Dragon watched (rather nobly, he thought, what with his puffed-up little crowhat) as the others searched, Usui and Ghanyarah combing through the grass. He sensed a buzz of magic here and there, and he wondered, briefly, if he should use his own.

Then he realized that he'd likely just burn the cape away, and quickly dismissed that idea.

He started to plow through the marsh grass, flattening it where he could, dipping his head down to below eye-level (enough to wet Eve's feet if she didn't move) to peer beneath the pooled water from time to time. He couldn't find anything either, though. As he continued his search, spreading out from the others but remaining in eye- and ear-shot, he responded to Ghanyarah--calling out so his voice could be heard.

"Well... There's two big pools of water there. Or not that big but deep? And they're really clear. I was swimming with another dragon--Baratheon, I think he's our brother too but he's fuzzy--and he got into a fight with Usui here and he left and when I went swimming, well... I thought after they left, maybe, that I could swim down and see if there was anything else for Dad. Only there was something watching me, in the water. I could feel it."

Dragon paused, in his searching, resting a moment and lifting and tilting his head in thought. "The water started to get dark really fast. I mean real dark, and way too soon. It was like swimming down into blackness, not like Dad's marsh but... like light can't go down there. And then the water got ice. I mean, ice cold. Really cold, like the tunnel and lke your magic," he added, referring to the tunnel that led from Cetus. "Then I started to see all these faces and flickering things in front of me and I couldn't actually SEE anything 'cause it was so dark and I got scared, and then there was this feeling that I had to leave now or it'd eat me so I left. 'Cause I don't want to get eaten."

With all of this logically and far-too-verbosely explained, the alligator seemed satisfied. He began to comb the reeds again, pushing snout-first through the long grass. Finally, he stopped, and sighed.

"Usui? If we go to the tunnel out, do you think you can sniff around and see if the smell from the rocks where the collar was is there? I mean, can you smell to see if whoever took it, left, do you think?"

Dragon turned, blinking curiously and rather hopefully at the lion. So far as he was aware, the mammal was the only one among them who could track a scent--well, maybe Ghanyarah could, but he hadn't sniffed the rocks Eve had brought down. Dragon himself had a great sense of smell but it was mostly for finding dead things, not tracking scents like a dog. He just wasn't very good at that.

There were a series of displeasured croaks coming from Dragon's hat as the water began to touch her talons - she lifted the right one, where one of her talons was a brilliant blue-white - to spare it from the marsh water. She thought quietly as her noble Gator-Steed frolicked forwards.

"Well, maybe we should avoid it?" suggested the crow. "Everything here is as much of a danger to us as it is to them. Besides, what use will thieves have to a shiny with a dumb scrappa' cloth on it?"

Eve tapped rapidly on Dragon's head with a nail, letting out a wheezy little sigh. She knew he was worried - and of course he would be, if you were on the verge of dissapointing your three-hundred foot long noodle-father, you would be too - but he was rambling now.

Or rather, he had been rambling for fifteen minutes.

She gave an inward sigh. She just wanted to find the damn crown and take a nap.

Dragon turned, and nodded, then glanced to his brother Ghanyarah before turning to crawl after the lion.

"A long journey...? But the tunnel entrance isn't far--... I wonder if the water stole it," he added thoughtfully. Could pools of water up and steal a collar? Could water creep through the tunnels? Maybe that's why it was ice.

His thoughts were doubtful, but he knew it was possible, and he assumed unlikely but truth be told he didn't know how unlikely. As Aquarian had suggested, Origin Cave held many secrets, and the alligator was hardly privy to them all. Or to any, really.

He slogged quietly along behind the lion, lost in his own thoughts, far more comfortable and at ease in the dark wet than the poor mammal probably was.

Eve remained on Dragon's head for a few moments, shaking rain off her feathers. She seemed to think over the alligator's words for a moment before she spoke, "I think Polaris water would rather steal it. You sorta took it outta there. Maybe we should check Polaris?"

The crow gave a sort of shrug before she shook herself dry once more and took off, off of Dragon's head. The bird gave a couple of shrieks as she dived into the caves, dipping up and down as her own wings struggled to keep her weight in the air.