Laboryne

Name: Laboryne, Ryne, occasionally Lab
Age: Unknown- seems to be an old teen or young adult
Birthplace: An old mangrove swamp
Refuge: TXF
Clan: Lune Aventi
Elements: Earth and water, mainly earth
Gender: Female (What guy would wear flowers in his hair?)
Personality: Skittish, timid, friendly inside, softspoken, apprehensive, wary
Love: o////o Nobody.
Species: Xweetok
Physical Stature: Smaller than usual with large paws and thin legs. Unusually large bushy tail
Survival tricks: Webbed paws, glowing slights to lure others into the swamp, branches on semi-transparent wings that can move freely at will
Powers: Ryne is rather immune to most ghostly attacks, can sense supernatural activity and trap these spirits in her own mind.
Parents: Location unknown, she's old enough to be on her own
Siblings: None she knows of
Offspring: None
Inclination: Pessimist
Species: Xweetok
Wingspan: Eight feet
Fears: Fire, most fellow creatures, open barren lands.
Hobbies: Lurking, swimming, exploring, studying her enviornment

The fins: Laboryne has 'fin' like appendages, one on each paw, three on the back of her neck, and a pair of fin like wings. All are lime green in color and slightly transparent. These help support her in the water and can be turned at many angles to help her walk on boggy ground or propel her in water. Because of this Ryne can walk where most others would become trapped in quicksand, swim faster than most xweetoks and even fly. Flight however is very tiring for her and she can only travel very short distances.

The branches: Ryne's branch appendages can move independently to an extent and she can use them like hands. She often uses them to restrain whippy tree branches as she passes by, or if ever confronted she might use them to attack her foe's face, going straight for the eyes. Ryne prefers to defeat her foes in other ways besides head on confrontation however and is very shy, so it's unlikely she will do so.

The gemstone lights: These captivating lights originally helped xweetoks find each other in Ryne's old swamp, now they serve a different purpose, luring others into quicksand either because they are a threat or she wants their spirit for company. They seem to be of a strange hard material, they are best compared to gemstones but clearly are not stone and a chemical reaction is what gives them their powerful glow. Their light dims when Ryne is low on energy or sick.

Laboryne's personality has many aspects that seem to work against each other, as well as a variety of quirks that can make her a bit confusing. Essentially, on the inside Ryne is a very friendly and vulnerable soul that seeks friendship, trust and love in others. She isn't inclined to bitterness but Ryne can hold grudges, all though she's more likely to run away than get revenge.

Once you've scared of unnerved her it might be hard to get back into her favor, the same way it's hard to reassure a terrified wild animal that's been cornered. Laboryne isn't savage, but she does seem a bit more instinctual than most xweetoks. Ryne is a sensual learner, her body is her best tool for learning, not her mind.

As a result Laboryne knows lots about the natural world she spends most of her time in- the swamp, and the inhabitants of the swamp. She is impulsive, Ryne has a hard time understanding things like reason or logic, and usually places her emotions and 'gut feelings' before them. Math confuses her to no end, and Ryne has no idea how to read or write either.

This however, doesn't mean Ryne is stupid. She is extremely observant with patterns in the real world and trends in the behavior of others. Laboryne can remember sights, noises, sounds, etc, for long periods of time and can recognize and process new experiences and sensations quickly. One of the driving factors behind Laboryne's odd behavior that seems to contradict her friendly inside is her fear. Ryne is getting much better thanks to the presence of the voices that can reassure her in a scary situation(which might seem normal to you, Laboryne is scared much easier than most).

However, being chased or followed by somebody she isn't familiar with, or even one she is, can set off a panic attack. Laboryne is reduced to a wild animal in that state, but not a predator, a flight animal. Her first instinct is to get away, and if the pursuer won't leave Ryne will often purposefully run into quicksand. She knows how to get out of it, and thanks to her adaptations doesn't get stuck as easily as most creatures, but anybody following her isn't so lucky.

People also often get killed by accident when they see her glowing lights from a distance and wander onto unfamiliar territory to follow. Laboryne can be seen from a long ways away if it's dark enough and there isn't too much underbrush(winter) so this can be quite a danger. Laboryne however, doesn't think very much of the deaths of others. It's become such a large part of her life and it is so linked to the natural world Laboryne isn't prone to feeling guilty over these deaths at all. It's quite easy to make her feel guilty of other things however. That isn't to say Laboryne won't avoid death- she, like any other wild animal, will try to stay alive as long as possible and will run form any threat that might kill or harm her.

