Week 3
The bacteria continue to feed the lichens, which silently grow in the solitude of the tunnel.

The cub was well on his way into a new area, and as Cancer came upon the tunnel leading from Orion, to new worlds (and though he didn't know it yet for sure, his map suggested it might even lead back to Polaris), he carried himself with a little extra pep. Let's see Leon tell me I'm unprepared now! He wore some fairly decent armor now, nothing special he thought, but honestly quite effective now that he'd touched it up. The cub paused to pull the tablet from it's pouch and etch this new tunnel in, but looking into the half-light of this place, he noted twists and turns that he'd have to account for as he went. So, he opted to carry the slab in his mouth instead. The cub continued, leaving Orion and its sparkling ceiling behind.

The cub paused for a moment upon noticing something familiar. More carving, just like in the last tunnel. He immediately moved over to the wall to investigate. Moss covered the wall, lining the markings as it grew, as if pronouncing them more boldly. Something about this mess of shapes intrigued him. He could spot a few familiar shapes- what looked like dolphins without dorsal fins, and long-eared things- or were those horns? Another creature underneath, with teeth and angry tongue- a snake? No, it had legs... and were there things doing stuff to it on the right?

Those bottom shapes drew his attention the most. They were creatures, walking on two legs, using their front paws as hands- like a monkey or bear might. Except, these ones had weird heads. There was another bowing above the horrible beast, and behind it, another beast with horns and a long tail. More two-legged things, too. There weere portions smeared, smudged, but the cub wanted to know more! It looked important! He frowned deeply. What was that? He turned to his map. There was nothing on it similiar- except maybe...

This wasn't just some scribbles from some gembound making art. No, this was a story. He immediately started looking harder at it. All things stemmed from the center. A spiral, something... big? Something big happened... and fell? Yes, it looked like the waterfall! So something falls, then strange-headed two-legged things began to band together? Oh, but the line of them on the left, something is happening! They're changing! The monsters... were two-leggeds! Did that mean they were killing themselves? Oh, but what about the others? Confused but not put off by this mystery, Cancer brought a claw to the stone below the carving. There, he started a carving of his own.

He marked the shape for the two-legged first, and then an arrow towards another shape, like a cross between the two-legged and monsters. Then a monster, led by another arrow. "What... made them change though?" He murmured to himself, then with that hard-edged claw, he began marking in his own waterfall shape before the others. He marked its end with a few long lines, to suggest a big event. Something happened to these people, and they'd changed as a result.

"What... are we then? If this is some kind of... origin story... then are we the monsters?" Something didn't feel right about that idea, but maybe... maybe the gembound were a result of this? "I wish one of these two-leggeds were still here... they'd know."

He was broken and burnt, charred feathers on his back falling away with every step that he took. The fight had taken it's toll on him, and he was pretty much wasted. Azazel's head hung as he flew carmine eyes dull and weakened. He hadn't realized he was falling faster and faster, until he crashed into some sand. He grunted, pulling himself from the fine silt. The small crater that he had created in the sand seemed so comfortable, and Azazel couldn't help but to roost in it, closing his eyes for a moment. Could he fall asleep right here? He turned his crown up, gazing at the wall before him
Many epic carvings lay before him, shadowed by some silhouette.

Wait...

He looked to the right and saw a familiar face. Oh no. He shrunk into his sandy nest, giving one small peep. "Cancer... I-I..." Azazel took one moment to look the leopard where his eyes were, making eye contact for one lone second. "I'm sorry."

table and code © chelsea of ORIGIN

Cancer startled from the sound beside him. The bird must've been sleeping soundly there when he'd arrived, but his own voice must've woken him. When the wory "sorry" reached his ears, the cat turned and looked at him full on. The bird was a mess of wounds and singed feathers. He'd been fighting again. While the leopard cub didn't want to care, he did. Even if this stupid bird had been a total dick last time they'd met up, Cancer was too good a person to wish harm on anyone, even this stupid face. So instead of chasing him off or roaring complaints, he turned back to the carvings. The air grew tense.

"You should be." Was his first response. "I wasn't trying to rush into anything back there, nor was I trying to disrespect Makyna." He turned back to the bird, then emotions took over and he stood. "You probably don't know this, bone king, but Makyna's one of my best friends. Why would I put her in danger? Why would I risk her life for some stupid plan? I know her too, okay? I know what she can do, and I know how strong and fast she is, and you just assumed I was being selfish!" He turned away again, scorned look on his face. As he moved, the metal plates across his sides and back shifted together, clinking. "...Apology accepted, but you're still a jerk."

It was the one moment that he was noticed that Azazel shrunk away even more. The way that he'd glared at him bore holes in his heart, and made him feel like an absolute dick... a jerk. He didn't want this. Why couldn't he ever just control his words... why couldn't he be nice? Considerate? Thoughtful? It was the one trip to Polaris that ruined everything. Was Azazel, The Bone King, not meant to be a benevolent creature? Was he supposed to be like how vultures stereotypically were? Evil and death with wings? No. It couldn't be.

