A stretch of rainforest-jungle mountains, many eroded into pillars by weather and time. A thick mist hangs in the air making travel difficult. Many swear that the pillars float through the mist, moving on their own by an unseen force.
"I wonder if it's ever clearer later in the day," Larkspur remarked passively, looking at the tangled cloud of fog. She extended her right wing, flaring out the feathered limb to make an attempt at assisting with the removal of the fog, though it didn't seem she needed to do much. The other's wings seemed to be doing just fine at pushing away the clouds on their own, not likely needing Larkspur's own half-efforts. "I don't mind. It's working isn't it?"
Oh? A newly winged individual? Larkspur only vaguely remembers developing their fresh wings - they'd grown in with only velveteen, down-feathers until she'd become six months old and she received her first hatchling morph. They'd had their wings for so long, they could hardly imagine a time, imagine a memory without them - they couldn't even imagine how confusing it must feel to develop fully flight-worthy limbs so late in life.
"Ah, well it's an experience unlike any other," Larkspur told him, offering a slight curve to her muzzle. "I won't say it's all wonderful and perfect, flight feels different for everyone with wings - I've once met a stray who asked me to medicinally remove theirs, for they despised flight above all other horrors. But for me, flight feels like freedom. And I hope it can feel like freedom for you as well."
And they meant that sincerely. It wasn't common that Larkspur encountered someone who hated not just their wings but all of the joys and wonders associated with them but it wasn't unheard of either.
"I am seeking a night-walker," Larkspur identified, figuring it would be useful for another wolf to know. "Didn't receive a good description but I was told he goes by the name of 'Balthazar' and has draconic wings. Once I find him, I return him to his partner and then my debt is repaid - though perhaps I will stay around them. Reed is... kindly."
And talkative and large and a fair bit handsome but those were all fleeting thoughts that ran secondary to her spoken impression.
"Sure," Larkspur agreed, stretching out her hindlegs as she stood and started walking forward as she squinted through the mist. Her eyes sifted through the few, vague outlines of caverns before them eventually settling on a decently large one. "Let's try this one - maybe there's a tunnel that leads to another side."
Today seems to be going in his favor nicely. The movement from his wings was enough to clear out the fog around them, and it brought the hidden holes to life underneath the stones. The man feels proud in that moment of time. "I wonder if it's ever clearer later in the day," The lady says as she extended her right wing to help fan the fog away. "I'm sure it clears at some time, well, I would hope it does." A small chuckle reaches his words. He nods his head yes as the woman asks on it's effectiveness. "Yes it is working very well!." He responds.
Larkspur continues to speak on flight and Malachi listens, finding the topic to be a valuable one. Although his wings are put away he looks to hers to better explore their anatomy. "To be honest I used to find them unhelpful, but I met this cat with a horses hoofs and wings who has been showing me otherwise, in exchange for supplies of course..nothing comes free." Although there is a laugh to his final words, he can't help but feel an itch of annoyance; he hated doing things for others- but at least he was getting something from it. "Using them takes a bit of working out, but hey they get stronger everyday!"
"I am seeking a night-walker, Didn't receive a good description but I was told he goes by the name of 'Balthazar' and has draconic wings. Once I find him, I return him to his partner and then my debt is repaid - though perhaps I will stay around them. Reed is... kindly."That sentence has his heart sinking to the bottom of his chest and puts a bad taste in his mouth. He knew those names. Knew that pirate especially---they were actively hunting him down for something he did not do.
"I know those names." He admits after a long moment of silence. "That pirate hates me for something I did not do," Malachi says bitterly. "He wants to kill me I think. He definitely wont let me explain things..." there is a large frown on his lips as he spoke of the bat-like hyena.
"Let's try this one - maybe there's a tunnel that leads to another side." For once he is glad for the subject change, following her lead as she makes her way over to one of the large tunnels. Malachi has to dig it out just a little, but it provides a nice opening.
He goes first, using his paw to sift in the ground below them, checking for any entry booby traps.
------- {OOC NOTES}:
Dice roll: NPC - Strength - lvl 1
Success = Malachi's searching exposes the traps and they are able to disarm and move them.
Fail = Malachi's searching finds the traps but he is unable to move fast enough and the blast of the traps injure him. (-1 hp)
NPC Diceroll 1: Fail Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Strength.
