Enter Prehistory Giants

[Shadowcat]

((This is the first thread of the plot. Until this thread is finished or I give the okay, prehistoric animals may only be role played in this thread. Unlike usual, there will not be much of a posting order here. All others, whether you are playing a prehistoric in the herd or a modern day animal that is already living in Amanija are encouraged to join in. Again, they will not have a posting order. You can post with a modern day animal every other post, or you can post only once, etc. It's up to you. During the conversation with Isauria, the herd leader, and the Guardians, prehistorics and modern day animals may talk to anyone, but I imagine the Guardians won't be too happy if they talk too loudly or interrupt. You are also free to role play one, or all of your characters. If you are playing more than one character in this thread, then please post with all of them in one post instead of making a separate post with each. I will be briefly npcing any dinos needed for any reason. All members are allowed and always have been allowed to briefly play a non existent character. For example, you could say "*your character here* was terrified as one of the sharp toothed lizards looked at her curiously." You can even have them say a little bit, just don't do a lot of interacting with them unless you are going to make a profile and keep them as a character. Dinos I NPC may play beyond that rule, however, for plot purposes. As for everything thing else that happens, that is up to you. Have fun and enjoy your time here at Vital Breath!))


"Yes, actually I do agree with you," Guardian Zarif was saying. "It would be great if carnivores learned to eat only plants. I'm not sure that will ever happen, though."

The rabbit spirit he had been talking to nodded. "Well I just thought you wouldn't since...." He said.

"Since I was a carnivore? I didn't eat meat because I wanted to," Zarif replied simply. He was a little surprised the rabbit had thought that that he only ate meat for the fun of it. The idea disgusted him, but he held back any anger or annoyance at the rabbit. It's guess did make sense, after all. Perhaps that's why other carnivores still ate meat occasionally. Perhaps they just weren't willing to give it up.

Zarif gave a friendly smile and was about to add something to their conversation when he sensed something wasn't right. He was still, his cobra hood flaring as he tried to figure out what he sensed. It was much liked what he had sensed whenever there was trouble in Amanija, but it was didn't. It wasn't threatening. And yet, it was to him because he had never felt anything remotely similar to this except when there was danger. He excused himself to the rabbit, then hastily slithered over to the Mirror of Life to see what was going on.

When the water rippled, then settled in the spot where Guardian Zarif was sensing the odd feeling, he became fearful. What was going on? What were those things? He saw their size, he saw the way the animals of Amanija looked at them and ran in terror, he saw the teeth and claws some of them had, and he saw how unusual they looked. He didn't know what they were, and maybe they were even friendly, but until he found out for sure Zarif was not going to take chances. His first instinct was to protect Amanija.

As fast as he could, Zarif slithered off to find the other Guardians. Though he didn't want to panic the spirits, desperate times called for desperate measures. "Tell all the Guardians to go to the Mirror of Life at once!" He hissed loudly as he went. The spirits that heard him looked worried, but they did as he said and ran, flew, slithered, hopped, and otherwise moved off to find all the Guardians. Zarif knew they probably had felt what he had and were headed for the Mirror of Life anyway, but he wanted to be certain.

*****

Meanwhile on Amanija, monstrous giants walked across the land. Some were tiny, some were huge. Some looked like animals already in Amanija only bigger or a little different, and others looked like nothing one had ever seen before. Some looked scary, some friendly. Some were bright colored, some were faded shades of gray.

Most of them paid no attention to the stares and frightened looks they received. They got those most places that they went, and for good reason. Besides their appearance, the bigger ones cause the ground to vibrate when they walked. Isauria, who walked in front of the others and was clearly the leader, understood how unsettling their sight must be. She felt for the animals and disliked scaring them.

Up above in the air, unusual looking fliers soared around in every direction. Unlike the land walkers, they were more spread out and some were yelling direction to their herd below. It was the way this herd always traveled. Some of them lived on land, some in the rivers, and some in the ocean. As such, whenever they traveled, the fliers were to make sure they all stayed together. Sometimes the land walkers or the ocean dwellers went far away from the ocean or the land respectively. They stayed with each other in their group for safety while the fliers carried messages back and forth. The fliers also had to be spread out in between the three groups to ensure they could find the fliers in the other groups to carry messages. They used a chain effect where one group would tell the next flier over, that would tell the next, and so on until the message reached the other group.

