Not a Creature Was Stirring...

#16

The Horn and Halo

"... Oil?" Russel repeated, looking puzzled at the statement-though then decided he'd ask about it later "You know what? Never mind" he smiled gently, perhaps the first time in ages he'd felt like it was a genuine one at Toms chuckling about freedom.

"When you put it that way-To real freedom. Cheers" He raised the hot glass of mulled wine.

#17

H&H
================================
"Cheers" Tom yelled in unison and drank to the holiday spirit, glad he could raise his friend's mood, if only for the night.

Above the Encampment
=======================================================

As Au'Marui descended towards the encampment, he noticed the beasts gathering.

Au'Marui: "And here I was hoping for a nice delivery this year."

He shrugged and urged his menagerie downwards towards the town in order to investigate.

"Mush Badger, Rush Gopher, on Mole and Moose
Hurry Giraffe Scurry Kiwi, speed on kumquat and Orange Juice
Fly fast, fly sure, for we must soon find a roof!"

#18

The Encampment

The beasts below looked up, the ones that could anyway, and saw the sleigh descending. Now was the time, or it would soon be too late.

A few of the Snowy Owls withdrew, but not many. What was left became a swarm of robins, turtledoves, partridges-every flying seasonal bird you could possibly think of.

Before a large majority poured into the Horn and Halo while the others, they dived into peoples houses.

The sheer number of birds would make visibility nigh impossible, even in the inn where harm was mitigated. They covered the town like a blanket of squawking, clawing, flapping snow.

The Horn and Halo

Russel had barely time to put his glass down before being lost in the swarm. "GodsDAMMIT!" he yelled.

#19

"Birds...?" Holly shrieked, hiding under the table with her drink. "Why are there birds?!"

She motioned for her werewolf drinking buddy to share her hiding spot, propping her chilly wings out as an exterior shield.

"Doesn't this place have defenses from this sort of thing?!"

#20

Horn & Halo
========
Tom was caught off guard by the sudden invasion of the birds, but none-the-less swore with Russel at the same time

Tom "Gods damnit!"

He then made his way to the door, which had been blown open by the force, but per the enchantments on the place, was otherwise alright.

He tried to scream over the cacophony "Tala, if it's alright, I'll be taking my weapon back now!"

Random roof, edge of the Encampment:
==========================
Au'Marui's sled landed on a roof just on the edge of town.

"Oh, I see" he mused to himself. "Looks like with the rules being what they are, they will need to deal with this one on their own. I'll come back later."

"Go Badger, Run Gopher, on Mole and Moose
Away Giraffe Stray Kiwi, speed on kumquat and Orange Juice
To the air to the air to find us a roost!"

#21

The witch within raised an eyebrow, a psychic shield forming around her to keep the birds out of her space. "Well, this seems coordinated...Perhaps I'll need to do things because of it...What a pain..." She finished her drink, still sitting there.

Mage of Mist · #22

Thorn giggles when the reindeer perked up, jumping back playfully and getting in a battle stance. "Think Ssscooter like sssound of sssparring!" The Floran beams unaware of the owl flying overhead, or the chaos currently occurring in the Encampment, she just wanted to have some fun with her new pet.

#23

The Horn and Halo

Russel, likewise, doved under a table. Or at least he tried to-but after the snow angel had already done it, the birds were now swarming under there.

"There's no room! What's going on?!"

<hr />

Tala, the silver furred werewolf guard nodded her lupine head at Tom. "Sure take it!" She picked up the weapon and reached out to give it to Tom.

<hr />

Guin, the golden furred werewolf with bright green eyes joined her new icy friend below. "So did I. I don't understand. Are they not working or something?"

<hr />

Meanwhile, the birds swarmed around the psychic shield placed by Phoebe. But truth be told she wasn't their target. Getting wise amazingly quickly for a flock of different species to all the shields of space invasion that had popped up in the room the birds already in the Inn started squishing up against each other on the back wall. A living shield of feathers, fluff and flesh started gathering in an impenenetrable mass that began to swell outwards as more avians joined the fray.

Truth is, Neros Wards were working perfectly as noone was being harmed. But they were trying to push people out of the front doors by taking up all available space within the inn, leaving only one escape route-out onto the street. The rooms upstairs and even the cellars were subjected to similar treatment.

<hr />

Thorns Treehouse

Birds were filling that up too, despite a certain speckled Herrerasaurs best efforts.

Outside Thorns Treehouse

The newly named Scooter the zombie reindeer snorted in agreement and lowered his undead antlers before charging at the Floran. Very eager indeed.

#24

Horn and Halo
==========================
Tom took his weapon, glad to be armed in this situation.

He then took a second and look around. He noticed two things in that instance: One, no one was actually being attacked, and two, the flocking birds were congregating against the back wall, and were starting to push - no herd - people towards the exit. Tom figured whatever danger there was, wouldn't be in here - but staying here wouldn't be an option for much longer.

Tom: Everyone stay low, keep calm, and head outside. Once out, Run to the temple!

Above the encampment
==============================
Au'Marui watched the birds begin their plan, a little sad he could not help. He only hoped they would understand...

#25

"Well... The uhm... defenses or whatever. They only protect people from harming each other or the bar right?" The snow angel summarized. She didn't know very much about it, but she had heard that much at least. "What if the birds aren't trying to hurt us? They're just coming in here?"

#26

"If I may, snowball, they're attempting to push you outside. There's too much focus, too much cooperation, to to be random." She took her hat off, at which point it teleported off god knows where. "And now, they're ruining my break. That's not acceptable..." The woman took a slow breath, aiming a pulse of psychic powers to the growing wall to disrupt them, and possibly create enough feedback to see who was giving orders, if only directions to them.

Mage of Mist · #27

Thorn's Treehouse:

Thorn was about to dodge the charge from Scooter, when she heard the loud peeps, kaws and growls from the house, as well as a strong mental poke from Fernbiter, who was trying to also fight off the birds. Due to this, she ended up getting knocked over by the zombie reindeer with an "Oof!" before then reaching up to grab it's horns to help herself up.
"Uh, one minute Ssscooter, apparently the birdocolypssse ssstarted again." The Floran mumbles, remembering a time on her previous world when the birds went freakin' insane and powerful and were barfing up fire everywhere, that was REALLY fun. "Letsss hope none breathe fire..."

The H&H:

Sapphire who was in the inn enjoying the food and drink was not pleased over all the birds suddenly barging in, and not happy once she heard that they were trying to push them all out... HELL NO, she was not going to get a frosty foot. The slimeoid changed her consistency and shape to try and wriggle between the birds to get back further in the inn, and due to the consistency change if the birds pushed too hard they'd just pass through her... Except the ones that pushed the core which did move the slimeoid back a bit, but the core just darted away and dodged the birds the best it could in the retaliation inside the slimeoid.

#28

The H and H

Russel dropped the minute he heard Toms yell, to start crawling towards the exit. It sounded like a good plan to him-plus he could see better from down here anyway since the only ones walking on the floor were the ones at the back.

Under the table with the Snow Angel, Guin growled. "Is that all? I thought there were more... Anyway, shall we go to this Temple?"

Phoebe would find that her blast did not even reach any of the birds. No, it hit one of the Horn and Halo's barriers and went no further than that. The building was a stickler for it's own rules. It would, however, work just fine outside.

Sapphire the slimeoid would find that these creatures only attempts to push her were accidental, and she moved quite easily through them. To the the back of the Inn, where she found... more birds. Maybe the answer wasn't back here.

<hr />

Thorns Treehouse

The herrerasaur started screeching it's loud warning calls once the birds began to overwhelm from in the house.

Outside, Scooter snorted in annoyance but paused, doing as it was created to do.

A wolf and Ana predator approached her from the woids, snarling

#29

"Why? What's at the temple?" The snow angel asked. She noticed Phoebe's attack get blocked... which meant the barriers still worked. Her theory still had merit.

"Also... What temple?"

#30

H&H
=================================

Tom didn't waste time waiting to see who made it out. If his hunch was right, and they were being herded, the trap would likely be out here. He quick stepped out and took a few steps away from the temple, before taking a knee if a defensive posture. He didn't know what was coming, but he wanted to present the smallest target possible while still preserving his ability to fire back.