.... snow?

Kera tried to remember snow. She'd seen snow in tunnel H, but it hadn't exactly hit the caves, as Pride had put it. Eventually, however, she just shook her head. "I don't think I'm that old," she said. "At least, not in the grand scheme of things. There's gembound who are way older than me-- like Tenzin and Astraea, and there's probably been a bunch born while I was asleep. I dunno if I'd really consider myself medium or anything, though. I don't think I'm that old. Maybe. I dunno."

The last thing Kera remembered? She remembered the Three Kings, and going with Dragon to meet Aquarian, but having no luck. Eventually, she shrugged. "The Three Kings," she began, simply. "I remember doing work for them. We had to gather up stones for them-- coloured stones to resemble each one, or what the fuck ever, to see who'd be in control. Then they'd give their followers wings--"

Kera pushed herself up, magicka flooding through her. It'd been a while. A long while. Perhaps, too long.

The magicka rising to her throat pushed back and zapped her. With a horrific whine, Kera recoiled and fell back onto her backside, breathing heavily. Had it been too long? Or, perhaps, the spell had truly been taken from her?

Fucking birds, she spat angrily. Fucking scheming, untrustworthy, spiteful little--

She shook herself hard before the anger rose straight to her throat. Before she began straight up growling at Pride. Instead, she explained. "They gave wings to everyone who helped them," she said. "At first, they didn't work. Mine don't. They're just for show. But then, after we returned Skahan's gemstone-- the Architect --they offered to upgrade them."

Again, she spat. "I sacrificed real wings for information. Questions. Astraea and Tenzin are sorta shady characters and I don't know if I trust them or anything. I don't know if I trust the Kings. They didn't really give us a lot to go off, either-- not that I can remember, at least."

She stared off for a moment, then, quietly. "They might be here, you know. They live here."

@Pride

Pride blinked.

Right, that put a time-frame on things, sort of. "Ahh, yes! The Kings. Yes, they are still here--I have met them," he explained. "They told me much of what they knew; that they came from the outside, that there are other worlds. That they taught the skies to dance, and that they cannot escape this place. I offered to aid them but they cannot find a way." This was given in melancholy tone. The memory of the birds' combined acceptance of their apparent fate had been saddening to him.

"That means--are you all right?" he asked, glancing with concern over the stranger. She had apparently hurt herself, somehow--and he wasn't certain as to how. Perhaps her legs, after such long disuse..?

Hesitating, he then continued. "Our King--King Envy--was part of that, I believe. That was... Well, Envy is not that old. Ten cycles or so, perhaps? Fifteen? They are around my age. So I would imagine you have not been asleep for more than five or ten cycles. I know that Envy's wings can truly be used for flight, so I presume they were a part of the entire scenario, from start to finish." So, five to ten cycles, at a very rough estimate. That was something, at least.

"Who, may I ask, are Astraea and Tenzin?" For all Pride's wide experience in the cave, he had never encountered the other stag--nor did he know anything about him. And he had never heard, either, of the stag's (now ex-) partner.

@Kera

"Wouldn't trust them," Kera said, a little tepidly. "I wouldn't trust any bird. Most of them turn out like Blackberry, or get killed by Blackberry."

Kera lifted a hind leg, concerned, itching her chest. She was worried about her magic-- it'd be safe to assume that the Kings had taken the spell of wings away from her, but how would she help people if the lights turned back off, without her magic?

Kera pushed up again, sniffing. "Fine, fine." She mumbled. "I'm fine." She pushed her nose against the wall of the crumpled building, shutting her eyes.

Don't fail me now, she thought, as pale light gathered by her throat, turning the fur pink. Please don't fail me now.

Something pushed against her nose.

Pale, bioluminescent mushrooms sprouted up under her muzzle. It felt like she were nuzzling an old friend; an old friend that offered blue-green light and crawled unevenly up the wall and over the ground. It'd almost been straining to cast. It'd been too long.

Still, Kera let out a breath of relief. She sat down by her mushrooms and looked back to Pride, thinking. "I was about seven when I went to sleep," she said, calculating. "So between twelve and seventeen cycles old, I suppose. There are those out there who are nearing fifty, and others who are countless cycles old."

Tenzin and Astraea. She mulled over this question for a moment. "They've been here longer than anyone else. Before us, I think," she began. "Astraea's like you, but he's brown and has mushrooms on his antlers. Not mushrooms like mine, though. Red ones. Stinky ones."

"Tenzin's a bird," she went on. "But he seems like a nice one. Reasonable-- or at least nicer than Astraea. There's something weird about him-- he's sorta... smug? Arrogant? I dunno how to really explain it, but I know he was partnered with Tenzin, until Tenzin got... sick of his shit, I guess. Dunno what shit, though."

Kera gave an idle shrug. "I haven't been following either of them too closely but I reckon there's others who have. I know another gembound named Dragon who seemed to have some stronger opinions 'bout him, or maybe he just knows more than I do, but I've no idea where he is or if he's even alive. He was around here for the Three Kings, we went to go find Tenzin together in Pisces."

