ORIGIN

Since his emergence, Ghanyarah was quick to scurry away from the happenings around him. He didn't linger for long in the presence of others, finding their voices to be too loud, their footsteps too thunderous. He was still but a small creature, a fragile creature, bones like glass and skin like paper. Already he found that if he wasn't careful enough the thin scales of his hide would slough off against rock, and the ice was too cold that it would freeze his little body, and the water too fast and unpredictable. He had stayed away from the water for a long time, fearful of it. Ghanyarah would grow fearful of many things, things so different from his idea of comfort. He wanted to go back to his safe shell, holding all those around him at bay. He wanted to go back to where no one could see him or hear him, and in turn, he could not feel them.

But that was wishful thinking. Even in his youth, the dragon would realize that there were things in life that he could not have. So, he had to make due. He kept to the shadows, moving along the walls; the walls provided one less direction that he had to be mindful of, and the darkness offered him the comfort of secrecy. Eventually he had discovered this tunnel leading away from Polaris, away from the loudness and the brightness of the glowing crystals, and towards hidden hallways less often visited. One in particular was lonesome and desolate, overgrown with mosses, ferns and every other manner of plantlife.

Beyond its door, he could see another room opening up. It was far too broad a place for him. He was still but a small thing, fearful of the world. Ghanyarah remained in the tunnel, finding himself a dark hole beneath a broad fern where he would sit and hide. Who knew for how long - eventually, he would grow thirsty. Through sheer force of will, Ghanyarah would relent.

"Speech"

In the few days since his own awakening to this cave world, Teyouma had met many creatures. He had met a bear that could touch the cave ceiling, a raccoon that wasn't called Rohan, a big wolf made of the dark, and two little critters that couldn't keep their paws to themselves ( - did birds have paws? This was something he would wonder about later in his life, reflecting back on these initial days). He had tried to stave off hunger by eating dirt, rocks, worms, and moss; this only resulted in an upset stomach, though. A worse feeling than having an empty belly. He had tried to explore places on his own, too. The Tower, for starters - and that Tower had worked its way in to Teyouma's mind as the next big adventure. He had only explored the first floor of it, the dark entrance, but now he was eager to go higher. Maybe climb the outside, or... Bring light to the room, somehow, and explore the inside.

Teyouma had been napping a little bit since returning to Polaris, and had been dreaming about the Tower. The dream itself meant nothing - it began to fade from his mind as soon as his eyes began to flutter open, and was gone by the time he had stretched himself awake. But the idea was implanted: he would go adventuring back to Orion and the Tower, and he would try to climb the entire thing today! Except that his plan would go awry before he even reached the entrance to that room of the caves. The sleepy monkey hobbled through the corridor on his way towards Orion, remembering that the route went this way, kind of, and then.. Turned? Or did it go straight? He came to an abrupt halt and braced himself against the wall, a little bit mindless in his pursuit of this goal, and looked around.

With a yawn - and a lazy attempt to hide his gaping teeth - Teyouma started walking again, and bumbled in to something. His foot caught on a root, or a boulder, and he went cartwheeling in to a little cluster of ferns and vegetation that he hadn't known was there. And beside that plump array of greenery, sat a new creature; some kind of low-bodied critter who had taken refuge under a big fern. Teyouma was confused by the sudden wetness of the plants, the waxy quality of some of the leaves, but most of all he was concerned with the blank stare held by the strange creature. Something instinctively told him to pull back, so with a scramble of flailing limbs that is what he did. Pulled away, sat up, and rolled back against the nearest wall - a flurry of motion that left him a little bit dazed, as his head plonked against a bare patch on the corridor's wall.

A few furious blinks of his sleepy eyes later, Teyouma was curiously slinking forwards again - but not too close, and not too quickly. "H..aaaay...?" He murmured, with a curious reach of one arm towards the creature; he saw the points of the creature's gem-spikes, and like a child seeing candy for the first time, slowly moved to touch them. "Haaay, you has pretties."

For a moment, he was satisfied, staving off thirst. He was able to retain the water in his body for longer than usual, although Ghanyarah wouldn't know the difference between usual and his magic-imbued physiology. He nestled down in the undergrowth, resting his long, lean body against the litter, and closed his eyes. There, maybe he would be able to drift into slumber and enjoy the solitude of his hiding spot... except, not. Before long he heard the quiet patter of feet on the ground and opened his eyes. His head didn't move, nor the rest of his body; he simply watched, until that patter turned into a loud crashing and a translucent body came tumbling across the earth, landing in front of him.

