ORIGIN - One Final Act as King

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Amaria was at his side in an instant, a welcome relief. As she brushed against his shoulder, he leaned into the touch and for just a moment, buried his face behind her fur- not a gesture of affection, but of fear. He wanted to leave. Nothing worldly would keep him in this place anymore. Only the need to finish this, to end this chapter of his life, kept him in place. A moment later, Bevy's trill turned his eyes skyward, and he watched the bird come to land at his feet.

Calypso. Of course it'd be her. He almost grimaced at the stoic tone of that unforgiving part of Bevy's many personalities. She'd be less favorable now, he was sure her scoldings would be plenty-- but instead, she announced a trial instead. As his full name was uttered, the cat found himself steeling behind a protective mental wall. He felt the tightening in his chest as she announced that it would be Makyna prosecuting him. She offered him the chance to find someone to defend him, but after a moment, his fear boiled into resentment and he stood taller again. No, only he knew what had happened in those caves. Amaria had barely seen the end results. Dark might've overheard something. He'd have to fight this battle alone.

"I can represent myself." He stated, sobered- almost ghostly in his tone. He stared at nothing after that, pushing past the crowd fearlessly- for he'd already lost it all, what more was there to lose?- and coming to sit below the ledge, where he would wait for the trial to properly begin. "Let's just get this over with." He had far better places to be than here, now. Certain that judgment was already made, that this trial was nothing more than a public show, he prepared himself to hear the verdict long before the trial had actually begun. It was just a matter of time before his own home, his own alliance, kicked him out forever.

"Speech"

He heard her call – loud, summoning and enraged – and he came padding to her immediately. Lion to lion, she was his kin and a gentle friend, and where she’d needed help, Usui would be there to heed her request. The tawny male burst through Pisces in a jog before slowing down beside her, only making contact by gently brush his tail against her shoulder in appropriate greeting. His pale green eyes would flash to meet her blue ones for a moment then drop away. The feline then looked at Leon, immediately recognising the bear who had saved his life, and after a curt nod of acknowledgement, pad a distance away to where a group of other gembounds sat. Non Maji-Walezians who had been called forth to witness this fair trial and he had volunteered knowing that Makyna was involved. It was an oddity to Usui that such a serious trial would exist, but he had sensed a foreboding stir in the air 1 cycle ago when he’d done his pebble stories and so, today’s proceedings did not make him too uncomfortable. The lion’s only worry was that gembounds would sit proudly on the side for justice and demand blood be spilt where such a punishment was not called for. He sat in one swift, powerful motion and, warapping his feline tail upon his paws, looked towards the offender with slightly furrowed brows. Cancer who’d welcomed him to Maji Walezi was flustered and it seemed he had already decided that he was in the wrong and would atone for his crime – for supposed murder. The lion knew that the trial would move along pretty quickly either way. "Jury’s ready," his rogue-ish tones rang out, indicating that all parties were now present with the case, and they could begin.

The tiny fox was off to a corner of the cave, as per the usual was digging for grubs at the base of one of the cavern walls. Al-Addir's rummaging was interrupted by a commotion on the other side of the cavern. As he slurped a long, slippery night-crawler past his lips and down his throat, he trotted over to where the commotion had originated from.

He saw Cancer, clad in strange bardings, along with a hand-full of other gem-bounds that looked to be chastising him for something. He frowned and bit his lip. Cancer was supposed to be their leader, and it looked like the yellow-furred beast that was similar in build to Cancer, had struck the Dear Leader!

Quietly, the tiny fox, barely taller than ten centimeters slowly skulked closer to the gathering, trying his hardest to stay unseen by the others. His small size made him ideal for skulking about, allowing him to stay all but unseen by the bigger gembounds.

He heard someone call out something... What was a "jury" and why was it "ready?" Maybe a "jury" was a pack of beasts like the one that had slapped him, coming to finish him off! The tiny fox felt panic build in his mind. What was going to happen to their leader? What would become of Quix, she couldn't live without a father!

