ORIGIN - Hidden Treasure

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Azure dipped her head in a nod. "Pisces, yeah. The cave with lots of water? Through Polaris? If you know it. Uhh-... Not the swamp one, though. This one's cold, bright." She then listened, cocking her head and feeling warmth thread through her at Sair's friendliness, to the long list of caves and their traits. She laughed a little, when he'd finished. "You could be a tour guide. Show people around," she said. "Hmm... If you're looking for dry, I used to live in Monoceros? There's not a lot of Lessers there, just cliffs and rock, mostly. And a wind storm in the middle but you can avoid that. That's not far from here, either," she explained, nodding back in the direction of Tunnel I. "Back through that way."

She made some mental notes about the places Sair had mentioned, then thought about a bag, and the whole 'studies' thing. "A good conversation's... nice," she agreed, then nodded to him. "'Studies?' What do you study? And as for a bag--I can do that, sure. Usually they're woven grass, but tightly-woven so it's... cloth? But if you want something else, I can see what I can do. I'll decorate it, too, if you like. Maybe a glowing stone on there to make it easier to see stuff inside in the dark, or I can dye it, maybe with something harder or more waterproof," she mused. "If you want, we can go to my home, and see what I've got lying around?"

She was pretty sure she had some dyes ready-made, still waiting to be used, so that was something. And everything else, she could work on.

@Sair

Sair

Sair tried to conjure a picture of the cave in his mind, but it came up blank. He had not passed through it yet, but knowing it was just off of Polaris was more than enough direction to find the bird in question. The comment about becoming a tour guide made him snort, the kind that made him sound more like a donkey than a horse. "Maybe I'm in the wrong business then! I'll keep Monoceros in mind, though. I'm glad to hear from experience before I walk myself into something's den." He gave a hearty laugh, settling into the lull of a good chat.
"Studies! Yes! I guess it's more of a general curiosity than anything, but it almost felt like... I could feel the caves calling to me, showing me visions. Like I was meant to discover something, some big secret. So I just... Look. Infer. I'm trying to put together the fragments of history left behind, and I guess that's blossomed more into a general interest in... Everything? Vague, I know." He looked to be a mix of pensive and apprehensive. In truth, he never really thought about the why. Why was he so interested in all of this? Well, he just was. Cave whispers and visions aside, he just... was. Maybe, in the end, that is all he would find. That everything just... was.
He really hoped not.
"A bag with a glowing stone would be perfect! Maybe... Could you fashion it to sit on my shoulder?" He twisted his neck a few ways to see where he could best reach before voicing his decision. "I would love nothing more than to take you up on that offer, I think. Your home must be well-decorated?" His eyes were bright with excitement. Maybe they had collected something particularly interesting to show him? Even if they hadn't, he looked forward to seeing some of Azure's work.

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC:

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

@Azure

Azure set off, leading the way into the ruins, back toward the Throne. "That's interesteing," she mused aloud as she walked. "I've never really thought about trying to... uncover stuff, before." She fired a warning glance, serious, back at Sair. "Just-... be careful. The Master in Pisces is meant to be nice, but the other ones? I've heard some sh-... stuff," she corrected herself, just in time. "Murder-level stuff. I don't know what they're like, really, but... be careful, yeah?" She kept on a moment before blinking. "Oh-! There's supposed to be a library, in Cepheus--do you know what that is?" She glanced back, wide-eyed. "It has information scratched into papers or something. You need to know how to decipher it but it holds all sorts of stuff. Maybe history, too!"

Then she was winding her way through the first alleyways. The buildings around her didn't much smell of burned stone anymore, but nonetheless they were blackened and crumbled even more than the ones that had not been attacked by Raheerah. She had to pick her way over piles of rubble, her wings brushing dust from stone as she walked. Her own hoofprints were clearly visible as a track coming back the other way; no doubt she flew, from time to time, but it seemed she walked this route too.

"I think I can do that for you, sure. You can see our decorations when we get there--I like to think they're nice! Uhh--you're fully grown, right? Five cycles, you said-? You're not gonna get any bigger? ...For measurements, I mean," she explained, turning to regard Sair mid-walk with an appraising eye.

@Sair

Sair

Sair followed, diligently maintaining his little wisp as it bobbed around, drifting in and out of whatever crevices they wandered past. "I will be." He attempted to reassure her. "I have so much to see, so much to learn. I will not put myself in the kind of danger that can't be repaired." He thought for a moment, rifling through what little memory he had of his short time in Cepheus. He had met Fulgur there. How were they doing these days? "I haven't been in the building, there, but I would assume that library is held within? I'll have to make another trip there, then." Another mental note, another to-do list.

Sair was careful in where he placed his hooves now, especially so with the one hosting his gemstone. Charcoal dust clung to the feathering of his legs, but he paid it little attention. "Our? Do you live with others? I hope they're as kind." He smiled, picking his way through the rubble in almost the same steps as Azure. There were a few spots where her bird-like feet had better purchase, but he found solid ground where he could. "Yes, I do believe so! I haven't noticed any difference in the past cycle, so we shouldn't have to account for any sudden growth spurts. You should have seen my third, though! I would have driven you insane with adjustments!" He let out a hearty laugh, imagining Azure trying to account for his growth only to have him return a quarter-cycle later. It was when he best grew into his bright red coat. It was a little on the snug side now, but not suffocating, which he was thankfully for given his hatred towards being cold.

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC:

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

@Azure

Azure gave a quiet little laugh at the idea of the horse's growth spurt.

"I can imagine. And yeah, I live with a close friend. Dip. She's pretty cool," she added, then corrected herself: "Well, she's really cool. But I don't know if she's in, right now, or not. She won't mind visitors, though.

After a little more winding through narrow alleys, Azure turned off into a building. This one, too, was melted in places--its stone roof charred black--but the interior (which Sair could probably get his front half into, at least) was clean enough. Roughly-made rugs were strewn on the floor, with baubled lights hanging from homemade ropes dangling overhead. Gemstones that sparkled with baubled, preserved flowers within them were interspersed with these.

On the right side of the room was what looked sort of like an empty fireplace. Before it and to either side were lined up crafting materials, loosely, in a manner that suggested they were frequently used: stone cups filled with small, gemstone beads; coiled rope and strings of woven grass; little jewelry chains forged and hammered roughly from metal; preserved plants and flowers piled in a bowl; and to one side, capped stone jars with makeshift paintbrushes lying atop them. "Home sweet home," Azure said to Sair. "Come on in, uhh--however far you can fit?"

She cast a glance around, then eyed up one of the woven grass rugs. "If we want this to be pretty quick, I think it'd be smart to use something I've already woven up. Do you like any of these rugs? I can sew that into a bag pretty easily, then add some decoration, if you like." She stepped aside to show them.

One was reddish, with a pattern of white threaded through it: a large diamond with a smaller diamond within. Another was dark blue and green stripes, and a third was half-coiled in a corner as if unfinished, a natural woody brown.

@Sair

Sair

Sair laughed a little at the correction. Had this Dip given them trouble for the statement before?

Although it didn't take much to see how much Sair towered over the hybrid, it became a bit more obvious that he was double her height when it came to entering her home. He ducked his head and bent his front legs into an odd bow so that he could shuffle into the doorway and look around. He was right, it was beautiful. An entirely different look to the charred and dusty ruins outside, Azure's home was alight with baubles and shimmering gems. Everywhere he looked was colour and light.

"It is beautiful." The reflection of lights twinkled in his eyes, and Sair, not able to actually enter, allowed his wisp to poke around the room in his stead. "Are you for hire? You sure know how to make a home!"

He spent some time looking over the rugs she drew his attention to. He was partial to the colour blue, given his wisp and the wings he'd been gifted, even if he didn't have them active at the moment. Oh, but the red and white would match his blanket... Hm. "I like the red and white." He decided. "Is it too much to ask for a blue gem?" There, best of both worlds! He had no idea when he started to care about colour, but Azure's creations had certainly inspired him to some extent. Maybe he would allow her to dye his coat after all, but that was a thought for another day.

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC:

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

@Azure

She gave a little laugh, again, at the question about being for hire.

"Interior decorator-? Uhh, maybe. Sure. Bearing in mind we've been working on this place for a year or two," she added, glancing around with humor in her voice and expression both.

When the red-and-white rug was indicated, she set out to pick it up in her beak. Then she took it toward the fireplace-structure, and sat down on her haunches, lifting it with talons and turning it over as if planning how she'd work with it. "It's gonna take a bit of time, mind. And uhh. Blue is fine! But do you want it glowing?" She nodded off at some of the necklaces. Where a fair bit glowed golden-white, a few did glow sapphire blue, like her own eyes and gemstone. "I can give you a stone with a flower inside it, too, but I don't think I've got any blue flowers," she added, thoughtful.

She spent a few moments gathering things up: mostly long, thin, twined cord made of dried grass, along with the rug itself. "This may take awhile. You don't have to stay, but you're welcome to," she added easily, before looking down and focusing on the rug. Then--without her ever touching it--the grass rose like a rearing cobra and began to thread itself through the rug. The rug, in turn--really more of a woven, dyed grass mat--folded itself accordingly. Azure fell silent, not moving a muscle: it was clear that this took intense concentration, though for her, it also seemed to be well-practiced magic.

@Sair

Sair

"Two years? That's..." He was still young, and while he had been making a very big effort to learn a lot, some terms were still beyond him. He'd heard this one before, though... "That's just over twenty cycles, isn't it? A long time to decorate, but I'd say it was worth it!"

He watched as Azure picked up the chosen rug, and moved to lay down in the doorway. He would move if he needed to, but it was more comfortable than the bow. "I have plenty of time, don't rush!" His blanket provided some cushion against the uneven stone, which he was thankful for. It had proved plenty useful so far. "Glowing and flowered? You spoil me, Azure!" Laughs came as freely from Sair as words did. "Why don't you surprise me, then? A blue glowing stone, your choice of shade, and of flower or plant?"

He made note of the items she was collecting, wondering what each would become in the final product. "I would like to." He wasted no time in voicing his decision, eager to watch even if he likely wouldn't be able to replicate the action himself. It was interesting, still, and could perhaps prove useful when studying decayed bits of fabric in the caves. He was silent though, as she focused, instead keeping a running inner monologue about the weaving process. If she could use magic in such a way, rather than the appendages he thought that she would use... Well, perhaps he could learn the craft after all, just in case the bag broke or anything, of course. Not that he would like to decorate his home with rugs! Well, maybe. If only he had the extra material lying around, of course!

Sair's wisp had vanished at some point, he noticed after a while. Maybe the idea of making things was just as interesting as learning about their past. Perhaps the crafters left bits of themselves in their work, much like a strand of Azure's hair had gotten caught in the rug. He did have an eye for detail.

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC:

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

@Azure

Her focus was deep, silent, aside from a couple murmured (but perfectly friendly) agreements to Sair's request. She worked for some time threading the rug into a vaguely bag- or purse-like shape, with one end forming a flap that dropped over the top. She used her magic, but also the careful movements of beak and claws to wind the grass through makeshift seams.

She used a claw to make a little hole in that flap, and then set the bag down, taking a breath.

"Okay. Almost done with that but let me take a break before I try and add a strap. Gonna pick a flower for you," she added, jovially. She stepped over to her little collection--most preserved, a few fresh and stuck in water--and considered. "Red would match the bag--but it won't s how through blue. White it is," she said, thinking aloud.

She plucked a white blossom and carried it to where she'd been lying, setting it alongside the bag. Then she focused for another moment.

The grass, the bag--those were already preserved, but it didn't hurt to sort of double up on the magic. The flower, too, was brushed by it, and she nodded to herself, exhaling. This magic was tough, and it required so much focus.

"Okay, that's done... Now I need to form the stone around it, make the stone glow, then attach it to the bag. Then... a strap so you can actually wear it around you. Uhh... While I do this..." she mused, as if coming to a sudden realization. She pushed up again, clicking over to where she kept the strings and ropes. She picked a long one, carrying it in her beak and dropping it at Sair's hooves. "Can you wrap this around yourself, where you'd like the bag to hang? Tell me if it's too short or too long, and by how much, or I can help you if it's a pain," she said.

Measurements. She'd almost forgotten.

@Sair

Sair

Sair was mesmirized by the process. Practised magic and practised movements combined to make his bag, and just when he thought she might be nearing finished, she picked something else up and got right back to work. She played it safe with the flower, keeping to the theme but choosing a colour that would stand out well when encompassed by the gem. And she hadn't even grabbed a gem yet! Come to think of it, how was she going to get the flower inside one?
She was going to... make? A stone? There really was so much he had to learn, wasn't there? So many spells, so much history... He was incredibly thankful to have something to make it all a little easier. "You know, I don't think you told me what you wanted in return for all this? It really seems like a lot of work, and I could use it to gather things for you, if you're low on anything?" It didn't seem like she was, given the room, but that was also through Sair's untrained eyes.
When given the rope, Sair did give it a fair try. He grabbed it gently between his teeth and threw it above his head before twisting his neck to the side and adjusting it. It wasn't perfectly seated, but it was more or less where he would want the bag to sit so that he could easily reach it. It was a little long, and he voiced that, moving so that Azure could better reach, adjust and cut the strap.

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC: It's 2am forgive any errors

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

@Azure

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