DON'T WANNA LOSE MYSELF / giant carnivorous plants

[ninazu]

BURN
BRIGHT

Standing atop the island’s highest peek, Ninazu surveyed the landscape. The scorched earth and blackened fauna scarred the previously lush island, and her jaw clenched. No matter how hard the condemned pushed themselves to rebuild, the ecosystem would never be the same.

Digging her claws into the soil, the lioness inhaled the island’s energy. Her eyes half-closed, muscles stiffening and relaxing as she reached out and touched each wound on the island’s earth. She vanished, her ego dissolving through her claws like smoke in the wind. In place of herself, she became the jungle’s lifeblood.

The island screamed. For entire species, drowned in the tsunami. For the earth, cracked in two and divided. For the scars that healed so slowly.

Ninazu lost sight of her own goal. She connected with the earth to rebuild the condemned’s own homes. But the connection overwrote the selfish desires, and she awoke to the intrinsic connections between every organism to every other organism within the island’s ecosystem.

The power thrummed in her body. Ninazu wielded enough power to impact the island, if she wished. It was her and not her who reached inside her soul and grabbed the beating energy. Visuals of lush greenery expanded in her mind. Vines sprouted beneath her paws, trailing down the ravine.

Green rose up from the blackened earth, trees and vines rapidly forming in the span of minutes what should’ve taken years. As long as she concentrated on the visual, the details she saw became reality. The island urged her on, and she squeezed every drop of power out of her soul. She grew ambitious, expanding the flora too rapidly without taking her time on the details—leaves shivered and grew ten times their size, vines ensnared unsuspecting rodents and squeezed them dry.

When her concentration popped, the dissolved into hot anger. Frustration at herself. Rage at being used by an island.

The plants shivered, twisting into unnatural shapes. Mouths, lined with long spines and sticky-sweet insides, formed. They were big enough to ensnare and consume a large mammal. One chomped on a curious bird. Another made a meal of a tarantula lured in by the sweetness. And so on.

Ninazu opened her eyes, breathing erratically. She panted, trying to cool her too-hot body, and watched with fascinated horror as the twitchy greenery twisted into a life of its own.

© MADI

[kinglykingstone]

I'LL HAVE YOUR HEART ON A PLATTER

Chaz had been scavenging for herbs when Ninazu had begun her process, though he was unaware of the going ons. When green began to sprout underpaw, he panicked, knowing full well this growth was unnatural. His eyes followed the growth, spotting the lioness on that distant peak. At first, a feeling of joy as their home regained life. But then, the guru saw the horror coming for them. It was too much, too fast.

The margay cat took off towards her, a scream ripping from his maw. She needed to stop, she was going to suffocate the island or its residents. Horror and fear filled the purple feline, watching as the island morphed into a hellatious landscape. He was too late, and he knew it. But he kept running, hoping that if he didn't stop, none of the monsterous plants could snap him up. He would stumble to a stop in front of her, panting as he threatened to collapse. "What have you done?"

YOU WERE NO FOOL, YOU WERE NO CHUMP
NOW ALL YOU'LL BE IS A SPEED BUMP

— Reggan

[summer.]

[table][tr][td]

SUMMER
WANDERER
INFORMATION

[/td][td]

[div style="width: 360px; font-family: palatino; color: #536ea9; text-align: left; padding-top: 15px; padding-left: 10px;"]HERE [color=#7489a9]COM[color=#8497aa]ES A [color=#94a4aa]THOU[color=#a4b2aa]GHT

The ocean calls the young kodkod.  The beat of the water, a drum in her heart.  The salt she seemed to carry in her spotted fur.  Yet the luster of life settles in her soul too.  The plants that easily flourish or dry up beneath her paws.

The cool summer breeze.  Or a devastating summer flame.

Like an ocean's changing current, it could shift and change.  Calm.  Anger.  Summer loved to see the green, the life... The warm to contrast her brother's chilly embrace.  Yet when the plants suddenly snapped with murderous intent, the petite wildcat didn't hesitate.  The flame igniting on impulse, fire licking and burning through.

