ORIGIN

For all of Fahl's burning impatience, he hadn't needed to wait for long. The sheer masses that had been headed inbound for a taste of the challenges offered by the dungeon long before he'd even heard of its existence guaranteed no more than a few heartbeats passed before another stalked toward the sweltering tunnel entrance. Then more followed, most focused more on traversing the path ahead than fully acknowledging potential teammates. Irritation prickled at being treated as a mere obstacle to step around, an outbreak of fiery dots bursting into view upon scales, yet none of this ire he voiced beyond a soft rumble within his throat. Call it age finally coloring his perception of the younger generation, but this latest development and the moments of ignorance displayed in cycles past was making it difficult not to perceive other, newer Gembounds as rather foolhardy and arrogant.

Of course, thinking this way also required ignoring his own stubborn childhood insistence on independence; still, the iguana remembered his excursion to the Black City as occurring alongside those willing to accept allies and collaborate before hurling themselves at the Kraken's merciless tentacles. Although they might've required Farina bailing them out in the final seconds of their legendary struggle, the coordination and cunning of a group and not the individual had whittled down the monster's strength.

Oh well. If the others wished to rush into whatever boiling drink awaited everyone, Fahl wouldn't waste his breath stopping them. Better to reserve his limited words for more receptive ears. The cat and the hooved beast sporting golden scales at least appeared open to a chat based off of their remarks. He determined to keep tabs on them should an incident demand more than just his magic to push through.

As Fahl huffed and descended farther into the tunnel, a chipper echo of his own vulgarly expressed sentiments rang nearby, overly familiar in its juvenile pitch. His walk on the stone bridge suspended over the threatening glow of lava slowed, and a cluster of alarmed thoughts battled to squeeze past a gemmed tongue upon finding himself staring at inquisitive eyes.

"What? Wyrm." White mottled his hide at the child's question while concern banished the warmer hues painted there, somber blues replacing them. "Well, fuck... ah, that's... a word to learn later." Or never—whenever he gathered the composure for explaining cusses learned from her much older half-sibling. More important was, "Does Dragon know you're here."

Perhaps the gator's style of parenting was lax enough that her slipping away was nothing out of the ordinary. The Children did seem to mind their own business often. Rarely had he ever witnessed more than a few gathered in a single place, most tending to personal endeavors he knew little about. Nevertheless, an intense urge made him almost conjure a rift right then and there to shove Wyrm into for safekeeping until he reached the end of this dungeon. He probably would've actually committed to the action if the shift of stone underfoot didn't seize all of his attention beforehand.

Rapid steps backed him away from the worst of the collapse and the quite unexpected overhead assault. Since she was beside him, Fahl hoped the niece he'd been introduced as honorary uncle to possessed enough sense to do the same. The sight of what used to have been the bridge floating in pieces amongst a sea of scorching pain caused his stomach to lurch in anticipation. A fateful instance had rendered an easy crossing into one decidedly less so. Anyone who continued to carry the guts to proceed forward would have to abandon caution in favor of speed lest they sink along with whichever island their paws settled upon.

Urgency kept him from meeting eyes with Wyrm again. However he clearly addressed her, tone brusque while gazing down at potential doom. "Keep close. We'll make it through this together."

Pure white light swelled upon his shoulders, unfurling into an ethereal set of wings. They were wispier than he'd have preferred, concentration leeched by the pressure of the time-sensitive situation, but surely their structure would prove decent enough to keep him aloft and away from harm. No further direction given, he leapt from stone to stone; constructed feathers aided him in sticking the land each time, their glide allowing toes to never skim lava, let alone dip into it.