The wounds were healing... still. Despite the pain, however, she kept a look of confidence and pride. She figured, If they see me stride, they'll think I've won this fight I nearly died in! Whether she was right or not remained to be seen, but it made her feel good, anyway. She was quite delusional about herself. There was a forming idea that she was, in the end, invincible. She survived the dragon. Sometimes it required to run away in defeat to win, but ultimately, she was alive despite it all. Not to mention the ego stroking all her wins had given her. The thought made her purr.

I desire another fight... a victory is within me. However... Gadanai paused her steps, hunched her back, then relaxed back to normal with an agonized groan. There was no room for a fight, right now. Right now, she needed to remain focused on her hunt for more Treasures. Perhaps my wounds would influence sympathy from the weaker, emotional beings. Little did the elephant realize she too was emotional, just not as the other sentient beings were.
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tagged: @Carni
ooc:

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

He wasn't one to wander off.

That didn't guarantee he'd never do so, however. Carni had ventured past the gate that guarded his birthplace, his home, not seeking to be rid of its bone-decorated splendor, but to educate himself.

Father hadn't been around to stop him, nor the gate guardian. He left freely.

He ignored a guilty feeling for being deceitful. He'd have time for that later.

For now, he wanted to know what strange lands were beyond his fortified kingdom, what creatures ruled beyond his walls of the departed. On careful paws, he crept out into the first of many new places; Orion cave.

He knew it from the map etched into the walls back home, but the poorly carved stars didn't compare to the glittering ceiling of faux galaxies above. He paused to openly stare in wonder, wings itching to bring him closer but imagination willing him to stay grounded- perhaps getting a closer look might spoil the magic. Instead, almost pointedly, he tucked them to his sides.

"...wow." Barely a whisper, to himself of course, as pale eyes became transfixed upon the scattered canopy of light above.

@Gadanai

How long had it been since she'd really been in Orion, though? She remembered the ruling of Hasira, the moronic deer who'd been impressed despite her loss to his fowl offspring, Brutus. She snorted, curling her trunk around a blood-stained tusk. Tail swung back and forth as she walked, which was suddenly halted by a glimpse of something particularly wonderful. It wasn't the stars above - oh no, she was no child anymore - but rather a possible Treasure. Something new to covet.

The blue gem, the bright white fur... it attracted Gadanai like a bear to honey, making a bee-line to the distracted feline. "Well, hello, beautiful creature!" she purred. There was a special kind of seduction in her voice. The kind where she would act a friend and wrap them around her trunk. They would be her things. That was her seduction... terrible things.

"Those stars are amazing, aren't they?" she said. A glance was stolen, a lie crossing her face, expression saying "wow, amazing!" Appeal, appeal, appeal.
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tagged: @Carni
ooc:

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

It wasn't hard to miss her approaching. Attentive ears flicked to the sound of soft, but heavy, footfalls. He turned and found himself shocked at the sight of her- massive, imposing, with scars and bloodstains, not unlike some of the aged warriors back home, but so, so much bigger than anything he'd seen in Canis so far. She spoke, voice friendly, inviting, and his initial, instinctive fear vanished without a trace.

She called him beautiful, and he felt a flustered sort of pride bubble up in his chest. Humbled, he danced his weight between front paws and feathers ruffled ever so slightly. If cats could blush, he'd be so red...

"Th-thank you, ma'am." He chirped back, concious of how his voice cracked uncomfortably at the end. She commented on the stars- stars, huh?- and he sighed in total agreement. "They're very pretty. I knew Orion was the Cave of Stars, but I didn't realize it had so many, or that they'd be so dazzling!" He spoke with all the innocence of a child, despite being three cycles old already.

Finally, he turned to face his new 'friend' and company.

"My name is Caerwyn." Time for some Introductions.

@Gadanai

Such a small thing, but with such large wings. Frankly, she was in awe of those feathered limbs on something so sleek. Was it soft, too? Now wasn't the time to find out. Her trunk curled up into itself, restraining from the urge to pet the cat. The offering of his name was the right thing to distract her, relaxing her.

"I am Gadanai," she offered back. "Do you live here, young one?"
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tagged: @Carni
ooc: im very sorry for this poor quality

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

Gadanai. Big name for a big animal.

"Oh, no, I live in Canis with my father. He's the Bone King." He stated the information openly, downright matter-of-factly, with all the innocence of a fresh youth. "I guess that kind of makes me a Prince. Heh." He'd never been called such openly before, but it felt good to voice the idea aloud.

His eyes were drawn back to his company, her scars- no, injuries, he noted. He winced. Those looked fresh, painful. They weren't finished healing, an eyesore and likely just sore in general, so when he spoke next, it was with careful consideration.

"Are you okay, Gadanai?" His voice laced with concern, he stood and turned properly to face her, ears pricking forward attentively. "That looks painful... were you in a fight?"

@Gadanai Sorry for the short post, it hurts to type ;-;

Canis, ay? She remember that place very vaguely. She hadn't been there since she was just a calf, swinging a femur around. In fact, she lost to her first foe there - a dragon. It was then that Gada made a mental note to stop picking fights with dragons indefinitely. It just didn't work out in her favor. The thought was cut off by his mention of a King, eyes watching him eagerly as he stated he was a prince, himself. Vibrations rumbled.

"Oh, a Prince! How wonderful! An honor, young Prince," she cooed.

Gadanai observed the white Treasure as he glanced over her fresh marks. Instantly she began to brew up a tale in her head, waiting for the question she did, indeed, receive. A strained smile that she tried to force into hiding before her mouth began to speak words of falsehood.

"Prince Caerwyn, it was terrible! I was in Eridanus, grazing among the delicious foliage, when a big eyesore of a dragon arose from the green and tried to eat me!" Gadanai's eyes grew big with "fear" as she told her story. "We fought, but of course I was losing. His teeth and claws dug into me. In the end, he ripped off a piece of my poor trunk, just before I managed to get away. It was horrible; I can't stop having nightmares."

She'd only had one nightmare since and it was the night that it had happened. It was a new experience for the elephant and it still ate at her.
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tagged: @Carni
ooc: no worries, it's a perfect post for this!

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

She seemed to delight in hearing that he was, in a way, a Prince. His feathers ruffled slightly at the praise. She addressed him as Prince Caerwyn, and he felt the title was quite honorable indeed... at least, until she began her tale. His beaming smile became a tragic expression, wrought with worry. Dramatic little thing, he sat back and upright, clasping his paws across his mouth in empathic horror- how awful!

"Wowie..." He whispered, in awe, as she finished her story with the mention of nightmares. "I'm so sorry, Gadanai. That's awful. I'm very glad you made it out alive, though, and that the dragon didn't eat you in the end." Earnest, he followed up his praise with more. "You're very strong to survive against a dragon. I've heard about dragons before. Father told me about Raheerah. That was before I was born, though."

He shuffled his paws timidly. Now he felt silly, tiny and insignifigant compared to the dragon-fighting elephant before him. Even father, with his huge wings and fierce talons, didn't really compare. Gadanai battled dragons. And lived.

And what did his father do? Laze around and sulk in Canis.

Well, he'd just have to learn from Gadanai and inspire his Father to be more like her as well! Yes, this would surely be an answer.

"How'd you learn to fight off big beasts like that? Are you used to fighting? What's it like, must be easy, you're so big and y'got those horns. My horn doesn't seem like it'd do much in a fight, does it?" He tried to cross his eyes and regard the blue gem between them, but strained too hard, hissing as he blinked away the discomfort it brought. "I'm not very big, either. I'm still growing though, so, maybe I'll be big someday too!"

@Gadanai

Every reaction the white fluff provided fed into her very being, growing that drive to be who she was and crystallizing it within the ruby. She would never change, but she could certainly become worse. Worse she certainly would become if this continued; as every inch of her lying ego was stroked by the words the ever-empathetic Caerwyn spewed, unknowing of how much bullshit she was capable of spewing. Then the questions came; the kind where a scary amount of truth would easily be revealed in such a light that Caerwyn wouldn't know what hit him.

How'd you learn to fight off big beasts like that? Are you used to fighting? "By being a warrior, Prince. By striving to fight thy nemesis. The lives that have been lost have been a sacrifice for the great." What's it like, must be easy, you're so big and y'got those horns. "Yes, usually it is quite easy for me to maintain, however, dragons are nasty affairs. Surviving one is an expression of my power."

And in that very instant, she stroked her own ego, finding this child easy to woo. Perhaps he would believe her words like truth. He seemed easy enough to manipulate... he was so precious. A Treasure to behold.

My horn doesn't seem like it'd do much in a fight, does it? "No... not really." She daringly reached out and caressed his horn, knowing it's true potential. "Don't worry, though. Gadanai will protect you." I protect all of my treasures.
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tagged: @Carni
ooc: lemme know if you get too uncomfortable
word count: 250

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