ORIGIN

Keep busy.

Delta had taken that to the extreme, taking several trips as far out as Orion (but no farther without Alpha, even still, there were still dragons out there in these damn caves) to get a good lay of the land. It practiced routes frequently, wishing it could find a secondary way from their Warren to Orion that didn't take it through Canis, but no luck yet.

The first obstacle would be avoiding being tailed into the Tunnel to Canis, and it decided that knowing the ins and outs of Orion would give them all the edge they needed. The collapsed half-ruins made for a perfect maze, even more sprawling than the simple bone fortresses in Canis. For today, it had taken to the cliff walls that towered over the ruins bellow, clutching its claws into stone and observing, making mental maps in its head that it would later explore.

The more time it spent here, exploring, the more easily the knowledge would come when it was needed. Plus, it made for productivity, which was what it was sure its Handler was looking for. (Thinking of Hemlocke as Handler rather than Stone-giver was a difficult adjustment at first, but a welcome one. The further it separated from its progenitors, the less it would foolishly compare itself to them.) Though, right now it likely seemed like it was idly sitting, its eyes searched, magic flaring in its throat.

Pupils growing, it was able to see even the smallest details and cracks in the shadows of the city, even in the darker pseudo-night of the caves. Nothing was spared, and satisfaction twitched at the end of its tail. There hadn't even been a single bat or rat to fight for its lovely little perch.

Garnet-Delta's ears tilted toward the sound of the approach before it glanced toward Hemlocke, pupils catching every inch of detail of its handler's fur haloing in the gentle glow of Orion's light. "Handler Hemlocke," it chirped in reverence and acknowledgement, lowering its head as Hemlocke squinted proudly at it.

It was time for a report. Ignoring the fluttering in its chest (it had nothing to be nervous for, bah!) it raised its head once more and closed its eyes. As it spoke, it tried to pick up on its Handler's wavelength, to know if it was going in the right direction. "I have been memorizing the territories outside of the warrens, mainly Canis and Orion. In order to best serve as a messenger, I need to get in and out without being tailed. There's a lot of narrow passageways and twisting paths made from the ruins here that I can use to lose anyone who might want to know where I'm going. The cracks obfuscate me from above, and short bursts of flight can keep me from leaving tracks in the dust, and even more importantly, keeping a mental map so I don't get lost..." Nothing. One white-tipped ear twitched, and Delta opened its eyes to peer downward at its predecessor.

"I have... also... been practicing my magic, honing my ability to detect others and avoid being detected," they added, keeping that part brief and short, as Hemlocke was already fairly aware of its magical prowess. "Lastly... I was hoping I could discover a different route from Orion to the warrens without going through Canis, but there's only the one tunnel. It's a good thing that we are on good terms with the Bonebound." Its tail flicked, watching its superior closely and searching for approval or disapproval. Always hunting for the next piece of itself to adjust and perfect.