[PRP] What Happens When Derpy and Doom Collides.

[Pollack]

It had been a few days now since her and her father had arrived in the Bahari lands to visited her aunt since they had already been in the area. Once the onslaught of cuddles, kisses, and gifts ended, the two adults had moved on to speak about pressing "Adult" matters. Yukio had quickly grown bored trying to keep up with the conversation. Almost every third or so word went flying over her head. She couldn't even begin to piece together what was bothering them so much. So, she had used the distraction to slip out off her aunt's den to go explore freely on her own.

She honestly loved visiting the Bahari. The beach was a blast, the people were so friend, and there was this fun atmosphere that fueled her wild ideas. There was always something to do if you knew the right place to look! The one thing that Yukio couldn't bring herself to step her toe into was meeting the other native cubs. Her aunt had encouraged her to go make some friends her age but every time she had manged to find some excuse to brush of the subject or avoid attending a forced play date. She didn't even know why she was so nervous to meet them. They reminded her a lot of her siblings, but every time she thought that she had enough guts to go up and greet someone a wave of anxiety washed over her. Leaving her running in the other direction.

Luckily Yukio had adapted to being her own friend. When you were an only child that traveled around so much you had to learn exactly how to entertain yourself.

Case in point was the activity of the today: Building the grandest sand castle the world had EEEEVEEEERR seen! For most of the afternoon Yukio had been mad dashing around collecting various ocean debris to use as glorious decorations for her mini kingdom.

She had even managed to create a small army of hermit crabs that she dubbed the 'Royal Shell Brigade.' Their sworn duty in life was to protect the royal family at all cost! Each of the twenty or so hermit crabs of course had their own names and backstories. They couldn't just be mindless guards after all. Rober'ite and Lin'dia had been her two favorites. She totally shipped them together.

Who was the royal family you might ask? Why only the most diverse and fabulous rulers in all of the seven seas! Well first off, she had found a lovely stick and wrapped it in seaweed to make a 'dress' and crown. That was Queen Twigeria, the iron fist of the kingdom. The King was a utterly adoooooorable tiny soft-shell crab that she had managed to catch and dress up in the same mock-outfit of seaweed to match his partner. King Snip-Snaps, a weak man but loyal to a tee! And of course what family would be complete without kids!? Three shiny pebbles acted as the royal children, tucked away in their sand nursery.

Finally, everything was perfect and just the way she wanted it. Peering at her work with pride she couldn't help but notice a very important someone had gone missing-in-action. Gasp! The King was abdicating his throne and trying to make a mad escape!

"Snip-Snaps! NOOoooOOO! Come back! Think of your wife and babies! Think of your people!" She cried out as she chased after the scuttling creature. "You can't just leave them like that! They love yooooou!"

Ohnononono. He was going back to the sea! He'd be gone forever if he made it! The kingdom would fall into ruin without a strong leader at it's helm! Making a running jump to (hopefully) tackle him well...instead she ended up gracelessly face planting - arse end up - right into the sand. Kicking out her back legs frantically she looked like a wiggling worm trying to push it's way out of the sand. Muffled cries could be heard as she struggled to escape from the sand.

Oh no. Was this how she was really going to go out! Death by sand burial!? She didn't want to be known for years as " Oh yeah, that one girl who managed to stupidly get her butt kicked by sand!"

Epine de Rose

This is a roleplay between Hou, Shui, and Yukio. xP Names wouldn't fit in the title.

 

[Epine de Rose]

They were at it again - somehow they had escaped from the clutches of their nannies and escaped. For the most part they hadn't caused too much damage this morning, instead they were going about in their usual fashion. As something akin to a whirlwind they came in a flurry of sand, speed and noise - they would go one way, then shortly after an onlooking lion would see them run another way. To say they were bundles of energy was the understatement of the century. No one was entirely sure where the pair got it from, but it seemed like they never really slowed down.

