Alaqirr shrugged, "Still working on it, kinda."

"I had, uh, classes about it. Back home, you know? Never really got the hang of it like some of the others, but it works." He rubbed the back of his head nervously, worried about letting too much information go.

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Rahm looked like he wanted to ask more questions, but tamiel could tell that qirr was uncomfortable with the interrogation and shoved at Rahms shoulder. "Leave it," he warned. Rahm looked called out, and sulked over to the table where a map of Fell was open. Tamiel shook his head ruefully.
"He's a bit nosy," tamiel said, ushering qirr over to the table. "But he means well. He gets a bit lonely sometimes- I have to leave and check on the hyena tribes occasionally, and I do map surveys for him occasionally, so I'm not always around, and he's left here by himself."
Rahm wasn't paying attention, instead staring at the map intensely. Tamiel leaned over next to him, worried. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just- a raven dropped by earlier. He said something that made me think... Never mind. It's nothing." He turned his bright grin-evidently Fallse-on alaqirr. "Where would you like to go?•

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"It's fine, really. I understand. " He told Tamiel.

Alaqirr could tell something was off with Rahm, but he returned the favour of not pushing it and instead answering his question as truthfully as he could.

"In all honesty, I've only been in Fell for about maybe.. six months now. I've barely got the faintest of where 'where' is." He laughed ruefully.

It faltered once his gaze fell on the mountains marked on the map, those most be what the other traveler was harping about. He turned to Rahm tentatively, "You haven't received any news from the mountains, have you? Are there any settlements up there?"

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Rahm smiled properly, a slightly worrying smile. "A newcomer!" He said eagerly. "I can show you the whole valley! Finally someone who actually needs my maps!"
He frowned at qirrs last words, glancing back at the large layout on the table.
"Well..." he said slowly. "It's complicated. The hyenas- the buda tribes, and the lions- the leona, they live in the foothills, but never go into the mountains. A couple years ago tamiel brought back news of a leona female going missing in the mountains- she was never found. So no, no one lives in the mountains, but- I wouldn't go there if I were you. To begin with, it's treacherous. The cliffs are extremely unstable, and often collapse in rockslides. The only pass out of Fell is.... gone, and there is nothing to eat. And lastly,"
Rahm took a breath, black eyes inscrutable. He wasn't sure how to say this. He wasn't sure if he even knew the words He was about to say- they weren't his, they were something other.
"There are some who say the Elders, when we do not need them, reside in the mountains. We haven't needed them in years- they fade from memory when they are not seen. But frankly, I think there's something else up there. Something you don't want to find, cat-man."
Rahms eyes flared with stars for a millisecond, and for a moment he seemed very, very old.


(Oof that was a monologue if I ever saw one)

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Alaqirr nodded slowly with every word Rahm spoke. He wondered if he should mention the traveler he had met with, before he had run into Mala and Tamiel. Before he knew it, he was speaking, confessing like a child who's ball broke a window.

"I saw another traveler, before I met up with Tamiel. I don't know if what he says is credible, but if it's any help in-in understanding..." He paused sadly, shaking his head. Even though they had just met, something told him Rahm was trustworthy, that he'd know what to do or at least understand what he was saying, even if Qirr himself didn't.

"He had claimed to come from the foothills, a shepard. Odd fellow: yellow smile, missing an eye, smelled like sage and sheep's wool. He was...mad, to say the least. Out of his head entirely. Ranting and raving about the mountains and how someone, something, was on the other side. That it was unlike anything he'd ever seen before, that is would be the doom of us all, that...", he struggled to rember the stranger's exact words. In a rush not unlike being pulled under by a riptide, they came back to him.

"That the Elders had abandoned us." He quoted.

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Tamiel scoffed, dismissing the thought. "There's no way," he said. "That's rediculous..."
He trailed off when he saw Rahm, eyes fixed on the map. There was silence.
"He might be right," Rahm said at last. "In fact, I'd say he probably is. What the raven told me- it's unlike anything you've ever seen, and it's happened before. Or rather, I think it almost did. I'm not certain. Either way, it's stronger this time, and I wouldn't be surprised if the 'elders' had turned tail and left."
Tamiel whacked him with a wing. "Don't say things like that," he scolded, but Rahm just looked him dead in the eye.
"You remember it," he said quietly, and Tamiel found himself realising that yes, he did remember. Something, at least. Some rusted corner of his mind has thrown up a memory long buried, of blight and burning.
"We have to find the Elders," Tamiel said, but he had the sinking suspicion that they wouldn't be able to do much against what was coming.

