Wow! This place sure was far away from Eridanus, wasn't it? Farrah's snowy home was great, but the rest of the cave could be great too, right? The short dog even smelled someone nearby! Naturally she followed the scent until she came upon the rodent. Farrah's tail immediately was sent wagging, "Oh, hi, hey, hello!" She cheered, "I'm Farrah, can I come closer? I mean you no harm! Do people say that? No- I really mean it though!" To reiterate the point, she flopped down on her back, tail wagging. If this creature had hands, perhaps it would come up and pet her!

Unfortunately, that would never come true. Animals could not pet other animals, right? They could cuddle. Farrah looked at the other again, expectedly. Then she saw the growing crystal. A gasp left her maw, "Is that going to be a new baby gembound? Is it... is it yours?!" she flopped from her back to her side, keeping her little doggy legs limp, "You made a precious baby gem thing?" She was in awe, truly. Her eyes opened wide as her looked from the gem to the rodent, nearly glittering as she waited for a response.

Farrah stayed on her side, her curl tail battering the ground. She listened to the other, her breaths coming in happy little pants as her tongue drooped out of her maw. Her left cheek was squished against the ground, causing little wrinkles on her face and her left eye to be half closed. She didn't care, though it probably looks pretty silly.

The other gembound said the baby was hers and hers alone, "Wow... I didn't know you could do that... But I also no nothing about children really." She used her lower legs to push her a bit closer before sniffed at the rodent, "What's your name? I forgot to ask. Oh! Did you name him yet? Or her... yeah I don't know how these things work... do they name themselves?" She stopped for a second to lick her nose and to let the other answer.

As the Rodent gave her name, Farrah beamed, her tail brushing the ground rapidly, "Carrie..." she repeated. She said the children would name themselves, which made sense. No one had given them their names... maybe? She had never heard of someone naming someone else, anyway.

Carrie turned now to face Farrah and said this place wasn't safe for her kind. Her kind? What kind was she? Farrah twisted to lay on her belly as she thought about her kind. She was fluffy... She had light magic... The small dog looked over the rodent quizzically, "What do you mean my kind? What do you mean it isn't safe?" Farrah's back legs slid her along the ground a little closer to Carrie as she lowered her voice, "Is your kind safe here? What kind of kind are we talking about?" Her maw closed, giving a nervous smile. How was she not safe here with Carrie?

Farrah listened, scooting closer, "Those who eat... flesh... not herbivores... hmm..." For a second, the dog's expression drew grim. She said the lord here would harm her, and warned her to be careful. Farrah stared at the ground. After what felt like a long moment, she drew closer to Carrie, this time, nervously, "If- if he harms those that eat flesh then... then isn't he the same? He wants to hurt those that eat flesh...?" Farrah's fiery eyes directed to Carrie now, "Why? Do- do you want to harm me too?"

Farrah stayed quiet for a while, her gaze breaking from Carrie's form. A moment passed, then Farrah looked up. A smile spread across her maw now, and her eyes glittered, though weather it was by magic or expression was unclear, "Well, that's okay! I mostly only eat bugs and I don't really think they have flesh anyway! Rats... scare me a little still, to be honest." Farrah looked away sheepishly before she brought her attention back to her rodent friend, "Besides-" she stared, flashing another smile, "I'm happy here right now, and as long as I'm happy, I'm not scared of anything anymore. As long as I can find warmth in my body, I'll be fine." Farrah shot a wink at Carrie, though she didn't mean anything by it except to prove her point of being fine. Her smile fell back to a normal resting state, "What will you do, Carrie?"

So soft, and gentle. One sad--one bright.

The black horse listened, ears pricked, form utterly motionless, from behind the boulder. He had been travelling, moving from Tunnel K onward from Canis. The white raven, he had plagued; he didn't know where she had gone, but he had been heading in the same direction, nonetheless.

Now, though, he heard not a cawing crow, but soft feminine voices. For a time he merely listened, absently curious. He didn't have to see them with his eyes, in any case: his magic could sense them, even through the stone, see their moving shapes filled with their wonderful, perfectly-balanced miasma of bacteria.

At length, he dared crane his thin head slightly around the stone.

The sad creature was brown, smaller than he. The more cheerful was one a slightly more reddish brown, and smaller still.

His empty, glowing eyes fixed on the sad one. He was interrupting--rude of him, perhaps--but he strode forward nonetheless, unhurried and idly focused. He stopped several long paces away, leaving a polite, safe distance between he and the others, and lowered and turned his head to sniff about, swishing his long tail. He was not a threat; that was his body language. He was here to greet; he had heard voices, and come to investigate.

Yet when his gaze slipped back to Carrie, it lingered.

He had heard them speak. He knew their names, at least. He had heard the capybara's ragged sigh, her depressed tone, and he stared at her as he spoke. His tone was soft--gentle, even--but his voice rasped hollowly.

"Carrie," he asked quietly, and for a moment, he let the silence fill. "Why are you sad."

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD