Proudly, Veridian swished his tail and leapt forward with the rabbit spirit. He looked at the bunny-eared girl with delight shimmering in his eyes before he ran his length against her leg.

I like her. Tell her I like her, Philomel.

Philomel was amused for a moment about the relationship between their feral animal counterparts - one being utterly famous for eating the other - but relayed the message on as she fell back into step with the vampire, who seemed annoyed now. Or perhaps she had always seemed annoyed. The relationship between her and the rabbit-spirit was ... odd, Philomel was finding. At one point they seemed to be the best of friends, laughing and teasing, the next they wound each other up brilliantly. Perhaps the mark of a true friendship.

"Veridian likes you," she told Ayami, with a smile.

The fox himself was busy, sniffing now at the most distant of jade dragons set into the wall. This one seemed slightly different - bigger perhaps and rounder with huge eyes that seemed to follow you as you moved. It was made of the same shimmering green that had lined the walls all the way through this place, as if it could have been natural nodules of the stuff simply carved a the surface. For a moment, Philomel leaned to study the closest near her and found indeed, when she compared it to the one shown to her in her mind by Veridian, the one that he could see, there were subtle differences. It meant that this was not a moulded effort, but that each small dragon had been personally created with great care and precision.

And for a purpose.

Swishing his tail with pride Veridian went on, deeper into the darker plane. His eyes bright he kept alert, longing to simply seek the truth that he wanted. In his heart he could feel the first whisp within roll like thunder and excitably shiver, as if it felt it was coming home. Its heat swam the length of his body entirely, from toe, to tail tip, to black nose, making him purely happy. Onwards he bounded, into the darker places of the tunnel, watching as it became narrower.

Remembering about the treasure that awaited. That he knew was there.

Little did he know, though, about the danger also. For his brilliant whispy heart knew some things ... and others it had forgotten.