Willow was nested in Tunnel I. It was the most secetrative place she knew, up in the ledges where it was cool and dark. She had gathered twigs and feathers, even scraps of filthy cloth to make it. It wasn't the best, but it was a good place to sleep. It was quiet and dark. As she flew up onto the ledge where her nest was, she felt immediate relief upon seeing it. She wandered forth and placed her bag down next to it, moving to nestle down into it with a quiet sigh.

For a moment she was relaxed, comfortable. It was a nice feeling and not too uncommon for her - she enjoyed the company of her new-found family, of Adeyemi and of Delphine, but most of all she enjoyed the company of herself. To be alone with her thoughts was not a bad thing for her and could even help her get her mind stable if too much had happened for one day.

Yet.

There was nothing on her mind this time and she could not get to sleep. One eye half-opened in the darkness and the owl grumbled quietly.

He was looking for his egg.

At least, he thought of it as an egg.

It had actually been a rock.

He'd found a stone on the floor of an icy tunnel a day or two before, and had felt the whisper of life still within. The stone had been stuck fast to the ground, but Dark had felt the thrum of magic, had felt it call to his own, and had added his life force to it with a surge of joy. But when he'd come back, intending to watch over the egg until it hatched, it had been--gone. Just gone.

The owl, of course, had been miserable. Thinking that he was merely missing it due to his blindness, and worried that he was simply missing it--walking past it over and over, while it sat there cold and needing a guardian--he had searched, and searched. He'd scoured the tunnel, his slow searching elevating to a frantic darting to and fro, until he'd finally collapsed in a feathered pile of exhaustion.

He'd been near crying, giving soft melancholy hoots, his grief rising in him as he realized that the little piece of him he'd given was gone. Was it alone, somewhere? Had it been killed, destroyed? Or had it been taken away? Rolled off, once the ice melted, perhaps? Was it lonely, cold, afraid--wondering where he was...? Was it close by, so close, and he tragically just couldn't see it because he was blind?

The thoughts had sent Dark into another frenzy the moment he'd awoken. He'd finally left that tunnel, scouring the others, hooting dolefully in the hopes that someone--anyone--would hear him and reply, and help him in his search.

At last he'd found himself here, in tunnel I. It was bright and well-lit, but Dark couldn't know that. All he knew was that it was long, and broad, and that there were a lot of stairs and passageways to cover.

As a result, what Willow would probably hear first was the swift scratching of talons over stone, and the soft rustling, now and again, of feathers as Dark settled his wings after a hop or a jump. And--every once in awhile--he'd let out another mournful hoot, searching for his lost egg.

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@Willow

She had almost fallen asleep when the sound of talons scratching against the stone floor rang through the caves. At first, she ignored it - many gembounds passed by to get to Eridanus or Orion, but when it hooted wordlessly did she actually climb out of her nest. She moved towards the edge of the ledge and looked down at the little owl hobbling along, alone.

She was confused. Was it lost? Was it looking for something? She didn't know. She looked up and down the caves, looking only a little longer at the angry fires in Polaris, before she swooped down near the owl. "What are you doing?" she said softly, though there was a stern edge to her voice, like a mother catching her child out of bed past ten. "Why are you making such a racket?"

At some point during speaking did Willow realise that the owl's eyes were not eyes. As she got closer she noticed they didn't move, nor did they have any pupils in them. She made as much noise as possible as she approached Dark, talons clacking and feathers ruffling, and she moved to touch his talon with her own, to confirm where she was. "Are you lost?"

Dark jerked when he heard the sound of someone else approaching; he froze, feathers fluffing up, staring in its direction. But it moved calmly, speaking, questioning him--and it was a bird.

Whenever he heard a bird, his first thought was usually "Bevy?" But this didn't sound like Bevy; it sounded larger, with a different, hooting lilt to its voice. Still, that faintly stern mother's ring was in the stranger's tone, and that alone reassured Dark that he was probably in no danger.

"Not--lost," he began, startling and flinching as something touched his talon. When he realized it was just the other bird, though, friendly, curiosity immediately gripped him and he began to gather his magic to try and see.

"Looking for my egg. Stone," he corrected himself, clicking his beak. It was clear by his tone and his demeanor that he was stressed, worried, rushed even. "There was a stone in another tunnel and I put magic into it and it was alive, but now it's gone. I can't find it," he added, a waver to his voice, childlike. And then, in nearly a wail, "I lost it!"

He pulled his foot back, fluffing himself down in misery, his distress too great to focus on something like seeing into the past. Then he realized how he must seem: a mere child, whimpering and crying, alone in (what he perceived as) the darkness. Trying to gather himself, he looked back up at the owl, blinking large blind gem eyes.

"I'm Dark," he explained, trying to gather himself back together--starting with a simple introduction.

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@Willow

The owl was silent for a moment, listening carefully to the wailing, child-like creature before her. "...You... your egg? You lost your egg-- stone? Egg-stone?" she sounded confused. "I am Willow, I live here."