477 was added for Level 1.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
0 was added for A. No Buff / Penalty.
"I've seen a place or two when I first set out from my birth-pack, they were permanently covered in fog. It was always hot there though, like pure summer suns beating down on my fur," Larkspur reminisced. It had been an interesting place that seemed to be overflowing with prey of all sorts and even more predators. She hadn't stayed long - the ever-wet air wasn't something she and her thick pelt had ever approved of - but it had made a heavy impression on her mind. "It would be interesting to see if it would be the same here."
Larkspur nodded thoughtfully, listening to the wolf's thoughts on his own wings - more positive than she could've expected at least. And a bit confusing. A cat with hooves and wings? What sort of strange land had she crashed into - she was used to wolves and cats with wings, accepted that some had scales and some grew herbs from their pelts but hooves?
What a strange plane.
"That's the best outlook to have," they said approvingly, shuffling their own wings. "I had the great fortune of being born with mine and building up the muscle as I grew. I still remember how sore my chest was when I first started..."
Learning to adapt to a flight-breath pattern had been a pain. She remembered coughing and wheezing after her first few flights, her lungs not yet used to the added strain of flapping her wings. She had almost never flown again after that first time, flopping onto her side with struggling breathes.
"...A crimes you didn't commit?" Larkspur asked politely. It sounded like the very definition of 'not my business' if she'd ever heard a thing, but it would be good information to have. At least this way, she would know not to mention Malachi once she located 'Balthazar,' nor would she mentioned his name to Reed. "Of course, I will not mind if you aren't in a mood to share. Adventure awaits for us after all..."
She gestured helpfully to the cavern, cobalt eyes scanning entrance to the cave curiously.
---
Text. Speech.Thoughts.
---
> Larkspur is also going to attempt to spot a trap as she follows Malachi into the cave. <
Success: Seeing him being attacked, Larkspur is more careful as she enters and dodges quickly out of the way and moves to inspect the injury.
Failure: Larkspur is startled by Malachi being attacked and steps back right into another trap
Character Diceroll 1: Success Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Perception.
565 was added for Level 3.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
1 was deducted for C. Vagrant Penalty.
Malachi was pawing around in the ground when he bumped a trap. "Look out!" he yells, backing up, but unable to get out of the way because Larksupr is behind him. The old but small blast implodes, injuring his left front paw."Fuck that hurt!" He exclaims, lifting his paw to his mouth giving it a few licks. 'Got to clean this' he thinks to himself as he wipes away and dirt and other particals that he can reach with his tongue. The touch stung, but he knew it would be better than risking an infection. "I need to wrap this up somehow... maybe we can find something in this cave."
"...A crimes you didn't commit? Of course, I will not mind if you aren't in a mood to share. Adventure awaits for us after all.." She gestures into the cave. "Yes, crimes I did not do-- but I don't think my father committed any either, it was a war." Things happen in war- people get hurt. "I know a little of the story- the bits my father was able to tell me before that Hyena killed him..I wouldn't really like to continue this. All I know is, I don't deserve to be hunted down for things I didn't do." There was a snarl screwed over his lips now.
Malachi climbs inside of the damp opening. The cave is damp and musky and the scent of wet soil is all around.
He is slower as he enters the cave now, the darkness starting to bring out his glowing markings; each one resembling the bone below it as if looking through an X-ray machine.
Inside of the cave there is glowing moss and mushrooms that illuminate the area softly everywhere making it easier to see around the area.
Health: 8 (-1hp), 7 hp left.
NPC DICE ROLL: CONSTITUTION | Level 1
Successful = Malachi is sifting through the debris and dirt and finds a red blanket.
NPC Diceroll 1: Success Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Constitution.
560 was added for Level 1.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
0 was added for A. No Buff / Penalty.
Larkspur jumped a little, startled by the younger wolf bumping rump first into her and then further more by the injury. Instincts as a healer kicked in as they quickly darted around to inspect the injured paw in question, careful to avoid another unsafe looking glint on the ground as she sniffed at the injury. She absently nosed his muzzle away from the way with a hum of agreement, and pressed her paw into the ground. She lamented on the loss of her satchel in the flood - it would've been nice to have her leather pouch full of pre-prepped herbs and wound-wraps but things didn't always go the way a wolf could want. The burn was at least easy to see against the white of his forepaws, singed fur making her nose twitch - a burn salve would probably be better than an immediate wrap but it was more the fool to ignore the wound just for not having the perfect tools.
