TENNESSEE

"Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play"

These days Tennessee didn't much leave his home of Polaris. He tended to the crops, fed the animals, watched the plants, and sang to Daisy on his banjo. There wren't really very many gembounds around Polaris or his little town but that was alright... even if he did get a tad bit lonely. It was alright! He knew that his Cayenne was out in the world doing good. He rarely saw her these days but he wouldn't complain, wouldn't let himself get upset about it. No. This upbeat creature refused to let himself get down about it. He just slept in the treehouse and awaited her return. Ever proud of what she was doing out in Origin.

The thought that she was missing him dearly and was having less than a good time in Origin never occurred to him. The good gembounds, in his mind, would love his Cayenne just as he did.

So, the one day that he decided to take a break out in Eridanus to get some fruits and berries that only grew in that area just happened to be the day that all hell broke loose. The lemur meandered back towards Polaris, twiddling a tune idly on his banjo while Buckthorne wandered in. That was until he heard and saw the chaos erupting in front of him. Golems were smashing everything that he and Cayenne had worked so hard to create. It was nearly enough to bring a tear to his eye.

Except the tears were canceled out when he felt a boiling rage in his gut. A hiss at his side let him know that Daisy wasn't too pleased with the results either. "Yup. Let's go kick some rock tail." He spurred Buckthorne on and ran straight into the mess, intending to wreak some havoc. On his way through he saw from the corner of his eye Daisy leap onto a small golem and try to climb onto its head so she could scratch at it.

He himself would have stopped to help but in his path he saw another golem and what was past it made his heart sink. Cayenne was here? Of all the times she chose to come back! This was terrible! He could hear Caravaggio talking to her but he couldn't think much more about it as he lifted his hard gourd banjo and stood up on his Tunnel Runner. He prepared to strike at the golem while saying, "Gio! Get m'girl outta here! This ain't no place for a lady!" Even if he didn't make it out of this fight he wanted his Cayenne to be just fine.

Then he lashed out with the instrument.

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

445
@Cayenne @Caravaggio
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6/10

She was looking at the golems and just started to tear off branches and pieces of moss to throw at the stupid things while she kept yelling at them when movement caught her eye farther along the ranch, and one by one helpful gems came out of the woodwork, hearing the rampant destruction and her voice. She saw a black dog and a horse who both told her to leave, to run, and light magic that immediately caught her eye. Was that- no, it couldn't be! She stared, dumbfounded, at the sight of her sister running towards her and trying to distract the golems near her. Her stomach did flip flops and her mind was screaming at the sight of her, that she really did come to help her when she needed it, that she really did care.

A fisher came to fight the golems near her, and then a sound came crashing through the monsters straight near her tree and she clutched onto the limbs for dear life, looking down - but it was only Caravaggio, the bull she remembered! He stood under the tree and called her a lady and her hands were over her mouth, and she had a really hard time swallowing.

And- and- then the shining beam of light came through her, Tenn riding his cave deer, his banjo in his hand, like a knight riding to her rescue, and she was choking on tears and she rapidly rubbed her eyes to clear them away - the tree den was starting to shake and groan under the abuse of the golems and if she stayed here they would surely tear it apart.

Without any hesitation, she jumped from the opening of the den onto Caravaggio's back, landing with a soft sound, and she clung to his neck, eyes wide as she saw the violence and the monsters up close. She swallowed and reached out to one of the stone monsters, her mouth set in a hard line. If binding it wouldn't work, she would use the plants to rip the stone apart.

The plants answered her call, but they couldn't pierce the stone - they were made of such dense rock that it would take a lot more effort than what she had on hand to break them.

"Let's get out of here!" She yelled amongst the chaos.

The Black Dog watched in surprise as a flood of other Gembound suddenly arrived. Fortuitous could not even describe it; it was as if fate itself had suddenly called forth a flood of strangers he had never seen. A spotted horse, an odd little cat, a little reddish creature up in the tree.

But then, there were those he did know. The white calf that had seemed so infatuated with White--and there was Fisher, who seemed to be throwing mud.

Black was not sure why Fisher was throwing mud, but he had learned not to question the mustelid.

Instead he simply focused again; the white calf seemed perfectly able to bowl over the stone golems and rush away, so all that remained was to shroud them from sight. To keep them safe--as many as he could.

He felt a little tug on the stone that was his heart, but it wasn't emotion, it was magic--he concentrated, standing stock-still, the shadows coiling up within him. Unfortunately there were too many, too fast, and he couldn't work to hide them all--not even a few of them, it seemed. So he barked a warning again, his booming voice cracking out over the rock.

"RUN. RUN. RUN."

________________

Her paws hadn't been fast enough. She hadn't been fast enough. The sudden flood of people into her home. The crashes. The screams. The feel of magic.

Black's bark.

Fallah scurried her way into the scene. There were several gembounds and several golems. Fallah looked around for Black and Fisher. Seeing as they were safe, it seemed like there was only one more goal; get everyone out safe. Black commanded they run and Fallah did, right to his side. She felt her magic swell as she aimed to freeze the golems legs to keep them still.

