ORIGIN

For a time, the half-grown wolf paced in Orion by the entrance to Tunnel N, worriedly. Her den was there; her nest, her belongings, and the topaz. She needed to get in there and retrieve it-- the topaz, that is. It was her top priority. She couldn't trust the moose or Blackberry getting to it and destroying it.

She exhaled. She did not know what to expect in that tunnel. Brief images flashed in her mind of the blood, the feathers, the death. She shook her fur out, staring down the tunnel. She could see her mushrooms within it, illuminating the floor with blue-green light.

For a second time, she exhaled. As Kera entered the tunnel she could hear a voice somewhere else. It was familiar-- not Blackberry, or anyone she knew --but she couldn't place it. Kera tried to stay silent as she moved forward through the tunnel, nails clicking quietly on the floor.

She saw a blue chrysalis, somewhere-- a somewhere that had been covered in blood, and a somewhere that Blackberry had been laying. Next to her-- a moose. The moose. There were now two possibilities that ran through Kera's mind. The first: When a gembound dies, they turn back into a gemstone. The topaz, perhaps, had once been a moth. This one was goose-sized, Blackberry-sized even. How big had the moth been? Kera was not sure.

The second: the moose had somehow figured out how to revive Blackberry. This gave Kera... mixed emotions, she decided. It meant Kera's efforts to kill her had been in vain and that she wouldn't ever be able to get rid of Blackberry unless she, say, tossed her stone into the generator.

She wondered if Nemean had been rivals with the moth.

Kera did not know.

She wouldn't be able to get rid of Blackberry if that moose next to her chrysalis kept following her, at the very least. She thought of the goose's final words-- don't touch him. Perhaps she should- perhaps she would have to.

But now? Perhaps not. Kera had to ensure the topaz's safety, but to get to it, she had to go past the moose and the goose. With a resigned, quiet sigh, Kera went back to quietly moving down the tunnel, keeping to the far wall, trying not to be noticed.

Kera crept as quietly as she could, but regardless, she had been spotted. She turned her head towards Blueberry with a frown, ear flicking as he began to shout. With a grimace, Kera shook her head faintly.

The shouting did not scare her-- shouting rarely scared her, in fact. What sent concern down the wolf's spine was the fact that she may get gored by a half-grown moose and she wasn't entirely sure if she could fight that off.

"This is my home," she said simply, her tone even despite rising anger and frustration. "You two are the ones that invaded it. I want to get to my nest."

With this, Kera turned her head and began moving forward again, her footsteps a little heavier this time as she made her way up the tunnel and towards the alcove where her nest lay, half-refusing to look behind her at the moose, the blood, and the chrysalis.

Oh great, they've both lost it, Kera thought bitterly, grimacing. She faced her alcove briefly, glad that it seemed mostly untouched. The topaz was still safely hidden, at least.

For the most part, she ignored the moose as he monologued briefly-- only taking a brief moment to wonder what the hell a 'princess' was, though as she heard hoofsteps approaching she lifted her head and yelped.

The wolf backed off and then attempted to dive to one side, trying to dodge. She failed-- only just managing to move out of the way in time to not immediately die to the antlers, though not quick enough for them to leave a gash behind on her flank. Blood went spraying in a neat arc as the wolf landed some way away from the moose with a painful snarl.

What was wrong with these creatures? All the guilt left Kera immediately as blood poured out of her side, and as she yelped she forgot the days she had spent grieving and trying to talk through what had happened with Rift.

Kera knew exactly two things. The first, she was a good person.

The second, Blackberry and the moose were very bad people.

With a grimace, Kera began to concentrate. With her gem glittering under her fur, she took a very deep breath. She could smell something horrific in her own nostrils as she did; quickly filling her lungs. She turned her head and breathed out very abruptly straight onto Blueberry's face.

The scent of rot and carrion was something awful; perhaps the worst thing Kera had damned smelled. It made her eyes water, but as the scent left her lungs completely she at least got the chance to stumble backwards, hoping that at least for a moment, the smell would distract Blueberry.

Kera was breathing through her mouth. She knew firsthand how much these things would stink; and she decided that after a moment she should dart off towards the side to get further away from it. Perhaps that instinct was luck alone because a moment later the moose had swing his entire body into the air where her own body had been moments ago.

Exhaling and ruffling her fur a bit. She'd have to get rid of him somehow, but his head was bowed and funnelling light into his face probably wouldn't work for the time being-- though it might distract him briefly.

She decided against it; hissing angrily. With fur bristled, she attempted something else-- something she hadn't even tried before. It was surprisingly easy for her. Kera could often rely on fungus to aid her when she needed it and within a few seconds of her gem glittering, a cloud of spores spouted from her and towards Blueberry.

The wolf held her breath, not wanting to breathe in those spores herself and she found herself backing off further away from both the carrion stench and the hallucinogenic spores as not to be affected by either of them, keeping her leg lifted from the ground as red blood stained the fur.