Strength and rage continued to pump through the woman's veins, the effects of her potion still coursing through her body, although it was beginning to wear off. Bloodshot eyes glared through the plastic eye holes in her mask as Plague glared at the two individuals. They had set out to move all of the fallen hunters dead bodies into the pit, allowing the oozes to consume the corpse's while they prepared to multiply. 

Both the rabbit and the lizard had claimed to be here for the same reason, to protect and defend the oozes from these exact hunters. While she was normally cautious of strangers, these two did in fact fight off the hunters before even realizing she was here. If they intended to harm the creatures they would have already done so. With her body cooling down, Plague began to push the thoughts of violence and anger from their mind. 

"Well it seems these little cuties are safe then, with those men dead and the two of you here to protect them now. I'm glad you all were here to help. "

Glancing around and scanning the area Plague happened to notice the three oozes in the pit had began to consume the dead bodies, sickening sounds of consumption began to echo out from the swampy hole in the earth. A sick grin spread out over her face as she watched them enjoy their snack.

"Well it looks like my job here is done then."

With the oozes finishing their feast of five entire human beings and leaving nothing but the small bits of indigestible materials the unfortunate hunters had on them, their gelatinous membranes were strained to bursting from the gurgling liquid within. With such overabundance of mass, they were left with no choice but to divide to prevent their own self inflicted destruction. The three oozes separated from each other, giving just enough space to not harm their comrades with the force of their coming labors.

The three oozes began to expand and contract in rhythm, seems appearing and spreading across each of their slimey surfaces. The green membrane slowly divided into a patchwork, each section slightly changing in hue and value. Soon, the seems acted like a net around a water balloon, each section beginning to expand separate from each other, valleys forming between them. A horrible sloshing, groaning sound emanated from each ooze. They started to leak bits of excess fluid from the seems, which flowed over the agglomeration of polyps they had each become and pooled on the ground around them.

With a quiver and a sudden, wet, popping sound, each ooze burst into a shotgun blast of tiny oozes, each roughly the size of a fist. The little blobs rained down on the clearing, bouncing around and splashing in the pools of fluid. Immediately, they began to look for food to help them grow back to their original sizes. A little swarm of gluttons unleashed on the Marsh Flats.

Xalmann didn't remember the last time he'd watch a slime reproduce being so gross.

Leni-Aura allows her posture to relax as Plague speaks; she still feels uncomfortable around this strange woman, but she tries to push it to the back of her mind. “...Indeed. Thank you for your assistance in assuring the safety of the… things.” she answers with some uncertainty; but as the sounds of the ooze’s feast intensifies, Leni-Aura can’t help but look over her shoulder. She grimaces; teeth baring with a slight wince. She does not feel pity often, but she feels it for the corpses of the hunters at this moment… if you could call what remains ‘corpses’.

It’s a dreadful sight.

Leni-Aura reaches up and covers Nimbus’ eyes with her hand; the drake chirps his confusion; but it only continues to get worse. The oozes separate once their meal is done. They expand and contract, jiggling and wiggling with a strange aggression; undulating wildly, and splattering viscous droplets throughout their little pit. Leni-Aura makes a face of confused disgust; the sloshing, squelching sounds coming from the oozes are dreadful as they inflate — their gelatinous forms oozing, caving in at the seams. They look like they’re about to explode, oozing at their seams with guttural, gurgling sounds that make the fur on her spine stand up.

Then they all pop.

Leni-Aura winces slightly at the sound of the last moist pop; baby ooze showers around the once three parents, but now many children… and all she can do is wrinkle her nose. “... Disgusting. I’m going to be sick.”

Nimbus just chirps into the awkward silence that follows, his face still covered by one hand.

Before she had time to turn and leave, the sounds of the creatures in the pit below caught her attention, having just finished their meal, the little fellas were starting to separate, splitting into more versions of themselves. So this was what an ooze did to create more huh. She watched from the rim of the pit, excited eyes glaring through the holes in her mask as a sickening smile spread across her face. Popping and gurgling sounds filled the evening air as the young alchemist watched with joy. 

For most people this was probably a pretty disturbing and repulsive experience, watching slimy creatures basically giving birth. But Plague was entranced, absolutely amazed by what she was watching. The entire process only took a few moments, but she loved every second of it, remembering it for years to come. 

As the ritual completed, the girl gave a faint cry of excitement and clapped her hands together, happy to have been here for such a moment. With the mating complete and the hunters defeated, she knew it was time to leave, having more pressing things to do. Her journey to learning more about these cute little things had just began. Caring not about the others present, She simply turned her back to them and headed off into the brush, vanishing from sight. 

-Exit-

Xalmann watched the strange, masked individual run off. She seemed oddly giddy after witnessing such a revolting display. Even Xalmann was a bit disgusted, and he was generally not a very squeamish person. He'd witness, even caused, many deaths and been exposed to plenty of gore in his violent life. But that made his stomach turn.

Well, now that he'd watched that, his job here was complete. He could leave and try to forget that once he's finished telling the details to Lloyd. He really wished he could try to forget sooner, though. But, he might as well collect the few valuables that the hunters had had on them.

He walked to the center of the pit, batting away any of the tiny oozes that bounced toward him. They were easy to deal with despite there being so many of them. He collected the coins and a few trinkets off the ground. He didn't take the heavy weapons. He wasn't that greedy and didn't feel like carrying them.

With his ill-gotten gains in hand, he looked to Leni-Aura and Nimbus one last time. They shared a look of agreement that that had been a revolting sight that they wanted to forget. He gave her a slight nod before also leaving the clearing. He wasn't very talkative, but she seemed like a decent warrior. He could respect that. He wasn't sure what to think of Plague, but she had helped in the battle. He would save his judgement of her for now.

The rabbitaur offers the woman in the mask a strange look when a giddy cry of glee emits from her; not a second later, she goes running off… Leni-Aura looks after her retreating figure, brows furrowed and mouth slightly agape. Nimbus wiggles curiously, straining his neck to get a better look at the many hopping creatures down below; but she holds onto him by the tail, ensuring he doesn’t try to get close.

Her ears twist as footsteps next to her crunch against the dead grass; and as she looks back, she sees the lizardman down in the pit below.

While the idea of claiming what the dead no longer need isn’t unappealing, it’s been a long time since she’s partaken in that tradition of her people. Still, she’s not judgemental while she watches the lizardman gather up what he can; and she starts to back away from the pit as he heads up, keeping a decent berth of distance between them.

Brows still furrowed, she meets his gaze only briefly; a shared acknowledgement of the horrors seen.

She nods in turn, looking to her side at Nimbus, before turning and heading away to report to Lloyd, and find Orym… it was an odd day, all things considered.

She really could’ve gone without seeing that, though…