The fatal blow never came, he remained un-smooshed on the signpost which also wasn't mown down by a demented bovine. This was definitely a good thing considering he hadn't made it far up the sleek wood. Was it someone's job to polish these things? He tilted his head back to see who, if anyone, was being murdered by the cow and found he couldn't see it at all. Whether it had gotten lost, distracted, or he just couldn't see it through the fog he didn't know.

Then he looked up and made eye contact with a bird whose beak looked like something he'd use to defend himself with down a dark alleyway. Don't stab me in the face, don't stab me in the face. Learning his lesson from last time, he decided to play it both quiet and still, although his arm muscles were starting to throb from the effort of keeping himself suspended from the signpost.
""

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Eyeing up this magnificent set eh? MJ sold her soul to Satan's graphic designer. I wish he'd take mine too.

Her taunting had worked, though the enraged beast had still managed to catch the girl who hadn't moved fast enough. Eva's stomach turned as it flung the girl and charged at her afterward. Backing up she'd stumbled a little and lost her balance, enough so that had it not vanished right before it would have certainly trampled her.

Heart pounding, Eva ran over to the girl who'd been hit to find her unconscious but alive. It was then that the explosion of sound hit her ears and she flinched. This was more like the normal, every day sounds of the zoo except... more exotic. "It sounds... like the Nile valley here." The water buffalo- an ibis on the signpost. Eva had only visited there once briefly, but she was getting the feeling this fog was of an early magical origin.

"We should keep moving, if this is the habitat I think it's becoming we're in for a wild ride. Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open." There were a lot of incredibly dangerous creatures native to Africa, magical and muggle alike and frankly the last thing Eva wanted to deal with today was a nundo or an erumpent, though she sure as hell hoped Oscar was comfortably confined to his cage. At least she could handle him without magic. Shouldering her pack again, Eva waited for everyone to group together before starting forward again.

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The following 1 user Likes Eavan Miller's post:1 user Likes Eavan Miller's post
   Declan Wood

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Belle gasped as Miss Lecuyer went flying through the air and she was half-way out of her hiding place to run to her aid when the creature made another run, this time at Miss Mackay. And then, it was gone. Which couldn't possibly bode well and it was with one eye still on where the professor had reached the unfortunate girl that she squeezed Mr Byrne's hand tightly in her own, not entirely sure when she had started holding it truthfully.

"I was wrong before. This is much worse than the quiet," she muttered to him warily, coming to meet the rest of the party by the side of the ailing debutante. Kneeling down, finally releasing the young man, Belle checked the girl over as best she could without magic and with fear hovering over her shoulder quite so relentlessly. Deeply unsatisfied with the limited amount she could do for the girl Belle pulled her pack back on and hoped the infirmary would be swift, rising to her feet and turning towards Miss Mackay, struck by something she had said.

"What do you mean the habitat it's becoming? The fog hasn't-"

But it had. It had brought frogs and locusts and darkness. And a strange dust smell but that was probably unrelated. In the depths of Bella's brain something leapt between synapses, a half-thought, a spark of something that quickly died when she turned her head and caught sight of their bold young man.

"Oh Merlin, we better help Mr Spryly."

The following 1 user Likes Annabelle Bones's post:1 user Likes Annabelle Bones's post
   Declan Wood

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Lady made me sexy <3

Nothing about the awkward hobbled lope Ed managed should be called 'running'.  Not only was his artificial knee joint was lower than his natural knee joint but because Ed had limited practice with a running gait it felt like it locked and gave out at random.  Every step he took felt a bit like stepping off curb he didn't know was there and so running was more of a... continuous lurch forward.  Kept upright mostly by adrenaline and survival instinct, he had just begun to look for something he could pull himself up on when the creature vanished.  Before he could be fooled  into feeling any kind of relief the fog around then surged with sounds of wild life.

He scrubbed a hand over his face and moved to regroup with the others.  Swallowing down the growing concern that not only was he wholly unfit for this but that he might actually become a liability to the group he cracked a strained grin "I feel like the Prophet left somethings out when they called for volunteers" he muttered, careful to keep his voice low.  The article had been down right bland!  Not at all indicative of the mortal danger they now faced.  If it weren't for the fact that they just happened to have a Magizoologist in their group... he only hoped she knew something about the bird Mr Spryly now faced because Ed sure didn't.

The following 1 user Likes Edmund Grimm's post:1 user Likes Edmund Grimm's post
   Elladora Black

Annabelle Bones Finnian Byrne Jeremiah Tatting @"Eavan Mackay" Questor Spryly Edmund Grimm

The ibis stares down Mr. Spryly, but makes no other moves.

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The next 'prompt' post will be after either 48 hours have passed from the time of posting (11:00 PM EST on July 11th) or after every member of the party has posted one time if this occurs before that deadline. Please remember that you must post within 72 hours to continue participating. :)

  

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Are your characters stuck in the smalltalk loop?
Does your imagination feel like it just can't perform as it used to?
Mid-thread crisis getting you down?
Unable to get that post up?
Is your relationship suffering because of your inability to satisfy your partner?
SUFFER NO MORE!
With a little intervention from The Suggestionizer your RP life could be back on track in no time!

--> Click here for more details <--

Known side-effects include: chronic ridiculousness, immense satisfaction, itching, uncontrollable laughter, burning, deep regret, despair, shock, horror, incidental dismemberment, joy, and death. Use at your own risk!

This had indeed not been in the job description when he'd agreed to come exploring the usually mostly-harmless village of Irvingly. In the middle of this entire mess, he'd come to the conclusion that not all the groups had to be suffering this fate; surely some of them were just peeking through boring bushes and talking to residents! But he, alongside the others in his group, had to face a fake-Egypt.

Finnian stayed put when Mrs. Bones ran along to help the girl, though decided being by himself was probably not the best idea. Thus, he swiftly towards the only other useful person there—Miss MacKay—but made sure not to make any moves. Yet. He figured they'd be holding hands in the next hour, but he could be patient.

It was then that he caught a glance at the bird, which prompted him to cock a brow.

"A bird is our next opponent? Just—shoo it."

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— set by MJ! —

☙ Post Log ❧

"It's just an ibis, Mr. Spryly, you can get down now." Eva sighed, watching the youth hang there as if it would attack at any moment. "It is not nesting, nor does it want to mate with you, you will be just fine to hop down so we can move on." The resigned tone to her voice betrayed her worry. Eva had this sinking feeling like this was going to be much harder than she'd originally anticipated, despite the fact that they were in a place she knew backwards and forwards.

"I would very much like to move along to where we're not so out in the open." She nudged her head toward the direction they'd been moving in hopes to actually start doing so, completely ignoring Mr. Byrne as he moved closer to her.

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The following 2 users Like Eavan Miller's post:2 users Like Eavan Miller's post
   Cassius Lestrange, Elias Grimstone

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Spryly didn't know what an 'ibis' was nor did he know how she could be so certain that it didn't want to mate with him but she seemed to know what it was called and so he decided to trust her.

"Ain't this whole place out in the open?" He queried as he dropped down from the signpost. He stretched his arms and shot the bird a filthy look. "If that thing isn't dangerous we should 'ave it for food, unless we're likely to get out before supper..."

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Eyeing up this magnificent set eh? MJ sold her soul to Satan's graphic designer. I wish he'd take mine too.

Jeremiah was hesitant to leave the unconscious girl behind. Shouldn't they take her with them? Or was she not supposed to be moved in case of further injury? He was certainly not a healer. However, that didn't stop him from worrying that she may get eaten or be lost in the fog forever.

Looking over at Mr. Spryly, he raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps we should leave the bird be. Simply because it will leave you alone now does not mean that it would if any of us tried catching it." He commented. Personally, he would prefer to not get his eyes clawed out.

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Pretties by Bee

Belle frowned at the professor and the boy, but neglected to comment, far too keen to get moving again and even keener to get away from the ibis. Without Miss MacKay's prompting she doubted she would have recognised the species but she doubted it was anything native to this country: in fact she was almost certain it was part of the rest though it was, admittedly, less troubling than a charging buffalo.

"Shall we just take advantage of being able to walk and do so immediately?" She snapped tartly, trying not to look at the girl they were about to leave behind. There was nothing they could do for her here. "Or else we'll all be where she is." She strode away cautiously in the direction they had been heading, refusing to be in the dark any longer.

