Lion Head Mesa The harder you pull, the tighter the rope.

The first thing she saw when her eyes opened was darkness. The next thing, as the light thinly caught upon the stone of the catacombs, was the shape of @Zakariya where he lay. Even as she gazed upon her brother, Nazli did not know it. The light refused to stay in focus; she sought him with her muzzle swiftly after, probing at him the way she might their mother, and grasped for the warmth of his body - because Jawahir was not with them, and she was hungry.

tink tink tink.

his dog tag bounced upon his collar, announcing his approach.

tink tink tink.

he was deep within the womb of the mesa, but it was not his destination. 

a creature his size, no matter what great beasts it was cousins with, needed be always aware of the dangers that could render it from proud canid to meal. thus, the flatlands of akashigo were off-limits to the neb, who had only the interior of the great redstone spire to explore. 

he'd been there before, a couple weeks back, and found the place cold (especially now, that he'd been rid of his sweater) and dull, but he had no intentions to remain there. just another turn or two, and he would head back up, to see what would be his lunch.

a scent caught his attention.

his nose pressed to the ground, gucci followed a thick trail. a fellahin had been there, either recently enough that it was a surprise the neb hadn't seen them, or often enough to leave a pungent mark.

the smell of the parent overpowered that of the puppies, and even two corners away from their nest, the chihuahua was unaware of their presence. 

tagging @Jawahir and @Tavina just in case

"noble gucci."

tavina's voice sounded from behind the little dog. he was far too close to jawahir's nesting place, and the sesh saw fit to turn his ear as well as his step.

her mouth curved in a gentle smile. "i was wondering if you'd like to take a trip with me to the serpent water, outside the mesa. i was going to gather herbs and bring a drink for the queen."

her eyes shone. "there is a small chance she will allow you to view the new princess and princesses," she offered, seeking to sweeten the deal with whatever would hustle him fastest away from this area.

his batty ears turned to the sound of tavina. his head lifted from the ground and faced the healer.

"aaah, miss tavinah." her name was stretched like taffy in his mouth. "oh now that'd be jus' th' most splendorous offer!" he turned in full. his
tail flagged at the invitation; the sweetener did its job. he liked pups very much.

still, he remained in the same spot, his head tilted to one side. "jus', ehm... what were ya doin' 'ere? ah thought nawbody came so deep down..." with his hindleg he kicked at the scent trail. his brows furrowed slightly. "well, 'spect some fell-a-heen, it seems." perhaps the areas his unassuming size gave him access to weren't as unexplored as he thought?

tavina knew it was only a stroke of luck which pulled gucci from his search. "the pharaoh has the fellahin come back here to scour for pathways and new caves which can be used," she said airily. "i came to find kasmut and let her know that the queen wished us both."

"but she is not here, and you are." tavina smiled and turned their steps back to the main part of the mesa, finding the wide path that was the meridian of the place and which would lead them both upward.

gucci's tag made its cheery noises. "that item suits you," she murmured. "but do you ever get tired of having it around your neck, i wonder?" 

his tones were long-winded and syrupy. she had become accustomed to them and perhaps even fond.

gucci gazed down the hallway one last time before turning to face the sesh, nodding at her explanation. it was sound. once she moved to leave, he followed after her.

he suspected nothing.

"hm, wha', mah collar?" the former housepet had managed to forget it was still about his neck, the identification tag's sounds having become a kind of white noise long before he had come to akashigo.

now he bent his neck in an attempt to take a look at it, but, of course, anatomy did not permit so, making him look rather ridiculous.

"well uh..." realising that he won't be able to look at it lest he broke his neck, gucci continued walking normally. "naw, nawt really." he smiled. "it's how mah owner's s'pposed t' find meh, 'fter all!" as soon as he said that an undefined expression took hold of his features and was wiped away before it could fully form. it looked a bit like pain.

changing the topic was imperative.

"now, y' say we've gots t' leave the mesa, yeah? if that's so ah might need t', uhm, walk a bit rudely near you, as a dog mah size looks an awful lot like squirrel to passin' eagles." he chuckled. then paused. "or groundhog. whichever one doesn't haa-brah-nate."

how about we move on to a new thread? :)

<3

despite the smallness of his body, gucci had his own personality that was expansive as any she had seen before. the clinking of the odd amulet was something to which she had become accustomed. 

"stay close to me. i will not walk so fast," tavina assured him, and this time her face slipped into a wider smile than before. he was delightful. her time with him was spent in respite.

crowfeather would do well to be appreciative, the sesh felt as the light of day fell across them both.

one danger passed over the tiny fellahin, and another rushed in to take its place. zakariya, a weak and sickly whelp since the day of his birth, at first failed to notice the rats which had started to sniff and probe at his ears and ruff. even if they had been in his line of sight, his newly-acquired vision was still quite poor.

and it would never improve.

the first rat to take a bite out of zakariya caught the back of his head, lacerating the delicate flesh there and setting him to writhing. he cried out, lashing out with tiny clumsy limbs in a futile effort to ward the attackers away. the movement only drew their attention elsewhere; to his legs and forepaws first, and then to the source of his screams. his muzzle, his face, the cutting little teeth did not discriminate.

then they discovered the soft, appealing flesh below his brow bone. he could not fight them. within just a few bloody moments, the world had gone dark again. this time, forever.

She didn't hear the conversation happening beyond the limits of her existence, and wouldn't know that Tavina was there, or the little dog man, even if they were to come across the hideaway that Jawahir had stashed both herself and her brother in to.

There was a scratching sound - of little feet on stone - which almost caught in the curl of her ears. It was more the smell that drew her towards her brother; it was like the sharp smelling foods that their mother sometimes ate. Even with her pugged nose the smell was strong enough to draw her focus.

Nazli was only a potato at the moment. Her body was weak, no bigger than the rats that fed upon her brother's face, and she was as coordinated as one too, so it took time for her to writhe to his aid, only to be set upon herself by a lingering rat.

It nibbled greedily at the bridge of her nose and the sensation made her squeal loudly enough for her albeit pathetic voice to rebound throughout the catacombs, like some kind of trapped bird.

fading this! <3

the children cried as she hurried gucci away, lifting her voice in laughter.

not amusement. 

protection.