Her face crinkled (as well as a feline's face could) in confusion. There was no feedback. had she messed up the spell? No, she couldn't have, it felt right casting it. So, then, what was this? Curling a tight paw around the watch, she brought it closer, her tail twitching in frustration.

She'd just have to find a way to get into it, then. Maybe a rock would do- but she may damage the face of it. Melting? Again, too much damage. Something would have to do, but for now, she took the thing in her jaws and moved on.

There weren't very many boxes left to be opened along the route she had taken, it seemed, as she backtracked to the tunnel she'd originated from. That, or many were too high up and too much effort to claim, and she didn't need anything. Its not like she had a place to store them, anyways.

Well. She could go for one more, one she'd missed on her way to that direction, the one she was staring at from the corner of her eye. Silently she veered off into its direction, her tail held level as she approached with confidence this time, head high in anticipation. If this had another of the moving things, then it'd be good to have a back-up, right? Her jaw worked as she sniffed down to the box. Well, not like it held any different scent- not any that she could smell over the cold piece in her mouth, anyways.

The watch was spat out on the box and carefully kept off of the snow as she unraveled the second present, not quite expecting the silvery spectacles that peered back at her. "What." The apparel was dragged closer and she turned it over with her muzzle, squinting to it. "What do you do?" It wasn't moving, but it was interesting, with its lenses and metal and hinges and awkward setting.

It looked like a piece to a bigger set to her, like it sat on something- wait. Sat on a person? But it was too big for her- it'd be able to sit on her face if she flattened her ears for the arms, but the lenses were so big. Wouldn't it look awkward?

She grumbled to herself as she sat back and balanced, finagling the piece onto her face. Looking through the lenses didn't make things look any different. Hm. Weren't most crystals colored in some way? She'd never seen one so clear like this. And... It wasn't too uncomfortable. She chuffed once in thought, taking the spectacles off and rotating them about, inspecting them.

Yeah, she could work with this. Scooping the pocket-watch back up in her mouth, she continued back home, head sitting just the right way to make sure the glasses weren't coming off.

;exit Cerilaine

Madhukar was here. Again.

Gosh, this place sucked.

First of all, it was COLD. Second of all, she was supposed to be suspicious of everything here. And, she supposed, by extension... everyone. Easy enough. She still hadn't practiced the spells Tahi-shei 'The Fungal Prince' taught them about, and she wasn't about to try now, but she'd make sure to... steer clear.

Of course, she was donned in her... lack of appropriate superlative attire. Mask, moss, flora draped everywhere. Her tail poked out and trying to keep it still was uncomfortable but the discomfort was better than being seen. "Seen" as in seen seen. Not just noticed, but known. Madhukar, so far, wasn't finding many, if any, familiar faces. Maybe they hadn't come? Or maybe they'd already left. I mean, come on, would anyone she knew miss something as strange as this?

Boxes everywhere, and people with them. Some of the boxes made noises... pleasing ones. Madhukar was desperately trying to keep herself from practicing magic here. She itched to know if there was anything suspicious at play here. She supposed she ought to try Tahi-shei's meditation before risking it all in front of a crowd.

Madhukar opted to check out some boxes. She really liked the ones that ticked. Was there something... in them? Probably. She hesitated to touch anything, but hey... everyone else seemed fine with it. Who had put these here? And how? And, you know, why? The location was an incredibly suspicious decision. Perhaps getting some boxes and actually investigating would be more helpful than paranoid speculation. So Madhukar would grab a few.

3 of the ticking kinds. She really liked those. A lot. She was tempted to take a fourth but she could only carry so much-- 1 random one that had sounded like there was something hard, gadget-y, possibly complicated in there when Madhukar had gently rattled it; 1 that she had opened (out of curiosity) to find some kind of... thing that looked like she could wear inside; and finally, another she had opened (because she figured it was easier to carry the individual objects rather than the whole box) which looked like... a smaller box, with something sticking out of it.

6 things was a lot, so Madhukar would trundle off as fast as possible. Which was pretty embarrassingly slow and clumsy. Just another reason to stay the heck away from anyone who might identify her, even if she knew it was the wrong choice to make.

- exit -

(+3 metronomes, +1 wind-up Cleaner toy, +1 pair of goggles, +1 music box to Inventory)

This cave was perfect!

Aspen felt truly at home here. For once, he didn't feel too warm. It was the perfect temperature for him-- his plush fur, small ears, and furred paws kept him comfortable even in the wind and snow, and he walked and climbed with the grace of a, well, snow leopard. It was as if he'd been made for this cave, or maybe it had been made for him. He and Ursa made the perfect pair.

Something peeked out through the snow, catching Aspen's attention. It seemed to be quite colorful, a splash of vibrant red and green in Ursa's snowy blues and greys. He dug through the snow, exposing an odd rectangular box held closed with a carefully tied ribbon.

He sniffed it. There didn't seem to be anything remotely prey-like inside, but he was curious at what they could possibly contain. Without thumbs, it took him a great deal of scratching and ripping to open the thing, but he got it eventually. A silver and indigo oval rested inside, attached to a slender silver chain. The oval itself glittered with specks of light. It was quite pretty, and Aspen knew immediately he wanted to keep it-- but how to carry it around with him?

