I Am Night, Color Me Black

There was nothing. Nothing but darkness, the hushed worries and loud roars that filled the air. Everything was going to hell in a hand basket and no one knew what exactly was going on. The only thing that was for sure was that tough times were ahead, and the end was no where in sight. Literally. The saying of faith being blind is absolutely true, and now was not the time to panic and lose any sort of foundation one had. Things might have been getting better, but that was part of life's sweet illusion and now she had made the whole world her bitch. Perhaps she did this out of spite, to prove a point, or to be hateful. Either way, things were about to roll downhill fast and that thought left one hound dog with the feeling of uneasiness. 

His Queen's loud roar woke Cash up with a violent jerk. He had no idea what was going on, but if Zira was up at this time of night it was important. Except that everything inside the hound screaming morning, but nothing seemed to clarify that fact. Cash blinked around drowsily, seeing nothing except the faint outlines of other animals leaving their dens to gather. Might's well join 'em, he thought to himself. A faint smile tugged at the edges of his maw as he remembered that Dixie was curled up next to him. The two had a very rocky relationship, which always kept him on his toes, but sometimes he just liked it when she was quiet and still and peaceful. However, he figured that if Zira didn't wake her up, then he should. This was important and he wanted to make sure she was in his "sights" at all times until this mess was figured out. "Dix...Dixie sweet'eart. C'mon..somethin' ain't right," he muttered softly, nudging her soft fur with his muzzle. 

With his cracking bones and popping limbs, the crooner stood up and started to head towards the gathering with the others always making sure Dixie and the pups, weren't far behind. When he arrived, animals of all species were panicking, even Zira herself. "Damn. They're runnin' aroun' like chickens with their heads cut off," he said softly to himself, sitting down at the outer edge of the group. The panic and paranoia radiated from everyone and seemed to seep into his fur. For the sake of himself, and everyone around, he wouldn't dare add to the hype and decided to keep his mouth shut. It took everything Cash had to try and remain calm, but if no one was going to, then that left him to try and keep things calm. The dog's ears perked as the other soldiers peeped up, one by one, about them having night vision. Being a dog, however, left Cash without night vision but with an excellent sense of smell. Scent didn't do much good in the dark, but who knew, probably it could.

- - -

Banzai sat among the outskirts of the crowd, listening to everyone murmur about whether they were talented or not. The hyena simply rolled his eyes and huffed in annoyance. There was nothing more he hated than a brown-noser. They were always getting special treatment, special missions, the first pick of food just because they were of some great importance to the leaders. While those who worked, or didn't, got treated as nothing more than faceless muscle. Banzai was definitely one to not stand being treated as such. His mind wandered off to Missy and his and Shenzi's great plan. A devious smile formed on his maw for now would be an excellent time to get ready. It would take some time to really get his little demon ready, so as long as the darkness would stay he would be alright. As soon as some of this pack-mates returned with fire and lit the fire pit, Banzai had to blink a few times to readjust his eyes to the glow of the flames. He felt the warmth seep onto his skin, sighing in content, he then realized that Missy and Shenzi had followed and sat close. 

Banzai leaned over to his friend, letting out a low grunt in agreement. "Ya got that right. It ain't right, but this could be our big chance Shenzi. Perhaps this is a sign! Still, I hope it doesn't last too long. Somethin' doesn't feel right either," he agreed. Banzai could feel the fear radiating off of her in waves, which she would most likely deny if confronted about it. Then again, he was feeling the exact same way and would probably do that too. Rather uncharacteristically, he nudged Shenzi softly with his own shoulder as a sign of stiff comfort. Banzai wasn't keen on sentiment or affection, but he still wanted Shenzi to know that he was around. For now. The male hyena turned his attention back to Zira, ears perking at the mention of the pit. Missy didn't have night-vision, nor did he think she knew where that hell pit was, and it would be rather unfortunate if she fell to her doom before she could be of any use to them. "Hey Hell-hound,"he addressed Missy, looking around Shenzi, "ya need to watch out for that pit. It would be pretty sucky if you were to fall. Just..be careful where you're going 'kay?" His voice had a little bit of concern in it.

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word count| 906|
muse| Red Nose by Sage The Gemini |
notes| YAY CASHY! |

"Hey Hell-hound, ya need to watch out for that pit. It would be pretty sucky if you were to fall. Just..be careful where you're going 'kay?"

