ORIGIN

It had been days since Adeyemi had left Cetus and the little jaguar cub behind, her strange words and much too piercing gaze staying with him, like a seed had been planted within his mind. The fresh burns on his feet stayed, too, much to his discomfort, and the tiny turaco had gotten even more miserably lost on the way out of the forest, ending up... well. Here. Where here was, Adeyemi wasn't sure, but it certainly wasn't a forest, for once. He'd been letting out croaking calls at regular intervals, hoping to hear them answered by his owl friend, but he'd yet to find her. So he continued on, waddling through pools of shallow water, over stone floors, picking up bits of bones and eyeing them before throwing them away, frustrated at how little seemed to be of use.

The turaco, fed up, kicked a particularly tiny bone to the side, wincing as it crashed into a pile of them, sending the remains scattering to the floor. "Oops." Not his most graceful moment. Rustling his wings, Adeyemi stopped for a moment, trying to still his gut. It had been roiling all day, and it seemed worse than just worry for his companion's safety - no, his stomach burned, the sensation similar to that of the fire, just before his claws would light up. Coughing, he was caught off-guard by a dry heave, talons scratching at the ground.

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The retch turned into another, and another, until the heat crept up his throat, and Adeyemi blinked back tears at the fierce burn. Finally, it left - in a rather spectacular stream of molten bile, splattering onto the ground and flecking the bones with bits of char. The turaco spit, shaking his head wearily, staring at the puddle of glowing sick in awe. "What in the world...?" Shaking with the force of the - what? Spell? Sickness? Adeyemi stumbled back a few steps, fluffing up his feathers and looking anywhere but where his body had expelled the... stuff.

A wall caught his eye - it looked almost similar to the one he and the owlet had found, with its strange symbols, and he contented himself with observing it, rather than focusing on his still-turning gut.

Wandering had turned days into weeks, and weeks into months. This was not the first, or second, time Svenna lumbered upon the bone room. It's energy was insensate, appearing to draw the life out of the hyena and quench it. Why, then, was she constantly visiting? At any point the girl could turn tail and leave. Perhaps she was just a masochist, a visitor to the gloom and welcoming it. The dust plumed around her muscular legs as they carried her forth at a sufferable, lazy pace. Svenna was aimless today, having ate her fair share of critters yesterday. Her hunting skills were well honed now, it was rare she would go hungry for longer than an evening.

Two cycles old now, yet her magic wasn't completely under control. Much to Svenna's frustration. As often as she could the hyena juvenile would flex the intangible muscle, bringing on the burning heat that loomed deep in her body. And more times than not she managed to scald herself. Flesh riddled with burns hidden underneath thick spotted fur. The hyena tried to center her magic into her paws, like she so often tries, but just as she started to focus a flash of light caught her attention and sent the spell array.

And just like that her paws were burnt once more. At this pace they would be completely numb from nerve damage. Not that Svenna would mind at this point, she was about done burning herself with every attempt of magic she tried. "Fuh!" she recoiled, voice bouncing off the side of the wall and echoing around her. Svenna bounced around a few times, dancing the pain off the best she could.

A cut off shout kicked Adeyemi out of his daze, and the chick started up on wobbly legs, stumbling back and trying to focus in on whatever had made the noise. There, just a few feet away, a beast... danced? It certainly seemed to be doing something of a jig, and the turaco stared, bemused. Strange. Perhaps it is a custom, to dance in greeting? It seemed rather unbecoming of something so beautiful as he, so instead, Adeyemi simply hopped a few steps closer, talons skittering on the bone-littered floor.

The closer he got, the stronger the smell of burnt fur, and he cocked his head, staring at the creature, rare concern coloring his posture. After all, he'd certainly smelled it before - but only on himself, and with more of a distinctly fowl smell. "Are you... quite alright?" The question was more out of curiosity than anything, and he peered at the beast's paws, reminded of his own lightly-roasted legs. Still, the creature was large enough to eat him in one gulp, so he kept the concern to himself, staying far enough away to at least have a running stare if it decided to attack.

Her body locked up just as a miniature gembound came into the picture, frozen in an awkward stance mid-dance. The flash of illumination had to come from somewhere, right? It was what had distracted the hyena and made her fail her smolder spell in the first place. She should have known to be more quite about her short comings, being in pain drew in curious bystanders. Svenna would get an internal chuckle at other's misfortunes too. Hell knew she wasn't one to show her amusement visibly, a consistent stoic emotion was plastered on her dark masked face.

The chick was smart, it kept it's distance. Svenna wasn't about to eat a gembound, despite having almost doing so weeks ago. He was safe as far as being turned into a chicken nugget goes. For now. Straightening up her arched neck and back, the spotted carnivore sized up the colorful bird quickly. Dismissing him as insignificant in terms of danger. His magic, though, was a curious thought. What was it the bright feathered beastie could do?

Taking a step forward and pausing, Svenna didn't want to seem too challenging to scare him away, she answered simply with a low growl, "Yes." Svenna wasn't the chatty kind of girl. Wide, circular ears were fanned out on either side of her skull suspiciously listening for a pending ambush.

Adeyemi puffed up his crest when the creature's eyes pinned onto him, the turaco rustling his wings uncomfortably. He cocked his head, almost amused by... girl, judging by the voice. She was gigantic, and most definitely a predator, and yet she didn't seem at all interested in eating him. It was definitely a change from the jaguar cub he'd left in Cetus. "If you say so," he murmured doubtfully, eyeing the burns that danced up the hyena's paws. "Are you... can you summon the fire, too?"

He held up a crispy foot in comparison, glancing between it and the girl. The wounds definitely looked similar, if not the same - intense at the bottom of the feet, flickering out as the fire climbed. "And if you can't, you must be very unlucky," the prince added with a croaking laugh.

Bewildered by his show of feather raising, Svenna felt a growl build up in the back of her throat. It wasn't an angry one, just a warning. She didn't know what the display was about. Birds were weird things with weird tendencies (she thought of Krakarak here, with his treasure hoard and awkward speech.) The tuft on the bird's head raised and she half expected it to be a challenge but the words that followed were neutral. He didn't seem convinced by her lie, and Svenna wasn't about to defend her case. She wasn't much of a liar when it didn't benefit herself any. It was obvious she had hurt herself, lying would be ineffective anyway. Internally shrugging his doubt off, Svenna shifted uncomfortably when his eyes inspected her paws.

He lifted his leg in offering and Svenna's gazed at it, expression unreadable. She felt confused for a moment, the second time the colorful gembound threw her off, then it clicked. He had accused her of fire magic, and he was right. He knew because he was also a bearer of flames. Amusement flashed into her features before quickly dropping to her usual flat emotion. She cursed herself for showing interest, even if for a second.

It was no use denying the claim. She was a walking bag of charred fur and blistered skin. Svenna upturned a paw to reveal the angry red pad, it looked way worse than it felt--she swore it. "The fire burns in me too," she confirmed with a short nod.

His laughter made her want to laugh too, but she didn't. If anything, her features hardened. She was most gleeful to meet someone who was similar in abilities. Maybe he could offer some tips. Svenna wondered if he was any better than she was at controlling the imprisoned hell within. Darkly, she also pondered if he was better than her even while being younger.

Adeyemi crowed as he watched the girl's face, clacking his beak. His suspicions confirmed when she overturned a scarred paw, the chick put his foot down, hopping closer to peer at the wounds. "Yes, yes, they look the same as mine," he chirped, glancing between the hyena's feet and his own. "Your fire must burn quite brightly," he added, glancing up at the larger Gembound with an amused tap of his talons. "You are the first I have met who has burned," he admitted, stepping back with a soft rustle of bright feathers.

