ORIGIN - Don't Follow Me.

This here darkness has been making things difficult to move around, thankfully, since he no longer bitches about the world over the slightest inconvenience happening to him and just generally wanted to be mad instead of looking for a solution during those times, his mind has been clear and he has been able to find a sort of creative means to navigate around safely very quickly. Flying is still a bad idea, for one, although he's done it once, he needs his Magick to move around without getting into any accidents and it'll be difficult to do that if he's flying at the same time too. Even if he did do it once he needs to be cautious and not take any chances here. After all, in this state, it's beyond his ken on whether he's right next to water that he could accidentally fall into.

Still... Lots of things gravitated towards the light, and if they to be kept in darkness for an extended period of time would be rather draining to them. So he sometimes needed to relax for a bit when it seems things were starting to feel a bit too distressing to handle and something else that has been helping in keeping his nerves eased.

First trailing his wing around his neck and scarf to ensure the black onyx is still tucked safely in his scarf and hasn't dropped, it'll be hard to find it in this darkness even if it just fell right next to him, it blends in well with this darkness. Relief fills him when yes, it's still there, but he still doesn't know where exactly in Polaris he is or whether or not the zone of Polaris is safe to tread around or not, those golems will be problematic for one so he can't be certain if he's safe or not. Fortunately, like thought before he has managed to find a creative solution of sorts to help him to get an easier feel as to where exactly he could possibly be. Hopefully it'll work not on whether or not the Spell fails more so if this way will actually give him an idea of where he is.

Only one way to find out... Making small nudges at his Magick in curiosity to see if it'll work for him and he moves his wing to touch the ground before stopping when he feels a rock which his wing encircled around, feeling confident in his preparation he concentrates more feeling his Magick flare up.

Closing his eyes to better see what the vision of the past looks like on this rock, in the present right now there may only be darkness, but in these past visions since he's seeing visions of when the lights were still on they are clear as day, and thus through Hindsight he can somewhat pinpoint as to where his exact location is, or at least conclude on whether the spot he is standing in is safe or not. Sadly, although a vision is in fact displaying itself to him, however, it isn't flashing in his mind clearly enough, the image is hazy and it keeps on jumping in and out of his mind making it hard to decipher where he is right now. When it was done, he opened his eyes again all he could get from that close attempt is that nowhere in close radius is deep water that he could fall and drown in, so he guesses it's safe somewhat.

Even with Hindsight though he doesn't have much Magick wise that'll tell him that something living is nearby...

Tags: @Gabriel
Side Notes: N/A

"Hey Yours Truly Albeon Speaking."

And that's a good thing...
It means there's hope and potential in one's Future.

Gabriel's head was held low to the ground to pick up familiar scents as it passed them, and its magic was always on the backburner as it moved, navigating its way through the caverns that it had already trodden through. Its eyes had just been getting used to the darkness when it had re-entered Polaris, lit more than most by gently glowing mushrooms and crystals and mosses, which shone even despite the lights being out. The puppy found that its eyes had gradually gotten used to the darkness, and so it was able to navigate more easily, especially here. More importantly however, the pup was greatly intrigued by the lights here, and wondered if it would somehow be able to harness that light in order to find its way with ease.

Those thoughts were soon pushed to the back of its mind, however, as it had come upon a new and most importantly, fresh scent. Muzzle lowering closer to the ground, its wet nose twitched, picking up the scent. From that alone, Gabriel was unable to pinpoint exactly where the scent was coming from. But it knew that the other Gembound couldn't be far away at all.

Gabriel's pointed ears pricked up, the puppy's eyes closing as it tried to hone in on he sound and sense of their heartbeat. Out of the darkness it loomed, not quite close by but not too far away, either. With head held high, Gabriel picked up its paws and trotted the way that the beating was coming from. There, the puppy could see a pitch-black bird silhouetted against the faint lights of Polaris, shuffling their way with some... did Gabriel spy effort? It could make use of that. Gabriel placed itself in the bird's path and sat back on its haunches, large, red eyes reflecting what little light there was.

"Hello there! You seem to be having trouble navigating. May I help you?"

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @Albeon
notes: here

His good memory does help in not needing to repeat using Hindsight to keep a good picture in his head as to where he is as of right now, not to add he's now noticed one or two crystals shining in a nearby wall. Still that earlier attempt wasn't particularly too helpful, and who's to say the rock he just used Hindsight on hadn't been rolled over here and the vision he saw was of when it was in that earlier location? So he decides to be properly certain and give it another shot, but this time he'll go for the crystal wedged on the caves wall, it's easier to see not to add with it being wedged on the wall means that it hasn't exactly moved anywhere recently, and if it did it was probably a very long time ago which he doubts Hindsight will pick up on.

Actually... That makes him wonder, to what extent of the past can Hindsight show him? Is it possible for Hindsight to view a past vision from something that happened a century ago, or can it not go that far back? Geez... Although Hindsight is being efficient in helping him get around, he kind of wishes he had something that'll help him see the future instead, the past and present are kind of useless in comparison to what the future can bring to one.

