Kera nodded, though she grimaced a bit. She didn't know how, exactly, to get light everywhere within seconds, but she took a long breath. "It's okay," she said reassuringly, shaking her fur out. "We'll get it." She furrowed her brow, beginning to concentrate again.

This time, her gem glittered pink among the mane of fur around her neck, and a large, glowing ball of light appeared in front of her eyes. Shaking out her fur again in concentration, she began to guide the orb along every dark recess of the room. "Tell me if you see him, okay? And we'll get him."

She nodded a few times, more to herself. She hoped this wouldn't turn out to be the Eyes-- she hoped this dragon wouldn't be taken away into a void like Giggle had been. She exhaled deeply as she sent the glowing orb around the room, frowning.

@Asimona

Asimona nodded, feeling the confidence returning to her, but there was still fear that threatened to take her again. She spread her wings and leaped across the river to Kera's side. She would rather be closer to the light source and the wolf. She looked around, constantly smelling the air and trying to find a flash of red.

The light certainly helped clear away the mist. She took a few steps forward, crouched low, her tail lashing with agitation. Her wings quivered at her side, ready to spread open at a moment's notice.

There! She saw him, slinking in the shadows, his glinting eyes focused on her. She felt the darkness swirling again and she looked away, instead focusing on his neck, the place where she would pounce. "He's there," she growled. "Against that rock."

She dug her claws into the stone and leaped forward, pounding towards the dragon. His smile widened as she lunged at his neck, intending on digging her claws deep into the scales. However, he was gone just as she was about to tear open his skin. She flopped on the ground, shocked and frusterated, before leaping to her feet again. "Where are you, coward? Come out and face me!"

"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

tags: @Kera
notes: notes here

Kera tried not to instinctively grimace as she saw a flying flash of silver land next to her, focusing instead on the orb skittering across the room, lighting dark corners as it went. She saw... a grand total of nothing; even when Asimona pointed out where the thing was.

The orb of light darted quickly back to the rock, following Kera's eyes. She didn't exactly have the chance to get a good look as there was another flash of silver as the dragon flew across towards the rock again, grimacing. She must have seen it-- even if Kera did not.

But Asimona hit nothing; falling onto the ground. "Are you alright?" The half-grown wolf called over as she quickly padded off towards the dragon with some concern, keeping half an eye on the orb as she started sniffing her for injuries.

"Where did he go? I didn't see him-- is it the Eyes? Is it Senka? Where did it go?" She asked worriedly, frowning.

@Asimona

The dragon didn't respond. She barely noticed Kera as she padded up to her until she spoke. Asimona snapped her head towards her with surprise. How had she not seen him? He was there, in the shadows. He wasn't exactly small either.

"I don't know what the Eyes are, nor Senka. He's a big red dragon with evil eyes and huge muscles. Lots of spikes. Every time I get close or try to call to him he disappeared into the mist." She glared at the fog shrouding her vision. "I'll bet he made it really foggy in here too, to conceal himself. He's been following me since the waterfall room."

She sat down and tried to calm her raging heartbeat. She needed to focus. Everything felt blurry and she was almost light-headed. His presence was affecting her, just as it had done when she was with Envy. She glanced at Kera, surprised that it wasn't affecting her as well. She needed to understand what was going on and what he wanted.

"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

tags: @Kera
notes: notes here

The dragon seemed angry; though something in the back of Kera's head told her that Asimona wasn't particularly angry at her. Hesitant, the half-grown wolf looked around with a gentle frown, ear flicking, as she listened to the dragon.

"The Eyes are darkness, I think," Kera tried to explain the best she could, trying to translate Giggle's almost non-sensical information through her own non-sensical vocabulary. "Senka and the Eyes took one of my friends a really long time ago-- before I was around --and she was standing in darkness for a really long time with no food or water or conversation and wasn't able to move."

She took another look around, thinking. "I don't see him, but-- just because I don't see him doesn't mean he's not there, right?" She asked, frowning. "Though, I don't see any fog-- maybe it's a thing in your head, for some reason? Does it have a name?"

A big red dragon with spikes had reminded her of Dragon's description of Raheerah-- could he be inside Asimona's head? Why? Why make her see things no one else could? Kera gave an inward shrug, frowning still. "I can try and make it a little more light," she said quietly. "Hold on..."


Briefly bristling, Kera began to concentrate. Her gem glittered faintly, and with a short huff, bright yellow-gold light began to fill the surrounding area, illuminating anything that wasn't already covered with the light of Polaris. The wolf shook her fur out. "Maybe we should find ways to make him go away?" She suggested, looking up. "What made him leave last time, do you know?"

@Asimona

Asimona shook her head. Whatever Kera was talking about, this dragon was definitely not Senka or the eyes. Sure, he radiated evil and darkness, but she didn't think that he would be taking her anywhere without food or water. He would just kill her outright or follow her around until she lost her mind. Panic rose in her chest. That wasn't what he was going to do, right?

However, she had to think about what Kera was saying. She couldn't see the fog, which seemed almost impossible as it was completely everywhere. Was it all in her head? But it seemed so real. Or maybe it was real and Kera wasn't the real one. She growled deeply as she scratched at the ground, frustrated and confused. Why did this have to be happening? It was starting to give her a headache.

Suddenly, she realized she would be able to tell what was real. If the fog was real, then it would turn into a liquid on her command. If it wasn't, then it wouldn't. Asimona closed her eyes and focused her magic in the gem on her back. She let the magic flow through her, but then something shifted and, all of a sudden, it was out of control.

Instead of turning the fog into water, the spell touched a rock nearby, which promptly exploded into a surge of lava. With a loud scream, she grabbed for Kera and opened her wings, soaring to the other side of the river. Once she had touched down, her heart pounding, she looked over at the other side. The lava she had accidentally created was pooling in the fog and, as she watched, the unnatural fear in her began to sink away as the fog slowly disappeared.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she sunk to the ground, breathing heavily. "Sorry," she moaned, "I didn't mean to do that. I was trying to turn the fog into water." The amount of energy that had poured into the spell was incredible and she was feeling completely drained.

"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

tags: @Kera
notes: notes here

The half-grown wolf remained quietly thoughtful, watching her lights flicker among Polaris calmly. She only turned her head when she heard Asimona growl-- but not wanting to piss off the dragon, she looked forward again and waited for her to speak first.

She wondered briefly what was wrong with her. Perhaps it was the storm, even-- Vahi, had its name been? Perhaps it was controlling her in some way and making her see things but Kera was not sure, nor did she want to voice these concerns just in case.

She did not want that thing inside her again.

Kera sighed faintly, though once she did something exploded into firey rock and bright orange-red... something. She turned her head, shouting in alarm. She half-pushed herself up, ready to act and try to stop it, but she soon found herself up in the air.

The wolf began screaming even louder, legs flailing in the air; though she wasn't there for very long. A moment later she found herself on the other side of the river, on her own four paws. She began pacing back and forth, breathing heavily as fear and adrenaline coursed through her veins.

"Right, the-- the fog," she said breathlessly. "Err-- I don't see any fog, but if it didn't work and hit the rock instead, then that means it's not real, right...?" The wolf had to shake herself a bit to calm herself down, slowly sitting herself down again and staring across the lake at the pooling magma.

"Err, we should... probably fix that, somehow. I don't-- is that what rocks look like when they turn into water? Why is it fire? I don't think I can do anything about it," she grimaced. Kera's abilities only lay within mushrooms and light; both of which would be fairly useless in the face of lava.

@Asimona

Asimona groaned as she shakily rose to her feet. Everything was wobbly and she felt completely drained of her energy. "I thought that if it didn't work then it would prove the fog wasn't real. I didn't mean to do...that."

She sighed and looked over at the mess she had made now. At least the fog was gone. Was it because the lava was so hot? Or was it because her attention was diverted? Or something else?

Either way, she had to clean up this mess. She didn't know if she would be able to reverse it with the same spell - the out of control magic had already taken its toll on her and she wasn't sure if she wanted to risk doing it again. However, she still had the cold parts of her ready and waiting.

She opened her wings and brought herself up in the air. She found a good spot above the lava that wasn't too hot, but still close enough to use the magic. She focused again on the gem and pulled it up to her throat. Ice formed around the inside of her mouth and she opened it up, expelling a blast of cold air and ice. It wasn't very strong, but there was a loud sizzling sound as the ice melted and became water over the lava. There wasn't much and it vaporized quickly, but at least the heat went down a little more.

Utterly spent, she gently flew back and touched down next to Kera. She folded up her wings and slumped to the ground, her entire body weak. Her magic was spent and her energy was tired from the uncontrolled spell. And her mind was weary from the worry and fear.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I know we just met and I've been freaking out. I'm not usually like this, I promise. Sorry if I scared you or anything."

"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

tags: @Kera
notes: notes here

Kera was a little confused-- not to mention concerned --as she watched the lava across the river. She didn't particularly understand what had happened here either; there was invisible fog and lava and dragons and things.

The wolf huffed, turning her head up to watch Asimona as she took to the air and began to expunge the lava away. Her gaze flicked between both her and the lava across the river, tense and bristling. The sound of heat hissing into the air caused her ears to perk up with vague alarm.

She barely noticed the dragon thump down next to her until she heard the noise of the creature landing, slowly turning her head over to look over Asimona. "Is-- the fog gone?" She asked. "The dragon, and things?"

She wondered, still, if it were Raheerah, but Kera did not know. Perhaps it would have to be something to bring up with Dragon or one of the older gembounds, what little there were. All the other gembounds Kera seemed to know were a similar age to her-- even this dragon didn't seem to be all that old.

Speaking of this dragon-- she looked tired and worn. Kera frowned, more to herself, thoughtful. "Maybe you should sleep? I could catch you some fish," she offered, looking back towards the river. How much fish would a dragon even need to feel full, she wondered?

@Asimona

Asimona nodded. "The fog is gone and I don't think the dragon is here anymore. Too bad," she added, a slight growling in her throat, "I wanted to rip out his scales."

Her tail twitched irritably against the ground. She felt so helpless and weak. The wolf seemed really worried and she hated that it was directed at her. Why was she like this? Why couldn't she be the one that's strong for others? Why couldn't she be the one comforting and protecting? She dearly needed that. She couldn't keep being the baby.

She struggled to get to her feet at the mention of Kera catching her fish. No, she couldn't do that. She couldn't stoop low enough to have her food caught for her. "N-no, I can catch it myself." However, her legs were weak and tired and she flopped back down, exhausted. A sense of helplessness entered her heart and she looked away from the dog, embarrassed. Was this how Envy felt when he had fallen down the wall? When she had gone up to help him? Well, it sucked. No wonder he was angry.

She sighed, resigning herself to this, for now. "Fine, I guess." For a moment, she hesitated and curled herself up. "...and...thank you."

"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

tags: @Kera
notes: notes here