ORIGIN

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Dread remained where he was. Thus far, there'd been no orders given--and the dragon was blissfully unaware of the battle of minds raging below. To him, there was an exciting amount of strife--strife that might lead to bloodshed!--and his rear talons tightened over the back of the Throne. But he didn't act--not yet. He hadn't been told to. Instead he looked back to his shiny, for a moment rapt with its gentle song. Then his ember gaze snapped back to the scene below.

This was growing boring, but still he was a passive observer. It did not occur to the dragon that he could likely begin making demands, servitude and objects for bloodshed--and given the magical prowess of those below, that was perhaps for the best. Dread was instead childlike, obeying with fraying patience the orders given by those many times smaller than he. He was not, at least, a complete brute.

But he was shifting, now, back and forth, his claws clutching stone, his jaws slightly agape as his gaze flicked between those present. It was clear that he wanted action--even if he would not begin any himself.

Like Dread, Pride was unaware of the mental battle enmeshing the two opponents. He waited with mounting impatience, lowering his head and nudging at Baneberry with his antlers. They had to leave this place before this situation got even more out of hand. They had to de-escalate it.

Behind him, Reseda was still giving snarky remarks. Why do we tolerate this..? She should be killed, now, for this arrogance. She is nothing but problematic. And at her claim that she had not named him, he rounded with disbelief. "Why lie when I myself am present..?" he asked, blankly. "You gauged my personality, I suppose, but you chose the name. And deemed it 'sin.' The entire idea of a group of 'sins' is foolish to begin with--almost as ridiculous as calling ourselves 'blood berries,'" he added dourly. "She did not name me after you, King Envy, but she had in her mind an idea of Gembound all following her, doing her bidding, 'sins' in the caves. Grandiose fantasy," he added darkly. "She is nothing but a would-be tyrant; her ability to lead would have been as poor as her skills in manipulation."

The words were cutting--they were meant to be; but Reseda had been ignoring most 'words' thus far, so Pride wasn't overly concerned about their effect. Likely she would ignore him, as she had been doing.

He was turning to leave again when she began shouting. He was, still, unaware of any magic having taken place--to him, Reseda's roars were a warning of impending attack, though her shouting about 'clouding her mind' was noted. He turned, eyes flashing with warning, a cold and steely rage tearing through him. He wasn't sure what Baneberry had done, if anything, but he was not about to let Reseda unleash her energy magic on their prisoner. He, above all, knew how deadly it could be, and how fast. Despite having failed a moment before at his own magic, he reached for it again without thinking, his only thought that Reseda must be stopped.

The magic lashed out, his intent to lift Reseda several feet up and simply throw her away, tumbling through air and over ground. It wasn't a skid along the ground: it was an attempt to outright throw. With it came what, in a red deer stag of maturity, might have been an intimidating roar--but from Pride, with his musical voice, it was a high-pitched siren of rage.

"ENOUGH!"

@Envy @Reign

The little King seemed bolstered by their support, standing tall before Reseda. Reign continued to growl, standing proud behind the weasel, although he had to fight down a laugh. Reseda's words seemed to agree with this - reconsider the direction of his paws. His loyalty wasn't, truly, towards Envy - it was towards Pride. He viewed Pride to be the true leader of the Sins, the green Weasel merely repeating his words.

The Cheetah's tail twitched as the hybrid's tail lashed, ready to step in if it lashed out towards Envy. Really, he didn't care if it lunged towards Greed any more than he cared if it lunged towards a rock, and he was iffy towards Envy. But Envy seemed to be important to Pride, and so he would protect them.

Thankfully, the hybrid demanded to be taken away, and so Reign was able to return his attention to the more immediate danger - their own Group Member, Greed.

But then she was screaming, balking and lashing out at the air. Reign's growl died in his throat, brow furrowed in dull confusion. He shifted his weight, cocking his head. 'What is happening?' Had the hybrid done something? But then Greed had whirled to Baneberry, and he found himself bristling again, worrying that she might undo all their hard work.

