ORIGIN

Kin-Kin grinned, presuming that the pup's silence meant that they were in awe. Though she couldn't help but feel that they doubted her, somewhat, and she couldn't be having that. So instead, Kin-Kin stretched, arching her back and whisking her tail. "When you've lived as long as I have," she said, "The scars tend to fade. You learn some tricks to heal 'em up faster, too." That was the truth; surely they could see that easily enough.

Kin-Kin merely grunted, pleased that her lackluster explanation and vague understanding of basic biology had been enough for the pup to understand. She said no more on the matter, as it was slightly too far out of her comfort zone, and far too boring for anything in that field to be worth showing off. In her ever humble opinion at least.

She watched the little pup proudly as they inspected the flawed crystal before them. Once more, Kin-Kin pawed it towards them, inviting them to take it, although she had one last thing to do first. She could hear something- a rumbling above them- and she craned her gaze upwards to see the strange magickal storm she'd long since gotten used to pooling and crackling in the sky above them. Was it possible that the thing was... attracted by magic? The wolf tried to shrug off the thought as foolish, but she'd lived in the caves long enough to know that pretty much anything was possible with magic.

Of course, there was only one way to find out- Kin-Kin hadn't planned to stop using magic, anywho. Not unless there was the utmost need to. But perhaps it'd be better to start small. See if there really was a danger before moving to the big guns.

"Of course," Kin-kin drawled, returning her gaze to her newest pupil. "In order to correct your leg, the crystal will need to be bigger, and a different shape. Whenever you're ready, I'll begin. But first..."

In the meantime, Kin-Kin dropped her muzzle once more to the small, pale purple quartz crystal she'd created, her glow once again returning as she went back to using light magic. She did so mainly to observe its effect on the storm, but she'd obviously meant to leave the kid with a baubled rock anyway. She always did, after all.

Her glow faltered for a moment, glowing dim as the magic passed from her and into the stone. A warm lilac glow spread over its clear surface, and lingered, the patterns of its glow mirroring her own. Kin-Kin pushed it into the pup's paws. "There ya go. Keep that. Make things a little easier to see if you decide you wanna... well... go anywhere." she blinked at their leg. "In the future, I mean."

" speech "

If there were truly scars, Kera couldn't see them. Faded meant not all totally away, right? Unless, perhaps, they were all totally away. Kera did not know. She promptly decided that she did not care, that she was probably braver and a better fighter than this wolf anyway. She didn't need to be taught how to fight because she was the best at fighting.

Kera, of course, cared immensely.

The pup edged towards the crystal, sniffing, before her attention was directed upwards to the lingering storm in the darkness. For a split second, there was cold fear that struck down her spine, but she forced it away. She refused to be scared by it-- even if she didn't know what it was, or what it wanted.

Actually, she could guess what it wanted. She yanked the crystal closer towards her, defensively, spitting aggressively upwards at the clouds. It was hers. That thing wasn't going to touch it. It wasn't that things, it was theirs. Only theirs.

She flicked an ear towards Kin-Kin as she spoke again, turning her gaze towards the other wolf. She turned her gaze from the wolf, to the crystal, and to her broken leg. "Okay," she said, too aware of the lingering storm above. "I'm ready."

She didn't feel particularly ready-- not really. She watched Kin-Kin move forward and do something to the pretty rock, which was hers, only hers, and will always be hers, and blinked. As it started glowing, she clicked with realisation.

This wolf was like Zevruu. But considerably warmer and brighter and not-as-short in the attitude department. Her tail thumped hollowly against the cave floor. "Thank you," she said, observing it. "Now you'll make it grow, right?""

Kin-Kin was about to respond, her jaws opening slightly, when her attention was drawn by a crackle of the storm above her. She looked up and was quickly jolting backwards, fangs bared in shock as she was nearly blinded by a sharp strike of lightning. When she'd regained herself, pawing at her eyes with disdain, she looked down to see the lightly glowing crystal having almost completely gone, save for a few fizzling flecks.

Kin-Kin grimaced, turning her gaze upwards once again to the strange clouds that circled, crackled and fizzed, almost as though expectant. "Asshole!" she yelled in a moment of humiliation up towards the clouds. It was the first time she'd lost her cool for a while; she had to do something about it. She turned back to the pup who she'd been speaking to, all prospects of fixing them here suddenly off the table. She growled, the hairs along her spine standing on end. "If that storm is gonna start pulling crap like that..." she grumbled. "I'm gonna have to do something about it."

Kin-Kin stretched out her tense muscles, shaking until her fur laid itself flat.

"But first, let's get you outta here, kid. Maybe we could hide out in a side tunnel so I can sort that leg of yours and give ya another light." Kin-Kin snorted, shaking her head as though in disbelief. "I ain't seen any of that nonsense in the tunnel between Polaris and Orion, and I walk that one often..." She nosed at the pup as though in preparation, though seemed reluctant to grasp them by the scruff. What could she do? She had little experience with... actually caring for kids. Or injured ones, for that matter. She hated to admit it, but she was woefully inexperienced in the parenting department.


" speech "

The wolf pup recoiled as the lightning struck, stumbling over on her already-injured leg with a pained yelp. The pain quickly turned to confusion and anger as Kera stumbled onto all fours-- or threes, seeing as she wanted to try keeping weight off her broken leg --and started to spit and growl at the churning clouds in the darkness.

