ORIGIN - 009

Cancer had left Azazel to return to the cave of bones, with a mind to return through that way himself, in order to map it better- the bird had given him some sense of the layout, but he wanted more. He decided to head towards a new area instead, for now, in order to map out those blank areas better. He had a feeling, by his map so far, that he was getting closer to his home in Pisces- he'd have to turn back soon, to check out the rest of the cave.

The opening to the tunnel led him into a fresh-smelling area, sweet with the smell of plant life and water. Water. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the earthy sent as it sank into his memory, and on the exhale he strode into the cave proper. The cat paused only to mark his place before moving deeper into the spread of green growth. Immediately, something he'd never seen before stopped him dead, only four or five paces in.

A mushroom the size of Pisces' waterfall sat smack center in the room, it's gray-blue- oh, silver- cap spreading across like a giant canopy only feet above his head. The cat gasped in wonder, then proceeded to get closer. Bevy had been the bird to warn him about fungi. They were usually poisonous. He'd not touch, but he'd use it's cover for now, as a safe place to mark his map.

The cat set about etching this new room into the stone slab, carefully marking out the mushroom and a fern leaf to note the signifigance of the place. He added a rain drop above the fern leaf, noting the dryness of his mouth at the same time. Satisfied, and thirsty, the cub returned the tablet to its case, and headed for the nearest stream for a good, long, well-deserved drink.

Calypso hadn't found anything of substance at the pools... At least nothing new. At least now she understood-- the pools were special. Yet this fact did not answer the hundreds of questions that stormed her wild mind, the ones that pushed her to explore every other inch of this hot, planty world. She was sure the rest of her system couldn't wait to get back to the cool, safe home of Pisces, but where was the fun in that?

She should have expected to see Cancer. He had, after all, announced his leave. She perhaps hadn't expected him to come here, or as quickly, as he had, but there he was. Bevy was flying down the stream when she spotted the black leopard, and while she could swerve and try to hide, for once the secretive, sneaky birb did not feel inclined to avoid the brat today. Besides, what would he do? She didn't care-- she was a gosh darn adult and she was on a very important mission. One that might, someday, help the ridiculous cause of Maji Walezi or whatever.

"Cancer!" She chirped, swooping down in a corkscrew once she reached him to land at his side. "Look at you, all dressed up. Find anything interesting?" She inquired, getting right to business. If he had found anything special here in Eridanus, anything that she could use... She had already checked the ponds, but there was still the trench and the huge mushroom. The streams hadn't provided her with anything yet-- and it would take forever to check every path in the end, but she would do it if she had to.

The secrets to the Carvings were definitely here, she could feel it in her feathers.

Cancer didn't expect to see Bevy here, but when she swooped down to his side, he was delighted. Oh, but which Bevy was this? The nice one, the nervous one or the bold one? The bird's greeting gave him the answer and he braced himself to adjust, ready for the smart remarks the little bird might have in store for him. He'd answer carefully as he licked the water from his lips, then sat carefully. He reached back first, to grab the dagger he'd found, and place it on the ground between his paws- then did the same on the other side with the tablet, placing it face-up above the dagger.

"Sure did! I found this stuff here," He pointed to the tunnel on the map, the one with all the wall carvings decorating it. "not long into my trip." He brushed his paw across the surface of the tablet to admire his carvings, then replaced it to the grassy ground. The tablet itself was covered in various etchings, mostly a map, but with little doodles beside each cave and tunnel. The most work had been put into a corner drawing, matching part for part the one on the wall in Tunnel I.

"So, what are you doing here anyway? Is everything okay back in Pisces?" He glanced the direction of the cave in question, but felt no desire to return just yet. He still had a few caves to check out before that could happen. "Or have you just been exploring like me?" As a quick jibe, he grinned and added, "Y'know, we can take turns exploring so there's less people missing from home, eh?"

Calypso tilted her head as the feline brought out the stone-- right, the map. She hopped right up on to it, inspecting just where he pointed. The tunnel marking the carvings! And a recreation of the carving, abeit smaller so it could fit. Perhaps Cancer was smarter than she gave him credit for. Her red eyes flashed to meet his golden ones, as he went on. Thankfully, he had more questions than things to say. The boy could ramble quite a bit if he had things to stay instead of things to ask and wait for answers for.

And this bird wanted to do the chatter for once. Since he had been so kind to recreate the drawing, she figured it might be worth actually discussing with him. "Everything's fine, I suspect. And no, I'm not going to leave you to have all of the fun. Means I only get to have fun when you're at Pisces, and I figure now that you've got the taste of adventure you won't be able to resist it. Anyway-- See, these pools," she (lightly) pecked at the two almost circles in the drawing. "They're the eyes of this cavern here. I want to say the thing in the middle, whatever it was, whatever happened there, is now the Mushroom here. There's the sharp parallel lines, they might be the trenches, or one of the paths, or even the rivers. I'm working on it."

She ruffled her feathers. "Anyway, Midas and Ammy can handle it, can't they? Nothing bad's happened to Pisces except for that dumb monkey, and Midas pretty much had that sorted." She thought Midas actually would make quite the guardian, but Calypso wasn't one to idle around and chitchat about others. " 'Sides, I think it was Ky and Leon's turn to watch the waterfall for a bit. They're always having fun without us."

[[ ooc;; omg she has SO MUCH TO SAY i only put down like, a third of it because I want Cancer to get his input in without us ending up with like ESSAYS for posts bwaaha. Caly and Can aren't too different lmao ]]

Cancer listened happily as Bevy chirped her pleasant chirps. Each note was sweet and cheerful, each word a song. It was why he loved her. She was his best friend, and always knew how to cheer him up- or keep him happy- with that pleasant song. Bevy noted what she thought the images could all be and went on to talk about other things but Cancer felt put off by her idea. He shook his head. "No no, Bevy, look again. See?" He pointed to the two circes, and to the etchings around them. "You must've been there already, but the moss on the wall must've grown since. Those aren't pools, and that's not a mushroom." He turned and pointed out his map of the room so far, then to the carvings again.

"Those pools, are monsters. Two monsters in pain, curled in on themselves. See the little men below, and beside? They've killed a monster like it, and are harvesting its meat. But I think, they turn into monsters, see? The way they curl around themselves, and change? The mushroom in the middle? That's a big event." He turned to her with intensity in his eyes. "This isn't a map of Eridanus, Bevy. I think this is our origin story. Where we came from. What made us. Those little two-legged creatures were our predecessors. They left the ruins, and broken armors. They made this place, every light, every machine."