Temperance rolled quickly on her side as she got pawed at, getting a two-claw scratch to her shoulder. She let out a small hiss of agony before pulling herself up. She crouched slightly and watched the cat get distracted before she started firing again. Needless to say, the cat was beginning to resemble a porcupine. She took a breath as Zephyr got flung off, whipping a dagger out of her boot and taking a few running strides to the cat while it successfully scratched Zephyr. She managed to jam it into the beast's throat, an electric current sliding from her fingers to the blade, causing a sharp electric jolt. She yanked her blade out as she attempted to get out of the way again.

The beast roared again, whipping sideways in between Temperence and Zephyr, not knowing who to attack. It made a final flail towards Zephyr, and he quickly enlarged his dagger into a sword and sank it deep into the animal's heart. It fell with a thud, dead immediately. Zephyr slowly pulled out his two bloody swords, backing up a couple steps before sitting down and leaning against a rock. "You... alive?" He finally asked, then retried. "Or hurt? Are you hurt?" He was trying really hard at this caring thing, but it was HARD when his chest felt like it was on fire and his ... HIS LEATHER JACKET WAS BLOODSTAINED. +NOOOOO+ He thought, stumbling to his feet and taking it off, gritting his teeth with pain. Moving his shoulders hurt, since they were so close to the injured area.

Tempe fell back as the beast went down, panting slightly. She gave a faint wince at the stinging in her arm, pushing to her feet and glancing at him as he spoke, her eyes widening as she took in his injuries. "I think." She nodded quietly at his question, walking toward him. "Hurt? A little." She shrugged, tilting her head at him as he struggled out of his jacket. "You're worse than I am though. Sit down." She said flatly, setting a hand on his arm and gently pressing him to sit.

Zephyr laid the jacket on a rock, looking pained yet more unpleased that it was now stained with blood. And he'd have to go by WATER to wash it off. There wasn't even water in the underworld! Or Tartarus, specifically. "Oh, good." He answered with a small snort as she said she *thought* she was alive. "I'm fine- we need to keep moving. If they placed that beast here, then the things we are looking for should be here. At least one of them, anyway." Zephyr answered with a steely tone, stepping back away from her touch and shaking his head. "The bleeding will clot on its own, hence no reason to worry right now." He pointed out his rather bad excuse, grabbing his jacket and pausing with his eyes closed. "They're over here. More than one." Zephyr said quietly, gesturing deeper into the cave. As a child of Hades he had seismic power, also being able to tell what the earth looked like for a range about half a mile away from him. Since Hades and Pluto were not the same, but similar, he also inherited a small bit of being able to tell where precious gemstones were- and he could tell there was definitely gold over there, which meant Zeus' lightning bolt was assuredly there.

Tempe shook her head at his insistence to keep going, glaring up at him. "No." She said flatly, gesturing to the rock at their side. "It'll clot faster if you let me wrap it up. It won't even take five minutes, and if I don't, you'll be worse for wear. I haven't asked for anything so far, and this isn't major. Sit down." She argued, her voice soft despite her stubbornness. Her breathing picked up as he gave her his information, shaking her head to clear the excitement. "First, your scratches." She said stubbornly.

Zephyr's eyes hardened, and anyone could tell he was unhappy about this- he definitely wasn't used to anyone wanting to help in any way. Since his shirt was in, we'll, tatters, even in the dark the skull shaped scar showed through. "Fine. If we can move on quickly." He finally answered in a low voice, sitting down where instructed. He knew to properly treat it light might be helpful, actual bandages, and for the wound to be exposed- the last thing made him want to just say *ya know what. Nope. I'd rather pass out from blood loss*. However stubborn he seemed to be, Zephyr had been bullied for far too long, and the scar on his chest was not something to be proud of.

Tempe blinked in slight surprise as he backed down, a slightly cocky, triumphant smile sliding over her face. It vanished quickly as he sat down, and she slung her bag onto the ground before kneeling beside him. She flicked a knife out from her boot, sitting up and thinking for a half second before she leaned closer to him. His shirt was essentially shredded, and it wasn't doing much for him to begin with- so she promptly, without asking, decided to cut it off so he wouldn't have to fight to get it off. She plucked the fabric away from his skin and set to quickly cutting it off his body.

Zephyr resisted a groan at her triumphant smile, his head hanging slightly in defeat. They were so close. So close. Yet she wanted to stay in this horrible place to patch up a couple minor wounds. Remorse filtered into his mind as he realized his shirt was dead... it wasn't going to be usable. He helped peel the blood soaked shirt off, grimacing at the pain and as the nasty scar was revealed. His mind flitted back to that day.

The memory left as quickly as it had come. Every word was seared in his mind. He had found what they said to be true... everyone saw him like they did. He was just scum to be stepped on.

Temperance was too intent on not slicing Zephyr to notice the skull scarred over his heart- at the beginning. After his shirt was efficiently unstuck to his body, she set it aside and paused as she watched him. Her gaze flicked from his chest to his eyes, sure if she was... allowed to ask. They weren't exactly friends, after all. She took a small breath and shifted on her knees to dig in her bag for something. A small, white powder sealed in a small jar. She lifted it and kept her eyes strictly on the lid as she unscrewed it, getting up to sit quietly beside him, her gaze still on her hands. She poured a small bit of powder into her hand and shifted to sprinkle it quietly over the scratches crossing his chest. It glistened for a moment and then dissolved, ceasing the blood seeping out of his wounds. After, she took the scraps on his shirt, using the back to wipe away the excess blood, pausing again when her hand hovered over the skull on his chest. She thought for a moment, seeming thoroughly disarmed for a moment before she set her palm over it gently, making brief eye contact with him.

Zephyr was tense, and he was not happy about being mere feet away from possibly the first hard part of their quest but instead sitting on a rock and doing nothing. Already doubt had filtered in his mind about if he was really the right person for the job, and he now understood- sourly- why no one liked him. He hadn't thought of that memory for a long time, but of course it was come and discourage him now, of all times. Right when he needed to be strong. His jaw tensed as he knew Tempe, of course, noticed it. How could she not? It was a perfectly carved skull right on his chest, over his heart, just because some kids were bullies and told him the truth about the world. It didn't matter who you were. It didn't matter how you acted. It only mattered how you looked to others. He was just a dumb, creepy child of Hades. That's how people saw him, so why act any differently? He could be the nicest guy in the world and still be treated like an undead zombie. As Temperence placed her hand over the scar he couldn't help but flinch away slightly, a deep hurt in his eyes. "I know you want to know why that is there, and it'd just be best to get over with it and tell you. It'll most likely be easy to believe." His dark eyes glittered unhappily, but he wanted to get it over with and if she was fine with taking a chunk of their time to patch up the wound she would have to sit through the short *story*. "At 12 years old I was even scrawnier than I am now, and I had only crept up to around 5'1- I was the bully target for literally every kid at camp. On a particularily hot and sunny day I was hiding in the shadows, because if I am in bright sunlight for too long I burn. I never tan. Stupid child of Hades complextion. In any case, I got jumped on, knocked out, and woke up in a VERY sunny clearing with my shirt ripped off and my whole chest and stomach completely sunburnt and blistering from the heat. Long story short, two Ares kids held me down, which honestly wasn't hard, and another one carved this skull onto my chest with a dagger. Ever since then I realized no matter who you are or what you do everyone will always see you how they want to see you. And I am just a punching bag, or a *dumb creepy skeleton kid*." He stood, grabbing his leather jacket and pulling it back on. "So I never try to pretend to be anything other than how people see me. What's the point." Zephyr turned away and walked towards where he felt the stuff was, feeling along the wall before a latch clicked and a golden light lit up the space, temporarily blinding him. "Zeus's bolt and Posideon's trident. 2 down, 1 to go."