"Hello!" Poco cheered to the kitten, and then... "Well, I don't know! What's a King?" she asked the birds with a chirrup! and a prance in place, "Kings sound COOL!" and then "Hello! Hi! Hey-oh hi!" to the many-many-many Gembound that came after.

She perked her ears at the bird "That sounds scary, Hounds are weird! They are drooly." Poco Loco listened close - as close as she was capable - to the birds as to what they needed, and without another word spun and bounded away.

-temp exit Poco Loco-

Poco Loco spent hours dragging the rod back to the Kings, and by the time she was back her neck was aching, her body throbbing. But she dropped it in front of them though they were her human and it were a bird, and stood up proud as could be, purring at the top of her lungs. "This is a rod! I found it forrr you!" Her tail waved happily, "I think it's a rod, at least. I don't know what a rod really is."

And she didn't sound particularly bothered by that.

Rod found in Bless Her Heart

Primal energy, made manifest... ? Hargrave squinted, ears pricking yet further forward. They were not like the Hand that Astraea had mentioned then... ? It was not an accurate description, according to the split-off, kinder voice, it would suffice. Interference might be on the table - though, it might not be. Once this Hunt began, she would have to make her choice. Determine her purpose. Not think, but become.

She knew not of galaxies, but the word itself was fantastical like that of the sky and surface. Mountains and valleys. The dog held no faith that she might see any of those, but - as she dipped her head to the Kings and made to leave - she could imagine them.

-
The half-decayed pitch rat smacked wetly on the floor of the Kings' alcove, and Hargrave made sure to smear the Oil on her pelt rather than swallow it. It tasted disgusting enough on her tongue; no need to taste it again later.

"Kings," she woofed softly, "I'm sorry that it isn't too fresh." Her gaze flickered to either side of the alcove, at the various rods and cloth that'd been brought already. "... and that it's been so long." Had all the others forgotten about this task... ? Hargrave had had faith in their completing it. Especially in the massive, brutish-looking alien that specifically claimed to go off in search of blood. The dog licked at her chops, and dipped her head to the Kings - if they were even there - "has it happened... ?"

a very belated savage-blood drop-off from the big and the small of us (it's literally one pitch rat hdfndfngh)
this thread now takes place in current time - 8/20/2020!
because imagine backdating this, holy shit

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

gore

"There is no need to apologize. It is perfect. Thank you," said the voice called Alnilam, to Sharp's apology. And again, a nod to James, when he explained, and a "This, too, is perfect; we thank you."

The cat had brought them a second rod--a backup, perhaps--and the Three Kings dipped a star-glitter head, the galaxy hues of their body shifting and churning with the movement. "Excellent... you have all done well."

"And STILL no blood!" Alnitak snapped in complaint. "...But we will wait," came Mintaka's more patient voice.

And so they did, for a time.

_________________

When, eventually, Hargrave came to them--whether the others had come back and forth to check on the progress, or not--the Kings spread their night-star wings and swept closer to inspect it. Auroras seemed to trail briefly in their wake, and their eyes shone icy blue.

"It's rotting!" Alnitak complained, at once. "It took this long, and it's-" "-fine-" "-it's not fine-" "We will just need to be swift." The eyes flared red for a brief moment, talons pulling at the rat; and then the cloth, saved from what James had woven, was pulled forth from where it lay across a nearby rock. The cloth was dipped in what parts of the rat had not decayed, until it was soaked in blood.

Then the rod was picked up in the Three Kings' beak, and to this they affixed the blood-soaked cloth, hanging it at one end--like some sort of strange flag.

"We will call you," the Three Kings explained, "when it is time."

_____________

This concludes Part I of The Three Kings - Wild Hunt. Characters may exit at any time, and participants will be tagged when the next phase begins.

@Sharp @Un Poco Loco @James (all for visibility, mainly;) @Hargrave

Hargrave's head dipped further, but she didn't apologize again. The first one was still out there, and two of the three voices were accepting of the offering. She had to wonder, too - wouldn't the Oil be just as much like blood as the sanguine type? It emerged from the same source, and the strange ritual was wholly unaffected by the presence of it. The dark dog shifted on either foot, watching the Kings do their work to prepare.

She half-expected incantations, or a show of magic. Anything to fit the bill of summoning. Her paws took her back a few paces as the flag was completed. But, alas, "we will call you when it is time."

Her gaze shifted to and from the Kings and the offering(?) "That's... all?" the Gray Hare breathed, "how does this... Hunt find it?" Hargrave knew she had no sense for magical power, but it seemed as if this effigy should thrum with some unseen power, echoing across the galaxies - or whatever the three Kings had described these energetic beings as hailing from.

posts a not-exit just to get to 5 posts -

"It will form a banner--a magic they cannot deny," came the Kings' trilling response.

And the whirling galaxy of feathers began to raise it up.

The rod: a flag-pole, of sorts, lifted and thrust into the stone, piling down so that it stood straight and strong.

The cloth, having been dipped first into the blood, soaked red: then raised, draped, on the pole. And now that pole was upright, the flag not battered by wind and proudly flapping, but hanging limp and gory, dripping. But a magic enshrouded, now: a glimmer from the Kings, an aurora of starshot colors that swirled up around both their body and the new-formed banner.

"We will be some time," their twinned voices said, almost gently--and then the dark and swirling magic, studded through with silver stars, obscured them.

___________

The Three Kings have exited, and will return and be able to be interacted with once the next phase begins. The magic shrouds them from any interference.

@Hargrave (for visibility)

There was the energy she expected. It was a glimpse into the cosmos, she thought, much like the Kings themselves. Perhaps that was their enchantment... their power? To cast lights such as these?

Hargrave's curved ears pricked forward, fiery eyes blinking only once as the Kings did their work and vanished behind a glittering curtain. She tried briefly to stare into the blackness between stars, but there was nothing looking back. The Gray Hare spoke softly, reverently instead, "alright, then."

There was nothing more she could do, then. Nothing but to wait - and there was no point to her lingering around this den. The Kings had drawn her before, and they could do it again.

exit

The Pallas cat left after the big brown beast.

- temp exit to the blood-hunt thread -

- return -

Trauma ensued.

Caught a glimpse of the world between life and death. Nearly transversed it. Didn't.

Returned. Empty pawed. Was told to leave again.

So, left. Maybe to return. Hopefully. If it all went right in the future.

- exit -

LO AND BEHOLD, MY LAZIEST EXIT EVER.