Paws raced. Raced and raced through caverns and tunnels. Her heart beat frantically in her chest. A chill raced down her spine as heterochromia eyes searched all around. Something was wrong. Something. Something horrible. Was it Vazi? The idea of something going wrong because of that stag sent a frenzy into her heart and she pushed herself more. Her pup was in trouble. As for which one, she wasn't sure just yet. All she knew was that one of her charges were in danger and she had to get to them. The sound of her paws racing across the stone floor thundered loudly, or at least in her ears it did.

Panic arose in her and she struggled to stifle the emotion as she hurried on. She had no time to worry about any of that. just above her was a growing DragonBat, screeching his own concern as he followed her easily on silent wings. Pheo was in a dazed panic, unsure what was causing his companion such unease. Though he continued to follow. He would help if he could.

It wasn't long before she found herself sprinting into a very familiar tunnel and as she went further and further into it. First her gaze saw the doe. Fur as white as could be and for a split second her heart fluttered. Though it was quick to fall away. There were no tan markings. This was not her hatchmate. Then she saw him. The small white pup that she had taken in as her own son. Her own pup. Limping desperately away from the doe. Hackles bristled as a snarl ripped from her chest. Instantly her gem reacted....

...The ground suddenly shook and rumbled, thundering loudly in the tunnel as the ground between the doe and her child violently ripped apart. Arkrael did not halt her running. No. She would not allow this doe to get away with harming her child! She would not! Vazi flitted through her mind for a moment and silently she wondered... was she part of his herd?

It didn't matter in the least. She would pay for harming her child. She ran right towards the splintered floor and lunged right over it. The moment her paws landed upon the ground she kept up her pace, rushing towards the doe with a violent intent.

"Speech"
'Thoughts'

---

Words:Words
Tags: @Belladonna
OoC: MAMA'S COMING OMG D:

The bear knew how painful it could be to be confined to a single cave through the duration of injury. Oh, he knew injury all too well - he had a nasty habit of getting into fights where he really shouldn't have, and then burning himself to a crisp such that his first and foremost punishment was retiring to the den to spend another couple weeks recovering. Thankfully, Leon was the kind of Gembound too eager to be on his feet again, and even if he was supposed to be stuck in the den healing, he had a tendency to get up and wander. It was rare that an injury could keep him down for long. That was why he thought it would be a good idea to take Bartos out of Pisces and wandering to the other caves; the cat had been sulking in his new den ever since he arrived, and after admitting that he hadn't seen any part of the cave beyond Orion and Pisces, Leon decided that it was time for an adventure.

The long haired cat was curled up on his back, between his shoulders. Leon's lumbering pace was slow and metered, and he'd made sure that somebody back in Pisces was able to keep a close eye on his children while he was gone. He didn't like leaving Pisces often, but this was for a good cause. Leon hated to see the cat so miserable, his only company the slow growing citrine chrysali. They'd come from Clover, and when he learned that he couldn't deny the sinking feeling of dread in his gut. She'd been bound to Hasira for some reason beyond him - and then Bartos explained that Hasira was keeping her prisoner and she was trapped - leaving Bartos without a mother for his growing children. The feeling hit close to home. He couldn't imagine how he could survive if anything had happened to Makyna.

Leon was filling up the silence with playful ramble, telling the cat about his adventures with Makyna and some of the cute things his children had done, and how adorable and amazing it would be once his emerged. They made their way through the tunnel on their way to Polaris - it would be the first place Leon would show Bartos, as he was certain the nerdy little cat would enjoy seeing the spire. They were keeping a good pace, too, until the sound of a scuffle had risen up through the air. The bear paused and listened - clacking of hooves, stamping, and then the ground began to rumble. "Hold on," He spoke quickly to the cat, bursting forward. He couldn't stop his mind from leaping to assumptions. Hasira. It must have been him. The ground shuddered and shattered, breaking apart, cleaving a rift through the tunnel as he caught sight of Arkrael clearing the gap and lunging for another. To the side, a small white dog was attempting to limp away. Harmed. Assaulted.

He didn't spare a second thought. In the back of his mind, he recognized the doe. But she had done wrong. She had done evil. There was no way this could be Clover - her eyes bled blackness, and there was shadow consuming her entirety. The bear charged after Arkrael, fully intent on backing her up.

Post-Roll Edit:
As the heat roiled around in his chest, Leon sucked in a deep breath, ready to bathe the atmosphere in tongues of flame - until the cat suddenly shouted for him to stop, causing the bear to choke on the heat and burn his tongue, scowling as he skidded to a halt.

"LEON, STOP!" The cat's frantic voice cried out, eyes glued to the target of the massive bear and the vicious wolf.

It was her.

Of all the creatures that they could have found, it was her.

And he witnessed it all in slow motion - the wolf with her teeth bared, ready to tear the life from her throat. The bear, angry and sick with vengeance, or justice, brewing the heat of the sun inside his very lungs, fire to rip across her and consume the doe. The beautiful, the perfect, the flawed - what had she become - whatever she had become, it was still her. It was still her.

Bartos lifted himself up on the bear's back, claws subconsciously unsheathed into his skin as he gripped on for dear life and summoned his magic with all his strength.

Post-Roll Edit:
A surge of energy lashed out from the cat, a wave of crackling blue - it crawled along the earth, rupturing the soil and rock until the spires of stone erupted from the ground around the hooves of the white doe had turned to deep cobalt. As the earth shook in the wake of the wolf, it parted its great maw and a shell of crystalline benitoite mounted around her, gleaming in the artificial light of the cave. The gem was thin and incomplete, barely a foot high behind the doe, but that didn't matter. Bartos forged a wall of dark space blue before her, shielding her from whatever harm the wolf may bring. He couldn't let anyone else hurt her.

He told her he would protect her.

"Speech"

He couldn't run fast enough. His hobbled leg was too painful and despite him trying to ignore it... It wasn't working. Tiny whimpers escaped his little maw as he attempted to run away. Blackness rose around him, swallowing him up and for a moment he believed that he was passing out but he never fell to the ground or lot consciousness. No, that steady beat of his heart and the angry laments of his tormentor and snarls? His ears perked but he didn't dare turn not until he heard the sound of ripping earth and thundering paws.

His golden eyes turned to see the gallant form of his mother as she tried to attack the doe but her way was blocked. Everything was happening so quickly but his swift mind was able to keep track with a frightening amount of detail. The cat and the bear who must have come when his back was turned and the stones blocking his mom from the doe. Perhaps the cat was friends with her, that was why he blocked her access. In any case he just wanted to go with his mother so he could have snuggles and heal.


"Mama." It was spoken in his simple monotone. A calm plea despite his pain and his want to be elsewhere. Would she even recognize him now with his oily black fur? Soon it would fade away to something of its former color but for now he looked like a little shadow from the corruption of darkness around him.