The Camp Grounds [Ore]

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Nenadair would have been shaking in his boots if he'd had any on, and as it was an involuntary shudder went form the tip of his neck all the way down his spine at the very thought having a 'replica' design to fit him. Wanting to be out of sight form the terrifying Gremlick, he slunk into the medical tent and leaned up against a pole trying to stay out of the way. Hearing shouts from one of the medics in a sandy cape, he asked wildly over the confusion, trying to help with the various ingredients that were needed: "What is a Day ose exmak? And 'in a' what?"

Something had happened.
Yes, something was happening all over the world. Something had happened when his father had died. That something was abandonment. He was confused, lost, and so when the offer had come to join a cause, to join what seemed like a family with a purpose on paper, nothing could have been more attractive. He had needed belonging, and accepted whatever he could have.
But now, as he padded into the camps with nothing but the fur on his back and the black-as-coal mane around his neck, he was beginning to wonder how he could have ever wished for this sort of belonging, even in the most desperate of times.
Pets of all shapes and sizes pushed past him, some of his own kind, some so strange and obtuse that he felt a slight concern for their well being. It was his opinion that no creature could be so green and possibly be healthy.
But as he studied the crowd, they all seemed to be going in the same general direction, so, confused as he was, he followed them.

Soon after, he found himself inside a tent of some sort. It reeked of blood and irreparable injuries of all sorts, but he knew that he would be able to find answers here.
So there he sat in a corner, out of the way, searching for someone to help him.

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Upset that no one had responded to his enquiries, the royal prince slunk once again to the corner he had been in before. Startled, he realized that someone was already occupying it's shadows. There sat a Shadow Leo, one who had not been there before. Nenadair has mistaken his snowy-white paws to be mere bandage rolls, at first, till he saw the glint of the leo's eyes from the lamplight inside the tent. "Oh.. I..." stammered the Aquas, not sure if the stranger would mind if he also inahabitted the quieter area of the bustling tent.

Alone or not, it wasn't difficult for him to interpret what it was that the other being wanted. He moved to the side a few feet to allow him room, and smiled politely at him.
"I'm sorry. Am I in your spot? I realize that I've moved, but if you need me to move further, I will happily do so," he said. His voice was a soft, musical, and strangely charismatic tone that didn't quite befit his state of affairs.
He shuffled around for a moment, inspecting his pure-white pads and frowning at the mud that had begun to collect on them. He would most definitely have to clean himself when he had collected information.
"Erm," he said gently, not wanting to bother the Aquas any more than he already had, "Where are we supposed to be, if you don't mind my asking?"

Refocusing on the spluttering Yaktooo, Rav concentrated trying to understand if he was having a seizure or what. When it occurred to him that Yaktooo was alarmed, Rav reveled at having the upper hand. Taking out his discomfort on the unfortunate Yaktooo, he continued to berate him. "Miserable insect, without the intelligence to even understand the simplest law of physics." He advanced a couple of steps, his metal parts clicking and whirring with every movement, but he stopped before coming too close. He gloated from the authority he received from terrorizing the vortailer.

With a smirk he looked at those around him and spread his claws, demonstrating all their mechanical splendor. Smoothly the gleaming metal flexed, extremely lifelike and precise. Each tiny piece tightly interlocked with every other, and the springs and pistons pulled and pushed like muscles. "Yessss, fine engineering like no other." He whispered with glee, never losing his fascination for the mechanisms he had fused with himself. The gleaming apparatus would not wear like the puny flesh of mortals, and he demonstrated all their excellent maneuverability by extending, twisting, and clenching every joint. *Artificial, and so superior from the original. Surely a creature like I, who could create such magnificence, is also far superior to all these fools who can’t understand the basic principles of mechanics.* Still, he was not ready to relax his guard. He couldn't trust the ignorance of those around him.

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Corran inclined his head slightly, gesturing that she was right about it's ingredients, "I don't buy my medicines, I make them." with that, he turned to the rather annoying gremlick, he really didn't agree with the new age ways of medicines, herbs and potions were much more effective. Of course, many didn't realize that. "Feel better?" Corran asked the illuminare that was grabbing for the cup from the gremlick. Knowing she would feel much better with the full dosage, he quickly grabbed it from the gremlick and handed it to her.

Hajeed sighed and shook his head, giving Tsumi the pain killer. He walked over to the medic that was attempting to give the captain an injection. He whispered something to the medic. The medic nodded, and pretened to be trying to give the captain an injection whilst Hajeed crept behind the captain and injected him with a strong anasthetic in the back of the throat.

Yaktooo's panic climaxed as the hunkering Gremlick stepped forward towards him and spoke to him. The sound of the machine parts (along with his own racing heartbeat) seemed deafening, for the fear made him ultra-sensitive. The Gremlick wasn't particularly tall, compared to say a Rypher, but he still towered over Yaktooo.

He tore his eyes away from the Gremlick for a split second to look for Nenadair and Kairi and was horrified to find that they were gone already. Even though there were still some spectators that hadn't dispersed yet, Yaktooo felt very alone suddenly, at the mercy of Rav. The Gremlick extended his mechanical arms and flexed them in what looked like a threat display.

Yaktooo hissed and his arched tail whipped forward in the blink of an eye, aiming his stinger at the Gremlick's fleshy shin. The Gremlick had stopped walking towards Yaktooo just barely out of his range. Yaktooo didn't bother to stop and see if his strike hit its mark, though he probably fell short. He turned and bolted away, his eight legs working as fast as they could to propel him. He scrambled over the feet of other Zetapets in the camp, not caring if he startled anyone. He didn't know where he was going, he just wanted to put as much distance as he could between him and the 'monster.'

