ORIGIN

Barnett stayed steady, standing up and leaning on Ghanyarah's gemstone crest for support, one paw raised in a sort of salute, straining his good eye to see into the distance. Finally, the end of their journey came into view... but it was even more confusing than the beginning, and the hair along the numbat's back stood up in alarm at the sight of a towering, shadowy figure. "Who the hell is that?" The harsh whisper was directed down towards his boat-like acquaintance, along with Diot and Eve.

Thankfully, it seemed the giant three-headed dog was taking the lead, and both he and Leon combined could certainly protect them all - or at least draw attention away while he and the rest of the smaller folk fled. Still, the door beyond the figure, with its strange indentations and shape, kept Barnett from fleeing then and there, leaning almost off of Ghanyarah's snout in his interest. "And what in the caves is it tinkerin' with?"

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Remaining within Pisces would certainly have served him better. Jumping down off the rock, he sloshed in the melted snow as he made his way towards the group. Both of his ears, and tail, were tucked in complete understanding that he was indeed the youngest here. Childish curiosity continued to push him forwards and as he came up behind Ghanyarah and Barnett, he remained behind them trying to peer past the thick scaled tail of the komodo dragon.

There was something odd fiddling with a strange portion of the wall. Blinking in confusion, he tilted his head and barked quietly, "What is all this..." Pushing close to the ground, he no longer felt safe as he found himself wriggling closer to the backside of the lizard.

Diot was rather wide eye'd and full of excitement as always. Though it could be mistaken as high alert, especially with what sight was in store for all of them. Squinting slightly the tamarin could make out something, no; someone. They were rather tall, shadows making up their mysterious form. Occasionally they glanced back at the group of gembounds; but seemed preoccupied with what mechanism was before them. The harsh whisper from his father caused the tamarin to compress himself closer to Booker. One hand safety on his shoulder as Diot watched the shadows.

"They don't seem too...aggressive...more concerned about that mechanism than us..."

Diot kept a good hold on Booker, not wanting their father to fall off of the Komodo's snout.


"Speech"

The massive, swirling shadow had reclined onto their limbs and found themselves waiting patiently for the group to all coalesce at the end of the tunnel. Few of them must have charged on ahead, including the three-headed dog, the lizard with the small ones on its back, and Arkrael, while others had lingered behind. Once the majority of them seemed to have made it, Totum nodded and took in their questions one by one. "We are Totum." The twin voices spoke, ever entwined, masculine and feminine all the same. "You have noticed that the tunnel is flooding with periodic surges of water." They pointed out. "We have been trying to find a way to impede these dangerous surges, lest someone get hurt. But we cannot."

The twin gaze soon moved to Arkrael, looking her over. There was a sense that the stibnite had yet to be revived; an idle thought that they would stow away for later. "Yes. This door leads to a place of water." Their attention cast out to the rest of the group in explanation. "This is a drainage gate. Water once traveled through this channel into Canis. But recently, the channel eroded, saturating the tunnel between Pisces and Orion. The dry spell in Canis... I could fix that. Now the channel wall has eroded away, and the water surges have begun to flood the tunnel. They are too powerful for us to simply freeze the wall back in place." They spoke slowly, gesturing down the tunnel - though the Gembounds may not have realized it, the tunnel was a steady incline, rising up from Tunnel M and many of the caverns they usually traversed. They were higher up above most of the rooms at this point. The channel was another tunnel that broke away from Tunnel M at the point of its conjunction, eventually leading to Canis, though the channel itself was treacherous and slippery - it's purpose as a drainage tunnel made it too dangerous for traversing.

"We would blast the door open." The female voice growled indignantly. "That is too destructive. We must preserve the door." The beast's voice countered. "The door must be open. Then the water will drain slowly, and we will be able to repair the channel." They had ultimately decided, though it was apparent that this argument had been made earlier. The female voice had a surly edge to it, and was sure to insist upon the destruction of the door, but the masculine voice persisted. "Perhaps you will be able to help us." They finally added, stepping aside to allow the Gembounds to investigate the door. "But be wary when the water begins to seep from the top, as it will bring another surge."