Eleanor had not been alive long, but she was beginning to learn the ins and outs of the swamp she called home. It seemed the water levels rose and fall at random, and she had to be careful where she decided to sleep after lights-out or she might end up awakening to the feeling of cold water lapping at her feet. The lights in Cetus (and most everywhere else in the Cave, though Eleanor didn’t know this) grew brighter or darker during certain times, and sometimes they even turned off completely. During the darker times, what she called lights-out, she slept. And when the lights grew brighter hours later, she awoke and moved around and foraged for food. She and Chou, that is. He seemed to stick close to her most of the day and night, since he was blind. She was just glad she had a friend.

Sometimes they wandered away from one another, but never too far, so that if they called for one another, they’d be able to hear each other. Eleanor did not mind the times they spent alone, though. Ducks were social creatures, so this particular duck enjoyed solitude more than other ducks probably did. So, even though Chou was not with her right this instant, it was okay. She was enjoying exploring Cetus by herself. So far, nothing had bothered her or her blind friend, and they’d been living their first few days in peace. The murky waters of Cetus held plenty of plants and insects to eat, and Eleanor was becoming accustomed to her limited view, things far off disappearing into the rolling white fog that made her feel so comfortable and safe. She enjoyed her simple life, watching dragonflies buzz above the surface of the water, occasionally dipping down into it; watching fish darting here and there, scattering as she paddled closer to them. The constant chirping-humming noise of the swamp was the equivalent of a mother’s soothing heartbeat. Cetus was her lifeblood, and its waters and large, towering, foreboding trees were etched into her bones.

In fact, she had no idea that there was a whole world outside of this tiny little part of the Cave. And she had no idea that there were others who existed here, besides herself and Chou. In her young mind, she and her friend were the only two Gembounds in the world. And she was perfectly fine with that. As she wandered the banks of the swamp that morning, occasionally chomping on some algae, she felt completely whole and at one with life.

Words: 431 @Ghanyarah - hope you don't mind if I tag @Chou too! (Moon, I made some assumptions about Nora and Chou in this post so tell me if you want me to change anything).

Chou was glad that he had someone here; he felt like life would be downright impossible on his own. not just to help guide him on his way, but someone to shiver close to when the cave got too cold for his sparse feathers. Someone to pull him back when he started feeling water around his paws. To warn him when he unknowingly wandered off on his own. That seemed to happen a lot. It was lucky that his best friend was such a forbearing little thing, with lots of patience to freely give.

In fact, it seemed the chick had lost her again. So it sat down on some of the boggy ground and tried to feel her little footsteps nearby. When he sat down, if he couldn't feel anything, it never made him too worried. She might just have settled down for a nap or some food. The food here was the only sustenance Chou knew thus far in his life, but it was also the only thing he knew he disliked. Algae just tasted like mud and he couldn't exactly look around for something that he should be eating. His stomach let out a tiny grumble, and the chick let out a little peep. He had to find Nora.

Of course, though, there was always an easier way.

"NOOORAAAA!" the chick yelled at the top of his little voice, wings pumping up and down before settling back at his sides. And then he sat down in a little lump of cream-coloured feathers and fell silent as he waited for an answer.

@Eleanor

A lot of Ghanyarah's spare time (which was most of his time) was spent showing his new bat companion the ways of the cave. Ghanyarah had never considered himself much of a teacher, even after vowing to teach Nova how to fight, but gradually his didactic tendencies began to unfold. They were inherent to him, something that he had failed to realize around Nova and the wolf that he had found, the one that could wield fire. He had tried to teach the both of them and failed only because he had lost track of them. Perhaps that was why he'd never called himself a teacher - he never saw his students' education come to fruition. But maybe Lituus could change that.

He slunk through the foliage, searching today for a certain kind of plant. He had seen use of it in passing as a medicinal herb, but couldn't remember the name. Ghanyarah just remembered that it had been used to soothe an itch, and that it grew in a bunch of small white flowers that were all attached at the stem. He wanted to show Lituus how some plants could help a Gembound's body; this came in handy when they lacked the magic that could do so. Ghanyarah had never been much of a healer anyways, but he'd known others that were, and felt it was important to be able to use plants to treat one's self. Of course, this belief only came after a revelation that he didn't want to leave Lituus abandoned if something bad happened to him. Before, he wouldn't have cared. He would have allowed his body to decay alive if that was what it came to.

That was no longer the case. So off he went, searching for plants, convinced that he suddenly had to stay healthy and he was going to teach the bat how to do the same.

