Blackberry sat up in her nest, her feathers ruffled angrily. She was alone right now, she had woken up without the comfort of her family around her. She sniffed with frusteration and swung her head around, as if she were just missing them. She hadn't seen anything of Baneberry or Huckleberry for a while. In fact, not since the battle with the bird. Had they run? Had they come back here to find her only to leave again? She didn't know, but she had to find out. And if they had run...she would treat them as she would treat any coward.

She needed the family. Now. They were to gather and a refusal of her summons...well, she would not be happy. Not at all. She was Blackberry, she was the leader of the Bloodberries! The mother of her children and their superior. If they dared ignore her, she would not treat them kindly.

Standing from her nest, she took a deep breath and then threw back her head and let out a screaming honk, as loud as she possible could. It rang through the tunnel and perhaps into Orion and Polaris as well. She let it go as long as she had breath, but she quickly broke off into a fit of coughing from the strain. Once she had recovered, she sat down again and held her head up, looking to and fro, waiting for her family to arrive.

@Blueberry @Baneberry @Elderberry @Jayberry @Kitaka
If your character isn't going to answer the summons, please let me know over discord so we don't get caught waiting for you to respond

Eldderberry was returning to the family nest at a leisurely pace. He was growing now, tall and slmost elegant with his neck a sleek-black curve and the cluster of pinions down his back almost like a heavy fur cloak. His legs were long, his beak sharp, and his green eyes glittered. He moved with purpose- and it was as he entered tunnel N that he heard his mother's screeching call. Almost immediately, the adolescent picked up the pace, and he arrived as his mother burst into a fit of coughing. He approached, tall on lanky legs, and dropped his head down towards her to offer a moment of silent comfort.

Though he hadn't quite finished growing, he already towered over his mother- and he hoped, albeit secretly, that she'd be proud of his newfound intimidation factor.

"I was training," he said by way of explanation, before raising his head and casting his gaze around, expecting his siblings to arrive soon. He hadn't seen them for a while- but he hoped that Mama had. Elderberry didn't want to think about what would happen if she hadn't. Seeing nothing for the time being, Elderberry turned to stand beside his mother and sank down onto his belly beside her, preparing to pass the time waiting in a more comfortable position.

---

"When I speak."

When I think.

Jayberry had been hunting.

As much as she loved her family, she could not simply stay in one place. She had hovered by mother for as long as she could stand it, until she could be certain mother was okay. But eventually an itch had spread in her, and so she'd gone off to hunt.

And so it was with a lesser gembound - a windhopper, back snapped and its silken white fur red with blood, in her mouth, that she heard mother's call. Her head snapped up, causing the windhopper to flop awkwardly, and looked around. Mother was awake!

The sound was shrill, and loud, and painful on her keen ears. But she was too relieved to care, and somewhat worried when it died off into a fit of coughs. So she was quick to spin, and begin to lope back to mother, intending to bring the windhopper as an offering.

The wolf slowed to a trot when mother came into sight, a relieved whine coming from her throat as she looked between Blackberry and Elderberry.

A transformation seemed to come over the wolf, ancient instincts welling up in her. She slowed to a crawl, tail ducking between her legs and ears flattening against her skull. Her stomach pressed to the ground and she approached with placating whines. Once she was only a body length away from the nest, she rolled onto her side, setting the windhopper aside before grinding the side of her face into the ground, flashing the whites of her eyes. "I'm so sorry Mother, I am so glad to see you awake. I did not mean to make him lose control like that."

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

Note: permission has been gained to hop into several BB threads for the purpose of spying. Envy will not be interacting with the group.

The weasel left Orion as soon as the 'plan' was formed. Find some direction, and gather intel. It couldn't be too hard. The plan was to head to Polaris, and talk to some Gembounds that the goose had also fought. Find out more, hopefully.

The weasel was looking forward to the task... or, more specifically, the loyalty that Pride had promised them. They felt themselves shudder with excitement, their little paws picking up the pace for just a moment- before their entire body convulsed in sharp pain as a screeching sound filled the tunnel from not too far away. Even when it faded to coughing, their ears kept on ringing and the weasel scrambled to the cave wall, their fur shifting with a mesmerising flow of colours before finally taking on a mottled green akin to the glowing mosses growing in the tunnel.

With bated breath, they slunk forward, eyes narrowed- and after a bend in the tunnel they saw them. black head, spikes where they shouldn't be, and surrounded by a couple of other creatures... one of which seemed like it was of direct relation. Suddenly Envy felt their gut turning. It was just a bird, yes... even with all those crazy spikes. But it would still tower over Envy under any circumstance. Their heart beat fast, a low thrum in their chest like a trapped bee.

Envy huddled against the tunnel wall and peered around. They clambered up a couple of low and jagged ledges in the and finally lay completely still, eyes narrowed. The weasel looked for all the world like any other patch of moss, growing a comfortably safe distance from the family nest, completely unaware of what they'd stumbled into.



___________________________________________________________

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: ---
notes: here

Mulberry raised her slender head up from the floor whenever she heard Mother's honk echo out of the tunnel and into the cavernous room that was Orion. It only took her a second to recognize the call as a summons. She cast one longing look at the scent trail she had been following, her mouth watering, before she turned and sprang away.

The now full-grown hyena had spent a lot of time in the quartz-studded room lately. In fact, she had spent more time in Orion than she had in the tunnel where her family resided. It wasn't because she disliked her family, or her home, though. She was just growing adventuresome and preferred to test her boundaries, and capabilities, on her own.

Her long legs ate up the distance easily, but she still felt anxious over why Mother would summon the family and wished that she could go faster. Was something wrong? Had her illness taken a turn for the worse? She and Jayberry had done all they could for Blackberry, but neither one of them were healers. All they could do was watch over her, and hunt.

The nervous energy fueled Mulberry's magic, so much so that even she became aware of it. She wasn't the keenest with her magic, but it was hard not to notice as it swelled within her. Just whenever she thought she couldn't hold it anymore, she had one, stray thought of how much she wanted to be home.

The magic burst forth from her gem-fang with an audible whoosh. Mulberry couldn't see it, but she felt the air gather behind her and then push against her back. For a split second, she thought that the pressure was going to overtake her and push her down. That worry faded whenever she realized how fast she was going though.

It seemed to take seconds to reach the entrance to her family's tunnel. Mulberry sprinted through it with ease and confidence, not bothering to slow down. She wanted to ride out the spell as long as it lasted. Which, in fact, was only a few more seconds. Since the nest, and her family, were in sight though, she was more than fine to let the magic go and focus on what was happening.

The first thing Mulberry noticed as she loped up was that Baneberry, Huckleberry and Blueberry were not present. Part of her was relieved to not be the last to show up, but a bigger part of her was worried for why they were not here.

@Blackberry

Huckleberry heard the summons but they didn't want to answer. How could they face their family after running? How could they face them after having befriended an outsider? They had thought about Kin-Kin some and how she had treated them. As if they were truly a child, so gentle and kind. Not that they didn't like how they were treated in the family, only that this was...different. Mama made it known that she hated their erratic shifting, but Kin-Kin had never told them that they were strange. At least not that they could remember.

With a sigh, they stood and shook themselves out, resigning them to join the family. They would be in trouble if they didn't. Unusually subdued, they crawled through the cave until they found the gathering almost full. They sped up until they were standing just behind Jayberry. They settled down nervously, tucking their legs under their body and waited for Mama to speak.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: here
notes: here

Blackberry watched through narrowed eyes as the family began to appear, one by one. She gave Elderberry a small glance while she gave a small nod to Jayberry and Kitaka. She had to wait a little longer, though, for Huckleberry and she gazed at her child with cold eyes for a moment before looking away. She waited a little while in silence before anger started to boil in her stomach.

"Where is Blueberry," she hissed. "And Baneberry. Why aren't they here?" Did they dare refuse her summons? She had expected better from her mate - he would get a talking to later. But Baneberry? There was something odd about her daughter, that was for sure. If she was going to stay away, that wouldn't remain unpunished. A cold, merciless thought passed through her mind - if Baneberry never came back, she would be expelled from the family. And Blackberry would make sure to kill her.

