ORIGIN

While it is impossible for the naked eye to witness the cloud of bacteria itself, the creature felt a sudden and inexplicable change to the air; as if the tendrils of his own magic were being burned away, recoiling with great surprise, and then Bevy's magic scattered across the surface of his outstretched arm. He could feel a tingling sensation as her magic spread across him, like there were millions of tiny mouths taking tiny, insignificant bites - but adding them all up, it felt as if he were being covered in something, and he gave a shriek as he recoiled. Crossing his long arms, his bird-like hands and long fingers curled around the narrow curve of each opposite limb, and then he began to scratch.

Claws raked across his arms, as if to scratch meant to be free of the sensation - but coupling the awkward motion with the pain in his body from ripping off his extra limbs, and the babe was experiencing a mess of things all at once. Pain, adrenaline, the obsessive urge to peel off his own skin -- and then, suddenly, relief. Bevy's magic changed, annihilating the sensation and even repairing a bit of his flesh. The cuts and gouges across his arms and upper back began to softly knit together, repaired by good bacteria - but it did not last. It would take much more power, or perhaps time, before the new hybrid was fully mended; and Bevy's bacterial flow could not help him with all of that.

While this occurred, Bevy was screeching at him. The sound of her voice grated in his head, rousing something akin to a memory there, but that made no sense. He was new, he was fresh, having never witnessed life in these caves nor any life prior to his emergence. But the name she shouted - Teyouma - he knew it was his. He was familiar with it in a way that was unexplained. Yes, that was right. She was right - but how could he be this Teyouma, if he was a newborn?

He rocked on his heels, curling his body in to a fetal position with knees tucked up in to his body and long, aching arms, reaching around to hug himself. His arms were so long that he could place the palms of his hands on the opposite shoulder, fanning those claws out around either side of his body. The babe stared down at the dirt, oblivious to the second bird as the other gembound glided effortlessly on to the scene. Teyouma's screaming had died down to a mixture of piteous moaning and tired crying, though no tears fell from his red eyes; his many voices wheezed and groaned, as if unsure of what sensation to lock on to. Teyouma was oblivous to Dark as they arrived, but anyone witnessing the scene would notice the increased calm in the newborn following the owl's arrival.

The feeling of relief and calm began to ebb as soon as Dark's attention drifted to other things, and Teyouma's mind resumed what it had been doing this entire time: trying to make sense of the world around him. He was new, but not new, here but not here. Staring off in to space, with his skin twitching as soon as Dark began to preen at him. The owl spoke again and Teyouma, more coherent and present than before, heard the words and began to mentally drift - disassociating due to confusion and his rising pain levels.

Reacting more to the pain than to Dark's touch, Teyouma's blood began to glow again. Invisible life sprang up across his body, spreading from the bloodstains, and reaching as if sentient and malevolent, for Dark. With that beak sliding through his messy fur, the owl was already being afflicted to some level of toxicity - but the monkey's magic wasn't strong enough yet, so the microbes that accompanied that taste of sickness only ended up receding.

The magic rolled off of him in a wave of shine, and vanished as quickly as it had come. The exertion seemed to rouse something within the newborn. With a sharp intake of breath, Teyouma turned his bright eyes upon Dark - seeing the feathery lump that was the owl, then the feathery lumps of blood all around him, and seemed to snap. Suddenly Teyouma's teeth were bared, and he was reaching with his long birdlike fingers - not for Dark, but away from him - and he was up, stumbling and running, away from both of the birds.

At first he couldn't stay up on all fours, and fell right back down upon his chest. The sharp blow of his ruined limbs against the ground made him squeal; Bevy was reaching for him now, trying to tend to those wounds, and seeing her only made him react more violently. His shrieking voice pierced the air and his body arched away from her, refusing treatment, refusing involvement. The babe threw himself towards the shadows in an attempt to escape.