Arkrael was ultimately silent as she followed along behind Ghanyarah. Her ears were pushed forward with intent to catch every word that slid from his lips. Mud squelched through her toes just beneath the shallow waters and for a moment her thoughts drifted off; pondering on how soon said water would rise over her paws. It wasn't that she didn't like to be in water. It was just a little different when she couldn't see anything and it was already a place that has proven to be dangerous.

Arkrael peeled her maw apart the moment Ghanyarah's last words slid off his tongue. Though it was quick to pop shut once again as a small frown eased itself over her features. She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that bit. She had never felt as if Ghanyarah had ever done her wrong. Perhaps they could have both made more of an effort to see each other, but their lives had gone down two entirely different paths. Neither of them should feel bad about that, though.

They had kept their friendship in their hearts. Had they not, would either of them be so happy to see the other? At least, Arkrael knew she was extremely happy to see her little lizard again. At her own thoughts, a grin curled across her features once again. The idea that Ghanyarah had been no bigger than a toe on her paw was suddenly amusing. He had grown much bigger since then, but it seemed she still outgrew him significantly.

Shaking away her thoughts, Arkrael was quick to set her focus back upon the lizard before her. "It does seem that you have changed quite a bit. You're certainly not telling me not to follow you," There was a tease in her voice; laughter that was gentle and at ease as her eyes searched for his tree through the darkness.

"It's not like I made much effort to come see you, Yarah. You don't need to feel as if you took me for granted as I seem to have done the same to you. As I said...we have all made decisions in our life that we most likely should have made differently..." her voice hummed thoughtfully again. She certainly knew there was decisions she should have chose a different path on, but no matter how much she dwelled on it there would be no changing it regardless. It was done and over with and something she would personally have to come to terms with.

---

words:
tagged: @Ghanyarah
ooc:
muse:

"Talking"
Thinking looks like this...

For a quick moment, Ghanyarah didn’t understand what she was talking about. Not telling her not to follow him? When had he ever told her not to follow him? He thought of the few times they met - the last time he saw her was before they even discovered the watery tunnel leading to Fornax. Or… was it after that? Was it the war she waged against the deer? He was beginning to remember that too. There were other times they met. The first one… he’d been small, so small and vulnerable. He remembered being chased by the lynx.

He remembered being intimidated by Arkrael, who even then had been bigger than him. Yes, he recalled it now, how he defensively told her to not follow him as he fled back to his tree. The thought of it now made his lips curl with laughter.

But she had regrets of her own, admitting that she could have made a better effort to see him too. Not that he expected her to. He wasn’t sure he had ever really considered them friends until recently, when he found himself thinking back on all the Gembounds he hadn’t seen in a while, all the faces he would have wanted to call friends. The laughter ebbed away as he mulled it over. Maybe all of them had taken each other for granted, too young to realize what they could be missing in the future.

He said nothing more until they neared the tree. Ghanyarah couldn’t see much in the dark, but he knew that this was the place he was supposed to be. It’s broad emptiness and squelching mud remained familiar under his long, sharp toes. “I wish it wasn’t so dark,” he sighed, flicking his tail, “you’d be able to see better…” The reptile waddled over to the front of the tree, where he knew Netil’s chrysalis would lay in the embrace of the roots and Lituus’ and Odin’s shards sat within it. “Can you see at all?”

@Arkrael

His laughter rose in the dark and a grin tugged across Arkrael's features once more. A silence had washed over them on the rest of their trek through the mud towards the tree Ghanyarah had wanted to show her. If it weren't for Yara saying something Arkrael would have most likely tripped right over the grown lizard. A frown marred her features at the mention of the dark. It was confusing that the lights had not come back on and Arkrael had half the mind to go check on the generator at some point, but she just had so much other stuff she needed to do. Alas, if one were to ask what those things were she probably couldn't tell them. She just knew deep down in her that she had things that needed to be resolved.

Upon Yara's last question Arkrael searched the tree he spoke of. No. She definitely could not see a thing on the tree. Her chest rumbled lightly in thought as she glanced around trying to think of something, but as her gaze caught the slightest glint in the dark. Her gaze dropped down and her ears jumped into attention. Wrapped around her ankle was a gift. An opal gem tied into a bracelet that held a soft glow. A light that wasn't enough to light up the entire room, but perhaps just enough if she were to raise it to the bark.

"I'll try something," She finally responded as she sat down on her haunches and lifted her leg up that carried the gift Leon had given her so many cycles ago. Mud clung to it, nearly covering up the soft glow it always carried. First, she attempted to rub the gem against her fur, brushing the wet mud off and much to her joy the glow became all the more noticeable. Once she was content that most of the mud was wiped away from the gem she gently tugged at the vines that tethered the gem to her paw, loosening it just enough for her to pull it free of her paw.

With it firmly, and safely, gripped in her jowls Arkrael rose to her paws and stepped even closer to the tree, holding the glowing gem close to the bark. It wasn't a lot of light, but it made enough to where she could trace the bark with it, following the etches that carved out many faces within the tree.

A smile curved at her features as she went over the details a couple times, her front paws gently pressed into the tree to help her reach some of the ones higher in the bark. "It looks wonderful, Yarah," she hummed gently as she eased herself back down and took the time to return the bracelet back around her right ankle. It would get dirty again she knew, but it would only be a simple wash to clean the muck off of again. "How long did it take you to do?" Rae inquired as she turned her full attention back to Ghanyarah.

---

words:
tagged: @Ghanyarah
ooc:
muse:

"Talking"
Thinking looks like this...