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CAVE STATUS
QUESTS/EVENTS
Torrential downpours cause localized flooding and many upset cats. Along with these frequent rain, from gentle drizzles to heavy rainfall, there seems to be a flux of Magicka drawn in particular to water sources. Occasional jet streams of warm air make narrower tunnels harder to navigate. On occasion, the rain intensifies, becoming howling storms with sleet or large hail. However, the temperatures overall are a little warmer, with snow and ice in temperate caves somewhat receding.
Jan 04 2016, 09:43 PM (This post was last modified: Jan 04 2016, 09:53 PM by Cadence.)
MAGICKA LEVEL 93% RESTORED TO 100%
This place was starting to feel more and more cramped. Not because of the amounts of gembounds here but simply because it was boring being around the same thing each and every day. Same gems, same scenery, same adventures. She'd played with Barry as much as she could and it was fun but she was tired of doing it here! Papa Bear wanted her to stay safe but screw safety! She just wanted to go out and have fun! He and her mother had gone on adventures as children so why couldn't she? Why did she always have to be supervised? Ugh! It was so unfair!
In a fit of ill-temper she lashed out with her magic and threw a stone towards the pool... or she wanted to. The tiny thing barely even rolled once which caused her to swat at it with her paw. The stone then leaped away from her forceful hit and splashed away into the pool nearby. It was only a tiny bit of relief though and again she was back to feeling annoyed and dramatically she sat at the edge of the same pool she threw the rock into. Normally she didn't care too much about her appearance. She only did enough reflection-watching to fix her hair into its normal bang or to comb out a flower that her mom had thrown in. Now though, she just stared at herself. Her short-ish nose, the obsidian below her eye, her sapphire-blue gaze... then the frown as she swatted at the pool.
Bandana tied firmly, he had slipped it over his ears and it sat just above his eyes as the perfect accessory. The blue contrasted so beautiful with his orange gem, the blacks and golds of his coat. In fact he was feeling rather chipper about it all. Pisces had been the place that he had taken up residence, there was a group here, but he hadn't really gotten formally introduced to anyone. Maybe he would join, they seemed friendly and he needed a place he could retreat to when the wilds of Origin got too much.
Head held high, he began to bounce around the edge of the pool, the lioness hybrid perched on the edge leaning in to look at her reflection. It appeared she had tried to toss a stone and had failed quite spectacularly at it. But it was with her mind! Cool.
"Hey there!" Confidence at an all time high, he introduced himself to the much larger cub. But she swatted at the pool and he frowned slightly, that sucked. Maybe she was in a bad mood? "You OK?" Tail wagging gently behind him, the dingo bab was more than happy to jump at the opportunity to cheer someone up.
Just when she thought everything was awful and terrible and couldn't get any better she heard the pitter-patter of pawsteps on stone. At first she thought it was her brother or something in which case a scowl started to form even deeper on her white brow. The cub loved her brother but at the moment she didn't feel like dealing with his stupid whining. However, the voice that heralded her was not that of Baroque but of someone new. Ears perked with interest as her blue eyes turned to see who exactly had approached her.
It was some sort of canid creature. He was bathed in a coat of orange and blacks with vibrant orange eyes that reminded her of her father's. His tail was wagging and he sounded positively happy! Despite herself the cub found her mood starting to lift significantly at his happiness. It was hard to stay upset when she was meeting someone new. "Well... No... sort of. I don't know!" She used a paw to swat at the water. "I'm bored of being here in this waterfall cave! I want to go out and I want to do things!" She eyed the canine next to her before coming to a realization. "You're about my age aren't you? Do your parents let you explore?"
Since she didn't chase him away, he decided to sit beside her and look out on the water as well. Even if she didn't want to talk, he was happy to sit here in silence as he knew company was better than being alone. Maybe something really bad had happened like she'd dropped something in the pool and it had sunk to the deepest realms. Jack didn't really have a firm concept of death or true loss, all he had was material goods. Probably not a good thing to be learning.
