Kethri shook her head to try and jar herself into composure, though it really only made her feel dizzy and sick afterward, her head hurting more than before. She looked up at the other and blinked stupidly, finally seeing that the green of the other's eyes wasn't her eyes, but what looked like a film. Her gem, as she explained.

What an awful place for it to be. Kethri almost felt pity for Hecate, before remembering how she'd thrown her into a tree with ease. That thought was shut down as quickly as it came.

"... I'm Kethri,", she slurred slowly, her tongue heavy in her mouth, "I didn't know... I'm sorry."

Kethri folded her wings up and winced at the feeling of mud clogging her feathers, uncomfortable where she was on the ground. She so desperately wanted to clean herself off and fly somewhere safe, but at least Hecate was here in case anything were to actually happen.

But right now? She was less focused on Hecate.

Her poor feathers-

"Ah- I think we need to get cleaned off,", Kethri said, antsy, "I'm not too keen to remain on the ground..."

And her feathers weren't pristine!

@Hecate

"Well, it's... been interesting meeting you, Kethri." A pause, uncomfortable--Kethri kept apologizing, but Hecate still felt terrible. "And you needn't apologize so much," she settled on, her tone clipped and prim, and she looked away.

Emerald-sheathed eyes struggled, past the glow of two wisps, to scan for low branches. "Can you fly into a tree, at least? I don't know this place; I haven't any idea if it's safe or if it's dangerous, either on the ground or in the branches. This infernal mud is disgusting," she added, in dour agreement. She turned, glancing over her own feathers: normally beautiful, or at least Hecate assumed so, and likewise pristine; now tangled and coated in a thick spray of sticky, foul mud.

Ugh. Back to that, then. "I think I can lift you into the branches if you're still-... you know, um. Dizzy?" she hazarded, mostly a guess. She again struggled to inspect Kethri, but she could hardly make out the other's features, let alone any sign of injury.

@Kethri

"I'm not quite sure...", she mumbled, heaving herself up into an upright position.

She scanned for a suitable branch, one big enough to hold two owls of her side, and raised her wings, hoping this didn't end badly...

The moment she took off, she pitched to one side and squawked, wings flapping wildly as she tried to regain herself, only to faceplant into a patch of watery mud that reached up to her breast bone when she wrenched her head out of it, coughing and hacking the stuff out of her mouth.

"... Ew,", she mumbled miserably and toddled out of the mud, her feathers now muddy and waterlogged. Just her luck. She looked up at Hecate, upset and hurt, and approached to lessen the distance, tears in her eyes.

This sucked. Though... a darker part of her mind told her she deserved it for being such a- she shook her head again and reeled from the action, but at least she wasn't thinking about that anymore.

"Ah... I don't think I'm stable enough,", she said and doubted she could stay on a branch if she could barely even stay upright.

@Hecate

Some savage part of her was glad to see the owl fail, to see her fall into the mud, to see the dark streaks now smearing her white form. But most of her was just vaguely upset, still: not knowing what to do, hoping she hadn't hurt Kethri too badly.

She looked around. She was light enough that, even for her size, a large enough branch could hold her--but her issue was vision, instead. Hecate sent out the wisps, for a moment, studying the ground; she'd tried, already, to look for a way to travel through the swamp without getting mucky and had found nothing. Now, with Kethri hurt, she was searching a little more earnestly. There had to be something...

What she spotted, at last, was a log in the mud. It wasn't a fantastic option but at least it was out of the water; sitting half-submerged in mud and surrounded by reeds. She wouldn't have seen it but for the wisps, and its shape glimmering in their light, and after a moment she looked to Kethri.

"Hold on," she told her, though she didn't... clarify that. Really she meant "brace yourself" but. Well.

This time her magic simply did not come, and Hecate gritted her beak. "There's a log, this way. We can rest there. It's out of the mud, at least." Even as she spoke she was struggling with her own impatience. If this other one hadn't pestered her, she could be halfway through the swamp by now, surely-? But for now she led the way, trudging taloned step by step to the log.

@Kethri

Kethri nodded and waddled towards the log, trying to muffle her disgusted noises as her feet squelched and tuck in the mud as she walked. She managed to make it to the log and fluffed up her feathers, immediately tucking her head down to begin preening what she could reach. Mud got on her beak and face, but a quick rinse in a clear-water stream would probably do the trick. A bath didn't sound bad either.

The owlet stopped after a while, her beak aching, her tongue tired from spitting out so much mud. She shook her feathers out, stained from the black mud, and she realized in dismay that there was no way she was flying if she couldn't get her feathers clean. It would take hours with her inexperience. Damn it.

Kethri swallowed and kept going, focusing on her primary feathers first, trying to at least straighten them out. It took some effort, but she managed to get a few suitable for flight, though she was still stained to look a very pale brown. She hated it.

"... When we get out of here, I can lead the way,", she mumbled, barely even audible, "I stand out in your vision, right? So... I can lead you through a path with little debris, so you have less of a risk of crashing into things."

Goodness, she was tired and dazed- probably unable to fly at all. But she had to at least try.

@Hecate

Hecate gently sighed.

"Well. We can get you out of here, at least. I was hoping to find someone, in particular, but so far it doesn't seem very... welcoming. A terrible place," she added, with a haughty sniff.

She made no move either to preen herself, nor to aid Kethri in doing so, just sort of hulking on the log beside the white owl.

From there she had little to say, it seemed--just glancing around, observing the nasty swamp through half-blind green eyes.

@Kethri

Kethri huffed and shuffled gently, uneasy about having the owl directly beside her, "... Right. Who is this person you're meeting?"

She preened as much as she could until her feathers seemed dry and light enough to bear her weight, her primaries clean enough that she was confident about flying. She shook her head and looked at Hecate, and sighed.

"... I'm sorry I was rude,", she mumbled, looking away, "I was... invasive, and blunt. I don't expect you to forgive me, but... mmph..."

Kethri didn't like the thought of having an enemy.

"... Can I make it up to you somehow?"

If Hecate asked her to leave, she would. Or eat mud- well, maybe not that.

@Hecate

Hesitation, for a moment. As much as she hated to admit it... "Well... I don't know. I was just told that there was someone here who knew more about the caves--I know they are called the Children of Rot, but I'll admit, I've no idea who I'm looking for." A sidelong glance at Kethri, then--I didn't even think she might be with them--but no, she hates this cave as much as I do.
"I'm beginning to think, however," she added snootily, lifting one mud-slicked wing to eye it dourly, "that it may not be worth it." To the rest of the white owl's words, Hecate found herself uncomfortable, and, for a moment, speechless. She still had trouble untangling her own emotions about all of this--shame boiled back up, and dislike, but was that of Kethri, or herself-? Or some strange mixture of both? Anger, frustration-...

She sighed, and tried to think past it, to rise above such things. It was so low of her to have dropped to such a level, to have attacked someone-... She drew herself up a little. "No, no, truly, there's no need to apologize. ...Perhaps--if you wish to make it up to me... you might accept my apology in turn? I had-... I should not have attacked you," and the admission was made only with the deepest reluctance, though she tried to hide that.

She stared off into the darkness of the swamp, even, as she spoke--unwilling to confront even that. Hfmph. She hated everything, today.

@Kethri

Kethri's face hardened, "... They know about this place? Maybe they know how to get out..."

Birds were meant to fly free, not be confined to what was nothing more than an elaborate cage. She knew nothing of the sky, nothing of the vast blue or what clouds felt like. But her feathers, her very bones... they knew. She yearned for the feeling of whatever was calling her to fly higher and higher, to escape.

She looked over to Hecate and at the mud, and reluctantly nodded, "Right... perhaps we can see if someone else may know. These Children can't be the only ones harboring knowledge, here, right?"

Kethri didn't quite realize that she'd said 'we', at first, but she found that she didn't exactly wish to take it back.

Her head snapped around to look at Hecate, blinking rather stupidly, "... I can do that. It sure knocked perspective into me, either way."

She ruffled her feathers and hummed softly, contemplating something.

Kethri shook herself out and raised her wings, "So... Where do you wish to go? My offer still stands. I can guide you away, and show you somewhere to rest and regain your composure."

@Hecate

Hecate ruffled her feathers, a little.

"Hmm... No. I think I'll stand by what I said; I will find my own way... given time." To her, she thought that "a way out" must mean Cetus--and perhaps it did; but either way she was set on her path. Stubborn, even. "But if you want, we can meet some other time. Somewhere... cleaner," she added, with another disgusted glance at her own wing.

@Kethri