Dragon watched them, and then grunted.

This whole "hive" business had him curious. Not suspicious, exactly, but he liked to know what was going on in his cave. (Or rather, what he thought of as his cave.)

"We will come with you, to see this place. And if you require something that will not put us in danger--food, perhaps--you will say so then, and I will see what I can offer."

Dragon looked to Phlegethon. He hoped that he, at least, would back him up--if these strangers turned out hostile, which he doubted very much at this point, he preferred to not be outnumbered five to one.

Speaking of which--he cast his magicka out, briefly, having a glance around. It was never a good thing to wind up with unknown spies; not after the Thothaga incident, especially. If anyone lingered, he'd see them.

@Pallas @Azrael

A flinch shocked through Pallas's muscles as the inky beast loomed over him, retching like a cat with a hairball. Okay, the hairball-ness of it was fine, but did it have to do that above him? He had to swallow his ugly face just thinking about what was even happening.

As soon as it came, the sounds were gone, at least. A show of force displayed about him with hive members flexing on the rest of the gathering. A warning of Astraea- Pallas returned the nod the black horse had given him from before at that. He must admit that Reji was still fairly recognizable with all that dirt on her. Secrecy may be the way to go... The two of them would just bring attention to us if we go that route, the linsang thought grimly. They needed to choose one or the other- but, a den is a den, and they need to have a place to condense operations.

The faintest concern for Lamia ran through the connection. Pallas turned his head to her, considering her as Reji spoke of locations. "My den's in the trees- it's got water under it, if you don't mind the muck." The last part was added as a near afterthought, though he was concerned- he was near arboreal in his own lifestyle. What of Lamia? She was aquatic, couldn't survive long out of the water.

"I am concerned about space." Pallas put it simply as he turned his attention to Reji's assigned bodyguards. "If you two come with, my home wouldn't fit all of us. We can see but-" he motioned to Legion, looking in their faintly buzzing eyes, "We may need to split forces. Get a connection going between those living with Legion and others rooming with me." There was a lot of them- and he considered this, considered if it was the best idea to split up. If anyone tried anything on a small group, they could overtake them with surprise with a backup, but that risked leaving Reji out in the open. Uncertainty pulsed from him through their connection.

"I can dig out an area for you at the very least, Lamia. This water's probably not very good for your, uh... Breathing systems, I'm sure." Raising his head higher, he took in the rest of the others he hadn't addressed. "Food would be a help, but I'm sure we can fare for the most part on our own. My place isn't far from here, if we want to look there first."

Part of him wondered if the Children would move in with him too. Yeesh, he barely had room for himself up in the trunk- there was maybe room under the tree, and there was other root systems they could fashion, and the stump he'd kept storage in... Thoughts swirled in his mind as he considered all this, considered the possible failures to come if they didn't step carefully through this.

@Phlegethon

Zyros hopped into Cetus, with her long strong legs supporting her as she moved. She was no longer a joey though. She was a large kangaroo with long legs, and a kick that could cause great injury, or even kill. Zyros was an adult and proud of it. As she hopped, the kangaroo suddenly stopped at the sight of Dragon, and what seemed to be other members of her group. What really caught her eye, was what looked like a small fox like creature, with a pelt covered in mud. Her stone was in a circle at the top of head. Though Zyros was completely unaware of the danger the fox like creature was in. Zyros hopped over to greet Dragon first. "Hey Dragon! Remember me, it's Zyros! What's going on, it looks like there is a meeting here?" She was sure Dragon was able to recognize her. After all, she was probably the only kangaroo in the group. Her attention then turned to the fox like creature with mud all over her pelt. She spoke warmly to the creature. "Hi, I'm Zyros, I'm part of the Children of Rot. How are you doing, are you well? Here, this is just for you." Zyros pulled out a rare blue diamond from her pouch and held it out for the fox like creature to take. Zyros was a collector of many things, most of them rare, because of her pouch. Zyros felt generous at the moment, so she wanted to give the fox something to keep.

(rolled for slime vomit and then just decided to ignore it because fuck it, i'm really tired)

It hummed again as the small fox-creature, black and still fairly recognizable, chirruped to it. Leaning close hadn't been its intention. Phlegethon arched its neck again, though with less fanfare. Lowering its head it made another retching noise. A sizable glob of slime fell from its jaws, sloshing across the flatter part of the swamp floor with a squelch! There were definitely a few undigested bones in there. Without much worry, the monstrosity picked them out and swallowed them again.

Sweeping its head over the pile and gesturing, it called, "this is what is on me." To the rest of the group - the Hive - it added, "you can cover with it. Wear it. Do not eat it. (It rumbled this loudly, a clear warning.) You will appear old. One of father-Aquarian's." To quote the Overseer, though it did not understand any of the meaning behind those words. "It will hide better. You may not be questioned if you are spotted outside of hiding." Not by any Overseer, at least.

Phlegethon then looked to its Rot-father, eye cracking open to catch his glance. It nodded simply, and stared back at the menagerie of Gembound. "I hunt for Rot. I can hunt for you."

Reji listened first to Pallas, her confidence swelling that he knew what he was doing. Yes; she'd be safe with him. "It sounds fine. We'll use your place, then, and the big guys can watch out front. And yeah, Dragon, if you want to see where we are... I don't see harm in showing you. Just don't give us up."

Phlegethon's slime was... questionable, and she looked from it, to Phlegethon, to the slime again. Hesitantly, she dropped down and slicked some into the mud already coating her. "Ooo-kay. I'll take your word for it." Father-Aquarian's? Was this one one of his? She studied Phlegethon for a minute, bit back a shudder, and looked away. "Thanks."

The approaching kangaroo struck her as--odd, at the very least, but friendly. It burst in and, apparently, had a gift specifically for someone it'd never met, before. Reji stared. She wasn't quite sure how she was meant to carry the stone. "It's--very pretty, thanks? Think you can hold onto it for me, for now? Can't carry it," she explained. She listened then to Phlegethon as he translated for Lamia, and glanced to the fish-like creature. "Maybe get it ready in case we need it... but I'd rather not get trapped underwater. Or wash off all my new disguise," she added, doing a spin with a flourish to 'show off' her mud dress. "And a Master?! Are you insane? You can't trust them. They'll kill the shit out of us."

Reji shuddered.

Then she nodded to Pallas, again. "Lead on, then."

Reji has chosen to use Pallas' den as a hiding place. Other members of the Children of Rot and the Hive, or Kingdom of Eridanus, may tag her for roleplay at any time. Unless otherwise clarified through further roleplay, it will be assumed that she is beneath the roots of Pallas' tree-den, in a small amount of water, coated in mud and Phlegethon-slime, and guarded by the Hive members.

Participants may now exit this thread.

@Phlegethon @Zyros @Pallas @Azrael

The kangaroo nodded happily and put the stone back in her pouch. She would hold it for the creature until she was ready to take it. "Ok! Just let me know when you want it and I'll hand it right over to you!" Though she wanted to talk to the small canine, it seemed she was busy. So Zyros would ask for the details later. She decided to hop off, wondering why everyone had gathered. But it seemed to the kangaroo, that it was because of the small canine that came to Cetus.

-Exit

Azrael glanced over at the bear as he reared up to declare his will to protect. The demon narrowed his eyes and stood up a little taller, trying to get taller then the bear, but they were almost even at full height. He huffed, a little jealously, but then nodded firmly to the bear. This wasn't a time to be petty! They would protect Reji together! "We protect you, then," he affirmed to the fox.

He didn't care about what else was going on - he turned to Sergei and raised a fist. They were family and they would fight together to protect the others. "We work together," he grunted. "Anyone that gets close we fight! I hide us in darkness, surprise them if they threaten Reji. Keep her safe!" Whatever Sergei said in response, Azrael would turn and make to follow Reji away, taking up place at her left side. At his command, the shadows around them thickened, shrouding them in a blanket of thin darkness, hopefully enough to hide their figures as they made their way to Pallas's den.

*exit

Lamia's eyes bulged with surprise at Reji's reaction to her suggestion. She recoiled a little, tail snapping shut and she glanced helplessly at Phlegethon for a moment. "Sorry," she rasped. "Won't." But now she was disturbed. Did Reji mean the Masters in general or Tenzin specifically? Lamia had never had a reason not to trust Tenzin - he was a like a father to her. And, in fact, he was what she would call a father - he'd called her a child of Pisces and, to her, he was Pisces. She couldn't trust her own family?

...No, this was her family now. None of the Masters. Not Tenzin or anyone else. The hive. Reji was her sister and Mother was her, well, mother. That's all she needed, right?

She considered for a moment before deciding what she'd do. "I LISTEN," she called out after Reji. "In water. Seek others. Listen." I'm going to go and see what's going on in the caves, hopefully find where the Masters are right now and what they know of where we are. If anything happens, or if I find anything out, I'll come right back. She didn't mention that she couldn't really go to many of the caves, but hopefully the few she could visit would be enough.

With that, she dipped beneath the water and swam out, towards the tunnel that led back to Pisces.

*exit

Phlegethon gave off a pleased hum, missing the slightly distressed tone and posture of the fox-like being - its mouth was shut at that point. Instead, its head swung towards its father again, skin gurgling slightly. "I can protect them on their way. I am big, Dragon-father." As if that wasn't immediately obvious.

"Or I can hunt now," it looked expectantly, "you choose."
@Dragon

Pallas didn't trust the kangaroo the moment they came on the scene. Something about being too friendly, yeah- but giving some random thing to Reji? What if that was some sort of magic? Just the thought put a bad taste on his tongue. But, why would they just have that on hand? It wouldn't be any... Bad magic, right? Or maybe it was just an awkward exchange.

But, well, Reji made the plan. The linsang nodded to her at the decision, holding his head higher in pride. He would be a valuable brother to his family.

If he could fit them all in his den.

But! That was a worry for later. For now, he held up his striped tail to perhaps help others to follow, looking to Lamia as Reji denied help from a master. Undefinable emotions ran through Pallas from the connection between them. He wished he could more for her, really- but they were entirely different creatures. All he had to go off of was the memories imbued by Mother's past strands that needed time to rebuild.

He turned his attention back to the parting group. "Darkness is good, yes. I'll help you-" He glanced about- "All of you, if you want, find some comfortable places around the tree." It's be crowded. That'd be for certain. However, Pallas moved in the mud tracing filled in footsteps he'd left behind to his den. "It's this way." He turned his body halfway back towards everyone to see who was following before directing everyone to their new home.

;exit pallas