[Freezair]

Krii~~~~~Avani~~~~~Skycutter

Fluffy

Yep. We were lost again.

How did I manage to find my way to the Purine base camp in the first place? If I could get there, you'd think--but of course, I'd gotten there from Basantha Shrine, not home. Now I couldn't find my way from there to home. Not that I was so sure that I wanted to get home. I dreaded seeing my mother face-to-face again. She was the one who got us into this mess. But Fluffy, I reminded myself, didn't belong to me. And even if I wasn't so sure that place was my home anymore, it was still his. Of course, he was too heavy for Sky to carry, so the going was slower than usual, and we were flying close to the ground for his sake. And without being able to go up high--couldn't loose Fluffy, after all--we were lost as lost got.

Now the sun was setting, and the endless loop of jungle hadn't changed in hours. Time to go down for the night.

The thing of it was. The Purine commanders had apparently decided that we, the Dashall team, were the dang-blasted best Pathfinders ever, so they gave us a weird little egg to take home with us. As eggs are wont to do, this one hatched--into what, I don't know. But now it was mewling and crying itself sick, and it probably needed food and water. Yet another reason to land.

"Take us down, Sky," I sighed defeatedly. To the ground, I said, "Fluffy! Look out, we're coming down."

"I see you," the Khalmar replied.

Sky twisted her head and brought us down, gracefully through the canopy. We alighted on the ground outside of a cave entrance.

"Oh, how nice,"* Sky observed. "Shelter."

"And probably something that's going to try and eat us," Krii quipped. "Probably bears."

"In the jungle?" Fluffy wondered. "According to my databases..."

"Never mind," Krii said. "C'mon. Let's go in and set up camp."

"Gweeeee," said the creature. It squirmed in my arms and against Sky's neck. Sky doesn't have much of a face, but I felt her tense and knew she was uncomfortable. Those little claws must have been fairly sharp.

*Note to humans: Skycutter doesn't speak Human, so most humans won't be able to understand her. Jimmy can, but she can understand all Temple creatures, regardless of what language they speak, due to an... ah... accident she had with telepathy during the war.  

[330, 1]

[Fallen_Snow]

[center]
Lady Sho'ni, Orgen(Or-jin)[center]

Ah, a pretty place to go to grieve for a beautiful soul. Hearing earlier about Shi'hana's death, Snowy decided to take her newly obtained Purine Gyrraptor and her newly found "baby", a Black Baal Dragony. What had posessed her to let the little annoyance come along was far beyond her comprehension. She sat in the saddle of the Gyrraptor, holding the wriggly mess. He was trying to get at her fingers, but Snowy had reluctantly decided to keep them. Go figure.

Anyways, she wasn't exactly sure she was here either. She had thought that it'd be nice to bring the Gyrraptor here to grieve for her mother, but that seemed distant from her mind now as they neared the caves. Suddenly Orgen just kinda slipped out of her hands like a soap bar out of a soaked hand, and was on the move, curling up into a ball to soften his impact, and when safe to unroll, running beside Lady Sho'ni, chirruping and snuffling. He sounded like a mix between a Sahound and a Gyrraptor. Snowy frowned, and was about to get off when she was instead thrown off as Sho'ni stopped dead to pick up Orgen.

Snowy kept tumbling, and suddenly buped into a cold hard thing. Snowy gave a little squeak and got up quickly and saw that what she'd bumped into was a Khalmar. "Whoops..."

[1]

[Ander]

El, Aether, and Cidrelo

"Now do you see the folly of the War you wanted to join?"

The high voice of a small creature carried through the air, clearly upbraiding some unfortunate. The voice belonged to a Rattengan, her pale Hollow flames standing out sharply against the dark shoulder of the Nyghtmare she rode. The Rattengan's beady eyes shone with fire, dimmed only slightly by sadness. Her tail lashed against the Nyghtmare's shoulder. "How did you feel when Discord brought us the word of the War's ending? And of that dear Gyrraptor... Shi'hana..." Ah, the source of the small pet's sadness. The fire behind her eyes dimmed further, and it was clear that some stubborn resolve kept her from tears.

After a moment, the oddly stately Nyghtmare nodded her response to the Rattengan's grief. But her eyes were cool, and glittered like garnets. "I know that her sacrifice was great, El," the Nyghtmare murmured in a velvet voice, that resounded through the Rattengan's thoughts. "But who knows? Myself, my brother, Myra, even Cidrelo-" she nodded quickly upwards, to the place in the sky where an Imperial Hollowheart winged - "could have made some difference. And now we will not know." Those bright red eyes narrowed and gleamed. "We of Discord's kin could have shown the Imperials a battle."

