The tower was very quickly becoming one of his favorite places. Ever since he received the lens from the great big shadowy creature (who he still wasn't entirely certain about - it looked really scary and intimidating, with its two sets of eyes, its shiny armor and its composition of pure darkness) Bartos had been studying it closely, trying to figure out what purpose it served. First, he thought that it would be like his glasses. The lenses he wore on his face served to magnify small things, they made it easier for him to examine rocks because his vision had a tendency to blur when he tried to look at things up close. But it was difficult for him to position the lens at a proper angle in order to look at the rocks - he had to balance it with one paw and adjust it with the other, and more often than not it ended up slipping free of his grasp and falling into the dust. He'd already accidentally chipped it, so fearful of ruining it further, Bartos decided not to try that again.

If it wasn't for looking at rocks up close, what was it for? He had searched more around the starry city for a large scrap of fabric, since it was too much effort to keep shoving the lens in his satchel and withdrawing it again; once he found one, the cat lay the fabric out and placed the lens on top of it, then folded the fabric over until it covered it completely. Then, he grabbed the bundle of fabric at the top with his teeth. This way, he could carry it and protect it at the same time. Bartos ventured from his den in search of ideas; it didn't fit in the window spaces of the crumbling buildings, as the windows were square. It only showed his reflection, if a little bulbous, when he sat it on the ground and stared at it from above. Eventually he had wound his way through the city towards the great tower, and figured that if he was going to get any great ideas, then maybe it would be here. The tower was mysterious, but it served him well - he could see everything from its peak.

Dragging the lens, though, was tiring work. Once he reached the periphery of the tower, the cat dropped his shoulders and sighed, his neck aching from the strenuous work. Bartos plopped onto his rump, deciding that he would pause for just a breather before hauling it up to the top. Sucking in a slow breath, the cat leaned his head back and gazed up at the top of the tower, delving deep into his thoughts.

@Quintus

orion, the room of stars. quintus had grown to like the place to the point he felt as if he had some kind of toxic obsession to it, it was a nice place to stay at and it brought the gembound quite a few memories. the most clear one being the time his father had made quite an interesting game called foobaw, back then he was nothing more than a teen. quintus had no real reason to be here other than he enjoyed looking at the stars at least once a day, it had started to become a hobby he was starting to enjoy. i wonder if there is something beyond these caves. he used to have all kinds of imaginations roaming inside his head back when he was a child and they had not ceased even in his current adulthood. steel blue eyes would continue to take in all the sparkling objects in the starry city and he could not help but become even more intrigued the more he looked around, "beautiful." sometimes he wished he could look even further into the ceiling and perhaps even touch one of the stars, do they feel as good as they look; of course there always came the option of climbing the tower to get an even better look but even that did not seem to quench the gembound's infinite hunger. after a few moments of admiring the sky, quintus would eventually make his way towards the great tower and he could not help but hesitate as soon as his eyes caught sight of it, never ceases to amaze me. continuing to look up as far as he could, dangerous thoughts started growing inside his mind. forgetting all the various hazards and fears that would come from doing such a thing, quintus would advance forwards with his claws unsheathed ready to climb the tower. eventually reaching to a point that he would notice the small figure of bartos, quintus would pay him no mind mistaking him for a lesser gembound due to how small he looked from the height he was now in. unlike bartos, quintus was not as good a climber which of course fueled the gembound to continue upwards despite the fact that the risk of falling grew larger by the minute. like any sane creature quintus would begin fearing for himself but then again what kind of sane creature would even think of climbing a tower that reached to such heights, damn.

(Bartos is actually still on the ground, he's sitting in front of the tower staring up at it :P hope thats okay! )

With his head leaned back, the cat gazed up to the top of the tower. There, he saw the twinkling of the crystalline roof spread up above them. The quartz embedded in the rocks caught the light of the lamps strung along the walls and hanging from above, glittering like distant stars - and the darkness of the realm above engulfed the tower, and its great height nearly blended in with the darkness. He didn't realize how tired he was until he saw the tower slowly bleed into two images, and he furrowed his brow and blinked, shaking his head. It would do him no good to fall asleep now; maybe, once he made his way up to the tower. There, he'd be safe from whatever harm tried to come his way, and he could awaken rested with his energy renewed. Bartos entertained the thought for a moment, drifting in and out of his mind, before a scraping sound had caught his attention.