Missy tilted her head slightly to the right in confused, a gesture she then realised would likely go unseen because of the darkness. "The pit? What's the pit?" she asked, partly out of curiosity and partly of concern. In her time in the Outlands Missy had failed to notice anything that resembled a pit. Probably just too focused on her training and prepping and personal goals to care too much about any landmarks in her new home. Other than the termite mounds of course, they were sort of hard to miss. Missy decided it was probably a problem worth fixing. Who knows when that kind of information could come in handy. But that was an issue for another day, one where she could actually see.

She shifted a little closer to the two hyenas. If there was a dangerous pit somewhere on these grounds that could ultimately result in her death if she fell in, she wanted to make sure she didn't stray far from them. They could see in the dark, she couldn't. The further away she was the easier it would be to loose them in the darkness, and Missy didn't want to take that chance. She'd make sure to stick close by their side, at least until they get this fire going.

"I wonder what caused this, do you think it could've been the Heroes?" she asked her friends. It was certainly an extraordinary feat, however it was achieved. Removing the sun, the moon, and stars from the sky. Or maybe just extinguishing their light. More likely the latter, Missy thought. It would be impossible to remove such huge masses, especially ones that are lightyears away from the earth. Then again, it wasn't as if extinguishing them would be any easier. Unless there was something blocking their light, something in the atmosphere, or something covering their view of the sky. The young girl had too many questions about this event, it was all too hard to comprehend.

"Well, whatever it is I hope its over soon".

"Hrn. Cash ah swear to high heaven if you don't stop jawin' at me..." She huffed, opening her eyes and yawning softly up at him. Everything felt so bizarre. "What time is it?" The pups didn't stir. Dixie figured it was the blackness outside. This caused her own nose to wrinkle as the situation started to fold into place. "Oh CASH, it's like 3am in the dang morning!" But somehow...her head rose, eyes squinting as she followed behind him. Her maw parted as she took in the sights. A blazing fire, panicking animals...and a starless sky.

"What in TARNATION?" She quipped, "Why...it's darker th'n the inside of a dog's mouth here. What's goin' on?"

Her golden paws carried her next to Cash. She stuck her nose beneath his ear gently, nudging it to get his attention. Dixie had spent all day wrangling her pups so she had just assumed that her sleeping in was due to that. But the blackness...the dark...it was unnerving. "Cash...what's goin' on?" She stared towards his face which was barely glowing in the flames that Zira had put in place. She tilted her head back, watching to make sure the pups were still sleeping.

She turned her slender head back towards Cash, then towards Missy. She blinked a few times. Another dalmatian pup. Hrn. Dixie briefly wondered how long it'd take this one to turn tail and run to the heroes. Back to Cash's face her eyes went however. "Ah can't hear...what's goin' down?"

"Claudius? I'm over here."

The male turned with a smile but it soon slipped from his face at the look of worry on her face, or at least the vibes of it coming off the lioness.

"What if the Great Kings are displeased about something?"

"It can't be that" Claudius said, snorting at the idea of it all. "It has to be happening in the Pridelands too," he said, glancing at Zira as the queen asked if anyone had night vision, and the large male spoke up. "I do my queen, as well as all the other cats in your army," he stated, motioning to the other feline soldiers that had gathered so far.

Cash was so wrapped up in trying to understand what was going on that the sudden appearance of Dixie's nose under his ear made him jump slightly in surprise. It was difficult to decipher every individual conversation, each merging into nothing but white noise. "I wish I knew darlin'. Zira's confused, meanin' so is everyone else. I reckon the "great kings" ain't happy," he replied, looking down at the golden dog with worry in his eyes. If their queen didn't know what was going on, then that meant no one did. Who could possibly do this? The heroes and human villains surely weren't strong enough to cause this sort of curse, so Cash only assumed the lion dieties were the cause. Cash's dark eyes ran over Dixie's features, taking in every curve and angle. She seemed calm and cool, and he would like to keep it that way. He leaned down and pressed his nose gently against the side of her neck in a sign of comfort. Perhaps not for her, but for him. 

He remembered Zira saying something about the pit and his stomach dropped. What if the pups wandered off and fell into that hell hole? He felt as if he could throw up so he castes his gaze behind him to make sure they were all there, just as Dixie had. "Dix..we need to keep an eye on the youngin's. It's dark and I don't think they know about that awful pit thing..we can risk them fallin' in," he murmured softly, concern washing over his features, "and Ya need to stay close to me as well. 'Least until the sun comes back. I can't be losin' ya again."

