ORIGIN

Khloros wasn't sure where he'd gone, at first--where he'd bolted to. He turned in the mouth of the tunnel, wild-eyed and prancing backward, but he could see that all were escaping safely. The dragon did not seem to be pursuing them, and so Khloros turned and galloped deeper into the sweet-tasting tunnel, cold air and relief washing over him.

He knew this place. Looking around, he realized that this was the tunnel he'd passed through, the tunnel Booker had taken him through on the way here. Booker. But the little creature hadn't answered his cries, and his home had not looked burnt. Unless he'd been caught out in the open and instantly killed, he would be alive. Khloros hoped.

He slowed and turned, sides heaving and young coat slicked with sweat from the heat. The tunnel danced with lights and with the faint orange glow of Polaris's flames. He looked over those present: the badly-wounded fox, the limp and bleeding owl, the alert, swift-looking dog. He wasn't sure what to do, but he could tell that at least two of them needed help.

"Are you okay? I... I'm Khloros. Booker said there were people in Pisces who could help with injuries but--I don't know how to get there. I think this was the way through," he added grimly, referring to Polaris. He leaned forward, blinking at the fox, extending long thin neck to sniff at the injuries Louie had sustained over his eye. "I don't know what to do for you! What happened? How can we help?"

He was distressed at the idea of how much pain the fox was likely in. At least the dog had been quick, but Khloros remembered his burnt paws. And the owl looked little better off, just dangling from the dog's jaws like that. "Where can we go for help?"

He looked at the others, hoping that one of them, at least, had the answer.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

Shit, thought the dog as he listened to the horse who called himself Khloros and he set the owl down gently. Shit, shit, shit, shit.

He'd been to Pisces before - but he entered through the other tunnel. He didn't know this one. He leapt over the owl and ran down the tunnel, seconds later returning and craning his neck down to gently lick the sick owl.

Slowly, he got off his burnt feet, lying next to Dark as he licked the owl's head. "Orion is down that way. I don't know where we can go for help," he said between licks. "There might be another path to Pisces but I don't know where. .. I'm Bones.""


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The owl lay silent bar a soft wheezing, half-hunched and trembling. All he could think of was the burning pain lancing over his skin, itching and searing. All he could feel was the slow trickle of blood from his face, which felt swollen and pained.

The voices sounded distant; the lick on his head was real enough. He gave a soft croak.

"Where I came through... goes to Pisces," he managed softly, referring to the newly-bashed hole in the floor vents of Polaris. Then he stumbled a little, catching himself on one wing so that he was leaning awkwardly to one side.

He wasn't sure how much strength he had left, not after the battering he'd taken at the dragon's breath and air, nor the disease (he assumed burns) that were still prickling over his flesh. So he summoned up his magic and reached out to the first mind that he could--Louie--staring directly at him with half-closed blind gem-eyes and trying to impart to him what he'd experienced, directly, mind-to-mind. This way, if he passed out, at least somebody knew.

"I'll show you."

For a moment, all--for Louie--would be a symphony of sound: the rumbling roar of a dragon, the voices of many gembound arguing, fighting. If Louie knew the tones of Nemesis, of Baratheon, of the stag or Rafael, of Cancer--of any of those who spoke and who roared in the Fiery Pit--he might recognize them now, might hear them in the "picture" that the owl was trying to give him of what had happened. The sounds of combat, of laughing, taunting, the great dragon's rumbling voice a menace--and then the beating of impossibly large wings, and the crash and crumble of rock as it burst through the vents and into Polaris.

When it passed--and it would only take a moment--Dark would be blinking tiredly in Louie's direction, hoping that he'd managed to explain, through his magic, what had occurred to bring the dragon here. And where they were, in relation to Pisces, now.

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All the skin around the wound area had pulled in tight, the cauterization only providing minimal relief of his injuries. This hurt more than anything else before and despite his pride, he found himself whimpering slightly. But upon noticing most eyes were fixed upon him as they sat in this dark tunnel he froze. Immediately, he straightened up and attempted to look proper, his head still hung to the right as he had gained a couple of pounds of rock on the side of his face.

Quietly among themselves, they began talking about where to seek help but Louie wasn't going to remain around for that. If they really wanted help they would use their own intuition rather than crawling back to a place they called "home". They weren't good enough for him to consider warriors. Able to stand slightly, he got up, his face was still hot, burning even but it was dulling the overall extent of the pain. Which is sad considering he was whimpering before. "No. I'm not going to Pisces." One eye hardening its gaze, he look to the dog who had even thought of suggesting it.

But before he could continue on what he suggested, he was bombarded with images from Dark and as they flashed across his eyes he cried out in shock. Not expecting this, he did fall backwards into a sitting position before becoming overbalanced and landing on the ground with an "oof". Teeth gritting his skull, he managed to catch glimpses of what had happened. Why this thing now existed and it had begun in his home. Of course, he'd noticed there being a random giant hole in the ground, as well as a large chrysalis near it. Putting two and two together, he could now confirm the weird feelings were in fact coming from Nemesis reabsorbed.

Alright, this just go a lot weirder and he focused his attention on Dark. This was the only one he knew in the small group and he could see he was badly affected by his magic. Pity was something not often given, but maybe it was the immense pain he was in, the hard knock he had taken when he was battered by the glob of molten fire or something else but he sent out as inconspicuously as he could, his Fauna Cleanse magic to cure the disease he had imparted on the small bird...

...So he had calmed down just a bit, he had an explanation of what was going on and where this had all started. In his time on the platforms practicing, he had forgotten that the world would continue to pass by him quickly. Not at all ashamed he had in fact caused them to suffer at the hands of his Micro Cloud, he had to return the favour that Dark had done by giving him glimpses of the past. Heart beat still at a crazy tempo, it was like he could feel the skin rushing to mend itself, melding in with the rock on his face. That would have to come off.

"Ok. There is no way I'm going to Pisces. That group..." Not unless he went under the guise he was merely a traveler in danger. But he knew most of the occupants that dwelt under the waterfall and he wasn't sure if he was even on good terms with them. Looking to the horse who had called himself Khloros, he wondered if he would come with them. Though a skeletal horse might not be able to offer much he could extort him. Although he'd made the mistake of attempting to kill them before.

"Louie. Offering no context, he figured it was obvious that it was indeed a "name".

The foal could tell that Louie was older than him. He immediately assumed that he could just ask him for advice, for guidance; he assumed that the fox was trustworthy and capable and willing to lead the group. His injuries seemed bad, yes, but he still seemed coherent and intelligent, and so Khloros spoke again.

"Louie. Are you okay? ...Where should we go?"

And just like that, he left the question hanging, and their fates; he was dropping the lives of all of them, or at least if the others listened, into Louie's devious paws. The black foal stood there, eyes locked on the fox with a strange mix of courage and fear, and implicit trust; his gaze was steady, strong, his nostrils flaring and body trembling ever-so-slightly. But his voice was stoic enough, and he showed no signs of bolting.

It seemed that wherever Louie suggested he go, he'd listen. Except, maybe, back toward the dragon. Unless Louie was very convincing. He might just leave them, of course, but Khloros didn't know that; all he knew was that the fox seemed older than them, and thus must clearly know what to do.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

If the fox insisted not to go to Pisces, Bones was not sure where else to go. Nowhere only has one tunnel going into it and surely Pisces was no exception. The painted dog slowly got himself to his paws, briefly shaking the soot and dust off his fur.

He leaned down to the owl, carefully nudging his stomach with his nose before he tried to pick him back up, craning his neck over his shoulder to place him on his back between his shoulders.

And without so much as a simple 'goodbye,' Bones turned and began walking down the tunnel.



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The owl looked... surprisingly better.

Dark could feel the burning over his skin lessen, and the bleeding from his sinuses slowly stopped. He wasn't sure how it had happened, only that it was fading. Maybe his body was just recovering from the heat, or maybe something magical had happened?