the lion would follow right behind the funny sounding lemur, humming along to the serene tunes the lemur played on his instrument. quintus had been raised around music ever since his birth and due to that he had learned to appreciate the beauties it had to provide. thought of his mother stimulated his mind and began to fill him with joy, i miss her so much, going to have to pay a visit soon. he was feeling somewhat detached from his family due to all the travelling he had been doing and the want of making it up constantly haunted him but all he could do at the moment was hope that they didn't think any differently of him. an exhale would escape out the gembound's mouth in an effort to release the stress he was going through, only for it to get worst at the brutal thought of polaristown being pillaged by none other than golems. it was as if he felt the pain that tennessee must have been going through knowing how hard the lemur had been working on the settlement. he would look on as the lemur charged forward on his mount and a feeling of anger shortly began fueling him at the sight of the destruction the mindless creatures were causing. a cry for battle came out the lion's mouth in the form of a mighty roar as to announce everyone of his arrival but then again he remembered what his father had told him about the golems, they only respond to magic. in an effort to formulate a plan, quintus would activate his magic to cast his red sense spell, hoping to collect data and attract the golems to himself at the same time. instantly the lion would get information on how many gems and golems were in polaristown and he would get to work on formulating a plan whilst the others continued to carelessly use magic and yelling for others to retreat, no. "i'm not going anywhere!" this was a second home for him and he would not leave feeling as if he did not put in enough effort to defend his home, after all fortune favors the bold.

It seemed like the golems were intent on coming back to the tree, the massive grinding boulders churning towards them. He shuffled nervously, peering between the advancing golems and the Gembounds that had already gathered to fight them off, and the black lemur stuck in the tree. Already more Gembounds were pouring in, staving off the golems; a southern accented voice rang out, accompanied by the clop of hooves as Tennessee suddenly charged onto the scene, swinging his banjo thing at the golems and shouting at Caravaggio to get Cayenne out of here. "Working on it!!" The cow bleated, lashing his tail and defensively lowering his head towards the golems, threatening them with his curled horns. Not that it would be very effective, but...

Another had joined not long after and Caravaggio recognized him, too; Quintus, the lion. Caravaggio shot him a quick look before Cayenne finally leaped from the tree and onto his back. The cow huffed and raised his head, stamping at the ground in front of the golems. He danced nervously in place for a moment, allowing enough time for anyone else to climb aboard before he turned with the intention of fleeing in the opposite direction. Only the golems were beginning to close in.

He flared his nostrils with a snort, looking around the small group and then cocking his head to the lemur clinging to his neck. "Hold on tight, my lady!" The cow declared and scuffed his hoof. Then he lowered his head and ran. The cow's massive form burst forward, hopefully sending the golems flying and clearing a path to safety.

@Cayenne @Dovefeather (i left room for anyone else who wants to jump on his back, so feel free!)

Panic and blind fear gripped her stomach and she just wanted to run and hide and vomit in a corner when she saw the monsters surround them and reach with their stone hands, and she clenched her teeth together, held on tight to her friend and shut her eyes tight, ready for the charge. He scuffed his foot and she felt his muscles tense in his back and she was scared, so scared, the noise and scuffle of stone and her plants being ripped apart and the screams of the lesser gems pressing against her ears and she just wanted it to stop!

And when Caravaggio ran, her fingers almost lost their grip, and when the golems crashed against his tough shoulders she screamed and hid her face into the bull's neck, and when she felt stone fingers against her back as Caravaggio ran away, she looked back to them and saw them all converge on her tree and start to take it down.

Dovefeather realized very quickly what a horrible mistake she had made. It was one she would make again, but it seemed for the third time in her life she was drowning, drowning, drowning. She was going to die, crushed by the golems that wanted her teeth, her magic, her light. They would snuff her out like a match in a river current, and she let out a horrible yowl as they closed in on her. Cayenne had to get to safety--

A massive beast broke through the line of golems. Dovefeather was nearly mauled by the golems, but the huge gembound had saved her life-- Cayenne was jumping down to him, landing on his back. Fear raced across her limbs, an icy chill sensation that turned her into pins and needles. The cat stumbled as she went to move, but then she was leaping-- lunging-- she nearly missed the great bull.

She was still yowling, wordlessly, full of panic as she dragged her way on top of the bull. Her claws snagged into his tough hide and she hoped she didn't hurt him, but she had to get away. She would die. Her body knocked into Cayenne and she buried her face in the thick black fur, sobs breaking through her body. Dovefeather was hysterical as she clung to her sister, so glad that she hadn't lost another. So glad she hadn't herself died.

Later on, after Euron was safely back in Orion and considering this strange and exciting first excursion out to Polaris, he would marvel at how suddenly so many of them had come to the aid of a Gem in need-- for now, though, his only thought was that the impromptu party seemed to be breaking up, and he didn't want to be the last one left. The lemur he'd seen in trouble and had impulsively charged in to rescue was now attempting to make her own escape on the back of a charging gembound, and Euron thought that particular task was an excellent idea. That seemed to be the advice everyone was shouting, anyway, and adrenaline only could last for so long.

Thus, he turned on his hooves and made to speed the other direction, exiting stage left as some of his fellow fighters were attempting to.

Unfortunately, the colt was so focused on this goal that he didn't focus on the ground underneath him-- he slipped on loose ground, crashing to his knees. That alone would leave bruises in the morning; not eager to feel stone fingers trying to rip his stone from behind his shoulders, Euron struggled and surged to his feet again, but he'd lost the advantage of the moment and the opportunity to flee-- this round, anyway.

♥Cecil♠Shafaer♣

It was proving to be of little success, each of the gembound's attempts to save this marvelous creation of magic and nature. But Diot couldn't leave! Right? It would be simply brutish to turn his back on nature and the lesser gembounds here all because of these golems! At least he was in the trees, watching as salty droplets trailed down his face. The tamarin felt so bad he couldn't come to their aid...both nature and the inhabitants of this marvelous place.

But he couldn't leave...not yet...never mind that he couldn't move his legs, frozen in sorrow and primal fear. He would watch and remember this. One day he would use it to draw strength...one day...


"Speech"