The stag kept quiet, and kept his magic to a minimum, at first. He knew he'd have to keep it, keep his strength, for the battle--and it was unlikely that they'd be discovered, traipsing through the mud and dark and mist, as they were.

Yet... what if the fungus-laden could sense them, themselves? An element of surprise was a decisive point in any battle, he knew. So when Reign--and he nodded to the cheetah, a greeting, an acknowledgement--offered up a flash of static, he called on his own magic, instead.

Frowning. Focused. He'd never tried this, before; but his light had always failed him, in Cetus. Perhaps darkness would do better.

"I shall do my best to hide us," Pride announced, quietly, and drew down a shroud of blackness that seemed to cover the group. It was not strong enough to darken the whole cave--but perhaps that was for the best; to do so might draw suspicion. But it cloaked the prowling group in shadows, enhancing what darkness was already there, so that even Pride's white coat slipped into pitch, instead.

"Ask your bird to guide the dragon," he suggested, quietly, to Giggle.

Flashes of static. Intelligent commands. A shroud of darkness.

The group was smarter, and better, than he could have possibly hoped for. Dragon rarely left Cetus, and so he'd had no idea of their capabilities. Now, it seemed to him, unless the Hive had grown very strong, they would provide little challenge against the oncoming army.

If the alligator's permanent grin was optional, it would have been spreading across his face now regardless. He delighted in battle. Fighting was his element. Combat was his song.

He concentrated, briefly, and black magic shrouded him like a cloud, darker even than Pride's shadows; great, draconic wings sprouted from his back. They faltered, briefly, and for a moment he startled, fearing they would fail; but after a weak beginning they solidified. Illusory horns spread back from his skull, and both wings and horns twisted with threads of blood-red, giving Dragon a surprisingly draconic appearance.

"I will join the other dragon, in attacking from the air," he declared, proudly--because, obviously, Dragon was a dragon. What else could he be, with such a name-?

He lifted up, but it was not the graceful forward sweep of Dread; instead, the alligator struggling to catch up to the circling black dragon was a near-vertical mess of too much weight and one dangling, crippled leg. The magical wings beat, and he did fly, certainly--but there was little grace in it.

Dragon didn't mind. Grace wasn't necessary for destruction.

Dread simply... circled. The shroud of black made him shriek in annoyance, though he was at least a clever enough hunter that it was a very, very quiet shriek; more of a high-pitched grumble, really. But Omen was there, to follow, if he got lost; and Reign, below, was very kindly arcing with bright flashes of electricity.

He looked down, watching his path--avoiding the tangled tree limbs--and keeping a close eye on the group. On the stag, shrouded in shadow; on the glowing-eyed creature shadowing him. And-

From the corner of Dread's eye, a heavy, dark alligator, grinning and swathed in dark magics, rose vertically from the ground. It was mere yards away, rising into his peripheral vision like a terrible dream.

Dread balked, nearly falling from the air in surprise, and a couple of deep, bass-thump whumphs of his wings brought him back and higher. He blinked and stared.

"DRAGON!?" he demanded, and it was unclear if he meant the alligator's name, or if he were asking if it were, in fact, a dragon. It looked-... ridiculous, he thought; hovering, vertical, its thick ridged tail dangling directly downward. But the alligator just grinned at him, and agreed, and swept on past, and Dread had to turn and beat his wings in order even to catch up.

WHAT? he thought, wondering just how the hell a fat water-lizard had taken to the air.

Could Ischium possibly be happier?

No, no he could not.

Wait, yes. If he could have Chatter, or Amma, or Bronx or Snowball or Patchy with him, then he'd be even happier. But he had his family, the rest of them, the ones who breathed and had flesh that still covered their bones, who had eyes that gleamed but didn't glow, that he struggled to speak to but loved just as dearly.

What was a war? Well, he didn't quite understand. But it was Important, and they needed as many of the Bonebound as they could get. So he was more than happy to come along, to go to the squishy-messy-filthy-stinky Cetus, where swamp clung to his wild, scraggly just-this-side-of-mange fur as he pranced along at the tail of the pack, looking around so he could tell Chatter and Amma and Bronx and Snowball and Patchy everything that he saw.

And they met up with a real life Dragon, and he pranced even faster, wagging his tail and yipping as he hopped in place, but didn't say a word--talking was still hard, at least to those that still had flesh, and while he was getting better (but not great) with his family, with the Bound, he wouldn't approach any of the new Gembound unless they approached him first.

And - he yelped, splattering goo everywhere as he leaped back, twisting in a manner more cat-like than canine as the Thing leaped up, yelled, then dove back into the water, "What was that!" spinning a circle and snapping at his tail for lack of something else to do, yipping an alarm, but no one else seemed terribly alarmed so he bolted up to shiver besides Giggle his eyes, so wide with alarm, gleaming a faint red.

@Giggle

Temperantia was in its preferred position above Mother's nest. It floated upon a tree branch, swaying with the tree. Its' eyes were closed, peaceful. But disconcerting things were being shared along the link-- strange scents from one of the bears. A Child of Rot. And more behind, apparently. One of the others had spotted them. It parsed its brain for their name. The one with many consciousnesses. Yes, Legion.

Did someone invite the Children? Are they here to join our family? If someone did invite the Children of Rot, why wasn't Temperantia aware? Didn't they share? It made the sentient Hula Hoop nervous. If Mother felt they should investigate, then they would. Yes, we think you should check. I will help, too.It peeled its eyes open, one at a time. They did not hear anything. Perhaps they could spot something.

