Right after she was kicked in the most sensitive spot on her arm following the cliff tumble accident, a wave of teeth gritting pain came to Digger, making her feel so hurt she could barely sit up. As she tried to see clearly past her now blurred vision, the wombat found herself weakly call out for anyone to help.
Almost immediately, Digger heard Grim-Eyes snarl and struggle not too far away and turned in the direction of the voice, attempting to make out what was going on amid the blur of movements alongside the steadily receding pain.
As she carefully managed to get back on her feet, the wombat found her vision clear up enough to give her a good view of the hyena's situation. And once she saw what was going on with Grim-Eyes, a sense of alarm hit Digger instantly.
In the short amount of time the wombat was down, Bloodtail had managed to pin her niece to the ground and was now attempting to stab her in the neck with her knife, coming gleefully closer to her kill by the second.
Grim-Eyes in turn struggled to keep her aunts weapon away from her flesh, barely holding the knife back with one hand while trying to reach for her nearby spear with the other, with her fingers slightly brushing against the handle in every attempt. Feeling desperate (as if she knew exactly how many seconds she had left to live), Grim-Eyes then called for anyone to help, prompting Bloodtail to taunt her again.
Without wasting time, Digger grabbed her nearby pickaxe and moved towards the two hyenas. As she did, she looked aside for a brief moment and noticed Earl, Murai and Boneclaw Mother were still on the ground, having not moved an inch and showing no signs of consciousness after Bloodtails ambush. This made Digger hope they were just unconscious (and not dead) before shaking those thoughts off for the moment, focusing on the party member that needed the most help right away.
When she was close enough, the wombat raised her weapon and aimed the sharp pickaxe tip at Bloodtails shoulder, letting out a battle cry and catching her foe off guard. This moment gave Grim-Eyes the opportunity to knock the knife away from her aunt's hand, but Bloodtail recovered fast and delivered a hard punch to the younger hyena's head in retaliation before rolling off her.
As Grim-Eyes was temporary stunned from the hard attack, Bloodtail grabbed the nearby spear and focused all her attention on the charging wombat, letting old distant hatred for the creature dictate her thoughts as she waited for the perfect moment to strike. When said moment came, she swung the spear like a baseball bat and aimed for the head.
At the last moment, Digger saw what was coming and attempted to counter the attack at what felt like a pretty close range.
Prompt: Circle button
Pressed in time: Managing to channel her tunneling reflexes at her own perfect moment, Digger swung her pickaxe and deflected the spear swing. The impact of the counter was so hard, she and Bloodtail found themselves stumble back briefly with the pickaxe flying from the formers hands.
Before Digger could even carry out her next move, Bloodtail pounced forward again and swung the spear at the wombat`s leg, knocking her to one knee and easily grabbing her by the neck. "Stay still this time and die!", the mad hyena shouted as she aimed the spear directly at her prey's head. "Blood and shale…", Digger could only say in horror as she struggled, realizing she didn`t have time to fully evade the next attack.
Failed to press: Unfortunately for Digger, she found herself swing the pickaxe a second too late, which got her a spear smack to the mouth. Before she could recover, Bloodtail then kicked the pickaxe out of the wombat's hand and delivered a kick to her gut, sending her foe to her knees.
"Blood and shale…and I thought the first hit from you hurt the worst", the wombat commented aloud as she clutched her stomach, trying not to let the pain overwhelm her again. Grinning at the harm she caused to the pest in front of her, Bloodtail didn`t respond and instead rose the spear at the wombat's head, ready to fatally impale her this time. (Digger: -10% health)
Without warning, Grim-Eyes suddenly pounced off the ground (managing to shake off the impact of the punch in the nick of time) and sunk her teeth into Bloodtails shoulder. Bloodtail let out a loud holler and stumbled away from the wombat, swinging the spear so wildly and haphazardly that it flew from her hands, allowing Grim-Eyes to easily take it back.
For a moment, Digger watched in disbelief as the two hyenas started clawing and biting at one another (with Grim-Eyes swinging her weapon a few times), spilling some blood in the process. Once she managed to snap out of her shock, the wombat then got ready to come into the brawl and aid Grim-Eyes, only for the hyena to stop her as she blocked several punches being thrown at her head.
"Go help Boneclaw Mother and those two humans! I`ll handle this monster on my own from here!", "Are you sure!?", Digger asked as she looked back and forth from Grim-Eyes and Bloodtail to the injured trio, with Murai starting to show signs of life by moving her arms slightly and trying to get up. "Earth Rat! Help those three now!", Grim-Eyes ordered in a near booming tone as she and Bloodtail both grabbed onto the spear and started to tumble away from the area towards the main battle, still clawing aggressively at each other.
Deciding not to argue, Digger turned towards the rest of her party and rushed over to them, hoping Grim-Eyes would make it out of the fight with nobody to help her this time.
The wombat approached Murai first and knelt next to her, examining how hurt the Veiled member was as she managed to sit up looking dazed.
As Murai faintly asked what happened, barely able to remember the blow to her head, and tried to get an update on how the surrounding battle was going, Digger told her to stay still and continued inspecting the head injury, taking off her backpack and pulling out the medical supplies the Hag had given her earlier as she did.
While she started to gently tend to the injury, the wombat did her best to block out all the noise around her, nearly feeling a new kind of insanity get to her. "Where…where is Grim-Eyes? Wasn`t she here a moment ago?", Murai suddenly asked, looking around the area. "She`s taking care of something personally. It won`t be long till she returns", Digger replied, trying not to have any worry creep in her voice.
Thankfully, the sudden sight of Earl and Boneclaw Mother stirring made that task a bit easier, giving the wombat an optimistic thought that everyone was walking out of a tight scenario alive this time.
