suffocated, smothered, pressed against the edges and forever on the precipice of something else; this was life as she knew it, understood it, preferred it. encased in her stone, this would be the way that the unborn would have kept it. things need not change. no, she would rather it stay the same. this darkness. this nothingness. the humdrum of anything around her was nothing. her world was here. until it wasn't. there was a day she broke free from the shackles that kept her. intentional? no. it was the first—and last—unintentional thing she would do. the world was cold, and as the shards broke around her, she swallowed it whole and it bloomed from her throat as she choked on it greedily, angrily—she was disturbed, why? why had this happened? the first wicked lesson she would learn was the first she would vengefully inflict; you did not always get what you wanted. she spits spitefully, and she hears something she knew, something borne of her dreams; it is her name. she bumbled upon the rocky throne in the dark, throat glowing. she lets out a pathetic yowl that would one day be a sound so fierce it would shake ones bones. who was to blame for this? w h o.

when i was a child i heard voices

some would sing and some would scream

αριστερά . κέντρο . δεξιά

Birth and death. The endless cycle that the hound of hell watched over at the mouth of Orion. Past the stars laid the home of bones and death; his home. Yet the cerberus did not live in Canis, in fact, he spent most of his time here. Hunting, living, thriving. It was here in the place of starlight that he watched creature after creature come into life-- and when the sharp crack of a chrysalis snapped in his ears, the six bright eyes lit up and he stood.

The beast of white was growing to be quite large. Already he was around the size of a young polar bear, and with three sets of sharp fangs he was not a force to be reckoned with. As he stalked towards the sound of a new birth, he seemed to look quite like the great white carnivore of snow, heads low, nostrils flaring as they took in the scent of the new creature.

A small one, larger than the puff of fur he had met days before, but still a feline creature of soft fur and desperate mewls. His creamy ringed tail, now a couple of feet in length, snaked along behind him in slow waves as he crept closer until he was in the shadows of the stone throne.

"Kerberos!" His three voices rang out, loud and still pitched high in his youth. "Listen, learn, speak," he told the cub as his haunches plopped down on the ground beside the throne, eyes watching her carefully. "Who are you?" He lifted a paw to place it upon the throne, noses sniffing at her-- pink, orange, and deep, dark red.

@Artemïs

the world around her was dissonant. echoing and reverberating and unpleasant. too loud. the cub preferred her silence. and in the darkness, there was suddenly light—do you know what they say, about the light? they say, don't go into it, and there is a reason for that—before her. it molded into one form, the form of the three-headed beast. the grecian knew this beast of mythos. some old, ancient understanding. inherent. she was wise beyond her years, captured in this body, but there was something she knew (o! god!) i have died. it was the hellhound who had come to greet her before taking her to hades; but, the one who looked to him was soulless, terribly so, unfeeling in this admittance, accepting of it. her voice was too young for the words, but god, she was an aged woman, captive and caged in this young body, a woman in the flesh of a girl! he spoke wise words. look. listen. learn. she moved to him on uncertain legs, newborn... but she spoke with clarity. a woman who knew who she was. what she was meant for. artemïs. she told him for who she thought he was, not who he knew himself to be; the queen suffered only one delusion, and that was that things were precisely as they seem. where am i. she remembered different things. what was reality, and what was not? she had been confined for so long—how unfortunate for all that she was set free.

Cancer had been in Eridanus, hunting. He returned, fresh kill in his jaws- a fawn, one of the cave dwellers, its twiggy legs dragging as he carried it by the back of its neck, almost like a cub. Upon entering his starry home, however, Cancer immediately noticed something wasn't right. Voices in the cave. His home was invaded. Hackles prickled as the black cat deposited his son's meal behind a broken wall and began approaching, not caring enough to hide himself as usual. His armor shifted, metalic sounds, as he lurked across the cave and towards his throne. There, a pair of gembounds- a small cat, like himself, spotted and fresh born, and a dog- or dogs? Three heads, all unique, one body. He felt his head ache as he tried to descipher the sight before him. Words. The cub asked where she was. Cancer launched himself onto one of the lower walls and perched there carefully, long tail balancing him, his armor glinting under the low light.

"Orion." He stated in response, before the dog-beast could speak. "You, cub, are welcome, but dog... dogs?" He hesitated, eyeing the strange creature suspiciously. "There are markers all around the tunnel entrances. Are you nose-blind, or did you just not care?" He wasn't hostile. Not yet. His voice wasn't cruel or angry, just suggestive- he couldn't rightfully defend this cave yet. He was alone, his only companion a lion cub barely old enough to eat proper meat. He'd play it safe for now.

