Aran... Has never seen this place before. He thought he'd seen the entirety of the caves, but this place is not familiar to him. Even with the bird-pendant sitting on his head, allowing him to see, he can tell this place has much to explore. The jungle looks the most appealing, from his current standpoint. For now, though, he'll stick to where he is. Mostly curious about the lessers here, Aran wonders if he'll spot any. Unaware of his previous supercilious goals, his current plans are only to explore.

While slowly walking his way through the fog, he feels a pull to check the bacteria life here. Is it alike the other caves? Does the fog change it?

How curious.

@Arquia

Aran would find that Lacerta was similar, in terms of bacterial profile, to the few other truly lush caves in the system. Eridanus compared, as did Cetus: vast swathes of foliage filled with it, the dirt swarming with healthy colonies.

He could make out, now and then, movement as some animal or other--always host to its own bacterial colonies--moved through the jungle. Perhaps with a stronger pulse of magic he could make out details, but for now, it was clear that this place was healthy, vibrant, and alive.

@Aran

Arquia did not often leave the safety of Eridanus, but she had gotten rather bored of training in the area. There wasn't much of a challenge, mostly because her size allowed her to easily defeat any lessers she found. And so, she decided to journey out into Fornax in search of larger prey. Fornax contained plenty of water. In fact, it seemed water was all it contained. If only there was a way to cross all that water to see what was on the other side. And she did. After much poking around, she had traversed through the tunnel (with several close calls) and emerged in Lacerta.
It looked like home. Eridanus, but much more humid. Although she had never been here before, the sheer amount of greenery and cover the jungle offered made her feel like this place was safe. Of course, it wasn't. But she didn't know that. In terms of terrain it was just right. Were the lessers that lived here similar to Eridanus or would they be different? Hopefully they would be bigger or more dangerous at least to offer a challenge.
Then she saw Aran. Deer. But not prey deer. A gembound deer. "What brings you here?" Arquia asked, not quite expecting to meet someone else due to the difficulty of reaching this place. Were they dangerous? Could she trust them?

@Aran

Aran feels the spell take and the world around him changes. He can sense how alive this place is. Much alike some of the other caves, this one is absolutely swarming with bacterial life. Next, he finds himself focusing on some animal of sorts - maybe a lesser? He cannot tell with the spell he's using, unfortunately. Perhaps something to look for later... He did come here to see them, after all.

Not before long, there's a stranger speaking his way, a dragon of sorts. Green... Very cool looking. Without his natal eyes he can't get a good look, but with the bird's eyes on his head he gets a good enough one. She has a unique wing placement and body pattern, something he's not seen on a creature before. As far as he can remember.

He would blink at her with his eyes if he could, but the bird controls itself. Its eyes flash, wobbling anxiously and nearly sends the deer into a dizzy haze, but he does his best to ignore it for now.

"I'm hoping to find some of the lessers here, to see what they look like." He hums. "I've never been to this part of the caves before."

@Arquia

Her first impression of Aran was that he was wearing a very cool bird skull thing. She wondered if he had killed it himself. That would've been a rather impressive feat considering, well, he was a deer. Did deer even eat meat? She had no idea. Not to mention he had hooves and it was rather hard to catch up to a bird and trample it. As the dragon looked closer, Arquia noticed that the bird still had eyes. Well that was a creepy. Aran was a peculiar gembound, and she had to be careful around him. Although he didn't seem like he was aggressive. Still, she remained cautious.
"I see. I'm... also here to find lessers." Arquia did not mention the part that she was here to hunt them and not to go sight seeing. "I shall accompany you. In the event you need help." That was not the true motivation, rather, she had never met any gembound as strange as the deer before, and wanted to stay with Aran out of curiosity. Or at least stay on his friendly side. She had no idea how dangerous he was and it was better to be safe.

@Aran

Aran did not kill the bird himself, he'd have quite the story to tell if he could remember at all how he got it. Meeting The Collector, killing an alligator with Tahi-Shei among other things. He had quite the exciting life before the accident - now though, he chills and does his own thing. Mostly hibernates when he gets bored, but sometimes the curiosity takes over and the barasingha must listen to those calls.

After all, what's an information seeker without his information? Nothing, surely.

"Thank you for the company." He hums.

Having someone else with him would guarantee some extra protections if anything goes wrong. Worst case he runs away, or tries to fight things himself. The bird on his head would make his flight mode activate first... Unfortunately. He's figured out the anxiety comes from there, but not how to calm himself. It's... An interesting circle for sure.

@Arquia

She dips her head for a moment in acknowledgement of his gratitude. Seems he was polite. That was a trait she definitely appreciated. Arquia positioned herself so that she was slightly behind the deer, allowing her to keep an eye on him while also continuing to take in the scenery. A part of her was wondering if it would be a good idea to make this a secondary home. Eridanus was nice, but if she ever got bored she could always move here. Her standards for what constituted a home weren't extremely high. It was just a place that you could sleep and store your stuff.
The task of finding lessers could be left to the deer she decided. In a place as dense like this, it didn't make much sense for her to try and spot something. It was much more likely that she would scare it away! Yes, having Aran find one was a much better idea.

The nearest Deinocornus, should Aran search it out, was indeed relatively close. As an ambush predator it was hardly out in the open. Instead, it was in the higher reachers of a large jungle tree some thirty yards uphill, draped over a thick branch and resting--napping in the thin beams of sun that shafted down between the leaves above.

It was some thirty feet up, having clawed its way up to a safe haven to rest there between hunts: lounging, content.

A large, red-brown cluster of Carnelian jutted from one shoulder, possibly catching that light to make it accidentally a little bit more visible...

@Aran

Aran doesn't notice the dragon let him lead, but the deer isn't all worried about it anyway. Perhaps he should be - he's the type the lessers would hunt here. Not that Aran knows it at all - but he'll find out soon enough. As the two of them make their way through the place, it starts almost feeling like a mistake. Only because of his... Sight situation.

The bird's anxiety kicks in more and more, and his heart is racing. Aran pushes through it, to spot a shine of light in the treeline. A large creature, clearly a carnivore, relaxing on one of the thick branches. He breathes in. It's very interesting looking, almost like the dragon without wings.

"I want that stone." He says, before shooting off a wave of magic.

@Arquia

Arquia follows Aran, a bit annoyed by how thick the undergrowth is here. As a result, she was forced to move at a much slower pace than she was used to. But it didn't make much of a difference, considering the deer wasn't that fast anyways.
She didn't spot the flash of red at first, a bit confused at what Aran was talking about. What stone? The dragon looked around the area before her gaze landed upon the glint of red on a tree. That lesser looked... different. She had never seen an animal of that size or specie before. But it definitely looked like something she could beat up. Or attempt to at least. Hopefully it would put up big enough of a fight to be a challenge. The dinosaur just seemed really small from that height, but perhaps it would turn out to be bigger once she got closer.
Since Aran didn't seem to be the type to rush in and get all up close when hunting, Arquia knew it would be her job to get up there and smack it out of the tree or something.
Arquia felt the base of the tree. Firm. Provided decent grip. Climbable. Even if it was really, really tall. What would happen if she fell? No, she wouldn't. Plus, it was important that she learn how to climb anyways. It wasn't one of her strong suits, mainly because there wasn't much of a need to climb trees. Until now. "On it."

@Aran