"Speech" @Booker

Curious as can be, Todd's wet and twitching nose took in the earthy scents from all around. The Maw of Mosses, the great cavern Eridanus as it was known to most; to Todd it was known as one giant playground. The fuzzy black pup wandered along what could be just barely described as a hidden path or trail through the woods, ducking under low-hanging ferns and pawing at strange-looking mushrooms. Luckily though, they amused him for a while and then were let be, and so Todd was spared from what could have been a terrible fate had he eaten any.

As per usual, he walked with his left paw barely flexing, stiffly colliding with the ground and stiffly raised. His bejeweled paw didn't give that satisfying clinking noise that it usually did when it met stone, and that displeased him. Said gem in his paw also kept on sliding on the damp moss and sodden soil, and one time he fell flat, the dirty white tuft on the end of his tail flailing as he struggled to get back on his feet. By this point his fur was slicked down and brown smudges blended with developing silver streaks. He had no idea where he was going or why, or even the slightest idea that he might be going in circles.

Around...

And around...

And around...

At one point he began to follow the tracks of some unknown creature which, unbeknownst to him, were in fact his own paw prints.

And so he walked on.

Eridanus was quiet today. Comforted, perhaps, now that it was truly under the protection of the Mother's Chosen. Perhaps it's calm was from Diot, the most - he was something of an extension of the forest itself, more than a Guardian even; an embodiment of the entirety of the cave. It was a great burden, Priest was sure, but then, who better to hold it then the dead? A sound, soft and repetitive, caught his ear, and slowly, he rose, cane steady in one hand, weight rested upon it. He'd taken to resting against the Mother's stalk, always open to more of her visions - and it seemed others flocked to her, instinctively. The shadows under her silvery cap were a meeting ground, in more ways than one.

The noise, it seemed, was the continuous step of a fox, certainly not older than a cycle. Priest hummed under his breath, slowly making his way towards it, a gentle smile twitching at his lips as he rose his free hand, cane emphasizing his own footfall. "Hark, my child." The words were soft and welcoming, if completely devoid of warmth. "Welcome to Eridanus. I am one of those who guard the forest," the numbat explained, musty coat releasing puffs of spores with every movement. "Are you in need of anything?"

He'd come to learn that few who made their way into the Mother's arms came without a reason, small or great. The kit might need something as simple as company. Priest wasn't exactly skilled at socializing, but he was a grand listener. Patiently, his black-brown gaze, tinged silvery by trauma, roamed over the fox. It was difficult not to let memories of Louie, a patent sinner, cloud his judgement, but he did, at least, try.

@Todd

"Speech" @Booker

Walk, walk, walk...

It had gotten boring after a while, but fortunately enough for him, the perceived trauma was about to end. Todd noticed silvery fronds and soft light through the trees and he set out towards it. Suddenly his ears pricked. A soft voice, a nice one.

As the great mushroom came into view it seemed Todd had finally stumbled upon another soul out here. In an immediate instant he'd forgotten about the object that had drawn his attention and all eyes were on the source of the voice. Another creature stood before him, resting heavy on an odd sort of stick. Todd had never seen anything do that before. That was weird. But what Todd found weirder was the odd formations littered across the other's back, another thing in this world which he didn't understand.

They seemed nice. Todd was immediately at ease, his heart thumping as he thought over their words.

"Oh- Hullo there," Todd droned innocently, looking them over with an ever-curious gaze. "Eri-daaa-nus. Hm. Is that, uhm, this cave is called?" he tested the word on his tongue a little more, muttering it a couple of times more under his breath. Satisfaction crossed his little face. "Why guarding it?"

He looked again at the odd stranger, waving his tail. Suddenly the youngster plopped himself down onto his haunches, eyes sparkling. He raised his paw, showing off the pretty jewel that formed his paw pad and claws. It had become somewhat of a customary gesture for him to make, or perhaps a habit. Because he spent so many hours admiring the colours, he assumed everyone else wanted to as well. "...Mhm. Name's Todd. Who are you?"

