When she went over to Nova, so full of joy to see her best friend again, another puppy came up, growling at her, asking her a question in a low voice, and she stopped short, her exultation fading. She'd never had anyone upset with her before, and she blinked. Why was he upset? Did she do something wrong?

And Nova was saying she found him when he woke up, just like Thistle did with Nova, and Thistle's mouth closed. She felt....strange. Off. She should be really happy for Nova, to have what she did with the pup, but instead of happy she felt...quiet.

So she smiled a smile she didn't really feel, and she said, "That's good, Nova, that's really good! I'm glad for you."

Nova was off having her own adventures while Thistle was off trying to find treasure for her two best friends to see, and Nova was off with her teacher and seeing different sights and she mentioned this place called Polaris? She should be happy, but she wasn't.

Well, regardless, she would support Nova, even if she was going farther and farther away. That's what friends did.

He had been strolling along, intending to return to Monoceros and visit Nemesis, when he heard voices ahead. One, he thought, was hers.

The black horse delicately crept along on his stalklike thin legs. Long, narrow head poked around the curve in the tunnel, lamplight eyes glowing as his ears pricked up.

"Nemesis?" he asked quietly as he came forward. He wondered if she'd even recognize him: he was far taller, more solid than he had been, even if he was still a hanging curtain of putrid dull coat over bones.

But there were others, there--the strange creature clinging to her, the black Cayenne doing-... something, to what looked like a statue. Myriad Gembound he had never even seen.

For a moment, it occurred to him that this might all be a trap. He lingered at the outskirts, watching for awhile, then decided that it seemed safe enough. In fact, something felt more alive about this tunnel--something different from what it had used to be. He touched on the bacteria that vibrated within his body, and called upon his magic, using his other sight to look at the tunnel, and the statue. Perhaps the place was filled with invisible life? Maybe that's why it felt so vibrant...?

The tall, skinny horse slowly made his way to Nemesis's side, snuffling gently at her in greeting. He then turned his attention to the strange statue ahead. He didn't remember this being there, but then, maybe he had simply missed it, in passing.

"I was coming to see you. What's going on?" he finally asked, quiet.

________________

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

Nemesis' ear twitched when she heard Diamondfang, her dark eyes searching the corridor, watching the miraid of gembounds gather. There were so many. Howl scamped up on to her face and asked a question to her, but she barely seemed to hear it. Instead, her head swept towards Khloros, a smile twitching on to her features. It had been a long time indeed...

"It's good to see you... I don't know what's going on, but this wasn't here before." She exhaled a warm huff of a breath, glad to have Fang's child attached to her hot face. He would be safe there, she would protect him. Her eyes caught a glance of Louie's offspring and another, different fox, and she merely gave them a quiet glance and a short murmur, "stay close, I'll keep you safe," before turning away. It would be quite the effort to protect them all--

Caves, there were like FIFTY babies here! Frustration bubbling up in her at the shuffling noises and constant talking, she let out a roar, "QUIET!" She snapped at the stranger children, standing along side her friend Khloros, Fang and the fox cubs. The rest of them were strangers, too close, too invasive. They did not belong to the Merrymen. She did not trust them for a moment.

Snorting with anger, the momma rhino stomped forward and tried to move the broken stone back towards the statue with brute force. She scooped up the stone with a thrust of her horn, chucking it back at the statue. Her massive tail swept slowly behind her as she raised her head once more to look around at the group.

"Alright, alright, listen up children. Whoever wants to help me figure out this statue, hush up unless you've got an idea. The rest of you shut up-- and any of you who don't want to help, get out before I make you get out."

Nemesis was not above threatening children, not now, not ever. It was too dangerous to be playing around here anyway.

"Speech" | 'Thoughts' |
Everything seemed to be going on hectically. All the gembounds were beginning to delve into the mystery of the statue and it wasn't long before a much larger gembound bellowed for all to be quiet. Her eyes narrowed at the creature, but she had to admit it had gotten awfully loud. Her focus had remained on Cayenne after her brief glance at the rhino and she watched as the lemur tried to cast her magic upon the statue. She rose to her paws and trailed closer, all the while ignoring the loud bellowing of the rhino as she continued to speak and threaten anyone who spoke and or didn't help. She was a rather cranky creature wasn't she.

Shaking her thoughts she peered up at the statue. It seemed several of the others thought it needed to be repaired, but her curiosity led her to ponder over something else. It was emitting raw power from it and it left Cure wondering what could be causing it to be putting of such a vibe. "Are you guys sure it even needs to be fixed?" She tossed the idea out thoughtfully.