The aardvark walked quickly into Monoceros, her steps quick and hurried. She was looking to see if Monoceros had good conditions to make underground burrows in. It was very windy here. It didn't bother her much, it kept her cool. But the wind was a bit much. As she walked, the young aardvark was careful here as to not fall over. Well, it may be windy above ground, but if she were to burrow beneath, it would be cozy underground. She would also have more places to hide. She made her way to The Gorge, staring quite nervously at the trenches. No way she was going in there.

@Mercurius

At the bottom of the Gorge, at the river's breast, Mercurius was working on something that looked strikingly inhumane. Down at his paws was a strange, wretched-looking creature bound in thick vines, with a thick curtain over its entire head. Its fur was all matted and looked like a walking fever.

Moonlit eyes stared down sympathetically at the Dragonbat, horns working idly at their magic as he hummed - in thought, of course: poor things. Riddled with sickness and with nothing to help. His magicka stores were quite diminished from the persistent work at and growing of the greenery around him. Grasses grew in larger clumps in the small area, and several trees nearly as tall as the Gorge's walls stood proudly. He hoped that they would keep the earth in place, and let soil do its magic.

Anyways, Lessers. Mercurius extended his gentlest form of magicka, a fleeting pulse of antigens and the like, aimed at the Dragonbat's internals and encouraging its own body to clean up whatever mess there was. The lion was old, but he knew few tricks outside of his plant- and light-based wheelhouse. Oliver would be more suited to this task, but the crow-dog had to be even more exhausted than he was.

"We'll have all of you sorted, soon - little one," the storyteller called to the not-so-little bat, "it may be one at a time, though." They couldn't just dispense a cure off the bat.

@Erzu

The aardvark could see a white lion pawing at a bat, or so that's what it looked like. With her curiosity getting the best of her, she ran over to see what the big lion was doing. After five strides, she accidentally tripped over her paws, tumbling right into the white lion's fur. Uh oh. Well, she was a child. But at four cycles as an adult, she would never make that mistake. She will be grown and considered mature. Now though, she did make mistakes every now and then. But again, she did not hope to make the lion mad. She let out a terrified squeak, trying to get on her paws again.

@Mercurius

Something small tumbled right into Mercurius's leg before he even had the chance to hear the scuffling of little feet. He hadn't really grown used to the constant sound of wind in Monoceros; not quite yet, anyways.

Moonlit gaze flickering down, the lion hummed softly, "oh! Are you alright?" He lowered his head to sniff the child, finding only the scent of dust and soil. Not a trace of blood or a scrape. Good. "Looking for shelter from the wind, are you?" Mercurius added after whatever answer Erzu gave before, a warm - almost fatherly - smile aimed down at the child. Such a little thing would get swept up by the wind in an instant.

He idly hoped that she'd just hatched down here, and wasn't just wandering around in the open above.

@Erzu

The child finally got on her feet and answered the lion quickly. "Yeah I'm alright. I'll just shake it all off. Actually I was just checking to see in Monoceros had good conditions to burrow in. I am currently in the process of making multiple underground tunnels throughout the caves. These tunnels are my homes, as well as places to use to escape. Don't tell anyone though." She decided to go into her species a bit. "Aardvarks like to eat bugs, specifically ants and termites. We are also experts of digging underground, and can live under there too." She was proud to be an aardvark, and could not imagine being anything different.

@Mercurius

Mercurius trusted the child to know her own physical state well enough, but it didn't hurt to direct a pulse of magic her way, too. It was the same kind pushed into the dragonbat, gentle and subtle, but definitely notable enough to feel immediate effects. "That's good," the lion rumbled, almost purring, "burrowing, hm? Ah - one moment."

He moved sideways slightly, standing between the tied-up dragonbat and Erzu and pushing the lesser so its head faced away from either of them. Mercy lifted a paw, unsheathing his claws and slicing away the vines. He started with the impromptu blindfold and worked his way down. The bat was a screeching mess the whole time, and the moment it gained enough footing to wiggle out, it did. It would've taken off immediately if it didn't take the opportunity to spin around and launch itself at the old lion's mane. As if this were a common occurrence, he carefully cuffed the bat by the nape and tossed away with a flick of his head. The massive lesser growled before fluttering into the dark reaches of Monoceros.

"Sorry about that, little one," Mercurius reassured, licking at his paw and grooming his mane lightly as he rocked onto his haunches, "I'm trying to see if I can help some of these bats. I was told they seem to carry some sort of disease. It might be nice for them to be free of that, yes?" Oh, but he was distracted, wasn't he - "well, the ground here is very hard. The wind carries away anything like soil." His head tossed towards the surrounding greenery, "it's taken a while to get all of these plants to grow, even with magic."

But, there was something strange: "ah, I've never seen an aardvark before! Plenty of deer and birds - but never one of your sort. I'm a lion - and, oh, my name is Mercurius. But, Mercy might be easier to say." The pale beast stared down at Erzu, smiling gently.

@Erzu

"Nice to meet you Mercy!" It seemed the lion was helping some bats out. Well, that was nice of him. "That's real kind of you to try and help these bats out." It seemed the lion was very busy, so the aardvark did not want to waste too much of his time. "I'm going to be heading out soon. But Mercy, what is a lion like you doing in a place with annoying winds of Monoceros?" She was curious. She knew gembounds had the freedom to travel where they please. But was this lion doing something besides caring for bats?

@Mercurius

Mercurius laughed softly, teasing gently, "and what's your name, little one? I've given you mine." He wasn't at all upset, of course. The child just seemed excitable and enthusiastic, and might have just forgotten to introduce herself.

Regardless, he nodded politely and took the compliment as if it were the single nicest thing anyone had ever said to him. The pale beast puffed his chest and mane out, chuffing softly, "ah, I'm glad you appreciate it. The bats seem to not be too happy with me." Alas, they were Lessers seeking to survive and were unused to the care of their sentient cousins. Mercy hunched down slightly, stretching out a hind leg and scratching at where the bat had tried to attack him.

As for what he was doing here, clearly out of his depth, the lion responded simply, "growing a garden, usually." Mercurius smiled warmly, tossing his head slightly down the bank, "would you like to help? I have quite a few seeds down yonder, and they could use a good digger - like you - to help plant them."

@Erzu

"My name is Erzu! Sorry for forgetting to give my name." Erzu could see that bat was not happy, but if they were being helped, it was worth it. Erzu perked up at the offer. Her talents would be put to use here, and it sounded fun. But... she had tunnels to dig, and tunnels required enormous work! "I'm sorry Mercy. I would love to help, but, these tunnels I'm making require a ton of work. My goal is to make tunnels everywhere I can, except for Cetus. Cetus doesn't have good conditions. But I wish you well though. I gotta get searching for conditions in here. Bye Mercy!" The aardvark left, scurrying to find somewhere to start digging.

-Exit Erzu

Ah, the child was so polite when she turned down his offer, and he understood just a little what it was like to be so focused on just one thing. Digging was what aardvarks were good at (according to her, of course) and she wished to get on with it. Mercurius couldn't blame that sort of attitude; he had that sort of thing with gardening, at times.

Mercy hummed softly, not at all upset by her leaving, "it was a pleasure to meet you, Erzu. Good luck in your digging endeavors."

Once she had scurried off proper, the lion rocked to his paws and went down wonder by his lonesome.

;exit