She gazed up at Renny for a moment, her bright blue eyes watching him for a moment. She worried what he could possibly mean by doing right by them. Was he worried he wasn’t being good enough to them? As far as she knew he had taken a chance with each of them as soon as he had gotten out of his chrysalis the third time. As far as she knew he had at least taken time with her and Abraxas, and possibly Sprig and Amaryllis, but she wasn’t sure. Abraxas wasn’t much of a talker as it was and Amaryllis had been disappearing so often it wasn’t funny, so there was no telling if she had actually taken time with Renny.

Adonia focused as she cast her first spell, the garnet gem on her forehead flashing bright green for a second as she cast the spell. Then second later the flower buds slowly grew from the ground. She opened her eyes and grinned brightly at Renny, her blue eyes glimmering proudly. She let out an excited giggle as she saw the look of pride and approval on Renny’s face. Giving a little full body wiggle and a tail wag. ”Yeah they’re a flower that you can only find in this kind of cave, like Eridanus I mean. Sun says he named her Amaryllis because they’re his favorite flower.” The little girl explained about her sister’s name. Hers however was nothing so special, just something he had heard and thought was pretty.

After a moment the girl again closed her eyes and took a deep breath.She let the breath out as she looked inward for her magic, which nearly slammed her in the face as she first looked in. She was unable to control it as it washed down and out of all four of her paws, causing every little plant around her to blossom into full bloom. The flash from her gem nearly blinding with the cast of the spell. Panting the little girl fell into a sitting position and smiled up at Renny wearily. She had used a lot of magic at once and that was a big thing for such a little body. She giggled tiredly and smiled down at the Amaryllis flowers that bright red with their six petals arranged in a six pointed star shape with a yellow center, the petals tapered on the edge to the tips of the petals. ”See I can make them bloom too.” Her speech was slightly slurred as she slumped down onto the ground. ”I need to catch my breath a second.” The little girl admitted laying down in front of the Amaryllis flowers.

@James

James stood and watched curiously, ears perked forward as he watched Adonia make the flower bloom. It was an impressive show of magic, making him coo in awe as the flower bloomed.

"I can see why it would be," he said, appreciating the beauty of the bloom, "Mary is lucky to have such a beautiful name. All of you are."

Amaryllis, Adonia, Abraxas, Sprig. Beautiful names for beautiful children.

"I think you were named after your father," he said, "Aristotle. You look almost exactly like him. He had a very impressive mane, though, I think male lions tend to have them, so Sprig will most likely have one when he's older."

But right now? She was practically his clone. Not that he'd know that was essentially what she was.

@Adonia

Adonia smiled and sniffed the sweet smelling flower, her tail waving as she lay there for a moment. She had really over done it, but laying here she was starting to feel better. ”Yes she is, they are such a pretty flower. I absolutely love them, but I haven’t seen the flowers in other caves yet so I may have a different One I like better.” She mused lifting a paw to gently tap the petal of the lowest flower blossom, and let it fall back to the ground. The petal was soft and smooth to the touch.

Adonia looked up at Renny as he explained about her name. Sun had used daddy’s name several times but she just liked daddy better than his actual name. Though she had to admit her daddy’s name was quite regal, and so hers sounded rather simple in comparison. ”Daddy had a pretty name.” She looked up at Renny with soft blue eyes. ”I do? Do you think he would be proud of me?” She asked, wondering if he would approve of her determination to show that he was still with them in some form. She wanted to be just like him, if not better than him. ”Do you think, he would be happy with us?” She asked again innocently naive to the way they had separated.

@James

James nodded gently, "He would be proud. I'm proud. Sun and Comet are proud of you too. And Adonia?"

He knelt down and gently held her shoulders, "Never think that you have to do anything fantastical to earn my pride and my affection. Just being you and just being... alive makes me proud of you. I love you with all of my heart."

If he was honest, he'd rather she find her own path than follow in a dead man's footsteps. Following a path to, well, death got you killed.

"You don't have to live up to him," he said softly, "Be your own person, Adonia. Be the best you that you can be."

He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, just below her gem, and stood again. These were too many damn squats for his liking.

"Are you tired?", he asked, "You've done a lot of practicing."

@Adonia

Adonia smiled warmly, glad to have Renny to affirm her when she was uncertain. She was glad she had Renny around to make sure she was doing the right thing. She wanted to do right by everyone, and make everyone happy again. She wanted her family not to hurt ever again like they had before she had been born. She looked up at him as he said her name, she tilted her head to one side questioningly. ”Hmm?” She hummed out sweetly in response wondering what it was he had to say.

The young lioness gazed up into Renny’s eyes as he knelt down and began speaking to her. A warm knowing smile fell into place on her muzzle. She wasn’t sure what he meant by fantastical. What a word that was. But she wouldn’t push herself harder than she knew she could handle, to do something to make those around her proud. She was quickly learning that Renny would be proud of her no matter what she did. Though she was uncertain if he would still support her so well if she was to do something horrible. A soft purr vibrated from the child as her tail wagged slowly. ”I love you too Renny. No matter what. I’m so glad I have at least one of you.” She admitted in a soft sweet voice. She still wondered what it would be like to have both Renny and Daddy around, but that was something she would never know.

