Oh. Oh, hell yeah. That was cool.

She nudged the chain around her own neck, not yet feeling the bite of its cold through her fur. At once, the dry heat of Hydra began to cloud just overhead, and she glanced up in some surprise. "That's new," she muttered softly.

Oh, but a test. She charged a bit of static. It was unlikely to bite back, she knew, but if it did... maybe she'd feel the difference?

It sparked across her fur. The sparks faded. Nothing extraordinary, then, but... honestly, just the cool looks of the pendant and the storm clouds enough were amazing.

She glanced up again; the Merchant was moving. "I'll come with," she said, and made to follow with quick, lithe steps.

exit

The assurance that he'd have to get knocked back into his chrysalis was ominous, but Warrior had been there before. Fear rose up to choke his throat at the memory of the sharp pain, and the thought of once again lying unconscious, helpless. But he'd come through it fine in the past; he could manage it again, if it meant being even better-equipped to help others in Hydra.

While the enchanted trinkets handed out looked fascinating enough, he wasn't too sure about the ominous black metal that laced almost all of them--or was it all of them? He couldn't tell. But it made him a little less uneasy to see he'd not be burdened with such a thing. That... and he could lose an object. He couldn't lose an adaptation.

When the Merchant made to leave, Warrior followed, struggling to keep his fear tamped down.

exit Warrior

So Tema had told the truth--and not only that, but she had truly helped him, here. It was not that the journey hadn't been long. It was more that he'd offered only a gemstone, and been given this apparently wondrous item in return.

He turned it over in his paws, studying it with widened eyes.

How wonderful.

Sergei felt that there was no way this was a fair exchange. A simple stone for such an item-... He looked up, planning to thank the Merchant, only to find him shuffling away. So Sergei looked to Tema instead--and to the gemstone she'd been given.

He shuffled over. "Thank you," he offered. "For telling me of this." He waited, lingering a bit; if she did not speak then he would leave, departing back for quieter, cooler places.

@Tema (if you want!)

Wilder accepted the necklace, sitting back and using her front paws to take it from the Merchant, holding it up to look at the strange metal. A shiver passed through her, equal parts grateful and uncomfortable for the reward. It was a dark looking thing, but if it did as the Merchant described, then it would be invaluable. Although a ripple of foreboding shook through her at the thought of taking on the pain of something other then physical. Perhaps, however, that was something she was more suited for.

"Thank you," is all she said in reply, quickly attaching the collar around her neck. It was cold, and did not warm against her fur, but she would grow used to it in time, she figured. It was not an discomforting warmth, just a present one.

She eyed the Merchant as he headed into the tunnel that had been created, unsure if she wanted to continue, but she was here and she felt unwilling to miss the chance to see...whatever was about to happen.

She rose and followed him into the depths.

*exit

Tema studied her prize as the Merchant moved on, turning it from side to side in her paws. It seemed almost like it was meant to be a spine, but it jutted out at odd angles and had no discernable top or bottom. With no way to tell what it had come from, she only hoped the merchant had been true to her request. It was an Oilstone, no doubt, black-purple with an iridescence she knew well. Looking at it made her stomach churn as if she hadn't eaten all day.
She knocked away the familiar urge, gently depositing the stone in her satchel alongside the one she had kept from long ago. What had that one been? It was a beautiful blue-green dioptase, but from what? It was a relic from... before.
Sergei's approach caught Tema's attention, and she offered him a smile. "It must have meant a lot to them, our help I mean, seeing what wonderous items we've all been given. Magic to storm, keeping Order at bay- I'm eager to see what our combined efforts have brought to life." She glanced towards the cooled glass, trying to peek further into the cave without wandering away from Sergei preemptively. She seemed to deflate after a moment, and when she turned back her expression was forlorn. "You know, I hope your gift brings you some peace." It was a genuine statement, and it held an endless weight to it, something akin to grief as she studied the skystone.
She was quiet for a bit, then, before she seemed to come to terms with something she'd never voiced. She breathed a sigh before she met Sergei's eyes. "Would you like to see what those stones became?" She did not know if he would want to further deal with the crowd, given his rather clear discomfort in conversation and the distance he kept between himself and the others, but she offered anyway. If only for a day, she had something again. Perhaps not a friend, not yet, and not after he would find out what she was, but something. Something that calmed the cries of chaos in her mind if only for a day.

