Despite his coat color being white and despite his thick fur he found this tunnel to be strangely uncomfortable. It wasn't as if it was cold or even foreboding, it was just some sort of... thing. The white pup shook his coat out and fluffed it up but that didn't help much. His mouth, stretched into its normal impassive line, twitched. His paws drew to a halt as he dropped onto his haunches right in the middle of the large tunnel. His eyes seemed blank as he stared straight ahead and he pondered the feeling in his coat. His fur began to twitch violently but still he sat as he tried to place exactly why it was like this. The tunnel was not cold so he wasn't shivering. Most strange.

Perhaps he could just leave. He was sure that in the next place over he wouldn't have to worry about the discomfort... but this place. He was intrigued. Shouldn't he stay and study the sensation so that he knew it better and could learn from it later? Seemed like a good plan to him.

He sat. And sat. And sat... And sat longer but he seemed no closer to discovering the why he was so uncomfortable. Perhaps it was just a general air in this cavern. The humidity coupled with the tendrils of mist that seemed to come from his nose. He would leave it at that for now and perhaps come back later to discover the full extent of the phenomena. Yes. That seemed like a plan.

Finally he rose to his paws and continued onwards towards Polaris but stopped when he noticed a shape ahead of him. The scent of deer flooded his nostrils and he could hear the clop of hooves against the rocky ground. His stomach rumbled with the delicious smell. Well, he could certainly do with a snack and this far towards the room the feeling of discomfort had lessened.

The dog shuffled to the side quietly, hurriedly getting out of the deer's line of sight while he hid behind a large rock. Then, he began to focus his magick towards the deer that was rapidly coming closer. Before it could pass by his hiding spot the magick grabbed at the deer's heart, stopping it. With a gasp of alarm it fell to the ground and Zariel quickly rushed out to bite its throat, finishing it off. Now he had a whole carcass to himself! How lucky could he be?

---

415
Open
bleeegggghhhh....
4/10

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

She'd just entered Polaris on a whim, searching for someone to ruin and hurt, and she saw this pretty white pup walking around the room with seemingly no purpose. Belladonna was going to walk over to them and speak to them, but the shadows that normally spoke to her of a gem's pain were silent this time. The pup was too young, she surmised, to have gathered enough sins for her to use against them. That was fine. She could use her imagination well enough. While she walked to him, her hooves clacking on the stone, she saw that the pup was focused on something off to the side, and her ears swiveled to the sound. It was a cave deer...and she could feel a rise of magic on the pup as she moved closer, and she saw the deer suddenly drop to the ground, and the pup move to kill it in one fell swoop. Belladonna stood there, stunned. Clover rose in her prison and saw a chance to act, to take control, and brought up her light to try and knock Belladonna off her throne. But the shadow took Clover in her grips and squished her like an insect, and the dark around her writhed and screamed and rose from the ground like demonic snakes, and Belladonna was furious. How dare this pup murder a fellow deer, a creature in her image, something like her. She would teach it a lesson. "......."

He had just begun to eat his meal when he heard the sound of more hooves. One ear flicked towards the sound but then turned back around as he ignored it. He already had food and there was no need to kill another deer just for the sheer pleasure. He expected to hear the hooves continue to click to indicate the cave deer walking away or hear louder clicks as it ran from him. However, neither of those things happened. It simply stopped, indicating that the deer had ceased moving.

Zariel was relatively new to the world but he had learned some things like the habits of lesser gembounds. They were creatures of instincts and never of curiosity when a predator was involved. Mouth bloodied from his meal he lifted his head and turned it towards the last place he'd heard the clicking. His eyes laid upon a rather strange sight. His eyes widened slightly but he showed no fear, only his normal blankness and the same impassive line at his muzzle. Was it magick that made the shadows around the white-doe hiss and writhe like snakes of the ether? He studied them for a moment before his stare came up to the voids that were the doe's eyes. Perhaps he should have been afraid or unsettled but there was none of that in his body. He was only curious as to why this deer was so angry? Did she not know about the natural order of life? He didn't mean to inflict harm, he wanted to be a Good Dog but he had to eat.

Was she some sort of keeper of the cave deer? An angry spirit of herbivores which was displeased with him? He sincerely hoped not but if she was it could not be helped. Still, all of which he thought were assumptions. Until she spoke and told him exactly what she was angry about he could say nothing or do nothing to appease her, so he just stared. His head tilted ever so slightly to the right, the only indication that he was waiting on her to speak and say what exactly she was upset about.

---

361
@Belladonna
It's slowly coming back...
5/10

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

She walked towards the pup and her eyes were clouded with rage. Memories blinded her, of her conception, of her entering an almost dead body and being assaulted with Clover's pain and suffering before she even had an identity to call her own. She remembered with perfect clarity every moment of her pain, and it was what had let her in, what formed her, the first sensations she ever experienced. And she had hated it. Seeing that dear die, seeing them being ripped open and eaten by nothing more than a mongrel covered in blood made her brindle with rage, her face contorted in anger. She thought nothing of the deer that had died, but of her own memories, her own death. She had no clear cut reason for her madness in her head, and she saw nothing but red. She didn't want to take the time to rip open his mind...she wanted to kill him. She raised up her hooves. "Die," she hissed. "......."