Twitching his ears, the cat's eyes instantly widened and he jumped to his paws. The lens, still wrapped in the fabric, bumped against his toes as he stood causing the boy to look back down at it, then back towards the scraping sound, fretful - what was it? Surely it must be another living creature, but was it a friend? Or was it someone that wished him harm? He'd never had to consider such a possibility before, and while Bartos was still young and unscathed, he wasn't totally naive. He knew what darkness could linger just out of sight.

With his tail slowly snaking behind him, Bartos picked up the lens and nestled it against the wall of the tower; there, hopefully, it wouldn't garner the attention of prying eyes. He wove his way around the side of the tower, and there he suddenly spotted a large mass trying to climb his way up the tower wall. The sight was enough to startle the cat, whose fur stood on end as he arched his back and stepped away again, scrutinizing the other feline. This stranger was far larger than he was, with dark brown fur and a thick mane - something about him seemed familiar, but the cat just couldn't place a paw on it. Pinning back his ears, Bartos quickly surveyed the situation in order to determine what he was trying to do. "Y-You know there's a staircase, right?" Bartos said after a moment, looking nervously back the way he'd come. The doorway was right there - inside, the staircase spiraled up against the wall and would lead them to the top floor. Maybe this guy had never seen the tower before.

@Quintus

funny thing was that despite all the times he had been in orion and had set his sights on the great tower, he seemed to have completely forgotten all about the staircase. quintus happened to be a very forgetful individual and despite the toxic obsession he had with everything that was inside orion even that would not be spared by his sudden bouts of forgetfulness. hearing the creature down below remind him of such a thing made him feel quite humiliated and he could not help but give himself a mental face palm, just great a lesser gembound is reminding me. it was then that quintus's eyes would snap even wider than they already was, he just remembered the important fact that lesser gembounds did not even have the ability of speech. taking a moment to look down, he would scan bartos's frame with determination leading him to eventually familiarize with who exactly the gembound happened to be. "oh you!" the feeling of embarrassment flushed over him but instead of helping bartos to confirm his own stupidity, quintus would flash him that ever so charming smile of his as if he knew what he was doing all along. that will do; the mistake of looking down would cost him dearly, a sick feeling would start encompassing his being but instead of letting his fears conquer him, the gembound would just grip tighter at the tower's rocky frame with his claws; i'm so going to die. the thought didn't help a bit but despite all that, fear had not pushed him to the point of surrender. he couldn't help but wonder if the other gembound would perhaps follow him, would definitely make me feel better if he did but he knew that looking down again would cost him more than his nerves next time, "see you at the top kitty!" bouts of laughter would follow after that and the lion would proceed whilst humming a tune his dear mother taught him in his days as a cub. eventually the top would be reached with some work and quintus could not help but feel more than accomplished to the point he would forget all about the other feline; a thunderous roar of victory would be released into the air to let everyone within the vicinity know of his accomplishment.

Somehow, the lion seemed to recognize him too, exclaiming with an Oh you! to which Bartos responded by furrowing his brows in further confusion. So he had definitely seen him somewhere, and the lion knew him, but... he scoured through the depths of his mind, seeking an answer. The only lion he really knew was... no, this couldn't be Faelon. He didn't look like Faelon, and his brother had the same kind of gem as him, this lion had... well, he couldn't really identify his stone, not at the moment - oh no, there it was, on his tail. It wasn't Faelon. Bartos was quite busy digging through his mind for the lion's identity when he suddenly shouted out a challenge to the cat, and Bartos peered back up at him, wide-eyed. He watched the lion continue to shimmy up the tower, somehow - how the hell was he doing that? - before realizing that it was a challenge to reach the top that he had extended.

"Ah - er - okay!" Bartos fumbled and jumped to his paws, turning to run back to where he had left his lens wrapped up in the cloth. He grabbed it quickly in his teeth, careful to make sure he had a good enough hold on it, then ran into the tower. He'd only been inside a few times before, but from his previous visits he'd gleaned that it was slightly hazardous to run up the stairs without looking where he was going, or at the very least displaying some measure of caution. So Bartos ran to the stairs and climbed up them relatively slowly, until remembering that it was a race, then he'd pick his pace up again.

Once or twice he'd stumbled over the steps, he'd even nearly slipped into a hole between the crumbling steps, but had barely avoided it. He was about three quarters of the way there by the time he heard a thunderous roar bounce through the caves, and Bartos had to guess that the lion had made his way to the top already. The cat grumbled under his breath, muffled by the lens in its fabric sling, and continued on. When he finally reached the top, Bartos dragged himself across the floor and towards one of the windows, depositing the sac on the floor and flopping onto his stomach while gasping for air.

