Sora had gone out of her way to keep an eye on the flashy canine-like beast as the Olympics had winded down to a close. Not that it had been very hard. He was awfully... bright. And loud. Not that she minded -- Sora had a lot of energy herself, when she wasn't focused single-mindedly on survival, and was fond of creatures who could be honest about themselves and what they wanted. "Hey! Colorful dog thing!" she called, not having gotten his actual name as she trotted over to meet him. "This coloring on your fur. Its ink, right? I could hear bottles in your bag," she explained. Sora sat down, figuring that she'd done more than enough to start a conversation.

"I lost some people recently," she said bluntly, seeing no reason to sugar-coat it. "I want to get a tattoo to... honor them, I guess. But I don't know jack shit about tattoos or magic, and I don't have hands. I was wondering if you could help me." She stared off into space for a moment. "I want to try and make the ink myself. Something that's useful, too, not just pretty. Any ideas for me?"



@deli

Deli

Deli was having a nice day. A nice, peaceful day of solitude after the insanity of the Olympics. They were an extrovert, sure and they loved being among crowds and chaos (especially when they were making the chaos) but sometimes they really did need to take a seat and chill out for a little while. Do some art. Maybe make more paint.

They had found a nice, comfortable spot to sit down and a nice, relatively flat boulder to work on. A few vials of paint were open next to them, which they periodically dipped their fingers into as they sketched out...something. It wasn't really anything, just a mash of colors with vague shapes. They found it nice to just let out whatever they were feeling into color and patterns and this bright yellow and blue....thing felt right for how they were feeling at the moment.

Then, of course, someone has to come in and call them "colorful dog thing", which wasn't exactly offensive, but it was certainly...something. Their turned their head around, expression neutral for a moment, before their trademark smile spread wide across their face. "It sure is! And the name's Deli!" They snickered, turning themselves around. They didn't look remotely sympathetic for this stranger's loss, considering that they 1. had no idea who this was 2. had no idea who the lost were and 3. had no idea what the circumstances were, anyways. So why care?

"Huh, uh huh," they lifted a paw and tapped thoughtfully at their chin. "Yeah, I can do that. Depends on how big you want 'em though. And what you want 'em to look like." Well this was actually kind of exciting! They didn't often have people coming around to ask for tattoos. "You want them actually drawn on you? Or little symbols? Or names? Or like objects that mean something?" Eyes narrowed at the mention of ink. "Oh, you want some of those special inks, huh? Well...not sure! Haven't made a lot of them myself! But I've made some of this before!" They reached in and pulled out a vial that looked like liquid tree-bark. "When this dries it marks the surface hard and rough! But I'm sure you can make your own dyes and stuff, too."

Their eyes narrowed, but the smile never faded. They stashed the keratin dye back into their back and thought for a second. "There's also the matter of payment too...I don't exactly do this for free."

@Sora

Sora repeated the name to affirm that she'd heard it. "'M Sora." At the questions, she considered them briefly. "I wanted silhouettes. Simplified versions of what they looked like." She started to try and draw rough shapes in the dirt. Unfortunately it looked a lot more like random scrapes or maybe stick figures than identifiable shapes, and her whiskers twitched back in shame. "... No hands," she said again for emphasis. "But, uh. I have descriptions of them. I wanted like... do you know what a ram is? Kind of shaped like me, but with curved-back horns and sharper features. A head a little more like a horse's. I want a silhouette of that like its charging, on my side. And... like... a venomous snake, kind of curled around one of my arms with its mouth open on my shoulder, a little handprint under my eye like a monkey was holding my face, and... well, I don't know how to describe Owlface, but kind of a roundish shape looking over the ram. Maybe. I mean, you're the one who knows what you're doing, first of all, but also I feel like Owlface's... well... face... might look more like an unidentifiable blob than anything else."

She shrugged at mention of payment. Seemed like everyone in these caves was looking for payment -- couldn't anyone just do something out of the kindness of their hearts? "I've got a glowing earring I can't put on 'cause none of my surviving siblings have hands, but I could always try and get things for you instead."


@deli

Deli

Deli only acknowledged the creature's name with a flick of an ear. They leaned forward to look at the drawings Sora was making in the dirt and snickered a bit at the poor attempt. Not everyone was as artistically gifted as them! "No matter, descriptions work fine! What animals they are or look like." As they listened, the absently played with a thick strand of hair from their cheek, thinking for a moment. One of their paws twitched, fingers carving out imaginary shapes as they thought about the shapes and creatures they'd be drawing. Half of their mind was following Sora's explanation while the other half began to spark with curiosity - this was quite the job, and to cover their body so completely with the shapes of their friends. Did something big happen? It could warrant...some kind of investigation if so.

They suddenly reached into their bag and pulled out a leaf-wrapped parcel, which they opened to reveal a chunk of graphite. They turned away from Sora, motioning for her to continue as they began to sketch absently on the rock next to their mess of paints. It looked like random scribbles at first, but a little while after Sora had finished their description, they moved out of the way to show them three sketches mostly matching what Sora had described. The last one was missing. "These lookin good, then? You're gonna have to elaborate more on the last one! Unless you really want me to just draw you a blob! What did its head look like? What animal do I think of?"

Their smile widened a bit about payment. It was quite ironic that Sora had wondered about why they couldn't simply do this out of kindness, considering that it didn't exist in Deli's vocabulary. "Hm..." They feigned thought for a second, tapping on their chin again, before they clapped their paws together, as if coming to a conclusion. "Trinkets and toys are easy to come by - knowledge is more valuable then all of that! Why don't you tell me about your friends and why they mean so much to you that you're covering your body with them?" They eyed the little earring and snickered again. Their raised their paws and wiggled their fingers. "Good thing I have hands, then. I'll throw it in with the tattoos if you want it on."

@Sora

She looked at the sketches, and softened. Relaxed, just a bit. Looking at them, quiet. "Kini-yolotl's horns were out a little more," she said gently, drawing the vague shape in the dirt with one of her feet. But otherwise, they were... perfect, and she felt the pang of grief as though it were brand new.

Then... describing Owlface? Well... "Sort of a bird's face," she began. "Pointy like a hawk's. And just behind his head was this... giant frilly part, like a lizard. It was like... almost as tall as he was. Went pretty high above his head." Sora drew a wobbly circle with a downward triangle in the middle, and then a sort of heart-shape around it. "Uhh... yeah." Maybe she should stop trying to do drawing for a little while.

Sora's ears flicked up in surprise. Knowledge? Well... she supposed so. "And, ah, I'd like that. The earring thing. Just, be careful where you put it -- make it between one of the ridges, 'cause otherwise it'll hurt like crazy." She sighed, and sat down to start talking.

"There were... eleven of us. We were given Life in a little cave. It was barely big enough for all of us at our full sizes. Eleven scraggly little babies of various origins. We only knew this creature called the Masked Merchant -- I know a real big secret about him, but that's something you'll have to give me something way extra for -- and he didn't give us names or anything. He'd bring us food and water, and might give a one-or-two word answer if we asked a question and he was in a good mood, but that was it. He was never, like... there. Physically or emotionally." She closed her eye, remembering. "Kini-yolotl -- the ram? They were kind of the leader of our family. Tough and protective. They were smart, and cautious. Our guardian." She looked again, at the sketch. "Before the Trial happened, Kini-yolotl asked me to help look after everyone if they died." She sighed. It was a heavy burden to bear.

"Then there was Orenstein, the monkey. He was fluffy. Another smart one -- most of them are," she said warmly -- but there was an implied 'me, not so much' on the end there. "He kept the peace, when tensions would flare. He was an empath, and damn if he couldn't keep a secret. He died saving someone else's life." She gestured towards the handprint.

