Gather the Forces - Printable Version

Blackberry stood in the middle of the nest, her head held high and intimidating. The claws on her stomach flexed impatiently. It was the day now, today was the day she had been waiting for. Or perhaps it would be tomorrow. Or the day after. It didn't matter. She had been sitting on her plans for far too long - it was time to put them in motion.

The hatching of her kids and the start of her family had pushed her vengeance to the back of her mind. But it was still there, the seething fury, the boiling madness. She still remembered all of the faces that had cursed her, that had hurt her. And Blackberry was one to never give up a grudge. Even now, cycles later, she still needed revenge. They needed to pay.

If the family members were still on her side, they would have heard the message. She had been spreading it for days. With the help of Jayberry, she had spread the news across Orion and Polaris - the family would meet on this day or there would be hell to pay. Those that were still loyal to the Bloodberries were to come here to this day. It was, perhaps, a show of her arrogance and confidence. Anyone could have heard this message, anyone could intrude, but she was certain, completely certain, that if anyone would attack, they would be killed immediately.

And so, she waited. The time was drawing near. The family, the whole family, at least everyone that was loyal to the family, would gather now.

Huckleberry tried to walk in confidently. It had been long enough time since their apparent betrayal for them to at least be liked again, if not trusted. They hadn't done anything wrong since then.

Well, they had. They'd talked with Pride. And Kin-Kin. And Imperia. They'd talked with Baneberry and they had thought about leaving. But mama didn't know that. It hurt them to hide things from her, but they knew it would be worse if they said anything.

Shiny was perched on their shoulder, as usual, a little more comfortable with the family now but Huckleberry's fear of Blackberry rubbed off on her a lot. Her ears twitched nervously as they got close.

Reaching the nest, Huckleberry sat down in their favorite spot, which happened to be close enough to Blackberry to still be a part of the audience. They settled down, trying not to think about the anticipation that nagged at their head. They had no idea what this was about and they were a little bit nervous.

As they gathered, the chrysalis shivered. The thing inside could feel the presence of others surrounding them. Not many, yet, but there would be more. Of course, it did not know this. It hadn't even properly woken up yet. But it was time to now, it had been sleeping for long enough.

The crack along the side of the shell appeared suddenly and with little noise. Another wobble as the creature began to stretch. It's mind was waking up now, its consciousness filling its head. One last wobble and the chrysalis split. The chick rolled into the world, not particularly pretty, but cuter then many other babies would be. A mix of yellows and browns and covered with soft, fluffy feathers.

She rolled herself upright and looked up towards the goose sitting next to her. She chirped loudly, wondering who this was. Her mother, perhaps? Who was the other one? Her father? No, that didn't look right, she didn't have all those legs. At least, she didn't think she did.

She tried to take a step forward but stumbled and rolled forward, squeaking with surprise. She didn't hurt herself, but she was a little disappointed that she couldn't move.

As Blackberry looked at the family gathered, she noticed the absence of one very important member. Where was Blueberry? She looked around. He wasn't anywhere in sight. She hadn't seen him for a while...perhaps he hadn't gotten the message.

Blackberry turned to Jayberry. "You gave the message to your father, right?" There was no worry, however. Blackberry knew that Blueberry was loyal to her and she knew he could handle himself. He would be fine.

Enough of the family was gathered now, though. She narrowed her eyes and took note of the absences - Mulberry, Baneberry, Hellberry, Snowberry, Dewberry, and Yewberry were absent. She gave a soft hiss. Hellberry and Yewberry...they were too arrogant and probably thought that they could ignore anything she said without consequence. They would be taught a lesson. Snowberry, Mulberry, and Dewberry...she had thought of them as cowards. They probably ran from the prospect of violence. She hadn't seen Mulberry and Snowberry in a while as well. She had given them a home and warmth and they had rejected her. They would pay for that.

And Baneberry. She hadn't expected her to show her face. She doubted that she would be able to control herself if she had, though. She was furious at her daughter for abandoning the family. As far as she was concerned, Baneberry was no longer part of the family.

She looked over the children that had attended, though. She was so proud of them. Their loyalty meant more to her then she could ever describe. Elderberry...she hadn't seen him in so long and she matched his expression, full of fondness and joy at seeing him again. "Welcome, children. I have gathered-" She was cut off by the sound of cracking and whipped her head around with surprise. The chrysalis that had rested next to her for the last cycle. It was finally hatching!

She leaned down to nudge the little bird closer to her. "Hello, Sylvanberry." She gave the newborn a few gentle nips to get off bits of gem that stuck to her feathers. She took another moment to gush over her new daughter before raising herself and turning to the family again.

"I have gathered you here because we have not acted like a family. For too many cycles we have been apart, training alone, or exploring alone. I should have done this much sooner but I have finally planned our first attack as a full family." She paused for a moment for the children to process that information before continuing. "For a long time you have been trained to fight but few of you have actually had a real opponent. I am going to give you that opportunity now. In Eridanus there is a cat who wronged me long ago and never paid the price. He has many friends across the cave that may come to his aid so together we will launch an attack against the whole of Eridanus!" She raised her head proudly and looked over her children, waiting for their responses.

Huckleberry's jaw dropped. They had not been expecting this at all. Maybe they expected her to announce their war with the Sinful Seven, maybe she had decided for another training session. They had even feared that she had brought them together to officially kick them out of the family. But an attack on Eridanus? Not at all what he thought would happen.

They felt Shiny shifting nervously on their shoulders. Huckle-friend, are we going to fight? Are we going to get hurt? Huckleberry sighed and raised a wings to stroke the top of the cat's head. "Not you. You won't fight." But they dared not say anything more out loud.

They wanted to speak out and, at the very least, ask why. But they couldn't. Mama had only just started trusting them again. They didn't want to go against her. So they simply bowed their head and flexed their claws. If they had to, they'd kill to stay in the family. Again. Maybe...

Jayberry's paws were satisfyingly sore.

The pads had cracked, and left bloodied paw prints in her wake. She had covered the entirety of the caves twice over, passing on Mother's message to all of the Bloodberries that she had found.

And now she rested. Stretched out on her stomach next to the nest - on Mother's right side, naturally - head on her paws, looking for all the world like a loyal dog dozing at its Master's side. But she was wide awake, simply resting her eyes, her ears keen to the sound of approaching Gembounds, nose picking up their scents.

First was Huckleberry - their past disobedience forgiven, but not forgotten, and their pet. An utterly useless - at least to Jayberry - catsquirrel. But it was important to Huckleberry, and Huckleberry was important to Jayberry, so she left it be. Her ears twitched, and she opened her eyes as a chrysalis began to shiver. Eyes flicked over to the newest member of their family, a cuter than normal chick. The wolf's eyes closed - Cloudberry approached next, nearing the baby. Acaiberry arrived next, fluttering in. And then Elderberry. Her mantle rose, although she didn't growl - the Original Son had been gone for a long, long time - longer than he had been around, in fact. Her tail wagged, slowly, waiting for Mother's verdict.

It was only when Mother addressed her that she opened her eyes fully, sitting up - "Of course, Mother."

Her eyes never left Mother as she began to address the family, although her ears faced outwards, towards the rest of the Family. Her blood sang at the thought of a fight - a real one! One where she would have to put all of her strength into it, not a slaughter like her previous fights had been. She showed her agreement with a snarl that turned into a bay, head tilting back to release the sound that echoed in the tunnel.

"She speaks." 'She thinks.' She does.