three cheers for the croc in you

[ROSEMARY]

[align=center]

THERE’S VACANCY IN EVERY NIGHTMARE

Eri the saltwater crocodile squatted on the beach, half-buried in the sand. Each wave rolled over his head, an inch away from submerging his nose, but the reptile never moved. He’d been there for hours, since the tide’d been low and the water far away from his tail, and the strange sight of a piebald croc had attached a gaggle of bettas.

One held a branch in his mouth. He poked Eri over and over, giggling with the rest of the gaggle. Eri stared at them, but remained immobile.

A chunk of ice lobbed from the treeline, smacking on the antagonizer’s head. He squealed, dropped the stick, and rubbed his head with a paw. “The heck–?”

“That’s my pet, you moronic imbecile. It’s a miracle you haven’t been eaten already. How did you survive to this age?” Rosemary’s monotone voice added a strange twist to her venomous words. She stared at the children, one eye for the four of them. “Do you know what Eri is? He’s a saltwater crocodile. They’re the largest species of crocodile in the world. If he wanted, he could eat all of you and still have room for another snack.”

The children inched backwards. One bumped his butt into another’s shoulder. Yet another turned around, tripping on his own paws. The leader’s mouth moved, soundless but rhythmic like a fish.

“And you know what Eri is? He’s my emotional support animal. My precious pet to help regulate my emotional volatility, because I’m moody.” Rosemary’s four eyes narrowed at once, and her forked tail lashed angrily behind her. Her voice never rose above normal speaking volume. “Do you know what a witch does when she’s moody and her anchor isn’t available?”

At this point, the entire group turned around and sprinted off. The leader grabbed the slowest by the scruff and half dragged him along, like the two were some fucked up spider with two conjoined abdomens with eight legs between the two.

Rosemary sighed, her tail lashing repeatedly until the lash became nothing but a twitch. Reaching down, she scratched Eri atop his head. “If you were sapient, you wouldn’t be anything like that, would you?”

Eri made no reply, but squinted up his eyes and half-opened his mouth. Rosemary smiled down at him and scritched. He had the right attitude, to move on so easily after such a trivial annoyance, and she’d follow his wisdom.

[sub][W]isker[/sub]

[trojan g.]

[align=center][div style="bgcolor= black; width: 45%; font-family: times new roman;font-size:13px;text-align:justify;opacity: 0.7;text-indent: 30px;"]Torsten liked to run around on the beach, collecting stones and other things that reminded him of turtles and tortoises. They were his favorite animal - something that he would tell anyone who asked, very proudly in fact - and he hoped to one day find a shell of one, long forgotten and sitting there, so he could put flowers in it, or even his stones and shells. One day.

Today the thing that reminded him of his favorite creatures was that of Eri, due to the color of the saltwater crocodile, and the skin that looked so much like a turtle. He sort of saw the scene that had unfolded moments before, but the small child had paid no attention to it. He wasn't in trouble, so there was no need to know what had happened, it didn't pertain to him, so he'd mind his own business for the most part. "Hi aunty Rosema!" The boy would speak out, unable to fully say the mutated felines name, so sticking with his own pronunciation for the time being. "Can I pet the long turtle?" He had no idea what Eri was, so he was a long turtle with no shell for now.

[bubblegum]

DEAR FRIEND as you know,  your flowers are withering
your mother's gone insane, your leaves have drifted away.
but the clouds are clearing up
and i've come reveling, burning incandescently,
like a bastard on the burning sea.

YOU'RE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER,
BURIED DEEP UNDER THE WATER.

After making the small decision that she may be a bit more laid-back and soak in the peace of things at the moment, the female had been flying atop the trees in the jungle, picking from various fruit trees she comes across and carrying them in a small basket. What she was going to use them for, she's not quite sure yet, but she's sure she'd figure something out that she could share with her crewmates. As she's finishing up, the female lands just outside of the edge of the rainforests, folding over her wings and shaking herself. She spots her aunt and cousin not so far away, along with a group of children running from the direction like they'd just witnessed a murder. Her ears are perked, curiosity growing.

The female approaches with her head held high, basket held around her neck. "What was all that 'bout?" the female would question Rosemary, gesturing to where the betas had run off to. It was not necessarily the craziest idea to think that maybe the female had spooked them off by her own fruition, seeing as her reputation as a skilled witch, and with how introverted she was. Still, the tigress thought it would be amusing to hear the full story, if she offered it.

[roan ;]

SOOTHSAYER ❝ ROAN ❞ THE TYPHOON

Roan knew a little something about onlookers being curious about a companion crocodile, although he hadn't had Galaga for nearly as long as Rosemary had Eri. Galaga had only recently hatched, one of the offspring from his mother's croc, Kal. He had grown up with Kal both at his side and at Roxie's, so he had been enthusiastic when given the opportunity to take care of Galaga. The young crocodile could certainly be a handful when the opportunity struck – he had taken to chewing on freshly picked herbs, and making his beeping noise even more often as of late – but the soothsayer still loved him. He took Galaga with him practically everywhere, including when he went to go on hunts for new herbs, even though it usually meant he had to let the other ride around on his back. It was easy for Galaga to get lost in the thick brush of the jungle, so it was just more simple for him to rest on Roan's back, or ride around in his bag. The feline usually didn't mind it, as long as Galaga didn't go for the herbs as a snack while he was riding around.

Today was one of those days where Roan had Galaga accompanying him, the tiny crop poking his piebald head out from the flap of the medic's herb bag. Each step jostled him slightly, although he only occasionally let out a beep of annoyance as he held on tighter. The zombified soothsayer was humming softly beneath his breath as he padded along, blue eyes scanning around for anything for him to pick. When he heard frightened shouting in the distance, he turned his head curiously, spotting Rosemary in the distance, shooing off a bunch of kids and even dragging one forward. Snorting softly, Roan gently nudged Galaga deeper into his bag, just so that the consistent beeping wouldn't interrupt any conversation. He then made his way over to where Rosemary and Eri were, as well as Torsten and Goldenluxury. The tired feline let out a little mrr in greeting to the both of them, before he questioned Rosemary, "Hey, aunt Rosemary. Do you think those kids you just sent away are ever going to get near you again? I'm gonna bet on no." Meanwhile, as Roan was speaking, Galaga began to wriggle around in the medic's bag, eventually managing to crawl out and onto the sand. The hatcling then enthusiastically stumbled over to Eri, letting out his usual beeping noise the entire way over.

DON'T ASK FOR HELP, YOU'RE ALL ALONE
YOU'LL HAVE TO ANSWER TO YOUR OWN PRESSURE!

— Reggan

[ROXANNE R.]

me dejaste, me dejaste en un tango

Roxanne could recall the time when Kalayavan had brought back a few crocodile hatchlings back to the Typhoon and how everyone had been eager to get one of their own. It was nice seeing Eri around and how big he had gotten after all this time, her own companion usually hanging around the shore letting the oceans water lap at his legs. He was the biggest salt water crocodile she had seen or ever raised for that matter, Kal meant a lot to Roxie. And she was certain that the same applied to Rosemary on how she felt about Eri, a soft sigh would escape her maw as she would walk over with both of her ears perked forward offering a smile to all of those there.

Galaga seemed to be active too with the constant chirping, it was cute. She lashed her tail to the sides only to finally speak with a nod of her head "Hello there, loves." She had noticed the gaggle of betas that had fled the scene, she glanced over to her sister with a small grin on her maw "Scaring the betas again, Rosie?"

