It was becoming a headache to keep up with those kids. It was as if they actively tried to avoid finding her... Maybe they were. Maybe she wasn't as good of a mother as she thought she was. Her late children would prove that, wouldn't they? A heavy sigh erupted in her throat as her weary paws trekked through the tunnels as she tried to search out her only daughter who'd once again evaded her. Perhaps she should just let the liogoose explore and not inhibit her. When she was a child there wasn't anyone to guide her along and she'd turned out just fine with only a few bumps and bruised... Then again, back then the cave was a completely different place.

Diligently she continued to search for the wayward Serendipity to bring her back to Cetus but her attention was caught almost by an unforseen force dragging her to a specific portion of the tunnel. Her blue eyes met with the wall, seeing the scenes playing out for all the world to see. She remembered in days long past that she'd tried to figure this out with her old friend Usui. All Mother rest his soul, wherever it may be. She wondered the true meaning of it all. It eluded her but she could guess. Some sort of terror released on the caves by the furious All Mother. But why? It made no sense.

The lioness was staring at the Carvings while her mind was taken with all of the possibilities as well as the memories surrounding the wall.

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words| 261
tagged| @Faelan
ooc| ---
muse| 5/10

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

Faelan practically skipped along the well worn path, his too large paws barely keeping themselves from banging together, and tripping him. He was headed away from Polaris, back to his birthplace of Orion, and felt nearly full to the brim with the core's magic and energy. He hadn't always been that way though, he recalled with a grin, as he thought about meeting Future. The young, pale canine had been unlike anything the honey hued cub had come across so far. He had met others that were young, like him, but she was...different. She had evoked feelings in him that he hadn't known existed, and for that, she was unique to him. However, even that had captivated the adolescent's attention for long. He was always moving, always exploring, and strangely, always being drawn back to Orion.

Back to where I began, Faelan wondered silently, before catching a fresh scent trail. It was so fresh, that it was impossible not to notice, and it went the exact way he was going. So, following it, and the path, he hurried along until he caught sight of whom he assumed the scent, and the trail, belonged to. It was a lioness, like him, and Xerxes, but with no mane. She was beautiful, but her beauty paled next to the strangeness of the carved, and grown, scene she sat before.

The lion cub padded up to the strange without fear, because all of his attention was focused on the Carvings. Lichen grew in what must have been worn grooves, somehow completing the carved scene on the wall. It evoked a sense of fear in the Gemling, which was odd, and unsettling, since he had yet to feel such a thing before.

"What does it mean?" He whispered to himself, though the lioness only a tail length away could easily have assumed the question was for her. Given enough time to stare, and contemplate, he would probably remember she was there and ask her. But for now, he was captivated by the scene, and was astounded he hadn't noticed it when he came this way before, on his way to the Olympic Competitions.

@Makyna

Her mind was in the clouds, thinking about all of the possibilities that the Carvings could hold. However, only one made sense to her at the present. Whether it was true or not she did not know nor did she particularly care. Nothing would bring back her family or friends, nothing would change the past.

"What does it mean?"

Her ears twitched towards the young voice followed by her head as she turned to see a young lion. His partial mane and what looked like intelligent eyes reminded her of someone. Another male lion that she considered a sort of "study buddy"... Usui. Another fallen friend. Her heart panged for him but again, she could no longer live in the past. "It could mean many things." Her voice was thoughtful as she addressed him. She didn't know if he was asking her per se but it wasn't as if the Carvings were gonna speak for themselves. "I'd like to think that it is about the All Mother sending out evils into the caves." She lifted a paw to indicate the various creatures running from the center-most image of the All Mother. "Despite those of us who are devout and give thanks and gifts to her she still demands more." Or perhaps that was just her cynical view of the cave, in any case, what else was she supposed to make of the mushroom-shape at the center of the picture?

Perhaps she should have curved her tongue for the youth but what was the point? He would have to learn one way or another. Why not now?

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words| 266
tagged| @Faelan
ooc| ---
muse| 6/10

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

The calm, thoughtful voice at his side gently pulled Faelan from his brooding, and turned his attention to the older lion. His surprise at being so softly taken from his own thoughts, which usually ensnared him and made it hard to focus on anything but want he wanted, was overcome with awe at her beauty. Now that the young male was really looking at his companion, it was hard to focus on what she was saying because the sight of her seemed to hold so much more to say. There was a wisdom in her pale blue gaze, and a sadness, that begged questions, but Faelan pushed them aside. She was telling him about the strange scene on the wall, but what she said didn't make sense. Maybe because he hadn't wholly listened, or maybe because he didn't agree. How could he though, when he didn't even know what she was talking about!