"Let's go deeper," Larkspur agreed, glancing toward the inside of the cave. The cobalt color of her eyes intensified as she focused, the gentle glow now illuminating the fur around her eyes. "I think I can feel plants inside... there might be something that would be an adequate replacement for a proper wrap."
Their tail swished silently as the young wolf told the cliff notes of the story - 'it was war' was frankly, the worst reason in the world for anything. All it did was confirm you did something and harmful with the concept that because other cruel and awful things were happening, that you could be excused for what you did and no one would have the right to be hurt. As a lone healer, Larkspur had found themself caring for the results of war - the physical injuries and the mental or emotional ones alike.
"I won't ask any further," Larkspur agreed easily enough. "Though in the future... do know that 'war' is not an adequate enough reason for performing cruelties."
She wouldn't continue the conversation if he tried, but she hoped he would take the words to heart. After all, his father had died - surely he could understand how 'it was war' in no way changed the way pain could damage a wolf. How such a statement was empty and hollow, an embarrassing admittance of a wolf's own inability to act with honor in a difficult situation.
She blinked a little, adjusting to the light emitted by both the wolf at her side (interesting, she'd never met someone who glowed quite like that before - she added the phenomena to her mental list) and the scattered covering of softly glowing mushrooms and moss. Larkspur tilted their head back, looking at the swaying glowing strings and the equally illuminated pool not far back.
Glow worms, they identified, a bit delighted. They had always hoped to see some in person. They almost walked away, intent on sniffing the glowing droppings that had fallen into the shallow puddle of water creating a glowing pool only for a snort from Malachi to draw her attention. She stared, a bit dumb-founded at the miscellaneous red blanket the glowing wolf had stumbled across and tilted her head.
"...why in gods is there- never mind," they sighed to themself. Perhaps the blanket was abandoned and perhaps they weren't alone. All that mattered was taking care of the burn on the wolf's foreleg.
---
Text. Speech.Thoughts.
> Larkspur looks around to see if she can spot any kind of plants that would make a good wrap <
Success: Larkspur is able to find a pond-weed that would make a decent wrap and uses her powers to force it to grow a bit longer before picking it to bring over to Malachi.
Failure: Nothing looks good and Larkspur begrudgingly decided to rip a strip from the blanket to make a wrap, complaining about how unsanitary it was and that Malachi should replace it with something unambiguously clean as soon as he could
Character Diceroll 1: Success Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Perception.
543 was added for Level 3.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
9 was deducted for C. Vagrant Penalty.
Aha! Finding the red blanket had been a simpler task than he first thought. He took the fabric and ripped away a small bit with his teeth wrapping the wound in the fabric once it was clean, to prevent anything from getting inside of it.
Larkspur suggests that they go further into the cave, and Malachi couldn't agree more. There was a blue glow cast from behind him that makes Malachi look backwards, taking note of the bright colors around Larkspur's eyes. Your eyes a very pretty! The brightness really helps.
All the glowing fungi and moss around the cave made seeing easy, thankfully. His ears swivel to face her as she speaks of finding plants inside. Malachi looked around the cave, there were plants growing everywhere, and he had seen stranger things. "If you can find something better be my guest, but for now I've used part of that cape. It shouldn't get too dirty!" he explains, lifting his paw to show off his current, quick wrap. "A salve would definitely help though.."
He knew a little about plants, but not enough to make things for wounds, like a salve. "Do you study plants and their uses?" There is a curious tilt in his head, it would be nice to know more about herbs and their effects, especially if he can gather and use them.
"Though in the future... do know that 'war' is not an adequate enough reason for performing cruelties." Malachi scrunched up his nose in another snarl. What did she know, she had never delt with it.
Worms dangled from the moss creating a cuious glow. He had never seen bugs such as these. He gave them a cuious snuffle; some of them going into his nose and making him sneeze, when Larkspur comes closer to him, plants in her mouth. "What are those?" he inquires curiously, pointing at the plants with his wrapped paw.
{OOC NOTES}|: This cave that they are in is a ruin of some kind and is full of different items like satchels, plants, misc items etc, if your character wants to roll and look for them~ Mal will in his next post!
