Wilder had been hanging around the entrance to the new tunnel as of late, curiosity and dread rolling in her stomach at the thought of what was happening in there. Eventually, she'd braved herself to enter, just as the trail-goers were leaving and what she saw was....it was horrible. The desert, stretching as far as she could see, dark splotches in the sky, occasionally dropping down to something too distant to see. She had thought about sending in a copy of herself to observe the trial but she didn't dare test the barrier. So, instead, she'd taken to sitting in the shadows, waiting anxiously for their return, if they returned at all.

She wasn't really listening to Black and Pallas's conversation, besides the beginning where they spoke of what was going on. It wasn't unexpected that they couldn't see her - her black pelt pretty much blended perfectly into the shadows and the only visible indication otherwise - her gem - was faced away, her bright eyes closed.

She was excited to hear Black's voice and know that he was close, but it was perhaps her worry for what was going, and her guilt for not going to help them, that kept her where she was. Until she decided that she wanted to join their conversation. Her eyes blinked open and she stood, stepping out of the shadows, like a cat-shaped door to the void. "His name is the Masked Merchant," she responded to Pallas's question. "He likes to create dangerous tests and reward those that make it through. Don't trust him," she added, darkly. Perhaps when she was younger, she'd convinced herself that the horrors she had faced in the cave the Merchant had created for them was all worth it to receive her magic. But now that she was older, now that she'd actually thought about things, she realized that no. It was not worth it at all. She'd never unsee the things she'd seen, she'd never wipe her memory clean of the many times she'd been close to a horrible, terrifying death.

@Pallas

PALLAS
they say it started with a big bang

Pallas gave a nod and a shudder, his fur prickling across his pale skin. The caves held some odd things, but that... thing, was one of the creepier. The linsang unwittingly carried the same thoughts as his companion as he shuffled uncomfortably.

The marsupial made to comment on Black's words, turning his head back and opening his mouth. Instead, he practically jumped out of his skin as he met eyes with two bright pink irises, its owner practically melting out of the shadows. He stared with wide, black eyes as she spoke. Well, despite absolutely spooking him, she made sense. After a beat of looking over the feline, Pallas turned his neck towards the barrier again, rolling her words in his head. It took him a moment before responding.

"I don't think anything would be worth going through a test that dangerous," he huffed, pointing a claw to the desert with a shake of his head. "It looked like those... Newborns?" Pallas paused, curling a lip as he thought over the word. They didn't act like newborns, but they did just emerge from their chrysalises...

Of course, he'd manage to forget that hibernation was a thing. Forgive him, his brain was working overtime.

The linsang shook his head, continuing his thought. "They acted like they've gone through the tests before." His paws ran over one another, claws flexing. "I wonder if there's more, somewhere else, or if there's more in store."

He gave a beat of thought. "Or, really, why the.. Merchant?" He glanced to the feline for confirmation. "Why they're even doing the tests." It didn't seem like anything was in store for the creature, so why reward them? The motives were definitely questionable, to say the least. There really weren't any motives Pallas could point out, the longer he thought about it.

@Black @Wilder

Black turned sharply at the sound of Wilder's voice, swinging to peer behind at her--but he recognized her quickly, his pendulous ears pricking up and his tail thumping a few wags of greeting against the floor. The ears went back again and he licked his jowls a few times, shifting in place as if excited to see her.

"Wilder," he greeted, in a simple woof. His tail slowly stopped wagging as he focused on her words, attentively--and then on Pallas'.

"Not new--asleep; but the Dog does not know," Black responded, abruptly referring to himself (for whatever reason) in the third person.

"Why do they agree?" he went on, puzzled, turning back to face the door. "Death is an end." It made little sense, to him. Why willingly walk into the jaws of death, when one could... not do that?

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@Wilder

Wilder glanced at Black and perked up for a moment as well, her tail raising and her ears perking, a soft purr coming from her throat. "Hi, Black!" She wanted to run up and rub herself against his paws, greet him properly after so many cycles apart, but this was serious and it would be inappropriate and Wilder was so sick with worry that her temporary good spirit melted away quite quickly.

She tilted her head, wondering if she'd heard right. Newborns? She'd missed that part. As soon as they'd gone through the tunnel, she'd left, but then come right back. And by the time she'd arrived in the tunnel, they were all already gone. But why newborns? She had thought that the tests were to weed out the strong from the weak. Why throw in newborns destined to die quickly?

Perhaps they had been sleeping. Wilder knew enough that when someone was injured badly, or just when they wanted to, they'd sleep for some time. "They must have been sleeping for a very long time," she commented out loud. If no one in living memory even knew of this cave, how ancient were these...newborns?

Something wasn't right. Why suddenly open this cave? Why bring back old creatures to run through it? Why the Merchant and where did he come from? She remembered the vision she'd had, the many small, brief ones that she'd seen before she chose not to enter. "I think there's a reward, a really really great reward. I almost went in myself, but I looked to see what would happen. I saw a lot of death by creatures I'd never seen before and I saw myself with wings. Maybe they're all risking death for their own amazing rewards but..." she shuddered. "There were too many possibilities of death for me."

@Pallas

PALLAS
they say it started with a big bang

Pallas looked to the side at Black's response of the feline, judging how he should act off of the reaction. They must have been friends. Ears flicked back nervously as the two spoke their names. The linsang was a stranger to both, and before the moment passed, he spoke up with a simple "Pallas." His voice was quiet and paused as the two spoke.

Not asleep- right. The weren't new. Pallas hadn't seen any Gembound go into hibernation before. It made sense, though. The chrysalises were for a Gembound to build their body, perhaps it would help repair, as well. Still, the way they introduced themselves reminded him of gemlings. Would he say his name if he just came out of sleeping like them?