Temperantia flapped its wings, giving it enough momentum to climb into the sky. It wasn't particularly quick, Temperantia wasn't an organism built for speed. Or anything, really. Leaves rasped irritably against its chitin, and it was forced to blink on more than one occasion. It crested the top of the tree. It scanned the horizon with its many eyes. It rotated slowly, each eye focusing on another piece of the cave. But, they did see something. It was too far away for Temperantia to make out. A dark shape in the distance, with a pair of flapping wings. Maybe two pairs of wings? Or was it two creatures?

Unnervingly, whatever it was seemed to be traveling in their direction. Temperantia did not like that. We see something as well. It said. It flies, like us. It comes towards us. But, maybe they are not here for us. Maybe they will leave. The last part was more hopeful than certain. In any case, Temperantia did not want to be spotted up there. They wanted to be with their family. They drifted down to the ground.

Oh, oh, her poor feathers.

If it weren't for the fact that she could fly, she didn't know what she would have done.

So much goop and mess! What would Dragon think if she got her feathers all messy? She'd spent so much time preening them to get them just so!

But Dragon had asked her (he had asked her, HER! of all Gembound!) and how could she say no? So she flew high, high above like he always wanted to, acting as the eyes. She could hear them talking below, as other Gembound appeared, including an absolutely handsome white stag and what she wouldn't have given for one of those white... crystals? stones? she couldn't tell, around its neck, but now wasn't the time.

She swooped down to peer through some reeds, allowing the dragon to watch the air for a moment, before gasping when she saw Dragon rising, fluttering back up to swoop around him, blasting a gust of wind and turning a barrel roll to shoot up alongside him, grinning in the way of a bird "Dragon! Fancy seeing you up here! Welcome to my domain! Me casa es su casa!"

Speech. Thought.

Because Navy has just remembered that he's in this thread, Eythan didn't offer much by way of conversation or strategy - except for a quiet "I guess it's three of the Seven?" directed towards Aries. Why weren't the other four here? Not that they needed anyone else. There were plenty of bodies here to make plans with, and Eythan left that to the more intellectually inclined. He was street smart, but not in love or war.

His talons were caked with mud and grime by the time they all came to - whatever point they were at.

Eythan stopped where he was at, craning his neck to look over the crowd, acquainting himself with all of the faces. It'd be a damn shame if he wound up attacking one of their own allies because he thought they were part of the Hive or whatever, right?

However the case, the gryphon'd act as protection, and only incapacitate... unless desperate times called for desperate measures. He simply waited, wings loose at his sides and haunches tensed, coiled and ready to spring.

His statue-esque stance held in the barely-hollow hole of the tree was bothered. Mind stirred to life as Mother willed it, and his neck craned over, nerves spreading like mycelium to feel the others. Long ago, it would have been overwhelming to sense with as many eyes as Legion or Temperantia- but now, it was like a second home to him. It wasn't like he could- or even wanted to- shut off the inputs to his mind.

He stepped out into the murky shadows, void eyes bright and head high. The children come- but this thing in the sky, that was not a normal feature of the cave they called home. It may be another questioning party. The fur on his curved back arched up. We should meet with them away from the Hive. Look into this, he agreed with the others.

They were going so well. And these others, these... Visitors, they would soon be welcome guests for their family.

Oh, yes, they wanted to thrive, just as they told Oliver. But perhaps with some welcome additions, they would thrive. His attention pulled towards them in stutters, eyes scanning where Legion once was, where they had felt the Child approach. He couldn't see much in this dark, yet he strained, all senses alert as he sniffed at the air for any familiars.

There, through all his inputs- the beast high above, the murky coasting in the waters. They are searching. Approaching fast. This didn't bode well in the subconscious of his mind. Stay alert.

He stood outside of the den, as always, all palms held open and facing different directions, giving him more feedback then he could get from just two eyes. At the rousing of his family, however, his arms dropped and he focused his attention forward, nostrils flaring as he tried to detect those approaching as well. He could sense them through the others - many.

Perhaps they are here to talk, he rumbled through the link, But there are too many. And they approach quickly. We should take precautions. His tail flicked behind him as he focused, spreading all his arms as magic pooled in his chest. He would succeed this time, and hide his family. They were at an advantage in the dark - they could sense each other. They had many eyes, many nostrils. The others only had their own senses.

Darkness began to descend over the area around the hive as the light was extinguished by the demon. He allowed the glow in his chest to be covered as well. If they wish to talk...then we may do so away from the Hive. Only around their area was his influence able to reach - the rest of Cetus remained untouched, if only because he couldn't push his magic far enough to reach every corner.

From her place guarding the hive in Pisces, Lamia waited, drifting peacefully at the bottom of the small pool. She at first took no note of the activity in Cetus - they were far from here and there was often things for the family there to do. However, when the first stirrings of faint alarm began to go off, from Pallas...Azrael...the new one, Temperantia, she raised her head and focused on the feedback.

Many scents, many sights, the covering of darkness. Her tail flared and she lifted herself from the sand. Siblings? Mother? What's going on? Shall I come or should I stay here and protect this hive? She glanced over at the pulsing mass of fungus that she had tended to and cared for all this time, all the fish lined up neatly, ready for Mother to eat.

She wasn't sure if this was an emergency or not or if she should abandon her post. She'd leave it up to Mother to decide what she could do best right now.