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Being a lone passenger through Tunnel K was not an experience anyone liked to have. If Kerberos had to guess, it was likely the reason why Giggle-- big, tough, full of teeth Giggle-- never left Canis. It was the only exit, and the dark, dead grey path was always so still and silent and dead. It made the massive mutt's fur prickle every time he did it.

There was nothing ever in the tunnel. No stones to trip over, no cave rats to chase, not even fungi or crystal. Wind didn't blow through it-- it was like walking the passage between life and death. Kerberos? He took this path every day. He preferred to sleep inside of Canis, and hang out in Orion by the massive doorway during the day. He loved his job, though he wasn't sure why he did it... It was something that came naturally to him, like Cancer marking Orion's throne as his territory with his piss. Weirdo.

So Kerberos braved the damp hall of nothingness once more. This day, it seemed even quieter, even stiller, than usual. He found himself holding all three of his breaths as his tail laid out straight behind him like some kind of raptor tail instead of slithering behind him on the ground. His eyes tried to focus in the dark but he found it difficult-- as though the shadows were wrapping blinders around his face.

Red nose caught a scent, lips peeling back in a silent snarl-- he didn't dare make a noise-- as he jerked his head around to peer over his shoulder. Floppy and tall ears cast a worried look at the scarlet, cropped eared head, but then the noise began.

Kerberos fell dead still, stopping in his pawtracks. There was a noise, like a scrapping. His heart was pounding in his chest and he felt the urge to draw up his magic... But he was scared. What if that drew the monster-- or whatever it was-- closer? Golems could sense magic, so couldn't other things? Bigger things? Like the shadow beast and the centaur.

The massive white hound of hell stood out like a star in the dark tunnel, his white fur refracting any speck of light that filtered through the shadows. He was aware there was no place to hide: and he was frightened. It was not a good feeling. No, not a good feeling at all.

@Delphine

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... Something else was in the tunnel. He strained to listen for it, with all six of his ears. His pelt stood on end and he trembled, his teeth in his orange-tipped muzzle clattering together. Noises echoed around him, the tunnel making eerily haunting sounds it had never made before. He was frightened to the point of petrifaction, looking around but not moving a muscle.

And then, from the darkness, a small noise. All three heads jolted to look forward at the shadow before him, colliding together with a muted thwump. He whined and snarled at himself as the small shadow creature (which he could only see the green gem horns of in the shadows, she blended in so well) exclaimed that he had three heads. What, was he really the only one in the whole cave who did? Why did everyone make such a big--

As he lifted a paw and started to cast, to push her away, his gem took on its faint, pink-red glow and lit the area a bit better than her neon green horns lit her jet black body. He jolted, hopping back, as he saw that she was indeed something solid-- but her frame melted into his vision, a small, tiny shadow of a pony or something. It looked precisely like a cave deer. Yet, it had spoken. He stared, absolutely lost, at the horse before him.

"Hello?"

Switching gears rapidly on his magic, he tried to warm the cool cave. His paw continued to light the area dimly-- but only just enough to make out the form of the creature. What was she? She wasn't a threat to him, surely (though she reminded him of the Beast, and of the other Kerberos-- the one that was black and winged) and this left him confused, and more importantly, exhausted.

With a huff, the massive white beast plopped to the ground, tired of trembling and standing perfectly still.

"Kerberos," he told her simply, his snake-like tail swishing behind him. "Why did you scare me?"

@Delphine

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Kerberos had stopped and was currently practicing his listening skills. As well as watching, but watching wasn't as importing as speak-listen-learn. The filly pranced to the side and peered back at her tail, doing all sorts of silly things-- but gave her name, Delphine. It was a pretty name. A distant part of him felt a tingle of a memory-- Delphi. Center. Middle. Core. His thoughts grew distracted for a moment, but he refocused as she continued to speak.

As she told the dog that she was playing a game, he couldn't help but grin. A game? Who in their right mind came to this scary tunnel to play a game, alone, by themselves? Three pairs of teeth flashed brightly in the shadows, his tail thumping against the earth.

