Right behind him, as if he hadn't been aware of their presences, another two Gembounds had appeared: a lioness who he vaguely recognized as one of the healers from the fight with Raheerah (he recognized the flower in her ear, who else did that? Mammals sure were weird), and the Big Hairy. Ghanyarah turned his head, ignoring the lioness who seemed just as confused as everybody else, and focusing on the wolf that had come striding up to him. He narrowed his eyes slowly at her, flicking his tongue, testing her scent. "Big Hairy." Ghanyarah answered stiffly, then he stepped back and looked at the gathering. Well, perhaps with the five of them, they'd be able to solve this mystery-

-or not? Suddenly the capybara lost her cool, blubbering on about having to go and please don't hurt me and whatever. The komodo stepped aside and watched her go, and then the lioness took off after her. Well. Alright. Three Gembounds might still be enough to solve the mystery... he looked between the now revealed numbat and the wolf, quirking a brow as the stranger introduced himself. "Ghanyarah." He added with his own name, then tilted his head and prepared another answer - only there was a distant roar manifesting from the silence of the tunnel, and his voice cut off. His head turned in the direction he thought it was coming from, but he heard it behind him, too, and to the side, and behind the walls, and suddenly it was everywhere. "What's tha-"

The wall exploded and a rush of water crashed through the ice, sweeping through the three gathered Gembounds. The reptile squeaked his surprise, swept away at first by the water, but in between waves of the onslaught he managed to grip the ground with his clawed feet and hold himself there until the water had died down. Gasping breaths, Ghanyarah stared wide-eyed at the new opening wrenched from the ice, momentarily speechless.

table and code © chelsea of ORIGIN

Barnett nodded, filing the big lizard's name away - it distantly reminded him of something else with claws and scales, but the thought was whisked away as quick as it had come when a distant roar bellowed through the tunnel, shaking the ground with its force. The numbat's hair puffed up, and he glanced towards Ghanyarah, opening his mouth to ask what, exactly, this tunnel's problem was, when a massive crash! broke the tension, followed by a massive swell of water... headed straight towards their little party of three.

Barnett spared it a grimace. "Oh for fuck's sa-"

The rest of his rant was swallowed by the water, the force of it knocking him from the ground and lifting his exceedingly tiny body to the top of the swell, carrying him into one of the walls. He hit with a thud and squeak, claws digging into tiny divots in the icy stone for purchase. The scribe managed to hold himself there until the water fled, leaving him to slowly, shakily climb his way back to the floor, shimmying to try and lose some of the freezing cold liquid trapped in his fur. An irritated sneeze later, and he trotted back towards Ghanyarah, limp more pronounced than ever as his useless leg dragged on the floor.

He stopped dead at the sight of the newly-opened tunnel entrance, staring into it, before raising a hand to pinch himself. "Woah. Well. Didn't expect that one." His pointed snout rose to stare up at the monitor. "So we gonna explore it or what?"

She had begged, pleaded, shouted... but not cried, to be able to go out and explore and finally she was allowed to. With supervision, of course. Her mother was out doing mother-things and her siblings were doing sibling-things which mainly consisted of Sonata staring at her reflection and Barry being too timid to brave his own shadow! Ugh! She wanted to go out and do something! There was an entire cave to explore and she would see it if it killed her! That was probably the reason her father opted to go with her so that she didn't kill herself or sneak out unattended which was bound to happen if she was forced to stay in any longer.

Feeling quite accomplished that she'd gotten her Papa Bear to come along with her she walked along with tunnels with her head high and her paws slapping loudly on the cold earth. Even from day one she liked to hear the sounds of different things hitting against each other to create a sort of rhythm. It was nice on the ears and soothing and fun to the young Songcat.

Slapslapslap slapslap! Slapslapslap slapslap! Went her white paws on the slightly soggy ground. With her mind focused on her cadence she didn't hear the sound of her mother chasing off after the capybara which was probably a good thing. However, the rumbling was pretty hard to miss... The young grizzly lion stopped walking for a moment to peer cautiously ahead. "Hey, Papa Bear, did you hear that?" It wasn't long before she felt the gush of water coming straight at her. Dark claw unsheathed as she attempted to grab the ground below her to keep from being thrown off her feet. "Whooooaaa! Someone must have had to go pretty bad! Ha ha ha!" She laughed out loud before turning a sheepish grin on her father. He might not have appreciated that joke very much.

The young lionbear didn't stay apologetic for long because she heard the sound of other gembounds. Wow! New people to meet! She hadn't met anyone outside of Maji Walezi before and she was eager to now. With an excited cheer she bounded forward and came upon the tunnel along with a few other gems. Cadence's stubby tail wagged gleefully as she bounded right up to the tiny striped thing. "'A course! I love explorin'!" She said a grin as she bounced excitedly on her paws. "C'mon, c'mon, let's go!" And she rushed forward in an attempt to bolt down the new tunnel. What were all those stubby adults waiting for? Adventure was right ahead and she wasn't about to hold off on that!

