Keeping up with the upkeep of her dens throughout the caves was hard, busy, but wondrous work. But it was necessary work. These underground tunnels were not just her homes, but escape routes should something happen. Speaking of, was there any current danger in the caves? How were gembounds supposed to know? It wasn't like they had a reporter to do something like that. Erzu needed to know the status of her home, she lived here after all. She simply lay near the underground den that was not too far away, wondering and wary of any potential danger in the caves.

On a branch a few yards over the anteater, a tiny sprite was lounging back, one leg crossed over another, a nail file in one hand. She was carefully tending the nails on the other, the miniscule rasp of the file the only sound coming from her.

An unnaturally bright beam of light was shining down, spotlighting her perfectly, and a front of palm-like leaf breezed up and down beside her.

She peered down. "Hey, kid," she offered. "Man, you are UGLY. Uuuuug-LEEH." She paused, nose crinkling up. "That's all right, though. It's always good to have someone ugly around to make me look better."

@Erzu

The aardvark got on her paws, and stood up to find the source of that sound. Erzu looked up, to see a pretty small feline looking fairy, looking down on her and insulting her. Her long ears perked up, obviously offended by the comment. "Hey, that's not nice! I'm not ugly, I think I look beautiful like any other creature here." In fact, the child decided to offer up some choice words to set the feline straight. "Even if you had someone really unpleasant looking next to you, you behave like that, and you'll be ugly on the inside. If you're ugly on the inside, that will make you ugly on the outside, and nobody will think you're beautiful or want to be around you. Be beautiful on the inside, to be seen as beautiful on the outside. It's wrong to call a kid ugly you know, especially when they didn't do anything to you." This feline ought to be ashamed. Erzu was a bit hurt by the insult, but she didn't let it show. Maybe the feline was self conscious about her small size, hence why she acts like that. "With a behavior like that, you don't look better."

@Game Master Dark

Nemean peered down, for a long moment, motionless, expressionless. And then, as if she'd just been told a good joke, she burst into shrill laughter. Hands slapped thighs. "BWAAHAHAHA! Beauty inside! That's a good one, kid. But none of us are beautiful on the inside. Have you ever SEEN your insides?!"

The sprite lifted into the air, floating in a glowing spray of sparkles. "I could show you, if you want!"

She grinned.

"Oooor, you could just admit that I am fabulous."

@Erzu

Erzu was really offended now. First this cat female called her ugly. Now she was laughing at what she said, and she hasn't even apologized. Adults were supposed to be kind to children, and everyone was supposed to be respectful to one another. A tear ran down her face. You know what, she was going to say something. The aardvark stomped over to the entrance of her den which was a few feet away, in case she needed to escape underground. Then, she spoke her mind. "I DON'T HAVE TO ADMIT ANYTHING BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT FABULOUS. YOU'RE JUST CRAZY SMALL, AND MAYBE YOU USE THAT TO COMPENSATE FOR YOUR ARROGANT BEHAVIOR AND PETITE BABY FAT LOOKS. I THINK I LOOK GREAT, AND BEING AN AARDVARK IS GREAT. ALL GEMBOUNDS ARE GREAT IN THEIR OWN RIGHT. WHO ARE YOU TO DECIDE WHO IS UGLY AND WHO IS PRETTY?! YOU BARELY COME UP TO A GIRAFFE'S KNEECAPS!" More tears fell from her face, but she stood strong. She would not allow this little cat to downgrade her. The aardvark knew she would outgrow her once she hit four cycles anyway. She got ready to run underground if she needed to.

@Game Master Dark

The little tear and the enraged words only made Nemean laugh harder. Oh, this was precious! She leaned back on her branch again, grinning as she filed a nail.

What to do..? Oh, she could kill this one if she wanted to. Maybe make its ugly, hairy body into one of those dangling body parts she'd seen drawn on walls, or something. But it would be so much more fun to break it.

"They're all great in their own right? Ha! Okay, kid, I'll tell you what." Nemean leaned down, grinning broadly at Erzu, and waved her nail file in the air. A bright light flared down from nothing, shining, glittering over the aardvark's hide. "Let's test who's right, and who's wrong. Go find the ugly, angry jerk hiding in those bone fortresses in Canis. You'll know her when you see her--she's as ugly as you are!--and talk to her for awhile. THEN come back and tell me how great she is in her own way." Nemean paused--was that enough description? Nah. She waved a hand again, and the beam of light coalesced, forming a shimmering image of what looked like a strange, centaur like being, with a bony body and a broad mouth. Another wave of her hand, and the light faded, flashing this way and that. "Time to put your money where your mouth is, kid! Put up or shut up, and I don't think you'll be real good at shutting up." Nemean cackled, and leaned back on her branch again.

The challenge was out there; hopefully the kid wouldn't keep pestering her. If she did, well--Nemean peeked over the branch. Skinned and dyed pink, she might make a cute purse.

@Erzu

Erzu would not make a bet with this sparkling small feline. But she was not going to let this tiny arrogant feline say whatever she wanted. She shuffled nervously, then spoke. "You know what, fine. Fine, I'll go and see if I can find this creature. I don't expect everyone to be nice, but bringing others down like a spoiled princess isn't right. You said Canis, right? I'll go. I'll talk to her. At least I'm not rude like you." The aardvark then decided to ask an important question before she left. "What is her name? Who is she? If I'm going to look for her I at least need to know that much."

@Game Master Dark

Nemean rolled her eyes, focusing again on her tiny, tiny hands. Spoiled princess. Hrmph! She peered down. "What, you're still here? I LITERALLY just showed her to you! Sheesh, you need a map drawn out, too? You'll manage, if you're not a complete idiot." The sprite paused.

Her head then extended over the branch, staring down at Erzu. "And while I'm at it, ya know what? Free lesson for you, just for you, kid. You don't decide what's right and wrong. You know who does? Whoever's got the power to do whatever the hell they want. You'd better remember that if you wanna last more than three days here." She snorted, and vanished again back onto her branch, out of sight.

@Erzu

Erzu decided to leave the tiny feline sprite alone. She took the lesson in mind. Were there actually creatures who controlled the caves? Is that what she meant. Erzu needed time to think, and to see if she should actually look for that female creature. She retreated to her underground tunnel, and decided to use her time to think. She did not want to get hurt. She didn't know how dangerous that female creature was, but, perhaps she should find her. She curled up in her underground tunnel, and drifted off to sleep.

-Exit Erzu