ORIGIN - Dreams don't turn to dust

Pages: 1 2

Cancer. "Daddy…" she sniffed as she wandered to the Polaris, ears hanging low against her little skull, tail sweeping the floor. It had been hard for the girl to get over the loss of her fat leopard. She was certain that he’d appear and put everything back right again but it’d been a couple of moons and nothing had happened. Everything was silent and she could sense Maji Walezi changing. Someone had to step up and replace her daddy as leader. As much as it tore her heart, Quix knew that these events were inevitable. Moving silently and in an extremely downcast, hunched-over manner, the girl scurried to a rock near the crystal river at Polaris and curled herself into a tight, little ball beside it. She sniffed and felt the chills get through her fur for once. "Dad…” she cried out and started sniffing, tears falling down her face.

Polaris spread out around him, its many nooks and crannies making the relatively regular size of the room enormous to something as small as a young numbat. Booker traveled through these almost invisible passages, scouting the area as he was wont to do. After all, if he wanted to make Baratheon proud, he had to know things - teach him more! The gigantic dragon had seemed to adore the way Book had convinced his mushroom friends to appear, and so he searched, trying to uncover more of both Polaris' and his own magic's secrets.

As he wandered, gem an ever-present grounding zing of pain, Book noticed that the path of his tiny friends had ended - no, not ended, he thought, taking note, receded. Something must have come through the area, big or fast enough to scatter or scare them. From a tiny crack in Polaris' wall, he crept closer, sounds echoing from a few feet away. Muffled... sobs? Ears flicking back to pin on his skull, Booker scooted forward a bit, peering out from behind a small, jagged rock. There! Something light and fluffy against the cave floor, curled up into a ball. From the crystalline horns topping it's head, the numbat assumed it was another Gembound, and hopped forward, worried.

After all, if it was crying, maybe it was injured? Or maybe it's a trap, his prey-mind provided, and Book stopped, wavering. "H-hello? Are you alright?"

Quix shuffled her paws beneath her furry chest. Tiny head buried beneath ears and paws, she let her body shudder as sobs racked her body. It was the first time she’d broke down completely. The fennec fox was more overcome with shock and sadness when she’d first heard the news around Maji Walezi members and had been compliant after Makyna’s telekinesis pull after they hadn’t let her go get Cancer but now, after a few days passed, the crushing reality came flooding her mind and senses. The lack of Cancer’s gruff love and protection made the gembound feel empty. He was there since the day she hatched and it didn’t feel right anymore with her fat ride gone. Little black nose wet from moisture and sniffing, Quix squealed in frustration and buried herself further beneath her tail. Distraught, she didn’t notice any approaching creatures, and was surprised to hear a ”H-hello? Are you alright?” It was a young voice coming from a tiny creature even smaller than herself.

With a sniff, Quix reluctantly brought her head up and turned to look at the gembound which quivered several paces away from her. She noticed that it only had one eye, the other being dominated by clusters of its own gem. Even in her sad state, empathy gripped the tan girl and she brought her head closer to it and sniffed at its scent. Pale blue eyes focused on the others. "No no I’m okay," she managed and lifted the back of her right paw to roughly rub away the offending trails of tears that contradicted her words. She wagged her tail once, taking an interest in this little creature. She didn’t know what it was but her heart went out to it. "Don't...don't be scared (inserts sniff). What’s your name, little one?”

Booker jolted in place as the other Gembound seemed to wake from its agitated state, fur puffing up as it lifted its head to gaze at him. Predator, his mind supplied, and his eyes darted from the creature's snout, to it's whiskers, to it's enormous ears... to the tear tracks dampening it's - no, her face. He chittered in sympathy, nose wiggling when the other animal sniffed at him. Her nose has to be as big as my whole head, he wondered in awe. Why is everything in Polaris so big? Saving the query for another time, Booker tilted his head at her words, in stark contrast to her obvious distress. Still, he smiled at her, perking up at the thought of, perhaps, being able to help.

