Dragon huffed, and puffed, hauling his heavy, scarred body through the ferns of Eridanus. The right hind leg dragged limply over the moss, but he refused to slow down. Instead he pushed himself, gasping for air by the time he came in sight of the Eyes. He didn't want to appear weak in front of the other Children, his brethren--not for fear of them, but to inspire them, in some sense. And more than that, he did not want to be the slow straggler that everyone had to wait for.

At length he stopped, flopping down with a grunt into the tossed damp leaves, shifting himself a bit away from a particularly pointy rock beneath them. He gazed down at the distant twin pools, their silvery waters drawing the eye where they lay near the distant wall.

"Those," he rumbled quietly, "are the Eyes. I know little of them, bar that the last time I was here, I saw dark things in their depths, and the water grew choking and icy around me. Impossibly dark, too fast. There were words. The faces, I saw faces around me, in the dark--but the faces, the words, they were too... broken, to see, to understand. It was as if... hearing, but from beneath water, too far. Seeing, but through water--blurred. I fled. Aquarian claims that the Eyes will consume the minds of those it dislikes. Yet other say the 'eyes' that consume are something else entirely: silver eyes, a hundred, blinking in a void darkness. A sort of thing summoned by a furless cat. I do not know if there is any relation."

For a moment he paused, to catch his breath further, and then continued. "Yet I had swam in them before, played, even, without trouble. Ghanyarah, brother--it was your idea to come here, and I think a wise one. But do you have any idea how to proceed? We wish the water's secrets, yes... but no one go close. Do not let those Eyes see you--and do not let them catch you."

He turned to Ghanyarah--and to the others, quizzically. "If you have ideas, speak them." He had come all the way out here, but now that he could see the Eyes, he was uncertain how to proceed. Hopefully, his Children of Rot would come up with something.

The komodo kept close to Dragon as they walked, if lingering just a few steps behind to allow him to take the lead. He focused on the cadence of his steps, the rhythm of his movements and the subtle bobbing of his head, trying to keep as still as possible so that the journey wasn't made nauseating for the crow that had hitched a ride atop his crown. The moment they left Cetus, Ghanyarah found himself missing the humid swamp, detecting the change in substrate beneath his feet far too easily. The dryness of the stone, and then the dryness of the soil beneath him as they entered Eridanus. He wondered of the Eyes and their dangers, mentally preparing himself to defend his kin if needbe.

Once Dragon stopped, Ghanyarah cast his eyes out to the ponds of water ahead of them. The Eyes - yes, he remembered now! He thought he had come here once before, many, many cycles ago. Most likely when he had come to visit Gracie. Ah, Gracie... his heart trembled, just slightly. But he snapped himself back into focus, turning his head slightly to listen to Dragon.

So the threat wasn't an obvious one, but more subtle. Most likely, it would strike them if they gave it a chance to. If they made the foolish decision to enter the water. Or if they turned their attention away from it, took it for granted, made assumptions. He didn't know exactly how to approach the Eyes to examine them, especially since Dragon had suggested keeping their distance. His gaze honed in on the water, clouding with thought.

"Perhaps we should conduct a series of tests," the komodo suggested with clinical seriousness. "Such as introducing a range of plant and animal life to the waters, and gauging its effects. None of us, of course - but perhaps vegetation from nearby, or lesser gembounds. If we could catch a fish and keep it alive long enough to deposit it in the ponds, we could monitor its status."

Once the party had left Cetus to delve into Eridanus, Eve shut her eyes and began to focus properly on recovering. She did not move the entire time, just sitting on Ghanyarah's head as he moved along the tunnels, withdrawing magic into herself to mend the damage Aquarian had dealt to her.

Her eyes opened when she heard Dragon speaking, giving a soft croak to confirm to herself that she was still alive. For a time she only listened to Dragon, then to Ghanyarah, turning her head down to peer down at the reptile's forehead, before she spoke herself.

"Fish will die out of water," the crow squawked. "We could find something that could carry fish and water and carry a bunch of fish back-- a few in each Eye? I'm sure tunnel J would have something."

"We could look around and ask anyone who has a den or nest here if they've seen anything recently," she continued, her voice carrying a little louder after spending a short time focusing on recovery. "I think if we have an idea of how long it's been since they were last active or just generally fucky, we might start catching onto some sort of pattern."

Her eyes shut again, mind scanning through many possibilities of how to proceed. "I can watch them from the air?" She voiced aloud. "I'd be able to get a good look at them and from a distance." The crow thought some more, though she was quickly running out of what might be considered acceptable ideas. Instinctively, she attempted to lift her leg to itch at the back of her head, though she still found it fairly unresponsive.

Her attention turned briefly to the nearby walls, thinking. "Do you think they might be guarding something?" She eventually asked, her voice very quiet, in case the Eyes might overhear. "Fornax was hidden behind a wall-- what if there's another room behind that wall and the Eyes are watching over the entrance or something?"

Considering over her own words, Eve realised she might sound a little crazy. Instead, she gave a shrug of her wings and settled down further into Ghanyarah's head crest. "I don't know," she said. "Maybe they only reacted because the hairless cat did something to them."

It would be better to ask around first, perhaps.

In her three cycles, Hera had changed.

As a child, freshly hatched and looking up at the Great Stag Astraea, she had been ugly. Barely big enough to be a mouthful for most Gembounds, she had had tufts of white down, with pink skin showing through. Her eyes had been an egg-yolk yellow, dull and plain.

Now, however, she had grown. Her white down had shed, golden-brown feathers growing in its place. Her beak had gone from pale to a bright, healthy yellow, and her eyes had gone gold. From head to toe she stood nearly three feet, and her wings were seven feet in length. Truly, she had grown into her own.


And now she could fly.

She was still learning, of course. There were times she would mess up a landing, or misread a thermal, or forget how much larger she was now. In some of the Tunnels, she couldn't fly without her wings scraping the walls.

Eridanus was one of her favorites to fly in. She loved weaving through the trees, and made a game out of diving from as high up as she could. And that's what she was doing now.

There was a pleasant burn in her wings, the muscles aching from having to pull her out of a dive. The trees below her seemed to be racing passed, as she banked, nearing the Eyes. There were a group of Gembounds there, and she was curious as to what they were doing.

Wait... she knew one of them! That was Dragon! Without thinking, she folded her wings, going into a daring dive. At the last moment, she spread her wings, aiming to land on Dragon's head like she had as a child. "Dragon! What are you doing here! Can I help you any?" she asked cheerfully, glad to see her friend again.

@Dragon