One of the fliers who's job was to be in the middle to carry messages was of the species of the largest fliers by the name of Raidon. The giraffe sized quetzalcoatlus glided back on forth on his large, smooth wings carrying messages. He was thankful that, according to the messages and from what he could see, they had found a spot where the river, ocean, and land meet and it was not far away. Then his job would be done for the moment.

[Nova]

The term 'everywhere at once' took on a whole new meaning once an animal had met Nova. The zebra mare (who was hard to miss herself, thanks to her odd striping) was a highly social animal, and once she had heard of the new critters prowling about Amanija thanks to the quick grapevine of terrified (silly, silly things) creatures in their wake, she had to come see them for herself. So now she waited, nostrils flaring excitedly and ears twitching in eager anticipation. She did not like waiting for things, and she did not like keeping so still for so long, either. Though she was not afraid of the newcomers (for she was not afraid of anything, really), she had the natural instinct to keep her distance from them that she could not ignore.

Suddenly, the striped horse lifted her head high, sure that she saw something approaching on the horizon. Her eyes narrowed into a squint, her lips pulling back a bit as the muscles in her long face tightened up. She could not see them very well, for they were still too far away for even her eyes to make out a distinct shape. She paced forward a ways, trying her very hardest to be one of the first to see the strange creatures that had stumbled across Amanija. Excitement, not fear, was a flame almost constantly burning in the zebra's heart, and this wonderful occasion only made that flame burn higher and brighter. What could these strange things be? She continued to approach, slowly but surely closing the gap between them.

With infuriating slowness the dark (though some were bright) blotches began to take shape, drawing her ever closer to the curious spectacle. Most of them looked like giantantic lizards, although some of them were up on their hind legs. How strange! She could not make out any sort of teeth or claws yet, but even if she could, she probably would have been too curious to pay them much mind. There was a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and she tended to cross it more often than she would like to admit. She sniffed again; they sort of smelled like lizards...but what were they? Where had they come from? Were they just passing through, or were they planning on staying? Were they peaceful, or did they mean harm?

*****

Sleep had always been Johari's favorite pastime. Before she had passed on, when her mind was dulled and wandering, she had wondered for a time if slumber would still be as nice as it was in life than in death. Upon arriving in the Afterlife, she was pleased to see that enough though the body no longer needed rest, it could still mimic the action and be just as peaceful. So, it was that the small, lithe doe was sleeping (dozing, really; she had not been off task for more than ten minutes) when an unknown force caused her to wake. Sleepily the gazelle opened her eyes and found herself peering an anxious-looking lion cub spirit square in the face. She snorted awake and rose to her feet, startled and agitated. "What is it?"

The spirit shifted uncomfortably under Johari's stern gaze, despite the fact that his kind grew to be more than twice the size of hers out in the real world. "Guardian Zariff is looking for all the Guardians," the cub reported softly.

Johari was instantly on the alert, a feeling that she did not particularly enjoy. Something must be wrong down on the lands. Something had changed, and if there was one thing the doe hated, it was change. She was, however, business-oriented, and so she nodded briskly in dismisal to the youngster. "Thank you for telling me," she said, touching her nose to the cub's head in a friendly manner (for she was not all bad). With that, the gazelle bounded off toward the Mirror.

[Trick]

It was such a normal day to the buck that he had actually gotten a little...bored. When one had too much time on ones hooves, it was usually a recipe for trouble. Not this time though, and not this buck. He wasn't one to cause trouble but instead get rid of it. He stood to keep the peace and tranquility of Amanija instead to ruin it all. But today was just so...boring and dull. He was so bored he was pretty much following a certain herd leader's every move since nothing else needed to be done.

The deer was taken aback as to how easily the leader spoke to a prey animal, how well he got his herd into the elk's head, and how he was even leading him right now to the herd's territory. He was a clever one this tiger, all the more reason to watch his every move. Sheff would make sure the lead wouldn't cause any trouble and keep his eye on him every chance he could get. He was still on the fence about letting him become leader but he put that aside for now to just watch and see how the events play out.

