After meeting Amras and getting something to eat, Li was feeling a lot better, even if a few cycles had passed since then. She had groomed, and for once wasn't feeling too bad. It had been a long time since she saw Imperia, and she planned to keep it that way. She was walking when she came across a place she had never been to before. It was full of flourishing plant life, and she decided she liked it. She could hear a stream bubbling somewhere nearby, and she followed the sound until she came across it. She bent down and lapped some up. Immediately, she could taste the difference. It was far better than any water she'd had before. When she was finished, she swiped her tongue over her mouth to pick up any last drops.

With that done, she stood and looked around. There wasn't much else to do. She hadn't seen anyone since she last saw Amras, but that was fine. She liked being alone after being with someone for so many cycles of her life. She almost missed the company, but kept any thoughts of Imperia out. She was done thinking about them. There was no point in reminiscing on the past. She was done with that part of her life.

Speaking (thinking?) of which, maybe...Maybe she could try using her magic? She hadn't used it in so long...Surely it couldn't hurt to just try it out? Her paws were healed. Enough time had passed, hadn't it? With the thought in mind that nothing bad could happen from it, she closed her eyes and the sickening feeling of summoning her magic resurfaced.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: here
notes: This is AW but I will keep posting regardless if anyone else does. Feel free to jump in at any point though~

At first nothing happened, and Li felt disappointment brewing in her chest, red hot like fire. She contemplated trying it again when she realized something was...off. The feeling in her chest was not going away, and only seemed to grow. It was then that she realized something was definitely wrong. The feeling was growing until it had become unbearable. When she couldn't stand it anymore, she opened her mouth in a yowl and realized fire was coming out. She quickly closed her mouth, but the feeling only returned. In an attempt to obviate the feeling in her chest, she opened her mouth again, and the fire continued to stream out.

Unbeknownst to her, the fire wasn't just disappearing. It had caught on a nearby plant, and was now rapidly growing. With her eyes closed and her attempting to get the burning out of her chest, Li didn't notice. After some time, the burning feeling went away for the most part, and fire stopped streaming out. She nearly fell down out of exhaustion and pain and slowly opened her eyes, only to be met with a sight that made her quickly rise, eyes widened.

Everywhere, flames crackled as they devoured the plants beneath. Her ears were lowered flat against her head, and she could smell the acrid stench rising up. She crouched down low, unsure of what to do. The only magic she knew of was her fire magic, and that certainly wouldn't help now. She was stuck, fear coursing through her. Little whimpers escaped her, but the sound of the fire quickly drowned them out.

She was going to die, wasn't she? Surrounded by one of her biggest fears, all because she thought it would be okay if she tried her magic just once. She immediately began to regret all of her decisions as she lay there, curled up, and closed her eyes, as if that would help.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: here
notes: haha oops

Higher and higher the flames rose, leaping from tree to tree until soon the entire area was engulfed in flames as far as the eye could see. Lesser gembound of all types ran out from the underbrush, zooming past the frightened pumacal without hesitation.

Among the lesser gembound was a large white rat who appeared to be spending more time trying to stay out of the way of the larger creatures than trying to run itself. Blood trickled from a wound in the back of its neck as it sought shelter in the first place it could find; the presence of a predator.

The white rat scurried without hesitation right at Aaliya's feet, turning its back on the giant creature as it looked toward the hottest portion of the wildfire.

@Aaliyah

Li almost didn't notice the rat dart under her until she caught a whiff of blood. The coppery scent sent chills down her spine, and she thought for a moment that it was her own. Until she looked down, and realized with surprise that there was a white rat by her feet. It was bleeding from a wound on it's neck, and she stayed there, uncertain. Why wasn't it running away? All the other lesser gembounds were! There was a fire! A fire which seemed to be closing in, she noted with fear. Her ears were still lowered, and she was crouched down, but in a way that wouldn't hurt the rat.

As she stayed there, she tried to think of a way to put out the fire. But there was none! Her magic is fire, not water! And even if it was, she wouldn't have gotten herself into this mess! If her magic was water, she wouldn't have tried to do fire magic, just to see if she could handle it, after all Imperia had done. She wouldn't have used it in battle, to kill and injure. She wouldn't have--She wouldn't have possibly lived. There was no telling what Imperia would have done if her magic wasn't fire. Would they have let her live? Would they have killed her? She didn't know what the previous owner of the gem's (she'd long since stopped thinking of them as her "parent." She'd never met them, and the only attachment she had to them was the gem) magic was. What would have happened if she had inherited it? Was it fire, or was it something else?