As Digger continued working on Murai`s injuries, she asked the other human and elderly hyena how they were feeling, prompting Earl to murmur about someone named Randy and a motel room that needed to clean for a friend named Catalina. Boneclaw Mother only scoffed and said she didn`t need any pity, trying to get back up on her own only to have some inner pain keep her down.
A bit of a distance away from the four, Grim-Eyes and Bloodtail stopped tumbling near another area that wasn`t in the main warzone (though notably closer to it, with Grim-Eyes able to note some details amid the hyena/Veiled armies battle with the drones (like how the number of attacking metal foes had fallen, with the two allied parties on the verge of pushing back)) and continued their one on one fight, both still trying to take the spear for themselves while throwing quick attacks at their opponent.
Grim-Eyes threw two claw swipes at her aunt with her free hand, barely landing the first on an arm and completely missing the second. Bloodtail in turn threw a kick that was so pathetic and feeble, Grim-Eyes thought a cub could do better as she shifted a little to block it. She then realized the kick was a distraction as her opponent attempted to head butt her next, having spotted a direct opening caused by the feeble block.
Prompt: Circle button
Pressed in time: Without missing a beat, Grim-Eyes managed to brace herself and deflected the attack before it could get to her. As a look of surprise appeared on Bloodtails face (not expecting her foe to block her that quick), Grim-Eyes did her own unexpected move and head butted her back, making her let go of the spear and stumble back.
Failed to press: How Grim-Eyes managed to keep her hands on the spear afterward, she didn`t know as the head butt that her aunt threw landed perfectly, nearly causing her fly back. "What`s the matter? You too exhausted to fight back? Even your mother would at least show more energy when she hurt Ed", Bloodtail taunted, making Grim-Eyes throw a hard and rage filled uppercut that sent her opponent stumbling back without the spear. (Grim-Eyes: -10% health)
As Bloodtail staggered back up straight, laughing insanely to herself at this point, Grim-Eyes approached her feeling ready to finish the fight once and for all (as there were much more important things to focus on besides the sad excuse for a warrior in front of her). However, when Bloodtail made eye contact with her and started talking, she managed to catch her niece off guard with what she brought up.
"Oh Blood-Eyes…my sweet yet insane sister…why couldn`t that skin painter have been with me instead of you? We both know I deserved to have him. After all, I was always smarter and better than you", Bloodtail said, looking at Grim-Eyes as if she were actually seeing the deceased hyena she spoke of, her own take on reality warping her mind.
"Don`t you dare speak my parents' names…You didn`t deserve to be with my father then, and you sure as hell don`t deserve to be in the tribe any longer", Grim-Eyes only said with suppressed rage, brushing off the flimsy attempt at pity.
Before she could resume the plan of ending things between her and the mad hyena, Grim-Eyes noticed three nearby drones freeze a Veiled member who was taking on all of them at once. After the human levitated and vanished in the air, the three drones spotted Grim-Eyes and took aim at her next. At this point, Bloodtail (not noticing the approaching danger) snapped out of her brief delusion and got ready to resume her own attack, putting the younger warrior on edge.
After three ice blasts were fired at her, Grim-Eyes felt like time slowed down momentarily. She realized she could easily dodge the blasts themselves, but there were many ways of doing the simple move that gave Bloodtail another opening to potentially kill her.
Deciding to take the most direct approach as the three blasts closed in, Grim-Eyes faced her charging aunt and pounced forward, hoping the set of claws and teeth aimed at her wouldn`t strike anywhere fatal should she fail.
Prompt: Circle button
Pressed in time: Luckily, Grim-Eyes did not fail in dodging all the attacks. As the three blasts missed by what felt like a mile, the younger hyena reacted quickly to the other threat and shielded herself by using the spear, blocking Bloodtails claws and bite and nearly sending her down on the ground. For a split second, Bloodtail looked startled, possibly impressed even, by the move. However, that all faded back to the murderous rage already present as she continued her plan to kill, reigniting the fight between the duo back to its full force.
Failed to press: The good news for Grim-Eyes was that she managed to avoid all three blasts in her risky dodge. The bad news was that she failed to use her spear in time against Bloodtail, earning several painful scratches and even a bite on the arm before she recovered from her misstep. Despite the newly inflicted damage however, Grim-Eyes found herself reignite the fight to full force with her attacks, determined not to go down easily to her aunt like a basic prey. (Grim-Eyes: -10% health)
As their metallic comrades were starting to be pushed away from the village territory by the Veiled and hyenas, with said united army following them to make sure none were left to regroup immediately, the three drones targeting Grim-Eyes started to move in closer for another attempt to capture her when a random arrow struck and destroyed one of them.
The other two drones turned around and spotted a slightly injured Veiled member holding the bow. Said Veiled member, who was basically alone, got ready to take down the other two metal foes when he realized he`d run out of arrows. As he changed tactics and tried to get away, barely dodging all the blasts fired at him, Grim-Eyes heard his cries for help and looked towards him in alarm.
Seeing a male vulnerable (even if he was a human) became too much of a horrifying sight for the younger hyena to ignore. Quickly, she did another risky move and used her spear to hit Bloodtail in the knee, stunning her long enough to get away and aid the human (as it looked like the Veiled was about to get frozen any second, making Grim-Eyes forget she had an easy chance to kill her foe as she rushed over).
Before Bloodtail could get up and follow her target again (while cursing about how she easily allowed herself to get hit) she suddenly heard a set of familiar footsteps approach amid all the noises. Turning her head, the mad hyena growled at the new sight of Digger, who was unknowingly running towards her location holding her knife in one hand and the recovered pickaxe in the other.
