[set immediately after his encounter with the collector.]


Tahi-shei was emotionally exhausted. He had no idea why he'd agreed to what he'd agreed to, and the cold feeling in his chest paired with the fact that he was on autopilot meant that he'd figured there had to be another way back to Orion, rather than going through the tunnel that felt bad. He'd only technically been through two of them by this point, so it wasn't a strange leap for his little mind to make. Perhaps, in a roundabout way, all roads led to Orion.

He found a massive stone structure at the barrier of it, and sniffed at the stone apprehensively. It smelled like Gembound had been here recently, and a whole mess of them at that. But if the tunnel was well-traveled, surely he had nothing to fear, right? No matter that apprehension prickled at his pelt like thorns.

Perhaps too tired to care, or perhaps willing to excuse anything at the moment, Tahi-shei carefully started to step over the wall. He was blissfully unaware of the inhabitants of this tunnel, and blissfully unaware of their mission, especially now. But instinct told him he was being watched, and he remembered vividly the last time he'd felt like he'd been watched in a tunnel, so he made it very clear he was a Greater (thank you very much) by calling out, "Um... hello? Is someone there?"


@orthoclase-alpha

Merely stepping over the wall was enough of an offense to set Orthoclase-Alpha into motion. It leered at Tahi-Shei for the briefest of moments from an alcove just inside Tunnel P's crumbled door before lurching up. Hooked claws scuffed visible divots the sandstone as it crossed towards him. Its quills raised and rattled like the warning flags they were and the deer - having witnessed the kaiju only once before - surely couldn't miss them.

Those, and the sudden surge of foot-long spikes in fairly large semicircle in front of him. Every glassy knife pointed directly at him like the four toxic eyes glaring holes through him. "Get out," it growled, as if its message weren't clear enough. Alpha remained behind the fieldspurs for now, but it could clear them in a single step and without hesitation.

"The Sentinels are guarding this tunnel," came the irritable addition, because it vaguely remembered this particular deer's penchant for asking questions and rambling in detail, "nothing in or out."

i dunno if you still want to do this tiny little thread onscreen but... enjoy some pissy alpha hehe
@Tahi-Shei

Tahi-shei apparently had a habit of showing up at the worst of times, like an untimely snowstorm throwing a wrench in your plans. He jumped back as the glass spikes jutted up towards him, stiff and terrified. "Oh! Hey, O-Overseer-Alpha," he said, saying it with intonation more similar to if he'd said Orthoclase-Alpha; like it was one and a half words, rather than two. Wisely, he took a few steps back, placing him nearly totally out of the tunnel. Alpha had been kind enough to answer one of his first questions, but being Tahi-shei, he had more. "Huh? Why?" He recalled that Alpha served someone called a Master (although he hadn't met Astraea yet, and therefore still thought that was probably not true at all).




@orthoclase-alpha

A twinge of regret flared up — hearing that shorthand of a name. It shouldn't have tried that out; but what was done was done. What was dead was dead — it shook itself. No.

He took part of the hint this time, accidental as it might've been. Alpha growled to really hammer home the message, stealing any distance gained with a slinking step. Toxic eyes glowered from around the still-raw flesh exposed on its face, which twisted in a half-snarl without chitin in the way. Like the crinkling of a rat's muzzle, but far stiffer.

Teeth bared again, and it snapped for Tahi-Shei's hooves (a warning shot, really, to get him to move further back) and growled, "Master Vargas's orders." He didn't need to know what it was they were guarding for, and the Overseer was moody and unwilling to give that up — as currently resentful and spiteful as it was.

@Tahi-Shei

He jumped back over the barrier, his heart hammering in his chest. Okay, cool, Master business, whatever (still sounded like garbage, but who cared, right? Tahi-shei wasn't going to pick a fight with a quill-monster over this) and cleared his throat, tired and battered and--

Tahi-shei frowned, now that he was looking at Orthoclase-Alpha more closely. What had happened to Alpha's poor face?! His voice full of genuine concern, Tahi-shei tilted his head to the side. "Are you okay?" It was rude to ask about scars, but this was less a scar and more a fresh wound. Not to mention, it looked like it hurt and Tahi did genuinely consider Alpha to be a friend, if a very aggressive and prickly one who didn't like him all that much (okay, so maybe 'friend' was a strong word).


@orthoclase-alpha

Alpha stopped advancing the moment Tahi-Shei clattered over the threshold, no matter how much further he backpedaled. Its jaws shut with a menacing pop! and click!; its mane was still puffed but seemingly settled as muscles relaxed. Nothing changed about the intensity of its glare at first, but — he's looking at it. Eyes narrowed. The deer's tilted head and concerned tone parsed straight through its brain.

It paced forward in a not-so-friendly manner, glowering down. Its mouth opened as if to say something, but its voice died in its throat — too caught up in considering what would be the best answer to that. "I don't know," it'd found, sufficed for nothing in these Caves. There was always an expectation to know or to find out, and the Overseer did not care for anything picking at it bar itself. Alpha huffed. The ever-turbulent storm in its mind wasn't an indicator of okayness in any universe; but it was physically well.

A bit starved and sleep-deprived — both self-inflicted — but well. Up-close, its eyes looked weary, and maybe its flanks seemed a bit less full than usual; but it was still full of fire and bite. Alpha could survive by converting every little feeling into sheer rage. It spat, "I'm fine," and hoped the conviction behind it was enough for Tahi-Shei to believe that as much as it tried to. "Go somewhere else."

@Tahi-Shei

Tahi-shei averted his eyes to make the creature more comfortable, but now he was thinking. What had claws that big? What was strong enough to break through that armor? He shifted on his feet. It hadn't slept well in a while, or been eating properly -- he could tell that, from how close it was. Despite its brutish appearance, he'd seen Orthoclase-Alpha up close before, and it hadn't looked so... broken then. Which led Tahi-shei to the conclusion that whatever (or whoever) it was, Alpha was still afraid of it.

He wavered, starting to withdraw and arguing with himself over whether or not he should speak before finally saying, "If you need someone to talk to, I usually hang out in Orion. Even if you don't really want to talk... sometimes just getting a change of scenery can make you feel way better." Tahi-shei dipped his head to the Orthoclase, and started on his way out.

He didn't think either of them really had anything else to say.


@orthoclase-alpha
/exit tahi-shei, unless spoken to or stopped

Another Gembound, another assurance, another reminder of that yawning vulnerability that it hated so very, very much. It could look into Tahi-Shei's eyes and see the reflection of a fool; a creature that apparently seemed so out-of-order that anything met in passing had the nerve to look concerned and suggest that talking would help. Yes, the thing it loved to do most - think of words to put to the molotov cocktail of emotions in its skull. One stray one was enough to light the rag and there'd be mere seconds to run before the glass shattered.

If only it could have a change of scenery outside of brief hunts.

Alpha simply glared at the deer until he was long out of sight, and skulked over the glassy spines. With any luck, none of the other Sentinels would be stupid enough to impale themselves on the things. It was added defense, in the long run, just as prickly as its will to confront its own thoughts.

exit