Home. Finally, finally home. Cancer made quick time towards Pisces and without even bothering to alert anyone he'd returned yet, the cat made a bee-line for his ledge. A quick drink from the water and up he'd climb, settling happily onto the flat surface he called home. He'd take only a moment to rest before giving an audible sigh and reaching around to his pouches. First the tablet was removed, placed easily between his ever careful paws. Next, he craned around to the other side and nudged the backmost pouch with his nose.

"Wake up, kitten. We're home now. Come out and see." He'd murmur sweetly, that soft tone he'd used for only Makyna and Bevy before, now a gift to his little unexpected daughter. He'd open the flap of the pouch and remain laying so she could climb out, then turn his attention to the cave itself. "Time to meet the family." It wasn't a joyful time for the cat, who dreaded Leon's reaction to the news. Alas, he roared all the same, beckoning his family to him.

"Maji gather! Your leader returns, with news!"

The journey had not been a particularly smooth one. Still, Quix was very little and needed all the rest she could get to be hyper when the next occasion called for it. “Stupid leopard," she murmured inaudibly beneath her breath, stuck somewhere between her dream world and consciousness whenever Cancer climbed a steeper terrain, or went over a boulder in rougher fashion. The fennec was the cutest version that the devil could be - cute in appearance but just starting to reveal hints of her true nature beneath the facade. For now, of course, she was still the innocent newborn babe, yet to truly fill out the "chaotic good" path laid out for her by fate. She was simply good, cute and adorable and anyone would have wanted to pinch those cheeks.

The girl was comfortable in the darkness and whimpered as Cancer woke her. His soothing voice was kind enough to convince her to get up though and she whined, telling the black leopard that she was definitely coming out but to just give her a little more time. He did not seem to be giving her much chance though. As he opened the flap, strong light filtered into the bag and Quix knew that she was to get out of the pouch now. Balancing her lithe body on little paws, the fennec hopped out and stood beside him.

A wondrous sight greeted her. The ledge that Cancer stood on gave her a good view of the area and she could hear the crash of the waterfall. Cancer mentioned family, to which she pricked her ears. Family? Like, more of them? And then, he roared as loud as a pup could. For good measure, the girl barked along in delight, her bark being more muted than a dog's bark. Nothing happened. Bored, the fledgling yawned and snuggled his forelimbs. The cub's tufts of fur were comfy and his chubby legs were cuddly. In anticipation of what was to come as well, Quix silently worked her magic to sense if anyone else would be coming around. She could detect itty bitty unseen things in others and discern whether they were good or bad. Alas, she failed. She did not sense those things. Disappointing much. It also made her tired. Letting out another yawn, the girl sat down by his side and watched the cave silently with her baby blue eyes.

~EEYA~

"splish splash"

---

Unaware of the drama and strife between his landbound friends the dolphin slept peacefully beneath the waves. His blowhole poked out of the water so that he could breathe while his unconscious body kept his tail fin moving so that he floated rather than sank. The dolphin dreamed of pleasant things like fish and swimming with his friend Mawra and--

A sudden roar violently awoke him from his slumber. He went below the waves, startled for a moment and wanted to take refuge before he remembered that he was in Pisces with his feline friends. Felines who could apparently roar quite loudly. How neat! Now his head poked above the waves as he stared at Cancer and a little tan-thing-with-horns. Oooooo who was that? She was a new land-critter for him to meet! That made him excited!

The dolphin smacked his tail fin on the surface of the water and gave a whistle of greeting to the land-critters to let them know he was listening and in attendance. "Eeya want hear news! Yay news!" He cheered happily. "Is news 'bout new land-critter friends?" He inquired cheerfully. Sapphire blue eyes trailing back and forth between Cancer-leader and tan-thing-with-horns. He couldn't wait until the meeting started!

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words: 204
tagged: MW Meeting
ooc: ---
muse: 5/10

"Talking looks like this."
Thinking looks like this...

Why were all of the entries to Pisces so wet and icy and slippery? At least tunnel H wasn't too cold, or too hilly, like O and M. It had been a long journey, but finally she had made the long, roundabout journey with Dark to Pisces once more-- just in time for a meeting.

"Eep!" Bevy squawked, hearing the echoing call from the entrance of the cave. Cancer would be waiting on her-- what if he noticed she was late? She looked back at Dark and knew she couldn't hurry too much. He had gotten quite good at walking on his talons but she so wished he could fly already.

"Come on, little one," she chirped softly, moving on to the mossy, rocky land. "We're headed towards that waterfall. You hear the roaring? It's just up ahead," she explained, hurrying her way over to the meeting, hoping she wasn't keeping everyone waiting... But Dark just had to be with her. She was going to teach him how to fly when his feathers came in, and Pisces was one of the safest places around because it was so flat (at least compared to places filled with stalagmites and trees). The mossy earth was safe to land it, and the ridges provided perfect nesting spots...

Dark would grow up safe and sound here, she thought. The others would love him-- imagine Ky! Perhaps she could teach him how to use his Hindsight ability. That would be so nice.

"Cancer! I'm here! Sorry!" She called as they approached, looking around for the others... Where... Where were the others?

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Dark toddled along behind Bevy, weary but cheery. He turned his head slowly to and fro, as they went. She'd taken him through several of the tunnels and caves in Origin, now, and each brought him new sounds to marvel over.

Here, for example, the blind owl could hear a constant rushing noise. He wasn't sure, but he had the vaguest sense that it was somehow related to water. And there were voices, and loud animal sounds like roars that he couldn't quite place. How exciting! And terrifying! He hopped quickly at Bevy's encouragement, bouncing over to be closer to her. It wouldn't do any good to be caught by these things, whatever was doing all that roaring and barking and squeaking, after all.

"Bevy-Bevy-Bevy-Bevy," he chattered excitedly.

Then he was bouncing, perhaps a bit much, flapping his thus-far flightless wings as he popped up and down, even while running forward, racing suddenly past Bevy and scrabbling off over the stone. A few yards away, though, he stopped and waited, turning sightless eyes back toward her.

"Bevy-Bevy. Where--" and he clicked his beak--"are--... we?"

His grasp of language was still very weak, but this new place seemed very interesting to him, as did the noises. He wondered why his bird-mom-friend, Bevy Little-Voice, had brought him here. Excited and entirely trusting, he waited to see.

________________

ooc: Any other members of Maji should post now. :| Midas, I'm lookin' at you dude. Any perspective members (coughfishercough) should read this at least, to get a feel for what's coming for Maji. :)

For some odd reason, Cancer had expected more to show up. Midas didn't appear, like he'd thought. Eeya soon arrived, though, and the cat offered the water mammal a smile of appreciation for his excitement. Bevy came too with her new owlet in tow. The cat frowned a bit, but the look he gave Bevy was grateful.

"I guess that's it. Leon... and Makyna, won't be joining us today." He sounded tired saying this, and the quick shift towards business wasn't hard to pick up on. "As you know, Bevy, but some may not, I've been traveling the caves and tunnels, and I've returned with a few things." He slid the tablet map forward, then as if on second thought, bent to grab it with his teeth and with a summoning flick of his tail, he'd lead Quix down the steps of stone to the floor with the others. He sat close to the water, and placed the tablet down for all to see... well, except Dark, maybe. But the owl might get a feel of the carved map if he thought to touch it.

"This tablet details every known area of Origin Cave. I'd like to carve a replica onto our walls here, in larger scale, as a way-point for travelers." Leon would've been good for that... damn bear. "I've marked each cave with their given title. If you need help learning the letters, they appear very similiar to what's been written on other walls in the caves, I can teach what I know. Don't ask me how I know... it's just like... a pre-life memory thing, y'know?" He glanced at Bevy, and then Eeya. "Kinda like how you guys knew to swim and fly respectively, without being taught your species do those things." Maybe leopards could write and read and stuff. He didn't know. He'd ask Amaria later if she knew these things... speaking of which, where was she? Wasn't she with them now?

He glanced around the cave disapprovingly, then went back to business.

"Next, I'd like you guys to meet someone. This is Quix." He paused for a moment, then sighed inwardly. "I found her fresh-hatched in Polaris... she's my daughter." What should've been a happy reveal was soured by the problems he'd faced days before regarding Makyna. "I... would guess some magical contributions had something to do with her being here... from myself and... Makyna. I'm not sure how, or what happened, honestly, but it can't be coincidence she shares our features so clearly, so that's that. I guess." He didn't sound sure, torn between regret and joy. Quix was a big part of his world now, but without Makyna, it seemed bittersweet. He'd convinced himself that the lioness wouldn't be coming back... surely she'd find Leon and leave Pisces for good, to be away from him. It wasn't fair, but it was right. Or so he believed.

"At any rate, we should do some reintroductions. Seems we have some new faces in the cave, so let's get to know each other better. Just like before, remember Bevy?" He sat back and more addressing Dark than anyone else, he smiled. "I'm Cancer, elected leader of Maji Walezi. Ignore my black fur- I'm a leopard, like Amaria is, just... black." He shrugged his shoulders easily, and then held his paw out to Quix. "Your turn, big-ears." The tease was light-hearted, not as mean as the kid's words could be towards him- he didn't mind it though. He knew the child had her reasons to be cross with him. He'd lost her stone somehow, after all, or else how would she have been in Polaris, so far from her place of conception?

There was a splash of water that caught the girl's attention. Flicking her oversized ears in the direction from which the water had been disturbed, Quix picked up a curious whistle. She then heard a chitter chatter of sorts. It came in squeals and clicks. Curious, the child turned to gaze upon the Gembound which was sending its greetings and was surprised to see that it was a sleek, grey thing with a funny long snout. It looked fun to ride on! The girl scrambled to her paws and yipped at it in friendly manner. It was so unique! She loved the blue shiny gem along its fin and back.

The next thing to enter the fray was a bird. It was brightly coloured with quick, sharp eyes. “Birby!" The kit called out with a wag of her tail. She remembered this birb giving her the dare to eat the lemon! Trailing behind her was the blind little poofy owl which was so cute! Quix called out to it without hesitation as well. “Poofy bird! I'm Quix! Tan-thing-blue-horns. Black mice. Remember?" Out of all the critters here, she was most excited to get to know the poofy owl simply because it looks so fluffy and adorable to the girl.

That was it then. Just the couple of them. Quix's heart sank a little. She had thought that there would be more friends! Cancer began to speak then, from his ledge, and it dawned on the girl that he was the alpha of them all. Leon...and Makyna. Hmm. Oh well. The girl happily walked beside the king, taking her place beside him as she moved down the steps. Maybe Cancer dad wasn't so bad after all. It seemed that these gembounds did like him quite a bit.

The black leopard starting speaking and Quix listened politely, though she did not really take notice of everything, nor commit it to memory. She was still very young then and these things of intellect sent her to a kingdom of boredom. After a couple of minutes, Cancer finally switched the topic, and she found herself the main attraction. She loved the attention! As the leopard spoke, she purred contentedly and wrapped her tail around her dainty paws. Her little tan muzzle was outlined by the two stripes running from her eyes to mouth, and her ears were longer than the length of her head. Large, baby powder blue eyes only added to the whole cute, energetic package. She blinked a couple of times, eager gaze flitting from one member to the next.

Cancer continued on and introduced himself. The girl giggled. “Fat leopard," she teased in reply to him calling her big ears. She loved her large ears! They allowed her to hear every little scurrying thing. Looking at Cancer for encouragement, then Eeya, Bevy and Dark, the little tan girl yipped her little reply. “I'm Quix! I'm a tan-thing-with-horns! I like everybody here! Um. I like hugs." She cuddled in towards Cancer's legs and rubbed her face against it with yet another purr. The girl then looked at Eeya and cooed at Eeya, the closest imitation she could make of a dolphin.

OOC: Example of fennec fox cooing sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPg6SN_-GpA

~EEYA~

"splish splash"

---

The little one next to Leader-Cancer gave him a friendly yip in greeting. He knew what a yip was because of his friend Mawra... Come to think of it. This thing looked a lot like Mawra minus the fur color and large ears-things. Feeling positively giddy to have been noticed the dolphin gave a loud whistle right back to her, greeting her in his own language. Perhaps he could teach her some of the dolphin-words or maybe all of them! Foxes seemed to be good at making the right sounds for his words.

Others showed up, and among them was Bevy-- er, well, Ratchet! Oh boy! His bird friend was here! The dolphin splashed his tail happily. "Hai, Bevy-- er, well, Ratchet and fluffier Bevy-- er, well, Ratchet!" He whistled to them in greeting. It was so exciting! All of his friends were here! Well, except Leon and Makyna? Where were they? Hopefully they'd come soon!

Cancer called the meeting to order and came down near the water. Eeya swam a little closer so that his head was poking over the shore so he could see the "map". Being in the water Eeya had never seen writing or a map before so this was all new to him but he was excited that he was the only sea-critter to maybe learn how to read! "Eeya love to learn all letters..." He said with wonder. Though how in the world would he write? His fins weren't dexterous like his land-critter friends. Maybe it would b e a problem that he would solve in the future.

