There are times I think about the cruelties of the world, of things that have been put upon me and my family, and I would hate for that to be a plan. And there are times when, like today, I’m very grateful for being in the right place at the right time to make sure that the right people are becoming strong in the ways they need to be. And I don’t think it excuses the pain, I don’t think you have to not care about it or fight it with everything you’ve got, but I think the world is shaping you into something important, and I want to make sure that you get to wherever you need to be.

Faithful are the trees and sacred is the water. The earth, and sky, and plants, and all within are the life and blood. They will always stand, they will always exist. As the sun traces in its path overhead and the moon too does follow. They will always stand, they will always exist. Nazonal amongst them, for whoever needs them to they are here and there is home. Grasped firmly between her toothy maw is a meaty, fresh, antelope. A decent meal for a few lions, or perhaps a toy if some of them were particularly tiny, young, and playful. Nazonal hated the gods that invaded their dreams for robbing Asteria and her young family of so much... but she would be lieing to admit she did not immensely enjoy having them all around more regularly.

Asteria? Nazonal called as she walked along. Their voice was muddled and lacked clarity as it passed through the flesh held in her jaws. Across her nose came a breeze, a mixture of scents and a waft of the fresh blood dripping down from the wounds in the antelope. Was not the easiest way to track someone down.. if she and her family were even hanging around today.

Asteria was... conflicted. A part of her was content to have Nazonal so close, to linger in this place with one of her very best friends. But the other part of her was devastated to lose her home. All of the trinkets she had gathered over the months of living there with Hiccup, every reminder of him... just gone. Not to mention the cozy den she had raised her children in. Nevermind that the jungle was more beautiful (though it was also much colder, she found, in the grip of winter) she missed the stone tunnels of her home, still. The weight of loss slumped her shoulders a little, but the young mother did her best to wear a smile for her children. With them she found joy, snippets of peace and true happiness. Not to mention watching them with Naz -- that was a whole other level of contentment. When her friends voice reaches her she calls back -- "here, Naz!" -- and swings her head round to check on her children. They are tucked in to the makeshift den she had made, safe from the cold grip of winter, but she expects they will wake once Nazonal appears. She was practically an Aunt, now. @Beetle @Spider @Aphid @Dozy @Nazonal

sleepy.

after everything, mama and naz had brought them back here, to where they had the party, and- well, it was so green, even though it was cold and all the plants everywhere else were hiding. the jungle glowed softly, and beetle felt safe here. and he had been sleeping pretty much constantly since asteria first assembled their little den. after all, they had been through a lot recently.

voices stirred him, and he shuffled gently against his sisters, warm bodies pressed together, nuzzling his little pink nose further into the oven they had created. asteria moved a little more, and he chirped wordlessly, reluctant to wake up, until he heard her call for nazonal.

well. naz he would wake up for.

@Asteria @Nazonal

  

  

With belly full he had fallen asleep draped over Asteria's tail He was use to sleeping on his own so he hadn't bothered to crawl into the pile. He didn't want to upset anyone either, he got the feeling that they were not happy to share Asteria. No matter if it was only for a short time! A loud snort left him when he heard Asteria respond to a call, sitting up groggily he blinked a few times wondering what was going on. Quietly he clamber over Asteria's backside but could not quite get a grip so he sort of was half on her backside. Peeking over her his ears foward he wondered what was happening now?


"talk"

coded by flea + background credit
@Asteria @Nazonal @Beetle

Together in the jungle. Together, that was all that mattered. Curled against her siblings, content within the warm pile of bodies that kept them from feeling winter's grasp even here within the more tropical climate, there's the youthful stubbornness refusing to wake. Low grumbles formed nonsense words as she squirmed against the warmth, legs kicking out in protest as @Beetle began to wake, snuggling closer to her brother's pink form.

Adult voices stirred within the sleepy mind. Someone called for their mother and @Asteria called back. Further grumbled protests escaped the pale mug as the child squirmed, folding into herself in refusal of being fully present in the waking world. Not even the scent if meat stirred eyes to flutter open, though the sleepy mind drifted toward dreams of feasts.

CODE•ART

Hey! Nazonal's voice chimes warmly with greeting as she finds the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This young family that had made her life so great, they couldn't help but smile for just a moment and admire what she saw. Little Beetle rousing, young Benat the current bonus cub clamoring over Asteria, Spider sleepily tossing and then seeming to succumb again to dreams. Nazonal quietly set the meat down near their paws and felt just a single little tear of joy form, then roll, down her cheek. This jungle didn't make up for losing her adopted family, didn't make up for all of them losing their home in the Hollow. But Asteria and children were here safe and sound, it was better than nothing. It didn't feel like Naz was doing enough for them though and maybe never would.

With one of her paws she tapped the meat. I brought some food for you, or for any of you all- They make eye contact with the two most awake kids, Beetle and Benat. -that are feeling adventurous. They winked and with the paw that pressed onto the carcass she gives it a little shove forwards.

I wish that you could have stayed in the Hollow. Naz then says to Asteria, their brown eyes turning to the dark form of the mother, Naz remembered meeting her when they were both so tiny and look at the two of them now. But I have been very grateful to have you all here too. Thank you - Nazonal finished the thought in her mind, suddenly feeling an overwhelming emotion that tightened up their throat.

An ever-faithful shadow, she slipped through the trees behind Nazonal as they carried their fresh antelope through the jungle. The lion gods had had their way with the world, and Sparrow had maintained a low profile in the wake of their stirrings – speaking her spells as she did, maintaining her security and that which she could offer Naz. Ultimately, the jungle had been made to feel even more like a sanctuary to the leopardess, and therefore she spent little time beyond it.

Things had changed in the course of her seclusion, naturally. And now, there were many other scents mingled with tall cat whom she followed with such surreptitiousness, it inspired guilt in her belly as she did so. Sparrow chose first to be nosy – a byproduct of her curious nature, only one that was exacerbated and warped by the romantic feelings that had blossomed in the midst of their close friendship. Romantic feelings that were still fresh and still vulnerable, and subject to any number of petty insecurities. What faces could be attached to these unknown scents? Were they friend of Nazonal, or foe to Sparrow? Both? Surely, that could never be the case.

Her curiosity was provoked to an even greater flame when the voice of another filtered through the lower canopy, calling to Naz, and summoning them to the side of a lioness and a brood of cubs. Sparrow followed through her tree top paths; quiet, concerned, intrigued, and uncertain whether jealousy should play a role, or guilt. Orange faceted eyes flit over those gathered—the lioness, her babes, and her round ears twitched as Naz spoke of the Hollows and the shadowcats eyes were sharp enough to have noted the tear that stroked the earthen cat’s cheek. Her own chest tightened, and her claws protruded into the bark of the branch she perched upon—but it was too much an intimate moment for her to invite herself in without preamble, and so she could only watch them interact from the deep shadows of the canopy, with a deep love and longing in her chest.

_{BG — ART — CODE}

To you I will be true

- - -

Everything had changed. Dozy could remember too well the fear that had filled her when they had been forced to flee from the Hollow, her home that was no longer home. Leaving behind all the special trinkets that Mama had owned, the little bits and bobs that she loved pawing through in quiet moments. Half-formed ideas of gathering new trinkets flickered in and out of her mind, often snatched away when sleep knocked at her door.

Like now, when she was snuggled up in the warmth of this new den, comforted by the presence of her family. Familiar bodies, warm and cozy, and she is reluctant as ever to be pulled from the dreamworld. A quiet squeak when Asteria untangles herself, and a louder protest when Beetle and Benat disappeared. Spider, though, is not so quick to move. Dozy chirps contentedly to her sister, tucking her nose in to the crook of her neck and snuggling closer. Even the smell of meat was not going to pull her from her slumber, not until she was the very last one left.

It had taken a bit of time to feel some semblance of settled again, in the aftermath of the terrible destruction that had befallen the peaceful lions of the Hollow. Took even longer to swallow the bitter pill that was the fact that there were those who would waste no time in tearing each other apart just to claim ownership of a land that still held the injured and scattered remnants of those who had called it home. Was this the chaos that Kivuli wrought? It only confirms that there can be no tolerance allowed for this being, if so.

And yet in the midst of it all, there is healing. Joy still exists to be found in small moments, despite the uncertainty that plagues her days. Marja is safely tucked away in the rainforest pride, and the shelter that @Nazonal has carved out within the jungle has grown fuller. Is there any way for Adrien to accurately describe the relief she'd felt at seeing that @Asteria had her little ones had indeed been guided safely from the stony wreckage of the tunnels? To think that any of those sweet, tiny bundles could've been trapped there within the earth...it's too horrible an idea to entertain.

It's for their sake, in fact, that the noblewoman had departed from the safety of the rainforest so early this morning. It took quite a bit of time, and she had to cover a decent amount of ground, but in the end, she would return to the hidden sanctuary with what she'd been seeking. A little collection of bright feathers, sparkly stones, and lovely seashells, all wrapped within a large jungle leaf that Adrien had taken as a makeshift pouch. Perfect toys for little paws and curious minds, or so she hopes, and just unique enough to brighten up a family's den.

She stands just outside the new den, clearing her throat gently at the threshold where she can hear familiar voices drifting within. "Bonjour, mes amies. I do hope I'm not interrupting," She greets quietly, lest she disturb the children still sleeping within, poking her maned head in just enough for them to see her. "but I come bearing gifts." She slides her little bundle of found treasures forwards with a smile. "Some things to keep the little ones busy."

@Beetle @Beñat @ Spider @Dozy @Sparrow

speech

code by Cloudy; art by irish

The girl alternates between lagging behind her family and pouncing eagerly ahead; her momentum and placement always pulled by the wild shifts within her curious mind, drawn to various curiosities that shift between trees or flicker amidst leaf-litter. Aphid found familiarity in naught but her siblings and mother, forever focused on that which was new - perhaps having a knack for seeing the beauty in all that is different, no matter how frequently she had seen a location.

So, Aphid's mind is not with the social situation; but upon her surroundings. Her ebony body having every possibility to be unseen, and yet the vivacious mannerisms wildly obvious. She jitters excitedly between stones and flora nearby the gathering, staring with fleeting wonder at textures and bugs and all alike.