Amaria

You fell away,
What more can I say?
The feelings evolved,
I won't let it out,
I can't replace...
Your screaming face,
Feeling the sickness inside

It seemed that Cancer would not be the re-elected leader of Maji Walezi. She had casted her vote for her mate. If only because she knew deep down the leopard had most likely wanted to stay here. She couldn't be certain, but she would just assume. It would also mean that Remedy would be near her real mother and as odd of a feeling as that gave her, Amaria would not jeapordize that. Remedy had every right to be around her mother. As things began to settle down Amaria returned to where the cubs had waited with Kerberos. The big three headed beast had certainly taken a liking to Remedy and even cure she guessed.

As bevy came fluttering over Amaria glanced to the bird while slowly easing herself to sit down. Rounded ears were pushed towards Bevy as a frown soon grew over her features. Something didn't feel right. The tone in this bird's voice was not right. It set her fur to bristle along her spine and her motherly instincts were quickly kicking in. Danger. There was danger. She rose to her paws instantly as Bevy's words suddenly rang out. A disease. Kill her? No. A rage consumed Amaria, but she had no time to act when it was the three headed beast that dove in first. A snarl ripped from her chest before she had to make a quick dicision.

She bolted to Remedy, calling to Cure to make sure to follow, and without a word or glance to where Cancer may be she grabbed her adopted child; her beautiful and perfect Remedy. She took no hesitance once she lifted the child up in her jowls before she turned and simply ran. They had to get away. She had to get Remedy to safety. How could Bevy. How could she assault her own child?! The rage boiled, consumed Amaria until it nearly blinded her. She wanted to go back. She wanted to put Bevy down, to scream and roar at her. Bevy had already been lacking in Remedy's life and then she wanted to go and say such things to the child? To tell Remedy she was going to kill her?! Her eyes burned, tears forming from the rage that was threatening to turn her back around and go right back to Bevy. She would not. She would first and for most take care of her children. They would be protected even if that meant she could not fight back the gembound that dared threatening their safety.

Amaria couldn't feel the tingling of her gem upon her draconic tail. Didn't realize that magick was coursing through her in response to the consuming rage that was coursing through her. Her body heated up until there was a bright glow to her entire body. The dragon scales that now covered parts of her body were the most obvious as it looked like fire began dancing across the smooth surfaces. Her eyes glowing a hot bright gold, leaving her once blue eyes hidden behind the fiery rage.

None of it was noticed by her. Her mind was focused on one thing. Getting Remedy and Cure back to Canis where it was safe. She would not be going back to Maji Walezi, not while that sack of feathers resided there. For a moment her mind fluttered to a different thought...What did Cancer think of this sudden ordeal? She wouldn't check to seee if he was following her. It would be his decision on how he wanted to handle the sudden attack. If he staid to deal with it then that was his call.


"Speech" 'Thoughts'

Tags:
Words:
OoC: Almighty wants to be skipped and kept out of this. I am taking theh children back to Canis. -Exit Amaria with Remedy-

---

Keep on trying I’ll not die so easily
I will not die…
Why is everything so fucking hard for me?
I will not die…
Why is everything so fucking hard for me?
I will not die…

OOC: Don't mind me, I'm just exiting the thread!

Macawi sat silently with Tangak as the election took place. She watched as Gembounds moved here and there, voting for either Cancer or Leon. In the end, it was the big obsidian-gemmed bear who won the vote. Interesting. The bird who had previously been leader said some words about the newest leader, and then that seemed to be it. There was no reason to stay any longer, especially since Macawi was not a member of Maji Walezi, and never planned to be. Ever. Eugh. Groups. Who needed ‘em? “Come, Little Bird,” she said, looking up at the Rainbow Spinner that sat atop her headdress. “We have other places to be.” Tangakwunu chirruped softly in agreement, and flitted off down the tunnel in the direction they had come. The coyote turned and looked around at all those there, noting who was leaving and who was staying, and then she faced the tunnel entrance and quietly disappeared…