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Alaqirr sighed heavily. He moved a bit closer to the table with the maps, careful not to disturb anything, he examined the map and tried to cross-reference it with anything he could remember hearing or seeing. Nothing detailed, snippets of tavern conversations he had overheard addressing odd happenings in the foothills and disappearances in the mountains, bits of crumpled paper begging for help or answers, whispers of areas around the mountains being completely dead and void of life, of fortune-tellers and furore.

A bit of him drug his humour back, wondering why he could remember this but still take two steps out the door and get lost. His smirk was squashed as his gaze flicked along the paper mountain range.

"Where do we start?"

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Ofelia joined the group quietly. She felt guilty for not helping earlier but her power took so much strength it rendered her incapacitated, she was even out for a good five minutes. "I'm sorry.. is everything alright? I.. well I believe I passed out, unfortunately missing.. whatever seemed to have happened here."

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Lorcan and mama broke down their camp, mala singing the roots and vines that had built their home, away. Lorca gathered their stuff and tied it to both himself and Mala gently, in a form like saddle bags. When they were done, they set off, heading towards the mountains

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Ofelia shifted on her hooves slightly upon catching a scent -- it was a scent she knew all too well. She gave a huff and rushed toward the figure with the scent to find a clydesdale mare cautiously standing by, but she quickly eased upon seeing the unicorn. "It's just you -- thank god, I-" The mare looked around before speaking up. "I felt the surge of energy.. Is everything alright?" As Ofelia answered the larger mare nuzzled her softly, causing Ofelia to let out a whinny that seemed a bit too horse like. "There was a run in with a lion who had a quarrel with a Leopon.. It's alright, he didn't hurt me -- just felt a bit tired.."

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Alaqirr nodded to Ofelia, "Of course, are you alright?"

He began a brief recalling of the events, punctuated with glances to Tamiel and Rahm to make sure he wasn't leaving anything out.

"That lion guy took off, but so did the leopon he was after. As for what we're doing now I, er, I think it's best if Rahm explains it..." he trailed off.

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Ofelia had completely bailed by the time Alaqirr barely started to speak -- but as she realized this she plucked at the mane of her companion and they both wandered to the den, although Clover was a bit tall. "Terribly sorry! I just found out Clover was here - she and I are very close.." Clover nodded gave a chuckle. "Sorry to barge in unannounced and all - just wanted to stop by, see how my Ofelia was doing.."

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"The more the merrier," Tamiel said, gesturing them in with a wing. The Clydesdales head barely fit in the door, but she managed it. Tamiel looked over at Rahm, who had ducked past Qirr and was hurriedly shoving the spare maps on the table into a chest, out of the way. After a moment, Rahm straightened, lashing his tail anxiously. "A recap? Well, to begin with, we have no idea what's happening. There's rumours and stories- the mad prophet is wandering, the Ravens are nervous, and there's something I can't *quite* remember that I'm afraid is... very important. Essentially,"
He took a breath, wringing his paws. "There's something behind the mountains, and it's coming to Fell- it's happened before, and now it's stronger. If we don't stop it, it will destroy this entire valley. And... we've heard nothing from the Elders. I don't know how much time we have left."

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Ofelia's ears shifted slightly as she moved about on her hooves once more. "I'm afraid not even I can help with that. Perhaps if I had not been exiled from the community of unicorns I would know more -- but maybe it's best we consult the elders ourselves, perhaps..?" Ofelia was unaware the elders had seemingly vanished, but Clover decided to step in as well. "Even if we can't, surely there is something written somewhere on this.. thing?"

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Alaqirr waved away Ofelia's apology, smiling understandably.

"I agree with the tall one," he gestured towards Clover playfully, "While we might not have much choice in confronting the Elders, we should at least learn or attempt to learn as much as we can before appearing before them."

Qirr's tone had grown more serious with each word, and now was barely more than a hoarse whisper, "I fear our time ran dry when we first noticed the signs..."

He tugged and twirled his whisker anxiously.

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