Comet followed Carja in popping bubbles, jumping high into the air and popping some within her jaws. It was fun! She barked happily and continued popping them until there were no more left.

Turning her attention to the dragon, she watched as their spell worked this time, reverting their scales back to normal. "Yay!" Comet celebrated. But it seemed Carja had used the last of her energy to do that, and had no more for bubbles.

She breathed in, then out. But it looked like her own energy was drained, and no bubbles appeared. "Aw, darn." Comet wondered what other things they could try without bubbles.

@Carja

Carja hummed for a moment, "Hey! We could get food! We can see who can bring back the biggest prey!"

She looked over to James, blinking when he saw him fast asleep.

"What does he eat? We could bring something back for him if we can find it," she said, flapping her wings gently before craning her neck over the ice to see if there was any prey nearby.

Either way, they'd have to leave to go get it, so she tested the winds to see which way would keep their little hollow remaining safe from the winds.

"Is James okay? He seems tired," Carja said after a moment, "Not like... just physically."

Though she didn't know him, Carja still cared a bit for him, at least to be curious about his condition.

@Comet

"Okay!" That was a good idea, Comet was still hungry from this morning. Her stomach rumbled a loud complaint. This hunting contest sounded quite exciting, and she wondered if the prey here was different than in Eridanus. She wasn't doing this to win, exactly, she just liked these sort of things for the thrill of the hunt.

Comet followed Carja's gaze to see James was asleep. "Well, definitely not meat. I think he eats grasses and fruits." Normally those things would be quite easy to find, but from what she had seen of Monoceros so far, it was too barren and windy for things to grow.

The pup scrunched her nose at the dragon's next question. "Renny's been tired a lot lately. I don't know what it is, but he always looks happier when he is exploring someplace with me." That was all Comet said, and Carja had voiced her fears out loud. So, she was not the only one who had noticed that James was not feeling his best.

@Carja

Carja nodded and shifted her paws, "I hope he's okay. Uh... we can go hunting and I can fly to get fruit on the way back. I have a sister who loves fruit, so I shouldn't take long, maybe a minute or so."

She stood up and walked to the wall, batting at the bottom with a paw and watching it break into a Comet-sized opening. Nodding, she opened her wings and jumped up, taking flight and circling above with relative ease.

"Come on!", she crowed, "We can go find something- like a rabbit! There are Wind Hoppers, Walleyes, and birds too, like Carollers. If you want a challenge, find a Kyte! They'll fight back if you corner them, so a chase and a bite to the neck is preferable. Though they like to pull a sneaky on you and take off into the air to get away. They look like lizards! You'll find them along the cave walls, near to the ground if you're lucky."

@Comet

"Yeah sure!" Comet pushed away the topic of James for the moment. She was happy that Carja would be able to get some fruit for the horse too.

She marveled at how easy it was for the dragon to break a hole in the ice like that. Such strength! Comet ran through the hole, and thought about the prey that they could hunt. Her thoughts immediately jumped to finding a Kyte, but she wanted to warm up first.

Unable to find anything in the area, she looked up to the dragon. With six eyes, and their height, they would probably be able to find something. "Can you see anything?"

@Carja

Carja craned her neck and scented the air, eyes narrowing. The familiar green fur of a Wind Hopper popped up in her vision and she perked up.

"There, you see it?", she said, pointing off towards it, "We're downwind, so let's go!"

She took off into the air and arched her back, swooping down with her claws extended. She roared at it and spooked the rabbit towards Comet, grinning wildly.

"Watch out! These things can jump!", she yelled.

@Comet

Comet looked to where Carja was pointing to see the flash of green. There was no green in Monoceros so that must mean... rabbit! There was a loud roar, and suddenly the rabbit was running towards her. Running forward, she dived at the rabbit, who jumped right over her. "Whoops." She got back up. Carja was right, those rabbit really could jump!

Comet was a bit disappointed that she had missed this one, but there was probably a lot of other prey in the area. "Let's keep looking!" She kept her spirits up. Maybe for the next one the dragon could try catching the prey.

@Carja

Carja grinned, "That's okay!! Those things are hard to catch- they keep slipping between my claws, though I caught them all the time when I was smaller. They're too small for me now."

The dragon shook her head and looked around again, spotting a shape on one of the walls, "Over there!"

She took flight and very gently picked up Comet with a word of warning, carrying her securely in her hands. It was comfortable, at least.

Setting her down, Carja flattened herself behind a slight hill, peeking over to peer at the Kyte, "I think I can get it..."

She took off with her claws out, eyes narrowed in concentration. The Kyte squawked and took off, but it was just too slow to be able to get away. There was a struggle as she failed to get a good hold, but she grabbed it in her jaws and shook it back and forth, killing it instantly.

"GO' IH'!", she shouted to Comet, grinning past the lizard.

@Comet

Comet whipped her head around and was about to start running towards the shape when she felt herself lifted into the air by Carja. The pup was not alarmed, she trusted the dragon enough to know that nothing bad was going to happen. It was an unsettling feeling, with all her legs dangling in the air. Was this how it felt like to fly? Comet let herself relax; it was actually quite comfortable.

When she felt her feet touch the ground again, she felt a strange sense of sadness. It was fun flying like that. Comet pressed herself low to the ground and watched Carja catch the Kyte just as it took off. "Nice!" She smiled back. She had never been caught a Kyte before. Seeing as she couldn't fly, they were annoyingly hard to catch.

That was one thing, probably only enough to satisfy one of their diets. That meant catching something else. Comet raised her nose into the air, trying to scent something. Darn! This wind was just not blowing the right direction. "I can't smell anything. Can you see something?" Comet hoped to have another chance and trying to catch prey.

@Carja

Carja huffed and pointed upwind, "Sniff that way, and use your eyes. Things are easy to spot, so they're fast and nimble, instead."

She narrowed her eyes and placed a claw on the downed Kyte, swiveling her head to find something. Pointing off into the distance, she saw another rabbit.

"There! Use the hills to sneak up on it. They like to spring to the side to get away, so keep your paws out!", she warned, "And kill it quick, their back legs hurt if they catch in your scales- or fur, in this case."

@Comet