Drago allowed a tic of his head when the name of a Maua was spoken. He had never heard of this one, and would need to know more. However, now was neither the time nor place. He nodded along as she explained, and then she wondered... what was he doing there.

His gaze then broke from hers, a soft chuckle caught in his throat as he gave a curt shake of his head. "Not so much praying to her, as inciting her." He would confess.

As if on cue, the creature that had been rustling and bustling it's way toward them finally emerged. it was a young antelope fawn, who's horns were just peaking over it's head tufts. The little one was scrawny, underfed and rather malnourished. It bounded over to Dragomir, as if shy of the newcomer in their midst.

Drago chuckled again, patting the creature's head with a gentle paw. "In all honesty, I was attempting to scry using the waters i've heard were 'sacred'. This little one has lost it's mother, I think." He continued with a shrug. Curious as to the woman's reaction, he would look back to her as the juvenile creature tucked itself under his long mane.

@Diomedeidae

Art by Tyrannidae - Code by Corvus

Dio inhaled an excited breath, it held and caught in her throat and she found herself leaning in to Dragomir's space a bit with interest. Drawn in, that tension in her body building and building. Threatening to burst at a moment's notice but oh she hopes it won't. She wants it to build, to know, to fuel her as she continues this dive and exploration.

There's not much that could have snapped her attention from him. But something emerging from the grass certainly did. She whips her head round, pupils dialating as wide as they could until every inch of teal was consumed. Her body trembled, ready for reaction...

An antelope.

Every bit of tension and worry was let go all at once. Dio felt a little bit silly, letting the nerves get to her like that over a small thing like a lost antelope fawn. But she had to admit that the rush that came from letting the feeling go was like nothing she had ever felt before. In it's place, first nothing, and then the most calming peace began to fill her. Like nothing she'd ever felt or dreamed before, just gentle nuturing peace. And what a brave little one he is. In another place or time he might have become a quick meal. But Dio was not about to shatter the calm, nor did she see reason to harm the small creature. She wasn't hungry, and frankly the young creature walking right up to them was a little confusing.

She looks away from the antelope and back to Dragomir. Do you need falling water or is any water ok? There's places around here more holy than these falls. Maua has a sanctuary in these peaks, I'm certain they will not mind if you borrow some of their space to... Incite? Her brow lifts and her voice dances with that last word. She knows it, it's an interesting choice to use to describe a communion with a god. What sort of man are you Dragomir of the Vulpes? She wonders._{CODE | BACKGROUND | ART BY MUULAND}

She seemed tense at first, and as the creature had made itself known she was almost ready to spring upon it. Though, as it was registered as a non-threat (and a rather adorable one at that!) she seemed to fall into a place of calm. The relief she felt upon seeing the helpless little lad was almost tangible in the space between them, and Drago was glad she did not simply look at the young buck as though he were simply meat to be devoured.

He smiled and looked back upon the babe as she commented on his bravery. She had a point, being so trusting of the very predators that might have separated him from his mother in the first place. Perhaps bravery, perhaps foolishness... but were they not one in the same?

Dio offered a bit of knowledge about the surrounding waters. Several places more sacred than this? Perhaps it had been fate that he had not completed his ritual here... perhaps it displeased the Goddess he was hoping to draw to them.

"I was actually hoping to find calmer waters... Chista will guide us, but the leaves that float on the water's surface must be manipulated by her alone. With the ripples from the falls, I was getting no clear answers." He told her, glancing back at the way they had entered this place. He was sure there were calmer waters somewhere... but how much farther must they travel?

The little one was getting considerably weaker as the night drew onward.

@Diomedeidae

Art by Tyrannidae - Code by Corvus

However she might have felt about interrupting him before did not matter. She felt that it was fateful that she had. There was intention and design in the meeting that coincidence could not do justice. He needed what knowledge Dio held. And in return she...? Well she wasn't sure yet what she needed him for. But Dio was a patient woman (mostly... Ok not really but she had plenty other to satisfy her mind right now) and would figure that out later.

