Crystal clear.

That was what the water was, even without Glaive's sight: clear as a diamond, clear as glass, and bitter, bitter cold.

A hundred silver fish, then, and a hundred more behind her, were all clearly visible: rushing, panicked, slapping across her legs, her forelimbs, her face, in a frantic attempt to escape... something. Her vast body in the way forced some even to leap over her, clearing the swift-flowing surface entirely and crashing back down in a splash.

They were streaming from upriver, fleeing: and more came every instant. Silverlings. Orion's Scales. Even a Redfang went streaking past, paying Glaive no attention whatsoever.

It would take a creature that could follow the fish-stream through the underwater passages: someone who did not need to breathe, someone who could navigate through the dark.

Or, perhaps, a different method of investigation was called for.

@Glaive (I will allow Glaive to post first, and then tag others with any discovery she'd like to announce)

It was beautiful beneath the surface - glittering crystals lined the bottom of the river (however distant it was, with her skimming the surface sail-out.) Glaive was glad holding her breath was instinctive, because she very well might've let it go in an awestruck sigh.

A hundred or more fish slapping into her? She sputtered, blew through all the air she had in her lungs, and shoved for the surface. Her nostrils bubbled with the last of the water she'd inadvertently taken in, and she kept swimming against the current. It was odd; fish usually broke around her, rather than slapping blindly into her, even with such a fast-moving river. Glaive knew she wouldn't make much progress trying to fight the water, though, so she started to cut parallel to the current. It'd carry her way further down, but at least she could get to the steep bank.

Her attempt to surge out of the water through a full-on jump was largely a failure: she smacked her lower jaw on the rock, stumpy arms scrabbling for a hold they couldn't get. Being a creature with most of her power concentrated in her jaw and tail, Glaive lacked the upper body strength to haul.

So, she was left to grapple for claw-holds while she offered up her findings: "up - uh, uh... up the river! Walk against the way it's flowing. Fish are -" (the whelp nearly slipped, here) "scared of something. Be careful - ack!" Glaive slipped underneath the surface and reappeared a few feet down the bank. "Don't worry about me!" She'd ride this out eventually, right?

... or maybe one of the big lugs here would be nice and give her a paw.

@Effluvium @Electrum @Haven @Sergei @Kaimana @Binh

"Hang on!!", Haven crowed, swooping down to grab Glaive's shoulders with her bird-like talons, before flapping her wings wildly, buffeting the air and ground with her frantic strokes, trying to pull Glaive onto the shore.

She strained and pulled, grunting before she managed to actually... get somewhere. Huh.

Haven tugged the fisher-dragon forward, managing to pull her body onto land, enough that she could get her legs under her, and let go, hovering and fluttering above her, fretting a bit.

"There are lots of fish? What are they afraid of?" she wondered, and fluttered over to the water, landing before inhaling, closing her gills and nostrils so she could dunk her face under.

She let out a shriek of sonar, waiting for it to bounce back, before yanking her head out, nearly getting a fish to the face. Too fast, she couldn't get anything.

"Ah... I can probably see- hear something if I could get under there for long enough," she said, "I can hold my breath for a while, I don't need a lot of air."

Her gills, unfortunately, weren't built for water. They were supposed to be able to intake massive amounts of thin cave air and filter it, but she didn't need a lot of oxygen to function either way.

Sergei started to automatically lumber forward, the urgency of Glaive's slipping and falling worrisome. Haven was faster, but he still offered out his spear as leverage, in case it was needed.

Then he stepped back, keeping a careful distance from the others, peering arouund himself and then upriver slowly. "Therre arre... otherr waterrs," he began; "Waterr in Forrnax. Waterr in Pisces. They all connect," he added, each word slow, laborious, each r heavily rolled. He looked to the others beneath heavy, furrowed brow, pushing his massive paws together as if to explain. "Waterrs all connected," he repeated, slowly. "Maybe fish run, from one cave to the other. -Swim," he corrected himself, frowning, "Not run."

Glaive already seemed to agree with her idea. Nice! Oh wait-- oh dear, the nugget was munching, uh oh! It seemed as though Glaive had it handled though. Alright! Kaimana giggled at Glaive's rather dramatic movements. Every thought this fisher dragon had was practically on display, and it was fun to watch! Kaimana simply nodded in response to Glaive's suggestion, and followed after the giant friend to see what would happen. Kaimana wanted to make sure her friend would be safe, after all!

Glaive returned. Had she found anything-- OH WAIT SHOOT COULD GLAIVE GET OUT?! For a moment, Kaimana panicked and wanted to help heave Glaive out, but the cub knew her limits. Helping to lift someone many pounds heavier than you when you were just a wee babby was a pretty obvious limit. Luckily, there seemed to be others more capable of assistance. And Glaive had found something! How curious! Fish, scared of something? What could it be... maybe another fisher dragon? An intriguing thought...

The big fuzzy one that growled all their words said all the waters were connected, and that the fish could be coming from another cave. Glaive's helper said they could hold their breath for a long while. Kaimana took all these puzzle pieces and considered them with her expert two cycle-old brain. 'Hmmm...'

'Let's work this out.' Okay. 'Fish are coming down the stream. They might be swimming away from a source of FEAR. Someone here can possibly swim up there.' They'll get pushed back against. And if there's something at the top, like another fisher-dragon but dangerous, they might get hurt! Or if it's not dangerous, they might get to learn something we don't know! 'They're strong. They helped Glaive up! There's a chance they could get there.' And, back to the second concern, what could they find? 'Possibly a connection to another cave. Possibly something fish are scared of, like you said. If they can go back far enough, they might find a source of fish fear. They might also find the source of the river.' Oh. And how will we know? 'They come back down and tell us.' So we'll send the helper up there. 'Yes.' They'll come back and tell us what they see before messing with anything? 'There we go!'

