This was a place Ra'Hen knew, though she wasn't sure how. Every inch of this cave- Polaris, wasn't it?- was familiar to her. She'd been here many, many times as a chick, then again as a proper raptor when she woke- but the latter she couldn't remember when she tried. No events during that time. Only a sense of nostalgia. So, as Ra'Hen made her way towards the humming machine in the water's dip, she tried desperately to recall those lost memories. She paused at the water's edge, staring out at the generator as if not actually seeing it. Her thoughts distracted her. She'd never had thoughts like these before. As a plain chick, she'd been fairly simple. Now, it was as if her brain had opened up to her. She understood things better.

She understood one thing all to clearly. Ra'Ma was a great mother, but a horrible friend and dull company. The mutant bird hobbled her way to the crystal clear river water and bent down to drink. Her head dipped and swung back as she did, but those fire-colored eyes stared across at the world around her.

She was used to traveling alone. The rest of the pack didn't care for her, often taking bites at her if she tried to join them on hunts, or when preening. Ra'Ma stood for it, seeing it as just the pecking order- Ra'Hen was special for her brain, but not for her size.

So for the little mutant, life was confusing. Licking the cool water from her teeth, she stepped away from the river and settled between two crops of quartz, basking in their subtle glow and getting to work at preening her feathers.

listen to me + hear my thoughts

What was this place? So many bright, beautiful colors painted every surface, so different from anything she had ever seen before. Orion was beautiful, but single toned in its slate and quartz-- here, wherever this was-- was a rainbow of glorious light. The ground was jagged and mountainous, a maze world of shadows and crooks to explore.

Eventually, the mustelid spotted a change in the torn landscape of colors-- a glistening river that cut through the cavern. She had never seen so much water in one place, and perking up, the noodle darted for the river. On the way, she caught a glimpse of a strange creature.

The tiny bird stood out as much as she did: a flash of reddish brown in the glow of greens and blues. The fisher hybrid ducked down and crept forward in her stalking posture, staring at the chicken-thing. Was it like a winged lizard? Was it something she could eat?

Curiosity filling her to the brim, the tiny little Ash crept closer, ears twitching as she tried to figure out what the chicken-thing was. She flapped her wings and tried to make some sort of noise to get its attention, just like she did when she played with the rats back home. Maybe it was friendly! Or, well, at least as friendly as a regular cave rat, which was a pretty low bar all things considered.

tag;; @Hen

TENNESSEE

"Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play"

A jaunty little tune was hummed through the air as a large lemur walked through Polaris. One might find him a bit odd with the various objects he carried. Partly under each of his arms was a basket-full of dirt, soft fertile soil to be deposited where Cayenne had already started building fences and the healing area. Plants were starting to sprout and was already looking very promising.

In the lemur's tail was a bundle of sticks and vines which would serve various purposes. The lemur he was thinking that the sticks and vines could be used to make some sort of corral to tame cave deer, when he managed to catch one.

If one didn't think these qualities were strange then they might think the large cave rat at his side was a little off. The creature dilligently kept pace with her master and tied around both sides were tiny baskets also filled with earth. She'd grown accustomed to carrying the things. Tennessee had even given her treats when she didn't put up a fuss. So she did what was asked of her.

It was while the pair were walking with the tune being whistled out that the lemur caught sight of two creatures. One chicken and the other some sort of bird-noodle. Interesting! Would they be willing to help as well? Willing to take a small break the lemur stopped and set both baskets on the ground next to him before waving with a paw and calling out, "Howdy, there! How's it goin'?" He grinned, exposing his pointed canines but even with those dangerous weapons he cut a very friendly figure.

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

273
@Hen @Ashtoreth
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5/10

The flutter of wings, a vaguely familiar sound, drew her attention back up to the caves. A strange sight, and then a whistling coo, almost like a buzz even. Ra'Hen cocked her head, listening and watching as the tiny thing fluttered over with its oddly placed wings. Oh, this was a ra'fur-thing, but with wings! Like her, but furry too! Ra'Hen stood, stretching each wing one at a time and then faced the feathery weasle thing.