The canine continued to stare, curious at what the white doe with the dripping eyes would do next. She began to approach him wearing that mask of anger, eyes roiling with rage. The canine tensed, unsure if she would strike at him or simply yell. Either one he could deal with, he just had to be sure before he reacted. Still he said nothing as the white doe neared and came closer and closer. Then, she reared and screeched that he should die.

In a split second two thoughts occurred to him. The first was that he could not simply die, it would take more than just someone screaming at him to do so. The second thought was that he had to get out of the way fast or he would face serious injury... and injury would keep him from being a Good Dog. He attempted to leap away but he wasn't fast enough to avoid those sharp hooves. He felt them crash down on his back right leg, shattering it into two pieces. A sharp stab of pain coursed through it at the break and he yelped in pain. He knew that he couldn't stop though, he had to get away or the doe would try to make her command a reality. Mama Arkrael wouldn't be pleased if he was injured so much that he couldn't go home.

The pain was excruciating and slowed him down considerably. He tried to hobble away on three legs but he was slow and he was getting nowhere fast. His tongue lolled from the side of his mouth as he tried to ignore his broken leg but really he was just a sitting duck at this point.

---

284
@Belladonna
It's slowly coming back...
5/10

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

Paws raced. Raced and raced through caverns and tunnels. Her heart beat frantically in her chest. A chill raced down her spine as heterochromia eyes searched all around. Something was wrong. Something. Something horrible. Was it Vazi? The idea of something going wrong because of that stag sent a frenzy into her heart and she pushed herself more. Her pup was in trouble. As for which one, she wasn't sure just yet. All she knew was that one of her charges were in danger and she had to get to them. The sound of her paws racing across the stone floor thundered loudly, or at least in her ears it did.

Panic arose in her and she struggled to stifle the emotion as she hurried on. She had no time to worry about any of that. just above her was a growing DragonBat, screeching his own concern as he followed her easily on silent wings. Pheo was in a dazed panic, unsure what was causing his companion such unease. Though he continued to follow. He would help if he could.

It wasn't long before she found herself sprinting into a very familiar tunnel and as she went further and further into it. First her gaze saw the doe. Fur as white as could be and for a split second her heart fluttered. Though it was quick to fall away. There were no tan markings. This was not her hatchmate. Then she saw him. The small white pup that she had taken in as her own son. Her own pup. Limping desperately away from the doe. Hackles bristled as a snarl ripped from her chest. Instantly her gem reacted....

...The ground suddenly shook and rumbled, thundering loudly in the tunnel as the ground between the doe and her child violently ripped apart. Arkrael did not halt her running. No. She would not allow this doe to get away with harming her child! She would not! Vazi flitted through her mind for a moment and silently she wondered... was she part of his herd?

It didn't matter in the least. She would pay for harming her child. She ran right towards the splintered floor and lunged right over it. The moment her paws landed upon the ground she kept up her pace, rushing towards the doe with a violent intent.

"Speech"
'Thoughts'

---

Words:Words
Tags: @Belladonna
OoC: MAMA'S COMING OMG D:

The bear knew how painful it could be to be confined to a single cave through the duration of injury. Oh, he knew injury all too well - he had a nasty habit of getting into fights where he really shouldn't have, and then burning himself to a crisp such that his first and foremost punishment was retiring to the den to spend another couple weeks recovering. Thankfully, Leon was the kind of Gembound too eager to be on his feet again, and even if he was supposed to be stuck in the den healing, he had a tendency to get up and wander. It was rare that an injury could keep him down for long. That was why he thought it would be a good idea to take Bartos out of Pisces and wandering to the other caves; the cat had been sulking in his new den ever since he arrived, and after admitting that he hadn't seen any part of the cave beyond Orion and Pisces, Leon decided that it was time for an adventure.

The long haired cat was curled up on his back, between his shoulders. Leon's lumbering pace was slow and metered, and he'd made sure that somebody back in Pisces was able to keep a close eye on his children while he was gone. He didn't like leaving Pisces often, but this was for a good cause. Leon hated to see the cat so miserable, his only company the slow growing citrine chrysali. They'd come from Clover, and when he learned that he couldn't deny the sinking feeling of dread in his gut. She'd been bound to Hasira for some reason beyond him - and then Bartos explained that Hasira was keeping her prisoner and she was trapped - leaving Bartos without a mother for his growing children. The feeling hit close to home. He couldn't imagine how he could survive if anything had happened to Makyna.

Leon was filling up the silence with playful ramble, telling the cat about his adventures with Makyna and some of the cute things his children had done, and how adorable and amazing it would be once his emerged. They made their way through the tunnel on their way to Polaris - it would be the first place Leon would show Bartos, as he was certain the nerdy little cat would enjoy seeing the spire. They were keeping a good pace, too, until the sound of a scuffle had risen up through the air. The bear paused and listened - clacking of hooves, stamping, and then the ground began to rumble. "Hold on," He spoke quickly to the cat, bursting forward. He couldn't stop his mind from leaping to assumptions. Hasira. It must have been him. The ground shuddered and shattered, breaking apart, cleaving a rift through the tunnel as he caught sight of Arkrael clearing the gap and lunging for another. To the side, a small white dog was attempting to limp away. Harmed. Assaulted.

