, don’t you? That is unfortunate. If you wish, we can discuss this later.”

[VALE]

graphic gore ★ genderfluid ★ three eyed crow

Vale looked up—all seven neck vertebrae pop-pop-popped!—as Chernabog flew in and landed. The wolf’s tail wagged in greeting, because, fuck yeah, xyr bestest best friend survived! Out of everyone, Vale had the most confidence in Chernabog surviving. A wyvern with fire breath versus a volcano? Personally, Vale doubted would’ve benefited from xyr help with handling the volcano’s lava. A tiny little crow like Vale would’ve only gotten in the way!

“Hell yeah, Cherna, you’re just in time for the crabs!”

Vale ducked xyr head and attempted to nudge the crown of xyr skull against Kole’s shoulder as thanks for backing xem up. Then xe rolled to xyr paws and trotted to the lip of the hot spring. A tail of rope was coiled outside the boiling water; all Vale had to do was tug to drag out the crabs. Exactly what you’d expect a clever crow to plan for a “thanks for handling the volcano while I was gone guys” feast!

Xe chomped the rope and dragged the crabs out. Thankfully, the water buoyancy helped, so xe didn’t have to expend any energy shapeshifting into a larger, stronger body. When the whole net was dragged out, Vale pulled the slipknot, and a few of the boiled coconut crabs slipped out of the net’s opening.

“Haha, food for friends! Hahaha!” While Vale cackled, xe shook out xyr fur. The wolf shrunk back down to a three eyed crow, then hopped next over to Chernabog. “If you would, Cherna, my bestie, could you chomp a crab open for me?”

YOU NEVER TRUSTED ME ★

BUT I’M OVER IT NOW

[W]isker

[Chernabog]

Chernabog gave Vale an ugly grin, relishing in the fact that her favorite little menace had returned. She spared Kole a passing glance, almost in amusement. But she sat neatly like a great feline. A giant, draconic, fire-breathing feline. Her grin dropped to a simple smiling scowl as she looked at Meteor. "A shame. Old man was entertaining at best."

"I'm sure you'll surpass the old bastard in every way," She crooned, eyeing the lion skull Meteor had showed. Her attention was diverted to Vale hopping over to her. She reached with her mighty, 6-digit talons, and grabbed one of the coconut crabs. Hefty bastards. "Of course, my favorite menace."

She held the boiled crab to her nose, savoring the smell as she used the horn that stabbed forward from her nose to crack open the shell at the weak points. It took everything in her not to just eat the damn thing right in front of Vale. She used her teeth to open the shell a bit more, exposing the meat before she set it down for Vale and grabbed another to crack open for herself. 

[w]isker

[Rhode]

RHODE ANTHOS

"Crab boil. Hell yeah." With this, the sabertooth tiger too would make her presence known to the rest of the Descendants congregated on the black beaches. Those who had been around the feline had likely witnessed her demeanor plummet into that of constant irritability since the eruptions began. She was a creature of routine, and some goddamn volcanic stirrings to shake up the whole clan were the very last things she needed. Today, though, Rhode seemed to be returning back to her usual self as the waters calmed. It certainly, certainly, had nothing to do with the scrumptious scent of boiled coconut crab wafting across the shores.

Of course, she was more than capable of securing her own meal if she needed it, and she liked the challenge that the coconut crabs prompted. They were rather tough to catch when she first made her home on the island. She could vividly recall the days of attempting to crack open a fat crab on the beach, only to get pinched and assaulted by the quite ferocious crustacean. By now she had mastered the technique, having spent quite some time living with the Descendants.

Still, she could always appreciate someone else's cooking. "Good looks, Birdbrain," Rhode mused to Vale, nodding her head towards the three-eyed crow as she made her way over. She never really saw xem as the giving type, so this was a pleasant surprise for sure. The tiger pawed a piping-hot crab over towards her, letting the warm steam kiss her face as she cracked the now-soft shell open. Still a bit hot, so maybe it was worth waiting for a bit.

Rhode listened to the others chat for now. Their previous Pharaoh, Valerius, had unfortunately succumbed to the volcano, it seemed. Fortunately, they were able to reap his body's natural resources, as made evident by Meteor's cannibalization of his own father.

...Yeah. Weird pack of folk for sure. She had swallowed many of her morals since joining the Descendants, a sacrifice she felt was ultimately a good decision. As different as they were from her and her upbringing, they were undeniably a strong group and knew what it took to survive, both on the island and in this harsh world as a whole. Regardless, if she was going to fight on their turf, she was going to have to play by their rules in and out of the pits. With that being said, she didn't look down upon their cannibalistic tendencies (not nearly as much anymore, at least), but there was definitely a bit of internal side-eye lingering deep down.

She did have plenty of respect for Meteor. The lion knew the island like the back of his own paw, and being the former Pharaoh's son definitely gave him a leg up on the competition for the throne anyway. Valerius ran a mean pit fighting scene that originally enticed Rhode, but Meteor seemed less likely to turn his own clanmates into cannon fodder. He was a better choice for her long-term presence here. "So, Pharaoh — what's the play for us from here on out?" She figured that restoring the natural balance of the island was priority number one for the Descendants right now, but she was curious if he had any other plans in store for them.

Rhode glanced down upon her portion of coconut crab and finally used her massive paws to split the shell open, revealing the juicy, buttery meat that made her salivate near instantly. She spared the bugger no mercy even in death as she wolfed down her meal in pieces. Delicious!