The Fennec broke into a full spring and barreled toward Cancer, panting frantically. He stood between Cancer and the others, looking up at the great, ebony feline, his lip trembling; visibly upset.

"W...What's going on... S... Sir." The tiny fox's voice trembled. He knew he'd be little use if things came to blows, but he would not stand idly by as Cancer stared down the others.

Al was all but oblivious to the battle between Leon and Cancer, and was ignorant of Cancer's temporary banishment to the hole. He had been too busy hunting for bugs and tiny, crystal-studded mice and voles. The tiny fox felt horrible; if he had only been thinking with his brain, and not his belly; maybe he could have been there for Cancer; proven his worth to his leader. He looked back at the other beasts; then back up at Cancer with a very confused look upon his tiny face.

calypso
critical and melodic
ooc;;
BEGIN: OPENING STATEMENTS:
MAKYNA POSTS NEXT, FOLLOWED BY CANCER.

Cancer decided to represent himself, perhaps a good choice all things considered. The melanistic leopard was quite the talker, and if anyone could talk themselves out of a verdict, it would be him. Calypso held his gaze for a quiet moment as gembounds gathered of all shapes and sizes. She recognized Usui among them, so much bigger and stronger than last time they had met. He was growing into a fine young lion, a powerful beast.

She remembered she had to ask him something, but couldn't place it, and simply shook herself back to her senses, flying up to the rock where Cancer usually lounged for meetings. In the corner of her vision, she spotted another Fennec Fox-- why did Maji Walezi have so many cats and foxes?-- came running up to Cancer, scared and afraid. She found him distracting, and decided it best to ignore him and get the trial started.

She cleared her throat and tried to get everyone in order. "Makyna, Cancer, please come here before me! Anyone who is a witness to their right, anyone who is here as jury-- that is, to vote on Cancer's verdict-- to their left, please."

"Here are Maji Walezi, we have a rule!" She called out to everyone, stern and serious. "No one speaks unless they have this--" She announced, putting a set of talons on the quartz crystal beside her-- it was larger than she was, even to this day. To her opposite side, she had a smaller piece of quartz, one that fit more neatly in her grasp. "--crystal, our speaking stone. I ask that everyone stay silent for the proceedings today, unless asked to speak or given this crystal."

"Thank you all for gathering here today," she spoke out to the crowd. "This is the case of Makyna Songcat versus Carcino Karkata, for the attempted murder of Leon. If guilty, the punishment will be banishment from Maji Walezi." She tried to keep it brief. It was going to be a long day, full of talking... Especially once Cancer got his turn, she was sure.

"Our system is simple. We will begin with an opening statement from each of you, followed by Makyna's case, then Cancer's counter case. Makyna will get a chance to rebuttal with any additional evidence, then each of you will get a chance to have a closing statement. At this point, I will ask each of you gathered here today to discuss if Cancer is guilty or not, and there will be a vote if it is not unanimous."

With a shove, the quartz gem fell down with a gentle tumble towards Makyna and Leon, and the pitohui bird spread her black wings, clutching the smaller chunk of quartz under her foot.

"Makyna Songcat, your opening statement, please."

murderers are not monsters,
they're men; and that's the most frightening
thing about them

Makyna didn't have much more time to think about what she felt. It was do or die as the other gems arrived. Usui came first, answering the call swiftly before the others arrived. She felt the press of Leon's comforting fur into her shoulder and she leaned into him. She was doing this for him. All for him. That gave her the conviction to continue and confidence to do so.

After she felt the brush of Usui's tail she gave a low chuff, all she would give in greeting but it was enough. They were both lions, he would understand.

Then the moment began. Bevy called for everyone to gather beneath her. What exactly would happen? This was the first time in history that the Maji Walezians would have a trial. What would she say? What would she do? All she had was her definite feelings that Cancer was a murderer. She would have to convince everyone else of this too.... but as everyone gathered she felt a pit of anxiousness rise in her gut. Oh dear... there were so many gembounds. From her paw pads she could feel sweat seeping out onto the ground below and self-consciously she brushed each paw off against the opposite leg.

