ORIGIN

Anubis was elsewhere in Pegasus, gathering...materials. It didn't seem at all cohesive, some random herbs, a few sticks, plenty of bark, a few small freshly-killed animals, and an unconscious red mouse. It was all piled on top of a small, thin slab of carved stone he'd found in Cassiopeia with some dried cord attached. A simple little sled to drag home with him that was definitely not very effective, but it got small jobs like this done.

He was gently setting the red mouse atop the pile (how many Aatis had he been through now, he wondered?) when he felt something like a poke in the back of his mind. Somewhere, Wings was getting his attention. The Flying Pitch Rat familiar was fluttering somewhere up high and had seen something - a child.

"What do I need a kid for?" he snapped through their connection. "That's Bacchus's thing." His lip curled and he made to step around to the front of his little sled when he paused. He could see the bubble through Wing's eyes - distant, yes, but there was definitely some magic there. And...a small spark of an idea was coming to him. It had been a long time since he'd really constructed an experiment around a kid. Not since...since...

Fiver. That had been a while ago. And that experiment had not exactly gone to plan.

He turned. Where? And Wings provided him the relative position by flying a little ways away until Anubis could see himself in his familiar's eyes. He turned and took off across the fields of Pegasus. He wasn't even that far away.

Within a few minutes, he slowed, the child now in his sight. He was approaching from behind where she sat at the riverside. He took a quick breath and stood up straighter. If anyone had been watching, they might have seen that very strange change in demeanor as Anubis stepped into role of a trustworthy jackal, the hunched figure straightening, the ears swiveling forward, almost curious, eyes brighter and more attentive.

"Excuse me," he called out softly. "Are you out here alone?"

Anubis watched carefully the fire few moments of their interaction, attentive eyes scanning and reading every movement, taking it apart carefully in his ever-working mind. She was afraid - not of him specifically, but perhaps wary of strangers. Fair enough. It did not seem to be trauma-based, he did not notice the tell-tale sign within her expression that she was anywhere but here, mentally, and the submissive bow was something seen in shy, inexperienced creatures, not skittish, traumatized ones. Okay, that would make things a little easier.

She was also keeping her distance. So he did not move forward anymore, taking a step back himself and planting his feet on the ground. Hm, that would make things more difficult. The magic he would usually rely on for this sort of manipulation needed close proximity. Ah, well, he always had a backup.

Ever so subtly, a delightful smell began to trickle from Anubis's coat. It wasn't strong, but the magic laced within it would...help. It might take a moment to reach the child but perhaps she would, at the very least, drop her guard so Anubis could worm his way beneath it.

In the meantime, he let a soft smile enter his expression. "Well, welcome, little one. Don't be alarmed, I mean you no harm." And he, indeed, certainly did not look like he meant any harm - there was soft curiosity on his face and his gold-dipped tail was relaxed behind him, gently brushing the grass as it slowly moved back and forth. Distantly, he could feel Wings's curiosity and he mentally shoved the familiar so it would not approach and startle the kid. "Do you have a name?

"Aerys." He rolled the name around on his tongue and for a brief moment, he marveled. What was it that made some children hatch with their names already known? He had known his too, the word had fallen from his mouth. And he hadn't questioned it then. But he questioned it now. And others, like...Fiver, and some of the no-longer-kids that still lurked in the prison needed names given to them, or accepted the ones granted. It was so odd. But this was not the time to study such things. Perhaps if he ever got a new child that wasn't so on-edge, he would probe farther.

He placed a paw upon his chest as he sat back, making himself comfortable. He wouldn't approach, but if she wanted to close the distance between them, she was welcome. "I am Anubis. I live nearby, just a cave over. Where we are is a place called Pegasus." He gestured to the beautiful fields around them. "Probably one of the nicer caves. You picked a good place to hatch - if you did hatch here, that is. It's safe, relatively at least." He allowed a small shadow to darken his expression, as if he were remembering something, staring off a little ways into the cave for a moment, before looking back.

