The walls of Wilder's stomach had become extremely tight for the little worm, as of late; and although it didn't know it, it had finally reached its full size. Although that being said, it was still miniscule; no more than an inch from the tip of its wrinkled nose to the end of its stubby tail. It had been content in here, though; Miss Wilder was very kind and friendly, and Little Squick was full of the reverence and wonder that it shared with any host.

But Wilder was small, and so too was her belly. She was a godlike being in the mind of Squick, but not nearly as omniscient and omnipotent as Pride. Since recovering from its short journey through the unknown, Squick had begun to crave a new host.

When Wilder's message reached it, it had been relaxing, curled up as it snacked on what remained of her last meal. But her words brought it immediately to focus and it felt excitement causing it to wrinkle and squelch with glee. A giant moth guardian!? Yes, it must help! The giant moth guardian sounded wonderful and huge and powerful! It could make the perfect host!

Without answering Wilder's question, it focused in on its magic and promptly started trying to eject itself from her gut.

---

When I think.

Kera had been returning to Canis-- her fur still shaggy and wet --to visit Giggle after she'd reawoken. She liked the hyena. She was nice. And she could tell the future. That was always a cool trait to have in a friend.

What she found, however, was a different friend. Surrounded by people who she had never seen before. This, however, was reason enough for the wolf to stick her nose into the situation.

Kera came half-barrelling along into the throng of encroaching gembounds, pushing by until she came shoulder-to-shoulder with the black mastiff. A brush tail wagged behind her. "What's up, Dog?" Came an abrasive, cheerful voice.

Then, her gaze turned to the Collector. Kera licked her lips, thoughtfully. "So he was a hero?" This was more of a statement than an actual question. The moth was a defender, a hero. Therefore, he should be helped.

Kera gave a few nods of her broad head. Surely, nothing could go wrong here.

"So how do we do it?"

The Collector tilted his head, a little, listening. At their questions, he glanced around. At first, he thought no--there couldn't possibly be enough. He alone could not revive it, and his powers surpassed their own by a considerable amount. But no; more were arriving.

"...I think there are enough of us. And no; it will have its own mind," he told Thothaga--though he had his own plans for the fate of this one.

They didn't need to know that, though.

"It should not be mindlessly violent."

Slowly, the Collector turned. The topaz was produced with a flourish, and set down atop the ruined wall, ringed by the piles of bones. He then held his hand over it, and for a moment he seemed to glow with a faint red light. He then stepped away, out into the crowd of waiting Gembound.

"One by one you must go to it, and impart a piece of your essence to it. Your magic. I think you are all capable..?" he continued. He spared a glance at Wilder, again. If she was old enough, it would be only barely. "And then, stand back--unless you enjoy being fused with stone. I don't recommend it," he added, with a raucous laugh.

Gembound wishing to take part in this Quest may now use Give Life on the Topaz. They do NOT need to roll to use this spell; a post in which it is used is enough. The spell will be removed after it is consumed, and these Gembound will have their reproductive cooldowns begin, coming off cooldown on June 25th. The exception is Wilder, who will have her cooldown come off four months after her post to Give Life.

Anyone may still join and take part.

@Wilder @Thothaga @Eythan @Kera @Glory @Squick

The gryphon scowled at the spider, though he couldn't help but to be a little submissive — it was big and could possibly eat him, if it approached. Plus, cave spiders tended to be venomous. Yet, this one seemed to subvert stereotypes: she could speak, of all things. Maybe she wouldn't just up and eat him. Eythan adjusted his wings slightly, tail feathers fanning in and out. Dismissively, he grumbled, "be real thrilling when we revive this bitch and it kills us all."

His position was firm, no matter what the congregation said. "Glory, you seem like a great guy," Eythan waved a paw, "but where's the proof? I'm not going to give any sort of life to this thing." He remained solidly on his rump, tense with his head lowered.

Black glanced at the white wolf who had come alongside him. His wrinkles bunched up, and his tail immediately began wagging. "Lightbringer," he greeted, and though he was (as ever) stoic, there was relief in his voice. "It is good to see you. I am glad that you yet live." He offered her a touch of nose-to-nose, should she allow it, and glanced back at Eythan as the hybrid spoke.

"I was there for the Moth and its battle. The Lightbringer, myself, and the White Snake retrieved its stone. This, we have seen with our own eyes. It was a guardian," he confirmed stolidly. "This is why you are here, Lightbringer? To bring life to the stone we retrieved?" He peered curiously over at her; she had a knack for appearing precisely when required.

At the Collector's words, Black paced forward, not waiting for further invitation.

He stood sombrely before the small stone, for a long moment, and then lifted one paw to press upon it. He'd done this only once before--many, many cycles ago--and had hatched only one child. "This is an honor," he declared, summoning up his magicka. He imparted some portion of his magic, his very life essence, before turning and pacing back to his place.

Black then looked to the others, to see who else would grant their gifts.


________________

He'd missed her! If anyone were behind Kera in this moment, they'd risk being pummelled to death by her tail, which had began swaying back and forth at a velocity previously unknown to the caves. "I'm glad you live, too, Dog," she offered a doggish grin. "I came here to meet the Collector. Somebody told me about him so I came by to come check it out. I only just woke up, though."

Kera let Black go first-- her attention briefly taken by the bitching hybrid sulking some distance away. For a moment, Kera considered ignoring him. It'd likely be the most adult thing to do-- ignore him, do her duty in reviving a guardian, and talk to an old friend.

Kera, however, often had issues with keeping her mouth shut.