Ky looked up at the bird, hiding her nervousness behind a grim look and a mouth set into a straight line. Opening statements? What would she say? Her eyes glanced around the room quickly, looking at each gem in turn before landing on Leon.

Then, the sound of the crystal sounded as it clattered right at her paws. Makyna placed one paw over it and after taking a deep breath to steady her nerves she began, "I, uh..." Blue eyes stared at the gems around her before she finally settled on looking at her paws. "I wanted this trial... because..." This wasn't good, this wasn't good. They would never see her side of the situation if she didn't suck it up. For Leon's sake she had to be tough, had to do this!

Her blue eyes came up from her paws as she looked into Leon's eyes. He was her light... He would help her get through this. Remembering the comfort of his emotions and the comfort of his pelt she took another breath and continued, "Because this cat is an attempted murderer!" Her eyes then turned to Cancer, pointing him out to everyone. With her eyes on him she remembered her rage, remembered that this wasn't about her. It was about getting Leon justice and getting Cancer the punishment he deserved. Nervousness still wracked her gut but it was more under control. "After a fight with Leon, after Leon was beaten and defeated on the ground this cat tried to kill him. Murder him! In a fight both parties try to fight, try kill each other, hopefully not but the thought probably occurs. However, after the fight it is all supposed to be said and done and you're supposed to stop. Cancer did not stop. He tried to use a knife to dig out Leon's gem after the fact. In cold blood." She paused to let this sink in before finally adding, "What if he hadn't been stopped this time? He certainly would have killed Leon. What about next time? What's to stop him from taking a knife to someone else when no environmental circumstances are there to stop him?"

Now she was done. With a flick of her paw she sent the stone sliding across to Cancer. Let him top that.

words: 589
tagged: Trial
ooc: Opening Statement
muse: 9/10

"Talking looks like this!"
"Thinking is this!"

The trial was starting.

Bevy- er, Calypso, began with a formal introduction. He was being accused of attempted murder, yadda yadda. The black cat sighed out his nose as she tossed the crystal towards Makyna to begin the process. Opening statements. Right.

Makyna's snappish start brought his attention to her fully, and his eyes became cold as she threw her accusations out for all the hear. The whole time, he listened intently- so what, she'd recounted a tale probably spun second-hand. By the sounds of it, she barely knew the full story. This... this might actually be easier than he'd anticipated. He could show her up, and make a fool of the bitch woman who'd stolen so much from him, for such a selfish reason. He swallowed his pride as she finished, and in the end, he wore a smile, devilish and confident. He caught the crystal as it rolled over to him, placing a heavy paw over it for a moment, considering his next words carefully. As he began to speak, he sat upright, holding the crystal delicately between both front paws. His tone was controlled, neutral.

"Pardon me, miss Songcat, but I find those accusations one-sided." He began, politely enough. "The truth is, yes, I had every intention of ending Leon's life in that moment, but I think you'll find, if you had been in my position, the fight was far from over." He turned his attention to the crowd, lidded gaze attentive, reassuring. He could play up being a victim, but despite being a sarcastic jerk most days, Cancer was, above all else, honest.

"What the prosecution fails to mention, ladies and gentleman, is that Leon attacked me in this very spot, with every intention to end my life right there. I acted as any leader would have- I took the threat away from my family, my home. I ran, and he pursued me through fifteen miles of tunnels and caves, to Monoceros, where he proceeded to set me on fire." He turned his poisonous gaze to Leon now, cold but calculating. "It was as this happened that I, somehow, managed to throw him off of me. We were both very dazed at that point, and as far as I was concerned, once recovered, he'd continue his unwarranted assault against me- perhaps even going as far as to take it back here against my family." He set the crystal back down for a moment, keeping his paws over it. "I was under the impression that, if I did not end the conflict then and there, he'd continue his assaults until he'd have done the same to me, or worse."

He turned his gaze to Makyna, confident but scorned.

"In short, I argue my case by presenting another crime to the jury- the attempted murder of Carcino Karkata, by Leon." And thus, he slid the crystal roughly back towards the pair of prosecutors, ending his opening statement.

