<span style="font-style: italic">Sometime last night...</span><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">*CRUNCH*</span><br/><br/>The force of Sherani's attack is audible through the Gorvax campsite as her white-furred jaws snap shut on the fleeing champion. Sherani's teeth shred through the lycan's armored harness like it was made of dead leaves, baring the wolf's furry backside to the entire camp. The champion yelps and slaps his hands over his furry rump in a vain attempt at modesty, earning a heart laugh from several nearby Hevex.<br/><br/>"Nice try, Bucko," Sherani says, casually strolling over to the lycan's side. She spins the half-naked wolf around and gives him a hard swat to the rear, earning another yelp. "Alright, you know the drill. In with the spoils, before I decide I wanna snack!"<br/><br/>The champion doesn't waste a second in complying, and scampers over to a cage full of similarly buff warriors (in every sense of the word). Sherani pauses for a moment to admire her 'collection' before a whistle from behind perks her ears, drawing her attention to Aideen and her own collection of bound beefcake.<br/><br/>"Damn, girl," Aideen says. "You're not wasting any time, huh? How many does that make?"<br/><br/>"Twenty-two 'n' counting," Sherani replies. "You?"<br/><br/>Aideen hangs her head in mock shame. "Only nine so far. Looks like you're gonna whup my heinie again, Shey." The Hevex princess joins her fellow shifter in admiring her captive harem, making no effort to conceal the licking of her lips. "You're gonna share some of those with me, right?"<br/><br/>"Maybe when I'm done-" Sherani begins, until a flash of gray from the next row of tents quiets her. Aideeen and Sherani's eyes meet, briefly, and the pair offer each other a quick nod before launching themselves after the next fleeing Gorvax...</span></div></div></div><br/>"Umnumnumph..." Sherani mumbles, chomping on a mouthful of leaves that had been her pillow until moments ago. It takes a moment for the bitter taste of tannin to sink in, rousing the shifter just enough to spit out her bed salad and sit up groggily. A quick glance around the camp reveals a disappointing lack of dream-harems, and no sign of Lilium either- probably off in the woods somewhere, taking care of yesterday's business.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Not a bad idea,</span>Sherani thinks to herself, patting her much flatter tummy. With a half-asleep grumble, she hoists herself up and tromps off to find her own private corner of the woods.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Ten minutes and a large hole later, Sherani is minus one rat-and-cat combo and finally reaching something resembling alertness. In fact, her danger sense is just woken up enough to process the words that come from Lilium's mouth:<br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Lilium wrote:</cite>“URECK! Be careful! Do you know what this is? This is an emperor scorpion. One little sting from this guy and-”</div></blockquote><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Knowledge (nature): 1d20 (16) + 11 = 27, success</div></div></div><br/>Of course, a life spent in a killer forest tends to skew one's sense of danger...<br/><br/>"A little emperor? Hey, lemme see!" Sherani calls as she strides over to get a look at Falteen's deadliest bug. Even halfway across the campsite, the little arachnid's marking's are clearly visible: an obsidian-black carapace, splattered with deep crimson markings that bring to mind droplets of old blood. No doubt about it, that's definitely an emperor scorpion.<br/><br/>Or maybe it's a harmless lookalike- the emperors are usually more of a vermillion, like fresh blood. But maybe it's just the distance obscuring the details. Lilium wouldn't make a mistake like that, would she?<br/><br/>The sight of the little emperor in Lilium's grip, rather than in the leaf litter where it belongs, gives Sherani a moment's pauses, but no longer. The kitsune seems to know what she's doing, handling the tiny killer like any trained outdoorsman with a ginger grip right behind the stinger. If the little emperor had its tail free, Lilium and Ureck both would be about a second away from certain death. But as long as she's got a half-decent grip...<br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Lilium wrote:</cite>Oops!</div></blockquote><br/>Sherani freezes in mid-step, paralyzed by the worst word an animal handler could possibly say. She can only watch, horrified, as the little emperor springs free of Lilium's grip and tumbles in slow-motion down onto Ureck's bare and unprotected muzzle.<br/><br/>"Guh..." she manages after a few attempts, finally forcing a breath through her tightened throat. Her entire body remains rigid, not daring to even blink in case the motion might startle anyone. "Ureck... don't move a muscle..."<br/><br/>The shifter's eyes cast about the campsite in search of a suitably long branch, or leafy bough, or a tiny scrap of food: anything to smack, brush or lure the little emperor away from his new hostage without provocing the killer vermin...