...Even in their sleep they had been observed to be moving, or talking, generally both. On occasions their siblings had even kicked at them to try and get them to be quiet! Ah, but if only everyone in the world had their boundless energy, they would get so much done.

Or destroyed.

Destruction was the aim of the day today (apparently), as they finally came barreling down the shoreline. They were so busy with their own rough play and games that they were completely unaware of several things. The first came in the form of Yukio's castle, the second was the 'life' in it and the third was well...Yukio herself. As she continued to struggle against the sand, the two rowdy boys soon collided with her sound castle. It came in the form of a muffled thumb and then a very startled blue maned cub stared out from the mount of sand.

"Where did this come from?" he asked in surprise and pulled himself out of the mess. Obviously it took more than a bash to the head to stop this one.

"Iono it wasn't here yesterday," Huo replied as he inspected it. "It's a lil bit broken though," he mused. It seemed that both were ignoring Yukio at this particular moment in time as they investigated her handiwork and their destruction of it.

"It's not the Bumani's is it? Like a tiny house for a mouse of something?"

There was a considerable pause as the pair exchanged glances; then Huo made the decision to take the stick (the queen) and plant her on the top of the now destroyed castle like a flag.

"It'll be fine, there's still enough room in there for a mouse," he observed as he peered down into the hole. "This is more stable anyway," he added with a grin.

It was at this point that they finally took note of Yukio's unusual sounds though and both turned round to inspect the rump that was flailing in the air. Now how had she done that, they wondered. Regardless, she seemed to need their help and the only way they were going to work out what she was doing was if they asked her. Thus, the duo became her heroes as the each grabbed one hind leg and hauled her out.

...It wasn't intentional, but they might very well have dragged her back into her own sand castle again. Because yes, it's initial destruction wasn't enough, it absolutely required a do-over.

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

She honestly didn't know how long she had been stuck there. A good ten or so minutes at the very least. Her struggling and trying to forcefully push her way out had only made the wet sand sink her deeper in. A full on panic attack was starting to set in as the reality that she wasn't going to be able to get out of here without help becoming more apparent. And she needed help soon. Already the dramatic cub was starting to figure out her

But....wait. Hold on a diddly doo second. Were those voices? She might be able to tell death not today after all! Pausing for a moment she carefully tilted her head slightly up, trying to get a clearer sound of the noises above so she could distinguish if they were really voices or just another useless sea critter.

Oh my god they were! SHE WAS SAVED!

Her tail lifted, trying to frantically wave it as a desperate sign of S.O.S. when she felt the sudden grip on her legs. Honestly she could have squealed with joy if it wasn't for the limited oxygen down here. Pushing down with her front legs to help give her rescuers in one sudden POP she was free!

Huzzzzzaaah! Suck it, sand! Lions 1 / Sand 0.

She hadn't even taken a look at her rescuers. The moment that she was pulled from her own self-made death trap Yukio had been hit with a coughing fit to clear the sand from her lungs. Her paws lifting to vigorously rub out the sand from her eyes and nose. Owww. Ow ow ow. Now she understood what her daddy complained about when he said that sand always got in the stuck in the worst parts!

Finally she was able to breath again without it feeling like she had sandpaper for lungs. Her eyes were still watering but she at least function enough to properly address her saviors. As she opened her mouth to start a heartfelt thank you speech what she saw standing before her made her stop. Her mouth closed as she looked down again and rub her eyes once more just for good measure, then look back up
.
Holy balls! Nope she was really seeing a double image of the same person in front of her. A rather blurry - thanks to the tears still streaming - double image at that. Had she perhaps been down in that hole so long that it was starting to mess with her brain? A weird sort of after effect from being brutally attacked by sand? She couldn't say for sure, she honestly had never been assaulted by the ground like that before.

"Are my eyes really that messed up or are there really two of you? I can't tell." Lifting herself onto her rump Yukio leaned uncomfortably close to the pair, almost nose-to nose with them, so she could examine them better. Frowning she continued to stare at them. Okay yeah, they were the same person alright but with different colors?! Oh my god!!!! Why didn't her aunt ever told her the Bahari could clone!? This was sooo cool. Near death experience set aside it was science time!

