Drip, drop, drip, drop, sha-sha-sha. Rain beat down in gentle showers where there was lack of vegetation, while large drops of water slid off the waxy surfaces of leaves where giant plants grew. Giant in all means to this tiny, 1 cycle old fennec fox which might have been in reality mistaken for being a lesser gembound if she weren’t so spirited and able to speak. Quix crashed through the bast of a tree then y winding her lithe, flexible tan body through the spaces between roots that weaved in and out. Her tan pelt resembled a shade of muddy brown now, and she was entirely soaked through like a water rat – and could be mistaken for one, if not for the distinct blue gems beautifully carved upon her head that perhaps indicated she was above the lesser critters with less impressive gemstones.

The girl just wanted to have a getaway. She wasn’t too sure why she had chosen this cave though. Cancer would surely chew her ears off if she’d dared venture into such ‘dangerous’ territory. She looked up and spotted dark clouds. Then, she was forced to bend down again as drops of water as big as her eyes splashed onto her face. She whimpered and tucked her body into a little crevice of a large boulder for shelter, bedraggled tail clinging to her flank as she crouched down and waited for the rain to stop or go away. "Wet,” she yipped mournfully, pale blue eyes gazing into her miserable surroundings.

For the first little while, Ghanyarah had enjoyed the rainfall. It was steady, producing a quiet and melodic thrumming that filled the cave with gentle sound. He liked the water, liked the feeling of it hitting his tough hide, liked the taste and the smell of the air, and the feel of sliding through the muddy substrate below. But eventually, the rain had cooled the atmosphere and Ghanyarah felt himself growing cold. His lowered body temperature made him sluggish and lazy, desperate to find sources of heat. The rainfall made it difficult for him to hunt, too; he had since taken to the channels that wove between the massive trees, using his water magic to spear fish that he could eat. Alas, fish were not a favored meal of his.

Ghanyarah had descended from his tree, slowly making his way through the jungle room. Above, the misty clouds churned and let loose a consistent torrent of light drops. He raised his head, watching the rain fall from seemingly nowhere, but he knew the clouds lingered in the ceiling of the room. Sunset eyes would flicker over the canopy of leaves above, seeking out the clouds between the leaves. Then he would continue on his path, flicking his tongue and tasting the air. The smell of wet earth was ever present, the stench of mud and moist leaf litter. He moved on, his long body winding through the muck. There was no use in him trying to bask on the tree branch as usual, given the rain, even with the lights flickering he wouldn't be able to warm himself. So, the next best option was to start moving around and hope that his working muscles would generate some heat. The komodo dragon had taken to a routine trail through the jungle, one that wound around from his tree to the massive, towering art tree that he had once taken Eve to.

Partway along the route, Ghanyarah had tasted the smell of another creature on the air. It was warm, that of a mammal, but where? He narrowed his eyes and stopped, raising his head again. The reptile scanned the surrounding jungle, and there he took notice of a boulder. In the shadow of a crevice, a small animal hid from the rain. Ghanyarah remained still, wondering if the thing had seen him. He could barely make out any of its details, whether it was another sentient Gembound or a potential meal. At this point, Ghanyarah wasn't about to split hairs on the matter - he was hungry, and this thing had trapped itself in a boulder. He tried to tap into the moisture falling from the ceiling, in the air, on the hair of the little fennec fox-

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And suddenly, he could feel it, the magic burning in the gleaming morganite crest atop his head. The water in Quix's fur would begin to frost over, but it probably wouldn't be enough to immobilize her completely.

The fox’s surroundings remained desolate for a moment more. Apart from the dripping rain and sloshing sounds as the rain drops fell upon the mud, nothing else was there to accompany her. Quix sniffed and curled tighter into her ball, while her large tufty ears were laid back against her skull and their brushed her haunches. The girl attempted to cast her magic to increase her health such that she would not fall prey to the dampness where bacteria and mould may thrive. Immediately, the itty bitties gathered and she felt her health increase. At least she’d have enough good bacteria thriving through her body now to ward against the cold onslaught.

