Eridanus was not a cave she knew much of. In fact, it could be said she had never been here before. Sakhira stepped cautiously as she walked, thinking it was weird to have anything that wasn't rock under her paws. Felt strange. She didn't understand that the white covering the area hadn't always been here. Plants were not something she had seen before- not in abundance at least. So with Eridanus being her first experience with such things she sort of just assumed it was quite normal for plants to be draped in white stuff. In fact, she thought, it added a weird sense of beauty to it all, the contrasting colors. Perhaps it could be painted later.

But she was not here for that. In fact, unlike other times, she had not been drawn to this cave for its beauty, or for inspiration. Sakhira was here because of The Visitor. She knew of its existence, but she didn't know how she knew. But she didn't know how she knew to speak either, or do plenty of other things. As she approaches, there is a determination to understand what this was all for. She steps inside the rift.

There are many others here. Many others that make her want to ask questions. They looked very different from the few gembounds she had encountered before. Not cats. That was all she could describe them as. Not-cats.

Giggs had come to see if it were true--that Canis wasn't the only fucked-up, infested cave out there. Not that she left Canis often, but somehow she hadn't considered whether the rest of the caves were clean or full of the same white crap.

Now she had her answer; some of the caves and tunnels were fine. Eridanus, though... was not. The stare she gave the distant visitor upon spotting it was calculating--almost suspicious. Who is that? What do they want? but impulse and curiosity got the better of her. She'd been yanked out of reality before; if everyone else plodding right into the rift were trapped, maybe Omen could get them all out. The bird, then, she directed back to Orion--safely away from the infestation, and wholly out of sight.

Then it was a matter of getting to the portal. The area around it was surprisingly clean; the path between her and the Visitor, less so. She sent out her magic in an attempt to shove the infestation out of her way as she padded down. It swept a clear path, fungus withering away before her. Giggle's eyes narrowed as she examined the Rift.

"What is this?" she asked, still suspicious but curious too. She stepped carefully for it. She had no time to swear further as the portal pitched her into a new reality--one where she at once felt that her magic didn't reach.

Well, shit, she thought, alarmed, wondering if this had been a trap after all.

Then she found that she was not alone--there were others here. Her eyes sought out Sakhira, and then found Wilder--catlike, and cat. Ugh.

Kass was lured by the promise of a story. He wasn't exactly sure what that meant - storytelling or an adventure of some sort? Either way, the distant call was answered by the young hybrid, carefully making his way through the white-infested trees of Eridanus (what the hell was all this anyways?). He stopped before the strange rift, staring forward suspiciously, eyes flicking briefly to the visitor, barely able to see what he looked like, before he decided "fuck it" and stepped through. He squeezed his eyes shut at the strange sensation and as soon as it was over, blinked them open again.

Wow, there were...a lot of Gembound here. More then he'd seen in his whole life, really. The area was strange - white and blank - but he was more intrigued by the crowd that had gathered. Had they heard the same call, brought here by the promise? Did any of them know what was really going on?

He walked through, passing by everyone and getting close enough to see their forms clearly before moving on, just curiously inspecting each of the gathered individuals.

But then black fur entered his vision. A small body. Pink on her cheek. She was accompanied by another creature, a large ragged black rat, but that was irrelevant. Because...he knew her. He'd seen her in a vision before. More clearly, then, despite the dark cave, but that...she'd been protecting his chrysalis...that meant she was...

He stood frozen still, staring at her, throat gone dry. He'd been looking for her, for the one that had whispered his name through his long sleep. Who hadn't been there when he'd finally woken up. She'd given up on him...but why? He always wanted to ask her...why had she abandoned him?

And so many other questions too, but he was too shocked to speak, only stare directly at Wilder, pink eyes wide.

Casimir coincidentally hadn't been too far from from his father, though he had been unaware of it at first. Eridanus was dangerous now, but ever since he had some more hands-on lessons in healing, he had gone a bit out of his way to bring aid where he went. There were still herbs here that he could gather, even though he had to mind Order's spores.

He had gathered a few roots with medicinal properties untouched by the white fungus when the sensation of the Visitor's knowledge became a niggling worm in his brain. This was a game, of sorts, something that made him wince as he approached. Pride's towering form gave him some modicum of comfort, but if this was a trap-- or anything like his sibling's games that always ended up hurting someone, well... He supposed he better come along. He moved the roots from his jaws into one of his forepaws, grasping at it awkwardly as he hobbled forward into the rift.

The blinding white made his head buzz, and he became suddenly very conscious of how dusky-grey his long coat was with dirt and grime. He felt like an unkempt houseguest all of the sudden, and with his father's presence he had to be extra well behaved. That meant no scowling at the crowding of strangers, or shuffling off into a corner of the strange-space.

"It's magic, isn't it?" Cas asked with a sniff, as though to answer his father's-- or even the hyena's-- question with one of his own.

@Pride for visibility :3

From behind Lumut there came a rhythm of heavy footsteps and click clacking claws as Five Seven and Two followed her. It was very obviously covered in moss--a side effect of its obsession with Lumut. Upon seeing the crowd, the house stopped, still as a statue. It's single eye darting about the figures crowded. There were many gembound here; more than the house had seen in all the cycles of its life. It's stick legs shivered.

While one would expect the house to be overjoyed, it instead sunk close to the ground, crawling close to the trunk of the tree Lumut sat in. The house was unsure, flighty, like a frightened animal. It briefly glanced up to Lumut, wishing to nudge her with it's wooden door, a wordless request for comfort. It would most likely warm up to the other gembound eventually, but for now it was intimidated. It pressed a thought into Lumut's mind, more an impression than coherent words.

"Many," the word came to Lumut as an idle thought, with indistinct and blurry images of a pile of fruits on the ground, then a swarm of red mice scampering about. It was tentatively followed by a wonder of whether or not it could house that many people.

"Speech."

@Lumut

Nico arrives very late, missing most of the idle chatter from those waiting, but he giggles with a playful glee as he practically dives into the rift and skids into a halt.

"oooh.... pretty." he cooes at the blank white void, humming. what were they waiting for, exactly?? did they have enough people?

he flies upward, regarding whoever will listen with a shrill voice. "hey! what's going on here, yea? are y'all here for the same thing?"

THE RIFT YES YES YES THE RIFT RIFT IT LOVED RIFT IT'S RIFT TIME FINALLY THE RIFT IT CAN SEE THE RIFT AGAIN GO ON AN ADVENTURE COOL STORY!!!!! WRITTEN BY A MYSTERIOUS FIGURE YES YES IT HAD BEEN INVITED! TO THE RIFT

Faceless skidded to a halt, its tongues lolling out as it panted for breath. Its lean, dark form jittered with excitement. "STORYTIME!" it exclaimed with a hiss, cocking its head to stare up at the visitor with an expression of pure awe and adoration. "I LOVE YOU. I LOVE--" gasp "THE RIFT. I'M READY READY SO READY--"

Its snake-tail, single eye squeezed shut, thumped the ground over and over as it clacked its mantis-limbs together with breathless anticipation.

She did not dislike the fungus, though lush, green Eridanus before Order had claimed it had been their home for many cycles. It was a change, yes, but not an unwelcome one. It only made Eridanus feel like a different home--different, but no less welcoming and comfortable. The fungus growing within them had twisted opened her mind, and she saw it as its own unique kind of beauty.

Just like Gemini, and just like Ursa. Just like the beauty and warmth of family, and love.

But the sight of Eridanus green, untouched by fungus, did not bother her either, strangely. She felt almost... nostalgic, to remember the way it'd been. And she felt little fear, only curiosity, as she stepped through the rift behind her sibling, enjoying the novel sensation on her fur. The invitation was only an invitation, after all, and surely enemies of the Hive would not have invited them in like this. Even with the violence they had suffered, the agents of Chaos had always made their hostility known from the beginning.

And with His blessing and gift, they could rest assured that no child of the Hive would ever be lost again. They felt a bittersweet pang; if only that gift had arrived in time to save their brothers! But surely their souls would be at peace, knowing that safety would be returned to the caves. That no one would be ripped away from their family again.

They did not fear the group of curious explorers gathered in the blank white room, but they tensed when they saw the small black cat. That one--she'd hurt their family. Hurt Ananke, the innocent Priestess, their beloved sister, the white rabbit who'd never hurt a soul, and badly, too. They backed away from her, not wanting to attract her attention but unable to rip their wide golden eyes away from her hateful form, and placed a small black hand on Juggernaut's chitin.

It was reassuring, at least, to have family here with them. They tried to call up a barrier of air, just in case, but no magic responded--was the same true of all magic here in this blankness?

They hoped it was. That would make the cat much less of a threat.

Yvan didn't consider the rift strange, or the person, or the fact that he actually felt like wandering this entire distance, but... The knowledge? It's funny how certain he was that there's something here. Perhaps it's childlike determination, or it could be coincidence that he's following a few others, but it's not as thought there's no reason to not follow through.

Well, the few bits of Hive he's found had made him uneasy, but he still wanted to know where everyone else was going.

There's not much reason to hesitate other than to study the newness. The feeling of entering, once he'd had enough of staring, made him wince through it, shuddering afterward as if there's actual water to shake off. There's nothing on the other side. 'How—?' He turned aside, stared into the void, wide-eyed and marveling at what must be some magic he'd never encountered before. Bringing his gaze around brought into view people though, and he blinked owlishly.

... oh. There's a lot of them. Standing up a little straighter, Yvan hung onto the fringes of the closest group, listening instead of talking. People were asking what to do, looking at all the others, and Yvan... Well, he'd never even seen more than a few people in one place at a time. He's good taking it all in for now as he anxiously pulled the wrist of a wing forward and held onto it with both hands.

Surely someone else would explain more soon.

Maw had been in lackadaisical sort of state. Drifting, meandering. Upon feeling the presence of the Visitor, she drifted over like dandelion fuzz on the wind. Fortunately, unlike for many other spontaneous events within the caves, this one had specific and surprisingly clear instructions. Maw still wasn't sure how she felt about people talking in her brain—although, this was different. This was more like transmitted intuition, which was an interesting and peculiar concept. Not one she particularly cared about dwelling on at the moment, however.

She entered the waiting lobby without a word, waiting for the story to begin.