ORIGIN - dark eyes dreaming

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AW! Especially Merrymen! I'm assuming she's met most of the Merrymen, since she's almost 2 cycles old already...?

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She could feel the breeze of the twister, constantly churning in the heart of the room. She feared it - the howling wind, the force that could sweep her from the ground and into its powerful grasp. The girl had been warned multiple times not to get too close to it - she couldn't see it, and her magic could not detect it. All she had were her ears, and the feel of wind tugging against her curly fur.

Magdalena had come to know the pull of wind as home. When she didn't venture into the heart of the room, she felt safe. It was a constant reminder that she was in the company of friends, where ever they may be. It was a reminder that she was in her home, and home meant protection was the frightening outside world. She'd been told that it was dangerous outside of Monoceros. There were other Gembounds who might want to hurt her, or take advantage of her, or golems that hungered for the marble wreath atop her head. Not everyone pandered to her needs as her groupmates might. As long as she stayed away from the twister, and in this room, she would be safe.

This didn't leave a lot of room for Magdalena to entertain herself. Her mind often wandered, using her magic to try and make sense of the world she couldn't see. She practiced over and over again until she could feel the bacteria and know its sources, but even then she would exhaust herself. Every now and then she would try something new. Today, she tried another spell that she had used once or twice; as she lay on the rock, she felt a pull from inside of her. The bacteria her body naturally cultured was inherent to her senses. With a sharp exhale, she produced a cloud of bacteria all her own, a kind she felt most familiar with. It lingered in the air before she felt it dissipate. She could use this to track other Gembounds, granted she had the opportunity to infect them first.

Magdalena huffed and slowly unfurled her limbs, wobbling as she stood. Her nose pointed out towards the heart of the room, wondering if anybody was nearby. She wanted to try out this new technique of hers on someone.

Nemesis had a hard time getting along with just about anyone. She hated Erebus, and she was even starting to feel weird about Fang; Louie made her skin crawl and intruders she fought on sight. There was one, however, who she felt like she had to be careful not to crush. She hadn't really interacted with the frail dog much, but she observed the fellow member of the family plenty of times and had been, at some point, introduced to her.

Today, the bulky, clumsy rhino was going to try and actually get to know the lanky, awkward dog. She was, in a strange way, quite pretty and although Nemesis would likely never say so, she was jealous in a way that didn't make her angry but just quietly sad. She had grown up here in Monoceros, like a frail wild flower-- Nemesis associated Magdalena with Earth for that reason-- and so they shared some strange sort of kinship. The rhino considered her family, and as such she was nearly as important to protect as her Queen, or... King, if that was what Louie was.

"Hey, uh," she called as she hobbled up to the ledges where the white dog was, following those sightless eyes towards the twister. The dog knew of Wind innately, as she had. This made Nemesis smile, for no matter how different they were, they were born on the same ground. She didn't want to startle her of course, so she tried to keep her tone casual and quiet-- none of that usual shouty nonsense. "Yo, it's just me. Fire. Nemesis. Whichever."

As far as she looked out over the ledges, Magdalena would never be able to see anything. Staring into the room was fruitless, so her eyes lingered in the direction of the twister, feeling the wind against her face. The girl waited, hoping that somebody, anybody, would show themselves to the blind girl. Sure enough, her delicate paws felt the earth shudder. Something heavy was coming her way. Magdalena lowered herself slightly, tuning in to the vibrations of the rock, the slow footfalls tha announced the approach of another Gembound. She recognized the pattern as belonging to Nemesis. The rhino, as she understood, was a massive creature. Based on the level of bacteria in her body, at least.

The larger animal approached; before she spoke, Magdalena murmured under her breath, "Finis originae pende,", quietly seeking confirmation the creature was indeed Nemesis and a member of the Merrymen. Then the rhino called out. Magdalena remained still, turning her head slightly in her direction. She stared wide-eyed, moving her head side to side before settling on the position that would offer her the best sound reception. The rhino spoke again, confirming that it was her groupmate.

Magdalena slowly smiled, soft eyes looking just to the right of the rhino. "Hello Nemesis." She greeted and wagged her tail slowly behind her. "How are you?" Her voice was slow and metered, carefully crafted. She had to be graceful in place of her sight - in speech, in presence. She wanted to know what the rhino was up to, if she was just passing by or here to visit.

"Oh, I'm good," she replied, doing her best to sound bright and cheery. It felt a bit weird, she hadn't really been so chipper since the day she discovered Water. Not that she hadn't been content from time to time, but she was definitely forcing it. Magdalena was such a strange creature, with her empty eyes and slow, graceful movement. It made Nemesis' head spin just trying to figure out what it must be like being in such a body yet still so... Elegant.

