ORIGIN

No matter what it takes. The sentence lingered in her mind as they both went silent. Whatever it was was daring to encroach closer. And closer. Sure, the larger one may have only been the size of a faun- granted, a rather large faun- it still had sharp, dextrous hooves and a powerful kick that it knew well how to use. The smaller creature was less imposing and walked strictly behind the larger strider's heels at a more hurried pace. It seems they were here for nothing more than the tasty lichens that made their home upon the tree's bulbous roots.

A pert muzzle lifts its lip and the larger, hairless doe begins to make quick work of diminutive plantlife. The brightly glowing colors striping their flanks and limbs made them seem.. ethereal somehow. The inhabitants of this cave that were lesser born were eerie, alien, and yet somehow beautiful in that respect. Smaller hooves skip over to a smaller section of lichens closer to Gabriel. Did it smell him yet? Well, the larger doe wasn't afraid, and perhps that gave the little one a world of confidence. Could it be played with?

The larger of the lesser gem doesn't agree with the wish and cranes its neck over to nip at the unruly juvenile's backside with a small, corrective sound. Gabriel is spared.. this time... and it makes its way around to its caretakers other side to go and mimic what she was doing. Eaten the lichens? ... Y-Yummy.

"Are they eating it..?" the bat calls down from above, gently. The voice causes their ears to pivot and the larger one raises its head, pointing its rubbery nose into the tree.

@Gabriel

The reptile had gone to fill his stomach. Hunting tended to take longer than usual when he was operating on his own, but today, he'd managed to something relatively easy. A cave deer had expired somewhere in the jungle and all he had to do was follow the stench of decay before discovering the body, bloated and rotting from the inside. Ghanyarah tore into it with gusto, ignoring the retch-inducing scent - such smells rarely had any bearing on him - and ravenous gulped down the mushiest parts of the body before stripping its decomposing muscles from the bone. Satisfied, he made his way back to the tree, where he had left the little bat in the safety of its arms.

But, it seemed, someone had gotten there before him. He could hear the voices, one of them familiar and warming, and the other strange. Young, but strange. Ghanyarah quickened, flicking his tongue until their sources of warmth lingered up ahead of him, just within reach - the tree sat high, and on the other side, the Gembounds.

"Hello?" He asked evenly, unaware that they had been observing something - as much as one could observe in the dark, anyways.

@Gabriel

The bat's tentative clicking sounds follow the pair of marsh striders as they scurried away, stricken to moving at the sound of the large, lumbering steps coming up from behind. "Are you okay, Gabriel?" she whispers low where she last sensed the pup. "At least they didn't try to eat you too!" A small, chittering laughter bubbles up, but ceases soon enough as the low voice cuts through the darkness.

It's immediately recognizable, and she eagerly looks over the side of her low branch to send waves of sonar in the owner's perceived direction. "Ghanyarah! Did you find something to eat?" she calls spritely. "Why, there were two tall, skinny things with stick legs and tiny heads eating the glowy stuff down there." Down there, meaning the vibrant, glowing green lichens littering the knobbed roots at the base of the tree. "And there's a guest-- there's a guest!"Her excitement is palpable. "His name is Gabriel! That's a nice name, isn't it?" If bats could purr, she'd be vibrating.

"I'm happy you made your way back though Ghanyarah. The lights went out again.. Are they going to come back on?" she has experienced them going off before, but not for this long. Obviously, she assumes Ghanyarah will have all the answers to this cave's glowing mysteries.

@Ghanyarah

As he stepped into the area, he was instantly greeted by two voices. The juvenile intones of a stranger greeted him politely, asking something about him being the one named Ghanyarah, but his words were easily garbled by the high-pitched chattering of Lituus as she suddenly and delightedly asked if he found something to eat, telling him all about these long legged creatures that had appeared and were eating the moss. It made it difficult for him to separate his attention between the newcomer and the bat, ultimately leaving him blinking blindly between where he could sense them both.

