Time had passed again, but this time Adenium was awake to notice it. It was present in the way the air cooled and quickened, awakening as she had. It was alright, but she wished she had kept her cloak. She had not been taught the art of making clothes, and her attempts at it had been ill-fated and quickly abandoned. Having absorbed as much warmth as possible from the light in Pegasus, the tunnel of caves drew them away, and they were regretting it now.
Still, it brought them comfort, being surrounded by trees. Their brethren? A stretch, but they still felt kinship. Maybe it was just fondness. They kept close to the trees, deciding on whether to turn back or continue. Behind was warmth and beyond... Well, they didn't quite know, but if it was also warmth, Adenium would take it.
@V-Labradorite-One
As they stuck to the trees, it occurred to them that they couldn’t identify them, at least not with a passing glance. They paused, examining the plant properly, outstretching an arm to hold one of its branches gently, squinting as they did. They were given a few moments of quiet interest, before the tree shrank away. The suddenness left Adenium with a small handful of leaves. Though it was hardly enough to noticeably effect the tree, they still felt a little bad.
Why had it done that? The dryad moved to look around, but it took only one turn of her head to catch notice of the creature, a living, dripping void. Panic did not overtake her; all she could manage was a quiet ”Oh.” She stayed her ground, six cotton-candy eyes staring back at six red ones. It addressed her, still a ways away. She blinked at the word ’designation’, met it with a slight tilt of the head.
”Adenium.” Of the Elenya clan? She wondered if it was fair to call herself such, with her family scattered to the wind. There was hardly an a Elenya clan left. ”What’s your designation?”
@V-Labradorite-One
Adenium watched the stranger with silent curiosity (Well, silent for now) as its oil pattered on foliage below, constant and erratic. It wondered how welcome it was indoors, and how hard it’d be to get the liquid out of clothes or carpet. The dryad chewed on its title, wondering if its parent had named it, or it had chosen the name for itself. Someone involved had peculiar taste, that’s for sure.
The Chaos Forge- that one stirred old memories. It was the deathmatch were it heard of them first, hadn’t it? But as it tugged at the string, all it got was fog in return; It still couldn’t remember the details. So, it’d pretend as if they’d never heard of the group at all. ”The Chaos Forge?”
Labradorite came closer, and both got a better look at the other. Adenium took note of its gills, the flippers pressed against its chest- They imagined it was better suited to the water.
It asked about their gemstone, which was unexpected. ”Yeah, I guess. What about it?”
@V-Labradorite-One
She tried to grab a solid hold of the déjà vu each name brought, but to no avail. It was strange to feel like it had been yesterday, but to remember it for how long it had been since. It was as if she was still waking up. "You don't look like a monster." She blurted. Well, it kind of did. "I mean- you don't seem like one." The label seemed harsh to her- but then Labradorite finished its sentence, and Adenium kicked herself for saying anything at all.
"Oh. Do you know where those ones are sent?" Originally an attempt to divert attention from her blunder, but as the query hung in the air, she found herself interested in the answer. For what purpose are monsters created?
It described the selenite it knew. Bipedals seemed uncommon, aside from their own relatives. Wait, perhaps? "My dad is Attikias, he's who I got my stone from, and he stood on two feet as well. My other dad is a tree!" They offered what they knew of their direct heritage, hoping it'd help them join the dots. "His name is Titanite, same as his stone."
@V-Labradorite-One
Adenium winced at Lab's pause. Well, winced as much as they physically could, which was little more than a tug at corner of their lip (thankfully). It clarified, but it seem every attempt at an explanation drew more questions into their head- What would be a "perfected" design? Perfected for what? (V-Labradorite-One already seem pretty efficient in their opinion.)
It was fortunate for the other gembound then, that focusing on more than one question at once was kind of hard. she still tried, but the conversation was shifting elsewhere and they wouldn't fight it. "That... kind of does sound important. For them, at least.
On the topic of family though - she didn't know how to feel about her father and the Chaos Forge. Not to draw judgements or anything, but the motivations of the group seemed... Questionable? All this talk about monsters and perfection didn't bring the kindest of intents to mind. He probably had his reasons, and it wasn't like Adenium could ask him right now.
It took Labradorite's last statement as an invitation. "Well, he's about..." It thought for a second, before raising an arm ceiling-ward. "About this tall, when he feels like it. He looks... Actually, he looks like you a little bit. Six eyes, kind of pointy face, he glows like you do too. But with bark all over him instead of oil." And minus the flippers, and the gills, and the second torso.
@V-Labradorite-One