Having found a friend in Kerberos, Quix led her large companion towards Orion. Once they passed through the dark tunnel, she found herself bursting into a glimmering room of twinkling stars. A twinkle lit up her pastel blue eyes as she trailed across the ground with silent, muffled shuffles of her furry paws. "Nice ain’t it, Kerby?” she woofed gently. For a moment, she forgot their food mission and milled around instead, absorbing the sights and sounds. Eventually though her heart settled and she refocused onto finding the cave deer. Perhaps big boy should do it instead! She scuttled back to the three-headed dog’s side and, looking up at him, gave him instructions as to how to proceed. "Cave deer larger than me. Four thin legs, unintelligent. They smell like…prey.” Her description was rather lacking but she was certain that Kerberos was smart enough with his three heads, and he’d be able to hunt down this prey. Quix wagged her tail, waiting for the albino boy to proceed.

take me home where the restless go

reckless 'til the day i rest my bones

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Kerberos followed the excited big earred fox to where she thought the cave deer might be. He hadn't spotted any, but he had also been doing his best to only eat rats and junk... Maybe he had just overlooked them. His tail swished as he waited for her to find one, until she suddenly turned on him all expectant. Awkwardly, he twitched his ears and opened his three big jaws and took a big deep breath.

Prey, huh? Everything seemed preylike to him. Still, he tried to humor her. They had weird thin legs and were tall, but probably still small and dumb. He sniffed around, dipping into a strange, old warn down building that he hardly noticed as different or strange-- everything about the cave was weird, even he was! This wasn't so out of the ordinary for him, though perhaps smarter gembounds would have paused and wondered...

No. Kerberos was on the hunt. He would find the Cave Deer!

Quix waited expectantly, a large grin plastered onto her tapered features. The three headed dog opened all mouths rather dramatically and took in the scent. He looked so delightful to her. What if those three heads could sing three different songs at one go? Makyna would be so pleased with her new addition to the Maji Walezi choir even though technically, Kerberos wasn’t a part of Maji Walezi. A few moments passed and he moved through an old building. With wagging tail, the tan girl followed him, little paws thudding gently by his side. Maybe he’d caught onto a scent? She decided to give it a shot too. Inhaling deeply, the fennec fox attempted to pin-point the scent of cave deer. "Cave deer cave deer cave deer” she muttered, like she was trying to conjure up the devil incarnate herself.

Many senses filled the prokaryote user’s nose. Being so familiar to her itty bity friends, coupled with her biological makeup, Quix was able to pick up a decent assortment of prey. Some were faint, others slightly stronger. But all were a distance away. Among the scents was that of a cave deer. She could tell from the juicier way it smelled. Immediately, the fennec lowered her nose to the ground but she wasn’t as good on old trails as a dog was. "Kerberos, I smell it! Cave deer, pick up this scent, over here.” She skipped a couple of steps to the left where a pile of rubble lay. The scent lingered more keenly here, probably due to the cave deer resting or rubbing against it for a bit.

take me home where the restless go

reckless 'til the day i rest my bones

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She found the scent before he did. There were too many smells, too many great, curious smells that drove his heads in all different directions... Now that she brought him over to the rubble, he could finally pick out the smell properly. It smelled... Delicious.

Drooling, he nodded firmly at her and pushed his noses to the ground, getting down into the familiar crouch that he called a "hunting" crawl. It uh, wasn't particularly graceful-- his rear legs shoved his butt in the air, tail twitching as his forepaws shuffled noisily across the ground, but he went along, hunting down the smell.

It didn't take too long, despite one head getting distracted by a familiar scent-- Batcat!--, before he found the cave deer. They were small, but bigger than Quix, and plump around the belly and slim through the neck and face, with small horns on their muzzles. What weird critters. But they looked so tasty! He drew to a stop, casting one head back to look at Quix, giving a playful wag of his tail.

"I found them..!" He woofed, softly, in his hush-hush, gruff-pup voice.