Laboryne is shy and quiet. She has a sense of humor, but isn't inclined to express it. It's up to you to make her laugh, she doesn't usually get humorous on her own. Ryne is desperate for the company of others, but at the same time she's so afraid of them she won't even get close sometimes. If Laboryne starts to feel too isolated she'll still be afraid, so the terror can be triggered by the presense of others or the lack of them!

This would likely be unbearable if it weren't for the voices, or spirits, that Ryne has captured over the years. Because of them she can almost act normal on occasion! Laboryne usually doesn't have a lot to say, but once you get her to open up she's more than willing to tell you about the wonders in the swamp, one of her favorite conversational topics.

Prologue" by James Newton Howard (Instrumental)
Whisper" by Evanescence
Scared" by Three Days Grace
Animal I Have Become" by Three Days Grace
Circle of Life" from The Lion King
Memories" by Within Temptation
I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan
Sentinel Meadow" by Mars Lasar (Instrumental)
Moon Night" by Karen Marie Garrett (Instrumental)
Zelda- The Darkness and the Light" by OC ReMix (Instrumental)

I didn't have a tragically unhappy childhood, mine was filled with wonders. I was born in this fantastic swamp far to the east of where I now live, The Xweetok Forest, and the swamp was filled with various kinds of creatures. My parents weren't around much but in the swamp everyone was always connected, things always seemed to fit right into place, like all the pieces of a puzzle. Everybody ended up raising the young ones, creatures of all species had words of wisdom to offer. It was like growing up with many, many different parents. It was definitely a community. Yes there was death... we were wild, it was eat or be eaten, but it was not cruel or unecessary. Everything was done with a purpose, to continue existence and life itself.

But it was not to last. I don't know why it happened, but once I had grown out of kithood everything started to slowly dry up. Inhabitants of the swamp began to leave and seek a better life elsewhere. I...I stayed. I didn't want to go into the outside world. But eventually I was left alone, and it terrified me. The absence of life was shocking. By now the swamp had dried into a clearing and I had to leave. The thing that makes a place beautiful is the people who live in it. Without a community, life becomes monotonous and dull.

So I left. It's hard to fathom how terrifying that was. The following years were constant fear, I traversed open grasslands, and heavily populated areas. The things I saw, and the alien places left me scared and vulnerable. This is when my powers first began to kick in. I felt...so alone. I'd stay for a while in small swamps, rivers, creeks, though still searching for a proper swamp to call home. Others would see my lights and follow me, sometimes if my instincts told me they were not friendly or nice, I'd panic, and usually end up running to quicksand. I'd get free, but the follower...would not. Others who followed me seemed nicer, there is an aura of personality that hangs around every creature. Their deaths....I did not feel guilt. I do not see death as a scary thing. All things die eventually.

The natural world clung to life as long as possible, but we do not fear death. But I found, that as I approached their bodies, I could hear their souls, or ghosts, whispering. They seemed compelled to follow me, and I found I could connect with them. Through this I could bind them to my mind, and they would be friends, like the most wonderful imaginary friends you could imagine. Some were angry at first, but all connected when they saw how scared I was, because over time they and I meld even closer together. They helped me become more confident, so I could meet others again, strangers, without fear. And then, one winter, I found what I was looking for. A swampland bordering a forest surrounded by mountains, with rumors of waterfalls deeper in. The Xweetok Forest.

Ryne is usually followed by others into deadly quicksand. Once they die she takes their soul- and preserves it like a ghost inside her head- leaving other alien people in her mind that she can talk to- because on the inside she is desperately afraid and lonely. Therefore she is careful to only take inside nice people- who usually end up liking her anyway despite the fact she killed them. She has a shy, vulnerable charisma of her own. They(the ghosts/souls) can see and experience what she does but are not completely tied to her thoughts, but over time the Ryne and her 'voices' can meld together to the point where they can always know the other's intentions. She can detect other spiritual beings, and convince them to do her will, but cannot force them to do anything.

First of all, I don't want to see these in any kind of contest whatsoever.
If the adopt was not made SPECIFICALLY for you-(even if you are applying for a design, and another applicant gets one of my adoptables for said design, you may not use it because YOU did not earn it. You can however, request/trade for permission to use it as well) then please don't use it.
Only take an adoptable of your xweetok, and don't steal any of the designs.
I have the right to refuse your design if I think it's too crazy.
Xweetoks with multiple forms will only get one form done- to get the others make multiple trades. Not all of the adopts I've made will be shown here for the sake of space. XD Just pickups, not my own xweetoks but for a few that shall serve as samples. :3
Don't mail if there aren't slots open, I've said it earlier.
Please use them. I really enjoy seeing my adoptables up on a page, and if they're not used I feel slightly unappreciated. D:
I will do adoptables for applications. ^^ So don't worry!
Slots open: 10

If you don't do your side there will be consequences. I have been taken advantage of before for other adoptable sets and would like to avoid that with this set. Thank you.

Snow fell softly on the quiet swamps and jungle areas of TXF, cloaking the landscape in white. Ice frosted the few straggly leaves that stubbornly clung to a couple trees. Some pools and creeks were not completely frozen over but many were and the strange absence of their gurgling made the swamp seem unnaturally quiet. It seemed as if nothing was out, but in a clump of marsh grass that bordered the edge of where the actual forest began something was moving. Shards of rainbow light streamed out from it, strangely bright and captivating, like neon lights or glowsticks. An unusually small xweetok with brown fur and strange forms of flora on her back stuck her head out from the grass clump, glancing around nervously. Her webbed paws crunched noisily on the snow and the sound seemed to startle her. Slowly the xweetok, Laboryne, emerged from the brown and dead grass, revealing two strange green wings attatched to branch-like appendages.

-Kathrya

Of course, snow was absolutely no boundary for Connor, who couldn't care less what the weather was, so long as he could kick up a wind to air-surf, or better yet, some pretty girl or another was around to keep him company. Yep, that was Connor, your surfer-dude-aussie-accented-pretty-boy of TXF. Well, what do you expect from a teenager? The wind slowly started to turn around Laboryne and soon the surfer could be seen in the sky, glimpses of him showing through the snow that distorted all appearances.

-Lyra

Laboryne's senses were all on edge, even though she couldn't see any others through the snow. But that was only another reason to be wary, the snow made hearing and sight hard. Ryne sighed as a wind picked up and she shivered. A special antifreeze in her blood allowed her to stay in frigid water safely but she still felt the cold. Out in the air she felt very vunlerable, and her ears were laid back meekly against her head. Some sort of intuition told Ryne to turn around, and she practically leaped five feet into the air when she saw what seemed to be a xweetok...on a board...in midair. Ryne could hardly see through the snow but she was shocked, and when she normally would have run she was far too startled to do anything but stay right where she was, the 'gemstone' lights on her body shining like beacons into the sky, casting various colors over the desolate swamp.

-Kathrya

Connor noticed some lights in the distance and zoomed down, flipping once and then jumping off his board, catching it in midair and easily spotting Ryne. "Hey, what's the damsel in distress doing out here?" he said, aussie accent adding a thickness to his words as he came towards her and flipped back his hair.

-Lyra

Ryne was still stiff with shock. "What...what the...?" she stammered, her pale yellow green eyes huge. He didn't seem threatening, but Ryne was almost never addressed head on by others, she spent most of her time in hiding, and was completely off guard. Ryne sat down quickly with a loud 'Thump!' and could only stare and blink. "You....you just flew...on...a log." she finally said in amazement, her voice quiet and soft. Ryne was unused to much beside wilderness so it was fairly understandable she mistook his board for a log.

-Kathrya

Yea, and I'll take a pretty girl like yourself for a ride, free sometime." he said, winking ostentatiously at her, and making a face as the wind kicked up. "Need a ride somewhere, or some help?" he asked, raising an eyebrow slightly skeptically, with a bit of chivalry tied in. She really must be from far away, judging by how she was acting.

-Lyra

Ryne bit her lip nervously, she hadn't even talked to another living creature in years.....but then a voice spoke up. Ryne kept many old spirits around in her head, ghosts mingled with her body but all of them were friendly and had been ordinary people in life. They would never harm her, they were like a bunch of imaginary friends, and several spoke up from their usual quiet, whispering words of encouragement only she could hear. Timidly, she took several steps forward and nodded, unsure of how to act. "I....I wasn't really going anywhere..." Suddenly she remembered something, something she'd heard a long time ago about waterfalls. "I remember...there was a waterfall somewhere around here, and I'd always wanted to see it." Ryne confessed shyly, her face partially obscured by the algea and leaves that hung down from two bright red irises in her hair. She eyed his....log thing warily, but with curiousity as well. "Do I just....step on?"

-Kathrya

Oh, the Great Falls? I was there earlier - my house is right by it - winter and summer are the best times to see it, especially on a day like today, the actual waterfall is frozen on top and the water is coming down beneath it. Looks awesome~" he said, grinning and not really minding the snow much now. He whistled, and a small wind picked up, "Er, not exactly... let me get it started." Connor said, and suddenly jumped on it. Just as the surfboard was about to fall, wind picked it up. "I have to keep it moving or it'll fall... so get ready, cause I'm gonna scoop you up!" he said, heading up, then swooping down and holding out his paw to grab hers and pull her on soon as he reached her. Scooore! And outting with a pretty girl! Sweeeet! -Lyra

Wow...." said Ryne, quickly losing herself in thought. She'd always wondered what it would be like to see a waterfall frozen over, it had always been just warm enough in her old home to prevent things from freezing. She was utterly fascinated with what she now thought of as 'the log board', and watched with curiousity as the wind picked it up. Ryne was still very nervous, but her longing to see the falls outweighed her fear at the moment, and she allowed him to grab her paw and pull her right up on the board. Ryne was not afraid of heights but the board seemed very wobbly. If it was not for the thrill of flying through snow and seeing everything covered in such beautiful white she probably would have been terrified. She gazed at the landscape so hungrily it seemed like her eyes were going to pop out. "This is amazing." Ryne said softly, curling her tail around her legs. She hadn't been flying in forever, her wings weren't very strong in the air.

-Kathrya

Connor directed her paws around his waist, grinning. "You think THIS is good? It's nothing, hold on tight!" He said, changing the wind currents ever so subtley, and suddenly they were cruising along a bit faster, with the board moving around - they even did a barrel roll quickly, the snow not seeming to bother Connor the littlest bit as it rushed into and stung his eyes a little bit. In fact, he seemed to enjoy the adrenalin rush quite a bit as they drew ever-nearer to the waterfall.

Night cloaked everything in mysterious, flattering shrouds of darkness that were painted silver in moonlight. Winds rustled lightly through the swamp, in which trees towered above close knit thickets and bushes that followed myraids of waterways into an endless labyrinth of swampland. Most of the leaves had fallen, those that remained hung brown and dead on the trees like wet laundry, everything else was lightly cloaked in snow. Some waterways were frozen over, but the ice was thin and in many places there was still running water. A small figure rustled in the bushes, it's exact shape and appearance was unknown in the obscuring bracken. A flash of rainbow light shone from behind the tangle of snow covered branches, and two glowing, yellow green eyes flashed out.

-Heks

A slender figure lay on the banks, dangling her forepaws in the swamp. All around her, the mud rotted. Mud is a part of the living earth and while it is not alive, it could still rot and fester at the paws of this strange figure. She was tall and slender, willowy. He looked in the direction of the flash of light, her dark eyes gleaming in curiosity. He looked through the beams of moonlight that fell on piles of snow that lay everywhere like corpses on a battle feild. She slowy got to her paws, stretching. The sinuous marks that covered her body rippled and seemed to whip around on her pelt in the moolight that illuminated short patches of ground. She padded foreward, slowly, towards the srouce of the flashes. All of the grass and dirt died at her touch.

-Lyra

The light faded once, and Laboryne, the strange swamp dweller stiffened behind the bushes. Her ears flicked up, and she moved several steps further away from where she could sense and hear the stranger. The lights continued to glow- perfect circles like gemstones. Her shadow was sharply illuminated by them, yet the thicket cast it's own shadows so that the outline of a xweetok was barely visible. Mushrooms, fins and swamp plants adorned the top and back of her head, further distorting her shadow. Ryne looked anxiously back at the stranger, ears flat in anxiety.

-Heks

She moved with a slow, non-threatening tread. She didn't look as if she might attack in any way, but under her paws death spread. She moved towards the eyes that glittered and shimmered in the moonlight, though the rest of the body was distorted by shadow. She seemed fairly unafraid, which was a curious thing for a forest-dweller. The shadows that rose over her pelt seemed to curl and twist more rabidly as she became excited and more curious. She noticed the eyes receding and her tail twitched near the tip. She lowered her head and narrowed her empty eyes, trying to see deeper into the depths of the underbrush, but failing.

-Lyra

Laboryne was unnerved, the stranger smelled strange, she smelled of death, and shadow and the comsuming darkness that contrasted sharply with the nurturing, wild and reassuring shadow of the swamp. Ryne was caught between two instincts, to hide and to flee. Yet Ryne could not help the fact that she glowed like a beacon, and as a dull fear began to rise up in the dark brown xweetok she made a simple plan. Ryne retreated farther behind the bush, if the newcomer followed she knew of quicksand patches Ryne could lead the stranger to. Her webbed paws scraped lightly on a fallen branch as she lithely walked backwards, the lights still flashing. Her clawed branches that were attatched to her wings grabbed at foilage- restraining it as she passed by.

-Heks

The strange creature followed on. She was alien to these swamps, and the idea of sand that pulled people in had not even occured to her. She padded foreward lightly. Part of the reason why the things below her died was because she was afraid, quite literally, of getting her paws dirty. She watched the glowing lights, intoxicated with curiosity. She looked comehow cold and distant, with an Alice-like curiosity mixed in. One of her paws broke through into a particularly damp patch of earth. She paused long enough to look disgusted and try and shake it away, before returning to stalk the creature that watched from the shadows.

-Lyra

Ryne was starting to get very scared, the fur on her hackles rose, and she stiffened. Why was this deathly stranger still following?! Voices softly whispered to her- crooning in various voices- of young and old. It's okay, everything is fine, we're here. Ryne calmed, but the fear prevailed, and she looked back constantly. Her gait was stealthy, her paws didn't snap a single twig. She knew this place- knew it like the back of her paw. The lights continued to shine brightly- sending a reflection on the water of various pools she passed. The sand couldn't be too far away- it was just beyond the tree with the twisted branches. Ryne could see it, up in the distance. The voices murmured reassuringly, each of them saying something different. Ryne could feel her heart beating nervously in her chest, soon, very soon this threat would be gone.

-Heks

Wait, please, madame..." she said, as she padded foreward. A branch snagged her on the scruff of fur at the back of her neck. She looked annoyed for a minute, then the shadows seemed to wrench the branch from it's tree and absorb it. She looked satisfied and continued her trek, attempting to keep her paws free of mud and bugs that lived in the undergrowth. She had a fear of being dirty, but it was usually a fairly distant one, as her ever-present shadows consumed minor annoyances and even mahor ones, if things got out of hand. She watched the xweetok in the shadows of the swamp with empty, yet curious, eyes.

-Lyra

Ryne's breathing grew increasingly irregular, this creature, the death and shadows it brought to the swamp weren't natural. Ryne wasn't afraid of natural death...but this, this made every hair on her pelt quiver in fear and the terror that lurked down inside her welled up again despite the efforts of the voices to supress it. Honestly Ryne, it's okay, she doesn't want to hurt you..." "You don't know that! The shadows were terrifying, they ATE things, creatures ate things, but shadows weren't supposed to! Did that mean they were alive?! Frantically, Ryne slunk through some more bushes as fast as she possibly could, trying to stay ahead of the intruder all though her lights were like beacons, constantly alerting the other to her presence. Almost there...almost there!

-Heks

She stopped. The person in the shadows was not responding to her entreaties, so perhaps a slight change of tactic was in order. She frowned and called in a soft, yet somehow ragged voice, "Please, madame, I merely wish to speak with you. I will advance no further if it makes you uncomfortable." she ventured, hoping to make her feel at ease. As it was, she had been lost and dazed in a strange swamp for three days at least, and it was beginning to get very hard to keep herself clean and dry. Her patience was wearing thin. She had no qualms against using force if it came to that, but she would get out of the forest one way or another. His an effort of will she kept her tail from fluffing up.

-Lyra

Laboryne slowly stopped. See girl! She wasn't going to hurt you, huffed a more irritated sounding voice, masculine too. You don't have to get too close. Just find out what she wants. Laboryne bit her lip, and turning around, stayed as concealed as she possibly could, trying to make only her light visible. "W-wh-what do you want?" she asked in a small, terrified voice. You couldn't see how her ears were tucked, tail was tucked, and how her whole body hunched low to the ground behind the clump of grass and brass, but you could hear the fear in her voice.

-Heks

She paused, as the other one stopped her retreat. She tried not to move. The girl in the bushes was obviously shy. She hesitatingly said "I merely wish to remove my person from this hateful swamp." she said the last word as if it was a swearword that she shouldn't say. She was very upset at having been trapped here for so long. In her home, she was much more pampered. She strained to see another shape, but only a slight hint of a form could be glimpsed occasionally. She wasn't even sure if she was seeing a shape or just leaves. It made her all the more eager to talk, as the other girl apparently knew the swamp quite well.