ORIGIN

Death-headed as they were, Tunnel Runners possessed a trait East could often tip his hat to: their resilience was unmatched amongst most hooved Lessers who didn't have size to defend against prodding monsters' claws. Sickening a sight as it might have been witnessing many an instance of these deer burying their snouts opportunistically into a corpse by the wayside, one couldn't deny the lack of pickiness on display heightened their chances of survival. And at the very least if something tried to attack them, cycles of practice honing an ill temperament allowed a decent fight against fate, antlers or tusks used to put up a last valiant struggle toward freedom instead of easily succumbing to an enemy's open jaws.

They could be described as a proud and combative crowd, not often prone to bowing their head to those smaller than them, even if that discussed pipsqueak happened to be their intellectual better. After regaining his bearings, the particular specimen that'd been promptly spat out in a tangle of limbs into the arena proved to be no outlier from his kind. Although a cautious choice sent a wave of calmness to him through the newly established link he had with the bird, the Runner snorted and threw his head back when rustling feathers accompanied an inky black figure's attempt to settle upon his shoulders. Nevertheless, once he barely lost out to a back and forth tug of wills, he grudgingly allowed this interloper who'd managed thus far to dodge thrusting antlers to briefly travel upon his well-muscled back.

Considering the impatience boiling beneath the skin of his temporary familiar, East considered it a miracle he hadn't been forced to dismount long before his turn at this cooperative game of search arrived. At the very moment the last participant walked away from the room with its dividing wall, the steam building within the Tunnel Runner had reached a critical point; he paced about, stopping every few seconds or so to huff and stamp the ground. At a fox-imp's beckon, the deer advanced, the restraint exerted upon him by his rider what held at bay an unbearable urge to charge through all in his path.

That same attendant stretched an arm out, an uncanny grin pulling taut over his face while the pair drew nearer. The appendage clearly was being offered as a more agreeable perch than the present one beneath talons. In a rare act of unity, both Lesser and Greater regarded it with skepticism—the first by disdainfully expelling air through nostrils, and the second by merely humming low and tilting his head with narrowed eyes. Neither trusted the possible poison lurking behind a friendly face.

"You can't just whisper it now?" East requested, reluctant to budge from his seat. "It's not like guts and glory here can understand any of our tongue wagging."

If the imp's smile were any more plastered on, a tap against his rigid lips would've surely made a solid thunk. He shrugged and croaked out in a voice that had inhaled far more smoke than air in his lifetime, "Them's the rules, pal. You're going to have to vamoose if you ain't interested in playing by 'em."

All right then. He'd take the bait, if only for a minute. No point in wasting all this time waiting around by forfeiting over so simple of a quibble as Lesser comprehension of language.

With a stern direction to the Tunnel Runner to walk over to the side of the room that remained tucked out of view behind the wall, he finally departed from his less than loyal steed. A swoop lead to landing upon the given arm of the imp who leaned in and shared his clandestine choice of item: "A puzzle piece."

Simple enough, he supposed upon flying next over to the box and fishing out the aforementioned piece. There should only be the one counterpart in the other container, identical in every conceivable way, so describing each individual groove of it shouldn't be necessary to convey what to seek. A vague sketch was transferred over the connection to wherever his irascible partner stood in the room's hidden half, and East listened for the sounds of a search underway.

Perhaps he should've tuned his hearing instead to the chaotic scuffling of a skirmish. A series of bangs rang out from the other side, and huffs and snorts punctuated clear signs of growing frustration. An imp that had been overseeing the familiar peeked his head out and gestured for help, disappearing back behind the wall as soon as two more rushed over. All East could use to spectate was the other side of his bond with the Tunnel Runner, unmistakable irritation pulsing there the single clue as to whatever difficulties were being had.

Eventually one of the imps stumbled into sight, panting and in total disarray. Suspended between a finger and thumb was the doppelganger of the puzzle piece currently situated in his beak. "That's the right one," the imp wheezed out. "He kept on trying to pick it up when we told him to point. Mind calling him off now? Please?"

If the way he clutched at his ribs was any indication, the Tunnel Runner had been none too pleased by the fact neither his hooves or tongue were skilled enough to retrieve such a tiny object. Best to wrangle him back under control before the situation worsened further and he escalated to antler stabs over kicks and similar body blows.