Erzu was very disappointed in Cetus. The burrowing conditions here were awful. If she were to try making a burrow, it would simply collapse. Apparently Eridanus had the best burrowing conditions and variety in bugs, termites and ants. As she walked about, among the different scents her nose was picking up, one intrigued her. From them, she picked up the scent of a not too large canine, possibly female, covered in mud. The aardvark could pick up some hints of fear from the scent. She wasn't alone too. From the smell, the aardvark could easily tell this canine was hiding from someone. Unbeknownst to her, the smell she was smelling was Reji. She decided to ignore it and investigate the burrowing conditions in Cetus more.

@Azrael

Azrael was hungry. He'd spent the last of his hunts catching food for Reji and for mother, but little for himself which was a problem, considering that he was a big, active demon with a very very large apetite and the tendancy to eat everything he put his eyes on.

He chewed on foliage as he went, ignoring the muddy taste as he ripped leaves and branches off of bushes to fill his stomach but then stopped at the scent of something nearby. Smelled like a rat. Or, well, it smelled like something alive, he still hadn't gotten used to the weird scents of the cave yet.

He tried to roll himself into shadows, but the magic didn't come to him and the darkness stayed just about where it was. He sighed and raised one of his lower arms, covering his glowing gem with one palm to mask its light. He crept forward, still dark enough that he was hidden in the shadowy mist, until he was right upon the creature.

He took up his hunting crouch and then leaped forward but just as he released, he got a closer look at the thing. It definitely was not a cave rat - it was the right size, the right color, with a similar tail, but everything else was, well, quite different. He pulled himself back with a strangled noise and stumbled forward, throwing out all four arms to catch himself before he fell.

He turned his head, blinking. "You are not a rat!" he announced, as if the thing would not have known this already.

@Erzu

The aardvark looked at the big beast with a confused look. She gave an amused look at the beast, speaking with a amused tone. "Of course I'm not a rat! I'm an aardvark! My name is Erzu. We eat bugs, mostly ants and termites. That's where we get our nutrients from. What is your name and what kind of creature are you?" The child walked up to the big beast, gently touching her nose to his fur to give him a good sniff. "You don't smell like any animal I know." Just as she kindly asked the question and put her nose to his fur, she saw a vision. This was the first time anything like this had happened. She uncovered her powers! Seeing that she had arcane magic, she shook her head. She looked up at the beast curiously as she asked a question. "Hey sir, what kind of magic do you have?"

@Azrael

Azrael snorted. Ah, so it could talk. That meant it was not food. And right now, Azrael just wanted food. "Don't care," he huffed as he got to his feet, a prideful anger rising in his stomach as the rat-looking-aardvark-thing talked down to him, as if amused. He did not like that.

And he also really did not like the thing poking him with its nose without permission! He let out a snarl and kicked out with the leg it was touching instinctively. "Stop it! Ask before you touch!" But it was too late to stop the magic - the strong torrent of magic that rushed forward from Azrael to the kid in front of him.

It was a lot - her spell had been powerful and Azrael was far older then her. Perhaps if Azrael had not been a creature of magic himself, she would have seen far more, but his own inherent magic interfered with her spell. She saw a few visions, quite clearly.

Erzu would find herself far taller then she was, looking down at the earth from Azrael's height. Before him with a living skeleton, surrounded by a small black cat, a larger, yellow cat, a hyena, and a black dog with wings. He was reaching down to pick up the skeleton, but as soon as he did, it turned around and sunk its fangs into his arm. He dropped it suddenly, with surprise. In the background, the hyena was speaking, talking about gifting or destroying, while the dog begged, "Please don't destroy it." A smaller voice asked which of them they were gonna do before Azrael's own rumbling voice said "Stand back" before his jaws opened and a torrent of fire rushed forth. The vision shifted.

There was an odd little pup standing in front of him. He was much shorter now and everything seemed larger. He was eyeing the rat skull sitting next to the canine. Suddenly, his arm lashed out to grab it. "Hungry," he rumbled, trying to take a bite, but it was too try. The dog in front of him freaked out. "No, please! He's my friend!" As soon as Azrael dropped the skull, the dog jumped out to catch it before it broke against the floor. "Why did you do that? He's my friend!" Azrael made an uneasy sound. "Is bone. Friend? Is bone!" The vision shifted again.

This time, Azrael was staring at a small, strange humanoid. She was skinning the body of a rat, tossing the hide to Azrael, who quickly scarfed it down. She pressed her palm against its bare, skinless boy, charring the surface. Once it was cooked, she began to eat. "So, uh, do you live here? What do you do for fun? Talk to bones?" Azrael made a small nose. "Fun? Bones?" He paused, clearly trying to think. "Hunt." Once again, the vision changed.

Everything was darkness. And then, with a single strike, a hand reaching out, Azrael broke the gemstone surrounding him and crawled out of its cage, climbing onto a pile of bones. The shadows thickened around him as he looked up. There was a bird there, a crow. With a single swipe, he snatched it out of the sky. It shrieked and pecked at his hand, but he was not deterred. Claws came up and tore out the birds throat, killing it instantly, before eating it in huge bites. The visions ended.

It would be a lot for the child to handle - the visions most likely covered more time then she'd even been alive. But Azrael didn't realize, grumpy from hunger, with a wounded pride. "Magic? Mine?" He stopped and glared down, considering not even telling this thing that looked like a rat. "Darkness," he then said, simply. "And fire," he added as an afterthought.

@Erzu

The aardvark quickly apologized for touching him. The kick kind of hurt, knocking her over, and she ended up getting some painful scratches because of it, which would heal in time. But it sure hurt. She didn't mean to upset him. She forced herself to get up and apologize. Some creatures needed their space. "I am very sorry! Didn't mean to upset you." She then complimented his magic. "Darkness and fire huh? You must be one very powerful creature. You look cool too." It seemed the creature was very busy, so she decided not to waste his time. After all this mud was disgusting, and she had invaded his space. "Again sorry for bugging you. See you soon." She began to exit Cetus and head to Eridanus. She would also have to lick those scratches too. That demon sure had a strong kick.

-Exit Erzu

@Azrael

Huh. Oops. He hadn't meant to injure the kid so much, just a kick out to warn her not to get too close, but it seemed he was far stronger then he remembered. Their compliment had a swelling effect on him - his chest grew warm and he huffed proudly. "I am very strong," he grunted. "Thank you. I think so as well." Well, he hadn't really considered him to look particularly special, he only kept himself in good shape - clean fur, polished horns, sharpened claws...there was nothing more beautiful then a dangerous predator in top condition.

He expected something else, perhaps more questions about his magic but the abrupt end to the conversation threw him off. He blinked and opened his mouth to say something, but she just turned around and left, without even giving him her name. His eyes followed her for a while before he grunted again and went the opposite way, to search for more rats, cloaking himself in shadow once again.

*exit