BACKDATED ABOUT A CYCLE AGO

Under Orion's false night sky wanders a strange creature. They resembled a cow- or rather, two cows attached at the spine. They move slowly, pausing often to browse on the scant greenery or investigate a particularly interesting piece of rubble.

Currently, their interest is caught by a bone half-buried in a pile of rubble. Carefully digging it out, they discover that laced through the avian pelvic bone is a light teal gemstone. Infinity's lower head noses it, humming sadly. "Poor thing. I wonder who you used to be." It sighs.

"We could find out." replies their upper head. "It's a simple spell. We've cast it many times before."

The lower head frowns at that. "I'd feel bad. I'd rather they tell me their life story themself. Using magic to probe through their memory feels... invasive."

"And you'll feel bad if we just walk away." The upper head huffs. "If you're going to feel bad regardless, may as well sate our curiosity when we're at it."

A long moment of hesitant silence, and then. "Fine. But you'll cast the spell."

It takes a minute or two of awkward finagling, the upper head mumbling complaints about how the other 'always does things the hard way.' But they're able to CAREFULLY grasp the bone between their dorsal hooves, and their upper head touches noses with it, closing their eyes and digging through it's memory with their magic.

The first thing that struck Infinity as their magic took hold was a horrific, loud, grating "SQUAWK!"

Then a glare, sidelong, as if irritated by life itself. A few little feather spikes stuck up from the top of a rounded head, the baleful look only accented by the heavy, curved beak. Maybe it looked like a bird of prey, at first, except then it moved fully into their vision, and it...

...waddled.

There was no other word for it.

The bird waddled, feet slapping comically on the floor. When it spoke, though, its voice was the polar opposite of waddling and rough squawks: a refined, elegant, even posh voice with a lilting masculine accent. "I say, my good sir, I really do not think this is the correct route."

The dodo sniffed haughtily. It continued to waddle; its feet continued to slap the rock below. "Are you certain that map of yours shows the way to the swamp?"

Someone else began to answer, out of sight, and-

...the vision ended.

@Infinity

Both heads blink rapidly as the vision fades. A moment of silence hangs in the air before either of them speak. "..The swamp. We've been to the swamp." The lower head muses, "Maybe we should bring them there? Maybe it's what they want."

"Its a hunk of gemstone in some bone." The upper head huffs dismissively, "It doesn't 'want' anything, but I know I certainly don't want to return to Cetus."

The lower head's lips pull back in a grimace. "It was once a person, so they still deserve some respect." They retort, "At the very least we should put them somewhere nicer than this heap of rubble."

"Fine." The upper head concedes, "Lets keep moving, then."

They barely took their first step forward when something else caught their eye. This new gemstone was a similar pale greenish-blue. This one wasn't attached to any bones but it was nearly exactly the same shape as a spinal vertebrae, excluding a shark fin jag of gemstone near it's top. Infinity hummed. "I wonder if this was the one the bird was talking to." The lower head wonders aloud.

"Do you want to find out?" The upper head asks.

"...Sure." The lower one answers, "I can cast the spell this time."

[not GM tagging this time bc i just wanna spree this. Sorry!]

In the starry gloom of Orion, a hunter lurks.

He had just shed his usual woody exoskeleton, and he was eager to take advantage of the newfound freedom. He always found that he got a particular sort of hunger during his molts. And while he could gorge himself on lesser rabbits and deer, those simply were no fun to hunt. And what was the point hunting if he couldn't make a game of it? He wasn't some simple beast that only hunted to sate his hunger.

No, there was an art to it.

He spotted Infinity quite easily, a blinding white monstrous beast slowly moving through the ruins. He would hunker down to watch them for a while, listening to the conversation that drifted downwind. They seemed to be digging through the rubble, examining something. Gemstones. He realized. If they still had magic, they could be used as valuable bartering chips. And of course, he would get the cow's gem as well, once he was done with them.

He had thought they were preoccupied with casting their little spell, but a creature with two sets of eyes was bound to be observant. The gaze of the upper head flickered in his direction. A whispered warning and the whole creature turned around to face him, watching with a prey-like caution.

