Blackberry emerged from the Orion opening, her tiny dull yellow body barely visible among the rocks. She took a deep breath, glancing around for a place to rest. She had been walking for a while. After the encounter with Flicker, she had walked nonstop all through the room until she had reached the entrance to the tunnel. She didn't know where it was going, but, then again, neither did she know what she was going to do. Anyways, this place looked as good as any.

She finally found a nice dry alcove that she figured would be nice to rest at. For a little while, she explored her surroundings, trying to find some bedding - branches, dry moss, feathers, anything. But there wasn't anything good. Annoyed, she simply sat down on the flattest part of the rock and settled herself down. It wasn't as comfortable as a nest, but it would do for now. She tucked her head under her wing and closed her eyes, letting sleep overtake her.

Navigating through the dark, Kera found, was exceedingly difficult. She had left the area with a strange creature and his floating-light-whatever, and had followed the wall instead. She assumed it was a wall, it was a smooth thing that lead on for a very long time. There were many things to hear and smell and taste, but absolutely nothing to see. She could hear little four-legged scampering far off in the distance, and she could taste foul-smelling dust that got caught in her teeth.

It wasn't particularly pleasant.

As she came to a strange bend in the wall, she could smell something new. Something like herself and the cat she met before-- warm, full of life, but not something with fur. It had something like fur, but she could blatantly smell that it did not, in fact, have fur.

Nose working, she followed the scent carefully with her ears raised, but she heard nothing that would give the thing-with-fur-but-not away. It's scent, however, was everywhere-- had it been searching for something, perhaps? Kera did not know. Kera did not even consider it, in fact.

She came to a little alcove, where her nose promptly found itself in the very source of the thing-with-fur-but-not. It was soft, and warm, but very still. "ARE YOU DEAD?" the wolf eloquently barked into the mass of soft dull yellow... stuff.

Whether or not it was actually dead, Kera did not care. It was soft enough to rub her face against, which is exactly what she did, feeling the warmth and the softness of the sleeping creature in front of her.

"speech." @Blackberry

Blackberry didn't know what was going on. There was something warm and wet poking at her side and a gust of breeze pulling at her soft feathers. She groaned in protest as it dug into her skin and tried to push it away. And then, all of a sudden, a voice yelled in her ear.

She jerked awake instantly at the sound of the dog's bark. With a cry of surprise, she leaped back and slammed into the rock wall behind her. Dazed, she staggered forward and hit the dog right in the face with her beak. After a moment of trying to steady her feet, she finally shook her head and ruffled her feathers.

What the heck had just happened? It took a moment for her sleepy mind to collect her thoughts before they conjoined into a coherent line of events. And when she realized that the thing that had barked loudly in her ear, woken her up, and had asked such a stupid question was still standing in front of her, fury lit up in her like a fire.

"How dare you," she honked, loudly, her wings flapping with agitation. "Couldn't you see I was sleeping? Of course I'm not dead, you dunce! How idiotic can you be?!"

@Kera

As the soft, yellow thing slinked from under her face, Kera briefly went over in her mind what, in fact, made a creature dead.

Was it moving? Yes? Probably alive.

Breathing? Indeterminable at this distance.

Speaking? Well, if you can call that speaking, yes.

It still took a good few minutes with the wolf pup standing there, staring blankly forward. This thing-with-fur-but-not was definitely-- in Kera's mind, at least --ambiguously angry. She could not quite comprehend what the creature was angry at, however.

A moment or two passed. "You can see here? Do your eyes work in darkness? I can't see anything. How come you can see things?" The pup paced circles around the goose, nails clicking on the cave floor. This was a strange creature, Kera quickly decided. It was nothing like her or the cat she met earlier, no-- they had four limbs. Or five. Kera could not comprehend what the heck a tail was, yet --but this thing had two little stick-limbs and two big, feathery things. "What are you? You're weird. You're all-- you look like a light."

The pup simply assumed that Blackberry would know what she was talking about in this moment, though she did think that the dull yellow of the bird vaguely resembled the light-thing that the cat-creature had on his neck.

She shifted, sitting in front of the screeching goose again with very calm curiosity, folding her stubby tail neatly by her side. She repeated, cheerfully-- "You're weird."

"speech." @Blackberry

Blackberry rolled her eyes in exasperation at the wolf's comments. "Well, if you can't see, then how are you explaining my appearance? Can't dogs see in the dark, or are you completely blind?" Honestly, why was everyone so stupid? Was she the only thing with any kind of sense around here? Also, the dog seemed to be oblivious to her taunts, which annoyed her a little, but didn't deter her. Especially after the weird comment, which set her stomach boiling.

"Oh, you think I'm weird?" she yelled, furiously. "Well I'm not the one going around and waking up random strangers by poking their slimy noses in their feathers! Do you have rocks for brains, you mindless rag? Touch me again and I'll snap that nose of yours off that pinchy little muzzle!"