It was time to hunt!

The albino dog came in and picked up the scent. He seemed to light up then and started to drool, a surefire sign to Quix that he had picked it up. "You’ve got it, right, Kerby? You’re awesome” she chipped in earnestly and honestly as he nodded at her. He brought his nose and body low to the ground and as his tail twitched in the air, the girl noticed how intricately designed it was, very much like a snake. The fennec fox briefly wondered if his tail served any function – could it do special things? And took mental note to ask him later. For now, Quix was content and excited letting Kerberos do the work, though she could not just let him be responsible for this could she? With a giggle, she dropped her body into a similar post, rump and tail high in the air while her shoulders and withers were kept carefully angled against the ground just like Kerberos’ were. "I’m a hunter now,” she whispered, making-believe that they were on a great hunt!

She was not quite as great as the dog in sniffing out things but she managed along well enough and was able to stay on trail. On they went, side by side, past a couple of old buildings and they soon found themselves glancing at a small herd of cave deer near the other end. He woofed at her and she nodded firmly at him, fluffy ears plopping up and down. "Slow and steady does it,” she whispered to him in exaggeratedly hushed tones, then slowly cast her magic onto the fattest and largest one, hoping that she could give Kerberos the best of the bunch without him having to struggle too much. tendrils of her magic took hold. Not being able to see the itty bitties though, for she didn't cast that magic, she hurled a mixture of good and bad bacteria at it, weakening the effect. Nonetheless, it worked! The deer began to heave its sides and flick its ears uncomfortably. "That one big boy. I've weakened it. Go for the KILL." She whispered to Kerberos and hung back, letting him get glory for the kill.

@Kerberos

take me home where the restless go

reckless 'til the day i rest my bones

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Quix pointed out the weak link to him-- it was strange how these creatures kept together, close... Surely they had more teeth put together than they did. Yet, as that one began to heave, something clearly wrong with it, he knew he couldn't hold back. He'd fight them all if he had to!

Kerberos broke out into a bounding charge, a snarl tearing through his throat. The deer made horrible noises and bounded away, but he was hot on their trail. The sick one lagged, reacting slowest to the sudden giant hound on their tails, and before it could flee he was upon it.

His jaws snapped at it as it struggled to get away, one set of teeth sinking into its hind leg, others snapping for the neck they couldn't quite reach. The deer kicked, falling to the ground, but got him square in the face, cutting his cheek. With a snarl, his paws pinned the cave deer, claws sinking deep into the delicious flesh. It was only a few moments before he finished it off, teeth sunk into the neck, blood soaking his clear fur scarlet red.

His tail wagged furiously behind him, quite pleased with himself. However, his heads were too caught up in the hunt to tear away from the kill-- no, instead they almost fought over it, shredding the deer to pieces, snarling and growling and snapping at one another.

@quix

The fennec watched as the big furry gembound charged towards the little herd with an impressive growl. The deer immediately scattered but Kerberos was in hot pursuit and brought the sick one down. The girl tensed her muscles, watching in great anticipation as to what Kerberos would do. One head latched onto the deer’s hindleg while another head attempted to snap at the deer’s head/neck but with obvious failure. It was then that he sustained a cut to the face. "KERBEROS GET IT GET IT” she yipped, anxious and feeling worried for his injury. After a while, he was finally done. Albino fur was streaked with crimson as he completed his hunting task. "Good job Kerby!” she yipped and scampered to his side. Alas, all three heads were too engrossed in wanting to shred the meal that her fluffy companion was making a huge mess! The fennec let forth a couple of barks – shrill enough to get his attention but muffled, and thus wouldn’t hurt his ears. The girl waited for all three heads to regard her, whereupon she would look at him crossly and speak. "Three heads but one stomach. Look!” Here, she moved to the shredded remains and using her right paw, indicated two diagonal lines. One spanned from the deer’s rump to the neck, the other was from the flank to the belly and hind legs. The third portion would thus be the chest, fore limbs and belly. "Each head gets one part.” She pricked her ears and looked up at the albino dog imploringly, hoping that the large furry brute would take her suggestion and stop fighting.

