ORIGIN

Asimona was gliding lazily through the waterfall cave, enjoying the distant music of the waterfall. However, all of her nerves were alert, both looking for the dragon that had tormented her and the stone statue fragment that had brought her to this place. She hadn't the slightest clue how she was going to find this thing, but she guessed that she would have to look for it very carefully.

She pulled her wings in and let herself drop height a little bit until she was considerably closer to the ground. She opened her wings and flew carefully through the cave, keeping her eyes open and alert for anything that would look like the stone statue howl had entrusted her to find.

Her nose was also working furiously, trying to catch a trace of whatever magic smelled like. It was a faint scent that hung around the piece that the monkey had shown the group so she wondered if she would be able to catch it at all in a room so big. However, she pulled all of her available senses in to try and find what she was looking for.

As she soared through the cave, she thought she picked up a trace of scent. A scent similar to the stone that she had seen back with Howl. She quickly changed her coarse and began heading towards it.

Her stomach dropped as she realized it was by the Ridges. She remembered trying to climb them, not long ago, with Envy at her side. It was a disaster and the place still put her off a little bit. It had been the first time she had seen him and it certainly hadn't been the last.

She took a deep breath. She had to go there, she had to find the statue piece. She wouldn't climb them, she was just there to fly over and pick something up. Hopefully.

But Asimona was too distracted by the weight in her stomach to properly use her senses to find the statue piece. She glanced around for a good spot to land and floated down, slamming down on the cold, wet surface of the rocks. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her raging heartbeat. She had to do this, she had to be brave. And she had to stop thinking about that stupid dragon!

He wasn't here, she couldn't smell his stink. That was good. There was still the fear, though, that he would turn up. She shifted uncomfortably, trying to stuff down her feelings. She had a job to do.

After a moment to rest, she stood up again and continued her search, trying to follow the scent trail to wherever the statue piece was.

Just as she took her first steps to trying to find the statue piece, a presence tingled her back and the now familiar, dark stench invaded her nose. Fear spiking in her chest, she flung herself away with terror just as claws slammed down where she had been standing. She whipped around and saw herself face to face with the red dragon. He grinned cruely and his dark eyes began invading her head again.

"NO," she yelled as she tore her gaze away. "I have things to do! I have to find the statue piece!"

"You're never going to find it, Asimona. You can't do anything right."
Without thinking, Asimona lashed out with her claws, impatient and furious at his interruption. With a loud snarl, the dragon leaped out of the way with impossible speed and his presence vanished. However, his voice tickled her ear. "I'll be watching you fail, Asimona."
Now she had to find it! With renewed vigor, she leaped forward, but she had lost the scent trail in her anger. Frustrated, she scourged her claws across the stone and got to work finding it again.

After some backtracking, she managed to pick up what she had found while flying through the room. The scent was somewhere nearby, she just needed to track it. She had never really tracked anything before and the fear that the dragon would show up was still distracting. However, now that he had made himself known and threatened her, she was determined to show him that he was wrong and she could find it.

But her tracking skills weren't exactly great and she kept losing the trail. She heard his laughter from behind her and she whipped around. He wasn't there, but she heard him nonetheless. "Why don't you try tracking, asshole? Leave me alone, I've got better things to do!"

When she couldn't pick up the trail again, she flopped down and decided that she would rest and try again in the morning.

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

Asimona blinked open her eyes, renewed and invigorated. She gave a huge yawn and stretched out her wings before immediately checking her surroundings. He wasn't there. Good. She could search in peace today.

Instead of walking and climbing across the ridges, this time she took back to the air, but she flew low. She drifted across the Ridges, keeping her eyes peeled and her nose alert for any signs of the statue piece.

As Asimona glided past a waterfall, the scent hit her suddenly and strongly. She immediately pulled herself back and flapped her wings strongly so that she was hovering in the air. She turned towards the direction of the scent and found herself looking at a cave, too narrow to fly through, steep and slick with water. She narrowed her eyes. How was she going to get through that? She remembered trying to climb the ridges before when they had iced over. Her cold aura might freeze the water if she climbed through. But she had to, that's where the statue piece was!

She flew closer to the falls and found a small spot, wet from the spray, but not part of the water's flow. She set herself down on it and thought for a moment. Perhaps if she managed to turn the water into steam, then she would be able to have an easier time getting through.

She focused and glared at the water, willing it to turn into steam. She raised a claw and touched the water, magic surging through her arm. The water she touched instantly vaporized and, as she crawled into the cave, she kept it going so that there was always a dry, or, relatively dry rock to put her feet on. However, her focus began to waver as she went farther and, eventually, she found that her magic cut off and she was left standing on a steep angle, with water now surging over her claws. With a loud cry, she dug her claws into the stone, holding on desperately.