Canis. Another room in Origin Cave that Tukluk had not yet explored. Before he’d left the safety of his home in Eridanus, he’d filled his new bag with fresh moss, packing it into the container to protect whatever he might fill it with. Then he’d set off in a new direction, something he did quite often. He was no longer afraid of everything that moved, despite being only a cycle old still, and only four and a half inches tall, minus his tail. He weighed only three ounces, and yet he felt as he were as big as an elephant — at least for now.
And what was this? Tuck had heard something nearby in the bones and gone to investigate. Truth be told, the pile of bones here kind of freaked him out, especially when he saw the glittering of gems in some of them, which suggested that some had once been as he was — that is, Gembounds. What in the Cave had caused such mass destruction? Clearly there had been many who had lived here a long time ago. Had they all died at once? Or had they died off one by one, falling atop one another eventually and slowly causing this great pile of long-dead creatures?
The appearance of the snake did not make Tuck feel much better. Snakes weren’t exactly cuddly, and seeing as he was so small, this snake might very well eat him. Though technically they had been near each other once before — both had been present during the escapade with the rats — Tuck did not remember the snake, and so greeted him as if he were truly a stranger.
“Hey,” he said in the Gembound’s general direction. And that was
all he said.
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@Septiezal
Tuck didn’t know why, but this particular Gembound, with its long body that slithered on the ground and its forked tongue which it flicked out at him, severely frightened him. Perhaps it was an instinctual thing. But, then, he hadn’t been all that frightened of the panther Nassir, and he was a lot bigger than this snake. Maybe Tuck just didn’t like snakes. But it’s not as if he’d met very many of them. The only snake he’d ever come across had been the one in the tunnel with the… rats…
“Heeeeeyyyy,” Tuck drawled out.
“I remember you now! You were in the tunnel with me and the others when those rats attacked us!”
Tuck had barely paid any attention at all to the others in that attack, too focused on saving his own life to notice them, but he’d seen them all when he’d first entered.
“Hey, how did the fight go for you?” he asked, noticing for the first time the burns across the snake’s snout.
“Did you get hurt too badly?”
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@Septiezal
Tuck noticed the way the snake turned his head away, trying to hide the burnt scales on his face and snout. He studied the reptile for a few moments, contemplating something, but was interrupted when the Gembound spoke. He puffed out his chest at being called ‘small.’ In all honesty, he was growing increasingly used to the word and his association with it. Still, he always felt the need to prove that, despite his size, he was still useful to the world and those in it.
“Hey, I may be small,” he began, using a phrase he’d used countless times before,
“but I have skill in Magic! I can heal Gembounds and grow food right out my own body!” He stuck out his lower lip, still thinking about something…
“Hey, if you want, I could try to heal your burns a little bit. I can’t really… make the marks go away, but I can stop them from getting infected and I can give you something if you’re feeling pain.” Anything to try some more Magic, really, is what he was after. And to prove himself to this snake. But, in his heart of hearts, the selfish little monkey was starting to find his true calling — being a healer. And that made him happy.
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@Septiezal
Tuck nodded when the snake finally consented to at least have something for the pain. Tuck, who was definitely playing Doctor right now, was a little disappointed that he didn’t want anything to keep the site clean and free from inflammation and/or infection, but he would give what he could. He was about to concentrate on his Magic, but the snake finally told him his name, which broke his thought process.
“I’m Tukluk,” the marmoset replied.
“But just call me Tuck. Everyone does.” Almost as an afterthought, he took off his pack, not wanting it to interfere with the plant he was about to grow.
Once again, he closed his eyes, and felt the bloodstone in his collarbone warm up as he accessed his Magic. A small branch of a Tamusen bush began to grow from his back, which he then realized was a horrible place to have grown it because he couldn’t properly reach it there. With a sigh, he opened his eyes again and looked at the snake.
“You’re gonna have to just eat the leaves off of me, I guess, cos I was being stupid and didn’t think about where to grow the branch, and now I can’t reach it. I’ll turn my back to you. You should see red leaves growing off of the branch. Just take a few and chew ‘em up. They don’t taste very good, but they should numb your pain after a while.”
That said, Tuck turned his face away from Septiezal, trusting him not to do anything bad while his back was turned — like trying to eat him.
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@Septiezal
Tuck nodded at the snake’s words, now feeling a little more tense than he had before. For some reason, he trusted the reptile enough to believe that he wouldn’t try to eat him, but… the idea that this might hurt
anyways was rather frightening. Still, he couldn’t back away from this. He needed to prove his usefulness in whatever way he could, even if he got hurt. Had he been any younger, he might have felt differently and run away, but, even at still only one cycle, he was growing up rapidly.
— Tukluk let out an ungodly screech when Septiezal ripped the branch off of him. It snapped off at the root, which was underneath his skin, and he screamed as it tore through his flesh. He immediately fell over and curled into a ball, the curving of his back only causing more pain. Tears stung his eyes as he rocked and tried in vain to touch the spot that was now bleeding. This had never happened before! He’d always just let the spell die, which in turn killed the plant, and it would wither away and fall from his body with
out hurting him! What the hell had happened? He continued to screech mutedly, gritting his teeth together, now ignorant of the snake still in the room with him.
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@Septiezal rip Tuck XD