The Bone King was tired and worn, sore wings screaming for relief from flight. But as far as he knew... he needed to get back. It had easily been an hour of drifting along, and he was sure that the other Gembound would have left, but surely Makyna had stayed to wait for him to return with the stone. He gripped the dull and obsidian-like stone with his talons, though it felt virtually weightless due to it's small size. The lioness had tried her hindsight on the magically imbued gem many a time, but it had yet to regain the strength it needed. But he was very sure that it had something to do with the beast... perhaps his fallen friend.

The tunnel screeched closer and closer to the ave, giving him a surge of happiness and glee. Yes! He was almost there! Pumping his appendages in powerful strokes, he found himself in the main area in minutes. The beast seemed to have moved, and Ky was gone. The ave landed atop a small pile of metal quietly, looking around in the dim lights. "Makyna! Beast! I brought the stone!" Tipping his head up, he gave a great call, hoping to use his magicka to carry the sound through the cave. No matter if it worked or not, he gave a full cry to make sure someone would hear it.

Azazel was in a hurry and Bevy didn't dare ask why. She did follow him, though he seemed much too wrapped up in his frantic return flight to notice. Despite how hard it was to keep up, the draft of wind he left in his wake had eased her flight somewhat. She just fluttered behind him, curious but also concerned-- Azazel had taken a stone from Makyna's den.

It was a bit of a relief when the big, windy birb called out for Ky. He had just been fetching this black stone for her then, and for... Beast? Bevy did not know a Beast, so with her worry waning, full blown wonder filled her. Just what was going on?

She was still a bit too timid to chirp up immediately, so instead she just looked around as Azazel stopped and landed. He would surely spot her then, so she simply landed beside him. She peered up at him with her bright, flourescent eyes and finally found her voice.

"Um, hello Azazel. What's going on? What's the rock for?"

The Bone King hadn't taken any notice of the small bird flying behind him on the whole return trip, gliding along on his drafts and in his wake. When a small peep sounded besides him, the bird whirled around and found a little pitohui bird. "Bevy?! You came all the way here after me?" He'd asked the questions in a 'why' manner, but the hooded bird already was ahead of him.

"Uh, Beast was here, and we, as in other Gembound, are trying to find the parts of his friend. Who is made of this strange shiny stuff." To add to his point, he lifted one foot and patted the material beneath the birds. "Makyna and I found this stone... and she used her hindsight magic and saw a scene of some... fight. She saw a 'metal creature' and a shadowy figure. Beast looks like a shadowy figure, and the metal creature has to be his friend! The stone had to mean something, so I went to get it."

Bevy preened at her chest as Azazel spoke, feeling a bit flustered. She knew she should stay in Pisces, in case any gembound came along, but how could she have stayed back? She knew that this was going to be important! Being so far from her home of her own volition was nerve-wracking though.

"I don't know anyone named Beast," she tweeted after the bone king explained, glancing around for sight of any new gembounds. "But if that is something to do with a friend of his, we better find him!" Two pairs of eyes were better than one, right? She took flight again, flitting around Azazel.

"I'll help you look! I want to meet this Beast and his friend. Ky has to be around here somewhere, right?" She was starting to get familiar with different signatures of bacteria... It still was overwhelming and bizzare to use her sight magic, but if she could pick out the lioness' natural bacteria maybe they would find Beast and Ky after all!

;; post roll

The fuzzy white-dots-without-seeing sensation came to Bevy in an instant. There were bacteria everywhere in the tunnel, and it made her feathers crawl despite herself. How could she pick out Ky's in all of this? There had been so many other gembounds, or things through here... She shook her head and glanced at Aza, wondering if they should split up or look together. She was much more of a follower than a leader, however, so she waited for his plan.

"Makyna Speech"
"Leon Speech"

The lioness herself had been in Orion, staring at the pretty star-like gems above. It was gorgeous and as she found herself quickly awed by it. For a moment she'd completely forgotten about the stone that Aza'zel had taken the initiative to go and get. It wasn't until she neared the tunnel that separated Orion from Monoceros did she hear the call of her friend. She managed to snap out of her reverie and attempt to send out a call to him.

