boiled to the surface - Printable Version

Pallas never liked the tunnel before Fornax. It was slippery, cold, and freezing. Nothing like the rest of the terrain he experienced. Cetus? Sure, that was swampy, and all around hard to traverse, but the ice gave such a disadvantage. His claws ached by the time they approached Fornax.

"You know, I don't believe you mentioned a king in this kingdom." He spoke to Aquamarine as they traveled. He had to make this interesting somehow. He didn't really expect a response, though, as his tail swayed past the entrance of Fornax.

They'd made it. Now, Pallas turned to Aqua. "Now where are they?" His ears flicked forward to her and he waited for her to show the way. Lamia should be in here- somewhere. He'd call for her when they were closer to the others.

Lamia had arrived in Fornax already and was lurking in the waters near the entrance of the cave. It was shallow here but far cooler then the water at the other end, where the steam vents caused it to boil. She stayed just under the surface, hidden in a small crevice, every so often leaving to poke her head above the surface, to check if Pallas and Aquamarine had arrived yet.

Eventually, she peeked out at the right time - there they were, some distance away. She raised herself farther from the water before reaching forward and hauling herself onto shore, leaving her gills in the water, but tall enough so that they might see her from where she was. I am here, siblings, she spoke through the link and gently into the water.

She ignored the vision and greeted Aqua. "Hello Aqua, where have you been. And who have you brought with you?" The large sea predator turned to look at Pallas, a kind expression on her face. She did not know why they were here. She waited for Zelk and Orlaith to appear. Tethys also noticed a familiar face not too far away. It was that sea creature she had met when she was a pup. Tethys let out a friendly bark towards the creature. Though she did not know the creature's name was Lamia, nonetheless she was a kind friend.

Thank you, Pallas directed to both Lamia and Aqua, feeling the former's presence nearby. He shooed away the small talk about the semantics of it being a kingdom mentally. Now was not the time to give a response.

The linsang tracked Aquamarine's eyes to the sea, as well, giving a short nod to Lamia who'd made her appearance. Everyone was in place. Time to put on a game face. He took in a deep breath and forced out a smile, perking up his ears and trying to look as personable as he could be. Looks like he'd have to please a crowd- but, really, only one seemed mostly suited for the water? The others were. Well. Walking, and all.

Maybe them being the sea kingdom just meant they were aligned with the water, but not beings for it. Well, except their queen. That one made sense.

He waited for their questions of Aqua's well-being and such before clearing his throat, stepping forward before more could be given. "Greetings, all." Pallas bowed his head to them all, curling a front paw in and his tail around himself. "My name is Pallas." He stood, now, straight, his head in the air to look at all of them. "I have been told by Aquamarine that you're- well, not really pleased with some individuals of the caves around here." His voice was low and through his teeth, and he glanced around himself like he were divulging a secret. Well, with how Aqua told him in the first five sentences he'd heard from her? It wasn't really a secret, now, was it.

Still. Best to keep up theatrics. "My group has information that may prove useful against them. Against him. I know you're ones to hear them, no?" Especially with their knowledge of Astraea's past form. "I can't tell you it myself- it's forbidden for me to say anything about it. Don't know who you can trust, and all- and with my family, information is typically earned, rather than divulged so easily." Here, he was lying. He knew he was lying. But he made no movement against it, only sending out hard confidence in waves to the others and particularly to himself at this. "Besides, you never know who is watching. I hear these waters are deep."

He held his head high, again, conspiratorial episode over. "However. I can bring you to someone who can tell you. She is the lorekeeper of my family, and she and she alone is the exception to our code. She guards what you seek, and under oath to keep it from others we may pass our knowledge to you." That wasn't entirely wrong- Aqua had been given an oath in the form of a full indoctrination. "If you are interested, I may escort you to her in Cetus. We are tucked away- the Masters are not all too pleased with what we know of them." Ah, there it was. The mention of their enemies, the Masters, spoken with a hiss and a hard inflection. This should drive home the point of how he felt about them. "I feel as though we should form an alliance. With your location and skills, we can spread out in this operation against the Masters. Keep them from harming us further. The information we can provide may prove helpful in this."

'Do not tell them anything of the hive. I can handle this,' he pushed to the others, particularly Aquamarine. 'For all they know, I am a stranger, and a keeper of knowledge. You found me and I let you speak with my 'lorekeeper' under oath that you would not tell anyone.' This thinking took a brief pause that he disguised as waiting for an answer between the two remaining kingdom members. 'Do not indict yourselves if you can help it. Keep Mother's safety as a priority.'

As both the hive and the Sea Kingdom gathered around, Lamia glanced at each of them. Tethys, however, made her bulbous eyes widen farther. Oh! She knew that one! Was that Tethys? She hadn't learned the seal's name (or she'd forgotten - hard to tell) so she didn't connect the dots but seeing her now, she remembered. "TETHYS," she rasped. "GOOD SEE." And that was about all she seemed to be able to say for now.

She was silent as Pallas spoke to the others, lounging comfortably on the shore, fanned tail gently waving over the surface of the water behind her. She didn't indicate that she was speaking to Pallas, nor did she make any of her strange, otherwordly noises as she spoke through the connection. And me, brother? What do you wish for me to say?