[Training] the thought that I might be cancer too

Loren wasn't quite sure how he'd made it back to the Hollowed Ground. All he remembered was an overwhelming need to return home, which for some reason he'd equated with the Manor. However, once he'd gotten to and through the portal he'd gotten lost.

All the trees had confused him. Wandering through them, he'd grown tired, and the shadows kept jumping out at him. Eventually coming upon the Oasis, he'd collapsed in a heap. At some point he'd shifted into a lion. Now, he stared at the water and panted. Every once in a while he'd get up and start to approach it before springing back.

At the moment, he just watched it, enjoying the scenes playing out upon its surface. Astra had followed him all this way. At first she had circled him and bleated. After a while, she'd just curled up against his side.

@oliver

Traversing the land while sick was a stupid and yet so so so easy thing to do.

Then again, Oliver didn't even realize anything was wrong.

He had yet to really speak about it with anyone. Yeah, his head kinda hurt and he felt hot and he was gross and sweaty... BUT HEY that's just a normal thing to do when it's super-duper hot out! It wasn't anything out of the ordinary and so, Oliver chose to ignore it.

Walking around, he eventually ended up in the foresty stuff. The forest was absolutely beautiful today! The leaves were all sorts of colors like red and blue and purple... AND PINK! The pink leaves were super high up so he had to be creative to get up there.

Shifting into his leopard form, he purred and started climbing up towards the leaves that were pink. Finally, once to the top, he yanked off a branch. Ready to descend, he noticed something very shiny... A GIANT THING OF GOLD?! HOLY FUCK

Oliver was rich! There was so so so much gold and it was all just in one big ol spot! Oh man oh man. Think about what he could buy with that kind of money!!

Quickly climbing down (and nearly falling multiple times), he eagerly waved around the massive branch as he looked at his discovery, hitting the rock with the branch in the process.

There were dolphins in the water, and Loren's mouth was watering at the thought of trying to nom on one of them. However that would require him to get in the water and he hadn't even gotten close to the edge of the Oasis yet. An impact on his flank caused him to whirl around.

And he saw a unicorn trying to impale him. Snarling, he swatted at the thing's horn, which was long and twisty and had a weird texture. Astra bleated and darted out of the way, coming to a stop in the safety of the trees. The lion ignored her and focused on his opponent.

Oh no oh no oh no.

His attempts to check out the pure size of the gold was an absolute failure as it started to morph.

Mighty arms appeared out of nowhere and Oliver let out a yowl in response, startled by the sudden arm reaching out to grab him. Leaping back he swung his head around proceeding to flail around his branch. It was a golem! And evil, EVIL golem!

Oliver had only heard tales of these creatures. Gigantic rocks without mouths and just arms and legs that wanted to kill every single little thing insight because they were envious of the mouths! And if they kill you... THEY GET YOUR MOUTH! And they become a human but that's beside the point. This was Oliver's rs mouth and no fucking Golem was going to take it away from him.

So instead he tried to seem intimidating by puffing up his body and growling and yowling and meowing and... all the cat 'ing' words.

The unicorn reared up and started yowling, a clear sign of aggression. Unfortunately for it, Loren was a lion, an apex predator. And any apex predator's to a threat was to try and eliminate it. When his first attempt to bat away the horn failed, the Firebrand snarled. Swatting at the horn again, Loren tried to get the other beast to back down.

At the same time the lion opened his mouth. Astra bleated, but the healer ignored her. Instead he took a deep breath.

And then let out a roar that filled up the entire Oasis. One that sent birds wheeling into the sky. One that caused every animal within earshot to either flee or freeze. One that went straight past rational thought to something older, more primal, in the brain.

It seemed Oliver really cared way too much about his stick. That swipe sent him, unfortunately, flying straight into the Oasis. A loud roar escaped the cat along with a shriek of terror through the bond.

Because-

What the fuck what the duck what the fuck. It was cold. And it was suffocating him. It was wrapping him up and dragging him down. In his eyes, the water was grabbing at him with hands and covering up his eyes and forcing his mouth and nose shut. In actuality, he was just flailing around in the water, his head still above the water but his eyes closed tightly.

[say] No no no no no bad bad bad! Water bad! Drowning!!![/say] He was screaming through both the bond and out loud, sounding like a cat getting skinned alive.

The lion roared again in triumph when his latest swipe sent the unicorn sailing into the water. Spinning around to follow the horned horse's trajectory, Loren pawed at the ground. He snarled as a few droplets landed on his fur.

Backing up swiftly, he stopped when the words sounded in his mind. Shaking his head, sending his mane every which way, he growled when the feelings and thoughts kept bombarding him. [say]What the actual fuck?[/say] he blasted back.

Then recognition dawned. [say]Oliver? When did you get a unicorn shift? And why in the world did you attack me?[/say] Snarling, he started pacing back and forth.

Flailing around in the water still, Oliver was basically swimming in tiny little circles. He was a damsel in distress and his heroic knight was nowhere to be seen! What a shame! What a shame!!!

But Loren! Oh Loren!!! Loren is here!!!

[say]Loren! Loren ! It's me! Oliver! I'm the big big kitty drowning! Help![/say] A unicorn? Was there a unicorn here? [say]Tell the unicorn to help me! They can heal me of my drowning![/say] Oliver didn't think there was a unicorn with him in the water but who knows, maybe unicorns are silent swimmers.

[say]I saw a big gold rock! And I wanted the rock! But the rock was a golem and wanted my mouth![/say]

Making a hacking sound in the back of his throat, Loren shook his head. [say]No! The water, I, I, I can't.[/say] Backpedaling swiftly, he slammed into a tree trunk.

Flopping to the ground he put his paws over his ears and closed his eyes. [say]What? No, you're wrong. You're the unicorn, and you attacked me, and now the water is punishing you for it.[/say] He found himself growling low in his throat.

Astra, who'd retreated from the battling cats trotted up again. Looking between Oliver and the Firebrand, she bleated. Then she grabbed as large a branch as she could lift and moved towards the Oasis, trying to avoid the poisonous flowers while getting in reach of the flailing leopard.

Flailing around, Oliver tried to understand Loren's fear... which was hard because he himself was terrified. [say]Wait! Be careful! It'll pull you in too![/say] A conflict of wanting his friend to save him but also not wanting to Loren to die. It truly was tragic and Oliver knew death was coming soon (it really wasn't), but he was saved when a hand reached out towards him.

Grasping onto the hand, he claws along the long arm before finally clambering out of the pond. He was saved! Oh, thank the gods! Surely, this was Safrin's doing! He'd have to leave her a fantastic offering to show his thanks!

Now shivering, his fur was completely soaked. [say]I-I'm a... unicorn? I... I don't feel that different.... am I pretty?[/say] He didn't feel like a unicorn but... Loren was a smart man... so he was probably right, yeah. Yeah yeah yeah.

Still trying to retreat, Loren's progress continued to be impeded by the tree trunk. Whirling with a snarl, his paws slashed out. He began clawing at the bark, leaving large furrows in his wake. [say]NO! I'm not going near the water.[/say] His efforts attacking the tree redoubled.

When Oliver grasped the branch, Astra held it as still as she could. However, she was small, and the leopard was a predator, so she trembled a bit. Eventually, she began to back up, pulling the blacksmith out of the water as best she could.

The healer sagged against the tree he'd just massacred. [say]I don't know. You were brown and black, with a brown and kinda jagged looking horn.[/say] Closing his eyes, he wrapped his legs, all four, as far around the trunk as they'd go. Dropping the branch, the luxere trotted over to him and curled up against his side.

Safe to say: Loren knew exactly how dangerous the water was.

Now completely out of the water, Oliver slowly walked over to Loren, clearly tired from all that swimming. Once far enough away from the water, he flopped down onto the ground and allowed his paws to fully stretch out.

[say]I'm so cold... so so so so cold.[/say] The fur on his body was far from helpful seeing that he was soaked to the bone. A puff of air left through his nose and he thought he made an attempt to turn his head towards Loren but in actuality he hadn't even moved a millimeter.

[say]It's really too bad... I wanted to be a pretty unicorn- with sparkles and and and pretty fur and-[/say] Sadness seeps through the bond. [say]I wasn't a pretty unicorn.[/say] Nobody would think he was pretty. That's really too bad.

[say]Can you make me not wet, Loren?[/say]

Sagging against the tree, Loren let out a soft whimper. [say]Me too.[/say] He shivered, causing his fur and mane to ripple. Astra pressed herself against him and he settled down somewhat.

[say]I never said you weren't pretty.[/say] Chuffing out some air, he twisted to give Oliver a once over. [say]I just said you weren't a typical looking unicorn. If there even is such a thing as a typical looking unicorn. Isla and Zuriel looked different, and the ones I summon aren't all the same. Weird, huh? Maybe they're like horses.[/say]

When the blacksmith asked for help, though, the healer rapidly scrambled away. Sliding along the tree, he put the trunk between himself and the leopard. [say]NO! Keep your dirty water away from me.[/say] He snarled and hunched close to the ground, ready to bound away.

The reassurance is nice and Oliver finds himself nodding. [say]Okay... I wonder what magic I can do... what sort of magic can unicorns do? Do you think I can make pretty flowers? I'd like that very much.[/say] It'd be super nice if he could make pretty flowers. Oliver would enjoy it greatly.

A frustrated growl leaves him and Oliver takes a couple of steps closer before lowering himself to the ground. His ears tightly pin against his head and he turns his eyes away from the lion. [say]Loren-[/say] Cutting himself off, he wraps his tail around his body. [say] Please? I'm cold and... and I'm scared... can we please go somewhere else? Please?[/say] He didn't feel safe venturing alone, not right now at least. Someone had just tried to drown him and the water was out to get him. Not to mention he was soaking wet which only added to how cold he felt.

Then finally, he shifted into his human form. Hair stuck to his face and he pulls his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around him. Eyes stare warily at the water, almost as if he was ready to run away at any point. [say]"I want to go home or- or somewhere safe... somewhere warm and dry."[/say]