The Collector waited. He leaned back, elbows over a low and crumbling ledge, horned, hooded face peering down at the topaz that sat jagged in his palm. Long-clawed fingers closed over it, and he peered around, crimson pinprick eyes picking through Canis' shadows.

He was nothing if not patient; but the stone would not wait forever.

The other Gembound had wandered the caves, giving out the information: that the stone had to be revived, and that aid was needed. They would need many Gembound to Give Life to this stone; it was too powerful, and too deeply asleep, to be woken by just one. What the effects of this would be, the Collector could not yet say.

But the Moth had been powerful... and it could be useful again.

____________

This thread is the conclusion of The Flametouched Moth. Anyone may join at any time. Gembound can have heard the call for aid, and come to Give Life to the stone in a ritual led by the Collector; they will need one Give Life spell for this, and their reproductive cooldown will begin at the beginning date of this thread. Gembound can also merely come to observe.

@Wilder @Black @Winter

Glory soared into Canis, a scowl plainly obvious in his eyes. He was in a bad mood. He'd spent cycles, yes, cycles searching for anyone that would help give life to the moth's stone. He'd flown around Orion and Monoceros and Fornax, trying to spread the word, trying to talk to anyone, but, unfortunately, nobody had followed him here. He hoped, at least, that someone had heard the tale and had decided to check it out but he wasn't hopeful.

He saw the Collector where he was perched and adjusted his flight so that he was headed towards the figure and alighted himself on another ledge not far away. The disappointment and frustration was coming off him in waves. "I have returned but I'm afraid my search may have been for nothing. I don't know if anyone has listened to what I had to say. I tried to spread the word, though, as far as I could."

Black trotted in, his head slightly tilted. He seemed to be in no rush, yet firm with purpose in every twitch of his muscles: this was his goal. He was coming here.

His face was wrinkled up with concentration as he slowed to a halt before the Collector, his pale blue gaze studying him closely. He'd delivered the topaz already--now, he was delivering himself. Lowering himself to his haunches, he took only a brief moment to catch his breath--and to nod a greeting to Glory--before speaking.

"I have spread the word. A white snake has heard it; perhaps others, as well. Have any yet arrived, here?"

And then he waited, expression as if puzzled--but actually, only focused--and silent.

________________

It had just so happened that Wilder was heading back to Canis when she heard about the moth's gem. It was a rumor passed through Orion that an eagle was spreading the word to go to Canis and find the Collector and give life to an ancient guardian. It had sounded like a lot of fun - a true adventure! - so she'd decided to go. Anyways, she was headed to Canis to talk to Aure about Squick so she might as well drop in on the Collector. After all, she still had a report to make (although she wasn't quite done with the mission).

She trotted over to the place where she had met the black robed figure before and, with surprise, recognized the great body of Black. Immediately, her tail shot up and she quickened her pace almost until she was running. "Black! Black, it's me! Wilder!" When she got close, she immediately ran up to her friend and tried to rub her head against his legs, a loud purring coming from her throat. "Wow, I haven't seen you in a long time! Did you hear about the eagle bird too and the moth? I heard it! I wanted to come and see and help out!"

She looked up and saw both the Collector and Glory and she bounced forward so that she was under the ledge. "Hi, Collector-friend! I've been going around the caves like you asked and I've almost met them all! I'm here to help the moth gem thing!" She looked towards the eagle and her tail waved with greeting. "Hi! Are you Glory? I'm Wilder! I'm here to help with the moth gem thing!"

Ugh, he had somehow forgotten what it was like to literally fly from one end of the caves to another; especially with a rock the size of himself in tow. There was the added weight of inevitable embarrassment, too, as he realized he'd have to explain the why's of his tardiness --- I mean, two weeks. Maybe he could just pass it off as spending a lot of time lugging that rock around. Nah, that wouldn't work; the Collector would see right through that, seeing as Eythan completed his last, much more difficult, quest within one or two days. Haha, fuck.

Oddly enough, the devil himself was already out and about, leaning casually and looking at a rock. Fun. There were other Gembound present, who were chatting away already. The only one that could be recognized was Wilder, so Eythan spared an acknowledging glance to her before slam dunking that stupid rune-covered rock at the Collector's feet. "Listen, I know its been ages but you did not tell me that pile of fucking bitch-ass rocks had two brain cells and could shoot you out of the sky. Or... punch you while your skin is half stone and leave you half-dead."

Internally, the gryphon was facepalming. Externally, he peered about. "Woah, wait, hold the fuck up --- what the fuck have you got going on here, Collector?"

The Collector listened. Glory's appearance brought him eagerness, for a moment, but the eagle's words brought disappointment, instead. Irritation mirrored Glory's frustration, but he did not speak, at first, merely inclining his head as if deeply in thought.

Black's words sounded more hopeful--yet no white snake made any appearance. Only a black cat, small, perhaps too young to be useful. If she was an adult, it was only barely. "It is good that you have come. I can only hope that more arrive."

And here... Oh dear. Was Eythan.

The hybrid's foul-mouthed tirade had his brow, beneath his hood, edging ever-higher. For a long moment--like a stern parent--he remained silent. At last, tone mild, he replied. "Language, Eythan. I take it you were successful..?" The rest remained unsaid. The "it doesn't matter if you aren't dead" didn't need saying. Instead, he looked to the others, then back to the hybrid. "Before your time, there was a great moth that defended your kind from the dragon Raheerah."

Ornery old bastard.

"This guardian's stone has been retrieved, and it could be revived... if enough give their energy into it." Ahh, but would Eythan ruin this for him? The hybrid might be developing suspicions, by now... If he spoke out against the Collector and his plans, well. That would be very unfortunate indeed.

@Eythan @Wilder @Glory

"If you call dying for two weeks a success, it sure was," the gryphon near-growled, adjusting his wings. His ears flickered back, a clear struggle on his mind whether or not he should actually mind his tongue. Eythan narrowed his eyes, tail lashing side to side with very blatant distaste. "What do you mean, our kind?" He tensed, flexing his claws. Yet, he didn't move from his spot. In front of all of these Gembound, it would be foolish to attack the Collector — he had no idea who any of these were other than Wilder, herself, and he didn't want to risk provoking them.

A sigh rang from his beak. Ears still back and tail slashing through the air, he spat-whispered toward the black dog nearby: "you'd better very well consider if this is gonna blow up in all our faces." Regardless — for now — he'd sit off to the side. Just in case this did all wind up being a disaster scenario.

as a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light...

"You should rejoice, Foul-Mouth, we are being given the chance to resurrect an ancient one, and that is thrilling." Interjected the spider. Her beady eyes sparkled at the word "thrilling".

She had just crawled over a large, collapsed boulder overlooking the group and heard the tail-end of Eythan and The Collector's conversation. "Fortunately, I may be able to help revive it, Collector." She turned her attention to him. "Though, Foul-Mouth, is right, I trust you have a plan should things go awry that doesn't involve me spinning a very big web." There was a hint of playfulness in her sarcastic tone.

Thothaga was glad they hadn't started without her. The old Bone-Reader much wisdom to share, but when she heard of The Collector's plans for The Guardian, the young spider witch wouldn't miss it for the world. She had heard tales of Skahan, the giant serpent who crafted these every tunnels, and the great dragon, Raheerah. There was so much to learn from beings like these, as well as the added risk that they might not be so friendly when they wake up. Thothaga always loved a good gamble, especially when knowledge was involved.

"Thothaga speaking."
Thothaga thinking.

Glory looked down at the little cat with mild surprise. He was happy that his message had, at least, reached someone's ears but for it to be a cat barely out of youth? He hadn't expected it. Oh, well, at least he had in a small way succeeded. Or perhaps it had been Black that had done it. It didn't matter either way. "Hello little Wilder. Yes, I am Glory!" He ruffled his wings a bit as he said this, perhaps to show off a bit of the magnificent plumage before directing his attention back to the others.

His eyes narrowed at the gryphon creature, about to snap back a remark when a second look at him reminded him of some time ago. It was Eythan, his very first commissioner from what seemed like ages ago. Well, now he couldn't fight against him - he'd feel pretty bad to be treating his first, and only, customer so poorly.

His confusion was covered, however, when the raspy voice of Thothaga caught his attention. He turned and nodded at the giant spider, glad to have another familiar face around and, more importantly, one who knew the Collector as well. "Yes, I agree. This is an opportunity we cannot pass. The moth within this gem has done a great thing in the past...it may yet do great things. We should all do our part to help out."

He opened his wings and leaped down one of the ledge and onto one lower, nearer to the Collector, but still above the others. "Are there enough gathered here, then? To return the moth to life?"

Wilder turned as a familiar sound called out behind her. Her face broke into a wide smile as Eythan appeared and she purred, racing forward to wind herself under one of his legs. She didn't know him well, of course, but that hadn't stopped her before it wouldn't stop her now. "Hi, Eythan! We're gonna give life to a moth gem! Isn't that great?" But he didn't seem to happy with any of this, which was a little confusing, so Wilder stepped away, watching with wide eyes as he yelled at the Collector. Why was he being so mean? The Collector was nice! He wanted to resurrect an important guardian and he gave cool rewards for little jobs. And he gave her milk!

And, only to make her more excited, the giant body of Thothaga appeared over the rocks and her tail whipped up tall in greeting. "Hi Thothaga! Do you remember me?" But of course she did! It was a silly question but Wilder wanted to make sure. She purred again and paced around the group, excited for what was going to happen.

A thought occurred. The word had said gather as many gembounds as possible. Well, there was someone else here that none of them actually knew about, except for Wilder, of course. She sat herself down and focused inwards, towards her stomach, where she knew she would find the tiny mind of Squick. "Squick-friend! We're giving life to a giant moth guardian! Do you want to help?"

@Squick