The abrupt, deep-throated snarling would have been startling, if Kera's fur were not sticking out at all angles from a combination of static in the air and her own anger. She almost didn't hear Kin-Kin cursing and swearing at the clouds above, but they would probably be spilling out of the pup's own mouth in due time.

She was still growling when Kin-Kin calmed herself down, muzzle crinkled and lips pulled back. Sharp eyes flicked towards the wolf when she spoke. "We have to do something about that!" she yelped. "We can't leave, what if it kills somebody? We have to get rid of it!"

Fearful images of some poor, unsuspecting gembound stumbling by, infusing themselves with magic and then getting blown up filled Kera's head, causing her ragged fur to bristle further. She wouldn't let that happen-- not if she could help it, and she would certainly do it alone if this other, older wolf was going to be a coward about it.

She stumbled back as Kin-Kin came close, shoulders hunched and snout still wrinkled with residual growls. Her leg ached, but she ignored it. She didn't want a gem on it, she wanted the clouds gone.

She didn't even want to think of the tunnel between here and Orion-- the damn tunnel where she was attacked. If Kin-Kin wandered through there so often, why was there a hateful goose in there?

Kera knew in the back of her mind that it was a case of 'wrong place at the wrong time,' but it didn't stop the rest of her body shrieking at her, accusing the other wolf of being a coward. She stumbled back a little further, weight carefully lifted from her foot.

"We have to do something," she repeated. "I don't want to wait for somebody to die before anyone decides to do anything about it."

Kin-Kin cringed inwardly, wondering what she'd gotten herself into, but she knew that her boasting had blocked her into a corner. Not that she was 100% against this... Kin-Kin knew immediately that this was the prime opportunity to show what she was capable of, perhaps playing a major role in the banishing of this storm. "Of course, kiddo," she said, raising her head back from them. All thoughts of summoning crystal now had dissipated. After what they'd just seen, it seemed like a terrible idea.

Kin-Kin watched the little one stumble back, flashing their little fangs, and the she-wolf paused to wait for them to calm down, quickly approaching again when they seemed to cool. "Yeah, kid," Kin-Kin said with a twitch of her ears, but little else to show a lack of patience. she was quite used to dealing with young ones by now. "Where do you think we're going now?"

Kin-Kin nosed at them again, this time looking for the pup's scruff, although she found herself weighing up how good she could look whilst carrying a puppy, versus when she was able to properly introduce herself. She sighed, shaking her head slightly. Sometimes, sacrifices had to be made, and she had to do something for this little pup, else they would grow up seeing her as a coward and yellow-belly, and never look up to her with the admiration she deserved. She hesitated, paused for a mere moment with her breaths falling against the back of their neck. "But kid, if things get too dangerous for ya, I'm getting you outta there."

Kin-Kin finally, after a moment of deliberation, grasped the pup and hoisted them off the ground, making an effort to keep her broken leg from dragging. She raised her head high and waited for their inevitable protest to begin.

" speech "

Kera felt herself relax a little as Kin-Kin came over. As suspicious as she might be, she was glad that the other wolf didn't seem to be much of a coward-- hell, they seemed to be willing to aid others by figuring out what the storm was and stopping it.

She wondered, briefly, if it had anything to do with the lights.

Letting her fur lie flat again, Kera began to straighten up-- right as Kin-Kin grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and started hauling her off. It didn't hurt, but it certainly gave her a bit of a fright. "What? Why?" she barked.

She wasn't complaining, in fact it was a bit of a relief. It hurt to walk and it hurt to move while her leg was broken, but she had managed to get this far without needing to be hauled around like a puppy-- which, incidentally, Kera was, but that hardly mattered. "I can walk," she insisted grimly.

It was mostly a matter of pride and dignity. Should the pair meet another gembound out there, they might get the wrong impression of her. The last thing Kera needed was someone thinking she was a weak, dependant little pup. She was a hero, but she could hardly prove that while being lifted by a much older wolf.

"Put me down," she said, flailing just a little bit-- though not enough to be much of a problem for Kin-Kin. "I can walk on my own!"

"...Mmph- " Kin-Kin struggled to speak around the pup. Instead she set her legs in motion, struggling to keep a hold as they protested. She flattened her ears. A more experienced wolf would probably have had a far easier time keeping hold. I know you can walk, the she-wolf thought. But you'll slow me down with that leg of yours...

she wished that she could speak, and pulled her lips back from the pup's neck fur with some difficulty. "Nnngh... mmph... 'Ll putcha rrn... 'ehn we... 'loser." she managed, trotting on. She could see the eye of the storm as she had for some time, accumulating and circling around the spire the same as it had for some time. She could also see the distant specks of other Gembounds moving, perhaps with the same purpose as their own.

Kin-Kin set out towards them, her glow bright against the semi-darkness. If I put 'er down before, at least I won't lose any of my reputation, she thought as she moved closer.

-Exit Kin-Kin-

" speech "

With a lack of energy to actually continue struggling, Kera fell limp in Kin-Kin's jaws. She had no idea what the other wolf was saying, but she was imagining it was a firm apology for this severe crime that she was comitting.

Turning her head up to look at the storm overhead, Kera frowned. She didn't know what the storm was, or what a storm really was to begin with, but she knew that it was definitely dangerous, if it was going to explode onto anything with magic.

Perhaps it turned the lights out. Kera did not know. But she would fix it.

Resigned to being carried by Kin-Kin, the wolf puppy remained silent for the journey through Polaris, relieved to have the weight lifted off her injured leg.