set a few days after it's a brand new (SMP) world

Mercurius had been busy.

His pawpads were cracked and often bled with his pacing. The old man seemed frailer than before, magicka expended a great deal cultivating what little ideal soil there was in the gorge, beckoning forth what plants he could. Initially, they were those that he was certain to be edible, so he could sustain himself and make preparations for the other Gembound to come. The results of his toiling were few, but a good start: several young trees well-rooted to the earth (that'd been a struggle, even with the high walls blustering most of the wind), some patches of soft grasses by the river, and some underbrush.

Hopefully, those would aid in the erosion. Gathering and transporting soil here would take quite a bit of time, but they could let nature do the work.

Mercy had attempted to busy himself with working on the bats, too - as per Dread's request - but his magicka was too spent to safely snare them in vines. Priorities needed to be set (as Pride would say, he amusedly thought.) Settlement would have to come first, purely out of a need to not overextend himself. A bat clinic could come third, perhaps; after finding a second offering for the great dragon, once this particular time period was up. Wouldn't hurt to be prepared - ah, defenses...

Work and brief planning done, the old lion rested for a day or so, lounging in the grasses of his own making and nibbling on a choice few branches to prune them.

-
The old beast yawned, stretching and licking at his chops, before peering up at the roof of Monoceros, high above. Distant. Wonderful. Echoing. A signal from here could be seen for miles. Spent as he was, Mercy knew he should give at least some sign of where he was, a marker to follow. It wouldn't be sustained for long, as bright as he desired to make it, but it was worth the attempt. Moonstone humming softly, reassuringly against his skull, the lion roared to the heavens.

With the sound came a beam of light that quite literally scraped the ceiling, pure, sparkling gold and fading after around five minutes.

Huffing softly and flopping onto his haunches from the exertion, Mercurius hung his head, and waited by the river.

@Rift (Huckleberry) @Oliver (+ others, I suppose, since Old Man's is literally shooting a beam of light into the air.)

He'd come straight to Monoceros himself, obedient as always, the moment Astraea had left them. During the intervening time he'd been taking note of the local geography and plant life, which was... scraggly at best, and dry. It was a new challenge and, despite its formidable nature (ha, nature), he was setting himself to it dutifully.

As he'd done in Canis, he was bringing in single baskets--all he could carry--of dirt. One... by one... by one. These came mostly from Eridanus, and he'd spread it an inch or so thick over Monoceros' Gorge dirt. It wasn't great but it was something. He was busy sorting a basket of seeds--having strewn them in neat rows across the ground, planning a garden--when he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, the beam of light. He wasted no time in covering the seeds and hastening toward it.

He wasn't sure, but he guessed it was one of the Eridanus folk--maybe Mercurius, who he'd heard told stories with light. (He wanted to see that!) And sure enough, once he'd clambered and glided the distance, he found the pale lion waiting. He was beside a wider bend in the Gorge's river, and Oliver looked around with admiration. He'd already managed grasses!

"Hi," he offered, with a soft and enthusiastic smile. "Is everything okay?" It was genuine, friendly concern, and then Oliver began to report. "Sorry I haven't seen you, I was downriver some. It's hot and bright here, and I've been thinking that nothing can live long without some shade above. Little plants don't do too well without canopy, at least the stuff from Eridanus. But I can't think of how to shade it, so I might just like... hold on."

Oliver picked through his basket, through what seeds remained, and plucked out an acorn. This he pushed into the dirt at the edge of Mercurius's garden, and after a hopeful glance at the lion, he set his basket aside and pressed bird-like front paws over it. His studious concentration was almost comical.

Magic flared.

Dim green light flickered and swirled as the acorn first sprouted, and then rose, going from sapling to trunk to full-blown oak-like tree in mere moments. The heavy creaking of its rapidly-growing trunk was joined by the snap and snarl of roots breaking up the rock below.