The sound of crackling fire caught her attention. Right. The fire. It seemed to be closing in, and she was once again overcome with fear. What could she do? She might be able to just flee, before it closed her in completely, but that would mean leaving the rat behind. She didn't know why that bothered her so much. Maybe it was because she didn't want to leave it to die? She's killed before, and would hate for this rat to die because of her. She sighed. Of course she'd get attached to a rat. It was already injured, what did it matter if she left it?

She tried to convince herself that it was fine, that the rat could make it out alive if it tried hard enough. But she couldn't force herself to just leave it. She let out a frustrated groan. Getting up, Li looked around. There was an opening in the fire that she could make it through, but she had to hurry. Quickly, she nosed the rat in that direction, hoping it would take the hint and they could get out of here.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: here
notes: here

The rat screeched loudly as Aaliyah nosed it, running instinctively in the direction it was nudged before pausing as it appeared to reconsider its retreat. The creature looked back at the predator, right into her orange eyes with what appeared to be a mixture of terror and awe.

Ultimately it decided to follow the instructions, though whether that indicated any greater intelligence than instinct or if it too saw the opening was anyone's guess. Its tiny legs propelled it as fast as possible as the fire threatened to cut off even this exit.

Muscles tensed. It had to get out. It had to survive. It had survived this long. It didn't want to die. Don’t die yet. But this hurt. Make the pain go away! The rat's resolve continued to strengthen, overriding precautions that instinct would usually yell at it to take at all costs.

@Aaliyah

To Li's relief, the rat moved due to her nudging it. But when it paused, she let out a little growl of frustration. The exit was closing fast, and they didn't have much time. Thankfully, it didn't pause long, and soon continued on its way. Still, they weren't going fast enough. The rat could go by fast, sure, but not as fast as she. Her long legs allowed her to take long strides, and she was itching to use them to escape faster. But she persisted, hoping they'd make it out in time.

Her gaze was focused on the now rapidly closing exit, and she felt her pulse quicken. Was she going to make it? What if she didn't make it? She gulped, but continued on, nudging the rat occasionally. Almost there...almost....shit no! The rat decided to jump up on her right at that moment, causing her to stumble a little, right in front of the fire as the exit closed.

She let out a yelp, feeling parts of her face catch on fire. She was able to smother the small flames with a paw before backing away, ears lowered. She had failed to make it out in time. She had failed! Now she was going to die here, surrounded by fire. Imperia would probably get a kick out of it, if they saw her like this. She let out a whimper, and started to open her mouth to call for help when smoke began to fill her lungs. She coughed, hoping she wasn't throwing the rat off of her. Eyes watering slightly, she wildly moved her head around, trying to find an exit or something that would help them escape. She couldn't die like this!

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: here
notes: here

The great dragon moved in the shadows of great trees, branches creaking as she brushed past them, leaving leaves covered in thick black tar. Occasionally, the great being would lift its snout and draw in great, snorting breaths, jaws open as it swung its head around to take in the sights through the red gem that glittered in the back of its throat.

Its elegant, swan-like neck rose, seeming to catch something. The beast sniffed again, and the slit pupil behind a sheen of diamond flickered for a moment, as though in memory. Since the great beast had re-emerged into the caves, little remained after its long, long hibernation. It was difficult to tell if this was because of some damage, or because of the primal nature of its psyche. All she felt akin to her past was a dull warmth, and so she held no fear that she might have many cycles earlier.

It was uncertain what she felt now in response to the smell of fresh smoke- but nontheless, she followed it. Perhaps she was by instinct, or perhaps some distant flicker of memory- it was unclear.

Before she'd gone far Equinox could see the flames. rearing and flickering high against the trees- beautiful and deadly. The dragon watched them for a few moments, and thought that she could perhaps see something moving in its depths. She tilted her head, jaws opening wider, and moved just a little closer, her head craning over the flames, stretching out thin and high to see what she could see. A gurgle grew in her throat as she saw a cat and a rat below her- trapped in a ring of fire. Droplets of slime that fell into the flames exploded in a shower of sparks and Equinox felt herself drawing back with a thrill of horror as the flames began to creep along her slime trail, and instinctively clawed at it to stop the fire's spread.