"...Greetings." Maybe he could still salvage this. All he needed was an opening. "What interesting trinkets you've found there."

They barely got to absorb the vision- just the clanking of blades and the overly wide grin of a canine creature- because the footsteps of another pulled their mind back to the real world. The upper and they whirled around clumsily, nearly dropping the gemstone-encrusted pelvis that they still clutched in their upper hooves.

The newcomer before them was a strange thing- although they were likely hypocritical to think such a thing. It reminded them of a rainbow bumblebug, except not so rainbow and about the size of a wolf. Oh, and covered in feathers. The way they stared unblinkingly was unnerving in a primal sort of way, and the greeting.. rubbed them in the wrong way, particularly the lower head.

"Hello." The upper head replied curtly.

"These aren't trinkets." The lower head defended, "They used to be gembound." Their eyes narrowed, "What interests you in these, anyways?"

Internally he frowned, while externally he pasted on a welcoming grin. "Of course, how callous of me!" He leaned forward slightly. "Did you know those two? I am sorry for your loss." His head tilted, birdlike, to examine the chunk of spinal beryl still laying on the ground.

"It's possible to bring them back, you know, with the right kind of magic." He hummed. He was very familiar with the concept- it was how he was born, after all. "You seem proficient in that sort of thing, but if you need help I'm happy to provide it. Its the least I could do."

One of the cow's sets of eyes narrowed at that. Shoot. He might've just given away that he'd been watching them. And they definitely weren't going to put their guard down any time soon.

This wasn't going to work.

"...We didn't." The upper head answers. The lower head adds "But we appreciate the sentiment anyways. The dead deserve the pity more than we do, though."

They'd follow the overgrown insect's gaze, stamping a hoof protectively infront of the beryl. "We.. are vague aware, of that sort of magic." The upper head answered, Once again, the lower head cut in with "But not interested! We don't know what they would've wanted, and the dead deserve their rest."

The lower head's eyes narrowed, "You're awful presumptuous, y'know? You come in here acting like you know us and exactly how to help us!" Their hoof stamped again, this time in frustration, "And do we REALLY look like we're good at magic? Or were you listening to us the whole time? How long have you been watching us?"

"I think you should leave." They'd snort, staring down The Huntsman. "We're not giving you these gemstones, or whatever it is you want."

His hopes for a nice and easy ambush steadily went down the drain. It seems like every thing thing he said just made the other gembound even more suspicious. But its alright! He wanted a challenge, anyways. He wasn't THAT fond of brute force, but he could handle it if that's what the situation called form

"Oh, that's fine." He'd answer at last. "I don't need you to give anything to me." He'd grin sharply, "I can just take it."

And with that he'd launch himself at the pair.

Or. Well. That's what he was TRIED to do.

What REALLY happened is that his foot slipped on a rather unfortunate piece of rubble, and he'd travel a grand total of zero feet as he tripped right onto his face, landing directly infront of Infinity. Okay, now he HAD to kill them. He couldn't let anyone who witnessed this live.

The stranger said something ominous, and JUST as Infinity was preparing to run or fight, the would-be hunter face planted into the stone directly in front of them. Infinity is not a violent creature, but they have a sudden urge to teach this fool a lesson.

However, Infinity is anything but agile. Not only are they precariously balanced, they're a metaphorical car with two steering wheels. Their hooves land inches away from the other's face. The huntsman lets out a hiss of alarm as it scrambles to it's feet.

Belatedly, Infinity realizes they're more or less backed against a wall- the pile of rubble behind them would be difficult to climb even if they WEREN'T under attack.

Maybe they should've ran.

Hooves crashing mere inches away from his face sent a bolt of panic crashing through him. He scrambled to his feet, hissing as he sized up his opponent. Large, but unsteady. He could hear both heads murmuring softly to eachother- were they unable to sense each others thoughts? Must be uncoordinated.

If he knocked them over, he doubted they'd be able to get up easily. It'd be an easy kill from there.

He darted around to the creature's side, lunging at one of the limbs that protruded from its shoulder blades. His teeth sunk into it and the creature howled in pain, thrashing around as they struggled to maintain balance but refusing to topple completely. He growled softly in the back of his throat. Dammit. Just DIE already.