ORIGIN

"Speech" @Khloros

Watching Khloros' movements, Todd looked up and met the horse's eerily glowing gaze with his own stunned one. He watched as the other turned as he moved away to examine the bones whilst Todd hung back, waiting with bated breath for whatever was coming.

This seemed important. For the first time ever, Todd felt unsettled, and very much so at that. So much so that when he heard Khloros' rasping voice again, he gave a quiet whimper. But it was accompanied by a shaky smile. "'Twas? Uh... Course 'twas," He murmured, chest suddenly swelling with pride. "I... I did magic!" There was a short pause.

"Di'nt expect em to jump like that though."

Khloros spoke again. This time he wanted to make sure it really was Todd. Todd knew it was him, and his fur puffed out defensively. But still... If he'd made them jump, why had he jumped too? This time he should get it better, be braver.

The little fox plopped himself down, stared intently at the scattered bones, and focused.

Once more the bones began to tremble, this time even sooner than last time. Todd prepared himself, tensing up. Again the bones scattered, skittering away from one another and clearing out an area in front of Todd. This time he tensed up, but didn't flee.

He looked expectantly up at Khloros and bared his little fangs in an enormous grin, letting his tongue loll out to one side.

Khloros watched closely as the fox repeated his spell, sending another clattering of bones scattering over the rock.

With a snort of acknowledgement, he turned back to Todd.

"With practice, it could be very useful. Keep working at it. Try to find other spells. I have not seen a magic-of-pushing-away, but it has potential."

He paused, eyeing Todd. For a moment he had the impression that if the fox had shared with him, he should share with the fox--but checked himself when he remembered what sort of magic he had.

"I would show you mine," he rasped quietly, "but it would kill you. And I do not think you want to die."

With a slight shake of his mane the horse then glanced around.

"I am going to explore further. You can come with me, if you want."

With that the black horse turned, and began to amble along the wall of Canis, looking over the carvings as he went.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

"Speech" @Khloros

Todd fluffed out his fur, sucking his wet tongue back into his mouth and licked his lips, watching Khloros curiously with his ears twitching slightly. He nodded vigourously in response to Khloros, eyes ever proud and ever more curious. "More spells?" He asked excitedly. "What will they do? Where will I find them?"

He met the stallion's eyes once more and again wondered what he was thinking.

"Oh, that sounds fun." In that instant it was painfully unclear whether the cub was being smartly sarcastic or genuine, and forgetful. That being said, it was highly unlikely the cub had witnessed sarcasm or had a grasp of humour yet.

Todd quickly hopped to his paws at the prospect of more explorations, and trotted after Khloros with his head held high. It was as though he was trying to look as big and strong as his new friend. As he did so, he followed his gaze to the wall carvings, falling behind when he occasionally stopped to ponder them.

"Coming, coming! Wait for me! You're too fast."

Khloros snorted softly as the fox accused him of being "too fast;" Todd had already proved his speed and energy and ability to dart off into the darkness with Khloros having to run to catch up.

Instead he ignored this, ambling along the narrow trail that wound back beneath the orb-lights along the West Wall of Canis. He looked over the carvings, as he went, taking them in, memorizing their designs as best he could, though they made little sense to him.

While he did, he spoke, responding to Todd.

"I don't know where you'll... 'find' them. Maybe we can find someone to teach you. I don't know anyone who has your sort of magic, though," he added. "I know where to find people who can maybe teach you. They had a fox... like you, but he's gone now," Khloros added mildly. It may have been taken as ominous by some, but he doubted the little empty-headed kit would think too deeply into it. He was too young, too innocent--not that Khloros looked down on him for this. Indeed, it was almost endearing, though the black horse did not feel any affection toward Todd whatsoever.

He just sort of felt blank toward him.

"It's a place that maybe you would like. It has red rock, and it has Nemesis. She is a large mother. She is gray, and she tells good stories," he added. He didn't know how else to describe her.

With the faintest pang, he realized that he missed the trino. He ought to go back, he thought, and visit her at some point.

For now, though, Khloros continued on through Canis, looking over the piles of bones and the mysterious markings on the wall, wondering just what it all meant.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

"Speech" @Khloros

"Ooooh. You mean like how you taught me?" Todd looked at Khloros happily, and it was clear to see that pride swelled in his little chest; perhaps he was proud of having someone like Khloros to teach him. But it was likely he was prouder of having cast those spells all by himself. In his eyes, that was worthy of some grand reward. Being taught didn't sound as fun as going on a huge adventure to find them, though. "Oh... uh... I don't either. What sort is my magic?" Todd considered for a moment, and then bounded on ahead. "Another fox? Like me? Are they like me?"

Todd looked down at the uneven ground upon which his paws tread. It wasn't very comfortable on his paws and for what might have been the first time the cub slumped onto his belly, licking his soft right forepaw.

He wasn't sure about this ground even now that he was lying down, and after a moment of consideration the fox humourously hopped over to Khloros, kicking out three legs as he tried to put full weight on his gem which, it seemed, didn't feel pain.

