(( ALL WELCOME AT ALL TIMES - Will ignore turning order, however, to update the story more often. Feel free to join in whenever you'd like! The more listeners the better! )) It was time for another story, she felt. She had been away for a while, and had felt herself drift away, which upset her. She didn't want to be away from everyone, especially since the ones she had met were just so interesting. For that reason, she had come back, and she was full to the brim with the need to tell another story. She didn't know who would sit and listen - or even that anyone would care - but that didn't matter much in the scheme of things. She wanted to tell a story, and that was that. She settled down at the base of the tree she had before, as she had claimed it as her tree. Mentally, she noted that she should mark the tree in particular with some hanging lights to show that it was hers. Stones would be easy to find, as would making them glow, but what to hang them with? And how? Maybe she could find someone to help her with that, someone with more dextrous appendages than hooves. Her mind wandered. With hooves, she couldn't climb, couldn't grab anything, couldn't move quietly through the caves....it was frustrating. Other creatures could do so much more with paws. Her nose twitched. For now, she decided to create temporary hanging lights. She only hoped it wouldn't disastrously backfire like it did the last time she reached for this spell.... "This is how I speak."

Okay, he had no damnest idea why he was here but he was back at Cetus. Usui rolled his eyes at himself as he plodded on. The youth had bulked over the past couple of days and tufts of mane sprouted from the top of his head almost like a Mohawk. Muscles fuelled the beast and it rippled under his pale, tawny pelt. Strong whip of a tail flicked behind him as he plodded through the dank area, not sure if what he was finding. The mist rolled thick, blocking most of his vision. Then he saw several sparkling lights. The lion blinked. This was definitely new and alerted him. With a low chuff, he jogged forward, broad shoulder brushing past the foliage that infiltrated the entire tunnel. It was then that he came upon a deer whose stone protruded from one eye. He winced involuntarily as he came to a stop near her. His eyes went to the flickering lights she had created. They were very beautiful. Usui then looked back at her questioningly. “Setting up some decorations here? Need help?” He then channelled his magic and his gem began to glow a ghastly black as he summoned gems to come towards him. Alas his magic cracked up. Tons of blue, green and red gems zoomed in onto his body, encasing him entirely, all but his face. "Oh dear, help!" he shrieked as he attempted to bulge his body from within the gem lattice he had created but to no avail.

It didn't hurt though. He cast a sheepish glance at the deer and managed a, "I was intending to create gems. Nice ones to give your lights a colourful glow and amplify it, not make myself a decoration you know what I'm saying? Oh dear I'm so sorry. I guess...I've made myself into a permanent piece of decoration myself unless you're able to help me get out of this."

This time felt like the complete and utter opposite than the last time. The light in her was so impatient after so little recent use, it felt like a bubbling geyser of water unleashed that rushed through her into being, leaving her exhilarated. Shining orbs of light blossomed into view as far as she could see (which wasn't very far in the fog, admittedly). They hung up in the tree, around her, and danced in the air like a glittering ghost audience, just for her, and they created a little clearing free of the eerie white. In the silence of the glade, they were welcome. She exhaled, feeling incredibly energized rather than feeling the usual tiredness that accompanied such strong spells, and she noticed her blind eye glowing much more than it usually did. Happiness and excitement ran through her blood, and she almost didn't notice the lion walking towards her. It offered to help set up decorations, and she got up to give a polite hello to him, bowing her head low and saying, "I w-would love that, thank you." But when she looked up, she startled and scampered back a few steps. The lion was suddenly encased in this - in hard colorful stone?! What- how- she started to make nonsensical sounds, and hurried over to the creature. "It doesn't hurt, does it?" She said, looking over. "I don't know any magic besides making pretty lights, i-in fact I've never seen something like this happening before. Are you okay?" She looked around the bright little clearing as if the solution might suddenly appear. In a fretting voice, she said,"I don't know how to help you..." "This is how I speak."

He promised Quix that he wouldn't practice flying in Pisces again so he was holding to that promise. In the swampy area he made it a goal to keep himself from getting muddy by climbing up to the first tree he found and from there he would leap, glide, and flap to every other tree thus giving his young wings a workout. It would also give his claws and legs a nice workout as well. A perfect exercise for the day.

