ORIGIN

Dewberry was tiring and quickly realizing that the caves were a really big place. She needed to stop and eat and rest a bit soon, if not now. And she knew it, she really did - but she didn't want to acknowledge it. Inaction on her part, she felt, had helped cause this mess in the first place. She was keenly aware that getting involved in the fight would not have helped them win - after all, compared with the deadly beam of light that had defeated Father, her magic was barely anything. Even with a distraction, it was improbable that Father could have escaped on three legs. But Dewberry couldn't help but think that if she'd done something differently, maybe Father would still be alive and even if he was still injured, they'd be happier than they were now.

And stopping to rest and hunt instead of warning the family about a grave threat - it just seemed so selfish. It was already improbable that Mother and the rest would forgive her for doing nothing, no matter what conciliatory actions she took - if she hesitated now, she'd put the entire family in danger from further attacks by the lizard and utterly destroy any chance of forgiveness. She couldn't afford to stop.

And then she froze.

What was that brown blur? She flicked her tongue out uncertainly and turned to look at whatever it was. What she saw was a young-looking brown furry-thing. It had fluff, like her family and most things without scales, and it was - whimpering. I shouldn't linger here. Dewberry knew she had to warn the berries as soon as she could, but - could she really leave this poor little cub?

I can't, argued one part of her mind. Leaving it here would be the same kind of inaction that killed Father. You must, argued the other. The longer your delay, the more danger the berries are in.

Indecision is worse. I have to choose. And Dewberry chose the cub, and tried to justify it to herself - after all, the family was so big and had members so much stronger than herself. Surely they'd be fine? - but she knew that if anything happened, she'd never forgive herself. Still, she chose the cub, and she wouldn't go back on that decision. "Hello, cub." She flicked out her tongue again and slithered a little closer. "Were you running away from something? What are you afraid of?"

@Sergei

The baby bear spun as he heard the voice, fear lit clearly in his eyes. He'd not hidden well enough. He'd not--... Oh.

It was tiny, a little snake, and he hesitated rather than flee; maybe it wasn't harmful? It was speaking, too, kindly--as the horse had.

In his somewhat-confused language, he spoke.

"There's--shadow! In tunnel." It hadn't been too long since he'd fled Tunnel K, but undoubtedly it had cleared after his departure. He wasn't sure where the black deer had gone, either. "Voices," he lamented in a moan.

Then he hesitated again, a big forepaw raising clumsily as his oversized and fluffy head looked around. Beady brown eyes quickly shifted back to the snake, still touched by fear. In a distracted sort of way, he noticed that she was pretty. Maybe she wasn't evil; maybe she was nice, like the horse had been.

A moment later, his stomach rumbled, reminding the growing cub sharply that he hadn't had time to eat. "Where is fish?" he lamented, half-asking, half-complaining, yet peering hopefully to Dewberry nonetheless.

@Dewberry

"What?" Dewberry asked, now fully alert. "What shadow? Which tunnel? There were voices too? What did they sound like?" This was danger too! It had been a good decision to stay after all. If the danger came from the family tunnel, she'd be prepared for it. If it was another tunnel, she could warn the family so they'd know to avoid it. Her tongue flicked out to taste the air for the scent of anyone nearby. She didn't think shadows would smell like anything, though, so maybe that wasn't a good enough idea.

"I'll protect you," Dewberry promised, then realized how much of a bad idea that was. She was weak and didn't know many spells. She couldn't even help defend Father, who'd quite literally been the size of a moose. How could she defend a bear cub who was tiny and defenceless in comparison? She really needed to think things through more. But it was too late to go back on the promise now. She'd simply have to try her best, and hopefully if the danger ever came she wouldn't be a coward like she had been earlier.

The sudden subject change was startling. "...fish?" she questioned, unsure if she'd heard the cub right. "Well -" she looked around at the very waterless ruins of Orion - "I... don't think there's fish here. But - I could catch you a mouse, if you want. Or - there's this big glowy cave also, there's fish there because there's a river. It's called Polaris. I - was actually headed in that direction, and my family lives not far from it. If you can wait a little longer we can go there?"

@Sergei

Sergei listened, near-trembling, and then turned to face vaguely in the direction of tunnel K. He nodded his oversized head toward it, a whimper escaping him.

"That one," he answered softly, and then looked back to Dewberry. Their offer of protection was nice, and he was more than ready to accept it immediately--but almost at once he wondered how something so tiny could help him. And the shadows might turn back up, and do something horrible do it, and that'd be--well, terrible!

For a moment the baby bear lowered his head, hiding his eyes beneath his paws, as though he could hide away from the world by hiding it from himself.

This, of course, was slightly misguided.

At length he looked back to Dewberry, listening to the offers of a mouse--and of a safer place, a place with light and water. That sounded good. That was where he wanted to go! With a soft whine he answered, though without clarifying which offer, exactly, he was okay with. "Yes."

He then waddled over toward the snake, and--unsure why he would have to wait--settled down nonetheless, sitting before her as if obediently awaiting guidance. It hardly mattered that the creature was so tiny--what mattered is that she seemed confident, and kind, and that was exactly what Sergei needed right now to comfort him.

@Dewberry

Dewberry looked in the direction of Tunnel K as the cub nodded at it. She hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary when she'd come out of it, but maybe that had been because she'd been in a hurry and hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings. Or maybe the shadows just hadn't gone after her.

The cub hid his face in his paws, and Dewberry felt a stab of pity for him, painful and potent. No Gemling this young should have to be so afraid. She wished she had the strength to go back into the tunnel and rid it of the shadows herself - but she knew there was no way she'd be able to do that. What was more, she still needed to warn her family about the lizard, even if she was focused on the cub right now.

Even though the cub had said "yes" without specifying which offer, from the way he sat down to wait Dewberry assumed he'd prefer a mouse right now. After all, if they were going to move to a new location he wouldn't have to wait. However, she also couldn't take too much time hunting. Who knew what the lizard was up to? She settled for a middle ground. If there was a mouse which was nearby and that she could easily take down, the cub would have that mouse. If not, she'd take him to the family.

She listened and watched for movement, but there was nothing nearby. A quick flick of the tongue picked up only older scents. They'd probably scared away the cave mice with their rushed movements out of the tunnel. "All right," she said to the cub, slithering past him so that the scales on her side brushed against his fur in an attempt to offer him comfort. "My family is this way. Follow me, okay?" She set off for Tunnel N at a brisk pace, not wanting to be too slow but also checking to make sure the cub could keep up.

@Sergei exit unless something happens

The cub followed along immediately, leaning down to try and nudge the snake as she brushed up against him.

He didn't know, exactly, where they were going. He knew that the word 'family' had a warm ring to it in his mind, a promise of protection and comfort. Rather quickly he picked up his pace, ambling at a swift, shuffing speed alongside the snake.

"We go," he agreed softly, his deep-set brown eyes fearfully searching the darkness that lingered in the corners.

He set off quickly, oblivious to the fact that perhaps it was too quickly--a sudden, galloping rush that sent him careening back out of sight.

Whoops.

edited into an exit due to inactivity.

@Dewberry