"Oooohh... sounds nice. I wonder if they'll like me. But... what is a large mother?" Todd liked the sound of her stories, whatever they were, and as he reached smoother stone to lick his uncomfortable paws better, Todd glared at the path with pure vengeace in his usually nonchalant eyes. The strange markings in the compact earth were what made it so uncomfortable, and Todd wouldn't recognize said markings as strange and misshapen footprints, instead just seeing their existence as a crime against his own.

Khloros made his way along slowly, ambling along the wall and listening patiently to the fox. He seemed filled to the brim with questions, overflowing and dropping them as they went.

"No. Louie was not like you. He wanted to kill. And I don't know what your magic is." His words were matter-of-fact, and patient rather than dismissive.

"'Large' means big. I am big; you are small. A mother is... Nemesis is a carer. She cared for me, and she is a protector. She nurtures, and guards. I think that is what 'mother' means. She is a large mother."

Khloros paused as Todd stopped, and watched the fox hopping about on the footprints etched in the stone, here. He himself had found himself stumbling slightly on the misshapen rock, and he found himself lowering his head to sniff at whatever had seemed to aggravate Todd so intensely.

"I can take you there, if you want. Or show you the way. Does this rock bother you?" he asked, absently.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

"Speech" @Khloros

"Oooh." Todd could have assumed that killing was a form of playing but the tone of Khloros' voice and the way he quickly answered his next questions meant that if he had, Todd quickly forgot. "Awww... Do you think I'll find out what my magic is someday? Do you think I can get better at it without knowing? Can I find out all by myself?" Once again, Todd's curiosity seemed... endless.

"Ooooh... I never had a large mother I don't think. No-one ever really looked after me. An' I never met anyone bigger than you. You're real big." He looked down, again, at the oddly-misshapen ground beneath his paws. There were patterns. So many patterns. entrancing patterns that made it all rough and uncomfortable to walk on with his soft paw pads. Sometimes, Todd wished that all four of his paws were gems.


"Okay! That'd be nice. I wanna meet 'em!" He paused for a few moments, before nodding. "It feels funny," he growled, crinkling his nose. But he perked up in an instant, poking at the rock with his wet and sniffling nose. "B-b-but! It has really, really cool shapes on it. What are those?"

Khloros was reluctant to say simply that he wasn't sure. But he wasn't. The things in the rock were divots, markings, holes, as if someone had chewed on the ground and left teethmarks all throughout.

"It... might be footprints?" he offered at last, flaring wide nostrils to snuffle over the stone.

"But..." His mind mulled this over, and his thoughts spilled forth as words before he could really have a chance to think them through. "...what could leave footprints in solid stone?"

The black horse lifted his head, the faintest tinge of fear touching him. Perhaps it was creatures with melting, flaming feet, or beasts so large that they sank into rock. The idea brought a shiver over his dull hide, and he looked back down at Todd.

"I haven't seen anything like this in the other caves. It might be dangerous, here, if there's bones everywhere and something that can leave footprints in rock. Do you want to go with me and meet Nemesis?"

He planned to leave, and now. He wasn't sure what lurked here, but he had the sudden nagging feeling that Canis was not good for his survival prospects.

That, and the odd sensation that something was watching them.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

"Speech" @Khloros

"Footprints?" Todd looked up at Khloros and racked his brains for the word. "Those are where... you press your paw down, and it makes the shape of your paw!" he said excitedly. "Aren't they?"

A few moments passed and Todd wandered over to the tracks again, reaching out his small paw and placing it in to one of the oddly-shaped prints in the stone. It was far bigger than his paw ever would be, and he wasn't sure what it was. it certainly didn't look like any paw or hoof or anything he'd ever seen. Todd turned to look at Khloros's hooves. Those were weird, and by the seems of it even Khloros thought those prints were strange!

Now that the horse mentioned it, Todd thought it over too. "Uuuhh... Magic?" he suggested, looking up at Khloros, seemingly lulled by this idea. Todd looked down at where his paw sat, and tried to press it into the ground. It didn't go down, not even in the slightest.

"Oh, really? This is a real adventure then!" Todd's fur bristled once more with excitement; clearly the cub didn't quite understand the depth of the situation. But fortunately for Khloros, the cub was just as eager to meet this... 'Nemesis'. "Nemesis, that's the big mother isn't it?" he asked excitedly. "Yes, yes! Let's go see Nemesis!"

Khloros turned, and--trying to keep a calm, casual pace, so as not to make whatever was watching them suddenly leap out and attack--he began ambling off the way he came.

Canis unnerved him.

He didn't like to admit it, but it did. He felt like he shouldn't be here; the rest of the caves were his, but he'd been born in the tunnel outside. Maybe this meant something. Maybe Canis had spat him out to plague the other caves, and he wasn't meant to return until his job was done. Or ever.

The black horse made his way without a word, and with a slightly stiffer, swifter gait than before. He didn't speak, just led the way toward Monoceros, whether Todd chose to follow, or not.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD