ORIGIN

He smiled and chuckled lightly. "Do not worry, I am offering. Besides, it is quite a large home, I take up only a small part of it. There is plenty of room." Oh yes, more then enough. Plenty. Perhaps he would be lucky and she'd get lost if she tried to escape. There was only one safe exit, after all.

He glanced at the small pile of herbs he'd stacked on the makeshift sled and nodded, thoughtfully. "If you'd like. I worry that they will fall off on the trek back." There wasn't a lot on the sled, definitely more then one jackal could hold on his mouth, but the sled was a pain to drag back and forth. The slab of rock itself was heavier then its contents. If they both carried the things on it, then they could probably not need to use the rock. But, he reminded himself - it wouldn't be long before she started feeling the effects of the fungus.

He stood up as well and stepped over to the sled, nosing off the herbs for Aerys to carry. "A healer? No. Not more then any other gembound would be. No, I'm a..." he thought for the right word. "...a researcher. Yes, I study things. The nature of life, particularly." And death. "These herbs have been an interest to me lately. How incredible is it that plants and flowers can help speed up the body's natural healing?" He smiled, something that he thought would look like fondness sliding through his expression. "I have a few other experiments ongoing as well. I could show them to you if you are interested...?"

Anubis himself was carrying some of the sticks and the remaining prey, tucking the thin branches under his chin and carrying the kills in his mouth, careful to leave the red mouse hanging by its tail so he did not hurt her. He couldn't talk, but he gave Aerys a small glance that seemed grateful and appreciative of her enthusiasm. With their closer proximity, he could feel, now, the spell taking effect and taking hold. It was slow, subtle, and he made to press more magic into it, but it didn't catch. That was alright. It was probably enough already.

As soon as Aerys paused and dropped her herbs, they were almost walking into Cassiopeia. He paused and turned, setting his own stuff down. "Hey, are you okay?" He glanced at the pile of herbs she'd dropped and then looked back at her. "Does one of them taste funny? Sorry, we can trade if you'd like." He very well knew that it wasn't any weird herb taste that was causing her this, but he kept up the facade. He wasn't done.

As if suddenly noticing that she seemed unwell, his eyes narrowed with concern and he took a step forward. "Hey, you don't look too good, are you feeling alright?"

His heart was beating fast now, but he kept on the show, eyes widening as Aerys's magic backfired. He rushed forward, the pile of stuff forgotten, leaning down next to the pup as she layed in the grass. "Hey, hey what's wrong? What happened?" He reached forward to sniff at the ear she's frostbitten and, at the brief contact, sent the last push he needed spreading into the cartilage of her ear. She wouldn't feel the spores as they swiftly wove down through her eardrum and into her brain, but Anubis could already feel the strain on his magic. It was all he could do, now, to keep that going and cultivated and growing. But she was damned now. She was his.

"Hey," he murmured, nudging her on the shoulder. "Whatever's wrong, we need to get to my cave, okay? I can look at you there. We're almost there. You can lean on me if you need to." He nosed at her flank, trying to get her back up so they could finish the trek.

As they made the trek back to Anubis's cave, he began to properly plot his course forward. He had a test subject - one that was both willing and young. There were a number of things he had wanted to attempt on a fairly fresh gembound, some more gruesome then others. An idea bloomed with this one - he was, after all, a little busy at the moment. With the beast and all and his study of the materials he had been given. So what if this was a passive project? Where Fiver had failed him, but perhaps with less...leashes. After all, he had already observed how children grew when confined - Bacchus's little game with those poor kids had been enough research for him.

No, this one he would let roam. As long as she came back and he extracted her memories - all of them - whenever she could. He attempted to shed more dander, a different kind, but the toll of maintaining the cordyceps and the wither made it impossible to add another spell to the fungal soup. That was okay. That was fine. He could cast it on her later, once he took the withering away.

"It's okay," he crooned softly. "I will help, I have some supplies at my home. It's not far, just a cave away. A few minutes walk. Once we're there and safe, I'll take a proper look at you." A look and a full investigation, to understand the creature he was dealing with.

*exit? unless aerys has more to say, fading to walking home