The linsang agreed, though. The rewards didn't seem worth the risk at all. Why would someone put their life on the line? To change themselves? Perhaps that had some allure to it, but with the oddities he'd seen around the caves, Pallas doubted that there wouldn't be some drawback to it.

Well, other than a drawback of death.

The talk of visions set a bad taste in Pallas's mouth, as if the gem near his throat poisoned at the thought. Magic... Pallas turned his head to Wilder. Black, round eyes looked over her, studying her. Did the Gembounds risk their lives for power? The creature proposing the rewards for the others didn't specify what the reward actually was.

Pallas stretched out his muscles in place before responding, turning his head once more to the barrier. "Maybe. With the risks, it's just not worth it. The place looks like a trap." His tail flicked from side to side. "I'm wondering how they're doing in there. Those new ones, perhaps they'd keep the others safe."

Or maybe they would die too. Pallas swallowed the thought as his paws tensed under him.

@Black

Black rumbled in brief thought at Pallas' words. The both of them were echoing his thoughts. There was no reason to have gone ahead--or a very poor one.

After a moment, he spoke. "I wish to see, when they come out," he said, pushing up. His tone was that of one who has come to an important decision, after carefully weighing his options. It held dark certainty. "But," he added, with a glance at the other two--"I do not wish to be seen."

No sooner were the words out of his jaws than the light vanished from all around him--around all three; it was as if, with a silent whoomph, a black cloak had enveloped the area. Black turned--he was audible, at least, and of course he still had scent--but the shadow moved with him. He controlled it--he moved it, he positioned it, so that after a moment, an area behind and between several boulders was perfectly shrouded in utter darkness. It almost seemed to be natural--but it was complete.

He lay within this space, and his voice came quietly out of it, eerily disembodied: "You may join me, if you wish."

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@Wilder

Wilder looked out into the desert. Pallas was definitely right - that place just looked wrong. She'd never seen vulture like that in the caves before and the Merchant himself...this was all very suspicious and Wilder didn't like one bit. But she'd promised Aure that she'd protect the Bonebound. Well, this was right next to Canis. If something happened, the Bonebound would feel its effects first. "I think you're right," she whispered. "Some people will do anything for power, though. Or for some other reward, I don't know." She frowned and deleted a bit. "I wish I could see how they're doing...but I don't know if I can, the spell only works for my own future."

As Black began retreating to the wall, Wilder followed, pausing before entering the void of black. She wondered if anyone would find it suspicious, with a big black shroud of darkness just. Sitting there. As she walked inside, she tried to conjure up an image of one of the nearby boulders, just a little smaller so that there was at least something to fill the gap with. It was not a wonderful reproduction and looked suspiciously like the boulder right next to it, but the way the light was shining from above, they probably wouldn't notice.

She walked inside of her illusion and glanced outwards. "Um....maybe I shouldn't? Does it look funny?" she called out to Pallas.

@Pallas

PALLAS
they say it started with a big bang

Pallas shuffled in place as Black stood, releasing his paws from their prison underneath him. His muscles tensed. He could agree; he'd like to see who, if anybody, actually came out of the desert. "Yeah-" He began as he looked to the canine. His sentence was cut short as Black just disappeared.

The linsang's fur stood on end as his eyes went wide. He was okay- he spoke, and a quick sniff of the air confirmed he was still there. It still put Pallas on edge as the shadow moved, disguising Black. Wilder followed not long after. Pallas was alone, visually, out in the open. He'd much rather be that way instead of in a cloud of magic, though.

As the second boulder materialized, Pallas's fur relaxed somewhat, extending his neck towards it and twitching his nose at it. "It looks.. Okay?" The way it just replicated the rock looked like a bad editing software or something, if he knew what an editing software was. "I don't think anybody's going to be worried over seeing people waiting outside, but they probably won't even notice you guys." An outstretched paw grabbed the rock he'd been messing with and grasped it between his claws. "I'm fine out here," he added quietly, holding back his distaste from magic bleeding into his words. "Let's just hope that lasts long enough for the folks to get back." If any came back at all.

@Black

Shuffling. Distant conversation: the sound of over a dozen voices where the tunnel met Hydra's mouth.

The barrier fell away. A flash of black energy--a few cries of pain--and then, silence.

The Merchant passed back along the tunnel, the massive beast Vargas lurking along behind him. The Masked Merchant paused, eyeing Pallas where he stood alone, visible, in the open tunnel. After a beat, observing him, he simply turned and continued on without a word. The masked gaze turned to stare directly at the shadows in the boulders, too--seeming to gaze directly at Wilder and Black where they lay perfectly hidden.

Behind him--at Hydra--lay a scattering of chrysalises: myriad colors, shapes, sizes. Would they be left until the next Trial, then..? Were they doomed to sleep for cycles near-unending? Or would they awaken, given a few weeks' time?

Unless addressed, the Merchant would simply depart, these questions left unanswered.

@Pallas @Wilder

Black lay silent in the shadows. When the Merchant seemed to stare right at him, he did not make a sound--perhaps it saw him, perhaps it did not. Vargas was more worrying, and Black immediately noted a potential threat, in this one.

If the Merchant were a bad being--and given the screams down the tunnels, this seemed likely--Vargas would likely be able to kill him easily.

It was the memory of the screams--immediate as they had been--that changed his mind, that drew him to his feet. Heavy paws carried him out of the darkness, and he turned to stare at the Merchant, and at Vargas, from behind.

"What has been done to them?" he asked. His tone was not demanding, or worried, even; it was matter-of-factly even. "-And why?"

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