The dingo was still limping, albeit barely. In a swift dash it'd be hardly noticed, but when she was loping along, as she was now, the slight unevenness in her gait no longer imperceptible.

She'd lost a bit of weight, at first, her injury at the hands-... err, trunk of the elephant leaving hunting far more difficult. It'd been painful at best, frustrating and agonizing at worst. "Worst" being when her hunt had not only left her stomach sharply empty, but her leg freshly twisted, stabs of pain sending her limping and whimpering back into the hidden embrace of ferns.

For a time she'd gone rail-thin, barely able to snap up mice by waiting at their holes in the moss. Now she had fattened up some, though her glossy tawny coat had lost some of its brightness, and her amber eyes were more wary and withdrawn.

She was thirsty, now, rather than hungry--for once. She wouldn't pass up prey if it limped past her, of course, but for now at least she sought a stream.

Feral found herself, instead, at the Eyes: the large, twin pools sitting still and cold near one cave wall. She approached cautiously, head low, sniffing around the edge and tense to the point of nearly dashing away.

Only when the water didn't outright jump up and attack her did she dare to place her paws at its edge, lapping quietly at the cold.

So long as nothing attacked her, here, she'd be fine. Of course, "nothing" might end up to be crazy preachers, and "attack" could quite well be verbal, but she didn't know that.

((ooc -- Anyone's welcome, be it preachers if they're still around, or anyone! ...even to attack/taunt or whatever! If anyone playing a prey animal wants to get into a fight, you are welcome to do that too!))

"Speech" @Feral

Todd liked it in Eridanus. The ground here was soft, it didn't scrape at his belly the way it did in other places. It was harder to catch food, but lucky for him it wasn't exactly in short supply. What was lucky for them on the other hand, was that the fox wasn't fast, or ever full enough to go hunting simply for sport, saving them the torture of Todd's little games as he instead swallowed mice nearly whole.

He'd considered a few times the possibility of heading back to Pisces where he didn't need to move around to chase prey, but the moment he set foot in the tunnels the ground was hard, and cold, and scratchy. That was without even considering the fact that, well, Todd barely knew the way back.

So he stayed where he was in Eridanus. And that was okay! He had the all-mother here, and she'd protect him. As a result, the young one felt safer than he had in a long time. He wondered if she'd help in his quest to find all the spells in Origin Cave; she hadn't talked to him yet though, and that caused Todd to feel slightly jealous. How come she talked to everyone else, but not to him?

At this particular moment, Todd was moving through Eridanus on his ongoing quest to fill his belly. Nose to the ground he snuffled around, ears poised to pick up the slightest motion. His hind legs twitched and bounced him along in their usual way, lacking the control to walk properly anymore.

And then Todd heard something, the sound of distant water rushing. At first he headed forward out of curiosity, and when he spotted the glimmer of silver he yipped with joy- water meant fish! And fish meant not having to move around! Todd hopped his way forward and dropped down onto his haunches with legs splayed out at every angle. Dropping his head, he gulped down mouthfuls of water, and only then did he realize he wasn't alone. Looking at the strange canid, the hairs along his back suddenly puffed out and the fox looked suddenly terrified. He struggled to get up, only for his hind legs to buckle, like they always did in situations like this. Silently he raised his paw to his chocolate brown eyes, thinking that if he couldn't see them, they couldn't see him.

The dingo stared, frozen, as the smaller dark-furred creature bounded over. It seemed to be playing--with what, she wasn't sure. The water...?

She remained frozen as the fox himself froze, his fur bristling out abruptly like a-... Like a what? He looked like something, but she couldn't remember anything that had just fluffed so suddenly like this, before. It was like he'd kind of just... blown up!

For a moment, she pondered if she should try to eat him; but something about him said kindred spirit. He had a long and pointy snout, like hers; pointy triangular ears, not unlike hers, as well. In fact, he kind of reminded her of someone. Arkrael--that had been her name; a dark black-grey wolf the dingo had once known. Yes, he looked like a tiny Arkrael.

A tiny wolf.

A twist of playfulness gripped her, and she turned and stalked slowly, stiffly forward, as if ready to pounce or flee. Then, in a sudden violent movement, she leapt forward, splaying her own, paler forelegs forward and to either side in an abrupt play-bow. She was half aiming to startle the poor little thing half to death, and half inviting him to play.

With a thrash of her tawny tail she turned, leaping away again, inviting Todd--if he had the courage to do so--to give chase.

((ooc -- @Todd ))

"Speech"

Todd's ears stood upright, ever vigilant even with his paw over his eyes. As he raised it slightly to make sure he'd gone unnoticed, he was greeted by the stranger right there... stalking towards him.

It knew, it knew!

Panic surged through him all at once, every inch of his fur standing on end. And then they leaped! Todd yelped in sheer surprise, trying again to jump to his paws. This time went just as well; the sudden motion threw himself back, head over heels and onto the ground, sprawled, his hind legs splashing into the stream. The cold was yet another shock, and he hastily covered his eyes up again, lying on his side and shaking.

"Aiieee-! Dun wanna play, dun wanna play, not again, not again!"

He kicked out with his scarred hindquarters, trying again to push himself to his paws. But they hadn't attacked, at least. What were they doing? Why was there no pain? Were they scared? Were they stupid? Todd put the paw that had covered his eyes on the ground, shivering and shaking, as he dragged himself out of the water, before gazing at the stranger fearfully.

With his wounded limbs, he couldn't run or hide, and he was shaking too much to stand again.

Akiya always loved to spend time napping. She was a cat, after all, and she needed her rest. Currently, she was resting in the crook where a branch met the trunk of its tree, eyes lidded shut. But she wasn't asleep, much as she might prefer to be. The sounds of Eridanus could make sleeping hard, at times--while she could tune it out, it was always a little bit difficult, with all the noise from the insects and birds. Sometimes, there was crashing down in the understory as predators hunted their prey, and that always made Akiya glad she could climb. Since first encountering other Gembounds, she was less afraid to descend to the ground, but she was fully aware it wasn't safe for her to let down her guard there.

The commotion down below fully roused her, though. At first she had disregarded it as just another sound in the forest, but it wormed its way into her awareness. And as it wormed its way into the front of her mind, she became aware of the voices. Whatever was making the noise, it wasn't some stupid monster, it was another Gembound.

That meant she could yell at it.

Opening her eyes and letting out a little irritated hiss of frustration, she called down, "What's going on down there? Who's making all that noise?!" Whoever had disturbed her rest would face her wrath, her tiny, tiny wrath.

@Feral@Todd