Eventually after what seemed like minutes but was really only a dozen or two seconds, he made it to the far edge of the camp. He wanted to keep running but he knew he was safe now and slowly forced his legs to stop carrying him forward. His heart slowed and his tail relaxed. He collapsed on a rockbed, legs splayed out as before and hissed out a sigh.

The fear faded ever so slowly, being replaced with a strange emotion he rarely ever felt: regret.

I should have stayed in the tent and listened to Lady Kairi's sob story.

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After waiting a couple minutes, Kairi got bored of waiting for her tent mates so she went around the camp, looking for either Nenadair or for Yaktooo. She then stumbled upon the medic tent and went inside. Many doctors where scrambling about, looking for needles and such to give to their wounded patients to help them heal. Eventually, Kairi found Nenadair, sitting in a corner, talking to a Shadow Leo, and silently went to join them, because she couldn't think of anything else to do.

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Taken completely by surprise, Yaktooo's strike just barely nicked Rav's skin. He was still too stunned to pursue the fleeing figure and Yaktooo did not slow until he was completely safe. Realizing that his scapegoat was gone, and his audience had all but dispersed, his authority wilted to a sulk.

That's when the jabbing pain flared up. It was only his lower calf, but it was scalding. A yelp was all he could manage as tried think of some way to alleviate the pain, panting from the burning prick. Fortunately, it lessened before long, as there was less than a half of a drop, but he had been thoroughly thwarted. Finally, like a puppy with its tail between its legs, he slunk off, morosely limping to a place where he could suffer alone.

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Jocu wound his way among the crowds, his eyes brightly examining everything around him. He chuckled lightly at a zetian who had stumbled and dropped their belongings, but he never stopped moving. Not only was he avoiding notice, but he was exploring the entire camp. Eagerly noting tent after tent and organizing the camp's layout and points of interest in his mind.

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Perhaps he'd been more rude than he realized when he took the other being's spot. That was the only reason he could think of when the question of why he wasn't getting a response. His dark eyes glanced around the hospital room for a moment before he stood and paced out, his tail swinging just slightly behind him.
He left the medical tent feeling even less welcome than he had before. He needed time to think. Already he was sick of the strangely deformed creatures that he'd never met before. He was tired of the cold manner he was regarded with, as if he wasn't the son of his father, the alpha and king of his pride, but simply another one of them. Most of all, he was exhausted in what was beginning to feel like a constant confusion.
He laid down in the grass when he'd found an uninhabited spot and began to lick his paws. His father, like him, had a pure black coat and similar colored mane, but his mother was the one with the dark eyes and nearly-albino paws and fur. Though they were a blessing, in muddy situations like this, they were also a curse. He made a face as the grit from the dirt scratched down his throat like sand paper.
Oh, yes. There were definitely some downfalls in being a Leo.

As he was adjusting his position to lick his other paw, he happened to glance up just in time to notice another one of those creatures that looked so bizarre that he once again felt himself worry.
This time, though, this one looked as if it really was unwell. The odd cogs and what-have-yous aside, he found himself more than concerned and all but rose to his feet as he said in his soft and silky, yet still charismatic voice, "I'm no medic, but you look as if you need some assistance. Is there anything I may do for you?"

Kairi, noticing that the Leo left and said nothing such as a hi, or so, Kairi waited to see if Nenadair would talk to her... or not.

Already hurt, and with bruised pride moreover, Rav just wanted to have the comfort of solitude and his gadgets. He tried to find the most reclusive corner of the encampment to brood and construct elaborate fancies of vengeance. *I'll capture him, and then I'll take his stupid gems, and then I'll hurt him, and then I'll kill him, and then I'll see how he works inside, and then I'll build a mechanical vortailer, and then everyone will see it's so much better than that witless little monster, and then I'll build another and then I'll....* Much to his ill luck, where he wandered the one quiet area that was already inhabited, but it was the closest and he saw no others in the immediate vicinity so he had to settle for it nonetheless.

He headed for it, with the vain hope that the shadow leo would spook like the rest had, once the feline got a good enough look. As he approached, he came to realize the sleek coal form was a lot more imposing than he had thought at first. Just as he was about to veer and leave for a safer recluse, the leo spoke, "I'm no medic, but you look as if you need some assistance. Is there anything I may do for you?" Its words were harmless enough, but it may have been a pretense. Guardedly he considered the possibilities. It might be luring him in, only to threaten his life in exchange for his knowledge of the finer arts. *Still, I can't leave lest I offend him, he's too dangerous to get on his bad side..... I'll have to risk it.* He replied, trying to sound confident but only managing to sound arrogant, "As you must have noticed, I'm perfectly capable of managing without any - " A shot of pain laced up his thigh and he cringed, his real hands automatically reaching for the throbbing ankle. He took a ragged breath, and still crouched protectively he looked up at the leo, anxiety mirrored in his eyes.

Fear, because of his now obvious position of vulnerability, made him swiftly calculate whether he should bluster and threaten to lash out if the leo came too close, or try and beg mercy. Choosing the latter because he could always resort to the former, he whined, "I'm just a runt of a gremlick, I'm not hurting you, leave me 'lone, I'll show you a time keeper that I almost finished, I'll even give you a little device that I made if you let me be...." he wheedled.

*If I have to I might be able to part with one of my simplest works, but I'll find a way to escape his clutches before then, I'll never let a simpleton get a hold of my special creations!* He was still pathetically defiant.

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