Aetius was now a fully grown snowy owl, and she was as wise as ever. She elegantly flew into Tunnel M on a quest, a quest of her own. Aetius was grown, and she had one thing she has thought about since turning four cycles. She wanted a child of her own. Aetius knew she was ready for the responsibility. Instead of looking for a special bird to step into her life, she could instead just find a stone to give life to all on her own. The owl tapped into her magic to see if she could detect a stone nearby. There was a reason she picked this place. She hoped to find stones that belonged to creatures built for the cold, as was she. She was a snowy owl after all.

Her magic seemed to work and she found her first stone. One wasn't enough, she wanted options. She tapped into her magic again and detected another stone. Good! It seemed her quest was going quite smoothly. The owl decided she was going to give life to one stone, and one only. Hopefully, after she had picked a stone and give life to it, there would be a new addition to the Kingdom of Eridanus. Aetius thought that finding stones would be more difficult than this, but she was glad to be wrong. Though she would not stop at two stones. She decided to go ahead and look for more.

Aetius used her magic again to see if she could find a third stone. Her magic worked yet again, and she collected the third stone. Aetius did not think of this like a scavenger hunt, due to how easy her magic was working. She let out a soft sigh, not even thinking to much about the process of finding stones. The owl was not yet done with finding stones. Even though she was to give life to one stone, she wanted to at least have variety to pick from. She decided to look a little more, before making her decision.

Aetius was now looking for a fourth stone. As she looked for her fourth stone, she tapped into her magic again. No surprise, her magic worked and led her to her fourth stone. She collected it gently in her talons. Aetius hoped that the creatures she was collecting were made for the cold, like she was. Though, she had no way of knowing at all. She would just have to hope, but regardless, she would care for the child because they would be her own. Aetius went on to look for another stone.

Aetius was now looking for her fifth stone. She tapped into her magic again and she found yet another stone. The snowy owl was very pleased. She was almost there, almost satisfied. She thought for a moment. 'Perhaps one more stone, and I should be finished searching' Aetius wasn't going to search for every stone in this tunnel. There was a different between having options, and overloading yourself with too many stones. Aetius made the firm decision to get one more stone, and that was it.

Aetius decided to use her magic one last time to find one last stone. It seemed her magic failed her that time. She wanted a last stone. She didn't expect her magic to fail her at the last try, but it was kind of ironic. 'One last time, I need a last stone.' Aetius thought with determination, realizing that she had used quite a bit of magic. No matter, one last try, and if it did not work then she would just leave it at that. She hoped though that would not be the case. One more try.

Aetius wanted this to be her last attempt. Her magic then failed her again. Oh well, she had five beautiful stones in her talons, so she would stop right there. At least she had more than one option to choose from. Aetius had to just base off of looks which stone she wanted to give life to. She wasn't going to waste her magic looking for a sixth stone, when it had already failed twice. Aetius had to choose wisely, for she already decided to give life to one stone. She looked at the ones she had gathered as she was deep in thought.

Aetius' first find is a Pupil (+2)-level Eye Agate. This shining stone has rings of red around orange and creams, somewhat resembling an eye. It once belonged to a burro.

The next Pupil (+2)-level stone is a raw, almost organically-swirled chunk of black Obsidian. This stone last belonged to a mountain lion.

There are then three Fledgling (+1)-level gemstones.

The first among them is a glittering, many-faceted Oriental Amethyst, or purple Corundum gem, once belonging to a Dormouse.

The second is a raw piece of black, smooth Onyx that last called a West African Giraffe its host.

Third, and lastly, is a polished, mossy- or watery-looking green Chrysoprase. This gemstone last belonged to a very strange animal: the size of a small deer, with short, brown fur and a dog-like body and tail. Yet its face was distinctly owl-like, though with more side-facing, rounded eyes not unlike those of a rabbit. Its clawed feet were scaled and its neck sported a short mane. It was carnivorous.

@Aetius

Aetius looked very closely at the stones, and after careful consideration she decided to pick the second stone, the black Obsidian. She did not know that it used to belong to a mountain lion, she simply picked it based of its looks. Aetius seperated the stone from the rest, no longer paying attention to the other four stones. She touched the black Obsidian with one of her wings. Her magic then flooded through it successfully, and afterwards the snowy owl nodded approvingly. Now all she had to do was wait for nature to take its course, and she would be gifted with a new child sometime soon. She took the Obsidian in her talons, then flew off to Eridanus. 'Here we go' She thought.

-Exit Aetius

P A L L A S
the man who sleeps with a knife
is a fool every night but one

Pallas didn't often wander away from his home in Cetus. But when he did, it was for sick trinkets and objects.

Something cool was definitely what he found.

He was pacing along as normal, as you do, on tiny little scrabbly legs and long tail lifted up behind him. He relished the feeling of dry ground against his paws. No more mud and trees for him, at least for the day. He should go out on these excursions more often.

And so, he glanced to the ground, a sparkle catching his eyes. What is that? Movement dragged his head away, his eyes spotting a blur of white with black in its claws. Did someone leave these gems here? Curiously, Pallas bent down and moved the gems with his nose, curiously nudging them.

They'd do perfect in his house. That eye would be a cool doorway hanger, the Onyx a nice smooth surface to look at. Yes. Without realizing that they'd had life, Pallas bent down and took them in his jaws- or, at least, the Amethyst. His mouth couldn't fit the rest. But, he was capable of scooping the rest up with his tail, holding the larger Chrysoprase in one paw while making sure he had a good grip on the rest.

Now he just had to make the long trek back home in Cetus. The linsang turned, a gleam in his eye and a hop in his step, slowly getting used to carrying the objects.

He'd have to get some better way of carrying these things, eventually.

Permission has been given to pick up these gems.
Exit Pallas