"I'm Booker!" His exclamation was matched by a proud grin, and he ambled closer, tail twitching. "And Book-ers don't get scared! We sneak, and hide. Like mushrooms!" The statement made him recall the times he had inadvertently called forth his mushroom friends from the walls of Polaris, and he wondered. Tilting his head to peer at the larger female, he frowned in thought. "If you're okay, why're you crying? Did'ja try to eat the white mushrooms? They're bad for you," he advised in what he surely thought was a sage whisper, nodding at his own wisdom. He'd taken to inspecting each of his fungal friends, and many had... adverse affects. Shivering at a few choice memories, the young numbat tapped his paws in place, still worried for the female. She was small - though not as small as him - and two small things in such a big place would make for a prime target... at least, to his anxiety-wracked mind.

The fox looked at the numbat with great curiosity as its little slender snout lifted into a smile. She tilted her head, considering him carefully, and decided that he was rather cute and that she would let him snuggle into his fur if he decided to. Ear quivered gently as the fellow introduced himself as Booker and started talking about mushrooms. She sniffed a little more and felt all better now that the topic was about things other than that fat leopard. "I..is there any mushroom that will make me feel better?” Quix was confused. Thinking back, she never ate any white mushrooms. She stuck to insects. "
Maybe…some of the white mushroom bits fell onto the bugs I ate” she offered, then her eyes widened as her expression becae onf of horror. She rounded her eyes onto Booker, worry etched onto her features. "Oh no Booker, what if I ate those things? Am I going to die?”

Booker tottered a bit closer, scratching at the eternally-irritated skin around his gem in thought. "I haven't found any 'shrooms that make you feel better... though some taste really good!" He jolted at her worry, flinching back and waving his paws around as he settled back on his haunches. "No, no, you'll be fine! They do make you dizzy, though... are you dizzy?" He frowned, hopping closer and, in his frazzled state, for once disregarded his many fears of being eaten in various horrifying ways, and peered into one of the fox's eyes quizzically. "When I tried one, the dark spot in my eye got really, really big, and then really small! But yours look normal," he added quickly, not wanting to worry her further.

Still, he wanted to be sure, and huffed, stepping back a bit to peer at her snout, lined, he was sure, with many sharp, bitey teeth. Gulping and twitching his whiskers, the numbat skittered back a bit. "Your mouth isn't doing the foamy thing I saw when a mouse ate one, so I think you're okay? Aside from the crying. Did you get anything in your eyes? A spore, maybe?" He thought of the many spores that had built up on his paws and coat after days of traveling along mushroom-lined paths, and waved his tail as an example, sending a tiny puff of the things across the stone floor. "If they get in your eyes they can sting a bit!"

Quix recoiled a little as Booker scratched at the gems protruding from his eye. She felt empathy welling from deep within. It must have been terribly painful for the poor creature who had to live with this pain. He was surprised by her outburst and brushed it away. “No, not dizzy. Just…pain, in my heart. See, my daddy is lost and I don’t know where he is.” She sighed and then realized that she hadn’t introduced herself. Immediately she stretched her paws upward and outward, should the little critter decide that he wanted to climb aboard her paws. “I’m Quix of Maji Walezi.” She smiled and swished her tail gently and stared with widened pools for eyes as Booker now proceeded to examine her muzzele. She giggled as he mentioned a spore and looked at him with a twinkle in her eye. “I was just sad, that’s all, no biggie” she reassured him and then wiped away the remaining, glistening tear trails by swiping her face across her shoulder. The fur ruffled up and she felt all better talking to the numbat now – or Bookers, as he had said he was.

“Bookers seem to know a lot about mushrooms,” she commented and flashed her little teeth in a grin, unaware that he was intimidated by those and bobbed her head quizzically at him, causing her large ears to flop rather comically. She wondered if Booker liked to snuggle in fur.