After a moment of thought, Bloodtail suddenly decided to take a subtler approach at killing one of her enemies this time and looked around for cover. Spotting some tall ruins of another home, she immediately ducked out of sight behind it a split second before she got noticed.
As she stayed in a crouched position, still and quiet, the mad hyena heard the wombat stop running and start looking around frantically less than ten feet from the hiding place, calling out Grim-Eyes name a few times. Despite having the urge to attack right away, Bloodtail strained to keep her cover and waited for the right moment. That wombat would be dead by her claw sooner or later anyway.
"Grim-Eyes!...Mother of moles, don`t tell me Bloodtail killed her…", Digger shouted before muttered worriedly to herself. Every moment that passed without her friend in sight made the anxiety within grow, as the wombat saw nobody except for a few remaining hyenas in the distance (none of which were the hyena she was looking for).
After another few seconds passed, Digger got herself ready to run and look elsewhere (not aware of the enemy observing her and secretly begging her to move a little closer) when a loud clanging noise in front of her went off, giving her a good scare and grabbing her full attention.
Grim-Eyes and the Veiled member she managed to save came into view, both brandishing a spear and doing steady damage to two drones who were attacking them. Digger exhaled a short sigh of relief and got ready to join the battle this time, eager to use her pickaxe and cause more than a few dents to those pesky foes, when Grim-Eyes looked in her direction and became alarmed.
"Earth rat, behind you!", Grim-Eyes managed to shout before one of the drones slammed into her, nearly knocking her down. This got Grim-Eyes to temporarily refocus all her attention on the pair of enemies, trying to take them down as quickly as she could with the human.
Turning her head back after hearing the warning, a similar look of alarm came to Diggers face when she saw Bloodtail burst out of cover and pounce directly at her. Thinking fast, the wombat formulated a random and unorganized plan, hoping her out of style process would help in avoiding any damage.
Prompt: X button
Pressed in time: Without missing a beat, Digger dove to the right and successfully evaded Bloodtail, though she accidently dropped the knife in the process. As the mad hyena recovered from the miss, clearly infuriated, a voice in Diggers head commented that such a simple dodge didn`t need that much planning.
Digger was about to give a lengthy retort to the voice, involving the process of selecting a good direction to dodge and how much force she needed to use to slide away, when Bloodtail moved forward swinging her claws. As the wombat started to back towards Grim-Eyes, hoping she wouldn`t still be in the middle of a conflict, the mad hyena picked up her knife and examined the gleam eagerly for a moment before turning her attention back to the wombat.
Failed to press: Before Diggers plan could come into action however, Bloodtail ended up slamming into the wombat and clawed at her face, creating a few bloody cuts. The mad hyena would have messed up her opponent even more, but Diggers reacted quickly by using her pickaxe to slam her foes head, causing the knife to fly out of her hand while her opponent fell off to the side, dazed for a moment.
As Bloodtail recovered and took her knife back (happily admiring it for a moment), Digger got up and steadily started to back away towards Grim-Eyes, not taking her eyes off her opponent as she advanced at a steady pace towards her. As she got closer to the less dangerous hyena, Digger hoped her friend would have the chance to help her out this time. (Digger: -10%)
By the time Digger reached Grim-Eyes, both metal drones she had been fighting were destroyed to the point where they were barely recognizable.
As the hyena turned towards the wombat with mixed emotions, the Veiled member who fought alongside Grim-Eyes turned and sprinted towards the forest to aid the rest of his group, feeling eager to destroy more of the machines. Grim-Eyes didn`t bat an eye or show any notice of his actions though, as her gaze shifted from her companion to her approaching aunt, who suddenly looked like she`d managed to recover all her stamina.
"You`d better back down now Bloodtail. At this point, I feel the tribe would justify my actions if I killed you", Grim-Eyes threatened (if Digger succeeded in the last QTE: …as she pointed her spear, showing she meant what she stated/if Digger failed in the last QTE:…as she noticed the claw marks on Diggers face and felt another big wave of anger come to her).
"I`d hate to ruin some of your threats momentum Grim-Eyes, but it`s safe to say Bloodtail isn`t going to consider backing down at this point", Digger commented, actually shivering for a second when she looked into Bloodtails eyes, seeing her violent nature in every corner within.
Letting out another wicked laugh as she moved back and forth (as if to intimidate her foes into thinking she`d strike at any moment), Bloodtail said in a mad tone, "Try talking me down all you want. Your corpses will make this dour area look better when I finish with you", and then charged forward, prompting the hyena and wombat duo to do the same.
Grim-Eyes and Bloodtail both let out their tribe's battle cries and Digger shouted, "REMEMBER TUNNEL 17!", before the highly intense fight started back up again.
Fight 6-4:
Fighters to select:
-Digger
-Grim-Eyes
Opponent:
-Bloodtail
After the fight:
As the hyena/Veiled alliances battle against the drones started to near the conclusion (with less than two dozen drones fighting back at this point), Grim-Eyes and Digger nearly threw their last attack against Bloodtail simultaneously and watched with some secret glee as she hit the ground with a thud, out cold and no longer a threat to anyone.
Taking a few deep breathes and trying not to give in to some muscle pain, Digger said, "Well, I think we`d best tie this sorry excuse for a lifeform up and…Grim-Eyes, where are you going?", before seeing her friend rush elsewhere, not interested in staying to hear what she had to say.
Looking from Bloodtail to Grim-Eyes, Digger sighed and ran after her friend, concerned about why she was acting the way she did. Finding herself glance back towards Bloodtail one last time before weaving through the ruined area, the wombat privately hoped that the fight had done enough to keep the mad hyena down (specifically, long enough to stay unconscious when she came back to properly restrain her).
Once Digger was out of sight, one of Bloodtails eyes suddenly opened in what could be described as a dramatic fashion, with her right hand gripping the knife she`d managed to cling onto through the whole fight.
[Near the area of Bloodtails ambush]
As soon as Digger caught up with Grim-Eyes, she asked where she was going. "Back to Boneclaw Mother and the two humans. They`ve probably had nobody to help them after you left, despite what I clearly ordered earlier. If something were to happened…", "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down and let me explain my actions: After you left and I started to take care of everyone, Murai managed to recover quickly enough, to the point where she started helping out with the other two injured parties. As we worked on Earl and Boneclaw Mothers injuries, Murai could tell I was worried about you facing someone as unpredictable as Bloodtail alone, and that lead her to tell me to go and help you", Digger replied, looking around for any danger as she tried to defuse the hyenas hostility.
Cooling down just slightly, Grim-Eyes acknowledged Diggers reasoning but replied in a slightly cold tone, "I just hope those three didn`t get ambushed by another metal machine while we were gone. Even with Murai back on her feet, she`d have a near impossible task of defending herself with two nearby patients down".
"Then I suggest staying cautiously optimistic. After that tight spot back there, surely something good is due", Digger only replied, with the worry of what was to come up ahead sinking quickly into her subconscious, to the point where her fear mirrored Grim-Eyes`.
As soon as the duo reached the area where they`d left Earl, Murai and Boneclaw Mother behind, they noticed none of them were in sight, prompting them to look around urgently. "Boneclaw Mother! Boneclaw Mother! Please answer me!", Grim-Eyes nearly shouted as Digger noticed some tossed aside rope before moving on, unaware those bindings had been around the Alpha Drone leaders arms earlier.
After a minute of searching had passed, Grim-Eyes and Digger looked like they had no idea what to do next. "Perhaps they went out into the forest to take cover?", Digger suggested, sounding like she was out of ideas already, as frustration came over Grim-Eyes.
Before she could call out how it was near impossible for the trio to make it all the way to the forest in their state (let alone another area of the tribe that wasn`t heavily damaged), a voice from behind nearly made her jump out of her fur.
"I`m a bit disappointed in you Grim-Eyes and Mother of Little Earthquakes. I know how important I am to the two of you, but you shouldn`t let my absence be distracting in the urgent times of a surrounding fight, let alone start turning against one another", Boneclaw Mother said before coming into sight with the two humans. The elder hyena was leaning against Earl a little for support while Murai lead the way in front, keeping an eye out for any remaining danger.
Right away, a sense of relief came to Digger and Grim-Eyes while a sense of alarm came to Murai, who got a good look at the damage the duo had received during their earlier fight. As she hurried forward and examined some claw and bite marks on them, insisting they don`t move too much in order to properly examine them, the wombat asked how everyone else was holding up.
"The damage that Bloodtail inflicted on all three of us isn`t going to be permanent. On the contrary Honored Digger, it's simply a miracle that we all just need to take it easy for a while to properly heal", Murai replied before she pulled out the remains of the Hags medical supplies and started to use them on her two patients.
"Yeah, I couldn`t believe how we were all able to shake things off that easily too. Then again, considering all the injuries I received back in Camden while doing my karma list and Murai and Boneclaw Mothers pasts, I`d say we all got stronger over the years without realizing it", Earl added as he and Boneclaw Mother reached everyone, with the male human scanning the surroundings for someone else.
Grim-Eyes looked at her tribe leader and almost stepped forward to hug her, but the stern tone the elder displayed (alongside the bandages on her chest) had her stay back. After giving Digger a quick apologetic look, which appeased Boneclaw Mother as the wombat herself gave a similar look back, Grim-Eyes found herself asking what happened here while she the earth rat were gone.
"Oh, nothing special really. Murai patched the three of us up and then we all moved somewhere that felt safer nearby. But enough about me and my boring stories (thanks Earl, but I feel fine enough to walk on my own), I want to hear what happened to you", Boneclaw Mother replied, moving away from Earl and standing up fine herself.
Without wasting a second, Grim-Eyes told her grandmother what had happened, with Digger occasionally quipping a snarky comment here and there. As Murai finished covering up the last of the wounds on the two animals and Earl walked forward to look at the place where Digger saw the restraints, the younger hyena got to the part where Bloodtail was defeated, giving Boneclaw Mother a mixed reaction.
"I`m glad to hear that disgraceful, vain adult is down, but is she restrained?", the elder hyena asked. "Wait, what?", Grim-Eyes replied, prompting Digger to start rushing back to the place where they left her. "I know how Bloodtail fights better than everyone. Sometimes during training in a mock battle, she would feign unconsciousness to get a potential surprise attack on her nearby enemies", Boneclaw Mother explained, prompting the look of worry to reappear on Grim-Eyes.
Before anyone could react or follow Digger (who was now out of sight), Earl came back looking like he`d seen a ghost. "That alligator/fox we fought earlier… she`s/he`s gone! There isn`t a sign of her/him anywhere. Damn! If only I`d tied that captured animal up properly", he said, rubbing his head in frustration near the bandaged area.
"Earl, calm down. Panicking won`t help you or anyone out", Murai said, approaching Earl to make sure he didn`t damage the bandages. As Boneclaw Mother and Grim-Eyes observed her, taking in all the information while trying to figure out what their next move should be, the mad hyena suddenly appeared from behind in a distance.
With her scent masked by the apocalyptic environment and footsteps so quiet even the tribe leader couldn`t detect them right away, Bloodtail raised her knife and approached Boneclaw Mother stealthily, going in for what would feel like the best kill in her whole life. Even if she`d die in the process by everyone else nearby, it`d be entirely worth it.
Out of nowhere, Digger suddenly came back towards her group with news that Bloodtail wasn`t where she and Grim-Eyes had left her. She was prepared to make the announcement, getting the other fours attention, when she saw Bloodtail and shouted out a warning.
As Digger prepped her pickaxe and started to run towards Bloodtail (seeing her approach the other tribe members and easily figuring out her plan), the aforementioned hyena yelled and sprinted towards Boneclaw Mother, dropping her stealth tactic.
In the span of a few seconds, Digger was still running to protect her friends, Earl backed away looking completely caught off guard by the next ambush and tripped over a piece of debris and Murai suddenly looked like she was having her personal inner demons scare her again (as her familiar mumbling was heard).
Grim-Eyes tried to counter Bloodtail when she got close enough, but her opponent thought fast and managed to fling a pawful of dirt in her eyes, knocking her off guard and allowing her to be easily kicked aside with a strong blow to the stomach.
As Grim-Eyes fell to her knees, trying to clear her vision while recovering her breathe, Bloodtail grabbed Boneclaw Mother by the neck and tried to hold her still, gloating aloud how perfect the moment was going to play out for her as she watched her victim struggle in her grip. Nobody nearby (not the wombat rushing over or the male human recovering from his scare and getting up to take action) would be quick enough to save her, the mad hyena thought as she aimed the knife in between the spot where the elder's eyes once were.
Out of nowhere, a loud booming sound was heard from above. It was so sudden that everyone, including Bloodtail, stopped what they were doing and looked up in complete confusion.
From a cloud of electricity, what looked like an old man on a bike emerged and came downward, cheering excitedly and doing a complex midair flip that would make a professional stuntman jealous of the level of skill.
Sensing that her foe was distracted, Boneclaw Mother managed to slip out of Bloodtails grip and dragged her niece out of harm's way without making much of a sound; not that Bloodtail noticed anyway since she too busy looking up and trying to process the random event.
It wasn`t until the last second that Bloodtail realized she was about to be used as a landing pad for the bike. Before she could get out of the way like everyone else around her did, the mad hyena felt the agonizing impact of the mostly metal transportation device slam her to the ground, with the old man bouncing harmlessly off her as he continued to ride on.
As the old man sped past a startled Digger, waving and cheering atop his somehow still perfectly intact bike, Earl ran up and stopped next to the wombat to observe in recollection. "Well I`ll be damned. It`s him again", he said quietly as he watched the familiar bicyclist go out of sight towards the center of the tribe area.
"Wait, "him again"? You`ve seen this guy before?", Digger asked in a baffled tone while Murai recovered from her dark phase quickly this time, looking thankful that Boneclaw Mother wasn`t hurt by her inability to take action.
"It`s a short but somehow complicated story…and there he goes again", Earl said before he witnessed an electric flash in the distance, guessing that the old man had vanished into thin air again. Digger looked ready to speculate some theories as to how the event was possible, when the sound of painful moaning got her and the male humans full attention.
Turning around, the duo saw Bloodtail laying on the ground in pain, with two of her ribs actually sticking out of her semi-crushed guts. Boneclaw Mother and Grim-Eyes, who got over the unexpected humans appearance quicker than the other three, loomed ominously over her with their full attention; hostility radiating their expressions and making Bloodtail look uneasy and insecure.
As Murai approached the hyenas and stood with her allies, she silently gestured Digger and Earl to come over, which they did. Once they were with the rest of the group, the duo ended up giving a similar expression to Bloodtail, prompting her to try and launch a bloody spit at them (and failed).
"You…you worthless prey….you stupid male…bastard….", Bloodtail managed to say to Digger, Earl and Grim-Eyes before her niece gave her a kick to the ribs, causing her to cry out in agony.
Once she felt Bloodtail had recovered enough from the kick, Boneclaw Mother started to speak in an eerily calm voice. As she talked, the rest of her team found themselves automatically back away in fear and awe, as every word spoken from the leader to the traitor managed to get their fur/skin crawling.
"After all your sins and misdeeds, you finally crossed the line one too many times today. Not just towards me, Grim-Eyes and our welcomed friends, but to your whole tribe. Every wicked thought, every evil action and every petty sin has put you right where you are. What do you have to say for yourself?", "Go…go to hell…", Bloodtail hissed, trying to sit up and throw a punch, only to miss by a mile and end up on the ground with a third rib sticking out.
As Digger tried not to feel queasy from the bones, Earl found himself whisper to Murai, "What`s she going to do?"
Grim-Eyes suddenly gestured for him and Murai to stay quiet, not taking her eyes off the event as she knew what was about to happened, thanks heavily in part to a familiar and tragic story.
Boneclaw Mother found herself glance back at the observing four, as if to hear any suggestions/advice about what needed to be done. Earl suddenly forgot Grim-Eyes warning and said, "Just to let you know, Bloodtail ruined Ed`s grave earlier today. Me and Grim-Eyes were going to tell you…but you know what happened next…", causing Digger to look at him in shock while Grim-Eyes cringed, fearing the male would end up in her grandmother's bad side.
Instead, Boneclaw Mother looked back at Bloodtail and said in a cold and unsympathetic tone, "Even with none of my council still around to officially carry this out, I feel that I speak accurately for them and everyone when I say you are no longer part of this tribe. Bloodtail, you pathetic excuse of a warrior, I officially declare you an exile with your name EATEN!"
The hyena on the ground thrashed violently, as if it tried to throw a temper tantrum amid all the fear and anger clouding its mind. "No…I…I refuse to accept this…don`t want to die like that filthy skin painter…", the being managed to say before it passed out from the pain, with almost no life left within it.
