Invasion: Cockatrice!

[verty_events]

This is it, Vertiline! At last the sources of the statues have shown themselves! There is one cockatrice in each town: Eider and Ardel. They are small creatures, a little larger than a rooster, and look half-rotted--like mostly plucked chickens. Despite their small size, they will prove difficult to kill, as merely meeting their eyes is enough

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Eider cockatrice thread

[verty_events]

[This thread is for those characters attempting to kill the cockatrice in Eider.

Please note in your first post if you want your character statue-ized or not!]

no statue-izing please!

[mezzaline]

Mezzaline knows of the beast roaming the streets, if only from the broadcasts.

Title: Cockatrice. Class: beast. Negotiations: clearly impossible. Best possible course of action: elimination.

Very quietly, she walks through Eider with purpose in her stride. Beneath her hair, her earholes are covered with webbing to block the sound of its crow. Her eyes, however, are open and searching.

Tonight, she hunts.

[verty_events]

The cockatrice is not hunting with the same kind of purpose Mezzaline shows. It is pecking idly at small pebbles here and there on the ground, squawking with displeasure when it realizes the pebbles are merely stone and not the shattered remains of something turned to stone. How very disappointing.

It meanders through Eider, distractedly poking at things here and there, apparently oblivious to the presence of other creatures besides itself.

[mezzaline]

Oblivious prey is easy prey. Mezzaline's face splits in a grin and out snap her fangs in preparation of the kill.

She pauses to ready a web, but this will take time. She keeps her eyes locked in the area of the cockatrice, though never does she look directly at it.

Statue, please!

[memoriesinsmoke]

Liz is as prepared as she can get, right now. There are no certainties in this place. While she may not have a rooster or a weasel, Liz brought along a large, circular mirror - carried underneath her arm - some makeshift earplugs she made from wax, in case the cockatrice petrifies with noise rather than sight, and...well, a loaded gun.

In case the methods she was aware of didn't work, and also in case some other form of trouble popped up.

So for now, she's going to wait and see what happens, and hope that some of the people she talked to yesterday show up.

No statue :(

[heavyweaponsbot]

As asked, Ironhide went off towards Eider, to deal with their bird problem. Trouble was, he couldn't drive most of the way, since the place was in the middle of a forest. He drove as far as he could before transforming, and stomping his way down the path, scanning for anything... chicken-like.

Stupid creatures. They were all immensely irritating. It wasn't long before the Autobot's long strides came on another one of the Called. A woman. He didn't recognize her.

"Looking for chickens?" he rumbled, as a form of greeting.

No statufying, please!

[misguides]

And here's Wolfwood, armed to the teeth with...a medium sized mirror he 'borrowed' from someone's bathroom and a few bedsheets. Not exactly conventional weaponry-he does have his gun and a some ammo inside of his jacket-but he's not expecting that he'll be using it much, if what Liz said was anything to go on.

Seems she's already got some company. It takes all of his willpower not to openly gawk at Ironhide, though it doesn't stop him from giving him a curious, assessing once over.

"Uh... We the only ones so far?" His voice is low; no need to draw unwanted attention since surprise seems to be the key here.

[memoriesinsmoke]

So, she won't be doing this alone. This is reassuring - even if the only person she actually knows is Wolfwood. Still, a giant robot is a definite plus...although, Liz isn't entirely sure about the kid. Help is help, though. So, she's just going to hope that Zuko's good with the swords strapped to his back

[heavyweaponsbot]

Ironhide snorts. It's a chicken with a fancy name... that happens to turn people to stone. Well, all right then. He'll shut down his audios, offline his optics, and operate on scanners. Simple enough. He does look at her askance when she mentions the weasel, though.

What is a weasel, anyway?

"Fine then," he grunted. "Cover it, and leave it to me."

For emphasis, he stomped one huge foot against the ground, hard. It left a shallow crater and a puff of dust.

[misguides]

It's all information he's gone over already but Wolfwood pays attention regardless, taking a set of the earplugs once Liz is finished. Going in without one of his senses bothers him but turning into a living statue is incentive enough to take every precaution.

"Whatever you say, big guy." Ironhide's solution to killing it makes things simple, at least. No need to waste ammo on something so small. He offers up the sheets he took from the village, tossing his over his shoulder.

[verty_events]

Liz is as good as she thinks she is.

It's simply unfortunate that despite being the most prepared of the group, her gaze inadvertently moves past the cockatrice's. It's not her fault. The thing is hidden just inside some nearby bushes.

One moment, the pyrokinetic is making plans with the other Called, and the next, paralysis sets in. Her body turns to stone, and in a matter of moments, the transformation is complete.

[heavyweaponsbot]

It takes him a moment to register what's just happened. And when it does, shutters drop into place over his good optic, while the bad one offlines altogether. His audio receptors fritz out, scanners coming online.

"Get your audios jammed! Optics--eyes and ears closed!" he snaps, his voice a rigid, unyielding command. His whole life spent in the army, a good chunk of it in a command position, his response is pure reflex. "We have enemy contact!"

[misguides]

This fucking sucked. The only person who had any idea on how to deal with this thing was out without even a fight. It wasn't her fault as far as he could tell but it left a bad taste in his mouth-there wasn't anything he could do for Liz like this. She hadn't mentioned if killing it would fix the curse but it seemed like a good place to start.

Instead of closing his eyes right off the bat, Wolfwood keeps them open, if only to find out the direction Liz was looking in before she caught the cockatrice's gaze. Once he's figured out the general area it was in-some of the bush's off to his side, though he doesn't look himself for fear of ending up in her position-he brings up the mirror, using it to shield his face.

With his free hand he points in that direction-hard to communicate when you can't hear or look around-and starts towards the bushes, hoping the others will get the message.