[Silversky]

Siren....Equinox

Tunnels. Siren hated tunnels. The dark space enclosed on her everywhere, the rough rock scraped her fur, and her paw pads were grazed on the gritty pebbles.
I can’t believe I’m doing this.
I can’t believe I’m doing this with Equinox.
The Common Kuhna was right behind her, seemingly not bothered by the stone tunnel at all.
Probably because I’m moving all the pebbles out of his way.
Siren stopped so suddenly that Equinox bumped into her at full speed. (though full speed when crawling through a tunnel isn’t anything close to full speed outside a tunnel.)
Both Kuhnas went sprawling in the dust.
Siren closed her eyes, counted to ten, and opened them again. When she spoke, her voice betrayed none of her annoyance.
“Nox,” she said, “I have an idea. You’re much better at spotting things than I am, aren’t you? Why don’t you go in front? We’ll be able to spot a Hunter or Mekkayena much more easily that way.”
“Sure!” The other Kuhna eagerly brushed past her. Siren flicked her tails irritably. But as they set out, Siren had to admit this way was much easier. Equinox brushed most of the rough stones aside.
“Hey, Siren, I think I saw something!” said Equinox after a couple minutes.
Siren rolled her eyes. “It’s a rock, Nox.”
“Oh.”
They had been crawling for a while now, and the tunnel was getting smaller, much too small for a Hunter or a Mekka. Siren thought she could sense fresher air ahead though. But then there was a rumbling in the earth. Both Kuhnas were thrown off balance, and as stones rained down around them, Siren realized they were trapped.
“Help!” called Equinox, after the stones had settled, and he started scrabbling away at the pebbles.

[Silversky]

Siren froze in shock for a couple heartbeats, her fur bristling. The darkness closed in everywhere, so she could barely see Equinox. She hadn't realized it before, but there had been a glow from up ahead. She only knew now because it was so much darker with the end blocked.
The Hydrokuhna shook herself to try and get rid of her fear. She had to think logically about this. Equinox was still digging. If she helped it would go twice as fast.
But we might not get out at all anyway. And if we will, he'll get through perfectly fine by himself. It'll just take longer.
Siren smirked. What was the point of doing the work when they might get out anyway?
"Nox?" she called out into the darkness. "I- I think I twisted my paw. You're going to have to get us out on your own!"
"Don't worry," replied Equinox. "I'll get us out!" He started digging faster.
Siren smiled. That was easy. Now she just had to wait.

Equinox felt overwhelmed by fear. He had to get out, he just had to! The Kuhna kept scraping at the stones, even though it hurt his paw pads. And now he had even more to fight for. Poor Siren. He'd get them both out, and then she'd be safe, and he'd be the hero.
It was hard, now, to keep going without any light. There had been a glow up ahead before, and he guessed that this tunnel opened into a larger room up ahead.
"Hello?" he called, just in case anyone was out there to hear him. "Anyone? Can you help us?"
He repeated the message in Human, just in case. Someone would come. And even if they didn't, he'd get them out anyway.

[Silversky]

Siren lay in the darkness, thinking. It irked her, that Equinox could speak human when she could not.
It's not fair. I'm smarter, I deserve it.
Her fur bristled; she made herself relax. Siren knew that being upset wouldn’t help anything. She could tell that Nox was getting tired. He was determined, though, and Siren heard a dull thud as something slid out of the block onto the tunnel floor. The wall shifted, and the Hydrokuhna thought she could see a dull glow emerging from cracks in the shifting pebbles. Siren got to her paws, her fur brushing the rocks.

Equinox kept digging. Dust coated his fur, but he could tell that he was almost through the debris. He shoved one of the larger pieces out of the way, and spotted a glimmer of light through the cracks. Excited, he pushed his paws forward and tumbled headfirst through a shower of pebbles, into the end of the tunnel.
oof. Where am I?
Scrambling to his paws, he dislodged a few more pebbles that clattered onto the tunnel floor. A side passage had opened in the tremor, and he slipped through it. I much brighter light shone through the passage, and he followed it. Getting more excited, he charged forward as the passage opened to allow him space to run. Suddenly he gave a yowl of surprise as the floor abruptly ended, and Nox fell to the stone floor a few feet below him.

Siren covered her head with her paws as the barrier caved in. Dust covered her fur, but she didn't mind for a change. They were free! Stepping lightly to avoid the pebbles, she clambered away and peered through a side passage. Nox's scent went this way; he must have gone on ahead. He could have waited.
Exhasperated, she followed.