"Speech"

calypso
critical and melodic
ooc;;
BEGIN: QUESTIONING OF WITNESSES
PART ONE: Makyna may ask any question of any witness she wants
(current order: Leon -> Makyna -> (Other Witnesses) -> Makyna, until finished)
PART TWO: Cancer may ask any question of any witness he wants

As expected, Cancer was more composed and had a better opening statement than Makyna. She was, although well meaning, not the best public speaker. Hopefully no one would take her weakness as a reason to side with Cancer, but either way it didn't matter. If Leon's reputation was tarnished as Cancer's was-- the fact he admitted to wanting to kill Leon already made her amused-- it only made things easier for her in the end. Maji Walezi was as good as hers.

"There are the opening statements. We will now move on to the Prosecution main case. Cancer, when it's your turn you may provide your case for Leon's guilt as well, we can vote on that as well." She tilted her head as she raised a single wing. "Now, Makyna, you may call any witness you like and ask them questions to prove your case. When you are done, say 'The Prosecution rests' and hand the Speaking Stone to Cancer, please."

A coolness ran through her veins as she watched the scene unfold. It was too perfect. The uncomfortable churning in her guts was all too easy to ignore. There was nothing any of her parts could do to stop the tsunami now as it crashed down and swept away all of their precious home. Perhaps this would tear them all apart once and for all. She would be happy, like the reaper, to see it carried through.

"Prosecution, please begin."

murderers are not monsters,
they're men; and that's the most frightening
thing about them

The bear couldn't believe what he was hearing.

After Makyna's shaky start, Leon made sure to keep close to her, offering all the comfort he could. She was always the better speaker of the two of them, but maybe she wasn't as ready for this as she thought she was. For a brief moment the thought was amusing - usually, it would be the other way around. Leon was so often the one that plunged headfirst into things without thinking, it was strange to realize that this whole time he'd been trying to prevent Makyna from doing the same. He knew the consequences of it - the battle wounds on his neck were evidence enough. As she spoke, he made a point of turning his head, revealing the thick and gruesome afflictions that crossed his muzzle and throat. Where were Cancer's wounds?

Makyna explained the fight, that it was supposed to be finished when one party was down - and Leon was down, he was more than down. He was on the brink of death when Cancer had come at him after bathing the bear in radiation. There was no chance that Leon would have fought back, and that was the scariest part. The lack of control. The vulnerability. Being unable to stop the black leopard from coming at him. He could have died - he would have, had it not been for the fissure that swallowed Cancer alive. The lioness concluded her statement with the point that this wasn't just about what Cancer had almost done - it was that he was capable of it. Leon's brows slowly furrowed, taking his eyes from Makyna and fixing them on the black leopard.

Of course by the time it was Cancer's turn to defend himself, the leopard did so with gusto. It was no different from when he was still involved with Makyna. It was the self righteousness, the arrogance, as if it was obvious that Cancer was the victim, so much so that he rubbed it in the bear's face. It took all of his strength to refrain from speaking out. After spending all his recovery time fearing Cancer's return, Leon found himself surprisingly angry, instead of afraid. Maybe that was because nobody else had seen Cancer the way Leon saw him. The ever antagonizing, opposing force. The one that never liked him. Nothing he could do was enough to please Cancer, and now the leopard was going to turn this against him. He'd almost been murdered, but Cancer had no shame - he was going to make himself the victim of this even if it killed him.

Not this time.

