Roleplay:Poacher's Intrigue

Plot
Mobius is home to an immense variety of fauna, many of whom have supernatural properties, such as Elemental manipulation. However, in the wild, there is no such thing as complete safety, and many of these creatures fall prey to an unnatural threat; poachers.

Hunting is not an uncommon practice on Mobius; meat and pelts are valuable, especially to those who live outside of cities and towns. But poachers take things an illegal step further and typically target vulnerable species, killing them either for sport or for monetary gain. They may even capture live specimens and sell them for money. Quite a few species on Mobius have become endangered or close to it thanks to the works of poachers.

Things are not all grim, however; there are many conservationists who have tirelessly fought back against poachers, and have managed to thwart some of their efforts. Unfortunately, there may be a rise in more powerful groups of poachers...

Rules

 * 1) Stick to the plot. Do not alter it to revolve around your character, do not change it drastically, etc.
 * 2) No Godmodding. You should all know what this means; no auto-hitting, no random attacks, no constant avoidance of damage, etc
 * 3) No Trolling.
 * 4) No picking random fights with others.
 * 5) Do not just randomly jump into a scene. Either ask, or build up your arrival accordingly (I.E "Suddenly, such and such and such" or "Meanwhile, somewhere else blah blah blah")
 * 6) No hogging all the glory.
 * 7) No controlling other users' characters without their permission.
 * 8) Put effort in your posts. I mean it; none of this "Person: Shadow Ball! *uses Shadow Ball*" crap.
 * Acceptable method: (Person: Shadow Ball! *charges up a concentrated ball of shadow energy, and then fires it at Person 2*)
 * Preferred method: ("Shadow Ball!" Person yelled. Cupping his hands in front of him, he began charging up a concentrated ball of pure shadows. After a few seconds he threw the ball at Person 2.)

Current Participants
''Moderators are the peacekeepers of the RP (their names are in green). Listen to them if they tell you that you broke a rule, and don't throw a hissy pissy fit if they give out constructive criticism on how you RP. Only people that I (Ryushusupercat) absolutely trust get to be moderators.''
 * green - RP Owner/Moderator
 * Strikes: 0


 * Saren
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 * Dingu
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 * Lunari
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 * Scorp
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 * PAS
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 * AwsomeSONICfan
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 * Ven
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 * Xoph
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Banned Users
None so far. Let's keep it that way.

Heroes

 * T.S.E.P - Played by Ryu and anyone else who owns a character that is a member of this group. A small, nonprofit organization that focuses on environmental concerns.
 * Saren Arcturias - Played by Saren. Not much of a hero, more of an asshole, but still has some interests in keeping poaching down.
 * Rowan the Squirrel - Played by Ryu. A zoologist who is staunchly against poaching.
 * Conner the Squirrel - Played by Ryu.
 * Oak the Mink - Played by Frost. Son of Rowan the Squirrel, he is a typically mild-mannered boy who takes an interst in his father's work.
 * Maple the Mink - Played by Frost. Daughter of Rowan the Squirrel, she is a zany and energetic girl who loves animals and getting into all kinds of mischief.
 * Ice Clan of Kyanos - Played by Ryu and and anyone else who owns a character that is a member of this group.
 * Nature Clan of Mokuhana - Played by Ryu and and anyone else who owns a character that is a member of this group.
 * Miles the Hedgehog - Played by PAS. He has a bag full of devices and wears what appears to be a watch, "Copper Deflector" is printed on it.
 * Siron Von Sand Cat - Played by AwsomeSONICfan. He is a male sand cat but when he is hit by cold water, he turns into Sila the girl.
 * Tundra the Husky - Played by Venom. A young Siberian husky who strongly opposes poaching. She is a cryokinetic and snowboards in her free time.

Neutral

 * Io the Cat - Played by Lunari64. A quiet, multisouled cat. She isn't interested in tracking down the poachers themselves, but would rather take care of and protect the wildlife.
 * Cooper the Squirrel - Played by Ryu. The cowardly younger brother of Roland the Squirrel, Cooper more often than not acts as unwilling bait for the dangerous creatures his brother hunts.
 * Jared Infiern - Played by Scorp. Someone who is wholey against the hunting of creatures for sport, though wants to get as much mileage out of it before he does something.
 * Willow Infiern - Played by Scorp. Jared's mother and current travel partner. She is here for her son's safety as well as a hobby of animal watching she recently picked up.
 * Zarex the Hyena - Played by Frost. An arrogant and cocky mercenary, he will shoot anything for payment. The question is, is he hunting wildlife, or poachers?

Villains

 * Roland the Squirrel - Played by Ryu. A Moebian who only cares about the thrill of big-game hunting and the money he gets for selling the valuable parts of his kills.
 * Saul The Bobcat - Played by Dingu. A former warlord with some cybernetics, he decided to retire to play The Most Dangerous Game. He came to hunt the wildlife and stayed to hunt the conservationists. Oddly enough, he traded most of his lethal weapons for tranquilizers...
 * Xavek - Played by Saren. An alien war droid who runs an arms manufacturing and R&D firm as a front for his schemes to destroy all organic life, he has come to capture some specimens for genetic splicing and cybernetic augmentation. Oddly enough, Xavek seems to find joy in watching these creatures before making his move.
 * The Silver Huntsmen - A powerful, rich and influential mafia-run group that operates all over Mobius. They run an illegal hunting/poaching ring and also sponsor cage fights. Played by anyone who has a character that is a member of this group.
 * NU Moon - Played by Xoph. A mechanically augmented albino Zoroark trapped in this dimension with no way out. She generally hunts wildlife for her own survival, but doesn't mind joining the poachers in their line of work, especially if it means getting a meal out of any conservationists she kills...

Part 1

 * The Roleplay starts here.

It was mid-day in the jungles of the Mystic Ruins. Two Mobian squirrels were making their way through the dense underbrush; the slightly taller, rust-colored member of the pair was holding what looked like a small tracking device.

