ORIGIN - The Thinning Veil

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The child plodded forward. He was still naked, though there was nothing untoward to see. Ashen skin (blushed crimson in places) seemed to suit the dim light, here; the wings that wavered clumsily behind him, not so much. The softly-glowing cave seemed built for quiet, dark mystery and gentle magic. Bezaliel seemed built for smoke and flames. The little red wisp he'd brought with him didn't help, providing a somewhat hellish light that bobbed off ahead to dimly illuminate their path.

Still, he moved with the confidence of one who had been here once before. He moved, too, with a child's clumsy steps, near-stumbling now and again. And his language--still mired in childlike simplicity--came halting as he glanced back and spoke. "Almost there. Is a pit," he explained, dark mischief in his eyes, if not outright malice. The gilded gold of his freckles glittered as he turned back away.

Truth be told, he thought the pit was pretty neat, and figured Doru might like it. But he wasn't going to tell his sibling what exactly that entailed. If they passed an Echo or two along the way, well, Bez wasn't about to enlighten them. No; his plan was to lead Doru right into the pit, and watch (preferably grinning) as their sibling learned the creepy way what this place was all about.

They were almost there, now; the darkness of the Pit lay some distance up ahead, and Bezaliel pointed off to it with stubby fingers. "That way," he said, and quickened his pace a little.

@Doru

In contrast to their devilish brother, quiet and dark mysteries suited the vampiric dragon Doru well. Whether gentler magics suited them… Well, only time would tell.

Their purple viper gaze had not liked to adjust to the glowing light here, so different from the misty cave they had hatched in.

But they followed Bez regardless, with no complaint, even with all that. Instead of watching the surroundings, for the most part Doru watched their brother, trying to figure him out.

Doru did not understand Bez, not motivations nor otherwise. Doru was creature of empathy, though that empathy could easily be twisted to cruelty. But they did not understand that their brother lacked this quality that was so intrinsic to them. "'Lright," Doru spoke softly, the words loud enough to their own sharp hearing.

@Bezaliel

Maybe in time he'd be a better trickster. As it was, the grin that played on his face--barely hidden--was that of a child who'd had very little experience with this whole "lying and manipulation" thing. That sounded more sinister than it was; really it was just mischief, but regardless, Bez's snicker was barely suppressed as he came to a halt at the Black Pit's edge.

A pudgy hand swept down again to point, for a second time, as if somehow the pit could be missed. Then his coal-glow eyes turned to catch Doru's, his grin alternating rapidly between gleaming teeth and solemn as he tried to hide it.

"Down there. Go see," he urged, and then nodded, his black mop of hair shifting to hang over his forehead as he did. A hand wiped it impatiently out of the way, and he looked down into the pit again, waiting.

He expected a short start and a scare, maybe a shout as an unexpected echo appeared. Nothing really damaging; and then he'd clamber down, too, and laugh. That was assuming nothing more traumatic somehow happened.

After a moment's consideration (and squinting concentration) he tried something he hadn't done before: summoning, and controlling, a second wisp. This one held the same dull red glow, and he sent it bumbling slowly down the hill as a guide for his sibling to follow. At the very least, they wouldn't fall.

@Doru

Even with some pale gold hair hiding their sharp eyesight from all the brightness, Doru could see the flickers of an expression on Bez’s face. It was like playfulness, they decided, yet not. There was something more or less to it that made it different.

The other had an expression now that reminded Doru of hunger, almost. But Bez wasn’t going to eat them, they weren’t prey. And yet…

It was as if they were prey, but not food-prey. Their brother was definitely hungry for something. And it had to do with this pit.

Rather than immediately set off, Doru smiled back with sharp teeth that were usually hidden behind subtler expressions that came more instinctively. ”Bez won’t come with?” They wondered aloud.

They glanced at the lights, despite hating the searing brightness such a turn gave their sensitive eyes. It just felt right, to add such a movement. Then they turned away. ”S’alright. ‘M not scared of the dark.”

