Taxon Hunting

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Othin's emerald eyes flashed open and a new day's energy burst inside of him. Immediately, the blue cub bounced around to his fellow siblings, awaking them from their slumber. "Wake up! Wake up, wake up! It's new day! Let's go explore!"
Enid let out a groan covered her face with her wings. "Later..." She moaned drowsily.
Ayala began stretching her legs and a huge yawn escaped her mouth. "Where we going today?" She asked, ready to start for a new adventure.
"Well I heard from Kuchli that there's this waterfall not too far from here and that if we go early enough- before all the lions wake up- that we might see these weird, huge animals! I think he called them... Taxes?" Othin replied, his wings starting to stretch out.
"Taxon. Don't you mean Taxon." Enid asked, finally waking from her sleep and stretching.
"Yeah! That's it! I guess they can be real dangerous if you aren't careful... but..." Othin paused, knowing Ayala couldn't fly. "Well if we stay above the waterfall, we should be fine! It's gonna be so much fun! Hey Éadaoin, wake up!" He noticed his brother was turned away, trying to sleep still. Othin was determined to get him up and so the cub let loose his light element. A blinding flash of light filled the den, and soon all of his family was stirring, including Éadaoin.
"Othin. What did I say about waking us up?" Haldir grumbled, half-asleep.
"Sorry Dad! We're going on an adventure to a waterfall where these huge creatures called uhh...." Othin paused, trying to remember what they were called.
"Taxon?" input Enid.
"Yeah, Taxon!" Othin started again. "We were gonna try to get a view of them and see what these strange creatures are like! I'm sure the Oasis could use them for something! Maybe they have special powers that can destroy things! Maybe they-"
Éadaoin finally woke up all the way and was ready. Enid snorted and Haldir rolled his eyes, but before Haldir could tell them no, Eowyn interrupted the little cub. "Sounds like fun. Make sure you all stay within the Pride borders and make sure you are close to patrols in case! I don't want anyone getting hurt."
Haldir nearly stood up, surprised by his mate allowing their cubs to go off alone in such a dangerous place, but before he could, all the cubs scampered off, excited for their adventure.
"Come on, let's go!" Othin squealed as he ran of the den.
After a few moments of silence, Haldir spoke up. "Honey, you know I don't like them going off alone. They could get into trouble with the Rebels! Or the Taxon! Those Taxon can crush them, you know!"
"Shhhhh." Eowyn replied, curling her tail around Haldir's. "They're just cubs, Haldir. It's what they do. And you know Othin will listen to us. He'll make sure there are patrols around. We can check on them in a little bit."
"This isn't ok-"
"Haldir, don't you remember what you were like as a cub? Don't you remember all of your adventures and how much trouble you got into? Look at you now." Her eyes glimmered in the soft lighting. "They'll be fine."
Haldir gave a defeated sigh. "I guess I have no room to talk." He closed his eyes, and the two lions drifted into a light sleep.

"Kuchli! Let's go!" Othin called into the mouth of the den. His siblings were waiting for their brother to return with his new friend. Othin sat waiting for a moment, peering into the den and trying to make out the shapes inside. It was so dark however, and Othin didn't dare use his element after his dad's warning. He was completely blind to the inside because of the darkness, yet he could hear the breath of sleeping lions.
"Argh!!" Othin felt a sharp weight shove him onto his back and Kuchli stood above him, pinning him to the ground. Othin shrieked in surprise, but smiled once he recovered.
"Come on you big hairballs!" cried Ayala, who was waiting with Enid and Éadaoin. "We don't have time for this!"
Othin pushed Kuchli off of him and stood up, happy to be reunited with his friend. "You're sure it's okay to go there? It's inside the Pride borders, right?" Othin asked, needing the reassurance. The last thing he wanted to do was lead his siblings and friend away from safety and in harm's way. Of course, where they were headed wasn't exactly "safe", but they'd be looking down on the herd from a safe spot.
"Yes, yes, don't worry! I go here all the time!" Kuchli reminded him. "It's fine."
Othin nodded his head and soon all the cubs were all together again and ready for a new adventure.
"Okay, Kuchli, lead the way!"

Othin and his siblings all followed behind Kuchli, and they all chatted meaningless things among themselves as they trekked on. Although the waterfall was in the Pride lands, it was also across from the lake and a good distance away. Soon enough the cubs began to walk through a dimmed Blood Wood forest. Naturally, Othin began asking Kuchli all about the forest and it's blood red sap while his siblings listened. Enid would occasionally jump into the conversation to give facts about the forest. Soon enough Kuchli stopped. "Um... Well I thought we'd be there by now... but I don't remember exactly... I thought we went the right way."
"What!" Enid stopped dead in her tracks. "You mean you're lost?"
"Well... just... kinda. I'm sure we can find it." Kuchli said, looking to his paws.
"Hey! I think I hear something!" Othin said, his tail whipping back and forth. "I bet it's a taxon! Let's see if we can find it!"
"Taxon do love the sap from these trees, you're probably right." Enid said, her eyes glittering in the soft sun beams that stretched through the forest canopy.
Othin twitched his ears and pointed his tail to where the sound was coming from. All cubs agreed to go closer to the sound, and Othin led the way. Slowly, the cubs crept closer to the sound and soon peered through large bushes that hid them from sight. In front of them was a huge, blueish creature licking the sweet blood-colored sap from a large tree. But the cubs only had a moment to gaze upon the creature before a hurling ball of poison targeted the taxon. It immediately began to gallop off, but stumbled when the ball splashed against the creature. A few moments later and a strangely pretty lioness crashed through the trees and foliage and landed on top of the lone creature, killing it with her tail spikes. As the lioness crashed on top of the creature, Othin stood amazed, but Ayala had let out a scream, triggered by surprise. The lioness looked up from her kill, peering right where the cubs were and took a step in their direction.

