ORIGIN - [Cetus Group Quest] - The Stolen Collar

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"The Divine is made of evil, don't go near it!" squawked Eve, flying off Dragon's head as he began wandering back to the Tree. She turned her head towards Usui as she hovered in the air.

She thought for a moment before speaking, "Eridanius is pretty green."

She tried to think of more leafy-places, but Eve still hadn't explored all the rooms or tunnels yet. She croaked and moved to flutter down onto Ghanyarah's head (carefully!) and gently nudge him with an inward sigh before lifting her head to stare after Dragon once more.

Usui lowered his head with looked at both the komodo dragon and Dragon with amusement. Brother? Were they then of the same sort? He flicked his tail as the alligator explained the scenario to the komodo dragon but did not indicate more. Both Dragon and Eve were off with his suggestions now, Dragon being eager to get to the Divine while Eve was screeching that it was made of evil. The cub chuffed and followed after the alligator. Anything was worth inspecting at this point, nothing was to be missed out. The crow looked to him and said, “Eridanus is pretty green” then, to which the cub chuckled and wasted no time in replying, "But not everything is made of bushes,” which was, his intention. It was highly unlikely that such a royal crown would be stashed high up in a tree. The spread out branches indicated that such a cape would be billowing in the wind and catching their attention now. Ferns, flora and fauna typically had holes here and there but bushes, or anything with a covering…that’s where he would have hidden his stash. Returning his gaze to Dragon, Usui continued to the Divine and waited to see how they’d check out the tree.

(I know I'm slow, so feel free to skip me xP)

As he arrived, he was greeted by a chirp from Eve. Ghanyarah was happy to see that she didn't harbor any resentment towards him for taking her to the death tree - at least, it didn't look like she did. The komodo dragon paused and parted his jaws, attempting to squeak back at her. What came out was more of a chortle, and Ghanyarah snapped his teeth shut again, snickering under his breath. His attention quickly shifted to the lion, who didn't do much in the way of greeting him, and then finally Dragon who seemed most excited to see the fellow reptile. Ghanyarah's reptilian lips drew back in a smile, but then faltered as the alligator began to explain what happened. So Aquarian had a fancy treasure, but it was stolen so now they were planning on getting it back so that they could make Aquarian happy again. Well, it made sense!

At Dragon's offer, Ghanyarah bobbed his head in a nod. "I'll help!" He offered and wriggled his tail excitedly behind him. There was some more discussion, this time about where to look - in the leafy bushes, in the trees, the divine. The evil tree. Ghanyarah still reserved judgment on the tree, knowing that the first time he had encountered it it was pretty good. It even let him draw on the bark. The second time around, though... maybe it just didn't like Eve and Dragon. Strange. Eve insisted it was evil as she took to the air. There was no time for Ghanyarah to input his opinion before they suggested a different place, Eridanus, which was also green. "I've never been there, to Eridanus." He said, turning around to join the rest of the group as they plunged into the foliage. "Are we going to the evil-art-death Divine tree? You can all see my drawings!" Ghanyarah added with mild excitement. "Eve already saw them." He commented, albeit a little insensitively.

table and code © chelsea of ORIGIN

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Dragon peered back at Usui and Ghanyarah as he trotted forward through the murky swamp, sending little sprays of stagnant brown water up with every clawed footstep.

"Well I know everything isn't made of bushes--death-art-tree? It's art? What's art? What's a drawing?" He looked forward again, dropping heavily into the black channel of water that led up to the Divine and starting to propel himself more swiftly with his powerful tail. He seemed more excited than perturbed, now, perhaps at the prospect of an adventure with the few that he might call "friend." Still, he was growing, and maturing, and wasn't quite as spunky as he might have been--and he also knew, now, that it was polite to say thank you. So he did.

"And thanks for helping. Eve I know you don't like the tree, and I don't either and Usui I bet you don't like water and Ghanyarah you sound like you don't even like Dad but I really don't want someone stealing stuff from Cetus, anyway. What if they start stealing from me? Or you? ...I don't have anything to steal, though," he added as an afterthought.

He babbled, then fell silent about halfway to the huge tree, thankfully giving the others time to speak before and as they arrived.

Once they were there, he hesitated near the tree, then started just peering up and around, examining the roots and the grasses by eye before starting to circle the great Divine--albeit at something of a distance.

"Eve if you can see anything from the air it'd be good but don't get too close. It probably will eat you."

How trees could possibly eat birds wasn't a thing he'd considered the mechanics of, but if the tree was evil, it could probably do anything evil that it wanted. Including eating his friends.

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Eve was quiet for a moment as she took to the air. Eve didn't want to go near the Tree. Eve would do anything other than go near the Divine. She'd even admit she would never be bigger than Krakarak. She was disgusted to even think about that. Eugh.

"If somebody stole the crown then it probably won't be here, y'know? They'll take it someplace else and hide it and be greedy with it and they're probably laughing at us," croaked the crow. She was careful as she approched the Divine, however, peering closely at the branches and twigs on it.

She was deathly silent the entire time. Perhaps she thought if she made no sound, the Divine would not attack her. She didn't stay long either, within a few moments she fluttered back down away from the Tree, landing on a root a good distance away from the others. She fluffed herself up with a huff and waited.