(ooc: I'll edit later since I'm on my phone and sorry this post isn't the best D:)

A harsh shudder passed through the hound’s spine as he blinked the remaining sleep from his eyes. Or eye rather. The formerly injured one was still tightly shut, though if one were to look it was clear it wasn’t from Copper’s own doing. A milky yellowish looking crust rimmed the crease of it locking the lid in place. From the look of it, the initial scratch caused by Tod’s claw had been a lot worse than Copper had originally thought, seemed an infection had set in at some point during the last month and while it appeared to have heal somewhat, it was fairly clear that it would be debatable whether or not Copper would actually be able to see out of the eye again.

As the darkness finally registered in his mind, Copper realized that what he had thought had been lingering images from his dreams, was actually the real world around him. He glanced around, watching as various other Outlanders were crawling from their dens at Zira’s summons which had been the very thing that woke the hound from his slumber. Where were the stars? The moon? Or hell even the sun as his internal clock was telling him that the clear golden light should be visible. Keeping close to the termite mounds so as not to accidentally trip over something, or worse, fall into the large pit at the center of the barren land, Copper made his way over to the gathering group as Zira’s voice rose above the white noise that was the Outlands.

Scanning the crowd, it didn’t take long for Copper to spot the familiar form of Dixie, but his eyes also quickly landed on the form next to her as well. Cash. Copper could help the growl that rose from his throat at the sight of the other hound. After all, the last time they’d met Copper and Cash hadn’t left each other of good terms. From the looks of it though, it seemed he and Dixie had made up as Dixie stepped forward to push her nose into Cash’s ear. That was enough for Copper, as the growl died away and he moved forward until he was standing next to them, at Dixie’s other side.

“What’s going on?” he asked softly, his voice low as he lowered himself into a sit. Over the past month, Copper had come to terms with what had happened between himself and Tod, and while he was sure it wasn’t something he’d ever forgive himself for, in the end he had realized that there was likely nothing he could have done to changed it. Still, the loss was still fresh on his mind, and it was likely such a wound would never heal completely. At least not for a long time.

(This isn't my best work, but I'm half asleep so forgive me. XD)

"POP!" Hathi Jr. lets out a loud trumpet threw his little trunk as he races threw the darkness blindly. Elephants had poor eye sight and the colonel's son was no exception. "Pop?" Junior cries out again, finally running smack into Claudius by mistake. "oh...I'm sorry" the little elephant stumbles to his feet shaking his head. "That you Claudius?" he lifts his trunk sniffing to make sure, indeed it was.

"Has anyone seen my pop?" he asks, turning to Chippy now as he looks around, making out the faint outlines of the others.

"Don't fret everyone" Valishu trots forward his pure white horn now glowing with light much like how a glow-stick works. "to those who have poor night vision, stand beside me" he calls out, a hoof scrapes the ground as he looks at the others then finally to Queen Zira. "M'lady what if the fires go out? they can't burn forever, you would have to send soldiers to and from the Graveyard to get more fire, that could lead to them getting killed along the way" the unicorn's voice was full of worry and yet held a firm tone to it.

Feb 4, 2015 20:37:18 GMT -5 Zira said:

Zira couldn't think straight. She passed back and forth on her makeshift cliff, looking just as frustrated as she felt. This didn't make sense. The darkness was thick, saturated in the Outlands. The blackness of the caves and the nooks and crannies of the place would not help them. She raised a claw to point them out. Two loyal lionesses, Dotty, Beast and of course her little demonic 627. She nodded but was grinning inside. Of course he could see in the dark, the precious little imp.

Before she spoke the hyenas returned with branches of fire. It gave an eerie, disturbing color to the normally red vibrant outlands. She instructed the hyenas with her claws and the creatures created what humans would call a fire pit. The fire blazed beneath her and gave her more of a view of the creatures below her.

"We might have to continue to make fires, at least to keep warm," she announced, "To light our way...Scar and I will come up with a solution to that." Her mind clicked and whirred with thoughts. How could she light her way...

"In the meantime, stick with someone who can see in the darkness," she said, "If you fall and die..." She blinked. Fuck. The pit. "Listen to me carefully," she hissed, "Someone who can see in the dark. Go fetch a blaze of fire. Throw it in the pit or at least place it by the pit. If we lose more soldiers because of that damned canine I will slit her throat."

Golden eyes danced from one side to the other until he caught sight of a familiar blue one not too far from him. Marie; she was all right. The slender feline rose to his paws and, without even being beckoned, he padded closer to where she was and positioned himself beside. Her There was no way he would let such a graceful creature like herself get hurt in the darkness. Even if the others couldn't see him that clearly, he would remain there. Elf would make absolutely sure that Marie would be all right. Why? Well... Simply because she was a feline he happened to enjoy the company of. The same would have been extended to Butterball, but for the moment Elf was more concerned about the white feline he had met before.

