Li was out of Eridanus. Away from the fire. She'd practically ran through the tunnel from Eridanus and found herself in Polaris. She hadn't been here in some time, as far as she recall. Was she here before the fire? She couldn't even remember. All she could think about was the fire. It consumed all of her thoughts, and she tried to get it to go away. Tried to focus on something, anything else. But it persisted.

So she let it. She should probably think about what all had happened anyway. A lot had happened, after all. And she'd also met a lot of other gembounds, none of which she'd encountered before. She never realized exactly how many gembounds there were. Imperia made sure to keep her away from any as much as possible, unless they were seeking someone to fight. Or kill, as the circumstance became later on. She always thought there wasn't that many. Sure, maybe half a dozen or so in every cave. But ever since she left Imperia, she's seen lots of others. They all looked so different, too.

She'd seen two that looked similar during the fire, but one had wings. And then there was the giant beast. She didn't know what to make of that one. They were so different! Oozing some sort of black liquid that was incredibly flammable. Which, of course, she had to learn the hard way. She could still feel the stings from the burns that had been inflicted due to her close proximity to the creature. They didn't hurt as much as they did back then, as swimming through the river helped soothe them slightly. But they were starting to act up now, and she did her best to ignore it.

And then...The only one left. The rat. She had no idea what happened to it, and it freaked her out immensely. It didn't help that she risked her life to save the thing, and it repaid her by trying to bite her gem off. She absentmindedly lifted a paw to the gem, feeling patches where fur had been lost around it. She thought about what had happened to the rat. What was that black tendril that had snaked its way around it? Where did it come from? Could something like that happen to someone else? Could it happen to her? The thought sent a chill down her spine.

Her mind drifted away from the creatures she had met, now going to how it had all started. She had decided to test out her magic again, thinking surely nothing could go wrong. She let out a bitter laugh. Everything had gone wrong. With that, she made a final resolve to never use magic again. Ever. She couldn't risk it! She can't set off a forest fire if she just never uses magic again. Simple as that. Despite her definitive decision, she couldn't help but feel a small pang of regret. What if she had a spell that wasn't fire?

She decided she would try it once more. But...later. She wanted to be completely alone while doing it, and Polaris always seemed to be bustling with activity. She looked around, but didn't really want to approach anyone. She'd only come here to escape Eridanus. She hadn't wanted to go to Orion, as something told her that Imperia wasn't there. She couldn't explain it, but she didn't question it.

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

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Kallista had wandered away from the fluffy cat she had met earlier, and now didn't know what to do. Some cycles had passed since then, and she hadn't the courage to approach anyone else. As always, she kept her eye peeled out for any sign of Todd, but she never did find him. At this point, she had basically given up. Had he died? She really hoped not, but she didn't know what else could have caused his sudden disappearance.

She walked now with her head down, feeling her paws drag across the ground. Her fur was an absolute mess, as she never bothered to clean it. What was the point? It's not like anyone looked at her anyway. She was practically invisible. And she liked it that way.

A flash of tan and orange caught her eye, and she looked up. Immediately, she froze. Her gaze raked over the cat, and she instantly knew who it was. It was the cat who had saved her life, all those cycles ago. The cat who had refused to kill her, and then shoved her away so she could escape. She didn't approach the cat now, wondering if she would even want to see her. Was Imperia nearby? She hadn't stayed long enough to see if she had been successfully separated from the caracal. She didn't see them, and couldn't smell them either. But what if it was a trap? What if Imperia had succeeded in getting her to stay? What if they had killed Todd?

She watched from a distance, too scared to approach. She looked around, moving her head wildly to account for the loss of an eye, but still couldn't see Imperia. Maybe it was okay? She still didn't want to approach, though. She decided to let the cat approach her if she so wanted. She sat and watched, eye narrowed slightly.

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muse: i swear every time i look at this table i get a bit of muse for her

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

Li had started looking around when close movement caught her attention. She turned fully and her eyes widened immediately. She recognized this cat! It was the one she had saved, cycles ago! The cat had clearly recognized her, but seemed hesitant in approaching. Seemed like she'd have to do it herself.

