forum Underground Cryptids Community (character RP/Chat)

Started December 20, 2023 by @Serenity88 group

tune

(hope you guys dont mind if I update on my other two cryptids…casue I just finished this bit and im happy with how it turned out!)

Astraea was in a memory.

She smelled smoke. Fire licked at her heels. Her mother, her uncle, her aunt, father and cousin; they were telling her to run. But how? Rough ropes, tough from age, rubbed her wrists, ankles and neck. The post at her back was so broad it expanded past her shoulders to either side, making any escape impossible.

The smoke blew away, giving way to clean mountain air. Her feet ached, and hair kept whipping in her eyes, and her clothes were in tatters. The pale sun glared down at her, striking blindness in her unprotected eyes. The mossy stone at her feet was deceptively soft-looking, but thin and provided no cushion for her beaten and bloody soles. She clutched at her bony arms, trying to ward off the unstoppable wind from cutting the warmth from her bones.

A voice, so small and ragged, tore from her throat. "Mama! Father!" It echoed lonesomely against the rocks and barren tree trunks of the mountaintop.

The clouds came down, obscuring everything from all of her senses. Then there was Aideen, touching her elbow. "Hey. Come on, star, I think there is a creek ahead." Indeed, Astraea could just make out the rushing of a little stream and quiet splashes from birds or fish. Tall reaching evergreens provided canopy far above, the lowest branches many Aideen-heights beyond the top of Astraea's head. They also gave the forest floor a wonderful thick, soft carpet of fallen pine needles and ferns.

Taking what was supposed to be a deep breath but only filled her lungs partway, Astraea fell into step behind her adopted sister. She lifted her eyes to the branches of the trees, spotting many birds she had never seen before but somehow, she could recognize them by color and shape. That large round one with head plumage the color of the evening sky, the small one with green and yellow stripes flitting past it with a loud trill and a peck to the head. They all felt familiar, as if she had seen them somewhere in the past. Their songs wafted in her ears like forgotten melodies.

"Trae, how empty is your water?" Aideen looked up at her from a crouch by a little rocky stream. "Mine's just about out."

Astraea bobbed her head, bringing the small metal insulated bottle from her backpack. The blue marbled patterns looked really nice in the filtered sunlight, she thought.

"Little more than half." She gave it a little shake before handing it over. "No more ice left, either."

Aideen chuckled as she took the bottle. "No, I wouldn't expect any ice to be left." she unscrewed the top. "Last time we had ice was… like a week ago."

"Yes. Lots of time in the woods." She rolled her neck, observing the tree trunks at different angles. "Time."

Aideen glanced up from filling the second of three total bottles. "Time? Got any more to that sentence?"

A tickle in her mind, like dust or bugs. "Yes. Maybe." As usual, she wished she could just show Aideen her thoughts instead of trying to piece together words to explain them. The thoughts were difficult to speak. "Not much time left. We used a lot of it walking." She glared into her sister's green eyes, letting her mouth shape a frown. "We could have been flying."

A sigh. "I told you why we can't try that."

"Yes."

Aideen was standing now, looking down at her. Exasperation filled her expression. "So why is this still a problem for you?"

She looked away. Astraea knew, she knew, that these woods were safe, welcoming, even, to her and Aideen's wings. But somehow, she couldn't explain how she was so certain, and that made Aideen call it 'just a hope' and 'but you dont know for sure'. but I do know…

The tickle was a needle now, but not a sharp one. A pointing one. Her arm lifted, pointing with it. Upstream, but on the other side and further into the trees. "They're over there."

Her sister tightened the cap on the last water bottle. "Good. Let's get going."

She smiled. "But they're closer than last time." She turned her smile to Aideen. "We'll meet with them tomorrow, Deen."

There were nice folk here. Folk with wings – enormous wings, actually. Tomma had seen sculptures of wing-folk, and the towering, ornate things were chiseled from banded alabaster and polished smooth. But that was probably a coincidence, now that he thought about it. The statues had battier wings, not those feather-flappers that Einar had.

