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Description
“Come on! You can’t just—“

“Yes, I can. And I will. You’re not coming.” Tau turns her attention back to the desert before her,
ushering her zuger forward with a sharp flick of the lead. It chitters before beginning its strut
forward, quickly putting distance between itself and Slate. He scoffs, ushering a distinct snort
from Sept as he watches this all unfold.

“Go on, keep at her heels. She’ll relent eventually.” He smirks as he repeats the same flick as
her, ushering his zuger to follow close behind her. Slate has little time to protest, muttering out a
few curses before he tightens Yell’s bundle, and begins his pursuit.

“—I get it!! You don’t— shit, you don’t want me to get hurt! I don’t want you getting hurt either!!
It’s a two-way thing!!” Slate begins his monologue anew as he catches up with the two zugers,
sandwiching himself between them to keep both their attention.

“Everyone back at HQ says there’s just as much of a chance for danger there as there is diving,
it’s just a slower death! I’m not taking my chances staying flat on my ass there when I can help
you two—“ Tau’s Zuger interrupts Slate once more as she “accidentally” tilts the lead towards
Slate, cutting him off momentarily from running alongside her.

Sept can’t help but laugh, watching the two bicker as they travel. “Tau. C’mon, let the kid come.
What’s the harm? He made it out of the Hive just fine, and he’s rarin’ to go already even with all
that happened. An extra pair of hands couldn’t hurt—“ His comments begin to trail off as Tau
shoots daggers at him, his smirk refusing to leave as he leans into his zuger to watch.

There’s a long, exaggerated sigh before Tau looks down at Slate; exhausted, but not defeated
yet.

“Who’s to say you won’t crumble with your new legs, hm? Or your M2 thoughts won’t distract
you. What about the ancients you may attract with your new glowing bits?” She gestures to his
legs as she lists off the who’s and the what’s of her argument, Slate’s legs giving off a distinct
reflective shimmer as she does.

“There’s nothing you can say that’ll change my mind, you got that—“ It almost seems like she’s
cutting the conversation short before Slate groans and cuts her off himself, to the tune of;

“I KNOW there isn’t!! I know there’s nothing I can say, I’m just asking you to trust me. Trust that
I’m better off with you all than alone by myself with just a dinky copper crab to keep me
company—! No offense,” He turns to where he assumes one of the nanonines would be with
Sept, who only shrugs and snickers at Slate’s pitch.

“But I want to help, and I can help better if I’m there with you all. And— If you’re that worried
about me, you can tie me to a tree or some shit when we get back, keep me properly safe. Sound fair?” Slate turns to Sept as he runs for some verbal support, with pleating eyes. Sept smiles and turns to Tau, tilting his head as he speaks.

“Doesn’t sound like too bad of a deal, eh?”

Tau’s forced to behold two properly aged adult Ankuri’s looking at her, pleating like son and
father trying to get away with some ploy or trick, in the middle of a neigh world-ending event.
Slate’s speed begins to dip as Sept starts to turn his attention to the man before Tau loudly
sighs again and pulls her Zuger to a stop.

She doesn’t speak for a moment as they stop, Sept needing to yank his own Zuger to a stop
much more abruptly and forcing himself to circle Tau and Slate. Tau furrows her brow, huffs, and
points to the back of her saddle.

“The tape’s gonna be neon blue.”

---

Thank you SO MUCH to Monstresque and heartiinhand for doing this collab with me!! You guys were wonderful and I adore how this turned out <3

Clara drew, I colored, and Mons did the BG!

Name of Event: Origins

Focus Curio: Slate, Tau, and Sept

Guest Curios: N/A

EXP Tally: Shaded fullbody 6EXP + Simple background 4EXP + Mount bonus (x2) 4EXP + Pet bonus 1EXP + Story 2EXP + Collab bonus 3EXP = 20EXP

Token Tally: Shaded fullbody 12T + Simple background 8T + Mount bonus (x2) 8T + Pet bonus 2T + + Story 4T + Collab bonus 6T = 40T

Description
“Come on! You can’t just—“

“Yes, I can. And I will. You’re not coming.” Tau turns her attention back to the desert before her,
ushering her zuger forward with a sharp flick of the lead. It chitters before beginning its strut
forward, quickly putting distance between itself and Slate. He scoffs, ushering a distinct snort
from Sept as he watches this all unfold.

“Go on, keep at her heels. She’ll relent eventually.” He smirks as he repeats the same flick as
her, ushering his zuger to follow close behind her. Slate has little time to protest, muttering out a
few curses before he tightens Yell’s bundle, and begins his pursuit.

“—I get it!! You don’t— shit, you don’t want me to get hurt! I don’t want you getting hurt either!!
It’s a two-way thing!!” Slate begins his monologue anew as he catches up with the two zugers,
sandwiching himself between them to keep both their attention.

“Everyone back at HQ says there’s just as much of a chance for danger there as there is diving,
it’s just a slower death! I’m not taking my chances staying flat on my ass there when I can help
you two—“ Tau’s Zuger interrupts Slate once more as she “accidentally” tilts the lead towards
Slate, cutting him off momentarily from running alongside her.

Sept can’t help but laugh, watching the two bicker as they travel. “Tau. C’mon, let the kid come.
What’s the harm? He made it out of the Hive just fine, and he’s rarin’ to go already even with all
that happened. An extra pair of hands couldn’t hurt—“ His comments begin to trail off as Tau
shoots daggers at him, his smirk refusing to leave as he leans into his zuger to watch.

There’s a long, exaggerated sigh before Tau looks down at Slate; exhausted, but not defeated
yet.

“Who’s to say you won’t crumble with your new legs, hm? Or your M2 thoughts won’t distract
you. What about the ancients you may attract with your new glowing bits?” She gestures to his
legs as she lists off the who’s and the what’s of her argument, Slate’s legs giving off a distinct
reflective shimmer as she does.

“There’s nothing you can say that’ll change my mind, you got that—“ It almost seems like she’s
cutting the conversation short before Slate groans and cuts her off himself, to the tune of;

“I KNOW there isn’t!! I know there’s nothing I can say, I’m just asking you to trust me. Trust that
I’m better off with you all than alone by myself with just a dinky copper crab to keep me
company—! No offense,” He turns to where he assumes one of the nanonines would be with
Sept, who only shrugs and snickers at Slate’s pitch.

“But I want to help, and I can help better if I’m there with you all. And— If you’re that worried
about me, you can tie me to a tree or some shit when we get back, keep me properly safe. Sound fair?” Slate turns to Sept as he runs for some verbal support, with pleating eyes. Sept smiles and turns to Tau, tilting his head as he speaks.

“Doesn’t sound like too bad of a deal, eh?”

Tau’s forced to behold two properly aged adult Ankuri’s looking at her, pleating like son and
father trying to get away with some ploy or trick, in the middle of a neigh world-ending event.
Slate’s speed begins to dip as Sept starts to turn his attention to the man before Tau loudly
sighs again and pulls her Zuger to a stop.

She doesn’t speak for a moment as they stop, Sept needing to yank his own Zuger to a stop
much more abruptly and forcing himself to circle Tau and Slate. Tau furrows her brow, huffs, and
points to the back of her saddle.

“The tape’s gonna be neon blue.”

---

Thank you SO MUCH to Monstresque and heartiinhand for doing this collab with me!! You guys were wonderful and I adore how this turned out <3

Clara drew, I colored, and Mons did the BG!

Name of Event: Origins

Focus Curio: Slate, Tau, and Sept

Guest Curios: N/A

EXP Tally: Shaded fullbody 6EXP + Simple background 4EXP + Mount bonus (x2) 4EXP + Pet bonus 1EXP + Story 2EXP + Collab bonus 3EXP = 20EXP

Token Tally: Shaded fullbody 12T + Simple background 8T + Mount bonus (x2) 8T + Pet bonus 2T + + Story 4T + Collab bonus 6T = 40T