He managed to climb up his first tree and easily made it halfway up, from there he went leaped and glided to the next one and stuck his claws into that trunk. On and on he went in this way and after a fair amount of trees he noticed something in the distance. Dancing lights, they were very pretty. Bara's legs were starting to burn from the exertion but his wings still felt fine so this lead him to try his next plan.

He leaped and this time caught himself in the air and powered himself upwards. He flapped and flapped high above what he could now see as Usui and a white doe until he landed --a little heavily-- on a branch a few feet up. He peered down at the peer and after a moment gave a loud, hearty laugh. "Well well, did you give yourself that new hairdo to compliment those lovely gems all over your body, Usui?" He laughed again and because he was so amused din't notice his branch creaking until it lurched. "Whoa!" It pitched and sent him falling. For a moment he managed to catch himself on the limb by his tail. He hung upside-down that way for a few seconds, breathing a silent sigh of relief before his weight brought the branch down the rest of the way. "AAAAGGGHH!" He yelled until he hit the mud with a loud SQUELCH. So much for his goal of keeping his fur clean.

The now brown and white dragon sat up, looking sheepishly at Usui and then at the doe. "Heheh, whoops. Hi, guys." He waved at them with one of his large wings before he decided that perhaps he should help the lion out since he'd previously laughed at him and gotten a dose of immediate karma. He stood up, shook off his coat and walked over to the lion where he stood up on his hind legs, using his tail as a balance, and began to pick off the gems with his forepaws. To the deer he asked, "So, what's with the light show? Something happening?" He was honestly curious about what was going on since Usui had decided to decorate himself for the occasion.

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words: 453
tagged: Clover, Usui
ooc: ---
muse: 6/10

"Speech"
Thoughts

Post-rambling, the doe-eyed girl came over and looked over his situation, saying that she had never seen anything like this. “It’s probably something I need to fix on my own,” he admitted. “Thanks though! Now let me give it a try” and so Usui would attempt to gather the magic from within him if only to make a last ditch effort at this powerful, ancient magic which was extremely energy consuming. Then, he heard a loud flapping overhead. His concentration broke and the magic fled from his paws. Curiously, he attempted to twist his head around but was unable to do so. The voice that came forth was all too familiar though. It was a taunt, to which the pale green eyed gembound felt huge irritation towards. “Get down fat dragon.” His features didn’t shift much but one might have caught a glimmer of angst in his eyes. Suddenly, there was a loud crack and a sharp woahh and a temporary moment of relief before another crack sounded and the huge dragon landed onto the muddy ground. Usui caught himself half-hoping that the nasty dragon had landed face first.

Pale green eyes gave Baratheon a passive-aggressive stare as he picked his muddy body from the ground. “That was funny,” he commented dryly. At least he came forward and attempted to pick off the gems. “Look the pieces have fused into one another, you can’t do it this way.” Concentrating, Usui attempted to cast his magic again. Hopefully, he could get himself out of this mess. His magic sputtered for a moment, probably due to his gem being stifled in the inhospitable mass of gems. Then, his magic flickered and Usui concentrated curving the gems away from his body. He was successful in pushing the gems near his belly towards the ground, while the gems on either side expanded. Worn out, he couldn’t do more. Usui heaved against his forepaws and extracted himself from the colourful gem statue. He looked at it almost with a chuckle. “Hey,” he nodded towards the white deer, “How about this for a decoration? It has a lion body I think a dragon’s head would look nice on it. You could even make it glow.” He then nudged Baratheon who was almost his height, on the shoulder, with a grin. He’d forgiven the impish youth. “Thanks for helping me break out.”

She danced around on her feet, getting more and more worried over the state of the lion by each passing moment, her imagination spiraling into the lion being there forever, a voice of quiet reason to anyone who would pass by, never to leave by its own will unless a certain spell was cast, but in order to do so they would need to-- A mocking voice snapped her out of her story-making trance, and with a jolt, she looked up to the tree and saw the whole horribly loud and clumsy descent of a new creature she'd never seen before. With a sputter of laughter, she saw that the new thing looked a lot like Aza, except completely different. How many types of creatures were out there that she hadn't seen yet? This new one was fascinating, all young muscle and lithe wings, with a smirk to cover up his earlier bumblings. The newcomer seemed to know the lion, and went to help. She very much liked the new thing for its duality - its caring ways merged with its snide sarcasm - as much as she liked the lion for its kind and fretting ways. "Ah- oh- the light show is mine, I'm afraid," She said, smiling. The new creature's attempts didn't seem to help much. "I was setting up my seat for telling a story. It's my second one, and- well- I think I know what this one will be about." She watched with complete fascination as the lion made its way out of the encasement using its manipulating magic, like molding soft mud away from its fur. She rather liked the statue, with its glimmering crystal sheen, and wondered how heavy it would be to move. Maybe at a later point, she could ask the lion to make the statue sit, and place it next to the tree, and give it a pretty lion's face, and guard her tree. Excited shivers ran across her back. How amazing would that be? But with a quick glance at the lion, she already knew that it would have to wait. It looked to tired to do so, and she knew the feeling very well. She moved around and gathered a quick bed of pine needles, and gestured for the lion to sit on it. "I was wondering if you two would like to hear it." "This is how I speak."

The dragon attempted to move the gems away with his dexterous paws but to no avail. They were locked on tight and Usui's words proved to be true. Actually he could probably dislodge the gems with his Dispell magic but he doubted Usui would appreciate it so he relented. The young dragon shuffled backwards and way from the lion and dropped down onto all fours. Perhaps Usui could deal with it better himself without the dragon handing over him.

Sure enough, the lion was able to cast another spell to mold the gems away so that he could step out of the cast. Good. "A-a story?" His long tail began to sweep over the ground as he wagged it excitedly. "I've never gotten to hear a story before!" Really he hadn't but getting to listen to one now filled him with a sort of childish excitement. He felt the bump on his shoulder from Usui and he turned a cheeky grin on the older gem. "No problem! Couldn't just sit around while you smothered yourself in gems... No matter how stylish you looked." He chuckled before turning to Clover.

He trotted over and plopped himself down on the mud, tail still wagging behind him and sloshing mud all over the place. "I'd love to hear a story! Oh! What's it about? Tell me, tell me!" His tail wagged even harder as he waited to hear what exciting story the doe would tell. He had no way to contain his want for hearing his first ever story.

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words: 256
tagged: Clover, Usui
ooc: ---
muse: 6/10

"Speech"
Thoughts

The white deer spoke up, telling them that it was her second story session. Usui's eyes immediately lit up and he felt immensely glad that she was there for they shared a similar interest. "Yes, stories are one of the most delicate, refined arts around." He then turned his interest to chatty Baratheon and smirked. Stylish was not exactly how he would have described himself when encased in a cast of gems but...he had to admit, the statue he had unwittingly created was quite the pretty thing. The white deer then made herself busy. Usui looked on curiously as she gathered pine needles, made a mat of sorts and gestured for him to rest on it. Although Usui was feeling alright physically, his use of higher magic had drained him inside. He could not decline her then. "Thank you...uh, what's your name? You're very kind. I'm Usui." The lion plodded over to the makeshift pine needle bed and lay on it, paws stretched in front of him while hindlegs were kept to the side. His tail with its bright tuft waved around behind him in excitement. Baratheon sat not too far away and started splashing mud everywhere! Some of it flicked onto his pelt. "Hey stop doing that. You can share this mat with me if you want to," he spoke calmly. He wasn't bothered by mud - after all, it was part of his element. Still, the youth figured he wouldn't really like mud-flicking Baratheon action ruining his experience here. "Do tell us your story," he spoke kindly with a hint of eagerness in his voice as he waited to hear this tale the white deer would spin.

