Reign
He who is to be a good ruler
must have first been ruled

Their King bade them to gather, and so Reign did.

He had never been a good follower, but he was good at faking. So he sat off to the side, head high as he observed their little King, tail wrapped around his paws. The little Cheetah that had joined not long ago was nowhere to be seen, he realized, scanning in the crowd, even though there were Gembounds that weren't members of the Sins -- or, as the King said, the Seven. So they were no longer the Sins? He flicked his ears thoughtfully.

And their King changed their name, as well. No longer were they 'Envy', but the pretentious name 'Livius'. It was a better name, he supposed, than Envy. So he raised his voice "All hail King Livius! Long live the King!" a weak thunder clap accompanied his voice.

@Livius

Livius' Chest swelled as they looked down upon their kingdom from between PRide's antlers, their crown glistening atop their head and topaz armour gleaming under the crystal starlight. Pride continued to speak. The dragon roared. Their followers renewed their allegiance.

They saw their mother down there, too, and as they did so, they raised themselves up just a little bit higher, a sparkle of pride in their eye.

And there were others, too-- the other leaders of the Caves had arrived. And more. Livius' eyes narrowed slightly as the lizard-dog bowled onto the scene, disturbing everything in what was supposed to be their moment. Finally, though, they twitched their quills, and looked towards the also-green cat. The weasel had a proposition for him, and the Bone King.

Allowing Pride the opportunity to speak to those who may approach him, Livius sucked in their breath and reached for their magic. A few moments later, they were fluttering elegantly down on spectral wings to meet the other Kings.

They lit elegantly on the ground between them both, puffing themselves out and brushing their armoured chest with the backs of their paws as their wings dissolved into nothingness.

"Thank you, Aure," they said nobly, their tail gently scraping on the ground behind them. "I may take you up on that. And if you are in need of aid you may call on the Seven. We will be growing in power, I hope."

Yes, yes! They sounded like a true king, now!

The weasel's quills twitched upright-- at least those atop their head. Finally they turned to Rift. "And I have a proposition for you, too," they continued, their heart momentarily lurching as they considered exactly how to say it. "Pride and I would like to fill Orion with gardens. Places where we can hide and our herbivores can graze." They paused for a second. That was it. There was nothing else to add. So why did it feel like too little?

"It... seems like your area."

But what could they do in return?

"Uhm, in return... we could perhaps provide you with armour, and our protection. I know that Eridanus is often at risk. We are guardians... we can help you protect it too."

@Rift @Aure @Pride

Pride waited until Livius had flitted away, and then he stepped down from the rock, stately. The armor lightly clanked, and a glittering diamond circlet chain hung around his head, framing over his silver-shining eyes.

Envy-... Livius... had gone to Rift, but there were old faces here, and new. Pride offered stately nods to Aure and to Rift, adding--in passing--to the green cat a few words in support of King Livius' question.

"I would also be glad to teach whomever of the Kingdom wishes to learn my sort of magic--anything I know--to defend yourselves the better, or anything else you might ask of me. But we would certainly be in your debt for this aid; Orion is a little lacking in the green department," he added, with humor.

Then, ever the social butterfly and intent on greasing as many wheels as he could, he made slow rounds around the others. "Reign--it is good to see you. How has your training been coming along? Is there anything you need of me?" And to the girdled lizard, he bowed his head, too. "Amazon, it is also good to see you. How have you been feeling? Have you been visiting fantastic places, I hope?" He'd nearly fully recovered, now, from the health he'd granted her through Tenzin's magic--which left him wondering if her illness was bound to return, soon--or if it had already.

"Aure. I hope everything worked out all right--and that Canis is still safe-? My offer of magical training is always extended to your own, as is any ability to summon armor, though of course I am not the best at that."

To the others gathered, the ones he didn't recognize--to Shengxiao, to Aaliyah and to Luster--he tilted his head.

"Hello; I do not believe that we have met. Are any of you here to join us? To join the Kingdom of the Seven as guardians, or the guarded; to live within Orion with us? You are welcome here, regardless; I am Pride."

The dragon listened in silence, bar a short grumble and a twist of smoke from his nostrils. Ember eyes flicked between those down below.

He didn't know them--most of them, anyway--and he wasn't quite sure what to do with any of them. Nothing, he supposed; he could hardly watch all of them at once for signs of threat, though he would try. He'd just curl up here in case he was called upon.

The dragon turned, sinuous body sweeping slithering scales over stone, until he was perched in a twisted perch around and over the back of the Throne, his wings draped downward. There he watched, silent and mostly still, as the gathering took place.

His mind was mostly elsewhere, but he watched, nonetheless, for any signs of threat.

@Rift

Rift glanced around at all the creatures that had gathered here. If only his own announcements to the Kingdom turned out as good as this. He shrugged. No matter. Not everyone had an affinity for plants. The Seven seemed much easier to join, in that case.

As for Livius's offer, her chuckled, the tip of his tail flicking. "We would be happy to grow gardens and grasses for you. After all, it's the job of my Kingdom to spread the bounty of the forest all across the caves. Consider is as thanks for your help in the battle - we would not have survived if you and Pride had not been there. I would be happy with a simple alliance - should you ever need our aid or if we ever need yours, we would come to help each other." He hoped that he was speaking correctly for the rest of his Kingdom. He wanted to accept the protection, but some pride in him and some desperate faith in his Kingdom had him refusing. He wanted his own Kingdom to be protectors as well - after all, what kind of guardians couldn't look after themselves?

Amazon continued to listen to Pride and Livius with rapt attention, but a small voice jerked her out of her focus and she turned and warmed at the sight of Luster standing before her. "Oh, Luster! There you are!" She reached forward and nuzzled her daughter's muzzle for a moment before nodding towards Pride and Livius.

"We can talk later - our King is speaking!" She very much hoped that Luster would choose to join the Seven. She didn't see her daughter enough and in these last few weeks, that was all she wanted. Was her daughter at her side.

She looked up at Pride as he spoke to her and she nodded. "I've been feeling great! I've visited a few places that I always wanted to go to. I'll tell you all about it soon!" Of course, she didn't mention the fact that the pain had started to reappear, that she grew dizzy and sick more often then before, and that a seizure had taken her the other day for the first time in a cycle. The health was wearing off, but she wasn't going to ruin this gathering with her sadness. She'd bring it up later.

As more and more gembounds began to gather, Sheng found himself nervously gravitating towards the outskirts. He hummed to himself in a disonant tone, perhaps a coping method? And when he was directly addressed by the weird glowing deer, he flinched and froze. He hadn't meant to get any attention but now that he had it, he was terrified. Were people looking at him? Would he look stupid in front of everyone?

His long ears pulled back a little fearfully, but he forced himself to step up, his tail lashing and wiggling behind him. "Aha, um, I'm not sure! I didn't know 'bout this Kingdom of the Seven I just saw y'all here. If you're, um, okay with me? Staying here? I wouldn't mind, but I ain't good at much. I just woke up, see." Had he just woken up? It seemed like a while ago. And by wake up, he couldn't actually remember if the last few cycles he had spent sleeping or what. Or in a chrysalis. He really couldn't remember shit from the last few cycles, only that he felt like a floating rat in a void of nothing. Surrounded but lonely. Confusing. He shrugged.

@Aaliyah

Reign
He who is to be a good ruler
must have first been ruled

Reign couldn't help but to wonder what had happened to Envy--he had never seen their King act like an actual King. Had something happened to change them? Was Livius a whole new Gembound? He ruffled his fur, observing their King. They were putting on a damn good show, he thought, making themself appear nice and neat, proud and relatively tall.

While at first their speech soudned incredible, a true King, flowery and proud and well thought out without pausing, it began to slow down, and fall apart. His ears twitched back, fighting the urge to flinch. Alright, there we go, that was the Envy he knew.

As always, Pride stepped up, doing as he always did. He addressed the Kingdom of Eridanus, offering them lessons in Magic, and then addressing himself. "It has been well, Pride." the cheetah inclined his head politely. "I would greatly appreciate it if you would take some time to offer me some pointers." he watched as the white stag addressed Amazon: she spoke happily, after addressing a dog-like creature that resembled her a great deal. Then was the odd hybrid thing, who was clearly uncomfortable but seemed to want to stay.

Luster
Sometimes you need a second chance
because you weren't quite ready for the first

Luster beamed, wagging her tail at Mama. They didn't spend nearly enough time together so, any time spent together, was welcome. So she returned Mama's nuzzle, before flopping down at her side, wagging her tail happily and licking at her scales. She paid little, if any, attention to Livius, their voice only a drone to her ears, only interested in Mama.

But then she was being addressed, and she looked up at Pride, wide-eyed, taking a moment to figure out what he had said. "Uh," she looked at Mama, "I am I am. Can't fight but I wanna live with Mama!" she nodded with a bright smile, rolling onto her back so that her side was pressed up to Amazon, belly up. Her eyes crossed as she looked up at Pride, offering him a beaming smile, "I'm Luster!"

The meeting proceeded as usual, with no intrusions or hold-ups. As Livius finished speaking, they conjured up a pair of wicked wings and flitted easily toward himself and Rift. Aure tilted his head in respectful acknowledgement, but otherwise allowed the weasel to speak (it was their meeting and group, after all.) The wyvern's ears flicked back, hoping that Mother would be alright with him inviting the Seven's king to Canis for a reading.

She never seemed to turn them down, really.

"Hopefully, we will be able to offer assistance in return," the Bonebound chirped, bright eyes sparking with genuine promise. He'd arrange a meeting soon enough, assemble his fellows, help them grow stronger and nurture the family they were all meant to be. It was high time Aure stopped thinking and started doing, huh?

Livius turned their attention elsewhere, leaving Aure to have a brief discussion with Pride. "Canis still safe," he nodded confidently, "and I may take you up on that offer. I don't know a lot of... hrm, offensive magic? My knowledge is fairly limited to fungi and a bit of light." Bright eyes flitted up to fully meet the pale stag's, "I'd like to be able to properly protect my own. Where should we meet?"

@Livius @Pride