Yvan had been hesitant to return to Polaris. Not that a place can be evil, but he's very, very wary of the river now, giving it a wide berth as he pads his way through the cave. He'd wanted to see the Spire again for himself. Ryoto didn't need to be with him, didn't need to be scared again, and so he'd gone out on his own. He'd be fine. It would be fine. It's all good.

So explain to him why he's wringing his hands together, having settled down a few minutes ago to take a break in his walk? He's fine. He's not nervous! He just has a lot of energy, even if his legs are sore from standing around all day. His fanned out wings fluff in place until he's rolling onto his side like an old dog, sighing loudly and stretching his arms out in front of him.

He should get moving soon, get a bite to eat, maybe. Oh, but he doesn't want to stand up right away, but he's bored, and soon he's growling under his breath as he rolls back to his stomach and hides his face in folded arms. Palms pat down an empty pattern on the stone under them. If only, if only he had something to do all day other than walk around and stare at things he doesn't understand.

In short, he's just a bored teenager with no way to entertain himself. No way that's going to be solved so soon.

@Mossie

There's been lots of activity in Polaris lately. Lots of strange creatures, too.

Mossie hadn't been paying attention at first. She'd been ruminating on a theory.

Whilst searching for her son's stone, she'd unlocked a most curious ability. She could find stones by sensing magic pulses, and the stronger pulses must've meant something--possibly stronger stones?

Maybe the hole in her heart could be filled if she just...got another kid. Raised it right this time. Preferably one who commanded magic as well--or better--than she did. They could totally be like, scientists worshipping dubious entities together.

Maybe she didn't need to stop at one.

This plan is clearly foolproof.

@Yvan

She catches a weak pulse of magic--undoubtably not worth pursuing. She glances in its direction with a frown, then freezes.

She's never seen a creature like this before. They do look like one of the flat-faced creatures, but their scaly bottom half is oddly remniscient of Manticore.

Fuck, she kinda misses him. Spinnaker, too. Back then she may have been aimless, but things were simpler.

What the fuck ever, now is not the time to be getting all sadgirl. There are more important things at hand.

"Hello!" She calls with a wave of her plumy tail. "What brings you here?"

Yvan's head pops up in an instant, mussed up hair and all. Someone new? Oh. Oh! He hasn't met this person before, and she's coming up to him, and he's all at once blinking owlishly like a startled cave deer.

Him? Right, nobody else is even around him. "Hi," he starts as he begins to shove his top half back up to a proper sit, nevermind the crumbs of pebbles stuck to his forearms. Those go swept to the ground— but he doesn't stand just yet after the fact. No need to be taller, right?

Forelimbs of his draconic half stretch out as he arches his back, swings his back legs to lay sidesaddle. "It's... nice here." One hand gestures towards the Spire. "And that thing's huge. I never really looked at it before. I mean, I have now, so I guess now I'm just taking a break."

His paws tuck back to loaf under his chest as he holds his wings close. "What about you? My name's Yvan." Because people expect names, right? Like Dread had. "... I don't live here," he blurts out in addition.

@Mossie

The stranger is delightfully awkward. Sometimes Mossie's words don't quite come out right, so she understands.

"Yvan's quite the funky fresh name," she said. "I'm Mossie! I agree, Polaris is quite the beautiful cave. I was hatched here, yknow. Sometimes I come back for the pretty sights and the big rocks."

She scrunches her brow, focusing on the substrate before her. Her magic's been a tad fucky lately, but things are sure to turn her way eventually.

"And in Polaris, it's easiest to do things like this..."

She really hopes this spell works because she'd look like a dumbass otherwise.

"Are you serious," Mossie groans. "Sorry, my magic is being a total dick."

Funky fresh? ... Yvan likes that, he thinks? That's good, right? He'll take it as a compliment.

"It is pretty," he agrees, sitting up so only his rear's on the ground. Debris goes shaken off of either leg too, as he stares at Mossie wide-eyed. "Your magic? What're you trying to do?" Pointed ears perk up as he perches his hands on his second set of shoulders to lean down towards her. "All my magic is just knowing where things are. Living things. 's kind of boring."

The very tip of his tail starts to thump excitedly in interest. Maybe he could learn a thing or two from Mossie.

@Mossie

"Well, learning where living things are could be useful for a hunt," Mossie says. "And besides, it took me awhile to build up my spell repertoire."

"Oh, my magic?" Mossie's eyes widen comically.

One thing about Mossie that will never change, not in a thousand cycles, is that she will never turn down a chance to infodump.

"I can do lots n lots of things! Mostly fungus related, but not all. Like infect them with a fungus that makes them nice to me, or infect them with a fungus that eats their flesh, or infect them with spores that make them sleepy, or spores that turn them crazy for a little. I've also got sensing magic like you, to see things in the ground through the fungus's eyes! And I can grow more fungi--on the ground, or on myself."

She pauses to take an absurdly deep breath before continuing. "I can also walk on air, make people be nice to me even without the fungus, make Lessers be extra nice to me, steal the life from stones, or find them."

She frowns, tail tapping against the stone floor. "Finding them is what I'm after, now. My son died, and I've been sad, so I'm looking for a new stone so I can make another one. But it can't be just any stone. 's gotta be perfect."

She tries, probably in vain, to search the caves once more. A weak, barely-there pulse sounds. Not worth it.

There's a lot to pick through. A lot of the examples are fungus related— mushrooms, right? Yvan's paws balance from one side to the other as he tries to conceptualize too much all at once.

His thoughts halt at the mention of her son dying. "Oh." Should he say sorry? Should he be sorry? He doesn't really say anything, only withdrawing slightly and straightening up a little. Claws go fidgeting back together.

What about the other magic? "Uh—" he so eloquently requests— "what's it like to see like a fungus? Mushrooms can see? Who's 'they'?" He'd ask more on the stone, but... that's got to be a sore subject, isn't it? Best to not ask about it if it's been making her sad.

@Mossie

Mossie taps her chin. "It's a bit hard to explain. The funny thing about fungus is, the mushrooms you see are only a teensy fraction of what the actual fungus is! It's just the fruit. Most of the fungus is actually a web of thin tangled threads in the ground called mycelium. When I use my magic, I can sense anything the threads are touching something, like a rock or a molemouse."

She glances around Polaris. "I could show you, but there's no mushrooms around. I'll have to try and grow some first. If nothing happens, please don't laugh."

It's mushroom time.

A cluster of varied fungi springs up from the earth. The (fictional) crowd goes wild.

"So a fungus is a plant..?" Plants have fruits, so fungi having fruits..? Still, it makes a little more sense— it's not seeing in terms of looking with eyes, but more like the sensation of touch, then. He leans back in and watches the mushrooms come to life in front of Mossie. His eyes go wide, and he stares, reaching a paw forward.

He stamps it down on the ground nearby. Toes spread, and he stares expectantly, eyebrows shoved up in immense interest. "Can they feel that?" He hopes so, even if he doesn't see any of the roots— mycelium.

Mossie shakes her head. "No. Fungi are such strange beings. They defy categorization, but they're definitely not plants! They're actually more related to you and I than to plants."

She grins, leaning down to look at one of her fungi. "Every day I'm glad I was granted the fungus element," she said. "They're one of life's grand mysteries. I know those little fuckers are hiding something."

Mossie hummed contemplatively, tapping her senses to the fungi once more. "I'm not sure, but I just linked my senses to the fungi, so try again!"