Fisher blinked as his fur settled and he realized, with a pang of regret, that he had kind of sort of punched his friend right in the nose. His ears laid back and he pressed his chin down to his forepaws, nose brushing the earth. "Sorry Tam," he whimpered, his tail twitching. That had to be a pretty lousy way to wake up. He hadn't meant to hurt her or anything... He tilted his head to one side, still all against his legs, and peered at her... It didn't look like he had scratched her or anything, at least.

Thankfully she hadn't heard anything then. It might have just been his dream... His ears pricked as she asked if he had had a bad dream too. This made him whine a bit more, shuffling closer to nuzzle her cheek. Her dream sounded absolutely awful. Possibly worse than his own, but his had been so vague and weird that he wasn't sure.

"I had a dream that I was back in Cetus... At least, I think it was Cetus. There were no trees, just... White fog. And the ground was this grey, flat stone for.. for forever, I guess." Fisher licked the gentle red spot that marked where he had hit her nose. He hoped it didn't hurt too much. "And the barkfriend was there, the one the monster killed, but she was already dead. And then the fog turned blue.. Like, really, really blue. And I got scared, so I zapped it and then I heard a loud bang and woke up."

Fisher didn't like any of it. What did it mean? Did dreams even mean anything? He wasn't sure. He felt absolutely worried though. It wasn't like the Electric Gembounds to be afraid-- just like it wasn't suited to Noodles being scared either. It just wasn't right. He hated the feeling but it clung to his fur worse than static.

"What do we do now?"

Somewhere just behind an outcropping of rock, a golem's head rock had tumbled from its shoulders and landed with a loud SNAP in a pile of twigs. The twigs had previously belonged to an unknown creature, and in the nest that it had made, a small collection of shining gems. This golem had just attempted to collect the gems, but leaning over, the weight of its head had suddenly become too much for its weak magic to sustain. The head had tumbled off, leaving the golem a misshapen conglomeration of one large boulder with three rocky limbs as legs, and one other stunted rock used as an arm. The golem stumbled, having lost a considerable sum of magical energy. It suddenly lumbered into view of the deer and fisher, but seemed to have taken a hit to its coordination. Further beyond, a group of three golems (still unseen, but possibly heard) began to wander near, attracted to the magical energy imbued in the first golem's lost head.

Tamelyn Thunderhoof And I will fear no darkness

Tamelyn's anger dissipated like dust in the wind when Fisher whimpered an apology. "Hey now, it's okay," she said to him, lowering her head to his level. "I was just startled, was all." It was impossible to stay mad at a face like that. He went on to describe his dream. Scrunching her face up at his ministrations to her bashed nose, her expression shifted from curiosity to horror as he described the events of his dream. "It killed someone?" she said hoarsely. This was even worse than she had thought. He narrated the rest of his dream, but she only heard it in a dim, echoing fashion as she tried to process this new information. If this monster had already killed somebody, who knew what else it would do?

"I-I don't know," she said quietly in response to his question. Emotions knotted her gut: anger and fear in equal parts. For once, she felt every part a lost child in a hostile world. She pondered going to see the beast for herself, but she didn't want to make Fisher go back there. Another time, maybe.

A groaning rumble made her ears prick up, and she looked over her shoulder to see a rocky shape shamble into view. Her heart thumped suddenly in her chest as her eyes widened. A golem? Fisher hadn't just been hearing things, then. It was moving oddly, but she almost thought she could hear more coming. "Fisher," she said quietly, "we may need to get out of here very soon." At the same time, however, her anger was building. Stupid golems. Stupid monster. Stupid cave. What had they done to deserve a place like this? Her magic crackled under her skin, but this time, it took a different form than her usual sparks. The air around the golem began to crackle and snap, a disorienting buzz filling the air around it, but it was dim and short-lived, the sparks only flickering for a few moments before dying out once more.

"Listen to me."

table by lisa, image and modifications by FennecFyre

Fisher blinked as suddenly Tam seemed to notice a thing-- he was much too busy being worried and his thoughts were honed in on his deer friend, the only deer friend who had never frightened him because he had met her way before he learned about the sharp hooves she had. His attention did shift to what she was looking like, and the crackle of her fur made him tense before he even realized what it was.

The rock things! He could hear more coming, but decided that maybe it was time to lay a trap. The thing looked like it might be trying to get his big gem head, and considering what very little Fisher had observed he knew that they seemed attracted to the gems, right?

;; post roll

And with just a bit of focus, the pupil cast the beginner spell with ease, filling the gem with sparking, vicious, biting lightning and plenty of magic to attract the curious gem collecting beasts. Nevermind that electricity was a dangerous thing to be summoning by golems, but considering that Tamelyn had already started and Fisher solved every problem with lightning... Well.

This plan only made sense to him, now didn't it? "We're faster than this dumb little thing, Tam. No worries. Stuff goes bad, we just book it." He flashed a grin at her, feeling a tang of pain as electricity flickered from his gem and through his muscles. He, uh, probably wasn't in any condition to actually fight golems, considering, but Fisher was never one to count the odds, was he?

The misshapened golem would lurch forth, rocks grinding against one another in a slow and churning motion. The extra third leg of the rugged creature would be a hindrance to the golem, for it caused itself to sway this way and that, colliding with a nearby wall. Stones tumbled off of the golem, falling to the floor with sharp clatters. Each wavering step brought the golem closer to its demise and destruction, the little magic that the golem held being insufficient to hold it together. It was the magicka that soon crackled in the air like thick smog. It filled the room, making small electrical sparks and sharp little cracks of the air, like a whip. The headless golem shifted its course toward the magic's source. Nearby, the trio that had been wandering toward the first golem's lost head now shifted their course as well, heading right toward the Gembound that were now known to the golems.

Tamelyn Thunderhoof And I will fear no darkness

Fisher's bravado was a reassurance to the girl after the disturbing news concerning the Spire and the appearance of the golems. She nodded at him, trying to match his grin. Thoughts of a dead Gembound still lingered with her, but they were mixed with anger at the injustice of it all. Here was a way to release that anger.

"Let's have some fun," she said, standing up and hopping off the generator back onto the shore. Fisher was right, they were faster than that stupid pile of rocks! She approached the lurching golem fearlessly, reaching for her magic, this time purposefully. She held it tightly, suppressing it until she was close to the golem, then darted forward suddenly, butting it's side while attempting to zap it.

A small cluster of sparks jumped from Tamelyn to the golem as she bashed it's side. As usual, colliding with rock dazed her a bit, but as a creature who naturally played by headbutting, it would take a little more than that to put her out. Immediately after making contact, she skittered backwards, trying to get out of it's range once more. She was currently oblivious to the other golems approaching, only focusing on taking out her frustrations on this particular pile of rocks.

"Listen to me."

table by lisa, image and modifications by FennecFyre

Fisher flashed a grin, his pelt shivering with anticipation as he wagged and wagged his tail. Have fun? "You bet!" He barked, building up the energy in his fur. He watched her go first, bolting headfirst into the golem, letting loose tons of little sparks from her hoof. The mustelid let loose a squeal of delight, followed by a yowl of attack, scrambling forward on a flurry of paws. Fighting golems sounded like tons of fun! He leaped on to the golem after she headbutted it, digging his claws in as he let loose a torrent of his own magic.

And boy did the sparks fly! The gem on the fisher cat's back glowed a brilliant yellow, the usual flat line across the middle turning into a mini-lightning bolt as it flashed with energy, letting loose a bunch of small static shocks on to the tackled golem. HIs fur puffed up in all directions, the static turning him into the world's fluffiest noodle ever, but it was absolutely worth it. The golem was no match for them, no siree! Of course, the young gembound hadn't noticed the other golems yet-- only the one that was weak and falling apart as it was already.€

With the crash and thunder of Gembounds using magic, the broken golem was both empowered and weakened by the force. Reaching out with the stub it used as an arm, the monster would try to slap the creatures that had attacked it. Of course, the arm would fall into small rocks, and the being turned, using stumps of legs to try and escape. There was danger, and it knew if it could get to it's friends, there would be more safety.

All the while, the trio still yet approached, changing course to their fallen ally. Who knows what their intent could be.

Tamelyn Thunderhoof And I will fear no darkness

Even as it swiped at them, it's arm crumbled into chunks of stone and dirt. Defenseless against their dual attacks, it turned and lurched away on it's stumpy legs. This perturbed Tam somewhat, breaking through the haze of anger briefly. She hadn't been aware that golems had any sense of self-preservation. She had only believed them to unthinking, unfeeling constructs. However, the sight of it fleeing also caused a vicious glee to well up in her. If she had been a predator, she would have compared it to chasing down helpless prey. "Don't let it get away!" she called, bounding after the golem. Her magic use was beginning to tire her, but she still had a few volts left in her. She pulled on it again, trying to recreate the disorienting, buzzing feeling her magic had caused when the golem first showed up.

The air around her crackled and snapped again, but this time it lasted for more than a second or so. However, as Tamelyn was unpracticed with this particular spell, she couldn't focus it entirely on the golem. She skidded to a halt and pawed a hoof at her own ears, which had gone numb and buzzy. Her head swam as the dancing sparks popped and crackled a few more times, then faded, taking the sensation with it. She looked over at Fisher, concerned, wondering if he had been affected. "You okay?" Still, if it had made her head hurt, imagine what the golem must be feeling.

The distant rumbling and crunching of the other golems now reached her ears, and Tamelyn looked up, her bravado deflating like a punctured balloon. "D'you think we can fight that many?" she murmured to Fisher. She was still plenty angry, but now there was fear, too. Golems were slow, but they would be outnumbered, and likely surrounded. The three approaching golems seemed to be making for the injured one, who in turn was lurching towards them. This was almost interesting. She half-expected the trio to turn on their injured brethren, but then why would it be heading towards them? She ceased her pursuit for the moment, merely watching to see what happened next.

"Listen to me."

table by lisa, image and modifications by FennecFyre