When it was over, a great shivering roof of leaves shaded them from high above, their shifting green light dancing over Mercurius's grasses. Oliver smiled up at it--then stumbled, nearly falling over, panting from the exertion. "Oh-..." he said. "That was... rough. But I hope it's okay?" The bird-dog cast a worried glance at Mercurius. "It's, um. I mean, the grass won't get burnt away like this, see? But the tree might need protection from the light. I figure if we can get some canopy in, then everything else will follow. That's how it worked in Canis, anyway, but Canis wasn't as... uh, brutal."

Oliver then sat, anxious, like a dog hoping it hadn't offended its master, peering hopefully at Mercurius.

Huckleberry had been wandering around Monoceros for some time, feeling hopelessly lost. He hadn't ever been in this cave before and he was feeling utterly alone. He'd been with the Kingdom for the last many cycles so being without them so suddenly, being outside of the forest that had finally started to feel like home...well, it was kind of a lot on his psyche.

He sighed and settled himself against the wall, looking out at the cave. They'd said they'd meet here but...nobody had specified exactly where. He supposed that it was, in part, because Mercurius needed to find a suitable place for the Kingdom to stay. That wasn't something they'd planned.

Just as he was about to rest his head and maybe take a nap, Shiny nipped at his ears from her place on his shoulders. "Huckle-friend, look!" His eyes snapped open and he looked out just in time to catch the beam of light. He scrambled to his feet, heart speeding up. Was that...Mercy? Or maybe Oliver? Or was it somebody else, calling others to their location? Or maybe it was a trap? Huckleberry shivered. Well, he wasn't going to find out sitting here, so he started forward, unsure of himself.

He followed the light until he reached the place where Mercurius and Oliver were waiting, his hesitation disappearing as he saw their familiar forms. He bounded over to the little oasis of greenery, letting out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "You're okay," he breathed with relief.

@Mercurius Rift won't be showing up immediately

Oliver arrived shortly, hastening on his odd wings and looking eagerly upon the scant few patches of grass clinging to the riverside. Mercurius bowed his head deeply in greeting, humming softly with a gentle smile, "hello, Oliver." Moonset eyes gave the crow-dog a once-over, nostrils flaring as he sniffed briefly. "I'm tired, but well. I trust everything's alright with you?" he returned, a near-mirthful expression on his face; it was almost paternal, a relaxed lilt to his inky lips and warm crease to the corners of his eyes.

He couldn't fault the hybrid for having not seen him - the Gorge was vast. The path he'd taken down could be one of many. "It's good that we've been in different areas, I believe; we can see what could be the best place to settle and start growing." Mercy took the pause as an opportunity to indicate towards his pet project, "the heat is quite a bit too much for the plants, indeed. I realized this a bit belatedly." See: the grasses. Peering at the basket, he added, "it may have been wise to bring soil, too..."

You see, Oliver was more experienced in the art of bringing plant life elsewhere, to places where it seemed to not belong. Yes, Mercurius had toiled for cycles as a cub to produce a grove of peace in the vault of stars, but at least the ground there had a facsimile of a soil layer. Here, Monoceros's unforgiving winds took every bit of dust there was. They may as well be jamming roots into empty pots and expecting them to survive.

Regardless of this, though, the crow-dog mustered a tree so mighty it could be considered old-growth. Mercurius craned his neck to look at the sapling as it burgeoned, growing so immense and wonderous in such a short time. His gaze flickered from the shimmering-new leaves to the nodes, to the branches, to the trunk and, finally, its creator. "Ah - it's wonderful, Oliver. Now, mine has a companion," the pale beast murmured, padding over to provide a shoulder to lean on as he sat. "A weave of branches might work well to protect the canopy, perhaps - ?"

Oh, along came Huckleberry! That left only one more...

The lion rumbled softly, bowing his head once more and calling, "you as well, Huck!" Flicking his tail contentedly, he took the liberty to finally take his own seat again, still at Oliver's side. A cursory glance was spared to the surroundings, only finding Rift to be missing. Perhaps, he was elsewhere. The feline's sense for greenery would lead him here soon enough, surely. "We were just talking about the plants while we waited. Growing a forest will be difficult and take time..."