Simon... was going to be hard to talk about, but it needed to happen. "Then there was, uh, Simon. The snake. We all wanted to leave the cave, you know? We all wanted to see what else was out there. We knew the food had to come from somewhere, you know? But Simon, he was always thinking about it." She swallowed hard. "His dream was to, uh, see the trees. He was... quiet, and put others before himself." Sora was actually crying now, but didn't actually seem to notice.

Sora shrugged. "We were all pretty caring. Always put each other first. Owlface was caring, too. When all we had was each other, it only made sense to rally together. Owlface was curious, and super sweet. He was interested in diseases. Super perceptive. He was always paying attention. I swear, he knew everything about you." She swallowed hard.

"And then there was Thalia. She was, uh, a tiger. She... wasn't killed in the Trial. She was murdered, by the Masked Merchant. She'd always been kind of adventurous, you know? A little skittish, a little flighty. But brave. She wasn't afraid of him, not like we were. She tried to make a run for it when we were being paraded to our deaths, and the Masked Merchant... he took her stone out of her body and turned it into dust, just by holding it in his hands." Her face twisted. Then, she figured that Deli would want to hear about the Trial, and at this point it had kind of turned into what was almost a therapy session.

Sora laughed a little bitterly. "But maybe that was merciful. The rest of us, we were paraded into a cave called Hydra. The Masked Merchant released this... monster. Shadows and cold. It filled the whole room, and swallowed up the light. It turned Hydra against us, more than usual, and picked us off one by one. There were others, too -- volunteers. But we were there against our will. Simon... he died trying to save someone. Kini and Owlface went after him. They wanted to-- to try and keep him safe, but the darkness... it took all three. The shadow-monster... it used them like puppets. It stole their bodies, and we-- we saw them, the awful gashes and the blood. They screamed and begged. Begged us to follow them into the shadows in voices that weren't exactly their own. It was a cruel trick, and it almost worked. It did work on Simon." She shuddered at the memory, the scars on her body throbbing. "We watched all of them turn to Oil, at the end of the Trial. Orenstein, Owlface, Kini-yolotl... Simon." Sora's breath caught. "Simon, he-- he called my name. Begged me to help him, told me he was... scared. I'm still not sure if it was him or the shadows."

It had gotten heavy, fast. But she sighed, looking down at her feet. "I'm getting these tattoos because I feel guilty for their deaths. Thalia... I can avenge Thalia." Chrysoberyl eye, flashing in the light. "But everyone else? All I have is their memory, and... I want to keep them close to me."



@deli

Deli

As Sora took a second chance to try and describe their friend, Deli immediately turned around again, sketching on the rock with their chunk of graphite. The image when, again, from squiggles and scratches, to something resembling a drawing. They leaned over to show her. "Like that? Bird head - frills. Looking down. Look good?"

They turned back around and listened closely to her story. Amazingly, the smile slowly slipped from their face, replaced by neutral interest as she went into talking about the darkness in Hydra that had swallowed them all up. Deli went back to absently playing with some of their cheek hair as they thought about all of this. What it meant, for these kids, and for the caves as a whole. There seemed to be a lot going on, what with that dragon that had rampaged around and then disappeared, that strange guy that had hidden them all treasures, with those weirdos in the tunnel before Hydra doing who knows what...

Yeah, this was a good exchange.

"Did you ever figure out the reason for it? Why this Merchant released the darkness. What happened when you all got out?" Their eyes sparkled at delight at the prospect of a big secret and a smile slid back onto their face. "Oh? A big secret you say?" Now what could they offer for that?

A moment later an idea sparked through their head - a mischievous one but also a good one - for Sora and for their family. Not that Deli particularly cared, but they had to admit, even with their close to borderline heartless nature, they couldn't help but feel a little bit angry on their behalf. It wasn't fair. "How about this? I'll memorialize your friends for you. Not just on your skin but on the very walls of this cave! I don't just do tattoos, I do paintings! I'll do a nice big one of your friends and, if you want, everyone else that died in Hydra! Nice and big so it's hard to miss! You can be there with me when I do it so I get their appearances right and everything."

