ORIGIN

As luck would have it, the great bear was indeed hanging around the common area of Maji Walezi with a few mouthfuls of herbs in his maw. They were without a healer ever since Bevy had died, and he was trying to convince his groupmates to take on the responsibility of healing equally. That meant Leon, too; and though he was trying to learn the use and effects of all these herbs, it was very hard to keep track of them. Even remembering what they looked like and distinguishing them was difficult for the bear. He liked to believe that it was because he was so busy with other responsibilities and his head was full of other important thoughts, but in reality, he just wasn't keen or smart enough for this whole herb thing. Something like that was better left for someone with a sharper mind, like Makyna or Bartos or maybe even one of his children. Not him.

The plants in his mouth tasted terrible, and when he heard the summoning, he almost felt relief to have to veer away from his duty to tend to whoever was calling him. After some searching, he had spotted her against the slick rock in the pallid artificial light. It was... that was Eve, wasn't it? The bird that had accompanied them through the tunnel, and she was at the battle against Raheerah, too. He hadn't gotten to chat with her much, but at the very least he was aware of who she was. He lumbered towards her and stopped, dropping the mouthful of plants at his paws. "Hey Eve, what can I do for you?" He asked while awkwardly mouthing the bitter taste of the plants away, licking his teeth and clicking his tongue in an effort to get rid of the unpleasant sensation.

He was a little oblivious to how nervous Eve seemed to be until she stumbled over her words a little, and he furrowed his brow, settling down on the ground in front of her, even lowering his head slightly so that he could offer her more of his attention and let her know that he really was listening. Mention of something bad in Cetus had caused him to frown, and then her admission of death - that Dragon had killed someone named Tal'at, and now she feared for her own safety. The bear blinked, surprised - he hadn't taken Dragon for being a murderer, but then again, he had made that mistake before and look where it got him. He knew the kind of pain she was experiencing, and he would do all that he could to help.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Eve. I'll help you any way I can." The bear offered, a sincere expression producing just the ghost of a smile as he peered down at the bird. "Do you need somewhere to stay? Where are your children now?" He asked, picking his gaze back up to the cave entrance, to the tunnel that would lead towards Cetus. Had she left them there in Cetus? Would he have to plunge into the swamp and rescue them? ...Would Dragon be a danger to them? Suddenly he felt empowered, fueled by the desire for justice, ready to launch himself into harm's way if only to protect these children she spoke of. It was the least he could do, right?

The bear extended a great empathy in the look he gave her, slowly nodding and taking in her words as they came. From the sounds of it, whatever happened really had affected her, and though he was surprised to hear of such a thing happening at the hands of Dragon, he could understand why she felt that way. His own brain was a mess of emotion and angry accusation the moment anybody brought up Kerberos or what had happened at the meeting. He wanted so badly to hunt down the cerberus and persecute him, but he feared it was unwelcome; the rest of the group was left with no idea of how to act or what to do. The Bonebound had been their allies, but now? What were they? Strangers, or traitors? Enemies? He found himself mourning this sudden complication, and wishing, futile as it was, that it had never happened at all.

"It's alright, Eve. We'll bring them home." He smiled down at the bird, hoping to give her at least a sense of courage and confidence. Maji Walezi were the pinnacle of safety, ever since they had beaten Hasira into the dirt. And Leon would do it again just to make sure his family never suffered pain because of him. "Oh, I'm sure we'll have lots for you to do around here. There's plenty." He laughed, and found himself wondering what kind of job he could give her. She would probably serve well as a Scout - well, maybe if she wasn't trying to run from Dragon. Okay, Scout was out. What about a Coordinator? That seemed a little more up her alley.

"Oh, um." He blinked, caught off guard by her question. Everybody knew what it was that had last happened in Maji Walezi. The most recent election, the murder, the funeral. But that didn't seem like something he should bring up to her. "Well... We have quite an array of children emerging, so there will be plenty for your own to mingle with. My own children would be more than happy to show you and yours around, if you like. And uh... trials, for our initiates, are coming up. I'd love if you could join us for that!" Leon added with an enthused nod and a smile. The trials were always a point of interest for him.

The bear loosed a warm laugh at her words, shaking his head. "No, no monsters. Just dolphins." Leon's voice jumped with humor as he sent another smile over at the bird. Maji Walezi wasn't particularly known for harboring monsters, or so he hoped; it was then he remembered the presence of the sea monster in the swamp of Cetus, and he wondered idly if that was what Eve was talking about. Her next question prompted a nod from the bear, who idly scratched at his chest as he gazed down at the bird, and he listened with great interest as she spoke of her own. He had to wonder what her children were like, who she had made children with - did he knew them? Had he ever seen them? If one of them lived strictly in Cetus, then it was unlikely.

"Well, you won't have to worry about that here. We have babies a-plenty." The bear wrinkled his nose with another laugh. The children most definitely outnumbered the adults, especially since what happened with Bevy and Dark, further dashing their numbers. Not that those two were just numbers - they were more than that, but the truth was that without them, their ranks did suffer. "Oh, the trials. They're lots of fun - they're basically just to prove that a Gembound is capable of performing the rank they're going to be given. It's like trying out for a rank, but unless you fail horribly, you're bound to get in. And if you do, then we'll just test you for another rank! A grown Gembound like you wouldn't need a trial, but your children might." He explained.