Kaimana nodded sagely, mostly to herself, and then looked pointedly at Glaive's helper (Haven). "Go up stream far as you can! If fish hit you... eat fish. If find anything, come back, tell us first! We hold key 'til you come back, okay?" Once the directions were given, or perhaps more like offered to the volunteer, Kaimana turned to the tall fuzzy one. "Help get swimmer up when they come back. Okay?"

Kaimana would retreat to Glaive's side, deep in thought already. 'There's one problem we didn't address.' What? 'If the swimmer comes back and says there IS something up there, then we'll have to go up there too, right?' But we can't do that, not everyone can hold their breath that long! 'Exactly. But the caves connect, right?' Through the water, tall fuzzy said. 'Right. So maybe if we go to another cave...' ...we find the same stream of water but from land! 'Yes!'

Kaimana had another question for the tall fuzzy. She'd run back up to them to ask. "Hey, um, also. Which cave this river connect to?"

@Sergei @Haven (your missions, if you choose to accept them)

Electrum

He's been sticking close to Haven as best he can, but had been spaced out for some reason something horrible after the golem chase, but the chaos and the others going in and out of the water, pulling on each other and looking for a way to follow the waters finally forced him back to the present, and he flaps a few times to follow quickly after Haven and lands with a thump.

"Can I go with you? I mean, I'll go with Haven either way this goes unless that'll put us in danger but I don't want to get... bitten or something." His attempt at being polite, addressing the group at large but looking at Haven.

"Where do you want me to go?"

(I'm sorry this is short, it might take me a post or two to get back into this vibe)
@Haven
@Kaimana
@Sergei

Effluvium had been expecting a taste like fish, all things considered. But all it got was a mouthful of scales. Not that Effluvium would complain. It was still food. The creature had had an inkling that Glaive, perhaps, wasn't truly fish. Had known as it chewed on her foot. But it still reacted poorly, with all the snarling and anger of a very strange toddler scorned.

"Bad!" Effluvium growled at Glaive, and then shambled off, away from the group, to sulk. It didn't like these lying not-foods and their lack of foods.

In its rage fueled tromp, Effluvium startled the nearby lessers. On its path from the group of greaters, the creature caught the glint of something shiny. A grey strip of metal, fleeing beneath a rock. Effluvium, being Effluvium, immediately went 'food', drooling, and knocked the rock over with its head.

The small red puff of fur made an attempt to flee, but Effluvium scooped it up, ending it with a wet pop. It swallowed the mouse's treasures and all. It barely registered the thing as a taste. It was another bit of mass within the machine. Less cranky after a snack, Effluvium turned back, with a new pair of shiny rat teeth growing from its tail.

Effluvium was torn between begging the tall bear and glaive for food. Its attention had been caught by the literal fact the two mentioned fish the most. Which was currently, and unsuprisingly, the only word Effluvium was really paying attention to. It thought for a moment, and then immediately went to Glaive. Water was dripping off the spinosaurus.

Which meant Glaive had been in the water. Which meant "FIISH." It rushed at Glaive, screaming, then settled in front of it. It spread its jaws and awaited the fish that was sure to come.


"When I speak."

When I think.(Will never be used)

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

gore

(1st/2nd paragraph)

The flood of fleeing fish abruptly... stopped. And then the waters ran red. Blood poured down through the crystal-clear rivers of Polaris, clouding it, halting vision. The metallic stench of it filled the air, rancid, rank.

Then came the rest: silver scales floating free, bits of bone, of torn and tiny organs. A fish's head, a disembodied eye. Fins, and a tail, barely-glimpsed through the blood.

Whatever had done this, "upriver" was no longer safe. Wherever this led to, something was happening.

Given that this particular leg of the quest has gone on so long, characters are free to exit; they CAN continue investigating, if they so wish. They will be tagged soon™ for a continuation either way.

@Glaive @Effluvium @Electrum @Haven @Sergei @Kaimana @Voidseer

Effluvium's jaws snapped shut. It snuffled, sticking its tongue out. Effluvium smelled food. The metallic smell it loved. The rankness didn't bother it. It was rankness incarnate. It licked its jaws, and shuffled past Glaive. It's jaw dropped. And it began drooling. It was a river of red. Going farther than Effluvium could see. And within it, bits of fish. Fish it wanted to eat.

Glaive and Sergei weren't even a thought anymore. There was food down there. No, the river WAS food. "Fishhhhh," it said, a low growl. It crawled to the edge of the banks. Food! Went a single thought, bouncing around its brain like a game of pong.

"FISH," It barked excitedly. It wiggled once, before charging headfirst into the deep, frothy waters. It landed with a splash. The current was too strong for it, but Effluvium neither noticed or cared. It was too busy snapping at the water, at anything it could get, anything within jaw's reach. It was having the time of its life. It swallowed something, bones or eyes, perhaps even a chunk of flesh. And it was swept away like that. Still snapping at the red waters.


"When I speak."

When I think.

;exit efflu

Rolling to see where Efflu is swept away to...

1-16 Pisces ; 17-18 Cepheus ; 19-20 Pegasus

Efflu is swept away to Pisces!