Kin-Kin left her den with a yawn and a stretch to begin her wanderings, no particular plan in mind. Upon awakening, her fur had been ruffled with lack of sleep, her movements slightly stiff; and even in the awakening world, something felt... noticeably strange. The she-wolf couldn’t help but raise her ears towards a strange new ambiance- the magicka fizzling in the air felt even more ominous than usual, its presence so thick that it was almost choking. It was enough to push even the most urgent thoughts from her mind, even if she’d been slacking on them anyway.
The wolf wandered upwards, zigzagging along a well-tracked trail gradually leading away from the crystal river and towards the Entrance of Tunnel N. The thickness of the magic in the air was making her antsy, perhaps, but she thought it was high time she should be returning to Orion.
When the river’s burbling was out of earshot, Kin-Kin began to hear a different sound, something new and strange. A soft tinkling, like glass shards singing, reached her ears. She couldn’t help but feel it had something to do with the odd presence of the magicka so thickly hanging on the air.
Pricking her ears, Kin-Kin came to a perfect standstill, listening closely to try and pinpoint the exact direction of the sound.
Kin-Kin paused where she was for a while, listening- it took a while of ear-swivwlling and sniffing, but she pinpointed the source of the sound. The she-wolf raised her tail and followed the sounds, ears twitching to adjust her course as the need required.
Her search lead her off the beaten track and away from Tunnel N, running parralel to the cavern wall. It took some time, but finally she was homing in on the source of the noise.
Finally, the sound was at its loudest, and the ringing filled Kin-Kin’s ears. She looked around, but there was nothing in the near vicinity. So the red-wolf looked upwards, following the sound up the cavern wall.
There!
A glistening crystal sat up on a ledge, several metres above her. It wasn’t high, maybe two leaps upward- but she’d need to scale part of the wall to get to it. Unless some of the ledges gave way, Kin-Kin could see that it would be a relatively easy climb.
Kin-Kin spent another moment planning her route before she began to scale the ledges and clamber up towards the strange crystal. She rose up onto her hind paws to grasp the first ledge, shifted her weight, and hopped up. Then, the next ledge- another short leap, and she was up. The next, she nearly lost balance- her hind claws scrabbling for purchase until she finally hauled herself up. And then, the last jump- which was over as she crouched, aimed, and sprang like a coiled spring.
Then she was on the narrow ledge upon which the crystals grew, panting slightly, and overlooking the glittering expanse of Polaris. She paused there, taking the chance to look over the room of lights, her glow sending out a beacon to all the cave, like a firefly in the dark. Her tongue lolled out. The crystal chimed softly in her ears, and for this moment, Kin-Kin couldn’t help but marvel at the wonder of this world- a wonder that she was part of. A glorious part of.
The wolf turned towards the crystals at her paws, taking it into her jaws and starting to work it free from the earth.
There was a grinding sound not three meters behind the golden wolf, a strange rumble of stone-on-stone. Perhaps it was her digging that had alerted it, but now it was coming awake, a pile of gem-studded boulders rotating and taking form... before stomping slowly forward toward the wolf--and her singing prize.
Kin-Kin must roll to avoid the golem, though it will likely continue to pursue unless wholly lost somehow. It will reach her in one round if not evaded.
Kin-Kin's ears twitched, and she froze, raising her head from the loose crystal with its tinkling sound ringing in her ears, above anything else that might have alerted her to the new presence. She felt the vibrations of its great footsteps instead, and turned- only to find that the bounders she'd scaled a moment ago were... moving. A seemingly innocuous pile of rubble was shifting and crackling, rising up from its spot and Kin-Kin, standing on the ledge overlooking Polaris- was completely at its mercy.
She turned back to the singing crystal she'd found, and with a final tug, pulled it free from its nest in the earth. Then, crystal clasped in her jaws, she glanced around frantically for a way down. The ground seemed a long way away, but it wasn't so far that she couldn't make it down in one piece. There was really no other choice. The wolf took one last glance back at the golem, before moving until she straddled the edge, and dropping down.
There was a moment of weightlessness with the gem clasped in her jaws, and she braced herself for impact. She landed with the grace of a cat, a gasp of air rushing out through her nose. She'd made it. Now on her own turf and as much space to run as she could ever need, the she-wolf dropped the crystal aside and turned to watch the golem's actions, peeling her lips back in a challenge, a fiery glow shrouding her golden fur. She'd seen these... 'creatures' moving before from afar, but she'd never seen one up close, or had a run in with one before. And the sight of it, the unexpectedness of it- caused her to linger. Now that she was relatively safe, even though her heart still pounded, she found herself sticking around, waiting to see what it would do next.
She could see gems glistening on its hide-- who had they belonged to, or what? Were they what gave this thing life, and made it move?
After a long beat, it began to stomp forward--right for the edge. And a moment later, it simply... toppled off, plummeting in a tumble of boulders that crashed into the ground and rolled along, for a moment.
One of the boulders cleaved right in half upon landing, its brittleness shearing it into shattering. This boulder simply fell away from the amalgamation, and the remaining boulders began to seemingly reassemble...
Kin-Kin has time to simply escape (no roll required) or can engage, or anything else, if she so chooses!
@Kin-Kin
Kin-Kin watched the golem fall with something of a surprised look on her face, as, even despite the damage it sustained, the creature simply... shed the rock and moved on. But what was important was that it kept on coming. The wolf's ears twitched as she tried to figure out a plan of action. The creature- made entirely of rocks and boulders- towered over her, and it was still coming.
Kin-Kin's eyes lit up, her heart thumping in her chest, adrenaline setting her veins alight. She bared her teeth again, unable to resist the thrill that roared through her blood- it had been too long since she'd had the opportunity to properly train. Her last fight had- probably- been against Imperia, and the two had been surprisingly close as of late. It was nice, but feeling the threat looming over her, Kin-Kin now felt her hide itching with something that couldn't be scratched. Perhaps she ought to run, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity to train in a way that she hadn't in cycles, and feel once more the thrill of hot-blooded combat.
Frozen in place, Kin-Kin found it impossible to run. When she looked up, the golem was almost upon her, almostcompletely reassembled. Even if she'd wanted to, it was too late, now. She knew that golems chased magic- that was just common sense. So Kin-Kin, of all the creatures in the caves, had probably the best chance of facing it down- in the way that she and Aries had worked together to gradually chip pieces off of his training boulder.
Kin-Kin extended one of her forelegs ahead of her and tilted her head back to roar a battle cry- a howling song of triumph and glory that echoed throughout the cavern. And then she clamped her jaws around the sword in her sheath, and drew it.
@Imperia
After the wrestling competition - that they had won, of course - Imperia wasn't sure what to do. They were pretty sure there was another round, though they hadn't been called to do it yet. Whatever. That didn't matter right now. What did matter were the singing crystals that had suddenly popped up. And the air...it seemed charged. Moreso than usual. It was a little disconcerting, to be honest.
They walked along a path, unsure of what to do or where to go. They thought about seeing if they could find one of these crystals, but a noise stopped her. A howling song, loud, echoing around the cave. Their ears pricked, swiveled toward the sound. It sounded very much like Kin-kin. Had she gotten a crystal? They'd noticed a bit of activity increase with the golems. Probably because of the charged air. With a flick of their tail, they bounded over toward where the sound originated. They weren't going to back down from a fight with a golem, especially when Kin-kin called them.
It wasn't long before they reached the wolf. Their suspicions were confirmed as they saw the golem and Kin-kin, the latter with her sword clamped in her jaws. They sprung toward Kin-kin, landing beside her and looking at the golem. They glanced toward the wolf and grinned, though didn't say anything. They didn't really need to speak. Besides, it'd be hard for her to talk with the sword. All they had to do was fight this golem.
"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."
tags: @Kin-kin
notes: here
The rock beneath it trembled and cracked, the other "limb" smashing just to the pale wolf's right.
@Kin-Kin
Kin-Kin's ears twitched at the sound of movement- it seemed that her battle cry had drawn attention. Kin-Kin glanced sideways for a moment, and caught sight of just the face she'd been hoping to see. Although her grin was hidden behind her crystalline blade, the sparkle in her eyes was clear as day. There was no time for greetings, though- Kin-Kin turned her attention sharply back to the golem and sprang back as it aimed a strike, only to miss, the earth cracking beneath the sheer force of its blow.
Her glow brightened momentarily as she prepared her own move, taking the opportunity in the golem's momentary lapse to lunge with her blade. She aimed to find a crack in between two stones or a weak point- somewhere she'd be able to widen a crack, or break a few fragments free... and maybe widen the possibilities for later on. She knew, it might take a while to do any real damage.
@Imperia