Himmel

Something drew him through Polaris and towards one of the many doors leading away from the heart of the cave. He could not fathom what it was that drew him along, only that the chill inherent to the dark areas bothered him and the almost sombre glow of the resident flora did not intrigue him any longer. There was nothing left for him to investigate at this point. Perhaps it was boredom, then, which drew his attention to the nearby corridor.

A few strides took him across the crux of the path connecting Polaris with this new place; he noticed the spires of crystal flanking the entryway like rows of stony teeth and paused to sniff at one of them, only to move on a moment later. Himmel walked on, his head slung low as he inspected the surface of the ground with a few probes of his soft nose, snorting softly as he investigated with sniffs. It wasn't until he caught sight of something moving adjacent to his position that he froze and lifted his head.

The boy moved quickly and tried not to take his eyes off of the shape. He did not know what it was at first - only that it matched his movements exactly. It was around his size, with a red-brown tone to its body, and a sharp profile. The thing had big ears that stood alert atop its head and -- as Himmel caught the creature eye-to-eye, he suddenly recognized what he was looking at. It was merely his own reflection.

For some reason he could not look away.

The tunnel seemed relatively empty, bar a thousand reflections of Himmel himself. That said, a quiet shuffle above might alert him to a few Lessers, here: a small colony of Crystalwings on a gemstone high, high above.

These crystalline-looking bats were not dangerous, and were pleasant to look upon, matching the tunnel quite well--and apparently they'd deemed Himmel not dangerous, either, because they were returning to freely shuffling back into their sleeping positions from having been startled. These positions looked rather gargoyle-esque, wholly still and staring out (closed-eyed) at nothing.

@Himmel

Himmel

He didn't care much for the shuffling overhead; the sound carried down the corridor and seemed to bounce off of facets of the walls, so even if he had been interested he wouldn't have known where to look. He was fixated upon the shape of himself. At first he thought it was odd that the could see himself at all; but he'd seen his reflection before in the ponds, and it stood to reason that other surfaces might hold the same capability. It took a few moments before Himmel realized it wasn't just one reflection - there were many, a cascading blur of red spreading throughout the cave with the strongest clarity being right in front of him.

The boy tapped the wall with a hoof and heard the reverberating echo of the sound tapping down the corridor. He shook his head and watched as many multifaceted versions of his head moved in the glassy surface; then he pretended to rear up and kick his forelimbs, watching as they all did the same. As Himmel flailed and landed again he looked down one side of the corridor then the other, then up, to where he finally spotted something moving.

It was hard to differentiate the little glassy creatures from the rest; but he noticed the lack of a red gleam first, as the ceiling was arching away from him and didn't catch his reflection as strongly. A piece of the shard-like rock moved and he was startled; he sniffed the air and then, wanting to appear a little bit more intimidating in case there was something lurking up there, drew some of his magic from his stone. As he stared up at the bats his eyes began to cast a baleful glow - a shimmering which echoed through the walls by his many reflected faces.

Simple glowing eyes weren't generally frightening to the bats; but the intensity of it lit the reflective crystals in a flaming light, and instinct struck first one, then the rest. There was a nervous shifting--was this fire?--and then the first took flight, winging away just in case, and the rest followed suit.

Himmel was left in the tunnel alone.

@Himmel

Himmel

The creatures shifted together; a murmuration sparked by his display, which was more effective than he'd meant for it to be. Himmel was too young to have full control over his abilities. He didn't feel bad when the crystalwing creatures scattered from his sight though - he felt powerful, a flare of brief superiority washing over him. It was a tiny moment but it meant the world to him. He liked that feeling.

However their departure left him alone. He had his reflection as company - and even though there were many iterations of himself to look at, it wasn't the same as having another friendly face beside him. Someone to talk to or plot with. As his spell faded and the orange glow melted out of the mirror-shard walls he clenched his teeth, looked around at his scattered reflection, and carried on.

Exit.