Was Tomma staring? He was probably staring.

His senses hadn't truly settled since J appeared. There was a lull in the conversation for an uncomfortable few beats as everyone seemed to spiral between winding down and gearing up.

"I think 'm missin' out on second breakfast." He was muttering to no one in particular, not even the lounging spirits in their ghostly hammocks, reading wispy books in the breeze. Tomma wasn't sure whether they were real or if he'd woken up too early.

Valiel had the right idea, asking where this Hive-someone was.

"Y'don't think that Hive-fellow knows sumwhere't eat?"

He was looking at J, though admittedly, his gaze flew right over her shoulder again. Tomma wasn't particularly hungry, but a snack would be nice. Maybe a cup of coffee? No, tea. Coffee would keep him up too late. Tea and… biscuits? Biscuits. But not the flat ones for dipping. The puffy pillow ones for syrup. That sounded nice.

Oh. Tomma was staring again.

(Kinda blanked here because Tomma isn't much of a conversation starter (and neither am I-))

Valiel returned Stella's wave with a smile, happy the moth girl seemed happy. She'd need to cultivate communicating with her, though maybe not just now- Sylvya was looking around protectively, and Valiel wasn't going to push that.
She also noted, with some sense of satisfaction, that although Veronica still seemed on edge, she was at least willing to stick close to Einar. That was good.

Indeed, Veronica had only seemed more likely to stay close to Einar the more his wings entered this plane of existence and became more visible. They were a familiar piece to her, in the midst of something very new and nerve-wracking.

Arthur stepped towards Tomma, gently placing a hand on his shoulder, steadying him a bit. The guy was staring a lot, and seemed unsettled. "We can hit up the market, or even the Bazaar after we meet with Hive, if you want. There's always good food there."

…………..

A couple of miles away, in the depths of the cavern he'd built as his home, Hive hummed to himself happily as he hurried around, tidying up. The new group had come through the portal, and all of them had turned out to be honest to goodness Cryptids. He was always delighted to grow their little community, and this new method had worked better than he'd hoped for. He had sent one of his insects to watch the bottle, and so he knew that someone had opened his note, and J had gone to meet them. Hopefully they'd be along soon. The big hollow tree that was his front door was neat, the long spiral staircase down into the cavern was swept, the mushroom lights had been fed and were glowing brightly, and all was ready to greet the guests and answer questions. He even had snacks, arranged on little wooden platters set out on the stone ledges. Hosting wasn't something he got to do very often, so he may have gone overboard, but. New arrivals deserved the best.
Soon… he smiled happily to himself.

Something Janine noted about Arthur was how fluidly he shifted his arm, something very interesting to her. The amount of mental stability and control this man must have is astronomical, at least in her eyes.

Presently, she looks at how the lady shrinks back in fear, and sighs quietly, backing up and standing slowly, hands visible and with no indication of attack or intent to threaten or harm. She glances over at Valiel at her words, then back at Veronica.

"Veronica, I know this probably won't help, but I won't eat you. I only eat pizza rolls and Mountain Dew," she says softly, with a joking tone of voice. She had a kind smile on her face, closed lips, to avoid freaking her out more. She knew how unsettling her teeth were.

After that she lets the matter go, turning fully to Valiel.

"Yup. He's been holed here the longest of anybody, actually. In a tree," she laughs vibrantly. "I guess it makes sense though. You'll see what I mean when we meet him."

She turns back towards Einar as he starts talking, listening closely. She notes the way he hesitates upon seeing a hint of weariness in her and she covers it quickly.

Janine nods thoughtfully. "Stuck up politicians, huh? Seems about right. We have more than our fair share in this world, so you just left magical ones for entirely human ones. Or mostly human. As for world differences, I have no clue what a sky whale is but it certainly sounds interesting."

