Xevir craved salt, as it was one of the things oryxs loved to eat, and more importantly, it was a part of their diet. Unfortunately, the salt she craved was in Hydra. Oryxs thrived in desert like places. But with all the danger in Hydra, it worried her to set foot in that room. She was easily able to get by with the other parts of her diet she could find in the other rooms. But aside from her diet, the child was curious. She had questions she knew other gembounds couldn't even think of answering, so she kept them to herself. But she knew there was an answer to her endless questions of her curiosity. She questioned life in these caves. But these caves were her home. The calf walked, repeating these questions over and over.

Jupiter had occasionally been visiting Tenzin, his plight no longer aligned with that of his partner. They were similar, but in many ways too were they different. Still, if Jupiter could confide in any of the masters, it would be Tenzin; her own partner she had left topside, to do his work as he felt fair.

Slung across her back was her quiver, and over her shoulder was her bow. She had not been exterminating much lately but she had been controlling the birth rate, which sated her somewhat.

Long legs carried her gracefully, strange elongated feet and toes placing careful steps onto the shimmering, slippery floor of Pisces. Her goal today was to visit the ancient bird and speak with him some more, and in the distance she could see the glittering spray from the waterfall. When she had a personal goal in mind, she did her best to ignore the Gembounds lest she be distracted for too long.

@Xevir

Xevir was too lost in thought, walking with so many questions in her head. As she walked, she noticed a strange centaur looking creature. This creature looked creepy, but yet so elegant and pretty. Wait, maybe this creature had answers to her questions. This creature looked like something not from the caves after all. Well, maybe she was, maybe she wasn't. It wouldn't hurt to ask. She was determined to see past these cave walls. If this creature had the answers, then so be it. She carefully walked up to the creature, in a way that it could easily notice her. Xevir's ears flattened in submission. She spoke loud enough for the creature to hear her, but not too long. "Hi! My name is Xevir. Your legs and everything else look really cool! Um, I had some questions I was hoping you could answer, if you have time I mean." Respect was vital, for this creature looked like a no nonsense type creature.

@Game Master CJ

One long ear twisted in the direction of the voice. Jupiter side-glanced the creature with nary a pause in her step, and she scoffed under her breath. "No," came her uncaring response. What questions could Jupiter answer for a creature such as itself? A Gembound? She continued on her way, her pace casual and relaxed. It was a child and she felt it posed no threat to her.

It was kind of quick for the creature to dismiss her like that, but she wouldn't give up. The child talked louder for the creature to hear her, for she was desperate. "I wonder about the caves! Everything is about magic here! The thing is, in order for a gembound to have children, it's just done through stones and magic. But, I have been thinking on that. We have bodies right? We don't use magic to eat! So is there a way to make children, with our bodies instead? I know it sounds weird, but I made that connection! That's one of the things I couldn't get my mind off of, and I know it sounds stupid, but I can't stop wondering!" Xevir was ready to give up if the creature did not want to listen. She wanted to know. Anything was possible in these caves. So wasn't it possible for something like that to be done without magic, and how?!

@Game Master CJ

Jupiter's lip twitched as the child's voice bombarded her, question after question, assumption after assumption—and for what, to know if they could have children!?

Her hands clenched into fists and she turned on the child, her ears laid back and her fangs bared.

"Enough! Stop! Stop talking!" she barked, waving her hand in a dismissive way. What an annoying child! She must have missed its chrysalis during her last purge, and by the fates was she sorry. It was so insistent! "Have you met any of the others to ask them these questions, you impudent child?! Of course you can learn to eat without your body, you can absorb nutrients straight from the objects around you—if you took a moment to just try it!" Ugh! She was not a teacher!

"You—you," Jupiter gestured toward the child as if signifying all of it, "Gembounds can't reproduce, your children would die, end of story. That's how it is down here. Or try it, and watch them die, that sounds like a swell idea." She threw up her arms, frustrated by the idea that they might even try to start evolving. It annoyed her to think she'd have to pick up her pace.

But if this one was persistent on creating... more...

Jupiter swiveled her bow off of her shoulder, and began reaching back to her quiver for an arrow. "You pests, is that all you want to be? We don't need more of you, we need less of you."

@Xevir

The child's ears flattened out of fear, and her legs started to quiver. She only wanted knowledge, but this creature insisted on conflict. Her voice was shaky as she spoke once more. "I'm really sorry for bugging you. If you want me to leave, I'll run away. But, I didn't mean to upset you. But I have one last thing to ask before I go. Have you seen gembounds reproduce differently and how? Why do children die if they are made differently than using magic? Please don't hurt me, I just..." The child trailed of as tears ran down her face. She was scared, but she needed to know. Gembounds have been in the dark of their past, where they came from, and everything else. They just roam around knowing themselves, and not knowing the story before them. It was as if the history and lore of these caves were secret to them. The child could not help her curiosity. She hoped the creature would not hurt her.

@Game Master CJ

Her hand hovered between the fletching of her arrows, feeling them for the different textures, different notches; these told her which kind of arrow she might be grabbing, based on the hardness of its stone. She could not see the stone on this child, so anything to pierce its heart would do; she did not want to waste her more precious arrows, such as those made from diamond.

But still, it continued to talk, it even began to cry and to shake. She found a generic arrow and pulled it free, resting her arms down again, nearly crossed, as one hand clenched her bow and the other knocked the arrow in the string.

"Fine, answer me this, then," came her voice, coarse and stern. "Do you like the magic?" It was still young, a cycle old at least, and then likely impressionable. Was it curious how to turn its back on this magic, or was it after something else?

Jupiter did not think she would come across any of the new kids with thoughts like her own or her partner's, but depending on the answer this child gave, she may be willing to indulge it.

@Xevir

It seemed that the creature was calming down. The tears were still on Xevir's face, but she listened to the creature's question. So she answered honestly to the creature, nothing but truth. "Well, yes, I do cause of all the fun stuff I can do with it. But if there is something wrong with the magic, something bad, then I would be willing to listen and engage in what you have to say." The young calf was shaking less, but nonetheless still shaking. She meant what she said by listening to what the creature had to say, and try to understand its anger. She stood still waiting to see what the creature would say or do next.

@Game Master CJ

Her eyes narrowed as she waited, listening to the child's answer with dwindling patience.

Wrong.

Fun stuff? Her bow lay steady but her hands clenched again. Seemingly, the child was willing to listen, but Jupiter was unsure whether or not she even wanted to explain what was wrong with the magic, with any of it.

"This magic you use, it... it's like a parasite," she decided to say, gauging the child for its response. "It's sucking the life out of this planet, draining it dry—and for what? So you can do fun stuff?" Saying it out loud made her tense, an immediate anger flaring up deep within her belly. If she didn't need the latent presence of her magic to keep her alive, Jupiter would have ripped her own stone out long ago.

"Do you still like it?" Jupiter growled. "Do you want to do fun stuff with your magic while billions of creatures and plants perish?" Her arm raised, aiming the arrow toward Xevir. "Unfortunately, the only way to stop it is to get rid of the cause, the source..."

The sharp sound of ice erupting from the ground startled Jupiter enough for her to let out a yelp at the exact moment she had loosed her arrow; a rising wall of ice separated her from Xevir, blocking her shot before falling back into the ground. Jupiter hissed, her eyes darting toward the waterfall where the bright aura of Tenzin eclipsed the lagoon; she could not see him clearly from where she was. Stomping forward, she picked up her arrow and turned her back on both Xevir and Tenzin. Of course he would save the child, but she did not think he had been listening. Ugh. Nuisances, all of them.

Exit Jupiter. Exit Tenzin.

@Xevir