The dragon carved a path of fire from the core of the cave. Tunnel I was one of the few passages that were large enough to accommodate his massive size, but even so, he had cleft chunks of stone from the walls where he brusquely shouldered through, or where his tail whipped at the texture. Living creatures fled in his wake, and he made a point of crushing or igniting any that so foolishly did not escape in time. Swaths of black ash marred the tunnel's walls, undeniable evidence of his warpath, leading him toward the ornately adorned entrance of Orion where, upon arrival, the beast emerged and shrieked his presence.

When was the last time he'd been here? That crumbling city steeped in starlight blue, a sky that resembled one he might have seen once, aeons ago. Raheerah cranked his head back and scanned the glittering night crystals, his lip curled in a disdainful show of rows and rows of teeth.

He used to be a midnight shadow, an ominous warning that soared between the walls of this room. A promise of the death of dissenters. But there was no longer any room for warnings. He was more than that. He was the promise of death, and death alone.

Raheerah grunted, tendrils of smoke billowing out of his nose. He took to the air in a great gust of dry, dusty wind, titanic wingspan casting a gloomy shadow over the dilapidated streets. "AWAKEN, RATS! BEHOLD THE FURY OF RAHEERAH! YOUR END IS NIGH!" he bellowed and unleashed a thick downpour of flames, slicing a molten gash across the city as he wheeled overhead. "IT IS TIME TO BE CLEANSED. YOU WILL ALL DIE!"

Raheerah is currently flying above Orion indiscriminately setting parts of the room on fire. His presence will be hard to ignore for any Gembounds seeking refuge here.

The loud booming sound that had echoed through the caves had caught Wilder's attention. Despite all the confusing shit that was happening with Rezik, this simply wasn't something she could ignore. She couldn't really pinpoint where the sound was coming from, but there was only one way out of Canis to the rest of the caves.

She was about halfway through Orion, on her way to Polaris (since Polaris really just seemed like the center of all chaos lately) when a shriek tore through the air, loud enough to physically hurt the poor cat's hears. She squeaked and hopped, pressing back her ears and whipping around, trying to find the source of the sound. It only took a second to find him, though. He was, after all, pretty hard to miss.

Eyes widened with shock and terror. She'd heard enough of Dragon's stories to know immediately who this was. A giant dragon, bigger then any gembound that ever wandered. A demon of fire and darkness that brought down and burned up everything in his path. "Raheerah," she breathed in disbelief, a moment before he announced his presence.

Oh shit. Oh fuck. He was burning the cave, setting fire to everything in his path. He was furious. For the first time in a long time, Wilder had literally no idea what to do. What could she do before the dragon's rage? She didn't know any magic that would help her put the fires out and she doubted that Raheerah would even let her do that without burning her to nothing. She quickly sought cover, reaching to the future, desperate for some idea, some clue, of what she could possibly do.

Pride woke, suddenly but groggily, where he'd been asleep beside the Throne. The bones still planted there with summoned diamond grinned down at him, and he squinted up, hesitating. He wondered what had woken him--he'd had some vague idea, in his dreaming, of a roar. Suspiciously, he eyed the bones, wondering if they were trying to come alive again-

"AWAKEN, RATS! BEHOLD THE FURY OF RAHEERAH! YOUR END IS NIGH! ...IT IS TIME TO BE CLEANSED. YOU WILL ALL DIE!"

-It was distant, yet, but its sheer volume bellowed, and Pride scrambled to his feet. In an instant, adrenaline roiling through him, he was awake. THE Raheerah-? THE RAHEERAH? -MISCHIEF--run! He sent the warning thrilling along the link with his familiar, felt the arctic hare (who'd been quietly watching his panic rising) turn and bolt. Pride himself bolted with a clatter of hooves, hiding behind the Throne. He wove in and out of the rubble, and hesitated--what if others were close? Who was he killing? Well, from the sounds of it, everybody.

What if it was just a fake-? Someone imitating sound with magic?

Pride bit his lip, thinking, and then clattered off through the ruins, again weaving between stones, ducking in here and there and keeping to the darkness as best he could. Shrouding his white hide was difficult.

When he spotted it--and caves, it was huge--he froze, and sank back behind a pile of rock. It was criss-crossing the ruins of the city, torching the buildings, its bellows rending the air. ...Ahh, Pride thought, with an exhale, mostly because he couldn't think of anything else to think. But what if Nassir were there-? Azure, and Kera, and 'the goose,' and all the others who had made their dens in among the old buildings?

Pride gritted his teeth, and tentatively reached into the dragon's mind, his magicka flickering up. Maybe if he could get an idea of its motives, its intent, he could plan. Not that I stand a snowflake's chance in--well, that, he thought, looking at the flames licking ever-higher, of surviving.

Azure lived in a little house of rubble in the ruined city of Orion. She had spent, with her adopted 'sister' Siren, many cycles making it home. They had woven strings, and threaded them with baubled stones, and hung them across the ceilings. There were mats and weavings--again of dried grass--hanging, blowing gently, across the hole that had once served an an exit to a now-crumbled balcony, of sorts. A woven mat announced their presence at the door, and woven rugs within were decorated with baubled stones. Flowers had been grown all around the home, and inside it, interspersed with the softly-glowing gold-white stones.

They had spent weeks cleaning out the dust, the rocks, using good old muscle and telekinetic magic. It was home--and now, suddenly, it was on fire. She had been quietly lying, hind legs splayed behind her, on the downstairs rug: her front talons and beak picking, working gently, at a tangle of dried grass that she was trying to work into something resembling rough cloth, again. Now and again she prodded at it with magic. And suddenly, there had been bellowing, and as Azure scrambled to her feet, fire--fire that engulfed the house, and all around it, in a crackling, sizzling roar.

Panic shot through her. Terror. She didn't know where Siren was. She didn't know if her neighbors--the cat, the wolf, and more--had escaped.

She didn't know if she could escape. The heat closed in, and there was nowhere to go--and in desperation, Azure turned, clambering up, squeezed shut her eyes and shot out through a flame-wreathed window. Behind her, the weavings curled and blackened, smoke billowing up in the enclosed space; the flowers rapidly wilted and died.

She felt her feathers singe, and cried out at the heat, but an instant later she'd come through it. Wings spread, catching her, lifting her higher and away from the flames. Terror drove her onward. Thank rock Siren isn't here, and this thought bolstered her flight--though perhaps, unknowingly, she was still within Raheerah's reach.

She didn't look back to find out.

Pubber had spent a fair amount of time in Orion, working on music and being-- well, just being herself. She liked the way the crystals sounded in this cavern, and she liked the way the sky sparkled. Everything had been going smoothly, and she had lived in peace for the first several cycles of her life, semi-isolated and perfectly happy to go about her day.

At least, until Orion was filled with fire and roars, swearing the death of everything and everyone. Pubber raised her head, her bright pink coat like a beacon among the dull blue stone, and as she saw the dragon soaring through the starry sky, she was filled with an abrupt, horrible terror. She had to get to cover, had to hide, from the massive creature that was breathing molten flame down upon the entirety of the cave.

She scrambled for one of the nearby ruins, clawing her way into a crack in the wall. Her hide quivered as she dug her way into the narrow shelter of stone, curling up tight in the darkness of one of the half-destroyed houses.

"What is that?" She whispered to herself, shoving her head between her paws and trying to block out the world-- if she couldn't see it, it couldn't see her, right?

“

why don't i just pull the weeds

···

Now, Purity liked to think of himself as intelligent. Avoidant of danger, he considered cats such as he adept at staying alive, especially accompanied by the overall dark color of Orion's skies.

The skies weren't very dark when he awoke with a start. A call rang out through his temporary, wet shelter- well, it wasn't very wet anymore, with heat billowing over the long-furred cat's pelt in waves. Calming panic shot through his hardened heart. Oh, shit. Something was very, very, wrong.

His suspicions were immediately confirmed as a dark shadow cast over his abode, orange flame diving down behind it. A squeak let out of the cat as his feet moved before his mind. Swathes of fire curled over his gray body as the ends of his fur seared and sizzled in the heat of it all. The only stream of consciousness in his mind was a string of particularly unsavory words. He had to get under cover. Something sturdy, something-

An overgrown wall had fallen sideways, a slope created with raw dirt underneath. There. There, that'd do! Hissing as a strand of orange came too close for comfort, Purity dove below the rock and tried to squeeze himself into the tight space. He'd managed, yes, but poking out here and there was hairs of striped gray, and it certainly wasn't comfortable.

He'd have to manage. His pupils were blown in fear as he forced his ears to listen, his breathing becoming ragged and loud as adrenaline began to take hold.

Someone had the misfortune of attempting to tunnel-hop to Monoceros with an arm full of rats.

It had seemed particularly odd to her that the air seemed to distinctly grow hotter and crispier - the feeling of it was quickly growing oppressive with the passing second, far more than Glory's forge could ever hope to be. None of that fire and brimstone could compare to this sensation.

Ideally, something with a brain cell would remain in small tunnel, perhaps behind open doors and actively trying to close them. But, y'know, all of Elyon's brain matter went to being butch and nothing else. So, instead, she stuffed her cheeks fuller with the rest of whatever rat she had in her arm, and scuttled not unlike Mr. Krabs towards Tunnel J.

(no attempt apparently. f in advance. steamed crab and rat.)

It would have been a smart decision for Nemean to leave preemptively, but she was still stuck in her home, pacing the open space while glancing at the miscellaneous treasures lining her walls. There was a pile of them in the corner that now housed Dawa's stone, deep and hidden...

When the rumbling of Raheerah's booming voice reached her, she yelped a tiny sound and shuffled quickly to a window. Her eyes narrowed to see but deafening wingbeats caused her to flinch. He had flown right over her home!! Nemean clenched her tiny fists and peeked out of her doorway to watch him spill flame into the ruins. Ugh.

She couldn't help but laugh at what he had said though.

It rhymed. It actually made a pretty good tune. As he circled over the valley, Nemean fluttered into the air and rushed herself quickly away from her home. She didn't want any of his fury directed at her precious den with her precious things inside. When she felt she was a safe distance, she snapped her fingers several times to find a beat; a large drum popped into the air, a glimmering illusion but it pounded out a thundering beat all the same. Next came a xylophone (which resembled a ribcage), then a lute, and lastly a loud and annoying sounding trumpet.

Nemean herself spun into glittering attire, with a dazzling cape, sequined long-sleeved shirt, and star-shaped sparkly glasses. "YEAH, TELL 'EM, RAHEERAH," she shouted into a small microphone held firmly between her two tiny paws. The beat grew and horrible music challenged him for sound dominance.

"YEAAAAHHH AWAAAKEEEN RAAAAATS," screamed her voice against the music. And then, mimicking Raheerah's deep tones, it continued: "BEHOLD THE FURY OF RAHEERAH, YOUR END IS NIGH!! IT IS TIME TO BE CLEANSED, YOU ALL WILL DIE!! YOU ALL WILL DIE, DIE, DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!"

It was Nemean, Nemean was rats. Nemean was probably going to die.

Not that she wanted to... but she knew there were Gembounds that lived in Orion. She'd like to see them all burn to crisps first, at least. And then not suffer any consequences of course.

Hmm. Yeah. Actually...

She conjured an image of herself, a near look-alike, and turned to fly away from it—from all of it, in case he blasted her beautiful band with his ugly fire like the big dumb jerk he was.

ELI
I CAN GO THE DISTANCE

The shadow of death soared over Orion as the world crumbled. The dragon's breath cut a molten swath straight through the ruins. Startled by the quaking and booming voice that promised his destruction, Eli popped his head out a post and lintel structure he had holed up in. "WHAT THE--" He gaped in horror. The inferno billowing towards him. "--OH FUCK!!!"

Eli scrambled to the edge of the ruins as the flames bared upon him. Racing up a stone beam, he leapt into the air and spread his wings, but before he could summon a gust of wind, fire exploded behind him. The searing heat caught his wings and threw him out of the way. Eli let out a piercing shriek as he hurdled through the air. Fire clung to his backside, he could feel it burning through his fur.

Crashing down like a meteorite, he tumbled over the rocks, smoke trailing behind him. Eli came to rest in a ditch, burnt and broken. His wings were splayed out with one draped over his body, its feathers charred black. His mind reeled from the pain. Eli grimaced, groaning. Gingerly, he shifted a tattered wing, revealing grievous burns along his back and hindquarters. Small flames still licked at the wounds, but he could no longer feel its sting.

The starry room lit up in a blaze of fire. Already he could feel the temperature rising as he left behind streaks of fire carving through the ruined city. He could see Gembounds coming to life, awakening under his downpour of meteoric fire, gazing with terror at the inferno and fleeing. Some of them tried to hide--those he saw ducking behind corners, shrinking against walls, he specifically sought to roast alive with a jet of flame while he soared overhead. Satisfaction burned through him, short-lived and easily replenished. He saw a long-haired cat and tried to char it alive. He spied an ugly bird-creature and yearned to reduce it to ash.

Each and every one of them would be eliminated. Each and every one of them were wrong. He'd clean this forsaken cave up, and then he'd find the rest of his cohorts and roast them alive too; they'd face the consequences of their negligence. They should have been paying attention--they should have been doing their jobs! Now, Dawa was dead! And he? He was this cave's self-destruction button.

They weren't performing as they'd promised. They let Dawa die.

So they, and all of these miserable, disgusting creatures, had to be purged. This was the purpose of his anger.

He wheeled around and spied, ahead, that curiously familiar structure: a throne in a crumbling room. Somebody once sat upon it. Melt it. Melt them. A grave offense it would be, and Raheerah craved to engage. The dragon began to soar toward it until some other sound, obscene and intrusive, caught his attention. He swung his massive head, scouring the city for the source of it before he saw the bright, sparkling mirage of instruments and a mimicry of his words belted out by a familiar voice. That pest. That insect.

"NEMEAN!" the dragon broke out an ear-splitting roar, turning hard in the air to dive toward her illusion. He angled himself straight at the offending mirage, parted his maw, and unleashed a volcanic plume of fire upon it, unaware of whether or not the images were real, only caring that he disintegrated the pest that mocked him.

We're going to do a loose posting order. I'll post again once everybody else has!