Plenty of fauna thrived around the watering hole, he'd watched various creatures amble towards the life-giving waters throughout the morning. Different species found themselves investigating the watering hole together, some chatting idly as if they'd met before. Since he'd taken to lounging some feet away from the water's edge, no one seemed overtly concerned by the large dilute peach form between slender blades of new grasses.

Although he was not much of one for Maua, there seemed to be unity among the island's life, as if they all followed under some rule the god created. Not that he exerted much energy among those particular spiritual interests. Darker tendencies laced his beliefs, and his spectral friends wouldn't seek for harmony among so many species.

With a heavy sigh, boredom brought on by the slow humdrum of life, he rolled onto his back, looking up to the dark storm clouds rolling across cerulean expanses, bringing shadows against freshly sprouted flora. Thunderous drumming began within the heavens, driving many of the animals away from the water, while a crack of lightning split the sky with vibrancy for a split second.

Wonderous sound of gods clapping, striking the skies, these were things he enjoyed more than the sniveling aptitude of one species to interact with another. Potential destruction enlivened his fibers, bringing a jolt of energy to his immature temper.

ART & CODE BY DAWN, CODE MODIFIED BY CALA

if you saw the new scars that I didn't ask for

The sky was angry, the crack of lightening and boom of thunder echoed in his ears. A steady beat driving him from the grove. There was a strange feeling in the air, something he had felt since encountering the Scorched Wilds. With winter over Spring seemed to bring forth a sinister air, but something also full of life trying to break through where it wasn't wanted. He was no stranger to the storms of this land but the uneasy feeling that came with it is what made his hair stand on end.

The watering hole seemed to be teeming with life, regardless of the storm that threatened overhead. Teal eyes drawn across the water to a vaguely familiar lion's form. Orei watched him silently as he lay in the grass looking up towards the tumultuous sky. It was then he suddenly remembered one of his father's wives, one of the last litters he had conceived before disappearing from Amaryllis. Boys grown now, he almost didn't recognize his younger brother. But doubt put seeds in his mind, telling him this could not be the young cub he remembered from the Oasis.

Orei slinks towards the lounging lion, hoping to go unnoticed as he moved closer. Trying to get a better look at the younger male's face, his markings. His siblings despite having different moms often looked similar to each other. But while Orei's pelt was dark, the other lion's was noticeably light. It isn't till he is near enough for the other to hear his voice does he speak. "You're a Saxe." He says it as a statement rather than a question. Teal eyes boring down towards the other male.

@Paerios

"Speech."

would you call, asking for answers?

code x art x inspo

Clouds roiled against a washed-out backdrop, dark and light mixing together to form intricate patterns amid the sky. Both brown eyes watched the movement above, far quicker than he’d initially thought they’d be. Not that he’d ever stopped to watch clouds until now, laying on his back against sprigs of new growth, watching the world pass by minute-by-minute.

To just exist felt strange.

Front paws rested against a pale chest, quite relaxed amid the tumult of animals withdrawing from the water hole. Lightning cracked against some of the deeper sections of clouds, stark contrasts illuminating purples for a few seconds. ”You’re a Saxe.”

A solitary voice cut through the din as the last few at the watering hole made leave of the space. Paerios rolled, standing upon his soot dipped paws, his eyes finding @Orei standing among the grasses, watching him. ”Is that because you’re one that you’re saying that?” There’s no innocence within the brown eyes as he considered the older sibling, wondering who he took after most – their shared father or the harlequin mother. Quite interesting how Saxe flocked from the woodwork once he’d traveled back into Amaryllis, or perhaps they’d been here already, waiting.

Waiting for what, though?

ART & CODE BY DAWN, CODE MODIFIED BY CALA

if you saw the new scars that I didn't ask for

"Orei Saxe." He offers his name easily, if this was perhaps a younger sibling there was no use bouncing around the truth. Orei had come back to Amaryllis with this intention of finding his siblings, regardless of what relationship they previously held. In this case, none at all, he hadn't stuck around long enough to get to know his father's younger brood of children. "Renfri was my mother." He continues, giving a bit more context to whom he belonged. If this brother would even know who she had been, what she had done for the family, or what had happened to her that led their father to leave this land. What had led him to leave this land.

It is then his eyes are drawn from his possible brother to something strange and out of place behind him. This wasn't the first time Orei had come face to face with a gourd like this. Except last time he had been a cub, and they had seemed so much bigger back then. This time of year always seemed to have them sprouting up in strange places. From previous experiences you had to be careful around them, some were good and normal and others, strange and scary. Quickly do his eyes shift back to the other lions, wondering if he too had seen the strange shapes lying around the watering hole.

@Paerios

"Speech."

would you call, asking for answers?

code x art x inspo

Although he liked to think his siblings would accept him as one of them, he’d found this was not the case when he’d come across Meisia, who’d been of the same brood. Hesitation revolved around the appearance of Orei, though he felt rather akin to the older male, just from their mirrored confidence. ”Paerios Saxe.” Offered in return for his brother’s name, he gives his openly. Perhaps there was more chance for a relationship here than between he and his witch sister.

”I didn’t know her.” Truth slips from his lips, uncertain who Renfri was or what role she’d played among the Saxe family, other than being one of his father’s brides. There seemed to be more of those than he’d counted on as he continued to meet those bearing the Saxe name. Ponderances guided his gaze away from his darker canvased brother, only to find his eyes canting back to the other young man.

Something about @Orei’s gaze told him to look out across the empty fields surrounding the watering hole. Nothing seemed interesting, given the fact all other fauna had since dispersed with the crack of lightning whipping across the clouds. Under the few seconds of brilliant illumination, he noticed them – the pumpkins. Bright orange, some marked with patches of green, that felt terribly out of place given the otherwise drab décor.

ART & CODE BY DAWN, CODE MODIFIED BY CALA

if you saw the new scars that I didn't ask for

Orei hadn't realized he was holding tension in his shoulders till they fell in relief at the confirmation that he had been right. This was one of his brothers, younger and from a different mother. But a brother all the same. "Paerios." He tests the name on his tongue, so clearly a Saxe name it would have been obvious even without saying he was Saxe. "There are so few of us left, I'm glad to see you despite our estrangement." The door was open, if Paerios desired a relationship with Orei, he need only reach out and grab it.

"Probably better that you didn't." He says with a slight shrug, dismissing it there. If Paerios wanted to know more he could ask, but Orei would not press the issue of their mothers. Renfri was dead, he had come to peace with it long ago growing up outside of Amaryllis. But the scars were still there, denial was his best friend.

He notices as Paerios' eyes also drift to the strange forms among the grass. "I've seen these before." He says, "Some of them make strange things happen." ears fall flat against his skull. Unsure about whether these pumpkins were like the ones he had experienced before and if they were he had no desire to go poking around in them again.

"Speech."
@Paerios

would you call, asking for answers?

code x art x inspo

double, double toil and trouble;
fire burn, and cauldron bubble...

Nafasi watches from the bushes, never once letting herself be seen by those huddled around her perfectly-placed pumpkins. They really were a curious bunch, weren't they? But, unfortunately for them, the sprite was feeling extra mischievous today, and had a trick up her sleeve! And so, with a small grin, the being tilted her maw down towards the earth, eyes glowing, before she gave a pointed flicker of her tail and brought her vision to life in the process.

Uh oh...

The pumpkin beneath you beings to vibrate before decaying and collapsing in on itself. Seconds later, what looks to be thousands of spiders begin to crawl out of every crevice of the oozing pumpkin, skittering across the earth in a leg-filled frenzy. By your next breath, the ground is completely covered in those gross, ghastly bugs - and judging by the way that they're moving towards you, you just might be next!