ORIGIN

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Ember drifted into Leo on updrafts, basking in the humid warmth of its air. He had never really decided whether he preferred cool, snowy caves like Ursa--given his thick fur--or the draconic-aligned heat of places like Leo and Monoceros. He felt relatively comfortable in both, he supposed. And Leo was good for that--it had Ursa right next door, so he could get his feel of whichever, whenever he wanted.

He was aiming, right now, for the Underforge, or more specifically, the Workshop just before. To get there he'd need to soar off across the bay, leading Glory and Spark along with him. "It's over there! Inside the volcano," he shouted, and this was directed at Glory. Spark, after all, had been here at least once before.

"There is a workshop, and then farther down the forges. But it's very, very hot down there," he warned.

He hadn't spoken much during their travel, bar comments here and there on the new caves they'd passed, for Glory's sake--and a surprised remark that he hadn't noticed that their gemstones almost matched. Both fiery, both perched atop their heads--albeit with his as a simple forehead stone, and Glory's as a prominent crest. But aside from that, Ember'd kept mostly quiet. He wasn't always a talkative sort to begin with, and he'd been focused on watching for any danger, on getting Glory here safely. Spark, he knew, knew their way but Glory had never been here. Hadn't even been awake, as he'd explained, when Leo'd finally been opened.

"So!" he called back now, risking a glance back at the eagle as he rode a thermal forward, across the glittering expanse of bay. "What do you think so far?!"

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@Spark @Glory

Glory was completely unprepared for the sheer size of Leo. The biggest cave he'd seen before was Fornax, but that paled in comparison to the sheer size and grandeur of Leo. The bay, the sea, the volcano. He hadn't truly understood what a volcano was until now, with its rivers of lava and smoke pillowing from its peak. It was like his magic but...greater. More powerful and primal. Is this where it came from? Fire itself? He would not have imagined before that he would ever bear the honor of standing before a force as powerful and natural as this.

"Magnificent!" He called forward, eyes gleaming against the light of the volcano. "Absolutely incredible! I did not imagine that any cave could be this big!" He was already considering moving his forge here. He would no longer ever have to deal with the constant howling winds of Monoceros or searching far and wide for sources of water and sand. No, here was all the sand he would ever need and more water then he could ever use!

He glided gracefully on the warm thermal front, eyeing the entrance to the workshop. The heat, he wasn't worried about. "Heat's no problem for me! You should feel how hot my cave gets when the forge is running!" It was strange, and painful to say. He could barely remember the last time his cave had been anything but almost unbearably hot. The forge and smelter combined made it feel like one was cooking alive. He'd grown used to it, and the many scars beneath his feathers would prove that he'd had his fair share of heat-related injuries.

@Spark

After so long spent in Orion, Spark had leapt at Ember's offer to go back to Leo again. Despite being well past their childhood, they never strayed far from the dark, twinkling cave. Even with dreams of ambition, they never seemed to get far when left on their lonesome. They lingered in their indecision. Perhaps a visit to The Blacksmith would reignite a guiding flame.

They droned along, two packages in their claws and teeth - one small cardboard box, and a once elegantly decorated christmas gift warped and stained with black liquid. They'd made sure to explain the uses of each, the first as a greeting gift, and the second a personal project of theirs. After the time spent with their grandfather and aunt, they had learned the value of building suspense and a good surprise.

Both the box in their mouth and their shyness kept them silent. Their eyes burned with many, many questions, but their voice would not allow it. All they knew of Glory was his skill in smithing and how long he had slept, and they had no idea how even to adress him. They'd let their father do the talking, buzzing quietly behind the two.

@Ember

Ember laughed good-naturedly, though much of it was lost to the rush of wind through which he soared. "We're almost there!" was his only answer.

A few moments later he was gently touching down at the mouth of the searing cave to the volcano. He shook himself, flicking his tail contentedly, and glanced back at the other two. "My forge gets hot, too. And this cave is huge," he added. He pointedly eyed Spark's mysterious gifts again; he'd noted their silence, and wondered at it, but deliberately showed interest in it. "I'm curious to see what's in those," he told them, and then turned, leading the way forward.

He was quickly swallowed by the darkness, and it took his eyes a minute to adjust. The air shimmered with sweltering heat; smoke rose here and there in acrid twists. The whole place was bathed in a reddish glow. "This way," he said, mostly to Glory--Spark had been here before, after all--and headed downward.

"The Blacksmith's place is just up ahead. I hope he's here, but if he's not I can show you the opening to the Underforge-place below. I didn't really go in there," he added; he'd barely more than glimpsed the immense expanse beneath. "But it's, uhh... underneath the entire bay, I think. It's enormous."

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@Glory

Glory followed suite as Ember landed at the mouth of the cave, eagerly striding forward ahead of them, ignoring the others for the time being in favor of being the first to step into the sweltering heat. It was quite hot here, although he was sure it would get worse. Not quite as hot, yet, as his cave with the forge and smelter going, but it seemed that he would have to adjust after all, if he decided to move he in the end.