"What about you, what are you up to?" She replied, settling down into a comfortable stance by the white dog, glancing out towards the twister. She could feel the shifting air, could hear the roar. Did Magdalena feel the power of the wind through her fur as Nemesis felt it in her bones? What a silly thing to wonder about. She found, however, she couldn't help but wonder what traits they might have in common, what interests they might share.

And perhaps, in an attempt to sound playful and even friendly, she might have overstepped her boundaries. "Enjoying the view, maybe?" Nemesis grew up with Fang, however, and jokes that were frankly downright offensive were not rare-- though the mongoose was much more subtle than she was.

It pleased her to hear that the rhino was doing well. There may have been some hidden emotion behind her words that the dog was suspect of, but she said nothing of it. If the rhino said she was well, than Magdalena would do well to believe it. She wasn't about to confront anybody about their feelings, especially when Magdalena was hardly in tune with her own. The child furrowed her brow slightly at the question and moved her head as Nemesis moved to stand closer to her. Her head swiveled back and forth, trying to decide on a direction to settle; every time somebody moved, it was a hassle for her to try and adjust her skull so that she could hear them and smell them properly. Her floppy ears twitched, listening, finding the rhino's breathing against the silence. Magdalena gave one final shift of her head so that her muzzle faced Nemesis, that smile never fading.

With that, she adjusted the rest of her body and sunk to her haunches. Her legs, thin and frail, still shook when she moved. She was like a newborn fawn, still unfamiliar with her own gangly limbs. "Enjoying the breeze." The girl's smile broadened slightly. Yes, the twister frightened her, but when she was far away from it she took comfort in the gales that soared through the room. They often brought interesting and strange new smells, as well as familiar ones. Upon deciding that Nemesis likely wasn't going to go storming off anywhere any time soon, Magdalena took this small break in conversation to focus on her magic. There was no twinge in her facial expression or movement in her body, merely the simmering of her own bacterial culture. She called upon it, hoping that it would work.

Post Roll Edit:
She could feel it lurching within, however nothing came as she summoned the cloud up and out. Nemesis, hopefully, would never know of the failed attempt - all Magdalena could do was keep on trying. Meanwhile, the rhino had attempted to make a joke. Jokes were not a rare thing here in Monoceros as she had come to find, but Magdalena still had to get the hang of them. As such, she had difficulty identifying them. "I cannot see." The child blinked dumbly at her groupmate, as if reminding her that she was blind. Had she her vision, then yes, Magdalena would have been enjoying the view. Alas, the dog had never known what it looked like. All she could do was visualize using her bacteria, and even then, the image in her mind was shoddy and incomplete. The small smile soon returned to her lips, an effort to forgive Nemesis for having forgotten of Magdalena's disability.

Nemesis could tell her joke hadn't gone over well, but the dainty pretty lady didn't seem too offended, either. Just unimpressed. The rhino huffed slightly, flicking her tail as she looked over towards the twister before returning her eyes back to Magdalena. "Well, yeah, I guess. I was just kiddin', anyway. The breeze is great. Air's good for fire, and all." She paused, and then slowly settled down on to her knees, laying down nearby the dog.

"Well, uh. The view's great, honestly. I can see the whole territory up here. It's a good spot to watch the Twister kick up dust and pebbles and toss them around, and watch all the colors... Erm." Did Mag even know what a color was? Dangit. She was messing this whole thing up. "All the different types of dust and dirt mix around and around."

Maybe Magdalena didn't even care. Nemesis felt a bit awkward, rambling away, so she finally fell silent and just let the whistling of wind fill her ears and wash away the uncomfortable silence. She had never tried to make a friend before. Fang just sort of fell into her lap, and everyone else she more or less chased away. Sure, Louie was alright, but... She didn't really have any close friends and it was hard not to want to be closer to the elegant, frail princess.

... Was she a princess? Well, if Louie was a King, and Fang was a Queen, it seemed only right for Mag to be a princess. She wondered what the hound would think of such a title, but felt too embarrassed to ask.

While Nemesis clamored to save face, Magdalena's attention briefly drifted elsewhere, back to the bacteria that festered inside of her. She could feel it growing more powerful and active, and she knew that stimulating it would cause her to grow ill again. She had to act quickly and then leave it alone, so hopefully, this next attempt would be successful. All she had to do was conjure up a cloud and then she could keep tabs on Nemesis - so as the rhino laid down and began to talk about the view, Magdalena focused on her magic again.

Alas, her attention didn't linger on the bacteria for long; she caught wind of what Nemesis was saying and found herself undeniably intrigued by her explanation of the twister. She spoke of colours, but quickly caught herself, prompting Magdalena to tilt her head and give her her attention fully. The cloud of bacteria she attempted to summon settled back inside of her; it was a death wish, that was for sure, but Magdalena had yet to understand the permanence and the consequence of her illness. Nemesis then went on to describe the dust and the dirt, drawing Magdalena's imagination to the texture instead. Was that what it was like, the twister? Feeling the dirt fly around? "Go on." She urged quietly, her eyes straying towards the general direction of the rhino, and then back towards the twister. Magdalena wanted to hear her describe it some more. Even if she had nothing to go off of in terms of colour, or appearance, she at least had the imagination to apply texture to imagery. She wanted to know more.

