She could practically hear his scrutiny. There was no laughter in the air, as though she had asked of an old rival. There was no quiet hum of amusement as he spoke. Rather, he was silent; she heard the subtle swish of coarse hair as he flicked his tail, and then finally his voice shattered the stillness, cutting in like a hot knife. Had Magdalena not been so sure of her intentions, perhaps she would have flinched, or maybe gotten angry and leaped to defend the rhino. Her heart quavered at the horse's harsh words, yet she found herself inwardly entertained by the slough of insults he listed off that she had dared to call him. So, she supposed, they hadn't had a very pleasant meeting. She almost wished that she had been there to experience it, if only to know the extent of the encounter and not just his side. She could always ask Nemesis later.

Still he went on, and Magdalena listened as was her job, twitching her folded, floppy ears to signify that she was in fact still paying attention to his indignant diatribe. Her head cocked briefly to one side, her eyes flickering in the direction that he was walking, but she nodded as though she were no more than a psychiatrist, drinking in his troubles with a sympathetic simper. Magdalena could tell he wasn't a rhino. He walked with the grace of something certainly not a rhino, but it lent her a mental image she could only describe as being fragile. Her attention wove in and out of his self righteousness until he brought up Diamondfang, to which Magdalena responded by spreading her smile even further. A gentle, bell-like laugh rolled up from her chest.

"I've not seen her lately." Magdalena answered, and she was tempted to cut it short, leave it at that - but she had to keep him talking, keep his attention on her voice, seduce him with the lie of trust. Hers was an intimate poison. "Last I saw Diamondfang, she was scolding Louie for bringing a pair of dangerous prisoners into Monoceros. Maybe one took the other out." Magdalena mused darkly, but she knew the truth. Louie had returned with her and Nemesis to Monoceros a few days ago with their ill-fated children. Rather, one of them was Magdalena's; but she'd been there when he enchanted the danburite, she felt she had as much claim to it as he. "How close are we, if I may ask?" The dog added, lacking impatience - more to sate her wonder, to know how much time she had left.

@Erebus

It didn't take long for Erebus to drift off into his own thoughts as he waited for Magdalena's answer to his final inquiry. His attention had been placed on how hungry he must be feeling to start feeling the strange sensations that was slowly making it's way through his body. The sudden restlessness on top of something he just couldn't quite place at the moment. Whatever it was Erebus hoped it would go away after he found himself some foliage to eat. The soft voice that came from the canine behind her drew his attention and his pointed ears rolled back to listen to her, unaware of his own pace seemingly slowing down.

The idea of this Louie character bringing in prisoners and having Fang pissed off about it seemed to catch Erebus' attention. For a moment he regretted finding his solitude within the gorges and missing out on seeing just what kind of dangerous prisoner's were brought into Monoceros. The stallion nickered thoughtfully to himself, pondering over the ideas of what they could have been. It wasn't until Mag spoke of one of them possibly falling to the other did Erebus come to a screeching halt and swing his massive head around to stare darkly at the white canine. "And you didn't think to go find out? Who is this Louie anyways," He nearly barked with annoyance. The name was only vaguely familiar to Erebus, a name he could have sworn Fang had uttered to him once before when he was but a colt. If he found out this Louie had harmed Fang then he would undoubtedly go searching for this creature and quite possibly stomp on him until he was nothing but a small mat on the floor.

His eyes narrowed as she soon spoke her next inquiry. With a snort Erebus turned his gaze away from the Borzoi and searched the distance ahead of them. He wasn't exactly sure how to answer that as he honestly did not keep the idea of time when he traveled from the Gorge to go some where else. It would probably take even longer with a blind dog following behind him. "Just a bit further..." He grumbled his response before looking back to Mag. She was certainly a strange creature. How could one be so smiley when they could not even see the things around them? It was probably why she didn't think Nemesis was crazy. She just couldn't see it. He rolled his eyes and swished his tail back and forth in a thoughtful manner. "Do you need a break?" It wouldn't hurt to check and see. It wasn't that Erebus wanted to take one for himself, he could walk for days, but he didn't know how well this canine's endurance was. She had been walking around since Erebus had heard her so there was no telling just how long she had been on the move. It was strange really for Erebus would have not given even the slightest of concern had it been someone else.