The lioness sent out a message, 'Coming, Aza. In Orion.' She said with her mind along with an image of the area she was in to give the bird a reference before dashing off to the tunnel. He must have gotten the rock, it was time to test his theory and see if this rock was relate to the shadow-beast. In all likely she figured he was right. What she'd seen in her vision fit like a bee in a foxglove to this whole situation. It was all completely perfect.

Before long she made it to the tunnel and skidded to a stop in front of her friends. Bevy was here too? Perhaps she wanted to know about the stone! It was alright with her, the more the merrier. Besides, she rather liked Bevy. The lioness gave the tiny bird a swift, friendly smile before she spoke. "Hey! Glad you found the rock Aza! Sorry, I would have been here sooner but I've never been to Orion before." The lioness looked around but the shadow creature was no where to be found. It seemed that she hadn't been too late.

The small pitohui definitely had not been there when the Gembound gathering had occured, and nobody seemed to have found a piece of what was left of Beast's friend yet... otherwise he'd still be here. The Bone King hadn't been gone for that long, surely! It was difficult to tell time in Origin Caves, with no lights to go by, and the only way was simply by when you are sleepy, that is counted as a day in Azazel's book. "Uh. We think he's new? But he's like big and tall. Like. As tall as this cave. He didn't seem mean, or anything. Beast seemed really happy that we offered to help find the pieces of his friend." Of course, he didn't really know what his friend looked like, but if he put two and two together properly... the serenbedite stone that Ky and he had discovered along with Amaria was important to this, for some reason. It was obvious. The bird piped up happily in the search of Beast and Makyna, and Azazel smiled. "Yeah!"

He'd hear a voice whisper in his ear, faint, but he could definitely hear it. It sounded like Makyna, and for a moment... the bird looked all around. Where was she? The voice had said 'Coming, Aza. In Orion' and he'd seen a glimpse of what the lioness saw. So she'd heard his call. Tossing his head back, the king looked at the small pitohui. Calling upon his magicka, the air around him vibrated in all different frequencies. Amongst them, one clear sound came. It echoed what Makyna had said to him, intending to relay the message to the vibrant bird at his side. "Coming, in Orion." Smiling in satisfaction, the bird puffed out his chest. Perfect! "She talked to me in my mind, and told me that she's coming."

As if on cue, the lioness came running through the tunnels. The golden temptress would skid to a fast stop in front of the two, but for safe measures, the king would flit backwards a few steps. He knew how painful getting run into was, sometimes. "Yeah. Man, it was a hard flight. I've never flown that far before... and I didn't even see Bevy. She's got the best stealth skills, Makyna." Nodding happily at the pitohui, Azazel lifted his foot from the stone and nudged it toward Ky. "Now we have to find Beast... and I've no clue where he went." What if they called for him? Tossing his head up, he gave one robust call. "BEAST?"

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Bevy's mind lit up in flicks of white, ghosting dots as she vaguely felt the bacteria around. They wiggled, some moving slowly around, in strange ways that made the Pitohui bird feel a bit dizzy-- and suddenly, the air was vibrating and she landed back on to the floor as the sixth sense melted away and left her with just her usual vision and her hearing. Ky's voice surrounded her in a strange, bizzare way, but Azazel explained... Sort of. Was that a magick he could do? It was pretty cool.

"Oh, yeah, she does that with Leon all the time," but never with her. Bevy was partially glad for that; she had enough feathers for a flock in her head without a lioness stirring the pot. The one time she had shared memories with Makyna was when Leon had hurt her, and that had been an unpleasant but necessary experience.

She was delighted when the streak of yellow came pelting to them, sliding to a halt. "Hello!" She peeped, glad to see her friend was absolutely fine. Aza made a comment about her 'stealth' skills, but it sort of ruffled her feathers to be complimented on something like that. She was not a sneak!

