The faint scent of Orthoclase-Alpha might have lingered here--a place where it'd remained for some time a few cycles back. Bar that, or perhaps because of that, the little den remained quite empty.

The wind that swept down through the tunnel from Canis was particularly dry today, and the air from Hydra very hot, so that little storms tore clouds of red dust from the tunnel floor in pluming, blinding clouds.

For the most part, the tunnel seemed lifeless, empty of all but the taste of dust on the tongue and the churn of air before one's eyes. There was, however, something a little farther down the tunnel. It wasn't anything magnificent, but at first glance it might have been baffling purely due to its color: the same rich reddish hue of the tunnel itself. It was only about the height of a large dog, whatever it was, but it had four hooved legs, and then another two smaller, twisted legs jutting off its body in random directions. Upon closer inspection, it would prove to be a Woolly Deer--its stunted antlers turning this way and that as it tried and failed to find its way.

Its thick, woolly hide had become matted with the dust, and no wonder: these were normally creatures of Pisces and of Ursa, of snow and bitter cold and ice. How had one ended up so lost-? And what would happen to it now?

It might prove to be a rather pointless ally for one so magically able and inclined; or it might make for a very fine meal.

The link flickered and then solidified into place, and suddenly V-Labradorite-One would have two sets of sensations and emotions.

Sensations were simple enough to ignore, since they were similar to Labradorite's, if doubled--a hide whipped by wind and sand (if protected by heavy wool). Emotions were less simple: suddenly there was the perception of a prey beast strong in Labradorite's mind. It had picked up Labradorite's scent, and was puzzled, nervous--and now the deer seemed to peer at it along the new link. It was, Labradorite would find, a strangely adventurous sort of creature: perhaps this was how it had wound up so far from home. It was also a little... strange. It was looking for food, but it would eat anything it could find--with a preference for the blue berries that grew on the thorned bushes in warmer caves, and oddly, for carrion that it stumbled across, perhaps for the nutrients it could provide. While very lost, the deer was more wandering than terrified, searching for the things its natural home could not provide. Indeed, it was surprisingly unafraid, all told. The rest, Labradorite would need to get to know the deer to learn.

The Woolly Deer, upon closer inspection, had a diamond stone laced around its nostrils, forming the bulk of what should have been a velveteen nose.