It was during the watching that something suddenly hit him like a rock. Something...wasn't right...but what? It was a new feeling to the large deer that it caused him to lose focus and shake his head a few times. Was it a problem? An issue coming to his attention? No...it didn't quite feel like such...but what was it? What was starting to bug him so? The deer tried to think but found that he couldn't. His mind was being clouded by so many questions and the weird feelings didn't exactly help the thinking process along.

It was then something flapped into view and landed beside him. "Arrrrrrawk! Guardian Sheff, guardian Sheff!" The bright red and green parrot repeated to him. "What is it? I'm...a bit distracted right now. Is something wrong?" Sheff asked back and blinked to refocus his eyes to find that they were finally working properly.

"It's Guardian Zarif, Zarif! He requests the presence of all guardians at the Mirror of Life Sqwuaaaaaaawk!" The parrot replied and flapped his wings before they settled back down on his back. "Guardian Zarif has requested a meeting? Then it is something important after all. Thank you, now go and tell the others if you can find them." Sheff ordered and bolted his way towards the meeting place. Something was up for sure if his friend called a meeting, but what it was Sheff didn't know. Hopefully Zarif could give him some answers on this whole mystery. Something just plain wasn't right and it was time to find out.

[Shadowcat]

((Since there are only three guardians right now, you guys can act like there are more if you want. I imagine several guardians in the afterlife and I'm assuming with this being so important, they'd all show up asap.))

Having spread the word wide and far, Zarif headed back to the Mirror of Life. The spirits seemed to be doing a good job of getting the word out, and someone needed to watch on the strange creatures in Amanija. Besides, he had spend a little longer than necessary telling everyone he could of the emergancy, and several of the Guardians were probably already there, waiting for him to tell them what the emergancy was. That is, if they hadn't already found out by taking a look on the living....

Zarif had never been an animal that beat around the bush, or make anything take longer than necessary. Now, however, as he stopped beside the great rock basin surrounded by other guardians, he was quick with the message. "Giants are in our land," He called to them loudly. Even as he spoke, he looked into the water of the mirror so that it would show the image of the strange creatures. Then, there were no further words he deemed necessary. If pictures were worth a thousand words, than this one was worth a million.

*****

Although Isauria's eyes were focused straight ahead of her, she noticed the stares and the fleeing animals. But, now and then, she'd see an animal that stood and looked at them, curious and unafraid. Others would run into the distance and hide, then watch from afar. It was certain that every animal had at least a spark of curiosity.

They have not seen any like us, it seems, the old dinosaur thought to herself. It is to be expected. Most do not know of us at all. But there were two things seriously different here. For one, some animals would flee with others that are normally their enemies, or predator and prey. Isauria had to wonder if the sight of the giants had made them forget all about things like that, or if, some how, they were friends. Then again, there are herbivores and carnivores alike in our herd.

Isauria's other question formed in her mind the longer they walked. There were tons of different animals here, even kinds the she-giant had not seen in her travels. That didn't surprise her, as she knew there were many kinds of animals. But so many different ones in one area was a little surprising. The land was nicer too. The air seemed fresher and the plants looked greener. It wasn't radically different, from what she could tell, but she had to wonder, what was this place?

[Nova]

Nova was, not surprisingly, most certainly one of the animals that stared and stood stock still, unafraid of the giants as the rumbled past. Surely, if they meant serious harm they would not have stuck together in such a way. The tiny, sharp-toothed and sharp-clawed ones, the big mean-looking ones with fearsome faces and armor (for so it seemed)...if they meant serious harm, surely they would have done it already? There was not much that could stop them, after all; they were bigger than anything the zebra had ever seen in her life. She doubted that anyone (no, not even the powerful Guardians the animals of Amanija) could stop them from causing harm, no matter how hard they tried.

But they did not, and so Nova neared them still. As they drew closer, her hoofbeats became swifter and bouncier, eagerness overcoming any small fear she may have subconsciously had in her own mind. She had to figure out what these things were! Perhaps they would stay. Perhaps she could befriend one. The new possibilities of having newcomers such as these were endless; there was so much they could do, it seemed! Some of them could even fly! It was only when she was nearly crushed beneath the huge flat foot of a particularly large one that she managed to get a hold of herself. "Hey! she called loudly, unsure where their ears were and if they could hear well. "What are you?"

