ORIGIN

Crack!

A chrysalis near the entrance to Pegasus broke open, a rather fluffy young canine emerging. Its fur was a distinct bright white, bright and obvious to all that observed it. Underneath one of its dark eyes was a curve of hiddenite.

The puppy blinked, observing its surroundings with a curious air to him. The first few steps it took were more stumbling than anything else, but he was quick to figure out the basics of walking. The steps it took were slow but determined.

It did not know the name of the Door of Life, but that was what he now sat under, gazing up at the transition of light with a kind of awe. While he stared upwards, he did not watch the rest of the surroundings anymore, too focused on the intriguing halfway point of the tunnel.

It would be easy to sneak up on the newly emerged canine, if one cared to do so.

@V-Labradorite-One

It fell too easy into routine. Even with future plans- both Khavur's and it's own- stirring just below the surface, it fell into it's usual patterns. It was back from one of it's usual hunts, a jungle deer held carefully in it's jaws. As usual it didn't encounter anyone during the hunt, and it didn't think it'd encounter anyone on the way back.

Surprisingly, however, it did.

A small mound of white fluff, staring up at the doorway in the middle of the tunnel. It watched the pup silently, before placing down it's catch and approaching. It couldn't tell if the gembound was new or just small, but it sure ACTED new. It doubted that this was one of Vargas's projects, but maybe he'd appreciate it all the same. A less monstrous member of the forge could be useful when dealing with other groups. An envoy.

"Hello." It spoke, lowering slightly in an attempt to communicate 'i'm not going to kill you.' "What is your name? What brings you here?"


@V-Hiddenite-One

The puppy startled slightly at the sound of a voice, drawn out of his distraction, pointed ears twitching towards the direction of the sound. It blinked at the sight of the much larger gembound but was otherwise unaffected by the sight, merely tilting its head with curiosity as the words spoken filtered into its head and were somehow understood.

There was a moment of focus on blurry innate knowledge of speaking, but the pup managed a word. “Hi!” It happily barked, finding that word easily enough.

“...Name?” It repeated, confused. A title that one called oneself, it knew. But… there was an absence when he tried to think of his own name.

“...Don’t have,” The pup spoke, words somewhat stilted as a statement but carefully pronounced as it tried to figure out this talking thing. “How get?” It inquired with hopeful curiosity.

“You- have name?” The puppy innocently asked, stumbling a bit over the usage of a personal pronoun.

“Bring…” He pauses when trying to answer the other question, thinking about the meaning of the word. “I- nothing bring. Or… light bring? Not- far,” It stumbled to try and explain. It turned towards just before the entrance to Pegasus, nodding at it. “From- there. To here.”

Speech was frustrating, but he was beyond curious. “Talk… more talk?” No, that didn’t sound quite right, a part of its brain told them. He searched through the fog. “Not- more. Others. Others talk?” It questioned intently, gaze focused and intent.

@V-Labradorite-One

The mannerism of this gembound told it everything it needed to know. The excitement, the enthusiasm, the complete lack of self preservation. This was a child. It felt a vague, incongruent sense of dread. This would be a good thing- a younger member would better adapt to the forge's rules, being molded from the youngest age. Ignoring the fact it had been born into the forge and was far from the ideal soldier. This would be good. It should seek out Vargas to inform him of this new potential member.

Instead it listened to the confused echoing and subsequent questions. "A name is.. a title a certain gembound may have, to identify them." It explained, ignoring everything else a name could be. "I am called V-Labradorite-One." It continued, "You will get a title soon, if I can find Vargas."

It squinted quietly at the child's confused stumbling over words. It managed to get the gist of it- that it had come from Pegasus, didn't know what it was doing, and wanted to talk to more people. It frowned slightly. "There are others you could meet in The Chaos Forge." It said. "Two you may meet soon- The Sentinel, who guards this tunnel. It stands on two legs, and it's face looks a little like you. It doesn't really talk, though." The Sentinel was admirably focused on it's duties. It felt a ping of envy. "And Master Vargas. He is big, like me, with quills. He is important. Be MUST nice to him." It waited for some idea that the message had gotten across- it wanted to make sure before it went to get Vargas. It didn't want a... mess.
@V-Hiddenite-One

“V-Lab-” The pup made an attempt to repeat the other’s title, but quickly fell into incoherent sounds as it tried to speak the full gemstone name. “V-Lab-” It tried again, but once again failed. He bared his teeth briefly, not a threat, but clear frustration at himself. It was a momentary expression, appearing only for the slightest second.

Then the currently small canine shook itself, clearing that expression for a more cheery one. “Lab?” It asked. Then paused, not sure if that was clear enough. “Call you, Lab?” Puppy dog eyes regarded V-Labradorite-One with a rather hopeful gaze.

“Looks like- me?” He looked surprised at the thought, then confused. “What… I look like?”

For the first time, the pup tried to look at himself. It wanted to answer his own question, but really only managed to go in circles as it tried to view its body. Then, when it got dizzy, it shakily sat down again. “...No see face,” It remarked with disappointment after a moment to recover.

“Me nice,” It said, sounding just barely offended. It forgot any upset quick enough, distracted by its own curiosity.