Sometimes a controlled burn was what saved a forest.  Encouraged new growth.  But Summer didn't know how to control this.  If only her sister were here... Her wild energy may know exactly how to combat this unnatural life.

Ocean-blue hues snapped up the peak, watching Chaz frantically race through the jungle.  Her breath caught in her throat.  If he stopped for a second... Stubborn, the wanderer growled softly and took off after the Guru, slapping away any aggressive plants with a flaming paw.

'What have you done?'  Summer sucked in a breath, willing her pounding heart to settle.  This terrifying display... She had never tried to heal an entire island before.  Now she felt glad.

"[color=#eef2af]We have to stop this," she whispered.  How? How do we stop this?  They had to.  What if someone got hurt?

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

© MADI

[SirDio]

Ezrakel Tsune

Within the somewhat calm of the island, there was bound to be chaos. He was resting in his home when trees breaking the earth around him startled him awake and sent him scampering out of his home, narrowingly avoiding a massive murderous plant. Hearing Chaz scream with such force caused him to tear up the new green plants as he bolted to follow the scream. Eyes, usually expressionless or tired, we're now wide with panic and fear. Plants threatened to swallow him, snatching a rat in front of him.

'What have you done?' The words shook the small feline as he stopped next to the Guru and Summer. Eyes darting to them, then to Ninazu, before he tried to sooth his burning lungs. Legs wobbling, he looked up at Ninazu, panting too much to say anything, but eyes staring at her expectingly, hoping she had an answer.

[Stryker]

STRYKER ☣ COTC ☣ KINGPIN

The island shook beneath his paws. Greenery rose all around him, entangling the debris and encapsulating what they could. Stryker stopped what he could with his elementals, unknowingly fighting against his significant other's power, but he couldn't do it all. The sickness that had eradicated him had weakened him greatly. Nevertheless, the lion pushed on with his slitted eyes narrowed towards the horizon. As he followed the growing plants, he came upon Ninazu.

Stryker rushed to her side, attempting to press against her face with his own. He stood next to her, watching as the life around him begged for sacrifices. A chill ran down his spine. Yet he didn't let the concept push him away. They could use this somehow, as long as the wanderers kept clear of their dastardly grips. In the moment though, his attention remained on Ninazu. She was clearly hot to the touch and couldn't breathe. "Water. NOW." he ordered, more so in the direction of the Guru since he would know a better solution to overheating. Whoever got to it first would suffice though.

With what he could manage, the lion lowered the greenery around them to the floor. Their stems blackened as they toppled but not without a desperate snap towards their prey. The ones within the wanderer's direct vicinity were no longer alive, but the rest that spawned across the island had to be dealt with. For now, Stryker crumbled to the floor with a tired heave.

THE WEAK ONES ARE THERE TO JUSTIFY THE STRONG
DON'T BOTHER TO RESIST OR I'LL BEAT YOU

— Reggan

[CAESAR CIPHER.]

[glow=black,1,400]CLEVER GOT ME THIS FAR, THEN TRICKY GOT ME IN ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

At one point, the day was calm, but then the island started rumbling. Caesar was startled by it, not afraid of what was going on per say, but more so startled at the sudden shaking of the earth. The savannah was, of course, lousing around whenever the planets flared to life - he didn't think much of it until he felt something snapping onto his tail. Caesar let out a yowl of surprise, fluffing his fur out as pain shot up his spine from the grip. He hissed as he looked back at the plant that had taken ahold of his tail, and instinctively, the demon lit himself on fire, trying to burn the plant off of his tail, moving one of his paws sharply to ignite himself.

Of course this was before Stryker managed to get rid of the plants in the surrounding area and Caesar hissed more as the plant that gripped onto him bit down harder on his tail, as if trying to fight back against the flames and Stryker's power, though if his flames happened to trail past the plant that had attached itself to him, he didn't seem to particularly notice or care to stop it if he did notice it.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]