ORIGIN

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When Carcino had turned in that night, his world was a familiar darkness. The world was lit only by the soft glowing hues of plantlife. His eyes preferred this, his magic perfectly suited for it. He was at peace in his dark, cool-lit world, and nothing could possibly change it, he was sure. However...

As Cancer woke the next morning, he had to blink rapidly to block out the horrid yellow glow that met his eyes. Horrible! Absolutely horrible! He gasped as his mind registered this new light- and thusly, his new world. The cave was lit by glowing orbs all around, and as he stepped to the lip of his ledge, the leopard scowled. The mess of dirt and clay, of fish bones and stray grit, laid out before him... he nearly shivered. Under the light of those glowing orbs, his home looked trashed. He grimaced.

"And just how in drenches' deep am I supposed to fix this mess?" Leon and Makyna were both no where to be found, both likely exploring the caves now that they were lit. Bevy? He looked towards the back wall, but wasn't sure he could spot her.

His eyes weren't adjusted for this light yet. He blinked a few more times, then sauntered down to the edge of the lagoon, under the spray of the falls. He'd have to start this new chore alone. Muttering briefly under his breath, the cub stomped along and scooped up garbage to shuffle it all into a pile, off to the edge of the moss beds. It was slow going, and gradually, he grew bored of his task.

"Stupid mess and stupid bones. Stupid bald-faced bird should love these stupid bones. Stupid bear probably left most of these. Stupid stupid stupid." Soured cub lurched about, dividing the pile between bones and not-bones, to bring the former to 'Zazel later. The Bone King was sure to appreciate the offering. Can himself would just appreciate the clean floor.

Cancer was right - with the new light source flooding the caves, Leon had taken his (female) best friend to go explore the nearby rooms and tunnels. With their newfound ability to see everything, Leon was eager to get in as much exploration as he could and figured having two sets of eyes would be better than one. It didn't take long though; it wasn't like exploring a completely new room. All it took was a glance around a room or tunnel they were already familiar with, just to confirm it was pretty much the same as when they'd last seen it in the dark. There were of course new details to be discovered - new markings in the walls previously unseen, footprints embedded in the mud he wouldn't have identified before, small plants and animals skittering away with his impending approach. Otherwise, it was the same.

He figured they could return to Pisces to report back to Cancer. Makyna was somewhere nearby, he was sure of it - maybe she had gone to clean up or find Bevy. That would leave Leon alone as he found the melanistic cub that had taken claim over the waterfall room, scowling and muttering to himself while organizing piles of debris. One such comment caused Leon to furrow his brow and frown. Stepping onto the rock floor, Leon reclined onto his hind legs and sat there, idly scratching the side of his face. "Stupid bear, eh?" He quirked a brow, peering over at Cancer. Leon opted to say nothing more until Cancer became aware of his presence.

Well, the lights or whatever they were called were back on, and the caves were illuminated. Critters no longer had to scramble around blindly in the night, wondering if there was more than darkness. The orbs that hung from above gave off soft glows and low humming noises as electricity was supplied to them. Sometimes they'd dim, presumably because the machine that powered them was old and unused. The wheel was probably really rusty. But for now, he wanted to check and see if the folks of Maji Walezi were aware of the fact that golems now roamed freely in Origin Caves. Pisces was a hop, a skip, and a jump away from the core, and he'd like to at least know if The Bonebound had an ally in this mission to fend off the golems if they reared their ugly heads in their territories.

So the bird flew through a few tunnels, stopping in a few rooms on the way, for the trip was tiresome, even for a skilled critter in flight such as Azazel. As soon as the doorway to Pisces appeared, the ave was happy. The Bone King managed to land in the watery halls, slick with mist and spray from the incoming room's waters. What he found was something that Azazel didn't like one bit. The cub he'd met before in politics was grumpily sorting through his den, which seemed full of junk. But then, it was the words he said that angered him. Stupid bald-faced bird should love these bones?! Sure he'd love the bones but stupid?! Who did this jerk take Azazel to be? Flustered, the vulture ruffled his feathers and waddled over to Cancer. "This stupid bald-faced bird would like to talk about something important." With a narrow glare, The Bone King grunted, watching the bear next to him a closely. He was that cub from the golem dam! He'd greet him later. For now, he was pretty darn upset about Cancer. That jerk!