"I welcome you both, but this place is my home. I'd ask you to respect that." He was careful to keep his belongings on his person these days, at least- nothing could be stolen that way. The only crime here was trespassing, and to many gembounds, such a thing wasn't shameful, barely frowned upon. He would forgive, so long as they posed no threat to his domain. To his son.

"Speech"

@Kerberos @Artemis

when i was a child i heard voices

some would sing and some would scream

αριστερά . κέντρο . δεξιά

Kerberos blinked, unsure, at the kitten's first words. Died? She was very much alive, however, just... Newly born. Perhaps he had startled her. He wasn't about to dwell on the confusing sentence, instead his tail began to wag softly. Artemis. He opened his mouths to answer her question and was abruptly cut off.

His heads turned to face Cancer, listening and finding a certain threat to his words. His tone was even, but it seemed like the larger cat was implying that they didn't belong here-- nevermind the kitten was born here and Kerberos had made this place his second-home and wasn't planning on leaving any time soon. His hackles raised as his heads lowered, removing his paw from the throne so he could move in front of it-- place himself between the kitten and the adult.

"Artemïs..." He started softly, eyes narrow pink slits on pure white. "New-- small. Needs protecting." It seemed like he had grown to, in time, understand that the youngest should not be hunted. He did still make exception for adults, though he had yet to take down a sentient gembound in a fight. "What do you want? Better be a good answer. Leave Artemïs alone or I'll eat you."

A common threat for the still growing gembound to make. He was, of course, entirely serious. As he stood in front of the throne, fur bristling, he silently pulled at his magic. The air warped around him just slightly, his massive forepaw glowing a soft, pinkish light. And as if to prove his point, he pushed back on the air, shoving the larger feline back if he dared get too close.

@Artemïs

he repeated her name, and how prettily she smiled at him, fangs pale and bright in their newness, but milk-teeth that still could be pernicious when she used them. her tail furled and unfurled, pale, bright eyes taking him in with a certain degree of fondness. or, was it possessiveness...?

another came. furs as dark as the noxious smoke that came from flame devouring forest, and his presence just as asphyxiating. but if she feared—which she ought to—it did not show, the woman-cub moved to the edge of the throne that unbeknownst to her this male had taken for his own. it was with added verve when her new companion decided to protect her that she spoke, near impetuous.

he is mine, she informed him, her eyes panning to the direction of the three-headed beast. adoringly, possessively, my protector, my guardian. he informed that this was his home, and she looked to her protector, who used a power the likes of which she had never seen. her tail lashed behind her, and she looked toward the ink-blotted man, powerful, lovely. she delayed any reaction by, after the display, moving from the throne to set herself betwixt two beings surely more strong than she, then. all-innocence. all woman. conniving, manipulative... but, for the first time, selflessly. please, no! do not hurt one another, she breathed, he wanted to keep me safe. she begged he understand with a simpering look, the look of a child who needed her puppy, t h i s one, no other: yours are the first faces i have ever seen... she looked to them, positively screaming that they never leave her; they must stay, forever. and there it was, the insinuation; they must all stay together.

Cancer expected some rebellious behavior from the older one. He hadn't expected the beast to cast at him, though, so when that gust of pressure hit him, his claws scraped across the stone wall painfully as he struggled to keep his balance. He slipped a claw, painfully, the sheath sticking into the stone as he moved to right himself. He growled, a low rumble, as red glow overcame his horns and eyes....

...and he felt the surge of power flow through him, the pulse of another for just a second. He felt the grip of blood in another body, not his own, and for a brief instance, he had a hold of the dog's back end- Kerberos would feel a brush of skin, like someone placing a heavy paw on his back, before the cub's protest broke the hold and Cancer released his spell before it could finish casting. He snapped his gaze from the dog to the cat and that red glow fizzled out. He listened for a moment, then, with a rumble of dire warning, turned his attention back to the dog and righted himself on the wall again, neatly perched, this time with claws extended for extra grip.

"Try to cast against me again," His voice oozed with venomous warning, the voice of an experienced fighter, a would-be killer. "and I'll break your fucking legs and leave you for the Beast in Cetus." It wasn't an empty threat, either. He would've loved to throw the dog out now, but the cub had requested peace. He'd allow it. For now.