And to back up her threat, she opened her mouth and honked loudly, showing off her rows of teeth and her rigged, serrated tongue, doing her best to intimidate the pup that was annoying her so much.

@Kera

One burly leg lifted up to the side of the pups ear, short black claws batting away an itch lingering around her ear. "Well," she grumbled quietly, between foot-swipes. "I got really close. I see things better when they're close. It's dark." She offered this last snippet of advice, as if the bird had not noticed that the caves were, indeed, dark.

Rocks for brains? It's possible. Kera didn't know what she had in her head-- it could be something soft and pleasant or, like this weird-creature said, rocks. "I don't know?" She offered quizzically. "Do you know? What do you have in your head? Is it more yellow not-fur? Mine might be the pink hard-thing I came out of, or it might be more white soft-fur. I don't know." Thinking about it, even, Kera was not sure she ever would see what she had for brains. Her eyes simply did not turn that way to find out.

She itched a little more at her ear before dropping her leg with a hollow thump, readjusting her position to sit comfortably again. "I think you're weird. I think you think I'm weird to you, because we look different." A pink tongue lolled out, licking her jowls calmly. "Most things are weird. Lights are weird and rocks are weird, and the dark is weird. I'm weird, and my fur is weird, and your fur is weird, and everything is weird. You're not dead." She adds this last part, as if-- again --the goose was not actually aware.

All threats and signs of aggression went, unfortunately, right over the pups head. She leaned in quizzically, inspecting the inside of the bird's beak at a distance. "What is that?" she asked with faint concern. "It looks painful. Are you okay? You sound-- hurt."

"speech." @blackberry

The wolf's comments were amazing Blackberry and she stared at it in surprise. She had never imagined that someone could be so stupid. She didn't know how to make herself more threatening to this creature. Her intimidation had worked with everyone else so far and to have someone be so oblivious to her was totally new and annoying. Getting loud and angry wasn't doing anything, obviously, so she decided that she would try and get him to pay attention to what she was saying. She folded back her wings and shut her beak, glaring coals at the wolf.

"I can't believe I'm actually talking to someone with this little intelligence," she growled. "I think I'd know if I was dead or not. And of course its not painful, those are my teeth." She opened her mouth exasperatedly to let the wolf have another look, if only to stop its wondering and worrying.

"And if you ask one more stupid question I might just sink them into that pretty pelt of yours. They're just as sharp as they look."

@Kera

Kera peered into the goose's mouth-- at a safe distance still --thoughtfully. "I think everyone is smart in their own way. Just because somebody doesn't speak or think the same way as you do, it doesn't make them dumb or lacks intelligence. I think you just think I'm weird, and that's okay. I still think you're a little weird, too, but you're okay, too." She craned her head away from the open beak again, opening her own mouth to reveal pin-prick white teeth lining her jaws. "I have teeth too, see? Sometimes they hurt, but only if I bite something that's hard."

Shutting her mouth after letting Blackberry take a look, licking her jowls. "They don't look that sharp,"she offered indifferently. "But I'm glad you think my fur is pretty. I think your fur is pretty, too. It's like a light, but it's not very bright like a light. But it's the same colour."

The pup took a moment to think, shifting absently on the spot again. "So-- you don't know what's in your head?"
she asked gently, ear flicking again. It was, in her head, a perfectly reasonable question. If this strange feather-creature did not know, Kera would have to make a point of finding someone who did know what lay in his own head.

Considering how big the previous room was, and how big this current room seemed to be-- even though they were sitting in a little alcove --the wolf pup decided that there must surely be someone, somewhere out there who must have the answers she was looking for. She might save some time in her quest for absolution here, if the strange feather-creature knew.

"speech." @Blackberry

Blackberry
Everyone is mine to torment


That was it. That was the last dumb question. She had promised the pup that she would be snapping if they asked anything stupid again. And they did. She couldn't stand the idiocy of this canine a second longer. Every single one of her threats had gone over their head and every metaphor she had made and completely rolled over them as if she was speaking seriously. She couldn't stand this imbecile anymore. Without a second hesitation, she spread her wings and leaped at the dog, her mouth open, teeth flashing. She'd make this dog regret ever having woken her up.

Round: 1
Attempt: Bite her pinchy little nose
Defense: none
Injuries: none

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

tags: @Kera
notes:

As Kera was soon about to find out, being bitten by a goose hurt. A loud half-bark, half-whine escaped her throat as teeth broke through skin and fur, blood beginning to leak out of her muzzle. Not only was it totally undeserving, but it sent the wolf pup quickly into a sort of frenzy.

Her muzzle crinkled with a deep, throaty growl before she launched herself at the flapping bird, fur bristled angrily as claws and teeth slashed and gnashed at air and at feathers, tail lashing violently in the air.

She choked on barks and growls, the blood leaking from her nose and into the mouth only setting her off even worse.

Round: 1
Attempt: Bite and claw at Blackberry
Defense: none
Injuries: Bitten/bleeding nose.

"speech" @Blackberry