EN EL ALMA SE ME FUE, SE ME FUE EL CORAZÓN
YA NO TENGO GANAS DE VIVIR, PORQUE NO TE PUEDO CONVENCER
QUE NO TE VENDAS, ROXANNE

— Reggan

[ROSEMARY]

[align=center]

THERE’S VACANCY IN EVERY NIGHTMARE

Rosemary, unsurprised all the commotion attracted others, looked to her family as the four dropped in. One by one, she nodded to them, and scritched Eri’s head. The saltwater croc scrunched his eyes in contentment, and Rosemary felt the adrenaline drain out of her paws into the sand.

“Good morning, Torsten,” she greeted her turtle-obsessed nephew. The right corner of her maw twitched up—he’d really amused her, to cut through her muted expression—at his ‘classification’ of Eri. “You may; Eri likes the ridge of his spine or between his yes, like this. But if you see anything that looks like him out on your own, you shouldn’t pet them. Saltwater crocodiles aren’t usually as sweet as Eri.”

When Goldie came over, she nodded to the winged tigress, her smaller eyes flicking to the fruits. “Ah, just some bettas poking Eri with a stick. I don’t think he minded much, but I minded. So I scared them a tad.” For Rosemary’s standards, that was quite a simple scare. She didn’t even telekinetically jab them with their own stick in revenge!

After tilting her head, she nodded over to Rosanne and Roan. “Oh, I try not to make a habit of scaring the bettas… but sometimes I indulge myself. I’m sure, once they’ve worked themself up with brave talk about surviving their encounter with a real witch, they’ll be back.”

Her tail swished as she added, “Ah, Roxie, your son seems like he’ll become a reptile handler like yourself one of these days. Though, in his case, maybe he’ll have a giant sea turtle companion?”

She watched Roan’s little hatchling escape, joining the statue like Eri. Rosemary’s ear twitched in annoyance over the thing’s dreadful beeping; she had no idea how Roan could stand it. Thankfully, Eri was the quietest pet in the world, and she rarely dealt with strange noises. “Does Galaga ever… stop? If I lived with that, I think I’d end up as insane as the tales the bettas spin.”

[sub][W]isker[/sub]

[roan ;]

SOOTHSAYER ❝ ROAN ❞ THE TYPHOON

Truthfully, Roan rarely ever noticed Galaga's beeping anymore, as strange as that sounded to outsiders. The soothsayer didn't make a habit of bringing the hatchling with him everywhere, so not everyone got to meet Galaga in the first place. However, when they did end up meeting his little reptile companion, their first question would often be how he could handle the little one's constant noise. The medic would often give them a strange look at that, mainly because he had always found Galaga's beeping rather pleasant. This was mainly because Roan was used to a steady and constant stream of anxiety and a sense of responsibility running through him, something that always seemed to generate an unpleasant noisy mind for him. Galaga's beeping, by comparison, was a pleasant constant. It was a rhythmic and present reminder of where he was, and what he should be focusing on. When the tabby began to feel as though he was slipping too far into his own mind, Galaga's beeping would serve to ground him. However, explaining that felt a bit too heavy for such a seemingly calm and fun encounter, so he found himself just muttering, "...He doesn't really stop much, but I don't mind. I've honestly just become used to it, and it doesn't really register anymore." Shifting a little, he then reached out a paw to drag along Galaga's spine, the hatchling pausing in his beeping for a moment to appreciate the affection.

Feeling himself doing that whole inside his own mind thing again, Roan hastily shook his head, muttering as he gave a bit of a forced laugh, "Anyways, you'd better be careful with spooking the young ones, Rosemary. I don't want you to end up in the temple because a bunch of betas decided to band together to take you on." He doubted that such a "beta revolution" would end up happening, but the thought of it was pretty entertaining. A bunch of mere apprentices, banding together to take on the "witch" of The Typhoon. He had never really appreciated that description of his aunt, but he couldn't complain about it too much, considering Rosemary referred to herself as a witch on occasion. He supposed it really depended on the context, or the connotation of it.

DON'T ASK FOR HELP, YOU'RE ALL ALONE
YOU'LL HAVE TO ANSWER TO YOUR OWN PRESSURE!

— Reggan