Sera
and
Ares
A red glow moved along the cave walls, sinking smoothly into the lightly carved runes and causing them to appear suddenly from the near-darkness of the cave. It was as if by magic, though at least one of the Cavern's current visitors would've dismissed the notion of magic in general as something rather amusing. Ares, the source of the almost sinister red glow, surveyed the near-darkness as it disappeared in front of him with each lanky step. It was almost as if- and Ares enjoyed entertaining this thought- that it was crawling away from him. Of course, that was not true. The point was that strolling through a huge labyrinth of runes and tunnels and more tunnels was not the most delightful thing he could be using to occupy his time. However, it was not as if he wasn't excited about what he might find in here. In fact, he was absolutely delighted about the prospect of finding some sort of Akail. Ares had, in all actuality, been reciting what exactly he would say to the critter in his mind. He had already decided that if it was a Common Akail, saying 'hm, a rather bland variant, but still appealing' would not go over well with the reptile in question.
He had done a bit of research preceding his and Sera's little venture to Craiss and had learned a bit about the intricacies of both the location and the species in particular that he was looking for. Ares knew what both of the current known variants looked like, though not much about their inner anatomy. He wasn't too intent on dissecting one, though, because they were very interesting specimens what with their fluorescent lighting and multiple eyes. Ares would enjoy finding out more about what he hoped would be his new reptillian... 'friend.' And he would promise to it that he wouldn't do any messing with its genetics.
Ares had also been keeping track of their route in his mind, because he simply would not tolerate admitting to anyone that he was lost. That would be a problem, and he had no room for problems. Knowledge was the best defense, after all.
Sera was not anticipating this Akail Hunt's finish as much as her brother was. He hadn't talked to her much, which she didn't care about, but the darkness and the silence were equal parts unnerving. She had never liked the dark, and the crimson aura that illuminated the dank air was not much of a comfort to her. While Ares's mind was on the spoils of their 'hunt', Sera was mostly inquiring to herself whether there were any other creatures down here or what the Akail would do to them once it found them. She knew that her sibling had already assessed the results of some such conflict and that he was gifted enough with getting people to trust him (at least momentarily), but what if she got separated from him? Would he care? She knew she'd be terrified. And then what if an Akail came out? She instinctually moved just a little closer to Ares, and his blank white stare flicked over to her inquiringly before a smirk spread over his slender muzzle. A few sharp white teeth appeared from his mostly ink-colored face.
"Are you afraid of something, Sera? Nothing's going to come out and devour either of us, I can assure you. I would think you'd be a little big for one of them to tackle alone. Besides, I intend for this to be a rather peaceful confrontation."
He paused, turning his gaze back to the winding corridor that trailed before him.
"I would think you would stop being afraid of the dark by now."
Ares put a little bit of emphasis on 'dark', but his voice was not mocking. It was, rather, simply stated factually and perhaps a little wistfully at the last sentence. It didn't seem to matter to him what Sera had fear of, anyway. Sera thought of something to say for a brief moment. Ares clearly thought this meeting would go all his way, or at least he thought the probability was that he would meet an average Akail that he could smoothtalk into coming with him. That was what it seemed like, anyway. She wanted to tell him that she was not afraid of the dark. She was just afraid of what could be in it.
However, she did not say anything.
Neither of them said anything.
They simply kept walking, and no speech was exchanged between the two for a short while. Even then, it wasn't really directed at his sister. The Cursed Yonyuu had halted abruptly to peer at the runes on the walls. He had stopped so abruptly that Sera kept walking for only a few steps before she realized that the vermilion light that her brother set off was dwindling the farther onward she moved. The Chaos Yonyuu turned around to face him.
"Intriguing display, here." Ares's voice was quiet, and he was mostly talking to himself. He scrutinized the runes closely and attempted to decipher them. Ares knew a bit of the ancient language that had been written here and was fluent enough to decode the message- it was necessary for any ventures in here, he figured- but it might take him a few minutes. It was, after all, quite a bit of text.
