ORIGIN

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"Food," a gentle voice, soft and still young, woofed as a large white paws padded forth into the cave of bright blues and greens. Polaris was the central hub of the caves, and although the young cerberus was still unused to the cave's endless tunnels, he seemed to sense this. He saw the river running through the massive cavern, and feeling the energy pump through his bones he broke into a sprint.

"Food!" Another woof, a similar voice, more urgent. The giant puppy raced through the cavern to the stream, sliding to a stop at the water's edge. He was hungry, yet in staring at the water, he felt another urge. A strange one. It was unlike the need to eat, yet just as important.

All three heads plunged into the water, muzzles slurping and licking and chomping at the water. Thirst. "Water!" One head announced, pulling back from the river's edge. "Drink. I must drink." The other heads glanced at the speaking one, but continued to drink. Soon, all three were eagerly gulping up water until they could no longer drink.

He sat back, shaking his heads free of the mess of water. His large paw rubbed at his muzzles, snorting. "Still need food," the middle spoke to the others, getting slight snarls from each side in agreement. Looking around, he saw that there were things, moving things, but they did not seem edible. So he stood and retreated from them for now, looking for food to hunt instead.

Upstream, a lizard seemed to be enjoying a drink. The hound knew, instinctively, that this thing was eatable. And he would eat it, unlike the other gembounds he had met that would not let him to eat them. This one would get eaten.

"Careful, must be careful, attack quick. Kill fast." He agreed with himself, talking out the idea of the hunt. He crouched low to the ground and crept up on the lizard, focusing on his magic. Maybe he could kill with his magic. That would make it easy.

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Nothing... Nothing happened. "Pay attention," growled one head to the others. The head opposite snorted, and his tail lashed. He would kill this lizard-- though by now the creature had become aware of him. If he failed again, he would have to lunge and hope it didn't run too fast. Bearing all three sets of teeth, he dug his gem-marked paw into the hard rock, focusing on the lizard that was eyeing him with suspicion.

"One."

"Two."

"Now!"

With a burst of energy, a ripple of power echoed out from his paw. The lizard went to bolt as the blast of magic came like a tidal wave at it-- but the magic hit. A howl of triumph started up in the right head. "Yesssss!" The middle head snapped his teeth at this head, for something of a disaster had happened.

Orange-nose pointed back down at where the lizard had been, but didn't see where the creature had gone. The other two heads had seen it, however, and suddenly the large baby hound was bounding towards the water's edge. He had knocked the lizard right into the crystal stream.

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The lizard had gone in the water which meant... He would have to go in the water? The over sized white puppy pawed at the water and found it freezing cold. Shivering, he bared his teeth and looked around the cave. Did he really have to swim? That wasn't really something he wanted to do... He just wanted to eat.

Maybe if he just... Did the magic again... The little lizard would pop out of the river? He couldn't even see the creature anymore. That probably wouldn't work-- he'd just get water every where. Maybe he would be able to scoop out... Oh! Suddenly, the cerberus noticed that there were fishes in the water. Maybe he could catch one?

"Three, two, now!" He barked at himself, focusing his attention into the water. His tail wagged and he went to slap a fish out of the water using instincts he had embedded deep in his muscles.

Yet as he went to swipe, his massive paw swung his weight forward and-- like every other attempt to hunt so far, the hound fell face first into, this time, water.

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Water was wet and water was cold. Flailing, his wide paws found it easy to keep him above the surface but he was being swept from the edge of the shore and carried down stream. His three heads tried desperately figure out where to go and what to do, but the most he could manage was a quite sad circular dog paddle in a circle as the water swept around him.

The one thing he had decided though-- since figuring out a direction to swim in was right out-- was that it was way too cold. He had a thick mane, sure, but his poor tail and butt was freezing to the bone. His thin hindlegs felt heavy, like they were being frozen and pulled into the depths-- and he knew he had to fight the cold.

His paw glowed a faint, warm maroon light... and the heat seemed to melt away. Cold gripped at his fur, claws at him, and panic swelled in the great white beast.

He had to get out of the water now.

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Frightened, the great white beast struggled in the water, his limbs starting to go numb. Each head found the closest shore-- off to the left, and finally they seemed to work all together. Large paws worked furiously against the current, struggling for the shore. The water roared in three sets of ears, a strange disfunctional echo of bubbling liquid in his senses.

It was disorienting, but eyes closed except for one pair-- the center-- he pushed and tugged himself towards the shore. The water swept faster, trying to pull him away from the land. He wouldn't be deterred, however, using his muscles to their limit.

Instinct drove him to swim, but fear brought him to try magic just one more time. The quicker he got to the edge, the better-- and so he tapped into his energy. He had to escape, before he couldn't fight it anymore.

The water shoved out from underneath him and his white body-- now at least clean from the dip in the river-- hauled up on to dry land. He scrambled away, panting, shivering... No more fishing for him. He would hunt land things... Fishes lived in a dangerous, cold world.

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Shivering, the young pup curled up by the edge of the river. He was quite cold, and each nose fought for a tuft of warm, white fur to hide in. His scruff hid his recent wounds quite nicely, but they ached from the dip and the violent struggle to escape. He could smell the blood, could see it seeping slowly through his fur.

Eventually, each side curled up between his paws and his center head remained alert, eyes bright, watching for danger while he rested. He was exhausted, and still starving. It felt like he would never get a good, proper meal in. Huffing, he tried to shake the frozen sensation through his fur.

His paw began to glow a gentle maroon once more, and with his shivering the glow seemed to spread up his soaking wet fur. The air around him grew warm and comforting, the cold slowly thawing out. With a yawn, the center head wondered about food, and how long it would take before he could go hunt for real.

Bored... Why must rest? Hunger. Need food... But also need rest, the great beast thought, wriggling, tail twitching. It was frustrating, but as the two heads under snoozed and rested their eyes, he kept watch. It was hard not to also be sleepy... And eventually, even he could hardly fight it.

The middle head settled on top of the others, closing his eyes. He would rest better if all of him rested.

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The three headed dog slept soundly, but eventually hunger rose the great white puppy with a rumbling, angry sounding tummy. Blinking reddish pink eyes open, ears twitched as he noticed, quite quickly, he was not alone. Each head snapped to attention, lifting to focus on the lion before him. "Food?" woofed one, his snake tail twitching.

The heads shared a glance before he stood, forepaws digging his claws into the stone. He returned his many eyes to the small lion, his massive size fairly equal to the older gembound even though he was only a day or so old. "Can I eat it?" the middle head asked his other heads, considering what the sandy thing would taste like. He looked like he might be tasty, all things considered. More filling than a tiny lizard.

"Eat it," agreed the head with cropped ears and reddish nose, like a drop of blood on the white fur. The head on the other side cocked and grinned, letting out a playful woof. "Kerberos. I am hungry." The other heads seemed to catch on, and soon all three were woofing at once, in excited, high pitch puppy tones.

"Feed me or I eat you!"