All her problems, although they were small, came out in a way only a child could do so. Indecisively. "Really? I think the waterfall is the most beautiful part of all the caves in Origin. But I haven't seen much of it either." Maybe his tune would change when he saw Orion, perhaps not with the ravenous power hungry deer stalking it. "I don't have any parents, I just sort of woke up and found myself in this room! It's very beautiful. But I've been to other places to." Looking sideways, he wrinkled his nose, "Parents sound lame. You should be able to do what you want to do!"
"I want to one day map out every cave in Origin, commit them to memory, and get to know everyone personally so I can have all the friends to call on." It such a childish aspiration, but it was all a kid could really have to strive for. There was no conflict or true meaning in their lives just yet. "If you asked, maybe they'd let you do what you want to do. Or you could run away."
Cadence wrinkled her nose in disbelief at his statement. Beautiful? She took a look at the cascading fall and the mist thrown up around it. It didn't seem very majestic to her. Perhaps she'd just gotten used to it because she lived around it all the time. "Puh, it isn't that great. I would kill to see some other places." And not just the tunnels either! She wanted to know about the room of stars or the one of towering plants that she'd been told about.
The grizzly lion cub shook her head. Golly, his life sounded so much better than her own. No parents. No rules. Going wherever he wanted! "You're so lucky! My parents boss me around all the time and they never let me go anywhere by myself! It is so lame." The cub crossed her forepaws and pouted, showing how much she hated all of her rules.
Then, he began to explain his dreams and Cadence's eyes lit up with joy. "That's such a great idea! You could be like... an explorer!" An explorer... That sounded like the best thing. She wanted to be one too! "I wanna do that too!" She'd never really had a dream before but that seemed to be what hers was too. "No. Dad thinks I'll get hurt or something but I'm not a little kid anymore! I can take care of myself!" Then again, she hadn't really asked to be allowed to wander freely as an adventurer but she was sure that that was what his response would be. Now she uncrossed her paws thoughtfully as she tapped her cheek with one paw. "Run away, eh...?" The cub mused thoughtfully. She hadn't considered that before but now... What if she could go off on her own and have her own adventures. That would be tons of fun.
That disdain for the waterfall was not shared, and as both their gazes trailed out to it he had to smile once again at watching it cascade into the water. There was nothing else like it, it was so mystical and magical and gave so much life. But she agreed with his remark on parents and he just nodded wisely as though he had imparted the best wisdom ever. No one else had ever said anything as smart as him before. "Yep. I'm glad I don't have parents." Jack hadn't yet suffered a hard time where he needed someone to rely on.
Watching as Cadence admired him for his silly dreams, he puffed his chest out. "Yep! You can come with me too! I need a travelling buddy of course." A wink was passed to the slightly older female. But he really would love to have someone to go with him! It was quite lonely sometimes if he had to walk for ages by himself. Not really letting the dad comment sink in, he watched as she contemplated running away. "Well we'd come back, every explorer needs a base to come back to. So we can make it here! Maybe we can find a secret cave to live in." All thoughts about the fact Maji Walezi actually living here left. This was their secret place now!
She could go too? The little cub's tail started to wiggle furiously, the black stub becoming little more than a blur. "Wow? Really? I'd love to go! We could be like a team! We could go on adventures, make friends, make that map, and help people that need it!" Where before she had been pouting now the cub was up on her paws in a play bow, tail still wriggling furiously. Her mind drifted now as she imagined traveling side by side with this canine as they explored and saw new things every single day. It was a fantastic dream.
"Sure sure. I bet there's plenty of caves in over that way." She pointed with a paw to the Ledges. Everyone that belonged to Maji Walezi made their dens in one of those. "But... Why not make our first adventure finding somewhere super secret that's not on the Ledges. Maybe at the Warrens or somewhere else?" Gee, if she could find a place that her parents or her siblings didn't know about then that would be awesome! And it would show how well they could work together. "What do you say, um... uh..." Well, how could she call him anything? She didn't even know his name! "What's your name, kid?" The cub straightened up so that she was no longer in a play bow while a smile now formed on her muzzle.
Those ideas were so much better than what he had had in mind and his entire face lit up. Just as they were, excited children and he had to stop himself from howling in delight as his tail was beating backwards and forth at a mile a minute. Reciprocating her play bow, he growled playfully and sneezed with all the enjoyment he was getting out of this. Not only had he cheered her up, he'd managed to get her to join him! Awesome!
Following her paw, she said it wasn't going to be good enough and suggested the rolling hills on the far side of the cave itself. "Let's do it! Keeps the adults away from us after all. Don't want them ruining all the fun." All the images in his head saw the adults agreeing how dumb they were for doubting them and that all along they had been the best. It was a great feeling. "My name is Jack! Who are you?" Of course he didn't see anything wrong with not knowing her name before, at least he knew now and instead of straightening up, he began to bound off towards the rolling hills so they could find a suitable place and set up. Unless she wanted to get outside of the cave right now.
"Where to dear leader?" Jack was happy to just roll with it. Besides, she was bigger than he was, even if he didn't like it, he had to accept it. It's not like he would listen to her ALL the time anyway.
"Exactly!" Her thoughts mirrored perfectly. If they were set up at the Warrens then it was less likely that anyone would find out where they were, or at least the adults would find it less likely. Perhaps they could have children like themselves come and join them. She could dream, right?
"Name's Cadence!" She said enthusiastically. Just Cadence. Hopefully her mom wouldn't go calling her by her full name. Puh. She hated when the lioness did that and ruined her fun. What would she think now that she'd found a friend and would be going on adventures? She probably wouldn't be happy. That though sent a thrill of joy through the cub.
Cadence followed right after the pup, her own stockier body made it harder to run as fast as him but she wouldn't let herself be beaten easily. The grizzly lion cub kept up as best as she could and only slowed when they'd reached the destination.
Now, Cadence had never really felt what it was like to truly be the boss of anyone. With her brother she always had to be careful with what she said and he never really questioned her at all. Besides, with hatching they just had a sort of natural pecking order that all of her siblings seemed to follow but here with someone she'd just met, to be called a leader... That was just alright! The chubby cub puffed her chest out proudly. Being called a leader filled her with determination.
The little cub lifted up her chin and began to speak like she had heard her father do. He was the perfect roll model since he was now the leader of their group. "First order of business, we should spread out and look for a base for our team. It should be somewhere nice and secluded so adults are less likely to find us. If you find somethin' just give me a shout and if I see anything I'll do the same." She figured it only fair that she should be in charge. She was older and more experienced in these sorts of things. Then with a mischievous grin she said, "Good luck team!" Then, she was off and searching for something to make a base out of.
It was a nice name. Suited her perfectly and he just nodded to it. Cadence and Jack, the two best explorers in Origin who would travel and make people feel better and heal them and protect them. Whatever they could do to make sure everyone was happy and doing whatever they wanted to do! There was no reason for him to be upset by her lumbering pace, in fact it was great how different they were. Maybe he could do all the fast missions and she could do all the strong missions!
On the peak of one of the hills, he sat down and patiently waited for the princess of Pisces to arrive. Outlining what they needed to do now, he just nodded enthusiastically along, he wasn't even sure if he was fully understanding the goal of all this. But it came around soon enough and it all clicked suddenly and he almost jolted as it sunk in. A new base! Just as she had said! "Catch you in a bit!" With that, he went off in the opposite direction, though his whole body was crackling and popping with pent up energy, he slowed himself to a walk. Don't want to stray over the perfect home after all.
Beneath a few hills, there were considerable gaps that one might be able to dig out. As a dingo, it came instinctively and he pawed at a few of them assessing whether or not the ground was stable enough. None of it was, as the grass roots weren't firm enough to hold all the dirt in place. Frustrated, he hoped that Cadence was doing better, but he wasn't sure if cats could dig.
