Mox threw his arms up at the petty argument between the Drider and Neix. "Always drama! Won't get a thing done 'ere!" He complained. No one could just get along to get something done, looks like it will be the same in this place too. What did catch his attention was a dog looking creature, who seemed content to leave, avoiding something. Mox walked forward towards the light, a foul smell seemingly getting closer. He looked down to see a pile of dead bodies, it was a complete massacre... or worse. Mox retched as the strong smell invaded his nostrils and the . He seemed some gross things, but this was... definitely something else. Others had the right idea of following the light to the exit of the cave, and that dog even had the smart sense to go around the shitshow of death. Mox followed suit after the dog had gone around. Mox very carefully navigated around the dead bodies, and then made his way to the cave mouth.
The sight was a stark contrast to what was inside. Sun and a surprisingly beautiful meadow. The dog had ran off ahead of everyone else, so Mox had to try and catch up. He figured how where the creature was going and moved to that place, in some tall grass. Turned out this thing wasn't actually a dog, but some sort of dog/reptile hybrid thing. Thing looked like a dinosaur or some shit. However, it was kind of cute, in an odd way. Mox crouched down and held his hand out to the thing. "Hey you... you're freaky lookin'." He commented, trying to get the thing to come over to him. For all he knew, this thing was a dog and Mox treated it as such. "I'm not gonna hurt ya. Got a name? Ehh, I don't even know if you speak..."
Captivated as she was by the gorgeous surface of the lake, particularly since it took her mind off of the disturbing gorefest that continued to trouble her, Otsune jumped in surprise when a voice appeared from behind her. Her alarm quickly gave way to irritation, however, as the green goblin that startled her treated her with an insult and then condescension. To the best of its ability her face embodied this feeling. "You're one to talk. A little bigger and your nose would be the size of my head. At least you've got a whole area code to yourself when you sneeze." It did not take a genius to figure out that her remarks were not intended good-naturedly. However, she seemed to realize her harshness, and opted to be the bigger monster. She did not move from where she sat, though. "I'm Otsune, and I'm not afraid of you. If I remember correctly, crocodiles can crush bones like breaking toothpicks." In truth, she did not give too much thought to the feelings of this weird creature. This whole thing, she knew for certain now, constituted nothing more than a dream. She anticipated it to be exciting and interesting, but a dream nonetheless, unreal and bound to end. Then, she felt, she would truly pass on. Silence fell, more threatening than she meant given her last statement, but she felt no urge to fill it with speech.
"It's really that big, huh?" Mox said, putting his hand on his nose. Yeah... it was big. Mox noticed this things words, and now knowing it could talk, and now knowing it didn't like him. Mox merely sat cross legged in front of her, "Otsune, huh? Alright, I'm Mox." The goblin said, introducing himself. "Hehe, I can tell you got a strong jaw. No, I'm not trying to scare you. Also, I thought you were a dog. Sorry 'bout that." He said. No need to make enemies just yet, that lizard girl and spider girl already had that taken care of. "I don't suppose you got any idea what the hell all this is about?" Mox asked, leaning forward a bit, resting his head into his hands.
Had she shoulders with which to do so, Otsune would have shrugged. Mox's rudeness didn't really ruffle her feathers all that much, and he seemed apologetic enough to make the whole thing a non-issue. He didn't hesitate to cut straight to the center of the issue, however, and ask a question that still troubled Otsune as well: what was going on? Suffice to say, the snapjaw had no clue. As best she could ascertain, this entire, bizarre world constituted some sort of dream given to her in the moments between the end of her life and the beginning of her death. This answer would not, she felt, either help inform Mox or please him -what with telling him that she thought him nothing more than a figment of her imagination and all- so she kept it to herself.
Instead, Otsune replied, "I think that everyone died before coming here. Ever heard of reincarnation? Guess it's like that." She looked at the water, thinking it to be beautiful and peaceful. Swimming seemed like an appealing and suitable course of action, but her suspicions kept her out of the water. "I think this is a dangerous world," she confessed. "We must have been given these forms to give us a fighting chance for survival. We had best be careful, hm?"
