Grateful for the visit from Leon, Rohan exited the warrens and descended to the ponds, refreshed and ready to try again. He headed straight for the pond that previously gave him so much trouble before. He was prepared for it to infect him again, stubborn as it seemed.
He did not hesitate. The wolf was fired up from his time with his other half, and he was ready to conquer that which blocked his path.
"I am here for you," he declared. "You will not remain tainted. This is not who you are."
And so he thrust a paw forward and into the water, channeling a surge of magic, his opal bursting with a flash of strong glowing blue.
Ah, but it retaliated, as he had expected. He felt the disease flush into his leg and he gritted his teeth in response.
"You will not rid of me so easily," Rohan warned, preparing for his next try.
Slowly, he retrieved his sickened leg and grimaced, staring into the murky water with disdain. It worked before. It will work again. Patience, Rohan. Try again.
As he focused, readying to place his clean paw into the water, a shadow shifted in his peripheral vision; had he not been so steady on the pond, Rohan might have noticed the approaching figure. His paw hovered over the pond, head turning lightly to view the winged dog hybrid as he asked gently of Rohan's condition.
The wolf shook his head, a soft smile breaking through the pain that gripped his leg.
"Ah, no; I am speaking to Pisces," he corrected. "Something has diseased these ponds." His gaze cast back toward the water, then up toward the waterfall that glistened in the distance. "In the lagoon yonder sleeps the great ice phoenix Tenzin. I am speaking to him as well. He is Pisces." Rohan glanced back to the stranger briefly to say, "He responds in his own ways."
And then he dipped his non-diseased leg into the pond, face turning downward to the water, gem-eye glowing once again.
"I am not a child of Pisces," the wolf continued. "But I am Rohan, and we are all children of the cave."
As before, with the other pond, the surface of the water shimmered and with a flourish, was expelled of disease and sprung with fresh water. The muck broke away in a glowing display while the dead bodies of fish and rats dissolved into magicka, their gems sinking to the bottom of the pond.
Rohan's fur had bristled out of sheer accomplishment. This pond, that had given him so much trouble, indeed could be purified! Then so could them all!!
With his diseased leg held closely to his chest, he turned valiantly to the stranger.
"This is true Pisces," he said kindly, guiding his eye toward the clear and fresh pond. Beautiful and deep water, cool and crisp. The ponds were his favorite place to meditate—when they were as they should be. "Fish will return soon to these waters, when the gems again find life for them." Rohan smiled and looked to the next pond, but his body shook with sudden nausea.
The magic was draining, and he needed to rest. He also needed to cleanse the infection this pond had given him—again.
Scooting backward from the purified pond, favoring his diseased leg, the wolf sat to rest and regain a bit of his energy before trekking onward. He glanced upward, patting his tail gently despite himself feeling ill.
"So friend, what is your name?" he asked. He could not visibly see the other's gem, but perhaps it either blended in well or was internal. "I am Rohan." (Which he definitely mentioned before, but that hadn't been entirely to the visitor he had.)