Hopping over to the crystal he tries something new, instead of his wing he leans in and taps the crystal with his Gem, taking a deep breath he closes his eyes and taps into his Magicka again, this time he can feel it flowing and filling inside his mind and Gem like water from a bathtub. Seeing a complete clear vision in his head flashing images of the crystal's surrounding in bright daylight, showing the occasional Gembound walking past it. With this he maps out everything in this vision's surrounding area, he's next to a wall of course with many other crystals embedded on this rocky wall, and thankfully the nearest body of water is just a tiny puddle, completely harmless. From the looks of it he may not be too far away from the exit of Polaris, in general where he is now being safe, no wrong step that could get him in trouble.

Except... He can hear a pitter-patter sound that he doesn't believe are coming from this vision... They sound like something that's happening right now! Snapping his eyes back open, Albeon keeps a lookout analysing to see if he can find faces to memorize just in case.

His cautiousness went up higher when all he sees that stands out somewhat in this darkness at first is the flash of red, blaring & gleaming at him... looking down at him, no more like staring straight into his soul, analysing him. He doesn't like it... Glaring back with suspicion with the gold of his own eyes and attempting to focus them to make out what exactly it is, to which he sees the red is part of what appears to be some pink... canine perhaps?

OK... Who the hell is this canine? Just came out of nowhere, and they seem rather young too, for one they're small looks like Albeon may possibly be bigger than them, maybe. Still Albeon's not one to immediately accept help from a complete stranger... Who's to say he won't be attacked like when he first came to be? Besides, the canine honestly should try and assist someone more worthwhile if they do come with good intentions, not someone as terrible as him.

"No, it's fine I have the means necessary to navigate around myself. You should really help someone who'll be more worth anyone's time." He responds with a matter-of-fact tone and calm, no room for argument. It's true anyway, his Magick is more than enough for him to move around safely till things are good, it's just a bit annoying that he won't be able to fly for a while.

Tags: @Gabriel
Side Notes: N/A

"Hey Yours Truly Albeon Speaking."

And that's a good thing...
It means there's hope and potential in one's Future.

Gabriel tilted its head to one side at the response of the strange bird, although it didn't seem surprised. How odd! surely it wasn't at all productive to refuse such an offer, much less polite. If fumbling around in the dark got you nowhere, then surely refusing help with that fumbling helped you even less- pushed you back even. And the way they responded made Gabriel's curiosity only grow. "Very well. I will respect your wishes," the scraggly, mostly-hairless pup said to the bird, staying where it sat with red eyes gleaming from the dark.

"Ah... you are referring to magick, yes?" Gabriel asked quizzically, wondering if this bird was an adept at magic, or if they simply possessed senses quite acute. Surely if their sight was reliable, they would not be fumbling for their way as they were now. Even Gabriel could see- but perhaps that was because of the slight night vision that most canids had. Gabriel had not encountered enough of avian origin to know exactly how well they functioned in the dark, but Tacitus- one of Gabriel's brothers in arms- had no problem with taking flight. But their eyes, built for the dark, allowed it.

As their voice continued, they told the dog to go and find someone else, someone more worth their time. Gabriel did not believe that any creature was more or less worth its time than this one. At least not at the moment; there was nothing to complicate things, and thus nothing to prioritize. "If you don't mind me asking... why?" the pup asked, curious on why they would say such a thing. Gabriel had never seen itself as anything more or less than an equal. it would be unfair to put anyone on a pedestal, for inside they all possessed the same potential. What separated them into categories was just how they chose to use it. "I have no-one... as you say... 'worth my time' at this moment. If I had, I would already be there."

Blunt, but true. Gabriel wandered these caves to learn, and so perhaps it would have been better to simply wander off and continue its explorations- but part of its quest was to figure out emotions and the driving force behind them. Emotion was an odd thing, seeming to be more of a hindrance to its cause than a help- but perhaps with time and discovery, it would learn how to use them to its advantage.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @Albeon
notes: here

Albeon's not really a raven who's particularly too polite anyway. Besides, there's no lie in what he said, fumbling he may be just a second ago but he's confident he's got a good grip of things in regards to his surroundings now with Hindsight's succession this time. Albeon manages to muster a quiet nod to the canine when they seem content to let him be to his own devices... Although they haven't made any move to leave? What's with this canine?

"Yeah I am, Magick it is." Answering to them with this neutral tone, on inspection this canine is small... Must be young then, that all though some young one enamoured in another's Magick? Then again... He doesn't believe he's showing any signs of using Magick and that analysing of him with their eyes just rubs him the wrong way for some reason.

The 'worth of time' is just how he views himself inwardly nowadays, too caught up in self-hate to believe that another's effort and skill should be used up on him, he needs to use his new chance to redeem what he has done previously to feel any sense of self-worth now, although he doubts even doing that will make him lose his self-hate entirely.

Speaking of that...

This canine sure is a curious one, no way is he going into the full story, not because he can't admit what he has done, if this canine is this curious then they'll probably ask exactly why he did it... Then afterwards when he tells them how he used think previously that insinuated his actions, then they may ask why he had thought like that... Which will mean going into detail about his sob story which he really just wants to forever fade away out of his mind like the worthless memories they are. The future is the only thing that's important to him now.

