It had become braver over the past cycle, exploring further and further from its shadowed home in Eridanus, where it could easily slink unseen in the dense undergrowth and between sprawling fern fronds. It hadn't liked Ursa that much; although it didn't mind the cold, it was not as good at hunting in the snow and the orb-light reflecting off the white hurt its eyes. Cepheus had been too neat, too trimmed, too exposed.
Pegasus was an environment more similar to what it knew, and for now it was content to lurk around in its forests and tall grasses. Sometimes it considered exploring farther, moving through the next tunnel to whatever lay beyond, but it had always been too much of a coward to go into the strange light and approach the door that seemed to breathe, with its hulking guard. It had some unhappy experiences about pointed weapons, as well as the monsters that lived beyond.
Right now it was sprawled in the meadow, content to sun itself after rather violently devouring a rabbit. The curse of having many mouths and teeth was that one did not have much room for a stomach, and it got hungry rather frequently. But this meal, at least, would last it a few hours.
A movement in the grass caught its attention, and its snake-tail lifted itself up to glance around. It was a bipedal creature, walking purposefully, and now Faceless lifted its main head curiously. It hadn't met anyone like her, except perhaps the Hunter during the Deathmath, but that hadn't really been a friendly encounter. Still, its opponent had seemed nice enough, and maybe if they hadn't met in that context things would be different.
It wanted to meet this person, Faceless decided. It had grown bolder for the lack of unpleasant interactions, and it was more curious than nervous or fearful of other Gembound now. It rose to scuttle forward on four limbs, chittering a greeting first in odd, bird-like sounds and then in words. If allowed to get closer, it would settle itself into a sitting position, mantis limbs folded against its chest, near Eleanora's feet. "Hel-lo," it sounded out. "Hello."
@Eleanora
It stared wordlessly at the witch's wide eyes, the hand pressed to her mouth. It didn't seem like a welcoming reaction. Was this... fear? It tried to put on a reassuring expression, its smooth, flat face taking on a bright, dandelion-yellow hue. (It had seen those flowers around, and found them to be rather pretty and harmless-looking. It wasn't sure if the symbolism would get across.)
Its face cracked down the middle into a lopsided, vertical grin when the witch spoke. "Yes," it purred with obvious pride. Only the basics for now, but it was sure that with some more lurking in the treetops as Gembound spoke below, and maybe voluntary interaction with others, it could learn more.
"I am a--Faceless." It hadn't really figured out the whole names thing, or found one it was really in love with, so it figured the title given to it at the Deathmatch was a good enough description. "I do not know veg--veghound." Its snake-tail swished through the grass, showing its displeasure. It wanted questions it knew the answer to, questions where it could understand each word. "Asssssk me. More questions."
@Eleanora
Even though it hadn't come up with the name itself, Faceless still preened at Eleanora's comment, several tongues lolling out from its grin. It was delighted, too, with being asked another question it could answer and with which it could show off. Learning to count in the Gembound language hadn't been simple; it was too easy to forget which was which.
And the sheer number of teeth it had was quite worthy of pride, if it did say so itself. No one messed with it once they saw the teeth.
"One," spoke the main head, then "two" as its tail swept itself from the ground and arched over its back. Finally, it rolled over like a cat might for belly rubs. Was this a display of trust? A sign that it sought affection?
No. It ripped open its last and largest mouth, revealing rows of pale, pointed teeth lining its belly. "Three," smiled the main head, before Faceless scrambled back up, shaking grass from its fur. It cocked its head at Eleanora, making an odd chirruping purr before echoing the her previous questions back to her. "What is your name. What are you?"
@Eleanora