"I didn't know you guys made clones now. That's really awesome! Why different colors though??? Did they run out of ink? Are there more of you?!" Her voice started to chirp in excitement in the end at the possibility of even more clones running around! "Are you going to grow up or are you like stuck at the age you're made?"

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

The two brothers stared owlishly at the cub as she continued to inspect them. They didn't quite know what clones were, they'd have to terrorise one of the Mwani or Hlare for the answers to that mystery, but for now they could roughly guess her meaning. Was she implying that they looked they exact same except for their slightly different colours?

Probably.

"Of course there are two of us," Shui replied and poked his brother, then himself. "One and two, see?" he added and then shook his head. As she marveled at them and continued to ask her questions they happened to exchange glances. She was an even weirder oddball than the ones they had met in the snow! And the adults called them crazy; clearly they hadn't met this lil chickadee...

"We're brothers..." Huo pointed out and laughed.

"And we're not the same I have a butterfly on my nose!" Shui pointed out and tapped his own nose to emphasise the point.

"I got mommy's colour and Shui got dad's," Huo explained and tilted his head to the side. "Ma is orange and white, dad is blue," he added. Yukio may not have seen them wandering around but eventually she might and then she would be able to see how they came to be. How could she not know what a sibling was though? The pair of brothers were decidedly confused by that, generally speaking siblings were a done deal for them!

...But was there more of them?

"Uh... Lessee we got our four older brothers and sisters," Shui counted on his paws. "They're completely blue like the sea," he paused.

"Then we got our own brothers and sisters the same age as us, one is really yellow but the rest are blue." Huo added.

"Oh and my twin is there!" Shui confirmed. "Cept he doesn't have the butterfly," he added and patted his nose again.

"Yeah now he's the exact same colour," Huo said with a grin. "Not like me." Shui gave an enthusiastic nod to emphasise this point.

"Who are you anyway...?" They asked in unison. If there was one thing Yukio would eventually realise, it was often that the pair operated in sync. They tended to move as one and their conversations flowed as though they were one being, or simply knew what the other wanted to say next. Truth be told some of the older lions assumed that they took 'turns' to speak just so that other people could understand them!

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

Yukio's mouth formed it's self into a 'O' as she quietly back away from them, plopping gracelessly back down onto her butt, unknowingly squishing her masterpiece to oblivion in the process. The wind in her balloon having been popped spectacularly now that she realized her mistake.

Brothers. That...would make a lot more sense. Even if it was tad bit more boring from the dramatic mass-produced cloning story her mind had been cooking up. The brothers would have to learn that a thriving creativity often swept up the white cub, leaving reason behind in the dust until someone was kind enough to pull her back down to Earth.

Still, she hadn't encountered anyone who looked so alike as these two! She didn't even know siblings could come so similar in coloring and markings. All of hers were so different from each other that one could easily mistake them from being from separate litters. This would definitely be the main topic she'd bring back later tonight when they went over what she learned today.

Her eyes widened at the long list of siblings. Holy heck! How did they all fit?! She couldn't help but suddenly blurt out, "There are more of you who look the same!? How do you guys keep up...? When I had siblings I had trouble keeping their names straight and we all looked different."

The tables had turned on the cub, their first question they had for her sent her reeling back. It wasn't the fact that they spoke in union, that she wasn't bothered by. If they could handle her wild barrage of outlandish questions then she could handle their own speech quirks. No what made her panic was the blunt reminder that she was so caught up in wanting to know what they are she didn't even bother to ask who they are! Oh my gossssh. It was a good thing her guardians weren't in earshot or she'd be spending the rest of the night having a crash course in manners!

Grinning sheepishly at the brothers, Yukio lifted a paw to rub down the back of her neck. She was going to have to work on damage control ASAP. "Oh! I'm so so sorry. I'm Yukio! I'm visiting my auntie Ume right now." Pausing she gestured to the two of them as she spoke next. "Who are you two?"

