Even the few days she had been alive the All Mother had yet to speak to her again. She was quiet but an ever benevolent presence. Whenever the little feline tapped into her magic, she could feel that the All Mother was there. Watching whatever she did like a good mother would. Why had she been born here though? What was her purpose. Surely there was a reason that she was born under the Mother's bosom. Perhaps she could ask the All Mother... or perhaps... It would come to her if she focused her powers, focused all of her abilities on the All Mother's grace.

The feline stepped forwards towards the Monarch, her deep green eyes stared up at her majesty. "All Mother, give me a sign. Show me what it is that you want me to do... I only want to serve you..." With that the feline approached the Monarch and dipped her head and touched her nose gently to the base. Her eyes closed as she focused on the Monarch.

Behind her eyes she saw only blackness at first but then, pinpoints of light... but slowly those lights, the breathing, the souls of the plants, began to fizzle out. What was wrong? Why were they dying out? The plants... All Mother's creations! Oh no! What did this mean? Behind her closed eyes she continued to watch with horror as more and more of the plants began to die out, their light growing dim until nothing was left. Only a smothered blackness. For a moment she lay there trembling until she pulled her muzzle away from base of the mushroom and opened her eyes. Quickly she looked around but she saw that every plant around was still alive. But... why had she seen death? Was this a sign from the All Mother? A vision of the future?

"Oh, All Mother, how can I stop this? I don't want the plants to die... They are my Brothers and Sisters as well..." What could she do? She was only a little kitten... Why did the All Mother show her this... Unless...

"Am I to protect my plant Brothers and Sisters, All Mother? To care for them and learn from them? Is that what your vision was about?" She blinked up at the mushroom, but it was impassive as always. She was tempted to consult the All Mother again but decided against it. She felt weak and didn't want to disturb the All Mother too much when she'd already gotten an answer.

The little feline looked to a nearby flower and padded over to it. It looked so fragile but so beautiful. Perhaps she was to protect these little ones and help them grow... Maybe that was her purpose.

---

457
Booker
---
6/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

We'll light up the sky,

We'll open the clouds...

@Booker

It had been short days since the incident, as Booker had taken to calling it, and the first time he'd managed to tear himself away from his family's side. Still, he couldn't do much more, not without supplies - and especially not without reconnecting with his lights. The fog that came and went at random through his mind had seemed to lessen his bond with the fungi, and the only other Gembound he knew that could "speak" with them was Giggle... and she was all the way in Canis. No, there was only one thing for it: he had to visit the Monarch. It would hold the answers; after all, it was the strongest mushroom, the largest, the brightest. If anything could help him, it would be the jewel of Eridanus.

Still, his gait was slow and unsteady, back leg dragging along, pink puncture wound still a bit red from the tissue damage the limb had endured. More than once he'd had to sit and pant, feeling old and weak. Finally, after his fifth stop, the numbat sighed in aggravation, shoring up his energy and focusing, trying to pierce past the fog, through to the lights that lay beyond.

post roll:
And finally, a beacon in the darkness. The Monarch lit up just as brightly as it had before, when he and Baratheon seemed so much younger, so much more innocent. Strength renewed momentarily by the high of the success, Booker stood, trotting towards the beam of light with a relieved grin. I knew they wouldn't abandon me. Silly to think so, to begin with. The closer he drew, the more defined the image became, and Booker slowed a bit, brow furrowing. There was... something, standing in front of the Monarch, small but, of course, still larger than himself. Opening his eye, he snuck deeper into the underbrush, peering out from under a thick leaf to peer out at the stranger.

It was... well. It was kind of adorable, really. Fluffy, small, and staring at the flowers dotted around the Monarch's stalk. Once upon a time, he would've eagerly raced out to meet it, introduced himself, taken on the weight of another soul to care about. Now, the sting of his leg kept him in check, and Booker slowly crept out of his hiding spot, revealing only his head and chest. "Um... hello?" He faltered, embarrassed at the croak in his voice - he hadn't talked much, these past few days, too focused on reconnecting with his brother and his son, watching over them silently. Sometimes, he would lose minutes in the fog, coming out of it at random. Booker coughed, swallowed, tried again. "Are you visiting the Monarch too?"

