ORIGIN - Journey away from home

Xireidi

"Woah!" Xireidi exclaimed as he stopped his jump attempt mid-motion, a note which echoed against the narrow walls into the room behind him. Though there was a decently worn path available the pup hopped haphazardly from rock to rock. He'd been practicing his navigation skills almost nonstop in the week since he'd emerged and he wanted to put them to the test by taking the most difficult route he could find in this tunnel to who knew where. Unfortunately he had not yet fully mastered judging distances without depth perception, as evidenced by his aborted attempt to hop across a particularly large gap.

Training had been a small obsession since his premature entrance into the world, his way of catching up with everyone else as far as he was concerned. His nerves had never fully recovered, and he always had to pay attention to his own health lest he get too injured without realizing it. Lacking sight in one eye not only lead to difficulty hunting, it also meant he had to be extra careful in case something approached him from the right. His magic skills were… dismal as far as he could tell. There seemed to be some kind of disconnect between him and his stone and whenever he was able to overcome the difficult connections the results were uncomfortable to say the least.

A small portion of him was incredibly jealous that he had been born with such hardships, but he did have some gifts to compensate. For one thing he'd discovered that for as weak as he was in magic he made up for it in physical strength. Perhaps that was because of how hard he worked at it, but what better gifts were there then those we give ourselves, right? He also seemed to be a bit more alert to sounds, though that too could have been the result of nearly getting run over by a cave deer on his blind side.

The pup took a deep breath and scanned the path in front of him for alternatives, hoping he wouldn't have to backtrack any or break the game by taking the actual path. Luckily for him there was another rock nearby that looked like it might work. As he'd learned to do he took a second to check the way the silhouette of the rock interacted with the environment, how any shadows played near the target, and finally the actual stability of the rock itself. Sufficiently convinced that it was a viable target Xireidi coiled up and sprung forward into the air, bracing for impact as he landed soundly on the other side.

One quick check later to make sure he hadn't scraped anything and another small exclamation rang through the air, this time of victory. It was one of many to come, he was certain of it.

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away

Nassir found himself traveling to an unknown location. He didn't recall ever having been in this place before. It was a tunnel by the looks of it, however to where it went, he did not know. He sniffed the air. It had a very peculiar scent. Not exactly unpleasant, but perhaps...too sweet. An interesting smell, that was for sure. He continued walking when a sound caught his attention.

Turning, he saw a young red wolf hopping from rock to rock. He frowned. That had to be dangerous. Why was he doing that? What if he fell? Did he want to get hurt? He didn't want to call out to him, as that may startle him and make him fall. That was the last thing the black panther wanted.

He watched as the wolf seemed to carefully observe the next rock, before leaping over. Nassir's eyes widened and he willed the wolf to land safely. He sighed in relief when he landed safely, letting out a call of triumph. He walked closer, hoping to perhaps tell a thing or two to this wolf about safety. Hopefully he wouldnt startle him.

"Must you really travel that way? It is very dangerous and you could hurt yourself. Surely, this is no activity for someone such as yourself-or anyone, for that matter-to participate in. It would be much safer if you were to just walk along the path. If you are looking to perhaps prove yourself, I assure you there are safer ways of doing such, ways that can't get you injured," Nassir rambled.

@Xireidi

"He likes to talk a lot"

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Tukluk was currently having a mental argument between himself and Garmer, the kyte he was sensorially attached to. They were both pissed at having been cooped up sharing the same headspace and the same experiences for days now, and they were both totally over it. But neither one of them could figure out how the hell to get out of each other’s heads! Tuck could feel it when Garmer’s jaws snapped in irritation, and heard his deep gravelly voice echo in his mind.

’You did this!’ the kyte insisted. ’So you must fix it!’

I told you! I can’t! Tuck replied angrily. I don’t know how!

’I must get you out of my head! I am tired of tasting tree sap and fruit!’

You don’t think I’m tired of tasting blood? I don’t eat meat!

While this whole argument went on, Tuck continued walking without really seeing where he was going, and ended up in a tunnel with a red wolf and a panther inside it already. He stopped short, staring at the both of them. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He was too wrapped up in his annoyance over Garmer.

’Have I struck you dumb?’ the kyte asked smugly.

“Shut up!” Tuck replied, without realizing he’d said it aloud. Then he blinked quickly multiple times in embarrassment. “U-Um. Sorry. I’m… I’m talking to someone else… in… in my head. Oh Gods, now I sound crazy.” Mentally, to Garmer, he added, Thanks, you asshole!

’Oh, you are quite welcome, Little Pest!’ the kyte said with a laugh.

Tuck stood there and steamed in silence, looking like a complete idiot.

Words: 275

Xireidi

As much as he had mentally prided himself on his hearing a moment earlier Xireidi had been distracted enough and the big cat silent enough that the pup was caught completely off guard by the stranger's appearance. He held steady though and managed to keep from appearing too surprised.

The cat was huge as far as he was concerned, and a color that he imagined would lend itself well to stealth. Xireidi's ears perked as its surprisingly caring voice reached his ears. It was a chastisement, yes, but one made out of concern rather than anger. The wolf pup responded by lying down on the rock and looking over at the full grown panther, who was just slightly below his current eye level.