"Okay, explain why we're out here again? It feels like a sauna...!" the younger squirrel complained. His older companion frowned but didn't turn to him, instead focusing on the device.

"I told you, we're checking up on the Plumed Sylphs that got microchipped," he said, looking upwards now, towards the trees. Normally they were alive with the sounds and sights of the jungle's rich ecosystem, but today things seemed silent, and that unsettled the rust-colored squirrel. He held the device up, brow furrowed.

"...this isn't right...there should be some kind of signal...!"

This particular stretch of the jungle was home to a colony of Plumed Sylphs...at least, it normally was. But there didn't seem to be any sign of the creatures. This colony in particular had about half of its members microchipped about a month ago by members of G.U.N's Soumercan Wildlife division, to keep track of them, but he wasn't getting any of the microchipped individuals on the radar.

Where were they?

"This isn't good," he mumbled to himself. The two continued walking forward until the older squirrel's tracker started to beep. Ears perking up, he darted forward, following the radar. His companion groaned and took off after him, wiping sweat off his brow.

The radar led them to a clearing; a small creature was huddled up near the base of a tree, seeming to be crouching over something. The rust-colored squirrel's ears drooped.

"Oh no..."

He walked forward slowly, and the creature immediately flared its considerably large (compared to its body) and feathery wings, hissing. The younger squirrel peered over his companion's shoulder.

"Is that a Sylph...?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. A Plumed Sylph..."

But his attention was focused on the form below the defensive Plumed Sylph; it was another Plumed Sylph, but clearly deceased, its wings, antenna and tail having been removed, leaving only bloodied stumps. It's still-living companion was valiantly guarding the body.

"They had to have been mates," he mumbled. A rustling noise came from the Sylph as it rapidly vibrated its wings, as if trying to scare the two squirrels off.

"So is one of them microchipped, then?" the orange-red squirrel asked. The other slowly approached the Plumed Sylph, crouching low to not seem so large to it.

"Yeah...I don't know which one has the chip, though..."

The Sylph hissed and chattered at him again.

Then, whistling and footsteps are heard. Both squirrels turned towards the source of the noise.

"Who's there...??" the older one asked.

It was a yellow lynx wearing a hooded grey trench coat. "Me, I'm just a guy who's on vacation and decided to go off the beaten trail to sightsee. You?"

The Plumed Sylph had also turned towards the lynx, but was refusing to leave the side of its fallen mate. The rust-colored squirrel looked from the Sylph to the lynx, raising an eyebrow.

"Keeping track of Plumed Sylphs that have had microchips implanted into them, but it looks like I've...come too late."

He did his best to hide his disgust; clearly, the creature's death and defilement had sickened him.

Predictably, the lynx didn't show much regard for the defiled corpse. "What's done is done, the only thing you can do is move forward and murder the ones responsible for the act.."

The squirrel frowned, looking irritated.

"One, this is clearly a case of poaching. And two, I'm not about to stoop to their level by committing murder."

"I'd totally kill them," the younger squirrel said, shrugging. His brother glared at him.

"This one gets it." Saren pointed at the younger squirrel. "So you just catch them, get them sent to jail.. Most might have connections or a lot of money so sooner or later they get out, then start the cycle all over again. So why bother with just locking them up when a more permanent solution exists, one that will actually send a message instead being tantamount to a slap on the wrist?"

"Yeah, c'mon Rowan! Let's kill those bastards!"

The rust-colored squirrel, Rowan, stood up and crossed his arms, looking from his brother to the lynx.

"Even if I did want to commit murder, how would I exactly know who was responsible for this? It's not like they'd come out and declare it to the world that they're a poacher!"

"Observation, and as much as I hate to say it, using an extremely rare animal as a sort of bait.."

Rowan rubbed at his chin, deep in thought.

"The rarest thing I can think of is either a Tundra Reaver or a Moon Sylph, but I don't think the Golden Glade Wildlife Sanctuary would let me borrow Kholat for this. And Moon Sylphs can't be found here in Soumerca..."

Conner just shrugged.

"Maybe we can trick them somehow. It's not like they're smart or anything, right?"

"Never underestimate your enemy.. Else you'll never be able to succeed." Saren said sagely.

"I don't think they'd fall for a disguise or anything, anyways," said Rowan, frowning. "They generally have a great deal of knowledge concerning various animal species..."

"One who knows their prey will succeed most often." Saren said, in homage to one Mister Miyagi from the original Karate Kid.

"Wha-...uhh...I guess so," said Conner, scratching the back of his head.

"I don't think we're going to get any answers just standing here," said Rowan. "We'd be better off going to search for them."

"Don't mind if I tag along~" Saren said, pulling out a bottle of gin from his own shadow with a grin.

"Let's go, then," said Rowan, and he started to walk off, followed by Conner.

Saren followed the two, occasionally taking a drink from his bottle of Gin.

The trio had soon walked out of the jungle; they were now at the Mystic Ruins, which had a train station that could take them back to Station Square.

"So, where to first?" Conner asked.

"That, I'm still trying to figure out," Rowan mumbled.

Saren looked around, as if he was hearing footsteps. "Well now... For some reason I smell the scent of nerd and tea.."

Both squirrels stopped, confused.

"What do you mean?" asked Conner.

Part 2
Meanwhile, in the Frozen Plateau Zone of Artika, two other squirrels were trudging through the tundra, dwarfed by the glacial plateaus that gave the Zone its name. They were dressed appropriately for the area, and the slightly smaller squirrel was trying to light up a cigarette. His companion's ears twitched and he turned towards the other, glaring.

"You idiot, the smell's gonna scare the prey off!" he hissed.

"O-Oh, sorry," he mumbled, ears drooping slightly as he closed the lighter and put it away. The two continued walking until they reached the treeline that marked the transition into the Gelid Forest. The rust-colored squirrel grinned.

"This is it," he said, kneeling down and pulling off his backpack, setting it in front of him. He pulled out a reasonably large, black plastic bag and stood up, walking towards a clearer area of the icy forest and opened up the bag, dumping its contents onto the ground; it was a mass of raw, unidentifiable meat. Wadding the bag into a ball, he then backed up and retreated towards a thicker section of trees, roughly pulling his companion with him.

"This would be a lot more fun if I didn't have to worry about that damn Ice Clan," he muttered to himself, crouching down behind the trees. Then he waited, while his companion sighed quietly and leaned back against another tree.

"Now what?" he asked, reaching into the pocket of his hoodie.

"Well, obviously, we wait, little bro," said the other squirrel. "And I swear to the gods, if you try and light up another cigarette right now, I'll skin you alive and use you as bait instead...!"

His voice was a hiss now as he glared at his sibling. The orange-red squirrel immediately pulled his hand away from his pocket as his companion peeked out from behind the tree to observe the pile of raw meat. A lone Frost Imp was sniffing at it.

"Tch, just an Imp," he muttered, going back to hiding. "Not worth the effort."

Suddenly, what looked like a burst of plasma was fired at the Frost Imp.

The noise startled both squirrels, and the Frost Imp just barely managed to leap out of the way, screeching; however, its tail seemed to have gotten scorched by the plasma shot.

"The fuck-"

The rust-colored squirrel peeked out from behind the tree.

Xavek walked into the open. "... Missed.."

"Wh-What the fuck-...who is that...??" the younger squirrel whimpered. The older one frowned and stood up, walking out into the open, towards Xavek.

"Who are you?" he asked, more curious than angry; although there was no denying that he was a bit irritated.

The alien droid looked at the two. "Someone interested in acquiring new test subjects.."

The younger squirrel remained behind the tree, clearly too nervous to come out. The older one crossed his arms.

"Well, I was kind of busy trying to get a Tundra Reaver to take my bait, but it looks like you've already burnt that to a crisp..."

He looked at the scorched, smoking black pile that used to be the bait.

"You're looking for test subjects, though? Interesting..."

He seemed curious about Xavek's motives.

Xavek grinned. "Yes.. Creatures of war, imagine what these creatures could be used for.. provided they are augmented and natural selection weeds out the weak and worthless.." Xavek said, the mad scientist vibe only getting stronger as he spoke.

The squirrel grinned as well; it seemed that Xavek's desires were definitely starting to intrigue him.

"Shit, and all this time I've just been selling their pelts and parts for cash. This is one of the coolest ideas I've ever heard about! The name's Roland, by the way; what's yours?"

The other squirrel finally stepped out as well, with some hesitation.

"Xavek, and you may be the first few organics that I may like.." Xavek held what looked like a grin, something which might be disturbing given his alien nature.

Roland didn't seem to think it was disturbing; however, his brother promptly looked away and instead busied himself with pulling his lighter and a pack of smokes out of his pocket.

"So Xavek, did you find anything interesting so far?" Roland asked.

"Unfortunately, I am no anthropologist or hunter.. So I am admittedly at a loss as to what to start with.." Xavek admitted, albeit reluctantly.

Roland rubbed his chin, as if thinking.

"Well...I do know quite a bit about all the different beasts that Mobius has to offer, so I could probably help you there," he said. "Only problem is, some of the best candidates for your idea are quite rare...but it's possible to start with more common species, yeah?"

"Yes.. But I am also willing to pay a substantial sum of money for the services of experienced hunters to help me.... Acquire these specimens." Xavek said.

"Say no more," said Roland, grinning again. "I'll be glad to help you out on your quest, and I'm sure Cooper will be willing to help, too; right, Coop?"

He turned towards the younger squirrel, looking expectant. Cooper swallowed hard and nodded, his fingers fumbling slightly with his lighter.

"Y-Yeah..."

"Excellent!"

Without warning, a frost arrow whizzed past Cooper's nose, causing him to shriek and immediately jump back, dropping his cigarette in the snow. Roland turned towards him.

"What's wrong now?"

Trembling, Cooper frantically gestured at the frost arrow that was now embedded in the tree near him. Small shards of ice were embedded around the impact site. Frowning, Roland walked towards the arrow, narrowing his eyes as he inspected it.

"....shit."

"What is it..?" Xavek asked, his gauntlets prepping to fire a steady stream of plasma.

"Ice Clan of Kyanos," he said, looking behind him, as if expecting to see a group of Ice Clan soldiers already bearing down on them. "They're basically the self-entitled wildlife protectors of this area...damned killjoys."

A couple more arrows flew at them, with Cooper promptly taking cover behind the nearest tree. Footsteps could be heard crunching in the snow now.

Xavek growled, trying to use his augmented hearing to pinpoint the general direction of where they are coming from.

It sounded like they were coming from the north, possibly 15 feet away as of now.

Xavek aimed both gauntlets in the north before firing condensed shots of plasma, he knew he wouldn't exactly hit anything in the conditions he found himself in but he was at least gonna try and scare them off.

Indeed, there was startled yelling coming in the general direction that Xavek shot at, and a few figures could be seen darting among the trees, trying to avoid the plasma shot. A male wolf and a female hedgehog, both armed with longbows, revealed themselves by the trees and fired at Xavek and Roland.

"Gods damn it...!"

Roland retreated behind a tree and pulled off his backpack, drawing a rifle out of it. From behind the tree, he took aim at the wolf.

"Say good night, tree-hugger," he hissed, grinning.

Meanwhile, a female cat watched things unfold from a ways off, scouting around after hearing yelling.

Xavek, not being as swift thanks to the weight of his mechanical parts, was forced to tank the shots. Letting out a grunt of pain when the arrows hit before taking aim at the hedgehog.

"Exterminate.."

