The gathering in that massive building, where the sky spanned across all of creation, was beautiful in a horrible way; it was such a vast and unyielding thing, and Jampa felt the unease course the crowd as readily as it flooded her own body - the awe, the panic, the overwhelming sense of smallness that resulted. She needed to be away from it all - the looming sky, the many strangers - although a generally sociable creature it could be said that Jampa's recent dissociation and lonely wandering had affected her on an even deeper level than she knew.

Away she went. Her hooves resounding at a brisk tempo as she crossed from the cathedral and out, to wilderness, where she could touch grass and feel the caves as she was meant to. She went on for a while like this; sure, flying was an option, but she kept her wings tucked neat and close, with the feathers creating a sort-of mantle. Eventually she came to another construct - similar in composition to the cathedral walls and windows, but on a smaller scale. She was reluctant to venture too close, but above all Jampa was curious, and gradually she came to regard the shrine with the same focus, and touch of awe, as she had the rest of this place.

What was this? What was it for? Who made all of these things - and why? She felt disconnected from reality here, and exposed without the comfort of the cave walls, or the familiar claustrophobic crowding of ferns and trees.

Cardan decided to leave for a little while. Associate on his own. Slowly and steadily he was making himself less nervous and scared of new things. It was something in silence he wished to do. What he didn't expect was to find a new place.

A massive building before him. The pup had made his way inside. Admiring the handiwork. A soft limp, where he ended up was a beautiful lush garden.

Wisteria trees and many flowering plants around. Absolutely nothing like Pegasus. An arching bridge, which he gently put his front paws up to. Overlooking the side of it. Admiring the water below. Just barely could he see it. His small size, he hated. If he was older or bigger.. he'd be able to see much more clearly.

What a gorgeous place. Something he never thought he would have seen. Yet he felt a little home sick staying here. Perhaps without the comfort of the trees or bamboo around.. Who knows..

---

"Speaking"

@Jampa
Cardan walks with a limp! On his back left leg c:

The space here was lush; it reminded her of Pegasus for all the trees, although the particular growths here were not the grimdark pine, nor did Jampa see ferns that she might have otherwise recognized. Here there were tall trees with sweeping boughs, fragrant flowers, and the quiet stream winding between patches of earth. She stopped short of the water to sniff the surface, tempted to drink, but then moved along.

The dirt turned to stone, like the cathedral. Her hooves were again clattering as she walked, while the talons of her forelimbs caught the rock with a lighter note. As Jampa reached the middle of a bridge she looked back.

There was someone there. They looked to have followed the same path from the cathedral. Her nostrils flared, and as she smiled to the stranger she bowed her head low, with the crown of her antlers giving a certain height to her profile. The blue of her stone, which fused the antlers in to a halo, caught the sunlight.

"Hello little one," he looked more interested in the trees and things than her, or the bridge, which made sense. As he moved she saw he had a hitch in his step - but it didn't seem right to question it. She couldn't do anything to fix it, even so. "Isn't it beautiful here? Look, over here -" turning, Jampa looked over the other shoulder to the next island segment, where the shrine stood tall.

---

@Cardan

It was a beautiful day, but it was made the moreso by birdsong.

The sounds were different from those the Gembounds would recognize from the caves. The birds that flitted by, too, were different. They were... brown, black, all stripes and splotches with creamy undersides: sparrows. Their songs were a chorus of chirping, their bodies surprisingly small compared to most of the caves' birds.

They came in a flock, settling atop a roof's edge before flitting almost as one to a tree branch. Beautiful, alien, strange.

Posted by request.

@Cardan

Merely the brown pup hadn't noticed this woman. Such a nice and elegant creature. It startled him, but he shared a forced smile. Uncertainty crossed his mind. So someone else saw this beautiful place too? How interesting.

"Hello."

Cardan blinked softly, putting his paws down. Ears perked forward. Purple eyes swayed in the direction of where she looked at. The shrine. A shrine. It stood tall. Many trees unlike the ones he knew.. were here.

It was beautiful. Unlike the cave birds, these ones looked smaller. The sounds weren't the hurtful heartbeats he's been hearing. But like a melody. Just as beautiful as Diem's voice.

They flew. Towards the top, then a moment later it seemed they merged into some sort of tree branch. How odd. How unique. Strange.

"Woah…"

---

"Speaking"

@Jampa

The small brown creature moved hastily along the bridge and when they stopped, Jampa saw it was because their attention had been drawn skyward. She was reluctant in that moment to follow the gaze, except - thre was movement. It was like a swarm of cave beetles in murmuration; but it was not the right sound coming from it. Rather than the thrum of insectoid wings there was almost nothing to indicate wings being used (when in fact Jampa had never heard a bird in flight before, so her brain could not compute the quick and subtle sound of their wingbeats). What they did hear was... noise. If it was meant to be song, it sounded discordant to Jampa and her ears turned back at the same time as she seemed to wince away from the sky, afraid of it.

The creatures that moved together, there, soon swept upon a tree and appeared to lose themselves among the shadows there. Perhaps it was the tree itself? Were they leaves, blowing? But leaves could not sing! It was all very confusing. She knew she was uncomfortable and chose to focus on the brown creature nearby, the child who seemed intrigued in a way that Jampa could not reciprocate. Her own focus was on the shrine.

The shape of the shrine wasn't too strange: there was some sort of creature perched there, too, made of stone. She had seen some avian gembounds in the caves at some point, and could at least identify the statue as something similar in form. She wanted to reach out to touch the shrine very badly, but instead remained respectful and observant of it instead.

Blinking towards the shrine, "I wonder who made this, and... why. There are many rocks in the caves, but someone took one out here and... made whatever this is." Her curiosity was all that kept her there, now. Jampa swallowed the urge to turn around and go backwards along the path, if only because the shrine was so bizarre to her - trying hard to be as imperturbably focused and stoic, as an adult ought to be, as possible. For the child's sake.

@Cardan

It wasn't as harmful to his ears as the heartbeats. It was strange, foreign, but unique. The sudden voice that spoke out brought his attention to the shrine. A creature made of stone sat upon it.

"It looks like one of those.. that fly."

Or wings similar to how Diem had hers. But it was different. The shape of this bird was different from the ones that hurt his ears.

"This place.. It's pretty."

It's so clean, it's perfect. Everything seemed to be placed in such an order. Cardan couldn't understand it. He wanted to though, he desperately wanted to know more. What else could be here?

It clicked, he never introduced himself. How rude of him.

"And.. uhm, I'm Cardan."

---

"Speaking"

@Jampa

"It is, very pretty." That much she could agree on. So long as she didn't look up to the endlessness above them, which made her feel very small by comparison. Maybe that was the point of the shrine? To help alleviate some of that terror that visitors might feel. Or maybe it was to show an appreciation for birds? That'd be weird - although maybe the child had a point.

"I'm called Jampa." she responded with another smile, watching them a moment before looking to the shrine again. The birds that had flooded in to the trees, although unseen among the branches, continued to sing. Jampa noticed that there was a repeating tempo to the notes they sang, and she thought that she might mimic it.

Jampa closed her eyes and listened. Then, summoning a little bit of her magicka, she tried to match the song beneath the cacophony of the many voices. The energy shifted through her stone and as she tried to sing along, she found it was very difficult even with the aid of her abilities; the birdsong out in this strange place was vastly different from the creatures in the caves that she loved so much. It was yet another strike against this odd, open place.

@Cardan

The whole place was odd. Out of place. Nothing made sense. The way the flyers disappeared almost to nothing. Cardan couldn't help but wonder. If there were more like this. Or if this was it.

"Wow, you can mimic them pretty good."

A whisper from the pup's jaws. In awe of how well Jampa mimicked the birds. Could.. Could he mimic the heartbeats one day? Was that the way Diem sang? Could he learn to mimic prey? Could he sing? No.. that'd be weird for him. Surely he doesn't have a voice like that.

"Do.. Do you think there's more places like this?"

A question, one he wasn't sure if he'd like to know the answer. Were they this calm, or were they scary?

---

"Speaking"

@Jampa

The song ebbed away from her and she wondered if the creatures in the trees would have heard it and reacted, but when that didn't happen Jampa felt a little bit better about the situation; then, the child complimented her. She smiled and looked down to where he stood, since he was so much smaller than her. "Thank you," she answers. His next question makes a chill run down her spine, and her tail-feathers give a little shake.

"Maybe? The caves are very big and very different. This place... It is a lot like the caves, but also very different. I don't know if I like the differences." That last bit was said in a hushed tone, not wanting to frighten the wolf boy in any way, but also unable to stop herself from voicing the truth in her heart.

She wondered if something could be learned from the statue? The shrine looked old and new at the same time; weathered as if it belonged in the the room of howling wind, or maybe the room of mists. The figure of the bird, this tall statue on its plinth, drew Jampa's attention again and more fully. "I could... Ask."

It had never occurred to Jampa to use her magicka in this way before, but her curiosity was strong, the need to know too tantalizing to ignore. So was this sense that knowing more would create safety for her. That she might get answers that would help to calm her spirit, at least in regard to this odd new place with its endlessness above. Moving closer to the boy, she used her soft nose to nudge at him as if to urge him backwards a step or two, so that she was between the statue and the wolf boy. Then she takes a breath, lifting her head so that she stood with the statue and its plinth before her - and reaching out to this, summoned her magicka a second time.

The energy builds in her stone again and appears to illuminate with a cool blue sheen. Jampa bows her head ever so slightly to rap her antlers, and as an extension her halo of stone, very briefly against the statue as she cast her spell.

@Cardan