TEMA, the Voidkin
There can be love in Chaos; just follow the Void

It was rather boring really, frequenting the same two caves over and over. Safer, sure, but boring. Tema had been in Pisces before when she first discovered the act of hunting, but other than that? Nada. And so it was decided- Tema would discover some of the cave's secrets just like she had tried to in Fornax.

Thinking of the cave sent a shiver down her spine. She'd found something interesting there, but not until after she'd nearly been drowned by a stray wave.

The bear walked on, much slower than she normally would. Much of the ground here was wet and she didn't want to slip. Pisces was a nice place to be otherwise. The air was a little too wet for comfort, but the chill on her skin was a welcome feeling.

"Secrets. Metal secrets, stone secrets, hot and cold secrets... Show yourselves to me~"

Tema hummed it as a little tune to herself, too quiet for anyone to hear. Not that anyone was here, she noticed. Well, not close enough for her to see or smell at least. But that was for the best when she was exploring! It helped her focus on the land around her and think for hours without having to worry about sharing her thoughts or treasure.

Tema looked down to see a hole in the ground, maybe the size of her paw. That wasn't to say it was small; her paws were quite sizable at this point in her growth. It just meant that she might struggle with getting anything interesting out of the hole.

At this point in time Tema had come up with a protocol of sorts for exploring... She wouldn't go sticking her nose in the hole, that was for sure. She was certainly still a little impulsive, but she was getting better at controlling her sudden urges.

Instead, she backed up a step and simply squinted into the dark of the hole, thankful for her night vision.

OOC Notes:

TEMA, the Voidkin
There can be love in Chaos; just follow the Void

Oh... it's glowing?! Tema slowly moved towards the hole, getting just close enough to sniff at the grey and blue fur that sat at the bottom of the hole. The blue part of the fur seemed to glow, giving off a dim light that had drawn her eye towards it. This wasn't an item she had thought to collect, but she did let the scent wash over her and fill her head.

Prey.

Perhaps she'd give tracking a go? Her hunting so far had consisted of subconsciously picking up scents which often turned out to be too old to actually follow... but the scent on the fur was still strong. It had been a fair while since she last hunted too, and these growth spurts were really giving her an appetite... so it was decided then.

She stuck her nose to the ground to see if she could follow it.

OOC Notes:

Warning: Hunting, Body Horror Imagery

TEMA, the Voidkin
There can be love in Chaos; just follow the Void

Tema went in a few circles to find where the scent was strongest, losing the trail and having to backtrack a few times before she really got the hang of it. She definetly needed this practice.

She did eventually find her way, slowing to a crawl as she neared a small hill of moss. The scent was overpowering here, leading Tema to guess that it was a spot often visited by the lessers of the cave. The little hill seemed big enough to hide a rabbit if they shrunk into themselves...

Tema lowered herself to the ground with slow, even breaths, bunching her muscles. She wasn't exactly the type of predator to pounce very often, but if she landed on even a single limb of her prey... well, she weighed a fair few pounds and the rabbit did not.

OOC Notes:

Hunting

TEMA, the Voidkin
There can be love in Chaos; just follow the Void

Tema went flying into the air... well, as much as a creature her size could fly. Realistically she didn't just too high, but it was enough to clear the hill and land with a thump on the other side.

She surprisingly didn't manage to injure the bunny when she landed with one back paw on its tail (having overshot her jump by a body-length), but she did give it quite the spook as it paused before freeing itself and bolting for a nearby warren entrance. Tema let out a growl of frustration before giving chase, hoping that the split second pause was all she needed to catch her next meal.

This was... fun, actually. The chase gave her a shot of a adrenaline even stronger than the one she received while... climbing. But this was a much better feeling than being in that tree. This was exciting! Would she catch it? Would it escape? It was... chaos. The rabbit running for it's life, her fighting to catch up in hopes of a tasty meal to keep her strong...

Reject the violence in chaos.

She remembered the Voidmother's teachings and tried to calm her racing heart. This was not beautiful. Not like the sanctuary was. Not like the slimes were. This was a necessity, not a beauty...

The guilt hit Tema harder than any physical pain she had endured up until this point as she threw herself at the rabbit, wanting to get this over with.

OOC Notes:

TEMA, the Voidkin
There can be love in Chaos; just follow the Void

She missed. So stuck in her head, she had jumped too short this time and her paws slipped on the moss, sending her rolling as the rabbit slipped into the safety of the warren.

Too much time thinking, not enough doing.

She grumbled at the thought, picking herself up off the moss. She hadn't been here to hunt, she'd been here to find secrets. Shiny stones, more metals ropes, maybe even a nice shell or some berries... something that she might find useful to keep tucked away in her leaf satchel. Or the slimespace, if she could get the spell to work for her properly. She was thankful for both things, as they kept her from crushing whatever she might find while trying to transport it.

Tema took a deep breath, letting the sounds of the world around her and the feeling of plant life below her calm her angry mind. She would do better. She would make the beauty in chaos outshine the violent and the dark. It might take a while, but she'd do it for the Voidcrawlers and all that sought their guidance.

