ORIGIN

Days and weeks had passed since her departure from Eridanus with equal grace and thankfulness to her protectorate and guardian, Arkrael. While young, Delphine could not deny the wanderlust that'd bloomed from within and not soon after she was deemed well enough to leave did she make the decision to do exactly thus. It was not to say that she would not return to the emerald gardens in which much of her time had been spent but that she wanted to know more of this world before she chose to settle. If ever she would. So it was with determination and a set mind did she journey with little direction and all parts instincts.

Among the first of her discoveries was that this world was parsed and compartmentalized into rooms, unique by their own rights. With each tunnel that she passed, Delphine knew to anticipate something new and different. So it came as no surprise that when she made her way through Tunnel J, the first of her senses to pique was to the sound of the howling winds. While she'd known prior the song of the zephyrs, this was something different. Something far more wild and inarguably more violent. For a moment, the filly halted in her steps, uncertain that what lay beyond was something she would hope to divulge but curiosity trumped the initial fear, willing her forward to the gaping entrance that opened into a barren world of wind and earth.

Her heart caught in her throat. Unlike Eridanus, there was no vibrancy and life to greet her sight. Nothing so lush as the room from which she'd come yet still, there was a terrifying beauty that lay in this tremulous realm and it beckoned with its haunting moans. Delphine walked, with tentative steps, into Monoceros. Her first lesson learned was that there was to be no gentle treading along these paths. The gusts had nearly knocked her down. Three instances before she knew better. Then she chose to hug the walls, decidedly climbing up rather than to venture further within the gorges. She had yet the courage to confront the unknown, not until she'd at least acquired a better understanding of this new environment.

When the young filly reached a lower ledge, she stopped to survey all that was Monoceros and indeed, its treachery was its very allure.

( @Magdalena )

Her heart had been furied, torn and thrust into wicked disarray since the pseudo death of her friend. Magdalena had been unable to find peace, either in the caves or in herself - she hadn't left the jagged, hot orange chrysalis since she'd found it and learned that it was where her friend, the Fire, had retired to. Her mind sometimes traveled to what others might be doing without her, how life might be crawling on without her; she was fearful that her friend would never emerge, but she refused to abandon hope, abandon her. Magdalena had loyally clung to the chrysalis, soaking up its heat until the crystals groaned and peeled away, and the neonate within had burst through into the stale cold of Monoceros, and her friend, her Fire, was born new.

She could find peace. And she did. For the first time in weeks, her paws left the canyon floor. The frail and thin creature emerged alongside the powerful new beast she had nursed; her limbs shaking and delicate, a flower in the wind daring to tread too close to the wildfire that raged just beyond, daring to indulge in its warmth lest she catch an ember and burn away herself. It was all she wanted.

The blind dog found refuge on the platforms, lulled asleep by the quiet murmurings of her groupmates, and the warmth of her Fire. But sleep never lasted long, even for the fragile dog. It was first the sound of hooves gently clacking against the floor that drew her from her hazy dream. Eyelids loathed to slide open, lashed fluttering over pale straw as she unknowingly tuned in to the noise that echoed through the cave. The sound soon evolved, from clacking to scraping and clamoring, the beast ascended the platforms. Magdalena found herself inexplicably drawn to it and she rose, parting from the source of warmth she had come to covet. Her long legs carried her slowly and awkwardly along the surface of the platforms, occasionally stumbling over a small ridge or rock, before she had moved down the platforms and lingered a few meters above and away from the stranger. "Finis originae pende." She whispered into the air, staring only at the opposite wall and listening.

It came as the barest of whispers. A siren song drowned beneath the howls of the raging winds. If she'd been distracted by anything else but the vastness below, Delphine imagined it would have gone amiss altogether. Yet what was most jarring was not that she'd heard something but that beneath it was a familiarity she could not shake. Her gaze flitted to and fro, searching the depths for the source of the sound until at last, she thought to look up.

There she caught sight of a figure who'd been burned to her memories. The very first face she'd seen since her birth and the first to come to her aid when she'd been mauled. Although Magdalena never remained by her side, Delphine had come to accept her fleeting presence because in it, she'd learned to treasure the Gembound all the more. With a fond nicker and toss of her head, the filly spoke with newfound confidence in her practiced speech. "Magda!" Although the white-eyed gaze never met with her own, the young Gembound knew that she'd heard her though it was hard to say when she'd realized that the pale mistress was without the gift of sight. It'd never been something lain explicitly between them, not through their prior encounters nor did she imagine, ever. It was simply there, as natural as Delphine could see because that was who Magdalena was and she would never have wanted for any more or less.

With tepid steps, she slowly ascended. If she were clumsy it would not be to the fault of her nimble legs but that the uneven grounds proved a difficulty all on their own for her hooves. After what seemed an eternity, the filly was beside the dog with a gentle whicker to announce her arrival before she pressed her muzzle beneath Magda's own. "Hello Magda, how have you been?"

( @Magdalena )

The answer she expected from a fellow Merryman was lost to the unknown - the creature on the platform below her was no groupmate of hers, and had she a voice unlike the one she so possessed now, the thin and fragile dog would have turned and left her there. It was the name that first entered the air, sparking familiarity within the blind dog; the gentle and childish intones of a young filly she'd found not long ago. Once frozen, suspended in patient expectation, the dog's expression eased and her head lowered so that she could point her nose down towards the horse. "Yes." She answered quietly, black lips just barely touching upon a smile. Before long, the sound of clacking resumed; the child began to climb the platforms and Magdalena obliged, reclining onto her haunches to wait.

It meant that she had recovered from Baratheon's attack - at least, she was well enough now to wander on her own. She could no longer smell the dry copper of blood on the air. Magdalena supposed she would have to thank whoever it was that had taken care of the horse in her absence - while it wasn't necessarily Magdalena's responsibility, she felt a certain measure of guilt for having abandoned her in order to stay by Nemesis' side. She could have stayed... she tried to, for as long as she could, but her Fire would always summon her back to the windy cave and Magdalena was bound by the heat she so craved.

Once she had reached the platform, Magdalena was met with a gentle nuzzle; inside her heart spawned a rare fluttering, and her smile broadened. "Delphine." Her voice adopted a strange and cheerful musical intonation to it as she sang out the horse's name, most satisfied at the gentle delight she was greeted with. "I am fine. I was cold for a long time, but now I am fine." The dog answered with a hum. She tilted her head back a comfortable angle, nose pointing just above the horse's head while her lips remained stuck in that dreamy smile. "Were you able to recover in peace? I am pleased to find you here. I was worried about you Delphine; I regret that circumstances could not allow me to visit you in your bastille." With that, her voice dipped down into a wistful sadness - the smile flickered, but retained its strength in silence.

There had always been something of an other-worldly quality to Magdalena, even in the way she spoke her name. She imagined that it was all a part of the appeal that made the Gembound who she was, an effervescent presence. A figure as whimsical as her dreams. Delphine smiled and though the dog would never see her lips curl fondly and warmly, she thought that perhaps she could feel her joy. "You look better too." Happier. Perhaps that was why she never clung. Not from the first day they'd met, not when she'd been wounded because though she could never put to words her thoughts, it was there.

With reluctance, Delphine pulled back but she remained close if only to revel in the warmth of company. "I was! I've a... Oh, what's it called..." She paused to maul over a mental dictionary of what she'd learned. "Scar, I think. I've a scar, it's big and not very pretty to look at but in all, it's not so bad." The young filly was by no means a vain creature. When she'd been told that her wound would leave behind remnants of its existence, she was more curious than worried for some such implications. Superficiality seemed particularly strange when around Magdalena. "My horns have grown too; just a little." The ends of her sentence trailed off into a din of silence, her gaze dropping thoughtfully to the wide expanse of Monoceros.

"I am fine too. You need not worry." She whispered because that was the truth, was it not? There were days when she was plagued with an emptiness that she could not fathom, a loss of direction, of belonging but such were thoughts that remained unspoken. After all, who was she to plague their brief reunions with such weighted words? The dog had neither the duty nor obligation to listen to her qualms and most of all, she had no desire to voice her innermost ramblings. Her gaze flickered upward and with a renewed smile meant to reset her forlorn meanderings, she spoke. "Is this your home? Do you have friends here?"

( @Magdalena )

You look better. The dog faltered for a moment, remembering the times she had encountered Delphine. They were rare, only twice; the first time, she'd made the mistake of charging her immune system with an excessive swell of bacteria and it had backfired horribly, sending her into a feverous fit before she'd collapsed unconscious on the ground for several minutes. It had been an embarrassing mistake which left her vulnerable to strangers - even Booker, who she had only met once before, but she couldn't find herself trusting. Of course they all seemed hospitable to start, but intentions were never made known from the get go. She was thankful that she had woken with all her facilities (sans eyes) in tact. And it pained her to leave Delphine, but she had to.

The second time, she knew something was wrong. There was pain, heat, energy, the sound of a monster's roar. Baratheon. She could feel the familiar culture that she'd brewed inside of him, and he had committed the ultimate crime against her, lashing out against the filly that she had tried so hard to befriend. Magdalena stood over her and though her legs were weak, she pushed through it, she knew she had to outlast the dragon even though fear and instinct told her to run. How had she looked then? Vulnerable? Did she look afraid?

Magdalena tuned in to the horse's words, feeling that gentle flow of air as she moved away again and spoke of a scar. She no doubt would have scars from the deep wounds the dragon had caused her, and Magdalena couldn't help but renew her smile as Delphine spoke of them. "Oh, scars are lovely." Magdalena cooed. "A seamless skin makes for dull topography." She added light-heartedly, drawing upon the many scars and cuts that criss-crossed Nemesis' skin, deep folds that held warmth and incisions that had since healed over, suggesting vicious battles once fought, once won, for reasons that Magdalena could only justify as being honorable.

As she spoke of her horns, Magdalena found herself wishing that she could have seen the progress they'd made. She didn't turn her head as if to look at them, or even angle her body differently to capture the horns from a new angle - it didn't matter how she oriented herself, she'd never see them, and so she remained still. The smile lingered as silence stretched between them, only for the horse to reassure her that she was fine. Some part of Magdalena, deep down, would always worry for Delphine. She'd always feel guilty that she had abandoned her, and she'd always feel like it was her fault she'd found herself in Baratheon's path in the first place. Perhaps she shouldn't have left after fainting in Polaris, or maybe she should have lingered in Eridanus while she recovered. It didn't matter that Delphine was fine now; the past left its mark on her without Magdalena to heal it.

She was thankful for the next question, a distraction from her inner turmoil. Magdalena turned her head to gaze over her shoulder, though she would find herself staring at the slow incline of rock as opposed to anything beyond. "Yes. This room is called Monoceros." She began with a nod. "The group that lives here is called the Merrymen. They are my friends, my family and my teachers. There is Louie, the fox, my mentor. And Diamondfang, the master thief who is incredibly intelligent. And my Fire, Nemesis, who keeps me warm." Magdalena spoke fondly of the Fire, her grin broadening slightly.

Delphine beamed; her fickle heart now brimmed with pride for her newly acquired scar. She was indifferent to it before but now that she knew it would wring a too rare smile from Magdalena's lips, it became something more. She craned her head to catch a better view of the still-raw skin, experimentally shifting from one leg to the other to watch the pink flesh stretch and pull. There was a certain appeal to it, if only she looked long enough. Her attention shifted back to the dog. "I suppose I have a story to tell now." She cleared her throat and puffed her chest out. The whole gesture, if Magdalena could see, was almost theatrical. "I walked into a land of green and was immediately attacked. If not for my three saviors, I would not live to see this day." The story, in its entirety, was brief and anticlimactic though she deliberately fashioned it thus. She imagined curious minds inquiring of what'd happened, expecting a battle of the ages but alas, she would disappoint them with the brevity of truth and simper when the time came.

Suddenly but gently, the filly's head dipped and as she did during their first meeting, she rubbed the still dulled edges of her horns along Magdalena's shoulder. It was not a hyperawareness of the dog's state of unseeing but an innate understanding that this would lend perspective while fulfilling the child's desire for physical closeness. Two birds, one stone.

She listened intently as Magdalena spoke, warming to the soft intonations that drifted in the space between them. 'They are my friends, my family and my teachers.' Her smile faltered but she quickly rectified the moment, forcing her lips to curl and a hum to acknowledge what'd been said. Except, the smile never quite reached her eyes.

Her Fire...

It was then that her heart shuddered and the strange blackness that plagued her thoughts grew. Delphine fought to quell its rising tides but when she caught sight of Magdalena's widening smile and softening voice, there was no stopping the riptide from sweeping her into its terrifying depths. She didn't understand why she felt as she did. She should have been happy that Magdalena had a home to return to. Friends and family to embrace her. A Fire to keep her warm. Her gaze dropped and again, her heart quavered. It did not take long for the child to realize that she was afflicted with envy. Envy, in part that the dog was truly someone who was out of her reach, someone who had others to call their own. Then there was the very loneliness that haunted her every waking dream, the realization that Magdalena had everything that Delphine sought. The young Gembound had family, Adeyemi had said so. He'd said that they were all family and the owl had asserted that even if they were apart, they would come together when the time came. Yet their words weren't enough to placate her need for belonging, a feeling only amplified upon this visit. How cruel was she to covet what was not her own.

She was ashamed then of her selfishness and the darkness only grew. "They sound lovely, perhaps one day I may meet them. Your friends and family?" Her words were fillers meant to fit the space between them, to give recourse to the dog's introductions but her own light waned. Suddenly she could not think on these creatures with names but unknown faces, not when she was trying so hard to fit those who she'd met into the descriptions Magdalena had procured. It was wrong. She knew it was wrong but she could not help herself. "Have you seen the others? Booker and Khloros? Adeyemi and his companion? Perhaps Arkrael?" Delphine needed to reground herself in something familiar, something safe. She feared her inclinations toward jealousy and fought desperately to keep it at bay. Oh how she hoped Magdalena would not sense her vices and come to hate her, not for this.

( @Magdalena )

She offered no response to Magdalena's kind affirmation, nodding only once despite knowing that the dog would not see that she'd heard or that her greedy heart would not yet overcome its desire to monopolize those who she'd latched on to. Times like this, she was glad that her friend could not see the turmoil that festered within her because if she did, she thought that perhaps she would reject her altogether. Delphine was good, laden with heartfelt intentions and a still underdeveloped understanding for the darkness that she harbored. Yet even so, all that she did know was that she needed more time to come to terms with her own flaws, to better deconstruct the source from which these vices stemmed. Of her present state, she could only bottle it in and shield the one's she loved from her own lack of knowledge and intuition.

Her head tilted to one side, listening to the soft inflections of Magdalena's voice. "You are the first that I've seen since Polaris and Eridanus." The filly mused, hoping to mitigate the wisps of sadness that had found its way into the dog's voice. "And I am glad for it. Now that I know you live here perhaps I may visit you more often?" It'd been a fleeting thought, staying with Magdalena. It would mean an end to the loneliness that plagued her and company on nights where her dreams took her to darker places. Yet still, she knew better then to entertain her pipe dreams. Monoceros, though grand, was no home for Delphine. She knew it from the moment she first stepped into the valley of wind and dust or perhaps she'd simply grown accustomed to the verdant terrain that Eridanus had to offer or even the star-studded roof of Orion. It made the filly a superficial creature, rapt with beauty and swayed by its bewitchment.

"Yes..." She whispered, more to herself than her company. "I think I will visit when I can, after all, I've been exploring the caverns." Her gaze was cast outward, once more sweeping the wide expanse of the entrenchments below. "I haven't gotten very far as of yet but of the few places I've been to, I've met new Gembounds and watched the birthing of newborns. I've had some moments to practice my magic and it's all been so wonderful." There was no purpose to the words that flitted past her lips if only to inform her friend of the things that'd come to pass because who knew how long it would be before they met again? So she wanted to tell her everything now, even her secrets. "Sometimes... I get nightmares and it makes sleeping difficult but it's gotten better, I think. As long as I distract myself with thoughts of good things, it's not as bad." She turned to Magdalena, curiosity pressed to her tongue. "Do you get nightmares?"

( @Magdalena )

Magdalena, truly, was unaware of the turmoil that brewed within the horse's heart. Had she known, she would have done everything in her power to reassure her. The sweet babe deserved nothing short of admiration, given all that she'd gone through, and Baratheon... Booker was as much to blame. She hadn't realized how her expression had changed, darkening slightly with dismay at the memory of Eridanus. She'd forgotten that such small twinges in expression were easy to detect by the ones that could see. Even so, Magdalena blinked again and her smile had returned, warming further at Delphine's attempt at reassurance. "Yes... I would so adore if you did." She answered warmly. "Perhaps my Fire and I will wander the tunnels together, now that she has awoken." Magdalena added wistfully. With Nemesis by her side again, she had little to fear.

The dog fell silent as Delphine recalled all the things she had seen. She had met others and witnessed births, been able to practice her magic more - what kind of magic did she wield again? Magdalena couldn't recall ever seeing it. Her mind wandered for a moment as the filly fell silent, but immediately snapped back to attention. Had she viable eyes, her gaze would linger on the horse, displaying her attentiveness. Alas, she stared on ahead, unable to follow the subtle movements of her friend. Still, her lips twitched and her expression responded to what she was saying; eventually, it would shift into one of sympathy at mention of the nightmares. "I'm sorry." She spoke quietly. She didn't know what Baratheon looked like - but she didn't need to. It was the sounds, the feeling. The memory of the fear and the smell of blood that could make a nightmare for her.

But did she have nightmares? During Nemesis' absence, she didn't sleep well, if at all. Her sleep was hazy and fleeting. Sometimes she would feel the chrysalis grow cold, and she would look, and there would be nothing inside of it - was that a nightmare? "I rarely dream." Magdalena said after a moment of thought. "If I did, I would find you. In our dreams." She hummed. "I would fight the nightmares."