Eleanora

From heading out of the meadow where Lyn and Meissa lived (and her as well? She had liked it there, it was safe and comfortable but she wondered if they would allow her to stay while she got her bearings or if their protection was up now that she was here) Elleanora stopped in the middle of Pegasus, eyes open wide at the expanse of field and forest that stretched out before her. As she'd said to Meissa, she hadn't expected a system of caves to look like this at all. But she wasn't complaining, of course, this was a far better option then her original, more desolate images.

She closed her eyes, breathing deeply, both taking in the scents of the world around her, and also focusing. She had never been talented with magic herself, but there had always been a connection between them that transcended the material. It's what had led her down here in the first place, what drove her forward now. And she could feel it. She turned towards that direction and, when she opened her eyes, she immediately began heading towards it, bare feet easily traversing through the long grasses.. There was a tunnel in that direction (although she didn't know the name, this was Tunnel G) and she guessed that whom she was looking for was through there. She'd find her. She had to. It was the whole reason she was here.

I wanna visit that place
blow the dust from the bones
Off a body of years that I leave all alone

@Faceless

It had become braver over the past cycle, exploring further and further from its shadowed home in Eridanus, where it could easily slink unseen in the dense undergrowth and between sprawling fern fronds. It hadn't liked Ursa that much; although it didn't mind the cold, it was not as good at hunting in the snow and the orb-light reflecting off the white hurt its eyes. Cepheus had been too neat, too trimmed, too exposed.

Pegasus was an environment more similar to what it knew, and for now it was content to lurk around in its forests and tall grasses. Sometimes it considered exploring farther, moving through the next tunnel to whatever lay beyond, but it had always been too much of a coward to go into the strange light and approach the door that seemed to breathe, with its hulking guard. It had some unhappy experiences about pointed weapons, as well as the monsters that lived beyond.

Right now it was sprawled in the meadow, content to sun itself after rather violently devouring a rabbit. The curse of having many mouths and teeth was that one did not have much room for a stomach, and it got hungry rather frequently. But this meal, at least, would last it a few hours.

A movement in the grass caught its attention, and its snake-tail lifted itself up to glance around. It was a bipedal creature, walking purposefully, and now Faceless lifted its main head curiously. It hadn't met anyone like her, except perhaps the Hunter during the Deathmath, but that hadn't really been a friendly encounter. Still, its opponent had seemed nice enough, and maybe if they hadn't met in that context things would be different.

It wanted to meet this person, Faceless decided. It had grown bolder for the lack of unpleasant interactions, and it was more curious than nervous or fearful of other Gembound now. It rose to scuttle forward on four limbs, chittering a greeting first in odd, bird-like sounds and then in words. If allowed to get closer, it would settle itself into a sitting position, mantis limbs folded against its chest, near Eleanora's feet. "Hel-lo," it sounded out. "Hello."

@Eleanora

Eleanora

The strange clicking and chittering sounds, Eleanora at first ignored, thinking that it might have been a nearby bird or beetle. She'd heard birdsong in the trees and already seen some of the interesting bugs that floated around - they were strange, of course, but harmless. She would get used to them in time.

But then a flash of black had her suddenly stopping in place. She thought it might have been a dog at first, but if so that was a big dog. And then its features processed in her mind and she wondered how she could have ever thought this was a dog. A scream rose in her throat but she cut it off with a hand quickly slapping over her mouth. She didn't want to frighten it, in case it decided to attack, or alert other nearby predators that she was here. She stood frozen, terrified, eyes wide as she stared at it, but then it...sat down. And spoke to her.

She slowly removed her hand from her mouth, shock written on every corner of her face. "You can talk?!" Wait...she'd already said those words before - to Meissa, not long ago. Of course it could talk. This seemed to be a cave of talking animals. But it was still strange - nothing about the creature in front of her suggested it could speak. The smiling face regarding her didn't look anything like a natural face but rather drawn on a smooth porcelain mask. She couldn't help being surprised every time she met a new monster.

Still, she had to be cautious. She didn't know enough yet to place friend from foe and her first instincts said this creature was absolutely a foe. She remained tense and ready to run if things didn't go well, but she cleared her throat, intending on talking back, if it would get her out of this okay. "Sorry. I'm not...used to things. Can I ask...wh-what are you?" She wracked her brain for the word Meissa had said before and offered, "Are you...a v...a veg...hound?""

I wanna visit that place
blow the dust from the bones
Off a body of years that I leave all alone

@Faceless

It stared wordlessly at the witch's wide eyes, the hand pressed to her mouth. It didn't seem like a welcoming reaction. Was this... fear? It tried to put on a reassuring expression, its smooth, flat face taking on a bright, dandelion-yellow hue. (It had seen those flowers around, and found them to be rather pretty and harmless-looking. It wasn't sure if the symbolism would get across.)

Its face cracked down the middle into a lopsided, vertical grin when the witch spoke. "Yes," it purred with obvious pride. Only the basics for now, but it was sure that with some more lurking in the treetops as Gembound spoke below, and maybe voluntary interaction with others, it could learn more.

"I am a--Faceless." It hadn't really figured out the whole names thing, or found one it was really in love with, so it figured the title given to it at the Deathmatch was a good enough description. "I do not know veg--veghound." Its snake-tail swished through the grass, showing its displeasure. It wanted questions it knew the answer to, questions where it could understand each word. "Asssssk me. More questions."

@Eleanora

Eleanora

Unfortunately, the changing colors of the face didn't soothe her much. She had no idea what it meant or what it was trying to convey, or if it was even intentional - she knew of some reptiles that changed their colors on moods. Was this the same? Usually yellow meant...happy, right? At least it wasn't red or black or some other violent, angry color. Still, she stayed tense and alert, ready to run if it proved dangerous. But how fast could she go, really, if this creature chase her?

She tried, however, to be friendly at least. That's usually what she defaulted to. She had to remind herself that the creatures here were intelligent - they weren't lesser creatures motivated only by a need to eat and survive. They could speak and think and made complex decisions. There was a chance this meeting could be perfectly cordial. Even if the creature terrified her, it was, so far, being okay. She gave it a small smile. "That's...a very fitting name." She eyed the not-face and hoped that wasn't rude.

At least it wasn't a Veghound.

She wasn't sure what the moving tail meant. When cats lashed their tails that meant displeasure but when dogs did it they were excited. Which one was it more like? A glance at it and she had no idea what earthly creature she could even kind of relate it to.

But questions - well, she certainly had plenty of those. About the creature, about the caves, about where she was going. She didn't know which of them the creature could answer, but she supposed she'd start with another about the Faceless first before asking about other things. "Um, okay. Uh..." She glanced at the strange tail. "How many mouths do you have? Do you use all of them?"

I wanna visit that place
blow the dust from the bones
Off a body of years that I leave all alone

@Faceless

Even though it hadn't come up with the name itself, Faceless still preened at Eleanora's comment, several tongues lolling out from its grin. It was delighted, too, with being asked another question it could answer and with which it could show off. Learning to count in the Gembound language hadn't been simple; it was too easy to forget which was which.

And the sheer number of teeth it had was quite worthy of pride, if it did say so itself. No one messed with it once they saw the teeth.

"One," spoke the main head, then "two" as its tail swept itself from the ground and arched over its back. Finally, it rolled over like a cat might for belly rubs. Was this a display of trust? A sign that it sought affection?

No. It ripped open its last and largest mouth, revealing rows of pale, pointed teeth lining its belly. "Three," smiled the main head, before Faceless scrambled back up, shaking grass from its fur. It cocked its head at Eleanora, making an odd chirruping purr before echoing the her previous questions back to her. "What is your name. What are you?"

@Eleanora