Priest hummed under his breath in confirmation, nodding sagely. "Indeed. Eridanus is the name it has earned. Others call it the Maw of Mosses," he added. A love of teaching had, at least, been kept over from Booker. A laugh built in his throat at the fox's repetition of the name, smile twitching up a bit. "We guard it to keep the cave and its inhabitants safe. I and my flock want to keep those who are kind and gentle within Eridanus' walls, and those who would harm others out," the numbat explained, cane digging into the soft ground.

His gaze had grown distant, but snapped back to focus on the kit when they raised their paw, showing off a glittering, multicolored gem. Priest huffed out a chuckle, raising his own free hand to return the gesture, though it's surface was less captivating by far - fingers almost melted together by the heat of fire, thick cords of scar tissue binding them, curling up past his wrists and up to his forearms.

"It is a pleasure, Todd. I have no name, but the others call me Priest. It is a title given by the Mother," the man explained, turning just enough to wave his raised hand towards the mushroom's towering image. "Those who do not know of Her power call Her the Monarch, but Her true name is the All Mother. She helps protect us, and in turn we keep Her safe." The words flowed, storybook-esque, and it was clear from the shine in Priest's misty eye than he thoroughly enjoyed talking about the Mother in all her forms.

@Todd

"Speech" @Booker

"What's a maw?" Todd asked immediately, and curiously. He knew what moss was though. It was soft and he liked to sleep on it. "You look after everyone here? In the big cave?" Todd cocked his head slightly to one side and watched Booker some more. That seemed like an awful lot of work, and Todd had seen some very big creatures in here.

The little fox tilted his head the other way as they let out an odd little noise, but one that Todd liked. ""Mm-hmm!" he hummed an affirmative but perhaps t was just an attempt at a chuckle all on his own. The stranger raised their own palm and Todd twitched excitedly, looking closely. But it wasn't nearly as pretty as his own paw. He didn't seem disappointed though, his gaze traced the scars and focused intently on the painful-looking burn wounds. Moving his paw, Todd aimed to place the cool pad of his jeweled little paw against the other's.

"Why do you no have a name?" Todd looked at them quizzically. "I thought everyone had a name." He suddenly fizzled with excitement. "Oh, oh! I can give you name! I can name you, if you wanna name!" Todd hopped up and down from forepaw to forepaw, waving the white-tufted tail which had quickly puffed out. He fell silent, however, as Priest spoke of the All Mother, and gestured to the great mushroom that he'd been heading for earlier. His eyes widened, tail waved furiously.

"Never knew about the All Mother before," he murmured, eyes bright. "It's pretty. Thank you All Mother!" He waved a paw towards the mushroom as if expecting it to respond. "Will She talk to me too?"

Turning back to the fox, the sage huffed out an explanation. "A maw is a mouth," Priest replied with a smile, opening his own for a moment and tapping at small, sharp teeth. "Thus, the Maw of Mosses. A mouthful of moss, one supposes. I'm afraid I don't know how it came to be named such," the numbat admitted with a hum. At the next question, he nodded, head dipping to tap at his chest. "Oh, yes. But I don't do it alone. There are three other guards, though they are spirits, not of the flesh. The Seer, the Pillar, and the Guardian."

A proud smile twitched at his lips, before vanishing, like it had never been there, expression placid as ever. The gentle touch of cold gemstone to his open palm made his fur jump up, but the man himself stayed still, eye crinkling at the corner, as if he took comfort just from the sight of the connection. It took him a moment to respond, something in him captivated by the cool stone soothing his scars. "I have never had a name," Priest started, tone thoughtful, as if he hadn't considered the query before now. He hadn't, in truth.

"I have been called things. Brother, friend, love, weak, and strong. But I have no name to give you." The offer made the crinkle stronger, made lips twitch up, clouded eye glittering with mirth at the kit's obvious excitement, the hopping breaking their touching hands. Priest lowered his own. "I would be indebted, young Todd. It would be... nice. To have a thing such as a name." He didn't have many things - only those tied to his waist, and the cane in his hand.

