Eager to hear the opinion of his friend, Leon's head remained swiveled to face her, warm eyes fixed on her with encouragement. He didn't know just how nervous she really was, but never the less he watched her and remained close, lending a careful listening ear to her words. She had quite accurately summed up Leon's own opinion, and he was pleased to hear that she felt the same way as him. The consensus seemed to be that the protective of their group and the water came first, which Leon could agree to. Again, if they were going to protecting these crystal clear waters, they needed to buff up first. They needed to be strong if they were going to protect anything. He gave a firm nod once Makyna had finished her piece and passed the crystal off, however instead of being able to focus on what Cancer would say next, he was distracted by a sudden, alien feeling of embarrassment.

Leon couldn't quite figure out what had spawned the feeling until he glanced back down at Makyna and found her tucking her face into his fur. The emotion that burned within her also swelled in him, though he didn't experience it the same way she did. He only recognized it and knew it was there. As a result, the bear gently placed his paw atop her head and smiled warmly, encouragingly, then returned his paw to the ground.

Cancer had already began to speak. He turned his ears to listen to the feline, offered a brisk "Yes." as the cat confirmed their ultimate mission and listened further. He went on to explain roles and duties. Guardian seemed appealing to him, but Cancer had handed that job off to Bevy. The role of Coordinator was less interesting, although Leon did like the idea of keeping peace, he feared he was far too rambunctious for the job. Scout too was less appealing, but it seemed like the job most fitting for the bear. He was expected to be strong and protect the group, and though it seemed scouts were mostly expected to explore and be away from the group, Leon was certain if he took the helm of the duty he could pass the exploration task off to other scouts. Yes, that sounded good.

He nodded as Bevy spoke to him, and once she was finished, he picked up the crystal and prepared to speak. "Tests of bravery could include sending initiates off to unknown rooms - see how well they fare in the face of potential danger, you know?" He suggested. "I'd be happy to lead the scouts and conduct the bravery evaluations. Maybe tests of wit can be like.. solving puzzles or riddles or something." Leon added and shrugged. He didn't have much more to say on the matter. The bear nudged the quartz over to Makyna and offered another smile, paw lingering on the quartz point for a moment as he assessed his friend's willingness to speak.

Life is precious.

Makyna's face was coaxed out of Leon's fur when she felt the soft paw on her head. Her blue eyes glanced up at him to find that reassuring smile and all of the embarrassment melted away. No one was laughing at her and with that smile she felt like what she said wasn't silly after all. Feeling confidence flow back in her she turned back to Cancer as he spoke. Just in time she was able to mewl out a, "Yes!" In agreement with his words and they were on to the next topic.

The lioness listened intently at the new flood of information. Yes, those tasks seemed reasonable enough and they would fit each of them. Her head nodded in assent as Cancer first spoke then when Bevy and Leon spoke. Those two tests for bravery and flight sounded good and now she felt as if she had something else to fit to this.

When the quartz was passed to her the bear cub watched her for a moment, obviously wondering if she was up to the task of speaking again. While it still filled her with nervousness to speak she felt more prepared now that it had passed around once more and she knew that no one would laugh at her ideas. She was ready.

The little lioness put her paw on the quartz as she brushed Leon's paw gently with her own. A glance up to his eyes and a slight nod and smile showed that she was alright with speaking. "I think a test of flight and a test of bravery by exploring a new cave would be good. I only have a couple of things to add to this because you all summed it up so well... What if Guardians that don't fly are tested by sparring with another gembound. Obviously we are all expected to know how to defend ourselves but Guardians need to be better than your average member. If they spar an already trained Guardian and come out either on top or come out evenly... Would that not be a good test of strength?" She lifted her free paw and gave it a thoughtful lick, bringing it over her face briefly before continuing. "As for a test of wits I agree with what Leon says. A puzzle or a riddle would be good. Actually, what if we combine the two! The Coordinators put together a puzzle or a scavenger hunt that can only be completed by finding the answer in the riddle." The idea of putting together or even solving some sort of difficult puzzle exited her immensely! She absolutely loved getting to solve tough things that put her brain to work.

"Speech." || "Thoughts."

table by lisa

words: 450
tagged: Group Meeting
ooc: ---
muse: 5/10

ooc: so sorry for the length of this. I'd like to end this with a few goals in mind, for actual threads after. Some... group projects. :3 If you have ideas, feel free to toss 'em in. Cancer's suggesting, at the end, that they if they move some of the small fish from the ponds to the lagoon, they might get a better supply from it. Bigger fish, but he can't think of how to do it, and questions why there aren't already huge fish in there now.

Cancer listened intently as each spoke, ears occasionally flicking up as something new was suggested. This was a good idea. With so many minds working together, we could accomplish way more than a solo 'bound could. Suddenly, his future opened up to more possibilities. He wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but with so many like-minded friends, he was sure it woudn't be all that bad in the end. Despite himself, Can's face softened into a smile. Finally, with Makyna's suggstions voiced as well, Cancer sat straighter and addressed them once more.

"Agreed. They all sound perfectly suited to the skillsets they'll each need to have.

"However, I have a few suggestions of my own to add in. With regards to the Test of Strength, instead of an unknown place, why don't we scout out a somewhat risky location and send them there once we, ourselves, have explored it?" He paused to let it sink in, then continued to explain.

"I think we'd be putting them in too much potential danger, wandering into unknown areas. We don't know what else lives in these caves. Even another gembound could be a threat to their very lives. My alternative provides us with the knowledge and them the safetynet, to keep lives from being lost needlessly. I don't want that blood on my paws." He turned back to the rest of the topic at hand.

"Besides that, however, the rest seem perfectly fine to me. A spar with another, more experience gembound would give the senior member a good analysis of their skills, while proving their worth as a Guardian. We could have maneuver races in the air, for the sky-bounds." He decided that he liked that alternative word for bird- it sounded fancier. "And a trivial pursuit for a Test of Wits...

All those in favor of the Test of Wits as stated here, a trial of problem solving hints leading to an ultimate goal, say Aye!" He would wait a moment to hear their response before moving on to the next topic.

"And all those in favor of the Test of Courage?" He waited a moment, the moved to the next once their votes were in. There was much to discuss, and he wanted to move along quickly. "And finally, all those in favor of the Test of Strength as suggested?" The Ayes would have it, and he would move on to the next order of business.

"If we're ready to move on, next item to discuss is the quarter-cycle Election. I figured, every thirty days is a cycle, so four turns of thirty, and that's a Term. Leaders would only work during their Term as leader, and if voted out, they return to their regular duties. A new leader is voted in likewise, or the same leader may be voted back into another Term immediately after their last. This keeps things fair, and the interest of the group prioritized above all else. No one 'bound can ruin our initial mission this way. Should a leader stray from the proper intentions, or fail to perform their duties, the next election can see them returned to their initial place, and a more suited person voted in." He sounded rather fina with this long, winded explination. "Unless anyone has anything to add or change to this, I'd like to get this particular subject out of the way, because our next topic is food, then escorts shouldn't take long to discuss, then we can actually get start sorting out tasks.

"All those in favor of the Quarter-Cycle Election, to appoint the leader, say Aye." He'd again wait, then sit a little lower on his haunches. Food was the next order of business, and the boy was hungry just thinking about it. He didn't fancy talking about food while his stomach growled silently all the while. "Okay. Now we get on to the really important stuff.

"Food. We all need it, but this cave is small. Until we can figure out some way to keep a steady supply within our own borders, I think we'll need to arrange to have food brought in from outside. There's fish, but they're small yet." He turned to look behind him at the lagoon, an idea coming to mind in that moment. "What if we find some way to get fish into the lagoon itself? Like, there's a few there, but they're not really plentiful... find out why that is, and fix the lagoon up to host fish? I can't see it harming the water supply. We drink from the fishy waters too just fine." An audible rumble in his stomach reminded him that this particular topic was suddenly being drawn out for discussion thanks to him, and despite it, Cancer forced his smile to return. "Any other ideas? Grazers have it easy, so does Bevy, cause bugs are everywhere here... but us meat eaters gotta find a way not to let our stomachs go empty."