"I have met many, but none have had the flame. It is special, yes? To burn from within." If a bird could grin, he was, eyes bright with discovery. After all, this was the first time the Prince had even come close to finding someone else with abilities like his, and she wore many scars, like badges of honor, from attempts to tame it, use it, make it her own. The hyena seemed to drag up a feeling within him that only one other had managed to hold: respect.

In a display of greens and blues, the turaco bowed, wings spreading out over the bone-riddled floor, stark against the white. "A pleasure, to meet another of the flame. I am Adeyemi," he intoned, deepening his voice for more impact. The chick relaxed back into his usual awkward standing position, always half-slumped due to the pressure put on his burn wounds. He eyed the hyena carefully, appearing to await for some kind of introduction of her own - perhaps another dance?

Watching the gembound hop forward to get a closer look, Svenna couldn't help but acknowledge to herself how small the beaked animal was and how easy it would be to chat awhile longer and just snatch him up for dinner. No. She mustn't. It was a terrible thing to do to a fellow fire conjurer. Morals still weren't strong enough to wonder if gembound meat tasted any different than the beasts that run around without attached stones. Sweeter? Heartier? No. No. Not today.

"Yes," she replied absentmindedly, thoughts obviously trailing elsewhere. This Adeyemi had a lot to say and yet Svenna couldn't come up with much to respond with. Her gaze was as blank and emotionless as her voice. Robotic in a sense. "I am Svenna."

And a thought struck that made her frown slightly and look away. "I have few skills. My fire is not tame enough most days." With that a magic surge with through her bones, muscles, blood... The blood pounded in her head as the warmth consumed her blistered paws. Soon a light glow emitted from her paws, they were searing hot now. A spell that wanted to work for once! Lifting her paw up, the hyena slammed it down onto the ground and left a perfect pawprint of char in it's place. The tiniest smirk curved her black lips. "There!" she spoke lowly, mostly to herself.

"Svenna," Adeyemi repeated, as if testing out the name. "Suitably royal, yes." Still, her frown made him pause, cocking his head to one side and then the other. "I often doubt the flames can truly be tamed," he offered slowly, absently straightening a wing feather. "It is... wild. Alive. We are honored to carry it, but while it serves us, we also serve it." A series of nods, and the turaco was on a roll, eyes bright.

"It is rare, to burn so, to feel it within you, always. But it is special, yes? These marks," he added, gesturing with a scarred foot to her own burnt paws, "they are honorable. True courage, to try and tame that which cannot be tamed." Adeyemi hopped in place when the hyena's paws caught alight, letting out a happy kraw! at the sight of her print left burnt into the ground. "Yes, yes! I never thought I'd see anyone else with the flame."

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He tried to add his own, but while a few loose flames licked up his talons, they left nothing but more open wounds, and the turaco huffed, flapping his foot about in the air to calm the fire. "As I said," Adeyemi huffed, "it is of itself, not of us. Sometimes it listens. Sometimes it does not. Yes?"

Svenna nodded slightly as he spoke. This Adeyemi had a lot to say and frankly, the conversation was wearing her out. The girl wasn't much of a chatter, more abrupt and gung-ho for getting things into motion. The whole reason she tried to make small talk with him was to gain intel on his capabilities... which would reflect upon her own. What was she capable of doing? Surely anything he could do. One day, she could set delightfully huge flames loose on the world of Origin. It was malicious thinking, and the young hyena wasn't sure it was the mark she wanted to make just yet in her world.

To be known as a fearsome fire breathing tyrant... did have a nice ring to it.

Tilting her head to the side in mild amusement, Svenna glanced as his smoldering foot. Small tendrils of smoke and heat rippled the air around his legs. She knew that sign all too well. A failed spell and the sizzle that followed. Definitely not pleasant. "Yes... One day, I'll be the one in control," Svenna vowed. It was a daring statement, slightly arrogant. But it was how she felt. And it was a solid goal to strive for.