Water continued to drop onto her fur and the fox had reached a moment where she had decided to stop shaking her skull. It only made her world spin and one moment later, her fur would be sodden again. Therefore, she failed to realize that the water was getting colder till she felt a distinct chill run down her spine. With a little huff, Quix tilted her head back as she looked left and right. The cold icy feeling was stuck to her head! Immediately, she yipped and attempted to brush it off. Then, the icy sensations began all over her fur. The fennec’s baby blue eyes widened in fear as she saw icy crystals on her fur! With a shrill yelp, she darted out of the crevice and rolled herself around in a muddy puddle lying just outside of the boulders she was taking shelter in, and thrashed her body left and right around in the muddy water like a convulsing rat, hoping to melt off the ice and to rub it off her fur. She the flopped over, brown water dripping off her fur, and stared into the distance. "Cancer daddy, where are you?” she called out, as though the black leopard would magically jump into the scene and rescue her from all this. She got up, large fluffy ears flopping dejectedly against her skull while her tiny, striped face scrunched up into a pout. Quix started to walk towards the direction of the Komodo dragon by chance, feeling utterly broken at this point in time. Rain and ice? What luck.

The lizard sat and waited, watching as the moisture in the little animal's fur began to crystallize and freeze. He could pick out the glistening of ice forming in amongst the shadows, but had little time to actually freeze the creature solid before it had realized what was going on. Suddenly, the little fox yelped and darted out of the crevice, lunging into the mud and rolling around. It was enough to break Ghanyarah's concentration, snapping off the field of magicka that would have otherwise allowed him to freeze the water. The reptile sneered and reeled back, fearing that he'd been made - fortunately, it seemed the fox was too preoccupied trying to get rid of the ice, and still hadn't noticed him. At that point, Ghanyarah dropped onto the ground, flattening himself. He, too, was slick with mud and seemed to blend seamlessly with the substrate, which apparently worked in his favor.

The fox suddenly spoke out, suggesting that she was no mere lesser Gembound. But Ghanyarah was unfazed; his stomach still churned with hunger, and he needed the warmth of a fresh meal. She asked for Cancer daddy, but he only recognized part of the second word. Daddy - dad? Like Aquarian. But not, because she said Cancer, so that must have been her dad. Whatever. He lay in wait, watching the little creature get up and begin to walk in his direction. Perhaps he still had a chance! Ghanyarah waited, wide eyes pinned on her. His muscles ached for release - suddenly, the komodo dragon lunged forward, hoping that his quick reflexes would reward him with a meal.

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With a lightning lunge, Ghanyarah landed just in front of Quix. His gaping jaws dove forward, hoping to scoop Quix up at her midsection.

She padded on slowly, head dropping and ears flat by either side of her head like furry umbrellas. And then, a rustling began. The girl whipped up her head only to see this HUGE lizard dash towards her and before she could react, scoop her up by the stomach in its mouth. Quix’s jaws parted in shock and she squeaked, looking around wildly. What was this over-sized lizard? Lizards were meant to be eaten, not eat her! And then, she spotted the huge pink gems on the lizard’s head. “OOOOOHHHHH….shiny,” she whispered, having never quite seen such a fine specimen. Aha! So this must have been a larger gembound come to rescue her! “Aww thank you thank you thank you did you know the rain was so cold and I was freezing over and then you came and I bet it must be to save me from all of this and Oh look at your shiny gem it’s so nice I wanna touch it can I touch it why your skin is so nice and smooth EEK EEK i wanna snuggle can I hug can I can I can I” on and on the little girl went and both legs flailed forward, attempting to touch the gem, all the while revelling in the feeling of her fur sliding against the smooth, cool scales of the dragon.

Sure enough, Ghanyarah's aim had been true. He lunged at the little critter and scooped her up in his wide jaws, hoisting her up at her midsection. He was two seconds from adjusting his grip on her so that he could crunch her up and eat her when she suddenly squealed and then commented on the gleaming morganite crest atop his head. But that was only the beginning. Ghanyarah had faltered, and that was his biggest mistake - the fennec fox suddenly began chattering away about the rain and the cold and how he must have saved her from it, and then about the stone sprouting from his skull, and then his skin, and starting asking if she could hug him and cuddle him and suddenly there was a thrashing of limbs as she attempted to do what, snuggle him?

Startled, Ghanyarah spit her out and jumped back, standing tall on those muscular legs of his. It was a defensive posture, assumed mostly because Ghanyarah was frankly rather confused. She had put up too much of a fight for him to swallow down so easily, and besides, she seemed to misunderstand the concept of being eaten. Facing the internal struggle between his hunger and a good conscience (which Ghanyarah, for the most part, lacked), the reptile stood back and tried to understand her, at the same time trying to decide if he truly wanted to pursue eating this thing.

Amidst the hullaboo, the komodo dragon spit her out. Quix landed roughly into the dirt but this reminded her just of rough housing. As the lizard squared its haunches and scrutinized her, the little fennec decided to mimic him and squared her haunches low to the ground, while she tilted her furry butt into the air and wagged her scraggly tail. A bright glimmer shone in the kit’s eyes and she yipped and barked a couple times over, creating a cacophony of sounds in an otherwise quiet area. “Wanna play wanna play you big ol lizard?” she teased, then chuckled and dodged left and right. Her forefeet would be planted to the left, then a moment later to the right, and then she dashed all over the place and around the lizard in circles. It was so fun!! She could do this all day with this cute oversized lizard with shiny-thing-on-its-head. “Tag!” she called out as she attempted to brush past his scales with the tip of his tail before darting away and then turning around, rump in the air and tail wagging, inciting him to play.

As expected, the fennec fox didn't seem to respond to him releasing her other than by jumping around, yipping and barking into the air and making just a general scene. Had Ghanyarah ears, they'd be pressed flat against his head. Thankfully, his hearing wasn't as primed as his sense of sight or smell or taste, so he didn't really need to cover his ears to avoid the sudden assault of noise. She eventually stopped to invite him to play a game, then dropped to the ground, wriggling her hind end. Before he could answer, she darted away and he struggled to keep track of her, watching her as she ran circles around him and giggled manic like some kind of wicked spirit. Trying to eat her was definitely a mistake. He should have just kept going on his walk...

She tagged him - the invite was familiar, that's the game he played with Dragon, wasn't it? - but Ghanyarah wouldn't budge. In fact, he only stood taller, narrowing his eyes and staring down at the little creature. Finally, for the first time, his lips parted and he would speak: "Ghanyarah does not play with his food." He answered skeptically, tilting his head slightly. This little thing wasn't his kin, wasn't his brother or friend or anything. This thing was food. Very hyperactive, very fast food, but food none the less. "You should be running away." The reptile pointed out, still quizzical about her behavior. By all accounts, it didn't make any sense.

Quix looked at the giant lizard with her foxy face, anticipation scrawled all over her expression. However, she noted that he was not intending to move and she whined, and dug her belly into the mud and squirmed, almost begging him to play with her like a dog might. Just that she was much smaller, cuter, and a whole bundle of high-pitched vocalizations rolled into one while dogs just…woofed and barked and howled. The lizard spoke then, and the girl quit her antics. Immediatley she plonked her rump onto the ground and sat up straight, ears pricked forward, head tilted slightly as she listened to his raspy voice. "Yara! You Yara, I’m Quix!” she chirped and giggled, his name being too long for her, she had decided to cut it short on her own. He then asked her a question and now the girl was confused. "Run? Why would I run. I’m not food. I’m…” and then she GGRRRED at him and ran to him again, this time wanting to snuggle up to his nice, cool reptilian scales, the likes of which she’d never contacted before. "I am Quix and I like cuddles. Not food. Insects are food. Promise.” She nodded solemnly and attempted to jump onto her new reptilian ride, whereupon she'd curl herself up and snuggle on his back and hug his shiny pink gem.

Ghanyarah tried to watch her, his eyes flickering as she bounced around in play. He didn't really recognize this kind of play, it wasn't like what Dragon showed him. He didn't understand, but more over, he didn't have the energy to bounce around like she did. He was still chilly from the rain and trying to warm up. The dragon snorted as she butchered his name and then mentioned her own, Quix. Well at least he had a name for the annoying little thing. Still she didn't get why she should be scared. She defended that she wasn't prey, then growled.

Ghanyarah's eyes widened and then narrowed. What was that supposed to mean?! That she was a predator? Well he was too! The komodo dragon squared himself and got ready to growl at her, trying to summon his ice magic in an attempt to make himself look more intimidating. Except the fennec fox only persisted, then jumped up onto his back and curled up between his shoulders. Ghanyarah stood rigid, frozen before shaking his head. "Hey! I'm not a comfy, get off!" He scowled and tried to shake himself to get rid of her. It probably wouldn't work due to the fennec's stubborn resolve - maybe he'd have to resign to his fate.