ORIGIN

Dragon hadn't been too far away, or rather, he'd been at least close enough to hear the cries of the baby bear as she'd hatched. Often, the alligator found the chrysalises while the young were still inside, and helped them to break free. His paternal protective instinct was a perhaps surprising soft side, especially when compared to his dark and rather merciless pursuit of survival at all costs.

This time, when the cries had come ringing through the mist, he'd been working his way up one of the dark water channels that threaded mazelike from the black Heart to the Divine and its surrounding trees. His body was submerged bar his eyes, nostrils and a few of the slick-black ridges at his back; his legs were tucked up, and he moved forward with slow, languid sweeps of his tail, leaving not even a ripple. He'd be difficult to notice unless someone were specifically watching for him, and even then, he might be mistaken for a piece of dark driftwood, slick with water and rotten with age.

He'd dropped even lower in the water, lying entirely beneath, the moment he'd noticed the large and furry shape up on the shore. The words were distorted by the fluid, but he could make out that the bear was friendly enough with whatever the young one was. He was torn between a sort of possessiveness over the young of the swamp (and tempted to come out and claim it, to at least ensure that Leon wasn't harming the cub), and a sort of delightful feeling of mischievous security as he lay beneath the water unseen.

The bear didn't seem to be harming the newborn, and when Dragon saw the shuffling form of Czernobog, and heard the raucous call of Eve, he decided to wait. He'd wait to see what they said, how they handled this, and then he'd come out and inter--...

Dragon? Did he say--dragon?

The alligator's interest piqued, he bobbed up slowly, a piece of floating wood once more. His hearing was suddenly clear again, and he could hear the bear speaking of a dragon in Polaris.

The alligator didn't let out a huge burst of flame, didn't come bursting out of the black water with an indignant roar. Instead, he slowly hauled his ten-plus-foot, seven-hundred-pound frame from the water, tall, ridged tail dragging with a swish through the mud.

"Another dragon?" he rumbled, tilting his head slightly to see Leon more clearly. The bear certainly had a grizzled, battered look about him, as if he'd been through a fair few fights, and Dragon rumbled with approval, though he wasn't sure why.

He glanced at Czernobog, giving the large young boar a dip of his head in acknowledgement.

"Bog." Then he looked back to Leon, briefly examining the smaller bear to ensure that she was healthy, and safe. She was--good. Leon again, then.

"Welcome," he boomed, throat expanding and throat billowing. May as well make a dramatic first impression on the first impressive stranger they'd seen since forming. "We are the Children of Rot. I am Dragon. First: we thank you for your offer of aid, but we need none." Dragon rumbled this slowly, amusement very faint in his voice; the bear was likely offering merely out of politeness, and the idea that a group perfect at survival could possibly need help, well, surviving, amused him.

"Maybe the others will have things to request, but as a whole, we need no aid. As for the dragon... this other dragon. We concern ourselves with Cetus--but we are aware of what is happening outside of the cave. The health of the caves is the health of our home. We know that the pools of Eridanus see, and drag you down and drown you, and are tended by mad cats," Dragon said, echoing what Ghanyarah had told him along with his own experiences. Best to seem knowledgeable, perhaps mysterious, and not powerless in the eyes of this stranger. He continued to keep a deep, slow tone as he spoke, a hissing growl, though non-hostile.

"We know of the rains that came, and that a distant cave dried, when the rains came; and that it has now reversed. We have not heard of another dragon." Dragon had a questioning lilt at the end, polite; the group had shared their knowledge shortly after forming, and nobody, he thought, had mentioned a dragon.

"What is it that you ask of us?" he added, more abruptly. It was clear that the bear's pretense of merely being here to meet them was secondary to his news. Yet Dragon had to admit that the idea of another dragon interested him (and he still firmly believed himself to be a dragon). If it was harming the cave as a whole, if it looked like it would threaten the swamp, then the Children should intervene.

If not, the group would remain here; there was little point in risking themselves for no reward. ...Though the temptation to pit himself against another of his kind, to test himself, to prove himself, was tempting.

The alligator let out a rumbling laugh at the tiny white cub's protests, even going so far as to crawl a few steps closer and tilt his head to get a better look. She was pawing at the ground, her voice a tiny little growl, and he found himself amused.

"I imagine you would fight back, too, and size means little when there is magic in our grasp. Don't fear; if I'd found you first, you'd be hiding behind me instead of behind the bear. But you are probably better off with another of your kind." His comment was a hint to the fact that--had Leon not been here first--Dragon would likely have adopted the little one. Leon was, in some small sense, stealing from him--but it mattered little. And in any case, she probably was better off with another bear, one who would know how to raise her. Still, it meant one less in their own number, one less to ensure their survival.

With a grunt, Dragon lifted his head, turning his attention back to Leon. "Were this dragon to come here, to a land of water and mist, he would be ended," Dragon said confidently. He had absolutely no doubts that if any creature of fire were to challenge the marsh, that Aquarian would decimate them--possibly even swallow them whole. Of course, he hadn't seen Raheerah--but that didn't mean he was wrong.

"But if there are many who intend to fight it at once, it may be best if we helped when the chances are high. Come. There is another far older and wiser than we, and he will know more of this, and what we should do."

Dragon paused to give Leon time to scoop the cub up, if needed, and then slowly turned and began the slithering march back to the black Heart. He'd ask Aquarian. The old serpent knew all, and no doubt he would know if this dragon was a threat that required dealing with, or if they should simply wait in Cetus for it to arrive. Dragon was no coward, but nor did he want to throw away the lives of the Children of Rot--especially if it turned out that there was no need for it.