"Yeesh. At least Ed showed more character and dignity over his exile", Digger snarked as everyone felt it was safe to come forward, not taking their eyes off the defeated hyena.
"Looks like I`ll be dragging this thing out to the forest to die. Do you think we`re safe from all those metal beings now?", Grim-Eyes asked moments later as she poked the nameless hyenas body with her spear.
Straining her ears, Boneclaw Mother heard what sounded like loud cheering in the distance. "I`d say that we succeeded in driving back our attackers, though at a steep cost, given how little I hear of our own", she replied before turning her head towards the new ruins, wondering exactly how many hyenas would come back to see the remains of their once proud and strong home.
Just as the tribe leader got ready to start giving out orders, another sound suddenly reached her and everyone else, making the group of five turn in the direction of the main entrance. "What is that noise? I`ve never heard anything like it", Murai said. "I don`t know. It sounds like a…mix of a stampede and a lightning storm", Grim-Eyes replied, prompting Earl to freeze in fear. "No…we were too late to act again", he could only whisper, getting everyone's attention.
"What do you mean too late to act again? Speak up and tell us", Digger insisted, clutching her pickaxe nervously as the sound came closer at an alarming speed. "There was this explosion in Camden…everything was destroyed before me and these two friends of mine got away", Earl said, suddenly making Grim-Eyes and Boneclaw Mother look at each other in alarm.
"That story Earl told during his council hearing…Boneclaw Mother, the male was right about the metal machines attacking. Do you think that noise is from the enemies last stand? Maybe this is the bad omen you detected earlier?", Grim-Eyes asked, making Boneclaw Mother look unsure how to answer.
"You`re on the right trail of thought Grim-Eyes…Murai, I understand that you mentioned an odd device earlier? One that the metal machines had with them and left in the forest?", the elder hyena asked after a moment of thought, making Murai nod in confirmation before looking up again and spotting the approaching electric wave first.
Right away, Earl screamed at everyone to run and lead the way, brushing past the unconscious unnamed hyena and hoping that this was the time he would get out of the blast zone (despite the odds being against him again). As he sprinted, Grim-Eyes and Digger managed to brush by him while Murai, who was carrying Boneclaw Mother, stayed right next to him.
Despite the stamina all the runners displayed, they barely hopped over the knocked down tribal walls when the electric wave hit them. In under a second, all five were erased from the dimension's existence, followed by the victorious Veiled/hyena army (which included Jhalm and Shadebones), the surrounding forest, the whole land area and ultimately the whole dimension.
To put it simply, once the blast was finished, there was nothing left in the dimension formally known as U.V Wombat. Nothing except the blank emptiness, filling a new endless void of existence.
[?]
It didn`t take long for Earl to become familiar with what happened after the blast. He found himself in the same black void, falling aimlessly and spinning around. Right after the shock of the experience passed by, he looked around and noticed Digger, Murai, Boneclaw Mother and Grim-Eyes nearby, with the wombat and younger hyena screaming in terror while Murai remained creepily stoic to the situation, holding onto Boneclaw Mother and telling her something. The elder hyena didn`t reply to anything and just held onto her face mask, giving a brief glance of her empty and scarred eyeholes.
Before the sole male of the group could do or say anything, he was suddenly blinded by a bright flash and felt himself crash land into something prickly, prompting him to scream and thrash around while his vision steadily came back. How his head injury didn`t get any worse as a consequence, even the Hag would have had a hard time finding out.
Once all the shock and pain passed by and he got back up, Earl took a deep breath and got a good look at his surroundings. Right away, he noticed that he was in yet another forest, only it was nighttime and the place he`d landed on had been a prickly bush.
"Digger!? Boneclaw Mother!? Anyone?!", Earl shouted as he began to move forward, hoping that he wasn`t all alone again. That worry turned out to be proven technically untrue right away, as he slipped on something and fell to his knees. Upon recovering from the stumble and taking a closer look at what he slipped on, a loud scream came out of him.
What Earl saw was the now nameless hyena, who had apparently followed him from the tribe territory to this place. Based on how hard of a landing it had taken (the ground felt a lot harder here and had some rocks scattered around), there was no doubt that the creature was dead, as the ribcage was sticking out entirely with several guts spilled out.
As Earl found himself unable to stop screaming, he heard something approach him from behind, mutter the words "Mother of moles…", in disbelief, stay quiet for a few moments and then kick him in the leg, making him snap out of his endless sense of horror.
"Ow…why did you do that?! There could have been better ways to snap me out of it", Earl found himself tell Digger through his teeth as he rubbed the area where he was hit, surprised by how strong she was. "Well, there wasn`t any other options. I could have done the classic "dump a glass of water" on you, but there isn`t a nearby lake to use, much less a puddle", Digger retorted before looking at the recently made nameless hyena again.
Taking a few deep breathes, the wombat noted the gory details of the dead hyena and tried using the morbid viewing to shake off the experience she just went through. The way she was swallowed up and flung like an arrow really got to her, despite the fact the experience lasted less than a minute (not helped by the feeling of being engulfed up by lightning beforehand (and not that it really hurt her, aside from leaving her fur standing after landing not too far off from Earl)).
After finding the strength to both look away from the dead hyena and move past the world ending event, the wombat focused on the new forest next and found herself say aloud, "Strange. This place is familiar…yet something is clearly off about it…", "I`ve been in this situation before. It started the same both times, yet played out differently", Earl replied before the duo walked away from the corpse, deciding going in any direction from it was the right call.
"Really? What do you mean by that? Did you end up meeting any shadow creatures in one world, or run into hyenas in another?", "Well, the first world I ended in had my ex-wife Joy get hit by a piece of hot pierogi in the face…and the second had me on trial at the hyena tribe for a possible murder of a wombat…really gives you a lot to think about. I will say this though, you`re taking the end of your world rather well", Earl reflected before bringing up an observation.
"I`ve been through so much oddity in my life. Plus, part of me is convinced that the world…my world… isn`t really over. We could have just been thrown across it to another land area, along with everyone else", Digger replied, suddenly remembering that two other hyenas and a Veiled came with her and the male. This prompted her to look around in greater detail and move faster, with Earl following behind and doing the same when he also realized the rest of his groups absence.
A minute into the search, Earl (who was calling out the names of the missing trio with the wombat), looked down and noticed something that made his heart leap with excitement. "Well I`ll be damned", he muttered as he bent over and picked the object up, getting Diggers attention.
"What`s that your holding? Looks like a piece of trash", she said, noticing said item was made of a metal like substance and coated in fancy colors and an odd logo.
"This right here is a soda can, and I know this brand quite well. I always saw an ad for it at the gas station back in my world all the time. Once, when me and my brother were drunk, we tried filling our cars gas tank with that stuff.", he said, taking another moment to examine the item closer.
"Blood and shale. That electric wave really could have been taken us to another plane of existence. If you know what that thing is, we could be back in your world somehow", Digger stated worriedly, making Earl look doubtful.
"The blast in my world looked pretty damaging. It`s possible we`re in a new third world that carries the same drinks as my old one", he replied, causing the duo to process everything alone.
As Digger pondered what question to ask aloud next (like what approach to take in exploring a new world, what the odds were of her biological family surviving back home, if a different brand of soda was used to run those things called cars in the humans world, blah blah blah ect.), she suddenly heard a faint cry in the distance, getting her and the humans full attention.
"Grim-Eyes!? Murai!?", Digger called, recognizing the voices immediately. Without wasting a moment, she rushed in the direction of the sound with her pickaxe drawn. Earl, taking one last glance at the familiar soda can, tossed it aside and followed. He would have stayed right behind the wombat all the way, but experienced a Charlie horse that slowed him to a near stop. As Digger glanced back, he signaled her to keep moving as he massaged the sore area, prompting her to do so.
After what felt like an eternity of running, Digger found herself approaching Murai, Boneclaw Mother and Grim-Eyes near the top of a hill; taking a moment to feel some relief as she noted the trio looked okay.
Digger then noticed that all three were looking down the hill towards what appeared to be a polished dark grey and yellow striped road. Grim-Eyes had her spear raised defensively while Murai, who was still holding onto Boneclaw Mother, gently put her down and told her to get behind her for protection.
"What`s going on here? Did any of those metal things follow us?", Digger immediately asked, prompting the three other females to look at her with surprise. As Murai expressed a bit of thanks that her other friend was alright and Boneclaw Mother stated how glad it was to see her freaky adopted daughter again, Grim replied, "No earth rat, but another odd…thing did", before she and the other two turned their full attention back to the road, as if expecting something to leap out from it at any moment.
"Wait, can someone tell me everything that`s going on? Don`t leave me out of the loop", Digger urgently said as she got her pickaxe ready. In a soft voice, Murai began to give out the details while the hyenas ears perked, picking up the sound of Earl gasping for air as he slowly came over.
"Me and Boneclaw Mother ended up landing in a nearby tree. Thankfully, none of our injuries the mad hyena gave us worsened as a consequence, though it was too risky to get down at the height we were. Plus, I couldn`t set Boneclaw Mother aside without the risk of dropping her, making it more challenging for me to keep my balance".
"A minute later, Grim-Eyes stumbled across us looking a bit perplexed and fearful by that…electric thing that hit us ("Come on Murai, I wasn`t that scared", Grim-Eyes commented in between the sentence) and gave us instructions on how to move down carefully, telling me where to put my foot and which branches Boneclaw Mother should grab. We somehow made it, despite our fears, though the sense of victory didn`t last long".
As Earl finally got to the rest of the group, giving a silent and awkward greeting before he collapsed to the ground exhausted, Boneclaw Mother continued, "My ears picked up this thing that gave off what sounded like a short but aggressive blaring noise. Grim-Eyes then spotted these weird lights that dashed by; ones that belonged to this monster that has a foul lingering scent".
The elder hyena wrinkled her nose a bit when Grim-Eyes suddenly growled, spotting the aforementioned lights again.
Everyone but Earl braced themselves as they watched the source of said lights approach, expecting another attack. However, said lights ended up whisking past the group, letting out a brief, loud honking noise as it did.
"That`s the second time we saw it. Odd that the enemy hasn`t attempted to move in closer" Grim-Eyes commented to Digger as she tried to process the new threats potential strategy and mindset. The wombat was about to give her own idea of the creature's tactics when Earl, who recovered enough to stand up and speak, interrupted her.
"Wait a minute. Hold it. Hold it. That wasn`t a monster. I think that was just a truck on a highway", he said, looking closer and noticing the familiar road. "Truck?", Murai asked, straining to find a possible definition in her head while Digger and Grim-Eyes looked confused. Boneclaw Mother just listened casually, collecting all the knowledge she could.
"Yes, a truck. It`s like this big machine you control to get around somewhere quickly. It`s not dangerous, unless you intentionally or accidently run in front of it", Earl said, trying to keep the excitement of seeing something else familiar out of his voice.
