Huckleberry continued to sob, banging his head against the crystal over and over, as if it would do anything to break them, as if it would be able to break his gem, perhaps, but then the vines began to wrap around him, pulling him away and holding him down, although it wasn't a strong grip, it didn't hurt. It...it was oddly calming, in a way, being held with a firm but gentle grip. But it did nothing to alleviate his heartache.

As Cloudberry's words drifted towards him he felt another tremor run through his body. She did not know...she did not know that it was his lightning that had struck her down, that had damaged her so terribly that she had to sleep, ad Mama had told them she once had to do. He let out another sob before he found the strength to answer. "You...I killed you...but it was an accident! I...I wasn't aiming...I didn't mean to..." and he could speak no more as he descended into more tears.

At the lion's words he looked up. The lights, the trees, the air around him. He saw Pride. He was alive, but he had been dead. He shook his head, not quite understanding the plight he had gone through. "B-but...it..." his argument died quickly. What was the point? What was the point of any of this.

He stilled completely, his body going limp under the vines as he stared blankly out at the proceedings. The only reassurance was that mama had made it out. And, if he had heard correctly, Jayberry. But nobody had said who had died. If Cloudberry was here, and Yewberry, and Jayberry and Mama survived, that must mean...

More tears ran from Huckleberry's face as he realized the truth. The horrible truth. "Elderberry." he moaned. "My brother. My brother! He's dead! Elderberry...and Baneberry, we were the first! And now he's gone! And Baneberry is gone! I'm the only one left!" He grabbed at something, anything, the grass, the crystals...he wanted to hold something and sob.

And just as he fell into more weeping, a glimmer of gold shone against the lights and the little catsquirrel came bursting from the trees. She had been running furiously, ever since Huckleberry's mind had glimmered with life just before his hatch, she had been running. And now she was here, standing before Huckleberry's cage panting hard, her eyes wide and glimmering with a hint of tears. Huckle-friend I am here! You are not dead!

Huckleberry flinched at the sound of the voice and looked up at Shiny. He had almost forgotten about her but now hope came flooding back. He tried to leap forward and grab her, but the crystals wouldn't give her enough room to squeeze in. He whipped towards the lion, desperation making his whole body quake. "Please...please, I won't run please I need her. I need her. Please...I'll stay I just need to be with Shiny!"

@Cloudberry

Cloudberry listened. Huckleberry's mounting panic only flustered her further; it only fed her own fear and confusion, fuel to a flame. Yet his words-... What is he saying..?

She was bewildered by his insistence that she was dead. She didn't feel dead. She took quick stock of herself (trying to ignore the massive white lion standing there) and spoke, again, softly.

"But I am not dead."

Then she looked to him again. Family should be... supportive, and as Cloudberry watched her brother (she still believed) falling into a childish series of sobs, she felt herself suddenly drifting wide. Clear, and cold, her own fear still hammering in her chest, the world seeming to fall into icy, crystalline chips.

He's weak, she thought distantly, an echo, perhaps, of her mother's sentiment. But he was. He was no more than a hatchling, bawling helplessly. She was terrified, yes, but-... he was older. He should be trying to comfort her. Protect her. He wasn't.

He was a terrible brother, really, when she thought about it. And Elderberry-... dead?

Some distant part of her stirred with very faint grief. She'd not known any of her own family very well, but Elderberry had been, at least, a noble one. Almost more approachable than the others, in some way: dignified and sure. She hadn't felt the same sense of unreality around him that she had with the rest.

But Cloudberry wasn't struck down by grief, as Huckleberry was. Instead she simply turned away, lying down and staring off into the forest, wishing to be anywhere but here.

@Sebastian

Brothers aren't simply close,

The panther couldn't help but to stare for a long moment at what his Niece had turned into, some part of him mourning that she had been so badly injured that her body had needed to twist and reform to heal.

But he felt nothing more than a rush of sheer relief, leaning into her touch before tilting his head to run his tongue through her fur, grooming her as he began to purr, rasping out in his wheezing voice "Oh, Enka, I was so worried." He smoothed down her fur as best he could, cleaning away the wet of new, uncaring of the taste.

And then... and then there was Rift. The panther faltered, ears flattening and head dipping as he stepped away from Enka, irrationally fearing that he would be angry, that Rift would blame him. He had burned down his forest, and he had failed to protect them both.

But... but then Rift was on him, and he found himself stumbling as the mutated Puma was on him, grooming as fur. The Panther's eyes welled, and he began to purr, the sound wheezing, and he began to return the gesture, grooming his brother's green fur, that tasted vaguely of plants. The taste was... unwelcome, he only had a stomach for meat, for the most part, but he couldn't find it in him to care. "I was so scared, Rift, I thought I'd lost you. Please, never do that again, 'm begging you."

His heard ached when his fellow Puma began to step away from him, and he moved to follow. But Sebastian stopped himself, settling for pressing his side against Enka, beginning to groom her fur again, afraid that she would disappear from before him like a wraith. He listened as Rift began to address everyone, unable to feel anything but pride as the green cat naturally assumed the role of a leader, oration coming to him as naturally as breathing.

