ORIGIN

The other's it'd come with- Zoey, Khavur and The Opal- were currently resting. It knew that it should be resting as well, but it just.. couldn't. It just couldn't stop thinking, in the restless sort of way where it just had to keep moving.

One of it's earliest memories was of Canis.

Well. That wasn't EXACTLY true. One of the sharpest of its early memories was of Canis. It had other memories, as muddied as the swamp water it was reasonably sure it hatched in. But most of those earliest memories were blurred impressions, felt more than recalled.

But it was like the intensity of that fear had seared that moment into it's memory. I wonder which of these huts was the one I hid in. It thought with a distant sort of musing that nonetheless made it feel vaguely ill. It was odd to believe that it had once been small enough to hide in any of them. Now they felt minuscule. The whole room did. It really has grown. Why was that so hard to believe?


Well, if it wasn't going to take a break, then it should still be keeping watch. It's magic flared out, an easy, almost instinctual spell. Almost instantly the room erupted into the discordant heartbeats of various the various gembound. The tiny rain-like pitter-patters of the rats and other creatures that hid among the bones. The louder but more distant heartbeats of its companions.

But then, a strange, thunderously loud heartbeat. Either belonging to something extremely large or extremely close. Instantly, it'd whip in the direction of the sound. "Whos there?" It called out

There was a returning call of "Hold on. 'm comin out!" and then anticipatory silence broken by the sound of thunderous footsteps. It tensed, even though the voice didn't SOUND aggressive. An armored fish-like creature vaguely reminiscence of... certain members of the Forge. The wooden creature it sat upon didn't have a heartbeat. some kind of strange magic?

It 'grinned' back, an awkward baring of teeth backlit by a neon red maw. "I'm on patrol." It answered, "The Hive was recently purged from this cave, and I'm here to make sure it doesn't return." The landshark was almost.. offputtingly chipper, compared with how it knew massive armored creatures to act. It supposed Zoey was friendly enough, but far less.. energetic. "You live in Hydra? That is impressive. It is not a very hospitable cave." Especially for a semi-aquatic creature like The Labradorite.

"We meet before?" Galleon asked, but Labradorite had long since made the connection. "The Deathmatch in Orion." It spoke. "We never fought, but you were matched against my clutchmate V-Selenite-One." It's jaw set at the memory. It's sibling hadn't fared well in its first fight. "It forfeited, and you let it go." It knew that it was cowardliness on The Selenite's part, and weakness on Galleon's, but it was glad it had ended that way. "Thank you."

Oh. It should probably actually introduce itself. Somewhat awkwardly and abruptly, it said "I'm V-Labradorite-One. What is your designation?"

Labradorite wasn't used to conversations that weren't just the straightforward exchange of information. It wasn't all that good at reading others, either, but it could still sense Galleons confusion. Had it said something wrong? Labradorite was just about to break the lengthening silence with an apology before Galleon did that herself.

"Oh, uh, you're welcome." A simple nod and acknowledging hum would answer her, but it otherwise stayed quiet as Galleon cleared her throat and continued speaking.

It- well- it KNEW others who fought for "fun," but they were vastly different. Those with chaos-addled minds who hungered for destruction and violence. Enjoying combat, but NOT enjoying the fear or pain you inflict.. didn't quite make sense. Although.. Labradorite would say it enjoys combat, but it doesn't enjoy the sensation of fragile bones in its jaws. It enjoys doing what it's supposed to do- what its made for. But isn't it meant to be an executioner?
It'd snort gently to vacate this thought from its mind.

"...Some would call that weakness. They'd say the only important part of fighting is winning." It wouldn't say whether it agreed with this statement because honestly? It wasn't quite sure. It THOUGHT it did, but it also didn't think this gembound or The Selenite were weak, either.

"Nobody likes The Hive, except those in it." A light huff of a light, as though The Labradorite itself wasn't entirely sure it had made a joke. "No, I'm not alone. The others are resting, but I.. just don't like being idle." It'd half-shrug. It'd stay quiet for a couple moments after this, fidgeting minutely as if considering something before finally asking "Would you like to spar? I could use the practice." If Galleon accepted the offer it would silently move into position, its posture shifting to a battle-ready one.