Ghanyarah instinctively raised his body, hoisting it up upon four thin crooked limbs. His long tail vibrated behind him, lashing about in the undergrowth. He watched the monkey, fear brewing within his heart - it leaned back and away from him at first, but would slowly come to return again, wide curious eyes all that Ghanyarah could see. The dragon lashed his tail again, opening his mouth with a wild hiss as the monkey reached towards him. But he feared that wouldn't be enough. So, he made a quick lunge at the monkey, snapping his teeth at it in the form of a warning.

If the concept of sin existed within the origin cave, then Teyouma's greatest sin would be his greed. It had yet to fully manifest, but within these first few weeks of existence, he had wanted. He had hoarded gems and pretty stones from the very start, and now hoped to add this beautiful rock to his collection - except that it was attached to a lizard's face. That posed a problem, and one that Teyouma wasn't really contemplating to the full extent he should have been. He saw the crest of the lizard and did not look much farther. Until Ghanyarah hissed, and Teyouma's dark eyes became giant pools of ink. Widening in surprise, and then narrowing as the greed took hold and his self preservation dwindled, Teyouma's mouth opened and he shrieked a less-than-friendly response.

This lizard was bigger than most cave lizards, and it had a pretty on it! That should have told Teyouma that this creature was different (in a good way), but instead of recognizing the gem as a source of power, magic, and life, he saw it only as a shiny thing; something to pluck from the lizard and hoard with the rest of his treasures. Teyouma ignored the creature's open mouth and dove as close as he could, reaching eagerly for the shining crest as if to pry it free.

While Ghanyarah had lunged at the monkey, the monkey in turn released a high pitched screeched that did not resonate well with Ghanyarah. The dragon hissed, issuing another slough of sharp squeaks that would act as a final warning to the monkey. That didn't seem to phase the primate at all, however, and it made a lunge to grab the glistening pink crest that topped his skull. Ghanyarah made a move to avoid the grab, backing up further and swinging his head away. However, he was too slow. The monkey managed to grab a hold of the morganite points on his head and as a response, Ghanyarah began to wildly flail, desperate to free himself. His tail lashed behind him, and after a moment Ghanyarah realized that trying to wiggle free would be futile. Instead, he parted his jaws and made a lunge at Teyouma's shoulder.

Teyouma didn't realize that the pretty stone was fixed within the lizard's face; but that likely wouldn't have deterred him. He thought it was just a pretty stone - something being worn, not grown, by the other gembound. And when he set his hands across its jagged surface, he felt immense glee. The stone would be his! He'd have a pretty just like Leon and the others! Except that the stone didn't slip free, even with a greedy yank. It seemed as if all Teyouma brought forwards was the creature's head, and in the next moment the lizard's teeth caught in the meat of his shoulder.

The monkey shrieked loudly as he felt his first real dose of pain. One hand slipped off of the morganite, while the other seemed resistant - holding firm, even squeezing at the stone as a reaction to the bite. Teyouma pulled and rolled his body backwards, as if to slide under the lizard's head, and mustered some rage-induced energy in to the palm of his hand, which struck out against the fiend's face. With a resounding slap, Teyouma's magic seemed to ignite and connect. He didn't know what spell he had just used - only that he wanted to stop the creature from being so bitey!

(ROLL EDIT:)

As soon as the energy hit the creature's hide, the scales began to bubble. A few of them seemed to peel back and away from the underlying layer of skin, and in their place there were small stalks emerging. By feeding these stalks with energy, Teyouma managed to make them transform in to tiny clusters of fungi. The largest sprouted from where Teyouma's palm struck Ghanyarah's body; the mushroom which rose up from that patch of flesh was a morbid maroon and donned a flayed layer of reptile skin atop its cap.

His bite had landed true and before he realized it, he had a good chunk of the monkey's shoulder between his jaws. But the monkey wasn't letting go - so Ghanyarah did the only thing he knew how, and bit down even harder. What he tasted he wasn't sure of, whether it was blood or sweat or anything else. He didn't relish it, no. He was frightened. He feared for his life. All he wanted was to escape, and escape would soon come to him - with a price. The monkey reeled back and slapped him, and not only did he feel the pain of the contact resounding through his scaled flesh, but he was soon met with an explosive ache that shook his skull. The scales on his cheek suddenly peeled away and long stalks erupted from his flesh. Ghanyarah hissed and screamed, releasing Teyouma and struggling to backpedal away from it.

The pain was unbearable. There was a sudden weight off the side of his face, and he realized whatever it was partially blocked his vision in that eye. No. This wasn't good. This was why he stayed away. This was why he was afraid! Ghanyarah had to stop this! The komodo dragon didn't bother shedding a second glance at Teyouma. He darted off to the side, fleeing as fast as his legs could carry him while fungi continued to grow and swell off his cheek.