Destrie had loved Fornax, and he had loved playing with Iris, but he wanted to see more of the caves. He wanted to see more, know more. He wanted more friends. he wanted to do more. The strange animal moved through the caves, his fish tail dragging behind him. It had hurt when he had first begun to travel, however, the scales had hardened and became almost rock-like, keeping the flesh underneath from being exposed.

And now that he was in this part of the caves, this leafy pretty place, he didn't really have to worry about his tail. The ground was soft and squishy feeling, like sand. Des loved it. He took a moment to roll in the dirt, making his dark fur lighter and his feathers and scales less flashy. It was fun, but now Destrie wasn't as pretty. It was okay though because he could swim later.

The creature's mind was quickly elsewhere, eyes, all six of them, drifting towards a large tree. It was so big! So cool looking! Destrie wanted to climb it! He wasn't sure if he could, but he'd try. The Gemling hauled himself forward on his wing-limbs, quickly gaining distance. He wanted to get to the top, to see all of the room. He wanted to see it all.
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"Take a look, and you'll see into your imagination."

Word Count: 217
Tags: here
Notes: here

Rift had smelled the thing from far away and had immediately jumped into action. Never before had he smelled something like this. There was not a single scent in the cave he could match it up against. He had to see for himself - something unknown meant it could be something dangerous.

He jumped through the branches of the trees, his expert paws barely shaking the branches as he ran through the forest. He could see a form bellow, some creature he had never seen the likes of...ever. It had antlers and a fish tail and that was pretty much all that was familiar to him. He crinkled his nose. What a strange smell.

He couldn't decide what to do. Confront this weird alien or follow where it went to see what it did? Each could spell disaster - if it was dangerous, then he could get hurt or the forest could get hurt.

But, of course, he cared much more for the forest then he did for himself. Which meant there was only one answer - confront them directly. He positioned himself so that he was just above the creature, and then delicately hopped from the branches. He fell through the air until he landed right in front of the creature, his ear bent back.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "And what are you? Why are you here?"

@Destrie

Destrie would have made it to the tree, except a creature a tad bigger than him jumped down. Destrie let out a little yelp, but then smiled broadly. A new friend? Maybe. Hopefully! He didn't seem to happy though. That was okay though, because Destrie could be his friend! And friends made everyone happy!

"I'm Destrie! I don't know what I am, a fishogbeerd? Um, I like this place. It's pretty." Destrie answered to the best of his ability. He smiled again. "Who are you? Why are you here?"


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"Take a look, and you'll see into your imagination."

Word Count: 99
Tags: @Rift
Notes: here

Rift narrowed his eyes at the creature. Every single one of his instincts were calmed, but suspicion clouding all of his senses. All he saw in front of him was an unknown creature, and something unknown couldn't be trusted until they proved themselves trustworthy. His tail lashed slowly behind him as he looked over 'Destrie' a few times, trying to figure out if it was dangerous at all.

How did something not know what it was? Was that not knowledge given at birth? He had never met a creature that didn't know what it was and that was another thing that set off red alerts. His hackles were raised and his nose twitched as he sniffed again. "You should know what you are," he murmured, with a hint of warning in his tone.

At the question, though, he raised his head a little bit, proudly. "I am Rift and I am the Guardian of this Forest. Nobody goes through these trees without me knowing about it. And no stranger comes in unchallenged." Of course, this wasn't perfectly true. There was no way he could protect the forest and guard the entrance at the same time. It just wasn't plausible. But he wasn't exactly going to say that to a stranger.

@Destrie

Destrie wasn't quite sure how to react. Was he supposed to know what he was? How did that work? From what the young Gembound could tell, he wasn't like anything else. Maybe that made him special! Being special was a good thing. So he brushed it off.

And then came more words. "It's nice to meet you Rift! I hope we can be friends, you seem very nice, for protecting such a pretty place!" Destrie spewed cheerfully, completely oblivious to all the warning signs Rift was giving off. Des just wanted to be friends, and to play!

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"Take a look, and you'll see into your imagination."

Word Count: 97
Tags: @Rift
Notes: here

It seemed that anxiety and mistrust had changed the once welcoming, friendly cat. Rift glared at Destrie with suspicion. Nobody was that cheery, right? Nobody was that brave in front of an obviously suspicious person? Unless they were trying to challenge him. Were they intentionally causing this confusion?

He didn't like it. He still had no reason to trust them and the inserted compliment, which would have made his day in cycles past, now only sparked another red flag to rise. His tail lashed faster as he grew agitated. He began to pace in front of the creature, a low rumble rising in his chest. "How do I know that you have good intentions in this place," he growled. "You haven't told me why you are here."

@Destrie

Dest was clearly oblivious to the hostile manner of the cat. He had no idea that he could be angry. So Destrie kept his broad smile."Well, I wanna explore! I wanna know everyone, and see everything! Our world is so pretty and magical, and I love it lots!" Destrie answered, though he had a question of his own.

"Why is your tail doing that? And what's that sound your making? And why are you walking back and forth? Is something wrong? Or is this a game to play?" He sputtered excitedly, giving his wings a few eager flaps. His eyes sparkled with wonder. He wanted to play, and to be friends! He wanted to fly up to the treetops, and maybe swim in the lakes! If there were any. Destrie wanted to do everything and see everything.

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"Take a look, and you'll see into your imagination."

Tags: @Rift
Notes: here

Rift listened to the strange creature with a growing sense of disbelief. Every single word they said to him sounded more fake then the last. The growl got louder as he stopped pacing and stood in front of Destrie, his eyes narrowed and glaring. "I don't believe you," Rift snarled. "I don't know who you are and, more importantly, I don't know what you are. The strangest creatures are the ones that do the most damage. Give me a better reason, prove yourself to me, or leave now."

He let his claws slide out as he snarled again, showing his teeth. "I am displaying obvious signs of aggression," he snapped, sarcastically, "and you must be a fool not to recognize it. I don't trust you! Which means you need to leave, now."

@Destrie

It finally hit Destrie, being told outright, that he was not welcome. His eyes filled up woth tears and his gem glowed, its magic working. He sucked up some of the moisture in the air, letting it drench his body as he cried.

"B-but I just want to be friends! I want to see the p-pretty plants!" Destrie sobbed not understanding why the cat would be angry and why he wouldn't believe him. The strange creature turned and moved aeay from Rift a bit, but gave him another hopeful glance. He wanted Rift to say he was jokong. So he moved slowly, not quite ready to leave yet, but still sad.

@Rift
OOC: quick phone post.

As the creature suddenly started to cry, Rift stepped back, a little surprised. What was he crying for? Was he a child or something? And then it struck Rift that they might, after all, simply be a child that honestly wanted to see the forest. Who was he to deny an innocent child a place like this?

He remembered the conversation he had had with Sebastian some time ago and felt his heart sink. It was happening again - he was getting angry for no reason. The growl in his chest died away as he lowered his head. He didn't fully trust them, of course, but he had to remind himself to be more open.

And then he noticed that their skin began to get wet. Water magic? He was familiar with it - he knew a spell himself for watering his plants. Anyone that knew magic like that made him feel a little better. At least they weren't of fire or disease.

"Um, hey...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I-I guess you could stay. I mean, at second glance, I guess you don't look too dangerous..." He felt awkward saying the words after having just been aggressive towards the young creature. He sighed and steadied his voice. "I'm sorry. It's been hard being open about letting strangers in with all that's happened here."

@Destrie