Though the clacking of the deer's hooves against the rock had faded, the silence could not renew itself. The cave was once more filled with the sound of approach, this time childish paws. It seemed the air would buzz in anticipation of the wolf's arrival, and though the machine lay quiet and still, it hungered to unleash its secrets to whomever was prepared to receive them. It shuddered at the delicate touch of the arcane animal and delivered to it fleeting sensations, unfelt by the other three. Rushing water, raging around its turning blades; a constant and unbroken whirr spoke of the machine's desire to give life. It longed to once more feel the embrace of cold water. Then, just as quickly, the images disappeared and the air fell still.

You discover that this machine is powered by a water current, and that the dry riverbed used to host a rushing river. It's possible that turning the machine on will power the lights, but you need a water current first. It looks like you'll need to find a way to bring water back to the riverbed.

(Note: you may exit this thread and rejoin it later if it is necessary to have another thread in a different location)

we burn, burn and we say good night
(AND WE DO IT ALL AGAIN AND AROUND AND AROUND WE GO)
”I didn’t mean to, dum-head… Was tryin’ to make the… the thingy do somethin’. Dunno why. ’Swhat I was trying to find.”

Phoenix stared the fawn down as she fumbled to explain herself, eyes seemingly even darker in the hollows beneath her brows. Well, clearly Tamelyn had succeeded — in all the wrong ways. Petulant as Phoenix was, though, she couldn’t deny a growing measure of interest in the eloquently named Thingy, now that she was sobering from the sleepy, grumpy fog of her awakening. It was this grudging sympathy that allowed her to accept the other girl's excuses, although in her case, acceptance meant silence and a steady glare, unwilling both to protest and to admit defeat.

As Tamelyn turned her attention to the lone boy in the group, the hawk’s attention shifted thereto as well; she hadn't noticed his apparent pain before, but she presently looked on it in slight satisfaction. So the cub had burned himself, huh? It served him right for taking a swing at her. What a weenie, licking his paws and whimpering like that. Some firebear he made. Nevertheless, Phoenix contained her derision as he spoke, particularly when the conversation reapproached the subject of the Thingy. "Yea, what were you trying to do? I saw it from like a mile away!"

The firebird gave a low squawk of agreement (not with the mile thing, mind you, but with his question, which she had been first to pose). In response, the fawn repeated her intentions in a half-answer, then zeroed in on a circular structure in the distance and approached it. Phoenix considered the endeavor for a moment, eyeing the bear bemusedly; having made up her mind, she soared after Tamelyn and fumbled to a landing at the top of the circle-thing, totally unconcerned about her company's efforts to move it. The hawk peered over the edge to spectate. What were they trying to accomplish, even? The thing was huge.

Seeming to reach the same realization, the fawn called, "Hey! Go like dis and push down!" "How?" Phoenix shouted down at her in exasperation. "Too big! Not goin'na move." Then, of course, there was her unspoken inability to participate in the first place. She was strong, in a way, but she lacked the brute power necessary for the task; even at maturity, she'd never surpass a weight of three pounds, and her bipedal anatomy made it difficult to find a pushing position. Leon had a bit more potential, but even then, she doubted that their efforts would lead to anything, both out of common sense and a predisposition towards defying little-miss-leader Tamelyn's orders. Yet, the deer continued to try. Her (and presumably Leon's) efforts began to produce a whine of resistance, but Phoenix didn't budge from her perch. In spite of the noise, the circle wasn't moving.

Beneath the groaning of the Thingy, she almost didn't hear the clicking approach of another imminent stranger, but she was among the first to spot him — or, to be precise, the ethereal light that he emitted. "Look," she urged the other gembounds, jerking her beak repeatedly towards the glowing, towering stag behind them. Having alerted them, she addressed their new company directly in a sharp, shrill demand for his attention. "You! Who is you." Although the deer failed to provide an answer, he soon broke the silence and spoke, his voice far older than that of any among those present. "You are trying to engage the machine. You do not know how. This machine remembers how. Find its memories. I believe... there is someone that can help you... someone that can find them." And with that, he simply left.