There was a long pause. "I mean, I'd guess that Tenzin's still in Pisces if you wanted to go visit him and interrogate him, I guess. But he was in hibernation the last time I saw him, too."

@Pride

Pride tilted his head, listening intently and committing everything that Kera said to memory. Silvery eyes trailed after the glowing fungus that crept up the walls--(Fascinating)--but his mind was mostly on her words.

It was good that she was well--but she did not trust birds? Strange. Fifty cycles--countless cycles. This knowledge, too, he tucked away for future use. He then listened further, intently eager for more.

Astraea--was a stag? With fungus, apparently. Smelly fungus. And he was smug, or arrogant. Pride grimaced internally. He detested dealing with those who thought themselves above others; there was no point to it. It invariably spoke of deep character flaws with which he'd rather not deal. Tenzin, though, was apparently more reasonable--and he took note of the location, Pisces, and the fact that the bird was likely hibernating.

The name Dragon, too, he tucked away. That was one he'd heard before, in passing, and it was someone he thought that he could find again if he tried.

Good. This was all excellent.

"You know much of the caves, it seems, Kera." He bowed his head, briefly. "Knowledge is, I think, incredibly important, so I thank you for passing it on. I think since you have slept..." And here Pride paused, thinking over all that had occurred in the last seven to twelve cycles, or so. Though he thought he wasn't even that old--it was quite possible that this wolf had been sleeping since before he had hatched.

"A time of darkness came to the caves. Monsters appeared--the lights dimmed, though they were not out completely. Great beasts of shadow who could touch the mind, or summon ghostly lights. Those of us who fought them--defeated them, ran them off, killed them--were granted, by some unknown power, versions of those spells--like this." He tilted his head to one side, looking left, indicating a space ahead and at eye-level to himself. There he attempted to summon up one of the phosphorescent wisps: the bob of magical light that matched in hue Kera's fungus now coating the wall and floor. It manifested, crackling quietly like a near-silent flame, hovering there beside him. The light it cast was eerie, but he turned his gaze back to Kera, going on with his updates as the wisp lingered.

"A being calling itself the Masked Merchant summoned those of us who had learned the wisps, to a "trial" of sorts. It was--dark," he added, in a way that was both grim and dismissive, as if to clarify that he did not wish to speak further of it. "I know that a being in Canis appeared, offering trinkets and powerful magics to those who perform tasks for it. I have not met it, myself. And in Pisces, part of the ceiling collapsed, though that hole was filled with debris. A creature fell into the caves with a crystal-powered sled, and with it, much snow--the caves were far colder, and have been warming back up ever since. It called itself Naskital. It asked our aid in gathering its lost creatures--hares, white birds, and caribou--and crystals, and food for the animals. In return he offered gifts--food, baubles, trinkets and the like. Eridanus was attacked by the Bloodberries--that's Blackberry's idiotically-named gathering of brainwashed murderers--and there was much bloodshed, though it is now safe there. I think that is it," he added, thinking, for a moment. But he could remember nothing more to add to this, and so he fell silent, for now.

@Kera

Damn right I know much of the caves, Kera thought bitterly, as she turned her head to briefly nose at the mushrooms against the walls, before turning her attention back to Pride.

A time of darkness shot concern through her-- it was dark and there were monsters and she just slept through that? That was very unhero-like of her. The wolf spent a moment smoothing down the fur on her shoulders that rose and bristled. "New spells usually come around like that," Kera mentioned, in response to the 'unknown power.'

"There was a time, a long time ago, when we were granted a new spell from these... little round things, like colourful rocks, but thin and soft. They..." she trailed off.

They...

.... sure were something.

She decided it would be easier just to let Pride see. She tilted her head forward and focused on summoning-- whatever the fuck those yellow things were. In a flash of light, it appeared. A yellow, cylindrical thing covered in a thick skin. Underneath, a sweet fleshy thing that Kera had only eaten once or twice.

A banana.

In exchange for the banana-- which was slid towards Pride with one broad paw --Kera picked herself up and began circling the flame crackling next to Pride. It was light. Like fire, but it didn't seem to burn when Kera put her nose near. She sniffed it, cautiously, then went back to circling it.

She'd need to learn how, some day.


"I'll meet it," Kera offered in response to the creature in Canis. "I visit Canis a lot. I know a hyena there. I showed her how to summon my mushrooms and she read bones to me. A fortune. I can go ask her about the, uhh--" her gaze flicked to Pride, briefly. "--trader, I guess."

Slowly, Kera returned to her mushrooms and settled down next to them. Eridanus was attacked. Although Pride had previously mentioned the fight, her mind cast back to Rift. Would he be alright? Was he dead? Kera felt her fur bristling along her back again, flicking her ears back against her head.

"Was there a cat there?" She asked. "He goes by the name Rift, we hatched around the same time. He's green-- or he was green the last time I saw him --and his gemstone his his ear. He made his den in Eridanus."

@Pride

Pride leaned down, nudging the banana with his lips. He knew these--he'd seen them summoned, though he was incapable of doing so himself. He wasn't even sure how the spell had come about.

