ORIGIN

Kallista stalked around the room, unsure of what to do. Looking around, she couldn't see anyone. What a shame, she wanted someone to torment. Oh well. She'd have to find something else to do with her time. But what? She could hunt, but she wasn't hungry at that moment. She could groom her fur, but she didn't care how it looked. She thought for a moment before deciding that she may as well practice her spells. It doesn't hurt to work on them. So Kallista closed her eyes and began to call upon her magic.

Before long, her gem seemed to glow and a large sound sounded, nearly jumping the cat out of her skin. It was loud, and seemed to have a large range. Her fur began to lift up from static in the air. Her eyes widened, and she smiled. She liked this spell. It could scare someone away. Admittedly, that wouldn't be as fun as tormenting them, but watching them jump in surprise and maybe skitter away would be nice, too. It would also alert to anyone nearby that she was here. Maybe she'd find someone now.

Thunder crashed through the strangely dormant Pisces-- perhaps the bear family was hibernating, the cats all out to play-- but something awoke at the sound. Rather, something was drawn to the noise. From the entrance to Tunnel M, a massive, squirming and wriggling pile of black burst from the hole with a screech.

Immediately, the dark, furred creature lunged into the air with giant, leathery wings. It crashed into the ceiling first, letting out another horrible scream, before it began to dive down towards the waterfall blindly. After a moment, one could tell it was some strange hybrid of a bat and cat-- though it lacked both eyes and gemstone, appearing completely foreign to the caves.

Whatever it was, it was apparently quite angry.

@Kallista

For the first time in a while, a thrill of fear ran down the golden wolf's spine as she wandered the chilly halls of this new room. The crash of thunder, followed by an intense screech. Kin-Kin had never heard anything quite like it before... what Gembound in their right mind would ever, ever make that kind of a noise?

So naturally, she followed it, slinking along as low to the ground as she could huddle.

Her cape rustled gently along behind her, becoming easier to work around as she got bigger. At first, she'd tried to get it off, getting sick of tripping over it. But now... well... she kind of liked it. In the dark, at least it helped cover up her pelt, beautiful as it was, and mask her in shadows.

Painfully aware was the wolf that her golden pelt stood out like a sore thumb but, by this point, she'd gained somewhat of a confidence in her agility. Cycles spent scrambling on rocks and tearing lesser gembounds into bits, racing down seemingly endless tunnels had done their bit. Now, she was no longer afraid, just... slightly cautious of anyone making a noise like that.

As she approached, Kin-Kin sniffed the air softly, her ears pricking to the sound of leathery wingbeats. Stepping into view, she became aware of a small cat nearby, as well as... that... bat... cat. It sort of added up? Hybrids were... logical, sorta.

She looked from the bat-cat-thing, and then to the cat, who appeared for all the world like an ordinary Gembound compared to the other.

@Kallista

Almost immediately, Kallista could hear a bloodcurdling screech. It sent shivers down her spine. What could possible have made that noise? She looked up and saw a...creature dive down toward the waterfall. What was that? It looked like something that shouldn't exist, not here. It appeared to be some sort of bat-cat, but didn't appear to have a gem. Or maybe it was just hidden?

The cat soon heard another sound and turned, seeing a golden wolf with a...cape? Why did she have a cape? Kallista glanced from the bat-cat to the wolf. Well. While she definitely didn't want to mess with the bat-cat-honestly, who would?-she could at least mess with the wolf. She thought about what all she could do. She could say something, start right out with being mean, or maybe try to threaten them without words, for now? She could cast her other spell...Maybe that'd scare the wolf a bit. So she closed her eyes and began to cast her spell, praying it would work.

It did, albeit not as well as it could have been. The sparks only jumped from point to point on her body a little bit, but it was something. Her fur bushed out, partly from the static and from her doing it herself, in an attempt to make her seem even more threatening. Her claws were out and she bared her teeth.

@Kin-kin

Kin-Kin stood a short distance from the cat, keeping a twitching ear on the screeching hybrid, her eyes narrowed and flitting cautiously. She kept her body stood straight and her posture relaxed, although much to her disdain, she felt the fur along her spine rising with every hiss, snarl, and muffled squeal.

Focusing again on the cat, she twitched her ears forward, watching the sparks crackle around their coat. It was something that Kin-Kin had seen before, so long ago... Obviously, it was magic, and they thought they were so clever. Kin-Kin sniffed at the air, trying to look as irritatingly unconcerned as she could.

Quietly, she lowered her head, and then shook it in quick jerks from side to side as if to say "been there, done that". Slowly, she bared her teeth in what could be a smile or a challenge both. Her ears flicked, and violet gaze darted as she kept a wary eye on the creature which skulked nearby.

Her golden fur began to flicker, before suddenly lighting up, ablaze with a soft golden light, silently, unlike the crackling electricity which held the threat of setting off that... thing again. But what if it did? Maybe Kin-Kin would get the chance to save someone's ass, and get in some nifty training exercises at once.

She rolled her eyes in a silent challenge, moving her body like that of a serpent and fluttering her lashes. All the while, a smirk lingered on her muzzle.

@Kallista

Kallista's gaze flicked to the screeching creature as it began to stalk around. She narrowed here eyes before turning back to the wolf, just in time to see her shake her head. She snarled in response to her baring her teeth, tail lashing. So that didn't work. Alright, fine.

Before she could move or talk, or do anything, the wolf's fur began to glow with a golden light. Kallista's claws slid out and she scraped them against the floor as she realized she was being properly challenged. She didn't have anymore spells to do, but maybe she could still continue this challenge with body language? It was worth a try.

As her spell began to wear off, she fluffed her fur out to make her look bigger and more threatening, even more so than before. She crouched down and slowly began to stalk closer toward the wolf, her movements slow and precise. When she was right in front of the wolf, she straightened and raised her head, staring straight at the other, challenging her to continue.

@Kin-kin