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And so, they reached the divine. There was a whole lot of chatter on the way which Usui politely nodded to, though he did not reply. Dragon had his way of conveying thanks which he appreciated well enough - there wasn't a need to prolong the conversation with continued niceness back and forth. They had to find the crown and cape, and that was their first and foremost goal. He stood now, tawny pelt flaked with muddy water, staring up at the Divine, waiting for Eve to make her circuit around. "Hence, I suggested the bushes..." he muttered in reply to her, his suggestion had completely fallen on deaf ears to those who were so intrigued by this tree which stood so large in the area he doubt any thief would have hidden anything there.

Ghanyarah couldn't help but chuckle when Dragon asked about art and drawing. As they walked through the twisting roots and the muddy substrate layered with thick, black water, Ghanyarah explained the hobby that he had discovered. Drawing pictures in the bark, even rudimentary, crude little scribbles, helped him get a better grasp on his identity. It helped him identify other things, too. Ghanyarah's brain wasn't too quick; in the absence of his acquaintances, it was difficult to remember that they truly were there, difficult to remember who he cared about. He had to draw them so that he could see them and remember.

After a moment, Dragon started talking again, thanking them all for coming. Ghanyarah's reptilian smile lingered, although it faltered slightly as the alligator suggested that maybe he didn't like Dad as much as Dragon. That wasn't true - well, maybe it was a little, but Ghanyarah really hadn't gotten the chance to see Dad as much as Dragon. All he knew was that Dad was a really big, scary looking reptile who had a penchant for... complaining... and being a little melodramatic. Still, he nodded and said his 'no problem's, just pleased to help Dragon and be useful.

Once they had arrived at the tree, Ghanyarah lingered a little bit behind the alligator. He watched as Eve climbed the air, looking over the tree for evidence of the lost collar, but she chattered on about how it probably wasn't there. The lizard didn't know if he agreed or not, but looking at the still grounded Usui and Dragon, he decided to investigate for himself. "Art tree isn't gonna eat you, you just need to be good." Ghanyarah rolled his eyes and scampered past Dragon, maneuvering along the massive roots with surprising agility. The few times he'd visited here, he had come to know the roots. The earthquake had told him the roots could be slippery and unpredictable, so while Ghanyarah exercised caution, he was confident enough to move quickly.

On the bark, his drawing was still there, scraped into the side of the tree. The lizard flicked his tongue, approaching it and tapping it with a claw as he looked back at Dragon. "Art." Then he lowered himself and began to walk around the side of the tree. It would take a while for him to circle it completely, but at least here, he could look between the roots into the murky water below and search for the telltale glimmer of the stolen collar.

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Dragon listened intently as he swam, taking in the definition of "art" and what it meant to his brother. And as much as he feared the Divine, he was loyal to his family, and he crept closer and ignored the fear running through him so that he could clamber up a bit to peer at the drawing.

He looked up at Eve, then, taking note as she seemed to find nothing, flapping this way and that to peer into the branches.

"Nothing?" he asked, disappointed.

A moment later Ghanyarah was scampering around the edge of the tree's roots, and Dragon blinked and had to scurry to catch up. He peered into the darkness beneath the tree, but saw nothing.

"Well... I guess it's not here, then. Where should we check next? I was sleeping in the ridges so I don't think it's there but it could be anywhere in any of this grass," he said doubtfully. "We could look through here first and then... Eridanus?" He glanced at Eve for confirmation. He thought he'd been there once; the water had wanted to eat him. In fact, it occurred to him that this might be important information, and so he shared it.

"The water there wanted to eat me."

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The little crow nodded, then paused. "How does water eat water-dragon?" she asked. It sounded like a strange detail - but she'd been there before. "Maybe if we avoid the water?"

She thought, for a moment, as Dragon found his grass-dilemma. Before long she shot up into the air, croaking and batting her wings as she began scanning as much of the area as she could. She occasionally landed to check long patches of grass, or flew into bushes to check in there, but every time she flew back into the air empty-handed. Empty-taloned?

Yet she continued, although she wasn't gone for long. She plummeted back onto Dragon's head to reclaim her place as hat, panting and wheezing briefly.

"Nothing."

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The tawny youth stood almost knee-deep in the mud and slosh, waiting patiently for his new acquaintances to decide on their course of action. He took slight interest in Ghanyarah's scribbles, but was soon more preoccupied with Dragon. Eve flew around but came back to the alligator with stale news. No one was sure what to do and it seemed to him that everyone was waiting upon the other to take action and find a lead. Looking at Dragon, the cub felt that it must be hard for him to face such a loss so perhaps, they'd do better splitting up. Usui's gem glowed a ghastly black as he focused on gem sense. He felt his magic sputter somewhat but Dragon's, Ghanyarah's and Eve's stone soon came into his mind's eye. He could see them faintly glowing in colour and so, was able to differentiate them from each other. His power didn't seem likely to last long this time around though. "I'll check the other side and be back," he stated, then turned with a swish of his tail to check out the bushes to the left. They had felt fishy to him - a nagging feeling tugged at him somehow, even if it weren't his collar and cape, perhaps he could find other treasures here?

The youth dug his head into the bushes and batted his paws about the flora and fauna as he strayed from the group to continue his search. He was sure there was something here, something which could not be seen from overhead. Something cleverly hidden.

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