ORIGIN

Thomas
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Thomas enjoyed the warmth that engulfed him. This was his first time ever visiting Fornax. He was in Orion where his chrysalis had hatched and decided to wander. He traveled down a tunnel and stumbled upon the giant warm room. The young elk had wandered further and found himself standing at the edge of the water. He put his hoof in; the heat raised up through his leg and spiked a sharp pain. He drew his left front leg from the water quickly and grunted in pain. Thomas looked beyond where he was standing and spotted bubbles coming from under the water nearby. He walked closer and peered down into the water. Not only was the liquid appearing the boil, but the air began to grow warmer. The young elk stopped in his tracks after getting as close to the ocean as possible. Perhaps if I char my leg, the heat won't bother me anymore?

Thomas closed his eyes and began to think of his magic. He sat in complete silence for a few seconds before raising his left leg and attempting to cast the spell. A sudden heat consumed his leg and he opened his eyes in response. There was nothing nearby to char, so the magic soon halted and Thomas was left with nothing but a throbbing front left leg. He took a deep breath and lowered his hoof towards the boiling water. His fur barely touched the water for a second before he yanked it out of the painful liquid. "Well that didn't work and now all I have is a burned leg," he mumbled.

talk // think
tagged; @Ogun
notes; I thought we could tag Leon later on, once Ogun and Thomas have a chance to interact first? If you'd rather tag'em now that's fine too!

Thomas backed away from the boiling water. With each step he attempted to take as much weight off of his front left leg as possible. It ached with a burning pain that made the young elk whine every time he moved it even slightly.

Maybe that wasn't the smartest idea.

Thomas looked as far beyond where he stood as he could. He saw small piles of rocks everywhere but no leaves or plants that could potentially carry cool water to soften the pain. The young elk was tempted to wander elsewhere from Fornax to find coolants, but he wanted to explore further. And once he wandered somewhere new, he probably wasn't coming back for a while. He made his way towards a small pile of rocks and began to nudge them away with his nose.

Perhaps there is something hiding underneath of them.

With little luck he raised his head back into the air and looked around. From what he could see and hear, there was nothing but warm water and rock. Thomas mumbled something inaudible under his breath as he began to stumble back towards the water. He traveled away from the heated spot he was at last time in hopes he would find cooler waters to treat his burns.

talk // think
tagged; @Ogun
notes; just trying to open up the possibilities for their meeting by posting again c:

He'd followed Saga and Mawu through the tunnels, and by now he was a little more confident on his feet. The dark was still there, clouding around them all, taking his family when they moved out of reach of his small embers, and he'd long lost track of the times he stumbled to catch up to them, fearing the worst. Every time he was greeted with patient, loving smiles, and more than a few nose kisses, all of which soothed his heart like balm over a burn that the sharp fear left as an aftertaste.

His growing confidence in walking and exploring the radius around his family was deterred by the constant broiling heat and cinders that sparked from his hooves, and every once in a while the heat rolled up to the flesh around his hooves, licking with malice and making him cry out and stop. He could see the looks of sadness and pity on his mother and sister, and though they temporarily soothed it with their cool touch, they couldn't stop it from happening. Blisters had long since formed just above his hard hooves, and the skin was red and seethingly angry under his russet fur. It hurt to walk.

When they reached this new room, the humid warmth hit him like a physical thing, and it utterly surprised him. Why did they come here? He liked the cool tunnels, especially the one with all the ice where they could stop and roll around in it. He frowned and hesitated before entering, apprehensive about the heat.

When he thought so, an errant cinder bit into his front leg and he cried out, cringing. Saga and Mawu were out of reach, having moved away once they entered the room, and he bit out, "Water, water," as he ran towards what he interpreted as the lake edge.

But the water itself was boiling, and he reeled his leg back away after he hesitated to dangle it above the surface. What was wrong with this room?! Water was supposed to be cold!

"Speech."

Thomas found himself once again at the waters edge. This time he was further down from the bubbling water that had burned him earlier. His front left leg still ached and he continued to walk with a limp. He began to move slowly into the water; it was still warm, but at least it was colder here than it had been at the bubbles.

Thomas traveled deeper until the warm water was just starting to consume his stomach. His left leg was beginning to relax and so he stood silently in the mild ocean. He was relaxed and his mind began to drift off. The young elk even began to doze off into a sleep. At least until he could hear travelers moving on the stone in the distance. Thomas' head shot up and turned toward the noise. He couldn't hear anything anymore, but he decided to check it out. The elk wandered back to the hard rock edge and climbed out of the warm liquid. He began to walk slowly towards the source of the clacking sound. Assuming they were creatures like himself, he felt relaxed and wasn't worried that it could be a potential enemy. He had never met an aggressive herbivore before.

The young elk couldn't see anyone, so he was wondering if he had actually heard the clacking of hooves. "Hello?" he called out as he continued to walk back towards the boiling water.

talk // think
tagged; @Ogun
notes;