It was time that they had come back to Origin Cave.

It wasn't that they had left the caves - there was no way to escape the caves - but they had been locked away in seclusion for many cycles. They'd been busy - researching, studying, experimenting. Searching for answers and a way to finally grow. For a long time, the Gembounds had been stagnating. They emerged, and they grew, and then they reached a pause in their development. The stag believed that they were destined for something more. They were supposed to be stronger, but instead, they toiled and killed each other, they died off, they retreated to their chrysali.

He believed that there was a next stage. Maybe the caves still weren't an environment completely advantageous to their survival. There had to be a reason why they weren't thriving like he was told they would. He needed instruction, or at the very least, he needed to know why. So he enlisted someone he thought could help.

The other Gembound was more of a recommendation than anything. The stag had barely been aware of his presence until he was told of him and his capabilities, but it paid off. After cycles of locking themselves away, they had made progress - they might have found a way to improve, to become stronger, and to truly thrive. They had succeeded in a way, and now all they had left to do was wait. Wait and see what would come of it.

The stag emerged from the gaping maw of a small tunnel. It hadn't existed before, and it wouldn't exist any longer. From behind him came another Gembound, and a sweeping shadow that gathered high up in the crevices of the jagged roof. The rock groaned as it slowly slid back together, closing the tunnel. The stag sucked in a long breath of air that felt so much fresher than what they'd been breathing in for cycles on end, and his lips curled, a genial smile rising on his maw. "Go, take your first step back into the light. After all you've done for us, you deserve this, Bartos."

Having initially locked herself up within the den of the feline after the majority of her own failures, she could see that his own progression was slacking. His mood had never improved from when she first had met him, and it had actually gotten worse. There was nothing she could do for his leg because she healed herself with her miasma, but that would kill a creature like him. The most she could do for him was watch him and ward off any threats, not that there were any real threats to him, but the reality was that she was becoming possessive of him. His research into the stars of Orion was important to her. She wanted to know more. She had always wanted more.

This want corrupted her in the first place. Made her vulnerable.

In watching Bartos, she sometimes entered his dreamstates. It was dangerous for both of them, so she didn't do it often; but she was a jealous and mean thing. She wanted to know why he called out in his sleep. She wanted to know what hurt him so bad when he could not hide it. The answer she was seeking was already gone from the Cave, but it had a name, and its name was tangible. During one of his painful sleeping episodes, she had left his den and ventured out. When she returned, she placed the single clover next to his sleeping face and hid herself within a crevice, unsure of how he would react. Would he be sentimental, and remember the good times? She knew his aching heart too well, because she ached too but for different reasons. She hungered. As for Bartos, she had connected with him too many times. It was taboo, and she shouldn't do it anymore, but of course she would.

As for the clover, he didn't like it. And she left him for some time.

She didn't want him to know it was her mistake.

She sought out the stag. They spoke for some time, almost like they were old pals. Delighted to finally get to know someone like him, she recommended the troubled feline for research. Getting Bartos to work with a deer was some catch but it all worked out fantastically. She was over the moon with their trio. In time, too, she became much better at physically manifesting and controlling the miasma when she was in a physical body so that it formed more closely to her instead of spreading around loosely. And would you know it! Their research was a success.

He spoke with them. All of her waiting and all of her worship was for Him.

All she did was for Him. She knew Bartos could do it. She knew Bartos had the connection to Him. Bartos knew His name, after all. It was what drew her to Bartos in the first place. She knew she was right to stick by Bartos.

As they traveled back now, she was high above them and snaking in and out of crevices. It would be the equivalent of a child skipping along stones. She was elated. There was a groaning behind her and the stag was speaking. The miasma cloud circled back around, enveloping parts of the ceiling before dripping down and pooling near them, forming a solid in the middle that eventually took the shape of a thin leopard-like cat. The shadows collected near her paws, base of her tail, and the ridge of her back. Otherwise, the disgusting radiation-ruined skin was exposed beneath a thin veil of moving miasma that constantly looked like it was breathing and rippling. An eye opened on her face, a little lopsided though she had tried to make it centered.

"Thank you, Bartos." She added, leaving out that she'd no doubt be back to stalk him. She was a jealous and hungry creature. She thought Bartos was her friend, and unlike Giggles, she hadn't nearly killed him yet so... things were going well. There also wasn't a crowd of Gembounds freaking out over him being her friend. A second eye opened on the side of her head that faced the stag to give him a fair share of attention.

She was still too happy. She was Senka. She was His.

His mind had become a steel cage. He had trained himself not to think, not to feel, while he was working under the stag and the shadow; too many times had his inner thoughts been read, his heart manipulated. It was not too much to ask that he just did as he was told. So he did, and all thoughts of everything that had happened ebbed away. Their research was the only thing that mattered, anyways. He knew that it would repair the caves.

A madness had taken over. It wasn't just madness, it was hunger, too. He'd watched it unfold first in Hasira, and then in Clover. He tried to fix her. With everything he had in him, he tried - but when the shadow and the stag came to him, it was in them that he found relief. Disappearing from a world that had become so corrupt, so wicked, so... hopeless, it was what had kept him from succumbing to the madness too. He watched it from afar while he busied himself with something he knew he could fix. And he didn't think. He didn't feel. He did not want to disappoint them, or worse - let them in.

They told him that if it worked it would change everything. Bartos believed them - he wanted it too. He wanted a way to chase the madness and the weakness that had stricken him and his family. But his children disappeared. He watched that distantly. Then Clover died, and he hadn't seen it, but he'd heard it. His heart quivered but Bartos, he didn't stir. He would remedy this and bring them all back stronger. That was what he, the shadow, and the stag had been working so hard on, and his family deserved to be around to bear witness to the fruits of his labor. Everything he did was for them.

