[Quest] Relics of a Forgotten Age

Not so immersed this time, the faint outline of others intruding on the eerie image of a life below land; one moment a part of a shoal, joined as one and going somewhere together, the next her paws were spread on the ground, a metallic taste lingering in her mouth and unusual colours swimming in her vision before the darkness took over once more and the green was there. Always with the green, deep and penetrating and poisonous. Easier to distinguish between her and them here though, she wasn't there, only a bystander sitting behind the eyes of another, hands unable to reach the controls.

Oh where to start, where to start. She felt like a passenger in her own mind, the images muddled together and indistinguishable at points: was she a weird-fish heading somewhere, was she trapped in chains with the voice of another behind her, was she stood on the shores with a key in her hand and the fear of someone getting loose in her head, or was she none of those things? The chain. Yes the chain, so dark and broken and traitorous, that was first. "Not-me trapped by this, caught in the water, don't know who she was -" Didn't she? Was there not something said about her, was it about her? It could have been about anyone. "I think something spoke about her. 'Can't be allowed to escape. She's loyal to them' That's what they said!" But who's they? And loyal to what. The young cub was trying to stand as tall as she possibly could on her four paws, stretching her neck and trying to look as confident and leader-y as she felt.

She was on a precipice of uncertainty at the moment, how much did she tell them and how much did she keep to herself? She was eager to get it all out to get answers, but that didn't sound very smart, she still wanted to have more information than them. Oh, but she couldn't hold back.

"There was fish, these, these!" Pointing at the purple fish, that she still did not trust - perhaps not evil but they weren't nice either. They didn't help not-her, that's for sure. "They swam and swam and swam around me, no, I mean not-me. Don't like them, don't like them at all. Don't like them either Glaive-Cave." Shaking her head at the Spinosaurus, a little piece of advice. Then her head rose to look at everyone that had gathered in the cave again, from one to another to another as they all did their own thing. They reminded her of the things below the water. That image overlaid reality the more she looked at them, at one point she thought she might have seen one of their eyes flash green. Keep talking. Forget about that. Keep talking. "We'll start in Polaris." A repetition of what the strange aliens had said, not realising that there was an actual place in the cave, somewhere. Her mind was all over the place, how was she supposed to explain what she had seen to everyone when she could barely explain it to herself. "Key. It's a key. What's a key? What's a city too? Those something's wanted to lock away a city. I think they were crazy." She looked down at the stone then, with the carvings on it, those very same carvings that were on pillars in the water. The water? Was not-her in this very same water that surrounded them. Or was she in Polaris. Was she Polaris, was it her name? "In water. That's where black thing trapped not-me. And and that's where they threw the key. But was it the same water? And there was stone in the water, so much stone that went so high! Weird shapes on the stone, like on the key, and they were all around not-me. Everywhere. Just like the fish. And the green. So many green eyes. Not-me trapped in the middle of it. And and and -" Oh no, she didn't want to say it. She could still hear the voice repeating in her head, though unable to see the thing that said it. Would it come for her in the night? Was she safe? "And something spoke behind not-me. 'This one potent'." She didn't want to think about it, a shake of her head and closing her eyes tight, yet, that didn't help because in the darkness of her closed eyes the image reappeared like a memory. Her form caught in the chain, abandoned though not alone. "We must go to Polaris!" Whether that was a place or the thing she didn't care, but they had to go there. The cub didn't trust any of them though, however, she would be unable to carry both the chain and the key by herself - the fish could stay, she didn't like it - maybe if she kept her eyes on everyone it would be alright. They would listen to her, right? She was the one with the knowledge that beat them all therefore she was better. Yes, a nod of her own head in agreement with that thought. "My head hurts." So much energy was poured into trying to make her visions into words for the others to understand, the visions themselves had taken a toll on her, drawing on her energy so that she could see something that wasn't there.

Would they all come with her? She had tried to tell her story loudly so everyone could hear if they chose to. How would she keep an eye on everyone if they all came? Looking over to the edge of the water, where some others had gone also, she tried to imagine those weird things stood there and throwing the key but the image was too distorted, not clear enough. "Do you think not-me is down there?" Not asking anyone in particular but it did pain her to think that here she was surrounded by a bunch of strangers and she had the attention of some of them, and the not-her was surrounded by scary things. At least they had touched the same thing, Akaari's paw reaching out to press against the chain for a semblance of comfort, her heart reaching out to be with her, whoever she was.

"Know all that because I saw it, and heard it, by touching these things." An answer to a previous question, though she didn't exactly know how, just that sometimes she touched the things and then suddenly she was somewhere else. Was that the magic Archy had talked about? "It was so real."

Binh watched the world through half-lidded eyes, still perched upon Haven's shoulder. On the outside he seemed to be dozing off, but inside he was chuckling. Watching everyone stumble about drunkenly was oddly funny. One odd-looking creature was even eating sand. Though, of course, seeing some of them panic did put a damper to his mood. One of the other gemlets-- a small, fluffy white thing with blue eyes-- talked a lot, but was also oddly intriguing. She'd touch her nose against the various items strewn about the shore, and then start rambling about... odd things. Was she magic? All the cobra knew to do with magic was little things with water, but she was doing not-water. How strange. He tried to turn his crystallized head and peer at her closer, but alas, it'll be awhile before he regained the strength to move. For now all he could do was listen and wait.

Several more minutes passed of passive observation before a particular word struck out to him. Polaris? What was a Polaris? It seemed to be a place, judging by the other's reactions, and one the magic-fluffy deemed important. There was something else she said about a city, and fish, and water filled with spires-- caves, was that all in Polaris? It must be a very crowded place indeed! Regardless, magic-fluffy and many of the other gembounds seemed determined to go there, including Electrum. Binh was interested too (though he would miss the hot, humid atmosphere), but it wasn't like he had much of a choice to object-- the dragons were his only source of transportation.

"Pollaariss seeems niiiice," he hissed. "Ifff fluffy-maagic wantss to go, I doo too." Binh didn't bother clarifying who this "fluffy-magic" person was, simply returning back to his regular position between Haven's shoulder's without another word. All he could do was hope the aviator was interested too, and that he won't nearly fall off again when she went flying again.