[Exit Macawi]

"Speech"

Words: 160

"Speech" | 'Thoughts'
It had all been exciting. Watching the group listen to it's leader, watching her father go back behind the waterfall with the big bear. She didn't understand that part, but it didn't matter. Her mother had told her to stand near her sister and the big three headed dog. Of course she was more than happy to start playing with her twin, even taking a playful swat at Kerberos' legs. Soon voices rose again and the approach of her mother had drew Cure's attention. She sat up straight and smiled brightly at her mom only to look for her father. Was he coming out from behind the waterfall now? She wanted to go look at the waterfall from behind! She wiggled in her spot, almost tempted to just go run over there, but she knew her mother would probably scold her for it.

When Remedy's mom suddenly came over after it was Leon that was announced as the new leader Cure perked up into attention. The grin that was upon her features was bright, but it soon dwindled when an odd feeling over came her at the mama birds laughter. Her ears pinned back as she ducked down and out of site. Something wasn't right. Before she knew it chaos ensued and she was yelled at by Amaria to follow her. She panicked as she watched Amaria scoop Remedy up in her teeth and bolt away.

She made to follow her mother obediently, but her gaze swept around to search for her father. She called out to him, but she wasn't sure if he was still there or even heard her. Was he still behihnd the waterfall? The fighting quickly drew her attention and before she could make up her mind on what to do a beam of light escaped kerberos and struck mama bird. Her breath hitched in her throat as she felt her heart begin to race. She saw the gems shatter, Kerberos moving to look at them. Hesitantly she moved, padding over towards the white beast and walked beneath him. Her brow's furrowed as shee saw the three pieces before looking up at Kerberos from beneath his front legs.

A yelp escaped her when there was a sudden roar from another feline and with only thinking about her twin, Cure nabbed the biggest gem piece that was before the three headed beast and bolted away with it. Racing after her mother hoping that she had not fallen too far behind. The gem was clamped tightly in her mouth so that she would not drop it as she ran away from what she would assume to be another fight.

OoC: Cure has grabbed one of the gem pieces. She is returning to Canis with her mother. -Exit cure-

The owl had wanted to stay behind, to speak softly to Bevy when the rest had left. He had wanted to ask about the future of the group, of him. Of what she wanted him to Scout.

Unseeing, bright green gem eyes were lingering in her direction as the others began to shuffle out, but then he heard one of her voices--one he didn't know. It was sickly and dark like dying roses and he didn't know what roses were but the image was in his head anyway, black and red like bloodied dust and he didnt know what that was either. A guttural roar, the loud shuffling of bodies.

Frightened, worried, Dark flew toward his mother, as all creatures do. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to hide beneath her. He wanted--

He did not want to fly into a searing beam of white-hot energy, his mind filling with the flare of light, the heat ripping through him and sending him tumbling into the dark cool damp beneath a stone ledge. Maybe nobody had even seen him fall, that brief puff of brown scraggly feathers trying fruitlessly to prevent harm to his mother.

The white filled his mind's vision, and the taste of blood was on his beak. He was hot, and cold, and trembling, and his thoughts were blank and empty as he laid in the unseen dark beneath the stone. It was perfectly possible no one would even notice him there; indeed, as sound faded slowly back in, like the trickle of water over rock growing into a great deafening falls, he could hear the voices.

Something was fighting. There was arguing. Cries.

But he could not hear Bevy.

Exhausted, motionless, he reached out with his mind--but he found nothing.

She was gone: the bird who had found him, saved him as a chick, nurtured him and taught him, taken him in. The mother who had loved him, and the only Gembound he had ever felt any connection to.

She was gone.

Stunned and wracked by the agonizing pains that seared through his body like fire, he simply lay there, his gem eyes squeezing shut. The softest whisper, barely a breath, escaped him.

"Bevy..."

________________

((This would have happened in a flash, quite literally, so as to a. not steal the show and b. so I can say it's an exit. Dark flitted into Pulsar in that flash of light and tumbled right off into a dark crevice under a ledge. That SAID, if your character wants to spot Dark and interact that's perfectly fine, but otherwise, exit Dark!))