The hedgehog nocked another arrow onto her longbow, aiming at Xavek once more; more Ice Clan soldiers were beginning to make themselves visible. Roland fired at the wolf, who would've been shot right through the shoulder were it not for his thick leather pauldrons absorbing much of the bullet. His grunt if pain suggested that the bullet still made some contact, however.

Neither Roland nor the Ice Clan soldiers were aware of the female cat's presence; but the latter group was beginning to circle the area, slowly surrounding the clearing. Cooper, who had briefly peeked out from behind his hiding place, was suddenly pinned to the ground by a female lynx wearing a cloak. She drew a dagger out of a hidden sheath as she knelt down, keeping one knee pressed firmly in between his shoulder blades; she then leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

"Struggle and I'll make this worse for you," she hissed. Roland didn't seem to even notice that Cooper had been attacked.

Xavek growled, his left gauntlet starting to alter and change into what looked like a Dragunov which he aimed at the hedgehog, his right optic giving him the variable zoom function of a scope so he would have a better chance of actually hitting the hedgehog.

With Xavek taking the time to alter his gauntlet, the hedgehog was able to fire her arrow at him, having aimed for his face. Roland aimed at the wolf once more, but a shard of ice was fired at him, knocking the rifle out of his hands. A male cacomistle appeared at his right, hands flaring with Ice-Element energy.

Xavek took a step to the right to mitigate the damage that the arrow would do, instead of hitting his eyes the arrow might have left a clean slice through the right side of his forehead.

After taking a few seconds to aim at the Hedgehog's chest region, Xavek fired an extremely condensed beam of plasma from the sniper that lasted for about five seconds before six panels opened up on the side of the weapon and started to vent copious amounts of steam.

She just barely managed to get out of the way, the super-heated beam scorching some of her fur and skin. The steam being released by Xavek's sniper might have started to cloud the area, making vision difficult. The wolf could no longer properly aim at Xavek now.

Roland, meanwhile, had rushed at the cacomistle, who simply condensed the air in front of him to create a frozen barrier, which Roland ended up colliding with.

Xavek used the steam as cover to activate his stealth cloaking before attempting to sneak closer to the Cacomistle who was currently battling Roland. The sounds of the battle should at least dampen his footsteps.

Indeed, the cacomistle had no idea that Xavek was approaching him; he had used his powers to basically lock Roland's hands together in ice.

"Cheap trick...!" the squirrel hissed. The cacomistle just smirked.

"But it works, doesn't it, scumbag?"

When Xavek was close enough to the cacomistle, he swung his right arm at the back of his head with enough force to shatter bone, not counting just how durable the materials his gauntlets were made from.

He was unable to react in time, and the blow caused him to pitch forward, knocked unconscious. Roland stepped back as the cacomistle collapsed, looking over at Xavek.

"Thanks," he said, grinning. "Got tired of lookin' at his smarmy face."

He looked around a bit.

"Where the hell is Cooper?"

About 7 feet away, the lynx still had Cooper pinned to the ground. By now, two other Ice Clan soldiers, a male Mobianized Walrein and a female mouse, had joined up with her.

"We should find him.." Xavek spoke, before going to thaw out Roland's hands with his still warm sniper rifle.

"Thanks," he said again, stretching both hands after they were thawed out. "Yeah, not a good idea to leave him behind..."

He turned around, unknowingly facing the direction where the lynx had Cooper captive.

"Cooper! Where the hell are ya??" he called out. The lynx frowned a bit and looked down at the squirrel.

"Hmph. This must be Cooper."

Standing up, she hauled him upright as well, and dragged him into the open, where Roland could see them.

"Is this the squirrel you're looking for?" she called out. Roland blinked.

"Uhh, yes, I'd like him back, please," he said. The lynx pointed to the area behind him, where the unconscious cacomistle was still laying.

"Give my comrade back and we'll talk."

"What's to say you won't try killing us when we release him..?" Xavek asked.

"Oh, believe me, we'd love to get rid of you poacher scum the satisfying way, but allies come first," she said, her expression stony. "Now, bring him over here, and you'll have your friend back."

She maintained a surprisingly strong hold on the visibly shaken Cooper.

"But if you don't leave after the trade, we will kill you. Understand?"

Roland frowned a bit.

"Alright, then," he said. He walked over to the unconscious cacomistle and hefted him upright, grunting.

"Alright.." Xavek muttered. "How sentimental you organics are.. A weakness that I'll be able to exploit."

Roland managed to haul the cacomistle over towards the group before letting him drop unceremoniously into the snow. Smirking slightly, the lynx shoved Cooper into Roland quite hard, making the older squirrel stumble backwards. The Walrein then picked up the cacomistle, hefting him over his shoulder before turning and departing, along with the female mouse.

"Now, leave," said the lynx to Xavek, Roland and Cooper; there were still plenty of other Ice Clan soldiers watching from the trees, including the wolf and hedgehog archers.

"Alright.." Xavek chuckled before going to leave.

Frowning, Roland turned to leave as well, practically dragging the still shaken Cooper with him. The Ice Clan soldiers remained where they were, to make sure the intruders actually left as they were instructed.

"Any other hunting grounds..?" Xavek whispered to Cooper.

"Gh-...h-how am I supposed to know...?!" he hissed back, still not exactly trusting Xavek. Roland chuckled a bit.

"Did that lynx really leave you such an anxious mess, Coop?"

"Well, she kind of did have a dagger on her...!"

Roland just shook his head.

"Anyways, that place was one of the only areas Tundra Reavers could reliably be found, sadly," he said, answering Xavek's question in Cooper's stead. "Buuut, if you're not too picky on what you find, there's a lot of places here in Artika to find Frost Imps, Tizheruks and Tundra Catoblepi; and with no annoying idiots to get in the way, either!"

"I'm not picky, as long as I get results.." Xavek answered him. "Though, if I must deal with those ice users again I'd prefer it with an army of their own native beasts."

