Continued from [3 Kings] Finding Astraea

They returned to their area within the arena, gliding through the majority of Orion before settling into the circular ruins, exhausted. Their previous job was labor intensive, and each of them played a part with their own abilities—having not done it in such a long time was possibly even more exhausting than doing it regularly.

The piles of stones that had been gathered for them still surrounded them. In an effort to regain their energy more quickly, expecting their pledged to arrive soon, Alnitak took over for a brief period of time; the eyes of the creature burned red, the black aura again rising from its body like wispy smoke, its body shimmering red. And then the phoenix thrust its body forward, wings extended, as its aura spread to all of the nearby stones—well, of what collected were actual stones and not rocks—pulling the magic free from the gems and sucking the energy into its own body. The gems clattered toward it quietly. It emitted an eerie red brightness, masked by the black auras that danced around it, until they were gone and it had completed its feeding.

Slowly, Mintaka returned, the purple-blue color of the Kings body shifting naturally back, dotted with silvery star-like glows. And as if nothing had happened, the phoenix shifted its wings into its side and settled down, laying on top of the mess of scattered multi-colored gems and waiting for its pledged.

Dragon hauled himself along, twisted hind leg and all. He was moving swiftly, for a lame alligator, and huffing all the while; for some reason intent on getting there first.

It was not, in fact, for the reasons most might have thought: it was not for the wings. Though certainly he held some hope that the reward was not a lie, he distrusted these birds. They promised us wings once, and gave us but illusion--though Tenzin said true wings are in their power to give, perhaps... but past that?

The reason that Dragon rushed here was that he feared that the phoenix...es? might kill the Gembound who had aided them, the very way that they had seemed to threaten to kill Skahan once he was no longer useful to them. If they attacked the others, if the others arrived one-by-one, they would be picked off. No. He had to be here first, so if one was assaulted, he could aid in combat.

And he had no intention of lurching out into the open first, no--he would wait, half-hidden, until someone else arrived.

Then he would haul his heavy body out with them, and demand his just reward.

Hera is totally welcome to have ridden here on Dragon's face.

The alligator was faster than he looked. Septiezal ended up following his trail once he learned it lead to the Forum. The serpent slithered silently across the cool, stony floor. The atmosphere was still. The others had yet to come. He finally spotted the alligator, hiding amidst the crumbling architecture, at least, that's what he thought he was doing. If so, he wasn't hiding very well.

Septiezal found his behavior a bit odd. He was there with the kings and Skahan, so why was he hiding? Had he already received his wings, or did he witness something sinister? The thought did cross Septiezal's mind, that maybe this was trap. He expected something like that to come from Alnitak, but with two good natured brothers to bind him, he thought that it was unlikely.

Septiezal slithered next to the alligator from behind. His ember eyes flickered in the shadows. "Not bad for a couple of cold-bloodss." He chuckled, looking behind him to see if any warm blooded gembounds had caught up yet.
"speak"

@Dragon

Envy came pattering after, and their sides were heaving by the time they reached the arena. They clambered over or around piles of debris, and slid down a series of steps taller than they were, and finally they approached the three kings, not sparing a glance for the other who'd arrived before or after. Rising onto their hindpaws and using their forelimbs to hastily groom themselves, they approached, puffing themselves up to stand as tall as they were able and look as impressive as possible before the big and powerful nebula-birds.

After a moment of holding their breath, the wings that Alnitak had previously granted them opened from their back, and they grinned at the birds, clearing their throat with a high-pitched cough before declaring; "I'm here for the reward."

They couldn't help the eager, frantic twitching of their tail.

"speak."

Hera didn't know where else to go, or what to do.

Since Hatching, she had mostly been around Dragon. After first meeting the Stag, Astraea, the alligator had offered for her to perch on his long, protruding mouth. She'd done her best not to dig in her talons, not to injure him, but she was certain she must have scratched him a time or two.

And then there had been the whole thing with the giant Gemstone. The stag, Astraea, had summoned it from the ground. The entire thing had confused the hatchling, and so she'd simply gone with it, hopping back onto Dragon's face when he'd offered it to her.

They had traveled a good distance, and so she had allowed herself to look around. They'd passed many creatures, some intelligent, and others seemingly lacking. But there was one thing they all shared - their Gems. Hers was on the tip of her beak, whereas Dragon's was on his chest. She'd seen Gembounds have them seemingly everywhere - the majority on their foreheads, some on their chests, others on their sides.

Now, she found herself still atop Dragon's muzzle, half-hidden from sight. By tilting her head, golden eyes could make out an odd-looking bird ahead of them, one she'd seen back in Eridanus. Hearing a voice, she turned, seeing the large snake from before. He addressed Dragon, and she tilted her head, wondering what, exactly, he meant by cold-bloods.

Along the edges of the group a red wolf appeared, one that had not been present in the previous success in finding the ancient one. Instead he had splintered off to another section of the cave in his attempt to find two missing creatures at once. In the end once the call had come he was much too far away to even attempt to get to the deer in time.

