BARATHEON

"the world is mine for the taking"

He'd been taking a nice little nap, his tiny daughter had been lying next to him as she slept along with him but now when he woke briefly he felt a cold patch where his pup had been. The dragon's eye opened wide and panic filled his chest. Sharply he lifted himself up and peered underneath his wing, then the other before he rose completely onto his paws. Where was she? He looked around briefly before he let out a rumbling call from his throat. He lifted one ear, listening, before he let out another call. Rauslin? Where'd she go? Horse and the Wolf also weren't here but that didn't bother him as much. Those two were older and could look after themselves... But what about her? Was he a bad Da? Or should he just let his little on wander? But... What if she were hurt? It couldn't hurt to look for her, could it? Just to make sure she was alright.

The dragon shook his white coat before wandering towards the exit to Pisces. Oh dear, what if she were hungry? Or lost? Or scared? Or... What if the Horse had found her? Or perhaps even the Ghost? If he were overreacting that was one thing but he didn't know if he was or not. Pfft... Thinking too much, what a bother. Action first, thoughts later when he was certain of things.

The dragon's nose was dipped to the ground as he snuffled and inhaled the scents of many different creatures. But not his daughter's... Had she come this way? Or was she back in Pisces hiding? Oh what a bother... Frustrated the large dragon flopped onto his rump and peered along the tunnel. If she wasn't here and if he couldn't get a scent... Where on Origin was she? Just in case his nose was blocked by something the dragon let out another loud call before pricking up one of his ears and listening. Surely if she was nearby she would have heard that.

337
Fira
---
6/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Ooo! It was cold here, Macawi knew that for sure! And the ground was slippery and hard to walk on. But that’s what made it fun! And you know what made it even more fun? When creepy noises came groaning down the tunnel towards her! Just like with her Big Pig friend! But this noise was less… snort-y. Deeper, throatier, and much louder. Made by something much bigger, probably. Of course, a lot of Gembounds were bigger than Macawi. She was rather small, after all, at only about 15 pounds. She would double that by her fourth cycle, but that was a long ways off.

When she heard the noise for the second time, she grinned and sat down on her haunches, shivering in delight at the sensation of cold on her hindquarters. She let out a yipping howl in return to the strange sound. Coyotes couldn’t howl like wolves, long and slow and soulful. They sounded like baby wolves their whole lives, howls cut short with odd yipping and yapping. But Macawi thought that was a much more fun sound than a wolf’s sad howl. Her tail wagged happily as she wondered who she would meet this time. She stood up again, waiting.

But waiting was boring, so after about five seconds, she took off down the tunnel, slipping and sliding on the icy floor. At some point she smacked her chin on the ground, but she shook off the aching pain, moved her jaw around a little, winced, and then kept right on running. When the looming shape of the white dragon came into view, she attempted to stop so she could greet it, but found that she could not grip the floor, and just ended up sliding a good ten feet, laughing the whole time. As she continued to slide, she called to the creature, “Macawi greets you, friend! Forgive her lack of stopping! The floor is slippery here, ahaha!” Her jovial Spanish accent echoed off the glistening walls as she finally came to a halt.

@Baratheon

BARATHEON

"the world is mine for the taking"

It was while his ear was perked that he heard it, the sound of yipping barks! Was that his pup? It sort of sounded like her! Excitedly the dragon let out a few happy grunts in return to let her know that he was on his way and that he was excited to see his little pup! The dragon rose to his paws and began to pad forward, eye squinting in the darkness as he saw a shape coming right towards him! He let out a sound quite like a growling bark but as the shape neared him he was able to distinguish that this canine shape was not his Rauslin but someone different.

He didn't want to seem rude but it was hard to hide the disappointed tilt of his ears as the little one came straight to him. The dragon watched her with a bit of curiosity as she slid to a stop right in front of him. The jovial words and tone of voice put a smile on his face despite his disappointment. In reply the dragon gave a few nods of his head. Yes, the floor was quite slippery if you weren't careful.

Now that the little one was still and finished speaking he wondered who she was and where she'd come from. To voice this he tilted his head to the side and let out a questioning rumble from his throat. His one eye blinked at her curiously while he raised both ears and pointed them towards her.

