ORIGIN - Why can't I breathe?

She returned to the place it all started, from the very moment her blush hued vision fluttered open. From the moment that a scaled creature tried to break her cocoon, from then she felt a connection to the beast and yet she had been absent. Not because she never wished to see the man again, nor was it because she had designed her movements to cause her mind to loose all sense of direction. It was because her steps were flawed, because her mind was not clear. A soft sigh escaped her pale magenta lips, her teeth slowly setting her trinket on the moss covered timber that had fallen many years before her suspended animation. It would make a high pitched sound, a clink as its glassy surface touched the cushioned bark.

It was not her attention fell to oblong sphere, attached to it was a long string-like material. It was rough and yet thin, feeling sturdy enough to withstand abuse. The child had tested it, dropping her trinket from heights. Commissioning flying gembounds to drop it from higher than she could only dream to reach, over and over again it withstood her tests. Soft nostrils flared, the pad of her nose touched the rough surface of the gem looking oval. It was a a sunset orange, tangerine almost and it made her think of him. This is why she tested it, knowing if he were to accept her precious gift that it would need to withstand a line of abuse.

Albino eyes fluttered closed as she focused her magic, the tall spires on her shoulder glimmered softly as she transferred light from the cave world she always knew to the gift before her. Light greeted her opening optics, a orange shimmer came from the gem. A smile came to her lips as she lifted her nose to the glowing ceiling and let out a few short yapping sounds. Hoping to get Ghanyarah's attention.

Ghanyarah had been wading in the murky waters of the swamp, powerful limbs pushing him through the mud as he lurked just below the surface, hungry. His stomach churned, and it had been a while since he managed to find something to eat - when was the last time he ate, anyways? The lizard couldn't quite remember. All that mattered now was that he was hungry, and so off he went, lurching through the water with his eyes hovering just above its surface. He left behind straight ripples as he walked, extending his limbs just tall enough that he wasn't completely submerged. Every now and then he would slip or sink into the mud, but other than that, Ghanyarah was fairly proficient in wading. Eventually, he had wandered far from his tree home and towards the center of the marsh, the vast pond of water in which their knowing serpentine father resided.

He was getting ready to dive beneath the surface when a sharp sound agitated his senses. The komodo froze, snapping his gaze towards the sound. Between the trees, he could just barely see something - a light coloured creature, and a gentle glow, one that almost reminded him of Eve's magic. And yet... something about her rang as strangely familiar. Spires of gleaming crystal poked out of her back, and her fur was light, pristine, the glow - was that Temoria?

The reptile turned his head slowly, thoughtlessly advancing towards her. He would emerge from the waters, mud caking his body and dying his hide a dirty brown. Long tail dragged behind him, and the reptile was far larger now than when he had first found her, but she was larger, too. Sunset eyes never moved from her as she grew more distinct through the trees, and the glow grew, illuminating her and the ground before her. What had she called for? Why was she here? What was she doing? And more importantly, where had she been this whole time? Slowly, the dragon emerged from the bushes, gaze unmoving from the ethereal creature before him. "My Little Hairy Big Teeth?" He asked, devoid of emotion for now and only tilting his head with naive curiosity.

Movement in the murky water caused her vision to drop from the old cave sky, she listened to the constant hum, the constant sound of liquid moving from on direction to the other. She wondered if he would come to her chirping call, how he would feel to approach his missing creature. It was he who was the first to lay claim on her soul, the one that defended her from a noodle-like creature that seemed to have malice in their heart but who was to say his heart was not in a similar place? Her mind wandered to how lost she had become, how she had to rely on others in her first cycle of life.

Why has she been hatched with such a poor sense of direction, what was the point in a useless equilibrium? Her thoughts shattered before she could search for an answer to her inquiry, movement on a massive scale. He was larger, his dark scaled frame caked with earth and grime that made her wish to wash away the dirt and let his dark scales gleam. His sunset eyes searched her, questions seemed to churn inside his mind as he laid his claim once more with a name he forest called her by. Slowly a summoning of light came to her spires, showing that she had grown stronger. A plethora of color came from those tall crystals, shimmering out like glitter. She wanted to show him it was her. Little hairy big teeth.

A nod, it was her answer to his test. Her tall ears falling to her petite skull as she showed her submission to the long lost master, her words would come next but instead of coming out without emotion they churned with it. "My scaly beast, I.. have brought you a gift" Affection came from her cracking voice, though she had not presented the present. Not yet. First he had to ask what it was, after he forgave her disappearance.

His eyes widened as an array of beautiful, shimmering colours suddenly began to glow from the spires emerging from her back. A gleaming blanket of light all varieties of colour hovered over her like a dancing aurora, and for a second he found himself, again, lost in the colourful display. Just like the first time she'd done it. He couldn't help himself - it was dazzling, entrancing, distracting. The part of him that couldn't distinguish illusion from reality was absolutely immersed, both fearing and in awe of the light show before her voice brought him back to her. She was as sweet and naive as when he'd first tried to break her out of her chrysalis. Where had she been all this time?

The komodo dragon blinked and took a few more steps towards her, cocking his head. A gift. For him? Gifts were a rare sort. Had anybody ever brought him a gift? No... she would be the first. He wasn't certain of the emotion burning inside of him, whether it was delight or confusion or simple sizzling curiosity. "What have you brought for me?" Ghanyarah dared to ask, inching closer to her still while shifting his gaze up to her face, absorbing her features. Matured only slightly from the day she hatched. He felt that possessiveness over her swell, an undeniable want to reclaim what he felt was his.

@Temoria