Shango flinched back, confused and bewildered, by the sudden assault of tiny paws. They missed his face as he did so, and he peered quizzically at Alf. Lips briefly peeled back, a feline hiss aiming at the kid, the instinctive reaction of his own feline blood.

Ghostlight eyes blinked.

"NOOO!" he yowled--a brief cry, more "naaoo" than "no." His tail lifted, lashing down, magicka sparking out invisibly--and with it came a roaring clap of thunder overhead, as if to punctuate and emphasize the hybrid's command. He pushed upright, staring down with consternation at the cub.

"NO CLAWS!" Shango snapped, staring down with lashing tail.

...He wasn't sure what else to do past that, though. His kids hadn't ever attacked him, before.

@Alrik

Shane Go did not react the way Ahlf wanted at all. The being hissed and then boomed -- literally boomed, with a blast of thunder to emphasize the physical and verbal command -- before rising and staring down at the kitten. Though no lightning had scathed the kitten, a shock ran through them and seemed to shake their core. Ahlf had encountered storms, and Shane Go's indifference, and even something like Shane Go's annoyance in the short time they'd been together. But all of those things, all at once, all honed in on Ahlf? The tension had risen too high, and the tiny dam was obliterated by a flood... of anger.

A young child, when feeling attacked or offended, might look to fight back. Most children are powerless to do so physically (such as Ahlf, in this case), so they used words. Arguments. Half-baked, wobbly, and amorphous arguments that targeted the nearest possible thing. In this moment, Ahlf grasped onto the hairs of hypocrisy in this situation. "MAGIC!" Ahlf screamed after Shane Go ordered for no claws. This sound had to be magic! It was the sound that Shane Go's big sparks made when it shattered the crystal. It was a horrifying sound, and it was so unbelievably on cue for Shane Go, it must've been Shane Go's doing. Not to mention, it was shiny, and it bit-- the shriek of it felt like an audible ear-chomp.

"NO MAGIC!" wailed Ahlf right back, lobbing this demand at Shane Go in an attempt to point out the hypocrisy of this situation more than anything else.

For a short space of time, Ahlf glared at Shane Go defiantly, not saying another word as they tried to parse fear from hurt and self-disappointment. Try as it might, even all of the giant blue crock couldn't distract Ahlf from such wild and powerful emotions; to make it worse, there was no easy way of expressing them.

Such a load on a child, with tiny paws and a still-forming mind, could not be tolerated forever. Not even for very long. Soon enough, Ahlf was exhausted, in a way they'd never been before. Their heart just felt utterly done, finished with the situation. They wanted to leave. They wanted Shane Go to leave. They wanted all of this, this entire interaction, whatever it was, to be over. Or maybe to have just never even happened. Who cared about magic? Who cared about shiny crocks? Who cared about things that hurt you and bit you when they weren't supposed to?

Ahlf didn't want any part of that anymore (or so they had swiftly decided in their rage). Thus, they curled up in a ball, facing away from Shane Go, and shouted "GO!" Then, simmering down just a tad, Ahlf said in a quieter tone, "Wanna go back..." They weren't really saying it to Shane Go. More to themself. It had taken so long to get here with a full-grown Shane Go doing all the walking... how were they ever gonna do it on their own two paws? Hm... would it really be a problem? Ahlf was tough-- actually, Ahlf didn't want to think about this right now.

Ahlf was convinced Shane Go would leave, which almost made them feel... even more bitter? But Shane Go had scared them twice, yelled at them-- but Shane Go had taken them to the big crock-- Ahlf also didn't want to think about this right now.

Ugh.

@Shango

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Shango was entirely unaware of the chaos unfolding in poor Alf's mind. All he knew was that the kitten was squalling at him after swatting at him, yelling, and he wasn't quite sure why it was yelling 'magic,' and 'not magic,' and eventually it laid down.

...Huh.

He did not have the emotional depth to cope with this. Anyway, the swatting seemed to be done, so with a mental shrug, Shango glanced around. Alf wanted to go back-? He hadn't been angry, per se, just confusedly disciplining so it didn't feel odd for him to slip back into idle adventure-companion mode. "Want to go back on my back? I can fly this time," he offered. It would be fast, yes? Exciting, adventurous for the cub. At least, he assumed so.

He wasn't sure why Alf was sulking, so, except maybe that they were frustrated from being unable to cast (he assumed that had something to do with it yelling 'magic,' but he wasn't sure).

A brief blast of magic sent a powerful gust of air skyward, and Shango rode this, scalefeathered wings spreading to catch its force. He swept up a bit, then left the air column after a few yards to glide back down, touching feet lightly to rock as he landed. "Fly?" he explained, head tilting.

@Alrik

Ahlf was very ready to sulk and be lonely, but Shane Go seemed... jarringly the opposite. It was kind of weird? Shane Go was definitely pretty weird. The sudden readiness to go, and the offer to fly even (flying looked like fun if what Shane Go just did counted as flying!), made Ahlf's demeanor change, too... Ahlf didn't really understand it.

Their simple kind of anger was reactionary, sparked by fear mainly, so as soon as the source of it was gone, they just kind of... didn't know what to do? It wasn't like Ahlf could separate this kind of anger from any other kind, or even reason with themself about emotions at all. Emotions were strange, they came and went and most didn't matter. They supposed they should mirror Shane Go now, so they uncurled and stood up.

Some fear was left looming (it was never quick to leave), and a bit of Ahlf's opinion on Shane Go became more negative. The odd temper added to Ahlf's list of "annoying things about Shane Go", list written more by emotions than articulated words or thoughts, and liable to gradual loss by the passing of time. But now, at least the storms were beginning to clear.

Ahlf nodded "yes" at Shane Go, not wanting to let too much of their excitement at the idea of air travel (traveling through the air!!) escape to their expression. They were still, for whatever reason, kind of angry! But most of that excitement was still probably obvious.

Because gosh darn it, who wouldn't want to fly?!

@Shango

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Shango's tail twitched, thoughtful, and he looked out toward the various tunnel exits. He focused on his magicka, bringing a warm wind rising from Polaris--gusting, sweeping out toward his chosen route.

Shango was the polar opposite, in some ways, of Alrik--despite being very, very similar in his childlike demeanor. But rather than judging by emotion, his came and went with his whims, feebly-tethered winds in his vague storm of consciousness. Most things were just "vaguely good," in his mind--he could take them or leave them, but nothing was really wrong with them. Take Seshat, for example. She was a leopard who lived here in Polaris--encased all but her head in her amethyst gemstone, relying on magic to survive. Shango had spent time telling her a story or two, showing her magic, giving her water and food. But he couldn't remember, if anyone had asked, exactly what he'd talked about or even how he'd felt, at the time. It was a vague memory of "Seshat was okayish" that lingered, and little more.

So--Alf was sort of okay. Orion was pretty okay, too, and they were going back there. It was with this casual indifference (when not prompted into confused indignance by swatting claws) that he'd been generally interacting with Alf and what he now reverted to.

The gusting wind was, in any case, now ready; and Shango lowered one scalefeathered wing, looking to his tiny charge.

"Wanna ride? Or I can carry you in my mouth." Either seemed fine by him, really.

@Alrik

Being a tiny creature often meant dealing with hefty emotions, almost or perhaps even exactly as gut-punching as any other more mature intelligent lifeform's, and not having a way to say it or think of it. It was all just feelings for the two creatures here, though Ahlf didn't understand that. It was pretty much guaranteed that within the foreseeable future, all of these feelings would go to bed, leaving only vestiges and trails of their existences in Ahlf's mind.

Except one.

That sensation of shame, like a pit in the stomach, or a cascade of murky water racing through the brain and down the face, often eliciting a flush in the cheeks. The mental bile that weighed down the head and caused it to hang low, that directed the eyes toward the feet, that sealed the lips tight so as not to invite more of that murky disappointment in.

Disappointment. That was the one that would stick, that Ahlf would try to clear from their own mind for a while. It was fine to stick-- good, even, for it might help Ahlf grow. It was unlikely that either of them already knew or would ever know this, but Shane Go might've actually helped, more than hurt or not have affected, in this instance.

A gust formed, and Shane Go offered a ride; in the mouth or on the back? Ahlf preferred the latter, so if Shane Go would allow, the little charge would climb up on the feathered feline "stallion", squeaking out a "Ride!" in response. Perhaps flight would help clear those clouds and distract from that murk in Ahlf's mind.

@Shango

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- exit if Shango does??? -

Shango was oblivious to all the wonderful (and, debatably, tragic) development going on behind the kitten's skull. You know, back in that brain bit that Shango often forgot existed. Instead he was idly thinking about the path back, and carefully balancing himself so that when Alf climbed on, he didn't drop 'em.

And he waited, patient, half-crouching for Alf to clamber on.

"Hold TIGHT," he instructed, and then waited a few beats, tensing down. The air still flowed out ahead, a strong stream of it, and Shango leapt into it with suddenly-spread wings, letting his own magical weather carry him smoothly up and into the tunnel. He tried to add a burst of wind for extra speed, but (probably for the best) it didn't come, and he wound up in a languid glide: flapping now and then, constantly balancing with little shifts in movement as he rode his wind back to Orion.

exit Shango too!
@Alrik