"Speech"

Cancer was half way through shoveling a particularly fresh pile of bones when behind him, Leon appeared, and not a second later, Azazel. He whirled around at the first voice, and looked less guilty than he should've when both called him out on his insults. He stood straighter.

"Look here Leon," He started crossly, sounding like he was about to break into a scolding. Then, he picked up a fish spine between two claws and shook it messily in Leon's direction. "I've got a bone to pick with you." The pun was hopefully enough to break the tension. He doubted it, but he continued anyway, shaking it at the Bone King himself next.

"And he's got bones to pick with me. Let's all agree, we all have bones to pick with each other, and just let my bitchy banter slide, okay?" Then, having shaken the spine apart completely, he dropped the tiny bit that was left and stood taller. "I wouldn't have reason to complain if some people bothered to clean up after their meals." He looked over at Leon pointedly, then finished his rant, sat down. "If it makes you both feel better, I'm a stupid leopard for talking out loud anyway, so moving on. What is it, Azazel? This is the second time in a week you've been by to visit. Hopefully nothing too horrendous?"

As luck would have it, Leon wasn't the only one to show up while the leopard went on his angry tirade. A voice rang out from behind him, prompting the bear to turn and watch as a large bird - the bearded vulture from the dam - waddled over to Cancer, scolding him for his words too. Leon remained silent as he watched Azazel, gaze flicking between the two of them until Cancer straightened up. With a fragile fish skeleton between his claws, he turned to the bear with a pun. Leon struggled to resist turning his lips up in a small grin. It was funny - and within seconds, the barrier broke and Leon couldn't fight the small sneer from making its way onto his face. Cancer then turned his attention to the bird, only to place the blame of this mess on Leon. "Woah, wait a second," The bear raised his paws, quirking a brow.

Was it really all his mess? The bear took a quick glance around. There were a few stray piles of bones, but Cancer had mostly managed to clean it all up. "Alright, maybe some of that was me. Where else am I supposed to put them, in the clean water? I was making piles." He defended. It wasn't like there was anywhere else for him to put the bones. He fell silent again as Cancer turned his attention back to Azazel. That was fine, Leon was content to listen - his scouting report likely wasn't as important as... whatever the reason Azazel was here for.

The leopard would turn, at first surprised to see the duo standing there. The two he had just trash-talked showed up at precisely that moment to hear that. What upset Azazel even more was that the feline didn't even look like he felt bad. How could he even live with himself in this cave?! How many lemons did he eat daily?! WHAT WERE LEMONS?! The melanestic critter hooked a fish skeleton between his claws and jiggled it about, creating puns. Azazel smirked a little, but then tried his best to seem cross. Bitchy banter, eh? He wouldn't let that slide right on by. The Bone King ignored that for now, listening to the feline blame the poor bear cub for leaving such a mess.

Narrowing his eyes a little more, the bird squawked, "Hold up," Flapping his wings indignantly, Azazel gazed at Cancer right in the eyes. "He isn't the only one that eats in this cave. Besides, how would he know? The lights have been off all this time until yesterday!" He'd chirp, tilting his head. How had this cat not noticed that the lights just turned on a day or so ago? No matter. He'd listen as the bear defended himself, but also attacked himself. There wasn't really anywhere for trash, and Azazel nodded solemnly. Now, the bones, he'd accept, but not the rest of the trash. Why couldn't they dump it in some swamp? Perhaps. But for now, his important duties that he had to address.

Straightening, the juvenile cocked a brow. "There's a bunch of golems roaming around in the core. To unlock the dam that powered the lights... some woke them up and they were hidden by the water, but I know that they are there. I was curious as to if you'd be willing... along with the rest of your group... to aid The Bonebound in guarding the core from these golems until someone figures out how to defeat them or put them to sleep so they don't bother anyone or hurt anyone." Now, he wasn't asking for a suicide mission, and hopefully this sour lemon would understand that. Then he looked to the cub, curious to see what he had to say. It seemed these two were familiar... and his name was Leon. Strange. That seemed like a name that a lion would have. Something about the sound said that.

"Speech"

As expected the bear jumped to defend himself. Soon though, so did Azazel and instead of saying anything more on the matter, Cancer sat up on his hind legs and flared his front paws in surrender. He let the matter die as the vulture moved on to the next order of business. He mentioned the word "golem", admittedly something completely foreign to him, and continued to explain that they were now endangering the core? The Core... that was the place some of his friends had come from, wasn't it? He'd never been there...

