The Morning Report

He was out of his element. Everything about this situation labelled him as out of his element, there was chattering all around. Loud whoops and shouts coming from random beings all settled across the room, it was too loud for his old nerves and the old jungle king gritted his teeth in irritation. Why had he thought joining up with these jokers, fools, and what have you's was a good idea? He wasn't sure but something had brought him there. The sound of footsteps carrying across the floor however caught his attention, solid single golden hue fixating on the source of the noise and watching the King carry himself to his throne. Two canides followed in close pursuit, obviously the King's guards. It wasn't a new sight for him, he had been there a few days longer than the rest and had already been assigned a rank, but he had still not grown use to such a thing.

Long black, white, and orange ringed tail curled before thudding loudly against his perch. Settled on one of the many tables scattered around as if to give himself a better view of his surroundings. As the King introduced himself and addressed the court, Shere Khan turned his disgruntled gaze away from the other. He wasn't sure what to make of the King yet, he held his judgement for now. Despite the fact he already disliked humans, he was trying his best to push by past reinforced judgments but it was hard.

This whole situation was hard, rooted from his home and placed in the center of a man made town. It was no place for him but he would deal with it in the only way he could, with a scowl and moving forward without a word.

Spines was doing his thing.

Which of course meant he could’ve been doing just about anything, regardless of how appropriate it was or wasn’t.

At the moment, he was being surprisingly tame. He sat on the ground, his legs folded. Occasionally, his tail would jitter. It was a thinking jitter. The dumb hyena trope didn’t hold true for this mammal; his mind was going a million miles a minute, hence way his mouth was shut. What was going through his head: who knows? But Spines definitely had an agenda in showing his face.

He looked at his peers, apparently sizing them up. This was his first opportunity to really get an idea of how varied this gathering was. He was hoping to see all kinds of faces. So far, the human leader, two dogs, a large cat and some manner of human-like bird creature.  What sort of characters would he come across?  It appeased his curious nature: his need for variation.

The striped hyena had nothing to say; now was the time for watching.  He seemed excited.

More and more interesting creatures seemed to pack into the Court of Miracles, and more new scents graced Sherekhan's nose. Eyes narrowed as he tried to memorize each one, while they were all allies at the moment there was no telling who would turn in the future. It was best to know the scents now instead of later, he thought to himself. Voices spoke from the crowd, a 'man' with wings and a snake that slithered across the floor. Harvest gold hue studied the pattern of the beast scales before his muzzle wrinkled in disdain, mind reminding him of a reptile he had once encounter back in India. Though much larger than this one, that much was certain.

Black tipped ear folded back as a canide tumbled into the court, smelling of dirt and other less pleasant things. His muzzle twitched, teeth being revealed as he pulled back his lips, the low rumble of a growl bubbled in his chest. "Nothing of importance, wolf." His voice seemed to edge on irritated, who he was irritated with though was unclear. The large male stood up from where he was laying, he lowered just below his haunches as he stepped down from his perch. Moving away from the striped hyena and wolf, casting a glance towards Spines to familiarize himself with the other's features before heading for Clopin.

The king was busy introducing his hounds but the maneater didn't let that stop him. Moving to stand in the front of the crowd and turning his head up towards the other. "Speaking of fighting, we should give everyone their ranks. That way people can familiarize themselves with who they'll be fighting alongside, don't you think?"

“No freaking way. Am I dreaming? That can’t be Cerberus, can it?”

Taylor’s voice preceded her, as she came into the great hall, walking in between two unicorns. The smaller one tilted her head, regarding the fact that there was a large, three-headed dog standing in their midst.

“I don’t think you’re dreaming. That’s definitely—“

“CERBERUS!”

Before either Taylor or Sophia could react, Bob had already taken off at a full gallop towards the massive three-headed dog. He skidded to a stop by one of the dog’s paws, and rose on both hind legs, resting his pink hooves on the dog’s leg.

“I haven’t seen y’all in forever! Are you here with anyone? Is it Circe? Is it another god?!”

His voice then dropped to a whisper.

“Is it Hades?”

“Does he…does he know him?” Taylor asked. Sophia shrugged, and continued on, attempting to shrug off her brother’s behavior. She wasn’t even sure if they were late or early to this meeting, but her brother sure knew how to make a first impression.