"I have committed some past transgressions that I have yet to redeem myself from. That is all." Honest, but very vague and cryptic, and he'd rather not go into detail about it. He needs to prove to himself personally that he has in fact learned from all this trial & error... After all the past self is always inferior to the future self-right? That's one good thought he has about himself, he acknowledges he has changed now, still this should apply to every other living being, so it's probably not really a compliment to himself. He does believe himself that all should be equal, perhaps then some innocents won't be subjected to a similar fate he had.

"Is that so...? Perhaps you need some standards then, going out your way to assist someone as despicable as me indicates you don't have many standards." Harsh but it is somewhat how he sees things, well maybe not he just wants the point across that helping him instead of someone else is a rather bad idea. Besides, the current Albeon isn't particularly too emotional now, well he still kind of is just a lot more laidback in comparison to his younger self's rather extreme ways that he has long but reneged now.

Tags: @Gabriel
Side Notes: N/A

"Hey Yours Truly Albeon Speaking."

And that's a good thing...
It means there's hope and potential in one's Future.

Gabriel blinked at the pitch-black bird, head slowly tilting to one side as it slowly made sense of their odd behavior. It seemed to it as though their emotions were running away with their sense of logic! "Interesting. Magic is a very powerful tool, isn't it?" Gabriel asked, though it already knew the answer. The question was more rhetorical, whilst also being an effort to obtain some insight into where they stood, magic-wise. Perhaps Gabriel would be able to learn from them about seeing without using its eyes.

Tail flicking from side to side, Gabriel wondered if the creature would buckle to the pressure, take the bait, and let Gabriel do them a favour. But it seemed that they did not appreciate the puppy's presence, continuing their mournful speech. The small smile never left the pup's face as it watched them, tail not quite slowing in its wags and eyes unblinkingly focused. "It seems you've let your emotions carry you away. It's fascinating, but you should not let it get in the way of your life. After all, what's done is done. There's no going back. Regret is pointless when you can lose everything... and yet, nothing at all," Gabriel's high-pitched voice reached out into the darkness. "Death and birth are one and the same to our kind. So in the end, emotion is pointless anyway... that's my opinion, at least."

The pup seemed amused by the raven's insistence on being upset over... whatever it was they were upset over. Gabriel really didn't know. But the pup was beginning to think it would be better if it took its leave. "If I may interrupt, I do not know you well enough to make an accurate judgement to base my... 'standards' on. Either way... it seems I am not welcome here." the pup slowly raised itself onto all four paws, backing away slowly. If this creature didn't want it to be here, then it would be pointless to stay. Doing so could have some unwanted repercussions.

"I will be taking my leave, then."

Gabriel slowly padded away.

-exit Gabriel-

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @Albeon
notes: I thought it would be better to leave this thread here... especially as we'll be starting a new one together for the quest!

This canine really loves staring at him huh? It's weird really, don't really know what could be so interesting of a blackbird in this here darkness. So it was his Magick that they were interested in huh? Here to confirm that was what he was in fact, using it something or other and all that jazz? How humiliating... Being seen fumbling about like he was some blind creature trying to search the ground and walls for their lost glasses to the eyes of a third party since they needed to know on whether he actually was using Magick or not.

Albeon is still infuriatingly stubborn though, even now possessing an independent streak, it'll take more than that to make him to crack under the pressure, or it's really just that the canine isn't really trying hard enough to make Albeon open up and accept their services for assistance.

He somewhat regrets mentioning anything now... Ugh, there he goes again.

Let emotions carry away? Maybe so in the right here and now, but what's so bad about an emotion, such as self-hate really? It's not like he's being that bitter asshole who was a hateful Gembound, this emotion is really between him and him alone... Which is honestly why he should've shut up, there was no need to mention anything, it's not like the canine can actually see the Gem tucked in his scarf right now that is right now a symbol of his 'past transgressions'.

Oh heh heh canine he knows all that, done is done and no going back and all that, all just bigger words for 'the past' something he now doesn't give a damn about now, still saying to others that the past is in the past about the atrocities he has done? That honestly sounds like a delusional way to dodge the blame of what he has done, he's almost demanding for undeserved forgiveness from others if he thinks like that. What an odd one this here canine is, seems young, especially with that high-pitched voice of theirs and yet they're throwing these philosophies at Albeon some sound rather nihilistic actually, sort of, even though there is some logic depending on how they're interpreted in a way.

Eh... Good point there, he doesn't really know why he decides to mention about what he has done in the past to newcomers, really he should only answer is if another does in fact see the Gem he has that's when he should talk about it honestly not right off the bat when one attempts to get to know him, hard to actually interpret Albeon when he doesn't truly mention what he has done. Ugh! So goddamned stupid even now! When will he ever learn?!

Look, just relax they left just take a break, don't be too brutish to yourself, probably said those things to scare them off since they seemed off putting for some strange reason. He probably won't really say those things the moment he meets someone if they bring him discomfort like that canine did... Yeah maybe that was it.

Tags:
Side Notes: -Exit Albeon-

"Hey Yours Truly Albeon Speaking."

And that's a good thing...
It means there's hope and potential in one's Future.