So many things had transpired since Morigarra had left Canis; it had been meant as a short trip with his Uncle, but that had snowballed. The startled babe had run off, met strangers, learned of magic, encountered danger - and now he was so tired he thought he'd pass out right where he was standing.

Where was he standing anyways?

Mori was far from jaunty as he made his way along. His big feet dragged, his posture was slackened, and every little noise made him spook - enough to either pick up the pace with energy he didn't have, or make him look wild-eyed at his surroundings. The babe couldn't stop a big yawn from crawling up his throat; it was timed with an erroneous next step, one that could've had him tumbling haphazardly in to the crystal river had he not noticed the embankment in time.

He straightened up, shook the sleepiness from his weary self, and took a step back from the flowing water. But he thought he heard something nearby - behind him maybe, or in the water, or maybe nothing at all (he was very tired after all). A small glimmer of energy danced within the stone at the base of his skull as he accidentally channeled his magic and somehow he knew something was watching him.

A short time before the unraveling of these events, at a well sheltered location upriver, a lone wind hopper bunny had been poking around at the clusters of magical glowing crystals. Its fur was pristine white with cyan swirls scattered throughout and bits of glowing dust from what had doubtlessly been previous encounters from these luminescent gems. As though it had not a care in the world it hopped from crystal to crystal, bopping them with its small paw and seeing if they moved. Any time the bunny successfully unearthed one it would unearth it and bring it over to a little pile it had made.

What this lesser gembound planned to do with a shrine of light was anyone's guess, but this was no ordinary lesser gembound. Around its neck was wrapped a number of intertwined strands of pink chalcedony, forming themselves into an elegant-looking collar. The collar didn't seem to bother the small bunny very much despite originating from its spine and piercing the skin at multiple locations to stay in place. All those ugly wounds from the chalcedony digging into its flesh were healing up rather nicely and overall it seemed rather content just going about its odd business.

Sadly this story would not end with the little pastel bunny bringing its little cache of lights to its little bunny burrow, but rather in tragedy. The poor wind hopper, in testing a particularly large crystal near the water’s edge, fell in! The waters rushed past, sweeping the rabbit away from its hard-earned stash and after a short period of struggle dropped it off on the shore near a little brown bird. Even had the bunny been among the greater ones, capable of complex thought and speech, it wouldn't have been able to do much immediately. Dazed and disoriented, the little drenched ball of fluff lay down on the shore coughing and sputtering. That hadn't been pleasant, but at least it was alive!

It wasn't like Morigarra was an utterly selfish creature, but he was still very young and very stupid. And when something young and stupid got scared you couldn't exactly rely upon them; thus when the creature was spotted, Mori was less inclined to help it than any other neonate (probably). He watched it for a few seconds as it gathered stones but, being agitated and confused by the magicka that he had channeled, he didn't want to get too close. And finally, when the rabbit fell in to the river and was being swept away, all Morigarra could think to do was watch. He paced along the river's bank until the rabbit was deposited upon it, and then pranced around its damp form, trying to decide what to do with it.

The poor little swirly bunny coughed a few more times as little bird approached it, getting as much water out of its lungs as possible. This wouldn't do! this wouldn't do at all! It probably looked absolutely horrible all drenched like it was. Already all its friends had scorned it because of its pretty pink collar, now they definitely wouldn't like it anymore.

The little bird got even closer, forcing the windhopper's attention upon it. Strange little creature; where were its ears? Was it an outcast too? That made the bunny sad. Maybe they could become friends and gather shiny crystals together? That would make the bunny happy.

The drenched rabbit slowly lifted itself on all four feet and shook itself to try to get all the water it could out of its fur. A paw absentmindedly shot up to scratch at an itch at its collar but quickly the creature refocused and squeaked inquisitively at the tiny bird.

(omg dad @carni help meee)

The rabbit made a noise and Morigarra was perplexed for a split second, then squawked back at it. But his squawk was much louder by comparison. He did it again, and again, gradually getting louder while at the same time looming closer, until he was seemingly shouting the noise at the rabbit, and snapping his beak above its head. Morigarra was far from regal as he played this new game with this new creature.

The more effort he put in to this shouting game the more his gem glowed, until the faint strobe became a glimmer, and then all of a sudden he loosed such a loud call that the focused magicka coursed from the gem through his skin, and out of his sides erupted a series of bloody bone fragments. They were hollow - he was a bird after all - but they were bright red with his fresh blood. It looked as if they'd sprouted out of his vertebrae (giving him an almost prehistoric look), while others had formed an irregular series of jaggedly woven segments around his neck like a collar, then down across his breast; Morigarra was ensnared by the protrusions he had created. He'd somehow managed to make this stuff erupt from his skin!

Morigarra felt instantly panicked. The pain was there, but he was in a state of immense shock that helped to curb the majority of it. All he could do was stare down at the creature before him as it had abruptly turned red, and he hadn't realized the strange dye was his own blood - himself, a crimson fountain.

The bunny squeaked along, at first scared by the odd creature but quickly finding fun and delight in having company. It's squeaking was quieter than the creature's louder squawks, but the bunny didn't mind. This was a new friend!

In the middle of the contest though light started to shine from the bird, a strange red light that grew louder and louder with each noise. Finally the sound and lights came to a crescendo and the birdie erupted into a tangle of bone and blood. Poor friend! But that had been something very special, something very special indeed. The little white and pastel blue rabbit didn't seem at all phased by the display of horror before it, for it knew exactly what had happened. This bird wasn't a bird at all, but a glowing crystal like all the others! It must have been a special glowing crystal that could walk and squawk and run and play, but now it was all tired out.

Bunny knew just what to do though, noisy bird-crystal needed to rest and the bunny knew just where to take it to rest; the pile with all its non-walking fiends! With a small squeak of delight the windhopper chomped down on one of bird-crystal's spikes until it had a good grip and hopped backwards to drag it back toward the pile. Into the pile it would go, rest with all its glowy friends. Soon they could all go together to meet the thing that wanted to meet them. No more sadness, no more loneliness, just a happy life together until time itself came to an end.

There was very little Morigarra could do except collapse, which he did mindlessly. The collision with the ground jostled his new bone growths and made him wince, his vision swimming, and before he knew it something else was grabbing hold of him and pulling. It didn't hurt as much as you'd have expected, having those bone things grabbed and yanked at. The rabbit was smaller than him but seemingly stronger (no doubt in better health now), and after a torturous travel across the cave floor, Morigarra came to rest among a pile of rocks.

Some of them were dull. They were most likely old chunks of Orion which had somehow made their way here to Polaris. Others were smooth, and still others glowed with a dull radiance that would've mystified the babe if he had been more aware. Once the rabbit had deposited him among the rocks though, the energy they gave off seemed to soothe his pain; that or he was imagining it, finding solace where he needed to.

Morigarra... Was afraid. He knew it, that deep down all he wanted was to be back in Canis with his father, or with Fortune, or even with Xerxes - anywhere else but here, with anyone else besides this strange rabbit. Maybe if he hadn't been shouting at it like that, it would have been nice to him. In the child's mind this entire event had not transpired because of himself, but rather, because of the ill-fated intentions of the rabbit. The boy was groggy and unable to watch the small creature for very long; after a few attempts to stand (which were met with a wobble and the inevitable collapse of his legs beneath him), Morigarra gave in, and rested among the stones.

It felt as if she spent more time in Polaris lately than her own home in Eridanus. Remedy leisurely glided on outstretched wings across the trailing paths and rivers of Polaris proper; her eyes scoured the grounds in search of prey. Food to feed her and Cure where deer had grown tasteless; rats had more flavor- not good flavor, but not bland and boring like the forest's cervi-spawn.

She heard the squawking before she saw its source. It grew louder. She grew more annoyed. It's going to scare off every rat from here to Canis! Sharp eyes, hot with irritation, scanned the floors more dutifully now, ears swiveling as she glided in silence listening and searching.

The noise stopped as she all but crossed her shadow over the pair of creatures and she got a front-row seat to the gore that played out below her. A spell she'd never seen before but one that felt familiar in a sense. Her stone felt like it could twist her head around with the pressure she felt in empathy for the boy, who in shock, staggered along at a lesser's guidance to a more secure spot that was just barely within sight for the avian. She followed them on silent wings until she landed on some rocks above the pair.

Familiar scents drifted to her past the blood scent. Carni. This was a Canis brat. Well shit. She sent a mental image of the boy to Cure, with a feeling of begrudging duty; 'I'm taking him home. I'll be late.' With the message sent, she began a soothing purr in her throat, sing-song like from the avian cords. She wasn't hunting now. Like an old friend, she began to approach the fallen youngster and its companion.

"Hey kid... you okay, little buddy?" Her voice was soft and quiet, just above a whisper as she held back a few inches- lest she scare either of the pair and cause more suffering by mistake.

_{@Morigarra sry for the tag, instinctive ;-;}

With special walking glowy gem safely in its pile the bunny went back to its task of looking around the area for more crystals. Luckily for it there was one right down by the water where it had hopped and nudged it and fallen in. The crystal itself was safe and sound and ready to be rolled up to the pile and placed on top of the others.

And so as if without a care in the world the little bunny bounded down to the water’s edge and began to push the crystal, which was probably at least three times its size, along the ground toward the others both walking and non-walking.

A shadow fell upon them though, a dark and ominous shadow. It was approaching, it was coming to take the other gems away! Not losing any time the windhopper rushed right next to the pile and kept eyes locked on the approaching stranger.

As the stranger approached even closer and spoke sounds unknown the brave little bunny stepped forward in turn and growled in irritation. This was its gem pile! Not the big creature's! The big creature wouldn't take away its hard-earned work!

As it growled the intertwining pink collar around its neck appeared to shift ever so slightly, as though responding to its plight.

The smaller creature took its precious time to drag him over to its collection, and the experience of being dragged was not one he would happily repeat. Sure, his body was reacting to the magicka as one might react to a drug - and he was filled with adrenaline fueled shock - but Morigarra couldn't get a handle on it. When the shadow descended across the area he was still fighting to stay awake; the hybrid's voice was the last thing Morigarra could hear before he passed out completely.