El glared at Aether, the Nyghtmare, and shifted so that her claws sank into her transport's shoulder. This drew nothing but a smirk from Aether. "Must you be so bloodthirsty? We're here to pay our respects!"

Aether rolled one eye, glaring back. "You're here to pay your respects. I'm only here because Discord can't be. She will see this by sharing my thoughts. No emotion necessary." As El scoffed, Aether narrowed her eyes at something... She tilted her head. The sharp scent of poison.

At the same time, the Hollowheart called down to them. "Oi! There's other pets over here! Maybe they can help us find our way, eh?" Though his two "sisters" wouldn't admit it, he knew they were well and lost.

[Freezair]

"Hmm?"

I heard a hollow, metallic thud. Fluffy's voice buzzed mechanically.

"What is it, Fluff?"

The Khalmar's tentacles clattered as he spun. He looked out at--something. I slid off Sky's back and went to check. I caught the clack of small claws on stone--Krii following.

"Well, hello there," Fluffy said. His tall cap obscured a someone-or-other. There were other people here? Well, maybe we weren't so lost after all.

Or maybe we were, and this was where lost people came before they vanished forever. Eyyuch. Don't think that way.

"I hear more people coming," Sky said.

"Seems we found a hoppin' joint," Krii quipped.

I pushed Fluffy's tentacles aside to see. I had a vague feeling of deja vu, seeing the person on the other side, but I couldn't put my finger on where we knew each other.

"Hi," I said to her. "Have we met? You look familiar."

"Oi! More visitors, ten o'clock," Krii said. Without waiting to hear my response, he ran over to the one he thought was their leader--a Nytemare, from the looks of it--and immediately began interrogating them. Bless him, he started politely--"Hi, I'm Krii Dashall; me and my friends are kind of lost. You know the way out of here? We're cold. Our thing is hungry. Can you help us?"

And speaking of "the thing." I turned around to check on it. It seemed to have spotted a moth, and was watching it with its large, purple eyes. It wiggled its stumpy tail and made a small leap for the insect. It missed.

[331, 2]

[Fallen_Snow]

Snowy watched as Fluffy moved his tentacle and revealed her face to a familar one she had also seen before. "Um... it was Jimmy, right? I'm Snowy. Hi again! I think I saw you when we were at... uhm, I know it was somewhere in Lambastia..." she said, smiling and brushing the dirt off her clothes. Behind her came Lady Sho'ni and Orgen. "Awwwh, what a cute little- is that a dragon?" she asked, staring at the little green monster. "Lookit you, you're so cute!" she said, getting close to it and giving it a little pat.

Meanwhile, Orgen, who Snowy thought to be less dangerous in Sho'ni's arms, decided that it was boring there and scrabbled out, trotting towards Krii. "Guffwaw!" said the Dragony, sniffing at Krii's claws. He spotted one that looked mighty tasty, and was about to chomp down on the yummy morsel when Sho'ni picked him up again, scolding him lightly. "Sorry." she said to the pets in their own language. It took too much to speak human. "He likes to nibble. I'm Sho'ni, and this is Orgen. Pleased to meet you two. Or three..." she said, giving a small glance to the dragon, uhm, thing.

[Freezair]

"Yeah, I think so. Nice to see you again." I offered my hand for a shake.

I looked back at The Creature. "I dunno, you tell me! It was a gift from the Purine big kahuna. We think it's some kind of dragon, but it doesn't look like a Hollowheart or a Battleheart, and I can't name any other kinds of true dragons off the top of my head."

"Niiiice lizard thiny," I heard Krii said. He skittered backward from a small, black creature with an odd, aura-like body.

"It's beginning to look like rain," Fluffy sighed, looking up at the sky. I followed with my own gaze. It was partially cloudy, but I couldn't--ah, but I suppose a sophisiticated 'bot like Fluffy would have some kind of weather-detecting... whathaveyou.

"Let's go inside then," Sky said. For the benefit of the humans, she swung her wings toward the cave entrance. "It looks like there's enough room for all of us down there."

[332, 3]

[Fallen_Snow]

Snowy shook the welcoming girl's hand. "I figured I knew you from somewhere..."

Orgen chirruped at this praise from the odd scuffling creature. It fascinated him though, so he followed after, trying to pounce on Krii's twistingly fun tail.

Snowy could only partly understand Sky. She heard "go inside... looks like... of us down there." and saw the swinging motion of her wings and assumed she wanted for them to go inside the cavern. "Well, alright." She made a clacking noise with her tongue, and Lady Sho'ni followed after. Orgen just kept at his hunt for Rengosett tail.

