Vargas was trying to count.

His one hand was up, six thumbs moving, and he squinted now and then. It wasn't that he was stupid, but that this was confusing him, a little.

"Cat, Desert Rose, Garnet," he muttered to himself, but kept lifting additional fingers. (And to Vargas, Hemlocke was still Garnet, though to its face he called it by its new name.)

At length, he gave up. He wasn't entirely sure who was planning to reproduce with who. He'd find out what they wanted, then. So long as he had some cat hybrids to experiment with (they seemed to show great promise), he'd be content.

"SERVANTS?" he called, bellowing at the top of his lungs. "Are you here?!"

let's get this party started

@Palefur @Hemlocke @Desert Rose Thirty-Five

Hemlocke hadn't particularly gone far - immediately going off to spy on and observe the creatures of Cetus could bring notice if they'd been approached by one of the Masters and tasked with... something? That wasn't for it to know, aside from that it could put them on higher notice, greater observation duty. This was, of course, under the assumption that modern-day groups held something resembling order in their structure and at least had sentry duty on the daily docket.

The odd hybrid, then, was definitely in the clear to hear its Overseer's summons and arrive on such short notice. It was another summons - and so soon - but with nowhere near the urgency of before. Hemlocke still arrived in a hurried manner, alighting atop a boulder and giving a bow of acknowledgement, "yes, Overseer?"

gang bang time

As Desert had tasked himself with Canis, he'd easily seen Vargas heading towards the group's home-tunnel in the midst of another fly around the grave cave. He'd had little to no success so far- observation took time. Time he didn't like to spend sitting around and wasting away. Ennui was still fresh in his mind from when he'd lost that span of time between exploring with his brother and now.

He wasn't going to intervene in whatever plan the Overseer had until he was called for. As much as it shouldn't be much of an issue, the idea of him being an official servant of Vargas set an unrecognizable feeling in Desert. Was it dread? But, he was excited that he was being recognized in a more positive place than guy who sits around wasting away.

Anyways. He was already following somewhat, but when Vargas spoke he hastened to catch up, landing close by Hemlocke with his wings folding tight against his sides. "Overseer?" A short nod was given to him, with an acknowledging look towards the companion champion.

As Hemlocke had gone to the swamp, Palefur had started her investigation of Eridanus. She knew where "Rift's lot" was hiding out - it wasn't exactly a secret, but in the day or two that she'd been watching from just within the treeline, she'd seen nothing strange. They milled about the garden, tended to the plants, and occasionally spoke with one another. She would have to try and get closer, to try and hear what they were saying. She didn't know what they were tasked with, but she doubted they were doing, well, anything at all. A problem perhaps? Or maybe only certain members had gone. There hadn't been a lot of them there.

She'd been planning on returning to report their activities, but also to check to see if the duty she'd been waiting for was ready to be upheld. And as she returned to the tunnel, Vargas's voice came booming through and she immediately turned, standing straight, and padding over, excitement washing through her to at last be serving a greater cause. "Overseer," she acknowledged with a respectful dip of her head, sitting herself next to the others. They may be higher then her within the Sentinels, but as servants of Vargas, they were equals.

@Vargas

Vargas nodded as the others approached. He lowered himself to his haunches, and looked them over.

"Cat," he began, "I'd like a sample of your stone, for future testing. And I'd like you all to contribute amongst yourselves however you wish. It is time to bolster our numbers, and to test our designs," he rumbled. "We have work to do. I will leave the decisions to you."

Terribly generous, for an Overseer.

@Hemlocke

She dipped her head again, respectfully. "Yes, Overseer. I'm honored." And it was, indeed, an honor, to present a piece of her very life to the Overseer that had given her a purpose, a home, and a life she could be proud of. She sat herself down and raised a claw, reaching over as far as she could to get to her stone.

Magic surged through her as the tip of her claw touched the scar-like rock and she scored down, a sliver of the deep ruby breaking off from the greater. It didn't really seem to make much of a difference - what had looked like a wound just seemed to be a little deeper - and it clattered to the ground. She leaned forward and picked it up, stepping forward to set it before the Overseer.

@Hemlocke

Ah, so that's why they'd been called. It was time, then. Of course, the feline would be in high demand- he wouldn't be surprised if Hemlocke wanted a breeding alongside Vargas.

To be fair, Desert figured another desert rose with Palefur's genetics would do excellent. Part of him wished to appease his Overseer, though part of him was eager to pass on his own gem and have more beings to pass on his ideals to. A second nod was given to Vargas before Desert leaned towards the feline by him.

"Palefur," he'd begun, using her name in a rare gesture of consideration- "Would you mind giving some magic to a stone of mine?" Already, he'd set his mind to pulsing magic into his stone, his head lowering instinctively for the sandy piece to avoid shattering. Magic flared strongly across his ear, a sharp sounding crack resounding across the tunnel as a slice of a petal rolled down by his neck and to the ground below. He must admit, he was surprised there was no selenite bits tumbling down along with it- it must have been clean cut. It certainly was as he reached down to inspect it a bit more.

But, he had to carry on. After nudging the resulting stone towards the lighter feline with a dull claw, Desert turned his consideration to Hemlocke. "And, if you'd like- perhaps a child between us would prove well?" He didn't have to speak for their own success in the trials. Any child out of them- with both of their knacks for survivability- could prove well with the positives of both parents. "I don't mind giving either stone or magic."

He had to bite his tongue at just a tinge of ego threatening to pulse through at the idea of more selenites about the caves. They were rare enough- perhaps they should be kept rare.

Palefur looked over at Desert Rose with faint surprise. The dragon had only ever referred to her as "cat" so this was a little out of the ordinary. Perhaps a gesture that she was, at last, one of them. Well, she certainly would be after this, she didn't think that Vargas would let a hybrd between them roam around without at least starting here.

"Of course," she responded respectfully. The piece of the sandy gemstone that clattered to the ground surprised her a little. She would have thought that they'd wanted a piece of her gemstone, as this particular one didn't seem all that...sturdy. Well, it didn't matter. She leaned forward and pressed her nose to it, passing along a surge of magicka similar to the one she'd displayed moments ago, the shard gleaming, for a second, with a bloodred-tinted energy before settling back to its original color.

She pushed it forward, then, back to the Desert Rose, a small shiver in her form. She was getting a little tired from all of this magicka usage - she'd never done so much before.

This is going to be quite a number of children, Hemlocke considered, then almost jokingly, enough for a rebellion in the Sentinels. The Overseer wouldn't allow such a thing, right? Dissension was punished quickly and efficiently. It shuddered, slightly; Imp's fate was still unknown - or vague, at least - to it.

No, not now.

Ruby-red eyes turned with a dipped head, ears flickering forth. Vargas had told Desert Rose and itself to create a child before, hadn't he? To create - hopefully - one with both of their skills and abilities for survival. The ultimate scout, if possible. Worse case scenario, it would be another pair of eyes in the sky.

Without another word, Hemlocke twisted its head around and tapped its beak idly against its garnet - as if waking it up. There was no fanfare or magickal sparkles as a piece simply fell off. All the strange alien got out of it was a mild headache and distinct feeling of emptiness where that facet had come off. Grinding its beak, the Eye leaned down, tossed the shard towards Desert Rose and set to work on another one for Palefur - more cat hybrids were desirable, yes?

Hemlocke didn't know when it'd be able to breed again - and there was an instinctive need to spread its already-proven self further.

Good. Desert gave the softest hum of approval as gems were exchanged. He was quick, first, to pull his own towards the wall, out of the way of the through-traffic (whatever remained of it, anyways). Its sandy texture took root fast against the backdrop of red. Good- with these colors, it could very well be mistaken for another rock.

The red of Hemlocke's garnet and Palefur's... Whatever their stone was- ruby?- would stick out like a sore thumb here. Well, at least they were nice gems. Reaching over, Desert took the sliver of red between two claws and took in a breath, channeling his being into it. All he got in exchange was a vague headache, and the faintest tinge of magic from the gem.

Well, that should be good, right? He took in a sigh as he placed the garnet beside his own stone and watched as it took root. Okay, good. Even the faintest spark of magic seemed to be good enough, then. Hopefully this child would be able to provide on its own with how little he gave it.

He... Honestly knew next to nothing about how children worked. This should be fun.