Dragon listened, his mind working, like gears in the water wheel nearby. The groups should meet, should speak, perhaps more often. They had to be ready for situations like these. And--purpose? She was asking him if he knew what she meant.

He turned his head to peer at her with one eye, a glittering gold shimmer apparent, in this light, over their dark color. He snorted very softly as he thought; he had never been one to seek purpose, content in his own life. He thought briefly about lying to the owl, trying to make her feel better with words of understanding, but it felt slimy to him, sweet and sick and disgusting. Instead, he spoke the truth, straightforward, his voice rumblingly matter-of-fact.

"No. My purpose is to survive, to be. To grow. I haven't ever felt lost or... or drifting, without guidance. If it's purpose you seek, I can offer you some. We haven't spoken all that much but I know that your mind is sharp. I need to think of a way to strengthen us in terms of our power within the caves--and to get to know everything about the other groups. And to build alliances, even if false, even if only for our own benefit, though mutual would be better, I admit."

He sighed again, quiet. "We have to be ready to spring a trap, to unleash some vast power, at a moment's notice, Willow. Something that would destroy even Raheerah. We can't do it alone; hell, all of the Gembound in the caves can't do it together. We need a secret weapon. And we need influence among the other groups, and knowledge on them. I can think of how to do the last part--ambassadors, spies, or both. But it's the rest I can't fathom. If it's purpose you need, find us a weapon. Something powerful, unimaginable. Something so immense we'd have to keep it a complete secret. Something stronger, even, than Aquarian."

Dragon paused, for a moment, then exhaled softly. He wasn't sure why he thought the owl was the right one to speak to about this--but he did think precisely that.

"I want us to be able to wield death itself, Willow," he growled softly.

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@Willow

The owl was silent, eyes wide. If Dragon were to look closely at her feathers he might notice them trembling ever so slightly. She didn't quite understand what the alligator meant, but eventually the owl shifted and ruffled her feathers a little.

It wasn't purpose she was looking for. It was purpose she wanted to get rid of. She didn't want voices nagging at her to do things that - if she understood correctly - dragon was telling her to. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She didn't want to maim or kill, she just wanted to sleep.

It took her a while to find her voice, and yet "I see," was all she said.

@Dragon

Dragon peered at the owl as she seemed to tremble, and the strangeness of her reply made him chuckle in surprise. It was rather ridiculous, the idea that she herself would go and accomplish all of these things.

"No, little bird, you misunderstand," he reassured her, thinking perhaps that she was shivering under the stress of being assigned such an impossible task. "I am not asking you to do all this yourself. I am asking you to think with me. To think of how any of this might be done. If we can't find some power to fight against the dragon here, against other enemies like him, we may as well lie down and die."

For a moment Dragon was quiet, looking out toward the Spire, tendrils of smoke briefly puffing from his nostrils.

"His wings were wider than the tunnels, you know. Even longer than the shorter junctions. His head was larger than my entire body by far; hell, his jaw was longer than I am. He could have swallowed me whole. Even Aquarian submerged, when he heard that he was free." He went quiet, for a moment.

Finally, at last--and far more quietly--he looked to Willow and spoke once more. "How are we meant to fight against that?"

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@Willow

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The crow flew away almost immediately as she was finished speaking with Aquarian and she left Cetus just as quickly as she had arrived. She sped through tunnel H and straight into Polaris with a rhythmic squawking, wordless and loud.

She would have missed Dragon completely if it weren't for the dull white feathers of the owl standing next to him - and even then she didn't see him until she landed. Talons clacking and wings folding against her sides, the crow opened her mouth before her attention shifted to Dragon.

"I spoke to Aquarian," she squawked.

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Willow had barely opened her beak when the crow flew down to the ground with a ruffle of wings and scratching of nails against the cave floor. She did not know the crow - nor did she particularly have any interest in getting to know a particularly loud creature.

The owl's head turned back to Dragon. "I am unsure," she said simply, quietly. "Surely there is something that exists in the caves. We should find it."

She looked between the crow and the alligator quietly before she half-closed her eyes with a sigh, waiting.

@Dragon

The alligator eyed Eve, listening as she spoke, twin tendrils of smoke briefly curling from his nostrils. Then he looked to Willow, regarding her with a meaningful, appraising eye. They would speak more of it--but first things came first.

"Mmm. Perhaps. Eve... Thank you," he began, turning his attention back to the black corvid, and dipping his head in acknowledgement. "What has he said?"

Otherwise the alligator remained still, half-submerged and relatively quiet.

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@Willow

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Eve lifted a talon and dipped her head down to begin scratching rapidly at the back of her head. She croaked vague contentment for a moment before she straightened herself up and fluffed out her inky-black plumage.

"Well," began the crow. "He said, in short, we shouldn't make Nemean angry. Y'know, piss her off any. But he also said-..."

The crow looked around, as if afraid the cat-sprite would be listening before she hobbled forward. "He said we shouldn't let on that he's been talking about her," she spoke quietly. "She's dangerous and shouldn't be trusted."

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The owl was mostly silent while the crow talked, vaguely thankful that she wasn't screaming out every word she said. She wasn't sure if she could handle volume being on the brink of exhaustion and having relatively sensitive hearing.

She turned her gaze to the alligator as the crow finished speaking, cooing wordlessly and quietly. She was unsure who Nemean was and was, frankly, doubtful that the alligator and crow would even bother to explain it. She sighed slightly and waited, listening in silence.

@Dragon

The alligator listened to Eve intently, seeming to mull over her words. For a brief moment he sank back into the river, contemplating.

Don't piss her off? That means don't kill her. I'd rather kill her. That means I can't do anything if I see her. ...Damn. Eve's telling the truth? She has no reason to lie. She's not Nemean in disguise? ...She doesn't look like it. He thought this over for awhile (grandly missing the definition of 'disguise'), just floating silent with the two birds staring, before surfacing with a soft exhale.

"All right. Thank you." He took a breath, exhaled again, and eyed Willow--but spoke to the both of them. "That goes for you, too. Nemean is a thing-that-buzzes, loud and small. And--... Pink," he added, with obvious distaste. "She is a traitor, a thing-that-caused-pain. A creator and a betrayer. We will do as he says. Eve," Dragon continued, looking to the crow. He wasn't sure how smart she was, or for that matter how intelligent Willow was. Either might be smarter than the other, smarter than him, or dumb as rocks, but Eve at least had proven herself resourceful. He was curious to see if she had an idea, where the owl seemed merely tired; if perhaps she could shed some light for Willow to fly by. Or, maybe, if the two--or three--could brainstorm together.

"You saw what became of that fight. You know that our father hid in the swamp upon hearing even a mention of Raheerah--and that can be praised in its own way, for survival is the ultimate power and he has lived the longest. But we don't have that luxury. We can't hide beneath the water and never return for air, and if the dragon comes to Cetus he could wipe out the swamp--and we could do nothing to stop him. Nothing but die at him, perhaps," the alligator added with an amused snort.

"We need something more. ...Traps, or... or trickery, or some other power. Can you think of anything? ...Anything at all."

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@Willow

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The crow started to scratch her head again. He doesn't like pink? Why doesn't he like pink? What kind of ASSHOLE doesn't like pink? The crow paused and peered at Dragon, thoughtfully.

"How do we trick or trap a giant dragon? It seems weird - if Raheerah decides that we're gonna die, wouldn't that just... be it?" the crow squawked. "I mean, we could fight back but we were struggling with a dozen of us-- did you see the size of that thing that came outta the spire? That thing's dead now. What if he killed our only weapon against him?"

The crow was rambling now, still scratching her head.

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