She found something strange among the metal - something that was a perfect circle but extended out into an ivory cylinder. Her tail feathers raised in excitement as she yanked the thing out from the pile and bounded back to her gift pile.

With a tongue lolling out she placed it on the ground and sank down onto her belly to gaze at it for a moment. It was made out of something dusty, but definitely white. Ornate and carved - it might fit around Caravaggio's leg or something.

It was perfect.

She admired it for a moment. She thought of many things - if it were too small for his leg, or it fell off, he could wear it on one of his horns and his horns would be all pretty. She'd have to wash it first though, but that's what rivers are for, of course.

She leapt up and she bounded around her pile in absolute joy. But now, she only just realised. How was she supposed to pick all this stuff up?

The hybrid shifted. The sharp-thing would be hard to carry. Maybe she'd have to abandon it. She could definitely carry the piece of metal and Caravaggio's gift, but she might hurt herself with the knife.

...Poor Fisher would receive no gift from her this time, but she supposed she could always just come back for it, right?

Abruptly, she nodded. Picking up the piece of metal in her mouth and then Caravaggio's gift, she began to run out of tunnel J.

It was an incredibly long run to Polaris, but she got there eventually. With a wheezing pant and a whine the dog approached the Spire, quickly placing her gifts behind a rock and turned to begin running back to tunnel J.

And by the time she got back there, she was on the brink of exhaustion. She had some difficulty finding where she left Fisher's gift, but her bleary eyes eventually found it on the ground. Slowly, she approached it...

...and then she fell down in front of it, panting, eyes closed.

She hadn't passed out just yet, no, and she hadn't managed to hit the knife just yet, but surely a nap right about now wouldn't hurt at all. The dog's aching limbs curled into herself as the exhausted creature slowly began to drift off into sleep.

She awoke several hours later. Or, she would if Origin actually had any concept of time. At first, she was startled, and then, she was aching. With a slight groan the creature knew she couldn't actually stay here for very long.

Slowly, the hybrid got up to her throbbing paws and talons, leaning down to pick up the rusted dagger in her maw. The taste was more metallic than she remembered it being, but regardless, White prepared herself for a long, miserable walk back to Polaris.

[end]