ORIGIN - All those who wander are lost

Venus

so many ways to see the sunrise

Venus had been sleeping - sleeping next to their mother who had been in her chrysalis for some time now, but the crystal that had formed around the small lizard had turned their stomach - literally. After a while, Venus had actually gotten sick and, from what Amazon had told her, it was the crystal's fault. Radioactivity was a bitch, wasn't it?

They were a little impatient, now, that they were free. Amazon had told them that they could go around the caves, see things and meet people, but after the fear of Nemean's wrath, she'd done nothing but hide, and Venus had only followed. Which meant Venus had literally spent the first cycles of their life stuck in Orion. How boring.

They wanted to see. Learn. Grow strong and help. Be like the other members of the Seven, who used their magic and skills to serve and protect the creatures of the cave. They didn't have magic, though, at least nothing that they could use reliably like Pride, nor did they have a big strong body, like Nassir or Reign, that they could use to help physically...but they had to have other uses, right? Or maybe they didn't need to be useful. Yeah, they could just go and do whatever the hell they wanted.

Scoffing to themselves, they continued wandering Orion, heading towards an exit. They weren't sure which one it was, just one of the openings that led to other caves. Step one: leave home and figure out what the hell you're doing.

@Purity

Step two to Purity's plan was to emerge from the tunnel said Venus was walking towards. With the results of his hunt displayed proudly in front of the cave, he was certainly not going to stop there. No. The energy empowered him to move, to create and destroy further.

The smaller Gembound would have likely seen him first, but when he put his eyes on them, he stood up straighter. Ah- of course. Orion was rather lived in, wasn't it? He was here, particularly, for the fish- but this small being would do for some conversating.

"Hello." His call was a greeting as he drew himself up. Quiet paws carried him closer, head craned back like a bird surveying from a nest. "Who might you be?" Someone he should know? Some form of enemy? An empty puppet?

Time would tell soon enough. In the back of his mind, chaos reigned in cries of slashing steel, but in the forefront he simply put on a slightly-too-sincere expression of welcoming.

@Venus

Venus

so many ways to see the sunrise

Venus paused at the sight of the cat emerging from the tunnel in front of them. They hesitated - Amazon always said to be wary of strangers - and their head tilted as he approached. Friendly enough, they supposed, but they weren't exactly able to know much better. All they'd known were the Seven and none of them had particularly malevolent intentions.

So they let themselves relax a bit, still holding themselves confident, despite being a fraction of the cat's size. "'m Venus! From the Kingdom of the Seven! Who are you and, uh..." They looked past the cat for a moment. "Where did you come from? Another cave?" They couldn't help the creeping eagerness coming into their tone at the question. The prospect of knowing the other caves, of exploring them, had rubbed off from mother to child.

@Purity

Purity's head tilted the other way at their name. "Venus." He echoed it, letting it roll over his tongue, head drifting up as if in midst of a daydream. Venus, Venus- He hadn't heard of any Venus. Kingdom of the Seven, however, he recognized.

Ah, but they asked for his name, right? "I am Purity," he began, circling closer and moving to the side. Oh, how tiny they were- he had to bend down to truly look at them. A curious look played across his expression and his eyes widened. "I've just arrived from Canis." His tail flicked back to the tunnel. "Though, originally here."

He found himself sitting behind her, relative to the way she was headed, at least. "Well- no. Truth be told, I come from a different cave, entirely." An errant claw scratched idly as his cheek. "I've had the honor of finding something of importance. Perhaps you'd like to see?"

The crowds of shadows in his mind expanded ever so slightly in the excitement of recruiting more into their war against the light. He paid them no mind- he was, apparently, in one of his more talkative states. "It's amazing. I haven't seen anything like it in the caves-" His eyes grew distant, wistful with imaginings of what it held for the future. She was small, though... "Ah, you could take a ride on me? I'm sure you aren't heavy. Some extra minds to make sense of it would surely do some wonders- and I'm certain the others there would be interested in your thoughts on it, too."

His tone had grown silky the more he got into his speech (as he was wont to do) and he offered his paw, beans up to the sky, for them to hop on if desired. "I promise that it holds no danger if you do not endanger it. Simply a play of light- a concentration of magic, perhaps? I think a younger mind may help freshen up our views on it." He wasn't sure how young they were, but someone that tiny must not have that many cycles on them.

@Venus

Venus

so many ways to see the sunrise

The cat's name had Venus relaxing even further - gullible, perhaps, but Purity gave them a vibe of peace. Of, well, purity. They followed their movements with curious eyes, turning with them to keep them in their sights. "Canis? My mom said something about Canis, once. It's a room of bones, right?" That was a little off-putting, to be totally honest. Anyone that chose to live among the decayed remains of the deceased was...questionable, but Purity's continued speaking had them interesting.

They widened their eyes. "Oh, really? Something important?" They wondered if Amazon had ever seen it before. "What's the cave called? I'd love to see it." The glanced back, wondering what Amazon would say, or Pride, when Venus returned with news of this new cave, to tell them how amazing and important it was. They'd have made a discovery - it didn't matter if Purity had found it first, Venus would be the first of the Seven to lay eyes on this discovery!

The wistful gaze in Purity's eyes had them yearning. "Is it really so amazing? What is it?" If they hadn't been so eager to see this place, they perhaps would not have accepted a ride, but they didn't care - they just wanted to get there as soon as possible. "I would appreciate it, thank you."

They scoffed. "I'm not a kid, you know." But they stilled climbed gingerly into Purity's paw, dearly hoping that this wasn't a huge mistake. "Careful of the quills," they noted, curling their tail in so they didn't accidentally scratch purity with the scythe.

@Purity

Purity let out a purr of confirmation about Canis. "Indeed, it is- but I've found them quite harmless." The dead had no grip on him, after all, for he had nobody to mourn or worry of.

"There is no name for the cave, currently," he rumbled after a thought. "The Black Dog has simply been calling it a hole. I suppose you could call it an altar." That fit, did it not? It had the flat plane to speak from and the power exuded from it was damn near holy. When Venus accepted the ride, though, and climbed to his paw, he lifted them up to sit atop his head. "Would this be comfortable?" He'd have to be careful not to whip his head, but it'd be more stable than his back, he'd wager.

He tilted his head as they, mid-climb, spoke on their age. "My apologies," came the rumble. "I didn't mean to imply that young. Simply younger than others, perhaps." Though, with no true aging system, he wasn't aware that beings could look older than their adult stages. Was he sorely wrong on this? Well- hopefully they would take that as a compliment this time.

When they'd settled in, he began off, head tracking like a bird's to the best of his ability. "It has some form of magic I've never seen before." It was best to address their question on what it was. But, what was it? "It inverts colors- not like light magic might, but draws the palette from the world to the oil altar in the center. Light becomes shadow and shadow becomes light." He huffed out a faint laugh from his nose. "There is a Black Dog there- as many times as I ask his name, that's all he gives me- who instead appears stark white in its purity." In his innate ways, he stepped carefully through Orion to the tunnel.

A short warning was delivered to him and a brief alert in his head alarmed through him. "Ah. I hadn't even noticed. It's a good defensive strategy, I'd say." He couldn't see them now, but if he could, he'd study them closer, try to see what they truly looked like at an even closer angle.

But, for now, he was content on bussing them to the Hole.

@Venus