A part of Xireidi felt he should be saddened by the missed opportunity, but at the same time it had been chance as much as anything that had prevented his ability to help. With as much as they had known it was entirely possible that he might have run across them in Cetus where he had been wading through at that time. Still, he had made a promise to help the golden bird and even if that bird was now just a part of the whole he would not avoid them just due to a simple lost opportunity.

The wolf made no moves to walk too far into the gathering though, opting instead to stay along the outskirts nearest to his fellow follower of Alnilam.

---

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away
tags:
notes: None

Kin-Kin slunk into the arena shortly after Xireidi, returning after some time from, presumably, the same task as Xireidi. Although she caried her chin high, there was an unmistakeable air of disappointment surrounding her; and it seemed she knew that she'd missed the opportunity of a lifetime. Rather than beg, or plead, or cry though, Kin-Kin trotted in, and offered the Kings a lopsided grin.

Unlike Xireidi, Kin-Kin wove to the front, infull view of the Kings. She settled, her glow beaming her presence to the stars, and looked as though she was preparing to watch the show of a lifetime. Though, it seemed that there was a subtle hope of something else, golden light wreathing her. She looked with slight surprise at the jealous little weasel who'd wanted her magic so badly; they seemed to be doing well. A further look around revealed Xireidi, of course; a long serpent, and a great alligator, carrying what looked from here like a small puffball on his back.

Kin-Kin squinted at the puffball for a moment before turning her gaze back to the Kings, tail swishing expectantly and pride gleaming bright.

Kera arrived shortly after Dragon, pacing along just behind the alligator heavily. For a moment, the wolf was lost in thought. She had... no idea what just happened, or what it meant, but she did know that the three kings likely held an answer.

She bristled, then shook her fur out, watching the vague image of Dragon slip away. She didn't trust the birds anymore-- hell, when could she trust any bird? Hesitant, she paced along Orion and to the form, approaching the figure of the phoenix.

"Excuse me," she called up towards them. The reward did not interest her-- she wanted, merely, answers to what was going on. "What was that? What just happened? Who was that snake?"

She sat herself down, slowly. Even if the situation was odd, she still vaguely trusted Alnilam enough to at least tell the truth. "I don't want a reward, I want an explaination. Why did you need us to look for the stone ourselves, why couldn't you have done it yourself? Why do you need us to still do things for you? What are we supposed to do with the giant angry snake, just leave it to be angry and destructive? What if it's already broken half the caves at this point?"

The wolf bristled again, frowning, but she waited for the three kings to reply.

The Kings waited until a decent amount of their pledged had gathered—at least ones from Eridanus they could recognize—before shifting to sit upwards. Few who were not present in Eridanus also returned to the arena. However, it was the young wolf, of course, to ask so many questions of them. Demanding answers.

"You do not want a reward," they noted, which was fine; she would not get one, then. "You are creatures born of this cave. You have a natural affinity for one another. Attuned to one another. We were not born here," the Kings explained, gesturing upward with their wings. "We have become trapped down here."

A single wing gestured vaguely then toward the rest of the cave. "Skahan, as we understand, was chosen as an architect to build the caves; he would not break them. He knows them, perhaps, better than most."

They considered, then added, "We knew, also, that Astraea was the keeper of such a stone. If we may have a chance to be free, we thought Skahan may be able to make an exit for us; but we also knew it was a stretch... We had to try."

The Kings shifted their attention to the others.

Their eyes shimmered and shifted to a red color, a black aura overtaking the body of the creature. Its stance changed: it stretched its wings wide and stomped its feet so that it stood taller, broader. Then its eyes flashed downward, sharply, toward Envy and Dragon.

"AH, WE ARE MISSING ONE," Alnitak exclaimed, noting the absence of the black wolf. "LO, TINY ANGER, YOU HAVE BESTED HER." He fed on chaos and could feel their petty squalls, even in Eridanus. His attention moved to Dragon, red eyes squinting. "A TRAVELER," he pointed out. "MIGHT IT SIT WITH SOMEONE ELSE FOR A MOMENT?"

@Dragon @Hera
@Kera @Envy

((Posting order is not vital in this thread as it revolves around which King is active, but feel free to post as you please! If I tag your character, it means they have been addressed directly in some way.))

Dragon huffed, staring suspiciously for a beat. He had hauled his slow bulk forward, panting and limping, when the others had arrived, and when it was clear there would be no sneak attack. Perhaps now they would consume all these 'helpers' in some devouring magic, and destroy them; Dragon would wait and see. He intended to go down fighting, if that was what was to happen, but for now, he simply tilted his head to one side in an attempt to gently dislodge Hera, and then move aside.

He had no idea what they were really speaking of, regarding the anger and the tiny one, nor did he care. He just dragged himself closer, and to one side, staring at them. He did, however, absorb their every word as they answered Kera--and, silently, trying not to THINK it too clearly, he thanked her for it.

Skahan was an architect.

There were those born... outside of the caves.

They wished escape.

Eyes narrowed, he peered, thoughtful.

"What lies without?" he rumbled at last, curiosity getting the better of him.