*****

Guardian Johari had never been late for anything in her life. She was too punctual, too exact to even think of the possibility that she may arrive tardy for any event, no matter how big or small. She was not a perfectionist; rather, she simply enjoyed the routine of things, and any blurb in her day caused her great distress. That was something that came from living as a zoo animal in her life on Earth; she had to have everything just 'so,' and if it was not, she felt disgruntled and ill at ease. So, likewise, she was quick in getting to the Mirror, but her small, delicate head swayed gently from side to side as she waited. Anxiety at this feeling that something very, very strange was going on making her unusually nervous.

She glanced up as Guardian Sheff arrived at the edge of the water, dipping her head in respectful acknowledgment of her peer. Though it was a given that all the of Guardians had to get along to some degree, she knew that Sheff and Zariff shared a friendship that she simply did not have with either creature. She felt slightly small and frail standing beside the large deer, all too aware of her own tiny stature. Guardian Sheff had his size on his side, and Zariff had his fangs; Johari, though not helpless, felt much less imposing when she looked at them. But that was not an issue to be dealt with right now, she reminded herself; for now, she just had to figure out what dark thing was going on down below.

A soft, sharp intake of air was the only sign of surprise that came off of the small gazelle when the giants came into few. She was not the type to overreact (especially when things were tense), and remained fairly calm as she observed the strangers. They were definitely giants; even the small ones, she noted with a wry smile, could probably make an after-dinner snack out of her. "Some of these strangers look harmless," she observed softly, stating the obvious in case some minds began to panic. She looked up from the water, her dark eyes scanning over the faces of the others in a calm, almost motherly fashion, as if trying to soothe them. "But only some. What do you think we should do, Zariff?"

[Shadowcat]

As a striped animal neared the herd of giants, many seemed not to notice or not to care. One with particularly large, sharp teeth, however, stopped in place and glanced at her curiously. He titled his horned head to the side, then lowered it slightly to get a better view of the small animal. She wasn't much bigger than his head, and he was still growing. But, in his brief experiences with other animals, Renzo had learned that few were anywhere near his size.

The dark red, scaled beast glanced at his herd as they walked on, then turned to look at the striped animal again. He took a few steps closer to her, his step showing an enthusiastic bounce. He didn't usually get to talk with any that were not in his herd. Most just ran away. Why wasn't this one running?

"Hello," he greeted her, giving a toothy grin. Despite the teeth, the immense size, the horns, the claws, the blood-red scales, and the orange-red eyes, some how, the dinosaur managed to look friendly, rather than menacing. His body was slimmer than most of his kind, and his words and posture friendly. "My name's Renzo and I'm called a carnotaurus," he said, giving a polite nod. "Who are you?" The tip of his tail twitched as he waited for her to speak.

*****

Zarif was bit surprised by Johari's calmness. "Indeed, some are quite small and friendly looking, but what of the large ones that look like predators?" He half yelled, worried for the sake of Amanija. The cobra eyed a sharp toothed one talking to Nova, a zebra he recognized when viewing the land of Amanija before.

Turning his eyes back to Johari, he continued. "I am one who wants to believe the best in every creature, but if they are to attack, the living animals that make their homes here will not stand a chance. Even the elephants will all be killed!" Zarif said, trying not to raise his tone. He succeeded, but he sounded agitated. He couldn't help but feel the beginnings of doom grasp his black, scaled body. Still, he didn't want to believe that they were going to cause trouble.

[Trick]

Sheff's hooves pounded against the ground and carried him as fast as he could go. He arrived just in time to hear Zarif's words. Giants? Just what kind of Giants? Were they bigger then the elephants? What in the world could be bigger then an elephant that didn't belong in the sea? Such puzzling words but all was made clear once he looked into the mirror. Just what were these beasts? It looked like an army of monsters that looked really protected and dangerous. Their claws, their fangs, their eyes and even their skin made them look like something that would eat you in an instant. They were a definite threat to Amanija as far as Sheff could tell.