Pushing the thought aside, she turned to the family that was gathered and spent another few seconds giving them even glares before she hissed, lowly, "Where have you all been? This is a family, yet we're never together!" Anger flared in her stomach as she turned to Huckleberry. "Where did you go? I saw nothing of you once we returned until that wolf brought you back! What have you done?! And you," she whipped around to hiss at Elderberry, "you don't talk enough! You're around, yes, but I barely know you! I don't care what you say about 'blood doesn't lie' I'm your mother and I should know you!" She turned to glare at Mulberry and Jayberry and gave a small snarl. "At least you two helped bring me back, but I've seen so little of you! Do you not care for me or your family?!"

Her gaze softened a little as she looked towards Mulberry. "I understand a bit for you. You were injured. But you," her eyes blazed again as she looked at Jayberry. "you weren't even injured, as I remember! Explain yourself!" Perhaps it was Blackberry's frustration at being pent up for so long while she was sick that was causing this probably undeserved anger. But still, she was Blackberry and she would get her answers.

@Elderberry @Jayberry @Kitaka

Elderberry bowed his head in an apologetic manner, ears laying back flat. His mother's words bit deeply, not least because he remembered her previously accepting his quietness as a part of his way. He paused, thinking back to the words that he and she had shared. "I'd hoped you would see my devotion to becoming stronger, more worthy of carrying the family name."

He fell silent, listening with a quiet resolve as his mother berated their other siblings. He pushed down any misgivings that came with his scolding. Mother's word was law, after all. She was always right; there was nothing he could say or do that would make his actions any less wrong. So he remained with his head lowered, and silently squashed his emotions into submission, feeling instead a sense of disassociation and a dull throb of pity for the family around him.

He hoped that the spill of words would somewhat make up for his absence.

"What would you have me say, Mother?"

---

"When I speak."

When I think.

@Blackberry

Just as Mulberry settled on to her haunches next to Jayberry, she caught sight of Huckleberry approaching. She was glad to see them, but instantly became suspicious of them whenever it seemed as if they weren't happy to see everyone.
They settled behind her and Jayberry, as if to use them as a shield against whatever was to come from Mother. Mulberry already knew that was pointless, which was why she was sitting front and center. Plus, she wasn't going to let Jayberry take all of the attention away.

There was no lack of attention to come though. Blackberry started out by asking where Baneberry and Blueberry were. Whenever no one immediately offered an answer, she went on to berate each and every one of the family that was present. It started as a question of all their loyalties and then turned into a savage attack against each child's whereabouts.

Mulberry barely caught either of Elderberry or Huckleberry's attacks because she was so anxious over her own. She was fleetingly grateful for the fact that she was not chastised alone. Blackberry called her and Jayberry out equally, which took some pressure off of her to answer right away. Mother also noted that she atleast had been injured some of the time. Jayberry, however, could not say the same.

Elderberry was the first to speak up in defense of themselves. Mulberry decided to get her say in on the heels of the hybrid's words, since he presented some of her own thoughts.

"I have focused on becoming stronger too, Mother. I want to be ready for the next time we hunt as a family. When that time comes, I want to be able to protect the family instead of making them have to protect me."

@Jayberry

Mulberry arrived as well, loping to a stop not far from her. She only looked at her long enough to confirm that it was, indeed, Mulberry, before going back to submitting to mother. Her sharp ears picked up on the clip-clopping of hooves and the tack-tacking of bird's talons, coming to a stop behind her.

Then Mother was speaking, and Jayberry paid her her full attention. She rolled over onto her stomach, keeping her eyes down and her ears flat, tail tucked and making to show Mother the utter submission she deserved. Mother asked after Father and Baneberry, and the wolf whined quietly. "I don't know, Mother. Father was very concerned."

She flinched as though struck as Mother began to chastise them. First was Huckleberry, then was Elderberry. Horror dawned on the wolf's face when she was accused of not caring for her family, and she was quick to say, "No, mother! You're all pack, all family! I'd give my life for all of you!"

She flinched again as more painful words were flung into her face, fur laying flat against her. Mulberry and Elderberry defended themselves, and she whined lowly her own reply. "I'm sorry, mother. I've stuck by you for as long as I can, but my legs itch. I've been hunting, learning to fight, learning to kill!"

@Blackberry

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.