Mox nodded. "I remember dying... Never thought all that hocus pocus shit was real, though." He replied. Mox had to agree with Otsune, this place didn't feel safe. Not from the hellscape that was the cave. However, this... this was all right. However, if they didn't find resources like food, water, or a weapon, then that fighting chance would be slimming very quickly. "It's not what our forms are, it's what we can do with them. We should get moving..." He explained. Maybe teaming up wouldn't be such a bad idea, at least until he could figure out a plan on how he's gonna make it in this world. Until then, it's safety in numbers. "Why don't we work together? I mean, we got skills we can help each other out with."
The suggestion of working together didn't stimulate Otsune one way or the other, but the more she ruminated on the idea, the more she came to think that cooperation might be a good idea. Be it the result of a social or animalistic instinct, she knew that the odds of survival would rise with cooperation. This Mox didn't seem to harbor ill intent; if anything, he seemed a little dull. A few seconds passed before the snapjaw told him, "Sounds like a good idea. The only skills I seem to have so far are endurance and biting, but who knows? Perhaps we're the A-team and we just didn't know it."
She stood up, twisting from side to side to stretch her muscles. Despite her readiness for action, no definite plan lay before her. "Any idea what to do, then? There's plenty of water here, though a stream might be nicer to drink out of. Food and shelter are next on the list." The rather unpleasant thought of having to hunt, kill, and eat prey crossed her mind, but she pushed it away, reasoning that there might be some sort of alternative.
Mox rested his head in his hand in thought. Well, Otsune seemed to know what she was doing. The water would be a fine, temporary resource. However, ain't no way in Earth... or wherever this is, that Mox was sleeping under the stars and going hungry. An idea crossed his mind. "This is some fantasy, medieval place... right? They still had towns and shit, what if we looked for one?" He asked. Mox's idea consisted of finding something that sells food, and wouldn't mind one or two things missing. Might be a good place to pick up a weapon. Now, Otsune... she had nature's weapons. Mox didn't have much that could help him in a fight with something, should one come. Scavenging for stuff in civilization didn't seem like half a bad idea.
"Might as well try, though I don't know if we should be eager to get near humans." Otsune remembered the others. Chances were that anyone with a grain of sense would be willing to join her little group, and having more bodies and talents would make survival incrementally easier. "Before we do any searching, what do you say we head back and try to get others to join us?" In fact, she was already walking back in the direction she had come as she asked. Evidently she took his agreement for granted. The reasoning behind the idea, she thought, really spoke for itself: safety in numbers, and more hands -or jaws- to work outweighed more mouths to feed. In the back of her mind Otsune knew that individuals like the spider girl might actually detriment such a group, but the snapjaw decided that she really couldn't blame a person in this situation for getting so unnerved. When she still lived, Otsune never had children, but she still felt as if she could look out for others in some capacity.
When she set off, Mox was not far behind, and in short order she arrived back at the cave mouth. By now, little monsters surrounded it. None of them seemed to have the same impetus to disperse that Otsune felt. Normally, the snapjaw would have hated to be the one to speak up and take charge of a situation, but the best chances for survival and figuring this ordeal out lay in teamwork, and nobody else appeared eager to form a plan. Standing as straight as she could, Otsune called, "Hel...hello. Before I continue, I want to say, I have no idea what's going on. On the inside, I'm confused and a little scared, but like it or not this is what we're stuck with now." She took a moment to look at Jeff, Simba, Khari, and Ariana in turn, hoping to make herself seem more personable despite her bestial form. Public speaking still unnerved her, even after this? "I've got a hun...hunch that this is a dangerous place. Mox and I have agreed to stick together to better our chances, and I'd like to extend all of you the same invitation. Not as a leader...but as a...um, comrade." She then sat down, trying to look friendly.