Clopin was at a pause. He was expecting animals and humans, but he definitely was not expecting a massive, three-headed dog, and not one, but two unicorns. He was so sure that they were only myths. But there they stood, as alive as his own dogs by his side. The gypsy king took a brief moment to compose himself, as he saw the strange angel approach the canine and talk to him. The dog seemed familiar with her, as two of its three heads barked happily. The barks resounded throughout the hall, echoing off the walls. One of the unicorns seemed familiar with the dog as well. The crowd below began to murmur at the sight of the mythical creatures, and Clopin knew he had to calm them down, at least to continue on with questions.

Dante himself seemed a little unnerved, while Virgil was intrigued. However, both canines remained by their king’s side. The gypsy king raised both his arms over the crowd and waved, with a reassuring smile upon his face.

“Do not panic! We knew we would be meeting many different soldiers today, and as it turns out, the mighty Cerberus is one of them.” Clopin said, with a nod towards Jenn. As long as she could keep the dog under control, Clopin figured they would all be fine. Another question arose, prompting him to face Shere Khan.

“Ranks will be posted in the food hall. From there, once everyone is settled, we will begin training sessions, so that the Rogues are ready for any intruders. We are like hornets, and we must protect our hive.” Clopin said.

"Country? Countryside? I've never heard of those things." Chaara thought, looking around this strange forest of stone. She had heard of villages, where humans live, but never had she expected to come across anything as overwhelming as this place.

"Well, I suppose that as long as we're all given proper guidance, we shouldn't worry." Chaara said to the king, trying to sound optimistic. She examined Virgil, suddenly appearing doubtful that a mere canine could guide someone as great as herself. But she realized that her best chance of survival was to pledge herself to Clopin.

"And who will train us? You and your dog, Virgil?" Chaara asked. "With respect, are you sure some of us truly need training? I, for one, am a natural predator with experience to defend myself and others."

It hadn't taken long for Hades to pinpoint where his lousy mutt and unofficial third minion had disappeared to after he noticed their sudden absence. 
In a puff of black smoke, the lord of the dead appeared in the quickly filling hall, a quick glance was all he needed to spot Cerberus, and Jenn. Ignoring the array of colourful characters gathered in the room, he walked over to the two.

---

Jenn looked over when she heard someone else call out Cerberus' name. A unicorn with a bright pink mane came galloping over to the giant dog. She wondered how he knew Cerberus, since unicorns were pure creatures, and definitely not the kind you would expect to ever find in the Underworld.
Cerberus meanwhile looked down at the brightly maned unicorn as he approached, for a second going on the aggressive with three low growls, but quickly he realized who it was and cut himself off. 
"BOB!" "Bob?" "Hey Bob."
All three heads greeted the unicorn, leaning over to better see him as he spoke, asking who he was here with, he shook his heads with each name, 
"No," "here with not-master, Jenn" "girl with purple wings."

Jenn meanwhile stared at the seemingly one sided conversation Bob was having with Cerby, all she could hear from the dog were grumbling noises, but it seemed the unicorn understood him regardless.
She looked back up when Clopin mentioned Cerberus being a part of their ranks, and smiled. She gave a sharp nod, understanding that he would allow the dog to stay as long as she kept him on a hypothetical leash.
She only half listened to the rest of the conversations between her fellow army recruits, as only a moment later, she noticed an all to familiar plume of smoke out of the corner of her eye.
"oh great..."

Hades walked up to Jenn, gripping one of her arms as he leaned over to whisper in her ear,
"You. Me. Talk outside, now."
Jenn frowned, but nodded, pulling her arm from his grip and walking past Cerberus and out the doors, Hades following close behind.
Once outside, Hades crossed his arms, staring down at the angel,
"So, mind explaining why you left all of a sudden, taking my dog with you?"
"I didn't bring Cerby with me, he just followed me here. And I left because... I dunno, there was something big going on, and I wanted to be part of it."-

---
Cerberus had seen Hades appear and watched as he and Jenn went outside. While they were outside talking, he turned his attention back to Bob, glad to see his old friend. When you're a giant three headed dog, you don't get many of those.
"You're here," "why?" "Who are you with? Other unicorn and small girl?"