The world began to brighten slightly but all the colour seemed to have been drained from the world. As he walked over a hill he saw where the dim light was coming from, a small little house on the next ridge.

Loki walked cautiously forward, keeping an eye out for anything that might go wrong.

Nothing did as he made his way to the door of the house but as he approached the door, he could hear some kind of animal call from the other side and scratching from from in.

"Hello?" he spoke uncertainly, to see how it would respond as he place a hand on the door.

There was a pause as he spoke and a few seconds later the scratching became louder. Loki could just make out 'meo'

Curiously he opened the door a crack to see what it was.

It was pitch black inside but once the door was opened, even a crack, that was too much to keep the creature inside. Large claws slipped through the crack and in a blur the door flew open and Loki found himself tackled and pinned by a very large creature with familiar patterned fur, pointed ears and a long tail.

It sniffed at him.

Loki let out a sigh once he realized what it was, "Coco" he greeted, "Would you care to help me locate Ceres?"

The large beast growled and pawed at him, "COLUMBUS!" A voice boomed but the beast mouth did not move. "You would broke her soul never dare call me by the name she gave me."

"Well, I do not believe she ever mentioned your true name to me" Loki pointed out, "so first of all, I have only ever known you as Coco, what did you expect me to say? Secondly, I have never had the intention of breaking her soul and am in fact here to repair the damage, so if you would be so kind... get off."

Columbus stared hard at Loki for a moment before licking his face and walking off Loki, a regal voice echoing from his non moving lips, "Good mortal. I tried to tell you my name but Ceres thought it was cute how you teased me on my name... Climb on my back King of Ice, we have a long trip."

Loki stood and brushed himself off, "Did you just call me mortal?" he questioned, a little insulted by it.

"Yes and on second thought, you can walk" The regal voice decided, the great beast starting to walk off.

"I think I prefer that actually" Loki replied, striding after him.

"Hurry along then, we have much ground to cover." They crossed many landscapes, places and structures Loki could not even imagine. Though most of the structures were in ruins.

"These are things from her past life, places her and her siblings forged from their own magic." Columbus explained as he sat waiting for Loki to caught up. "Would you prefer to rest a moment, King of Ice?" He asked watching Loki climb the stairs to a ruined courtyard.

"I am more than capable" Loki replied stiffly, he was well accustomed to crossing vast distances by foot. Even though he was raised in a palace he had learned time and again that the only way to get somewhere without anyone knowing, was by your own two feet. That said, they had been walking for a very long time and it was starting to wear on the king just a little. Not that he was going to tell the giant cat that, not after that 'mortal' comment.

Columbus was not use to speaking to anyone other than Ceres and the other siblings. So when he called Loki mortal it did not accord to him that it would be insulting. Loki would indeed pass away one day. Maybe not the same life span as humans but one day it would happen.

And he had in a bit of a mood having been trapped in that place for quite sometime. Nor did he really know how to make up for the mental harm he had caused.

As Loki walked past him, Columbus took one of his large paws and scooped it around Loki, pulling him to his furry chest and started to purring and did not let go.

"Mff" Loki grunted as he was scooped up. He looked at the large cat, "... what... what are you doing?"

Columbus continued to purr and started to rub his head against Loki affectionately.

"<_<.... Columbus..." Loki spoke, attempting to push him away, "We have things to do, do we not?"

"Yes we do." Columbus let Loki go and knelt low to the ground. This was his way of saying he was sorry and they would move quicker if Loki rode on his back.

Loki gave him a look, then glanced in the direction they had been heading. They had been going at this for quite some time and to be honest he didn't exactly want to climb on the feline's back but... this was for Ceres, and he would likely need his energy. With a bit of a sigh the king climbed up onto Columbus, "Let us be off then"

((Hey, I have strep throat so I'm kinda not really here. So posts may be varied time wise.))

((M'kay, thanks for the heads up. Hope you feel better soon! <3))

((No prob. I keep coming onto the website to type and my brain goes all Blah blah blah. I know what I want to type it's just... a lot and in depth and stuff.))