NYXTHORN 1 - Zanril, Varrick, Draven

“For what it’s worth, at least these creatures aren’t the most sneaky of beings where foliage isn’t involved.” Varrick hummed as he picked up another discarded quill, while Draven and Zanril trailed after him in the narrow tunnel. Crystals illuminated the dark, light brightening slightly at the tune of their voices and the jingle of his jewelry. One could argue neither was he, given the hushed environment. 

“We’ve seen these treats work their magic, so all there is to hope is they do their job once again.” The nutty fruity treats smelled as delicious as they were and Fence had been eyeing them the whole way. This isn’t to say she hadn’t already swiped a couple. Varrick could only chuckle and give the fossa some scratches under her chin as he looked around for more traces of the Nyxthorn.

—

“Assuming Fence doesn’t eat them all.” Zanril snorted as she peeked into where a nyxthorn might’ve been able to wedge themself into. She wasn’t exactly sneaky either, what with her jewelry and bones clicking together. It was a wonder anyone was ever able to lose the two haedians- they were basically their very own wind chimes! A sharp contrast to their additional companion; another haedian by the name of Draven. He wasn’t… thrilled by the presence of all of the outsiders in the beneath, but if it meant helping the Matriarch then he would put his distaste aside for the time being.

Not that Zanril could really blame him. He hailed from the Watchers, and the clan as a whole weren’t exactly open to topsiders after the whole stealing and pranking fiasco. 

“They will likely be where the foot traffic is not.” Draven hummed, low tenor quiet even without any form of background noise to drown him out. While Varrick and Zanril were peeking into holes and under roots, the Watcher was craning his head up to look along some of the natural ledges of the cavern they were in. The dim lighting served to aid them in their search, what with the way the quills held a natural glow to them, and the quiet allowed them to be able to hear the melodic sound of the quills jingling together…

If they were close enough, that is.

“There.” Draven said, perking up when he saw a faint shift in lighting. The haedian lept over Zanril to the wall, claws digging into the stone as he scaled it with practiced ease and swiftness. Meanwhile, Zanril was cussing as she ducked, baring her teeth at Draven as he scaled the wall and started to try to coax the small creatures out of hiding.

“What is wrong with the people here?” She hissed to her father, a heavy huff leaving her as she looked for a less insane way to get up to the prickle. “Are they all just… like this? Or is this Watcher specific behavior?”

__

Varrick chuckled at his daughter’s sneering at Draven. Craning his head up, he stood on his back legs, tail balancing him on the ground as he watched the Watcher work. “No, not all,” he hummed, “those more solitary tend to behave less with being polite and friendly, and more to the point. The Watchers, the Order, especially. Brutes too, but likely more socially.” A comment from Draven brought his educating moment to a pause, with the two surface-Haedians needing to give a proper hand with the Nyxthorns. 

Draven skillfully herded the creatures around the ledge, urging them along towards Varrick and Zanril to get them down. The jingle and jangle of their quills was rapid and arrhythmic as they shuffled about, disgruntled squeaks of protest among them.

With careful manoeuvering- mostly from Varrick, who was adamant on being mindful of the quills despite his deft work- the small huddle of Nyxthorn were brough to ground-level with the Haedians, now chittering amongst themselves. One runaway tried to sneak away, but Draven made short work of that escape. 

“Well now, this is a rather sizeable bunch, all things considered. Being in their own groups comes naturally, thankfully for us.” Varrick sighed at the lot. “Now then, let’s get you back home.”

—

Draven pulled out some of the treats from his own pouch, taking a moment to sit and break them into smaller pieces to pass out to the nyxthorn. Both to make the treats he had last a bit longer, as well as to reward the small creatures for working with them so far. They needed to give positive reinforcement for the skittish creatures, after all.

“It has made our task much more manageable. If they were scattered in multiple groups, we would have a much bigger task at hand.” Draven mused as he stood once more, indulging in some of the nyxthorn and giving them brief scratches on their heads before beginning the process of herding them back the way they came.

“At least they’re pretty noisy once they’re not hiding.” Zanril snorted quietly, beyond amused with how the nyxthorn shuffled along and their quills swayed in a constant state of sound. Let alone the way they were chittering to each other- some with much more sass than others. A general tension that would be soothed once they were reunited with the Matriarch.