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

The pair of cubs exchanged glances again, this was the process in which the magic happened and they both appeared to be conversing on a level that no other individual would ever have a hope of understanding. Fortunately they did have some manners and both came crashing back to the present as she sat on the 'mouse house'. Unsurprisingly the pair of twins gave a very overly dramatic, horrified gasp as she crushed it, destroying what remained of the house that Shui had technically already destroyed when he got here.

"Oh no you killed them!" Huo declared as he bounded forward and hauled Yukio back off the house. "Call the medics, stat!" he continued as Shui rushed forward, ducking under her legs to unceremoniously inspect the 'room' that had once be there. It wasn't there anymore, she had thoroughly smooshed it and left no hope for Mr. Mouse to return home to an intact house.

"It's dead, Huo," Shui declared sadly. "Mr. Mouse is gonna be real mad when he sees his house like this," he pointed out and patted the mound of sand. He eventually hauled himself back out again and brushed the sand off his coat. It was with a cluck of his tongue that he moved away again and took a seat, tapping his seat thoughtfully.

...Huo promptly dropped Yukio again.

"We could always shove a really big stick in it to make a new hole?" Huo suggested.

"That would just make it a tunnel though," Shui pointed out.

"True, true..." Huo replied and mimicked his brother's posture as he examined the remains.

"OH!" Shui grinned and Yukio and motioned to himself. "I'm Shui," he said finally and shook his head. "And I dunno, we just always remember our own siblings, seems kinda weird not to."

"We see them every day," Huo pointed out and then grinned in much the same fashion as his brother. "Name's Huo," he added.

"Nice to meet you," they chimed as one and then furrowed their brows.

"But now we have more pressing matters," Shui's expression became grave.

"Yeah we really need to rebuild this before Mr. Mouse gets back," Huo confirmed and gave a small sigh. "How are we going to get another flag, will one of those really big leaves do, do ya think?"

...By flag they meant the queen obviously...

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

Yukio didn't even have time to blink before the brothers were on her! Being hauled up into the air unexpectedly caused an imminent reaction of her clinging onto whatever she could get her paws around, that thing being Huo's neck. Tightening her grip on him she dared lean over his head to see what had gotten their feathers all ruffled.

The noise emitted from Yukio was something other worldly, akin to a shriek of a banshee, once she saw her poor masterpiece in shambles. Dramatic? Oh yes. Horrified? Check. At a inhumanly ear piecing volume that probably echoed for miles? Yep indeedy! "MY KINGDOM!!"

The moment Huo dropped her Yukio was back up again, circling around the mish-mash of shells, sea weed, twigs, and sand that was once a pretty decent looking home. She replied back to the twins, not bothering to look up from her investigation of the remains. "Shui and Huo? Nice to meet you two..erm too!"

Stopping she let out a little ah-ha before starting to dig, not missing a beat in their conversation. "I agree. We have urgent matters here, boys. The Royal Shell Brigade has been completely wiped out. No survivors." Pausing in her rant she lowered her head, giving them a little moment of silence before continuing. "Rest in Peace. You will be missed. May you have all the....whatever you eat in the next life."

Now that the mini funeral was done she went back to her desperate digging. "Buuuut hopefulllllyyy there is still ho - YES!" Squealing loudly she tenderly pulled three tiny pebbles from the wreckage of the sand nursery. Gathering them up Yukio padded over to Shui setting them down before him with as much care as possible. "Keep watch of the heirs, please! They are this kingdom's future!"

Yukio turned back to the mound once more, her tail swishing excitedly behind her as she plotted out what to do next. "I didn't build this for a mouse - Though that is a cool sounding project - It was for the royal family of the Great Shells. Here is where we stand so far: King Snip-Snaps abandoned us in our time of need. We have no military. Nor a home currently. Now all that's left is our heirs and perhaps the Queen if she can be found. But flags....hmmm, you're right they are important. A symbol to show that we might be beaten, but we're still here. Right!"