Then, Reseda was being lifted and flung, clearly the work of Pride. It was only he that Reign knew that could use such magic, and his head turned to follow the reptiles' flight. As the stag bugled, calling for peace, Reign reached for his Magic, aiming to bolster the cry. Perhaps he pulled that bit too hard, as his amber crown gleamed brightly.

An agonizingly loud thunder crap echoed through Orion, rattling the ground and sending Lessers scrambling for cover. It echoed, bouncing off the walls, and if Reign hadn't been impervious to his own magic he would have been cowering from how loud it was. Even still, he could feel the bass as it rumbled deep in his bones, shook the ground beneath his paws.

Well, that had worked a bit too well.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

@Envy

Envy couldn't help shrinking down, slightly, as the komodo dragon loomed closer, and towered over them like they could never hope to. They felt a flare of rage start up in their chest, and whipped their small tail, suddenly feeling the nerves bluster in. But they couldn't exactly back down. Besides; they could hear Reign snarling at their back, and Pride retorting. They could feel Dread's eyes upon them.

So their eyes narrowed, the pupils of their catlike eyes slitting. "I don't need to assume, Greed... not when they told me themselves."

The weasel couldn't look away, not even for a moment, frozen where they were with every quill along their length bristling upright, their breaths short and sharp and adrenaline raging like a fire through their serpentine form. As Reseda suddenly turned their attention away from them, roaring and shrieking at things that weren't there, Envy's quills flattened and their small head whipped towards the dragon sitting by in barely-contained quietness.

Envy was about done with Reseda's shit.

They tightened their jaw and shrilly barked "Dread!" before pausing, suddenly afraid. Had the time come? They could use their power to do this, but it might cost them a member of their kingdom, and suddenly, they felt undeniably and utterly afraid. But, knowing that they'd already begun, they tried to stop themselves thinking too deeply into the words that left their mouth. "R...Restrain the lizard. Stop her."

Their gaze settled, finally, on the hybrid. in an effort to look dignified, their magic manifested in a pair of wings, ethereal and red, and they fluttered forward to land by her side, hopefully drawing attention away from whatever was going on behind them. "Let's get you to the tower," they said, trying to sound kind although their voice was stretched thin with nerves. "It'll be safer. The dragon will deal with her. A-and then we can deal with the sickness. Let's go!"

They fluttered above Baneberry, trying to lead her away.

Speech. Thought.

@Baneberry

As soon as the magic pressed forward she felt a different spell lift her off the ground. Before she knew it she was being thrown. She snarled as she smashed into the rocks and tumbled away from the gathering. As soon as she stopped moving she crawled back to her feet, shaking the dust and grit from her skin, shaking with rage.

Her dark eyes rolled over those that were in the Kingdom. Her Kingdom. She hated them. She hated them all. Her lip curled as she observed them leading away the hybrid, leaving her behind, like she was nothing. Pride's words ground into her and she decided right then that she'd kill him. Not now, perhaps not soon, but she would eventually. She would relish in watching the light die from his eyes.

She stood herself up tall but made no move to get closer. "I see. I kill one of our enemies and bring it back for you, My King, and not only am I not rewarded but the daughter of said enemy is treated with more respect then me. You allow her to attack without punishment and I'm the bad guy in all of this. What kind of Kingdom do you think you're running? How long will it last?" She frowned and narrowed her eyes. "Certainly not my Kingdom. You will regret casting me aside."

She turned and stalked away, making her way down from the throne. She didn't care if they attacked or let her go. If they ignored her words she would just return to Canis and start finding a way to bring them down again. If they attacked then she would have fun bringing the roof down on their heads.

*exit, unless stopped

@Dread

The dragon's head had been swivelling back and forth between the rest, but when Envy barked their order, his gaze shot sharply to Greed. He was shoving off the back of the throne before he really knew what he'd do, though the lizard being thrown by Pride was a surprise. Had she simply turned and fled, perhaps darted into some narrow space he could not follow, that might have been that.

But she stopped--if only briefly--to shout back; standing tall and making herself an easy target. He reached her as she turned, and swept down.

