The King in Exile rested atop his stone throne, a long day's hunt behind him and a full meal digesting in his gut. He'd spent many days alone, occasionally teaching Niru the odd trick or two for hunting and magic, but otherwise spending more and more time to himself. He didn't want his thoughts escaping. He didn't need his vulnerable son catching wind of his doubts. The King was not himself.

Cancer.

He was starting to hate that name. The meaning rang in his ears, like some taunting nightmare, repeating in that same hateful tone over and over and over...

"It's not my fault." He'd tell himself, over and over again. "I didn't mean it."

Raheerah. He'd swung by the entrance to Polaris some days ago, had seen the horrors the dragon had inflicted upon the heart of Origin Cave. He'd blamed himself, of course, for letting the beast fly away. He couldn't have stopped it, but of course, the young leopard didn't care about the reality of his situation. Ever since the Exile, he thought himself nothing more than a warmonger. How could he see himself as anything more than that, after abandoning his family? Lying to Fang? Sending her off after Leon, and still holding some sense of disrespect for the bear even after they'd made up for the fight. Now, he had little to show for his efforts besides burned pads and a scarred face- a scarred face he now hid behind a crystal mask of his own design. The red gemstone hid his features, but not the pale yellow of his eyes. His scaled armor along with it made him look like an entirely different creature- but inside, he knew he was still the same damn--

"OH ENOUGH OF THIS!" A roar echoed through Orion, rebellious against its owner. The cat launched from the throne in a fit of frustration, landing atop the wall with extended claws, adding even more claw marks to the brutalized carvings from before. He threw himself down at the floor below, effectively throwing an all-out fit. "IDIOT!" Another smack at the wall, lashing tail, angry red glow...

...and to his immense horror, his magic sparked and he felt a flash of white-hot pain run up his front limbs. Blood followed, spurting out as twisted yellow, orange and red stone spikes shot out from his front legs, ripping the skin there apart as they grew. The cat let out a horrific shriek and recoiled, sending the new growths flying off of him, but leaving bone-deep wounds in turn. He bared his teeth and carefully turned away from the wall, stumbling as he tried to keep his balance, landing hard on the ground as he gasped, clutching his paws to his chest and failing to stop the bleeding. Eyes clenched shut, ears pinned back, he felt the fight die in his chest and with a pathetic sob, began to cry his pain away.

@Amaria

Piercing blue eyes lifted, alert and searching as a voice roared out, echoing through all of Orion. "Cancer," She murmured quietly as she lowered her head. She had been searching for him today. Driven by the sensation that she could only chalk up to missing him. Her tail flicked about before she began her way toward the source of that roar. Had something angered him? With that curiosity in mind she hurried along. Her mind wandered with the many possibilities of what could have annoyed that leopard, but it all seemed to dwindle away as the scent of his blood flooded her senses.

She sucked in a breath as anxiety quickly washed over her and it was a matter of seconds before her subconscious sent her running, sprinting across Orion to reach her destination. His horrified shriek filled her ears and a cry of distress escaped her and her magic quickly. Her magic quickly overtook her, filling her with heightened senses. Her vision grew substantially and she could easily spot even the smallest of locust lingering around. She could hear the steady breathing of a leopard not far from her current location and the erratic heart beat nearly overwhelmed her. However, it was nothing like reliving the strong smell of his blood burning her nose once again.

She jumped and hopped over a few more buildings before she landed heavily just a few feet away from Cancer and the sudden nausea that quickly overwhelmed her at the site of his injured legs nearly knocked her over. "Cancer," She cried as she crumbled towards him, searching his legs with her eyes as she looked over the wounds that bled freely. Oh this was certainly no good. Memories flashed, seeing Cancer burnt and bloody back in the pit flooding her minds eye, but she quickly shook it away and inched even closer to the crying leopard. "What happened," She couldn't find anything else to say. What could she say? She had no skill to heal like Bevvy. She was positively useless and all she could do was watch him be in pain.

"Speech."
____________________________________________________________________________
Tags: Cancer
OoC: I'm sorry that post is so crappy

@cancer

Cancer continued to quietly sob through his pain, the agony of it seeming more real now than it had ever been fighting Raheerah or Leon. He'd almost died in that first fight, but now, this self-inflicted pain seemed bittersweet- the blissful release of all that pent up rage, the twisted terror of blood spilt across smooth, crystalline stone floors, the brutality of his emotions... and then, Amaria. Her voice was like a familiar tune heard from a distance. Then, she appeared beside him, stumbling to the ground only inches away. He turned away from her, rolling with those paws tucked tighter, fruitlessly trying to hide the wounds, the blood. Another sob escaped his mouth, then the cat opened tear-soaked eyes to look upon the only friend he'd managed to keep from Pisces...