"You wouldn't have noticed Cancer if he was chasing you with one of his rants, you were so wrapped up in flying back," she commented lightly. Now, however, they had to find Beast. As Aza described him before, he sounded scary but nice. Bevy wanted to meet him so badly-- at least while she had her friends here in case he turned out not-so-nice.

So, in turn, Bevy called out as well. "Beast! Beaaast!"

Makyna laughed at Aza'zel's comment about Bevy being a stealthy flier. Perhaps Aza was so intent on his mission he just hadn't noticed which Bevy herself mentioned. The lioness winked at the smaller bird, knowing her words were probably the truth. Makyna's words though when she spoke were teasing and unless Aza had seen the wink she'd given the bird it would be their little secret that the lioness agreed with her. "I don't know. Maybe you're turning into a hunter since you've been hanging out with all us cats."

Makyna's nose lowered to the stone as she nosed it. Even without attmepting to use her spell on the thing she could tell that it was drained from giving up the former vision. Yes. The beast was certainly needed now. "We can always call him. Perhaps he's nearby?" She hoped he was nearby. It would be a shame if he had moved to another telling. Then they would have to mount a large search for him.

Her friends called using their voices but voices could only be heard so far before they were not heard anymore or blocked. Ky had a better idea. Her magic didn't have a limit or at least she didn't think so. So long as she directed her thoughts to a certain gembound she could call to them. Her mind reached out and called to the Beast. Her eyes half closed and her gem glowed as she sent out her message. Beast? Are you around? I'm in Tunnel J with a few friends and we'd like to talk to you... about the dark stone, if you don't mind. Her voice reached out and hopefully connected with the beast.

___________________________________________________________________

words: 282
tagged: Aza'zel, Bevy
ooc: ---
muse: 5/10

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

The beast was never far from this tunnel. It was the place he knew the best. It was where memories of his old friend resided, where the ties to them felt the strongest. This was where he had found the helm, and had he not known better, would be convinced that this was where the rest of his friend lay. But the beast had already sent the young Gembounds out on a quest to find his friend - knowing they were scattered far beyond this tunnel. The shadows had opened up and welcomed him back into their grasp, and there he waited, closing his eyes until a voice had entered his thoughts. The sound was distant, as if it came from beneath the surface of water. His mind was too strong and too ancient to be invaded so easily. Yet there it was, the distant intone of hopeful words... one of the Gembounds. The stone.

He unfolded his long limbs, emerging from a thin crack in the tunnel. The shadows gripped desperately at him until he pulled away, a pure form of darkness among the flickering tunnel lights. There, the beast slowly made his way towards the group, where he would eventually spot the two birds and the feline. His approach was slow and cumbersome, and his eyes were glued to the stone, silent.

His first cry echoed about in the chamber, lost to the churn of time and the stone walls of the cave. Bevy had joined in on the calls, but Ky fell silent. Azazel could feel the magicka drifting from her frame, crackling thickly in the air like electricity. It fell in a layer so thick that it felt like part of the atmosphere. It faded soon enough as the lioness seemed to end her message, opening her eyes once more. Perhaps she'd thought that perhaps Beast was further than the duo of birds had thought. Just to be sure, the bird would take a heaving breath, giving one last vigorous call. "Beast!"

The Gembound king would settle down, waiting for anything to crawl from the shadows. Surely enough, at the end of the tunnel... the bird would see green glimmers of light. A pair of eyes and a gem upon his chest would glow with a soft light, spindly limbs leading the creature through the caverns. Arachnid-like arms moved slowly as the tall Gembound struggled to free himself from the shadows whence he seemed to be born from. Finally, the creature stood before the threesome, his great stature making Azazel feel like he was so much smaller... so fragile. Carmine eyes found the trail of verdant orbs gazing at the stone. "Oh, uh... A few weeks before we found you in the cave... This stone was outside the room of bones, in a tunnel leading to the room of stars. Makyna used her hindsight on it and saw a vision of someone in metal and a shadowy figure... maybe you and your friend?" Looking up, the bird would nose the stone toward the beast. "We're curious... is this something important to you? If it is... we'd like you to have it."

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