OOC: for Dark!

The journey to Tunnel J was one filled with excitement for the little girl. It wasn’t too long ago that she had been scampering around and helping the cub to find what he was looking for – in essence, pieces of armour. These things did not really interest the tiny creature for the metal would only weigh down on her. Nonetheless, she wondered if Void might be interested in any of the rusty metal pieces that this place had to offer. Still, by this time, Quix had worn out quite a bit of her verbal energy and so left these thoughts swirling in her mind. This gave Void the opportunity to finally rest his head and free it from the chittering of the little creature known as Quix.

Upon entering Tunnel J, one would notice that the cave was smaller but extremely magnificent. In fact, it interested the fox more than any other room, for there were tons of bits to find all over the place. Rusty armour lay on the floor – and the ceiling and walls had strange carvings that felt rather nice to the touch. The girl barked out to the dog as she reached the center of the room and spoke with a happy grin. “Tada! We are here!” She wagged her tail and waited for Void to catch up with her antics.

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Black had picked his way more slowly into the mouth of the tunnel, looking up and eyeing over the leering sculptures above with a wary eye. He had listened to the fox's cheerful babble with an attentive yet absent air, like someone who is silently nodding along as they absorb the information.

By the time they reached the tunnel, though, she'd seemed more worn out. She still seemed cheery, energetic even, but her nonstop chattering had, well, stopped. Once he had looked around, taking in the carvings and sculptures of monsters, he turned his attention to Quix.

"You tire. Do you need rest?" he asked matter-of-factly. If she had to sleep, he knew that they could do so somewhere nearby before delving into this unfamiliar territory. What he didn't realize was that this place wasn't unfamiliar at all--at least, not to the fennec.

As he waited for a response, he sniffed around the entrance to the tunnel, and pawed and smelled some of the metal pieces scattered over the worn rock floor. They smelled metallic, but they did not bear that cloyingly sweet stench that the creature-who-fled did.

He looked back up to Quix, silent.

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The large black dog followed her patiently and looked over the area. Quix caught his eye and realized that he wasn't too interested. “No bad ones here?" she asked, then sat down to lick at her rump to ease out several stray debris that had clung to it. She remained in this position for a while, allowing herself some rest while Void sniffed out the entrance on his own.He asked her about her well-being then. Immediately, the girl snapped up her head and giggled at him. “N-O!" she called out in a teasing, sing-song voice, then got up and started scampering around the room hyper-actively. A couple of barks, a couple of yips. Quix was excited to feel familiar terrain underfoot again. She loved this room for its vastness, as well as the bits of armours and stone stairs that were essentially quite like playthings to her.

After a moment, the girl decided that she would get back to helping Void. So, she cast her magic, attempting to sense whether there were any weird or different bacteria here. Immediately, the white itty bitties appeared in front of her. They were the same ones. Nothing different or odd had come by here nor left a trail. It was as written in the dog's eyes - empty. But the girl wasn't going to take this, since she had brought him all the way here. “Look at the carvings! The symbols! Most clues in this room Quix says." She scampered back to him and around his legs, then started to head forward again, fluffy tail wagging, encouraging him to check out the room in more detail. It might come in handy later on.

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Black pricked up large hanging ears to listen to Quix--and when she began to scamper about, and then forward, he followed. He lifted his head to gaze up at the statue as they passed beneath, and then at the strange and intricate pictures carved into worn stone above. They were monsters, leering down, and alien to him. This one with what might have been tusks, that one with narrowed eyes and pointed fangs. On he padded, pausing to sniff the walls and the floor of the cave, glancing toward Quix.

He carried on forward, speeding up into a slow and lumbering trot behind the swift fox, glancing up now and again to--...

He stopped dead in his tracks, eyes on the ceiling, nearly tripping over his own feet. Once he'd regained himself from the stumble, he began to slowly turn in place, staring up.

There, on the ceiling, was one carving with a creature like a draconic fish, all fins and claws and long, sinuous body. Black blinked his blue-grey eyes, gaze fixed upon it.

"...This is... Aquarian?" he asked, almost hesitantly, as if unsure--or perhaps half-expecting the carving to answer "yes."

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Void followed her trail. Where she scampered and sniffed about, so did he. This room was so exciting, and strange that it enthralled the little fox to no end. The only thing that might have bothered her would be the dust that settled easily among the armour and bits lying around but other than that, this room was lovely. The big black dog stopped suddenly and took special interest in one particular carving. The fennec fox was observant and immediately scampered back to his side, curiosity pricking at her. “What is it, what is it?" she asked and craned her neck upwards to view what he was staring at. A long, gigantic beast with frills greeted her eyes. He commented on it then and Quix looked at him, puzzled. “Aquarian as in, aqua residing monster? It has fins so..yeah, Aquarian." She did not understand what the dog was driving at but if it seemed to live in water then, it must be an Aquarian right?

Now, it was her turn to ask questions. Quix moved closer to Void to nudge at his leg, to break him out of his reverie. “What about Aquarian?" she yipped, curious stare bearing into Void's face.

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Black sat down, peering up with furrowed brow. At length he finally looked back down at Quix, solemn-faced.

"I have said that I seek he-who-fled. There was flood. Once stopped, a creature fled with scurrying skitters. It was the smell. Sweet metal. Sick copper."

Black paused, gathering his words again: this, for him, was something of a speech. He eyed the carving as he continued, speaking slowly and pondering each word.

"At flood's source, a buzzing filled the world. It deafened. We pursued. A lake in Cetus. A vast beast, a thousand times as big as I. A jaw that could swallow the Dog whole. Fangs as large as my head."

Black stared intently at Quix, hoping she could grasp what he was saying past his broken grasp of language.

"A fight. Its name, Aquarian. It spoke. It spoke of a creator: Nemean. Of a betrayal. It knew not what we were. Its orders were to feed it, and it submerged. The Dog seeks that-which-fled before, in the tunnel. That which smells of metal and sweet sick. That which, perhaps, has betrayed. A game, played upon the Aquarian. At expense of our lives. And yet--"

And here Blackstood, nodding up again at the carving of the thing that resembled his description, at least somewhat, the carving that may have been this monster called Aquarian.

"It is here, on this rock. Seen, and inscribed. Why? What is it?"

He shook his large head and looked again to Quix, lifting one heavy forepaw into the air. "Do you understand all that the Dog has said? We must reach it. I must touch this stone. Do you understand?"

And he began to look around, searching for something, perhaps, to stand on, so that he could reach the carvings above.

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Void looked at her for a while and made himself comfortable on his rump. The girl sensed the atmosphere switch from lively to solemn and so attempted to realign her features back into a neutral sense like the dog’s ever-stoic ones. She nodded as he began. He-who-fled. Yes, they were searching for something that had escaped through the tunnels. Her ears pricked when he mentioned the scent but politely did not interrupt him. The fennec fox had not sniffed out the metal or copper – but perhaps this large dog had an even keener sense of smell, and had better knowledge of their target than she. After all, it was his quest and she was but a side-kick, a helper. Once more, she focused on his words and as he recounted his memories, she pictured a large lake with a annoying buzzing sound like a gazillion mosquitoes in summer. Cetus, it was? Well no wonder she had found him near there. Quix’s eyes widened as Void proceeded to describe the beast. It sounded huge…and if it was huge to the dog, then it must have been monstrous for herself. One of Aquarian’s fangs could have been her entire body size!

As Black stared at her to see if she was following along, Quix yipped in acknowledgement. “Do carry on, Void,” she prompted him, anxious to know the outcome of it. Alas, he was short of clues now. The fennec girl looked up as he did, and understood that Void needed to get up there, to touch it. Was that one of his powers? Would he glean anything more by touching the stone? Nonetheless, Quix felt the urgency in his tone and his intention. Getting up, she gave a couple of barks, and yips, and scrambled to one of the stairs which wasn’t wrecked by her and Usui’s exploits. “Climb stairs. Stairs go to top.” She wagged her tail and waited for him to ascend. The last she tried, they did not break for they were made of rock. Only the cub’s magic had caused a portion to come crashing down. Mere weight should not cause it to break…she hoped.

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Black looked up in surprise as Quix spoke, craning his head to peer at the fennec which now perched on his rump. He then swung his head to stare at the--well, stairs, peering up and down to try and get an idea of what she meant. Oh, there--if he climbed to the top, maybe he could lean up and reach the ceiling-carvings? And there was a crumble of rock just there that he could use to get higher. He just had to hope it didn't collapse

"I may fall, little one. Be ready to jump."

But it was just stone stairs, and a boulder, and he made it up easily enough. Pawpads quietly scraped over rock, muscles bunching and pushing as he hauled himself up and over the boulder, until he could carefully--very carefully--and slowly raise up onto his hind legs. He wasn't sure if Quix could hold on--maybe she could--but he knew she wouldn't be hurt; his focus was on the carvings.

He gingerly lifted one large paw to press against the Stone-Aquarian, pale eyes intent upon it. He could feel something in him, something itching to connect to this stone, to learn its secrets. But first, he paused, great ears pulling back, toward the Fennec.

"I would not have seen this way up. Thank you." Quix was indeed the 'brains.'

His focus shifted back to the stone, and he was quiet for a time, just watching it. His paw leaned upward, at an awkward angle, so that he could touch the carving.

Whispers and shivering shadows. A flash of light. It is jumbled.

He stood like that for some time longer, before speaking softly, in a disappointed tone.

"I am not enough. I cannot see what it once held." And then he looked back to Quix, his apparent leader, apologetic and morose--as if waiting for a better idea.

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The fennec girl snuggled deeper into the dog's withers, enjoying the silken texture of his obsidian fur. She would have dared to bury herself all over his fur if not for the fact that Void was climbing a rather treacherous flight of stairs. Instead, the little girl hung on, claws gripping not painfully into his sides for traction. She was extremely light and so wouldn't hinder his smooth movements as he semi-lumbered up the stairs. Quix felt rather royal then, her ride being this skilled and smooth.

When Void reached the top, he stopped to acknowledge her. The girl giggled and swatted his head. “Silly Void. You the smart one." He was the one who led them on quests and whose trusty nose had led them this far. The girl hadn't done much really. She fell back to silence as he reached out a paw and concentrated. Quix held her breath, afraid that even tiny movements would break his concentration.

Then, it was over. Void spoke to her disappointingly. She nuzzled the dog's nape comfortingly, and thought hard. Who could read this? Oh wait! There was lion boy from that day reading the writings! She couldn't help but he could! “Usui! Dark, find Usui, tell him what you see. Usui is a lion. He know the way." She looked at him with great hope rising within her. She might not be able to help him further but she was pretty sure that the nerd could.

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Black furrowed wrinkled brow in concentration, thinking. He turned back to the carvings on the ceiling, eyeing them, again lifting one paw from his precarious perch over the stairs to touch one, speaking as he did so.

"Usui. The Dog does not know this name. It has not come to the Void. Where can it be found?"

His voice was a rumble of slow focus, and this time as he touched the stone, a flood of... something, jarred his mind. He slowly dropped back to the ground, filing it away--keeping it to himself, for now, to be pondered over later. For now, they ought to find this Usui. But Black didn't even know where to start.

"Which way?" he prompted, peering back at the queenly Fennec perched on his back.

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