"Amaria." He choked. Then, against his will, against all reason, the cat broke into a wail. "I fucked up! I'm so stupid!" He'd let Raheerah out. He'd ruined his only chance at happiness by overreacting. He'd abandoned his daughter. He'd broken his old love's heart. He'd been a fool. Now, he cried, exclaiming these self-loathing facts between hiccups and sobs, bleeding front legs clenched to his chest so tightly it became hard to breath between ugly wailing and mournful admissions. "That dragon is destroying the caves and it's all my fault! I'm a monster! Makyna was right!" More sobbing. "I'm so sorry, oh gods...!" Anything the cat said after that was too muffled with wet tears to make any sense.

@Amaria

Ears pinned against her skull as all she could do was listen as he cried and spoke. Her heart twisted in her chest as she crept closer to him, eager to try and soothe his wails. It was becoming a normal thing in this place it seemed. Having only been young Cubs the first time she was with him and he cried over an accidental assault. This would make the third time. She choked as her hightened senses picked up on everything he was exuding from himself. It didn't last much longer and soon everything seemed to dampen out.

"don't you dare apologize," her voice came a little more aggressive than she had intended. Her once childlike voice replaced with that of a fully matured woman. "You are not a monster. You are no more responsible as I would be. I had been there too," her brows furrowed as she tentatively nuzzled against the side of his head. "Makyna has no room to talk," she huffed as her frown seemed to grow. How was her sister any less of a monster? Leading someone along, making them believe you loved them even though it was rather obvious that someone else held the key to your heart. And then going and throwing a fit because the other side was no longer playing her game. She sniffed quickly, forcing her thoughts away as she focused once more on Cancer.

"Shhh, try to calm down..." She cooed to him as she groomed over the fur on his face and neck. "We need to get your legs tended to. They can't stay like that," she urged, desperate to get him to at least move them so she could better see the damage. She knew nothing about tending to wounds though. The most she could do was gather water to rinse them out and then wrap them with anything that could be used to do such things. Her heart drummed anxiously in her chest and for a split second she though perhaps it would be wise to find Bevvy. If not Bevvy then someone who could do the same. That was to say if Cancer would even agree to it. If he didn't then she would do what she could and then hope it was all he needed to begin healing. The amount of blood concerned her and she knew the wounds were probably relatively serious.


@cancer

Sorry. Long day and yeah.... Posts will get better I'm sorry :(


Blaaaah
@Cancer

Maybe this is working now

@Cancer

@Bevy

Edit: I DON'T REMEMBER IF ALM KNEW OF THIS, BUT I KNOW ALM WANTS BEVY TO SHOW UP SO. uhm...hopefully these tags will work.

Torn. Bleeding. Hurt. Hysterical. Cancer was all sorts of things in that moment, even as Amaria soothed him with gentle touches and reassuring words. She did calm him, but not enough to make much of a difference. The cat still wailed, pathetic and in pain. He rolled into his friend, arms more numb than burning or stinging anymore. Softly, slowly, he hiccuped and in a few more moments, he sighed into her fur, face buried, shaking continued but breathing steadied.

"I n-never meant it..." He sobbed. "I didn't..." He wasn't even sure what it was anymore. "I just... w-want to... I just want to go home..." The sobbing continued a moment, then died out just as quickly as it came. Tiny hiccups and a choked voice, wet fur, bloodied arms... oh, that blood. He felt the familiar tossing of his stomach and buried his face again, whimpering...

...and with a soft glow of magic, his horns turned red and he felt out, towards Amaria's steadier, though still rapid, heartbeat. He clung to that, and felt his own pulse slow to match hers. Gently, he shuffled closer and with half-lidded eyes still gleaming a steady cherry red, started to purr.

"It's okay... it's okay Amy. Be calm for me..." His voice was a trance, soft and sweet. He held that connection, a moment longer. He clung to it, as if for his life. She was the only one who'd never wronged him, never given up or betrayed that trust. He'd been insulted by his other friends, betrayed, abandoned by his family. Amaria was the only one who'd never once thought less of him, or turned away from him. He felt safe with her... and so, despite the pain, as he released the spell and golden hues returned, Cancer felt the lull of sweet serenity even so.