He stepped to the side, glancing back at Spark for a moment. The hybrid had been quiet, almost as if he were nervous or unsure around him, and perhaps Glory would try to bridge this gap if he weren't so excited to see the workshop and the forge beneath the volcano. So, for now, he gave him a nod and a quick clack of his beak to acknowledge him, and then turned to follow eagerly after Ember.

Already he was feeling the power of this place. The reddish glow almost mystical, like a primal power that was barely contained. The power beneath his talons was so much stronger then it was in Monoceros. Where he had once lived among winds and dust, here it was black rock and molten flame. He shivered, as if in anticipation, and knew right then and there that, if he were allowed, he must move his forge here. "The entire bay? That is...quite the space! It must be many forges, not just one!" If he had all that room...he could barely imagine having a forge bigger then the cramped little cave he'd lived in his whole life.

"Right...the Blacksmith." He had almost forgotten in his wonder of this new cave and the volcano. He turned back to look at Spark. "Have you met him before?"

@Spark

They touched down with the others, further ahead. The combination of the placement of their wings and the anatomy of them made flying a peculiar affair and landing awkward, as well as the face that they were quite lengthy, more so than both of their companions. The wave of heat was considerable, but Spark didn't flinch. Perhaps an echo of their draconic ancestry, but it could easily have been from their familiarity with the cave already.

They blinked at Ember's comment, a half-query. "This one's a gift - something to mix with water. The other... You'll see." There was a smile to its words, more prideful than mischevious. They were eager to free themselves from carrying at least one of the items, walking and talking made inconvenient by the burden.

Spark tried to supress the nervous ruffling of feathers that occured when Glory addressed them, even if a conversation was to be expected at some point. "Yes I have, when I was very young. It was a lesson, I think - I restored a dagger, and he enchanted it." The Blacksmith seemed kind enough, but the true interactions between the two had been sparse. There had been others that day, many of them, and so his attention had been general, though not entirely unfocused. They wondered if they'd be able to make something as impressive as that shimmering blade - perhaps with the materials they had acquired with trading it. Picking up both presents again, they made quick ground towards the forge.

@Ember

Ember grinned back at Glory, the bared teeth accompanied by cheerfully squinted eyes. "There are! It's a whole bank of them down there."

He let the two talk on their own--not interrupting--as he paced a little farther in. His head tipped back, nose taking in the scents--he smelled the Blacksmith over the other, more acrid odors of forge-work, but whether it was fresh, he could not quite tell.

He struck out toward the workshop. "BLACKSMITH?" he called out, his usually soft voice surprisingly, draconically loud. He thenb glanced back at the others. "You wanted to talk to him first, right? -Before we see the other forges down below?"

He infused himself with magic, for the moment. His body began to glow, a torch of his own, shining fiery light to match the cracks and vents here--giving them a little more by which to navigate the tunnel.

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@Glory

To be honest, his heart was only half in conversation for now, too excited to meet the Blacksmith and see the forges beneath them. He nodded at Spark, although he didn't meet their eyes. "Yes, Ember said something about a lesson. I wish I'd been there!" If he weren't so consumed by the Workshop, he probably would have been more interested in Spark, being Dread's grandchild and all (and to think he didn't even have a single child while Dread's blood was all over the caves!).

His feathers tingled again at the thought of forge upon forge just waiting down there, a whole cave of unused stations to perform his craft!

He nodded eagerly to Ember and stepped forward, looking towards where he'd called, excited for the Blacksmith to appear.

"Yes-? Here! Hello! Who is there? -Would you like some tea?"

The voice was muffled, a little distant, down behind a column of rock and cloud of steam and smoke. Should the Gembounds approach, they would find the Blacksmith in a small area that seemed to have been set hastily aside as a living space: stone benches and a table, with a few chicken-scratch plans on parchment spread out there. A simple but elegant tea kettle and large cup--made out of some sort of white marble-looking stone--were laid out, both steaming.

Shelves on the wall held a mishmash of blacksmithing and living items: plates and a hammer, hanging dried herbs and a shred of black-smudged burlap cloth, a bowl of black nails and second bowl of fruits.

The space was large enough for the entire group--but only barely.

To get to this space, they'd pass--on their left--a large and open smithy. This space was one that Spark would recognize, from having worked alongside others there. Large, broad anvils, a forge open directly into flowing lava (but its lip quite narrow, vertically), racks of weapons and armor both old and new, and all of the tools of the trade could all be seen here, clustered with a look of both ancient age and constant use.

@Spark

"It's Spark and Ember, from the lesson! We've brought a friend - he would like to meet you." Came the response - their voice wasn't quite the draconic bellow of Ember's, the ancestry muddled with several other species. It certainly was capable of holding some of that rumble, but it gravitated to higher frequencies - as the birds of prey they were descended from had.

Moving swiftly past the space they had first worked a forge, they set down their things and looked back to check on the rest of the group, allow them to catch up in case they'd fallen behind.

They refocused on the Blacksmith, giving him an easy smile. There's a comfort to people you've known from an early age - if you can remember them at the very least. The creature had not appeared to change much since those early months, which made it less difficult, certainly. "Hello! What is tea?"

@Ember

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