At Einar's comment about a "thin spot," she pauses and fully looks him in the eyes for a moment, reading the fear, anger, confusion and defensiveness that are there. And something deeper - happiness. Happy to be away from wherever he came from. "I'm glad you made it here, Einar. We're happy to have you in this world."

Janine catches Stella's chirp and chirps back, almost reflexively, in the same manner one might imitate their pet - only a lot more real sounding. She nods back at Sylvya, smiling.

She then looks over at Tomma, but Arthur seems to have handled that already, so she just smiles brightly and claps once.

"Well! It's nice to meet you all. I think it's time we go to meet our wonderful 'leader'-" she puts air quotes around leader and laughs. "-and get living situations sorted out. After that, you all are free to wander and explore, rest for a while, fight, eat, game - anything you'd like."

"Also, there's two to three others coming to meet us. Keep an eye out for anything, alright? We don't know what they are," she adds as a quick afterthought.

Name: Nessus Gaia
Nicknames (if any): Nex
Age: ≈ 17-22 years old
Gender and Pronouns: AFAB demiboy. He/Him/His, They/Them/Theirs

Appearance

Skin Tone: A bronzy tan color, silghtly shiny in the sun, mildly relfective like metal
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 147 lbs
Eye Color: Steely gray with flecks of reflective gold
Hair Color: sum like this. A deep black with streaks of bright silver and white
Hairstyle: this? (their face is also relatively like that) A fluffy and curly mess of hair in no particular order. They put great care into looking like they just woke up :)
Scars: None, really. They have a few gashes along their arms but could tell you how they came to be in about 2 minutes
Other Blemishes: Freckles all over their face, shoulders and back.
Body Type: Thin and small, yet lightly muscled. Twink energy for real
Usual Outfit: Something comfy and alternative. Blacks, silvers and golds are their go-to colors, usually resonating in the baggy t-shirts, cargo pants, combat boots and chains galore they wear

Personality and Powers

Basic Personality: Cheerful and kind, Nex loves being goofy. He's a silly guy. He has some major insecurities, but turns them into humor (yayyy we love that). I'm still kinda fleshing him out so you'll know more when i do :/
Sexuality: Fruity. He hasn't really decided on a label, but he's found that he does prefer guys, but doesn't not like girls or other genders. He's learning
Physical conditions: None that are diagnosed. He does stiff and sometimes he gets momentary paralysis
Mental Conditions: PTSD and ADHD, symptoms of anxiety and depression but those are not diagnosed
Other: He's a Gargoyle-type cryptid. Not entirely gargoyle, but close enough to a metal statues of one. He has a large pair of metal wings. They look like pieces of bronze machinery, but are, indeed part of him. He feels them as he feels the rest of his body.
Theme Songs: Stone Man- Chordstreet, I'm The Boogeyman-Rory Webley, hand crushed by a mallet- 100 gecs

Einar resolved to stay quieter throughout the other's introductions. He felt the need to hide, to make himself unnoticed in the presence of Janine and this unfamiliar territory. But there was a part of him, a part he was fighting with, that told him he was safe and that he could trust everyone here and that the woods felt more like home than his own house.

Just can it for now, can it all. We don't have time for all that weakness. Get yourself together.

The others were talking to Janine about the trek to Hive's bunker, food and water, sleeping and how long it would take to get there. It sounded like a day's run for J, but with smaller, weaker or more leisurely people it could take two days.

---

(crap, writing fuel running out…)

Sylvya calmed herself, hugging Stella. "I love you" she whispered. She let Stella go, waiting to see if anyone would come talk to her.

Stella fluttered over to the other winged people (person? I forgot how many had wings-)) and buzzed happily, pointing at their wings and smiling.