"Stick close to me," Elf said. "We wouldn't want you to be all by yourself in this horrid darkness." He let his tail curl around his body and briefly brush against her body. If nothing else, he wanted Marie to know that he was there. He would have said more, but Zira's words had reached him and caused him to look back her way. She did raise a point. Fire would be effective, but going all the way back to wherever they got fire from seemed a bit tedious.

Elf said nothing on that matter, though. He was sure more capable soldiers would point out this fact. So, the black feline stayed where he was and watched to see how the others would react.

Then, out of the darkness, a brilliant white light appeared and caused Elf to have to shield his eyes for a moment. A unicorn had appeared and seemed to have the ability to light up the darkness to a degree. That was all well and good, but having no warning of this fact was unappreciated. His tail puffed out a bit and after a moment his ears fell back against his skull.

"A bit of warning would have been nice before you turned your light on," Elf said. "Not that it isn't appreciated, but still."

The sky is dark. Where the moon and stars and sun should have been--now pitch black emptiness. DeSoto took a moment to ponder this situation, snout upturned towards what should have been one glowing orb in the sky, but now was simply... nothing. 

Distress began to squeeze the pit of his belly. How could something so big and so old just disappear? His frustration was at its peak, but what stress he was experiencing did not show. Instead, he swiveled his emotionless gaze towards the horizon and peered into the gloom.

The doberman squinched his eyes against the darkness, peering through hues of grey and blacks as a result of his species' night vision, and started forward. He soon found himself at the foot of where the Queen addressed her army, and what DeSoto recognized as concern riddled her features. It was strange, seeing Zira overcome by the same anxiety as everyone else. But everything about the situation at hand was strange.

Instead of displaying his mild concern, DeSoto settled himself onto his belly and rested his chin between his paws, absently snuffling the parched ground, scenting for those present at the gathering. He recognized the scents of those he'd encountered in the past, but there were also the aromas of animals who were new to him. Either way, fear scent was thick in the air, and a sickening sense of something was beginning to brew in the doberman's thoughts.

"We might have to continue to make fires, at least to keep warm,""To light our way...Scar and I will come up with a solution to that." "In the meantime, stick with someone who can see in the darkness," she said, "If you fall and die..." "Listen to me carefully,""Someone who can see in the dark. Go fetch a blaze of fire. Throw it in the pit or at least place it by the pit. If we lose more soldiers because of that damned canine I will slit her throat."

"Ya got that right. It ain't right, but this could be our big chance Shenzi. Perhaps this is a sign! Still, I hope it doesn't last too long. Somethin' doesn't feel right either," "Hey Hell-hound," "ya need to watch out for that pit. It would be pretty sucky if you were to fall. Just..be careful where you're going 'kay?"

"The pit? What's the pit?"  "I wonder what caused this, do you think it could've been the Heroes?" "Well, whatever it is I hope its over soon".

"Yeah kid. Stay away from the pit. And to answer your question, the pit is where we used to hold prisoners, now it's where the fire is. And me too kid, me too." Like Banzai, the light from the pit made her feel slightly safer and less vulnerable. "And kid, if you see us, stick with us. We don't wantcha falling down the pit." She nodded her head and looked to her friend. "Banz, how are we gonna get our little student to practice killing 'n huntin' if there's nothing to hunt? And what about us? How are we gonna eat if the fucking antelopes and Zebra's if there's nothin' to kill?" This was new. And unlike Shenzi, but times were changing, and it seemed like it was the time of the darkness. And that was something that the female hyena had to live with now.
(ooc post: Sorry about the wait and the length, for both posts!)

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 Iseult listened intently about Zira's orders. It seemed Zira's new philosophy was; something bad happened, blame it on the prisoner. Iseult could hardly blame the Queen, after all, the cocker spaniel ruined part of the Outlands. A bright light flashed, and the being holding up the light, was none other than Valishu! Her acquaintance, so to speak. The lioness would never openly admit that Valishu was probably her only friend. She padded towards him. "Val, like the cat said, please tell people before you turn on your light." She hissed to the unicorn, eyes squinting, trying to shield herself from the bright light in the dark.
            

Sitting in the darkness near Shenzi and Banzai, Ed nodded vigorously to what his two friends were saying.

He'd been sitting there in the dark for a long time.  He'd found the Termite Castle around Midnight and had blundered around in the darkness, sniffing here and there.  Only when he heard Banzai's voice did Ed lift his head and give a ridiculously happy grin.  Following their voices, he had sat down next to them.

It was if he hadn't been away for months and this was just any other morning.

His bug eyes looked down at the Dalmatian pup-- as well as he could see her in the dark.  Then again, he could have very well been looking at Zira too.  It was always hard to tell with Ed.

He heard Shenzi mention food and frowned, his eyebrows lowering seriously as he listened.

Then, his round belly gave a very loud growl.  The sound gurgled up through his chest and Ed burped.

"A bit of warning would have been nice before you turned your light on," Elf said. "Not that it isn't appreciated, but still."

Valishu gives a sheepish smirk and tones the his light ever so slightly. The familar voice of the 3 legged lioness makes the unicorn turn to look at her.

"Val, like the cat said, please tell people before you turn on your light."

"Of course Iseult," Valishu said, tossing a bit of mane that covers his eyes to get a better look at the large feline.

Where on earth had that horned horse... Thing come from? 627 squinted at him and frowned a bit. He could make light, which was good, but he was just one animal. They would need more than just the unicorn if they were going to properly deal with this darkness. Maybe 627 himself could go around and do something. No one else seemed to have volunteered for the task of getting any sort of light to mark where the pit was, so maybe he could set himself to the task. Yes, that seemed like a good idea. He didn't have anything better to do since they only had the one prisoner at the moment and Zira hadn't asked him to beat them up yet. Might as well make himself useful for the moment. It would be better than nothing.

"627 get fire," 627 said at last, hoping that this much would at least make Zira a bit happier about the whole thing. "Show where pit is, then we keep stupid creatures from falling in. ...Would be funny if they did fall, though,"

He wouldn't lie; 627 would have been amused if someone fell in the pit and died. That was just who he was, after all. He had no concern for the safety of the majority of the animal villains. The only exceptions, after all, really were Spats and Johnny... Whatever had happened to him, anyway. ...Dixie, he supposed, would be on that list of exceptions too. She had been there to comfort him during 323's funeral, and that was enough for him to be mildly concerned about her safety. However, he wasn't terribly concerned about her at the moment. Mostly he just wanted to mark off the place the stupid animals weren't supposed to go near. It wasn't ideal, and normally he wouldn't have cared that much, but if Spats had been one of the ones who couldn't see that well then he would have wanted to protect her.

Even though it was dark and all of the gathering animals seemed to start freaking out, the male somehow managed to remain calm. This, of course, might lead to him having some sort of mental breakdown later but that was aside the point. For now he had to be strong, not only for himself but for Shenzi and Missy as well. He knew good and well the two females could hold their own, more so Shenzi at the moment, but both didn't need him to protect them. Banzai liked to think that they couldn't act without his presence, but that was how self-centered he was. The hyena bobbed his head up in down in agreement with the dalmatian. "Yeah, same here. I doubt it'll last more than a couple a days. A week at the most," he assured, hoping that his voice was confident which was the total opposite about how he felt. Something told Banzai that the darkness was here, and here to stay, unless something or someone straightened up. 

However, his thick wall of false confidence slowly seemed to crumble with every problem Shenzi addressed. As usual, Banzai never thought about the long terms effects so hunting and training were the farthest thing from his mind. There was no way they could train Missy properly in the dark, and without the sun to grow the plants, the zebras and other herbivores would start to die off one by one, leaving them to starve even more than they already were. The male could feel a wave of panic and fear creep up and out from his chest, seizing his heart to the point he could've sworn it stopped. "I...I..I don't know, Shenz. I honestly have no idea! I don't think about stuff like that! We might just have to tough it out and learn ta, I dunno, adapt or somethin'. If it's dark, the food won't see us comin' or nothin'. I'm sure it'll be all over in a couple of days...right Ed?" Banzai turned to look at his friend just as casually as he always would.

Banzai turned his attention back from Ed, to Zira, and then back again as he did a double take. "Ed? ED?! What the hell man!? Where have you been?" he jumped, turning to face his friend completely. He'd wondered where the dim-witted hyena went off too but, surprisingly, never had the urge to run out and find him. He figured Ed was dumb enough to not get killed, as crazy as that sounded, but he wasn't a complete idiot, just one every other moment. "Holy shit! Shenz...Ed came back!" Unsurprisingly enough, Ed gurgled and burped and Banzai realized that he actually missed the other male. With Shenzi he felt like an idiot, but with Ed around, oh he was a freaking genius. 

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word count| 474 |
muse| Do It by Mykko Montana feat. K Camp |
notes| aww Ed! |