ORIGIN

Wide-eyed, the deer stepped back as the phoenix landed on the ground. He held the massive bird in awe, admiring the sleekness of his feathers and the way the ice lodged itself against his skin, gleaming like scales. The phoenix hissed a word inherently familiar to the stag. "Brug." He whispered. Then the phoenix shook out the ice crystals, but this time, he didn't move. He felt the shower of icy pinpricks across his back like he was always meant to embrace this coldness. He didn't know what to think of that moment, only as the great water phoenix vowed to help him, he felt something stir in his heart. He first thought that it was happiness. Peace. Relief, love, even. But there was something else there... deep inside. A longing. A fear. Don't leave.

Before he knew it, the phoenix had launched himself up into the air again. Powerful wings carried him through the waterfall room into the tunnel that would take him towards the core. The stag was left to watch the air shimmer with the ice crystals he'd left behind, and once he was gone, he found the cold no longer welcoming - only the thin veneer of a reminder of what he once had. He blinked and shook his head, looking back to the gathering. "He won't be able to do it by himself." The stag said, gaze flickering between them. "Fight the dragon, I mean. He'll need all the help he can get. And I'm going to help, too." The deer had never been very good at motivational speeches. He wasn't a leader, he wasn't a figure to look up to in dire times. He was merely their guardian. Quiet, ever watchful. But he hoped that his words would inspire some courage in them. "Spread the word, and meet me at the opening of Tunnel O in a day's time. Together... we will defeat him."

He didn't know if they actually could. He didn't know if they could overcome the titanic monster, or if he would sweep them all away in fire. He didn't know if the dragon would end up consuming the rest of the cave or if he would plunge the phoenix into the same eternal slumber from which they'd woken him before. All he could do was hope. With a nod, the stag turned away from them, hastily following the path of the phoenix.

The Fiery Pit: Part Three has been completed!

Characters will have a day's time to gather what resources and allies they need to help fight Raheerah, and are free to exit this thread.

They were supposed to shake the earth, that they did and the ground rumbled beneath his feet. Unimpressed by they trivial attempts to awaken this creature. A splintering shattering sound could be heard and Louie found his pelt sticking on end. When he did emerge, the fox found himself stepping backwards and his one eye widening. 'Holy crap,' it was beautiful, powerful. It was unlike anything he had seen before, other than Raheerah, but he could tell from just looks that these two were from a similar realm. Apparently, was was the deer creature and he watched as they conversed.

Not speaking up, as it was not his place to do so among the great creatures, he merely watched on silently. For once, he had not a foul word to say as he listened intently. By the end, the phoenix had made his way off to Polaris to fight the beast, and Deer Dad extended the invitation. Confrontation wasn't his strong suit, but he wanted to get revenge on that lizard beast for permanently disfiguring him, and his scowl returned where shock had previously been. "Yes. I will come." Not entirely sure if he would take any others, he gave his leave and disappeared back into the tunnel he had come from. His previous reason for being within Pisces forgotten.

Again too much was happening all at once. It started with a silence, short in its existence but eternal to Delphine's mind. Broken by a splintering sound that cracked from beneath the waters, the filly backpedaled once but ceased mid-step upon realizing her actions but there was no stopping the small snort that burst from black lips when a creature emerged, powerful and otherworldly. If before she thought there were marvels to be had, she was ever surer of it now and though the deer looked nothing like his counterpart, their magic dwelled from a place as ancient as their existence. Her emerald gaze shifted between the two beings, watching and listening in muted grace.

'Astraea. Brug.'

Names were given to faces and forevermore it would be burned to her mind, all but the phoenix remained an unknown player in their world. She'd meant to thank Bevy for her kind encouragement but the words all but disappeared beneath the awe, monopolized by her child-like fascination. Commands were given, the choice to fight and oh how desperately Delphine felt the urge to be a part of this, a part of something bigger. It felt right to protect their home and the place in which she'd been born. While it had occurred to her that she could very well be more of a liability than someone beneficial, the filly knew that there was no turning away from an instinct that'd been burned to her very soul. She would be a part of the effort to take down the dragon, no matter the cost.

"I want to help." The child confided in the tiny bird and her mentor, Arkrael. "I'm going to help." The second time was more for her own benefit, as if validating this notion and carving it to stone just as the drawings etched into the walls of the caves. "I should go prepare. Perhaps I will see you in the tunnels then?" Again a statement directed to the only two Gembounds who she knew before she pressed her muzzle beneath Arkrael's maw and Bevy's own smaller frame. It was a brief affectionate gesture too soon dissipated as the filly turned away to do exactly as she'd said. While it hadn't occurred to her how she could go about preparing herself, she knew that first and foremost, she needed to understand her powers if at all she hoped to contribute. She thought she had this time around and this small hope burned brightly within the shadows of her onyx shell.

exit delphine!

The Great Horned Owl that had been perched quietly nearby sat, apparently, forgotten. He'd listened, but listening didn't tell him as much as the others could gather with their eyes.

He knew that his mind had touched another, albeit briefly; he knew that the waterfall, briefly, had stopped. He knew that the other had awoken, though whether it was from the brush of his mind or the interruption of the roar of the falls, he did not know.

He knew that the other had emerged from the river and that it flew, beating great wings larger than many he'd heard, bar perhaps Raheerah's. Even then, with this creature's closer proximity, he couldn't be sure: it might be absolutely enormous, but somewhat farther than he'd pictured. He'd also heard something, some strange tone in the stag's voice, a sort of yearning--the faintest thing, but there. He had learned that the dragon was indeed Raheerah, and that the stag was the one that had stood in Monoceros--Astraea.

And he knew that they were going to fight the dragon.

He hopped down behind the others, peeping quietly.

"Excuse--... Excuse me--"

But each time he tried to speak, his voice was too soft, a lilting hoot beneath the roar of the waterfall, and he went unheard. The others were walking off--he could hear the click and beat of hooves, the scratching of padded paws.

With a soft sigh and a grind of his beak, the owl ruffled his wings into place, then thought about it. Finding his way back might be hard, and if everyone was going, he might just, well, slam into them.

With a quick, oddly lopsided hopping, he caught up to the stag, murmuring.

"Need help getting there," he mumbled. "I can't fight much but I can try to scream at him. In his head. It worked last time. ...I think."

With that, he leapt into the air, wings spreading to take flight--he'd intended to fly over the stag, over where he could hear it breathing, but instead impacted vast and branching antlers. With a soft grunt the owl gripped on, standing up, as if he'd meant to do this all along--and, since the stag didn't protest, he immediately decided that here was a better, and safer, way to travel.

He'd sit on Astraea's antlers until they were near Polaris--and then he'd get down... and he'd hide.

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