253
@Macawi
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6/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Macawi laughed joyously as she rose unsteadily to her paws, legs all spread out like a tripod – well – like a quad-pod, more like, considering she had four legs. She stared up at the creature’s massive furry form, studying it – him – her? The coyote couldn’t be sure. Not that she cared what gender anyone was. Gembounds were Gembounds, right? Who was she to judge. She just found everyone fascinating. Unfortunately, she had the attention span of a goldfish, so she didn’t often stay in one place for very long, and so she never really settled into a true friendship with anyone she met. Sure, she thought of everyone as her friends, but that didn’t mean they felt the same.

Being the odd creature she was, Macawi had absolutely no trouble at all figuring out what the fluff-ball was asking her. She sat down carefully, tail wagging a mile a minute and answered his wordless questions with ease. “Oh, Macawi is from here and there! All over, really! And obviously, Macawi’s name is Macawi! But you may call her whatever you like!”

She let out yet another laugh, and turned her head to the side to show off her Black Opal gem. It had become a sort of signature move on her part, to flash her gem at those she met as a sort of greeting, or to say goodbye. She’d once looked at herself in pool of water and seen her reflection, marveling at the way her colorful gem (despite its name) caught the light when she turned her head. It had become her own way of winking.

((See her profile for the description of her gem if you want)).

@Baratheon

BARATHEON

"the world is mine for the taking"

Fortunately, the little one was good at judging actions and easily deciphered what the mute dragon wanted. Her name apparently was Macawi and well... He supposed if he could speak he would call her such but since he couldn't there wasn't much he could call her. Still, he gave a few vigorously nods of his head to show that he understood that her name was Macawi and he could call her whatever he wanted. Despite his inability to.

Next she did something quite curious and turned her head and exposed a dark gem on her cheek. Baratheon lowered his head and turned his head slightly to the side to examine the stone better. After a blink and an appreciative hum he leaned back up. Well... She'd shown her gem so should he do the same? Perhaps... So he turned his body slightly to the side and stood up on his hind legs. Wings were extended and tail straight out for balance as he stuck out his right hind leg to show her the pink and white gem.

That same hum came from his throat as he pointed with one claw to the stone before dropping back down to all four feet which caused a slight rumbling in the earth below him... but he didn't seem to notice as the dragon turned back to the small pup with his same smile. Head tilting to the side as if he were asking if he'd done the whole exchange correctly.

247
@Macawi
---
6/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Macawi held still so the giant fuzzy dragon could study her gem more closely, or sniff her, or whatever he was doing. Some Gembounds might be intimidated or downright frightened at the prospect of having a massive creature’s head so close to theirs, but Macawi had absolutely no sense of fear. In fact, one could be fairly certain she had been born without the ability to feel fear. That was not entirely true. She did have some sense of self-preservation, but this gigantic beast had made no attempt at harming her, so why in the Cave would she be afraid of him?

With much fuss, the dragon turned his huge body to the side and then stood up and stuck out his leg. The tiny, fifteen-pound coyote let out a “Whoa!” and reeled back so she wouldn’t accidentally get smacked, but she was grinning the whole time. She felt the rush of air with his body movements, and stared up at him appreciatively. He was huge and it was pretty awesome to be standing so near him. She looked down at his leg curiously, wondering what he was doing, when she noticed his gem. “Ah,” she said, understanding entering her mind. “You are showing Coyote your gem, she sees.” She wandered right up to his leg, which was at least three times the size of her entire body, and stared hard at the gem embedded there. She let out a “Hmm…” as she studied the pink-and-white stone. After a time, she pulled back, nodding to herself. “Yes, it is quite the gem, my friend!” she said, and her voice was uncommonly serious. Then she let out a laugh.

The dragon’s front paws slammed into the ground with a loud booming thud, and the ground shook beneath her. She laughed as the shaking continued and she slipped and fell onto her belly, legs spread out as if she were a trophy rug. “That is quite the stomp you have there, friend! Macawi would hate to make This One angry!” She struggled back to her paws, eye catching the curious look he gave her. “Oh, hm? Yes, yes, you did fine, my friend!” How she understood the dragon was anyone’s guess…

@Baratheon

BARATHEON

"the world is mine for the taking"

Quite the gem? Oh! So she liked it then? Good good! He couldn't help but give the tiniest swaying wag of his long tail. Well, he didn't like to brag but it was kind of nice, wasn't it? It matched him perfectly. He couldn't just go without saying anything in reply to her kind words so he grinned and let out content humming sound, obviously pleased.

He hadn't known that hitting the ground would cause such a display to happen so with concern he lowered his head and gave her a sniff. Macawi was laughing though so that must mean she was alright. Still, he would have to be more careful in the future. Even though she seemed alright he could have hurt her and that would be no good. The dragon gave the little coyote an apologetic look before lifting his head to its normal height.

A little more tail wagging showed that he was happy that he'd done the introduction right. However, now was time for more serious issues. The dragon gave a thoughtful hum before deciding that he should probably ask this happy critter for help in searching for his daughter. He threw up an image of Rauslin in his mind and then projected it over to the little pup before him, it was a flickering and fading image but it should get the point across. After it faded he then gave her a bit of his own confusion and concern, attempting to convey that he didn't know where she was. Then, after that was over he cut the flow of magic and tilted his head to the right, eye blinking curiously. Had Macawi seen or scented the pup?

247
@Macawi
---
6/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Macawi lifted her face up to be sniffed by her massive fluffy friend, tail wagging behind her. She joined in with the sniffing, pressing her tiny black nose into the dragon’s huge furry white one. “Do not worry, friend!” she said, seeing his apologetic look. “Macawi will just have to remember not to go running underfoot when This One is around. Or being stomped will be her fault!” She laughed.

Her silent friend lifted his head back up, looking down at her with a long, craned neck. Macawi saw the flickering image of a Gembound in her mind – a coyote-ish-looking Gemling, but smaller and with longer fur and splotches of brown and white coloring. Then she felt her friend’s concern enter her mind, and some of the happiness drained from her as seriousness took her over. Sure, she was happy and playful and bouncy, but she had a soft spot for anyone younger or smaller than her, even as young as she was.

“Hmm… Macawi is sorry, friend. She has not seen this Gemling. Perhaps she will help you look?” The coyote gave the dragon a questioning look.

@Baratheon -- sorry this is so ridiculously late. Aaah, no muse sucks.

BARATHEON

"the world is mine for the taking"

Well, he couldn't just take the blame completely from himself if he stepped on her. He'd feel absolutely awful if his little friend were crushed under his paws so he'd just have to be extra careful though he always was, especially since his daughter was around her size. However, he kept those thoughts to himself and simply smiled and nodded his head for she did have a point.

After he transferred the image over to Macawi the dragon looked at her expectantly. She was certainly bubbly but now that the situation was more dire she seemed to have sobered a little which the dragon was sorry to have caused but it couldn't be helped. He was a little disappointed when the young coyote mentioned that she hadn't seen his Rauslin which showed in the saddened tilt of his ears but they perked up slightly when she said she would help look.

The dragon gave a bright grin while his tail started to sway slightly in joy while he let out a single loud grunting bark, a sound he'd learned from Rauslin. His long neck arched down again but this time his blue tongue snaked out to try and give the tiny coyote a lick to show his gratitude at her offer of help. The more the merrier and she might be better at tracking than he especially since she was closer to the ground.

The next thing he did was send another thought to her via his magick only this time it wasn't exactly a thought but rather a sensation. He knew how Rauslin smelled, her scent was as familiar to him as his own and he scent that smell to Macawi. Perhaps it would help them start on their way if it was sent correctly... After all, his spell cast wasn't exactly a strong one.

306
@Macawi
---
6/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Being licked in the face by a giant blue tongue had to be the most amazing and hilarious experience in Macawi’s young life. It was so big, it nearly lifted her off the ground! She laughed and laughed and stumbled to get her footing again after it almost bowled her over. Tail wagging like crazy, she leaned up and slathered kisses all over the dragon’s nose, which was the size of her entire face. She had been serious but a moment before, but nothing could keep her that way for long. She lived for fun, for adventure, and finding a little lost Gemling was definitely right up her alley.

The dragon sent her a very… finicky smell. She sniffed as if the scent were in front of her, even though it was technically only in her mind. She licked her nose and sniffed again. She could… [i]barely[/s] pick up on the scent, but it was just enough to use it as a source. “All right, friend! Let us go find your little one!” She turned and pranced down the tunnel, sniffling and snuffling for any sign of the pup, tail wagging behind her like always. “Little Ooooone!” she called out. “Your papa is worried about yoooouuuu! Are you loooost?” She listened, but no sound came back to her save for her own echo. “Hmm…” She continued searching.

@Baratheon