ORIGIN

A broad shape slid down from what could only be loosely termed "the sky," wings beating with heavy thuds. Before the hydra stood the black tree that reached upward through the rock, here, its brilliant red leaves almost glowing. One of the hydra's heads did not wait for the body's clawed feet to touch down before speaking out:

"Can we eat it?" This head's eyes gleamed wide with enthusiastic hunger.
A soft laugh from another, and an even softer voice, answered: "No, Furud. It's a tree."

The hydra set fully down, shaking itself like a dog, the thick fur around shoulders and down its neck casting away some of the dust and dried leaves from its long journey here. It then began to pick its way--trying to step lightly, but too heavily-built to do so very well--toward the tree. The shifting aurora glow across its wings reflected in the water around the flat stones.

"Technically, we could eat it. But I think it belongs to someone," a third head said, thoughtful. "Mirzim?"

The three heads looked to a fourth, this one sleeker than the rest, her head lifting with a thoughtful expression. "I don't sense anything, if that's what you're asking. But no--you're right. This doesn't look abandoned. But you're also right in that it looks like a place that we can rest."

"It doesn't seem dangerous. It's nice," the second head said.

"Then we'll rest here. I'll try to stay awake and keep watch." They knew it likely wouldn't work. Sometimes, one head could stay awake while the others slept, but more often the whole body was in tune; that whole "motionless and deep-breathing" thing tended to send all four of them into a deep sleep.

"I want to stay awake, too. And watch for food," Furud said, a dark tongue lashing out to lick around his fangs.

"It might be for the best," Sirius agreed, firing a brief, dour glance at the two other heads as both snorted soft laughs. "...This is a high-traffic place. We'd be wise to keep our eyes open." Not that they were afraid of attack, exactly, but none of the four were careless, either.

After a few moments of picking around the flat area, the hydra curled up near the woven mats, the two sleeping heads borrowing pillows on which to rest.

As one, the voices went deadly silent, four heads snapping toward the splash. At first it was simply a startled response: the sound was sudden, unexpected. Then, Wolfhound's various heads began to recognize what they were looking at; eyes narrowed, heads cocked, and smiles (some sinister, some pleasant) curled alien lips.

The kind smile belonged to a head that was offering a gentle squint toward Rajani, her expression reaching her eyes. This head tilted a little, and her voice--the softly melodic one--spoke first. "Are you all right, little one?"

The fourth, neither sneering nor smiling, snapped a gaze at this head. "-It's not food?" it demanded, immediately sounding disappointed. The first head rolled its eyes, though none of them responded to this.

The third, female but deeper and more considering, less kind, spoke in a more appraising tone. "It looks like it will be large, some day. Tell me, creature--what sort of thing are you?" Her words were both approving, and curious; it was a little ironic that the multi-headed alien was just as perplexed by the existence of a tiger as the tiger was of them.

On the whole, Wolfhound turned to face the cub, taking a few easy steps toward him; but there was seemingly no ill intent. They stopped a polite distance off, though admittedly all four hydra heads looming with their full attention on Rajani was likely not reassuring, at least.

"Sirius" "Adhara" "Mirzim" "Furud"
Thoughts.

Wolfhound listened, on the whole. The mostly full attention of all four heads was locked on Rajani, politely (or with interest) listening and watching.

"Tiger?" asked the head that had hardly spoken. It tilted, curiousity writ across its alien face. The venom in its translucent head sloshed a little at the movement. "Is that what you are, or is it your name?"

"We are Wolfhound," Adhara offered up, after a glance to Sirius. "That is the name we have for ourselves. We don't know if that's a 'what' or a 'who,' but I'm Adhara; were you looking for something?" The question wasn't asked in a demanding fashion. If anything, this head seemed kind and concerned for the wet-furred little cub. She'd have liked to give him a better answer, truth be told, but as it so often was in the caves, no one had been there to provide guidance upon their hatching, not past the usual simple information. There'd been no question-and-answer, no instruction pamphlet on how to live, no name given to whatever alien creature their species was. They'd had to fumble their way forward as best they could alone (while together).

The tail behind the hydra swept side-by-side for a moment, a slow swing, as if in thoughtful gesture. Sirius seemed about to speak again, but suddenly that half-feral final head lunged forward, sweeping down, eyes bright with excitement. "I'm Furud! BONE-GNAWER! -We should be FRIENDS!"

"Furud-" "Don't scare him!" "I don't think he'd like to be friends with you..."

"Sirius" "Adhara" "Mirzim" "Furud"
Thoughts.

Furud jerked back, flinching and visibly shocked. Mirzim at once broke into low, soft, throaty laughter, and he fired her a still-shocked glare.

"Sorry, little one," Adhara hastened to say. "He wasn't going to hurt you. He's just a little-..." and here this head glanced at Furud, as if trying to think of something polite to say. She failed, after a moment, and shook her head as if to dismiss the thought. "We won't hurt you."

The first head, though--thus far mostly quiet--was appraising Rajani with new regard. "'Tiger' must be a very courageous species," he suggested, his tone kept mild. Wolfhound's tail lashed briefly--catlike, as though the creature as a whole was lost in thought for a moment. The little tuft at the end caught the light, and Sirius shook his head, after a beat. "Do you want us to leave you be-? Or are you hungry, perhaps? We could hunt, and share a meal, and maybe a little of what we know. Starting off alone is a challenge." He was assuming, of course. It was possible Rajani hadn't started off alone--maybe he'd even eaten whoever he'd hatched with. But Wolfhound had started off alone (at least in the basic sense of the word) and knew how hard it could be. Then again, if Rajani wanted to be left alone, Sirius, for one, wasn't about to pry. (And from the worried glance Adhara gave Sirius, she'd rather have done so, herself.)

He is well-spoken, the heads thought amongst themselves. Even as Wolfhound considered this, the hydra's body was turning away. Adhara offered a kindly smile; Sirius, a wiser look of appraisal. The former still saw Rajani as a child in need. Sirius saw a little adult with a very cold demeanor, but with potential. Not that he wanted to use it, exactly. But to nurture it, for its own sake-? Maybe.

And Furud fumed, silently pissy that he'd been rejected and swatted to boot.

"Let's see what's that way, shall we? -We haven't been in this direction," Mirzim said, her tone indifferently easygoing. The clawed feet had turned toward a path that led up the waterways, but away from the red-leafed tree. "Hmm... do you know how to hunt yet?" She peered down at Rajani, thoughtful.

Furud--with a hunter's ever-eager hunger--and Adhara, with her gentle concern, both joined Mirzim in eyeing the black cub. But Sirius kept his gaze ahead, searching for potential prey.

His snout tipped upward, nostrils flaring and heat pits open, but thus far he sensed nothing they could hunt. He'd advise the cub, of course--but only once he'd ascertained what, if anything, Rajani already knew.

He had a feeling the cub would take offense to being told something he'd already figured out on his own.