He sagged, exhaustion gripping him, the wilting that came after adrenaline. He sat trembling slightly, feathers shaking, silent--and then something was bumping him, and lifting him, and he cried out softly in surprise and dug eight talons lightly into fur to keep a grip. The dog began to trot off, and Dark swiveled his head in alarm, looking back toward where he knew the others were, and hoping that they would follow. His voice came soft and alarmed, quivering as he called out the only name he knew of the two.

"...Louie?"

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Unaware of how extensive his injuries really were, only that his eye was missing and he now carried a significant weight on that side from the hardened magma. While he waited for their response, he picked up a paw and gently pressed it around where the skin had fused. That would have to come off, and he yelped at the slight pressure he was putting on it. Physically, he too was drained, he wanted to vomit from the amount of stress he was under and his head was swimming. Dark's slideshow had helped sort out a few questions he had and he breathed slowly.

Khloros, the youngest looking of the bunch looked to him for an alternative. There was only one place this path led to and he wasn't even sure why the spotted dog had suggested anywhere else. "We will move to Orion, it is safe there, unclaimed by anyone and I can heal..." Wobbly and out of breath, he took a step sideways and looked away, "You can come with me if you wish... Khloros was it? Anyone else can b-" Without so much as a word, Bones picked up Dark and began to just walk off without saying anything and the fighting spirit returned to Louie's voice, "Oi what the hell?" Replacing what he was intending on saying with the word "hell" wasn't something he was used to doing. But he couldn't come off as an enemy in this group.

If he had any energy, he would run and stand in front of the AWD but he didn't and so instead he just shook his head in disbelief. Dark called out his name in confusion and though he wished to pin down Bones, rip out his jugular and take Dark with him, he couldn't do it. Though he felt he could take the younger canine at full strength, it was suicide to do it now. Instead, he was just left irritably lashing his tail and he once again looked away from the owl in the jaws of the other, turning to the horse who appeared to be suffering from starvation, "Y-you don't look so good yourself." In the water it hadn't looked so bad, but here he could see almost every bone in his body. It was horrifying, he had never seen such a starved gembound before but he wondered if that was his new depth perception making him see it wrong.

Khloros, too, turned and stared, bewildered, after the dog who now simply carried the owl off. He felt a twinge of concern, as he called out after them, too.

"Where are you--... going...?" But the dog was already off. If the plagued horse had had any concept of predators, he might have been worried; but as it was his faint instinctive reaction had no framework to explain itself to him, and so after a moment he simply looked back to Louie. Louie was the most damaged out of them, the most likely to require healing, after all.

"Orion is the way they were going. I think. And yes--Khloros. Do you have a way to heal that? You have rock, on your face. Was that there before? Were you trying to distract the dragon, so we could get out?" He spoke slowly, still having to gather the words from whatever memory void the Gembound learned them from, still piecing them together bit by bit.

He stood aside, to let Louie walk if he so wished, but he still watched him with deep concern.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

Although the man didn't get answer he thought best not ask again, instead he looked down the tunnel they would have to venture through themselves, "Seeing how set that spotty bastard was on getting to Pisces, I doubt he knows where he's actually going." A brisk shake of his head, "It'll be... Fine. Nothing some time won't fix." All I wanted to do was touch it and prod it until the exact extent of the permanent damage was known. All he did know was that he was blind, he couldn't see and that just meant his eyeball was gone.

All of it was gone.
There was no chance for a regaining of sight.

Trying to take a deep breath, Khloros interrupted him and he raised his one eyebrow. All he could do was lie to protect himself. To say he had intentionally been seeking to aggravate the dragon in order to kill everyone in that river. "Yeah, I was hoping to see if I could harm it, possibly kill it if I had had the tenacity to. Size is certainly not on my side." Everyday, he regretted his birth as a sharp nose beast. But it gave other advantages and he knew that not everyone could be the king of everything. Well, he wanted to be, and he damn well would be but that would first be gaining control over his body. Full control over his mind and all that other control shit that required one to become "all powerful" as it were.

"Still, one day I'd like to see my power level over 9000." Shrugging his shoulders, he began to move towards Orion, "Let's go Khloros, we can heal up at Orion and I have a proposition for you if you are interested, but only if you are interested."