@Kerberos

carnivore, carnivore

could you come digest me?!

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A few sharp barks brought the dog to a stop, bones crushed in his jaws but eyes alert and sharp on Quix. What did the puffball want? His tail twitched as he dropped the meat with her approach, eyeing her cautiously. Surprisingly, perhaps, he didn't so much as snarl as she drew close. He just waited and watched.

"... Okay," one head woofed shortly, snatching up a hindleg, but the other two heads waited, quiet and still. The middle head's ears twitched and then laid back as, finally, the left muzzle reached down-- bloody muzzle matching his crimson nose-- and tugged the scraps of body closer. Placing a paw on the chest of the quite dead cave deer, the pair of heads snapped at the throat and practically shredded the neck.

After a moment-- floppy ears nibbling contentedly away at the flank-- the middle head nudged the now severed head towards Quix. "Four mouths, two stomachs," he commented softly, blinking at her. "Your piece. Tasty ears." Pale pink eyes flashed to the ears atop the fennec's head, chuffing softly. His lips pulled back into a twisted snarl of a grin. That all said and done, the dog happily went back to eating, each head taking their share properly.

@Quix

Quix tilted her head, perky ears flopping to the side as each head listened to her. She scrunched her face and grinned at each head, nodding approvingly as each muzzle had a share of the meat. Anyway...wouldn't all the pieces end up in the same stomach? She sneaked a peak at his white frame. One body meant one stomach right? Perhaps one day she should do a health check-up on this boy just to make sure that what he ate made him healthy. She felt her tummy grumble at the catch and inhaled deeply, taking in the sweet scent of food. Cave deer were beyond her size and she would be unable to manage on her own so this was a once in a lifetime opportunity presented to her. The fox lifted her pale blue eyes to meet Kerberos' and realized he seemed contented to have each head biting onto a piece each though. In fact, it seemed barely enough to satiate his hunger. Quix nodded to herself with resolution, determined to be contented with delicious bugs for a meal today.

However to her surprise, the middle head suddenly nudged the cave deer's head towards her and commented that there were four mouths and two stomachs. She blinked at him, realizing that Kerberos meant her stomach and mouth combined with his. Realizing he meant for her to have it, she yipped in delight and wagged her tail in thanks...till the damn dog looked towards her ears like it was food and grinned. "Ears no food! Eat deer" she laughed softly and, reaching out with her right paw, brought the severed head closer to her. It looked tantalising. Reaching down, she took a bite and chewed on it happily. As she looked up towards Kerberos though, she realized that orange-nose-floppy-eared still had the bleeding cut on his cheek. "You're hurt," she called out to the floppy-eared and scampered to his side. His head was within her reach as he chewed on his portion that lay on the ground. "Quix help." She attempted to conjure her magic but it didn't work. No matter, she brought her little forepaws onto his cheek and bending forward, flicked her tongue around the wound to clean it with great gentleness and patience.

carnivore, carnivore

could you come digest me?!

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Quix seemed happy to take her share and that made him content to chomp away at his food-- though she had caught his hopeful stare and had scolded him appropriately. He snorted softly, chomping down bite after bite. His floppy eared head paused as she came over and licked at his wound, wincing slightly.

The orange nosed face settled down on the remains of the rump that was his, and let her lick the mess away. The rest of him kept eating away-- the pain on his cheek was dull for the other two brains, though for the injured one it was sharp and hot. He watched her, listening and, per chance, learning.

"Mrf?" He grunted, blinking, finding it a bit hard to watch something happening to his cheek. With extreme care, he parted his jaws to ask, "is bad? How Quix help?" He could feel her tongue, sure, but he knew nothing of healing or so much of pain, even. He had fought with a few gembounds before, but he had survived without help. He didn't know what to make of this new thing, honestly.

@Quix