@Amaria @Bevy

enna . ratchet . calypso . anan
sweet and soft . bright and cheery . critical and melodic . childlike and loud

for naturally blood will be of kind, drawn-to blood, where he may it find

Amaria had snuck off. Well... It wasn't like she wasn't allowed to leave Pisces. But the mothering bird had felt sympathy beyond words for the leopard, there was just no way to say it. She wanted to make things better, fix the hurt in both of their hearts for Cancer... There just hadn't been a good moment. There was one thing Enna knew, however, and that was that Amaria had gone to Orion. Maybe not to see Cancer, but...

Well, he was explicitly banished, right? What that meant was something that Enna didn't want to think about. Instead she followed the now fully grown leopard to her destination, flinching when she heard Cancer's roar echo through the room of crystal. She held back, letting the leopard run off to him. Perhaps she could calm him down... But there was more yelling, and it didn't sound good.

With a nervous flutter of her wings, she swept off to the pair. She could hear Cancer purring, but it was rough, uneven with his sobbing breath. She didn't dare land beside them out of fear of startling them, so she simply hovered above, listening, trying to see what was wrong.

Oh, Cancer.

"Cancer? Is everything okay...?" She peeped timidly, slowly descending down to their height. "What happened to you? Oh dear..." She landed gently on the earth, fear in her eyes. "Let me look."

She didn't know what else to say, she felt her throat choking up. She wasn't supposed to be here, she wasn't supposed to be doing this. He was forbidden. She had betrayed him. He probably hated her. He...

.Enna

@Amaria

Brows furrowed as ears pinned, but it was only a matter of minutes before Amaria's own racing heart and unsettled nerves began to ease themselves. Calming down as Cancer's soft voice soothed a weariness in her own mind. She closed her eyes and just relaxed into Cancer, a soft purr that could have easily been missed slowly matching that of Cancer's. She rested there, nuzzling her nose into his fur as if to add even more reassurance that things were going to be okay.

It wasn't until she heard a voice did she nearly jerk from her position with Cancer. Stunning azure eyes fluttered open and peered up at Bevy as she made her way down towards them. It took her no hesitation to spot his wounds and instantly want to look at them. There was an instant cringe in her chest and just for a flutter of a second she did not feel like she should be there. Bevy and Cancer had a far greater thing than she and cancer did. It was not something she wanted to get in the way of, but she would also not leave Cancer in this moment either. He was injured and upset. She would stay there for as long as he needed her.

"Can it be fixed?" Her voice came out as if from a ghost, soft and unsure as she spoke to the bird. A bird that was now the leader of Maji Walezi. She knew Bevy was probably the greatest healer she knew of and she would have the utmost faith in her healing their old leader. It was something Amaria envied. She wasn't a fighter. Not at least when it came to magic like everyone else seemed to have. She could hide and prowl, lurk behind the shadows and go unnoticed. She couldn't even heal others, even though she would selflessly take Cancer's wounds upon herself just to see him better.

"Speech."
____________________________________________________________________________
Tags: @Cancer
OoC: I FORGOT ABOUT THIS I'M SORRY

It was the briefest moment or relief before Bevy flew in upon the pair. Cancer winced as Amaria tore herself away from him with Bevy's approach and sweet voice- oh, Enna. Enna was good. Anyone but Calypso was good right now. He dared to open his eyes again, and gaze upon the bird he'd come to know as his best friend- and fiercest competition at times, though never in the same way Leon was. That bear... he'd laugh now, or make a scene. Bad enough these two were seeing him like this. That anxiety returned in his chest- these two, Amaria, Bevy... no, Enna. They were precious to him. Both of them, for their own reasons but for so many reasons each.

How could he have let them see this? To bear the pain he'd been holding in for so long, now spilt in his blood on the stone for all to see, to smell, to witness. He cringed as he rose his head, sputtered to protest but silenced himself a moment later in shame, gaze darting away.

"Bad cast." He explained, voice raspy, as he extended those bloodied front legs for Enna's inspection. He looked at her, that tiny bird he'd once thought would grow large alongside him, but long ago have proven to be cute and tiny for life. He felt a warmth in his chest at the thought, delirious from the blood loss, or perhaps from that home-sick feeling Enna brought with her, Amaria too. That longing to return to that perfect place, the roaring falls, the company of his family. His home. Tears sprung to his eyes at the image of his den back in Pisces. He also let himself cry again, but something caught his attention first. The flicker of blue in the corner of his eye. Almost selfishly, greedily, he stretched his neck and with gentle teeth, grabbed at the ends of Amaria's scruff in a 'come closer' gesture- whatever Bevy was about to do, he was certain it'd be uncomfortable. He couldn't hold paws or bite into leather. He hoped Amaria would at least give him the support he sought for.

In a daze, he failed to consider how dangerous this meeting was for all of them. Should Makyna come across the trio, see the closeness of her 'sisters' to him... a fight could break out. If Niru were to hear such a battle unfold, witness the strife between himself and the fabled Maji... war could break out in an instant. But none of this seemed to bother the cat as he basked in the hazy glow of pain and friendship- the likes of which he desperately needed right now.

@Bevy @Amaria

enna . ratchet . calypso . anan
sweet and soft . bright and cheery . critical and melodic . childlike and loud

for naturally blood will be of kind, drawn-to blood, where he may it find

They didn't push her away, they didn't snarl or retreat-- Amaria slunk back, but she did so not out of malice or fear, but some other emotion the small bird didn't recognize quickly enough. Her eyes flicked to meet Cancer's as he stretched out, showing his bloodied forepaws. She shivered at the sight, a memory of a dying fisher cat bringing fear into her heard. There was a lot of blood, some of it matted, some of it fresh. It didn't look good.

"Anything can be healed," she tweeted in soft reply to the youngest of them there, taking a gentle hop closer to look at the wounds. The acidic smell was enough to tell her that something was wrong... But she only had so many supplies with her-- some vines in her feathers, some magic, she could easily get some moss from nearby... But. Mm.

For now, she would simply have to do her best. "Some wounds heal better and faster than others, and sometimes you have to cut out some to save the rest-- but there's always a way to ease pain and help each other survive. No matter who they are." This was not a jab at Cancer, no, all of her words were spoken with love, with great care. She wanted nothing more than to help her once best friend-- she wondered if they would be best friends again some day. If that was even possible.

For now, she closed her eyes and focused-- the first thing she had to do was make sure she could see the bacteria in Cancer's system. Even with her eyes closed, she immediately became aware of the cultures around her-- Amaria's strong, healthy host of bacteria; Bevy's own concoction of germs. She focused on Cancer before her, watching the paws of the leopard squirm and wriggle with white bodies. His healthy bacteria struggling against the diseases that wanted to take over, to infect him. It wouldn't surprise her if he was already infected.

"It's not good," she spoke simply, opening her eyes, watching the white overlay the black, bloodied fur. "But I'll do my best."

.Enna

@Amaria

Rounded ears were perked towads the bird as Enna spoke. It was relieving to hear, but she would have been a fool to think it would go without a challenge. A soft sigh escaped her before she turned her gaze to Cancer. It was no hard task to move closer the moment the fellow leopard grasped at her scruff and practically pulled her closer, back to the spot she had only moments ago reluctantly moved away from. A soft purr vibrated in her chest as she rested as close as she could, giving him all the support she could possibly give him when Enna set to work on trying to mend what she could of his injured legs.

She looked to Enna gently, a small smile upon her features as she watched the bird work. She didn't even understand how Cancer was even awake right now. If she had been in his situation she would have surely fell victim to unconsciousness just from the shock alone. She could not even begin to think just how much pain he was feeling. In those thoughts Amaria subconsciously rubbed the side of her head against Cancer's. Almost as if to soothe him even if it would not ease the pain in his legs.

"You're gonna be okay, Cancer," Words slipped from her tongue and she glanced at him briefly from the corner of her eyes. Of course Bevy was going to take care of the cat. Those two had been friends longer than Amaria had known either of them she was sure. The best of friends. The idea left her smiling, but it also left a deep hole within her chest as well. Perhaps she longed for the kind of friendship those two carried. She had Leon and Makyna, sure, but they were still far too wrapped up in each other at the moment and outside of Cancer and Bevy she had no friends. It was probably her own fault for not branching out as much as she should have, but in this moment she was content. She was happy to be friends with Cancer, and with Bevy. They at least showed to care at least a little bit. That was all she could ask for.
"Speech."
____________________________________________________________________________
Tags: @Cancer @Bevy
OoC: