Tuck was in Polaris today, and he’d been here about an hour after the lights had come on fully, so it was early morning still. He and Garmer looked around, and Tuck was grinning from ear-to-ear, mentally rubbing his little clawed hands together in glee. He’d had this idea for a few days, and he figured it was time to implement it. The Caves were coming back to life, Gembounds were returning slowly but surely, and Tuck felt that that was a good enough reason to celebrate! And since he was proficient in Plant Magic, he figured the best way to get started would be to plant some festive looking flowers and stuff around Polaris. And where better to have a party in a big room like this than around the Spire?

Tuck had come prepared, too! In his bag he’d made himself all those cycles ago, he brought plenty of seeds to grow nice, pretty, festive plants! And stuff for Gembounds to eat, too! Stuff like poinsettia, holly berries, mistletoe (the decorative stuff), and mint and assorted fruits (the food). Now he just had to go about planting them all! Let’s see… He should start with the decorations, right? Okay… He pulled out a poinsettia seed, found a nice distance from the Spire, poked it into the ground, and called on his Magic.

Luckily, even after this massive lull over the last few cycles, his Magic decided to work that morning. He sighed with relief as a pretty red-leafed plant sprouted in fast-forward out of the ground. He was gonna be exhausted by the end of this decorating stage, but then he could eat some food and relax and let his Magic come back on its own.

He continued poking poinsettia seeds into the ground and growing more beautiful, if relatively small, festive plants. Hopefully some help would arrive soon!


NOTE: Okay, everyone! Come join! I’ll say there’s no posting order at all, and double-posting is fine! Have fun, guys!

Zevruu was coming out of hiding. He had noticed the caves were awfully quiet recently, and he had slunk away from the main caves, hiding in Orion. But he had seen the recent surge of activity, so slowly, reluctantly, he got out and began to walk around. Before he knew it, he found himself in Polaris. The bright colors always made him feel energized, as did the buzz of energy that seemed to always be here. Looking around, he realized there were a few red flowers around. Frowning slightly, he walked closer.

It was only after walking closer that he noticed there was a small creature planting the red flowers. They looked familiar, and he was certain he had to have seen them before. He stood silent for a moment, unsure of what to do before he hesitatingly opened his mouth. "H-hi. What are you doing?" The area looked quite pretty with the flowers, he had to admit, but what was the reason for them?

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Tukluk

Xireidi Xireidi's stomach growled as he paced through the short tunnel out of Orion and into Polaris. The day before had been spent almost entirely finding a safe hiding spot and recovering from his encounter with... whatever that thing had actually been that greeted his reawakening. His wounds, while not fully healed, were no longer troublesome and he was able to walk along without twitching from latent static charge. A small fear tugged at the back of his mind, fear that there was no one left in the caves. Fear that the spectre that haunted them had descended and extinguished all but him and the spectre's servants. These fears, however, were unfounded as the red wolf's ears perked at the sounds of activity near the great glowing structure in the middle of the room. Without delay the wolf turned toward the sound and rushed forward as fast as he could in his recovering state. There were others there! Even better than that they didn't seem to be evil and one of them was familiar. "It's the monkey that hears voices!" Xireidi cried out in exuberance as he approached, smiling widely for the first time in a long while. "The words I speak" The thoughts I hold And the self I keep hidden away

Ghanyarah was beginning to find that if he wanted to locate more Gembounds, the place he had to be was Polaris. He’d long since known that Polaris was the heart of the cave - the core - and it acted as a hub for Gembounds to convene under all kinds of circumstances. He had heard once about a small town that one Gembound tried to erect within the central room, only for it to be obliterated by roving golems. He’d been there when the chaotic fire dragon descended on them, bringing waves of heat and hellish flame. He’d fought side by side with his kin and other Gembounds, and after they had won (Ghanyarah wasn’t so sure it was a victory, considering how many of his were mortally wounded) they were all left to marvel at the remains of Polaris.

They had all witnessed, together, the catastrophic results of the battle and together they tried to repair the core. It had always been a place for them to come together. Even though most of the time, those events ended in disaster.

He wasn’t expecting disaster this time around, mostly because he wasn’t planning on arranging a large group of Gembounds. Ghanyarah was only coming here to see who he could find, then maybe if they shared his ideals he could bring them back somewhere safer. He never intended to conduct all of his business in Polaris. In truth, he didn’t like spending much time there because of its propensity to inflict hazard on them.

That was why the alarm bells went off in his head when he spotted a tiny Gembound beginning to grow plants near the spire, as Ghanyarah waddled his way through the core once again searching for companionship. He flicked his tongue with intrigue, noting that already another couple Gembounds had gravitated towards the gathering. Picking up his pace, Ghanyarah galloped quite gracelessly towards the three, coming to a halt near them. “What do you think you’re doing?” He asked, his voice fitted with mild concern. Didn’t they know how dangerous it was to party in Polaris?

Splashy felt naked without her companion. But during the inactivity of the caves, she had gotten separated from them. She now walked slowly through the caves, looking for them. "Sky? Sky are you there?" her plaintive cry could clearly be heard by anyone listening, for at this point she no longer cared to be quiet. She just wanted to find her best friend, the one she had been with since she emerged into the large caves.

But no matter where she looked, she couldn't find the black and white cat. Her tail and ears dropped down as she continued to walk. She wasn't looking where she was going, so she was quite surprised when she bumped into someone furry. Weakly, she called out "Sky?" as she looked up. But it wasn't Sky. It wasn't a stranger, either. She had bumped into the serval she and Sky had met, all those cycles ago. "Zevruu?" she asked, her head tilted. She soon realized there were others who were nearby.

A tiny creature was planting flowers around the spire, Zevruu was watching him, and another creature had approached and spoke with a concerned voice. Splashy watched them all warily, wondering why any of them were there. What was going on?

OOC NOTE: Just because I’m having Tuck reply now doesn’t mean no one else can join the thread! ALL ARE STILL WELCOME TO JOIN! This is a Holiday Event, after all! Come on, everyone! Come join the fun! Remember, there’s NO posting order, and NO real rounds! Post however much or however little you want! And have fun!

The poinsettias were looking gorgeous, in a circular pattern around the Spire! I mean, it had taken him a while to go all the way around because the Spire was huge, but it had been worth it. And now more Gembounds were showing up! Great! Tuck scampered back over to all of them. “Hello!” he said cheerfully. “I’m having a party!” He squinted at the serval and the wolf for a moment. “I know both of you! I’d like you to meet Garmer, a kyte I’m Bonded to!” Here, he motioned towards the three-foot-long kyte who was standing nearby, looking bored out of his mind. “He’s friendly, don’t worry.”

It was just then that a seemingly very angry Komodo Dragon showed up, wondering what was going on, and demanding an answer. Tuck looked over at the reptile with an expression on his face like he was a dad trying to be patient with his annoying son. “We’re having a party,” he explained in a deadpan voice. “You’re welcome to join in, as long as you promise to be good, well-behaved, and that you help out!” He looked at the other two. “That goes for you, too! We need… decorations, lights, food! I have no problem that you guys eat meat! I would just ask that if you hunt, you bring the meat away from the fruits for the plant-eaters so you guys all eat in different areas and don’t upset anyone!”

Just then, a new member appeared, a smaller cat, who bumped into Zevruu. She seemed down in the dumps, and kind of shy, but at least she and the serval knew each other. “Hello!” Tuck called to her. “We’re having a party! Your friend can fill you in on the details!” The marmoset looked around at the small gathering. “All right, you’ve all got your jobs! Hunt, decorate, do whatever! Go, go, go! As for me, I’ve gotta go plant these holly bushes!” Without waiting for a reply, Tuck turned and found a good spot for the first holly plant. He poked it into the ground and called on his Magic, but this time nothing happened. “Well… I can try again!”

Words: 366

Ghanyarah’s face screwed up in a tight frown as the monkey dismissed his concerns with an explanation that this was some kind of party. A celebration. Polaris wasn’t meant for celebrations! It was a gathering place, but it was a cursed one. Golems lurked in every corner waiting to unleash havoc on the Gembounds below. That dragon was probably just waiting up in the vents in the ceiling, anticipating the moment when he could swoop down and swallow them all alive. And this little monkey just didn’t seem to care! He’d happily put lives at risk for a party!

The reptile parted his jaws to rebuke his claim, but another Gembound appeared and soon the marmoset was off greeting and explaining the party and welcoming everyone to join the festivities. At that moment, Ghanyarah couldn’t help but feel like an awful grinch for trying to put a stop to the party. All they wanted to do was get together and have fun. It was wrong to do so in a cursed place like this, and Ghanyarah had a feeling that he would be the better for it if he just left and let them learn their lesson.

But… there was also sympathy in his heart, and a loneliness that continued to fester even after he realized he was no longer alone. Therewas a desire for purpose that escaped him since his kin, the Children of Rot, had dispersed. Maybe nothing bad would happen to this party. And if it did, maybe Ghanyarah could earn the favor of at least a couple Gembounds if he stuck around to help.

