discovery: seek not your fortune in a dark, dreary mine

OOC: Set in The Dungeon, discovered by Jinx and Hawkeye in this thread! Idk if it's actually a discovery thread but since it isn't on the map I marked it as one. Also this chanting is from the witch's creed, I didn't make it up. >_>

IC: Into her "evil lair", Jinx had brought skulls. Not one skull, not three or four skulls, but a dozen skulls from a dozen unfortunate voles. Each was as misshapen as the next, each different in its own small ways. This one, more bleached than that; and that one, with bits of gore still clinging to it. But all skulls came from one species, and stood arranged into a crude circle, in the centre of which she stood. Extending from that centre to each skull, like the spokes of a wheel, were stones collected from the cenote's inner shore. She stood within the limestone basin, wrapped in its steamy warmth, on the silty part of the shore. Her circle stood out stark against the sand.

Somewhere off to the side, wrapped with care in one of the vole's pelts, was a bloodstone. She had told nobody she had it; of jewels and fine stones, Jinx kept many secrets. She hoarded such things as offerings for her Gods, which was her intent today. But first, she must attract Their attention... And since she had placed her shrine far away, on a distant island, she could not do so from there. Nor did she have the materials to construct another shrine, which was why she chose The Dungeon and the witch circle for her ritual.

A small part of her thought she would find privacy here. It was also an excuse to get away from the pack for a little while, for of late Jinx had felt uneasy and restless, and had taken to pacing. No doubt it had something to do with Sos' appearance and His words, but there was something else unsettling her... Something she didn't understand. Something wrong.

Her voice rose from the centre of the cenote, strong and passionate, as she invoked her Gods and prayed for their attention:

"The Light and the Dark in succession,
The opposites each unto each,
Shown forth as a God and a Goddess,
Of this, our ancestors teach.

By night, He's the wild wind's rider,
The Horn'd one, the Lord of the Shades,
By day, He's the King of the Woodland,
The dweller in green forest glades.

She is youthful or old as She pleases,
She sails the torn clouds in Her barque,
The bright Silver Lady of Midnight,
The crone who weaves spells in the dark."

Her summons for Atka and Sos was recognizable to any of Shearwater's faith, but in its familiarity it was also foreign. It was Jinx's own prayer, no doubt something she'd thought up in a dream... Her reverent passion for Her Gods. She had lost sight of Atka when jealousy of Kaskae had clouded her vision... She had lost faith in the Lady of Light when She forced Jinx to share her rightful rank of Warchief with her sister, who had done little to earn it. But now, having aged somewhat and removed from Kaskae's influence, Jinx could appreciate and honour Atka as was proper.

As she chanted this, she walked to the four poles of her circle, then crept out of it, her steps careful. She then marched over to her bundle, extracted the bloodstone from the pelt, and with great care returned to the circle.

Once there, she placed it in the centre where she had stood whilst chanting, and then stepped back to admire her offering. Sos had demanded something more primal and more bloody, but He had also implied she would know when it was time. Jinx knew the time wasn't yet, but it was coming... Perhaps that was what was unsettling her so much, and making her feel nerves that rarely ever found root in her belly. She felt better now, having performed this rite... And so she settled herself down to watch over her circle, her hind legs splayed to the side as though lying flat was uncomfortable.

Quiet shufflings of the wind re-arranging it's drifts of snow reached his ears like a ballad. He had always felt pleasured to watch the fickle breeze toss and turn, tumbling head over heels as it swept up icy flakes and piled them into drifts, artwork that only the critical eye of the wind could see. One breath, and it would knock its' fragile structures into puddles of snow before it repeated its cycle. Prodding his chest through the brunt of the shifting air, Dovev had set a rather lazy preamble through the warmth-less afternoon. His paws found traction through the thin sheets of white, on solid ground that sloped steadily down towards sharp and twisted cliffs and passes. He had, in fact, climbed up this way originally last fall to settle Porcupine Ridge for the winter, and his mind held an image of the surround scape. Autumn grasses spread unblocked by trees, around boulders and over tiny glacial streams in a thick mat of auburn. It was a thick pelt to the top of gray-white cliffs that seperated the lowlands and the mountains. Their intricate, maze-like quality provided places for small grottos, caves, crevices, and even minature valleys that captured snowmelt in tiny but dancing rivers. Even covered in white, certain landmarks registered in his mind's scope.
The wind had died down, and Dovev kept his gait at a slow meander as his muzzle occasionally brushed the ground for scents. He wasn't out for anything in particular; if he found preytracks, he would hunt, if he found nothing, than what harm could a little exercise do to him? The snow had almost masked any aromas, anyways, and the open grassy ridge wasn't the best place for prey. Dovev had almost stepped upon the carcass before he had registered it. As his pale orbs turned down, what seemed to be a skinned and headless rodent lay in the snow. The white male's audits swiveled outwards as he inspected it closer, his frame looming over the tiny bloody pile of meat and bones. The scent was vole, but someone had expertly pulled it's mohangany pelt right from it's tendons, and surgically removed the entire head. It looked ready to be roasted. His mind had tales of witchcraft and socercy firmly rooted inside their cells, spurred further by rumours commonplace. Well, whatever the purpose was behind it, it was a free meal. Crunch.
Dovev's jaws firmly and decisive snapped around the limp animal, his teeth grinding up bone and blood into a pulp before swallowing. There was hardly enough for a full bite.
Further down a ways, the earth began to jut out sharply to the left while it fell gradually away towards the right. Having never ventured this far out, the male took the lower path. It wasn't a bad location, as this trail seemed to be popular for high-grazing deer that came out of the nearing forests. He even spotted an occasional hare bounding across the surface of the snow in his wake. The ground sloped into a knoll as it backed up against a curve in the cliff walls, with a steep path into the meadowy grotto. To his surprise, a black, inky well of a cave mouth rose right into the walls, no doubt a secret. It wasn't an easily spotted area. Dovev descended with his usual unbrided curiousity, rocks tumbling from his paws as his weight loosened stones from the steep decline. Something odd, however, was striking him. A soft murmur seemed to speak from the rocky walls itself, mixed with a very odd perfume. His hackles slowly bristled as the male approached the mouth of the cave.

Don't mind this, most of this post occurs in Jinx's head. She's crazy. :P No need to match this length!

IC: Her eyes drooped as the gloom of the cavern pressed in around her. Standing vigil over her circle was tiresome, especially when there was nobody to defend it from. Without understanding why, the Kesuk woman half-expected Hawkeye to descend into the dark and criticize her work. Perhaps it was because the dark-haired Alpha of the plateau had once come down here. Jinx didn't know that Hawkeye was not fond of the cavern. She suspected the other woman was not fond of her, but the mambo had never been one to care about that. Her insecurities were well hidden, and most of them she associated with her two past packs. Little of it had anything to do with anyone's opinion; she did, however, keep from the world the pain judgement inflicted on her.

Before she knew it, she had slipped into a light slumber. In that slumber, she dreamed she was standing on a precipice, overlooking a world upon which the sun spread a jovial warmth. It was so warm, in fact, that there was no snow whatsoever. Grass rose light and springy from every surface, even the hard terrain beneath her paws. Flowers jutted out of the earth in great clusters of red, orange, and yellow. The trees were in bloom, and dragonflies and bumblebees frolicked in front of her eyes, dancing with the breeze. It was wonderful, a scene befitting a dream, but it was no ordinary dream. Jinx could feel its spiritual sway.

Beneath her, romping in the grass, she could see Pied. Features creased into an uncertain frown when she spotted another female prancing alongside her. This one was young, scarce old enough to be an adolescent, yet there was a light in her that would have suited a full-fledged priest of Atka. Even from on high, Jinx could feel goodness emanating from her. It brought her back to her conversation with Pied on the sea lion's beach. She recalled Pied mentioning dreaming of Atka, of the name this child would take. The Kesuk could not recall it, so spidery a word was it.

A grunt to her side made her turn her head, and there standing alongside her, embraced in a radiant glow, was a Kermode bear. The eyes were the deepest blue, like sapphires, and shone with an all-encompassing brightness. Never had She approached Jinx, but there was no doubt that Atka had sought her now. The Mother Bear said nothing, but cast a glance at Jinx, catching the molten gold eyes with Her own. That one is the Light, came a soft, calm voice in her mind, though the bear had not spoken a word. Jinx felt tranquil in Her presence, though there was an edge of uncertainty; she belonged to Sos, but not He alone. Sos was Atka's shadow, He was Her twin; they were two different aspects of the same thing. Atka gave Light to Sos' Darkness, and from Her Light, He delivered souls.

Together, They were God.

She will bring peace to the sea, the voice came again. Jinx turned her head to peer down at the adolescent with Pied, only partway understanding Atka's message. That Pied's daughter would play some role in Atka's plans was definite. The dappled ridge wolf had said as much herself, in revealing her dream. But what role, Jinx wondered, would she play? Was she to embody the Light that Akhlut believed in? She turned her head to ask Atka what she thought of being compounded with the sea and the sun, but the bear was gone.

The sound of pebbles clattering against stony ground roused Jinx from her dream. Her head came up and her ears pricked forward as she blinked grogginess from her eyes. Her hair lifted into an uncertain bristle as she sought the source of the disturbance. With alarum in her eyes she scanned her circle, but felt relief when she spotted the bloodstone, still safe in the middle. It wasn't until Dovev appeared around The Dungeon's entrance, his own demeanour cautious, that she relaxed. It was only slight relaxation—her pointed ears still quivered atop her head—but enough to suggest she was no threat.

Besides, if he came too close to her circle, she would warn him away, simple enough. "Hail, stranger," she said in a gruff voice, her gaze held like a pin on him. "What brings you to the belly of the mountain?"