She smiled as they both showed their eagerness to hear it, and it filled her with a warmth she had come to adore. She felt it often, and she held it close, for she knew it was precious and important, this feeling. She settled down carefully in between the roots of the trees where she had sat before, and her eye rested on the lion named Usui. "I don't have a name, it seems. I haven't found it yet." She mused. "I've been called Legs and Pearl so far," She huffed, "but they don't taste right, don't you agree?" "So, let's see, what is this story going to be about?" She murmured, feeling the familiar grip of the story take hold. She slipped into it gratefully, slowly, inch by inch, as if she was falling asleep and dreaming her sweet dreams again. "Well, to start with, there was a creature much like you," She looked at the winged thing, smiling. "A...." A dragon, the wisps whispered to her, as if coming awake from a long sleep. A dragon. "A dragon." She nodded. "The dragon was young, and loved to play tricks on those down below it, but was often berated by his friend, the lion. The lion was wise and strong, capable of as many clever magics as the dragon, and exercised caution above all else, in contrast to its friend. The lion patiently followed the dragon as it traveled the skies, pulling it out of trouble just as often as the other way around. They relied on each other, even if, to the outsider, it didn't appear so. One day, the dragon decided to play a trick on a...." Oh, why not throw Giggle into it, I'm sure the Giggle would enjoy it. She thought. "A hyena. A hyena who was wise, in a different way than the lion, in a cryptic, cynical, and dark way. The hyena was a fortune teller, obsessed with bones, like her king. The hyena was traveling down a steep valley with many cliff edges to the land of bones, where the Night roamed, to see into the future. Up above, the dragon circled, perfectly ready to dive down and scare the stranger. The lion knew what the young thing was up to, and called out to the fortune teller to look about, to which the hyena laughed and cackled, a disturbing sound." She laughed then in a rough mimic, harsh, loud, and wild. In the hyena's voice, she giggled, "You'd best not! You will fall and fail, fall far from grace." "The dragon up above was scared of the upsetting voice of the creature, but its pride held strong. Why would it fall? Its wings were strong and wouldn't fail. The dragon dived, the lion cried out, and the hyena laughed. All in a moment, a clash of movement occurred. The dragon was suddenly blinded by a kaleidoscope of blossoming pain on its face, cast by the fortune teller, and its dive went wild, its wings tangling over themselves. The lion jumped to protect the dragon, catching its friend before it plummeted to the ground, and when it reached the earth again at the edge of the cliff, the ground crumbled beneath the combined weight, and they both fell to the tune of the witch's cackling." She paused, for effect. "But they did not find themselves in the land of bones....instead they had landed hard in the city of bells and ghosts." "This is how I speak."

BARATHEON

"the world is mine for the taking"

---

His tail continued to wag until Usui told him to stop. He turned to him, slightly confused for a moment before he realized what was the matter. The dragon hadn't even realized that his tail was wagging until it was mentioned. "My bad." He said with a light laugh. Share the little mat with Usui? Why that seemed fantastic! As cheeky as he was he still loved the lion who'd offered to help him when he was not but a baby.

So with a nod he trotted over and plopped himself down next to the lion, leaning into his fur happily. To keep his tail from wagging any further and sloshing up more mud the dragon tucked it underneath him though the tufted end poked up from his chest. "I don't know... You seem like a Pearl to me." The dragon was just being truthful. The light doe was a pretty color that reminded him of a pearl... or perhaps even a lamb.

When the story started his tail began to twitch underneath him and he leaned his long neck forward eagerly, eyes shining with excitement. As she spoke, weaving the tale for him, he began to imagine the creatures in the story. The dragon as him, the lion as Usui, and the hyena as Giggle. Even though he was cheeky and smart-mouthed he knew better to interrupt a storyteller at her task and kept his mouth shut. Not that he wanted to interrupt anyway, he was intrigued by the story and entertained.

At the part of the dragon and lion tumbling he gave a gasp. What would happen next? He was barely contained as he leaned forward with tensed muscles and twisting ears, silently mouthing the words "what then?". He didn't relax when she said the city of ghosts. What would happen to them now? Would they be attacked? Or something else?

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words: 313
tagged: Clover, Usui
ooc: ---
muse: 6/10

"Talking looks like this."
Thinking looks like this...