[[ omg ;;;; we should probably wrap this thread up huh!!! my bad ;;;;;;;;;;;; ]]

Of course Bevy agreed with everything everyone else said. Her friends were so smart, and she was quite happy to peep up an "Aye!" when needed. She hoped she wouldn't have to talk again, but it seemed like Cancer could keep talking all gosh darn day. He would be such a great leader, being able to say so much. She felt worn out already, and even her attention began to wane at the end of his long rambles.

She desperately hoped he wouldn't notice. It wasn't that he was boring or anything, it was just... a lot to take in. It seemed like her friend was awfully hungry too... This was something they would definitely have to fix. The big animals wouldn't eat bugs just like she didn't eat bones, and it was all quite understandable. Bugs were much too small for the bigger animals. So they would need fish, and bigger and bigger fish as they got bigger. It was quite the puzzle and she wasn't sure...

It was clearly her turn to speak but she didn't know what to say. Nervously, she hopped up on to the speaking rock and looked up at Cancer. "I'm not sure what we can do about the fish... I think we need to look around and brainstorm for a while. How about you go have lunch and we'll work on this some more later?"

The small bird turned to face Leon and Makyna. "I think we covered enough for today. It was a really good meeting. Um, maybe we should have some sort of official cut off point for meetings... For now it can just be until we all get hungry!" She chirped, trying to make a joke, but honestly she was quite exhausted.

Who knew meetings could take so much out of a tiny bird? She hopped down off of the rock and looked at the three friends, hoping they would agree it was time to call it quits. She knew that this was important, but she honestly doubted they would have any ideas until they did a thorough search and investigation about the fish!

i agree, i'm ready to finish up this thread ahah

Leon remained silent for the remainder of the meeting, simply listening and nodding his head at what Cancer, Makyna and Bevy would say. Once Makyna was ready to take the stone, he felt her paw brush over his and a small flare of heat rose to his cheeks. He diverted his eyes for a moment, then looked back at his friend, returning her smile. He was glad that she had willed up the courage to speak another round; seeing her nervous made him feel... bad. It made him feel as if she didn't deserve to be nervous, and that whoever or whatever she was nervous about, Leon wanted to beat up. Anything that made her feel bad feelings was very likely going to be subject to Leon's wrath.

The rest of the meeting slipped by quickly. Cancer droned on about some other stuff that Leon had barely paid attention to, his mind beginning to wander. Would Makyna notice it? Would she be able to sense his lack of attention? Whatever, it probably wasn't that big of a deal anyways. The final issue was bringing fish to the lagoon in the cave, which Leon had just tuned back in to hear. He blinked, looking to Makyna and Cancer, and then over to Bevy as she spoke up about calling the meeting to end before they all went hungry. The bear snickered and licked his nose, rubbing his stomach with his paw. "Seconded. I could go for a snack." He rumbled. The boy looked over at Makyna, silently probing for some kind of agreement from her. He didn't want to just sit around all day stuck in a "meeting" - he was eager to get started on this new job of his!

Makyna listened to Cancer's speech, all of it but admittedly she was finding it hard to concentrate too. True, it would help if they had fish nearby but she had no idea where she would get it. Perhaps they could expand the lagoons to support more fish but how would they get a hold to bigger ones? Makyna had no idea at the moment and she couldn't concentrate on that task. Focusing on how they would get food made her even more hungry.The thought of food implanted in her mind and ran through it like a fire. Food, she wanted food badly too! Her stomach was starting to rumble just at the thought of it. When Leon started to rub his belly with a paw the lioness giggled in amusement and sat back on her rump, rubbing a paw across her stomach like him. "I third it!" She piped up with an excited squeak.