"Are you Ra'Fur?" She asked politely, pointing with her beak at the feathers on the thing's neck. Before it had a chance to answer, though, a second furry thing came- and a rat! Oh, Ra'Hen knew what those were, those rats! They'd chewed her some before her crystal had protected her fully, and now she had nibble scars on her toes! Those rats were bad, but tasted good. She strutted forward, her feathers ruffling and wings flaring at her sides.

"Rat!" She squawked, almost as if trying to warn the newcomer of it. "Kill it! Eat it! Bad rats!" She flapped her wings, then raised them, revealing her talons in a show of aggression...

...and as she did, her gem sparkled to life on her head, sputtering in its glow. Her talons grew warmer, a few sparks of fire, but nothing else came. The bad feeling of a failed cast washed over her and she fumbled, taking a step back and forgetting her posturing. Dizzy, she shook her head and sat, as any smart raptor would, before she fell and hurt herself.

"Why bad rat!" She spat indignantly, thoroughly baffled by its being there. There could be no sensible reason for this!

@Ashtoreth @Tennessee

listen to me + hear my thoughts

Ash perked up as the feathery gembound spoke clear as day, proving that it was an intelligent gembound-- a bit to her disappointment, considering that she would have liked to meet another who couldn't talk like her. The smarter gembounds, on occasion, treated her badly just because she had a defect that made her throat not work right.

She could talk with her magic, though, and that was good enough, wasn't it? About to summon her magic, the chicken let out a squawk of warning about a rat. The noodle looked over to see another gembound wearing all sorts of nonsense. It reminded her of her father and his skull-hat, except it wasn't a skull. She licked her lips and tilted her head, wondering just what this stranger wanted.

He called out a greeting though, even as Hen started to get all defensive about the cave rat that the greater gembound had accompanying him. Was he planning on eating it? She had so many questions and no way to ask them. A bit nervously, she flapped her wings and tried to get the wind to summon up some kind of answer.

The air buzzed around her and the words from both gembounds echoed around her, like a memory ringing in their ears. "Why there rat?" The words came out in fractured chunks, singing about her wings with practiced ease, and Ashtoreth seemed to relax as she finished asking her garbled question. "--It goin'eat it?"

tag;; @Hen

TENNESSEE

"Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play"

Out of all the reactions he'd seen that others had given Daisy never had he ever seen such open fear and shock. Before he could move to calm her the bird-thing was off in a tizzy screaming about the "bad rat". Daisy in turn arched her back and bared her snaggled fangs in a hiss at the chicken, not appreciating at all the tone of voice that was pointed at her. Tennessee had to squat down in front of her and rub her over her head and ears to calm the irate cave rat. Even then it took a moment, long enough for him to hear his own disjointed words and the hen's thrown back at him by the other winged creature.

He peered at the brown winged thing with open curiosity. "Boy howdy, now if'n that ain't a neat trick I don't know what is!" Not that he'd understood her last question in the slightest but he still thought it neat. He sprang to his paws and turned to the pair, taking off his hat and putting it at his stomach. He bowed his head in a show of humble remorse. "Gee, I'm awful sorry for worryin' ya! But Daisy won't 'urt ya! We're just takin' these here items to our little abode o'er yonder!" Here he pointed with his paw to the greenery in the distance where he and Cayenne had been building for about a week. "Daisy here's jus' my companion! Don't talk much but she's sure nice t'ave around. Ain't ya, girl?" The rat did nothing, only sat and stared at the chicken which had shown her the earlier aggression.

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

274
@Hen @Ashtoreth
---
5/10

Hen was confused, but she wasn't overly stupid. At least, not since her rebirth. The mutant cocked her head accusingly as the furry upwalker tried to explain. Before he could get a word out, though, little feather-fur was talking-- with Ra'Hen's voice! She didn't know what to make of it, but forgetting the rat and its rider, she turned to the little featherfur and chirped, a long, rattling, higher pitched sound- like a raptor, but garbled.