“Big… Will I big?” It questioned with clear curiosity.

“What… impo-” He paused as he realized he couldn’t pronounce the longer word yet and didn’t want to fumble again like with Lab’s title. “What imp?” It asked, hoping its point would get across.

@V-Labradorite-One

It watched as the pup struggled over it's own words, clunky chunks of words falling from it's mouth. When it was only able to come up with 'Lab' it paused. Better than 'vee' some part of it thought, but the other already sought to correct this mistake. "La-brah-door-ite." It spoke slowly, breaking up the word into easier chunks that'd hopefully be small enough for the new spawn to digest.

"You look like a dog." It said curtly, after the pup had spun itself silly. It didn't exactly have the mind of a poet- it couldn't describe the pup's appearance in detail, nor did it want to. It'd have plenty of time to examine itself at the river.

"You are..." It'd trail off, "Enthusiastic. You need to be quieter. Polite." It was sure Vargas wouldn't fault a new spawn for being improper like that, but every lesson it could instill early on would be beneficial, it was sure. Less time for undesirable characteristics to develop.

"You will be biggER, in time." It answered. Not THAT big, though. Not as big as Labradorite, or many of the other monsters of the forge. Big enough to hold it's own though, hopefully. If not, maybe a spy could suit it... if they did something about that blinding white coat.

"Important is something that matters more..." than you "...than other things."

The questions were exhausting it, to be honest. It didn't know how to explain things that seemed to innate to it now. It thought back to the sparse times it had trained others, but that had been different. That had been showing an example and having the other repeat it.

"Stay here." It'd order, pacing down the tunnel in search of Vargas.

@V-Hiddenite-One

Its nose scrunched up slightly at correction. “I- not call you, Lab?” He tried to ask for clarification. The much larger gembound hadn’t said no, after all. Just corrected its pronunciation. “Labra- Labra-” It tried again, but cut off again with a pitiful whine.

“Call you Lab…” There was some word that it needed to recall from the fog, and it managed after a moment. “Please?”

”But- Dog look like what?” It asked after that answer to his question.

Its ears twitched backwards as it made itself look even smaller briefly, feeling as he had just been scolded as it listened. “Enthus- Enthus bad? Not quiet… bad?” It inquired in a soft voice.

Then he brightened briefly as the meaning of polite filtered through its mind. ”Me polite! Said please,” It proudly announced, then its ears flick back again. “...Quiet imp,” He reminded himself, hushed voice again.

Bigger sounded good, but he didn’t say so aloud, trying to remain quieter like Lab wanted.

“I stay, you bring you to here,” The puppy sort of agreed, sort of demanded. It wasn’t entirely coherent as a sentence it knew, but it hoped the gist was there. Then it realized it wasn’t being very polite. Being polite was important. “Please you bring you here?” It corrected itself.

@V-Labradorite-One

It'd sigh with resignation. "You may call me 'Lab' for now." it'd rumble. As uncomfortable as the idea of a nickname made it, it couldn't do any harm, right? It was sure nobody would fault such a new spawn for being unable to pronounce such words. It wasn't a big deal.

"You will see what a dog looks like soon." It'd say, because caves know it wasn't going to try to DESCRIBE a dog. It probably could, but it certainly didn't WANT to. And talking wasn't something it was meant to do much of, anyways.

"Enthusiastic is good, but for later. Right now, quiet is good." It sure didn't want to kill the enthusiasm the whelp had- that would be good for training. And it HATED the way it was being looked at, with those big, wet eyes. Like itself The pup had a face of clay- every emotion was written clear in each expression. That was.. dangerous.

When the pup seemed to agree with its plan- staying put, being polite- The Labradorite strode down the tunnel, past where The Sentinel was most likely standing watch, and into Draco proper. Six red eyes scanned the cave for a familiar looming shape, and as soon as said figure was spotted it'd move quickly. "Vargas?" It'd speak with that even soldierly tone, the same that made it's back straighten, "There is a gembound Tunnel G who could potentially join us. Its a dog of some kind- and newly hatched. Could be a good scout." It'd turn and lead Vargas back to where the tiny puppy waited- assuming he showed interest.

@V-Hiddenite-One @Vargas

The puppy wasn’t waiting long before Labradorite and the one it guessed was ‘Master Vargas’ arrived. “Lab! Hi!” The canine barked with enthusiasm, but more quietly than its previous loud moments.

It waited for 'Master Vargas' to finish speaking before speaking to the larger being, looking up at the huge gembound.

“Hi Vargas!” He warmly spoke to the new much larger gembound there. “What Master?” It asked, trying to understand the meaning. It didn’t feel like simply a part of a name. There was something more to the word, hidden behind the fog.

“Hid- Hidde- Hiddenite?” It questioned. The dog didn’t know the word, but it felt important. Very important. So he tried his best to manage a halted pronunciation.

”What roles?” He inquired, then looked a little frustrated at its own wording. It searched through the fog for what words it did know and how to phrase the sentence. “...What roles- there?” The pup corrected himself, frustration easily replaced by a cheery desire to know everything it could.

@Vargas @V-Labradorite-One