Doru smiled sweetly with a tilt of their head. ”Bez can keep his lights. Don’t want Bez scared.”

Then Doru turned away to descend into the pit.

@Bezaliel

He almost felt bad for deceiving his sibling. Almost. Not really, though, because the most he expected was a shock they could (probably) both laugh at later.

Of course, he'd get to laugh more now. Or in a moment, anyway. "I will come," he assured Doru, but he made sure to trail behind quite slowly. That "moment of surprise" that he hoped would come--assuming the Echoes proved as active as before--would have to come when Doru was alone, for maximum hilarity.

He kept one wisp with himself, and shrugged. "I don't get scared," he protested, the other one bobbing along with Doru. It was a little petulant, a little insistent. And if anybody'd asked, he'd have insisted he was immune to fear.

@Doru

With their face away from Bez, Doru's brother missed their amused expression as Doru got exactly what they had intended.

They wouldn't have minded if Bez had stayed behind, really, that was not their intention through their words. But the petulant protest of lack of fear, especially combined with the decision to act contrary to previously decided, that felt like a success.

Empathy was a useful tool in manipulation, though Doru did not realize that was what they were doing.

Doru walked deeper into the pit, careful to keep their balance as best they could. Occasionally their wings would spread to try and catch air to prevent a stumble. They did not yet see what was so interesting about it.

But they would soon.

A shadow appeared within the pit, and coalesced in flickering magic into an image in faded color: a German Shepherd Dog, amber gem at his left hind leg, dropping to all fours from a leap or an upright, two-legged stand. His jaws moved, but sound--a distant whisper--only cut in after a moment, when his ears had pricked up and his tongue lolled in a grin. Even in the echo--staring past Doru blindly--the dog's eyes seemed to shine with delight.

"Isaac did good."

The echo flickered again, then faltered, and faded altogether.

@Doru

Rather than causing fright at all, the slow coalescing of shadow into a shade brought forth fascination. The young draconic child studied the faded colors of the shadow with intensity. The sound came afterwards, like the lightning and thunder in reverse.

"Oh," Doru breathed out in awe. They were disappointed when the echo flickered and then faded completely.

They spun to face their brother, purple gaze revealed as they had shifted their hair from their eyes to better study the image. "Bez, Bez, how?" They asked, simply an awed and delighted child.

Perhaps some children would find the strangeness scary, but Doru simply found it all to be fascinating.

@Bezaliel

Bez was, of course, a little disappointed that Doru hadn't screamed at least in surprise. A little shriek, at least. (How selfish of Doru, not to scream!) But his own attention was distracted from that disappointment, at least in part, by his rapt fascination renewed at full strength by the sight of another echo.

Fangs gleamed in a brief, childish grin as he hastened to catch up, toddling after his sibling.

"'Dunno," he answered, honest (and too inexperienced to make up some elaborate lie to make himself seem cooler; no doubt that'd come with age). "But 's cool, right?" He came up alongside Doru, after a moment of gently skidding down coal-black rock. He brushed his legs off, pushed upright and gestured to where the echo had been. "They come here. I don't know why. Or how! Or what they are," he added, with a shrug.

He didn't bother telling Doru he'd intended for them to be scared; he just squinted at the dark, and then at Doru's expression, hoping to see either another echo or to figure out just how much his 'gift' had been appreciated.

@Doru

"'S cool," Doru agreed, pleased that their brother had given them such a nice surprise. Doru thoughtfully regarded where the echo had been. "Very cool," They reaffirmed their praise.

"I want to know why and how and what," Doru admitted, wishing the echo would come back so they could study it better.

Their purple gaze searched, but they did not see anything more yet. So they turned back to Bez. "Thanks, Bez." Their voice was warm and pleased, their viper eyes sharp as ever but glittered with delighted.

@Bezaliel

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