ORIGIN - [MW EVENT] C8: ELECTION TIME!

Leon had nearly forgotten about the whole four-cycle-leadership thing. It felt like Bevy had led them in Maji Walezi for so long, Leon was just accustomed to the bird taking the helm of the group. Then again, much of what happened in his first few cycles of life had whipped by in a blur of high emotion. The bear was young, rash and stupid - he still was, only slightly less young now - and much of Cancer's leadership he didn't really remember. Or rather it was clouded with an angry bias, and Leon knew that if he tried to dredge up those memories he would only anger himself. It wasn't fair to judge the leopard by what had happened all that time ago.

Leon had been busy dipping back into his thoughts in the fleeting five seconds after Bevy had mentioned leadership before she had suddenly nominated him. Leon remembered now why she was stepping down, he remembered the election, and now he was put up on the roster for nomination. The bear blinked dumbly over at her, caught off guard by the nomination. He didn't have much time to think on it though. All he could really do was roll with it, nodding and smiling.

Of course, it didn't get much better when Bevy suddenly changed her mind - her voice had become lower, sultry, without warning offering a nomination of Cancer as well. At this, Leon couldn't help but widen his eyes and throw a glance over at the leopard. He was startled too. So apparently it was just Bevy who thought it appropriate, for some reason, to try and spark that rivalry. In that moment, Leon struggled with a rising uncertainty of Bevy's decision. He glanced back at her again, searching for some kind of an emotion or thought, to no avail. He supposed, then, all he could do was wait and see what the rest of the group would think.

rajani . calypso
playful and sultry . critical and melodic
ooc ;; @Makyna @Amaria @Dark @Cancer @Sonata @Cadence @Quintus

Calypso waited a reasonable amount of time for any one else to speak up with a nomination, but none came. She glanced around at everyone, pointedly and purposefully doing her best not to avoid Leon and Cancer's eyes, even though she honestly wanted to. She took a deep breath, her heart hitching as her red eyes caught on the bright, beautiful mirror of herself in the child at Cancer's paws. She kept her feathers down, but for a moment, the bird lingered over Remedy's sharp, bright expression and she fell still.

Our bones, dressed in blood, spreading the poison in our veins over the caves. Doom us, or I'll... Just a bad dream, just a bad dream-- our family will be whole soon. Y-yeah, I hope so. The thoughts swarmed, squalling through her headspace as she shook her head, trying to clear her head. Focus. Just a little longer. Calypso was a cold, tall pillar as she straightened and clutched the quartz under her talon.

"Then the vote will between Leon and Cancer. If you two would kindly head behind the waterfall while we vote..." She glanced towards Cancer's old den, towards where the waterfall crashed on stone and made the loudest point of screaming roars. She swallowed the lump in her throat and forced a smile into the creases of her eyes, a sudden nervousness overtaking her body as she explained to the rest of the group how the votes would go.

"Those who wish to vote for Cancer, to the far side of the lagoon, the rest of you, towards Leon's den. Water creatures can just swim over to the other end or stay here for their vote. Alright, go." She spread her wings and rose above, flying up to the waterfall until she felt mist hit her feathers. She flew high above, not keeping to either the edge or the far side of the water, instead hovering above without a single vote. She would count fairly this way-- though parts of her would do anything to keep her family close.

No matter what Roshan thought. They could control him. They could. They had to.

But don't you come here and say I didn't warn you
About the way your world can alter
And oh how you try to command it all still
Every single time it all shifts one way or the other

And I'm a goddamn coward, but then again so are you
And the lion's roar, the lion's roar
Has me evading and hollering for you
And I never really knew
what to do
...

(NOMINEES:

> CANCER
> LEON

You all have until the 20th to vote! If you can't post, for whatever reason, just send me a pm with your vote! Non-member votes won't count, but Amaria will have an exception. (Also, we probably shouldn't let all of Leon's babies have a vote, so gotta be 2 cycles or older ;P) )

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

A quiet, uncomfortable prickle trickled down the great dog's back as he listened to the meeting, polite and uninterrupting. He was the biggest beast there, but somehow that only made him want to shrink. He sat politely behind Amaria and Cancer, only moving when Bevy told Cancer to head off to a different part of the area with the bear-- Leon. Kerberos knew them both incredibly well by now, and he had a particular fondness towards both of them.

But this was not his home, and for the first time, he felt almost unsafe in Pisces. His ears twitched and he lowered one head to Remedy, his center head offering a quiet woof to Cancer. "I'll watch her." The lowered head, his floppy eared one, gave the feathery hybrid a lick, his tail wagging affectionately. "Come'ere," he rumbled, reaching out a paw. A moment later he realized that Amaria could probably handle the hybrids herself, and he cast her a shy glance, dipping his noses to her. Hopefully he hadn't offended. He still didn't know the momma well, comparatively, and he was just trying to do his best by the new Bonebound family.

... If they even stayed that way. His tail curled around his paws and he tried to ignore the subtle churn in his belly. He just felt like something was wrong. He didn't want Cancer to leave Bonebound, to go off to Pisces. As much as it was hard to keep up with them, he liked the lovely kittens as much as he did Aza'zel's own children. They had a family there-- and he felt like a fantastic, fun uncle with them around.

