Azrael was right there. He saw it all. He reached forward to stop her, before her jaws could crush down on Reji's head. But he was too late. He missed. And Reji fell to the ground, limp, as the link between the family, with her, was suddenly cut off with a flash of pain.

He was silent for a moment, staring at the scene with horror before he let out an earsplitting roar. He was hurting so bad. Because he'd promised to protect Reji, promised to protect ALL of the family, but now she was dead. Their leader, beneath Mother. His sister. His ward. "NOOOO," he screeched as he loomed over Tethys, raising his arms and bringing them swinging down towards the back of Tethys's neck. Blinded a bit by rage, the attack was awkward and wild, but he was larger. Stronger. A monster. He didn't care if he killed her. In fact, it's really what he wanted. He didn't care if Mother wouldn't approve - he'd failed, she'd killed Reji, and he would NEVER forgive her. "LET ME KILL THEM, MOTHER!"

Tethys could feel something entering her mouth. Her predatory eye locked on Pallas. That damned, sneaky, fucking rodent who pledged his loyalty. He would face punishment too. She slowly felt the fungus taking over, but her mind was still there. She successfully attempted to lock her jaws on Pallas's on his foreleg, and crush it in her mouth. She wanted to rip his foreleg apart and disfigure him, after all he had lied to her. He would get what was coming to him. All Tethys saw was red. The seal was not even affected by the demon's stupid hands. Her blubber protected her from all his force. She only felt a slight sprain, that was all. As far as she was concerned, Pallas was a dead gembound.

OOC Note: Tethys is crushing his foreleg, not his back

Orlaith watched as Tethys killed Reji, and then smiled as she went for Pallas's foreleg. She gave out a laugh, amused by Reji's death, despite their situation. "I told you not to fuck with us Pallas! Now look, your leader is dead. And you better hope we don't get out of this, cause if you're not dead by the time this is over, I'm gonna kill you too! I don't know what you did to Zelk and Aquamarine, but listen to me when I say you're a dead gembound! YOU HEAR ME!!!" She tried to break free, but her sprained leg hurt too much to move. She was a fighter, cheering Tethys on as she watched her leader fight. "GO TETHYS! KILL HIM!"

@Lamia

A rush of endorphins flodded through him as Mother hit Tethys's mouth, but it wasn't over yet. All at once, a few things happened-

Reji's head was decimated next to him.

Azrael's rage flooded through his body.

Tethys's jaws had begun to crack through Lamia's ice.

And Pallas screamed. It was feral, one shrill and high and not unlike a war cry one would unleash in the face of death. Whipping out his leg just mere seconds before the seal's teeth slammed where it was, tears dotted the edges of his eyes as he pushed off with the paw he had against her face.

He had no time to comprehend what was happening behind him as he made to dart to Orlaith, the piece of Mother he'd pulled out for her still in his jaws. Tethys had taken in her's; she just had to bear the brunt of her full force, now.

Aquamarine's eyes widened in horror as Tethys's jaws crushed Reji's head. Reji was dead, and the link was ripped from her suddenly. Aquamarine could not believe that her leader was dead. She then looked at Orlaith, who was cursing and screaming at Pallas in a fit of rage. She stayed out of it, not wanting to even know what was going to happen next. She looked on in fear, wanting to be removed from the situation. But, she could not think of anywhere else to go. She would have to pray mother could protect her, as she looked on in shock.

Lamia screeched when Reji fell. She scrambled forward, trying to catch the fox, but she was too far away and there was nothing she could do. Eyes were nearly popping out of her head and she sucked in a breath to scream incoherently at the one she'd once called her friend, using up the rest of her water reserves.

If fish could cry, she'd be weeping. But her eyes could not blink and, therefore, could not create tears. So, instead, she moaned, a horrible, high-pitched sound like blunt nails over stone or metal. Mother...I'm sorry! I couldn't stop her...

She needed to breathe. She was out of water. The moisture in the air pulled in close and wreathed around her, pressing against her gills and sending oxygen to her brain. She started pulling herself away from the fighting - she needed to get to water.

Orlaith's words put Zelk in shock. Now the bear feared for her own life, despite pinning the tiger down. She spoke to try and calm the tiger's nerves, while staying loyal to mother. "You do not understand Orlaith. Mother is here to help us all. You will see. You will see that mother is here to protect us. Join us. Join mother." With that she hoped those words would calm her. Her best friend could join her in defending mother. Mother was all that mattered.

@Legion

There was a brief rush of realization as Mother seemed to understand that Reji was gone. A brief moment of silence followed.

"When this is done... bring my child to me," she whispered to their minds, and it would be understood that it was Reji that she meant--Reji, lying broken and bloodied; Reji, loyal to the Hive to the end.

"Force the tiger to eat... and do not kill them," she added, her thoughts a calming caress, numbing, through their minds. Anger, grief-... these held no place here. Reji would be remembered. Reji would be honored. And their new brethren would serve them well.

Sergei huffed, his worry and stress and flustered rage fading a little at Mother's touch. His doubts leaked away, and calm began to return.

"Is very foolish to be fight," he rumbled, a mere murmur, to Orlaith. His huge paws were carefully pressed down for her forepaws, his jaws for her head, in an attempt to keep her pinned firmly in the muck--until someone else could figure out how to force-feed fungus to a tiger.

@Azrael

He was furious. He was in so much pain. But Mother's soft caresses through the inferno of his mind slowly cooled the raging flames into a simmer. They could not put them out, though - it was ingrained in his very being to have anger. He was wrathful and that would only be taken when his soul was ripped from his chest.

But it was soothing enough to pull him away from Tethys. She didn't matter anymore. She would be one of them, her mind taken by the spores. They just had to deal with the tiger, who was currently spitting curses at them all.

Azrael snorted. "You are in no position to make threats," he rumbled as he got closer. He crouched down next to her head, and raised a couple of his hands to pry open her jaws, but she was snapping in all directions, those deadly fangs talking too much. He hesitated, remembering for a second the sight of Reji's head crushed between Tethys's jaws.