After exploring what they could of the Prominence, he offered to walk the little wolf he had found back home. She had agreed, though talking didn’t seem to be her strong suit. They walked in silence from the spiked land, down to Auster. Travelling across the Bifrost. He did point out the castle as they passed, and explained that that was where he lived.

They were skirting through the Shimmering shore when an odd sound caught his attention. He wasn’t sure what it was… exactly. Something about this territory didn’t feel right to him. After the earthquake and blood sun, it seemed prudent to take a moment to investigate. So that was what the two of them were doing.


"Ciaran Carpathius"

He was a handsome gentle sort. Asahi felt protected next to him as he aimed to escort her home. As they passed the Hallow's castle she perked up as he explained that was where he lived! Oh! So she could assume he was one of the sons of the Hallows! She wished she had paid more attention to the brief lessons of the land. But she had been too preoccupied with playing and hiding in the bamboo. Causing mischief and pranks on her copious unsuspecting siblings.

Her eyes followed the rolling antics of her bird overhead as they reached the shimmering shore. The sky was still red, and the tremors had been frightening. As they passed the fossil ridge they paused on a hill before the shore. Cracks and fissures wove their way over the tiny hillocks between the castle and the sands of the shoreline. She looked at Kea with concerned wonder, what had caused this mysterious cracking in the earth?

Speech // thought // Nihongo

It didn’t take long to realise what had caught his attention. The earth was turned, as if something had been dug all around it. But if you looked closely, you’d realise it wasn’t digging spots at all. It was like cracks in the earth, as if this territory was about to fall apart. That made the fur on his back stand up!

Somewhat nervously, he crept closer to one of the cracks, trying to see how deep it was, or see if he had figured out what had caused it. “Can earthquakes do this?” He asked, not really expecting Asahi to have the answers, but wanting to ask anyway.


"Ciaran Carpathius"

Asahi was astonished beside him. She hung back momentarily while he pushed forward to peer into the cracks. He asked if earthquakes did this and she considered it while trying to get a look around. The ocean shore was quite a bit west, they were rather inland. There wasn't much in the way of mountain ranges except the cliffs of Lazuli Falls and what the castle was built on. Could water have bubbled up beneath the sandy soil?

She came alongside him then and peered down into the crack. It was deep and dark as if it hid a cavern beneath them. The cracks didn't look big enough to fit through... were they? Would they collapse as they looked inside?

She looked up at her blue bird Sei, who came down and pecked at the sand for a moment, scratching the surface and then rolling in the soft dry sand like a sand bath before alighting back into the air. It brought a smile to her face.

With a subtle mischievous grin, she brought up a pawful of pale dry sand and poured it between Kea's shoulders with a giggle. She quickly darted back with a grin as he would look at her. She had never played a prank on anyone not her sibling before.

Speech // thought // Nihongo

-Exploring the cavern-

Kea started to grin, looking over at Asahi as she sprinkled sand on his back. A bit of mischief and distraction from the weirdness around them. But before that smile could fully form, suddenly the earth was shifting. He let out a yelp, and dived for Asahi. He got as far as pulling her towards him, pulling her onto his chest as he fell.

He landed hard, and felt a little bruised, but nothing appeared to be broken. And Asahi? He looked at her, running a paw through her fur. Very forward of him for someone he barely knew, but he was still too startled to think clearly.


"Ciaran Carpathius"

Before he could react to her shenanigans, the ground trembled beneath them! She started to take a step back when the sand behind her crumbled. She dived forward into his dark and blue arms before she could think.

They fell through the cracks in the earth, down, down, down until they landed hard on the cavern floor. Other than her breath racing in and out of her lungs she was unscathed. She looked up at the sky where they had fallen from, the red stain shining a dark light over them far below the surface. She suddenly jerked her head back and looked down at her landing pad. Suddenly she remembered that This Was Not a Brother! She froze as she felt his large paw over her back, checking her for injuries. This was quite unbecoming for an Atotsugi of Tojo-Kai! A warmth entered her face, shown through her pale fur as she slowly pulled herself back and shyly looked toward one of the sandstone walls.

"Are you... hurt?" She asked softly, not looking at him. What if one of her brothers or if her father found out she was fraternizing with a male without an escort? Was that what that was? These feelings were brand new for her. Her experience rendered her sheltered from her life hidden in the bamboo walls.

She looked up again, how were they going to get out? Could they dig upwards along a wall?

Speech // thought // Nihongo