Mercurius gazed at the ex-Bloodberry child with the same paternal expression as before, then considered. He'd shown a proclivity for thunderous magics before - and those of the skies. Those of the earth, as well, if the pale beast's memory served correct. His spiralling horns struck through the air as he turned to face the hybrid: "you've broken the earth before, right?" A curious look to Oliver. "I wonder if it would be possible to break apart this stone and create soil from it. Even a little substrate for the plants to cling to, yes." Ah, but, would it be fertile? "We could find old growth in the Gorge, broken branches and the like - and bring it and some fungi, mix it into the dust. Start the cycle of fertility, yes?"

@Oliver

Oliver seemed to brighten when Mercurius asked about his own well-being. "I'm good, yeah--thank you for asking," he said, and there was a warmth to his words that indicated that he meant it. It wasn't merely lip service, an automatic phrase.

He watched and listened politely as the lion spoke, and glanced Huckleberry's way, too--a little tension and wariness visible in him now. He wasn't unfriendly toward the hybrid, but memories were what they were. "Hi," he greeted softly.

Attention swung back toward Mercy. He was thoughtful, for a moment. "It'd be easiest to get dirt from here instead of having to bring it all, yeah? If lightning can like, smash stone. -Don't do that while we're down here, though," he added with a worried glance to Huckleberry. "Otherwise maybe some magic way to get dirt here..?" He hesitated, unsure, and then offered up: "I remember fire made the dirt in Eridanus a lot richer, but only for some plants? Like a lot grew better but some had trouble for a long time, until other stuff grew there first." Concepts like "nitrogen soil depletion" and "ammonium enrichment" certainly eluded him, but it wasn't hard to see that most plants sprang up happily in charred soil, only for others to falter. "Maybe if we found some burnt stuff to fill it out, though, that might work. And uhh." He shifted awkwardly. "Poop."

...A long pause.

"And any um, carrion, rotten plants, anything dead. I can keep bringing dirt in little bits, but that's all I can really do," he added, sadly. And then, as if suddenly remembering--"Oh--but this might help." He looked up, and squinted, focusing past the shifting leaves above--and the skies of Monoceros clouded, just a little. A soft, light drizzle began to fall a moment later, and Oliver sagged some, taking a breath.

He looked to Mercurius, again worried, again seeming to hope that this might help. "Plants like water?" he hazarded, quietly.

@Huckleberry

They were all here - not Rift, just yet, but enough of them that Huckleberry let himself relax. Rift could protect himself, he was sure, and he assumed that he was taking some time to...say goodbye. Or perhaps he was bringing stuff to help the garden start. Either way, Huckleberry wasn't worried. They still had time before Astraea came looking for them.

His ear swiveled and rose when Mercurius addressed him. "I...yes! Yes, I can break the earth. I learned how." He cracked a small smile at Oliver's little warning. "Haha, don't worry. I can do more then lightning." Perhaps...perhaps his magic really could be used for more then fighting. If Mercurius was serious, if breaking open rocks and making soil could help the Kingdom, then he finally had a use outside of defending and hurting.

He focused on the ground next to the trio, perhaps a little too excited to wait for a more appropriate time to test out his magic, but regardless, the earth didn't listen to his spell. Not cracks appeared, no rocks broke into pieces, it just stayed still. An eye twitched with faint frusteration. "Uh, not at the moment I guess but I can still do it. If there's anything I can do to help, though, just give me a job. I'm not...great at planting like you guys but if I can bring stuff over or help with magic I'll do what I need. Or I can just, uh, guard. Since that's my job."

@Mercurius

Mercurius smiled at the crow-dog, responding in that genuine, soft murmur of his, "good, good. I'm glad."