Taking in a deep breath Yukio tilted her head side to side, mimicking her dad cracking his neck before he attempted any hard labor work. It was time to rebuild this sand kingdom even better than before! For the glory of the Shell Kingdom!

Turning back around to face them Yukio dug her front paws into the sand at the foot of the mound before starting to walk backwards, circling around and then to her real target: The ocean. "Why don't you two go find a new flag? I'm going to start on the moat. Ohoohoh, we'll also need a new King as well!"

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Both cubs had placed their paws solemnly over their chests at Yukio had given her brief ceremony. It hadn't been an eloquent one, but in the world of cubs it had been beautiful and they both gave approving nods as she cast the now 'dead' guards to the side.

Ah, but it seemed that she was soon to give them both duties as Shui was graced with a very important task indeed, he gazed at his brother in mock alarm and Huo responded with another grim salute. It was a truly wonderful moment, a moment in which both brothers embraced as one might do when they weren't ready to depart but they must. It was for the best, the Kingdom needed them, it was for the kingdom's future.

"Take care of them, Shui," Huo patted his brothers shoulder. "Don't let anything hurt them, otherwise the Royal Shell Brigade will have died for nothing," he patted down the fur on his chest and then took a deep breath. As Yukio gave further orders he soon marched off obediently in search of a new flag. Obviously Shui couldn't go anywhere, he had to guard the heirs from the evils of the world.

...He had to do what the king couldn't.

Granted, it had been Shui who had started the massacre of the Shell Brigade to begin with, but it had been Yukio who had dropped the atomic bomb on them. Collectively the trio of cubs had successfully wiped out a kingdom leaving only some very minor survivors. So what if they were pebbles? No one knew those pebbles lives, they could have been princes and how dare you judge them because their father was ever so slightly more mobile. You couldn't even judge them because he was a coward, how dare he walk out on his kingdom...their daddy would never do that.

"Go forth mighty heroes," Shui cried with a lofty wave. "I'll protect them, I swear it, I swear it on the Shell Brigade!"

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

Yukio stopped in her construction work to watch the brothers. Truly, it was a touching yet a touch macabre scene for cubs to be reenacting. It had brought a small tear to her eye which she quickly used the back of her paw to wipe away. There were no tears in the Shell Brigade! This was no time for weeping like a baby! They had a job - no - DUTY to rebuild the Shell Kingdom to it's former glory! Still, she hadn't taken into consideration the fact that with her orders the twins would be split up. Hindsight being twenty/twenty she most likely wouldn't have forced them apart. It just felt so wrong to see one without the other.

Ah, but being a leader brought with it tough choices. Couldn't take it back now.

"Be safe! And no matter what happens if you run into trouble just keep running, Huo!" With final sage nod Yukio went back to her task at hand. She completed the circle moat around the new construction site. It would serve two purposes! First: it would be a great wall, a warning to others - aka hyperactive bombs of chaos like the trio - to stay far away from the Shell Kingdom! Secondly: it would divert the surf from ruining their hard work for at least a few hours until high tide rolled in. A little trick her auntie had shown her a few days ago.

Step one, complete. Step two: Rebuild the castle. They needed to have some sort of home before they went and looked for more occupants. Because no one wanted sad, lost little homeless crabs. No one. The Shell kingdom would have a proper home to be proud of by the end of the day or all was for naught.

With much more care this time Yukio plunked herself down in front of the mound. She began to reach out a paw to start rebuilding everything when she paused, looking over her shoulder to the lone twin. It seemed rude to just ignore him, but he was the important royal guard at the moment. Hrm...OH! Two builders are better than one! He could help add some new additions to the nursery that even she didn't think of! PERFECT! "Shui, you wanna bring the heirs over here and we can build the nursery together?"

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Shui had at first fumbled with the 'heirs' as he puttered over to help, accidentally losing one of them somewhere in the moat. It had been yet another casualty of war, but he had managed to ensure the safety of the remaining two and with the combined efforts of both himself and Yukio, they eventually had a 'nursery' to stay in. It was all a bit much for a pair of heirs who technically couldn't run away, they had no legs after all, but who was he to judge.

He had started working on several of the walls by the time his brother had returned, bounding along with a long thin stick and the biggest leaf ever. Clearly he had gone in to the jungle to collect what they had both had in mind. All in all, Huo was looking incredibly proud of himself as he deposited the items beside him and came to inspect the handiwork of both the remaining cubs - they'd been busy while he was away to say the least.

A moat, a nursery and the walls were looking fairly decent as well.

"So where does this go?" he asked as he lifted up the stick and gave it another wave. He hadn't yet attached the 'flag' to the mast as it were, he would do that after he was certain it had been secured properly. Hell, with a flag pole this long he was making sure it couldn't possibly be knocked down, not without it being crushed really hard again... And for that, someone was going to have to sit on it again!

"Hrm..." Shui tapped his chin thoughtfully and then pointed to one of the more complete walls. "In that there corner, it looks like it'll be strong enough there," he confirmed. His brother soon moved to that point and immediately stabbed the stick into it, sinking it as far as he could in. Eventually only about half of it was visible, the rest submerged in the wet sand. After that...it was only a matter of attaching the flag to it, which would require a bit more grace on Huo's part than he was usually capable of...

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

It was tragic that two of the poor heirs lost their lives in the great chaos of the move. The casualty count just kept rising more and more as the day went on.The new king and queen would have to make more at once in order to insure their family line. Which meant Yukio would have to find some more colorful pebbles before this was all over. Another item to add to the to-do list!

Her ears perked as she stopped mid-conversation to turn around. Gasping in awe her eyes lit up with excitement at the sight of the the ginormous leaf and new found flag pole. She gave Huo a very well deserved clap of the paws. "It's perfect! Where did you find a leaf like that!? It's almost as big as me!" Getting up Yukio backed away to give them the space they needed to find the perfect spot for the new flag. She would leave this decision up to the boys, after all they seemed to have it handled.

"That looks like a good spot. Just be careful not to nick the moat or everything could come crashing down from the water flooding the walls." She casually reminded as he worked to shove the pole into the sand.

Yukio finally headed back over to join the twins now seeing how Huo was struggling to attach the flag. Just by experience of being someone who dealt with building crazy projects she could gather it was far too big and heavy in this state to be properly held up by the stick without splitting the pole in half or causing it to sink in the wet sand. "Mind if I have a shot?" Casting Huo a understanding smile once given the okay she took the leaf in her front paws, dragging it down with her as she sat down with it so she could work with more stability.

As soon as her butt hit the sand Yukio immediately got hard to work. Using a claw like a exacto-knife she carefully trimmed the sides down to a pointed taper. Putting the scraps over to the side she made a quick mental note to make use of them later.
A good craftswoman never leaves anything to waste!

Turning the leaf around she carved crude markings of a shell with a crown over it, surrounded by swirls that were much like the twin's own on the leaf. They served the purpose of giving it some flare and to lighten it so it wouldn't cause the pole to sink.

Getting back up she lifted the leaf onto the stick with her mouth, taking great care not to punch holes in it with her teeth. Jamming a good portion of the leaf onto the stick she paused her work to lean herself onto one side, once done she lifted up a now free paw to fold over the leaf before stabbing it the rest of the way down.

There! Now the castle had a flag that wouldn't blow off even in the harshest winds.

Righting herself back to all fours Yukio took a step back to admire her work with pride. The newly formed castle was almost done! The Shell Kingdom would be reborn she dared say within the next hour. "It looks great! Now though we need to find a replacement for the King and Queen. These poor babies and this kingdom can't be left as orphans. Though....perhaps another crab wouldn't make the best choice given the last one was so flighty." Anything mobile for that matter that could escape erm...abandon the kingdom wouldn't be the best idea. Popping her lips softly she turned to her new partners in crime to get their insight. "Any ideas?"