Then the leopard explained that the little-large-eared-fox was actually a Makyna-and-Cancer-Leader-fox! How interesting! There was a way to make little versions of yourself? And he had to admit that this little fox looked a lot like the two felines. He wanted to make little Eeyas! That would be so fun!

The meeting turned to an introduction-thing and the Makyna-and-Cancer-Leader-fox introduced herself as "Quix". Much shorter and easier to say and quite a cute name... though it would certainly be a little tougher to say. After she finished speaking the little fox gave a sound not unlike one of his whistles! Impressive! Eeya let her know with a head bob and a whistle of his own that he was impressed with the sound. They would certainly have to meet up later!

Now, it was his turn to speak. "Haaiii haaaiii haaaaaaiiiiiii! This One is Eeya! Eeya likes much to swim and swim and swim! And breach! Like this!" With that he swam backwards and disappeared under the surf for a few moments only to reappear as he leaped and performed a front flip for the congregated animals. With a splash he returned to the water and went back to his former place with his head poking over the shore. A huge grin was plastered on his face as he looked around. "See? Bevy-- er, well, Ratchet is your turn talk now!" He giggled as he looked to the small bird.

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words: 503
tagged: MW Meeting
ooc: ---
muse: 7/10

"Talking looks like this."
Thinking looks like this...

"We're home. This is Pisces, where my friend of Maji Walezi live. I'll show you where my nest is in a little while, okay?" Bevy explained to the baby bird, her bright eyes looking him over with admiration. Everything about him made her feel so warm and fuzzy, like she had a real purpose. Her attention was slowly brought back to Cancer as he began the meeting.

... So... Makyna and Leon were just not going to show up? Their group looked so small without their friends. Bevy looked at the others, then back to Cancer, her wings pressed hard to her sides as she tried to stay strong. It was just the two of them, then...? Fine. They could make it work. She was glad to meet Quix properly, and Eeya seemed the same as ever.

She peered at his map, nodding gently as Eeya finished up and told her it was her turn. As always, she took to the air and then landed on top of the speaking-crystal. Looking around at everyone who had gathered, she tried to ignore the hole in her heart. At least Cancer was there, right? She didn't comment on Quix-- honestly, if Cancer was coping with the clear loss of Makyna with that tiny fox, so be it. She was adorable, anyway.

My name is Bevy. It's nice to meet you, Quix. Welcome to our little family," she peeped politely, before waving a wing over to Dark, the owlet who had been tailing her for a while now.

"I'd like you all to meet, um..." Bevy hadn't given him his name yet, or even really asked for his name. "This little bird I found. He's very sweet, I'm sure he'll fit right in. He is blind, but he makes up for it in his own way."

She decided that was just about all she wanted to say. Her mind was full of sad things, and she couldn't quite focus on the subject at hand. "It's your turn to talk now, if you like," she told the owl, hopping back over to him, her head tilting.

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Dark had been listening intently to all of the new voices. There was one that sounded weary, but like it was trying to be strong--a male-voice. It was tired, maybe sad. He wondered why, and he felt bad for it. He would ask why, if he got the chance; maybe it could be helped!

Next came a soft voice, a chirping voice, one he knew. Yes, tan-with-brown-creature-and-black-rat! He squeaked in excited acknowledgement.

And then, as if to answer his squeak, there came a happy chittering chirping voice from somewhere over--... there, where the water lapped and splashed. Dark peered at it, fluffing himself as he listened to it speak. He liked its voice, somehow--it was easy to hear, echoing in a way that seemed to tell him exactly where it was. Its sounds were... precise? That was the best way he could think of it, even if he didn't quite have the words to explain.

And words! What words they were using! What wonderful, lovely words, words he'd never heard, words he listened to and tried to understand and memorize and love. Words were great!

Bevy spoke from close beside him, and he listened cheerfully. Yes! He wasn't quite sure what this was all about, being as young as he was, but he knew what "talk" meant. And "turn!" He'd had a turn or two in that game they'd played, too. He thought, considering, then took a deep breath, and let it all out in one chittering, squawking, hissing sentence. Or rather, in the repetition of his favorite word. Bevy'd told him to talk, after all, but she hadn't said what about.

"BEVY-BEVY-BEVY-BEVY-BEVY-BEVY," he proudly declared. And then he turned his owl-head to stare blindly but directly at Cancer.

"Why sound sad?" he asked, innocently plaintive.

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