ORIGIN - when are you going to land

Fleur peered up at the massive generator settled in the river, found while she wandered the shore. It was strange, all metal and machinery, foreign and off putting. Valuable. The skunk waddled back and forth at the beach of the stream, blocky head raised to sniff at it suspiciously, wishing for Nora's swimming abilities to get closer. Frustrated, she sat back on fluffy haunches, one ear flicking lazily, absentmindedly righting the crown that perched atop her brow.

This was getting her exactly nowhere.

She needed power, strength, enough to overcome Fang without dying herself. She had a Purpose now, with a capital P - to revive the soul of her brother, damn the consequences. With a muted grunt, the guard flopped down onto her belly, front legs hanging lazily into the water, batting at the fish that darted by. A hum built at the back of her throat, and before long, she was singsonging a lilting tune, textless and gravelly. A lullaby. There was memory, a weak one, of Florence singing the same to put her to sleep, again to convince her to eat - which.

Oops.

She hadn't really done that whole "eating" thing in a while...

An annoyed hiss later, she moved to all fours, trotting off down the beach, snout to the ground in search of some form of food that could be ripped up small enough to fit between bound jaws, absently sending a rush of healthy bacteria to tame down the inflammation that was usually present, joints popping satisfactorily as the spell worked.

©sanctuare-2k15

@Lux

The singing was what caught Lux's attention as she lapped at the waters of the river. A gentle sound from far away, almost impossible to pick up. At first, even, the hyena had thought that her mind might be playing tricks on her. But as she raised her head, slowly beginning to trail along the waters in that direction, the sound gradually grew louder, if just barely. But before she could find the source, the gentle melody just... stopped.

And with it, Lux stopped as well. Head cocked forward, curious, before she huffed and shook her head. The weight of the aquamarine collar around her neck was heavy. Since she'd found the strange stone formation, she'd worn it near constantly, ignoring the slight ache that came with such a task. There was something about the stone, even though it weighed her down... she couldn't bring herself to leave it behind somewhere. The energy that it seemed to possess was not lost on her.

The hyena raised her head and headed forward anyway, her curiousity towards what had been making that noise still there. She moved forward, her senses reaching out for other gembounds, but nothing seemed to be there.

So imagine Lux's surprise when she turned a bend towards the generator and literally tripped over the form of the skunk, letting out a yip as she flew forward into the mud.

@Fleur

Beady red eyes stuck to the ground, Fleur barely had time to let out a startled hiss before a very large mass of fluff was slamming into her side, doing a header into the mud of the river nearby. The skunk rolled with the impact, the crown staying firmly in place, as if it were fused to her skull. Still, the assassin landed on her rump with a disgruntled yelp, head wobbling from side to side as she dizzily tried to figure out what, exactly, had just managed to trip over a fully-grown skunk.

Gaze swiveling to peer at the perpetrator, Fleur raised an eyebrow at the sight of a hyena flopped in the mudbank, looking rather ridiculous. Still, it would be rude not to check on them, even if they had interrupted her hunt. The skunk rose from her place in the muck, trotting off to peer down her snout at the hyena's face. "Uh. You. Okay there?"

©sanctuare-2k15

@Lux

Lux stayed where she'd landed for a long second, head spinning and trying to figure out what exactly just happened. She began to came to when she heard the shifting of paws coming towards her, suddenly realizing there was someone else there. That must've been what-- or who-- she had run into and made her trip. Attempting to save herself (despite the other gembound already seeing her facepant in the mud), she quickly moved to try and get back on all four feet, slipping and sliding a bit.

Now towering above the skunk a bit, claws digging deeply into the mud to stop herself from sliding further, Lux attempted to raise her head and look like she Knew What She Was Doing. "I'm fine. Fine, um." Her eyes flicked over the form, slowly feeling herself relax a little. The skunk was so fluffy and... cute?

Realizing she'd been staring for a good few seconds too long, mouth a little bit agape, she snapped it shut, brown eyes flicking nervously. "You're okay, right? I mean, I didn't mean to... you know. Trip on you."

Smooth, Lux. Smooth.

@Fleur

Fleur watched as the hyena scrambled to stand, head moving to follow as they rose, pink-red eyes widening a bit at just how tall they were. Then again, they weren't as tall as Nemesis, so she tried not to worry about it too much, plush white fur puffing up just a bit. "Well. That's good," she deadpanned, one corner of her mouth twitching into a wry smirk, an eyebrow raising at the response - and the accompanying gape.

She'd... never gotten that response before. It made her fur settle and her chest puff out, expression smoothing out into a pleasant smile. If there was one thing Diamondfang had taught her, it was how to play the game... and whatever the hyena was playing at, Fleur would have fun seeing where it went. Fun was, after all, in short supply for her these days. "I am. Fine, friend. Are. You? Took a. Nasty. Fall," she murmured, tail swishing forward to poke at one of the woman's paws, as if to check on her.

She really shouldn't be this distracted, but... well. The hyena was stirring feelings in her that mirrored how she'd felt the first day she met Fang, and those were emotions so locked down it surprised even Fleur that she could recognize them. "What's. Your. Name? I'm. Fleur."

@Lux