Words: 506

She never would have known immediately that the horse had stopped and swung his head to look at her. She was only aware of his pause when the horse had grinded to a halt and the sound of his clopping hooves had given away into silence. Magdalena twitched her ears slightly, but her pace didn't ease. She continued to walk past him and allowed him to keep up, humming a soft laughter as she did. "I've no need to find out. It was only playful speculation; though Louie is powerful, Diamondfang is far too smart for him." That she wasn't entirely certain of. Louie had both his strengths and his weaknesses. She knew that he was a powerful mage, and he was fast - but had heard through the grapevine that he was missing one of his eyes. That made him half blind. Diamondfang, on the other hand, was extremely intelligent, however she was also incredibly arrogant. The two of them would be quite evenly matched. Diamondfang would quickly be incapacitated if Louie managed to catch her with his magic. Louie, however, could fall so long as Diamondfang was persistent.

In any case, she shrugged off his question of who Louie was. If it became relevant later, she would touch on it; otherwise, she let it drift off in the breeze like a long forgotten leaf. He responded that they had a bit further to go and she wondered if he knew exactly a way out of this gorge or if he'd been abandoned here, too lost to find the surface again. When he asked her if she needed a break, her own silence extended in thought. Would it serve her well to stop and prolong this rescue? No, not necessarily. What she needed to do was exhaust him and allow her sickness to find its anchor in his lungs.

Post-Roll Edit:
She coughed suddenly, making up for the pause as though there were an itch in her throat. There, she could feel it again - the virus that had been entrenched deep in her bowels crawling up out of her airways, siphoned into the atmosphere as a virulent aerosol clamoring for traction in the body of another. Magdalena cleared her throat and continued her pace. "I am fine. Let's keep going." She answered, reassuring him with a small nod.

A loud snort escaped the equine when Magdalena spoke her words. Had no need to check? Playful speculation? Some follower she was. Either way, Erebus would push his thoughts aside and follow after her almost curiously to see if she would manage to lead their way out. It made him question how true it was that she was even blind once again. As they continued walking a sudden weariness gripped at his legs and his pace slowed down in just the slightest. His gaze fell to the stone flooring he walked upon. His thoughts drifted off, leaving him without words for the floppy eared canine. It wasn't until his hoof stumbled over a crack did Ereb jerk back into attention. Again he snorted, looking every which way before scowling at Mag. "So tell me. What has that stupid rhino thing been doing. She done stomping around like a crazed maniac," he grunted to express his annoyance in just saying her name.


Ooc: God famnit ereb why are you getting good rolls while my others are failing >:|

Quietly pushing forward, Magdalena was tempted to let her mind wander. But she couldn't let herself be distracted, not now - not with the infected horse by her side. By now, he must have breathed in her brand of bacteria. There was no way that he'd be able to avoid the cloud that was engulfing them both. Even she could feel it stirring, the wretched unease in her stomach that made her want to pause, to sniff, to swallow, to vomit. The disorganized palpitating of her heart with anxiety and restlessness. If she wasn't careful, she might just infect herself. That was why she found herself listening to him, honing in on the rhythm of his steps and the sound of his breaths. Pushing away all the discomfort of her struggling body.

When he suddenly stumbled, the dog tipped her nose slightly, but he followed up with a few quick and short-tempered words. Magdalena smiled again, uttering a throaty chuckle. It was hard for her to answer in earnest, because from the sounds of it, the horse wasn't fond of Nemesis. But Magdalena feared it would be a betrayal to humor him. She couldn't bring herself to view her Fire so negatively, even if it was a feigned act of solidarity. "Doing what she normally does. Protecting Monoceros. Protecting her child." She answered idly. It would probably come as a surprise to Erebus that Nemesis had a child - it most certainly had when her Fire finally spit it out, but Magdalena came to accept it. It was selfish of her to think she could hoard Nemesis' affections all to herself, especially when Magdalena had been the fool to dish it out so generously to those who would just as easily discard it. "How long ago did you fall into this gorge?" She added as an afterthought. Or maybe he hadn't fallen - the point was, he had gotten himself down here and hadn't come back out, and she wanted to know why.