"speaking" and corruption

@Sergei

Heathen

____________________________________________

Survival is awarded to the worthy

And so the power of the Merchant became known. Darkness, cold, empty, all-consuming... Heathen had no time to make sense of it before the vision cut short and a crown of cold, black metal with droplets of citrines was placed upon his brow. The chill of the metal was a shocking reminder of the vision (quite literally), of something elsewhere and yet everywhere- What was this creature? Where had it been, what had it seen? What were they awakening?!
There was power here, and lots of it. Between magic, stones and enchantments, it was a cave-changing event he was caught in the midst of, that much he was certain about. He would be part of history.
The leopard shifted their crown to a necklace, allowing the citrines to settle alongside their own gemstone that poked out from beneath their skin in scattered places. Their chest was beginning to look like the host of a constellation.
Satisfied with their gift and eager to test it, Heathen followed after the Merchant, ready to see just what was so important about this new cave.

"Spoken words!" And thoughts Compared to actions!

OOC Notes:

/exit

Sergei hesitated.

Would he? Sure, but... His gaze slid to the gathering, then back to Tema. "Okay," he rumbled. "But I do not want to be near..." One massive paw broke free from the haft of his spear, gesturing with the anxious shake of ironically massive claws toward the group. "So many. They will take... time to grow? I will find you? -Where?" As before, his conversation was both clumsy and heartfelt, yet touched with that guarded uncertainty. "Or do we... go somewhere else--now?"

@Tema

Despite how eager she was to enter the glass tunnel, Tema listened patiently as Sergei spoke. Tema had paid little attention to the others, in truth, given how dead-focused she had been on her reward. It would prove plenty useful, she hoped, and that was all that had mattered. Anything for- Oh. "They... will not. Grow, that is." She answered, tentatively testing the waters of Sergei's morals. Had she not told him? She supposed she hadn't.
"They are an offering of power to awaken greater power, or... something." She believed that was what the Merchant had said. "That is why our rewards are so grand; To reward our effort, to incite us to give life for another life." She spoke slowly. "If you still wish to see what it is that the Merchant is so eager to awaken, we could walk behind the rest?" She offered, more than willing to keep some distance behind the group if it meant keeping Sergei around for a little while longer and still bearing witness to the awakening. Would he even still want to?

She found herself torn, both wanting to hold onto Sergei for as long as she could, and also wanting him to break it off before she got too close. You are a creature of destruction. You will destroy him, in one way or another. You will consume him, or break him as you have been broken. It was her indecision that allowed the voice to creep back in again, her master reminding her of what mattered, of what she was and who she was destined to become. She was a soldier of chaos, biologically designed and predetermined to be a killer, unpredictable and savage. There was no love, in any capacity, in chaos.

Regardless of what happened here and now, Tema would become corrupt. She would become chaos incarnate. She would consume her own flesh if it would please the Void.

But for now, Tema was Tema, the forsaken guardian of the Voidcrawlers, and she just wanted a friend.

"speaking" and corruption

@Sergei

Sergei snuffled, then, very bear-like in his confusion. It was a sort of 'huh?' sound, spoken in ancestral ursine, and after a moment he shook his head as if to clear his scrambled thoughts.

One clawed paw pointed to the Oilstone. "I thought... you meant this. But it is one stone, you are right." He sounded embarrassed. Ashamed. She'd said 'stones;' he was so stupid! He looked away, gaze sliding for Tunnel P.

"I think... I will leave. But thank you." He shuffled his grip on his spear to raise the Skystone he'd been given, showing it to Tema. "This is... It will save my life." Which... was exceptionally unlikely; but he made eye contact with her in the most solemn, puppy-dog sort of way, convinced that he owed her his life.

Then he turned his body, a little--facing that exit--ready to leave, but awaiting any final words.

@Tema

"Oh!" She shook her head, chiding herself for misunderstanding. "If that is the stone you wish to see, You could visit in..." She took a moment to think, unsure herself. "Eridanus. In a few cycles, if you wanted to meet them?" She would make a new home out of the place, she decided. She would contort the flora into a home, a hiding place. It was the only option, really; It had food for all diets, and it was close enough to the altar.
"I truly am glad, Sergei. Keep it close." She nodded towards his treasure, not challenging his statement. She wasn't sure, still, if she was hopeful that he would visit, but she was at least happy for the moment that she had brought him some peace as he had to her.
And with that, she headed for the glass tunnel.

"speaking" and corruption

@Sergei
/exit