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444
Leon @Booker Ghanyarah @Arkrael
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7/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums,

What a shame that you came here with someone...

He had been following the ever lasting scent of that numbat. It had been awhile since he had seen his father, but that was normal. They weren't always attached to the other's hip. Still, a little too much time had passed for the tamarin. Well not really time, a case of worry had set and here he was! Standing in front of an unfamiliar tunnel. It was frozen, cold and very very still. A flicker or two of his hidden ears, he could hear voices up ahead. The sound of many gembounds, and it seemed Booker was there too! A wide smile he took a few more step until a thunderous and hollow CRRAAAACK ripped through the tunnel.

Panic and fear of the unknown forced the small tamarin to run forward. Perhaps if he reached his father before what ever made that sickening sound, maybe everything would be fine! He attempted to call out for Booker! Only, his voice was met with an ever growing rumble. It quickly snuffed his cries out. Up ahead he watched a torrent of water hit the other gembounds, including his father. Within seconds it was overpowering the young tamarin with an force unrelenting. Fran stay afloat proved useless as the current controlled him now. His small body thrown around in the swell of rushing water. He had hit one, two tunnel walls beneath the swell.

Sad to say but Diot had no idea how to save himself. He dare not scream, for the water would send him to a shallow grave. Unloving and cold, he did not sign up for this. The edges of his vision began to blur and small spots began to stain his view. He would try to brace the water, there was no chance of him regaining his footing now. Only to wait and allow the torrent to pass. Which to much of his relief, was very soon. Sprawled out among the tunnel floor, soaked and discombobulated like a new born fish. He lay staring down, spitting up remnants of what water managed to become forcefully ingested into him. "DAAAD!!" One final cry out, maybe seeing his dear numbat would help him regain some strength. Though he was sure to get an earful for his reckless behavior...


"Speech"

Much to his dismay, one of his children was finally so fed up with the safety and security of Pisces that they had pestered him to go exploring the rest of the cave. Leon had a feeling Cadence would be the one to break that seal of comfort that had existed for - what, barely a few days? She seemed to be the most outgoing at least, not that there was a problem with it. ...Maybe a small one. He had nightmares of his children wandering away in the night or when he wasn't looking. Terrible visions of Hasira coming upon them and breaking their legs, or kidnapping them, or worse - he wouldn't put it past the stag to do so. The thought of it even now made him shudder. He had obliged to take Cadence out to explore, but only if she stuck by him. Then he had to find someone to watch over Sonata and Baroque considering Makyna was busy doing lion things somewhere. Bartos and Baroque seemed to keep in good company, but he couldn't see Barry wandering off. It was Sonata he was worried about.

In any case, he kept his eyes glued to Cadence as they made their way through the tunnel. Each time she looked to have lost her footing on the snow or ice (even if she didn't) the bear moved forward, ready to catch her and subsequently remind her to be careful. When they heard the rumbling, he had stopped to raise his head, looking cautiously along the walls. "Yeah... Maybe we should head back," The bear suggested, glancing down at his daughter. It wouldn't be a bad idea...

Of course without much time to react, they were met with a surge of water. The bear's eyes widened in alarm and he reached for Cadence in an attempt to protect her or sustain her from the force. His own hefty feet gripped the good and he braced himself behind her, ready to catch the young grizzlion if she lost her balance. When the water subsided, he huffed and shook out his thick coat, looking back down at her again. Okay. That was weird, and a little too mysterious, so maybe it really was time to-

Too late, she had already bolted off towards the other Gembounds in the tunnel. Leon puffed up, debating quickly between scolding her and going along. He ended up running after her, spotting the group as well. When he reached them, the bear sucked in a breath and landed his gaze on the numbat. "Oh. Hey Booker," He said idly, realizing he hadn't seen much of the numbat since the wedding. His nerves jumped as Cadence plunged into the opening in the wall, and his heart practically jumped out his throat. "Cadence! Be careful! You don't know whats in there!" He scowled, shuffling after her.