When they made a break through, glee was evident in both the stag and the shadow, but Bartos hadn't found the same exhilaration. He wasn't sure what he felt. And the stag told him that he could go, there was nothing left for them to do but wait and watch. So Bartos complied. He would go back into the world.

He followed the stag and the shadow through the tunnel out into the most familiar of rooms, where the pale grey city glittered under the crystal sky. He hesitated, willed the tunnel closed, and stepped out behind the stag. Above, the shadow coiled like a vehement snake until it dropped down between them, and the stag coaxed him towards his freedom. As the shadow's eye opened and lolled onto him, Bartos tensed. His whiskers twitched in response to her thanks.

Then he moved forward. A sheet of cold light slowly enveloped him as he stepped away from the stag and into the artificial lighting of Orion. "Astraea," he said suddenly, stopping and twisting his head to peer at the stag. "How will I know when she comes back?" The cat asked, his voice even, but low.

The stag craned his neck and watched the shadowy feline above them coil and expand across the wall and ceiling, enveloping the jagged rocks in a thin veneer of silky black before coalescing above their heads and dropping between them. He always felt cold near the shadow, with its raking fingers and daunting wisps, but she was no different than him. She wanted the same thing. They all wanted the same thing - to thrive.

His soft pink eyes beheld the eye that stared back at him long before his gaze shifted to Bartos, following the cat as he moved away from them. Only the cat suddenly stopped and spoke a name that the stag had given him, but a name he wasn't sure belonged to him. The stag felt like it should. His head cocked slightly and his smile broadened, the thin stems of small fungi sprouting among his antlers wobbling slightly. "You will know." His voice halted briefly. "You will be there." The stag added with certainty. They'd need him then.

Holding Bartos' gaze with silent instruction, the stag then righted his head and gestured out towards the ruined city that sprawled before their feet. "Go, rest. It won't be long now." They could all use a little rest. The stag's stare softened as his gentle smile persisted. "We'll see the caves blossom again in time."

He tensed when she looked at him, but she couldn't blame him. Not that she would ever purposefully hurt him but she had learned a lot about controlling her miasma recently, so she hoped he didn't have a lot to worry about now. She didn't know, though, that she was a serious spook in general.

As Bartos moved away from them and into the light of Orion, Senka dropped to his level to observe him better. She nearly sunk into the shadow that pooled beneath her as she crouched. The eye that was watching the stag moved so that it could still see him, and now rested on the top of her head. When Bartos asked his question, her tail flicked, sending miasma drifting loosely away. Astraea answered and when he continued to speak, almost sounded as if he was surely trying to get rid of Bartos now. A second eye popped open on the top of her head, and both of them there narrowed.

What were his plans in the meantime?

Her attention moved back to Bartos. He was a small Gembound. The single eye that watched him was alive with curiosity. She had hoped that by providing some progression with their own research, it would breathe some life back into him. But the cat still seemed so distant. Senka didn't understand the idea of a broken heart but she felt the ache in him, she just didn't understand it the way he felt it. She could recall more often now how she used to look, what it was like to be a beautiful furred creature; but she couldn't recall at all the aches of emotions like his.

She only hungered for existence. To be known by others, and by Him.

To provide more existence for Him.

Bartos knitted his brows together slightly. He would know when she came back... He could only assume that meant that the stag would retrieve him. Or maybe he would be the one to find her. Bartos had tried not to be at the forefront of the ordeal, but maybe his contributions placed him at a higher level of importance than he realized.

His thoughts began to drift elsewhere, to what he had missed, what had transpired without him. So many rooms he'd wanted to see just to know what happened while he was gone. Where were his friends now? Where were his children? He knew that few were around, but maybe he could find clues. Maybe there was still a way for him to piece his life back together. After all, he said himself that he wanted them all to thrive. He wanted to wipe away all the turmoil that stirred among them and for them to live in synchronicity and togetherness. He wanted them all to be strong and to live like they were intended to. Bartos thought that meant in harmony.

If their research could extinguish the madness of depravity once and for all, maybe Bartos could find a way to have his Clover back.

As the stag ushered him away, Bartos nodded and continued down the jagged cliff side, padding silently and lopsidedly among the rocks. He sent one final glance back at the stag, then to the shadow who simmered beside him, knowing that even if he went off by himself now he wouldn't be alone for long. He'd need to find something to keep his ever toiling mind occupied, especially under the watchful scrutiny of his new comrades.

Exit Bartos!

The stag observed silently as the shadow sunk down to Bartos’ level, and the cat wordlessly turned to take his leave. The stag smiled all the way, certain that their research and waiting would come to fruition. He trusted the cat anyways, and he had plans to ensure that nothing would stop the slow, inevitable march of progress. He was certain that Bartos must have understood how important it was, too. He didn’t want to risk it, did he? Regardless of how much Bartos must have understood its importance, the stag would arrange preventative measures anyways.

His focus quickly returned to the shadowy feline after Bartos disappeared beneath the rocks of the cliff face. His voice lowered as he caught the floating, wobbling eye situation atop the shadow’s skull. "You’ll keep him company?" He asked softly, as though concerned for the cat’s safety.

There were few things that could endanger him. The stag wanted to ensure that Bartos was safe and that he held their secret close.

Bartos turned back to look at them once more as he left. Her ears lifted in the gathered darkness that swallowed the top of her head. The stag asked her a tedious question and she lashed her tail, the second eye leaving Bartos for good and disappearing while the eye on Astraea remained narrowed.

"Of course," she answered. "I do travel away from him, but I can travel quickly back to his being within moments if there is an emergency. Given, of course, there are plenty of shadows. If not, I will run." She let the eye restore and roam, her tail waving gently and curiously behind her.

"What are your plans?" She considered asking more, but kept it brief.