Back in Polaris. Cancer was beginning to get a strong memory map of this place. Unlike the other caves, where he only passed through each one once or maybe twice, Polaris was at the heart of everything- except the creepier, dead tunnels to the West. With his map almost complete, Cancer had left the fern jungle and his friend Bevy to return home- now he returned to the Core. The rush of magical energy greeted him like his falls might, with a spray that covered him completely- but this one wasn't physical. It was energizing. He felt alive here.

As he rounded the last bend of the tunnel he'd taken, the cat cast out his magic- tentatively, as not to either disturb the golems mulling about below, or waste some poor soul with that strange and powerful spell he'd learned- the hard way. His horns and eyes began to glow red, and he cast out a wave of magic to get a feel for the place...

...and he pricked up those ears when the outline of two creatures were drawn out before him. Down by the stream. He glanced over and spotted a somewhat familiar shape- he'd seen, or maybe scented, the musky creature in his travels. Brown slick fur, tiny frame but big muscles behind those long jaws. He made a note to be wary of those jaws. On its back, a smaller shape- and as he looked closer, something about it stuck a chord in him. The cat approached quickly, and offered both gembounds a smile. Upon closer inspection, he noted why the tiny gembound struck him so- that tawny coloration, those blue eyes, reminded him of Makyna... but more than that, the little lady had the same horns. The cat stopped dead after three paces. It certainly didn't look like a cat, but who was he to decide what species a newborn would be? The crystals decided that, didn't they? That head turned in and sideways in a concerned, unsure expression.

There's no possible way... how would that even work? Wouldn't one of us know? His head raced, those gears pushing into overdrive behind intelligent, and very disturbed, eyes. I could swear she looks just like she could be... Then, without thinking after further on it, the cub stupidly blurted out,

"Hey, put her down! She's not yours!" His protective protest surprised even him, but that nagging feeling he had wouldn't leave him alone. All he knew was that this new cub thing resembled him, and his special lady friend. They'd cuddled and kissed and all that romantic jazz. Surely, that was enough to make... babies? He felt weird thinking about it, like something wasn't right there. Had he gone too far with Makyna? How do I even explain this to the rest? Then, with a look of nervous anticipation, he realized one more flaw to this. How do I explain it to Leon!?

Cancer's eyes went wide when the brown gembound suddenly charged at him. Again, that flood of emotionless energy surged through him, his horns and eyes began to glow red and he tilted his chin up and back in a defensive position as his magic was cast, his target; his attacker...

...but a moving target wasn't easy to grab, and the cat found himself instead leaping out of the way, his focus fizzling out and thus, the spell never cast. He sailed over the heads of both smaller animals and landed behind them. "Wait, stop!" Why was it running? Why had it attacked like that? The whelp on his back was too much like Makyna in color, like himself with those horns... he couldn't let the thing take her. That could be his offspring, or some weird clone from their magic dna or something. "She's my daughter!" He called out, despite not having even thought such a word before. It hung in the air like a heavy realization might. The implication was great. Could it even be possible, though? The cub didn't understand nor care how that stuff worked- as far as he was concerned, the little ball of fluff was his to take care of.

Cancer watched the thing run away, and for a moment, he didn't bother to chase after it. He hesitated because, in his head, those gears were in overdrive. Daughter. Daughter. Like, as in, child? As in, offspring? Like, he made that? No, that wasn't right. Was it? He didn't remember doing anything like that. Makyna had cuddled with him, but that was it. Could grooming and cuddling make a baby thing? That brown rat just took his baby thing! After a second, fury boiled in his throat. That was his cub. That rat would regret his actions.

Cancer moved to follow them, but to his surprise, the little tawny babe came trotting back over. He backed up a step, anger giving way to confusion. Then, at the comment, he snorted.

"He can try." Cat snapped his tail tip side to side in annoyance. "I'm a Leopard, not a mouse. That," He nodded towards Fisher. "is the most rodent thing here right now, besides your meal, kid." Then, with a sneer, he added just for the other male, "You didn't even hear me, did you, rat?" This time, he moved to stand between child and brown thing, eyes narrowed. "Those horns, the blue eyes? This is mine and my..." He paused a second to think of a good word. Friend? That didn't cut it. Good friend? No. Lover? Oh, no no. Not quite that. Yet.

"She's my cub. Mine and my sweet's." But why was she hatched and created here, in Polaris? Could it have been during the rumble with the golems? "We lost her in a fight with those things." He nodded towards the golems passively. They weren't a threat, as long as no one used magic near them. "I'm taking her home, to her mother. Thanks for finding her. Now go away." Cold, Can. Cold as ice.