ORIGIN - Once Upon A Time...

Kai stopped not far into Leo.

There were a few reasons for that. First, after the dimness of the tunnel, it was bright: the light sparkled off the waves, filling the air with its glow, and she had to stop to let her sight adjust. Second, it was grand: she felt she had to give her first glimpse of its enormous expanse a good few moments to sink in, as if the cave itself deserved respect. Third, however, was that she was here with the Prince of Void, and as its Knight of Flowers, it was her duty to ensure that the area was safe.

At least, that's what she'd decided; and Veil hadn't really seemed to disagree with her, at least not in any way that she'd been able to ascertain. They had met in Pisces, and in their first stumbling, clumsy and hesitantly friendly encounter, had come to a few conclusions. So far as they could tell, they both existed (probably); The-Veil-The-Veil-The-Void was a Prince (maybe); and Kai was therefore its Knight (somehow). Finally, and perhaps the farthest leap of logic: as Prince and Knight, they were destined, or perhaps obligated, to go on an Adventure.

And that had brought them here.

"I think it's safe, my Prince," Kai called back, very solemnly. It wasn't that Veil was necessarily holding back, waiting; maybe she'd forged off too far ahead without realizing, or maybe it had paused to again roll in some flowers it had found.

Perhaps belatedly, she concentrated on the plants: the grass, the trees. Her magic was still primarily untested in its strength (she'd lived most of her life wandering aimlessly around Eridanus), but it seemed wise to try and use it now--to get some idea of just how safe Leo might be. She'd never before, after all, seen any place with an ocean, or at least a great bay; she'd never seen the towering sea stacks and smoldering volcano, or anything remotely like it.

A moment's focus and her senses were whisked away, carried off among the plants of Leo: she could better sense the sea breeze, the brush of warmth from the volcano's tunnel, the presence of Lessers in the forests and beneath the waters. When her mind came back, she reeled for a moment, then turned to blink owlish eyes at Veil.

"There's--ahh." This is an adventure. I have to sound professional, she told herself, and began again. "This cave is very large," she started over, speaking solemnly. This was important information, after all, and not at all visible at first glance. "It's full of living things. Plants, and fish, and birds. And there's a hot, dark place farther on, on that mountain," she added, looking back toward the volcano, and then once more to Veil. "Where would you like to visit first, Prince Veil?"

@Veil

Veil followed behind kai, making no signs they were anything but joyful, playfully curious about everything in their own special way, which did mean they stopped a few times to give the wall a lick. as you do. the crown he'd made was, admittedly, slowly falling apart, being made out of at most dried mud and some pretty rocks, but it made him happy wearing it nonetheless, even if he'd have to shake dirt from his face every now and then.

he was happy to follow along, even if he didn't exactly know where draco was, as he hadn't explored much at all.

At kai's words it stepped forward, looking around, skull-face bobbing around almost cartoonishly, what could only be construed as a smile adorning his features, the wide-mouthed kind where it kind of looked like he might be screaming.

he looked around, making a happy squeal of sorts. "This is cool!! very epic!!" he spoke, running up to kai's side, eyeing the cave and how absolutely large and tall the thing was. all the pretty plants and the volcano and the water and the pretty dark hot place kai was talking about, it was so nice!! even if he didn't have the best view of everything, or at all, it was still so much to take in at once!

he cleared his throat, trying to play along too. time to get his mysterious voice on. "yess... The prince of void and veil is pleased with this location." he said, voice a quite silly imitation of what he assumes to be mysterious and brooding. he gives kai a look, out of character, silently asking if he did good, before continuing. "we shall go to the dark hot place first! that would please the prince, Knight kai!"

he looked oh-so proud of himself, smiling like a dork. "i did well, yes? Prince veil did very good! sound so spooky and mystery-ous" he said, almost whispering, giddy with joy as he marched onward.

@Kai

"When I speak"
When I think

(single swearword warning)

If Veil saw his role as something of a cloak--to be pulled on, hung about the shoulders and embraced--Kai saw the entire thing as completely serious. She approached his question with the same solemn thoughtfulness she'd granted everything since she'd met him, because she still wasn't quite sure how people worked and she was pretty sure this was correct. That all of this was perfectly normal. ...It seemed good, anyway.

Never mind the muddy crown; who was to say a crown couldn't be made of dirt?

When Veil expressed his pleasure with the location, she nodded primly, standing firmly upright as she imagined a knight should.

"The hot, dark place, then," she agreed, her tone formal, and lifted a hoof to set off. It was the sort of half-whispered question from Veil that made her pause and turn her head. This confused her, for a moment; he was asking if he was a good Prince? Behaving Princely?

She faltered, setting her hoof back down, and quietly considered. It was brief but intense: she had two options in front of her. She could go with the flow, as she had been, and assure the Prince that he was doing well; or she could quietly admit that she didn't know, either, and that she was just as new to all of this as he was. Maybe this would strengthen their bond, this moment of sharing--but nah. Kai wasn't about to admit anything of the sort.

In fact, she doubled down on her own bullshit.

"Very princely," she assured him in an equally quiet whisper, and with a firm nod. "I have never met a king who's as royal as you are," which was technically correct, as Kai had never met a king. "Very spooky and mysterious." This last part was true; the horrific grin on the skull-faced creature was actually rather unsettling, even if Veil had spent the last few hours pausing to lick the walls.

Kai tried to ignore that, turning away to face forward again as she made her way forward alongside the Prince of Void. She examined the islands, the beach, and the forest as they walked and tried to gauge how to best approach the volcano. "I think if we follow the beach around, it will take us to the hot dark place," she said, at last; "but this sand is terrible to walk in." Sand made you sink and struggle, and little hooves like Kai's didn't do so well. Already it was starting to wear on her, especially after the long walk just to get here. Maybe Veil's weird feet would fare better, but that didn't really factor in to Kai's mind at that moment. She glanced back to him, again, faltering as she tried to decide which set of eyes to meet as she spoke. "...Ahh. Maybe along the treeline?" she suggested, and then solemnly assured the immense void-monster: "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

@Veil