What an odd trio to be wandering the caves. Cancer, following Azazel and Leon, had left his precious waterfall behind. Pisces cave's load roar was just a muffled hum here, in this salt-lined four-way tunnel. Droplets of water splattered against his coat, slick from the oils he'd built up over the time he'd lived in Pisces cave. He padded along silent behind the pair, sour-faced over the fact that he'd have to leave the only cave he'd ever known behind for this venture. He'd heard of the other caves, but he'd never bothered to explore them. He had no intentions to. It's why he'd chosen to become leader instead of a scout.

A gust of wind blew against him and he gasped at the feeling. He'd never felt wind like that before. Now, as he moved into the centerfold of the four tunnels, he shivered against the feeling of it through his fur. He found himself slipping on the cold, wet ground, not realizing that the strange white, clear rock was in fact ice. His claws didn't help, so he treated it like the wet rocks back home, walking on his pads.

"Guys, wait up. I'm about to lose my paws on this stuff." He cursed under his breath as he fought to keep up with the more experienced pair of explorers. Were golems in another cave really worth this venture? Now he wasn't so sure.

Bevy had only just gotten back to Pisces and settled back into her nest, her wings tired and her energy spent, when she spotted the trio heading out. It was odd seeing Aza again, this time with Leon and Cancer, but she couldn't help but wonder if she missed something.

Cancer was leaving Pisces for the first time, however, and despite how tired she was, the young bird couldn't leave her best friend to go off into the big wide world without her. She took off again, her wings carrying her after the mammals into tunnel H, back towards Polaris where the dam monsters were loose. Her feathers ruffled in the wind, but her wings stayed strong and she had almost caught up...

She might not have been able to follow them into the twisting tunnels without getting lost if it wasn't for Cancer asking for them to wait. The black leopard seemed to be having a hard time on the icy floor, and for once Enna was glad to fly. She swooped towards her friend, and then brought herself to a stop, flapping hard to hover in place.

"Where are you all going without me?" She peeped, eyes bright. All of her friends, off on an adventure! It might be a good way to see more of what Leon was like, as well, since she hadn't spent much time with the large, stocky bear.

" Right here in the darkness there's nothing left for me to do;
It's easier to { r u n } away but today, today we've got to fight. "

For Azazel, it was relatively simple for the ave. He could just fly up above the icy tunnel and glide up above. The bear cub named Leon seemed perfectly content on the ice, and rather experienced on it. But then, there was the lord of lemons. The leopard seemed to have two left feet on the slick surface. The feline slipped this way and that, falling and smashing his chin on the floor. From above, The Bone King couldn't help but chuckle to himself every once in a while.

But finally. Cancer the lemon-faced would ask for the duo to slow down. Rolling carmine eyes, The Bone King tipped down and fell into a nice hover over the ice. He wasn't going to land on it anytime soon. With rough feet and big talons, he'd be no better than the leader of Maji Walezi on the clear whiteness. "I'm pretty sure that rocks in Pisces are just like these rocks..." Nope, not taking the chance.

A small orange blur flew past him, and he found a tiny little bird. Why if it wasn't Bevy! Giving a friendly nod, he smiled a little as the bird asked where the threesome was going. He'd let lemon-lord or the bear answer that question!

Life is precious.

After she and Aza'zel had had their little spar the lioness and he had left, both caked in mud. After taking a dip in Polaris she had agreed to let the bird go off in search of her groupmates while she waited for them in Polaris. They had both agreed that in their golem research they should include everyone, at least in the beginning. If she and Aza wanted to go on solo research trips later then she was all for it! In theory it shouldn't have taken that long to go grab her friends but in reality it was starting to take forever.

Where were they?

The little lioness cub paced back and forth, back and forth, while she waited. She paused briefly in walked to lick her paw and run it over her face to wash. Then, she licked her flanks and belly but this little time waster was amounting to nothing! Her friends still weren't here... Did the get lost? Delayed? Oh! What if a golem had them trapped? Who would protect them? Well, Leon certainly could but what if they needed more help? Well, it was up to her! In haste the lioness made her way towards the exit of Polaris and down one of the tunnels.

This particular tunnel was one made of ice. Very cold and very slippery. Lions, needless to say, are not made for life on the ice and it took a moment for her to slow herself down when she saw her friends in the distance. If she didn't slow then she would certainly crash into them. "Hey, guys!" The lioness called out as she slowed herself to a walk and approached her friends. There was Cancer, Leon, and Bevy. In cat-like fashion she weaved around Leon's legs and head-bumped Cancer before giving a friendly smile to her bird friends.

"Speech." || "Thoughts."

table by lisa

words: 308
tagged: Cancer, Bevy, Aza'zel, Leon
ooc: I'm taking it that this is before Leon's play fight but right after Aza's. Also hope you don't mind the set up :B
muse: 5/10

Briar - that setup works for me! so i guess their whole investigation of Polaris will take place before the play fight.

It hadn't occurred to Leon that his leopard leader hadn't left Pisces yet. Leon was so accustomed to exploring and poking his nose into the unknown that he didn't shed a second thought about leaving the cave to travel to Polaris. His only concern was that there were golems in Polaris, and those were actually really dangerous. As far as he could tell. They had gone after the lot of them after all, and didn't seem to stop when Leon spewed some blazing bile at them. That was classic villainy right there.