[Rabid]

Joy had been simply minding her own business back home when that stupid punk had barged into her room. She'd grabbed the innocent kuhna and tossed her out, telling her to go and find a hunter. Or a mekkayena; the girl really didn't care, apparently. That was the downside of being able to handle this cold; she'd get tossed out here for jobs in the cold. And it probably didn't help that she was larger than was common, seeing as that might give her extra strength or something. Anywho, we digress. Joy had begrudgingly headed off to Basantha because, really, what choice did she have? What, with the stupid ribbon-collar-thing around her neck, she couldn't disobey - unless she wanted to get electrocuted, anyway. Joy was no fool - or masochist - so often chose to listen to her probably-crazy mistress.

Well here she was, in a strange room with strange noises. The environment made her high-strung and paranoid, causing her to glance at the locations of any sounds. She could've sworn she heard talking, but couldn't be sure. She let out a loud yowl as she heard a rumbling, and the sound of stuff falling. She'd high-tailed it outta there and into the next room, where she'd taken a nice long breather. Well, it wasn't very long, since something patriotic fell out of the ceiling. She let out a yelp and sprung back a few paces, fur bristling and tails stiff. As what little unsettled dirt cleared, she calmed considerably; it was just a kuhna, nothing to worry about. She'd probably be able to scare it off if need be. At least, that's what she told herself. Better to be an ignorant fool than a paranoid wimp, one might suppose.

[Silversky]

Equinox groggily picked himself up off the ground, testing himself to see if he had broken anything.
He felt okay. Just winded.
Looking up, he spotted a big brown shape in the middle of the room.
Huh?
As Nox's vision swam into focus, he realized it was a kuhna. A big, ferocious, larger-than-average kuhna.
uh-oh.
He hadn't seen many of them before. What were they called again? Oh yeah, Lykuhnas. They were one of those new species. He blinked. "Hello?" he called out tentitavly.

Siren followed the glow in the side-passage, and wasn't concentrating on where she put her feet. As such, she almost fell right on top of Equinox. But she looked down at the last second, and skidded to a halt, showering pebbles onto Nox's head.

Equinox looked up in annoyance. Shaking to dislodge the dust and rocks, he glanced up. He couldn't see anyone, though, so he turned back to the Lykuhna. For the first time he began to wonder where Siren was. Well, even if he wanted to, he couldn't go back now. There was no way he was getting through that hole again.

[Kiarianuu]

Mahogani was being his normal self; lurking through shadows and dark places. He was in a small hole, just the right size for him, when he heard a loud thud outside. He poked his head out and looked around. When did that Khuna get here?
He stepped out silently and walked around to get a better view. Wonder why he's here?
Mahogani shrugged and stepped back to avoid being seen; and better yet stepped on. He walked back over to his hole and slithered in. He curled up to go to sleep. His tail was hanging out, bad mistake.

[Rabid]

Joy, thoroughly unjoyful from her experiences at Basantha thus far, decided to mess with the kuhna a tad. She just needed a little pick-me-up; nothing personal, really. Really.

Who dares to tread in my domain? She roared, baring her fangs in what she believed was a menacing manner. Knowing Joy, her belief here would probably be on the right side of the coin. She let out another small roar, just for good measure. She chuckled mentally at her prediction of the look on the kuhna's face, completely unaware of the ferrikoon slinking about. This should be fun! Her mind sing-songed, before she froze in her menacing pose. Was there something up above the other kuhna? Oh dear, that could be something much worse than Joy. That would be very, very bad.

[Kiarianuu]

Mahogani quickly tucked his tail away. That was close.
He watched Joy as she scared the 'tresspassing' kuhna. This should be just great... Mahogani was never a big fan of fights, but one good fight never hurt anyone.
Mahogani looked up again. Something was up there, but what. Something is up there, I'm sure of it. But the questions is, what is it. He stood up and crawled out of his hole and made his way around Joy and the other kuhna. If I get just right....

[Silversky]

Equinox did his best not to run away in fear. He half-succeded.
Instead, he toppled over backwards. Unknowingly, into the path of Mahogani.
Nox knew he was no match for this lykuhna, and he had no idea what he would do if it decided to attack him. He tried to scramble to his feet, but ended up silmply stutterring, "I- I'm not- I mean, I didn't know-"

Siren had to try hard to keep herself from laughing and giving herself away. It was clear to an expert eye that the lykuhna was simply trying to intimidate Nox. Equinox looked so silly down there, with his paws and his tails all tangled.
I might as well put on a show of my own, thought the hydrokuhna.
Taking a deep breath, she growled, the sound echoing and amplifying itself in the tunnel.