Quietly, he broke open the peel, nibbling on the fruit within. He took precisely half, leaving the other half to Kera, looking up to listen as she spoke. "I could, perhaps, join you to meet this Collector for myself. I am interested in doing so," he added thoughtfully. At the mention of Rift, he winced a little. "Yes, I know Rift. He was there--he will recover, given time. He is a friend of mine and, I think, the reason that Blackberry and her precious little murder-dumplings attacked Eridanus as a whole. It was not a pretty fight," he added darkly. "But apparently she held a grudge against Rift--imagined, most likely, from her own madness."

...Caves, he hated that bird.

@Kera

Kera bent her head down once Pride left half a banana for her, idly listening to him speak at the same time. She took the rest between her jaws before tipping her head back, bird-like, and chomping down the rest in a few bites.

Kera never quite liked the taste of banana, but as soon as the taste touched her tongue she realised how hungry she was. The side-effect of sleeping for five-to-ten cycles, it seemed. She spent a moment licking her lips as Pride mentioned the Collector again, offering a shrug of her shoulder.

"Yeah, sure," she said. "I'd like to see how everyone is doing there, too. As in, uh, make sure they didn't spontaneously die while I was asleep." She really hoped they weren't.

And if they were, she hoped it was spontaneous, and they didn't meet their end in the face of...

... a fucking goose.

Kera shook this thought off as something immediately caught her attention-- precious little murder-dumplings. For a moment, the wolf stared very blankly across at Pride, before quietly repeating, "Murder-dumplings."

She stored this away for another day. You never know when such a phrase might come in handy, after all.

"She holds a grudge against anyone that looks at her funny," Kera's words were laced with a thinly-veiled snarl. "But I think she attacked him, once, before I killed her. Half-killed her. Whatever you call retreating back into your chrysalis after injury."

Kera gave a little huff. "I'm gonna kill her," she added, darkly.

@Pride

Pride inclined his head. If stags were able to smile, he'd have been doing so, quite amused; as it was his voice held a sort of wry warmth, thick with dark humor. "Please, allow me to help," he offered. Murdering Blackberry was, really, quite high on his list of priorities.

Ahh, but back to the present. "If you wish, you can return to the throne. Some of us gather there, now and again, so it is a safe place to sleep. Just be wary--the little green one is our King, not prey. And the white rabbit is my familiar, should it venture here." A quick mental check showed him that Mischief was, in fact, still sleeping deeply in the grove in Eridanus--and snoring, no less, deeply asleep with her legs randomly splayed out. ...She was not graceful.

"Otherwise, I can either remain around if you wish a sentry, or you can contact me near the Throne when you wish to travel, and I will accompany you?"

The offers were politely-given. Pride did not wish to intrude, but if the stranger was tired, she ought to rest. He was unsure how sleepy one might be after hatching anew--were they freshly-rested, or was it exhausting?

Oh, and thirst. She might be thirsty. Idly he turned, bringing his magicka together. His intent was to summon forth a thick mist, and then to alter that mist to water form with a second burst of magicka--but nothing happened, and he shook himself a little.

Oh, how fickle magic could be.

"I do not know how familiar you are with Orion, but there are small waterways not far off, as well, if you are thirsty." That would have to do.

@Kera

The anger bubbling up under Kera's throat was quickly washed away with Pride's offer. The wolf's lips pulled back to offer a grin at the stag, dipping her head down. "Some day, then," she said with a voice similarly laced with humour. "We'll find the little fuckin' troglodyte and kill her."

It almost filled her with relief, Kera realised, that there were others out there who wanted Blackberry dead. Perhaps she shouldn't have deemed it as that uncommon. She was a danger to everyone out there. She killed people for no reason. Kera had to protect the caves from her.

Kera looked up at the throne, then back to Pride. "I don't have a den anymore, so I might take you up on that offer," she said. "And I don't tend to eat things that can speak. I was trying to learn how to cast a spell to eat plants without getting a bellyache but I haven't figured that one out yet."

Kera pushed up. "Speaking of hunting, I'm hungry," she said. "I'm going to hunt something down to eat and then head to Canis if you want to come and find the Collector with me, but thanks either way. I know my way around Orion, at least. I used to patrol all the rooms in the cave."

Another pause. "Uh, except for Fornax," she said a little more quietly. "Too hard to climb the path up there with a fucked up leg, you know?"

@Pride

At the mention of eating plants, Pride's face lit up. Ahh! So here was a way he could aid! Almost excited, he at once broke in. "When you have time, go to Eridanus. There is a small grove there, along one wall--wreathed in vines and thorns, but call out for Mercurius. He knows the magic to do just that, and it is all he does for food, I believe. I am certain that he could teach you, and he is very kind." Rift, he reflected, might also know it--but Rift was very protective of his plants, to the point that Pride could almost imagine him taking live prey over harming a fern.

"I can accompany you, if you are going directly there," Pride responded. After hunting, that is." At the mention of a wounded leg, he glanced to it. He wondered what happened; he'd spent time caring for another canine, Aster, who'd damaged her leg. Was this something similar--a magical accident?

"Your leg? Does it still bother you? May I ask what happend, and is there a way I can aid, if it is troublesome?"

@Kera