Dragon was not a dragon.

He did not actually surge with heat and fire--or well, he did, but he was not furry, not feathered, not like the lion or the crow. He was not, in fact, at all warm-blooded.

And this tunnel was cold.

He hated coming through here--he'd done it a few times, but he still hated it. He glanced back to Ghanyarah, scowling with a mixture of irritation and sympathy--surely his brother was as chilled as he? Or did his ice magic dull him to it?

With a huffing, hissing growl, he scampered past Usui, his legs almost entirely off the ground--and smoking, even glowing slightly as he poured his hot magic into his limbs to keep himself warm.

"Cold, cold, cold, I hate the ice!" he complained absently. He paused briefly to flinch down against a hard gust of bitter, biting wind, then hissed again and started off in a full alligator gallop toward Eridanus.

"I found the collar in that place with the big blue crystal and the water. Polaris. Eve was there. We can check the grass-place--Eridanus--then go there?"

He gritted his teeth against the ice nipping at his hot clawed feet, and then slowed, pausing to rest, the warmth of his magic quickly melting a little pool of water around him. He gurgled irritably, looking around.

"...Not much place for it to hide, here," he added, then at length, started to nose around under the rocks and in the bits of icy water here and there. He'd spend a few minutes looking--maybe they'd get lucky--but somehow he doubted that the collar would be hidden here. There just wasn't that much place for it to hide.

"It's not a bad idea, " croaked the bird. She tapped her talons against the alligator's head. "Me 'n Dragon can check Polaris?"

Eve looked more like a fluff-ball than a bird at this point, feathers puffed up for the sake of keeping heat close to her body. Still, she felt fairly impatient. She definitely wasn't getting any warmer standing here in the middle of the tunnel.

The crow grumbled as she ruffled her feathers once more. "We should hurry."

Dragon looked between them, listening to each of their suggestions. Not that he was some mighty leader listening to his suboordinates, or anything--he was just a little alligator fresh out of ideas.

But theirs sounded good. They seemed to have scouted out the tunnel, between the four of them, pretty securely. Splitting up, though...

"It'll take more time for two to search a room and if we run into any trouble, we'll be almost alone. If you have trouble, come and find me. If we have trouble, Eve can come find you fast. I need to get off this ice," he hissed. "Usui after you check Eridanus can you smell the tunnels between there and Polaris? Maybe one will smell like the collar-taker?"

It was a long shot, but he was hopeful. "If we still don't find it by then I guess we can search both of the tunnels and look from there. If you all still want to," he added, more uncertainly. He wasn't sure how interested the others were in scouring the entire cave for something that they might not even decide to use, in the end. If they were tired, and cold, he could hardly blame them for wanting to stop.

But there wasn't time to worry about that, now. Instead, he just said--

"Okay--Polaris," and turned to gallop away, content to let the others decide whether to split up, follow him, or, in Eve's case, remain his hat.

There was a squeak followed by a sigh as the alligator began to charge off. The crow barely had time to squawk out behind her, "Meet us in Tunnel I!"

The dimly-lit orb followed the two into Cetus, always just a few inches above of Dragon to guide him through the tunnels. Though, as the two rocketed into Polaris, it left the lion and komodo dragon in an almost unsettling, cold darkness.

Oh well.