Mother’s whispered warning added a sense of urgency as Yellow gathered their magic once more. They must hold the line here, to ensure the safety of their siblings in Leo. To ensure that Chaos could be defeated once and for all.

They felt the magic catch, and immediately called to Jinyi and anyone else who wished to follow: Come! I have made steps in the air; follow my footsteps if you want to hide yourself in an alcove in one of the tall crystals! Then, without hesitation, trusting in the force of their own magic that they felt humming through them and bolstered by the lofty ideals of Order thrumming along the Hivemind, they leaped into the air. It seemed as if they would simply fall to the unforgiving crystal floor—but no; they kept leaping higher and higher, pushing off on patches of shimmering air as they made their way to a towering pink crystal hollowed out at its top. Their chip merchant brother followed close behind with his bundle of rocks, tucking himself away in a slightly lower hollow on a neighboring crystal. From here, they could cast their magic and throw their rocks while at least being slightly sheltered from whatever might happen on the ground.

Wilder sprinted through the tunnel from Canis, Aether in her wake. Vaati kept pace with her, and though she could feel the anxiety fraying the edge of their connection, she knew he was keeping it down for her. They needed to focus now. Battle was approaching.

And as they entered over the threshold to Gemini, she already saw the effects of Order taking the cave. The white fungus of order had already carpeted the ground, and she could smell the rot in the air. Her lip curled and, against her will and better judgment, fear came to her eyes.

It was a reckless move. It was stupid. But the trauma that Mother had caused her, the fear for Wulfsige, for all the other creatures of the cave, the fear they'd fall into her arms as easily as she did, was what spurred her actions. A more rational, present Wilder would have chastised herself for her brash actions. But this was not the decision of the more careful and cautious Wilder that had returned from the surface of Let. This was the hasty, reckless decision of a younger version, with too much power and too little responsibility.

She gathered magic in her stone and leaped forward, passing by Wulfsige and Tourmaline on her way, hissing a warning - "Close your eyes!" and added, "You too, Aether! Look away!" and Vaati dove for the other two, to push them back as she sprinted towards the mushroom field. She stopped a safe distance away and focused on a single point in the middle, to explode that one fungus and burn all the others.

She readied her magic, felt it burn through her gemstone and released.

...and nothing happened.

The magic dissipated into nothing. Ears perked in shock, tail twitching with surprise. "What? Oh shit," she cursed, realizing what she'd done. She'd failed and now she was just a sitting duck.

This post allows all nearby Hive members to have their rolls raised by a threshold of one: Crit Fail -> Fail, Fail -> Barely, Barely -> Successful, Successful -> Crit Success.

She fell into deep concentration, ears flat against her back where she crouched behind the cover of the stones. She had her consecrated holy ground. Now, she would bloom that power and extend it to the Hive all around her.

Ananke pushed out her magic, feeling it flicker up and spark across the area. It was not quite as far-reaching as she'd hoped. She heard the sudden voices, knew that they had someone here--a stranger--but Mother's warning had steeled her. She kept her ears flat, her focus strong, and a moment later thereads of her spell reached her allies like tendrils of power.

"...I have it." The rabbit's thoughts were barely a murmur along the link. "You are stronger in my presence. I bring Mother's power to you all." The knowledge that it would only last a moment came with it.

And as for the strangers--she left that for the others to decide what to do.

Catalyst had not been in her hiding spot for long when she saw the cat. Catalyst's head snapped to follow Wilder's gaze, watching the patch of fungus. And....nothing happened. Nervousness turned into a sense of irateness. Catalyst may not have known what Wilder had been planning, but it was best to stop her before she could do it again. Small Wilder may have been, unfair the odds may have been, it only made her a easier target.

Catalyst leapt from her hiding spot, claws out. She did not rush for Wilder, though, and simply paced towards her with the slow, leisurely movements of a panther. "I remember seeing you somewhere," she hissed, her tail swaying. Catalyst paused, her head cocking a bit. "Why would you try to harm Her fungus? We could be family!"

The sentiment seemed genuine on Catalyst's behalf, despite never having directly spoken to Wilder. Catalyst shook her head. She loathed the idea of using force. But she steeled her resolve and pushed herself towards the cat in a dash. Catalyst's foot sprang forward, in an attempt to catch and pin Wilder underneath. If Catalyst could catch her, maybe they could be family all the same.

spk/i>

@Wilder
((Catalyst is trying to pin Wilder under a foot!))

He hadn't been seen. This was unusual- Order was a Unity, so one set of eyes seeing him would mean they All would. Maybe they were particularly determined to take this cave. That just made him all the more determined to stop them.

Somehow.

That 'How' came in the form of a tiny black cat and a Unidentifiable Creature- Wilder and whom he assumed was Aether, when Wilder has desperately called for their aid. Wilder yelled out, to close their eyes [he didn't dare, he wouldn't give The Enemy an opening like that.] The faint aura of radiation he could see around her swelled and.. did nothing. Magic, failing her as it had failed him.

He didn't have time to react before a figure- a Host, one of Order, an Enemy- dashed towards Wilder.

Rage.

His purpose, his passion, crystalized into energy and power that propelled his body forward. He lept, teeth catching Catalyst around the neck, forcing her down despite the massive size difference. He snarled through a mouthful of pebbly scales and blood.

THEY WOULD NOT WIN. THEY WOULD NOT HARM WHO HE MUST PROTECT.

The creature Aether--large, multi-colored, multi-limbed and strange--was right behind Wilder.

It tensed to launch for Catalyst, but before it could, Wulfsige was there.

Aether leapt for Wilder, attempting to place its far larger body over hers. "Do not harm her!" he snarled, his voice a twisting and guttural growl.

Catalyst had barely felt Wilder's fur against her foot, when a furred bolt of lightning came for her, attaching itself to her neck. Wulfsige turned Catalyst's own body weight turn against her. She was fully swung to the ground, landing in a plume of dust. She flailed in panic, claws scrabbling fruitlessly against the hard, crystalline ground.

Who was this gembound? She'd never seen them in her life. And who was that big, dog-bug gembound? Catalyst had been expecting this to be a quick affair, the cat had been so tiny, after all! And now this? These two gembound had come out of nowhere--this was anything but a quick affair.

This was not stealthy at all. She was fully exposed in front of an unknown trio. Doubtless they were enemies of Mother, though. No. Not only Mother. They were enemies of Catalyst, too.They had ruined her ambush, they had made her look bad in front of all of her family and they had made her Mother herself!

Rage boiled in her, until it was audible in the form of a choked out "how dare you...! How dare all of you!" She could take all of them--no, she would take all of them. So brazen to turn against Mother. So brazen to invade Her rightful territory! Her pupils, mere slits, shrank even further as she returned a glare to Wulfsige. The fun house crystals of crystals ensured she saw the dog's bared teeth from every angle, only heightening her rage. Catalyst bared her own uniform fangs.

"Get off of me!" She hissed, followed by a truly saurian roar. Catalyst launched herself into a series of bronco bucks, wildly swinging her neck and flailing her limbs and whip-like tail, batting at Wulfsige with her claws when she could. Hopefully she could dislodge the canine. And when she did, Catalyst would show them why Mother valued her strength.

spk

@Wulfsige

As soon as the warning came through, Lamia was on the alert. Wide eyes glared at the tunnel leading to Gemini, moving closer to Ananke where she was hiding in the shadows. As soon as their enemies arrived, chaos began to reign. She wasn't sure what the cat was doing (she knew her! She remembered her! A traitor to Mother, a traitor to the hive!!) but as soon as the wolf leapt in, as soon as her sibling was attacked, she felt the pain through the link, she felt the panic and anger and she hissed a horrible sound, curling her lip and exposing the shark-like teeth beneath.

"You will not harm the Family!" she snarled, lunging forward and opening her mouth all the way. It was almost snake-like in the way it nearly unhinged and from deep within her throat came a glassy white spray that shot at Wulfsige's paws the second he touched the ground. She'd keep him there for the family to attack. Leave him prone so that Order could destroy him!