The creature took a moment to think, driven by a feeling in her gut and a deep-seated dread. Then she bounded away, her body flexing as though it had no bones and providing a speed that she'd never needed before. She found herself at the bank pf a small creek pool and without hesitation, the great draconian creature dropped its head down and drank, her throat swelling by double- triple- quadruple the size it had been before as it filled with water.

When downstream ran dry and the great creature felt too heavy to run... she began her return, trying her best to sniff through nostrils leaking water. She couldn't see, but somehow managed to find her way back. And then... she opened her jaws and forced out all that water onto the heat that she felt.

Water poured out of her jaws and onto the fire, and she twisted and thrashed as she tried to focus it onto the very heart. Equinox had already cleared a path through but she wanted more. The dragon continued to pour water until her neck was totally empty and the last few droplets she coughed were tinted black. Only a few calmer spots remained- but those had the potential to grow as well if not left. Ignoring the cat and its rat friend, the great dragon rumbled purposefully and moved again towards the creek.

Equinox was back.

---

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @Aaliyah
notes: here

Driven by pure determination to survive the rat had leapt onto the predator, clambering up its back with razor sharp claws. The predator was fast, the predator could save it. The predator was also deadly. It might try to hurt it now.

Not wanting to risk that the rat continued onward, moving up from between the cat's shoulder blades up the back of its neck where death’s jaws surely wouldn't be able to reach. Back claws planted themselves firmly on each side of the creature's neck lest it be shaken off and front claws grasped at whatever they could hold; an ear with its left and a pretty orange crystal spike with the right.

Unfortunately in its haste to find safety it had managed to do the opposite. The beast had stopped and didn't seem to be moving even though the heat of fire was closing in. Did it not want to live? It should have ignored it! It should have kept on! Big cat had killed them both!

In an instant the world changed. No longer was breathing impossible due to the smoke but rather due to water all around them. Water which washed away the stream of blood from the rat's wound and threatened to remove it from its safe spot. It's grasp was firm though, it would not be budged.

Blood started trickling down the creature's neck once more as the fire and water was replaced by ash, the heat almost gone and the two creatures soaked. Instinct had the rat torn between wanting to run away now to not wanting to leave this place. It could hang on still, right? It didn't have to leave, didn't have to go out there again. It was safe as long as it stayed right here in this spot clutching neck and gem.

@Aaliyah @Equinox

Li could feel the hold the rat had on her ear, though she couldn't feel the other hold. She assumed it was holding onto her gem. She continued her search, wildly looking around for an exit when a sight made her freeze. She looked at the large creature, her eyes still widened in fear, but now for an entirely different reason. She crouched down, backing away from the beast, ears lowered as well as she could with the rat holding on. It wasn't long, however, until the beast opened its mouth and a rush of water fell on and around her.

She soon realized the creature was putting out the fire! And getting her wet too, but at this moment, she couldn't find it in herself to care. As soon as the opening was large enough, she darted out, past the dark creature. Now that she was no longer in immediate danger, she let out a relieved sigh. She wasn't completely safe, however. She still had to find her way out of Eridanus, and into a place she felt more safe in. A place that wasn't still slightly on fire.

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @Equinox
notes: short post, sorry. sort of in a hurry

a rumble of greeting rose in Equinox's throat, the gurgling, warbling sound seeming to reverberate from her very core, her skin trembling with the force of sound. But still, she moved on past the cat and back to the creek, with less urgency this time; again her throat balooned out, full of life-giving water.

With a loping run she found her way back to the source of the flames, and then with a gaping yawn sprayed water once more. Her throat contracted, pushing out the liquid in a harsh jet. It took some time, but finally the last tongues of flame had been reduced to smouldering ash. Only then did Equinox turn, seemingly looking around for the cat and her ratty friend. Seeming to catch sight of them through her jaws, Equinox approached, leaning down and peering closely with a cock of her beaky face.

Her body soon followed, and Equinox found herself stooping, forepaws folding under her chest and wings tight to her sides as she lay down to be at eye level with Aaliyah, saying nothing but her chest still thrumming a greeting.

---

"Speech looks like this."
"Thoughts looks like this."

tags: @Aaliyah
notes: here