He didn't spare a second thought. In the back of his mind, he recognized the doe. But she had done wrong. She had done evil. There was no way this could be Clover - her eyes bled blackness, and there was shadow consuming her entirety. The bear charged after Arkrael, fully intent on backing her up.

Post-Roll Edit:
As the heat roiled around in his chest, Leon sucked in a deep breath, ready to bathe the atmosphere in tongues of flame - until the cat suddenly shouted for him to stop, causing the bear to choke on the heat and burn his tongue, scowling as he skidded to a halt.

"LEON, STOP!" The cat's frantic voice cried out, eyes glued to the target of the massive bear and the vicious wolf.

It was her.

Of all the creatures that they could have found, it was her.

And he witnessed it all in slow motion - the wolf with her teeth bared, ready to tear the life from her throat. The bear, angry and sick with vengeance, or justice, brewing the heat of the sun inside his very lungs, fire to rip across her and consume the doe. The beautiful, the perfect, the flawed - what had she become - whatever she had become, it was still her. It was still her.

Bartos lifted himself up on the bear's back, claws subconsciously unsheathed into his skin as he gripped on for dear life and summoned his magic with all his strength.

Post-Roll Edit:
A surge of energy lashed out from the cat, a wave of crackling blue - it crawled along the earth, rupturing the soil and rock until the spires of stone erupted from the ground around the hooves of the white doe had turned to deep cobalt. As the earth shook in the wake of the wolf, it parted its great maw and a shell of crystalline benitoite mounted around her, gleaming in the artificial light of the cave. The gem was thin and incomplete, barely a foot high behind the doe, but that didn't matter. Bartos forged a wall of dark space blue before her, shielding her from whatever harm the wolf may bring. He couldn't let anyone else hurt her.

He told her he would protect her.

@Belladonna

So much happened at once. She heard the bones of the pup snap, heard his cry of pain, his whimpering, saw him crawl away, panting, not even crying out for help. She advanced on him slowly, snarling, the shadows wrapping around him, swirling around her like an oncoming tidal wave that wanted to swallow them both in sickness and hatred, swarming the dead doe and eating it whole till it disappeared completely from sight. Her shadows coiled around his paws, staining his legs with their cold touch, wanting to devour. She wanted to rip him open slowly and make an autopsy of the pup alive, shivering and crying and unable to even speak, because it would be his vocal cords and his legs she would render useless first. But then she heard someone running towards her, and she turned, seeing both the ground beneath her shake and rip asunder, and she was knocked to the ground from the trembling, the ground between her and cub splitting apart. She glanced at him and saw his black stained fur and saw little Pounce there in her blind rage, shivering and looking at her with wide, simpering eyes, and she wanted to gouge them out. He hurt her, he ripped her open, and she would have her revenge, or- Then the wolf lunged at her, and a few things happened simultaneously. The ground rumbled again, and this shimmering crystal form ripped up, blocking the her view from the wolf, and she flinched at the same time it came up, her body readying itself for an impact that never came. Then she looked all around her, seeing the incomplete dome of glittering protection, and Clover rose up inside. She could feel him near, she could sense him, and she wanted to go to him. Belladonna snarled and sent her hands to grip the doe from the raging sea, but Clover knew her by now, and used her light to slash the hands away, unafraid of drowning now, from all the times she couldn't breathe in the dark, sludging filth filling her lungs. She ran towards the throne for control and wrestled with Belladonna for it at the open doorway, and she cried out, "Bartos! Bartos, you need to run, you-" Belladonna threw her down and put a hoof on her neck and bared her teeth, "NEVER!" She roared, her voice unrecognizable from Clover's, so filled with anger and hatred. "NEVER! I WILL KILL HIM FOR WHAT HE'S DONE TO ME!" "......."

@Vicktor @Bartos @Zariel @Arkrael

"Speech"

He couldn't run fast enough. His hobbled leg was too painful and despite him trying to ignore it... It wasn't working. Tiny whimpers escaped his little maw as he attempted to run away. Blackness rose around him, swallowing him up and for a moment he believed that he was passing out but he never fell to the ground or lot consciousness. No, that steady beat of his heart and the angry laments of his tormentor and snarls? His ears perked but he didn't dare turn not until he heard the sound of ripping earth and thundering paws.

His golden eyes turned to see the gallant form of his mother as she tried to attack the doe but her way was blocked. Everything was happening so quickly but his swift mind was able to keep track with a frightening amount of detail. The cat and the bear who must have come when his back was turned and the stones blocking his mom from the doe. Perhaps the cat was friends with her, that was why he blocked her access. In any case he just wanted to go with his mother so he could have snuggles and heal.


"Mama." It was spoken in his simple monotone. A calm plea despite his pain and his want to be elsewhere. Would she even recognize him now with his oily black fur? Soon it would fade away to something of its former color but for now he looked like a little shadow from the corruption of darkness around him.

@Arkrael @Belladonna @Leon @Bartos