@Wulfsige

Standing in Ananke's aura raises this to a Barely Successful

She knew she'd be attacked as soon as her magic had failed her, leaving her stranded in the open. Wide eyes stared at the raptor as she drew close. She shook her head and took a step back as she approached. It was threatening and she knew if she tried to run, she would be caught in second. Maybe she could talk back and stall her.

"I don't recognize you," she whispered, ears tilting back. "I was part of your family, once. A long time ago." She wasn't like her. She wasn't. (But she was.)

She would have continued, tried to talk more, but Catalyst wasn't having it. She was leaping at her suddenly, huge claws coming up to grab her and pin her down. Wilder cried out and scrambled back, trying to get out of the way before she was caught, but one of the claws came up and scoured along her right cheek, leaving a bleeding wound behind as she was thrown to the ground.

Things happened in a whirlwind, then. There was a snarling sound and the weight of the claw was off her in an instant and then a black shape was standing over her, shouting. She was frozen in shock beneath Aether for a moment, blood dripping down from her face as she tried to come back to reality.

He waited patiently for Yellow to gather their magic, then leaped after the sifaka on their cloud steps. Their paths diverged at the last moment; as the sifaka slipped into an alcove on one tall crystal, they created a few more steps with the last of their focus to usher Jinyi into a different crystal nearby. It would have been preferable if they had been farther away from one another, especially as Jinyi would not remain hidden once he started throwing rocks, but they did the best with what they had, and the Drone was grateful for it.

He watched the events below intently, pale face shrouded in shifting chromatophore shadows. A cat, a rat, and a large creature with wings. That was unfortunate; he’d need to try to disable those if they started fighting. The cat darted forward, calling out a warning, and Jinyi slammed his eyes shut—clearly, something was coming, and he would heed the cat’s warning intended for her allies. (Ahh, the disadvantages of not having a Hivemind through which to communicate your plans secretly.)

But nothing came, and he opened his eyes, confused. The cat had clearly intended to use some kind of destructive magic, probably damaging to the eyes—but she had failed? Then everything went to chaos, with Catalyst revealing herself from hiding and a wolf coming out of nowhere to attack her. He froze for a moment, uncertain. His sister needed defending, but other Hive members were already converging, and the cat seemed to be the greater threat with her unknown magic that could probably take multiple Gembound out at once.

He had lost his opportunity to do anything about the cat, though, as the moth-dog creature crouched protectively over her. Gnashing his teeth, Jinyi could only blare a warning along the Hivemind: WATCH OUT FOR THE CAT. SHE MUST HAVE DESTRUCTIVE MAGIC. TAKE HER OUT IF POSSIBLE. His usual kindly, open temperament, befitting a salesman and a missionary offering salvation to others, was gone. In the face of danger and aggression, it was only important that the Hive overcome all its enemies through whatever means possible.

He himself would start lobbing rocks at Wulfsige, one shining pink crystal after another, from his high vantage point. Not only would it help get the feral thing off his SIBLING, it would also hopefully serve as a distraction for the magic user. If they were friends, or at least allies, then surely she would defend him as fiercely as he defended her. And if she were too busy dealing with rocks, she wouldn’t have the spare energy to use whatever magic she had just tried to do.

”LEAVE THIS PLACE,” he blared as he launched another rock. His pipe-organ voice rang out like an angel announcing Armageddon and echoed among the crystals. ”LEAVE.”

Unfortunately for the effect he had been intending, all his rocks were landing a bit short of the target, clattering harmlessly onto the rock floor next to Wulfsige. Scowling fiercely, Jinyi resolved to put some extra force into his next throw and launched the next crystal EXTRA HARD.

”OW,” the pipe-organ voice yelped suddenly, as the Drone felt his wrist crack. He staggered in his alcove and leaned heavily against the rock wall, clutching his right arm. Had he sprained something—?

@Wulfsige