When you're blind, sometimes just getting through a tunnel without incident is a win, especially a tunnel like N, where both Aurelle and Lichen have had minor sensory overload incidents in the last... week, or so. Walking into Polaris alive and normal was a small win, but a win regardless.
The elf went on,
Either way, good start.
...Water seemed like a decent idea. They could fill up before they went, so they wouldn't have to get cold eating the snow. Or at least, that was sound logic to her.
Truthfully it was all guesswork on her part, similarly to how Aurelle might guess as Lichen's own habits. She knew enough that warmbloods had to regulate their temperature needs in other ways when it was too hot. They couldn't simply bake themselves on a good rock like she enjoyed doing.
Some caves were much warmer than others as summer came in.
Either way,
The others? She was uncertain.
She shrugged a shoulder, still cheerful.
Lichen gave the information some thought as she waded into the waters.
Then she hunches over, jaws laying open on the water with her feelers swishing about in the water. There wasn't exactly much hope that these would be the water crawlers they were looking for; but either way, a meal was a meal...
...In fact she begins to wonder if there's anything in the water at all as she waits. And waits. And wriggles and wriggles. But nothing bites. Not a soul. Even until her jaw begins to ache. Eventually she closes them with a sigh.
Where were all the fish?
For a moment, Aurelle waited, just in the off-chance that something came by. But nothing did. Eventually, half-concerned Lichen might drown before a fish comes by, she stepped over and gave her a firm pat on the rump.
Lichen lifts her head from the waters with a quiet
Perhaps the greenery may show signs of being nibbles on at least...
...The feeling of green unfurled around her, it gave a much better idea of surrounds than underground barely detectable mycelia, at least.
Realizing that Lichen was probably using magic to try and find them, Aurelle tried to focus in on her own to guide. It was dimmer; much dimmer than the heartbeats had been, but she had a decent lay of the caves.
It wasn't exactly the most useful instructions, but blind girls made do.
Lichen is pushed in the direction, she lowers herself to stalk towards where Aurelle had steered her. Feelers reaching out to gentle brush against obstacles, warding her away from loose twigs or from walking bodily into bushes. It'd been some time since she'd needed to hunt, most of her time was spent foraging, it was easier that way. When she was younger and much less inclined towards laziness and easy methods, she'd enjoyed the hunt.
There was something about the deep-seated thrill of it, the rush of endorphins as jaws snap shut, the bodily rush of 'you get to eat today' that was better than any easy meal. Her nature, she supposed. Despite being suited for mixed diets, there would always be that part of opportunistic carnivore within her. The part that delighted in gnawing marrow from bones, the hearty crunch of much-needed calcium, the boost of proteins. All only enhanced by failure after failure as she learned to hunt without seeing. Without knowing if she was hidden, without knowing the exact location of her quarry. More often than not, it led to long sleeps to forget about the ache of hunger.
Then, she heard it. A quiet sniffing, the quiet rustle of feet moving across leaf litter. Aurelle had been right, there was something here. Once she felt the electromagnetic pull against her feelers, that sensation of another body nearby, she leapt into action.
One was trapped beneath heavy claws, another snapped up in jaws. Both were put out of their panic quickly, until they hung limply. She gently picked up the two carcasses, holding the still-warm bodies to her chest as she hobbled over to Aurelle.
What Lichen couldn't see, however, was these were too small to be cave rats. Their fur too light and soft, and their bodies too rounded. These were cave mice, not rats.
Aurelle waited, her ears still lifted, as Lichen slid away from her. She knew not to make any sound, because even a sudden little scrape of her foot against the cave floor might be enough to alert something flighty like a rat or a rabbit.
Soon enough, though, she could hear the dim crunch of Lichen's jaws breaking delicate bones. The elf's ears twitched upwards, and she held her hands out for the dragon's return, soon feeling smooth scale against her palms.
The proverbial record scratch as Lichen's mind stuck on the fact that these were mice and not rats, was very much visible in her body language. She went from brushing up to Aurelle like an affectionate cat to stock-still in just a beat. Once again, Aurelle had read her like a picture book if either of them could see one.
Without another word, Lichen swivels to present the bags to Aurelle. No fish, no rats. Perhaps she was getting old. Washed up. Inwardly, she groaned.
Lichen tried to focus on sensing the greenery, but her lingering embarrassment made it difficult. It wasn't easy to feel for roots and fruits, when recent memories of your friend trying to cheer for your failure kept replaying. All she could think of was the reassurance in Aurelle's voice, a gentle and friendly gesture, but the dragon couldn't help but think she was several cycles old. Fully grown. She didn't need a cheerleader for her mistakes, which only made the red-hot embarrassment in her face burn hotter.