The floor of the river was paved with chunks of cave stone which, having been polished for who knows how long, were smooth enough that they could usually be ignored by wandering gembounds. Today the river's flow was the same as always - lazy but constant. Enough movement to churn the mechanisms of the generator and keep the lights on. Everything seemed calm in this section of Polaris until a loud CRA-THUNK resounded across the water's surface. The lights seemed to shudder for a second, flicker, but remained on.

That persistent wheel was moving a little slower than normal, though. And occasionally there was a metallic screeee followed by a splash. Was something the matter with the generator?

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Silently paws trailed across memorized pathways, leading the shadowed beast through Polaris without a proper destination. It seemed the caves were once again breathing life. Other gembounds were reawakening, some being born anew. While others were taking a breath for the first time. Even when the activity began to rise within the caves again the hellhound had kept to herself. Stuck back in the shadows with only her son and familiar as a companion. Salethyr was grown, as he should have been by now, lurking around in his own she was sure, and Pheo was faithfully following her; soaring just above her head. He was certainly a magnificent dragonbat. At least to her, he was. Her opinion was probably biased seeing as he was her familiar, but still...he was her best friend. The one she turned to when she felt darkness creep around again.

Arkrael did not pause in her travel, not for the skittering cave deer that would make a delicious meal and certainly not for the other gembounds she might see from the path she strolled. Yet, when there was a strange and loud sound just further ahead of her obsidian eyes, ringed with thin emerald circles, lifted from the ground to peer onwards. Audits perked into attention, pushing forward as she moved her direction towards the sound. As lights fluttered and flickered Arkrael found herself lowering her cranium, feeling her hackles begin to bristle as she could only wonder what was going on. "Pheo..." her voice growled lowly to the dragonbat and instantly the familiar gave a screech and zipped off ahead of her to take a quick scope of what may have caused the noise all the while Arkrael quickened her pace so she too could check to see what the noise had been.

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"Talking"
thinking

The strange noise continues - screee plop, screee plop! It seems to happen every thirty seconds, like clockwork.

The bat finds nothing in the air that is of use. Should they return to Arkrael, they will have nothing to show for their efforts.

And still, the sound persists. Is it worth a closer look?

Polaris had been anything but quiet lately, and with the recent gathering of the Marrowbound in Canis, he felt it wise to keep Polaris on his route. Whether it was a new gembound hatching or a giant spider falling from the ceiling, Polaris needed watched.

Xerxes had just barely made it into the room when a loud thunking sound erupted near the water and the lights grew a bit weak for a second or so. Following it, a metallic screeching noise from the generator and a splash followed by dripping alerted him and he quickened his pace towards it. In doing so, he noticed he wasn't alone and came up behind Arkrael on their left side. Remaining some distance away from her in case he startled her, he walked a few paces behind her to her side. "Any idea what's going on?"

Closer and closer Arkrael came to where she first heard the sound. She could feel her skin prickle with unease as she drew closer. A screech from the distance and Arkrael lifted her head, listening as she spotted her familiar quickly fluttering back over to her. "Did you see anything?" She hummed softly as the large dragonbat landed gracefully onto her back before he scurried up to perch atop her skull. Feeling him shake his head with his voice rising into her thoughts from their bonded link with a firm 'no' Arkrael hummed deeply. She had finally came to a stop, wondering if she should take a better approach to investigate the noise, but before she could make up her mind another voice rose up from her side.

She would have jumped from being startled had she not recognized the voice instantly. Obsidian eyes turned and ears perked towards the large feline and for the first time in what felt like a long time she regarded a familiar creature. Xerxes. He was alive and well. She was relieved to see him, but now was not the time to catch up with someone she had known since he was a cub. "I'm not sure yet, but no better way to find out then to go look, hm?" She offered the feline to join her before she finally hurried on her way to hopefully find out what exactly had made the sound.

It didn't take too much longer to get to where the generator was and Arkrael was quick to scent the air, hoping to see if she could catch the scent of something; or someone. Her chest rumbled with a thoughtful growl as she turned and peered towards the water only for her gaze to follow the direction it was flowing. She could have sworn she heard something splash into the water, but would it even still be there? "Well...do you see anything?" she murmured almost too quietly to the lion as she moved around to look about.

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words:
tagged:
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muse:

"Talking"
thinking

Cleaning his talons of a fool's gold was proving to be quite a fruitless task thanks to the constant ruckus of a faulty generator. Nótt wasn't misophonic. Subtle sounds were commonplace in the caves, but perhaps most particularly in Polaris. Magicka hummed as it ebbed and flowed while the golems groaned as they meandered about, greedily snatching up broken shells and bedazzling their rocky hides. But they weren't quite as consistent as this disgusting plopping noise was offering itself to be. So, as any annoyed resident would, he fluttered over to the 'ol thunder-mill.

The metallic box clanged softly as he landed. Sharp talons scraped noisily as he shuffled across the worn surface of the beat-up old generator, golden eyes narrowing down into the inner workings of the wheel. Perhaps the noise was simply external. Maybe something had gotten caught up in the wheel—or on the bar connecting it to the generator. He paid no mind to the approaching gembound.

Nott fails to see anything; it is possible their timing is off. For now, the sound continues unabated.

Above, the lights gave another flicker.

Thankfully, he hadn't startled her and they walked on towards the generator in light conversation about it. Xerxes hadn't a clue what was going on with it and it seemed the older gembound hadn't either. Above them, he heard something flutter and looked up in time to see an owl flying over ahead of them, landing rather noisily on top, its talons screeching on the metal similarly to the screeching accompanying the splashing every thirty or so seconds. The owl was otherwise quiet and Xerxes paid it no mind for now.

"Have you been here long? Anything besides flickering lights and the screeching and splashing?" He questioned, gathering clues if there were any others to be known. Xerxes was otherwise lost, however. Upon arriving at the generator, he stopped and looked upwards to see the owl, but looked back at Arkrael when the lights flickered again.

"Something's making the water splash, but is it safe to go in? I don't want to get fried if the power does something funky." His eyes narrowed in the direction of the water, eyeing it for any electrical signs.

As conversation was made and he was interrogated, Nótt was distracted from his investigation. Turning his head backwards unsettlingly, the owl hooted softly, "long." Then, a word he had just cleansed himself of. "Broken." Preening idly at his feathers, he fell quiet for a moment. Listening and interpreting. "Stein-dýr," he suggested. Showing off his meaning, he flicked a wing in the direction of the dam upriver—hopefully they would understand.

Immediately disinterested in his company, he turned back to the waterwheel. He squinted into the axle, counting the seconds until the noise repeated itself. Eyes sharp and alert.

Through the use of careful timing and sharp eyes, @Nott manages to spy something attached to the water-wheel! From his angle he can discern a large irregular shape which seems to be stuck to the surface of one spoke of the wheel. As it comes out of the water, a segment drags upon the generator - creating the skree - and shudder the mechanism. The lights flicker in tandem with this, until the wheel makes a full rotation and plop! the dark shape plunges back in to the water.

{Tagging: @Arkrael @Xerxes @Nott }