With the gembounds distracted (and serving as a distraction to the spiked beastie that would've hastened to devour it), a stoat-sized critter came slinking out from the dark of Eridanus' underbelly. It's vibrantly marked throat caught the light of the small bauble as it made its move: but it wasn't the small thing that it wanted. With a deftness indicative to a skilled hunter, the small cat-like beast was suddenly in possession of the black stone. It pawed at the object quickly yet cautiously, trying its best to sneak-thief it away before the other lesser gemthing spotted it.

The gembound were trying to appease it. It was working for the most part, with the spiney beast studying each offering, although it did not move as Mercurius offered it yet another gift. Rather, the creature's long tongue snaked out of its blunted face as if to reach for it -

- but there was a crackle of movement beside the creature, and suddenly all bets were off. With a shriek that rivaled the sound of metal squealing, the beast puffed up, raised its tail, and spiraled in defense of its favorite toy. The red-tipped spines were the most prominent when the beast's prickly hide reacted. They stood and seemed to illuminate, while the rest of its body became a massive pincushion. The beast took a mad lunge at the feline-thing and bared its teeth - all of them - making a mad grab with its pharyngeal jaws at the creature's reaching limb.

Captivated by this show of wary trust, Mercurius most certainly failed to notice the flamboyantly adorned feline creature lurking. It was only when the pincushion whirled around with the most horrific shriek that he took notice. Suddenly, the thief's limb was basically at the spiney thing's mercy and the pale lion was rather hesitant in acting. Fearing breaking the little creature's trust in attempting to wrestle its toy from the caracal-esque lesser, he stood for a moment, unsure.

Trying to avoid violence, the pale lion circled around the side of the thief currently being wrestled by a pincushion and went to put down a hefty paw. Simply to restrain, he thought. Because what the heck else was he going to do?

His mushroom wasn't appreciated and a shriek was the response given for his offering. Othello puffed up, offended that his gift had been reacted to so rudely by a smaller, spiney-backed, lesser. Othello snarled, glaring at the beast and grumbling when the lions orb was received by the cretin.

Another offering was made by the lion, but now another visitor had arrived and was playing with the black stone. They were noticed and the cretin lesser turned on it, allowing Othello the oppertunity to take back his mushroom and slink back. While the able lion was aiding in restraining the playful cat lesser, Othello narrowed his eyes and came around to their fronts. He was jealous of the lion, his ability to make things the cretin liked. He could only make mushrooms - lets see if you like this.

He did at least try to make it look like he was firing for the lessers when he inhaled and exhaled, hopefully releasing a breathfull of nasty hallucinogenic spores, but there was no doubt that he wanted some of it to get the lion too.

There was suddenly a second lesser trying to steal from the first and as Merc stepped on it to prevent the theft, Kronos felt the need to act too. Like any studious lion cub learning the ropes, he awkwardly came around Merc's opposite side- not noticing Othello's magic as he moved- until he stood opposite the first lesser, with Merc and the held cat between them.

He wasn't the wisest cub yet, but his instincts were there, and with Merc holding it down, Kronos did his best to fit himself around his father's paw, grabbing at the lesser's fur with teeth and claws and pushing all of his weight onto it, in an attempt to pin it like prey. Tiny pin teeth and claws made up for his lack of strength and even as his back legs buckled to keep him over the thing with Merc's paw in the way, Kronos was ready to 'suffocate' the thing, like a good little trainee.

^{@Mercurius @Othello}

They came at it from all sides - the shrieking pincushion reacted first, then suddenly there was something grappling the cat-thing's face and a large paw crushing the rest of it. In a panic the lesser hissed and writhed in the grip of all its enemies, and the orb that it had fixated upon rolled away from it's grasp. Just as @Othello was casting his spell, the cat arched and swung its tail in the direction of the largest obstacle (Mercurius), and among its tufts of fur flashed the needlepoint of a stinger.

It reacted as swiftly as it could, but was also overwhelmed by the aid of the giant gembounds. Rather than accept their help the creature puffed and turned its agitation upon the two felines, releasing the grip of its second set of teeth from the theif and aiming for @Kronos - but then it saw the swinging tail of the cat-thing, heard the rolling of the dark stone on the floor of the cavern, and gave up entirely. The creature charged after its escaping toy and was intending to leave the lesser to its fate as dinner for the bigger creatures - but then it was hit by a wave of pollen (???) or some kind of detritus in the air.

Luckily the creature's biology was volatile enough by itself, and it's position away from the group also aided it's dodge of the bulk of the magical spray. It ducked for the orb, reached with its second set of teeth to pick it up or nudge it along, and managed to at least redirect the rolling to a safer trajectory away from the chaos.

Things weren't going well. The cat thing he held down struck out at his father-figure with a hidden stinger and in his shock, Kronos responded instinctively. He snapped at the thing's neck, grabbing hold of its scruff- harmless milk teeth pricking but not quite piercing the things skin. It wasn't the bite that ended up flawed, however, and spasmodic hind legs kicked out in a flinch and he felt a sharp sting as the cat-thing's stinger met his skin instead, his rump thrown between it and its initial target. He yowled into the thing's fur at the burning of broken skin, pain new to him.

Rather than smartly let the thing go, however, he continued to pin it, moving instead to shake his head violently in hopes of rendering it incapable of stinging him- or his father- again.

^{@Mercurius @Othello}