maeve

May had to admit that it was a strange feeling to have something perched on her back. It was where predators tended to land for attack, she knew instinctively. And even though her fur-fluff-friend didn't seem big enough to be a predator, nor threatening enough, it gave her the heebie jeebies all the same. Torn between these emotions, her tiny silken tail works overtime, whisking back and forth across her haunches with energy.

At a loss as to what to do next, May cranes her braincase around to peek up at her companion, who was perched rather jauntily in the center of her back. One small black paw patted encouragingly on her neck and she nodded happily. "Go to?"

A crooked grin curls on her lips when she remembers that she's speaking to herself ... or something along those lines and decides to set off to explore, vastly more confident now that she's not alone.

@Ashtoreth

Maeve responded by asking where they should go, so the tiny little noodle reached up and looked around. It was hard to see anything interesting from her short (but comparatively tall, to be fair) perch... But there was one single thing that stood out to her.

In the distance was a tower, an outpost that overlooked Orion. With a toothy grin, she waved her paw towards the looming spire in the distance. Her tail wagged eagerly, the rest of her limbs clutching the horse for support. It seemed like a fun place to explore, if anything else.

And perhaps, just perhaps, something else drew her there. Whatever it was, it was lost to her-- a memory that didn't quite belong to herself.

@Maeve

maeve

Immediately her friend points off in the distance to the spire, the one she could barely see over the ruins. On her own she might have skipped the imposing structure, wary of it's size but she was no longer alone. She'd formed another, slightly unconventional but perfectly serviceable, herd of her own. Now with a direction in mind, the leggy filly began to jog trot in the general direction.

As they grew closer, May's pace slowed and she spent more time craning her neck upward to look upon the thing. Goodness. May almost couldn't believe that such a thing could even exist - it made her look puny and she was already so large compared to Ashtoreth and Eve. Conversationally she voices this remark, "big," but doesn't expect an answer.

Cautiously the golden filly began to circle the tower, worried that such a thing could only exist if it was a hoax or a trick of the light. Eventually she found the entrance and barely glimpsed the stairs hidden inside. Still not quite confident enough to go in without encouragement, she turns her attention back to the glittering exterior and mumbles under her breath, "pretty."

With a grin spreading across her muzzles, she reaches around to lip gently at the noodle's toes, trying to provoke more play.

@Ashtoreth

Ash seemed at home on the back of the pony, her body pressed close to the warmth of the fellow gembound as she trotted off into the distance. Her tail swished from side to side, keeping a steady balance with the help of her wings. It wasn't long before they reached the tower, overwhelmingly huge above them. It seemed unlikely that any creature she knew of could have made them, which meant that they must have... Grown? There? If such a thing was even possible. Like a plant. Could rocks really grow into such massive shapes-- and why were they hollow?

For the first time, the little noodle considered this, only to be interrupted by the filly's soft word and rather abruptly, a bit of lipping across her toes. With a squeal that came out more as a wheeze, the mustelid wiggled off of Maeve and fluttered down to the ground. Despite her sudden but intentional fall, the tiny gembound flashed a toothy grin at Maeve and pawed at one of her hooves before darting inside of the tower, unafraid of what might lurk in the darkness.

She paused only a few steps in to stand on her hind legs and flash a glance at the pony, ears twitching, before pressing onward, eager to see what was hiding inside of the tower. She didn't immediately climb the stairs, instead prowling around the first floor for whatever goodies she could find in the strange rock-tree.

@Maeve

A figure shifts in the shadows slathered across the peak of the tower. It is barely discernible from below, but it exists none the less. A play of light against the uneven rocky surface of the walls, a swath of darkness that moves gently from one side of the peak of the tower out of sight. Everything is still for just a moment, until the light flickers - no, it's being blocked - a broad extension of leathery wings flares out from the ceiling. Something stares at the two curious Gembounds from above, but what is it?

Seeing the shadow flash above, a fear gripped the child. A memory of a piercing blackness, full of things trying to pull her apart, fills her to the brim with terror. In an instant, Ash is turned from a joyful, playful noodle into a frightened creature.

And Ashtoreth darted out underneath the horse's hooves and ran back home, back to Kerberos, back to where she could feel safe. She did not stop, and she did not turn back. If she left Maeve alone to a monster, she felt no remorse. She couldn't comprehend such a thing.

She simply had to escape.

;; ash exit