ORIGIN

Steadily inhaling, Louie was on full alert for any sign of another life form as he traversed the cave line with precision. Only a week off three cycles, he was growing into his own and his adult mind had almost fully matured. Clucking his tongue, he gritted his teeth and moved slowly along the steep angled drop to the rapids below. Wind echoed in the many caverns and stalactites that made up the roof of their home. No, he hadn't spent much time pondering what lay beyond them as he had never seen the sky before, he didn't know any world other than this and so all his attention was on what was out of the norm here in Origin cave.

The Core.

Now with a mechanical beast that seemed to "power" the caverns, he felt the earth beneath his paws begin a gentle slope downwards the generator hummed away happily where it was nestled. Head raised, his eyes greedily took in the dark shadow and steady ripple of the surface tension of the water. No one yet quite understood what it meant, same with the carvings he had become so obsessed with. This thirst for knowledge and power over others drove him to study, to work and then to ultimately win at whatever game they were playing. His game was kill or be killed.

Not one to cause too much trouble, the virus he was harbouring deep within his gut was his prized possession at this point in time. All it would take was him to spit up a glob into this body of water and maybe then he could cause some real damage. But now wasn't the time to be murdering others. On the bank of the river, his paws were slightly submerged as he let out another steady breath, preparing to dip his head under the water so he could actually glimpse the whirring machine as its cogs moved in a circular motion.

The cub padded through Polaris carefully, pale green eyes seeking less to scan the environment than watch over Magdalena with great care. When there had been an obstacle in her path, he’d been quick to guide her with his voice and gentle nudges of his shoulder, coaxing the younger gembound to persevere through the journey. All the time, he recounted stories of when he’d done his drawings on pebbles, bringing her through a delightful journey of the senses other than sight – how the textures on the pebbles felt, how emotion was carved into each nook and cranny and not least, the thunderous chase with the raptors and how nasty those things sounded. Not forgetting Pisces where waterfall burst forth with roards and one could take a dip with Maji Walezi’s gracious invitation, of course. He’d hope he could provide her with excitement to her other senses and allow the girl’s spirits to be lifted up.

Soon, they approached Polaris, not too far away from the generator which Usui had never investigated before. He stopped now and turned to face the dainty gembound and spoke gently, ”We’re at Polaris, I believe Louie might be here. If not I'll lead you right to your home immediately.” Yes, he wouldn't keep her waiting here if the area proved void of Louie's presence.

Magdalena's journey with the lion cub had been delightful, to say the least. She enjoyed listening to the stories he regaled her with, trying to imagine all the things he spoke of, remembering things that felt similar to what he described, remembering emotions, and sensations, in awe of what kinds of things could happen beyond her sheltered life in Monoceros. All she knew was Louie and Nemesis and Diamondfang and stealing and their family, but they had never been bad things. No, none of that was bad - at least to Magdalena. It was all she knew. Then Usui came and told her everything, and she was beginning to wonder what other things she could experience outside of Monoceros, with other Gembounds she could meet. How many were there in the cave? Obviously a lot, based on the stories he told. Could she meet all of them? Would they be as kind to her as Usui had?

He was an incredible help, offering a shoulder to lean on and guiding her away as her paws threatened to take her into rocks or walls, keeping her unseeing eyes from hindering her as they often did. Her tail was wagging behind her as she walked, lips curled in a small smile. Without the stress of having to fix her eyes on Usui, she was free to let her blind gaze wander while her ears and nose tuned in to the sound of his voice and the environments through which they passed. It hadn't taken long, but they would reach Polaris, and she would be met with the rejuvenating rush of sudden energy, as if it had coalesced here all this time. For a few brief moments, Magdalena was silent, enjoying the feeling of this new room. She followed him, entirely trusting of his being, as he led them alongside a river where a distant machine churned.

Once the lion stopped, Magdalena too ceased her pace. Her head shifted, but she made no effort to try and point her nose at him. This room was called Polaris, and maybe Louie would be here. She'd very much like that if he was - all this traveling was exhausting her, and her chest hurt, and so did her lungs. "I will try to find him." She answered quietly. Her focus shifted to the swell of magic that felt as if burned through her entire body, reaching out, searching, hoping to find that ever familiar biological signature that betrayed the presence of her mentor.

Post-Roll Edit:
For a long moment, she was silent. Her head swiveled to and fro, her pale yellow eyes wandering sightless over the cave that yawned before them. Then, she felt it. That tug. A summoning. Suddenly, a mass, and it was familiar. Magdalena slowly pointed her nose, still swaying, until she stopped and isolated the direction from which the feeling came. "I feel... Him... Yes, that way." She murmured, pointing her nose towards the living machine in the breast of the river.

Confident he was alone, he relaxed his shoulders as he drew in his final breath before plunging his head beneath the surface. Stepping out further into the depths so that it lapped gently at his arched chest, he tried to focus his vision, blurred by the water, onto this mechanical enigma. Ears only just breaking the water's surface, he could hear no movement behind him but he was too focused on the generator to think anything of it.

How did it work? There was darkness and then there was light all because of this machine. Forced to take a breath, he flicked his head upwards sending a spray of water across his back. Immediately, he caught the faint murmurings of Usui and Magdalena, though they were too muffled for him to place a name to the chatter and he froze. Louie didn't know if it was ready just yet. But hell, poisoning the Core and possibly ruining that machine thingy seemed too good to pass up.

Hastily, he began to try and force all the concentrated nastiness from the pit of his stomach into the back of his throat. Though he removed it in order to focus his attention on sussing out whatever creature had appeared in this empty chamber with him. Poisoning the river would do no good if he was killed as he wouldn't be able to reap the benefits of trading off his own cure. Casting out his own magic...

...He was able to pick up the clustered signatures of Magdalena and Usui but once again, this did no good other than for him to realize that one of them was large, certainly larger than him and the fox felt a frown draw together his brows. Curling his lip, he barked into the darkness, "If you come any closer without announcing yourselves I'll poison the water." An empty threat for now, but he knew how precious this area was to some.