  

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Lady made me sexy <3

Ed gave his artificial knee a few experimental bends while everyone was distracted by the bird.  It seemed intact and functional which was a relief.  Given his history and luck with legs he wouldn't be surprised at all if the thing just snapped in half.  Of course even the most resilient of legs stood no change against a stampede.

He moved join Miss Mackay and wasted little time making sure the rest of the group had the same idea. She was clearly their best chance for survival and he was very over jeopardizing his life with chatter and house pride.

"Something between us and whatever's out there would be great," he muttered almost wearily.

  

Annabelle Bones Finnian Byrne Jeremiah Tatting @"Eavan Mackay" Questor Spryly Edmund Grimm

The group progresses through the zoological gardens with little incident - strange birds, strange noises, an increasingly river-ish smell, but no attacks. They reach the back gate and, once they go through, will find a strange sight.

A clear path through the fog, leading in the direction of Salem Square.

Also, the (Nile) Crocodile hanging out in the center of said path. The challenge is pretty clear.

---

The next 'prompt' post will be after either 48 hours have passed from the time of posting (11:00 PM EST on July 13th) or after every member of the party has posted one time if this occurs before that deadline. Please remember that you must post within 72 hours to continue participating. :)

  

---

Are your characters stuck in the smalltalk loop?
Does your imagination feel like it just can't perform as it used to?
Mid-thread crisis getting you down?
Unable to get that post up?
Is your relationship suffering because of your inability to satisfy your partner?
SUFFER NO MORE!
With a little intervention from The Suggestionizer your RP life could be back on track in no time!

--> Click here for more details <--

Known side-effects include: chronic ridiculousness, immense satisfaction, itching, uncontrollable laughter, burning, deep regret, despair, shock, horror, incidental dismemberment, joy, and death. Use at your own risk!

Spryly didn't need an illustrated encyclopedia of animal species this time to recognize what he was looking at. "Anyone else miss our ol' friend Bessie?" he whispered, eyes glued to the beast before them. "Got any idea how to deal with this one?" This he directed at the redhead with all the animal knowledge. He had half a mind to point out how handy a dead ibis would have been for a distraction at this point but didn't want to push his luck in case the overgrown lizard had supersonic hearing and got the wrong idea.

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Eyeing up this magnificent set eh? MJ sold her soul to Satan's graphic designer. I wish he'd take mine too.

One thing was clear, Jeremiah was done with useless drama. Everyone seemed to either wish to criticize one another or say something stupid. Instead of engaging, he would simply focus on dealing with the current situation at hand. So it wasn't a surprise when he went very pale at the sight of the obviously predatory beast. The fact that someone would say something after that seemed to be the most stupid course of actions after what happened last time, well that simply made him stiffen up more. They were going to die. They were going to die and he would never see his family again.

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Pretties by Bee

Finnian was no expert on creatures—magical or muggle—but he doubted a crocodile could be taken care of as easily as a bird or water buffalo. He eyed the others of the group, managing to hold his tongue—but only for a minute.

"Maybe we should - um - feed it," he suggested, quietly wondering if anyone was willing to become bait.

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— set by MJ! —

☙ Post Log ❧

Moving through a distinctly odd sounding zoo was setting Eva's nerves on edge. She wanted to stop by the aviary on the way past, but decided all she could do was glance at it. Bastien was at the door, watching pensively and she thought to let him out, the diricawl in his actual natural habitat for once. His little sniffer was down on the ground the instant he got out and Eva quickly shut the door, locking it manually with a worried look on her face. She couldn't very well make sure everybody inside as alright, but it seemed like everything was just off.

As they hit the back gate of the zoo itself, the break in the fog was startling really. What was clean air after all? But of course getting straight to the square would be  too much to ask for after a water buffalo, what was a Nile-sized crocodile? And a big one at that. Eva groaned quietly to herself, looking at Bastien carefully.

One of his favorite games was to antagonize other creatures.

Running her hands over her face Eva supposed there wasn't really much to be done except for a distraction ploy. "They're faster on land than you would think they are." She informed her party with a sigh. Despite its size, Eva really didn't want to mess with it. "I suppose I could distract it while everyone else makes a wide arc around it." Eva had never wrestled any kind of large lizard before, now seemed like a good time to try.

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