Booker frowned as the bigger Gembound revealed why she'd truly been in pain, and his whiskers twitched sympathetically. "That's terr-eee-bull," he offered, trying out one of the larger words he'd heard others use. "Bara's not my dad, but I'd be really sad, too, if he went missing!" He twitched when she offered her paws, tilting his head at the introduction. The tiny numbat stilled, uncertain, and after a few moments seemed to make up his mind, shrugging with a smile and crawling onto one of the outstretched pawpads. "I'm Booker, of... um... here?" He tilted his head, curious. "What's a Ma-jee Wall-ez-ee? Is it a place, like here?" He wondered at the thought of other places outside of Polaris, and hope he'd get to explore them someday - maybe Baratheon would let him ride on his head again?

Shaking his head back to the present, Booker smiled, happy that Quix seemed to be in less pain now that she'd started talking about it. At the mention of his fungal friends, he outright grinned. "Booker knows a ton about mush's, 'cause they're my friends! They look like little lights if you close your eyes," he confided in a whisper. He giggled at the bounce of her enormous ears, and twitched his own. "Mushrooms are like us! They're all the same, deep down, but they look a little different, and act a little different. Some of 'em taste really good, but some of 'em taste bad - and some of 'em you can't even eat!"

She felt glad that she’d met the company of a gentle, small creature who wouldn’t rebuke her for her emotional outburst but empathise and comfort her with a similar shared experience. Quix felt stronger knowing that she wasn’t in this alone even though it was a bad thing to lose a dear one. The fennec was happy when Booker decided to step onto her paws. She squealed as the furry, little nut brushed fur, thrilled that she got to be up close with this little gem of a critter. “Maji Walezi is…a place of waterfalls. Ledges. Ponds. Gushing water and the feel of fresh air, slightly chilly and tingly, across one’s fur. I have many friends there, “ she spoke, bright-eyed the moment she mentioned her home, “They care for me, take care of me. Large cat with claws, or little birds, all the same. We help each other,” and here she scrunched her face up and gave a grin once more to Booker. After a moment’s thought, she added, “They’d be glad to have your company.” Everyone was always happy when new gems decided to join this little family although…it was a rather shredded family now with ill-feelings hanging in the air.

But the little fellow had spoken about mushrooms as passionately and this captured the girl’s heart. Anything that was bright and cheery with lots of energy made her feel full of life. “Oh Oh! That’s like little itty bitties I see. Bacteria. They exist but only through magic can be seen like hmm..tiny tiny spores!” She looked eagerly to Booker and decided to prompt him further. “Can Quix try mushrooms?” She had never tasted one before for fear of poisoning but since Booker knew so much, perhaps she might have dessert safely today.

If the tiny numbat could have stars in his eyes at the description, he would - fresh water, not the murky stuff he'd hatched next to! Sweeter air, totally removed from the slightly stale, charged air of Polaris... a whole community of Gembounds, taking care of eachother. Booker clapped his paws together when Quix revealed that he might not be turned away from visiting, and his mind was full of dreams of what kind of mushrooms would grow with so much chilly water. Plus, if Maji Wazeli had ledges and such, Baratheon could practice his flying! "Your home sounds awesome," he whispered, ears twitching. "Have you lived there since you hatched? I've lived in Polaris since I hatched," he added with a proud grin. It had been daunting, at first, to live in place devoid of most cover, but his mushroom friends had quickly taught him how to hide, to sneak, to find the slightest crack in the cave walls and slip through to safety.

At the mentions of Quix having abilities similar to his own, Booker grinned, chittering in delight. "You see friends too! I've never met anyone who could see like me before," he exclaimed, whiskers twitching erratically. "Bac-tear-eee-ah? Maybe they're friends with the mushrooms, too!" At her question, he hummed in though, scratching at his snout idly. "Booker can show you some to eat," he offered finally, remembering a bunch of stacked, widely flared mushrooms he'd found while traveling beyond his hatching site. "Follow me!" With this, he scampered off of her paw, darting off towards a small crack in the wall - big to him, but probably a tight fit for a fennec fox.

Booker disappeared inside, and his voice rang out from, presumably, the other side of the wall. "There's a bunch of tasty ones through here!"

Pages: 1 2