So when Cancer called for Azazel and he to wait up, Leon furrowed his brow and glanced over his shoulder at the leopard, just in time to see a small fluttering creature come up to join them - Bevy. The bear paused and frowned. Hadn't Cancer... not wanted anybody else to go to Polaris? Considering how dangerous it would be? Leon couldn't really find the words to answer her before he heard Makyna's voice ring out through the tunnel. He remained silent, instantly shifting his gaze to her and producing a wide smile. Oh, wait. No. Bad, that was bad. She wasn't supposed to be here either! Leon blinked a couple times and was seconds from reprimanding her when she weaved between his legs, only to bump Cancer - Cancer! - on the head.

While this time the words were just on the tip of his tongue, he still didn't say anything, biting them back for now as he tried to shrug away that minor interaction between her and Cancer. He huffed and stared back ahead again. "We're going to Polaris to see the golems. You two should hang back," He said, glancing to Bevy, then Makyna. "It could be dangerous." Leon added, gaze lingering on his lioness friend. At least if they hung back, it would allow Azazel, Cancer and Leon to scope out the golems first. He didn't want to risk the rest of the group getting into danger.

(i guess exit into the next thread??)

Cancer struggled to stay on his paws as the bear finally stopped to wait, and it seemed as if, when Bevy appeared, he'd gotten his footing back. The cub began a slow shuffle towards flat ground, muttering at the teasing Azazel flung his way. "I'd love to see you try walking on this shit, ticker-toes!" He flung back, just in time for Makyna to appear. The cub looked up at first in delight, his scowl disappearing instantly, to be replaced with a grin... but then, as she homed in on him, Cancer's smile became a look of panic.

"Makyna, wait!" But it was too late. The lioness bumped her head against his retreating cheek and just like that, Can's hard work to stay afoot crumbled. All four paws went in opposite directions as he slid away from the contact, protesting as he went down on his chest, then slid into the wall opposite Makyna's original direction.

"Noooooooooooooooooooo!"

Boop.

Oh. Stopped by rock and walled ice, the boy blinked, then stood again on wobbly legs. He gave the lioness a feigned look of disapproval, then tried again to catch up to the group. He got a few good strides in, but found himself sliding ahead, slipping past both Lioness and Bear cub, and barely avoiding tumbling once paws met stone again at the entrance to Polaris. There, he stopped dead and took a moment to breath, then looked back cockily. "Come on, guys!" With that, he'd trot ahead, leading the way quite by accident.

/exit Cancer into Polaris yes

" They'll try to catch us;
but they won't know { h o w . } "

Azazel laughed quietly at Cancer's comment to him and the name ticker-toes. His toes did go 'tick tick tick.' Tossing his head to the side, he decided to sneak in a little tease as the feline leader of Maji Walezi steadied himself and clumsily made his way across the ice, leading the way on accident. He definitely couldn't stop. The Bone King was tempted to use a little bit of his magic to trip up Cancer, but he thought he'd best save his magicka for visiting the golems. "Let's see you 'come on' Cancer, first." He mused to himself, quitely to hope nobody heard him. Chuckling, the bird continued to fly toward Polaris, keeping his pace steady and leisurely.

- exit Azazel to polaris! -

As Bevy listened and came to understand what they were up to, she decided she definitely had to tag along. She was about to make her perch and settle down when Makyna came to join them, and as such shoved Cancer round and round. She giggled and flapped in the air for a bit longer, at least under the leopard had started leading the way again.. She nodded at Leon, who told her to stay back when they got close, but she could fly. The golems couldn't touch her if she stayed up out of the way!

This was going to be an interesting journey. "Wait, Cancer!" She peeped, fluttering down on to his head and grasping at one of his horns with her talons. She had to flap a little bit to get on their just so, but after a bit of fussing she had made her home and settled on the large cat.

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to make your perch on the least stable gembound there, but to be honest Bevy was sure the big black fuzzball would be alright in the end. She wanted to stick close to him anyway, and she certainly wasn't about to try and keep up just flying around. Every time they had to stop for something she would be stuck hopelessly trying to hover and... Well, honestly, Cancer just made the ideal perch.

And so, with that, she let Cancer take her to Polaris with the rest of them. The golems seemed scary, but there were so many of them! She would be there to make sure if anyone got hurt they would be healed up just fine. It seemed reasonable enough. She couldn't fight but that didn't mean she was useless.

;; bevy exit! :D

Uh-oh, seemed like her friendly head boop was counterproductive. While she was A-OK her friend was sent sliding off on his belly. "Oops..." She said quietly as she watched him slide off. She started to trot over and help but fortunately Cancer was stopped by a wall and able to get his footing. Good. Perhaps she'd helped him enough for today. Deciding the best option would be to leave him she turned to Leon who seemed less than enthusiastic about her going to Polaris.

The lioness shook her head but smiled at her friend. "It could be dangerous but I need to go too. What if I'm alone and I'm attacked by a golem. I'll need to know how to defend myself just like everyone else." She knew he had her best interests at heart but she was no damsel in distress. She had claws and could hit just as hard as the others if need be. Besides, she had powers that they bear didn't possess. While the others would actually have to touch the golems to attack she didn't. Her magick would do the work for her.

So, with a friendly bump of her head to Leon's shoulder she followed after. Not wanting to be left behind on this fun adventure!

___________________________________________________________________

words: 212
tagged: Cancer, Aza'zel, Bevy, Leon
ooc: exit
muse: 5/10

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