she calls to him, and he comes to heel. helping her through the healing process has not been hard ( even with the strange shared delusion hanging over their heads ), but he can see how it bothers her. he can see how it'd bother him, were the roles were reversed. he says nothing on the matter -- rather, letting her figure it out for herself. he can help her walk and bring her food and warm her bed, but he cannot help her heal faster -- nor can he help her come to terms with the damage done to her body. the skagos does what he can, though. using his larger shoulder, he easily helps support her weight -- walking where she directs him, where she wants to go. today will be a meeting for the pride, to gather them all up and discuss the plan moving forward. once she is settled and she calls for the pride, hakon gives her an even look and a small nod before moving off -- settling down a few paces away. his removal fro mher personal space meant that any prying eyes would not know she needed assistance getting here, even if they could probably guess at it. the others filter in and he spares them all only a brief glance. most are sigrun and the ones that were not are strangers. a curious look is given to the scarred, white female who sits at saga's side, before glancing at the rest.

code by irish & art by tanzani

It seemed she was farther away from the source of the call, as Elixir was later to the gathering than several others. She trotted towards the edge of the crowd with eyes peeled for information, twitching her nose as she drank in every scent she could gather. It was her first time seeing so many of the pride gathered together at once since she had been recruited by Magnus, and interesting to note how dark in coloration so many of them were. It seemed she would fit in just fine.

"Elixir, reporting for duty," she piped up briefly with a smile to make herself known without causing too much of a fuss. The tense silence in the air did not suggest to her that these were the overly chatty types of lions.

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|| july y7 | three years | SL lioness | at scilla lagoon | @Saga ||

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there's an immense amount of gratitude in her gaze as @Hákon shifts away - enough that it's not so apparent he practically carried her here. a faint smile touches her lips and her ears tip back in a soft gesture, before her body lifts into a more disciplined sit and her eye goes cold. they trail in and she waits before time stretches after @Elixir's arrival. @Alizabeth has taken her place nearby and saga regards her quietly for a moment before she nods once. her gaze narrows on @Cassandra as she offers the new sovereign a glare, and a lip twitches, flashing the faint hint of fang at the new lagoon member. she may be myrkvi's intended and may be part of the family in the coming months, but that means little. saga will suffer no insolence and will not allow her members to, either. especially when they've proven themselves capable. the girl then offers praise and her tail tip twitches as her lip curl twists into a vague smile. "you'll see many examples if you stay with us." she promises, though doesn't exactly clarify. if cassandra stays long enough to integrate, to see the rituals, she would see true power. the power of the sigrun rising from the dead, breathing anew, with vellen's good grace.

@Zulema is tense upon her arrival and the high sovereign meets her gaze, intending to stretch a paw subtly out to rest it firmly on the ground. steady she promises; they would dutifully warn the pride, today. they would do everything they could to keep their family safe. @Ragna attends with the same dedication she's always had and her heart warms to see her daughter. @Zahra is quick to slide in after and flop down next to the noble, encouraging their moment to break. @Eir's presence is noted faintly, following her gaze to her leg, before offering a bitter smile. "you should see the other one." she calls out with a snort. @Voluspa hesitates only a moment, eyes on aliza, before sitting at zahra's side and saga wonders how many... uncomfortable experiences the woman will have to wade through before proving herself in the face of the sigrun. @Vitala and @shiva come in quietly and take their places and she waits, a frown touching her lips. @Elixir seems to be the last and she exhales sharply, agitation and urgency leaving her unable to wait for anyone else.

saga makes to stand and aborts the motion before it's fully executed. it would be foolish to exhaust herself standing here when she can just as easily sit. "scilla," she calls out, sweeping her eye across the assembled few. "our noble has come to us with news of an upcoming threat." she pauses only a moment. "the mist that lingers is dangerous. do not approach it - do not go into it. everyone stay in pairs while it covers the country." there's no room for questions, no room for hesitation. her voice is clear: this is now a law and to break it will have consequences.

"for those of you unaware, i've slain two rike. they remain our steadfast enemies but we have the upperhand." a slow smile creeps across her lips, savage and without humor. "alizabeth has won against sjórbjörn and is your new sovereign." she pauses again, letting the news sink in. "nero will be your new heir." she's already talked to the boy and he's eagerly accepted. "the galloway crew at the cay across the sea is an ally. we have a pact. i'm sure you've seen their medic, calypso, here to help where we can. we are in need of more medical help - voluspa carries quite the burden being the only one in the pride." of course, she knows nothing of elixir and her skills, yet.

"the last bit of news," saga continues, leaning back slightly and tail twitching. "is that vellen has blessed us." her swelling belly is obvious and she sees no reason to hide it. "i carry demigods for the lagoon." she might seem mad, to those not of the family, but to the sigrun? this would be seen as the miracle it truly is. she doesn't look at hakon even as she longs to, doesn't name him to father or raise his position. she allows him to remain a background guardian, giving him the ability to choose if he would like to reveal his involvement, their... relationship? whatever it is.

things have been decidedly tense and she is no longer sure what their relationship is - and perhaps that is the reason she doesn't introduce him as the father.


going quiet, she looks expectantly at the pride, waiting for questions. concerns. outrage._{BG — ART — CODE}

A few seconds before @Saga began talking, Shiva slipped into the back of the meeting. Not wishing to disturb those who had already claimed a place surrounding where Saga sat, she took a position in the back. It didn't matter anyway; she could still see and hear as Saga began speaking, even if she had to lean this way or that to look passed the back of someone else's head. Light red eyes found her sister and lingered upon @Tiamat before they returned back to Saga.

There was much to discuss, sure.

Shiva was quiet for the length of Saga's speech - speaking about their enemies, their allies, their new heir, their healer.

Shiva could've been a healer if she wanted to, but she chose the other side. She preferred watching others choke on their own saliva as the poison set in, causing their throat to swell, their heart to swell, and soon... pop goes the weasel.

"Demigods?" Shiva questioned loudly, caught so off-guard that she couldn't even stop herself from saying it. She looked incredulously straight at Saga, waiting for the woman to either confirm with confidence or reroute with some other, more accurate way to describe her pending cubs.

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I hope it was ok to assume Shiva had been sitting quietly in the back the whole time; fashionably late due to player error, not character error <3

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