"Why you gots my voice, Featherfur? You steal Ra'Hen's sounds! How you do that, Featherfur?" She squawked, flapping her arms a few times and rustling her feathers indignantly. Oh, the furry upwalker was talking again. She bobbed her head towards him. Daisy Daisy Daisy. Who was Daisy? What was a Daisy? The rat? Daisy-Rat?

"Why take Daisy-Rat as friend thing? Rats food. Don't you eat, Weird Fur?" She tilted her head at an odd angle and stared at the Daisy-Rat, then turned to stare at the one she'd dubbed Weird Fur. "Featherfur know Daisy-Rat better as food, and Featherfur is little! Why you no know better, Weird Fur?" Because clearly, this poor gembound was very confused and mistaken. Making friends with a Rat! How absurd!

@Tennessee @Ashtoreth

listen to me + hear my thoughts

Ash listened to the tall weasely thing, watching him remove his hat. She thought her trick was neat. It was enough to make her wriggle with pride, wishing she could purr as her friends did. She cast a curious glance at the rat, lifting a paw to bat at the air playfully towards it. She wondered if Daisy would like the cave rats back home. Did cave rats make friends? She wanted to ask so many questions, but her tongue was useless.

The chicken seemed quickly impressed, a bit surprised but intrigued as well. The noodle puffed up, pride practically pouring out of her dorky, fluffy form. She listened to the pair of gembounds talk about Daisy, trying to figure out how to twist the words in the air to form sentences she desperately wanted to say.

But as she flapped the wings on her butt, not a single sound echoed back. Her ears flattened and she put her paw in her mouth to chew on, disappointed that she still hadn't quite gotten it right. Someday, she'd be able to hold a proper conversation-- but not today. Instead, she simply listened to the two older folk go on about whether the rat named Daisy was to be eaten or not.

tag;; @Tennessee @Hen

TENNESSEE

"Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play"

Tennessee peered keenly at the little winged weasel, one paw coming up to his chin in thought. Perhaps it was some sort of magick? He'd seen all sorts of things over the caves so why not magick that allowed you to mimick other people? It would make sense to why she could take their words so easily. He voiced these thoughts out loud, "Maybe it's magick." He mused aloud to the strangely talking chicken and strangely mute brown winged thing... who seemed awful happy with their words as she danced around. Why was she not talking with her own voice? He cast that aside for now as the subject came back to his rat.

The lemur gave a laugh at the chicken's logic. Well, she wasn't wrong. A lot of gems used cave rats as food. "Not this lil' rat. She's my friend! I figure we don't always hafta eat these little lesser gems. Why not use'em as pets or to help us out? Makes sense don't it? See? I've got her workin' by havin' her help carry this here dirt." He pointed with one paw to the baskets around her sides. "An' she don't mind it at all. 'Specially when I give 'er treats."

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

205
@Hen @Ashtoreth
---
5/10

Rats as pets! Well, I never! Ra'Hen gave the Weird one a tentatively judgmental look, then turned to watch little Ash dance about a bit. Magick. Yes, probably. Talking was hard enough with a beak. That snagglefang Featherfur had was surely the cause of her strange communication methods. The little Featherfur was strange, but Ra'Hen felt a motherly pull to accept her at face value. She wasn't dangerous, or mean.

And she didn't keep strange things as pets.

Though, Ra'Hen considered it carefully. It could prove worth looking into. Ra'Ma basically kept the other raptors as pets, doing her bidding without question or complaint. Surely there was some benefits to having a slave creature. Yes, that sounded nice.

"Ra'Hen wants pet now. How get? Give Ra'Hen pet! And Featherfur! Featherfur get pet too! Weird give both us pets, yes." She thought a moment, and decided it unfair not to offer something in return. "Ra'Hen not eat Daisyrat if Ra'Hen and Featherfur get pets too." The offer seemed fair. The Weird One wasn't much different in size. She was certain, if he disagreed and she tried to eat Daisyrat, and he fought back, she'd be more than a match for the Weird one. Yes, this was a flawless plan.

@Tennessee @Ashtoreth