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

"I got it in the jungle," Huo seemed to be a touch bemused by the cub's query. Had she not been in there and seen the plants for herself? If she hadn't, then the brothers were going to have to introduce her to the wonders of the colours, smells and company that lived there. If she'd never been in there then it meant she'd never met the baboons and one should always meet the baboons, it was better to have them on your side when things turned nasty.

...They'd come to realise that, and one day, they would bring that observation to their father too.

Nevertheless, he flushed with pride at the fact that he had found something wonderful for her. While he might have been a little hellion, he loved to succeed. As a pair, the two boys loved a good challenge and enjoyed it even more when they managed to achieve a victory. It might not be completely obvious in the way they handled themselves at the moment but some day it would be much more apparent.

However when she mentioned the need for a king and queen Huo glanced at Shui.

Unsurprisingly, Shui was rubbing his chin thoughtfully in much the same fashion as their father did when he was considering an idea or six. Now if he was his father, where would he get a new pair of monarchs and what would they be? He pondered over this for a few moments before giving his claws a little snap. Without any warning the blue and white cub soon bounded off in a similar direction to where Huo had gone the first time... No doubt he'd be back shortly.

He'd had a brainwave, he had the perfect thing in mind for the monarchs!

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

"The...jungle?" Yukio blinked utterly bewildered as she looked to her friend for an answer. "I haven't seen any jungles around here yet. Oh! Perhaps you two can show me it sometime?" Surprisingly she had yet to find time to explore the Bahari lands as thoroughly as she would have liked. Her aunt and father had done a pretty decent job at keeping her preoccupied and entertained that she simply hadn't had the chance to run out and explore without boundaries until today.

Yukio was much less surprised this time when the twins silently communicate with each other before Shui darted off into the unknown. To her credit she was getting use to the fact that they worked on the same brainwave and were prone to run off the moment an idea got into their heads. She couldn't really complain in that regard, since she was infamously guilty of the same thing. Yukio calmly waved Shui off without the grand sent off as his brother had received. She figured her earlier warning to keep running if trouble arose would still be fresh enough in his mind that she needn't repeat herself.

Instead she focused her attention back to the castle to ponder what was left to be done. Unlike the twins who tapped their chins when they were lost in thought, Yukio preferred to circle the object in question, taking notes as she went around. Well, most of the walls were now rebuilt and stable, the moat was done, flag proudly was blowing in the wind, even the nursery was complete and what was left of the heirs were snugly in place. Hm, it seemed the rest of the work left was mostly cosmetic; which she wanted to leave as a last activity all three could partake in. Or the rest of the construction needed the new monarchs in place to properly judge their weight and size to build around them.

Soooo, that left the pair left with nothing to do! Well there was one thing that she could would on why they waited for the blue twin to return. It was just something that was better left as a one woman job however...

With a sigh she moved over to her previous working spot to collect the pile of scraps leftover from the flag. After Yukio made her way over to Huo, plopping herself next to him. "Sorry, I'm gonna need your paw really quick." That was all the warning the fiery twin got before she grabbed his paws with one of hers. Turning it over and back again she studied it carefully taking in the size and width of his leg. She assumed that the twins were pretty evenly build but even so she'd have to leave a little wiggle room in the size.

Leaning over her arm, Yukio grabbed a couple strands of the left-over leaf in her mouth before laying them over his wrist. She meticulously adjusted the four strands to her corrected estimates. Using her free paw she sliced the strands to the right length. "Perfect! Thank you so much, Huo!" She gave him a short nuzzling head bump to emphasize her gratitude. Letting go of his paw she reclaimed the strips, starting her work to weave two strips together in a crude bracelet with her paws humming softly as she worked.