Ceric, a large Grizzly was clearly upset at what he was watching. Sheff had known Ceric almost as long as he had known Zarif and knew he shared the same feelings as he had. "They can easily rip through anything in our land!" Ceric announced, worried at what consequences might happen if they just sat by and watched.

"What Ceric says is true, but Zarif has a point. We cannot just assume they are evil and attack everything in sight. Though I am worried as well, we must give every animal a chance to prove themselves, every animal. The minute they show some aggression however, I'm ready to boot them out for good. They look like monsters from another world, but we...but..." The mirror showed one of the "monsters" stopping and then talking to a Zebra. It was being...friendly. "See right there? It's being friendly...we at least have to give them a right to show what they truly are first." Sheff told the group as his eyes never left the conversation of the two different animals.


--------------------------------------------


The sun was high in the sky and the dark rocks soaked up their rays and spread the heat all over. It was things like this that Liz was grateful for. She sunbathed on a group of rocks that were directly in the sun's rays that broke through the forest canopy. They felt so hot that she felt she couldn't move. This all changed in a matter of moments when the Earth began to rumble. Her once shut eyes were now wide open and her calm tongue began flicking in and out constantly.

Something was wrong, very wrong. The rocks she had be laying on moved with each tremor. She gave out a loud irritated hiss as she forced her once frozen body to move into action. The minute she got off the rocks the cooler air seemed to attack her scales. Oh how she hated the cold, but she trudged on anyway. The scent was different but familiar. Her tongue told her it was reptilian in nature, but nothing she had ever smelled before. It was...intriging to say the least. She was a wise one, Liz, and she could tell that if something could shake the ground with each step it was huge. But the problem was with this situation was that there were many, many scents that wafted into the air.

It was a herd or something of some sort on the move and not that far away. Curiosity and the pursuit of knew knowledge drove her to find out who was making such a racket. She found her answer as she left the main forest behind and stared in awe at the large lizards. She had heard of such beings. Generation after generation after more generation had said such beasts had once existed...but had disappeared. They were the mightiest of all reptiles but how they were wiped out was lost over time.

She had forgotten what they were called. Her species just called them large lizards. What ever they were they were on the move. She boldly made her way towards the group, hiding the little bit of fear that had built up. She felt proud though, proud that fellow reptiles could grow that huge and be that tough looking. They were almost like a distant family to her...but there was still fear. She let the leader pass...the biggest one of them all it seemed. its teeth was the reason why she had chickened out. Otherwise she would have gone right up to it.

Instead she choose a "nicer" looking one and stopped beside it. "Hello up there! Do you have a minute to talk or are you too busy to talk to a fellow reptilian?"

[Shadowcat]

Zarif hesitated as he watched the image of the "friendly" monster. He felt very divided on all of this. One second, he felt they should be given a chance, the next, he felt they were too dangerous. The truth was, he wasn't sure what to do or to think.

Turning his eyes back to the others, he spoke again. "But what if that chance ends in disaster? They could kill every creature in site in the blink of an eye. It may soon be too late to stop them," he said, still thinking. "We don't know what they are, or where they come from, or anything about them." Right now, Zarif sounded like he was all for getting rid of them, one way or another. However, the truth was, he honestly was not sure what to do.

"Then let's go down right now and tell these beasts to leave!" A large bald eagle said, flapping her wings in distress. A wildebeest across the room countered. "So we should deem them 'guilty until proven innocent'?!" He snapped, stomping his hooves. "Well we can't just wait around for ages while they do whatever they want!" A lioness growled. "They'll eat all our food," an orange tom cat added. Many of the guardians started shouting their various opinions, quickly getting into a verbal fight.

Zarif, who was among those NOT shouting, sighed, his eyes downcast. They were not getting anywhere, and now they were all fighting and yelling. He knew they all wanted the best for Amanija, and most of them wanted the best for the strangers as well, but fighting would do no good. And, so far, no one had really given any suggestions or solutions.

*****

Spotting a rather large, though small compared to him, lizard coming his way, Renzo's tail began to twitch excitedly again. Most of the time, everyone just ran away. But the young carnotaurus enjoyed conversing with others. He was eager to ask about this land, as well, for it was unlike any he had ever seen. It fascinated him how he saw herbivores and carnivores together in the distance talking like they were friends. His herd was like that, but he had never met any others like his herd that were friends with all species.

Renzo lowered his large, horned head so it was, at least somewhat, closer to the lizard. "Hi there," he said, giving a toothy grin. "I'd love to talk for a while. At least, until Isauria calls me, or sends someone else to get me," he said, frowning at the last part. He lifted his head again and looked into the distance, spotting his leader. "She's not too far ahead, so I should be able to catch up easy, meaning she probably won't make me hurry up right now," he said as he turned his eyes back to the lizard.

"You know, I've seen all kinds in my travels, but I never got a chance to ask one of your kind what they're called," he said, curiously. Then realization hit him. "Oh, sorry, I didn't tell you my name. I'm Renzo." He smiled at the lizard again, happy to be able to talk to a non-herd member for once.

[Trick]

Sheff listened to everyone's words. Zarif was still right. They didn't know a thing about these intruding monsters. They could fully well be evil for all they knew, just as much they could be good as well. They just plain didn't know. Then everything began to get out of hand. The guardians were bickering and arguing with each other, their voices all rose in unison but a few who remained silent. Sheff and Ceric were among them. Ceric was only quiet because Sheff gave him the look that said he'd better not argue along too.

"QUIET!" Sheff yelled and stamped his hooves. The arguing continued however as everyone seemed to ether not hear him or just plain ignore him. "I SAID QUIET!! ALL OF YOU!!" Sheff shouted once more but yet again his words fell on deaf ears. They seemed to want to yell, to want to argue and defeat each other and get them to see their point of view and recognize it as the right one. All this arguing was giving Sheff a ghostly headache. "Oh for crying out loud, Ceric, if you will?!" Sheff's look said it all and the grizzly knew exactly what needed to be done. Ceric let out the loudest roar that he could muster, so loud that it itself drowned out all the voices and once it was finished there was just silence.

"Thank you." Sheff nodded his head to Ceric.

"Anytime." The grizzly replied with a smile.

"Look at what you are doing! You're all arguing and fighting with each other. Is this what the animals of Amanija want to see? What they think we do? No! Now I know the situation is dire but we cannot reduce ourselves to a bunch of bickering rogue animals. We need to be calm and think this out without jumping down each other's throats!" Sheff told it like it was with a stern voice. They all wanted to act like a bunch of younglings or something and he wouldn't have any of it.

"Well what do you propose we do huh?" Hissed an alligator.

"We all have good points in this. We cant call ourselves guardians if we don't give every animal a chance to live in this paradise. Likewise we cant if we let such a threat come in here and wipe us all out. Zariff is right, we don't know their intentions or anything else for that matter, but I aim to find out. I'm going down there and confront the leader of that herd. It is the best option that I can see at the moment. Now, who's with me, who wants to come?" Sheff asked and everything was dead silent, even the ones who wanted to kick the monsters out didn't say a word.

"Is there anyone in here that's not afraid or cautious to come along?" Sheff asked, silently amazed at how no one was jumping up just yet to come along. He knew he shouldn't be surprised but he was.




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Liz couldn't help but flinch as the dino lowered its head and smiled a very, very toothy grin at her. "No no, mustn't chicken out now, not again. Stand your ground, not everyday you get a chance like this." She told herself quietly. "Isauria huh? I'll have to keep that one in mind." Liz thought to herself before mustering up the courage to continue the conversation.

"Nice to meet you Renzo, my name is Liz." She replied and placed that bit of information in the back of her mind. She might need both their names for some use later on. "My kind?" She gave a light chuckle before continuing. "My kind are the great Komoto Dragons. We were supposed to be the largest reptiles around...but I'd say your herd puts us to shame." Liz smiled and dared a glance at the rest of the herd. They were pretty impressive...and massive.

"I hope you don't get into any trouble with your herd leader by staying, but I do have questions about you and your herd. I hope you don't mind me asking but, what are you? I know you all have a name, but you were all referred to as something....something my species used to know but lost over time." Liz couldn't help but be curious. The pursuit of new knowledge thrilled her to her very core and she'd suck all that this monstrous lizard knew out of him. It would be as nicely as possible of course.

[Shadowcat]

Plot dropped. Please rp as if this plot had never happened and extinct animals had always been in Amanija.