It's quiet in Pegasus. At least, the way quiet can be in nature. It's quiet in the way that there is no voice which rolls across the air, no words which would indicate the presence of something Greater; it's quiet in the way that the birds chirp and sing as they spiral above and about the trees and the river babbles as it flows over the rocks. A little piece of the universe, undisturbed.
Luminescence laps at a little stream that's diverted from the river just enough to be within head's reach, gleaming eyes slightly unfocused in idle thought.
Sie's an adult now, sie thinks. Sie'd stopped shedding nearly as much about a cycle ago—a thing sie was grateful for, for it was an arduous task at the best of times to rub away and slip out of dead skin when sie could only move hir head. Tori was always so helpful in that matter; so patient with hir.
She sleeps now, sie thinks. Not dead—oh, sie would know if she was dead, and sie would weep like the river before her, enough to break its banks and flood the meadows—but distant. Or perhaps she is just quiet. It is hard to tell with the link, sometimes.
But sie is not impatient. Cannot be. Sie will wait, as long as sie has to, to see her again. To fly with her once more, to explore the caves—
—but for now, sie will sit here, and sie will rest, and think, and wonder.
And perhaps someone else will stumble across hir figure, half-coiled at the side of this river, while sie waits.
From Ursa, Karyo had dared venture even further. Past the dreary drip-drip-drip of Tunnel E, the oddly saturated architecture of Cepheus, and the creaking breaths of Tunnel F. The Endless Mile awaited.
It was like Eridanus, Karyo thought, stopping to drink from the winding river. But less hot, and less humid, and less overgrown. Neater. Researcher might like the forest, they thought, lifting their slender head to stare at the gnarled trees. They looked like good climbing, at least from Karyo's inexperienced point of view. But was the soil and leaf litter enough to cushion her if she fell? Without Eridanus' sprawling ferns to slow her descent? They'd noticed their friend becoming... clumsier, lately. Sicker, though they had still yet to find the cause. And oh, how much sleep they'd lost trying to decipher a solution.
(Ironic, that.)
Shaking their head to themselves, the hound wandered onward. Off in their own head as they were, they barely noticed the snake coiled on the ground in time. One paw was already in the air when Karyo's brain registered: wait, that's not soil or leaves. The saluki wobbled, struggling to draw back their momentum without losing their balance, and stumbled back a few steps.
"Sorry," they apologized, an embarrassed grin springing to their face. Then, with a measure of concern this time: "You all right there? Or just enjoying the sun?" Karyo certainly didn't have anything against napping or relaxing, but the python's stillness seemed a little... odd. Or perhaps it was just a snake thing? Karyo didn't know many of those--not a single one, actually, they realized.
can you hear them speak?
@Luminescence
The sound of grass rustling in a way not touched by wind makes Luminescence lift hir head from the river; curious eyes glancing up, expression conflicted. Even as an adult, far larger than most things sie's encountered, fear has always been hir first instinct. Sie hopes for a good encounter, or even a fellow Gembound to share words with, but, oh, the thought that it could be something else… one of the meadow deer, unwary of hir presence, or perhaps that great monster that came from the black cave to burn the forests…
...but luckily, as they are most days, hir fears are unfounded. It is simply a dog wandering the plains, head bowed, eyes distant. Sie wonders what kind of daydreams live within that one's head—what wonders they must have seen, able to walk and jump and sprint and explore.
But daydreams are not the subject of hir wonderings for much longer—as the dog steps forth into the grassy banks of Pegasus' river, and distracted as they are, nearly step solidly on hir head! Not like it would do much, really, but Luminescence still gives an amused hiss as they stumble back, an apology already on their lips.
They must be the kind of daydreams borne of beautiful stories. Sie wonders…