Saying that I'm sorry

For things I've said and done

But I don't want to be here

If I'm looking down a gun

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Things had happened so fast, and it was hardly any surprise that many of them were dazed or sent into a panic. One set of eyes locked on Leon, pinpricks of tears in that wide, horrified carmine gaze. Another on Amaria, fleeing with the children-- the last on Usui, lunging at him with a hissing snarl. The dog blinked, stumbling back away from the attack.

"N-no," he whined, "I didn't mean to!" Despair hit him deep in his chest, frightened. His magic reacted without thinking, trying to push the lion away. As it did, however, he realized that it wasn't Usui, but some other lion. A darker one, one with the same vicious, defensive anger set in his stare.

Desperately, he tried to explain. "I was just trying... To stop her... I didn't..." Words weren't enough-- he had done the unthinkable. He had unmistakably killed another gembound. It was worse than the lambs-- which were mishaps of their own-- but this accident was undeniably his to hold. Kerberos was crushing under the weight of it.

The canine's stomach did a flip and one head turned away from the prying gazes, struggling to hold it together. His whole body just wouldn't stop shaking, and his focus was withering away with the effort of staying conscious.

fight start!!
kerb v usui quin
one out of ???

attempt;; push quin back
defenses;; none :(
injuries;; incredibly sick

Without any time to react, everything had happened all at once. In the flurry of it all, Leon hadn't seen any of it, only the result that spawned from their actions. He saw a flurry of feathers rush in to the vivid pink pulsar and go flying off somewhere else, then he saw the tail end of Amaria taking her two children and fleeing, and suddenly there was one less stone before Kerberos. He hadn't even seen Cancer flee. Whatever had happened had so quickly and ruthlessly cleaved the group, cleaving his hopes - of Amaria staying, of learning from Bevy, of this being just another meeting and life going back to normal. His own stomach turned with lurching anxiety and fear, and then his brain had caught up to the feeling of electricity running through his nerves and all that fear was replaced with something else. Anger.

This was his home, and in an instant, it had been destroyed.

Everything that he looked forward to was snapped away from him, and there was Kerberos, fended off by Quintus who had leaped in to avenge their fallen friends. Kerberos, who fumbled for an excuse, shaking, murderer. Leon's lips drew back in a vicious snarl, and he could only feel for what had been lost here. "Get out!" He roared at the cerberus, furious, charging up towards them. His felt his magic bubble inside, clawing for release, and his mind stumbled over itself, trying to think of a way, any way, to get him to leave. This destroyer, this ruiner of all he had coveted. Bevy. Amaria. Cancer. All gone. Because of him.

Post-Roll Edit:
He summoned all that he had placed faith in. All that he had believed in, trusted in, abided by. She had led them. She protected them. Her heart, it had beat for all of them.

He summoned Bevy. Photons of vivid light had suddenly manifested all around them, beginning as pinpricks of a focused glow, and then they rapidly took shape into the black and red bird that lay lifeless on the ground. A swarm of Bevys appeared from the nothingness, faintly illusory and screaming wordlessly, diving, chasing, fluttering around the cerberus. Tendrils of the warm light magic reached out, connected to each and every image as Leon's orange eyes pinned on their target.

The stones had been left untouched - but there was only two now, and he wouldn't let the beast take them.

While the swarm attacked Kerberos, Leon made for the stones. He halted before them and the lifeless feathery bundle, curling a paw protectively around them while watching the ruination unfold and hoping that if his illusions couldn't frighten Kerberos away, then Quintus could.

Leon has his paw curled around Bevy and the two remaining stones.

@Quintus

Just when he thought he was going to be tearing into his enemy, he would be pushed back due to the successful casting of Kerberos's spell; the unknown force would sort of take him by surprise causing the brute to release a sort of grunt before he would land on the rocky floor. Obviously, it would not be enough to stop the Gembound for he would get up seconds after with an even more wrathful gaze. Instead of launching himself at the three headed dog, the lion would take a moment to think about what he was doing, then again his opponent's words were like taunts to him and just helped in enraging Quintus, "I'll tear all three of your lying tongues!"

