Morganite stood beside the others who had been brought here by the Merchant, lead in a daze out of the only place they'd ever known, their home, and through the strange, winding tunnels to here. They'd lost one of their own, and if she'd managed to run after them to snatch them back... would she have saved them? Or would she have been killed too?

Oh how she wanted to snitch and snarl at the mystery that was the Merchant, who'd trained them and provided for them, yet had offered not even an ounce of kindness... or cruelty. Until now, that was. She hated him.

Gently, she made sure anyone close by was okay, offering a warm, wet nose against their sides as comfort, before looking to the pile.

"Okay, cubs," Morganite said, "Everyone take one, we need all the light we can get in this place."

She waddled forward first, ignoring the presence of the kaijus rather well as she grabbed a few baubles, enough for her group, and shoved, carried, and pushed them over, dropping them to the ground. She herself took a beaded bracelet, one that would fit nicely on her wrist and wouldn't get in the way. It glowed a soft pink, which allowed her a moment of calm before she quickly helped the others find their baubles.

Once that was done, Morganite looked around, inspecting the others as she stood over the smallest in their group, namely Simon and Pumpkin, her ears perked and alert at all times. She wasn't nervous, no. That wouldn't be the word she'd use for anything, really. Cautious, perhaps. Worried for the others, hoping somehow that they all came out alive. She didn't know what she'd do if she lost another cub...

Simon did not dare look back.

He heard the feline's frantic pawsteps. He heard her fall. He did not look back.

He was in the presence of the Merchant. And when he was there, the viper was to be obedient. Quiet. Not a word out, not a single uncertain movement that would suggest an inkling of thought behind them. He didn't want to end up like her.
And in that manner, Simon was led away from everything he'd ever known.

A white horse approached. Shouting about... shouting about... danger?

'Wait a second.' Danger. Danger to his family. Simon's dazed spell lifted. Who was this horse? Where was he? He'd hatched from his chrysalis and felt so, so tired, that was for certain. But why was he brought here? His orange, blurry eyes trailed around the tunnel. The light level was falling fast, but he could still make out the mouth of a cave before him, the walls made of red stone. Inside was pitch black. He couldn't make out the entities inside with his poor vision, and his infrared came back with nothing, either. Still, he found it incredibly unsettling. He also saw others around him. Not just his family, but creatures large and small. Some walked on two legs, one on six, and one, mauve and leviathan, seemed to strike fear around him just by speaking.

Safe to say, this wasn't exactly the most comforting experience.

Simon's tail rattled with anxiety and confusion. The copperhead looked to the side as Morganite, the same soft gembound he'd always known, came with glowing trinkets. "Thank you," he whispered, though even that sounded deafening in the silence. The Merchant, the closest thing he had to a parent, said to take one, so he did. Most of them were designed for more limbed creatures, but Simon found a suitable necklace that fit snugly around his throat. He looked around for his other family members. Everyone was here-- well, except for the tiger, whom he remembered with a dull pang-- and seemed to be doing just fine. He just hoped it would stay that way...

Meet me on the battlefield
Even on the darkest night
I will be your sword and shield...


Mayngo had heard of another trial. A third one, since he'd been alive. He'd missed the second, been curled up asleep, and regretted it ever since. The body count had been higher than His, those left behind mangled, losing body parts and... well, he hadn't been there, and while maybe he couldn't have done anything to help, he should have been there.

So he bounded for Hydra when word of the Trial came, quills standing on end in agitation. The snake... Vincenzo...


Into the crowd he bounded, stopping to look around, and heaving deep breaths to soothe himself enough that he could flatten down his quills, not wanting them to start with quills in their noses or rumps. There were so many, and his heart twisted - some of them seemed so young. He narrowed his eye, twisting his head to get a sweeping look even as he scurried to the pile-of-lights as they'd been bid, digging through it with sure paws before pulling out something that which, for a moment, looked like nothing more than a curve of metal, a more careful look into the throbbing light revealed a rough-shod carving, and quickly slipped the chain that carried it over his head.

No matter what happened, Vinnie would be close to his heart today.


The fossa bounded away from the pile, letting the others get to it if they wished, peering into the dark and oh, but he missed his skull today, he could have hung so many more lights on their horns, but he could cast a spell, so a moment's thought and a banana appeared at his paws, vanishing down his gullet and quickly he was glittering fit to match his eye's opal.

Another trial, then.

Styx had missed the last, though no true loss. He'd been training, learning his new wings, how to carry himself with them, to maneuver his new, feathered appendages. It had taken some work - he was no small dog, and learning to move around once he was in the air did not come easy - but with this Trial he felt as though he'd have a fair shot if he tried.

So he trotted in, ragged ears perked and feathered vulture wings mantled, looking to see if he could recognize any of the survivors from his trial, from the trial last, as he scooped a glowing rope collar from the pile and carefully wrapped it around the base of his rightmost wing.

This trial was different, he could tell already, as he trotted to stare into the darkness. It was not burning hot, as his had been, or freezing cold, as he'd heard was the last. This one was dark, impossibly so.

But he was not one to turn back, so he mantled his wings and stood tall. What may come, may come.

Was this a good idea?

Nope. No. Nyet. Nee. Jo. Laa. Absolutely not.

But since when had Hera had a good idea?

But the Children of Rot were interested in gathering knowledge, and what better knowledge was an event that only happened every half a dozen cycles or so?

So she took to wing, swept through the caves and tunnels, until she was nearing Hydra, the scattered Gembound easy to pick out - a little bird, a monkey, and so many others, though it was the glowing pile she focused on, circling-circling-circling, cataloguing and finally swooping down to grab a chain, swinging back up and flicking it over her head, circling-circling-circling before landing, staring at the Leviathan in amazement.

Kini-yolotl trundled along, following the Masked Merchant's lead, a rat enchanted by its piper. The oci-goat's eyes were on its group, but that couldn't of stopped the tiger's fate. The tiger had ran off, before Kini could even say or do anything, and within a blink's space of time, that poor tiger... was gone.

A heavy wave of guilt and loss invaded Kini's heart, threatening to eat away at that pounding muscle, but the goat begged those emotions not to. Kini felt that would not be the only loss they would all have to face today. "Stay close to me," Kini would say, in a low voice to those who remained, as they walked onward.

They went somewhere hot, bright, blinding. Immediately, cautious Kini tried to survey the area. There were others here, others coming, not like those under Kini's jurisdiction. It tried to separate the weak from the strong, to see who else it needed to keep an eye on-- but there was just too much. Kini already had 9 others to care for. There was no way it would allow any less than that number: 9. Not a chance in hell.

Joining with its group, Morganite and Simon already in sight, Kini pleasantly accepted Morganite's nose to its side. Morganite then left and came back with a pile of plain light-givers -- Kini immediately wanted to help with the transportation, but by the time it had recognized what the badger-hybrid was doing, the help was already past its time of needfulness. Kini nosed around in the pile and settled on a modest little ring, glowing a gentle white. The oci-goat picked it up in its jaws and carried it over to Simon, and with the help of the snake, the ring made it onto Kini's horn, where it fit nice and snug. "Thank you, Morganite," Kini said peaceably to its friend.

With some words from the all too familiar voice of the Merchant, a creature Kini had long ago given up any hope or care for, the world quickly became darker and darker. Dry, cold, dissonant, lonely. Vacant, like the space where a twisted heart should've been inside that masked scoundrel who had murdered the tiger in cold blood. The emptiness... it was spooky alright. But what was more terrifying was the inability to see anything besides the glows of various pendants and accessories equipped by the players on this field. Kini turned to the glows it assumed belonged to its own and said, "Very close. Stay very close together."

The Masked one offered the lighting objects to the crowd, and then offered a second light: a wisp of light in the air, blue-green. Kini disobeyed itself in order to approach it, leaving behind a single "Hold on, stay here," as a command before going for the light. "The creature... which hunts... consumes the light. Now go... and prove yourselves." In a brief moment of foolishness, the oci-goat interpreted that as a strange way of saying 'whoever consumes the light hunts for the torches'. Kini certainly wanted to hunt for those torches; if playing this game meant getting done faster, Kini would do it. Even if it was dangerous, like the horse had said, Kini would do it.

For them.

Attempting to consume the wisp left Kini confused, mainly because its mouth seemed to phase right through? Strange. How was one supposed to eat the intangible? Or maybe-- Kini thought on the words for a little bit. Slowly, the realization would come. Oh. Oh. A flush of embarrassment would run all the way up to Kini's cheeks. That's not what that meant. Kini would then proceed to 'hoof it' (quite literally) back to its group, trying to use scent as a guide. "Morganite? Simon?" Kini would call. Once it made it back to them, Kini would simply say "Don't eat the light." And chuckle, just a bit.

In hindsight, sending along two of the Seven might not have been the best idea, even if one was a seasoned member and the other was overachieving fresh meat.

Regardless, Nassir liked Fireheart well enough, and stood up to the opportunity to act as a Guardian to those - it seemed - that had no choice in whether or not they participated in this... trial. The black panther padded up to the wolf's side, ears flicking back and half-panting in anticipation already. Pale eyes looked through the faces, making a haphazard count and murmuring to the wolf, "Caves, there must be at least twenty here."

His brows pushed down in worry, even as he worked a large ring up his foreleg. It'd be easier to count - and notice when lights winked out - once they were all equipped and in the darkness but... it was terrifying. The purple behemoth was here, not as cocksure as he'd seemed when hunting him and its own spawn in Orion. Another glowing-eyed beast sat at his side, gazing down in the darkness.

Nassir knit his brows in further uncertainty, padding up to take the opposite flank of Fireheart - but first, he padded closer, nudging a shoulder, "keep safe and keep in touch."

He'd been waiting for a while - sleeping. Not by his own desire, but one day the Merchant had just appeared, as he always did, and a moment later everything was darkness. But now he was awake and...and for the first time, the first time in his small, insignificant life, Charles found himself free. Out of the cave, and off beyond the world he thought he knew. The bird, immediately, let out a small chirp and fluttered up to perch on Morganite's shoulders, as he always did. "Oh, my...we're leaving! We're seeing the world, like I've always dreamed! Isn't it quite amazing? Look at this place! Such wonder, such splendor! The bones upon the ground, so grim, so dark...ah, I want to fly, fly out and see more and more!" And he was about to do that, raising his wings to go running off when one of his siblings took the leap before he had the chance.

And then, before he could even think a single thing, it was dead, and Charles was left with his wings still halfway open, staring at the dead body of his family member as they trudged onward, as if it hadn't even happened at all.

He looked over at the Merchant and the same feelings filling his ride beneath overtook whatever wonder. Righteous anger for the fallen sibling and for the one that had shown them nothing. Perhaps the kindness of feeding them and caring for them, but they had never once been allowed to leave, see the world, grow as they were supposed to grow. And now he had just killed one of them, for the crime of trying to live.

Once they'd reached the entrance to Hydra, Charles jumped off of Morganite and stepped forward, trying to see into Hydra, despite the blistering heat. "Survive? What is this?" He looked around at the others gathering, new creatures that he had never seen before, who filled him with excitement at the thought that there really were others. He had wondered if there were other creatures running around and now here was the proof - there were many! But one of them was crying of danger, warning them to go back, and another one, a dark one, made him shiver and inch away. Something was wrong with him.

But nothing was more wrong then the light going out. He had been at least a little bit excited for this, if only to see this cave of sand and light. That even if this "Trial" was hard, at least he would see wonders before the end. But now all they had was darkness.

He chirped angrily. "Well! If you're going to let us loose, at least give us something to see besides our little cave!" He shook his head and hopped forward, admiring the many little items that had been pulled over. He picked out a small stretch of fabric and fluttered back to sit on Morganite's shoulders, using his bill and a foot to wrap it around his neck, a little glowing scarf that gleamed against his feathers.

"Well, my family. We shall triumph, shall we not? We are strong together! Our bonds shall not be broken, even in a place as dark as this! Together, we shall survive and live to see the world we've dreamed of!" He was nervous, sure - he had no knowledge of this, no way to guess what was coming, but he would not let that pull him down. He was angry - at the Merchant, at the cave in front of him, at the others that were gathered, voluntarily walking into this dark place despite the freedom to choose that Charles and his family did not have. But, for the sake of his family, he would lift their hearts - to victory!

They had awakened together as they had fallen asleep together, and now they were walking somewhere, somewhere... well, he didn't know where. He had remained mostly close to his family, walking with care as his legs were the longest; his head was lowered to mingle about with the others, to hear them and to speak to them, but there was not a lot to be said. When the tiger had parted from the group, he felt a quick 'no!' build in his throat, but before he could utter anything, the tiger was... gone. His eyes flicked to Charles, who had just been on about exploring, only to find him with half-raised wings suspended in time on Morganite's shoulder before his attention turned to the Merchant. Ifrit followed his gaze, regarding the Merchant with a disdainful, quiet, and fearful respect.

At first, they stepped into the sweeping sands of Hydra and it was hot—but comfortable, to Ifrit. He raised his head to stretch his neck, taking in the warmth of the strange big glowing object far above them, before, inevitably, his eyes again focused on the Merchant. Ifrit wasn't sure what had really happened before everything was swallowed in darkness, and a crisp chill bit at his skin. His head lowered again, to find the familiar scents of his family. He shuffled forward to search the pile of baubled goods, taking a thin band that could fit on his head: he couldn't tell what color it was, really, but it seemed to be a darkened steel. At the front in its center was a glowing gem, it seemed a deep red color but again, he couldn't quite tell. Angling the item with his hoof, he nudged his head into it, fastening it around his horns so that the circlet sat on his forehead, the gem sitting just behind the median bump of his nose.

There were many others gathered here, he noted—many, actually, that he had never seen. That were not his family. But here all the same, taking part in this weird game just like his family. He frowned. Part of him wanted to leave, but the images of the tiger reminded him he could not.

As the wisp bobbed about before them, he blinked and tried to summon the only magic he knew: warmth, and licks of gentle flame that danced in his eyes. "Yes," he agreed quietly with the others about staying together or their optimistic speeches, his head nodding as even strangers seemed to share the sentiment of keeping a unit.

He'd try, for a moment, to lift his head and serve as lookout, but the bite of the cold forced him back down into the group where he'd follow along as best as he could while taking care not to trample anyone.

Howl'd carried them, shaking and manic with the promise of something different and something entirely new, full of rewards. The moment he arrived and the lights winked out (Mother showed me that once! All the stars and -) THUMP! His conscious blinked for a moment, slid sharply to the side, and traded hands.

At the helm was... someone else entirely unaware of themselves, and barely catching the last few words of the many others around. They stared wide-eyed, tail flaring up to its full length and puff. Mismatched gaze tracing all of the Gembound here, they watched the pile of baubles for a moment. Everyone was taking things from them. Okay, they surmised, Tunnel's dark and here's some lights and a crowd to hide in.

Howl(?) strode forth, selected a good three or so old rings, and slid each onto the fingers of their right hand. Nondominant.

Then, they slunk into the middle of the group, already quivering in the dark.