Then she exclaimed about a guest - a guest - which Ghanyarah had already been made aware of, introducing him as Gabriel. “A very nice name.” He confirmed gently, flicking his tongue to once again recognize the newcomer’s warmth in his senses, committing it to memory.

She expressed her concern at him potentially being lost, but he rumbled and laughed. “Even without light I can navigate Cetus. I have lived here my whole life.” He clarified - though, admittedly, he’d gotten lost once or twice while the lights were out. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to maneuver so well anymore. “I am unsure when the lights will return.” He added with a huff and drew himself closer to the tree, listening for sounds of the newcomer’s movement. “Yes, I am Ghanyarah. I trust that my companion has duly talked your ears… ‘off’?” He tested. It was a phrase he didn’t used to understand, but with his growing library of jokes, he was starting to realize its meaning. “And made you feel quite at home. Has she not?”

@Gabriel

The bat listened. And listened. "Even without the lights? Ooh.." she pipes up, looking down where her echoes tell her Ghanyarah is. His eyesight must have been better than she thought it was! "I hope they come back soon.. I'm not used to everything being so.. dark." And then her replies wind down so the two could speak. She listens some more, and with a small smile on her snout no less.

Why, it wasn't often she ran into other gembounds that could talk. Listening to Ghanyarah and another speak is something of a treat! And one she would be sure to take notes on. Was talking someones ear off a good thing? She did not know, but assumed as much. "Watch out for the deep water," she calls down, trying to be useful. "And the ground likes to make rumblies sometimes..." she muses quietly. Her head pops up not a moment later. Eyes brightening, she continues in a more chipper tune, "There's a big, big tree taller than all the others around here. It's called The Divine. Ghanyarah says you gotta be respectful when you're around it, or it might woop your noodle or something. It was very nice to us though!" Personifying trees wasn't weird. Not at all. And in the way she spoke about it... it must of been true!

@Ghanyarah

Ghanyarah suddenly felt sheepish as Lituus marveled at his admission that he could navigate Cetus without the lights. He wasn't so sure of his abilities, now that he really thought about it. In the light, he could navigate with his eyes closed... sure... maybe. He could smell and feel the heat of bodies on the air, he recognized the texture of the mud and moisture below. He knew where the heart of the swamp began, where its waters lapped hungrily at the mud, and he knew where the groves stretched far on more solid ground. Would he be able to find his way back to his tree from one of the entrances, though?

The pup confirmed that Lituus made him feel welcome. That was good. He even said he'd have to pay them back for it at some point, though Ghanyarah never really considered such companionship to come with a caveat. He only smiled and chuckled lowly. Lituus went on to explain all the things she felt he'd need to be wary of like the water and the shaking ground - which Ghanyarah still wasn't certain of why it happened - and the Divine. "Yes. I believe everyone should visit the Divine at some point. It may have a message for you," he suggested, embracing the thought that the Divine was a deliverer of purposes and warnings and blessings. He'd once heard of a group of cats that thought the same of the large mushroom in Eridanus, recalling how crazy he thought they were, then laughed again at himself. Maybe they hadn't been so crazy after all.

@Gabriel

"Localized? Oh.. I don't know! It happens around here sometimes?" she wiggles her nose and clicks a few times more to make sure she had them both clearly defined within her mental map. Gabriel's last comment makes her chitter happily. "It's not so treacherous! Ghanyarah is the scariest thing around here. He keeps all the scary things away with his wooshy-woo." Meaning... his water manipulation...?

As well and good as those two were speaking down there, it was getting a bit lonely up in her tree. If only she could flutter down and alight upon her caretaker's back... Alas, such skills were yet to be learned. "Can I come down?" Not that anything spoke of her inability to do otherwise, but the forest floor was no place for a small, flightless bat. She begins to trek towards the trunk of the tree regardless. Clawed thumbs and nimble, double-jointed hind limps propel her forward at a crawling pace. Though perhaps it would have been wiser if she didn't... She pauses with a soft whine and sets the peak of her chin on the jagged bark beneath her. "Though maybe not. You guys can't see and I don't wanna get stepped on."

@Gabriel @Ghanyarah