Nessus had been wandering for a while. He came into these woods often, but never this deep in. He heard voices farther ahead of him and stopped dead in his tracks. There never were people near. That's why he loved this forest. With his off putting appearance and metallic features, most would either fear him, hate him, or put him on display. He was nervous, as he stiffened his wings. He would fold them, so as to make himself smaller, but they were rusted and creaked loudly when they moved. He slowly made his way towards the source of the noise and was awestruck by what he found. People, but not. A lot seemed like him. Different in a way humans did not understand. He stood by the tree and watched. He tried to be silent, but his wings flexed and creaked with the echoed sound of old metal

Veronica kept her eyes locked on Janine for a bit, until the tall girl stepped away to talk to others. Veronica caught Valiel's eye, and the shifter gave her a reassuring smile.
It didn't help a whole lot, but Veronica did her best to relax. Having her muscles all tense was beginning to hurt.
She glanced at Einar, noting his quietness, and was trying to think if she should say something else, when Stella fluttered over and began making excited noises and smiling. Veronica couldn't understand her, but from the way she was pointing at Einar's wings, her meaning was pretty clear.
"Someone else likes your wings too…" she rasped quietly, before looking at Stella's own wings and giving a big thumbs up. She swallowed the nerves and tried to focus on not seeing the moth-girl as a predator.
Of all of them, Stella seemed the most gentle, and Veronica badly wanted to be less on guard.

Arthur watched that interaction, a small smile crossing his face. He turned back to Tomma, about to crack a joke about winged people and birds of a feather flocking together, or something, but Tomma was still staring a bit. Arthur tightened his grip on Tomma's shoulder, not to a painful degree, but to remind the kid he was here, and hopefully ground him a bit.
There was movement behind him, and Arthur glanced up to see a gargoyle-looking individual step into the clearing and stand there, watching them. Creaking metal wings made it clear the guy wasn't attempting to hide, so Arther waved him over. "Join us, bud. Got a name?"

Valiel looked over as Arthur called to someone, and noticed the newcomer. She could tell Arthur had relaxed a bit now that they were in the Cryptic Woods, so she didn't feel like she had to monitor every interaction.
So she focused on shifting instead. Stepping back from people for a minute, she closed her eyes, concentrating on the creature in her head. There was a rippling motion over her skin, and when her eyes opened again, for a moment they blazed a blinding white light. And then she was shifting, her body morphing and changing and growing.
A few seconds later, what was left there was an uncommon creature, big and imposing. Valiel looked like someone had crossed a horse with a lion, and then blended that with… a rhino, maybe? Whatever she was, she was big enough to carry several people easily.
"Alright folks! We gotta get a move on towards Hive's place. Those who can fly, feel free to take to the skies. Those who would like a ride, hop on! And if you choose to run on your own, you better keep up." This last comment was clearly aimed at Arthur, from the way Valiel tossed her maned head in his direction.

Einar cleared his throat quietly; not like he wanted attention, but as if he was a preparing himself to speak.
"Ver…Veronica? Will you fly?" He tried not to seem uneasy or pushy, but his voice wavered uncertainly. "I'll be flying, but my oversized wings are really fast and clumsy."

That doesn't make sense.
It's fine.

He almost missed Valiel's shift, but the light caught his eye and he couldn't help staring a little as she changed to a creature he had never seen the likes of before. Einar also almost didn't notice the large metallic winged fella, but they were impossible to ignore once the gargoyle stepped closer to the group. He nodded to himself, noting just how many wings were present – so many unwanted flappers just like himself. His heart warmed a little, an unfamiliar sensation, at the thought of not being out of place here, of belonging.

J looks around at the group and smiles. Everyone was getting along well; there were even newcomers who were already adapting to the group.

That reminded her. . . but no, the last two would be able to find them. Either at the tree or in the camp, it would happen. She'd introduce them to Hive when she could.

She nods at Valiel, interested in her shifting but deciding to focus for now.

"I'm good on my own two feet," she grins broadly, bending back and then forward, then from side to side, stretching out her body for the impending trip.

"Let's get a move on, people!" she exclaims, bounding off into the trees fast on all fours, her lanky body lending itself well to the strange galloping run. As she ran, her form seemed to start to lengthen and thin, and start looking more. . . feral. A high, fluting and inhuman call escapes her as she runs, but whether it was intentional or not was unknown. Indeed, it seemed almost as if she had no idea that her body had changed at all.

Nessus came slowly up to the group, His joints creaking metallically as he moved. He kept somewhat of a distance but joined the group. "Nessus" He said softly, his voice a bit scratchy and hoarse with disuse, as though he hadn't spoken at a reasonably loud volume in a while. He turned to the creature who had spoken, nodding stiffly as they spoke. He opted to fly, even as his wings desperately needed to be oiled, he could still use them. He stepped back from the group and flexed his wings open, yet another metallic grating as he opened and closed them a few times, preparing to take off. He lifted off and flapped carefully a moment, following the rest of these creatures just above tree level, trying to keep an eye on those he was going with as he was unsure of the destination

Stella smiled happily at the person who complimented their wings. As Veronica's complement, her wings glowed brighter. When Valeil called out that it was time to go, Stella fluttered back over to Sylvya, before both took off in their own ways, Stella flying and Syl scurrying along, having no difficulty keeping up with the group. After a little bit, Stella grew tired and opted for a ride.

Aideen plucked another thorn from her jeans. She and Astraea had been in this swath of briars and blackberry bushes for the past day, and she was getting real tired of it. when there was a small open space for them to stand, it was small and they had to find their way out by ducking under the reaching arms of thorns or climbing the short, branchy trees that now populated the area. Several times, she'd noticed Astraea looking up and rolling her shoulders; she had to resist doing the same thing, focusing on not wanting to stretch her wings.

But why did her apprehensions feel so shallow now? Why did her instinct to stay normal sound quiet and untroubled? If this place was as she thought, was a last sanctuary for inhuman beings like her and Astraea, there was no need to appear human; they weren't human, after all.

"Trae," she called softly, pulling her sister's attention from the large green and blue beetle she was staring at. Her silver sky eyes met Aideen's. "Trae, I've been thinking."

"Pondering?" a smile curved Astraea's small mouth.

She nodded. "You could say that. I'm thinking that we're taking up lots of time here."

Astraea's head bobbed, along with her shoulders. "Yes. The briars are taking all the time."

"So…do you know which way to go?"

Her arm instantly lifted, pointing slightly to the left of their current trajectory. "Not far, as the hummingbird flies. Very far, as the briar root reaches."

"Well, we aren't briars or hummingbirds." Aideen let herself look to the sky, feeling her heart reach for the unobstructed air. "We're dragons, Trae."

Those ice blue eyes widened, surprised. "Yes," she murmured. "We are dragons." Her snowy skin at the corners of her eyes hardened and fractured into tiny grey-blue scales, shaping little swirls up to her temples and down her chin.

Aideen felt a muscle relax in her mind, and felt the scales creep over her skin too – her face felt a little stiff, unfamiliar with the change after not doing it for so long. She took her jacket off so her wings wouldn't damage it. She wadded it up and crammed it into her backpack. Her wings, dark orange with mottled red patches and yellow highlights unfolded from her back. She'd never understood how it worked – they seemed to unfold from her skin as if they'd been pressed there, but when they were hidden there was no evidence except a collection of freckles, like a wing-shaped spray of dark stars.

As she rolled her shoulders, she noticed Astraea doing the same. "You ready?"

One more big nod. Aideen raised her wings high, bending her knees. She and her sister pushed off and flapped downward at the same time, blowing the briars back from them with the powerful gust. With a few more flaps, she was above Astraea, quietly giggling as she did loops with her blue-grey wings. In the afternoon sunlight, her scales glinted like ice, her silver hair flowing and whipping about her face and shoulders. We should've put our hair up…we're gonna have some awful mats to detangle later.

"This way!" Astraea's little voice reached Aideen's ears over the flapping of her own wings as her sister began winging off to the south. Exhilaration swirled in her stomach as she let the wind carry her along, forgetting her troubles and enjoying the sky.