"Yeah sure!" He woofed, amusement filling his voice. It seemed that he too found the hilarity in the moment, and he wasn't afraid to show that he had embarrassed himself. "I won't eat you, promise," he offered, as though this most certainly was not a given. By all accounts, Delphine seemed quite eatable.

"Could you teach me the game? I have a friend," he commented lightly, sheared-earred licking at his paw as the others spoke, "and he loves games. We aren't the best at thinkin' em up though."

@Delphine

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Kerberos blinked, staring at the scar lit up by the pale, pinkish light. A dragon? He sniffed, the memory of a white noodle made of teeth flickering through his mind. "Baratheon?" He woofed, the word thick on his tongue. It had been forever, but that was the only dragon he knew. If he made a mark like that... Had the dragon grown as he had, into a huge beast?

Such a thought made him smirk. He wanted to fight the dragon, to prove he was strong enough to eat him now. If he had to pick a way to go, fighting for survival against the dragon, that was how he wanted to do it. It would be either him or Bara, when they met again. He was sure of it.

Kerberos dispatched the thoughts of the white noodle for a while to listen to the game. It seemed simple enough-- he fell still to listen to the echoing noises in the cave. Hm. He stood up as she finished, ears twitching, to listen to the sounds. He sniffed, and bowed two of his heads, reaching forward with his floppy-eared, orange nosed muzzle. "Does it hurt?" He asked softly, delicately trying to lick the scar on her shoulder as he took a cautious step towards her.

"Let me try," the middle head chuffed, snorting. His tail twitched with impatience and the dog retreated slightly, tail flopping on to the cold, hard ground. "Three," offered the far left head. "Two!"

And with that, Kerberos raised his middle head and made a loud, piercing howl through the tunnel, cutting it off half-way through. The sounds vibrated around them, echoing back in a deathly howl that took on new pitches and tones as it came slithering back through the shadows. His fur prickled on his scruff and he grinned, his tail starting to wag and thump loudly behind him.

"That was awesome!"

@Delphine

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The horse asked him if he knew Baratheon and he only blinked in response. It had been a long, long time. He knew Baratheon as he knew Eridanus: that is, as a color, and as a texture, and as a sound. Not who he had become, but he didn't put much more thought into it. If he was going around hurting gembounds, it was just a better reason to eat him.

As for the scars, he raised his heads to show off the small patches of scars on his neck. They were quite small, mostly formed when he was a baby, and the fur covered most of them. There was his tail, too, but he didn't feel like showing that scar off. He hardly knew it was their himself-- but drawing weakness to the sensitive scales of his back end was not something he was fond of.

He did bark and laugh when she tried to howl, however, his tail set off in a giant wag. "Good try!" He woofed, a grin crossing his lips. That was really something. Not a very good howl, but still. He wondered if Bones was feeling better, if he would be up to playing with them-- but Giggle probably wouldn't let them anywhere near his buddy. Little did he know that Delphine and Bones had got into exactly the same fight with Baratheon. Little did he know that Arkrael had been in that same fight. Little did he know, did he know that Baratheon was becoming QUITE the trouble maker.

Ah, fate would have much to do with the overgrown wrigglenoodle of a dragon and the monsterous sized puppy.

That aside, the puppy focused on showing her how to properly howl. "Lets try that again!" The fluffy dog stood and trotted right up close and personal to the comparatively tiny foal. With his tail wagging hard, he reached up his paw, gem glistening crimson and mustard under his toes, and touched her chest gently.

"Take a deep breath and throw your head back. Don't worry about the shape of your mouth, just focus on this, okay?" His middle head took a deep breath as he spoke, tilting his head back. "Now take that breath, and make an Awoooooo~ noise, and hold it as long as you can with that breath! Like a river! Flowing, running, racing, awwooooooooooo!" And with that, he was off howling again, tail thumping hard on the solid earth.

@Delphine