"I'm sorry." he led in a sincere tone, "I just saw the stones here and thought it'd be fun to try."

Just as he was about to ease himself down from the stones another voice erupted into the tunnel, breaking Xireidi's train of thought. Someone's in trouble! He reasoned, picking himself back up and bounding back across the stones the way he had come without hesitation, having already memorized the distances.

There was only one other there though, leaving Xireidi feeling guiltily proud of his accomplishment in front of the small crowd. He stood up on his hind legs and propped a paw against the rock the small monkey creature was resting on, trying to get a better look.

"Are your voices giving you trouble?" he asked the other newcomer with concern.

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away

Tags: @Nassir @Tukluk

Nassir gave a slight smile as the little wolf spoke. "It's quite alright. You're young, and no doubt curious. Anything may seem like fun. Part of growing up is learning when to do something, and when not to!" He would have continued on if it hadn't been for the voice just as the wolf was about to get down. When he bounded over toward the voice by leaping on each step, he frowned.

He followed more slowly, tail swaying a bit behind him. He got up and rested his paws on the stones where the wolf was, trying to get a closer look. He recognized the voice. What was he doing over here? "Hello, hello. What brings you here? ...Who are you talking to?" Talking to someone in their head? That was...certainly interesting, although perhaps not unusual. Was it? He didn't know.

@Tukluk @Xireidi

"He likes to talk a lot"

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Ugh, great. Now Tuck had to explain the whole stupid situation to these two so they wouldn’t think he was completely insane. Come to think of it, the panther looked rather familiar. He was sure he’d seen him somewhere before. “Don’t I know you?” he asked the cat, and then shook his head. “No. First, lemme tell you what’s going on.” He took a breath. “I bonded myself to a kyte somehow, and now we can hear each other telepathically, and when I go to sleep, it’s like I am the kyte and I have my own wings and I can see through the eyes of the creature.”

He paused, trying to gauge their reactions to see if they thought he was totally crazy. I could use some proof of my words right about now, he told Garmer.

No, Garmer told him in return.

You’re no help at all.

Garmer said nothing.

“So,” Tuck continued aloud. “We’re both really annoyed that this is even happening to us and we can’t figure out how to break the mental connection, so we were arguing before I came in here and I guess I said that last part out loud.” There. That just about covered everything. Now he just had to wait it out and see how they reacted…

Words: 216 @Xireidi @Nassir

Xireidi

Xireidi listened intently to the... monkey perhaps it was? He knew a little bit of species from basic knowledge and his time around Polaris, but still had a long way to go before he knew as much as he felt re really needed to. He had seen kytes a few times circling overhead but had never even heard of anyone ever connecting with their minds.

Overall he appeared completely unfazed, even nodding a couple of times through the explanation. The pup relaxed his stance and sat down on the rock he was resting on, still looking up at the others around him with interest.

"Magic is weird sometimes." He offered as helpfully as a youth possibly could, "Maybe if you stay away from it for a while it'll fade on its own?"

Of course he knew, or at least guessed, that the effects of magic never truly went away. Even now he had strange thoughts murmuring almost silently in the back of his head. He counted himself lucky though; at least he never had to argue with magic. That sounded like it could get old really quick.

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away

Tags: @Nassir @Tukluk

"Ah, I see. Well, just make sure you're careful." Nassir murmured. "I'm not sure if you could stop this, or if you even want to. Maybe it'll go away on it's own?"

"Anyway, I should go. I have others to meet, to protect. To teach. I'll leave you all with a quick lecture." He wanted to go and talk to others, teach them.

"I'm trying to get this place to be safe, but I'll need the help of others. So I need you to try and be safe, to help spread awareness around. Help make others realize that the caves can be a safe place for all! Alright, that's all I've got. I just want these caves to be safe, y'know?" he chuckled. "I'm gonna go now. Be safe!" With that, he began to go to the closest tunnel entrance/exit.

-exit Nassir-

"He likes to talk a lot"

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@Xireidi @Tukluk may as well end this thread since i have little muse cx

Xireidi

The pup's head snapped back as the big cat spoke again. He did have a good point; there was probably little they could actually do to help the poor monkey.

But the cat kept talking... and talking... Xireidi listened intently out of respect, but the lecture didn't really take root, especially since he wasn't actually doing anything dangerous at the moment.

Or was he? Probably wasn’t a good idea to bother the one in front of him while they were trying to sort out stuff. There was no telling what they might do if they got too annoyed.

"Umm, be safe too then!" he called out to the retreating form before turning to the small being on the rock, "And I hope you start feeling better soon.”

Xireidi turned and started back down the trail toward an unknown region, looking behind him to make sure the cat was out of sight before playfully starting to veer off the main path onto some- slightly less dangerous- rocks to jump between.

-exit Xireidi-

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away

Tuck was too annoyed with the whole Garmer problem to even care about whatever the cat was saying. He watched the panther disappear in the gloom of the tunnel, shook his head, and then glanced at the wolf who told him he hoped he feel better. He just sighed at those words, and then took off down the tunnel himself. He really needed to figure this crap out by himself, it seemed. Ugh! Why was this happening to him? What Cave Gods had he pissed off to connect the mind of a kyte to his own?!

[Exit Tuck]

Words: 96