He looks back the way she'd come from, out into the peaks. She can't help but smile knowing, there's a laugh she can't surpress. There's no way he'd know just how dang close to the Grotto he's gotten already. That he's practically on the doorstep already but looking entirely the wrong way now. She reaches up and gently aims to cup his cheek with her paw and turn his vision back to the falls. Look closer Dragomir. You've almost found it all on your own. To the side of the water, where mist rose and caught blue moonlight, a path behind the falls._{CODE | BACKGROUND | ART BY MUULAND}

She noticed his gaze as it wandered with concern toward the entrance of the Sacred Falls, and another soft laugh drifted from her. Before he could turn a hiked brow in question to her laughter, she had brought a paw to his cheek to draw his gaze.

She spoke with a tone that was easy on the ears, lulling him to be guided by her as he was shown the path that had previously been obscured from him. He would smile wider then, snatching the feather from the rock bed and flicking her with his tail as he hastily passed.

"Let us waste no time, then." He said eagerly, turning back only to be sure the two were following him onward! After only a very short distance, he had traveled to find himself at a beautiful Grotto lit by a thousand little insects and filled with a gentle hum on the air.

Along the floor of the sanctuary lie many small pools of sill, crystal clear waters. It was exactly what he had been looking for. As he made his way through, his eyes adjusted just so that he noticed a figure in the far end of the sacred place.

He squinted but couldn't quite make it out. Whatever it was, it wasn't Lion. It was at that moment the little fawn made a break from Drago's side! He was bound straight for the creature ahead! And then it dawned on him... the silhouetted creature was an antelope doe!

@Diomedeidae

Art by Tyrannidae - Code by Corvus

Building upon his eager energy she trills ecitedly- rising up to follow him into the Grotto. Her first few steps are very quick, her excitement for this adventure borders on the wonderful energy a child might have going to see a new place for the first time. But she pauses as the fawn also moves to follow- every bit of her body tight as she becomes aware of every inch of her. How she might scare the thing and how badly she didn't want that to happen. She quelled her energy, for now, and made pace after Dragomir and into the Hidden Grotto, to Maua's Sanctuary.

Dio audibly sighes, a happy exhale of her breath joins the air around them and she glances around the familiar and comforting scene. Her body felt warmer, her steps were lighter as she drifted along with her current companions until Dragomir could find a pool to his liking.

Teal orbs turn up ahead, they'd found something else instead. She watches, feeling relieved but a bit bittersweet, seeing the young antelope make a break for what Dio assumed was his mother. No scrying involved. Dio worried this might mean an abrupt end to her eciting night. Calmly she moved forwards to stand shoulder to shoulder beside the lion, taking the space at his side the fawn had previously occupied. I think the only thing consistent between all gods must be that they work in the ways we least expect them to. Teal eyes glanced to the side and towards his face, gentle smile spread on young Dio's muzzle._{CODE | BACKGROUND | ART BY MUULAND}

He felt his heart draw heavily upon his chest at the sight of the little fawn being reunited with his mother once more. The void where the little one had been, however, was not empty for long.

The woman who had accompanied him thus far came to stand by his side then, and in her presence he stood ever-so-slightly taller. She spoke, and the profound wisdom in her words were rather telling. So much so that he turned to look upon her in a new light.

She smiled at him, but his eyes were wide and his expression one of intrigue. "And yet, in the end, they have done just as we would expect." He said quietly, almost as though it were a thought spoken tentatively aloud. He looked at her, not as a woman he had only just met, but as a vessel... for Chista herself.

Had his invocation truly worked? Had the Goddess been so displeased with the conditions that she had to work in that she made to possess the woman who had come upon him at the Falls? Dio had shown him the path - and a literal path at that. The one true path that had led him to find exactly what it was he sought.

He smiled then, wondering if it was his Goddess speaking now... or if Dio was herself once more? Regardless, he would show his gratitude. "Thank you for guiding us. You truly have the most impeccable timing." He would give her a proper gentleman's bow, then. His grin practically ear to ear.

It wasn't every day one traveled and became acquainted with their Deity through a vessel or otherwise! Such a splendid experience it was!

@Diomedeidae

Art by Tyrannidae - Code by Corvus

"And yet, in the end, they have done just as we would expect." Dio nods in agreement, but there's a certain weakness then in her eyes. Maua did OFTEN seem to work in ways least expected. And it was not often that she got such immediate understanding and gratification as this reunion. Dio could only hope in time that the things Maua had willed of late would become what Dio would expect them to do. I wish it was always this easy. She lamented, not sounding at all regretful for the complex relationship that was a cleric to her god. But yet still she sounded weighted, the plight of the faithful was to sometimes wonder and wait even painfully so.

She smiles once again in the wake of his bow, the gesture of gratitude was certainly unexpected and in her eyes unnecessary. I will confess it's not been entirely selfless. I quite like your company and wanted as much as I could get. Dio winks, smirking playfully a bit as a chuckle rumbles in her chest. A moment of light-heartedness, a flame that seems to then catch in the wind and fade. The smile turns serious and her eyes soften to an unspoken, unclear weakness. Can you scrying tell you if someone is alive and well? Even if they're far away? She's still interested in seeing what he is able to do, what gifts his god has given him. But seeing the fawn reunited with his mother... It's also made her start to long and worry about her wayward father too._{CODE | BACKGROUND | ART BY MUULAND}

At his words, she would lament, and there was a sadness behind her eyes. It was a clear and easy sign that the Deity - whom he was now CONVINCED had occupied her for a short time - had now left her to her own devices. Even so, as she confesses her ulterior motives he cannot help but grin toothily. A chuckle of his own at the playfulness of her wink before she becomes overtly serious and his brow furrows in response to her plight.

She wonders if he can see if someone is alive... or not. His brow furrows deeper and his eyes look upon her with part curiosity and part empathy. She worries for someone... it is apparent. "Indeed." He says darkly, knowing the spell well - unfortunately. "But scrying will yield no results for a great number of reasons... and we cannot know for certain if the waters remain empty because the subject has died - or for some other reason entirely."

There were a great many factors involved in scrying, and if no result is found... there could be a number of reasons. To know for certain if someone was dead or among the living still, there was a different ritual perform... and a different Deity to invoke.

"I was taught by my father a kind of blood magic, and have used it often with much greater success. It requires us to call upon another Deity of mine... Koiné - a Pale Horse. He is a creature much like a zebra that has no stripes." He explains, looking upon her intently to gage her reaction. She seemed too - pure - for blood magic. Perhaps she did not want to proceed?

@Diomedeidae

Art by Tyrannidae - Code by Corvus

At first her hope is gathered up and lifted upwards- she does not wait to let herself get wrapped up in the idea that this is possible. His damning indeed was all she needed, all she wanted to hear. And oh how loud it rang in her skull. She inhales, holds her breath and feels an excited rush of electric energy race down her spine. Only to be made to come crashing back down to earth. It was possible. But, as he explains and she understands, the absence of an answer could occur by many means. Death being but one of many, many. And she would rather not sit there wondering which it was. Not while death was on the table.

The disappointment on her young face is clear, it is a devastating answer. The wind leaves her sails, the light in her eyes dims and her vision trails away from him and off into the shadow where the antelope mother had led away her son.

Blood magic- His voice begins to come in clearer again, louder. One ear shifts and turns back his way. Something inside of Dio begins to come to life again. There was another deity, one who could help. Dio looks again his way, her gaze steeled and certain upon his face in case she must convince him she is serious. She is ready, body and tongue, to argue and insist this happen. Show me, teach me. Please._{CODE | BACKGROUND | ART BY MUULAND}