"Then perish," the wolf shrugged a broad shoulder. "It's a guardian, but in the event it wasn't, who do you think it's gonna kill first? The ones that just breathed life back into it, or the one that sat away bad-mouthing it and not helping?"

"Besides," she continued, stepping forward and bowing her head before the stone. "We outnumber it. But it'll be a hero, like before."

Gemstone glittering under her fur, Kera imparted some of her into the topaz before stalking back to where she stood before, settling herself down next to Black and waiting for the next person to have their turn.

Behind Kera, slowly picking his way past the bones, was Pride. He wasn't here to give life to the stone--he hadn't even heard about this stone--and he didn't know the situation.

The wolf had invited him, instead (or rather he'd invited himself, and she'd agreed) to come along to meet the Collector after he'd told her of him. He'd never met the being himself, only heard of it in passing, and so he'd decided he may as well come along. With his sons now travelling the caves, it was good to be out again--to stretch his legs, so to speak, and get in a little adventuring of his own.

Curious, he stepped closer to the gathering, though he kept something of a distance. His head tilted, great silvered rack edging to one side. He knew a couple of these Gembound, and two he'd been on a harrowing journey through hell-caves with... but the Collector he'd never seen. The being was tall, hooded, with crimson pinprick eyes, twisting horns, and claws.

Idly, from his place behind the group, the white stag tried to listen in on the Collector's thoughts. He reached out with his magic, and found... nothing. At first, he thought that perhaps the spell itself had backfired, or failed to establish at all--but no. He felt fairly certain that it had worked, but something had blocked it. For some reason, he could not link his mind to the Collector's.

Curious.

The stag turned his gaze to the topaz, watching events unfold.

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

Thothaga turned towards the familar voice. The kitten's coat looked to have fused with shadows. If it wasn't for her pink eyes, she would have been invisible to the spider. "Oh, little Wilder, I did not see you there, you are one with the shadows!" She greeted, lightheartedly.

Then she eyed the gryphon, amused at his response. That would be thrilling indeed, but not the fun kind. The Collecter claimed it wasn't mindlessly violent, she trusted him on that- but what about mindfully violent? If that was the case, then this would be quite thrilling, like Eythan said.

"Just making sure, for all I know, after your time in the Fate Stone, your memory could have gathered dust." She teased, pawing at the blue die still tied to her pedipal.
"And it could be cranky and hungry when it wakes up, like me." If Thothaga had eyelids, she would have winked.

Then a white wolf entered party. "Lightbringer" they called her. Thothaga wondered what lights she brought to earn that title. Regardless, there was an air of respect around the wolf, and she wanted to help, though she seemed to take Eythan's bad-mouthing too seriously. Thothaga watched silently as she and her friend, the Black Dog, infused the crystal with their essence. When they were done, Thothaga jumped off the boulder.

"My turn." She simply said.

The spider crawled towards the topaz, and gently touched it with both pedipalps. Thothaga split her essence down the middle and infused one half into the sleeping guardian, and with that she stepped away, and took a spot next to Wilder. She slumped on the ground, feeling quite drained. It was first time the Maiden had performed such a spell, perhaps it was too soon.


"Thothaga speaking."
Thothaga thinking.

That was a lot of Gembound — and he hadn't called them. Aure glanced down, flight path temporarily going straight, compared to his previous lazy circles. Eythan was sitting off to the side, clearly displeased. Ears kept forward and eyes wide with curiosity, the wyvern swooped low. His talons, however blunt they were, clicked perceptibly against stone as he alighted. Those satellite dishes on his head caught the tail end of conversation: his brother's displeased bad-mouthing, and the subsequent arguments against it. Oh, that was Black!

Aure trotted over to the mastiff, offering a quick chirp-greeting ("hello!") before looking towards his brother. Surveying the situation, it was a matter of revival. Or, not, he supposed. The gryphon was very clearly against the notion — there was some bit of trust in their relationship, now — but Aure couldn't bring himself to align with the gryphon. Black, to his knowledge, was far older and wiser than Eythan was. Opening his wings, waving one disarmingly toward the gryphon, Aure murmured, "'tan, we could… take a chance? I know Black, here, and he doesn't lie." His brows furrowed furtively, and he looked back at the topaz. "I don't mean to hurt you, but I trust him, more, here."

Without another word, he hurried forward after the white wolf — the Lightbringer Black had mentioned, maybe? — and stared curiously. A warm sensation brimmed within his chest, then swelled up to his own gemstone. Delicately, he lifted a foot and held it over the moth's stone. Light trailed from his stone, cascading down his chest — magicka given form — and coalescing in his talons. With little flourish, he cast his magicka into the stone.

With all the dignity a panicked bird could muster, he fluttered away from the chrysalis.

Glory narrowed his eyes as Eythan addressed him. Proof? Why did they need proof? There could not be any proof in this situation. This was not a matter of proof but a matter of trust. As the wyvern creature came soaring in, he nodded in agreement to his statement. "This one is right. We cannot have proof that this won't go wrong, but Black seems like a trustworthy creature. He knew this guardian before and he has cared for this gem for cycles. The question is not what proof but should we take this chance." He puffed his feathers and stood up taller. "I say we should take this chance. If things do go wrong, there are more then enough of us here to quell whatever disaster may occur."

Without another word, he hopped down from his ledge and approached the gem, pressing his golden beak against its surface without a word. For a moment, his gem began to glow, the licks of flame-shaped sunstone shining like real fire against his head for a moment before it dimmed and he stepped away, feeling quite a shift in his level of energy.