In the last few cycles since attempting to make contact with the creature in the Pit, Anubis had been dormant. Quietly riffling through the pages of his tome and plotting what he would do next with the creature. He was not giving up, but he was still refusing to put himself at risk. Going straight in there to inspect it was a death wish. He needed to be clever. And clever was something he thought he did pretty well.
The bat familiar had taken a good amount of time to properly calm down and return to him, but it didn't do so happily. Only after apologies, food, and rest was Anubis able to get it back on his side. Since then it had served as a glorified servant for him, fetching materials, food, and wood for lights as needed, and very occasionally a new red mouse for Aati; in exchange, it received Anubis's protection and, of course, its intelligence. And a name - Wings, he called it. Very...original, but it served its purpose.
He was preparing, now, to put his plan into action. Sitting outside the prison next to a half-dead tree, he pressed a paw onto the dry bark to do the first thing - create a carrying device. A nice capped mushroom would do the trick. But instead of catching onto the materials he focused on, the spores instead started crawling up his leg, teeny mushrooms sprouting from fur and flesh. With a low growl, he quickly shook them off. What a great start.
Aran can't recall if he's been in this part of the caves before. It reminds him of Orion, in a strange foreboding way. This cave is quite different from Orion however.... It's completely dark, more encased - Like a prison. As he moves through, Aran's antlers flash with short brightness as he begins to sense various heartbeats around him.
There's nothing notable about any of the heartbeats in the section -- but it does give him a note of where things are. As he traverses the cave, something flashes in his vision. Someone, but not someone he's met before.
"Hello?" he calls out, a short distance away.
He took a few minutes to scrape away the last of the fungus that had embedded into his front legs, carefully clawing out the roots so they didn't stick around and glanced upon at the sound of a voice. He frowned. He didn't need anyone bothering him right now, not when he was in the middle of planning and getting prepared for something this dangerous.
He didn't respond at first, but it was obvious he'd heard, from the head tilt up, the pause, and the momentary locked eyes. He turned back to the decaying tree and pressed a paw against it again, forcing more fungus to rise to the surface. At least this time it didn't go crawling up his leg, but the mushrooms that sprouted were pathetically small. They were the right shape at least, but it wasn't at all what he wanted.
Anubis snarled, momentary frustration breaking the cool exterior as he swiped at the mushrooms to clear them out from the bark, throwing a glare at the approaching deer, as if it was their fault for his misfortune.
Aran lets the coyote scrape away the fungus, giving the other gembound time to rectify the issue. He knows patience, Aran has to stop and think a lot. Or stop to calm the burning anxiety tickling his legs begging for him to run. He's feeling it now, but the silence of the two just standing around makes it less terrorizing.
When Anubis makes more fungus, it occurs to Aran that he can use that spell too. He does nothing, though, not knowing what kind of results the coyote wants. It'd be rude to interrupt someone else's work, either way.
"I was just exploring." He snorts. "Didn't want to get in your way." Aran motions to the mushrooms Anubis scrapes off of the bark again with his antlers.
@Anubis
He stared at the weird deer-thing for a while, taking in the sight of it, the...mutations? Goodness, there were so many. He's seen normal deer before, and cave deer, but none of them had those sparkling wings, the strange clawed front-legs, and the patterning didn't look natural. At least, not from what he could tell. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Aran for a moment longer, before turning back to his tree.
Perhaps he should question him. Ask about it. He would, eventually.
His paw placed upon the dead tree at last delivered what he had been attempting. A single mushroom - large, capped, with plenty of space undeneath. He grunted his approval as he very carefully sheared it at the base, and turned it upside down to begin cleaning out beneath the cap, cutting the stem and carving out some of the frills.
Aran tilts his head to the side, pondering.
"I've never been here before, just taking a look around." He hums, a little blandly.
This isn't particularly a place Aran would like to be, but curiosity killed the cat as some say. Aran is the cat in that scenario. If he can survive a trial and come out with wings, then he should be able to survive a little cave addition.
Frankly, he feels a little immortal at this point.
"What about you?" those mushroom creations must mean something, though Aran isn't particularly interested in knowing everything about every gembound - though he can't say the same about magic.
@Anubis
He spent some time cleaning out the inside of the mushroom, and once it was a sufficient bowl shape, he set it down and focused. He nodded to the deer with a small hum, gave him an uninterested,
So, his intention had been to produce the dust right into the bowl - he gripped the edges of the mushroom with his paws and the spell released. But maybe he was distracted by the audience, or not focusing hard enough, or just the magic decided to fuck with him. Instead of the spores going down, they puffed right in his face, right as he inhaled.
Anubis reared back with a startled yelp and sneezed, trying to eject the spores before they did anything. Too late, though, drowsiness was nipping at the edges of his mind. He shook his head, trying to clear it, gritting his teeth in annoyance and embarrassment.
Standing there, Aran feels like he's intruding now. He knows this area must be larger than just this one space, but intruding on someone's home regardless of location is quite rude. Then again, Aran lived in Eridanus at one point, and he sure as hell couldn't just claim the whole forest for himself. Anubis has already said that Aran isn't in the way anyway.
When the magic fails again, Aran takes pause. Using this many spells definitely means the coyote-thing needs it for a specific reason. Though Aran probably doesn't know the exact spells this one does, he might be able to help? "Would you like some assistance? Clearly you're planning something with those spells." It's mostly curiosity, truly.
Still, Aran cant handle the jittering in his bones seeing the spells used. He has to know. Aran pulls his magic forward to send some good bacteria, just in case that spell backfired in an usual way.
@Anubis
His head was spinning a little bit from the drowsiness, but then an odd sensation ran through him and some of that drowsiness receeded. Not by much, but it was significant enough for him to notice. He paused, looking up at the barasingha with renewed interest.
He looked between the mushroom "basket" and the deer a couple of times, thinking and considering. He didn't really share his research projects with anyone, but maybe for this one it might be different. If things went sideways - and he was fucking sure not everything would go to plan - then it might help to have some backup.
The jackal was silent, and then suddenly sat up straight.
He sighed and looked back up.
"I used a healing spell on you." One of the less dangerous ones, too. Though something so small as a simple spell backfire shouldn't require a large spell anyway.
Aran has a pretty good arsenal of spells to use, some to heal some to damage. He doesn't like to use the ones on the second part of that list, even if something inside finds enjoyment when the more damaging ones work. Like when he and Arquia killed those two Deinocornus. You should check on your son sometime; it reminds him.
"I've seen enough big monsters to not be scared of them." he shrugs. Mostly a lie, but the Trial is still heavy in his mind even if it was cycles ago.
Even though the race was a fairly simple one, he got his wings there for a reason. Gaining someone else's wings wasn't part of his plan, but Aran can't deny they're a nice addition.
"I don't have that spell you're using, but I do have other things I could use. It should be close enough. Just don't breathe it in."
Anubis is probably smarter than that, considering he'd need to breathe in his own spell to feel the effects, but you can't really see bacteria very well.
@Anubis