His searching had come to a sudden end at the sound of a shrill voice cutting through the air. Ghanyarah paused, flicking his tongue with caution as he lifted his head and peered out in the direction of the sound. As he searched, the lights dimmed - he hadn't paid it any mind until they cut out completely, casting the cave in complete darkness. Alarmed, Ghanyarah elevated his body from the ground and glanced around, as though the cause of the darkness might have been just behind him. But he couldn't see shit.

"Damn." Grunting, Ghanyarah continued onward; his first concern was the voice. His second would be the lights. Unfortunately without a visual cue, or without another sound to triangulate the source of the voice, Ghanyarah had no idea what direction to go and had somehow turned himself around, walking in the complete opposite direction.

likewise, @Lituus is also welcome to follow Yara! tag for @Eleanor

When the lights dimmed and then disappeared completely, it was quite a shock to Eleanor. She’d experienced the lights flickering and dimming, but never had they just… gone out. The duckling had just begun to hear the sounds of wading and brush moving nearby, and she’d assumed someone was relatively nearby, though whether they were intelligent she didn’t know. She hadn’t actually seen them yet, for there was so much plant-life and fog blocking her vision, that whoever had been moving around had been kept hidden. But right as she’d been about to call out — or hide, maybe — the lights had gone. Now she floated on the surface of the murky water, trying to see in the total darkness. Her vision completely failed her, but she was not afraid. Though she was not blind like Chou, neither was she afraid of the dark. After all, even when the lights were on, Cetus wasn’t exactly the brightest place in the Cave. And she couldn’t see more than ten feet or so in front of her anyways because of the fog. For a few moments, she was lost in thought, realizing for the first time that this is what it was like for Chou, all the time. Some part of her was sad now, but she shook herself back to the present, realizing that her friend had just called out to her. But what was she going to do now? She couldn’t go to him like she normally did… There was no way she could navigate in the dark like he could.

Ignoring the other possible Gembound nearby (the one who’d been rustling around somewhere before), she called out, “Choooouuu!” It wasn’t a desperate scream, or anything similar. In fact, it was a rather soft sound compared to the peacock’s shrill tone. “I’m over heeeere! I can’t — I can’t come to you right now. I can’t… well… I can’t see! The lights went out! I don’t know how to move in the dark like you!” She paused, feeling awkward about telling her blind friend that she was temporarily blind herself. “Um… Can you… Can you find your way if I keep talking? I stayed on the water, so if you just… follow my voice, and follow the swamp bank, you can probably get to me!”

Words: 376+ @Chou

Chou came to the sudden realization that he and his best friend weren't alone by the distant sound of a deep voice grunting. Curiosity immediately piqued, the little peacock began skittering towards the voice, completely oblivious to the darkness that reigned outside. He was somewhat used to this blindness by now, and although he still needed heck of a lot of help, so long as there was a voice he could find his way. That's why he tumbled over to the large reptile with such confidence, despite not even knowing what it was he was about to face.

He heard footsteps in the darkness, and picked up the pace, chasing after the retreating reptile.

"Noraaaa!" Chou called back excitedly as he heard the duckling's response to his shout. "I heard a new friend! There's someone over here!" squeaked the little bird. With their footsteps for guidance, he was right on their tail, metaphorically speaking. Except... when Nora spoke again, the little one came to a halt.

She couldn't find him? Nora never couldn't find him! Suddenly the tiniest shred of worry was birthed in the peacock chick's chest. Suddenly it was running back the way it came, tiny wings flapping. "I'm coming Nora!" cried Chou, sprinting back the way he'd come towards her little voice with his wings pumping up and down. "Just keep talking, you're getting closer!" he comforted, ignoring that it was him sprinting forwards and not her. And then he found the bank. A hubbub of cheeping erupted as the peacocks pink and twiggy legs slid out from under him and he slid down towards the swampy water...

@Ghanyarah @Eleanor

Ghanyarah could hear the voices shoot up around him in the darkness, their origins ambiguous without his ability to see. He listened to them though, shouting to each other in an attempt to locate the other. At one point, one of them referred to him, he assumed, as a new friend. The reptile paused and cocked his head, realizing mid-step that he was heading in the opposite direction. So he fell still and listened, once again trying to pinpoint the location of the one that had referred to him as a friend, a somewhat masculine voice, though squeaky and juvenile.

But it was difficult, and Ghanyarah was realizing that his sense of hearing was far inferior to his other senses. Flicking his tongue, he tried to catch their body warmth, but even that faltered. So he continued, turning and walking with no idea where he was going, crunching through the undergrowth despite taking every precaution to remain silent.

oh god ghanyarah just. dont even try. you're useless in the dark ffs @eleanor