Things were relatively calm and quiet for once with the cubs. Yukio's energy was entirely focused into crafting a heartfelt sign of the newly formed friendship between the trio. She adored to make people happy and had a passion to create things that did just that. Whether it made their lives easier or just was a small gift she yearned to put her talents to good use for the people she cared about. Much later in her life she would find a nice balance of functionally and creativity in her works that would prove to be a great asset to her home but for now she was proud of her what she could accomplish.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Huo stared cluelessly at Yukio as she manhandled his paw and seemed to perform some sort of voodoo on it. By the time she was finished, he had already lifted it up to inspect it for whatever she might have done, oblivious to the fact that she was now hard at work making...something. Finding nothing that would seem to indicate he had been subject to witchcraft, he soon set his little paw down again and turned to watch what she was doing with interest. He'd seen some of the older lions do this before, he wasn't entirely sure what it was, but it was definitely something...

He preferred a little bit of mystery though and rather than ask her exactly what she was up to, he simply sat obediently by her side and waited for his brother to return. Knowing what said brother was acquiring, he wouldn't be long, Shui had gone for something that was relatively easy to find, it was just the transporting of said objects that would prove a bit troubling.

...And that was precisely what was causing the delay.

No sooner had Huo begun to wonder where his brother had gone, than he saw his little tail and the tell tale signs of a struggle. Without a word he bounded forward to help, meeting his brother half way to acquire one of the 'monarchs' that he had located. It was then that the pair began to roll said monarchs towards Yukio, both displaying them proudly as they came to a halt. Between their paws, approximately half the size of the cubs themselves, sat two coconuts.

"Tada!" Shui announced and patted his on the 'head'. "Look they even have little faces," he added and pointed at the notches in the coconut. Now whether she could identify this one as the queen or king remained to be seen, truthfully Shui hadn't actually sat down to consider which was which yet, so it was anyone's guess.

"They look just like their kids and everything!" Huo added.

...Well they almost did, at least they couldn't physically walk away this time, that was at least a similarity...

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

Yukio was completely oblivious to her friend's bemusement over her own antics. Members of her family were use to her randomly rushing up and manhandling them to get correct measurements for outfits or various crafts. In her excitement she had forgotten that might not share the same sentiments as her family and might even be very put off by being handled in such a way.

Luckily the twins seemed to have an open mind. Why Huo might be confused at what the hell she was up to, he didn't seem offended. In good time it would be revealed what the grand purpose of her 'witchcraft' was. But that was a surprise met for both of the brothers!

Yukio dropped what she was doing to stand alert when Huo suddenly rushed off to provided assistance. Her face lit up with glee as she bound happily towards them, meeting them half way. "Oh my goodness they're adorable!" Lowering her head she rested it on her front paws, her tail wagging excitedly behind her as she examined the new pair of monarchs. He was right they DID have faces! They were absolutely too freaking precious. Plus there wasn't any risk of them abandoning their posts like the previous rulers.

But....they needed something show their ranks as well as something to differ one from the other! Her head snapped back upright, a brilliant idea popping into her head. Without saying a word she darted back off to the previous castle's remains. Digging through them vigorously it wasn't long before a high-pitched squeal was heard as she pulled out what she sought after. Yukio struggled to figure out a way to carry her cargo back efficiently. She couldn't carry them on her back or head, nor did she have her trusty backpack on today to put them in. Rolling her shoulders she braced herself. Looks like this would just have to be done the old fashioned way.

What exactly was the old fashioned way? Well stuffing as much as you could in your mouth of course!

Though it surely gave the twins cause for laughter at the sight of her. Her cheeks were puffed out, stuffed much like hamster with her cargo. Even so legs of the starfish she sought after poked through her mouth. Once she had trotted back over to them Yukio wasted no time spitting them back out. She cleaned them off by rubbing them off in the sand. She carefully sat the larger of the two dead starfish on one of the coconuts, the smaller starfish going on the other. "There! Now they have little crowns. Since you two found the new King and Queen I'll leave the honors of naming them in your capable paws."

Epine de Rose