ORIGIN

Tiny paws padded his way down the caverns. Ears pinned hard against his skull, tail between his stiffened legs. Walking with a limp in his hind legs. This time the tunnel opened to a forest.

Purple eyes darted to the ground, within a little time he'd leap forward. Keeping his body silent, pressing against any shadow he had to hide into. Drifting back to thinking about that tiny cave mouse earlier. How he barely got it in his jaws. They were so much quicker than he was.

And he was hungry

Staying pinned against the forest, his eyes were amazed by the pretty sight around him. No longer was it much of a barren rock among the tunnels. This one opened to be one of color. For the neat sights, he was relatively cautious. Careful where he placed his paws. Every sound he could hear, he'd flinch.

"Speaking"

@Diem Dark

Diem Dark stood silent in the fields beyond. She probably looked like a forboding figure: dark, her wings held out so that they half-mantled around her, her skull-head tipped upward so that glowing violet eyes (half-lidded) were visible to anyone beside or before her. At one point, the wings flexed slightly, but otherwise she stood silent, bag limp at her hip, taloned hands slack at her sides.

Really, though, she was just taking in the fresh air and the light: stopping to smell the flowers, at it were. It's nice there's people out and about again, she was thinking just then. The caves had gone quiet, for awhile, making her think maybe she'd arrived too late. Or well, so late that she wouldn't get to do much before they inevitably slid back into hibernation.

A reprieve, then: and she was out looking for new friends, eager to meet any strangers that might be about. Before her, a little ghostly alligator hatchling (perpetually tiny) was skittering up out of the river; it chirped loudly at her and she looked down, and smiled. Then it was gone back in the water, a whirlwind of miniscule energy.

She didn't see the wolf cub, yet, slinking along into Pegasus and maybe that was just as well: she'd hate to frighten someone, especially a little kid. As it was she cleared her throat and started to sing. Normally her voice was... well, she thought it was bad. But now she enhanced her lyrics with magic, so that she managed to somehow mimic all sorts of sounds into a whole song: a few notes of a piano, a thump of drum, and then vocals. It wasn't all at once--not even with magic could she do that. But it sounded pretty good, nonetheless.

"Don't look to me, I ain't right... And I don't knooo--oow enough, but how much do... I want to know... It's perfectly clear, I'm where I should bee-eee, yeah, ooooff the wall, and back to reality..."

At the very least, she didn't seem dangerous to approach--surely someone breaking into song wasn't dangerous?

@Cardan

The second something started moving, singing, he flinched. Cowering to the ground near tree bark. Purple eyes darted for the reasoning. Darting from the canopy of the trees to the ground. His tail fluttered, the hackles on his neck rising.

What was shocking to the pup the most? Is that the singing was… good. It wasn't what he expected it to be. Or rather he wasn't sure what to expect. Tiny paws hid themselves under his body. Brown fur sparked up by the tree bark.

Uncertainty rose in his chest. The further along she sang, he felt soothed. Stillness wavered, he didn't near the loud thumping. The noises that drive him crazy.

One paw at a time he gently moved forward from the bark, in any attempt to move towards the sound. Every fur stood up, rising in fear and uncertainty. Surely.. she wouldn't try to attack him? If they did, could he.. outrun?

"Speaking"

@Diem Dark

She switched to humming halfway through, then stretched, wings flaring out in a black-feathered cloak before folding loosely at her back again. She turned, then, and did a double-take as her eyes fell by coincidence on Cardan.

Quite suddenly, she screamed. It wasn't a loud or particularly drawn-out scream, though, and it wasn't horror--it was, if anything, excited. "AHHHH! Baby! -Puppy!" she corrected herself immediately, turning fully and dropping into a crouch with arms out. Almost at once she blinked and pulled them back a little (but left them out... also a little... maybe hopefully). "Oh! Sorry, I forgot you're probably-... Can you talk? You're not just a--I mean, you're a Gembound, right?" she asked, voice softer now. Her head tilted a little, quizzically, the strange beak-face curling into a friendly smile.

The little ghostly alligator, unhelpful but also nonthreatening, offered a bright laser-sharp "chirp" before scurrying back for the water.

@Cardan