@Blackfeather

The young kitten touched her nose to the sweet-smelling flower. She would love to have the duty to care for these little things and even the bigger, nonmoving ones that reminded her of the All Mother. Her eyes closed as she began to focus on the little plant. The All Mother had granted her the ability to see the little plants' souls. It was then that the beginnings of her reverie were broken by the sound of a voice. The kitten didn't mind though, it meant that the All Mother had given her someone new to meet.

Her deep green eyes opened and turned to watch the approach of the other. For such a young creature she had an impossibly calm gaze, like one that was at peace with the entire world and really she was. "Hello, Brother," She said kindly. The little one was different than she and her sisters... He was even smaller than them with a strange muzzle and ears. However, he was still one of the Mother's creatures and her Brother as far as she was concerned. "I live here in the Mother's shadow." The cat gestured with her tail to the tall structure.

Before looking back to him she tilted her head to the side, "Brother, are you visiting the All Mother? Are you seeking to pray to her and to seek guidance?" The mushroom always seemed to have all the answers or even when she was silent there was usually something to it.

---

249
Booker
---
6/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

We'll light up the sky,

We'll open the clouds...

@Booker

Brother? Booker almost wondered if the little one had gotten him confused, but she didn't seem confused at all - no, she seemed at peace. Her gaze was calm, her voice even and sure, and the numbat found himself creeping closer, almost in a trance. When she gestured to the Monarch, he stared at it, puzzled, before shifting his dazed eyes back to the kitten. "You... live here?" The idea... well, it appealed to him, especially after losing everything in the fire of Polaris.

Eridanus was the stark opposite of his former home, and the longer he spent within the Maw, the more he began to see its upsides, instead of its rather bloody downsides. At the thought, the fog crept back, but Booker shook his head a bit, sitting back on his scarred rump and focusing on the strange little creature. "The... All Mother? Oh, yes, of course," he covered, wincing. Obviously she had to know the proper name of the Monarch, considering she lived underneath its gigantic cap, and the numbat shrugged at the cat's query, gaze slowly moving to stare at the so-called All Mother.

"Seek guidance, I guess," he mumbled, blinking lazily. "It's been a rough couple of weeks," he added with a short, harsh bark of a laugh, waving his lame leg's toes in demonstration. "And the All Mother, she's helped me before, when I was younger." Booker's strangely shaped snout turned back to point at the kitten, eyes widening. "Oh! I forgot to in-tro-duce myself," he exclaimed, with a small, nervous smile. "I'm Booker. What is your name... Sister?"

@Blackfeather

The small kitten nodded her head at his question while a soft grin formed on her face. It was lovely to live here always in the shadow of her mother and surrounded by her many siblings. It was so wonderful. The cat rose to her paws and turned back to the mushroom. Carefully she used her mouth to move around broken pieces of jade and mawsitsit shards. These she placed around the base of the mushroom as a sort of little shard decoration. The All Mother should certainly be pleased at the care she was taking to make her chosen home pleasant.

One ear though was politely turned back to the newcomer politely to show that she was still listening despite her task. "The All Mother is always happy to help her children. She wants us all to Live, Grow, Emerge, and Learn." The feline, done with her task, turned back to the numbat. She slowly walked back over to him and sat, tail curling about her paws. "You should approach her and pray for help. That's what I do when I have problems and she gives me answers." Usually not a straightaway answer but answers through the plants around her or other signs.

"My chosen name is Blackfeather. It's nice to meet you, Brother Booker. I'm always interested in meeting the other speaking children that the Mother has created." It was always so nice discovering new plants and meditating with them but it was also nice speaking with these sorts of creatures.

---

253
@Booker
---
7/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

We'll light up the sky,

We'll open the clouds...

Booker watched as the curious little female began to... what? Decorate the base of the All Mother? It made sense, if she lived here, and reminded him with a sharp pang of his own home, with its carefully collected gems and glowing fungi. Smiling, the expression just a touch melancholic, the numbat took a moment to reply, gaze still stuck on the glittering shards. "Live, grow, emerge and learn," he repeated softly, humming to himself. "Good things to want for your kids."

Another moment of fog, before Diot came to mind, and the numbat sighed softly, glancing to his side as the kitten sat. "Pray for help, hm? I could try," he offered, inspecting the Monarch skeptically. Sure, she had helped him, before, twice now, but he'd never prayed to anything before, much less to a mushroom. Still, it couldn't hurt, and the way things had been going, Booker needed all the help he could get.

