ORIGIN

There was an alligator scurrying over the dark, damp rock of Polaris.

He seemed to be focused on something in particular, set on a goal, a destination. His jaws were parted, conical teeth exposed, so that he could pant for breath as he hurried along. It wasn't normal, this--wasn't normal for an alligator to just trot along, at a fast travelling speed. He was meant to crawl, to walk or even to gallop, but this steady pace through the tunnels was exhausting.

Dragon made his way along the rock, careful not to approach the strange golem-creatures wandering near the sparking blue Spire. He kept to the shadows, careful, as he went, to keep his head relatively even. After all, he had a hat on, and the hat had to stay comfortable. Or at least, stable. He didn't want to knock her off.

The hat was a bird, a black crow, and Dragon seemed to take her presence on his head in stride--as if well familiar with them.

This strange pair slipped to the river's edge, and then Dragon--glancing warily around, at first--peered down into its rushing depths.

"Do you see anything?" he asked quietly. If she didn't, he'd have to go in, and leave her here. He was sure she could fend for herself, but--... He was still a bit reluctant. She was tiny, after all.

He hissed softly to himself, eyes searching the water, probing for the bottom. Had the collar somehow made its way back here...?

"You should slow down," the crow's voice was unusually low, perhaps she was afraid to catch the attention of the Golemns near by - though they didn't seem to notice as of yet.

She found herself quickly dismissing the orb of light once realising Dragon's intentions of shadow-stalking, and despite her aching eyes found herself wishing she hadn't as soon as the pair reached the water where the crown had been first discovered. She winced a little before she carefully she crept down Dragon's snout and peered over his nose to look into the water.

"I don't see anything," murmured the crow. "I can try summon another orb?"

Dragon nodded, slightly--bobbing Eve up and down on his snout--then snorted softly through flared black nostrils.

"Get down," he said, softly--not in a way meant to order her, just quietly matter-of-fact. "I'll go swim and look for it. Make light if you think it's safe," he added, and--with a glance back to her as she hopped down--"Maybe just put it in the water. Careful."

This last was more a soft growl, a warning, and then with a black swish of long, thick tail and a click of claws, the alligator had slipped down into the river.

It was cold--not as cold as the ice had been, but close.

When Eve carefully climbed down from Dragon's snout she silently stared out behind the alligator for a moment, very, very still and wide-eyed, but she was quick to turn around to face the water again.

She fluffed herself up and concentrated for a moment, talons quietly scraping off the ground below her as she attempted to focus herself onto her foot. It didn't take long for another orb of light to appear in front of the two, hovering a few inches above the water.

And as quickly as it appeared, the orb sunk below the surface out of sight. The crow kept an eye on the alligator slivering into the water before she attempted to keep an eye on him in the murky water, the orb following him to illuminate the riverbed, or shifting to try guide him somewhere near by just in case.

Dark armored flesh slipped past Eve again--swimming backwards, letting the current carry him but slowly. The light was definitely hers; it had closed in, hovering nearby in the darkness, illuminating the water to the point that he had to blink away the glare from time to time.

No, there was no collar here. No sign of glimmering gold, no gently-waving tattered crimson cloth, this time. He remembered Usui accidentally summoning gems the wrong way, and he wondered vaguely if something similar had happened to the collar.

Maybe someone had just called it by accident. Maybe the big blue sparking crystal had drawn it back to itself?

Dragon surfaced, long, broad reptilian head glinting black due to the wet, and peered over the shimmering water toward the Spire. His tail swept more powerfully, here, keeping him steady. They'd have to check around, before meeting the others in Tunnel I--look around the rest of this cave, maybe the dam he'd never really seen. But wherever the collar was, it sure wasn't in the water.

Dragon turned, arcing and sinking back down as he coursed back toward the shore, back toward where he'd left Eve.

The second Eve looked away, the orb vanished, perhaps leaving Dragon in darkness for a moment if he's unlucky. She stared at Tal'at for a moment, the first words leaving her beak being; "WHAT THE F--"

Seconds later, the crow was in the air, hovering near the wall away from the blind bat.

It wasn't her fault, really. How was she supposed to know what that was? How was she supposed to know it'd come up next to her and act like everything ever was normal? This wasn't supposed to happen. Oh dear, now what? She noticed the alligator starting to swim out the water and practically dived down to sit on his head again, silent.

Dragon slowed and then paused at the sound of voices, struggling to pull himself up the steep and slippery slope of the riverbank as quietly as he could. He realized as he hauled himself onto dry ground, though, that he'd probably already been seen--yes, definitely, what with Eve flitting over to the relatively safe haven of his head (making him flinch--hell, she was lucky he hadn't snapped at her out of reflex).

A stranger.

He was cautious, immediately wary and on alert, reluctant to simply start to babble as he had been for the last few hours. Instead he moved very slowly, reptilian eyes watching the bat with a distant aloofness that hadn't been there before. Webbed, clawed feet dragged him closer, but at an angle, half-sideways to the bat. Finally he paused, still a couple yards away, and peered at the bat. The bat, Tal'at. Tal'at, the bat. It rhymed.

Dragon blinked.

"Hello, Tal'at," he began slowly, friendly but cautious. "I am Dragon." He said this carefully, eyes locked on the little bat uncertainly. It was small but it approached without fear; did it have some vast power in it, to give it such confidence...? And the rock-for-a-face was, if he were honest with himself, just a little bit creepy.

But he remained polite enough, only wary, knowing that maybe the bat had been behind the collar's disappearance--or was friends with whoever had.

"Rains? ...Cetus. Home. Aquarian-dad lives there. He said we have to live a long time, to learn the cave's secrets. He will protect me, and whoever else helps feed him. Too big, nothing can kill him," Dragon added with certainty.

He paused. The bat seemed to be listening, and so after a moment, almost reluctant--as if speaking to fill the waiting gap of silence--he continued. "But someone stole from him. A collar-thing. Gold. A red soft-thing hanging from it. We can't find it. We're looking for it," he explained. If this thing could fly--and he was relatively sure it had--maybe it could be help...?

Hesitant, he gave it a shot. "If you help look for it... maybe come back with us. Help feed Aquarian, he will protect you, too? Maybe we can all feed him together," he added, his sly mind wondering if all of them together would be enough to keep Dad well-fed.

The crow was quiet, only shifting around uncomfortably on Dragon's head. She lifted her head to look around Polaris with a wheezy little sigh.

"Eve," croaked the crow once Dragon was finished. "We can check the rest of Polaris just in case."

She stared at the spire, silent once more. Her beak grind together ever so slightly as she watched it.