[Corona]

You're gonna see how the best survive
We make an art out of staying alive
If you do just as you're told
These are streets of gold

With Inaria behind them, the trio set off again in their search for Hyperion (and extension, Aela). There was no sign of either one wherever they went: through gorges, forests, flats, the land was barren of the faces they wished to see the most. It was disheartening, but they were the best Gemini had to offer! Plus, Hyperion was a knight, which meant they were… uh, knightlings! Baby knights! Didn’t matter, they were good and they’d conquer the bad and bring Hyperion home!

With that in mind, Corona led them ever forward. His tails swept behind him as he hummed a wordless tune, floppy ears swishing atop his head. The bright colors on his dark coat flashed and dimmed as the wind ran through his fur, the thicker mane around his throat swaying lazily over his shoulders. He perked his ears up and looked over his shoulder. Yep! Right behind him. Kunzite and Azalea matched: they both looked sad! He frowned, and trotted back to them.

“Kun-Kun, Lee-Lee, s’okay!” He reassured them as he stood before them, his tails wagging. “Gon fin’ ‘Peon n’ La-La! Pomiss!” Corona drew his lips back in a wide smile. “S’okay, s’okay!” He nuzzled them both. “‘Rona know.” He nodded his head quickly, and before they could react he pressed kisses to their brows. “C’mon! S’go, s’go!” He barked, those tails a blur behind him as he turned about and loped ahead. His paws were heavy against the ground, the thud-thud-thud of his approach possibly the loudest thing since roosters figured out to scream at the sun.

Hm? He stopped after a minute. What was…? A bridge! Oh, that’s cool! The young hellion practically vibrated in place as he made quite a ruckus: running about, dropping into playbows and barking up a storm. “KUN-KUN! LEE-LEE! WOOK, WOOK!” He hollered at his companions as he pranced about. He remembered something though in his excited dance, and basically threw his face at the ground. Corona sniffed around, his tails high in the air and still wagging, and yes! Aha! This was another Inaria! Inaria By the Sea! Wow that was a mouthful. What a horrible name! Hopefully it wasn’t something too difficult for him to say (poor kid).

Just outside the border, Corona threw his head back three times and let out a series of low, throaty sounding howls. He waited, and when the first person arrived he dropped into another bow. His tails wagged until they were a blur of colors, and then he sprang back up to his feet. He chuffed, “‘Rona me! ‘Rona me! ‘Peon? ‘PEEEEOOOOOON!” He called for his brother from across the border (his ears properly scolded by Azalea for how he simply brushed past Inaria’s scent markings) and then threw his head back again in another one of those baritone howls.

I’m here, I’m here!

Ev'ry boulevard is a miracle mile
You'll take the town and you'll take it with style
If you play it brave and bold
These are streets of gold

[Corona]

ooc| Please allow Kunzite and Azalea to post! They're just beyond the Northern Bridge, safely outside the border!

[Azalea]

This was hopeless. Azalea shuffled along beside to the brothers, hanging back about a foot or so. The trio had been traveling for days. Maybe weeks now. The days seemed to blend together into a blurr of walking until her feet screamed. And they hadn't picked up so much as a hint of Peri or Aela's whereabouts. Azalea heaved a deep sigh, her ears falling flat as she could feel herself begin to shut down.

She followed along quietly, silently building an imaginary wall around her heart as she began distancing herself from her feelings. “Kun-Kun, Lee-Lee, s’okay!” Her concentration was shattered when Corona came bounding back towards her and Kunzite and she forced herself to smile.  “Gon fin’ ‘Peon n’ La-La! Pomiss!” The imaginary wall she'd been building immediately crumbled in the face of Corona's indomitable optimism. “S’okay, s’okay!” Sometimes she deeply wished she could be as happy go lucky as the young rainbow pup. How nice would it be? He nuzzled her and her forced smile slowly became genuine.

It was impossible to be upset around Corona. “C’mon! S’go, s’go!” He shouted and Lea couldn't help but chuckle softly, giving his brother Kunzite an amused look. "Guess we better go." The two finally caught up to Corona and stopped on their side of the bridge, the air carried the faint, salty scent of the ocean and she wondered how close they were to the coast. Her companion called, rather loudly, for an audience with whatever wolves called this place home and she took a seat beside Corona, resting her flank against his she let curled into a comfortable position to wait. “‘Rona me! ‘Rona me! ‘Peon? ‘PEEEEOOOOOON!” Emerald eyes glanced towards Corona with a sad expression. Azalea didn't think Peri or Aela was here but she just didn't have the heart to tell him the truth. That they weren't here.

[Kunzite]

It wasn’t that Kunzite wasn’t...hopeful, but he knew how these things went when it came to his family. In many ways, he knew their existence to only be a curse. A sea of bad luck that pooled out of their poor Mother the second they came to be. Of course, it let up ever so often, there was beauty in even the darkest storm, but before long it seemed to shatter with some new hardship smashing through the pretty stained glass picture. Small blessings were just that and while he was wholly grateful for them, they were still minuscule by comparison to everything that’d happened to him and his kinfolk regardless. Why did it have to be them? His family? His litter?

Selfish….

The small voice in everyone’s head made sure that he knew just how selfish he was being when he glanced over his shoulder towards Azalea, who brought up the back of their little train. ‘The world doesn’t just revolve around you, Kunzite.’ It jeered. ‘Although it was probably easy to forget that, seeing as you haven’t given the rest of it much of a chance. Coward.’ Oh, it wasn’t wrong. Though the hellion’s mouth opened to speak it swiftly closed again thereafter, words kept trapped inside his jaw, not that he’d had anything meaningful to say that could make the pretty wolf smile.

All the "It’ll be okay”’s and “things will get better”’s didn’t mean much coming from him...not when he was so unsure of their success himself.

Lucky for him, Corona had a way with words, better than Kunzite did anyway. He said what his brother could not, ushering in reassurance where there was none, even if it was only going to last so long. Hard to stay too upset for a time with Corona around. He was the levity both their hurting hearts needed to keep trudging ahead continuing their quest.

Hyperion and Aela. Two loved ones they wanted to bring him safe. He’d focus on that because that was all that mattered, not his silly insecurities.

He turned his head to the mint colored female when she laughed...god, Rona was good. A shy smile coming across his face too when she spoke. “You know he...I bet there’s one heck of a pep talk in there if he’s ever able to get it out.” A whole awe-inspiring speech for the ages that the world would talk about for moons to come. It would be nice. The world would be better for it if there were others who could understand what his brother had to say, Kunz thought.

He followed Lea closely after that and hovered along with her near Corona as his brother began baying like an old hound dog. If that didn’t alert someone what would??

Kunzite was of the same frame of mind as Lea, however, they still had to try. Maybe, against the odds, this would be one of those small moments. Maybe they'd find someone. At least one of the two people they were hunting for...or just a sign.

Even if it was hopeless, Kunz still stood on the border of this sea smelling pack with a grain of hope twinkling in his honey colored eyes.

[Ceraphena]

[Come at us, Tortugans!]

[Addereon]

Someone was making some sort of terrible racket at the borders. Adder sighed and tilted his head up skyward, closing his eyes and praying to whatever gods did or did not exist above to give him strength. The mental fortitude not to slap someone was all he needed, really.

After a solid sixty seconds of waiting with no response from absentee gods, he nodded and turned for the borders at a steady lope. Newly shorn and showing off some brilliant stripes across his neck, he felt much more at home in the tropical temperature than before. He looked more saber than lion now, with only a mohawk of thick black fur along the top of his head and running along his neck. The wind blew against him, up from the sea, and while it was cool and refreshing, it also carried the scent of the strangers to him.

His feet picked up faster, pink pads moving him swiftly and quietly across the land to the bridge the visitors stood at.

Adder stopped.

He towered over the lot of them, even from where he was on the Tortugan side of the bridge. Blue eyes blinked once, twice.

"For fuck's sake." He grumbled, long suffering, and turned back toward the mainland. "Kalypso! He roared. Hopefully the Wayfinder would keep good on her promise to help him and be helped in return--trust was something that took a while with the feline, even if she did seem outwardly so genuine. (And attractive. But that was another problem altogether.) After a minute of his call echoing out, her turned icy eyes back to the visitors.

"What're you kids doin' here?" He asked, not outwardly aggressive by any means but clearly not one who enjoyed interacting with children in any capacity. "Who're your parents and where're ya from? Start talkin' or start walkin'." He rumbled and then sat, effectively blocking the entire side of the bridge he was on.

Entry not prohibited. What's the password, kids?

[Corona]

[Due to BB's indefinite hiatus, I'd like to ask the alphas of Tortuga if it is alright to close this thread. No one has trespassed. Some people basically said hello, waved at your handsome lion, and then left. I don't feel comfortable continuing this without one of the key members able to participate, and I appreciate your consideration. <3]