He turned away to give the cub an apologetic look- he didn't like fighting, but he also didn't appreciate pushy canines shoving him around and invading his sanctuary- the only safe place he'd managed to find for himself and his lion cub. If forced, he would move again, but he would not leave this place as clean as he'd found it- there'd be blood to pay if he was cast out of yet another home without damn good reason.

"Speech"

@Kerberos @Artemis

when i was a child i heard voices

some would sing and some would scream

αριστερά . κέντρο . δεξιά

Kerberos snorted as the newborn claimed him as a protector. Were they friends then? He would be her teeth if she, once old enough, became his teeth. Such was the way of things as he knew them. Of course-- this large monster of a puppy wasn't one to obey commands very well-- it took about three or four sharp barks before he would listen, and all.

The black leopard snapped dark, vicious words at him: threats. Not idle, passing threats. Threats to hurt him. Not to eat him back, something Kerberos would understand, but to break him and leave him to die a slow, painful death. The white dog did not know where Cetus was, or what the Sea Beast was-- but he knew he hated water, and without his legs to save him... No, this was not the kind of threat you gave a massive, angry puppy.

His skin was crawling along his back, his snake tail lashing as he stepped forward. He had sensitive scales along his rump, and feeling that slight sense of magic being used on him-- he knew that the black cat was setting up unfair rules. He drew back his teeth into a wordless snarl, his forepaw's gentle pink glow turning to a dark crimson.

And as he stepped forward, another form appeared behind him and stepped off to the side-- suddenly there were two massive three headed hounds. They stood along side each other, snarling but not, no, not attacking just yet.

"I have more teeth than you," the canine snarled. "Better to listen, learn and speak," he suggested. "I won't eat you if you stop."

@Artemïs

she watched. the dark man listened. the young one... the young one had a temper. but she draws in front of him, her three-headed hell-hound, and leans into his legs to rub roughly against them in a gesture meant to soothe, cause that anger to ebb out of him, pour into her. she noted his duplicate.

strong magic, very strong magic...

could she do that?

to neither of them, but to herself, the young girl draws water... it is time to cause the men to heel, to work together, to see that five heads were better than one, or three...

and in seconds, she was on the floor, gasping. her water came from her pores, and she twitched on the floor, the beads dancing overhead... before they fell upon her. i thirst, she coughs dryly, please—

do not fight anymore! her desire led to her pain, and she twitched on the floor.

@cancer @kerberos

The dog wouldn't stop, wouldn't back down. It wasn't about trespassing anymore. He'd ruined that. Now, it was all about dominance and Cancer was sick and tired of being pushed around- especially in his own god damned home. So, when the dog duplicated himself, a spell the cat honestly found somewhat surprising but not at all threatening as it should've been, the cat stood taller on the wall and bared his teeth- not defensively, but in that warning snarl.

"You're fuckin' dense if you think a pup like you scares me! GET OUT OF MY HOME!" Just like that, those horns flashed a brilliantly bright red and his eyes, the same, the glow a stark contrast against his black pelt...

...and with a sudden force of white-hot air, the world around them all popped. He hadn't intended it. He'd meant to grab hold of the dog, to push him away with that Blood Hold he'd been practicing so hard lately. Instead, that familiar heat returned, the world popped and suddenly, muted, ringing silence for all three would be all too evident. It worked, sort of- the cat felt himself slip, the heat overwhelming him- it wasn't like before. This time, this accidental spell he hated so much, forced him off of the wall just as much as it might've damaged his intended target- and unintended victim. As he fell, an instant later, the world POPPED back into focus and he landed with a thud, ears ringing, skin ablaze with that invisible, white-hot flame. On the ground, the wall between them, he twitched once, twice, and then regained some sense. He worked himself to his feet again, but stopped as he felt the sharp sting of bile rise in his throat. He ejected his stomach in that instance, alarmed most by the amount of blood that came with it. The cat staggered back, repulsed, stunned, and frankly, in a daze. Why!?

"Speech"

ooc: In short, the world would pop, there would be a general wave of white-hot heat, and a second later another deafening pop and the heat washes away. You can decide if it effects you or not, but it's an uncontrolled burst, so it's likely to have done -something-. Radiation poisoning is rough but it'll pass with lots of cool water and good food in no time, especially since it's only a minor burst.

@Kerberos @Artemis