ORIGIN

Lips peeled back, large and deadly fangs left completely exposed as the fully grown tiger rested above the city of Orion. Her head shook side to side, causing her rounded ears to flop with the movement. For the longest time Arete traveled all of origin. Searching, descovering all she could of it. Her interaction with other gem bounds was little to none and she was beginning to feel maybe it was perhaps time to come from the shadows and reveal herself to others. The great dragon that terrorized Polaris was easily avoided. Though she was fairly sad that her favorite part of the cave was set ablaze by the vicious beast. There had been whispers she had caught wind of that a band of gembounds were going to fight against the drake. She had wanted to go and watch, but she had not spent enough time mastering skills that would be suitable to face an enemy such as Raheerah.

A frown marred her feline features before she rose to her powerful paws and began prowling along the ledges. The urge to move on from the area quickly set in so she took no time to move on. It didn't take long before she found herself to the room of the waterfall. Ears pushed forward, listening for any movement within. The place was owned by the Maji Walezi. A group she had only briefly learned about by a lioness known as Makyna. Vaguely she wondered if the lioness was here, but she cast it aside and made her way towards the waterfall. A soft purr escaped her as she listened to the roar of the fall. She studied the waters before crouching down to get a quick drink.

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"speech"
OoC:

The owl was nestled on the ledge high above, and turned his head to listen as a quiet sound hit his sensitive ears.

It was barely audible under the roar of the falls, but he crept to the edge of the ledge, peering down unseeing, listening. Yes--a lapping sound, someone quietly drinking. He still didn't have the sense of self-preservation that many had; he'd only ever been attacked by those who had been obvious, audible threats.

So it was with a total lack of fear that he drifted down, alighting on the ground near the tiger with a scuffle of talons and a tumble of wings, nearly faceplanting. Then he turned, hooting a soft greeting before waddling a little closer, feeling sociably friendly today.

"Makyna?" he asked quietly, head tilting again. "Is that you?"

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A fluttering of wings drew Arete's attention. Slowly she withdrew from the water and slid her tongue along her chops to catch the droplets of water. She turned her head just as the owl came tumbled against the ground only to just manage to catch his balance. She smiled as the avian hooted a greeting, studying it's features with all the curiosity she had. His eyes drew her attention the most and she knew in that moment that his site was not what it should be. Glistening with the hints of what she would assume to be the gem he was born with. "I am not Makyna, friend," She began slowly, hoping not to startle the bird for having flown down towards a stranger he would not know. Though having heard Makyna's name left a smile on her face and she knew the lioness still lived within this area.

"My name is Arete," She studied him for a reaction again before speaking once more, "Are you the only one here right now?" It was a curious question, more so over the idea of Makyna being around. It wouldn't hurt to go say hello to the lioness who helped her get a hang of using her magicka.

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"speech"
OoC: sorry it's small

Dark hooted gently once more, ruffling his feathers and then fluffing down again, settling on the slick rock.

"Hello. Ar-eete," he tried, clicking his beak and tilting his head. "I am Dark. I am an owl," he added, perhaps somewhat unnecessarily. He wasn't sure who the stranger was, or if they were one of Maji Walezi--the group was large, after all, and he hadn't been introduced to everyone.

"Hello, hello, hello," he added abruptly, in a series of musical trills, as if trying out the word further. He hopped closer, his manner naively childlike despite his obvious adulthood. "I don't know if I'm alone. Don't eat me, please. But I can't see, but sometimes there are others around. Makyna has a place, I think. With flowers. Bevy flies around."

The owl wasn't particularly helpful, but at least he was making it clear enough--hopefully, for the tigress's sake--that the others wandered Pisces. He didn't keep tabs, and he wasn't sure who was where--it would be hard enough for a sighted creature to keep track of the comings and goings of the adventurous lion and the flighty bird, and the rest. For a blind owl, it was all but impossible.

"Do you need someone?" Dark chirped brightly, as something of an afterthought.

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A soft chuckle came from the tirgress, the sound soothing to anyone who may hear it. "It's Ah-ruu-tey, dear one," She smiled kindly to the bird knowing full well he would not be able to see it, but the kindness was in her voice. "Have no worries, friend, I have no intentions of eating you," There was still laughter in her soft voice as she slowly lowered herself to lay down upon her stomach, her gem creating a small 'clink' against the ground as she did so.

She listened closely as he spoke of Makyna and where she may be and soon someone by the name of Bevy. It must have been a lively place around here then. "Oh, no. I am not looking for anyone in particular. I was just here to soothe my thirst is all. I just know Makyna lives in this area, that's all." A deep, thoughtful purr escaped the tigress as she averted her gaze from him to look about the particular room once more. It was definitely peaceful in here, what with the soothing roar of the waterfall and all. "Do you stay here? Or do you go places like the others do as well?" She wasn't sure if it was an insensitive question, but it was most definitely not meant in that way if it came across as such.

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"speech"
OoC:
Tags: @Dark

Dark liked the sound of her voice, liked the soothing nature of it, the welcome. He could hear it lower to the ground, too, so he took it as an invitation, of sorts: he hopped closer, in fact attempting to snuggle right up to Arete, hooting softly.

"Ah-ruu-tey! Ah-ruu-tey!" he called softly as he hopped over, the name coming out melodic and gentle.

"I go places. I can't see them but I go there. I'm a scout. There's water, here, and it's too loud," he added, as if this was related to his travel.

For a moment he was silent, bar a thoughtful clicking of his beak. He fluffed out his feathers, sinking and settling in place, getting comfortable. As they flattened back down, he swivelled his head nearly a hundred eighty degrees to face Arete, peering at her, unseeing.

"Do you travel? May I see what you've seen, in other places, please?"

He didn't explain this--as if it didn't need explaining--instead just staring at Arete expectantly, and politely.

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Arete tilted her head to the side curiously as Dark continued to speak. For a moment she wondered if all owls had super sensitive hearing, or if it was because he lacked vision within his eyes and his body simply magnified his other senses for better survival. A thoughtful purr escaped her as he requested an interesting thing. "Oh yes. I travel all over the caves. I don't stay long in one spot as I like to keep an eye on all things. Also to see if I can't find something new that I may have missed the last I had visited a place," A warm smile curved at the edges of her features before she dipped her head down closer to Dark and gave a curious sniff at his feathers.

His inquiry to see things she had done was curious. There was no other thing she could think of other than perhaps it was a particular skill he acquired that related to the magic he had surely been born with. "I don't mind. You can view it when ever you are ready," Again she smiled, her voice inviting and calm as she waited to see just what exactly he would see and take from her with this magic.

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"speech"
OoC:
Tags: @Dark

Dark gave a soft and gentle hoot in response, hopping forward with tilted head. He lifted his slightly dirty white-feathered foot, long black talons outstretched two in front and two in rear, like pincers. He laid them lightly against the tiger's coat, and clicked his beak, focusing.

He felt the magic thrum within his "eyes," the gem feeling somehow warmer and more alive as he called on the power. He was still gentle, still polite, and if he'd had real eyes, they'd surely have gone unfocused and distant.

As it was, he went still and quiet, beak still slightly parted, as he tried to feel, to sense, some random moment in Arete's past.

He still didn't seem worried about the tigress's massive size compared to his own, her closeness; perhaps he was very naive, or maybe her friendly, mild mannerisms really had put him at ease.

He remained motionless as his mind flooded with imagery. He saw a cat--large, like Makyna, only instead of a very short tan coat, this one was reddish tawny with white edging up her sides. She had stripes, and gently flaming eyes, and the owl hooted gently in appreciation of her beauty. Around her were bones: great vast piles of them, towers in fact. Fortresses. It was a place he'd never seen, and so the owl tilted his head as he lowered his foot, ruffling his feathers again.

"You are beautiful," he observed in his soft and musical voice. He didn't sound awed, or infatuated, just as if stating a fact, the way a gem might be beautiful, or maybe a rainbow. "I saw a cave filled with... bones? I think they were. Where is that? Why were you there?" he warbled curiously.

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A smile curved curved across her features as Dark's words reached her attentive ears. Slightly her head tilted, pondering over her own thoughts as he inquired about the room of bones and for a moment she had to remember why she was there. "That would be Canis. A bird King lives their with his group and several other birds. A hyena and a few other canines there as well," She mused thoughtfully as she turned her gaze back towards the owl.

"I was there to study some of the bone structures. To see how they were made. I didn't stay long though as I didn't want the bird king to assume I was trespassing as I did not tell them of my wanderings," Again she smiled even though she knew he would not see it.

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"speech"
OoC: I"m sorry for late response and shitty post T_T

@Dark

Dark seemed to hum and chortle for awhile, mulling the tigress's words over.

"Ah-ruu-tey," he began sofly, "how do you get there from here?"

He clicked his beak for a moment, and then added, "Have you seen a bat? A bat named Tal'at? I'm looking for him but can't find him again. He was my friend. I saw him. Like this," he added, squinting his gem eyes and trying to reopen the link between Arete and himself. He sent the tigress an image--crystal clear--of a bat, a furry bat, with a brown stone nestled in his face, in place of eyes. The bat seemed to be perched in among some greenery, eating a mango fruit.

"He is blind too, but it's hard to find someone when you're both blind. I don't know if he's okay. And you said you travel a lot?" The owl chirped softly, tilting his head, sounding rather hopeful as he peered unseeingly toward the golden tigress.

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