"Black-feh-ther," he repeated, trying out the name, nodding to himself. "Nice t' meetcha, Sister Blackfeather," he replied, glancing towards the kitten with a small, indulgent grin. Calmer Gembounds seemed to help fight away the fog, and 'feather seemed just about as calm as they got. "Though I'm not al-ways this chatty," he added, good-natured but honest. It would probably give the girl a good fright if he went off into the fog with no warning, and she didn't need to be saddled with his problems, especially not at such a young age.

Booker hummed, closing his eye, trying to focus on his connection with the fungal world... and with a spark of his gem, a small bunch of mushrooms, bright white, sprouted from the ground. Opening his eye, the numbat focused on them, brushing over them with an errant paw, trying to suss out any meaning. They looked vaguely like... "Oh!" The tiny circle of growth formed a teardrop shape, with three dots to the side. "Kinda looks like one of my brother's eyes," he offered, confused. "Maybe she's tryna tell me somethin' about him?" Still, the tiny Gembound shrugged, focus back on Blackfeather. "Or maybe I'm sent-e-ment-all."

@Blackfeather

The feline nodded her head once more, "That's because the All Mother is the best mother. She cares for all of her children." It was so nice to have someone looking out for you. It made the little feel protected in all that she did. "Any sort of prayer will work." She understood all no matter how it was wordy.

The little feline smiled, "Chatty is good! It means we can talk more!" And boy, she really liked to talk! However, she also knew when not to talk so when the little creature sat and took on the appearance of deep concentration the feline dipped her head and took a few steps back to give him room and the time to pray. While he did that she turned back and thoughtfully looked at the base of the giant mushroom. Carefully she would analyze the decorations until she heard the sharp exclamation from Booker.

She turned back to him with first a smile then a joyful gasp at the mushrooms before him. Oh! Was he a mushroom messenger like Owlfeather? "It seems the Mother has shown you favor! You're not sentimental at all... Don't ignore the signs, Brother Booker!" She reached up with one paw to touch him on the shoulder gently. "Perhaps she is telling you something about your brother. You should listen and Learn from what she's saying." She gave a solemn nod. She knew about these things.

---

239
@Booker
---
7/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

We'll light up the sky,

We'll open the clouds...

Booker blinked, tilting his head this way and that, examining the pattern the mushrooms had created. "I s'pose she could be," he murmured, "there's plenty to tell about him." Tentatively, he tapped one of the fungi's cap, jolting back when it released a cloud of spores. The numbat sneezed, eye watering, the shock startling a laugh out of his raw throat. "Smoke. Sir-tan-lee a lot of that, lately." He felt a bit slow, not being able to see whatever sign the cat believed in so wholly, and ducked down closer to analyze the sprouts.

A few more moments of observation, and he sighed, giving Blackfeather a small, tired smile. "Even if I make 'em, doesn't mean I can read 'em, I guess." He poked at another of the caps, snorting in amusement when it released a similar bellow. And suddenly, eyes caught on the spore cloud, he was back in the fog, gaze growing distant, paw falling back to the ground absently.

Red. All around, creeping into his home, coming through the door silently. The smell of burning moss and bright pain racing up his back. The monocle, metal overheated, wincing as he grabbed it. Running, for days, for weeks, and red, red, red.

With a gasp, Booker came back to himself, shaking and scratching at his useless eye, claws making a snick, snick, snick sound on the black opal spikes. "I was... looking for something, I think. Someone? They were big, with green eyes," he added, voice soft and dazed. Another few seconds of staring off into space, and the numbat shook himself out of the fugue, glancing at Blackfeather apologetically. "Sorry, little one. I've lost most of my mem-or-ees, it seems. Maybe the All Mother is trying to help me remember?"

@Blackfeather

The little feline stepped closer, sniffing at the mushrooms curiously. They were like little All Mother's, even more proof that everything was made by the All Mother. Their powers, their bodies, and every little thing that appeared in the cave. Everything was connected and it was amazing and exciting! "Smoke? Does smoke have something to do with your friend?" The cat was curious. She knew there had to be thousands of different creatures around and she wanted to know them all. Though for the moment she had to stay in this area near the Monarch, the plants wouldn't tend to themselves. Or maybe they would but the small feline would feel bad if something happened to them while she was on leave.