@Sora

strong language

"I think he was feeding a monster," she mused. She'd reflected back on his hints since, and reflected on how the monster had gone away when a certain number of bodies had been taken. She stared at the silhouette of Owlface, and nodded her affirmative. "They're all perfect, Deli." This meant... a lot to her.

At the offer, she shifted with apprehension, and could not identify why. "... I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Sora finally said, scraping for an explanation. "This is... for me, more than anything," is what she finally admitted. "To keep them close. But not everyone grieves like I do, and plastering faces all over the walls -- of strangers, even, because I don't even know the names of half of the deceased -- is... I don't know. Disrespectful?" Sora shrugged. "And, you know. I don't even know if I could remember what they all looked like. I'm half blind, and I was mostly focused on my family and staying alive. I wasn't paying so much attention to the bodies falling around me."

Grim, but Sora shrugged. "... I will offer you this, though," her chrysoberyl eye catching the light. "If you can promise me that you'll repeat this back to the Masked Merchant if you ever see him -- assuming you're safe, anyway, because he might kill you -- I'll tell you anyway. I want to know that fucker got to squirm." And the implied continuation -- but I'm afraid to face him.



@deli

Deli

An eyebrow raised. "Feeding?" Huh...shadows that could eat and someone called the Masked Merchent quite literally raising children for slaughter. And killing some others by the sound of it. They scratched absently at one of the crystal shards protruding from their face. This was definitely worth a look into.

Their grin widened. "Ah, well, if that's what you want. Thought you all liked that kinda stuff - you know, they're gone so immortalize who they were on stone. But eh, I wouldn't know - don't care much about that stuff." They waved a paw a little dismissively.

But if she was offering to just...tell them...their gaze shifted into a suspicious look. Was she trying to play a trick on them? They didn't trust things that were free - nothing, after all, was free - but, you know...she seemed naive enough to believe that things could be free. And they guessed that it wasn't without a price - a promise was the price, to say something without knowing what it was. A more cowardly gembound probably wouldn't have taken the risk, but Deli wasn't exactly one to hold back.

They snickered. "Oh, yeah, of course I will! Sounds like fun!" They were ever so curious to know this secret Sora held.

@Sora

Sora inclined her head to mimic the shrug. A difficult thing with no shoulders, but she managed. After Deli made his promise -- she wasn't sure if she entirely believed him, but figured this canid would be more than happy to raise a little hell -- she split her mouth in what was supposed to be a smile but was more like a grimace. "His real name. It's Hag-rteho. From what I gather, that's a closely guarded secret -- not many Gembound know he exists, fewer know that little tidbit. Something tells me it'd make him squirm to hear it." She glanced aside, letting the rest go unsaid -- that she was too scared to do it herself.

She stood up a little awkwardly. "But, uh, if there's nothing else you need, I'll probably be on my way. I don't have a dye I want to use yet, y'know. I'll... come find you when I have one, I guess." It was a hesitant offer, not wanting to invade Deli's privacy. Sora nodded again, lingered a moment to hear if Deli had anything to say that would spark further conversation, and then began on her way. Hopefully, they'd be meeting again soon.


@deli
/exit sora, unless deli has something interesting to say

Deli

Deli was...kinda disappointed. They'd expected some incredibly dark secret that they could use to make some trouble, but it was just this guy's name...? Ah, well...whatever! They'd gotten the information basically for free, so they didn't really care. They flashed Sora a wide smile with a snort. "Well, alright - I look forward to using it."

They nodded back, crossing their arms. This was a fair exchange, in their mind - doing what they did best, what they loved to do, in exchange for the interesting story that was sure to lead to something else. Or, at least, they hoped it did. "Alright. I'll be here, probably! Somewhere here," they gestured to Polaris. "Or around. Eh, you'll find me." They waved off Sora and watched for a moment as she left before turning back around to their art, no longer too interested in continuing it. They played with the fur on their cheek again, looping it around their finger as they thought about what Sora had told them. And what they could do with the information...

*Exit