The cub looked back up to his ledge and those ears fell back as he contemplated. He wasn't about to make any decisions without a council first... but at the same time, he'd like to see these golems and the Core for himself. The cub looked to Leon first.

"You've been to the Core, and then some. Have you seen or heard of these golems yourself?" He turned to Azazel and before letting the bear answer, asked, "I'll have to see this for myself before I even suggest it to the rest of my group, but if you really think they're a threat, then you can take me there and I can see for myself. Are they really dangerous? Not just some weirder gembounds?"

Leon sheepishly scratched at his cheek as the bearded vulture jumped to his defense. That much was true, too; it was dark and Leon couldn't really see what he was doing. In the dim light of the glowing crystals, it was hard to distinguish piles of bones from other debris, but he had tried his darndest to keep things in neat little piles. Anyways, it wasn't that important, so he was glad when the vulture dropped the subject and moved onto something else. It seemed he was here to talk to the leopard cub about the golems. This made Leon perk up some more, tilting his head while he looked at Azazel. The bird wanted to get rid of the golems, and he was coming to Maji Walezi for help. What would Cancer say?

Unexpectedly, he looked to Leon and asked him about the core. Leon parted his jaws, ready to answer before Cancer abruptly turned away and returned his attention to the bird. "I've only seen them once, just recently when we turned the lights on." The bear explained, butting back into the conversation. This was relevant to him, and he had knowledge on the golems. "There was a lot of them and they started chasing us. Using magic against them didn't seem to hurt them." He added with a frown. "I think we should all get a chance to see them first before we try to attack them. A lot of us don't even know what they can do." Of course, his primary concern was Makyna. He didn't want to involve her in something she wasn't ready for. Had she even encountered the golems yet?

Leon straightened up and sniffed, turning to Azazel. "If you're going to take him to the core, I'm coming with you." He decided. He wanted to get a better look at the golems, too. Maybe they could find a way to combat them.

Cancer would show a bit of disbelief but also confusion at the prospect of golems. So he had yet to discover what the foul beasts were, eh? But then, he did know that the cub had seen them. He was a reliable source, as the feline and bear seemed familiar with one another. "Yes, there are golems in the core." Well, roughly twenty that were living. There were probably a plethora of those who'd been ripped apart by the river, now resting in the bed of it in stony silence. Rolling his eyes at the grouchy lemon-face, the bird nodded quietly.

"They aren't Gembound at all, Cancer. They're just a bunch of rocks forming a two-legged monster that's out to get your stone or magic." Raising a brow, the bird flapped his wings to relocate to atop a rock. "I'm willing to show you. Cancer, if you'd really like to. I've taken on a golem before, and I think I know how to beat them... or at least some." Tilting his head and smiling a little smugly, the bird waved a wing, gazing at the cub, as if to say 'please come!'.

"Speech"

Cancer listened as Leon and then Azazel explained. Rock creatures, who ate magic? It seemed fat-fetched, but if both were confirming the tale, he coudn't disbelieve them now. Azazel spoke of defeating them, though, and to that, Cancer frowned. He'd follow along, but he had a few concerns to voice first.

"Are they really dangerous? What happened when you guys found them? We can't assume they're out to get us gembounds just because they consume magic. We can do that too, but you don't see me chewing on your butt, do you?" He nodded to indicate the bird's stone, then shook his head. "I want to see them for myself before I agree to go to war against them, like it seems you're suggesting here. Unless they attacked you guys without provocation, we can't assume they're violent without cause first. If something happened to incite violence before, let me know now- I don't want to call Maji together to send them to fight something that doesn't require vioence to solve."

The leopard cub was dutiful. His group was his pride, his livelyhood. Maji Walezi's safety would not be jepordized over some boulder-munching creatures living in an entirely different part of the cave, unless they posed an actual threat. Maybe Azazel and Leon had the magic for it, and wings and claws to take them on, but a leopard wasn't built for fighting- climbing, swimming, leaping from heights, yes, but not fighting. His magic wouldn't help him either, by the sounds of it, so why bring a Lioness, a tiny Bird, a legless lizard and a slinky leopard into a war of beasts? He had a lot to consider on the way...
-exit Cancer, I'll open a new thread in Polaris after you guys post?-

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Cancer

Leon

Azazel (Original)

Cancer

Leon

Azazel (Original)

Cancer

Leon

Azazel (Original)

Cancer