He batted at the chain with his paws, trying to lift it up. Somehow, with a combination of teeth and clumsy paws, he managed to slip it around his neck. Once that was managed, the pendant fell easily into place, resting at the center of the base of his throat. He looked down, admiring it. How beautiful it was! What other treasures would this cave hold for him? He couldn't wait to find out.

-- exit with 1 star chart necklace

Enter Seffyroth Gryphon. The bird was still young, but his wings had developed. He had, unfortunately, still not gained the ability to fly. But he was better at using them. He trotted through the snow, like a strange penguin. His anime influence had abandoned him today. Seffy tripped and stumbled through the snow. He grit his beak, his crest blowing into his legally distinct triangle glasses and eyes.

They protected his eyes from most of the snow. The glint of something silver ahead caught Seffy's eye. At first, Seffy thought it was just him being blinded by the snow. But then he noticed all the other gembound around. Seffy squinted beneath his goggles.

Then, pushed a wing forward to adjust the glasses quite literally attached to his skull. "Eh?" Seffy said. More confident, and doubly curious, Seffy smirked. He stretched his wings behind him, breaking into a full run after the silver thing he'd spotted.


"Eeeh?" He repeated, even more confused. It was a box. Silver and ribboned. He cocked his head. It was unlike anything he'd seen, in his long, anime life of eating bugs and training montages. He poked it with his beak, doing a cautious backflip to make sure it didn't move. That was the intent, anyways. Seffy landed flat on his face. He recovered quickly, both glad and upset no one was watching. He continued to poke at the box. As he got more confident, he added pulling and prodding to his moveset.

And then, finally, he managed to get the top off. Seffy pulled a pose, eyes squinting, a small 'heh' exiting him. He waited to make sure nothing came out of it. Then, he approached. Inside were silver goggles. Many tiny moving parts and gears. Not that Seffy would recognize them, or what they did. What Seffy DID recognize, however, was that it was a sick-ass anime accessory. Seffy took them, sliding the goggles over his head. Confident they didn't do anything, and also made him look cooler, Seffy left, feeling pretty self satisfied.

;exit seffy-kun, "quick" post to get him his glasses

Won't you play a game with me?

My, this was puzzling.

Matthieu (aka The Twins, aka Boy and Bee, aka the Two-Bodied Beast, aka Those Bastards) was scouting the caves. Traveling, trying to learn more about this place. There was Home, there was Birthplace (glittering, shining), there was Spire-Cave, there was Banished-Palace, and there was... here. It was impossible to miss the blowing snow on his patrols, but they never dared venture in. Save for Bee's non-insulating fluff, they had nothing to protect themselves from the cold. Their eyes were not used to such strange lighting, and there was not a single tree to use as shelter. Best to simply view from the safety of the tunnels.

But one day (what an odd day) a lot of visitors were coming into there. A lot. Not all at once, but they all came out wielding strange objects. Ticking things! Walking things! Things that dangled and things that bangled! They watched it all from a distance, nerves sparking in curiosity, and eventually after some deliberation decided to see what was going on inside.

They arrived to the ice fields disguised as a Mountain Deer, a flickering mirage blending in with the snow. But beneath the disguise, they were freezing. Bee's trembling hands gripped his body (now around the size of an early adolescent, oddly stunted for their age) as his mind thought of various new curses, his bare feet struggling to get a grip on the snow. Bee could only offer her condolences. Matthieu had to hurry if they wanted these strange gifts, not only because of the weakly cast spell but also for the sake of their freezing extremeties.

'Walks Like Rain had the correct thought with her cloak,' the faerie thought dully.


They found the object of their desire easily: an unnaturally green, perfectly wrapped box. Trembling gold fingers reached down to grab it in tandem with insectoid pincers. Gah, this was hard to pull off without ruining the illusion-- bah, whatever. If some witness got scarred forever watching a lesser snap its neck to grab a present, that sounded like a personal problem.

Matthieu pried the lid open-- a... wooden object! Funny little thing it was. Constantly ticking metal in a trapezoidal, mahogany cofine. It didn't look like anything they'd seen before. 'Do we eat it?' Their hands drifted dangerously close to her jaws-- 'No, no. I think it's for... uhm... keeping time? Let's not eat the time box today. We can always consume the concept of time at a later date.'


Next up: a pair of clear stones in a bronze case. It was beautiful. Matthieu turned it in their hands, watching the light shimmer upon it in awe. The hooks at both ends seemed fit for ears... he slipped it on, only to realize it was not a good fit, and the lenses hung limply over his nosebridge like a deflated balloon. It was not perfect. It was not for them. No, this cannot stand.

He snapped it between his fingers with no remorse, then tossed it to Bee to chew up the remains. Sorry, Mother. Should've checked the size.

That was all there was in the box, but they still wanted more. Mattheiu was not a selfless creature. So they moved on to the next present. A circular medallion: metallic, ticking, numerals lining the sides. Interesting enough, so they draped the chain over their shoulders. Next! A funny disc, about the size of his head, with little engravings over its surface. Maybe they could use it to eat off. Next! And finally, A little mechanical ant formed of the cold rock: expectly made, expertly carved. They wound the key in curiosity, and it moved! Little steps with little ant legs, oh yes. This was very interesting.

By this point their actions had surely defeated what was possible with a deer's body, and the distorted mirage flopped loosely with each action to show for it. They better hurry home soon.

Exit Matthieu with:
+ one metronome
- the remains of a mangled pair of glasses
+ A pocketwatch
+ A clockwork praetor