She walked over, slowly, a small smile on her face. "You're alive! I haven't seen you since...well. Y'know. But you're here!" She didn't know what to say after that, and she shifted slightly. Despite not knowing what to say, she was incredibly grateful the cat was alive. She had risked her own life to save her! It would have been a shame if the cat had died. But she hadn't, and she was incredibly glad for that.

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

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She approached. Kal watched, and made no movement aside from giving a small smile in turn. She was still wary, worried that Imperia was still nearby, but she wouldn't do anything to show that. As she spoke, she let out a small chuckle. "Yes, I am alive. And it appears so are you. Did you beat Imperia?" She could at least voice her worry, without directly saying it.

After speaking, she looked more closely at Li's fur. Was that...ash? And burns? Her wariness came flooding back. Had she used fire magic recently? Had Imperia done that to her? Maybe Imperia was nearby! She desperately wanted to look around more, but didn't want to seem scared. So she decided to ask about it instead.

"What happened?" she asked, motioning towards the ash and burns on the cat's fur.

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

Li chuckled nervously. "Well...Uh. I got caught up in a forest fire...With a large beast with some flammable...thing oozing from it. The thing caught itself on fire, and a forest fire was born." She didn't mention the fact that the only reason it had caught itself on fire was the chaos that ensued earlier, due to her originally setting it on fire.

Her gaze turned to the fur on Kal. Her eyes widened as she took in the messy fur. "Forget my fur, look at yours! Such a mess. C'mere." She walked closer, and before she could think twice, began to groom the smaller cat. Her tongue swiped over the messy fur, smoothing it down and getting anything caught in it out.


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

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notes: nice and cute now, right? hahahaha

Kal could tell that Li was hiding something, but she ignored it. She didn't want to ask about it when she obviously didn't want to dwell on it. When attention was direct to her fur, her ears lowered. Maybe she should have groomed before Li came up to her...She didn't get much of a chance to think about that however when she suddenly felt a tongue swiping over her fur.

Her eye widened, and she soon realized Li was grooming her. She protested weakly at first, but eventually stopped. The feeling was nice, and she realized she didn't want it to stop. She was sat, with Li practically around her, and was being thoroughly groomed. A slight purr found its way out, and she closed her eyes in bliss. It reminded her of any times Todd would groom her, and she leaned slightly into the larger cat.

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

Li had a paw around Kal, holding her close, not that she would move anyway. She could hear the purring and continued to groom, going between her ears now. "You've really got to take better care of yourself!" Continued grooming, moving away from her head and down to her shoulder. Already, she was looking much better.

She paused for a brief moment, and murmured out, ""I didn't save you only for you to not take care of yourself," and continued grooming as if she hadn't said anything.

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

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Kal continued to purr, but it stopped completely in her throat as Li spoke the second time. She froze, and then leaned away a bit, disrupting the hybrid's grooming. She opened her mouth, hesitated, and closed it, only to open it again a moment later. "Why...Why did..," she paused. Taking a deep breath, she tried again. "Why did you save me? You risked your life by refusing to. What if Imperia had killed you? All because you tried to save me, someone you don't even know?" She looked up at Li, head tilted.

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muse: i mean i know the posts are short but....you don't need long posts sometimes y'know

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

Li protested quietly as Kallista drew away, but she soon paused. At the cat's words, she flicked her ears and hesitated. How could she word this? She wasn't even entirely sure why she had done it. There was just something about the way she looked, complete and utter fear in her single eye as it was fixed on Imperia.

"I couldn't kill you. Not when you looked like that." Her ears were lowered as she thought back to how Imperia tried to get her to kill Kal. It would have been so easy to just give in, but no. She couldn't. The absolute fear in her eyes and voice...There was no way she could have.

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

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Li's response didn't exactly soothe Kal's nerves. In fact, they seemed to do the opposite. She was quiet for a moment, looking down. When she looked like that...Absolutely terrified...And she was. She was terrified of Imperia, and she had been terrified of Li then. But now...she didn't know what to think of the hybrid. A thought occurred to her that sent a chill down her spine, and she was afraid to voice it. But she had to know.

"So if I hadn't looked absolutely terrified," she started hesitatingly, "if I looked ready to fight for my life, would you have killed me?" She now stepped fully away from Li, staring at her with her eye narrowed, and tail tip slightly flicking.

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