As soon as Bevy had quieted and turned the spotlight to he and Makyna, the bear didn't hesitate. He moved forward, placing his paw on the quartz and pulling it close before the lioness could; he cast her a glance out of the corner of his eye, reassuring and confident, but the anger still persisted. With a grunt Leon stepped forward, sneering at the leopard. "You're shameless." He scowled and then turned his eyes to the gathered Gembounds. "Allow me to give this situation some context." The pain was evident in his expression, his eyes - while most of it arose sincerely, Leon wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to play it up as much as he could. They had to know how much this affected him. "Makyna is my best friend. She's the world to me, and everything I've done, I did to see her happy. I left Maji Walezi because there was tension between myself and Cancer. I left because I was unwanted. I left Makyna to be with Cancer, because as far as I understood, that's what she wanted - to be with him. I trusted him," Leon grimaced and looked to Cancer. "I trusted you. And you betrayed that trust!" He could feel his heart beginning to race, emotions slowly shining through the bear's once solid composure. "I was just outside of Pisces, I was going to just pass through. I didn't even want to, I hadn't seen anybody since I left, even Makyna. But I heard yelling and it was Makyna and Cancer. I left Makyna so she could be happy, only to come back and find her betrayed. I was... Furious." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Don't tell me I'm the only one that would have been!" Leon's breath hitched as he looked back to the Gembounds gathered. They had to understand - Cancer had to understand.

The bear paused for a moment, breathing deeply before speaking up again. "I know what I did was rash, but I never would have murdered Cancer. I don't know if you just didn't trust me or if you hated me or what, but you were-" Were. "-my leader, and you're supposed to protect the members of Maji Walezi. I couldn't take you away from them." He paused again to think, to regain his thoughts. "When we fought and I lit you on fire, I tried to put it out. But then you - something happened, if it was you I don't know, but I only remember being thrown away and then I couldn't see, I couldn't hear, everything hurt." Leon's voice shook and his gaze distanced, remembering what had happened. The fear had permeated him, it stung him eternally. "But at that point, I was done. I barely remember anything after that, but- the flash, that's all I could see, the flash of your knife." He blinked, wide eyed as if watching the scene unfold all over again. Heat flushed up to his cheeks and forehead and the bear fought it away, clearing his throat.

"I'm not asking for your sympathy, I deserve every bit of injury remaining from that fight." Leon said rigidly, side-eying the leopard's suspicious lack of wounds. "I know what I did was wrong, but my intentions were not to kill Cancer. All I ask is that if you find me guilty for what I've done, you damn well better punish him the same." Leon's lips curled into a snarl as his voice hardened, fixing his eyes on Cancer. He didn't care if the cat wore that shit eating grin, if he was confident that he would win this. If Leon was going down, he was going to drag Cancer down with him as fucking far as he could.

(Finished!)

@Cancer

Oh, he was good wasn't he? The black leopard was arrogant, confident, and above all else an excellent public speaker. That was something that Makyna wasn't. Her ears threatened to pin themselves and she had to force them to stay straight, an effort that left her ears trembling and sore. However, Ky was ready this time and she knew her first witness would be Leon. She also knew that Cancer had simply proved her point. Sure, Leon might have tried to set him on fire but it was in the heat of battle which his move afterwards was not.

Throughout the whole thing Makyna could feel anger building, not just her own but Leon's. Cancer was trying to turn this whole thing around when in Ky's eyes he had no case at all. This wasn't about an assault on Leon against Cancer this was about Cancer's motives after the fight. If Cancer wanted to drag Leon down for attempted murder then he would go too. After all, wasn't Cancer's crime far worse?

Before Makyna could move to take the stone Leon's paw was there, taking it away. She gave him a brief questioning glance before nodding and allowing the stone to be taken. He was the best one to talk about this and Makyna had no doubt in his speaking abilities. He was the braver of the pair and could certainly sway everyone to his side.

Makyna sat, tail wrapped around her paws, as she listened to Leon do exactly what she thought he would. He spoke wonderfully and after that she was sure that Cancer would be convicted and with Leon's speech it was obvious that he had never wanted to kill Cancer, just hurt him for what he did. That in itself wasn't right but it was leagues better than attempting to murder someone because of what you think they might do. Leon even confirmed that he was done fighting, beaten and bloodied on the ground.

After Leon finished speaking Makyna gave a smug glance in Cancer' direction before she reached for the stone. "After Leon's testimonial it's hard to see how Cancer would even have the right to accuse him of murder. In the fight they both wanted to hurt each other but as you have heard Leon never wanted to kill him, he was only defending me, he even wanted to put out Cancer when he set him on fire and was repaid with an attempt of murder by him. Cancer on the other hand has openly admitted to wanting to kill him." A pointed glance in the dark cat's direction before she gave Leon a small smile.