For now, it was time to return to exploring.

OOC Notes:

TEMA, the Voidkin
There can be love in Chaos; just follow the Void

Tema dug around where she was for a bit, not too keen on getting close to another rabbit hole for a bit. It was pretty uneventful; the moss grew ontop of everything, making it hard to see unless she dug up big clumps of the stuff. It was soft though, and Tema enjoyed fiddling with it. She wondered if it would last very long in the slimespace or her satchel... She wasn't sure if the slime from the void would wash off the moss however, so she just genty tucked a chunk in her bag for now.

Maybe I can weave it into my fur somehow?

She paused to think about it. Her fur was much too short... But could she attach it to the chain she wore? No, it was too thin; she'd break the chain before ever getting a piece of moss on it. Her satchel would prevent it from getting light too, so it wouldn't live long there either. GRRRRRR! Why did something so nice have to be such a struggle to keep?

The bear would later learn relationships were like this too; they would require give and take, along with plenty of nurturing. They would also be frustrating at times, but much like this moss... Tema would find them worth the struggle.

Wait!!! Wait, wait, wait! If Tema's magic could give life to forgotten seeds hidden from sight, could she somehow nurish the moss? She called to her magic rather eagerly, not exactly sure what to ask of it...

And it answered! She giggled at the warm feeling that filled her when her magic activated, wiggling her short stub of a tail in excitement as she felt it coat her skin. It tickled her as it reached her soft belly which sent her into another giggle fit, and she missed it as the feeling faded. She knew her magic had worked. It had done something... But what? The moss in her satchel didn't appear any healthier. She felt no extra power being held within it either...

But something had happened! She felt it, the slight tickle of magic still lingering on her skin as if it was clinging to her. She hoped the effects of the spell would show themselves soon.

OOC Notes:

TEMA, the Voidkin
There can be love in Chaos; just follow the Void

She waited. She sat to wait, paced to wait, even took a short nap before jumping awake at the thought she might have missed it. Whatever "it" was. But the bear had no way of knowing that moss had begun to grow on her body, her skin acting as the dirt and decay that moss would otherwise grow on. So she sighed, her temporarily amazing mood becoming more and more sour as time passed.

Exploring. Right.

She picked herself back up, grabbing another pawful of the soft and squishy moss to tuck away in her satchel. It was an odd obsession to have, she was sure, but the texture of the moss brought her some strange comfort and she saw no harm in enjoying it so long as she replanted the moss she had gathered before it dried up. Harm would come later from overgrowing the moss on her body, but she had no way of knowing that either. Not until the damage had already been done.

Well, off she went again, halfheartedly poking around in search of treasures. In her book she had already found a great one that had been hiding under her nose and paws for a long while, but there was no harm in looking around again for some food or something.

OOC Notes:

TEMA, the Voidkin
There can be love in Chaos; just follow the Void

Nope, nada. Whether it was her poorly done search or a lack of things to find Tema didn't know, but she saw nothing of interest where she was except for more moss which she was happy to wipe her face against when she had an itch. That cheered her up a bit, even if she was still upset about the magic.

Tema stretched out, letting her claws dig deep into the ground and a loud yawn escape her throat. She wasn't tired, exactly (though the spell had sapped some of her energy) but stretching so far out was too comfortable to not yawn.

She enjoyed the stretch until it started to hurt and she pulled herself back up, wandering off to another warren entrance. Her belly was starting to twist now, the beginnings of hunger. She'd be happy with any find at this point; she just wanted to go back home.

OOC Notes:

The Warrens themselves were not actual warrens: only rolling hills, clustered with mosses, lichens and grass. But here and there there were small cave entrances, honeycombing beneath the green. The young grizzly's massive head--golden eyes and violet gemstone glinting in the dim light--suddenly obscured the exit to one of these.

Staring back at her--frozen, frightened--was a small family of Walleye Rabbits, their stalk-like eyes unblinking, their bioluminescence suddenly dimming as if they were trying to hide themselves. But they had nowhere to run, if the bear chose to swipe them out, to crush their den... And they had no words to plead with her.

@Tema

TEMA, the Voidkin
There can be love in Chaos; just follow the Void

Helpless.

Tema was as frozen as the rabbits were. She had not been expecting to find an entire family of them huddled up together like this, trying to condense themselves into nothing in an attempt to avoid her hungry gaze. She didn't expect to have cornered them either, giving them no chance at escape should she decide to attack. For any normal predator this situation would be a no-brainer; a free feast. But for Tema?

It was hard to remind herself that lessers were thoughtless beings with no goals other than survival when she was looking a family of them dead in the eyes.

It wasn't... fair. Not that life in general was, but this was something she could control, so she was going to. She stepped to the side, letting the lessers inside make their run for it. Knowing how fast they were, she didn't wait long before giving chase- tailing one of the adults. She was still hungry. So as much as she wanted to, she couldn't just let them go.

OOC Notes: