Chicken wing chicken wing hot dog and balogna

While normally quite sneaky, Assistant stood out like a black cat in a snowstorm within Ursa. This visibility wasn't the only reason Assistant wasn't a fan of Ursa, however. Their thin coat did little to prevent the icy cold winds from biting into their flesh. There was a reason they were here, however. Rumors of gigantic insectoid creatures capable of turning you to stone in an instant. Strange white fungi that mind-controls anyone who consumes it, and the hordes of gembound under it's control. All of this was incredibly interesting (and vaguely frightening) so of course they had to check it out.

And they wanted to see one of those rare 'ghost birds.'

"Do you see anything?" They'd ask Karyo, "Anything that seems out of place or weird?" To be fair, Assistant had never been to this cave before, so they didn't exactly know what counted as 'weird' within Ursa. Hopefully the same stuff that was weird everywhere else would be weird in Ursa, too.

karyo

Karyo was shivering right beside Assistant, pressed close to their friend for warmth. Neither of them were built for the cold here, so the faster they completed this particular investigation, the better. Karyo wasn't so optimistic as to hope for a lone glassy insect to simply waltz up and answer their questions, but they would hope instead for... general luck.

A snowflake touched their nose, and Karyo sneezed. "I don't--think so?" they replied to Assistant's question, ears twitching. Apart from the snow, cold, and ribbons of ethereal color dancing across the space above. "The... prismatic phenomena." They'd been learning new vocabulary from Researcher. "Above us... it reminds me of what the Three Kings were talking about, I think."*

"But I can use magic to look around for more," they added. The spell, if it didn't fail (as it was surprisingly prone to do), would allow them to see all the prokaryotic life that surrounded them in glimmering white. They doubted much could survive on the rock and snow, but there were always colonies to be found in and on each living creature.

Their magic did not cooperate this time, though. Karyo was already half-expecting the pain that lanced through their head, their vision first blacking out and then bursting into a white bright enough to give anyone a migraine. "It failed," they muttered through gritted teeth, staggering to the side. Surprise, surprise. Why did they even bother?

stars shining in an infinite indigo sky
can you hear them speak?

They didn't mind their friends closeness- they actually quite enjoyed the shared warmth, leaning closer with a slight purr. It did little to fight the chill of Ursa, but it was comforting, regardless.

At Karyo's words they looked up. "It can't be the sky, though. We're still in a cave. Maybe it's a... mini sky?" The idea of a 'sky' at all was hard to imagine. Part of Assistant wanted to go seek out the 'three kings' themself, but there was so much to do ~~and worry about~~, for example ~~Researcher~~ this mission. Maybe Assistant had been a little too confident on their weirdness-seeking abilities, however, because nothing stood out among the fields of white. No matter! They could just keep looking! It wasn't like there was a time limit- though they would like to get out of the cold as fast a possible.

Magic. Assistant had once dabbled in magic, but had mostly dropped it in favor of (supposedly) more reliable skills. This may or may not have been influenced by Researcher, who had never been too fond of practicing magic. Assistant wasn't even sure they ever SAW her ever do magic. But this was off topic- Karyo did magic, and hopefully it'd help!

Assistant jumped as Karyo appeared to recoil from something, yellow eyes wide with concern. "Are you okay? Should we rest for a bit?" They'd ask. Would they have to turn back already? Assistant cared about Karyo- more than they cared about weird insects or cool birds- but they still had gone all this way out in the cold. Would they even be able to find their way back? The winds were beginning to pick up...

Pushing those thoughts to the side, Assistant would nuzzle Karyo, helping them back to their feet if needed. Though, with how much shorter Assistant was comparatively, it probably didn't really help that much. But hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

"A mini sky," Karyo repeated thoughtfully. "Do you think maybe the person who built the caves saw the sky, and missed it, and built one here to match?" They tilted their head up at the shifting auroras. If it was only a copy of the sky, and there was really nothing Inside like the Outside, they couldn't imagine how beautiful the real sky must be. "Or!" they continued, tail wagging enthusiastically. "Maybe there's a way out hidden in this cave!" Karyo knew it was probably wishful thinking, but how could they hear about the existence of the Outside and then not look for ways to get out everywhere they went? Who wouldn't dream and long for a whole new world awaiting them, if only they could find it?

The backfiring spell had Karyo gritting their teeth with frustration, but they refused to be daunted for long. "Nah, I'm good," they reassured Assistant, closing their eyes for a moment. All the bright snow lying around really wasn't helping that headache. What was with this spell, anyway? They'd thought that observation spells were supposed to be one of the easier magics. Heck, they'd managed to kill off entire colonies of prokaryotes and then bring new ones to life again! What was this spell in comparison?

They refused to be a milquetoast of a Gembound, bowing to the random whims of their magic. If they were going to be a researcher and doctor--if they were hoping to be competent at anything at all--they had to get this under control. Concentrating so hard they held their breath, Karyo tugged insistently at the spell once more. It finally responded, albeit weakly: colonies of white flickering into their vision, including the ones that bloomed inside Assistant and Karyo themselves.

The hound turned to Assistant with a grin. "It worked this time! I can see in magic now!"

Karyo's magic did more to reinforce their sense of isolation than any sudden revelation of life within Ursa's frigid expanse. The few clusters of cellular life nearby were small, quite spread out in huddled little clusters beneath the snow. Ice mice, perhaps; or little birds insulated by feathers and by snow. Perhaps it would drive home just how inhospitable this cave was: very little thrived, here, compared to places like Eridanus where life was a veritable carpet across the cave floor.

Assistant's feline eyes might have spotted something a little more interesting: the exact creature they'd hoped to see. A Ghostbird glided high, high overhead--a pale glimpse against aurora-lit sky, very hard to see and yet Assistant would indeed see it. It flew, yes, like a ghost. A phantom, a pale flicker high above sailing in an almost unnaturally smooth, straight line; it had none of the fluttering and flapping of smaller birds, but rather the motionless glide of an albatross that cut neatly through the wind above.