She'd aim for a second one only, then. No need to put anyone in danger, and she could always come back later. Sunny heard the hesitance in Carja's voice, and made a comforting humming sound. "Very precious things. Like you or me. When magic touches life-stones, Gembound are born," she said softly, not quite sure how she knew that but certain that she did. "I can be their Life-giver, when the time comes." Not that she was exactly sure how, but Sunny was certain that the right magic would come to her when she was ready. She was certainly too young and weak now, but one day. One day, she would be a mother -- to whoever happened to need her.

Sunny made an affirmative noise at Carja's assertion. "Whatever Carja-friend needs. These wings are yours; I am just borrowing." Not that flying wasn't fun. Regardless though, she let the hum reverberate through her again, stretching out her senses to another sense -- a magic-sense.

Sunny has found a pupil-level hunk of black spinel. It has miscellaneous inclusions of diopside interspersed throughout each generally satiny, geometric crystal.

Sunny caught the glittering of magic before the glittering of stone. "Down there!" she called, directing Carja to a fist-sized chunk of black spinel which could have easily been mistaken for a normal rock or a clump of dirt otherwise. "Black stone, see it?" She felt excitement rise in her as she dispatched Carja towards the little rock, finally settling when the dragon had got it in her claws. "I am thankful to Carja-friend! Could not have collected without her help."

The black stone caught the light in a rather attractive way. Sunny liked the other stone and its stronger magic quite a lot, but this one seemed to catch her attention. Perhaps she just liked the color black...? Or was this what she'd been looking for? No, she thought. It was satisfying to have stones, to know that she could raise them up someday, but this was not what instinct had been pulling her towards.

She'd find it, one day. For now, she had to find a safe place for these stones, and maybe soothe Carja if she was still feeling frightened.


@carja

Carja swooped down at the sound of Sunny's call, and caught the hunk of rock in her claws, picking it up and gently putting it in her hands, clutching them tightly to her chest. She rose into the air and shook her head out, snorting softly.

"... I wonder if I had a life-giver," she pondered, before landing on another rock, flicking her tail out and away from her.

"... Last time I was here," she said, "There was a fish, bigger than me, that my friend tried to defeat. They failed and it hurt them, really badly. A Redfang. I don't think we should keep near the water, but we should head back to the muddy place at least."

@Sunny

"You have magic in you," Sunny asserted. "Maybe Stone met Life in a special sort of way, or maybe it was like Tema-kin and Sunny-snail -- raw magic meets rock, thoughtless and random. You have Svartis; you have family. As do I. More than most can say." Most Gembound came into the world wholly alone, and would occasionally leave it in the same manner. She frowned as best a snail could at Carja's warning -- a big fish could hurt the stones, couldn't it? Oh-- and Carja, of course. Sunny didn't even actually think of herself.

Her tentacles twitched. "Away from water, then. No lives need losing today. We can go back, if Carja-friend is tired? Sunny to Eridanus and Carja-friend to the thunder?" She didn't want to upset Carja if she could avoid it. They were friends, she assumed, and Sunny knew that Carja felt weird about doing this with her. "Two little-stones is okay." She could come back another time.


@carja

Carja nodded and took flight again, holding the life-stones to her chest. They held children inside, after all, she couldn't hurt them.

"Sunny?" she asked, wings beating gently, "... We're friends, right?"

She'd had family before. A brother, a sister, an unclie, a dad, even a grandma. But not a friend. Not unless you counted Efflu, which was iffy on a good day since she didn't think friends tried to eat her. But then again, they were trying again, which was what mattered. Hm... she ought to go get them a fish sometime.

She made her way back to the muddy place and latched onto a tree, finding herself tired, "I've never carried this much before... this is good practice!"

@Sunny

Sunny felt confused. She lowered her head and prodded at Carja's head with her tentacles. It probably didn't feel like much, but it was still an effort at affection. "Of course we are friends." Didn't she call her Carja-friend? "You are very nice, helping me with the traveling. Will help Carja-friend, if you need a favor or three. I am little and cannot do much, but the Slime is persuasive. Biggers listen to me when I speak, even if they cannot understand me. Remembering Madhukar?"

The kinetic energy of the landing moved fluidly through her gooey body with a visible sort of wiggle. "Resting all that you need, Carja-friend. What do you think was in these stones? I wish I knew a way of knowing." The black one intrigued her especially. "The green one, in the squarish shape? It was knowing lots of magic. The blackish one has less strong magic, but still stronger than us. At least for now."


@carja

Carja hummed before looking down at the stones, "Hm... Maybe one's a dragon too!"

She giggled softly before glancing up at Sunny, "I think I want to go home now. I'll carry these back to you and think of my favor."

She held up the stones to her head so that Sunny could look, feel, and touch them.

"I'm glad they're strong," she cooed, "And we will be too, don't worry."

@Sunny

"Dragon? Very good to mix with snail. Hard scales and lots of moving-things." Dragons made an excellent design, and were pleasing to Sunny on several levels. Smooth, so no fur, and no strange chemicals or secretions on their skin, either. Easy to stick to! The scales provided a level of armor similar to her shell, but all over, which was nice but would have hampered her senses rather severely. The increased mobility was something she couldn't say was anything other than a plus, though. If Sunny's form had any failings, it was how slow she was.

Gleefully, she examined the stones with her tentacles, waving her eyes around as well. "Oh, very good! Very thanks, Carja-friend!" she said, and then settled down so that they could be firmly on their way.



/exit sunny

@carja

Spirits rejuvenated, Carja took to the skies again, wings flapping to get them above the treeline. She let out a triumphant roar and soared towards the exit of the tunnel, eager to get home and out of the creepy, muddy cave. She doubt that she would return without request.

On her way out, she found that her wings stretched further... hm.

"You're welcome, Sunny-friend!" she laughed, before disappearing into the tunnel.

Exit Carja.

@Sunny (for visibility)