The owl tilted her head a little, brow furrowing. "This is tunnel I. There are carvings on the wall," she said softly, like a mother trying to comfort a small child. "Did you leave it here-- do you remember anything about the tunnel you left it in?" Willow had wanted to help, and yet she couldn't imagine she would get anything out of helping Dark search for his lost egg, or stone, or what ever it was.

She shifted uneasily. Perhaps it was a chrysalis? Had this creature somehow managed to spawn another one? The owl looked around with a slight shake of the head, as if expecting the chrysalis (or egg or stone) to be here, right now, as if Dark had only just dropped it.

"Perhaps you should rest for a while," the owl said in her eternally soft tone, head tilting. Rocks don't usually get up and move on their own, so surely the thing the other owl lost shouldn't be too far.

Dark stared at the stranger for a long moment. Unseeing, sure, but intent; he was trying to think. What was the tunnel called? They had names?

"I didn't know they had names. Who names them?" he asked uncertainly."It was a place with ice, a place outside where my family lives--Maji Walezi," he explained. And then he realized how much easier it would be just to show Willow.

His eyes squeezed shut as he concentrated, freeing his mind from the confines of his physical form and reaching out, searching to graze over Willow's consciousness. To make a connection, and to show her the stone, and the place it had been. He'd certainly seen it enough in visions, when using his magic to help him frantically search the place--but he'd seen nothing to help him find it.

He felt the tug of her mind, and pressed his to hers, a warm touch and nothing forced. He let the flood of imagery in: the high roof of tunnel H, the thick white ice frozen over the rocky floor as the rivulets of water trickled over it. The sensation of a cold gust of wind blowing over him, ruffling his feathers, was evident, but when he tried to show her the egg-stone, he realized that he could not. He hadn't ever actually seen it, and all he could impart was the weak sensation of stone underfoot--smooth, warm despite the ice, tingling with magic.

At the jarring realization that he couldn't show her what he wanted to, the vision broke abruptly off. The owl retreated back into his own mind, and opened his eyes; their bright green gem glow faded as the magic dwindled back into dormancy.

"I don't know the name," he explained, softly, at last.

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@Willow

"I do not know who names them, nor do I know all-..." Willow had began speaking and she promptly was interrupted by images deep in her mind. She recognized the icy halls, the cold and sometimes wet ground and the harsh winds, biting and cold. The owl shuddered briefly, as if she had felt the tunnel herself. She shook her head, grumbling. "I know where that is, yes." The owl moved away, talons clacking against the stone ground and she stared at the fires of Polaris thoughtfully.

"I know where that is," she said. "I can take you there, it isn't far." She began wandering off, towards Eridanus before she stopped in her tracks and twisted her head around to peer at Dark quizzically, waiting. Tunnel H was luckily, not that much of a walk away and even shorter as a flight; though she didn't expect the blind owl could fly.

The owl fluffed herself up, not noticing she was repeating herself. The second the blind owl began moving she turned around and started hobbling into Eridanus, moving slowly for the other owl to keep up with her. A walk might do her good to get some sleep later, anyway.

Dark was a little surprised that the other bird wasn't, well, surprised, at his telepathy. Some were, and others were downright startled by it, or afraid. This one took it in stride, but that just meant they could get on with a search faster. Though--why was she helping?

And why was she repeating herself?

The faintest hint of unease touched Dark's heart, but it was quickly dwarfed by his fear for the egg, and the idea that the stranger was willing to help him with it. So instead of asking, he just hopped along to hurry and follow, head tilted to listen to her move. He moved with one-two hops to catch up, then ruffled his feathers and walked more slowly.

"I've already searched there--a lot--but it'd be nice if you could look, for me, with eyes. Do you live here? Why are you helping me?" he added, gently curious. The stranger had given him only a name, and he had no idea what she looked like; to him she was a soft and musical voice, helpful, and a little mysterious. Very matter-of-fact, despite her detached air.

Willow, he thought. It fit her. And for now, at least, he had no reason to distrust her, and so off he went, following the perfect stranger away.

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((exit Dark ; @Willow ))

Willow made her way into Eridanus once Dark started following her. "You should always double-check these things," she said as she began pushing her way past the ferns and trees. "And I cannot sleep nor do I have anything else to do."

She let out a soft chortle, as if laughing. Perhaps this was a joke. "We all have some deep instinct within us to help, I suppose," the owl didn't sound too sure herself - in fact she had absolutely no idea why she was even bothering to help this blind owl who, although looking like an adult, was clearly a child.

She shrugged it off - it didn't matter, after all. Perhaps she craved the feeling of satisfaction she would no doubt recieve once Dark had found his egg-stone. Perhaps knowing that another of her species could sleep without worry, would as if by magic make her own stresses and worries about her friends and family dissipate to allow her to sleep peacefully?

Of course not. That was silly- beyond silly, even. With a shake of her head, Willow continued on with this quite frankly pointless operation to find the owl's lost stone, or egg, or chrysalis, or whatever it really was. She just hoped it did actually hold some importance.

(exit willow)