"I'd like to call another witness." She searched among the crowd until her eyes landed upon the owl she had seen flying back behind Amaria and Cancer. "Dark, would you come forward please. I assume you arrived from Monoceros since you were so close behind Cancer and Amaria, I'd like to hear what you heard there." Not only that but this owl had hindsight like her so he could be a very very good witness.

words: 517
tagged: Trial, Dark
ooc: ---
muse: 6/10

"Talking looks like this!"
"Thinking is this!"

________________

Dark jerked as he heard his name mentioned, twisting his head to stare sightlessly toward Makyna.

Heard? What did I hear?

He was scared. He didn't know what was happening--nobody had told him anything, and he only knew about the yelling and the screams. And what was this about the fighting? They were fighting over someone else? ...Maybe he could ask questions and get all of this cleared up, and give them their answers, too. Fear still quaked through him, but a childlike hopefulness as well.

He spread wings and soared soundlessly down, stumbling and almost rolling over the rock as he landed blindly, then picking himself up and settling his wings without even looking for the speaking-stone. There was little point in that.

"Scared," he began bluntly, with a frightened, plaintive voice. He opened his beak, about to spew out a nonsensical stream of words describing everything all at once--then closed it, again, blinking and thinking. No, he had to make sense. To be coherent. He took a deep breath, centering himself, and began again. "Is this... a good time for--trial?" he chirped softly, and uneasily, slowly turning his head to stare without seeing at all the shuffling, breathing sounds present. "There is--big thing, breathing thing, hateful thing, coming out to chase, I think. It roared. It made heat." He meant the dragon, not Leon, but he didn't know that.

"Trial is maybe dangerous now, if thing comes for us. The fear shivered in his voice, audible, and he briefly, worriedly eyed the cave tunnel before turning vaguely toward Makyna. He had another question burning in him, and he'd ask it, before he answered hers.

"Fighting is stupid. They were fighting over you? Why didn't you tell them to stop?" he asked bluntly. That was the crux of it, to him--why hadn't Makyna just told them who she wanted to be with? He was too young to understand the details, or such things as reluctance, resentment, competition. To him, it was plain--nobody should fight over someone else. If she had told them which she preferred, they would never have fought to begin with. Then he shook his feathered head. He was getting well off-topic, and anyway, he'd asked his questions, now. He thought that the trial was at a bad time what with a dragon maybe chasing them--and he thought the whole fight should have been avoided. But he'd been asked a question, and he'd answer.

"There was fighting. I was scared. I hid. I heard fire. Roars. Jumping, and things. I hid my head. I couldn't hear, for awhile. And then when I could it was," and he lowered his voice in an imitation of Cancer that would have been hilariously bad, if it wasn't so macabre--"Ever since that first day, you hated me; ever since we met, I knew you'd hurt me."

He was paraphrasing as best he could from memory, but as he spoke his mind touched on the thoughts, and on his magic, and he slowly turned to Bevy, the gem-eyes glowing faintly. The words--the true words that Cancer had spoken, and in his voice--were imparted to her mind directly from Dark's own memory, like faint whispers. He'd meant to send it to Makyna, but what he sent her way would only be bits and pieces--so that both Bevy and Makyna would hear, but only snippets. Enough, perhaps, to show Cancer's tone, and to prove that Dark was being fully truthful.

"You can't hurt me anymore--no more. If you get out, you had better treat her like a Goddess, because she is one."

Then, Dark paused, fluffing himself down and glancing nervously toward the tunnel door again--expecting the raging dragon-creature to pursue them in any minute--before turning wide eyes back to Bevy.

"Rest in pieces, shit bear," he said, very quietly and very clearly.

He paused, and then added, "And then there was roaring, and everything fell apart." His voice at this last was even softer than before--barely a whisper--and he ducked out, shuffling backwards with bowed head.

________________

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