Yodox had finally ventured out of Monoceros. The sound of his hooves rang clear and echoed down the tunnel. His eyes moved from wall to wall. It was very interesting. Fearsome creatures lived in stone on the walls. To be fierce enough to find honor in being carved in these walls... His thought trailed off. The calf had big dreams. This place he lived seemed as though it was a place where a good fight could lead to a good set up for survival. Of course, he had no idea to fight. The power to do so ran through his veins, he could feel it. But using it was still the mystery.

This is why he moved on from Monoceros. He was sure he would return, but right now his world was small and he wanted to see just how big it could get.

@Eira

Eira had wandered far, patrolling for cycles as though in a dream. Almost on autopilot, she waddled, head low, and paws picking their careful way around rusted armours and long-abandoned swords, though she knew not what they'd once been. Snowy white fur had failed to cover her many scars, and time had failed to calm the fire that drove her. It had been cycles since she'd seen another citizen, and yet a firm sense of duty clung to her brain like a parasite.

And so she kept on walking.

Although Eira didn't know it well, she was approaching the place of her birth; the haunting sound of the wind distantly howling stirred memories of warm fur and fear- imagination creating demons that still haunted her to this very day. But most of all, memory stirred of a kind, red face- a face long-lost to the cycles, and one that she had long grown used to missing.

It was soon after that she noticed the sound of hoofbeats ringing against stone. Eira clambered ungracefully up one last staircase and rounded a gentle curve. She paused there, the battle-scarred otter straightening up her stance and fixing her blurred gaze on the other Gembound. She squinted with her one eye for a moment, before moving closer.

She sniffed the air, craning her head back to look at them. Large, but young.

She bowed her head in greeting. "Young one," she greeted, voice low, but even and firm. "Stay sharp. There are demons close. Are you lost?"

---

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

tags: @Yodox
notes:

A voice rang clear in his ears. At first, he thought the carvings on the walls had awakened to deliver news of some old world. His eyes, however, disputed the thought. As if the walls would come to life... The calf silently shunned himself for such an abstract thought.

Ahead of him stood a creature of white fur with a blue face. It was small, a mammal. His mind chimed in. As they moved closer it became apparent that they had been through many battles. Their small white body was littered with scars that seemed to slide like snakes through their pale fur.

"Lost?" Yodox took a few confident steps forward, but remained a respectful distance. "I am not lost. I am expanding my world." The low timber of his voice held a hint of curiosity and wonder.

"What do you mean there are demons? What is a demon?" The way she told him to stay sharp led him to believe it was an enemy. Did the demons give her those scars?

@Eira

Eira listened, and nodded slowly with a deep bow of her head. "Good, good. You will be strong, one day," she murmured approvingly, although seemingly half to herself. Being lost and uncertain in your earliest days could lead to tragedy. But being so sure of yourself could lead only to great things.

Eira grunted, and readjusted her stance at the question, allowing herself to settle, though she didn't relax completely. She turned her head in a long, sweeping motion- giving her one eye the widest view she could of the world around- it was as though she was making sure that they were truly alone. Then she turned back towards the young one. "Demons are fear and anger and uncertainty," she began, voice low. "They are an infection. The source of all the bad in the world. They can take Gembound form- or they can steal Gembounds away and take their bodies. They are the reason friends turn against one another and why wounds fester. Demons are bad things... In Monoceros you can hear their war cries."

There was a pause and the otter appeared to listen for a time. "It has been my duty for many cycles to rid the cave of their scourge..."

---

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

tags: @Yodox
notes:

The calf remained standing, listening eagerly to what this small mammal has to say about demons. Fear, anger, and uncertainty.. These seemed more like emotions than actual things. But seeing that he had no idea what demons were, it seemed very likely that such things could be demons. Yodox pictured dark creeping things that would climb into the body of another gembound and make them bad. The calf nodded in agreement, Demons do indeed sound like bad things.

"I was just in Monoceros." He paused, mulling over what war cries might sound like. "All I could hear what was the howling wind... Do they cry out in the wind?" He tilted his head to the side. "...Or maybe they sound like the wind."

As she spoke of her duty, Yodox's curiosity heightened as she spoke of her duty. His previous thought about her scars seemed to be confirmed. She most often be battling those demons, for that he admired the small mammal. It seemed to be a selfless act.

"Did demons give you those scars then?" He lowered his head as a gesture to the mammals whole self. Then he began to wonder, "How do you fight a demon?"

@eira

Wind... Eira remembered the howling sound that she was born to, the booming, whistling, the force that had almost carried her off her feet. The invisible force that she'd fought through with her oldest friend, long lost to the cycles. For a moment she was speechless, not an emotion flitting across her features. Then she gave another slow nod. "...Yes. That is their rawest form."

As Eira answered the calf's question, there was frustration in her voice. "Often you can only see, or hear them. Their deep booming growls and loudness. When they take physical form, and become creatures who would fight and kill for the sake of it, or infect the minds of friends or family... that's when they can be fought." The otter's memories flitted back to the ravings of creatures she'd fought- answering her cry of 'demon!' with laughter and declarations of purpose that only affirmed her beliefs that they were here to cause trouble, and nothing more. "Most demons will admit to it. They tend to be vain. You will know, if you ever meet one. Pray that you don't..."

She fell silent for a moment, but then straightened up. "But if you do, it pays to be prepared."

---

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

tags: @Yodox
notes:

The more she talked about these demons, the more the calf grew to dislike the thought of meeting one. To have to wait until they infected the ones you cared about seemed tragic. The calf shifted his weight from one side to the other, unsure of what to say to the mammal. It wasn't until her brief moment of silence that he thought of a question.

"How do I prepare to for meeting a demon?" He took two steps forward, closing the distance between them. He thought of another question to follow, "Does everyone have to fight the demons?" If everyone had demons to fight, what would they do if they were too weak. What would a demon do? Questions began to form one after the other in the young bovines head. But, he did not wish to overwhelm the older gembound with question after question before an answer was delivered.

@eira

As the young one asked about preparing for meeting a demon, Eira's expression hardened invisibly, hidden by her bejeweled mask. "You can only train to become stronger than they are. Be crafty and keep your heart clear. And if you meet one that is too strong, staying alive is the most important thing. As long as you still live, there will be other days to fight," she explained. She was pleased by this one's curiosity despite their youth- their dedication to knowledge.

"Not everyone has to fight. Many do not know. Some would call me a madman for believing so firm. But I have seen the madness in their eyes. They know their nature as well as I do. They take joy in tormenting and manipulating. They would have the caves live in fear of their wrath..." The otter's rubbery paws tightened their grasp on the stone beneath them as she remembered the bird, with its mask mirroring her own, declaring himself a demon prince. The wolf who stalked out of the dark with its sole purpose seeming to be her destruction- the wolf she was still hunting to this day. "But no, No-one- you- do not have to. It is a heavy burden to bear. I would not wish it on one so young, or the old but weak of spirit."

---

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

tags: @Yodox
notes: