the swamp wasn't the ideal place for a creature such as this to live, let alone be born into. it was a foul smelling, murky place; fit for those of dark hearts and even darker intentions. but the creature would not know of this. he is ambivalent while the shell of his vessel emerges - awake, oddly enough, but uncaring as the water rushes across the thin casing. dark eyes peer out of darkness, staring with emptiness at the light as it dances across the surface of the water. the vessel is partially submerged. perhaps it was made in the great depths, but it has come to the surface of the swamp's soil now. it sits, and he sits, and the creature watches mindlessly. he does not try to break through the wall in to existence; he sits, he watches, and he waits.
but the creature becomes aware of a sensation. he leans forward, his round body having very little room for movement within the chrysalis, and with a slouch his head touches upon the opal's contours. he feels the chill and pulls back instantly, giving a honk of surprise - a deafening sound in such a small space. the sound bounces off of the inner curve of the shell and assaults his tiny ears; so the creature, not understanding, lurches backwards. the chrysalis slips in its moorings and is dislodged, floating a few feet through the swamp's endless waters before planting itself, like some sort of seed, in the damp roots of a tree.
when the egg came to a lurching halt against the roots, the creature within did not quite stop. there wasn't too much room for it, but the momentum carried through the core, regardless. physics could not be avoided. the creature gave another honk - a smaller one - as his rotund figure bounced against the nearest surface. it didn't hurt, not really. not enough to make him whine or cry out again. but the creature became aware a minute later of something new; he was pressed against the surface, and while he did not like that, there was a vibrating tone seeping through the shell.
the creature didn't know what was on the other side. he didn't recognize the reptilian form of the crocodile as it slid out of the swamp, nor did it recognize the rumbling that the foreign beast made; the new thing was only aware of how soothing the sound was. he wanted to make that sound too - perhaps out of a desire to communicate, which was well ingrained, or perhaps it was simple mimicry. the darkness swam around him, shifting with the change in the air as the sounds continued, and all the creature could muster was the ineffective blowing of raspberries against the chilled wall of the chrysalis.
when the creature tired of that, it sank back in the vessel, soothed by the rumbling that continued to roll through the water, and thus through the container. a sudden desire to reach out and find the source of that sound gripped the creature, so he drew in a breath and focused --
and the dull thump of dragon's heartbeat sounded in the darkness, becoming a beacon for the trapped babe. the creature murmured softly, babbling, and then gave a wheezy, explicit toot in the direction of the heartbeat. the sound bounced right back at his sensitive ears, and so the child silenced itself, withdrawing instinctively away from the ringing that now overwhelmed him.
there was a brief interlude where the rumbling vanished, and all that was left was the sense of dragon's heart beating. mentally the creature latched upon that, seeking it out for the comfort it posed. and then, when the babe's whole world shifted and things began to shatter - he gave a strangled cry, uneasy and overwhelmed, until a segment of the chrysalis was chunked away and the babe could get a breath of the sulfuric air within the swamp. it was not a clean first breath; the taste made the babe squirm within the shell, to pull its face back and even hide his route little snout in the crook of his little arm.
then the beast outside, the one which rumbled, did something new. the words were just sounds at first - nonsense, like the rumbling - but then the alligator sank back from the opening, muttering the command a second time, and somehow it clicked within the babe's brain.
"brrrr," the babe mimicked, his nose appearing where the shell had started to splinter.
"brrrrrr!" it was almost like the outside-beast's rumbling but not quite, and seemed to stifle the babe's nerves. he wiggled his nose out of the hole, then his head, but that was where everything stopped -- because he was stuck. everything from the seal's face down was too round and filled with fat to be of use. the walls of the chrysalis held firm around him, and all the babe could do was squawk and wiggle uselessly.
"brrrrr, brrr!" he squealed, pitch rising with the child's confusion. his dark eyes opened, revealing nothing but blackness and the shine of stone. "raaaake!" he called out, and then let out a little honk as he settled in to his defeat.
it was a tight squeeze, and an uncomfortable one. but it wasn't that much different than the squeeze he had felt upon waking; the shell didn't fit around him too well after all. even though the baby was disoriented and unhappy with the feeling of the cold stone against its head, it eventually quieted. and then, when the friend outside began to work at the fragmented crevice that had cracked across the vessel, the babe could only sit and wait. there was the occasional pinch, or a new sound, but it did not disturb him. when the voice came again, and then the helpful beast placed pressure on the fat child's head, he allowed it; sinking back in to the chrysalis.
eventually, the crack had become large enough that he could likely escape from the shell entirely. the playful sound of bubbles (from the outside beast's laughter) prompted the newborn to stick its head out again - slowly this time, in case there was more wall to catch him - and with a surprised yip, the seal pup plopped out of the chrysalis and in to the swamp water below. his blubbery chest plopped against the water's surface with a slap, and then he was floating among the reeds, tail fins slipping out of the vessel and in among the tree roots.
already, he could swim. he could float and exist here, content in the slight chill, but something... something was amiss. the seal turned its attention in every direction - staring straight ahead, then at the tree roots (or rather, through them), and then beyond the alligator which had been of such great help. where had the voice gone? where was the cold and the dry? "brrrreak?" he called out - perhaps to announce that he was free, or perhaps to find the rumbly thing that had given him such assistance.
he had forgotten all about his magic, which had waned quickly enough. the sound of the heartbeat was lost to the water around him - to the darkness he would always be facing.
it wasn't perfectly quiet in the swamp. the trees shifted with the air currents produced by the differing pressure in the cave system, there were tiny animals scurrying around, the reptilian creature was blowing bubbles - and though he could not see his surroundings, the babe was content. he happily floated with the scum and the reeds, unaffected by the state of the water or the chill it may have posed to others. and when his companion spoke, he once again imitated.
"drrrrrr!" he called out, droning on for a minute while the thrumming sound passed across the surface. the seal dipped its head in to the water, feeling the wetness slide up his round face, and did it again, "drrrr!", pleased by the feeling the bubbles made as they sought the surface. he stopped when dragon spoke again, but he didn't know what to do.
"hnnngrrrrr?" more bubbles, and no answer for the reptile. even if taktuq had known what hunger felt like, he was too enthralled by the soft effervescence around him. and, quite suddenly, he began to form new words. "taaaa," the seal opened his mouth wide as if to invite a dentist inside - and the water slipped over his tongue. when it reached his throat he sputtered and spat, drifting from his moorings against the tree roots. "taaatuq!"
"Taaak-tuq, hunnngggrrr." collecting water in his mouth again, this time the baby spat it fountain-style towards dragon; he didn't know he was aiming for the reptile's head, but it was only a little water, it wouldn't hurt. "Taktuq hung-reeee."