Pale eyes set upon Oliver as he spoke, pondering aloud and brainstorming. Creating dirt, as established, would be easier than hauling it from elsewhere, but there was indeed the problem of figuring out how pH balance or whatever worked. Sodium hydroxide or nitric acid weren't readily available, so simply popping a few droplets of those wasn't going to help matters. Improvising would have to be it. That improvising would have to involve poop. Awkward as it was... so be it. Mercurius nodded along, interjecting here and there with hms and ahs.

And off the hybrid went, again demonstrating his finesse with magic. Mercurius leaned into the drizzle, welcoming its cooling relief just as much as the trees and grasses might. "Plants do, indeed, like water," he hummed, delighted, "and consider me one of them for a moment." His tongue, pink as can be, swept across his jowls and licked at the air. Swallowing once or twice, the pale beast looked at the water's surface as raindrops rippled across. "I thought that growing trees and grasses by the edge, here, might help with catching whatever soil floats downstream. Perhaps, even, build up a shore."

But, that would take far longer than simply using magic and composting.

Mercurius hummed gently, ears flickering forwards at Huckleberry's failed attempt at magic, "take your time, Huck. We have a while." He quirked a brow lightly towards the moose-goose, smiling, "and it's never too late to continue trying gardening. Perhaps, you haven't found your forte, yet - like cacti and aloe, or flowers." Some plants were arguably easier to care for and sustain than others. Distantly, the pale beast wondered if he should gift Huckleberry a cactus. Simple, easy to get started, and not particularly fussy when it came to acquiring water.

His gaze shifted elsewhere, towards the pathway down here with a furrowed brow, "have either of you seen Rift?"

@Oliver

Oliver shook his head. "No," he answered, softly; he hadn't seen Rift.

His attention then went to Huckleberry. Oliver wasn't the sort to dislike, but he found it hard to find warmth for the hybrid given what had happened. It wasn't a grudge, it was... bad memories, fear, but he swallowed it down for the moment to try and concentrate. To focus; to be nice, but also, to be productive. They had a duty here, and it struck him that they didn't want to miss any opportunities.

"What kind of magic can you do?" he asked Huckleberry quietly. He didn't know, and he didn't know if Mercurius knew. But Huckleberry was hinting at knowing a great deal, and it struck Oliver that they might want to consider all options before assigning Huckleberry any kind of task. It wasn't that he thought Mercurius was missing the opportunity, forgetting to ask the question--but he himself was curious, and now thoughtful. When it came to having not yet founding his forte--well, what could he do?

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry traced the dirt with his claws a little sheepishly. Truth be told, he hadn’t really...tried planting anything before. It wasn’t in his range of magic and he didn’t know much about growing things from scratch. He’d tried a couple of times, copying what he’d seen Rift and Mercurius do, but he was still lacking the subtle knowledge of plant magic and his attempts failed. He really hadn’t tried since.

But if he had another chance, if there were, perhaps, easier plants to work with, then Huckleberry would be more then happy to try again, especially if it would help the kingdom to grow more things. He nodded. ”Okay I’ll...I’ll try again. But I’ll keep protecting you guys as much as I can.”

Oliver’s question, however, had his ears perking up. He’d never liked fighting with his talons. He’d never liked the sight of blood. Truth be told, he never really liked fighting much, but if it was a friendly match, a chance to show off his magic, then he would always jump at the chance. He was proud of his abilities, more proud of them then anything else in his life. ”Oh! I can do a lot. I can...I mean you know I can create lightning and static and stuff but I can also make the earth crack open and I can create little gemstones like this.” He pressed a claw into the ground and out from it emerged a small diamond. ”I can also make wind blow really hard or make a small tornado or make myself really really loud. Oh and I can make noises too - gentle chiming or loud thunderclaps. Oh! And change the air pressure. That’s...that’s about it.” He trailed off sheepishly, holding himself back from launching into a whole full-blown explanation of all of his abilities. This wasn’t really the time for that.

”I haven’t seen Rift,” he added to Mercurius, ”But I’m sure he’s okay. Probably took time to say goodbye?” He glanced out at Monoceros, though, suddenly a little anxious. Maybe he should have stayed with Rift.

@Mercurius