"Don't worry. Mother's signs are sometimes hard to read but perhaps in time it'll become clear. You just have to think and pray for the results." She listened carefully as the creature began to explain that he'd lost someone. Blackfeather tilted her head to the side curiously. Someone large with green eyes? She'd never seen anyone like that before. "I'm sorry you've lost your friend." Really, she was. The little feline had never lost anyone that she loved before. Perhaps she should pray for his friend's safe return. "Maybe if you get your memories back you would be able to locate your friend." The feline lifted a paw and gestured to the base of the All Mother. "If you would like you can approach Her and touch your nose to her base and sleep. Perhaps she'll send you a vision or a memory that way." That's what she had done upon receiving her vision of the dead plants... Perhaps it would work for him too.

---

287
@Booker
---
7/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

We'll light up the sky,

We'll open the clouds...

Booker nodded slowly, turning to the cat. "Smoke... well. With my friend, and my brother. I remember black smoke, and fire. But my brother's smoke is pink," he mumbled, confused, brow furrowed as he thought. The flash of memory hadn't made much sense, and it just made him more frustrated at the fog that seemed to permeate his mind. At the kitten's condolences, he smiled, nudging her with his pointed snout gratefully. "Thank ya. At this point, I'll try anythin' to get 'em back. Hard to think clear, when half your life is just... gone."

Determined now, the numbat heaved himself up onto all fours - or, well, all threes, his lame leg dragging behind on the forest floor as he trotted towards the Monarch. He laid down slowly, carefully, touching his small nose to the All Mother's stalk, letting out a sigh as he tried to relax and fall into the void of sleep.

hey look a post roll:
It seemed as soon as he dropped out of the waking world, he stepped into a vision of... Eridanus? It seemed the same, as if he'd stayed awake after all, and slowly Booker rose - and found the difference between the two. His leg was fine, no sign of the puncture of the resulting scar, and the numbat huffed, glancing around, trying to find whatever the All Mother was trying to make him see. And then: smoke, billowing up behind the gigantic mushroom, rising up over her silver cap like an ominous beam of black light. He stilled, breath quickening, tasting ash in the back of his throat - and just like that, Eridanus became Polaris, the bright lights of the crystals and his glowing fungus blinking out one by one, burned to ash by wave after wave of hot fire.

Booker stood, frozen, watching as the wave came closer and closer, lapping at his paws, stinging his face, reaching up to pull at his front legs, enticing him to let go, to give himself over to the flames. Finally, as it rose to his neck, the numbat wheeled around, racing through the tunnels of his home, the details and markers lost in the haze of panic. Then, something raced up beside him - the heavy step of hooves on stone, and he turned to glance at it, almost stumbling at the sight. It was tall but thin, sickly, open wounds breaking up its black hide, two glowing green eyes burning into him worse than the fire. "Khloros," Booker whispered, watching as the horse collapsed, whinnying, screaming, into the fire, burning until only two pinpoints of eery light glowed back at him, accusing him. You let me die. You let me die!

And then, the vision - no, it couldn't be just a vision, it had to be a mix of real and dream, this had to be part memory - faded, and left him back in Eridanus, this time staring out into a clearing. The grass was painted red, the air heavy with the scent of gore, and he was staring at a tiny black foal, green horns gleaming in the light, so much like Khloros it made him retch. Her tiny body was ripped open, protected only by a white dog. Booker shook, panting, until the memory faded, replaced by another. A dragon, no, his dragon, the pink, not the red, staring at him. I love you, brother. Clinging onto his gem, praying, and then, finally, peace. The scene changed slowly, melting into an image of - what was it? The whole world had gone pink, leaving only he and Baratheon, and a slow, pulsing line between them, connecting them, and Booker plucked at it. Was this what the All Mother wanted him to see? To bring back his memories, to force him back into the present? Poking at the band of light again, he grinned as it sprung back into shape, like it was almost solid.

Booker woke with a gasp, snorting as dirt clogged his nose, shaking himself off as the fog began to receed. It wasn't gone, not by a long shot, and he could still feel it lurking, threatening to make him forget again... but for now, it seemed the All Mother had truly helped him, just like Blackfeather said. "Thank you," he whispered, staring up at the Monarch in awe. "Thank you."

@Blackfeather