"Do you have a place to shelter? Or food? I just caught some, if you wanted to share. I don't mind." Build up trust, now - something more substantial then pheromones. Magic would help, of course, in the near future.

There was nothing but warmth from Anubis. He was a bit of a ragged thing, his fur was matted in places and he was thin and tired-looking, but in the context of the pheromones and the facade he was putting up, it made him look...charming, almost. Someone perhaps down on their luck but still with the goodwill to offer what little they had. More then happy to help, even if they might need help in turn.

He smiled as she stepped forward a bit. He didn't make a move to close to distance - he could be patient and wait for her to approach further. He wanted her as comfortable as possible, he could tell one wrong move and she would be gone.

Why was he putting so much work into this when he could simply do an experiment on a Lesser and get more information? Ah, that he couldn't answer. But something about it was...exhilarating. There was a prize waiting at the end and that prize was control, that sweet ambrosia to boredom and loneliness.

He tilted his head to motion in the direction of where he'd left his materials piled, waiting. "Of course! I have some food back there, we can talk about shelter once you've gotten something to eat." He stood, then, and turned to pad off in the direction of where he'd left his sled. Noticing the movement, Wings called questioningly through the link and Anubis commanded silently that he stay away for now. She would not react favorably to another wrench thrown in the mix yet. Once he got some magic working on her, though, then things might be different.

He checked to make sure Aerys was following as he led her over to where he'd left his supplies, offering a few reassuring smiles and making small talk as they went, pointing out small things in Pegasus - that way was the forest, a good place for herbs and hunting, that direction was where the entrance to Draco was - she should stay away from that, over there in the meadow he'd found a warren of rabbits and he picked from them occasionally, but never the parents so they could keep breeding and supplying with food and never too much so they did not run away.

After a few minutes, they would arrive at the sled, where Anubis padded up and nosed through some of the kills he had made, picking out a small cave rabbit - most likely from the warren he'd mentioned - and as he held it in his mouth, he began threading out the first strings of control. The obsidian teeth warmed and a few spores blooming under the skin of the rabbit. Not many, but it would be enough, if she ate it. They would grow over time. She probably wouldn't feel the effects of the spell for a little while longer - it would probably be a few hours before the first signs of fatigue began, and by then it would be too late to fight back.

He set the rabbit down a few feet away from the pile so that Aerys would still have some space to be comfortable, and returned to pick out his own kill.

Silence fell over the pair as they ate, Aerys on the infected rabbit, Anubis on a rather large cave rat. Although he made a point to look interested on his food, he continued to watch the pup as she ate warily. Something hot and pleasurable was rising in his stomach and warming his veins with an ugly joy. She didn't know, she probably didn't even suspect what she had just ate. The infection was in her body now. He just had to hold onto the magic and let it spread until her energy was drained. And then...she was his.

Why did that make him feel so good? He didn't have any grand research plans in store for her, he didn't think he had any particular reason to keep her by his side other then for the fun of it, and perhaps for a few small things he wanted to test, but had been unwilling to be the subject. Perhaps he should kill her, and see if youth decayed faster then adult, or if the chrysalis formed differently for those newly hatched. But it wasn't about the research right now. No it...it was about the power he had over her. If she tried to run, he knew he could overpower her quickly. If she tried to fight, he could kill her without question. But it was so much more fun to sidle beneath her defenses and walk her right into the trap.

Maybe Bacchus was onto something.

Once he noticed she was done eating, he quickly snapped up the last few scraps of his own meal before pushing the remains aside. "Of course. We should probably find you some shelter too. Did you want to stay here around Pegasus? My own "home", I guess, is just a cave over if you wanted to rest there. It's well-protected and safe, and warm." A lie to nip the end of what was otherwise truth - the Prison was not particularly warm, but it was at least not freezing. "Whatever you'd like to do. I do need to return home soon, though, before these herbs wilt too much." He tried to push some magic behind his words, but it didn't quite reach far enough and no more pheremones touched the air, only the lingering afterthoughts of the taste he'd released a little while earlier.