She gazed up at him as he continued to speak. He knew she wanted to be like daddy, and he wanted her to be her. But that was something she didn’t know. Who was she exactly? She was Adonia, yes, She wanted to be good with her magic, yes. But that was all she knew. What made her Adonia? ”But who am I Renny? I don’t know how to be me. I don’t know who I am.” The little cub said sadly as her rump met the ground. This would be something that would bother her for quite some time to come. ”How can I be someone I don’t even know who they are?” She asked again looking up at Renny through purely innocently confused eyes.

@James

James breathed out and hummed, looking up, "... Well, I suppose to start, you should try and figure out what kinds of things you enjoy. Who do you like being with? Friends, family, do you like meeting strangers more than meeting people who are familiar?"

He draped a wing over her, "People change over the course of their lives, and it's perfectly fine if you change too. You are young, having fun and meeting friends should be your priority. Maybe you'll figure out who you are along the way, but it shouldn't be your biggest concern. Your biggest concern should be spending your childhood how you want to. Not how you think others would want you to."

Adonia didn't know Aristotle. There was no way she'd ever be able to. She'd hear about all the good things and none of the bad things until later in life, so she'd only learn about half of the story. Pushing her to become her own person would help prevent disappointment. Living up to people was never fun.

He bumped his head against hers and sighed, "I love you, Adonia. If you do want to figure out who you are, I'll support you. But it's your journey to take."

@Adonia

Adonia gazed up at Renny expectantly, hoping he would have an answer to who she was. Instead he started making suggestions. Who did she like being with? Did she like meeting people more than being with family? She sat thinking for a moment. ”I like working with my magic, and I want to see everything our world has to offer for me to see.” She fell silent for a moment. She wasn’t sure if she liked meeting other people, she never met anyone new yet. She had met Renny, Sun, Comet, Sprig, Abraxas, and Amaryllis. They were all she knew, she had never met anyone else yet. ”I don’t know how I feel about strangers, I’ve never known anyone but you and my family.” She said finally looking down at her paws.

The girl fell quiet again listening to Renny talk. She smiled softly, a soft purr vibrating her chest as Renny draped his wings over her. She loved the feeling of his wings caressing her, it made her feel so safe and loved. She wanted to get better with her magic, she wanted to go to different places in the caves. She wanted to meet other gembound and see if she liked them. She wanted to eat the tasty things that Sprig made, and she wanted to spend more time with her Renny. ”There’s a lot of things I want to do, but right now I’m too small to do most of them. I know Comet and Sun say we can take care of ourselves and are free to explore as long as we tell them where we are going, but I worry I might not be big enough to defend myself.” The girl admitted shyly scoffing her paw on the ground as she looked at the flowers near her.

Finally the young cub looked up at Renny, her blue eyes shimmering softly. She wasn’t sure who she was, or she wanted to be. She only knew what she wanted to do right now. The girl nodded softly as she looked at Renny. ”I know, for one thing. I want to spend more time with you. I like being around you and I want to learn more things from you.” The girl admitted in a soft voice, she wasn’t sure what else to do. She only knew what she wanted right now.

@James

"Be brave," he said softly, "Be... confident. You can do anything if you set your mind to it, my dear."

James turned towards their house and stood, sleep tugging at his limbs, making them feel heavy, "I would love to spend more time with you too, but it's getting late. We ought to go to bed."

The lights were dimming, and though the mushrooms he grew glowed, it was still better if they tried to rest. Too much sleep was better than too little.

"Come," he said softly, "Let's go home."

@Adonia

Adonia gazed up at Renny, her eyes filled with hope and mild understanding. He told her to be brave, that was something she could do. She knew how to be brave, being brave was easy. She nodded at him smiling. ”I can do that!” She responded eagerly with a bright smile. She could do anything? She wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but she would do anything that she thought she could possibly do. She could be brave and confident, she was already those things. At least that’s what she was told.

Adonia watched Renny as he stood up and faced towards the house. She could tell he was tired. Without warning a wide yawn parted the young girls jaws, showing off those oh so sharp and pointy teeth that used to hunt. The yawn however ended in a small squeak and her licking her lips. ”Yeah, I think that last spell made me really tired.” She admitted looking up at Renny. The young lioness tilted her head up looking at the orbs taking note that they were beginning to dim. She hadn’t realized she had literally spent all day working with Renny. With that thought in mind her stomach let out a growl of prtest for its lack of sustenance.

With a brought smile the young girl started toward the trail home. ”Okay Renny. I’m hungry, do you think Comet or one of the others caught a bunny or something?” She asked innocently not remembering that Renny was an herbivore. It didn’t often cross her mind since all of her siblings could eat meat and did so with glee. The young girl paused at the head of the trail home and looked back to see if Renny was following, when she was sure she started off at a gentle trot her stomach driving her to head home.

@James

James hummed, "Probably. I forget how much you guys eat, you manage to pack so much away."

He laughed merrily and trotted off after Adonia, easily keeping up, "I think I'll stick to fruit and vegetation, thank you. I prefer it."

Well technically he really could only eat vegetation. He wasn't built for anything else. Being a grazer was useful, though, for grass, leaves, and fruits were very easy to find, and required little effort to eat and gather. Though they gave less calories than meat.

They arrived and he nudged Adonia up the tree first, hopping up and fluttering onto the platform, walking inside and flopping down with a tired sigh. It was nap time.

"Good night, Adonia," he said, stretching.

@Adonia