She gave an apologetic look to Cancer. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the meetings, it was just that she couldn't concentrate on an empty stomach. She hoped he would understand. After all, wasn't he a little bit hungry too. After all the talking he had to do certainly he would want something to eat too and couldn't blame the other gembounds for wanting to duck out.

___________________________________________________________________

words: 222
tagged: Meeting
ooc: ---
muse: 3/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Cancer frowned as Bevy suggested a lunch break. Leon swiftly seconded the idea and then Makyna agreed. Well, he was certainy outvoted. He'd forgotten that other gembounds might not be so business-sensible as he was, so the cub rolled his eyes and stood taller. He opened his mouth to protest, to suggest just a few more minutes of discussion- surely they could silence their stomachs long enough for that!- but as he did, his stomach forwarded its own agreement with an audible groan. The cub sank back down, with a look of shock, then grinned sheepishly.

"Okay, okay, we can break for lunch." He laughed shortly, then stood again. "I hereby call this Meeting of Council to an end! Let's go eat!" With that, the cub trotted over, grabbed the shard of crystal they'd used, stashed it back in the crevice by his ledge and followed the others towards the other end of the cave. "Dibs on any land hoppers!" He'd run ahead towards the Warrens for a well deserved hunt, eager to test his claws again, and even more excited to fill his complaining stomach.

--exit cancer--

Bevy smiled as everyone agreed lunch would be good. Of course, Cancer did his contrary eye-rolling thing and even opened his mouth to go on some more, but it seemed like his stomach got the best of him! She peeped as he officially called the meeting to an end, spread her wings-- pausing just for a moment to give a nod to the bear and the lion-- and then took off herself to find a bite to eat.

She flew over Cancer, then past him, soaring high with her eyes bright on the mossy land. There was always plenty of food here for her. She hoped that her friends wouldn't have too hard of a time finding lunch... But if they did, they only needed to call and she would help! However she could, at least. She certainly couldn't fish.

But hey, for now, life was good. Their family was truly official now. It was most definitely something to be proud of-- and now as she flew above them, looking for food, she couldn't help but take turns watching them as well. She was so happy to have them. She hoped it would always be like this, just the four of them. Maybe more some day, but always the four of them. She couldn't imagine Maji without them. The waterfall without them. They were the core, the heart, and she was so proud to be apart of it all.

;; Bevy Exit!~

Hooray! They were free to go! The lioness could have cheered out loud for happiness but she doubted that would help Cancer's mood at all. Ky already knew that she wanted to go try her paw at fishing to see what she could get or if she could get anything. Perhaps she could even study the ponds to see if there was anything to be done about getting bigger fish into the waters. She wouldn't know until she tried.

Cancer didn't look completely happy about ending the meeting at first but after his own stomach rumbled loudly he couldn't help but assent. Makyna gave a little giggle before turning to Leon and touching his large shoulder with a paw. "Come on, let's go catch some fish! Then, we can go exploring!" Ky could think of nothing better than going to catch fish with her best friend and then going out to explore with him!

The lioness rose to her golden paws and threw the bear a smile before dipping her head in acknowledgement to Cancer and Bevy. With one last playful tap to Leon's shoulder and a little giggle she took off towards the little ponds. Time to go fishing!

___________________________________________________________________

words: 201?
tagged: closed
ooc: sorry for skipping >.> just wanted to quickly get Ky out and end the thread....
muse: 2/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Thankfully, the meeting was finally adjourned. Leon turned to his friend, delighted at her suggestion. Fish sounded very tasty - maybe this whole living in Pisces thing would work out after all! With the abundance of fish, and living with his friend, he was sure it would be a great time. Besides, now he had a job. Even if it took him away from Pisces and Makyna, at least it was something to do, rather than wandering aimlessly. "I bet I can catch more fish than you!" He challenged and laughed. Leon hadn't spared any form of acknowledgement to Bevy or Cancer, overcome by his excitement - he simply turned and bounded after Makyna, eager to play in the water and catch a bite to eat.

exit Leon