Todd's reaction to the mother made Priest's smile strengthen, and he barked out a short, brittle laugh. "Well, I am always happy to teach." A warm surge ran through him, foreign, and he hummed happily. "The Mother sends Her thanks." The question was answered quickly, and with absolute certainty. "The Mother talks to all those willing to listen, my child. You have only to open your ears and mind." It wasn't exactly an explanation, but Priest figured the kit would ask if he wanted advice.

@Todd

"Speech" @Booker

"Oh, that's funny!" Todd seemed curious but didn't laugh, seeming to consider. "I had a mouthful of moss once. It wasn't as nice as I thought it'd be." He gave an emotive shudder with his entire body, just to illustrate his point. "It was mean." His voice went from a singsong tone, to deadly serious; the moss seemed to have made a big impression on the young fox and he felt it had wronged him.

As this Priest spoke of the three other guards, Todd's eyes widened. They sounded cool, and he wanted to know more tales of their majestic and gallant deeds. They sure sounded like creatures with a lot of those. "What do they look like? Do they look like you, with all those cool things and patterns? All big and strong?" He looked at the numbat with big eyes. Although Todd was around the same size as Priest, it was clear he found many of his qualities otherworldly, such as the fungi that grew from his form and his many scars, of which the ignorant little soul possessed none.

"Hmmm..." In response to the other's words, Todd was already thinking, looking hard over Priest and thinking deeply. Names, he thought, were who you are. They were what everyone saw you as, forever. In Todd's mind, names were one of the biggest things in the universe, especially since he'd learned that everyone had their own name. "Well, you nice, and smart. You deserve the best name in the universe!" He trailed off into a long pause, face settling into a strained look as he thought, and thought, and thought.

"You're a good teacher," Todd smiled a big smile, believing every word that was said, right down to the root. The little fox beamed, his eyes shining, as Priest gave forwarded the Mother's thanks unto him. He felt big in the world now, and special. He hadn't heard her talk directly yet, but he tried, pricking up his ears as far as they'd go. "Oh, but... opening the mind sounds like it'll hurt."

If Priest was offput by the sudden tonal shift, he didn't show it in more than a twitch of his intact eyebrow, seemingly more amused than anything. "Ah, yes. It is quite the annoyance when such things fight back. Why, I once got a termite stuck in my throat. Quite persistent little thing, that one," the numbat mused, gaze wandering, only flicking back to the kit when he spoke again.

A true grin tugged at the older Gembound's lips, and he huffed out a laugh, obviously pleased by Todd's enthusiasm when it came to the other guards. "Well, I don't know if I'm big or strong, but I thank you either way. The other guards are... they arrest your attention on sight, if I could describe it. They walk into view, and you at once know their importance." A nod to himself, and he continued. "Come! I shall show you."

Without further ado, Priest turned in place, slowly making his way closer to the massive mushroom's stalk, talking all the while. "I met first the Pillar, then the Seer, and then the Guardian. I raised the Guardian, in fact," the numbat added, shooting Todd a proud smile, eye twinkling. "Though I will go in order of their titles. First entitled: the Seer." By now, he had reached the silvery flesh of the so-called Mother, and stopped. With his free hand, he clutched and lifted the glowing pebble from his belt, allowing it to illuminate an illustration - a detailed feather, painted in some sort of luminescent mixture.

"Though the Mother called her the Seer, I called her Dovefeather, or Dove. She was my sister." Pride rang clear in his voice, strong, strong enough to cover up the grief. "A cat, and quite an elegant one, if I may say. Born with the Sight. She used the Eyes - the pools of water yonder - and her own spellwork to see things no one else could. She predicted my own future, in her childhood days." He hadn't been more than a child then, arrogant and selfish, but that didn't make for good storytelling. "Unfortunately, she has since passed from this life, into the arms of the Mother. You may still come across her spirit - I know not whether it still roams these walls."

