Wilder hadn't been to this part of Canis but she had no idea why she hadn't explored it before. A tunnel she had never, ever seen before was bored into the wall, leading somewhere that she didn't know. Aure had never mentioned this to her before! In fact, as far as she knew, nobody that she knew even knew of this tunnel's existance! That was exciting! So very exciting! But it was a little nerve-wracking as well, considering that she had no idea what was ahead. What was in that tunnel. It could eat her. She wouldn't like to be eaten.

But there was no point in standing here. If she didn't go into the tunnel, it would bounce around in her mind for days and days and she wouldn't be able to rest properly until she went and explored it. She huffed and stepped forward, walking right into the dark tunnel. As the darkness surrounded her, a few small wisps appeared around her, lighting the way ahead, and she stepped on through until she spotted something in the distance. Something besides the endless void. Two pillars and a staircase leading so far up she could not see.

She sped up her pace until she was sprinting, although, on her stubby little legs, her sprint was not very fast. She reached the base of the staircase in a few minutes and she skidded to a halt, looking up with wonder as she panted. "Wow," she meowed to herself. "That is really big! Really big and giant and big! Who lives here?" It was words spoken both to herself and into the darkness, as if the void could answer her questions.

"No one," a voice rumbled through the darkness, answering the small cat's question just as absently as she had asked it. A wave of lavender-pink lights pulsed under the head and neck scales of the large basilisk. In a seemingly endless loop of movement, its body curled and uncurled as its head rose to spy her from a distance. His four eyes peeled open to reveal a vivid gold and pink harmony. His body was still curled around the burning fiery-orange orb and it shimmered shyly across his scales.

@Wilder

Wilder hopped with surprise as a voice unexpectedly answered her question. She whipped around and tried to find the source of the voice. There was a light there, distant, in the darkness, and she knew that had to be it. She trotted towards the place where the great creature was curled and looked up at him, staring into his burning eyes.

She suddenly giggled. "Well then what are you doing here? If no one lives here then that means you don't either!" Her tail began to merrily wiggle behind her as she realized that she had just met a new friend! A very large friend! "Hi! I'm Wilder! What are you doing here, mister? And what's that?" She nodded towards the orb clutched in his coils. She couldn't really see it from where she was, but she could definitely see the light shining off his scales. He was very pretty and interesting and, after a second, she realized that she should say this to him. "You are pretty! Very pretty and big too!"

@Game Master CJ

It was loud for such a tiny thing. "I do not," he confirmed. What a joke to think he might choose to live here. His breath thundered through his nostrils accompanied by a deep guttural sound that wove through him every time he breathed; he had a home. It would never be here.

"Wilder," he repeated, indifferent to the knowledge of her name. "I am waiting. This was a passage, once; but it has been sealed. I am waiting so that we may open it," rumbled his deep voice. "Then I can go home." He curled tighter around the burning orb and did not answer her question. Instead, he was distracted—she had called him pretty. And big.

He had been bigger. It pained him to know he had shrunk. He did not say anything on the matter and instead relished in his own vain pride that he was pretty. "Skahan," hissed his name, revealing itself as more of a sound than a word. "I am Skahan." He was Skahan, the Pretty.

@Wilder

Wilder was confused. If he was here, just waiting here, then why didn't he live here? It was weird and she didn't understand but he didn't seem to want to talk about it anymore so she pushed it away.

She tilted her head, still burning with the desire to know what the orb was. "Oh! What are you waiting for? Are their other orbs or something? Or are you waiting for a key?" She smiled widely and her whiskers twitched. "I would like to see your home! And I bet you want to too!" Also, if Skahan was trying to get to a different part of the caves, that meant that there was somewhere else nobody had discovered yet, a new place, a new room!

"Hi Skahan, that's a cool name!" He seemed to perk up at her compliment and that made Wilder feel warm in her tummy. She liked making others happy.

@Game Master CJ

She was keen for a young creature. He was still basking in his pride when she continued to throw questions at him. Ugh. Even if he wanted to eat her, she would hardly be nutritious. "You can say I am waiting for a key," he answered dully. "My home is big and beautiful and in it resides another creature as big as I," he mentioned, but he had not seen her in a while and again felt the urge, the necessity to return there. There was a time he had been trapped within the tunnels there until he died, but she was his companion, and he missed her.

Skahan was a cool name, the tiny creature said. He grinned, his lips peeling back to reveal long, black fangs. "Yes," he agreed in a breathy, hissy sound.

@Wilder

Wilder's ears twitched. Was Skahan sad? She was complimenting him and he seemed content but the way he talked about his home and about his friend made her think that he was sad. She wanted to see his home too...so, of course, there was one thing she could do!

"Okay! I'll help you find the key! I want you to go home and I want to see your home too! I'm sure it's as beautiful as you!" And she meant the words, all of them. Why would Wilder lie? She smiled widly. "I'm sure you want to see you friend! I'll help! Where's the key? Where should I look?"

@Game Master CJ

He was a bit taken aback by her enthusiasm, but he could not help basking in her exclamations that he was beautiful and that his home must be beautiful too. "Yes," he agreed. "It is."

His scales lifted gently and folded back down in a wave-like motion, expending a burst of heat and faint light. If she truly was so eager to help, he would absolutely take advantage of that. "Seek the large ice bird in Pisces, he has one," Skahan said, uncurling himself in place to briefly reveal the fiery orb. "It will look like this, but is blue, I presume." He had not seen the keys, but if the vision the other creature had was accurate, then Tenzin would definitely have one. And if Raheerah's was orange, he could only imagine Tenzin's would be blue.

Quickly, he wrapped himself back up. A sigh-like hiss passed through his nostrils, escaping slightly from his lips. His body scraped and groaned as he curled and moved, lowering his head back down to the ground. He was a big lump now as he peered down to Wilder, flicking his tongue once to smell her. "I will be here," he added bluntly, as if expecting this to be her top priority and return to him within minutes. Of course, he did not expect Tenzin to hand anything over if it might be so important, but that was not his concern.

@Wilder

Seeing Skahan basking in her praise was actually quite encouraging to Wilder. It meant he was happy, that she was making him happy! That her compliments meant something to him! "Okay! In Pisces! An ice bird! I'll go find it for you!" Surely nothing about this could go wrong.

As he leaned down to smell her with an absolutely massive tongue, she flinched a bit, admittedly, but she was too excited to care. "I'll be back as soon as I can!" With that, she turned and bolted out of the cave, determined to find the ice bird and Skahan's key. She wanted him to go home!

*exit