ORIGIN

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Slowly, awkwardly, Eve began to climb out of Dragon's mouth and up onto his snout. She looked somewhat bleary-eyed, a talon moving to hold onto her beak. Luckily though, it didn't look cracked or broken. The plan for food was off, it seemed.

"Let's go to Eridanus," said the crow, wincing when she moved her beak to talk. Slowly, she lowered her talon and walked the walk of shame back up to Dragon's head, settling down and placing her talon back onto her beak.

She'd stick to leftovers.


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He was relieved that she was alive, and the two made perfect sense in the "going-to-Eridanus" thing.

"Okay," he agreed.
"Let's check the tunnel, make sure we don't walk right past it. Then go there and find... er. 'Fruit?'"

I wonder if fruit is good to eat.

Dragon turned, sniffing and blinking blearily along the walls of the tunnel. He began to poke his snout into the cracks and crevices in the walls, near the stairs, by the gaps in the worn rock. There were strange rounded stones that sounded hollow when he bumped them, and overhanging ledges that looked like they could hide things.

Somehow Dragon doubted that the collar was here, but it'd be silly not to check before leaving, since it's why they were out there to begin with. Despite bumping right into the jars, though, it didn't even occur to him to try and look into them from the top. And despite leaning upward against the cave walls, he couldn't get high enough to look up over the ledges.

With a hissing grunt, he fell back, and dragged himself further toward Eridanus, still searching, but hoping the others could be of more help.

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The crow was suprised when she felt a leathery wing wrap around her. It wasn't a thing she'd ever felt before, but she turned her head to affectionately preen the fur on the back of Tal'at's neck a little before carefully wriggling herself free.

She looked around the caves, doing her best to squint at the more darker places in search of something, anything that could hide creatures or collars in. She spotted a few things, in fact. She flew over to a few cracks in the walls, though found nothing - not even the pesky rat.

Though, when she flew up to a strange, crusty old pot. It was strange, but honestly not out-of-place for tunnel I. She could see the faintest glimmer inside as she lifted her head, sharply squawking for Dragon to come over.

"I'm too small to go in there," she said.

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Dragon lifted his head, peering at the two flighted tiny-things where they fretted about a --something... up on a ledge. He snorted softly, breath rumbling.

He couldn't get up there--no way. For a split second, a twinge of... not jealousy, but longing, almost loss.

I wish I could fly.

More coherent and useful things pushed that wistful yearning away, though. Maybe he couldn't get up there, but he could surely give them a bit of light? Or Eve, at least?

"I'll try to give you some light, but it will only last a minute. Be ready and don't block it," he warned.

The alligator opened his jaws and inhaled, the sparkle of glowing embers flaring up deep within his maw as the air flowed in and over it. Then he exhaled, the flames lurching forth and guttering up near the ceiling--not close enough to singe the two, but enough to give them some brief, if harsh, light to see by.

Dragon kept it up for two or three seconds and then, as abruptly as it'd begun, the searing fire ceased. He coughed lightly, panting and regaining his breath for a moment before speaking, a smoldering hiss still crackling over his aching maw. He'd cast this spell many times, and it hardly even hurt anymore--but the sting was still there.

At length he managed to ask, "Did you see anything?"

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Eve lifted a talon to scratch the side of her head thoughtfully. "The crown's heavy and once you get in you might not be able to fly out," warned the crow, before Dragon shouted. She gave a squawk downwards, shifting away a little.

She didn't mind the light despite it's harshness, but she did wince a little before she looked down, catching the sight of familiar crimson cloth. Carefully, the crow hopped down and approached the edge. "I think it's in there!" called down Eve.

She turned back to the pot and Tal'at, tilting her head. "We could throw the thing down for Dragon to get it? He could pull it out without getting stuck, I think."

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Dragon blinked, slowly slithering backward along the rock. He was getting out of the way, ready for the others to push whatever they'd found down, still whole and in the jar.

What if it lands upside-down and doesn't break?

He eyed it as he backed up, but by his judgement, it'd be breakable easily enough, even if he couldn't flip it back over--and he was pretty sure that he could. Fire would probably do it, if not. Fire could do anything.

No, the alligator was more concerned with being hit and pierced by flying jar-shrapnel. Who knew how old these things were, anyway? They might be shards of pointy rock, or ancient weapons or--or it was anyone's guess, really, but the point was, he had to get out of the way, and so he did.

Once he was a safe distance back, he called up again--still keeping one eye on the far end of the tunnel in case of golems.

"Okay! I'm out of the way!"

...They had been waiting for him to move, right?

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Eve glanced over the ledge before actually helping Tal'at, nodding once Dragon moved away. She flew up next to Tal'at, observing the pot for a moment at a distance.

"Move outta the way. I got an idea."

Eve's plan seemed to involve a running start, and once Tal'at moved out the way there was a clack-clack-clack of running talons, followed by a loud, hollow clang and an increasingly familiar screech of agony. Needless to say, the crow's obviously flawless plan ended in the crow lying on her back with her talons in the air.

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