Nemesis had stopped talking, and almost as soon as the pause had started to become awkward, the soft, silky sweet voice of the dog brushed her ears again. A flush reached through her ears and cheeks, impossible to see through her thick, tough rhino skin, but existent all the same. "Oh, okay... Well, um, when you get down there, real close-- I've run paces around the Twister, see-- you can really tell the difference."

Did the princess really want to hear about the tornado? More over, did she really want to hear Nemesis' explanation? Her body shuttered and she smiled, her deep midnight gaze tracing the frail, delicate form of her fellow groupmate. "The air is stale and fresh all at once, dry and hot with lashes of cold, sharp, biting cold. All the air from the caves comes and converges here, at the center of that storm, and you can feel it, taste it, smell it.The sand and dirt digs at you, and you can feel each claw of the beast of wind down there."

"You have to breathe with it, the air can change on a dime, from thin to dense. It's suffocating and invigorating all at the same time," she explained softly, sounding distant. It was funny how just looking at the pale white canine made her feel the same way the wind had.

She shook her head and stared back at the cyclone, catching her breath as though all that talking had used up all the oxygen in her lungs. In truth, the dog had left her breathless, her heart pounding in her chest. She was embarrassingly consumed in the moment. "You just really know you're on the edge of life and death down there. You can see it when you look, the way it's about to tear itself apart. That's why it's so loud, the roaring of the wind."

She nodded as the rhino continued to explain the twister to her, how she could feel the difference in the air down there. She imagined so. The dog was always fearful of accidentally venturing into its winds, but it provided a good basis for what direction she needed to walk. Don't walk into the powerful tugging of the winds. Walk alongside them, or away from them; she knew that treading too close could be dangerous. What she truly found herself enjoying however was the rhino's description of the air, in a way that Magdalena could truly understand. Feelings. The sensation of stale and fresh, like a breath of wind blowing in through the cave. Dry and hot and then biting cold, like the feeling of having laid on the rocks only to roll over and experience an expanse untouched. Refreshing and startling all the same, but she loved it.

All the air in the caves met here. All the smells, all the temperatures, everything that the wind could carry was brought here. She smiled at the thought. It was ever knowing; a wise and vicious beast, the twister. It was a point of reference and a terrifying monster capable of nightmares all the same. It was so critical, but so terrifying; she wondered, did all things horrifying carry significance beyond frightening the unknowing hearts? The way she described it almost made it sound like it was alive. Magdalena blinked. Could it be? Could it live and change and evolve, like them?

It tears itself apart. Magdalena's breath faltered, pointing her nose down at the twister. "It is alive." She murmured, staring half-lidded and blindly down at the swirling monster of wind before them. A creature capable of change. A creature that breathes and fights and guides, a creature that destroys itself, for what - survival. It was just like them. It was just like her.

Nemesis took in the white dog's words, a tingle racing up her spine. It took her a long moment to process what she had said, what she had meant. To most, perhaps, such a thing would be laughable. It was just wind, after all.

But to Nemesis, that was exactly what got her goosebumps going. The rhino batted her lashed at the tempest bellow, listening to the gentle rumble of wind carry its voice up to their perch. She had been Fire long before she was Nemesis, long before she had been much of anything else. To her, Fire was alive, it lived and grew and died. Wind was another side of the same coin, for wind could feed Fire and help it grow or smother it. She rubbed her nose on her knee and thought it over, feeling a crawling tingle all over her body.

Of course the Twister was alive... But it was more than alive. It was a true beast, a living thing, and not just metaphorically. She simply did not know how to put this in words for Magdalena, however. So instead, she let the silence linger a bit longer, a bit awkwardly.

When she finally did find something to say, it still didn't come out entirely thought out. She fumbled over her words, rambling, trying to fill the blank space of noise. "The Twister is the life of Monoceros. Like a great guardian. Wind... Mags, you know how I'm Fire?" She was botching this horribly, but there was no way to back out now. "Fire is alive. It grows, it burns, consumes, lives and breathes. The Wind gives its endless power to the Fire, to help it grow. But if the Fire grows to greedy, tries to eat the wind too quickly, the Wind will smother it." She found herself looking at the lidded golden eyes of the dog once more, tracing the shape of her diamond shaped ears along her profile.

"Um. I mean. You're absolutely right. The Twister is alive. It can protect and help us thrive, or destroy us. It'll make us grow stronger, I'm sure. I just hope it never leaves us... It seems trapped here, but I don't know if it always will be."

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