"That is the All-Mother?" The young Gembound asked uncertainly as he looked from the center image that the lioness had pointed to, and back to her. He had no idea what, or rather who, the All-Mother was, but the very name suggested another creature, or some sort of living being. And from the looks of the mushroom shaped cloud, he did not see any sort of creature. However, he was young, obviously much younger than his companion, and he lacked her experience with the scene. The longer Faelan looked at it though, the more he brooded, and one thing the other lion had said suddenly caught his attention.

Without waiting for the stranger to reply to his first question, Faelan blurted out, "Where do you give gifts and thanks to the All-Mother?" He meant no offense by hurrying to ask her another question, he just suddenly felt like it was important to know. Usually, he always felt like things were important to know though, and his curiosity got the best of him. Hopefully, the older lion would appease him, and not get angry at his thirst for knowledge, like a certain snake he knew. If she did, then he'd just have to find out about this strange scene some other way. Because now that his interest was peaked, he wouldn't give up on figuring it out.

@Makyna

The lioness stared at the wall, not fully looking at him as he asked the question about the All Mother. She simply nodded her head in reply. After a moment she said, "But I do not have all the answers. Perhaps the drawer was intending to create something else but to me that is what it resembles. Who even know if the All Mother's power is true or if she is simply a figment thought up by some crazed cult." The feline would let him decide since she herself didn't completely know of Her power. She'd been told before of how She'd created the caves and how her children were taken back with her into the Void. But was it true? Or was it just hopeful thoughts? If it was true then the All Mother was a cruel being. Look how much she'd taken from her and how she continued still to ruin her life for no apparent reason.

The lioness was distracted from her thoughts by another question, blurted from between the young one's maw. Now she looked at him, curiosity in her own gaze. "Eridanus. The All Mother lies at its center, a mushroom, taller than any in this cave. If you'd like to leave her a gift then just place something at its base. Some even go to her base and pray for things that they want. Answers, enlightenment... love..." She'd gone a few times in the past but no more. She looked to herself for her answers for the only thing that that damned mushroom gave her was misery. Perhaps it would be different for the youngster, perhaps having something to believe in was liberating. In any case, she was just here to answer his questions and give guidance if she could.

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words| 296
tagged| @Faelan
ooc| ---
muse| 6/10

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

Even though the older lion nodded her head in response to Faelan's first question, it wasn't until a few minutes after that that she actually spoke. The words that came from her maw only confused the young Gembound even more though. How could the stranger say that the 'being' in the center of the image was the All-Mother, and then turn around and say she wasn't sure and it might all be made up? Who made it up? Why wasn't she sure? Who could be sure? One question after the other popped up in his head, until the honey hued adolescent couldn't even keep up. His curiousity was more than peaked now, it was miffed. If this older Gembound couldn't give him real, and correct, answers, then he needed to know who would, or where he could find some.

Thankfully, Faelan's second question lead exactly where his thoughts were, and in this, at least, the lioness seemed certain. Eridanus, a huge mushroom. Now, the image at the center did made more sense than it did before. So it was a giant mushroom...he hadn't seen that before. He hadn't seen many mushrooms though, only a few in Polaris, but he knew what they were and knew that some were good to eat and some were not. Something itched at the back of his mind though. A mushroom seemed to be a plant, or vegetation of some sort, he wasn't really sure. So why would an older Gembound assume they got life from plants? Weren't all Gembounds originated from their gems, from rock? Gembounds' gems grew though, like plants grew, so maybe they had gotten some sort of life from this All-Mother mushroom.

The most recent train of thought that Faelan had, albeit interesting, stopped abruptly when he remembered that the stranger wasn't even sure about the All-Mother. Perhaps she'd tell him who might be though, or where she'd gotten her information...
"Is there someone that might have the answers?" He asked tentatively, still sensing her bitterness and sadness. "Someone you know, or have met before?" Faelan continued carefully, his ears perked and his tail still, for once.

@Makyna