Cadenza had recently returned from the infected Eridanus, after discovering its fate. It was discomforting, and the deer-dragon had decided they would soon head back to their children. The world simply did not seem a safe place at the moment.

They attempted to warm the air around themself a little with magic, unsure whether their shivering was from cold or uneasiness. And, it could not hurt to practice their magic if there was the danger of Order in the caves.

It succeeded, but barely so. Still, it was enough for their shivering to subside. That was plenty good in Cadenza's eyes.

@Mossie

Mossie was wandering Orion, a cat on a mission.

She was so, so close to a final Purpose. She could practically taste it now on her jaws, a bitter iron.

Just like--

Stop.

She couldn't let herself think the bad thoughts, not again.

Still, she feels restless worry like bees worm their way under her pelt, prickling insistently. Her heart thuds painfully in her chest, and her gaze darts restlessly about.

Just in case, she attempts to sprout a defense...

Soft black frills spring from her fur. She'll be safe from any creature now.

(But not from ghosts.)

Mossie spots a strange creature on a roam, casting some unfamiliar magic. She calls out a faint, hesitant, "Salutations!"

At the greeting, Cadenza turns to search for the gembound who had spoken. It takes them a moment to spot the cat who is very small compared to the sizeable dragon. But they are a gentle giant, their gaze warm as they finally spot the speaker. "Hello there!" Their musical voice calls out.

"I am Cadenza, what is your name?" Then the antlered dragon paused, a thought occurring to them. "You are not 'Order', are you?" They warily question, blunt enough to expect a truthful answer regardless of affiliation. Deception is not in their nature.

They warily consider the fungus on the feline gembound. Just in case, they attempt to cast a defensive spell.

It works, but barely so. Still, if the other attacked, they should have some measure of protection, perhaps.

@Mossie

Mossie visibly relaxes at the other Gembound's friendly tone. "I'm Mossie!"

Cadenza's question prompts a startled blink. The word brings to mind white-eyed zombies and a sense of WRONG that boiled her bones. She has to fight down the growl that bubbles in her chest, not wanting to startle the other Gembound and be forced into using up her defenses early.

"No, no," she insists. "I hate Order," she snarled. "My fungus is cool and funky fresh and very not freaky zombie, see?"

She pads backwards, attempting to demonstrate a new spell she'd learned.

@Cadenza

Nothing happens. She huffed. "My magic's being all fucky on me again," she complained.

Cadenza nods their antlered head sadly. "I do not like Order either- Eridanus was so lovely. And now its..." Their voice fades, tones sad.

They laugh warmly, a chiming sound. "It is alright, I believe you," Cadenza reassured Mossie.

"Magic is very finicky, I suppose," Cadenza sighs. "Sometimes it does nothing, sometimes it barely works, sometimes it blows up in your face, and then, on some occasions, it properly works."

"I was practicing some of my simpler spells! Like heating and cooling the air. What are you doing in Orion? ...Do you want to practice magic with me?" Cadenza seems cheery and hopeful.

They decide to try to cool the air in an attempt at demonstration.

It is a resounding success, the air noticeable getting somewhat cooler. "That is the sort of magic I can do!" They cheerily proclaim.

@Mossie

Mossie nods sagely. "Fuck Order," she says. The less she says about those rat-shit-munching bastards, the better.

She nods frantically, relieved. "Yes, yes... it's a really cool magic, though, so I'm going to try again," she announces, trotting in a little circle. Come out already, you bitchass fungi.

Cursing at the fungi seems to work, and she lets out a delighted coo as fungi of all shapes and sizes spring from the ground.

"Oh, I'm in Orion, cuz, uh...." she stops. She knew other Gembound would never understand the lengths she would go to for Purpose, other than perhaps Tsetse. Some days she didn't understand, either. She hadn't come up with a suitable lie yet, and honestly it would've been wiser to just keep her mouth shut but. Too late.

"I'm here because. Uh. My son. He died...? Got crushed. By a golem. Very sad. Then it stole his stone..." she bowed her head. "A Guy told me that if I find a specially shaped black rock I'll be able to contact an entity that could maybe bring him back...? Sounds silly, but I don't know what else to do. My first ever child didn't even last a cycle..." Her gaze drops to the ground. "I'd love to practice magic with you, though. Need a distraction."

There's that word again. "What does 'fuck' mean? It does not appear to be part of my innate vocabulary," Cadenza innocently inquires in their musical voice.

Mossie pauses when starting to explain her purpose, and the dragon tilts their antlered head inquisitively.

And then promptly regrets asking. They gasp. "I am so sorry! If anything happened to my children..." Their gaze grows distant, sadness overwhelming.

"My first children are still chrysalises at the moment- I will have three of them..." Cadenza grows quiet. "I can hardly bear to be apart from them like this. If they died..."

"...I know I would go to any lengths to try and bring them back, even ones that may sound silly. What does the black rock look like? I can try and keep an eye out for it." It was the least they could do in such a situation.

"Of course, you are welcome to practice magic with me if that helps!"

But for now, they do not cast a spell, too distraught to even consider doing so.

Mossie hums thoughtfully as she considers this question. It's a very tricky question, considering she herself doesn't know the answer. "It's...a very versatile word," she says after a moment. "It can be used as an exclamation, like 'oh, what the FUCK?' or as a derogatory term, like 'fuck golems, they ate my son', or even just for fun, like screaming 'fuck' aloud until you can't scream anymore because you keep failing at extremely basic tasks." That explanation was only 80% bullshit. Good enough.

"I hope that your children are alright, Cadenza," she said with a bow of her head. "I would not wish this pain on anyone." Even now, her heart stabs painfully, and she must remind herself that she chose this, and know that what she's done it for is Worth It.

"The rock's gotta be flat-topped, six to seven feet long, two and a half feet wide, and two feet tall," she parroted as if she memorized it. "I'm gonna try to feel around and see if I sense anything like that underground..."

@Cadenza

Her eyes fly open.

"Oh! There's one like that, buried over, uh, here..." she padded over to an inconspcious patch of dirt. "Perhaps your magic could weaken the ground enough for me to excavate it?"

The explained explanation was accepted with a thoughtful nod of an antlered head.

"I will do my best to keep my children safe. ...I can only hope that my best is enough," Their musical voice had clear tones of melancholy. "It is hard to predict the caves... It is so dangerous, nowadays, as well."

Cadenza showed no indication of finding the thorough parameters of the rock odd.

But their posture wilted as they were asked to help with magic. "Your magic would likely be more effective... I can shift the temperature of the air somewhat, and I can freeze water... But I cannot do much more than that, and I doubt those would be much help."

To demonstrate, they attempted to heat the air up again, focusing on the idea of warmth.

Once again, the air barely heats up. The antlered dragon sighs. "And sometimes even that magic does not work well."

@Mossie

Mossie hummed thoughtfully, tail swishing from side to side. "On the air, you say?" She's very curious about the strange, shifting magic the other Gembound wields.

She taps the ground where Her Altar lies beneath, trying to see if she gets any extra feedback. Then she gets an idea.

"Does it..only work on the air, your magic? If you directed towards, say, stone, could you weaken it enough to dig through? Perhaps with heating and cooling used in conjunction...and it'd be good practice, right?"

@Cadenza