[Ander]

Blinking, Aether lifted her head slightly as the long-tailed pet - Krii, had he said his name was? - addressed her. Her eyes shimmered with an odd mix of indignation, amusement and slight confusion, but she didn't get the chance to voice any of it. El spoke long before she could form the words. The Rattengan slowly picked her way forward on the Nyghtmare's shoulder - she had to be careful. Chances were fairly high that Aether would flick her off entirely for no reason at all.

"I'm afraid that we don't know where we are, not any more than you do." El offered, her tone brisk and slightly clipped in annoyance. She should know where they were. Her lifemate, her dear Reep, had been this way before, and even if he hadn't... She was a Vanguard, by Zu'hai! How would she ever protect the Terminal if she couldn't protect one malignant Nyghtmare and a capricious Hollowheart? "We were actually looking for a place to stay, as we aren't likely to make it to the resting place of Shi'hana tonight." El shot a pointed glance at Aether as she said this, but the ghastly mare avoided her gaze. Some navigator she made. Huh!

Cidrelo took his companions' frosty silence to land, casting an eye over his shoulder at the pair. He shook his head in mock-reproach. "Shaaaame on you two," quipped the light-hearted Imperial with a grin, "bickering between each other when we're guests." The Hollowheart spread a wing toward the Temple Garudor. "We have a place to stay, see? We've all made campin' buddies!"

El took Cidrelo's light manner in the same way that she usually did: with hooded, flat eyes and stalwart skepticism. She had heard Sky's words, and was a bit dubious about the concept. "Do you think that 'all of us' actually includes us?"

But Cidrelo had caught sight of The Creature, and was already following it curiously toward the cave. "There's only one way to find out!" His reply drifted back to El and Aether, who could do nothing but follow in his tracks.

((*I should probably mention that Aether usually uses Thought-speech to... well, speak. So humans should be able to understand her as well. Would that be better illustrated in italics?))

[Freezair]

((Maybe. It would help me pick out when Aether is speaking in particular.))

I jumped. I felt something tighten and twinge behind my eyebrows.

Blasted telekinesis, I said, feeling an odd haze of words appear inside my mind. Someone was using the stuff. I hate it. Ever since Logic futzed around with my brain, I've never felt right around psychics.

"Um... yeah," I said to the group beginning to form. "Let's all head in. Don't want it to rain on us. Yeah..."

My companions gave me a few weird looks. No matter. I passed them at and headed for the cave.

Krii, eager to get away from the Baal Dragony, skittered in after me. Sky stood and watched. I guess she was playing "mother hen" and trying to make sure everyone got safely inside. If nothing else, the huge mass of us would generate enough body heat to keep us all from getting hypothermia. Fluffy especially--even with his fans whirring overtime, his circuits always got hot.

And speaking of. He seemed to be a little hesitant about coming inside. Sky was watching the newcomers, so I suppose she had an excuse, but the erstwhile Khalmar was mostly just staring blankly.

Krii noticed too. "Yo! Fluffmeister! You comin' or what?"

"As I get closer, I begin to see... that cave... It isn't what it appears, I don't think." As if she were some kind of warning light, the one-eared form of Little One briefly phased into existance beside him.

"Whaddiya mean? How can you tell, anyway?"

"Aftersight..." Fluffy crept closer. He passed through the cave entrance. "Something here... long ago... Big... Very big..."

"Mrow," a voice said. I turned suddenly, expecting some horrible creature.

No. The Creature, but not a creature. She didn't seem to like the dark.

"Come here," I sighed, and scooped her up in my arms.

[333 (83), 4]

[Ander]

Her hooves didn't touch the earth as Aether stepped slowly to Fluffy's side. She exhaled forcefully, her breath whoofing vigorous out of her nostrils, taking on the paleness of steam. For a moment, she appeared to have the skulls of pets dancing in her mane and tail, and lingering with foreboding on her expelled breath. Even El seemed spooked silent.

But the moment passed, and the faint, hard sound of the mare's footfall was soon audible as she stepped deeper into the cave. She walked slowly, though - leaving her plenty of time to turn and fix one crimson eye on the Khalmar. "I see what you mean," she said simply, and turned away.

Behind her, Cidrelo crouched just inside the cave, still tilting his head curiously at The Creature. He seemed even more amazed as it was swept into Jimmy's arms - had he ever been that small? Certainly he was a Hollowheart, and thus draconic - and this creature certainly seemed draconic - but it didn't look like any Hollowheart he had ever seen! It didn't make his scales click the way a Battleheart did, either. "Does she have a name?" Cidrelo asked, afraid to get any closer lest he anger The Creature's holder.

((EDIT: Better?))

[Fallen_Snow]

Orgen protested as Sho'ni's feathers limbs closed around him, but Sho'ni breathed on him, her breath havinga calming effect, and he quieted. Snowy kept close to Jimmy- she was still a bit frightened by the mechanic creature who was apparently called Fluffy. Fluffy indeed!

Sho'ni's claws clicked against a few rocks as she shuffled into the cave, trying to keep Orgen's pesky beak well away from the others. "I am truly sorry about Orgen, little Rengosett." she said to Krii. "He enjoys your lavish tail. I'm sorry if he's caused you any harm."

Snowy looked at Sho'ni, who was rocking the relaxed Orgen in her open arms. Quickly pulling some kind of loop out of her pocket, she slipped it over Orgen's beak and head, fitting as a bridle does a horse, but instead of leaving room for the horse's mouth to open up, Orgen's was completely sealed. She made sure it was tight, then let her Gyrraptor continue. "Sorry, he does have a bit of the poisonous bite, and it doesn't really help that he enjoys biting things. Don't worry if he's gotten poison on you though, we've managed to water down, and will only make you itch and puff a bit at the bite point. Just think of it as a bug bite."

[4]

[Freezair]

((Yar.))

Krii's already-pale face went stark white. His tail flicked in front of his face, and he put his paws around it. "My tail," he said sadly. I put my hand to my forehead, feeling another telekinetic twinge. Ow.

"I hate caves," Sky lamented. "I hate walking. At least it's not muddy, but..."

"I know, girl," I said reassuringly. I felt The Creature squirm. She didn't like it either.

And speaking of. A name? "Erm... Well, honestly, no," I said. "She, um... Well, gee. I guess she does need one. Um..."

"Avani," a misty female voice said.

"Huh?"

"She is of the Earth and Forest. Her name is Avani," she said. I just vaguely identified the voice as belonging to Little One, though I still haven't heard her speak much.

"Um... OK. Thanks then, Little One," I said to the spirit. I hope she heard me.

Fluffy seemed off in his own little world. The lights of his eyes were tiny--they always got like that when he was sad or pensive--and he had one of his big, flat tentacles along the wall, feeling about for... something.

[334, 5]

[Ander]

El and Aether seemed to be having a conversation all their own - or at the very least, El was berating Aether again. The pair could be seen walking along a sloping wall of the cave, El's firm tone mingling with Aether's low tenor. The mane and tail of the Nyghtmare gave off an soft, strangely dark mist-like glow; if one squinted, they might catch the odd, blurry white light fading in and out.

Cidrelo was paying little attention to either of them. Wings and tail drawn close - he didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable - the Hollowheart had drawn closer to Imogene and Avani. He reached a silvery neck out to the little dragon, sniffing at her tentatively. "She's so small!" He exclaimed. The Hollowheart hadn't spent much time around younger creatures at all. He was equally intrigued by the little black... thing, held by the pretty Gyrraptor, but it practically glowed with poison. And truth be told, he was a little scared of that.

[Fallen_Snow]

The flash of sun against Fluffy's chrome surface now had caught Orgen's attention. Waddling over, he jumped at a tentacle, trying to find a good part to bite. Shiny things were tasty, right? Food was good. FOOD.

Sho'ni chirruped as Snowy patted her head, helping her settle in the back of the cave. It was nice and warm back there, and Snowy didn't mind dirt. Grabbing her pack off of Sho'ni, she reached in, hunting around for her matches and food. "Aha!" she said. Her stomach growled. "Mm, just in time. Anyone want some of my Camping Cakes?" she said, running out quickly and grabbing a few pieces of wood. Running back to the cave, she felt the first drops of rain. One landed on her nose. Piling the firewood, she struck a match, lighting it at the front of the cave so the smoke didn't go into the back.

[Freezair]

"I'll take one of them cakey things," I said. We had food, obviously, but I didn't want to seem rude by turning down a stranger. Besides. Cake? Who'd turn that down?

Not to mention, it would give me a chance to see if The Creature--or Avani, as Little One seemed to think she was called--would eat it. I wasn't entirely sure what kind of diet she had, anyway.

Sky and Krii pressed around the fire. Krii threw his own fireball onto the pile, and Sky fanned the flames with her wings. Raindrops sizzled.

"Hey, Fluffy. You gonna join us? I know you can't eat, but--"

"Shhh," he said. "I'm listening."

"To?"

"Whatever was here before us."

"Which was...?"

"Does anyone else here have Aftersight?" he called, seemingly ignoring me. Oh well. Not much can be done with that squid once he gets into his own little world.

"...Earth and Fire, he is Agni... Fire and Air, Sturm..."

[335, 6]