For a second, Phoenix stood in silence, actually blinking in a rare lapse of her eyes' unyielding vigilance. Then, she stiffened and called out after the stag, again waving her wings in outrage. He couldn't just drop a bomb on them like that and disappear! He obviously knew something more; why couldn't he tell them? "WAIT! Who, how!! What do!" She looked wildly to Tamelyn and Leon, ready to ask if they should all go after him — only to see yet another gembound, a young, black dog-creature that blended with the shadows. The bird ruffled up in a display that gave her a distinctly flustered expression, a little overwhelmed by all the stimuli. Still, she wouldn't allow the influx of come-and-go strangers to faze her. She met the newest arrival's eye as it tilted its head at her, a bit weary after the three preceding it, yet inquisitive as to its intentions, just as it was to hers.

The wolf then went straight to business and pressed its nose to the structure under Phoenix's feet, seeming to have some kind of exchange with it. "'Tis thirsty! An offer of water for light." Ah! So this was the memory-seeker that the stag had spoken of. Such a strange contraption it was, this Thingy machine, thinking and thirsting like any living being; the firebird was yet untrusting of her companions, but she shared their interest, particularly now that she knew that they'd potentially illuminate the cavern. It'd be very helpful indeed if she could actually see where she was going. Besides, what else was she to do? There would be no rest here for quite some time, now that the cave's residents had congregated to tackle the mystery; she might as well join them and play a part in the mission.

"I fly, can look ahead, be scout," she volunteered. "Find water to make light. No more dark, be very good."

Leon hadn't lingered on the burning sensation of his paws for long. Sure, it stung, but he knew it would eventually go away and there was no point in dwelling on it now, especially when he had other things to worry about. Like the bird, or the little deer that had been the unfortunate recipient of all her smoke. He raised his head and looked back to Tamelyn, brows quirked to craft an almost pitiful expression. "Yeahh... I'm okay..." He answered after a while, glancing back at his sore paws. Then, he cast another quick glance at the bird. She obviously had noticed his little accident, but she failed to say anything. Given what he knew of her (based on what he'd seen in the last couple minutes) he half expected her to say something, and was thankful when she didn't.

The bear remained silent, turning his attention back to the fawn as she approached the machine again. She was certain that the machine did something, and while Leon had to guess that it probably did (it looked different from the rest of the cave, important, somehow) he had no idea what to do with it. Only when she decided to try and push it did Leon suddenly get up, enticed by the suggestion. Yeah... yeah! Maybe if they put some weight on it it would move...

With a keen nod, Leon moved up to join her, placing his paws on one of the paddles and trying with all his might to push it down. But it seemed there was just too much weight to the machine, too much dirt in the way - it wouldn't budge, save for releasing a long, metallic groan. Using up a good chunk of his energy, Leon huffed and slumped down on the ground again. "It won't move!" He complained, looking at Tamelyn as if expecting her to have the answer, or another idea. Only... it wasn't her that came up with the next response. Summoned by the grinding of the machine, a low tapping emanated from the distant darkness. It would soon mount to footsteps, clacking on the rock, until a stag had manifested from the shadows.

He looked exactly like Tamelyn, only older, and with antlers. He furrowed his brows and tilted his head, looking up at the stag. The creature appeared wise, solemn, gentle and slow, but Leon's patience was hardly at stake. He was far too intrigued by the beast, lingering on his every breath, every word, until he spoke secrets of the caves. Then, that was it. He left them. Leon said nothing, only turning his head and watching the stag leave them behind. Suddenly the hawk implored a desperate question upon them, and Leon scrambled up to his paws again. "I don't know! I don't know what to do!" He answered, semi-panicked, voice quiet for fear of alarming the stag that had just abandoned them - could he even hear them still? He didn't know.

As if some higher power sympathized for the poor, lost group of Gembounds, another being made itself known from the shadows. It seemed to emerge from the darkness, birthed of the blackness itself, scampering delighted around the machine. Leon couldn't even think of what to say. What was even happening? Did the stag make this happen? Did he just... tell the future? What was going on?! Sure enough, the wolf pressed its nose against the machine, reading its mind just as the stag predicted. Leon was dumbfounded. There was no way she could know, unless... it was magic too. He looked at Phoenix and nodded enthusiastically. "Okay!! Maybe if you find some water, we can find a way to bring it here!" He suggested, patting his paws on the ground with excitement.