A shuffle of feet, a twitch of the pebble, and its light brought a new image into focus: this, a bundle of different herbs. "The Guardian, Diot. My son, may he rest in peace. He was always a brilliant child, but my, what a powerful guard he became. And he never lost his natural kindness. You would like him, I think, Todd," Priest added, glancing towards the kit and smiling gently. "He always did like to meet new people. You should keep an eye out for his spirit - he still loves to help those in need, and I'm very much sure that he still visits my burrow from time to time. Oh! He is a tamarin, a small thing, with an opal inset in his forehead, if you should need to identify him."

A silvery eye rose back to the Mother's stalk, and the pebble moved one final time. "The Pillar." Under the soft glow, a wobbly dog's skull was shown, etched, smudged in some areas, as if done in a poor state of mind. "Bones. He is... difficult to describe. He was a part of myself, in a way." Priest's speech lulled, the space only broken by a few ragged breaths. "Bones was a dog, rather lanky, with large, rounded ears, should you see him roaming. I doubt his spirit ever comes to Eridanus, however." Why would it, when he'd almost died there? "He was my brother, my friend, and more. We knew each other from my very early childhood. An artist, he was. I picked up a few things from his drawings."

The numbat chuckled, wiped at his good eye with his elbow. "I never saw him unkind, not a single second. He saved me in many ways, though I doubt he ever knew." Another lull. "If you ever find yourself in trouble, young Todd, and cannot find me, or Dove, or Diot - seek out Bones." Priest turned back to the fox, tone taking on a serious twist, gaze sharpening into that of a father, rather than a preacher. "Even spirits have power and form, and he will help you."

The kit's compliments made him blink, expression softening once more. "Why, I thank you, my child. I can't say many have considered me kind, or intelligent." The words were void of anything but surprise - they were, after all, true. Exactly one person in his life had called him anything so positive, and he was very, very dead. "Please, do not strain yourself to find a name. Everything that is meant to be comes in due time."

More compliments, and Priest felt himself blushing hot under wiry, unwashed fur. "Ah, it is a pleasure to teach. If I have any skill, I would like to think it is in teaching." At Todd's hesitance, the numbat hummed, leaning back on the Mother's stalk and tossing the glowing pebble from hand to hand. "Oh, opening the mind should not hurt, my child. It might be a bit strange, at first, but myself and my flock have always tried it the simplest way first: any time you wish to receive a vision, you only have to sleep beneath the shadow of the Mother's cap, and she shall answer you." The pebble stopped, clasped in both of the man's scarred hands. "I do warn you, however: not all of her visions are pretty, or kind. They may reveal to you things you would not have liked to see, but they will always show what you need to see."

@Todd

"Speech" @Booker

Todd's eyes widened slightly at the thought of moss fighting back, as he had the sudden image of said moss seeking some kind of revenge. Perhaps it'd force him to endure that horrible taste again... Todd felt a sudden, involuntary shiver run all the way through him, causing his fur to stand on end. He nodded vigourously towards Priest. An annoyance indeed, or more than that! Thousand times more...

Todd looked up and was immediately distracted as Priest began to tell him of the other Guards. They sounded... they sounded amazing! the little fox's heart pounded as it had a thousand times today. He felt big, and strong, and important, to be taught such a thing as this with the All-Mother, who was so, so powerful- right there! And she'd sent him thanks, that was what Priest had said. He shook away his absent thoughts, instead listening intently to the tales of the other Guards. He moved with an excited trot, a slight limp in his step as normal whenever he tried to move his stiff paw.

He watched in admiration as Booker drew out a glowing stone. It was just like the lanterns in Polaris! Though this comparison was exaggerating a little, Todd still felt himself staring at it longingly.

"Sister? What does that do?" Todd asked quizzically, before he fell totally silent, listening in wonder and daydreaming that he, too, would one day be so great. "Oh, she went away, then?" Todd thought hard, and remembered one day he'd spent exploring, a long time ago; when Khloros had told him that the bones in Canis had once belonged to creatures who didn't exist anymore. But the way Booker spoke proved what he thought, and Todd was happy, because in his mind she was still here.
"Hello, Dovefeather, or, uhm, Seer! Hullo!" He raised his paw to thin air and looked around, as though expecting a response.