Roland barked a laugh.

"Poetic justice! I love it!" he said, before coming to a sudden halt; they were up on a bit of a hill now, and he pointed forward.

"I knew it," he said, grinning. They had come across a herd of Tundra Catoblepi, about fifteen of them; here, there was less snow, and while there was quite a plentiful amount of grasses and shrubs, they were too tough for most creatures to bother eating.

"I'd prefer live Specimens.. But cadavers work just as well." Xavek whispered to Roland.

Roland shrugged a bit.

"Getting them alive would probably be the easiest option, actually; they're really hard to kill."

"Good." Xavek replied.

The Tundra Catoblepi didn't yet seem to be aware of their presence, and Roland started to walk forward.

Xavek watched and waited.

Roland seemed to be contemplating the situation as he slowly walked towards the Catoblepi. One of them lifted its head and looked towards Roland, snorting; he stopped in his tracks.

"......."

Meanwhile, Xavek was recording these events for future study by using his optics as video cameras.

The Catoblepas, an adult female, turned so her body was facing Roland, those massive horns pointing right at him. The squirrel held his ground, but knew better than to try and get closer.

"Oooh, you don't like me, do you?" he asked, chuckling a bit. The creature seemed to glare at him, as if daring him to step closer. Backing up slightly, Roland knelt down and pulled off his backpack, rummaging through it.

'Now what could he be doing..?' Xavek thought to himself.

The squirrel's expression quickly became one of frustration, however.

"Fuck...gods damn it, I forgot to bring them...!!"

At that point, the Catoblepas must've decided that she was sick of Roland being there, and suddenly charged at him; it was actually a feint, as she stopped short of where he had been kneeling, but it was enough for him to panic and jump out of the way of those formidable horns.

Xavek, however, reacted by firing his plastech gauntlets at the Catoblepas who charged at Roland.

He ducked and took cover as the gauntlets were fired, which ended up colliding with her incredibly sturdy horns. She bellowed in anger, which got the attention of the rest of her herd, who turned towards Xavek, Roland and Cooper.

"Oh fuck..."

Roland scooped up his backpack and scampered off as the healthy adults of the herd formed a defensive wall, shielding their more vulnerable comrades.

Xavek blinked. "Well..." Both of his gauntlets started to change. With plates and rivets moving around until the ends of the gauntlets looked like the rotary barrels of a minigun.

The Catoblepi held their ground, snorting and pawing at the frozen dirt in agitation.

Xavek aimed at the Catoblepi, watching as the two rotary barrels heated up before firing a continuous volley of plasma shots at the herd.

Meanwhile, back in the Frozen Plateau Zone, a sudden shield of magic energy went up around the herd, protecting them from some of Xavek's shots.

Xavek's optics widened. "What!? Who interferes!?" He nearly shouted. He was rather shocked and pissed at the fact that someone had the stones to interfere.

The Catoblepi seemed shocked as well, and looked around themselves, rumbling and snorting.

Xavek's left gauntlet began to shift and whirr until a purple plasma mace was produced.

The female cat from earlier walked out into open view, holding a wooden staff in her hand. The magic barrier slowly started to fade.

Xavek immediately opened fire on the female cat with his right gauntlet while walking towards her.

The girl tried to dodge, but got hit on the shoulder. She winced, getting hit with most of the shots.

As they were plasma, they would leave a few nasty burns.

Xavek continued firing as he was moving towards the girl. "Die!!"

At this point, a few of the Catoblepi started to charge forward, trying to move themselves in between Xavek and the girl, as if to shield her.

When he saw this, he couldn't help but smirk. If these animals were willing to shield the cat then it made the task of killing them all the more easier. So with the last thirty seconds before the plasma minigun overheated, Xavek focused fire on the Catoblepi who moved to shield the cat.

"Please, no! Run!" The girl said to the Catoblepi, sounding desperate. She didn't want them to get hurt. She put up another shield around them, but this one was weaker. It would probably break if Xavek shot at it enough.

They didn't seem willing to budge, but eventually, one of the males bellowed out to his comrades,; most of them retreated and began to move the vulnerable members of the herd away from the scene. The male, a big, relatively young adult, remained at the girl's side; the only other one who remained was the older female that had attacked Roland.

Xavek grinned as his gauntlet overheated and he slowly charged the remaining Catoblepi with his plasma mace crackling with violet colored plasma.

The male bellowed again and once more put himself in between Xavek and the girl. Cooper and Roland watched from atop the hill.

Xavek swung the plasma mace at the male, extending it as needed to help in trying to kill the creature.

As expected, the Catoblepas was incredibly durable, and barely flinched when the plasma mace crashed against the steel-hard plating on his head. Bellowing, he swung his head at Xavek, trying to strike him with his horns. The unarmored portions of his body were still quite durable, but most likely more vulnerable to his weapon...

Xavek had to tank the hit, though his body being made of alien alloys did help, he was pushed back a bit. This time, Xavek swung the plasma mace at the front legs of the Catoblepas.

Being far too slow to dodge, the Catoblepas grunted in pain as the plasma mace crashed against his knees, causing him to crumple forward, his heavy body hitting the ground with a thud. He tried to get back up, but his front legs seems too damaged. The female then charged forward at Xavek, head low so she could slam him with her horns.

Given that there was distance between Xavek and the female Catoblepas, Xavek managed to move out of the way, if only barely. The female did manage to score a solid blow on Xavek's left gauntlet.

Depending on how strong that charge was, Xavek's left gauntlet would have a nice dent in it and be rendered broken.

While relying more on sheer bulk and power instead of speed, the charge still would definitely have destroyed Xavek's left gauntlet, but left him unharmed otherwise. The male was still trying to get back up.

Xavek growled. "Cooper! Roland! Fire at the downed male!" He shouted before going to swing the plasma mace at the females rib area. Although her forelegs were sort of in the way, the blow still connected; she was too heavy for it to stagger her, but it was clear that it hurt, and it left a rather nasty plasma burn, as well.