Everyone began to lower their guard, though the looks of worry and concern didn`t leave their faces. "So we`re not in the world we came from. All the remaining tribemates are going to freak out when they discover we`re missing Boneclaw Mother", Grim-Eyes commented, making the tribe leader nod with concern. "I fear the other Veiled will feel the same when they notice I`m absent. Jhalm won`t take the news peacefully", Murai added, prompting Digger to give her a pat on the back out of concern.
"Guys, I don`t think anyone who was left when that electric wave hit is going to notice you gone in your world. Odds are they got taken elsewhere like us. They could have even ended up in another world, like me when I got separated from my original group", Earl ended up blurting out, earning him a hostile gaze from Grim-Eyes and an uneasy look from Digger and Murai.
"You`re lying. The remaining members of the tribe are here. I know it! They could be regrouping and looking for survivors as we speak. I say we should take action and look around, everywhere we can possibly search", Grim-Eyes finally said, gripping her spear while trying not to jump at the sound of two passing cars behind her.
"Grim-Eyes, we are in a place that is alien to all but one of us. And in times like these, running out ignorantly won`t help, especially considering how we`re unaware of what is or isn`t a threat. If any of the tribe got here, they`d know better than to just move about in such reckless fashion. They`d lay low, come up with an understanding to the new area and then venture out. And if they were in this forest, we`d be found quickly".
"Plus, I don`t hear anyone nearby. These ears may be old, but they don`t lie when they say it`s just the five of us here (outside the truck things of course)", Boneclaw Mother said, making Digger, Murai and Earl stop and think while Grim-Eyes pressed on.
"What are you suggesting then?", "I say we lay low in a safe place for a bit and recover from the ordeal. Those machines will hopefully take some time to get here, and we need all the strength we can get when the fight inevitably comes back to us. Perhaps Earl can fill us in on how this new world works till then, if it`s not so different to begin with", Boneclaw Mother replied, sensing an objection from Grim-Eyes. A stern "gaze" in return made the younger hyena back down, prompting her to feel some of her recent fears and confusion again (and in turn making her note it`d be too risky to do any scouting in this kind of state).
"Fine. We`ll hide out somewhere, get a bit of "education" about what we`re dealing with and then go out and try to find a way back to the tribe. I still say there`s a way to get back to where we came from", Grim-Eyes reluctantly said, with Murai and Digger nodding in agreement.
"Good. Now let's go and find somewhere safe to stay for the time being. These injuries are starting to feel a bit sore. Mother of Little Earthquakes, I take it that you still have good skills in scouting?", Boneclaw Mother said, gesturing to the bandages on her chest before turning her attention to the wombat.
"You could say that. I was clever enough to survive alone for a lengthy time (though I wouldn`t say that`s something to brag about)", Digger replied, shivering a split second from another set of bad memories. "Then you and Grim-Eyes will lead the way to some shelter. We`ll all be right behind you to help", Boneclaw Mother said, holding Earl and Murai`s hands for escort while making a mental note to have a talk with the wombat later.
As Digger and Grim-Eyes started to move away from the road and approached the deeper section of the forest and Earl and Murai lead Boneclaw Mother through the area (with Earl thinking of modern day things to bring up later on) the wombat suddenly recalled the body of the nameless hyena and brought it up, earning brief ire from both living hyenas.
"Mother of Little Earthquakes, leave that topic behind in the past. I don`t want to think of that foul being for as long as I live. Least some carrion and scavengers will have a real treat soon when they stumble by its corpse", Boneclaw Mother replied bluntly, prompting Digger and everyone else to drop the subject permanently.
Deciding another topic needed to be brought up to change the mood a bit, Earl asked Digger how she ended up getting the nickname Mother of Little Earthquakes, realizing he`d never officially asked about the origin to said nickname.
"From the hyena tribe when I was adopted into their society. That was just one of the days in my life I never seem to forget", Digger replied, brushing past some foliage while Grim-Eyes used her spear like a machete.
"Interesting answer…You know, if I stayed in your tribe for a long time, would I have been renamed to fit in?", "Defiantly. It`d be weird calling someone "Earl" for a long period of time", Grim-Eyes joked, making the male look ready to object, only to back down at the last second.
"Grim-Eyes, don`t be mean".
"I was just joking to ease some tension Boneclaw Mother. Besides, I`m right about a new tribe name coming up. Remind me again about your life Earl. Anything recent happened in it that strongly defines you?"
"Well, there is my karma list of all the misdeeds I`m trying to undo", Earl said, patting his pocket with the sheet of paper.
"How about "Righter of Many Crimes and Felonies?" It does give a bad male vibe, and I sure love those", Boneclaw Mother said in a giddy tone, making Earl look considerate while Grim-Eyes looked embarrassed, causing her to focus on what was ahead while seeking a way to avenge everyone affected by the attack (with the other four having the latter idea on their minds as well).
End of Digger (Arc 6)
Everyone's status:
-Hyacinth, Onslow, Rose, Emmet, Daisy, Crabman, Randy, Blaire (in the unknown mystery world at building, waiting out the sandstorm inside)
-Vianna, Velvet, Thomas, James, Devan [NPC], Richard, Liz (still falling in between dimensions)
-Joy, Catalina, Mae, Angus, Jerry, George, Kramer, Elaine (in the unknown mystery world waiting out a sandstorm in a cave)
-Bea (either with Seinfeld/NITW/My Name is Earl group OR brainwashed as the new Alpha for the big bad)
- Gregg (either with Seinfeld/NITW/My Name is Earl group OR brainwashed as the new Alpha for the big bad)
-Earl, Digger, Murai, Boneclaw Mother, Grim-Eyes (in a new unnamed world)
-Daddy (riding his bike wherever the universe takes him next)
-Various hyena warriors and Veiled member (current status unknown)