Despite the crow's less-than-impressive hearing, she had heard the crack. She was, however, hesitant to investigate further. She flew up near the entrance to tunnel M, the right side of her face angled towards it. Distantly, she heard voices. She was ready to shrug it off. No doubt the people in Pisces were already dealing with it. She turned and in that moment, another great crack sounded from within in the tunnel. She stopped. She listened. The voices turned frantic and the sound of rushing water sounded throughout the caves. Immediately, the crow's eyes widened and she took to the air, fluttering into the tunnel. Everyone seemed to be alright - except for one. A strange black-and-orange creature was under the water and didn't seem able to reach the surface. She dived down, wings beating frantically as her head dipped under the rushing surface, barely managing to grasp the tamarin by the long, wet fur around his head and yanked him above the water. Despite her best efforts, her wings weren't strong enough to fully pull him out - but this way he wouldn't completely drown. As soon as the torrents of water passed she let go and fluttered towards Ghanyarah, promptly landing on his head. "Ghanyarah, Barnett," she squawked breathlessly, eyeing both creatures up before she gazed at the tunnel, shaking off her damp feathers. "What the fuck is that?" table code © rasta 2015

The reptile's gaze flickered over to the numbat, blinking a few times before resolving to explore the new tunnel as he suggested. Ghanyarah arched his neck, peering around the edge into the tunnel - it certainly looked like it yawned onward, like it might lead somewhere, so it would be worth checking out. His only concern was the surges of water... Then again, Ghanyarah was confident he'd be able to survive them. Everybody else? Not so much. He jumped at the sound of the approach of others - first a small white mammal, followed by the chunky bear that Ghanyarah had recalled seeing at the fight against Raheerah. They must be the ones that live in Pisces. A monkey had arrived at some point, rescued from the water surges thanks to Eve, who just as quickly settled on his head. "Hello Eve." He greeted and glanced over at the other small animals, the numbat and the monkey. He waited, allowing them the option to take a seat on his back as well - he may as well extend that courtesy as the SS Water Lizard.

Then he turned and made his way down the tunnel after Leon and Cadence, cautiously watching the walls slick with ice and wet rock.

A grin crept across the wolfen's features as Ghanyarah merely called her big hairy. She had nearly forgotten about that calling. Before too long more and more came along and soon Leon was even there and Arkrael gave the bear a simple nod of acknowledgement. Her attention had been pulled away by the sudden opening that shattered through the area. Water rushed through and Arkrael's muscles tensed, preparing for the hard shove that the water may cause as it rushed through. The wave struck against her and she stumbled for a moment, but thankfully was able to keep up on her paws. It would have been a little embarrassing if she had flopped right over.

Quickly she shook herself, sending water flying out and away from her off of her pelt before she glanced to the others, curious to see what they were planning on doing. With little words to speak, the wolfess moved and made her way towards the new opening in the tunnel. curiosity gripped at her and not even that small flicker of hesitance kept her from heading into the tunnel.


"Speech"
'Thoughts'

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Words:Words
Tags:
OoC:

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Kerberos often came to Tunnel M, but today there were... A lot of gembounds. He didn't speak, not wanting to draw attention to himself, and instead inched towards the water, watching in case anyone started to drown. He wanted to keep the others safe, and so he just waited and watched.

After all, he was sure a few of them didn't want to see his huge, lurking form like a shark in the water. Arkrael was there, though, and that gave him a shimmer of hope. If things went horribly wrong, he could count on the Alpha to protect him.

He decided he would do well to stick close to her, just in case.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

And, of course, because the universe hated Barnett and all his tiny, fluffy body stood for, the tunnel was soon flooded again - with even more predators. He almost bolted then and there, terrified of being snapped up for lunch, but there came a screech through the air - Booker! - and he was turning on a dime, racing towards it, yelling back. "Diot! Son, where are you?" It seemed as soon as he caught sight of the tamarin that Eve appeared, diving down to help him, and Barnett panted, grinning, turning tail to return to Ghanyarah's side, pushing his son up with a burst of strength only an angry parent could contain.

"Eve," he nodded, grinning, and giving her a low, sweeping bow. "Thanks for saving my son..." The numbat turned on his heel, eyes narrowing. "Who I should point out was told to stay home where it was safe, not in the middle of a melting ice tunnel of death and destruction and big-ass bitey things everywhere! No offence, Leon," he added, tossing the bear a wave before rounding back on the tamarin, idly smoothing down Diot's frizzing fur. "You! You are grounded, mister! So grounded! So far beyond grounded I should just dig you a fresh burrow!"

A tiny paw raised to point at the tamarin's chest, expression a mix between "terrified" and "mildly proud." "Don't ever scare me like that again. Capiche? Now, we're gonna sit on Ghanyarah here, and we're all gonna be fine," he finished, looping an arm through one of Diot's, the other coming to rest on one of Eve's toes, as if to make sure she was, indeed, still seated on the lizard.

And then they were off, all of them, into the newly opened tunnel ahead. Barnett hunkered down, pulled Diot closer, felt fire warm his paws, just under the surface. Nothing would happen. Not while he was here to stop it. The thought helped him resist flinching when an absolutely massive white dog entered the fray, and the scribe only crouched, casting a glance its way before staring resolutely ahead, into the unknown.