@Erebus

Erebus stared long and hard at the floppy eared canine. To find that Nemesis had a child was shocking news to him. Who in all of Origin would want to create a child with that thing?! He snorted indignantly, snapping his gaze away from the white dog. A strange feeling consumed him slowly and had Erebus not known any better, perhaps he could have called it jealousy. Alas, Erebus was not a creature of such things. Especially not towards a stupid gray blob. At Mag's next words, Erebus suddenly came to a screeching halt as he blew air through his nose rather loudly. "I did not fall! I came here to get away from that insufferable thing you call a rhino!" His words snapped out harshly. Angry that he was suddenly not feeling good as well as this weird floppy eared creature assuming he would so stupidly fall into such a place as this. "Find your own way out supposed blind dog," He grumbled before he turned, took a few steps and in a sudden rush of unease began to move down until he was resting on his stomach. His long limbs tucked beneath him. Pointed ears flicked back, expressing his annoyance, but he said not another word or even looked back towards the canine.


OoC: Ereb you're a big jerk .-.

Normally her pace would have continued, even at his sharp exhale - but then he protested against helping her any further. Magdalena twitched her ears and pushed them forward, straw eyes flickering drifting through the unseeing void in the direction of the horse. Well, that answered that question - she really wasn't sure if the horse had fallen or made his way down here himself. With long gangly legs, Magdalena had a tendency of getting tangled up in herself if she wasn't careful - she figured it could be just as easy for the horse to lose his balance and topple down the edge of the canyon. Regardless, he insisted he hadn't fallen. He only wanted to escape the rhino. Then why not go somewhere else? She still doubted his claims. But Magdalena didn't say anything else. She had stopped walking and listened as he reclined, but now he was just laying there. As far as she could tell.

Magdalena hesitated. She couldn't abandon him now that she was certain her sickness had wormed its way into his bloodstream. Mostly, she feared that she wouldn't be able to find him, especially if he got up and wandered off. She had to stall more. "Are your legs no longer functional?" The dog asked, innocently enough - there was nothing in her voice that suggested she was trying to antagonize him. Any Gembound could detect his anger and assume that she'd said something to offend him, causing him to deny her aid, but Magdalena feigned ignorance and turned her body towards him with a curious tilt of her head.

@Erebus

Violet eyes flicked towards the white dog as she continued to remain in her spot. His eyes narrowed when she asked another question and it was all he could do to force himself to snort loudly at her. "They work just fine!" He snapped with annoyance as his ears flicked back. His day had been going just fine until this white floppy eared creature had come around and now it was just a disaster. "I'm just tired. why are you still here," He grumbled turning his head away from her and frowned towards himself. It didn't make sense as to why he felt tired in the first place, either way her annoying questions was not helping him in the least.

It was difficult to displace the amusement she felt bleeding in when the horse indignantly replied that his legs were fine, and yet she didn't hear him stand and begin to walk again. Perhaps he was being stubborn, perhaps she had offended him. Maybe he was acting the toddler and laying on the floor in evident protest of having to go somewhere he didn't want to go. Magdalena tilted her head the other way, and then took a step towards him. "I am concerned for your health." The dog answered gently. Internally, she felt laughter laced in those words that spilled so carefully from her maw, but she tried her best to hide it from him. The dog continued, feeling around the cave floor, the dust, the rocks, the isolated core of bacteria that pulled at her from a single direction - that was him. She stepped around him.

As she moved, she exhaled. Ever so slightly, ever so quietly, she allowed the bacteria to further infest the air around them. Magdalena walked an arc around the horse, ending near his rear end and gazing thoughtfully over him before beginning her walk in completion of the circle, eventually to return to his front side.

Erebus watched her closely. Watched As she spoke down at him as if he were some child needing it's mother to look after his health. Watched as she circled around him, moving as if she could see exactly where he was. His eyes narrowed, burning angrily as he stared after her. Though his vision didn't last and for a moment things began to blur out. He snorted and flicked his tail, unwling to move from his spot on the ground. "My health is fine. Why would it concern you anyways," he grumbled at her when she finally returned to her spot in front of him. She was nothing but a lying she-devil! Just like that stupid rhino.