[Kiarianuu]

Mahogani moved out of the way just in time. Stupid kuhna. If I were bigger... He looked up and saw the hydrokuhna. That's who was up there.
He dashed back to his hole. Mahogani watched the lykuhna and common kuhna. It was clear that Joy was just trying to scare him, not fight, but who knows, Mahogani could've been wrong.

[Rabid]

Joy loosened up a tad as the kuhna freaked out, allowing herself a small chuckle. Not a dark one of course; she wasn't naturally dark, as was apparently believed to be the norm for lykuhna. She flashed him a grin and headed closer to him in hopes of allowing him to see that she was friendly, not threatening. She was about to introduce herself, but froze. A menacing growl echoed from... Well, somewhere, and it was just a tad unsettling. Then she heard something moving. Hold up! She nearly slapped herself. She was Joy, the fearless! No little growl was going to scare her off!

Hey, you! She called to the room. She looked around, but didn't actually see anything. She puffed out her fur, taking on a pose similar to that of a lion protecting his territory from a rival. Of course, she wasn't male, but who needs details?

Show yourself, if you dare! I am Joy, fearless protector of... Well shoot. Way to ruin an awesome speech. It even echoed man! Erm... Defender of... Stuff! Yup. She'd killed it. Well, at least they knew she wasn't afraid...

[Kiarianuu]

Mahogani listened intently. He was dying to say 'It's just a hydrokuhna!' but he bit his lip and didn't.
I suppose it's best if they find out on they're own...
No, I have to tell them, but who would listen to a little Ferrikoon that know one notices right under their feet.
Mahhogani debated this with himself for several minutes, unaware of what was going on around him.

[Silversky]

Equinox relaxed slighty as the lykuhna dropped some of her ferocious demeanor. Slightly.
He managed to get to his feet as she approached, and waited anxiously to see what she would do next. Then the Common Kuhna looked up, startled, as a fierce growling echoed throughout the cavern. Frightened, his fur bristled and he crouched low to the ground. What was that? What if it was something dangerous? Nox had come for adventure, but this was starting to be more adventure than he wanted.
What if Siren was up there somewhere, trapped by the growling creature?
As the lykuhna stood to make her speech, Nox was impressed. It sounded fierce and fearless. Well, at least at first. It kind of ran out of impressiveness at the end.

Siren, once again, had to keep herself from laughing after the lykuhna made her speech.
You kind of killed it at the end there, she thought.
She hadn't really meant to make Equinox scared too, but it didn't really matter to her. She stopped growling and hissed into the darkness,
"It is I, the monster of Basantha Shrine!"
Now this was fun.
The hydrokuhna never saw the ferrikoon sneaking about the caves below her.

[Kiarianuu]

Mahogani jumped at the sudden hiss."What the-" he cut off.
Just the hydrokuhna, again.
He slipped out once again, without being seen, and crawled into a higher hole to get a better veiw. When he got into the hole, he figured out there was no end to it. It was just a small tunnel all the way for who-knows-how-far. Mahogani couldn't tell, but all he saw was darkness. "I wonder...."

[Rabid]

Joy made sure not to jump at the sudden hiss - not too difficult, since she was the only one truly affected by her speech - and looked around. Surely the beast was hiding somewhere nearby. Her ears swiveled at the sound of whispers. Now where were they coming from?

There? She whispered, turning to look in the direction of the sound. She padded silently over to the wall, where she saw a hole high up on the wall. She smelled something not quite unfamiliar, but still new. She jumped onto her hindlegs, placing her front paws on the wall. Her head tilted up as she attempted to check the opening. Nothing! With a frustrated growl, she backed up a fair amount and charged the wall, leaping at the last second. She managed to squeeze her front half into it, with her rear paws pressing against the wall to prevent her from crushing her innards on the rim of the opening.

Well, this is just great. She grumbled. She could barely see anything out in the little cave behind her, let alone in this tunnel. It really didn't help that she was blocking the only source of light. However, the smell was much stronger here. Ferrikoon? That's what her instincts said, so she listened.

Some monster this is, She scoffed. It's probably smaller than me! Unfortunately for the trapped kuhna, the "monster" that she sook was in the ceiling, not the wall.

"Sook" is the past-tense form of "seek", right? o-O My computer corrected it, but I didn't see anything else that'd work. :/