His instinct was to engulf the reptile in fire, but Envy had said restrain, and so he was briefly at a loss. He half-wanted to snag her in his claws, but he knew she had magic, at least.

So he used his own: his tail lashed down just beside Reseda as he shot overhead, cracking into stone with the force of overwhelming magicka behind it. The earth cracked open, and he bellowed as he banked back and higher.

"STAY!" was all he roared, voice echoing. Envy hadn't told him what to do next, but he assumed the reptile had been swallowed by the snapped-open stone maw, and he wasn't about to stick his head in to check.

He simply flapped to land some distance nearby after hovering, for a time, watching to ensure she didn't simply climb up the deep hole and scramble out.

Pride glanced back once, silver eyes burning at Reseda's words. He wanted to snark back, to point out that attacking a prisoner was ridiculous, to add that Greed had just been offered a reward and had responded with aggression. But despite his anger at her attitude, he had Baneberry to escort.

The hybrid was upset, and shouting would only make it worse; he turned with a grunt and moved alongside her, heading toward the tower ahead. "I can escort her, King Envy, if you wish to deal with Reseda."

His words were coldly indifferent to the lizard's fate.

exit Pride (likewise unless stopped)
@Reign @Envy

The little King seemed bolstered by their Kingdom's support, confronting Greed--Reseda, not Greed, she was no longer Greed but Reseda. Their King was terrified, clearly, but still standing up to the lizard.

A pair of wings appeared at the weasel's back, and they fluttered forward, landing near their 'guest', seeming to decide that Reseda was dealt with. Since when could Envy fly? But, well, that didn't matter for the moment, he decided, turning his attention back to Reseda, ready to step in if needed.

Reseda snarled at them, calling out Envy, digging at their King's insecurities. His ruff of fur stood on end, and he eyed their King, wondering how they would take it.

The Dragon did as he was ordered, not killing Reseda but attempting to restrain her instead, opening a great pit beneath her. Reign reached for his Magic, attempting to summon some electricity, but it wouldn't respond.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

Envy narrowed their eyes at Reseda, pausing as Pride escorted the Bloodberry away before turning to speak to Reseda. "You were offered a reward. We offered you control of part of the caves! The opportunity to be a leader! A general. But nothing seemed right. Everything else we've done has been damage control for your actions! Do you realize how badly it'd go if they decided to attack us at our Throne?"

They paused, catching their breath.

They didn't respond to her unspoken threat, glancing up as the dragon responded to their orders with fury. Relief flooded through them at that, and they raised themselves upright, watching to see what happened. There was little else they could do, at this point, save for feeding the lizard more fuel to put on her misplaced fire.

Speech. Thought.

@Reseda

Reseda had kind of expected some kind of resistance to her leaving, perhaps for Pride to use his magic to hold her or for Envy to open a black hole before her. She was ready for it, but what she wasn't quite ready for was the earth to crack beneath her and split open. With a hiss she plunged into the cavern that had opened up beneath her, grabbing at the walls to slow her descent but ultimately crashing onto the floor. She scrambled to her feet and looked up to where Envy was perched, her face twisted with rage.

"Pf, you call that a reward? Have me go and do your dirty work because you're too weak to do it yourself? And so what if they attack us here? You expect me to clean them up by myself but apparently your whole Kingdom is no match? You're scared of them Envy! A king should not fear his enemies, a king should destroy his enemies. And you, you're a pathetic excuse for a king!" She spat every word with venom and fury and as she finished speaking, she sucked in a deep breath and breathed out as hard as she could. The wind began to stir until it was a full blown tornado. She walked right into the storm and felt her hold on the ground slip as the winds picked her up.

A sudden lurch and she was being thrown, but it wasn't enough and she felt herself tossed right into the wall of the crevice. She snarled, falling back to the ground and glaring up at Envy. She didn't want to ask them for help, no way. But she didn't have any other spell that would get her out. "Get me out of here, dragon."

@Dread

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Dread

Pride

Reign

Livius

Reseda

Dread

Pride

Reign

Livius

Reseda