ORIGIN - Fishing for Love

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Tag: Fisher get your brown butt in here!

Cancer sulked about his ledge. His life was in ruins. Makyna was gone. Leon was gone. Quix wasn't his daughter after all- though he still loved her all the same, and would continue to guide the kit, if she let him. His best friend, Bevy, was more distant now than ever- he was beginning to think he'd pushed her away with all his love-sick ramblings. Oh, how stupid he'd been. The teen rolled onto his side with a groan, quite sore with himself.

Everything he'd ever wanted was gone. Well, he had Maji, but what good was a group of 'bounds without any purpose? Yellow eyes wandered to the map carved into the walls, almost finished to look like his smaller tablet carvings. He'd worked on it for hours last night, to try and take his mind off his troubles- but as he'd sketched Orion, thoughts of Amaria's accident had come flooding back, and he'd needed a break. That night, in fact, he'd cried himself to sleep like some loser who'd lost their favorite toy.

Now, sore and stuffy, the leopard rolled onto his stomach. How could he have been so stupid? So unlucky? He'd hurt everyone he'd cared about. Now, all he had was a promise from some crazy hyena that he'd find happiness after a long, dark struggle. What good was happiness at the end of his life, if now all he had was pain? Oh, woe was he, the king of the falls, left to remorse in his sorrows alone. Oh, woe.

The waterfall.

Exhaustion overwhelmed the long sock of brown fur, fresh scars rippling down his sides. His wounds had mostly healed, enough so that he could walk. As long as he didn't push himself, and he hadn't, he would live. His pawsteps were heavy, the clacking of claws on rock as he approached the great waterfall.

The one who had saved him said that there was safety here, among the rushing water. He wasn't a coward, but he was no fool either. He still needed to recover and even the trip here had been dangerous. It was safer than Eridanus in any case-- the giant, starving mutt that had tore apart a cave rat before his eyes and nearly did the same to him (had he not climbed a tree) was not something he wanted to find himself face to face with again.

He was sleepy now, but he knew he had to find someone. A member of Maji Walezi. The name felt slippery on his tongue like a fish, but he approached the waterfall and followed the slick, damp path around to where Cancer's den lay.

His form relaxed when he saw the black leopard, a smirk settling across his expression. He had made it. Leaning against the cool cavern wall, he flashed his copper eyes to look over the cat's form. This one. He remembered this cat. But Bevy had promised him a safe place here, so he knew he had it.

"Hey there," he barked, giving his tail a careful, friendly wag.

Cancer heard the newcomer before he spoke, in the shuffle of his paws against the stone, and the soft thrum of his heart. Attuned to his magic now, more than he'd ever been, it was like a second sense of hearing. He didn't register the newcomer until he spoke, however. Cancer turned over and arched his neck to examine the creature below. Ah, no, he remembered this one. This was the Rat from Polaris. Oh, but maybe he'd taken offense to that before- Quix had assured him since that the brown half-pint wasn't any threat, even then. He rolled onto his stomach and lifted his head in consideration.

"You look half dead." He stated simply, brows raising as if to question the injuries. He hadn't noticed them before, or perhaps he hadn't been injured at that point. "Do you know where you are?"

This was his territory. His kingdom. Lately, he'd been a touch more protective of the cave he'd been born in- too many dangers. With Leon and Makyna, the muscle, gone, he had to be careful who was let in- and while this brown rodent didn't seem dangerous, whatever chewed him over might still have been following him. Leading say, a golem, into Pisces would be a death sentence for the whole of Maji Walezi- if Cancer were to fail them.

He probably would. He wasn't very good at doing leadership things these days.

Fisher eyed the cat as Cancer called it like he saw it. Yeah, he probably did look like crap. He looked worse a few days ago, but at least he wasn't a dripping sack of blood, gasping for breath, anymore. His fur bristled at the thought but he shrugged, taking a few steps towards the feline. His smile didn't falter, his eyes closing as he swept closer to the other gembound.

"Maji Walezi, Pisces. Big room with the waterfall. A little birdie told me it would be safe here," he offered, peeking open one eye to see just what Cancer thought of that statement. Fisher owed a lot to Bevy, and he didn't like owing things. At least she wasn't the type to associate with the Bone King, as far as he knew, like he originally thought. He paused, lifting a paw to scratch at his torn ear. "... Just a bit of sparring gone wrong," he decided to tag on to the end, in a voice soft and distant. He had almost killed himself. For real, this time.

It certainly put a damper on his usually cheerful, bouncy mood. "So, you going to chase me out?" He chattered, laying down beside the cat, stretching out to get comfortable-- he was almost teasing, that knowing smile curled up on his scarred muzzle.

Cancer watched the smiling scarred rat come closer. He mentioned a little bird, and Cancer immediately thought about what sort of things Bevy could've told him. Still, he was just looking for a safe place, and judging by the soft way he added that last bit, Cancer decided the thing wasn't a threat or up to no good. He'd let him stay. Maybe something durable enough to survive those injuries would come in handy later on, for the sake of the group. So, he let the scarred thing come closer, and didn't react much when he settled down beside him. Close encounters weren't uncommon here in the caves, so he'd let the discomfort of it settle in his gut and stay there.

Those yellow eyes moved over to the brown creature's stone, between his shoulder blades, and the crack running through it. He traced the scars with his gaze, and winced at the thought of them fresh.

"Nah." He responded when asked. "Quix knows who she is now. I don't need to worry about some brown prey-thing stealing my cub anymore." He spoke dryly, as if forgiving the other male for the misunderstanding, though he'd never say it aloud. "Does it hurt?" His eyes would return to the cracked stone and to himself, Cancer wondered what it'd be like, how painful it would be, if he broke a horn like that. Immediately he began devising some sort of protection for it- and for the newcomer, casual blueprints of armors in his head. "Can you still cast?"

Fisher closed his eyes, resisting the overwhelming urge to roll them at the feline. Prey-thing. Pfft. He could eat them for breakfast if he wanted to, which he didn't, because gembounds who could speak were not food. If he wasn't a good guy, though, he would totally eat Cancer. The thought made his tail twitch with amusement.

... But then the black cat was asking him something... If something hurt? His eyes flashed open and he craned his head at the fellow gembound, realizing he meant his gem and the scars. His paws wriggled, ears laying back. "A little. It's cool though." To be honest, he hadn't tried using his magic since the incident... He had been mostly reserving his strength.

Most of his magic was dangerous, anyway. He wasn't sure he wanted to try it-- but then he thought of something he could do that wasn't too dangerous. "Uh, lemme try," he chuffed, reaching out a paw towards the feline. With a gentle attempt to paw at Cancer's nose, he delicately tried to make the cat's heart race. The gem on his back flashed and flickered a bright, but gentle yellow, like small sparks of static were trickling off of it. It didn't hurt, to his relief, but he would have to wait and see if it did anything to the feline.

Cancer wondered how bad damage to a stone could be before... things got fatal. The deep scores through the smooth gem on the fisher's back was ugly, like a terrible chasm carved into his back. The leopard pinned his ears back at the news that it did hurt, though not too much. Would it ever not hurt, though?

Then, Fisher surprised him. He moved and Cancer straightened in protest immediately.

"Hey wait, don't-" Too late. He felt the sharp tingle of electricity and his heart fluttered. When the brown 'bound moved away, he sat upright. The fur on his tail and shoulders stood on end, eyes wide. "What did you just-" He furrowed his brows, but the look of scorn was only half there. "Don't just cast on other people like that! You could hurt someone- or yourself!" He scolded, that temper flaring a bit, but not nearly as much as it could've before...

His mind went to Makyna, against his will, the scars across her chest from that... horrible bear. Those ears pinned flatter and he looked away, expression hard. He thought of Amaria, and what he'd done to her that night in Orion... and of the gembound which died at the spire, though of that he hadn't been a witness. He turned that hard stare on Fisher.

"Magic is dangerous. It's better to keep it to yourself." He muttered, sounding deflated. "Trust me, even simple little things can cause great harm if it goes wrong. People get hurt." Was he talking about the electricity anymore?

Suddenly the cat poofed up, the exact reaction the Fisher had expected from someone whom's heart just started to sky rocket. The cat went on a tirade that the Fisher already knew well. He knew how bad magic could backfire, jeez, he was the living embodiment of bad decisions. Yet the brown noodle couldn't be mad-- he could sense something behind the cat's hard, scolding words.

They were the words of someone who had messed up before and didn't want anyone else getting hurt. The fisher cat got to his paws and stepped closer to Cancer, in fact, closer to any stranger he had ever gotten before. He pressed in on the cat, drawing his body right up against the other animal, brushing his rough, thick coat through the others, pressing his cheek to Cancer's-- if the cat didn't recoil enough to get away in time.

"You think I don't know that, pussy cat?" He asked, tone soft and somber. "All of my magic is dangerous. Isn't a spell I can cast that doesn't run the risk of hurting me or anyone else," he murmured, pawing at the cat's chest. "That's the safest one, one I've had since I was born. I know how to control that one, make sure it doesn't mess up. Anything else I couldn't, wouldn't show you because I could die if I did mess up." He stepped back, orange eyes meeting yellow, eyes like candles in the shadows.

"I get it, kitty," he told Cancer in a quiet voice, his tail brushing the earth, enthusiasm dropped. "You and I are the same." With that said, he settled his haunches back down on the cold, damp rock. A thought, like a gentle breeze, flitted through his mind and he smiled weakly at the black feline before him. "... My name's Fisher... And I'm not a rat, okay?"

Cancer's scowl broke when the fisher pushed against him. His brain stalled, barely catching on to what was said. The pet name wasn't appreciated, but as Fisher explained his plight, Cancer felt a brief wave of understanding. His own powers hurt himself more than others if they failed... but that blood hold... he'd seriously hurt Amaria that time. He had the ability to stop a 'bound's heart with just concentration. It was a power that both thrilled and terrified him. This Fisher gave him a similiar feeling- he felt a pull of sorts, a sense of familiarity that urged him to let down that guard he'd built up since Makyna had left. Makyna... The thought of her exploring the caves with that bear made him sick. Without meaning to, he lowered his head against the scarred stranger, embracing a feeling of closeness he never knew he'd missed.

The brown snake-rat introduced himself as Fisher, making eye contact, and Cancer held his stare for a moment before glancing away, looking defiant.

"Carcino." He murmured back. "Call me Cancer though. It's easier." The cat remained settled, eyes on the falls, attention on Fisher only in the twist of an ear. "...so... Maji has openings. You could stay here, earn rank, make a new name for yourself." He didn't want another enemy. He didn't want anyone else to be angry with him anymore. He was tired of the yelling, the fighting. He just wanted some peace for a change. "I'm sure Quix would love having you around. She seemed disappointed when you left the last time..." He glanced over and as if as an afterthought, gruffly muttered an apology. "You didn't deserve that... I thought I'd found..." ...a way to keep her with me. He didn't dare finish that sentence aloud. A broken heart wasn't something he felt too keen on sharing with the world.

"Carcino," Fisher echoed, wiggling the odd word in his mouth. He considered the name Cancer instead-- it was easier to say, but there was something fancy and alluring about Carcino. For once, it made him wish he had a different name. He tried not to show that, though, as he smiled at the feline.

Openings, huh? Fisher wasn't the type of gembound to get tied down, but he knew he needed time to recover and having friends that wouldn't wander off on him would be good... And Quix was here. He didn't know if he liked the tiny, needle-pawed cub but he thought he could have fun with her. Bevy was strange, but nice.

... He shrugged in reply to Cancer, laying back down on the cool floor, thinking over his choice of words. He seemed to be struggling with something, though obviously he didn't want to go through his whole life story with a stranger. He kinda understood that.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Staying here, I mean," he replied softly. "Thanks." He looked down at his paws, considering the whole situation. He missed when things didn't hurt all over and he could run around and be absolutely stupid about everything without a care. He felt like a shell of his former self, but maybe staying here he could get some of that back.

"... And don't worry about it. I just wanted to get her away from the golems. I didn't know her and she doesn't know me, really." He wondered if those were the kind of words that would make him feel better. Somehow, Fisher doubted it. His tail twitched pensively.

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