"Oh? What do we have here?" Jamaria called out to the quivering cubs. "Looks like there are five little cubs here?" The lioness was now peering into the bushes and counting the cubs. "Oh, now don't be scared, I won't hurt you."
"Who are you?" Othin replied, sticking his pink nose out of the bush. There was no reason to hide now, she already knew they were there.
Jamaria smiled kindly at the cubs. "My name is Jamaria, although you can just call me Aria." Jamaria's voice was soft and gentle, she'd clearly knew how to talk to cubs.
"Aria?" Othin repeated. "What are you doing out here?"
"Catching some dinner. Have you ever tried eating a taxon before. They taste delectable. Say, why don't you come back with me and you can try it?"
Othin stumbled for a bit. Of course he wanted to try it, the female made it sound amazing. He looked back at his siblings and Kuchli. Ayala was stepping out of the bush, ready to follow. The others seemed to want to wait on what Othin decided.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it!" He finally said. Enid seemed surprised and reluctant to go.
"I don't know about this, Othin." She spoke up.
"It's okay honey, you'll be back in no time. You can meet my family! I have a little cub too, I bet you'll like her." Jamaria soothingly said.
"Oh come on! It'll be fun!" squealed Ayala.
Enid thought for a moment, sighed, and then finally relented. "Okay, fine I guess. But we need to be back soon."
"Oh, don't worry, dear." Jamaria said, beginning to haul the taxon towards her mistress' camp. "You'll love it."

"How much further?" Kuchli called, beginning to worry a little, although he was more concerned with his paws falling off.
Jamaria let the taxon go to turn to him. She smiled. "We're almost there."
Othin, all along the way had been asking the lioness questions, to which she was only able to mumble a "mmhmm" for yes, or an "uh-uh" for no while she carried the antelope-esque creature. But mid-question, Othin stopped dead in his tracks. He stared straight ahead, focused on nothing in particular. His psychic abilities began making the cub feel fuzzy and weird and soon the cub started seeing something. It was an awful image. It was a place of bones and evil and, accompanied with that vision, was a strong off-feeling. Something wasn't right. Éadaoin, who had been quiet the whole time, could sense Othin's feelings already. He could tell something was off too, and soon enough Enid caught along. Ayala and Kuchli didn't seem to notice at all, and kept following the female.
"We can't go any further." Othin whispered to Enid and Éadaoin, who stopped with Othin. "We can't go there."
Jamaria turned around, noticing Othin never finished his question. When she turned to face him, she knew he knew.
Othin began pulling together his energy an soon a huge burst of light emanated from his body and traveled all throughout the forest. Jamaria shrieked in blindness and Othin called all the cubs to run immediately.
The cubs only got a little bit of a headstart before Jamaria recovered and caught up to them. Enid, Othin, and Éadaoin were flying at this point, although none of them were exceptional flyers. Kuchli and Ayala followed them, although they were at a disadvantage, having to stay on the ground. They were running as fast as they could, but Jamaria's long strides easily overtook them. With her paws forward, she pushed her weight onto Kuchli and pinned him down, smiling up at the rest of them.
"Help!" Kuchli screamed desperately.
Othin turned his head and nearly fell out of the sky when he saw Kuchli trapped in the lioness' paws. He turned his body around to face the lioness and began collecting energy. He focused his aim... and... a beam of scorching light and heat shot from his body, hitting the lioness and cause her scorching pain and a small bit of radiation, yet it didn't even phase her. Othin's eyes widened and turned to Enid and Éadaoin for help. Éadaoin was right there next to him, ready to take on the lionness, but Enid was gone. Ayala had continued running as well. Éadaoin was shooting orbs of radiant green light to her face while Othin was shooting rays of searing light, although with each use, his energy was weakening. Jamaria smiled, nonetheless, and shot an orb of her destructive poison, hitting Othin squarely until he fell to the ground, unconscious. Jamaria collected her prized cub, still keeping Kuchli with her. Éadaoin was next.

Jamaria had managed to collect four of the five cubs, but she knew Enid would be back for her siblings, and, if not, four cubs for Aerona's army was still great. Kuchli was the only one still conscious, and so she began taking back her prizes back to where they'd be raised. Her tail was swaying back and forth, happy with the day's results. Suddenly, the forest looked almost as if it had blown up and Jamaria felt a searing pain, way worse than before, scorching her entire body. A ball of hurling poison made Jamaria stumble around. She looked back and saw two lions, the parents of the cubs staring back at her, angry. Eowyn was so outraged, and she spit out poison into the bush nearby. The male next to her had his head held high, but he was just as intimidating as the lioness beside him. And with a roar, Haldir sent more flying beams of hyper-focused light in her direction. Jamaria dodged one, but in turn, released Kuchli, who began running away, but also fell right into the path of another searing beam. Her body crashed down, but she quickly grabbed the three unconscious cubs and began to flee for her life, careful not to lead them to Aerona's now. Haldir and Eowyn chased the female down, as soon as she began fleeing. The weakened lioness wasn't able to put up much of a chase, and soon let the cubs fly out of her grip as she tried her best to escape her own death. Eowyn, with narrowed eyes, sent one last hurling ball of poison at the female, which soaked her and she let loose a rattling scream that shook the forest. Eowyn smirked as she collected her three cubs. Thanks to Enid's warning and her own psychic abilities, her cubs were now safe. And in a load of trouble.