The more he thought about it, the more he found himself wanting to help. It didn’t take much for his loneliness to wholly consume every ache and worry he had for what seemed like an inevitably chaotic outcome. He galloped after the marmoset and chuffed behind him. “Well - wait, wait, okay. I’ll help. But first, you need to understand that Polaris is a dangerous place to have a party. All sorts of threats are lurking waiting to pick off little guys like you.” Ghanyarah said. Had he not been feeling so charitable, then maybe it would have been him to run in and try to eat everyone smaller than him. The marmoset would have made for a tasty snack.

But he was getting off track. “I don’t want this party of yours to endanger anyone. I’ll stay and keep you all safe.” Ghanyarah insisted. He’d already taken the role upon himself. Even if the monkey didn’t think it necessary, Ghanyarah was determined.

“And - you said you need decorations, right?” The reptile blinked, looming over him. Decorations were art, and art was definitely in his wheelhouse. “Take a look at this!” As he stepped back to allow room for his magic, the air instantly swelled and fell cold as moisture sapped from the atmosphere and took the form of a mimic of the marmoset. It hardened with a crisp crackling, leaving the icy statuette flawlessly replicating the marmoset's pose just seconds earlier.

@Tukluk

Hael We're not just skin and bones.

Polaris was on its way to becoming Hael's home. And she liked it. Despite her need for adventure and the desire to venture out and explore pulling on her heartstrings, she liked the large hall with its lights overhead and the occasional guest coming through.
Especially the presence of guests delighted Hael, because her curiosity about her surroundings was only trumped by her curiosity about others.

It seemed to be Hael's lucky day in that regard. There was a large gathering of other gembounds around the spire! She wondered what they were doing, but since she had no acumen in that regard, she would just have to go and ask!

Hael did her best not to trip over her little legs as she bounced forward. There were so many creatures there, even more cats! Finally she'd make friends like herself!
The kitten sped towards the group and came to a halt beside the other felines. For a moment, Hael was too excited to even get a word out, her amber eyes sliding over all the other gembounds- oh! They were decorating!

There was an ice-figure that looked exactly like one of the smaller gembounds, the one working on sowing plants and growing them. So she wasn't the only one with magic, then? Did everyone have different magic? Or could she learn what they were doing as well?

"Hallo." Hael said eventually, her eyes wide in wonder as she let her gaze slide over all gembounds present. She was a bit overwhelmed, but definitely excited how many new friends she could make. If only Morthos could be here with her! And Equinox!
Where were the two? Surely they couldn't miss this?

With the two of them by her side, Hael would be more comfortable. Not that she was afraid of the other gembounds (why would she be?) but she felt like they probably all knew each other already and she had just barged in on their party? Oh no, would they even welcome her?
The doubt dimmed the kitten's smile a bit.

"Listen to me."

Zevruu listened as Tuck spoke about the party. There was a party? Hm...Parties weren't exactly his thing. Perhaps he should leave? Or would that be rude? He didn't want to offend the tiny creature, especially with that kyte right there. Why did such a monkey even have something that big? He supposed it would help protect him, considering he was so small.

Before he could make a decision of whether to leave or not, someone bumped into turn. Turning, he saw Splashy. He recalled having seen her and her friend, Sky, many cycles ago. Looking around briefly, he realized Sky was nowhere to be seen. "Hello. W-Where is Sky?" he asked, his head tilted. When Tuck told him to tell her about the party, he hesitated. "There's a, um, party going on. You can h-help decorate or...I guess hunt for the carnivores." He shifted his paws.

After a moment, another cat came up to them. Zevruu flicked an ear. This cat was small and young, clearly new to this world. "H-hi. There's a...party. You're welcome to j-join, I'm sure." All of this talking was making him uncomfortable.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

Splashy lowered her ears. "I-I don't know where S-Sky is! I've looked around everywhere for them but I can't f-find them!" As the serval explained the party, she began to look around. Someone was planting seeds, and someone else was making an ice sculpture. She watched with fascination as an exact copy in ice of the tiny creature was formed. She slowly took a step closer, looking on with wide eyes.

"T-That's so cool..." She wondered if she could do that. Taking a deep breath, she focused and channeled her energy, hoping it would work. It was a little shaky, but soon she was able to take the moisture from the air and turn it into a sculpture. It was a cat-her best friend Sky, specifically-but it was messily made. She lowered her ears in shame, her tail drooping down. It looked nowhere near as flawless as the other's.