"Yes," Sera said simply, agreeing quietly. Only for a moment did she look at the runes, and then her crimson eyes flicked over to the suffocating darkness that surrounded them. Couldn't he have picked a pet to observe that had less of an affinity for dark, unpleasant places? But no, her brother was often the adventurous one, and the notion of going out to catch a bunch of Mr. Wilson was not something he would stoop down to. In terms of 'adventurous', it simply meant that Ares was not interested in species that he had already learned his fill about.
Besides, those things like Lucain and Slynx and Kuhna were so boring compared to what could be found if you simply looked hard enough.
He had done a bit of research preceding his and Sera's little venture to Craiss and had learned a bit about the intricacies of both the location and the species in particular that he was looking for. Ares knew what both of the current known variants looked like, though not much about their inner anatomy. He wasn't too intent on dissecting one, though, because they were very interesting specimens what with their fluorescent lighting and multiple eyes. Ares would enjoy finding out more about what he hoped would be his new reptillian... 'friend.' And he would promise to it that he wouldn't do any messing with its genetics.
Ares had also been keeping track of their route in his mind, because he simply would not tolerate admitting to anyone that he was lost. That would be a problem, and he had no room for problems. Knowledge was the best defense, after all.
Sera was not anticipating this Akail Hunt's finish as much as her brother was. He hadn't talked to her much, which she didn't care about, but the darkness and the silence were equal parts unnerving. She had never liked the dark, and the crimson aura that illuminated the dank air was not much of a comfort to her. While Ares's mind was on the spoils of their 'hunt', Sera was mostly inquiring to herself whether there were any other creatures down here or what the Akail would do to them once it found them. She knew that her sibling had already assessed the results of some such conflict and that he was gifted enough with getting people to trust him (at least momentarily), but what if she got separated from him? Would he care? She knew she'd be terrified. And then what if an Akail came out? She instinctually moved just a little closer to Ares, and his blank white stare flicked over to her inquiringly before a smirk spread over his slender muzzle. A few sharp white teeth appeared from his mostly ink-colored face.
"Are you afraid of something, Sera? Nothing's going to come out and devour either of us, I can assure you. I would think you'd be a little big for one of them to tackle alone. Besides, I intend for this to be a rather peaceful confrontation."
He paused, turning his gaze back to the winding corridor that trailed before him.
"I would think you would stop being afraid of the dark by now."
Ares put a little bit of emphasis on 'dark', but his voice was not mocking. It was, rather, simply stated factually and perhaps a little wistfully at the last sentence. It didn't seem to matter to him what Sera had fear of, anyway. Sera thought of something to say for a brief moment. Ares clearly thought this meeting would go all his way, or at least he thought the probability was that he would meet an average Akail that he could smoothtalk into coming with him. That was what it seemed like, anyway. She wanted to tell him that she was not afraid of the dark. She was just afraid of what could be in it.
However, she did not say anything.
Neither of them said anything.
They simply kept walking, and no speech was exchanged between the two for a short while. Even then, it wasn't really directed at his sister. The Cursed Yonyuu had halted abruptly to peer at the runes on the walls. He had stopped so abruptly that Sera kept walking for only a few steps before she realized that the vermilion light that her brother set off was dwindling the farther onward she moved. The Chaos Yonyuu turned around to face him.
"Intriguing display, here." Ares's voice was quiet, and he was mostly talking to himself. He scrutinized the runes closely and attempted to decipher them. Ares knew a bit of the ancient language that had been written here and was fluent enough to decode the message- it was necessary for any ventures in here, he figured- but it might take him a few minutes. It was, after all, quite a bit of text.
"Yes," Sera said simply, agreeing quietly. Only for a moment did she look at the runes, and then her crimson eyes flicked over to the suffocating darkness that surrounded them. Couldn't he have picked a pet to observe that had less of an affinity for dark, unpleasant places? But no, her brother was often the adventurous one, and the notion of going out to catch a bunch of Mr. Wilson was not something he would stoop down to. In terms of 'adventurous', it simply meant that Ares was not interested in species that he had already learned his fill about.
Besides, those things like Lucain and Slynx and Kuhna were so boring compared to what could be found if you simply looked hard enough.