Quintus did not know much about the individual but he had seen him several times in certain occasions such as his parents wedding which meant he must have been a friend but then again Bevy was a friend also and even more to Quintus. Anger began to cloud thought even further and all those ocean blue eyes of his saw was pure red, the color in which he wanted to paint his opponent's pristine fur in, why!?, the word countinued to ring in his head but he did not dare ask the beast in front of him.

He did not even manage to notice that the younger Gembound with whom the murderer was with had managed to depart with one of the gem shards due to his eyes being intently focused on Kerberos's frame. His father's words would be heard and what would follow after only put even more hurt inside the lion's heart, Leon's beautiful show of magic managing to stop Quintus before he could launch towards his opponent again.

Quintus would look on with a look of pain in his handsome features as his adoptive father would advance to secure what remained of Bevy's fractured stone whilst the swarm attacked Kerberos but instead of continuing to look at his father's magic he would rush towards the three headed dog once more aiming to tear a chunk off of him using his teeth,

"Father, we can't just let him leave, there is no justice in that!"

QUINTUS V. KERBEROS
ROUND ONE TWO ???
_____________________

ATTACKS: BITE HIM
DEFENSE: CLAWS UNSHEATHED FOR TRACTION
INJURIES: MINOR BRUISING FROM FALL

Saying that I'm sorry

For things I've said and done

But I don't want to be here

If I'm looking down a gun

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Leon told him to get out. Kerberos did not think-- he could not think-- pain washed over him and he sought relief, escape. Bevies came out of no where, swarming towards him, and in a panic, the canine rushed for the water. In there would be Eeya, and other water critters, ones who knew Bevy but also knew him-- and he hoped, begged, that they would not impede his escape.

He had to get out. He was sorry, he truly was, but he was going to die if he did not seek some way out. And like a frightened animal, he plunged into the water. His heavy paws fought for a way to escape, cutting through the water with those large, polar bear like paddles. For a moment, he forgot the poor Goblin leech on his back-- but hopefully the kitten could hold on. He just had to get to Tunnel M, and then they could breathe again.

With a massive kick, he dove down, channeling his magic through his body. He pushed again with it, using it to fuel his momentum downward, and if necessary, push away Eeya and the other denizens of the water. The faster he got out, the faster he would be safe. Sick, perhaps even dying, but safe.

fight start!!
kerb v quin
two out of two

attempt;; ESCAPE!!
defenses;; none :(
injuries;; incredibly sick

;; kerb exit

In all honesty, he didn't know what to do. His anger would have him lunge at the dog, tear him apart, set him ablaze and leave his corpse smoking in the hall of Pisces for all to see. For all to know that they have staked vengeance for the death of their former leader. For the Bonebound to know what would happen when they failed to keep the leash on their dog. For everyone to see what would happen when somebody wrong his family. Yet for all the fury that brewed inside of him, he couldn't bring himself to abandon the bird's lifeless body and the two remaining shards of her stone. He couldn't find the anger to charge at the cerberus and set him ablaze. He was left mentally reeling, watching as Quintus lunged at the three-headed monster a second time only to be rebounded in much the same fashion as before.

He gritted his teeth, eyes following the great white beast as he turned to the water and Quintus protested his escape. The swarm of Bevy's that had dove for the dog began to dissipate as he ran towards the lagoon until there was one left, following him, nearly on him, until the dog plunged beneath the surface. The illusory Bevy followed him into the water and vanished in a flash of glitter. There was a ripple, bubbles of water dancing as Kerberos vanished into the canal among the rocks, but Leon couldn't allow his muscles to relax for another few seconds.

When he loosed a sigh, he squeezed his eyes shut and drew back a snarl. Everything had been ruined. Bevy, Amaria, Cancer. Everything. A vocal rumble snapped from his throat and he raised his head, shaking it, then looking to Quintus. "Let him go." Though his voice was loud with anger, it had broken; its chords severed with helplessness and pain. "I..." What else was there to say? The bear's shoulders dropped and he withdrew, exposing Bevy's tattered form and her stones to the gleaming lights. The breath in his throat caught and he sealed his lips, slowly closing those eyes of his again. "I'm sorry... I don't know... I don't..." Leon's voice had dropped steadily through the duration of his words into a shaking whisper. His orange eyes lingered on Bevy. "This shouldn't have happened... Kerberos, he... He betrayed us. Bevy, I'm sorry."

An ache had come to live in his chest, one that he'd never known before. Leon knew pain. He knew the many forms it took; physical, emotional, the pain of lost love and the pain of anger. But this was a new beast entirely. This was loss in its purest form. This was a sacrifice, and now she was gone forever. The small, friendly bird he had known all his life, the one he had depended on to make the right decision, the one he had come to for advice... She was gone. But it wasn't just him. It was Dark, who had lost his guardian. It was Cancer who had lost his best friend. It was Makyna who had lost her leader. He didn't just hurt for himself. He hurt for all of them, too.

"Quintus." He beckoned quietly for the lion, unable to tear his eyes away from the broken bird before him. "Dark... make sure Dark is okay. Then meet me by Bevy's den. We will bury her there." Leon's expression had closed in on itself. It eased into nothing, but the pain was still there, woven through the creases of his brow and the frown that couldn't help but tug his lips down ever so slightly, and the shadow that had fallen over his gaze. The bear ever so gently leaned forward, taking the two stones in his mouth and what remained of Bevy in his teeth. Fear of her poison had been vanquished. He turned his body towards her den and as though he carried the weight of a thousand boulders on his back, he brought her there. Out of the dust, out of the light, and into the beyond.

( @Quintus Dark will have fled through one of the tunnels before they can recover him, so Quintus probably won't be able to find him, which is ok!)

(exit Leon. everybody else is free to follow Leon to the den for the funeral if you so desire)

Another failure, the longer the brute went without tasting the blood of his enemy the more it enraged him; he wanted revenge and nothing would stop him from getting what he wanted. This time though instead of being thrown back due to the use of magic, he would simply miss and watch as the swarm would continue to chase the murderer despite his descent into the water. A frustrating snarl would emit out the Gembound's mouth, the dissapointment of not being able to catch the culprit starting to sour his mood even further. Despite that, determination was still evident in his eyes and just as he was about to launch himself in the body of water to chase after Kerberos, his father's commanding voice would stop the lion in his tracks.

Snapping his skull to set his eyes on the bear's frame, he would open his mouth in protest but would not allow anything to come out his mouth as soon as he took note of the sadness in his sire's tone. Talk of Kerberos's betrayal would confirm some of the various questions the lion had in his head concerning the three headed dog, so he was a friend. Taking a moment to rethink things in his head, he would look towards Bevy's corpse in disgust before looking back up towards Leon's frame, "Don't be, remain strong for us."

The adrenaline fueling him would slowly begin to wither away and the ache accumulating inside of him would hit him altogether, the anger towards Kerberos would turn into anger towards himself and complete emberassment. Paws would shuffle whilst he would look away from his father in shame despite the fact that the bear was just as traumatized as he was, "I should have been with her." The Gembound would turn to look back towards the water where Kerberos had ran off to, his eyes eventually becoming tired of glancing towards the broken figure of his father and the corpse of his mentor although he would be forced to look again due to Leon calling for him.

Being the ever dutiful son, the lion would prance towards him and listen to everything Maji Walezi's new leader had to say; mention of Bevy being buried felt as if someone hit him in his chest, a reminder to something he was trying to forget, but how could I? Nodding his head in assurance that he understood what his directions were, Quintus would brush against his father's larger frame in affection before leaving him alone with the shards and Bevy's corpse, stay strong.