ORIGIN - and so it goes

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Kera absently ducked her head down, fearing she might get hit in the face otherwise by the scythe-like protrusions coming out of Vargas' arm. She licked her muzzle thoughtfully as she straightened herself out again.

"When the lights were off," she began. "There was a storm over Polaris, too-- it struck at anyone trying to cast magic in there, and it turned out that there was someone in the storm, called Vathrahi. Or Vahi, I think. I don't know what happened to her."

"She wasn't really good at talking, or anything. She possessed the Black Dog for a little bit, for some reason, but wasn't really able to say much except for her own name." Kera paused for a moment, itching her shoulder. "Then Senka came around, who was this sort of-- furless big cat, made of shadow, I think. They're sisters, she said, and she said they'd go home and I never saw them again."

"I've never seen anything like it since. Have you? Gembound becoming a bunch of storm clouds, or shadows? Senka talked about a His Will or something along like that, but never clarified what she meant," she said.

She made a brief count of the rooms she knew about already-- seven... ish? Eight? Definitely not fourteen, at least. A part of her wanted to know why they would hide rooms from everyone, and where they were, but she had a distinct feeling that Vargas either didn't know or would say something about the Masters and move on.

Kera licked her muzzle again. "No," she concluded. "I just want to know about Vahi and Senka. There might be more of them out there, like that, right?"

@Vargas

Vargas listened, surprised--he'd thought she was asking him for information, not about to bombard him with even more knowledge. Pleasantly surprised, at least. Pleased, he waited-... Until she made mention of His Will.

The big Overseer startled, all six eyes blinking unevenly as he peered down at Kera. Demanding, insistent, he spoke out at once. There was an urgency to his tone, though whether he was delighted or disturbed was entirely unclear.

"-How long ago was this?!"

His entire body seemed to have tensed--but again, whether it was excitement or terror was likewise obscured. It was hard to tell the emotion, most likely, of a being of spikes, glowing green spots, and quills all over.

@Kera

Kera tried, and failed, to read what was on Vargas' weird-looking face. There was urgency-- maybe faint alarm? --but he didn't look like he might bolt off to find whoever He was. There was, at least, some sort of recognition there.

She considered. "Twenty cycles," she guesstimated. "Give or take two or three cycles, I think."

Could be twenty. Could be fifty. Kera wouldn't know for sure-- she saw no reason (or any way) to actually keep track of the cycles as they went by. She watched Vargas for a few beats longer, tilting her head up to study him.

"Do you know about it?" She asked, quizzically. "Or about what they were talking about?"

@Vargas

Vargas stood stock still for a moment, silent, as he calculated this. Twenty cycles-..? He'd missed it, then, by only a few. But what good news! If it were true, at least, and not some random rambling. Good news--and terrible, but in a good way-...

"I know nothing of it, but it means that we are not, at least, abandoned here. I cannot say much more than that." That joy thrilled through him, savage. Was it true-? Or was it some mad Gembound who'd said these things--unrelated? Was it some echo of something now-gone?

What of the Spire, then..?

But Astraea-... Nemean. Would they have told him-? He grumbled to himself, and exhaled. He'd have to look into this--like so many things, now--later.

Vargas looked to Kera once more. "Do not worry yourself about it, now. But bear my title close, for it may be needed in the cycles to come. We will see," he added, now with a tone of authoritative indifference. He had a job to do. "-Bring me cats."

@Kera

Abandoned here? That definitely didn't sound very good.

She watched Vargas with growing discomfort. Not fear, exactly. She was unsure what actually sounded worse-- that there was a potential that everyone had been abandoned by some higher-up, or that some higher-up were watching them, and turning some of them into storms.

But Vargas was telling her not to worry about it. Kera spent a moment shaking herself off, before pushing up to her paws. "Cats?" she asked, stepping out of the entryway to her den and stretching her hind legs out. "More than one?"

@Vargas

Vargas considered this question, oblivious to his servant's discomfort.

"If you can only find one, that will do. I wish to test them, to see if they will be useful to me. If you can find more than one, or one that will serve as scout and spy, or something other, then one will do. Bring it to me," he decided.

He didn't yet speak of rewarding Kera. Whether he didn't intend to, yet, or he was waiting for her to eventually decide on something that she wanted, wasn't clear. It wasn't likely that someone would immediately want to create a child, anyway, though if she did he certainly hoped that she could balance training it with her new service to him.

They would have to see.

He paused, then. With most of these creatures he would have decided when to leave, and simply departed--but for someone with a mind of her own, serving as his eyes and ears (for the time being, at least--perhaps until he got a cat)--it was good to find out whether she had more questions. She seemed better-able to make use of information than some of the moronic slaves of the past, at least. "Do you have any more questions?" he asked.

And then he found himself wondering--how many of the caves remained?

@Kera

Kera paused, still stretching. Some stiff joints clicked before she replied. "I know of one but I don't know how useful she is," she said. But Wilder was, at least, a cat. And probably willing to follow her to see Vargas for whatever inspection he wanted to take.

She didn't think of rewards-- Kera's mind rarely worked that way in the best of situations. Merely, she thought of what would probably be the best thing for everyone in the caves, and if Vargas was working by designs and the like, and trying to preserve 'new creatures,' if that was what they were, then she'd get him a cat.

The wolf shook her head. "No. Do you have any?" She asked, hovering and thinking.

Where would Wilder be? Polaris? She mentioned something about the Spire and the last time she saw her was at the magicka competition. It would be a place to start, at least.

@Vargas

Vargas was again pleased. Kera was, in his mind, checking with him--offering further service, and her own intelligence wasn't too lacking.

This was good.

"No," he said, at last. "I will look into some of what you have mentioned. You have been of service; you have d one well. I hope you will continue to do so," he added. And it wasn't a threat, though it might come across that way. He simply hoped that his choice had been a good one. Thus far, it seemed to be panning out quite well. When he'd paused to look at the glowing lights scattered in fungus across the ruined building, he hadn't expected to find a servant--let alone one of any use.

It was certainly one of the better days he'd had since awakening.

@Kera

Was this a compliment? Kera did not know. It was the words of a sort-of compliment, but somehow it didn't sound like one. Kera, however, was not currently getting eaten, so--

"Thank you," she said, dipping her head down briefly. "Don't die."

With this, she turned and padded off towards one of the neighbouring tunnels leading towards Polaris.

@Vargas

;;exit

Vargas stared after her.

"Why the hell would I do that?" he demanded, but she was already making her way off. "Hrmph."

The Overseer turned, sitting still, for a moment. He was thinking over all she'd said--covering the information she had given, and trying to commit it all to further memory. Absently, his six eyes travelled over her fungus-glittering home. He stood, and paced over; he plucked one mushroom with his claws, looking at it closely. He then laid it back down (oblivious to the fact that it would die, or perhaps not caring) and stuck his head, as best he could, into her small dwelling.

It was crumbling, that much was for certain. Way back when, he'd at times offered the reward of dwelling-places to those who served well, and obeyed. Lights, yes; better food, better water. Bedding: mats of soft moss or tangled leaves. Perhaps that could be arranged.

It wasn't all that important to him, though. He had a faint sense of fair play: she'd be rewarded for her service; but it was more idle thoughts at the back of his mind. For now, he had other things to follow up on: a bone-speaker to find, Cetus to visit, and cats to procure.

Quiet, the big beast turned and stalked from Orion himself, his long legs taking him swiftly in Canis' direction.

exit Vargas

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