"No!!!" The girl shouted, in protest. She got back onto her feet, and desperately threw herself between the male and Roland and Cooper.

At this time, Roland had already pulled out his rifle once more, and was going to aim at the male Catoblepas when the girl jumped in his way. The look on Cooper's face suggested he wanted to do something to stop Roland, but was too afraid.

"That willing to die, eh?" Roland growled.

He fired.

Xavek went to wrap his arms around the female, using the augmented strength to try and lift her up so he could attempt to pull a bane.

Unfortunately for Xavek, this resulted in her attempting to beat the ever-loving shit out of him with her forelegs. Lifting what was basically 1,000 lbs. would be a bit harder with that happening.

The bullet lodged in the girl's shoulder. She collapsed, in pain. Despite this, she used her good arm, to draw another rune, a small healing spell for the male Catoblepas. When she was finished, the male's front legs started to heal, hopefully just enough for him to get away. "Run!" She said, sounding pained.

"Annoying little-"

Roland started to walk down the hill, clearly intent on finishing her off. The male Catoblepas was able to stand up now, and looked down at her, clearly distressed.

To be fair, Xavek is like an alien tank in a power suit, but it was kinda hard. So he resorted to a rather distasteful tactic of literally biting her with the jagged teeth of his face mouth.

She bellowed in pain and anger as his teeth locked around her left foreleg, threatening to pierce her thick, durable skin. She used her other foreleg to try and hit him again.

Xavek started shaking his head, enduring the hits and squeezing his jaws tighter, not letting go until something broke.

She then attempted to simply crush him under her bulk; if he was so focused on biting, he might not be that focused on trying to keep her lifted up.

The cat girl hissed at Roland. "How dare you! Hurting these innocent creatures is unforgivable."

Roland smirked, still holding his rifle.

"Sorry, girl, but this line of work pays good money," he said, taking aim at her once more. He didn't count on being interrupted by none other than Cooper, however. The younger squirrel had suddenly tackled Roland from behind, making the two topple over. A brief scuffle ensued, but Roland was far stronger than his brother, and he overpowered him.

"YOU FUCKING-"

Roland struck Cooper with the butt of his rifle, making him stagger back into the snow.

"Miserable bastard...you always were a soft little weakling, weren't ya?!"

The older squirrel pointed his rifle at Cooper and fired point-blank, into his skull.

The girl gasped. ''"Come on Airion, I can take this freak." "No. Not with a bad arm." "But!-" "Quiet." ''She struggled to get up, but the second she moved her bad arm, she buckled, and collapsed onto the ground again. She was helpless. She looked up at the male Catoblepas. "Go. Get out of here. They're here for you, not for me." She said, quietly.

Xavek growled, feeling her weight, so with the last of his physical reserves he tossed the female off of him. Though the effort ended up breaking a few servos in his right arm and left leg.

"... We retreat for now. I'll need to repair this body.." Xavek spoke between metallic coughs.

Roland frowned a bit, but backed off, glancing down at Cooper's body.

"Guess I'll seeya later, bro," he said, kicking a bit of snow onto the corpse.

Xavek groaned, moving with noticeable difficulty. "Two servos are broken.. But I do have a sample." Xavek spoke, referring to the blood that may have spattered on his zig-zagged mouth when he bit into the critter.

Roland nodded.

"Nice, we can still get something out of that. Not that I know anything about DNA splicing..."

Both the male and female Catoblepi glared at the two as they left; neither of them had left the cat's side.

The girl tried to stand, and managed to get back up. After drawing herself a small healing rune to dull the pain of the bullet wound, she looked at the two Catoblepi. "Thank you so much, my friends." She said, gratefully. She then looked at Cooper, in regret. This was her fault. If she hadn't jumped in the way...

The two Catoblepi looked from her to Cooper, unsure of what to do. If they could speak, there's no doubt they'd be equally grateful for her intervention, however; it showed in their eyes.

The girl smiled at the two Catoblepi. "Go on now. Your friends might be worried about you." She said, with a soothing tone.

The two nodded, and turned around to slowly amble away.

Back with Roland and Xavek...

"You have any safehouses..?" Xavek asked.

"Don't worry, there's a well-hidden place we can go to recuperate. The place is run by other poachers who have considerably more influence than me, we'll be safe there."

"Good.. From there I'll be able to repair my body and use the blood for the first of my experiments.."

Roland led Xavek to a fairly unassuming building sitting in the middle of the icy wastes.

"This is good.. Now I just need time, and maybe some of those thin tubes to place the blood in."

"I'm sure we'll be able to find something like that," said Roland as he walked to the front door. He knocked on it, and a thin panel slid open, revealing a pair of eyes.

"Who's there?" asked a voice.

"It's me, Roland."

The eyes roved over to Xavek.

"And, uhh...who's that?"

"Don't worry, he's a friend."

"...very well."

The door, a fairly solid steel one, finally opened with a slow creak. A Mobian fox wearing winter-appropriate attire was standing there.

"Alright, get in before you freeze."

Xavek walked inside. The fox shut the door behind them, and Roland led Xavek deeper into the building.

"Most of the place is underground," he said. "The upper building actually fronts as a guard post."

"Secure.. I like it."

The fox had followed Roland and Xavek down into the lower levels.

"So, uhh...who is this guy?" he asked, addressing Roland.

"A friend with very interesting ideas..."

"Really?"

"Xavek, and my plan is to splice and augment some of the native beasts to create new and horrifying beasts.. Of course I plan on setting the first wave of these new creations loose on the Ice Clan. After all, how ironic would it be for them to die by the very creatures they protect?"

"A geneticist!" the fox said, looking quite fascinated. "I think you're the first person like that who's ever shown up. You say you're going to splice creatures? Maybe you should talk to Boris; he's the head trainer here, and he helps manage the creatures we have fight in the Arena. I'm sure he'd be interested."

"I will, but tell me.. What manner of creature does this Boris have?" Xavek asked, this could potentially cut down on the search time for the more exotic and rarer creatures he may need.

"Oh, he has a lot," said the fox. "Tizheruks, Frost Imps, a couple of Land Sharks, Frost Hounds, a couple Tundra Catoblepi, although those are mostly used to haul things around...he even managed to get a hold of a couple of Tundra Reavers!"

"Perfect..! Where is this Boris?" Xavek chuckled, very pleased with this turn of events.

"Follow me," said the fox, moving to lead the way. "He should be further down, in the kennels."

The fox eventually led Xavek and Roland into a huge room with a myriad of enclosures large and small. A few Mobians were in there, as well as a Mobianized Stantler. The fox walked over to the Stantler.

"Boris, there's someone who wants to see you! I think you'll be interested in what he has to say."

The Mobianized Stantler, Boris, turned around, frowning.

"What is it, Matvei?" he said, sounding slightly irritated; he seemed to have a hint of a Russian accent. He looked over at Roland and Xavek now.

"Who...is this?" he asked, gesturing at Xavek.

"Xavek, a geneticist if you will." He introduced himself.

"A geneticist?" Boris rubbed his chin. "Interesting...if you've come to me, then surely you must have some interest in the creatures we keep here, da?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm...come over here," he said, gesturing for Xavek to follow him. He walked over to a fairly large cage, that held a single adult female Tizheruk. Fierce yellow eyes glared at the two as they approached.

"Now, I'm curious; what do you see when you look at this beast? Like, what do you feel you could do with it?"

"I see the parts to something faster, stronger, more vicious! As to what I could do.. Well, right now not much.. With its DNA however.. I could splice its genome with another creature.. Altering its traits.. But I will need time and blood samples." Xavek spoke after examining the Tizheruk.

"After all.. Genetic modification is no easy feat, not too mention I don't want anyone finding out about this.. That could delay my efforts and quite possibly ruin my plot before it even begins..."

Boris laughed.

"You'd be surprised at how much The Silver Huntsmen can get away with," he said. "Those fools from G.U.N can barely track us! And we have runners all over the globe, monitoring our enemies."

Xavek took some time to process what Boris said. "Good, though per chance, what manner of beasts do you have currently?"

"I'm glad you asked; I'll show you," he said, motioning for Xavek to follow him.

"Apart from one of the three Tizheruks you've just seen, we also have a few Land Sharks, quite a few Frost Imps, some Frost Hounds, a couple of Tundra Catoblepi, and, our pride and joy; two Tundra Reavers."

"I require a blood sample of the Tizheruk, Land Shark and the Tundra Reaver.." Xavek said, already salivating at the chance to play god.

Boris nodded.

"Very good."

He called over a male quail and a female polar bear, the former of whom was holding a long, thin pole, and the latter holding a small case. He instructed the two of them to take position next to the Tizheruk's cage.

"Now, watch this."

With a sharp rap against the bars of the cage, Boris got the creature's attention. As this happened, his antlers began to glow brightly, and the Tizheruk seemed transfixed. The quail and the polar bear worked together to angle the pole into through the bars and get a blood sample from the creature.

Boris and the two repeated the process with the Land Shark and the Tundra Reaver. The three blood samples were then put into their own vials, and labeled as such.

"Easy as that, da?"

"Hypnosis..? Interesting..." Xavek murmured, somehow grabbing the vials using the weird slot like spots on his gauntlets.

"I suppose you could call it that," said Boris, chuckling.

"Now.. I'll need time, a lab and silence so I can start my experiments."

"We do have a lab, in fact. Follow me," said Boris; the quail and polar bear were standing off to the side now, talking about who-knows-what.

Xavek followed Boris.

"It's not exactly the most impressive lab, but it should be sufficient, da?"

The lab was of a decent size, and well-furnished with a great deal of the necessary equipment and tools.

Xavek inspected the equipment. "It's.. Satisfactory for my purposes.." He finally spoke, three helper drones rezzing themselves next to Xavek and taking the samples.

"The process is lengthy, but it will be well worth it.." Xavek told Boris before getting to work.

Boris smiled and nodded.

"Excellent. I will leave you to your work, then," he said, leaving the room.

Xavek chuckled. "Excellent.." He said as he continued his work.

Part 3
After Saren and the two squirrels left the jungle for the Ruins, a hunter walked up to the now knocked out sylph that tried in vain to guard its deceased mate. The hunter slung his tranquilizer rifle over his shoulder and grabbed the unconscious creature. With the precision of a surgeon, he removed the tracking chip on its neck and crushed it underfoot. Once finished, he put the sylph in a large backpack hidden under a giant grey wolf pelt.

"Another one for the matches. I assume the trio will lead me to more." He said to himself, but then looked at his pelt cape/hood. "I hope the trains don't have a dress code."

Back in the Mystic Ruins Train Station, Rowan and Conner were getting ready to board it.

Saren, of course, followed the two.

Saul followed from a distance, making sure he was out of sight as they waited to board.

Rowan seemed to be deep in thought once more.

Saren yawned. "Damn, I need a nap.."

A green hedgehog walked into the station,wearing a bag and a black watch. The hedgehog's eyes darted across the room as if he was looking for something,he also seemed a bit tired.The hedgehog pulled a small orange pocket watch out of the bag than glanced at it,than stuffing it back into the bag.

His eyes once again darted across the room, pausing a little when he heard a beep from his black watch.

The green hedgehog said "Copper is in range,Is that the train or some other thing?"

On a nearby bench, a tall flame woman and a small violet being sit together, talking to one another and going over some sort of plan. "So we infiltrate wherever they're keeping the animals, release them, and just be done?" the older one asks, a bit unconvinced. "Precisely, mother. If any complications should arise, you know what I can do," the smaller one says, with more confidence than his mom. His mother, trying to muster up some form of optimism, simply says to herself "Well, on the bright side, I guess this can count as animal-watching."

The Green hedgehog's black watch irritatingly started beeping loudly,the green hedgehog hit a "vibrate" button on the watch.

The green hedgehog said "Why is there such a high concentration of copper? does anyone have a jar of pennies or something?"

the hedgehog's fur appeared to have a small reddish tint for a second,blackish at the tips of his spikes. he looked a little nervous than turned a nob on his watch,than he calmed down. he muttered "This setting was only for when i needed to use copper in a machine but it also works for this problem."

The train then arrived.

Saren walked on the train. Rowan and Conner followed him.

The green hedgehog also went on the train,his eyes darted across the train before he sat in a seat near the three.

The green hedgehog pulled a notepad out of his bag labeled "Miles's Nature Notepad AKA M.M.N" the label was very visible until he grabbed a pencil and opened it to write something down before stuffing it back into his bag. than he mumbled "those stupid poachers...".

The violet child and his mother board the train a bit after the others. Sitting away from the others, they continue to talk. "Jared, I have full faith in your decision-making usually, but this just does not seem like it will work," the flame woman says to her son. "Be patient, mother. I understand where you're coming from, but please wait before judging," Jared replies.

Saren headed towards the back before lying down in his seat and closing his eyes.

Rowan and Conner sat down next to Saren, near the green hedgehog as well.

Saul boarded and didn't move too far from the entrance, making sure to keep his back to Saren.

The green hedgehog pulled out a mapping device out of his bag it was easy for Saul Saren Rowan and Conner to peek at the device. he was mapping recent poaching reports to try to find out where they might hit next, with only one hedgehog he couldn't actually know which way of a few they were going to take.

"Arrrg!" the hedgehog exclaimed.

The green hedgehog pulled a mobile device out of his bag and checked the internet, for where the poachers may be heading. There was a report on poaching kind of nearby,he could get to if he hurried when he got off the train; but it didn't match up with the data on the mapping device.

"What the heck? how did they get there?" confused he gave up for now and stuffed the mapping device and the mobile device into his bag.

Rowan and Conner didn't pay much mind to the hedgehog for now.

On the far back of the train, a female husky reads a sports magazine, paying no mind to the others. She brushes a loose hair away and closes the magazine, taking a quick nap.

Eventually, the train came to a stop, in Station Square.

Saren ended up rolling off his sleep and faceplanting on the floor. "Owww.." Saren groaned, still half asleep.

Jared and his mother stand up to begin walking (or in his mother's case levitating) out of the train, passing by the others. His mother decides to help the fallen lynx by trying to psychic-lift him off of the ground and back on his feet.

Saren blinked, feeling himself being psychically lifted on to his feet. "Thanks.." He turned to look at Jared's mother.

"It's nothing, I'm happy to help." she replies. "My name is Willow, what is yours?" she asks Saren. Before she can get an answer, Jared shouts from outside the train "Come on, mother, we're going to be late." "Oh, sorry," Willow says. "I'll ask later, if we see eachother again of course," she says to Saren before rushing out. "Coming, sir."

"Oh, the train stopped," said Conner, standing up and stretching a bit. He looked over at Rowan, who seemed distracted.

"Bro, c'mon, the train stopped," he said.

"Huh? Oh, right," he mumbled, getting up as well and following his younger brother off the train.

Saren sighed, walking off the train.

Saul followed the three off, keeping an eye on his former colleague Saren. He could have sworn there was some rumbling in his backpack where the sylph was, but he elected to ignore it.

Conner and Rowan were both unaware of Saul's presence.

Saren yawned. "My nap was interrupted q~q"

The green hedgehog stepped off the train,his eyes darted around before pulling out the mapping device, checking it, and stuffing it into his bag. "Hmmm... what?" his watch from before beeped like before the hedgehog tapped the watch than said "Something around here has high copper composition..."

Rowan stopped and looked around.

"Conner, didn't you say your friend Dirk was going to be accompanying Oak and Maple here to meet up with us?"

"Yeah."

"Well, where is he? A big St. Bernard can't be hard to miss..."

"Uhh..."

"DAD!!" two familiar voices shouted in unison. Just as Rowan would turn to see his kids, he would be greeted with a double helping of a bear hug from the two minks.

Oak was wearing a baseball cap with a maple leaf on the front, a dark green t-shirt with a blue backpack, brown pants, and blue sneakers.

Maple was wearing something a little more vibrant. She was wearing a large, bright periwinkle sweater with her name spelled out on the front in neon colors. The sweater came down to just above her knees, and she was wearing a pair of green shorts. She was also wearing white sneakers.

Rowan grunted as his two children leaped into him, staggering slightly. He laughed a bit.

"Thank goodness; I was starting to get worried!"

A fairly tall (about four feet) St. Bernard soon followed, waving at the two squirrels.

"Sorry we took so long, Rowan. The place was more crowded than we thought."

"That's why I almost never ride trains.. Then again I could just float everywhere I go."

Part 4
Back in Frozen Plateau Zone, a large, strange creature looms over Cooper's corpse. It is NU Moon, a white Zoroark with black hair, yellow eyes, and silver accents. However, her right eye, ear and knee, as well as her left arm and foot are mechanical, and her body is riddled with cuts and scars. She sniffs at the deceased squirrel and- detecting no possible threats- starts to devour him, piece by piece.

"Heh. Haven't had something this big in a while..." she said in a raspy, slightly robotic voice as she gnawed on the corpse's forearm, cold blood soaking into the fur around her mouth.
 * (Ryu-I have to ask, did she dismember him yet or is his body intact?)
 * (Um... intact. She really only dismembers when necessary. -Xoph)
 * (Ryu-Okay good; that means I should be good to go in letting him resurrect, yeah?)
 * (Yeah -Xoph)