@Quintus

whilst he had been climbing, he was not able to hear the other gembound's words but quintus had been hoping that the much smaller feline would accept his challenge despite the fact that he had gotten a headstart, silly me. then again once he had reached the top of the tower it seemed that all thought of the other feline had escaped his head for all his attention was leaning towards all the shining objects that resided at the ceiling of the large room, amazing! quintus's steel blue eyes would seek to take in as much as he could causing him to be somewhat hypnotized by the stars, they are just so beautiful. the noises bartos was making during his struggle to get to the top of the tower would then alert him and would break quintus out of his hypnosis. "get a move on slow poke!" the words would be yelled out of his mouth in hope that it would serve bartos as some sort of motivation. the songcat could not help but wonder just how the other feline was fairing causing him to instantly activate his magic in hopes of finding out how the other gembound was doing but sadly the spell would end up a failure. it was then that quintus would feel the pressure and pain from climbing up the tower, instantly his legs would buckle and his joints would begin aching whilst his lungs would quickly start running out of breath; "damn!" in mere moments bartos would eventually join him at the top and he seemed to be displaying as much exhaustion as he himself was. at the sight of the now tired gembound, quintus's mouth would open to release another manly laugh, his amusement evident in the continuous swinging of his tail. eventually the laughter would cease but the smile would remain on his silly looking face, whilst looking at the sky the gembound's paw would point upwards at the ceiling urging bartos to look. "they're beautiful, aren't they?" with that quintus would cease all speech, allowing silence to take over and the other gembound to enjoy the breathtaking view.

IM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT ;_;

While the lion may have thought shouting his words of encouragement would infuse Bartos with a sudden vigor, they only served to distract him, and then prompt him to let slip a loud and exhausted groan, making his unwillingness quite audible. Bartos wasn't going to give up, however. Much like the math nerd vying to impress the handsome football jock, he pushed on until he had reached his destination at the top of the tower. Having collapsed onto his stomach, the cat sucked in breaths of air, reviving his sore lungs while allowing his screaming muscles to find rest. Meanwhile, his indigo eyes lingered on the lion who appeared to have scaled the entire side of the tower with ease - how? How did you do it? Tell me your secrets. Maybe I can grow powerful muscles like yours. His triangular ears twisted forward and then back, listening to the rapid palpitations of his heart inside the cage of his chest while Quintus marveled at the glittering ceiling above.

His words did finally prompt Bartos to grumble and rise to his paws. Leaving the lens behind on the floor, Bartos meandered up to the lion, eying him cautiously - then again, he wasn't really a threat, was he? He'd been there at the wedding, at the football game - before turning his eyes up to the ceiling. He'd viewed that distant barrier more times than he could count. He'd awoken to it, he'd been born to it. He knew every bright shiny facet by heart. If they were stars, he'd know their constellations and be able to list them off the top of his head. He'd be able to point out new shapes and form myths and legends by their dynamic motions. He'd study their movements in relation to this cave in which they were trapped.

Alas, they were not stars. He didn't know what they were, save for speculation that they must have been some kind of crystal like the ones occasionally dotting the dusty ground. That was the only answer he had. "They really are." He responded after a moment, clearing his throat. He only wished that he could see them up close... "Hey, you wanna take a look at this thing I lugged up here? All by myself by the way, thank you." Bartos suggested suddenly, the latter part dipping down into begrudging sarcasm but just as quickly replaced by a wide-eyed curiosity as he gazed up at the lion. Maybe the larger feline could help him figure out this mysterious lens and how to work it! Without really waiting for an answer, Bartos scampered back to the lens and the cloth, pawing the fabric apart until it blossomed open, revealing a stretch of canvas upon which the round lens sat.

@Quintus

it seemed that the fellow gembound was enjoying the view as much as he was causing a smile to show itself upon the feline's face, there's no denying their beauty. excitement continued to bubble inside him evident in the mindless wagging of his tail, he wondered if it would be possible to reach up there and snatch one out the ceiling, he had remembered imagining such things as a mere child but with age came knowledge, might have to ask a certain someone with wings. quintus would then divert his eyes from the fatigued figure of the other feline only to look back up at the star filled ceiling and he could not help but simply exhale in satisfaction at what he saw, almost as beautiful as me. a chuckle would escape out his mouth at the thought and he would then be snapped back into attention by bartos and all the joy bubbling inside him would die down at the hearing of his words, how dare he, they were just here admiring the beautiful stars and the cat already started changing the subject, come on dude. the brute would roll his eyes in a comical fashion before paying back attention to the smaller feline, "well, let's see it." he would look on as bartos scampered away and the slight annoyance that had began to irk him would die down as soon as curiosity started forming inside of him, this better be good kitty. eventually the gembound would come back with whatever he happened to want to show him and instantly irritation started filling his core once more, what the hell is that!? quintus had been expecting something a little bit more exciting but oh well, slowly his paw would raise and he would smack it against his face. taking a few moments to look over what bartos had brought up in front of him, quintus would eventually look up only to tell him what was on his mind; "just what the hell is that?"

Bartos felt his pride swell as the lion agreed to look at his lens. To be honest, Bartos had been itching to show it to somebody, anybody, but there weren't many Gembounds around where he lived. His den was high up in the ledges that rimmed the wall, basically hidden out of sight, invisible to all except those that knew where it was. And even that was few and far between. Akshayaa had known, mostly because he'd accidentally revealed it to her while he was tossing chunks of cement from the ledge. And Clover knew because he had led her up there the first time they met so that he could show her his rock collection. What a nerd. He laughed the thought away. Who else? Faelon had, but he was just a memory now. It didn't matter at this point, because now he was able to show this guy, what was his name again? Did he even know his name?

"I'm Bartos by the way." The cat added decisively as he unwrapped the lens. With the glass revealed, he stepped back and allowed the lion to examine it. Only for his heart to quake with nervousness, a fault of words caught in his chest, when the lion asked him what the hell it was. "Oh! It's a lens, I think. It makes things look different when you look through it." He explained, placing his paw on the rim of the lens and pulling it upright. He dipped his head down to look through the concave side; on the convex side, his head appeared enlargened and bulbous, while the cat himself looking through it could see Quintus as squished and compressed into a tiny version of himself.

"Hold on. I'm gonna try something." He added and let the lens rest on the ground again. The cat stepped back and made his way towards one of the openings in the wall, and there he focused on his magic.

POST-ROLL EDIT:
Just as he was expecting, there was a pull of metal suddenly grating across the ground towards him. Some scraps lying around the tower floor began to drag themselves towards the cat, but pieces of armor and whatever metal remained of the ruins had started to crawl out across the ground as well. Slowly, they edged their way up the wall or across the dirt and towards him. Bartos gently guided them with his paws into a rickety stand, long fragments of metal leaning against one another, gloves positioned delicately at the top to cup the lens and hold it steady while Bartos adjusted it - slightly, ever so slightly - until it pointed to the ceiling. When his magic was spent, the cat puffed and dropped his shoulders. "There! Now it should the right height to look through. Why don't you take a peek?" Bartos invited, stepping aside. He himself hadn't seen the ceiling quite yet, but he could wait.

@Quintus

the cat explaining what the thing was to him did not help one bit, quintus would let out a scoff of disconent, now just what use is that?, in his opinion being able to see things differently did not really provide any help for the lion preferred to see things for what they truly was. quintus grew even more upset by the second to the point that he had barely caught on to what he said his name was after all just why should he care? i'm so close to ea-, the negative thoughts would come to a halt as soon as bartos would begin to look at him though the lens, the sudden enlargement of the cat's head would catch him by surprise and quintus would in fact blink once or twice in an attempt to adjust his eyesight before he would open his mouth to release a thunderous laughter, "y-your head!" might not be as useless as i thought it was, little did he know how ridiculous he was looking. the laughter would cease at the hearing of the feline's words, at the mention that he was going to try something, quintus's head would peer closer in curiosity, what is he up to now? the sudden extravagant show of magic displayed by bartos would take him back in surprise, this was the first time quintus had ever seen a earth magic user in action, cool. the end result was not as amazing as he thought it was going to be but it was none the less impressive, quintus would immediately rush to look through the telescope at bartos's invitation and a sudden feeling of enlightenment would begin filling his being. it's beautiful. what he saw led to his heart skipping a beat and would keep the lion hypnotized for some seconds before a smile would eventually show on the feline's face whilst his head would quickly turn back towards the frame of the smaller feline, "bartos, you're a fucking genius!" instead of making things look differently, the lens had brought him even closer to the stars, it was now as if he reached out he would be able to actually touch them. quintus would forcefully push the gembound towards the telescope for despite how much he wanted it all for himself, he also wanted to share the feeling of enlightenment with someone else. "look!"