And, of course, Sebastian would join him. "I will always follow you, Brother. Whatever you want me to do, it will be done." he had to raise his voice to address the other, Rift far away from him, and it burned, but it was well worth it.

brothers are knit together

Where... where was Mother?

Her feelings were disjointed - she knew she didn't like Mother, much, but she wanted her dearly. She was afraid, and Mother would fix it. Mother was protective of family, and even though they didn't get along, Mother wouldn't stand for her being afraid and alone and hurt, just like she had saved Huckleberry even though he was questioning Grandmother.

But Mother was gone.

"In... innnn the C-caves?" her words were stuttering and slurred and halted, and some part of her knew that was wrong, that she hadn't sounded like that before, but her thoughts were disjointed and leaping, still blurry from waking up. They would be disjointed forever, although she didn't know it yet, but not to this level.

Despite herself, she pressed against the Crystal bars, getting as close to the antlered lion as she could. "Sc-scared, not, not ok-kay." she shook her head, wings fluttering violently. And then--alarm, fear. "K-klled? Ag-again? Wh-whoo?" Who had died? She looked around - Huckleberry was nearby, restrained, and so was Cloudberry, so neither of them. And supposedly Mother was still in the caves. So, who? Elderberry? Grandmother?

"Pl-pleeease, wh-who? Not-not my, my fam-family?" she whined, low in her throat.

But then Huckleberry was babbling, saying he had killed Cloudberry? But, no, she was alive! She was looking right at her! And - Huckleberry came to the conclusion that Yewberry had been unable to. Elderberry - it was Elderberry. Her eyes widened, and a strangled, moaning sound broke from her throat, the sound of a wounded, dying animal. "N-no! My, my uncle! No!" she sobbed, tears dripping from mis-matched eyes as she shook her head, flinching as her sensitive beak slammed into a crystal bar. "Nononononono!"

@Mercurius

The lion listened idly to Rift's speech, turning around once to simply nod, offering, "I may provide my stories and, like Oliver, my healing and plant-growing abilities." Then, it was back to the poor, panicked Bloodberries. Moonlit eyes softened, urging his vines to relinquish their firm hold on Huckleberry. "You are not alone, young one, can't you see?" If the hybrid looked up, he would see Mercurius indicate with a nod of his great head, gesturing toward Cloudberry and Yewberry.

Instinct drove him to look sharply to the glimmering catsquirrel running into his periphery; the sudden movement made his flank prick. Huckleberry rushed forward near-instantaneously, reaching out desperately to grab at the lesser. A familiar, perhaps, like Pride's own Mischief. Those frightened eyes turned to Mercurius again, desperately seeking this source of comfort. "I cannot fully break this cage, but---" The old storyteller focused in on his magic again, shifting the vines hanging around Huckleberry. They churned, coiling into a rather uniform spiral, then abruptly pushing into a space between gemstone bars. Once they seemed to reach the outside, Mercy urged them to push outward, weaving into minute cracks in the gemstone and creating a vine-tube just large enough for Shiny to fit through. Knitting the vines into the earth as sturdy little "stakes," the pale beast released his hold on his magic, for now.

"I will leave you to your companion, for now, alright?" His tail flicked as he rumbled softly, shifting his attention over to Yewberry.

The poor thing seemed disoriented, flinching and sobbing. She pressed against the bars of the cage, wings fluttering like mad. Mercurius lowered his head, coming eye-level with the smaller hybrid, "from what I know, no one here today intended for him to die. I was not at the battle." He shook his head, ears moving back. Not unfortunately, the lion thought, almost selfishly. The hybrid hit her beak against the bars, causing a wince from Mercy himself. "Please, young one. Do not hurt yourself. Relax, look into the grass and watch it move, breathe." To demonstrate, his paws swayed over the tops of the blades, at the foot of the cage, "inhale until your lungs can't possibly hold anymore, then exhale as slowly and for as long as possible. Ground yourself."

Mercurius had a lot of experience with panic attacks, it seemed.

lol i think it's @Rift now

For many long moments Enka simply rested against the warm presence of her feline kin. The scent of their fur and the low grumbles of their purr were a comfort to her. They had never had a moment like this, the three of them so close. Some distant part of her brain wondered why that was, regretting what it took to make it possible and longing to change that fact. The mutated springbok nearly forgot about others as though the were but a distant dream.

Before she was ready, if she would ever be ready, Rift moved away and addressed the group at large. Enka was once again returned to the present moment. An array of emotions and thoughts appeared to feel the clearing; sobs of despair, well wishes for the future, regret and pledges of loyalty. She was better able to concentrate but it still seemed perplexing. Enka never had any sort of grandiose dreams. All she had ever wanted was a garden in Eridanus to call her own, to nurture her plant children and bring some beauty.

As such, her attention turned to the gemstone prisons. Pride referred to them as children, though it was hard to think of them as such when they were only a bit younger than she was. And yet hearing their cries … it struck at her heart. She had just recently (or at least recently to her) thought that she had lost her family as well. Despite their attack, she related to their tears of pain. With a soft nudge of reassurance towards her uncle, Enka moved softly towards where the three were held.

As she walked, tiny blossoms appeared at her hooves. She stood before the three and closed her gentle brown eyes to focus. Then inside the small prisons and around their outer circumference, small lily buds appeared. Already their gentle scent began to cling to the air. Enka opened her eyes and looked towards the prisoners. “I’m… I’m so sorry for your loss. No one will replace your fallen family. It was a loss that should not have been needed. I’m sorry.”

With that said, she turned to face her father and the group at large. “I’m…” She hesitated, trying to regain her wording in her mind. “I’m not a fighter. I never wish to be faced with what happened ever again. I can’t stand the idea of loosing my family again…. But I will support a kingdom that helps to grow and nurture. I want to help those young plant children grow again and heal. And for these gemstone children both older,” Enka paused briefly, looking at the cub who appeared still at hatchling age, “and much younger. They all deserve a place of peace to live. If this kingdom will do that, I will give you all I am able, Rift.”

---

Speech
Thoughts

Tags: @Rift next!
Notes:

Rift was filled with pride as the others began to speak their agreement. He could feel the scars they still bore, the emotional turmoil from the battle that weighed them down. It weighed him down as well, but he could see light before him. Healing. As the Kingdom would heal others, it would heal them as well. Life will thrive once again in the Maw of Mosses. "Thank you all. We will grow, at least I hope, beyond those gathered here. We will be the Kingdom of Eridanus, joined by our sorrows and by our life. If you know anyone that shares in the kindness to life that all those gathered here share, then extend an invitation. We will be welcome to all that are peaceful."

He nodded towards Pride. "Thank you. If it is okay, I would like to speak to Envy myself once we have things more sorted out here. However, for now..." he then crouched and leaped down the roots and approached the crystal cages. "we must decide what we will do with these sorry creatures. It will be our first order of business as a Kingdom."

He glanced back at the others, before sitting himself in the middle of the three cages. "Listen well," he spoke to them, as gently as he could. "I do not intend on being unfair. You must understand that I cannot allow you all to simply leave after what you have done. We will give you all a fair trial and those that are here...they shall decide your fate, together. Now, tell me...about yourselves. About why you attacked us and what you shall do after, should we set you free. Please do not lie, it will only make things more difficult. Please convince us that you will not do what you have done ever again."

@Atinneas

The little white cub listened as Rift spoke of the official beginnings of the Kingdom of Eridanus. She felt really excited to be a part of a group of gembounds who valued peace and life, just like her! Though the cub's excitement faded as Rift spoke to the gembounds who were apparently in very deep trouble. Oh my, this didn't sound good at all. Atinneas wanted to know why they were in trouble, but she was only one cycle old, a small child, and perhaps this wasn't her place. The child still wanted to know what the huge situation was. The white lion fluffball used her ears to try and locate Rift, and fortunately she was headed in the right direction. But, she remembered when Rift (her leader) had told her gently to stay away from the cages. So she listened. It took great concentration, and a little bit of luck, for her not to get too close to the cages, but definitely close enough so Rift could hear her. She let out a loud but adorable little lion roar, which was just a squeak, to get his attention. Oh how she wished to roar like an adult lion. "Rift, why are they in trouble? Did they do something bad?" Though the blind lion couldn't see Rift, but she wanted to know what was going on. Usually, there were times when Atinneas sounded much wiser and intelligent than this. But this was not guaranteed all the time, she was still just a child, and one who needed guidance like all children.

@Pride

Pride inclined his head softly. His great and branching antlers gave a slight sweep as he did so. "Of course," he responded--it was all perfectly sensible, for the leaders to later speak directly. Rift didn't have to ask him that. But he didn't waste time further with speech.

To the three Bloodberries, he gave his full attention. He stepped forward a bit--nowhere near Rift; he took no position of authority or attention--but close enough to watch their faces, and closely. What little sympathy he had for Huckleberry was driven mercilessly down and ignored. This was easy enough when he remembered the suffering and screaming and blood that had come at the Bloodberries' actions. Huckleberry had gone along with that, and he could not forget Enka or Rift flailing and falling and-... He pushed the thought away.

Instead, he set himself to monitoring their surroundings. There was every possibility that a surviving Bloodberry might choose an inconvenient now to turn up, perhaps a desperate attack to free their brethren whilst the caged ones were all close together.

Quietly, he focused on forming a double--a second Pride that split off from the first, and turned, trotting intently off into the forest. Pride kept part of his mind with this double--another him that roamed in a large circle around the group, just out of sight within the trees, keeping an eye out for any danger.

Oliver dared--if barely--to creep forth from the thick underbrush. Quietly he slinked over near Mercurius and Pride--the two seemed powerful, and Mercurius kind, and both of them were large and white and therefore very reassuring. He felt safer sitting over there, where he could safely watch the prisoners, and closely observe their features.

He felt bad for them. They were caged up, and obviously scared--but why'd they attacked everyone, then? Some part of him yearned deeply to understand, to make some sense of all the horror and fear they'd all undergone. Silent he waited, wide blue eyes nearly distraught as he waited to hear what they would say.

He didn't notice the second Pride softly move off behind him--which was probably for the best. His poor mind didn't need any more surprises anytime soon.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Huckleberry