A bit of a ruckus came in their wake as @Wisteria soon arrived and on her heels a strange speckled creature. From upside down Naz turned their brown eyes over, sky became ground and the soil below became the sky. Strange limbs moved forwards, the yearling on the ground didn't realize just how intently and perhaps rudely she was staring at @Seven as she came closer too. As long as she leaves the monkeys alone. Nazonal voiced her hesitant, but clear, approval of this strange leopard potentially joining up with them. As small and agile she could be an asset, or just as easily a terror for the monkeys that her father was fond of.

Assuredly though Gawain and Elijah both were good judges of character. Neither seemed adverse to Seven's presence, now or continual, so little more worry would be afforded. You don't even have to ask me Dad. Naz joked from their sprawling spot on the ground, a position that by no means seemed like it would ever be comfortable. You goof. Their legs were stretched weirdly out, one forepaw held upright in the air with the paw on the end hanging semi-limp. Their eyes seemed drawn elsewhere but evidently enough attention had been paid to know what her father's plans were and what he was asking of them all. Gawain had his child's support- as if they'd ever want to be anywhere besides with him. Crazy band or no.

She is wound up and rightfully so, the golden girl had never seen a leopard before after all. Add that to the fact that the feline had spooked the monkeys and well Wisteria had nearly gone off the deep end. Upon @Elijah's beckoning she would scuttle over closer to him, pressing her side up against his as she sits next to him. @Gawain introduces them all and Wisteria can't help but stare up at @Seven suspiciously. She was tiny, perhaps even smaller then her but it was hard to tell with her up in the treetops above them. But she supposed if daddy and Gawain were okay with her then she would be too. For now though she would occasionally glance upward to keep an eye on the spotted cat before turning her full attention to Gawain. "You always have the best ideas.. I support you and our new band." She says with a soft smile, leaning against Elijah for comfort all the while. Seven would take some getting used to but in Wisteria's eyes the more the merrier. After all it would only make their band that much stronger against outsiders.

_{CODE BY SHELBY | ART BY BUNNY}

Gawain breathed a sigh of relief as everyone declared their support, though they gave @Phantom a concerned smile at his continued weight loss. He'd need to talk to him about that later. But he didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

And was it just him, or was @Mononoke getting thinner in the face?

He would worry about all that later. Tomorrow, perhaps. It wouldn't do to call them out in front of everyone.

Instead, he rested a gentle paw on @Nazonal's belly affectionately, and couldn't help but smile when she raised her voice in the defense of the monkeys they had all grown so attached to.

He glanced around, unsure of where @Frog was. But perhaps she was simply napping, he could talk to her later. And he dipped his head to @Seven. "Seven, you have no obligation to decide today if you want to stay with us. You are welcome to stick around for a while to decide, if that would make you more comfortable. Everyone else, I can't begin to describe how much your support means to me. As always, any of you are always welcome to come to me with any concerns. This changes nothing about the way our family functions, it only serves to allow me to better protect you all, and possibly bring in some others to live with us to further that goal, as long as you all approve of that."

He looked around at his family, and realized there was one more thing he needed to say. "I suppose we need to establish some sort of method of ranks in the pride for political reasons. If anyone has ideas for that or ranks they do and don't want to see, feel free to let me know and I will take that into account. And finally, is everyone okay with this being our base? We've been living here a while, so I just want to confirm with everyone that this works."

@Elijah @Wisteria

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@Gawain embraces the leopardess, both vouching for her and offering her a place in their home, here. Wisteria is still not sure of her but then again, she had been unsure of others before and her family has not led her astray before. So she smiles and leans against her father, eyes on their leader. I like living here, she says, hoping to be helpful. It was where Elijah had brought her after they’d left Obsidian and so there is a fondness in her heart for this jungle. The first place she truly felt like she had a home and had a family. As for ideas for the ranks of their new little band, she had no real concrete ideas for that — maybe later it would come to her, once she had time to think about it. After all, she’d never really been in a pride before and had no real experience to compare it to. As for this pride, their band, she brightens. Delighted by what was to come. Thank you for doing this for us, she says, nudging her father’s shoulder again as she pushes to her feet, glancing to the leopardess as if trying to keep Seven in her peripheral. She wanted to head back to their den, maybe start sorting through what they had — if they were going to do this, she wanted to make sure they had as much help as they could!

Exit

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mononoke yōsei lupai

---

like fragile tiny shells, drifting in the foamI have experience with politics, Momo offers, her voice a little stronger now. I was a princess growing up, my father a king. my sister has been a queen a couple times herself. I would be happy to help us get alliances with the prides here, perhaps with other families as well. She's not usually quite this confident, but - well, politics is something she's familiar with. She grew up with it. As far as ranks, I'd be happy to discuss ideas with you later. She stands, looking a little green around the gills, and adds a couple of final words. I'm happy to remain here - it has enough shade so that I don't get burned. If you'll excuse me. With that, she turns and hurries away, feeling the sudden and violent urge to vomit.

- exit -

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Can I be your secret agent? The not very subtle and never will be that sneaky Nazonal asked @Gawain with a big old goofy grin. In truth it didn't matter much to them what they called themselves, or what others called them. They would be here amongst their family, they'd be safe. That mattered the most. She was glad to hear they'd be sticking around the Rainforest. Good for the monkey population that doted on their father, and it was the prettiest stretch of anything she'd ever seen. They shuffled onto their belly, awkwardly and lovingly pushing Gawain's paw off her belly, and then rose upwards aiming to brush their side and shoulder against their father as they rose up. They aimed to bump the crown of their head on his cheek. So it's official now yeah? They didn't have to go sign some weird paperwork anywhere right? If we're staying I'm gonna go make sure the den is the best it can be.

/exit

he has little experience with the handling of a pride, or group, or anything like that -- like mononoke, he was born royal but his father had never appreciated that. a prince he once was but he certainly does not have the experience, so he simply stays quiet -- happy to support his friends in whatever they end up choosing. ranks and titles meant little and less to him, as long as this place stayed strong and a true. a haven, a home -- they could call him whatever they wanted, as long as he was always allowed tos tay here with them. he smiles at wisteria, sneaking another kiss to her cheek as she excuses herself -- the start of their exits, this first little meeting adjourned. he is excited for the future, of what gawain has started here, and smiles broadly at all those gathered. even the leopardess, a stranger -- but seemingly another recruit to their band. he stands and moves to follow the others as they leave, though lingers long enough to sneak a quick nuzzle to gawain before dancing off, intent on following his daughter's lead and checking up on their caches.

after all, this new beginning of theirs would require some work.

exit

code; background; art;

content with all the decisions that have been made today, the ghost stands up - a moment of concern spared as mononoke runs off looking sick. weary and tired and feeling ill himself, he trudges off after offering a nod to gawain. maybe he'll stop by and check on momo later, but for now he's so tired. too tired to run after her - so instead, he wanders off towards his den, sighing quietly. he's been so lethargic the last few days, no spare energy to do much of anything, and it's only getting worse. stumbling into his den, he collapses and passes out immediately.

- exit phantom -

Gawain watched, content and excited in equal measures, as everyone pledged their support, then went their separate ways. Everyone seemed to agree, too, on this being the perfect location of their band.

Sure, there were things they needed to work out, like what the ranks would be, where exactly the borders would be drawn, and how to make Momo and Phantom eat enough food, but they were a family, and they would face every challenge together.

He remained in his spot, and would stay there for a while in case anyone needed to come talk to him. But the meeting was adjourned. Their band would be official. And he would keep them all safe.

-Exit

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SEVEN

She reclined back on her tree limb, watching @Wisteria for a few moments with a small smirk before her attention would turn to @Gawain. He said she wasn't obligated to stay but Seven felt as though her decision had already been made by coming here. She had been pulled here the moment Gawain had mentioned his little band and maybe it was because he was so different from other lions she had come across. It gave Seven hope that the individuals in this band were like him or in the very least didn't judge others for being different from them. Besides that Seven had no intentions of finding other leopards, in fact she wanted to be far from them. When you've been trained from cubhood to eliminate others of your kind it made sense that she didn't want to be around them; there was no certainty that she would be capable of playing nice with another leopard. She listened quietly, ears occasionally flicking and as the others began to disperse, she finally spoke, her soft voice directed towards Gawain. "Consider me your eyes in the treetops. I'll stay.. and for what it's worth this whole thing you've founded seems pretty special.. to a leopard at least." She said with a smirk before rising and moving to make her way back across the tree limbs.

[exit.]

- chaos in her soul and lightning in her veins -