He supposed he was being selfish though. He kept his trap shut and tried to stay unintrusive, avoiding being too noisy or too in the way as best as he could.

Carcino noted that no one else was nominated, so to his surprise, he and Leon were being ushered behind the falls to wait and see who'd come out with more votes. Remedy was slipped between Kerberos' paws and the older cat bumped his mate's head and headed for the hiding place. He slipped behind the water's rush and settled there, looking more at his paws than at the group beyond or at Leon. If and as the bear settled beside him, he'd sigh.

"I didn't ask for this, y'know." He murmured, not defensive- only... tired sounding. He hoped their old rivalry wouldn't become fired up again. He'd come to appreciate Leon's friendship and bravery. The idea that they might be at odds again?

@Leon @Amaria @Kerberos

His friend was moving. Like, a lot. They'd left the freezing tunnel behind a long time ago, but it hadn't exactly gotten warmer - no, wherever they'd stopped now was both cold and wet. μικρό γυμνό παιδί curled up into a ball of hairless, shivering cat, hidden by Kerberos' thick fur. He'd stayed there for what felt like days, comfortable and warmer than he'd been since being stuck in his egg.

Of course, he was jolted out of his sleep by the massive dog sitting down, and the voices of strangers. The hairless cat slowly uncurled, climbed up, up, up to sit between Kerberos' shoulderblades, stretching to turn his head, owlish, and stare at each new Gembound in turn. If one didn't know him, it could be mistaken for curiosity, or perhaps fear. Honestly, such things didn't populate μικρό γυμνό παιδί's mind. No, he was trying to see if anyone was as big and warm as his friend.

Well, the bear looked warm, but Kerberos was warm and nice. He'd stay put for now, purring gently, absently kneading the skin and fur beneath his strange, elongated, knobby paws.

Hmm? Was this bird looking at her and… inviting her to join this group? The coyote’s eyes widened, and her connection to Tangakwunu let her know that he was surprised as well. She couldn’t be sure exactly where her Bird Friend was. He was always nearby, but usually hidden somewhere in a nook in the cave wall, watching. He was small, and he didn’t like the idea of being trampled. Macawi gave an awkward chuckle and sort of flattened herself against the ground. “No, no, no,” she said. “Macawi does not… join groups. No, thank you.” Then she quieted again, hoping no one would notice as she began to slip away.

However, as the next bit of business came to light, she stopped in her slinking tracks and turned around to watch. An election between a Cancer and a Leon… Wait. Hadn’t she seen Leon at the foobaw game? Come to think of it, she’d also seen Makyna there. Hmm… This could be interesting. Not being part of the group meant she couldn’t vote, and she wouldn’t to anyways. She had no opinion on the matter. She was just interested to see how it would all turn out. Now that she was thoroughly separated from the others in the room, Tangakwunu came and fluttered down onto her headdress, perching there. Together, they watched in silence to see who would win this election…

"Speech"

Words: 232

Dark listened. Or, at least, he tried to.

Bevy was acting odd, again, and Dark fluffed his feathers, tilting his head. Strange. Very strange. But he understood her well enough: he was to "vote," by flying to one side of the cave or another.

A brief tremor of irritation rippled through him, and he wasn't sure why. A vote was fair, but somehow, this felt wrong. He turned his gaze on Bevy, and a sudden flicker of malice raced through him, or maybe it was just annoyance. It was her personality issue, wasn't it...?

He hastily opened a link to her mind, fumbling at the voices with clumsy anger. Instead of words, he let out a mental shrill--an owl's shriek, deafening. It was a mental "get your shit together," but in a childlike owl's mindless, wordless scream.

For an instant he stared--glared--with blank gem eyes at her. Whichever Bevy was interfering had to stop. This was important!

Then Dark turned, sweeping up and toward Leon's den with two strong wingbeats, tumbling down over the stone. Then he pulled himself upright, turning with clicks of his talons to stare back at Bevy.

He didn't know Cancer well, aside from remembering fleeting snippets of hearing the fight between him and Leon. He didn't remember much--but he remembered Cancer threatening Leon, planning to kill him in cold blood, and Dark had little reason to 'vote' for someone like that.

No; Leon was friendly, warm, and stable. He'd stay here--at Leon's den.

Dark's vote was cast, for Leon.

________________

rajani . calypso
playful and sultry . critical and melodic
ooc ;; @Makyna @Amaria @Dark @Cancer @Sonata @Cadence @Quintus

Dark's mind hit Bevy's like a train, slamming into Calypso's attention span and sending the fragments of Ratchet scattering into the dark recesses of the bird's mind. Calypso was dimly aware of Enna perking up, and of Roshan's snarls, but for a moment, no one dared try to take the forefront besides Calypso. She blinked at the full-grown owl child, her incandescent eyes considering what had got him so worked up as to scream at her mentally. He knew her better than anyone else, certainly, but he had picked up on something they all had been trying to hide. Maybe it was just because of Rajani's coy little comments, but she felt like it was deeper than that. Regardless, for a moment, there was peace. Almost a normalcy.

The Leader-- she still was leader, until a new one was decided-- nodded politely to Macawi as the two caniadents shuffled off to where they wouldn't be able to influence the vote. It was how they always did it, though with amusement Calypso thought that she had been the one to pretty much decide how the electoral system worked. There was a curious bird that fluttered on to Macawi's head, but after a moment's glance she realized it was a lesser gembound. There were many of them that were larger than her-- but she was always disappointed to see a bird who she could not call family, much less friend, without some sort of disappointment in how unintelligent the creatures were.

She turned her attention to counting the votes-- watching without surprise. Makyna wanted Leon as leader, as did Dark. Calypso herself would have personally voted for Leon, but unfortunately just the thought of it stirred her feathers. She was torn right down the middle as to who she wanted to vote for-- Eeya, however, wasn't at all. He was quite happy to flip off towards the far side to vote for Cancer, though she wasn't sure if his water critter friends were also voting or just hanging out. Technically, they weren't in Maji Walezi yet. Her crimson eyes caught a flash of Amaria stepping forward to cast her vote for Cancer, quiet in her message but clear. She wanted to be home again.

And oh how so dearly Enna wanted for Cancer and her children to come home too. There was a desperation behind it, a recklessness-- and Bevy her wholeself simply turned her beak too Quintus, waiting softly for his vote. As much as Calypso wanted to chose for who she thought the better leader, there was a gentle moment of her carefully handing her trust to Quintus, her pupil. He would make the right choice where her heart would simply tear in half. Quintus was clever and thoughtful, old enough to know of Cancer and more importantly to know if his father was ready for more responsibilities on top of his children.

It was all she could do to keep her eyes from returning to Amaria, to Kerberos, to the two children who she pushed harder and harder to forget. Just a few more moments, and she could stop playing the role of leader and simply be herself.

Quintus vote was cast-- his large, powerful paws, drawn towards his adoptive father's den. A vote she had expected, but a vote she was glad to see all the same.

"I think it's clear who has won this election," Calypso called out, fluttering down. "I'll go get the boys." She nodded to her friends, her family, fluttering off towards the loud roar of the waterfall. "They've voted," she announced over the rumbling of the water, waving at Leon and Cancer to come back. There was a sort of melancholy as she landed upon the leader's perch, her eyes watching as the two once rivals coming out.

She waited a heartbeat, and then she raised her wings and turned to the crowd.

"We have voted, and it is my great honor to turn over my leadership to Leon. May he continue to keep the life blood of the caves strong with his wisdom and bravery."

She flapped her wings and fluttered down to Cancer, giving him a shy glance for a moment. Softly, she whispered, "You can still stay, you know." She glanced up at Leon next, and asked the crowd. "If no one else has anything to say, this meeting is officially over. Congratulations, friend." She stepped back, looking around as everyone began to wander off. A silence seemed to fill the room now that the cheers had ended for Leon, now that meeting had finally past.

... What was it she was going to do, again?

But don't you come here and say I didn't warn you
About the way your world can alter
And oh how you try to command it all still
Every single time it all shifts one way or the other

And I'm a goddamn coward, but then again so are you
And the lion's roar, the lion's roar
Has me evading and hollering for you
And I never really knew
what to do
...

YOU MAY NOW EXIT THE THREAD. THANKS FOR THE GREAT MEETING EVERYONE!

Cancer, Amaria, Remedy and Cure please stick around just a little longer <3

NOTE: This takes place after most people have exited. You can still post your characters reacting to this, but when this happens they should be on their way out/going about their regular business. Think 10-20 minutes after my last post, time wise~ Also feel free to post in general, but I will be skipping you if you don't keep up and, sincerely, all of you should just go enjoy Christmas with your friends and family~ ;)

Like a pin dropping, Calypso didn't notice it until the echoing ting rang out through the air and told her just how silent the room had fallen. The bird opened her mouth to squawk and found only a choking oxygen in her lungs. Her vision cut out like someone had thrown a sack over her eyes, and panic swelled in her chest and made her wings go stiff. The avian plummeted (metaphorically) through the air, into the supressive, suffocating void.

And at the same time, the darkness inside of Bevy spread his ebony wings, casting a shadow over the child of poison and filth. He was tired of waiting, and a venomous hiss escaped his throat.

"Remedy," he called, like the devil putting on her mother's mask, trying to lure her closer. Into those wings, into the sickness that plagued his own spirit. The guardian dog-- the big, three headed, white one-- stood just behind her, watching ever so carefully. A problem, perhaps, but Roshan hardly took notice. "Do you know what the Bonereader Giggle, told me? She told me this, child," And his voice took on a rasping, hideous laughter, as he cackled out the words.

"I see erected barriers, collapsing. I see a victory, in your distant future--at the end of the rest of this--but it may come at a great cost. A sacrifice."

A twisted smile in his mind made his eyes crease as he choked out another laugh-- but already, his magic was squirming, festering.

"Child," the words slipped from his beak, down to a gentle snarl, "You are the disease in our bones, the plague that comes from our stone. The others were too weak to kill you, but now... Well, I'm honored to have the pleasure."