Todd lowered his paw to the ground again as the Priest went on to describe the Guardian, who was named Diot. Todd tilted his head curiously to one side. How grand were all these words! they made him feel like the guards weren't just guards, but legends, like knights, or gods! But then again, that was often how Todd looked upon everything. Once more, Todd raised his paw up high. "Hullo, Guardian!"

This time, Todd had a question. "What's a pillar? And... what's a brother?" he asked quickly, blinking curiously as he tilted his head to one side and listened eagerly. As he gazed upon the shakily drawn artwork, Todd felt like he wanted to do that as well. Again, he looked around, looking for the Pillar whom they'd been discussing. Again, there was nothing. "Hullo, Pillar?" he asked, a little more questioningly this time as he raised up his paw.

"Well, I do," droned the cub as he puffed out his chest proudly. What a weird thing to say! He always thought about himself as smart, and it sure showed as he strained to think of a name. "Uh... I can call you..." there was a long pause. "...Flowers! Because you're all nice, and you have petals!" Todd beamed as though well and truly pleased with himself as he prodded a paw towards the fungi that grew upon 'Flowers' back.

Todd listened, seemingly more solemnly to Priest's next words, although in reality he was merely influenced by the tone of his voice changing.
"Ooooh... I thought you meant breaking it to open it." Todd looked serious, but there was innocence in his eyes. "Oh... Okay then. I'll remember." Todd looked again at the all-Mother, wondering why not all of her visions would be kind. Perhaps She would say mean things about you, or make you jealous of things that everyone else had but Todd wanted. Like those dang lanterns...

He cringed.

If Priest's vision clouded over with tears at the innocent kit's greetings to his lost friends, the numbat didn't mention it, only wiping them away with a permanently singed elbow. "I thank you, my child, for your kindness towards the other guards. I am sure you have made them very happy," he added, smiling gently at the fox. "Now, your question. A sister can be many things, but is defined as someone you consider family, who is generally female. My own sister was also kind, talented, and stronger than I have ever been." Priest's tone was matter-of-fact and calm, more like a teacher than a true remembrance of the cat herself. "And yes, unfortunately, she is gone from us."

At the next question, the scarred, shriveled creature hummed, ears flicking, hiding a wince at just how to explain what his brothers had meant. "Brothers are similar to sisters, although they are generally male. I have had three such friends, one the Pillar, and another two whom I... well. Perhaps their stories are a bit too mature for any child, young Todd," Priest settled on, tone steady and devoid of any patronizing lilt. "A pillar is a tall, solid object, capable of holding up things, like trees. The Pillar gained his name for his similar attributes - he was able to hold me up when I was on the brink of destruction."

The numbat's cloudy eye twinkled at the memory. "It was quite a wonder to see him at work, really. Nothing seemed too mountainous an obstacle, when he was around. Ah, but my mind wanders to the past, and I am one who tries to stay in the present," Priest murmured, smoothing back the fur on his neck with a webbed paw. "One of the most important lessons of my life is that the past is done, young Todd. Learn from it, but don't dwell on it. You will be much happier," he added encouragingly, nodding to himself.

The kit's offer of a name made him give a rare, pleased grin, wrinkles around his eyes deepening at the motion. "Flowers! What a lovely name. I shall wear it with pride, young Todd." Indeed, he murmured the name to himself again, grin dipping to a satisfied smile, committing the monicker to memory. The smile twitched down at the fox's obvious worries over the Mother, and Priest stepped forward, slipping the pebble back into its pocket and grasping his cane, laying his free hand on one of Todd's shoulders. "Do not worry, my child. The Mother would never show you something you could not handle. Sometimes, she knows our strengths and weaknesses more clearly than we do ourselves."

@Todd