The air crackled with tenseness, and the bird willed himself to stand... even though it hurt like fire. He grunted, lying back down. The first words that Cancer said to him stung, and he looked away guiltily. Azazel knew that the leopard cub and Makyna were close, like best friends. It was obvious from how they always stuck by one another's side. How they always stood for one another. "I'm always quick to make assumptions, apparently. It just didn't sound like it to me, what you said. I should've just let it slide." Ugh, why was he such a jerk? Azazel hung his head, burying it in his wings. "I am a jerk, a big feathery one." Oh how he wanted to change. How he wanted to be a better person than he was now. How was it that Cancer could be so grumpy yet such a good person? "I didn't mean the things I said. You are the smartest Gembound I've ever met. You know how to make good decisions and a good plan. I guess brawn doesn't always help in Origin Cave. Brains make a huge difference, too."

table and code © chelsea of ORIGIN

Cancer tensed when Azazel started speaking again. It was a plea of self loathing, and Cancer stared in wonder as the once proud king fell to shambles before him. It was uncomfortable, seeing Azazel so broken up over anything. Then, he offered compliments that just weren't due. Cancer wasn't smart. Not really. He just overthought things. The cub felt his ears fall against his will, and then his rumb followed. Defeated, Can did the only thing he could think of.

"It's okay, Azazel." He offered tentatively, gently. "We all mess up. You're not that bad, really." He sat up straight again and grinned cheekily. "Hell, did you hear about that time Bevy sounded the alarm back in Pisces? I knocked myself out trying to cast my Red Sense of all things!" He brought a paw to his head and tapped his forehead, sheepishly smiling despite himself. Returning his gaze to the wall, his paw to the floor, he sighed.

"Apologies all around, and all that soft stuff. Hey, look, have you seen these yet? There's a story on this wall." Change of topic seemed to be the best approach now.

Azazel didn't realize just how pitiful he sounded, or that he couldn't even think clearly. He just hated himself. He disliked how he behaved sometimes and wanted to change. Not dramatically, but he wanted to feel like he was normal. How hard could it be for The Bone King to manage that? When he offered what he felt was true about the feline, he simply sat down and lowered his ears. What came next surprised him. Forgiveness... acceptance? "I guess that's true. We aren't adults like Deer Dad or whatever. We're all kids. Guess we have to learn from our mistakes?"

Smiling meekly, the bird would shift in the nest, leaning against the wall as if it would support him and heal him. It would caress and cradle him forever, right? Closing his eyes for a moment, the bird sighed. Everything still hurt, but not as badly now. He was forgetting all his regrets and ernest hopes to do better. Because he was better. Because he was free.

With a change of topic, the ave gazed upwards at the scratches and dents in the wall. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be so much more? Pushing himself up and backing up, the bird stared at the wall. It was some epic scene... but what of? Leaning forth, he rested his head against the wall, like he could just find out what it was by nuzzling it. What little magicka he had left bubbled up in him, reaching out to touch the cold stone. It enveloped the ave in cold embrace, and his vision went black for a moment, save for slashes of glowing white. A vision? It went by far too fast for the bird to decipher, and he backed up in fright, falling onto his birdy butt. "Woah."

[Origin Cave]

Final Week
The growth of the lichens have begun to slow, until eventually no change can be seen in the carvings. It seems the lichen has finished growing and has filled in the divets in the wall, bringing out the details of the carving. It is now fully visible to passing Gembounds, however there still seems to be chunks missing out of the carving. In particular, the creature in the center of the carving has been scratched and chipped out.

Quest: The Carvings has been completed!
All characters who participated in this quest will be rewarded for having completed it. Now, characters are encouraged to enter this thread and examine the carvings, and possibly come up with an interpretation of the carvings. At the moment, there are no NPC's that can provide any more details on the carvings.

It had been a while since she'd visited these carvings. The first time she had learned nothing but now as she stood staring at them... She couldn't help but wonder what they were. Various symbols and drawings were scrawled across the walls but she couldn't make sense of them other than the fact that they were some sort of beasts. Even so, it looked more complete that when she'd examined it with her magic before. Perhaps with this new completion she would be able to glean something new from them... She hoped so. Anything new that came up within the cave she was curious about. Makyna certainly had a thirst for knowledge and learning and she wanted to know what everything meant.

So with a careful paw she touched the wall and closed her eyes, focusing intensely on the magic within her.

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words: 142
tagged: Quest
ooc: ---
muse: 5/10

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

Images and sounds will begin to flash into Makyna's mental eye. The sounds of metal items chipping away at the wall, claws scraping against the rock, creatures of all kinds working on this carving in the silence of dimmed light. The creatures are not those depicted in the carvings - they seem to be something else, a wide variety of creatures that do not look the same. Some of them are malformed. They appear to be working stealthily. The image will then fade.