ORIGIN - Never Innocent

Was it not said that even babies had been born with the sin of others already on them? Pietro had been wandering the caverns, his waddle occasionally progressing to a few flaps and bounds. Flight would come, it wasn't too far away now but his juvenile body still had a lot of growing up to do. The whites and colours on his bill and feet had yet to come in. Dusty charcoal was what one would brand his colour. With no arms, his balance was off and as he walked, his body swayed aggressively side to side. He knew there were ponds and lakes within Cetus, and ponds and lake meant fish.

Unaware of the creatures that dwelt within, or the leviathan that slumbered at the bottom of the pool, he proceeded to the edge of the murky water. It didn't look fun to swim in, and he huffed wondering if he should indeed bother.

ooc; worst thread started ever rip in peace

@Dragon

He'd been fishing. Or hunting for fish, lurking... ambushing. Whatever you wanted to call it.

He wasn't, anymore; more to the point, he was asleep. There's very little difference between an alligator lurking at the water's edge waiting for prey, and an alligator who has in fact fallen asleep. With a heart beating once per minute, and no sunshine to bask in, the black shape in the black swamp could have been either.

But it just so happened that he was, in fact, asleep.

He wasn't sure what had woken him, but the sight he was greeted with was... strange. For an instant, he wondered if Eve had made more children.

Shimmering and shifting with the faint movement of the water's surface, up above at the shore, was a small black fluff of a bird. It was staring, seemingly at... him? For a moment Dragon was simply too startled to act. Then, slowly, he rose up and bobbed above the surface, the third eyelids retracting from his dark brown eyes as he peered at the thing.

"...Are you one of Eve's?" he rumble-hissed, as his entire massive body slowly breached into the air.

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@Pietro

Gently, he waddled forwards, the water lapping up to his ankles and he clapped his beak in discomfort at the severe muddiness. Whatever though, once he was no longer touching the ground it would go away hopefully. The Heart wasn't a particularly nice place. Marshes absolutely sucked.

Steeling himself to diving into the deeper area of the water, a ripple caught his eye. It moved so slowly, so steadily, and then.

Holy crap an eye?

Startled, he almost tripped over his own webbed feet as he backed up as quickly as possible. Squawking as he did so, he stared down the dark figure in the water as he mentioned Eve. "I don't know what an Eve is. But I am not one of whatever it is." Breast heaving in and out as he spoke, he ruffled his feathers.

ooc; my experience at birds needs work

@Dragon

Dragon ducked briefly back under the water, blowing bubbles that popped up from between his long teeth as he thought. Then he came up again, eyes blinking at the puffin chick.

"You can speak, so I will not eat you," he decided. Or, well, explained. "Who do you belong to, then?"

With all of the myriad inhabitants of the swamp--the deer and owl he spotted from time to time, Eve and Oliver, Ghanyarah, Tal'at and (or well, inside) Czernobog--it didn't even occur to him that this creature might not have been "discovered" yet. Surely something so tiny had to have already been protected, guided, in order to survive? Someone must have sent it to speak with him, he decided.

So Dragon asked that question, and then waited, blowing a few more bubbles idly, for the puffin to tell him why it was here.

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@Pietro

Ruffling his feathers, he watched as the alligator bobbed briefly within the water leaving him to his own thoughts. Certainly, he would normally never discuss his movements with predators, but he had to trust himself that if the reptile lunged for him he would be able to get away quickly. As if to assure himself, he took a step back from the water's edge.

That was good, he wasn't going to be eaten. "I don't think I belong to anyone?" Confusion crossed his childish features. Would belonging to someone mean that he had to serve them? Besides, he hadn't even seen any others, this was the first sentient creature he had come across from his travel from the foliage to the water. So really, he was still trying to figure out what was indeed going on.

"My hatch place is just over there. Want me to show you?" Pietro wasn't entirely sure what a proper conversation consisted of. In his head, that was a pretty interesting thing and that Dragon would indeed be interested by it. But that was his childishness

Dragon blew a few more bubbles, then with a rumble, he abruptly pushed himself up out of the black water. His entire spined body hauled up, water streaming down over his armored skin. All in all he was around fourteen feet long so far, and of massive, rather fat bulk. There was even moss growing, here and there, along his back.

"Show me, then," was all he said, in a mild rumble.

It was hard to tell, but he actually felt good-natured toward the little thing. He generally did, toward the young Gembound that he considered children. That said, it was mild; if he got irritated he was just as likely to slap it off into the marsh and sink off into the water again to avoid it.

Still, he wasn't going to do that now. He'd fed well, and the little critter seemed friendly and polite, adn somewhat enthusiastic.

He'd go and see its birth-spot, and maybe hand it off to one of the others to look after. At the very least, he could bring him to Czernobog, for now; Czern seemed to thrive off babysitting, and anyway, Dragon had a bit of food he had to bring him. Surely that would cheer the boar up.

For now, though, he just lumbered along at a slow limp, ready to go see whatever it was the puffin wanted to show him.

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@Pietro

As the beast rose from the water, he found himself getting more and more nervous, but he bobbed his head in acceptance at his request. "Yes sir, it's jut over here." As he hopped off along the ground, he could hear the earth rumbling footsteps of Dragon and he made sure to keep a steady pace so as not to wind up crushed beneath his reptilian claws.

Black crystal in shards, he bent over and picked one up before waddling back slowly to meet his newest messiah half-way. "Here it is sir. It was only a small little egg. But I'm only small. I'm sorry if I hatched where I wasn't supposed to sir." Again, Pietro bobbed his head trying to stop himself from jumping side to side to keep himself moving. All he wanted to do was move and stretch now he was free.

"What is this place sir? If you don't mind me asking of course sir."

table and code © chelsea of ORIGIN

@Dragon

Dragon peered curiously at the puffin, who was rattling off "sir" after "sir," polite and obedient.

This... confused him.

Sure, Czernobog listened to his words, and Tal'at was in his own way every bit as polite and obedient, but they knew dragon. He was a little nonplussed at this stranger's sudden apparent acceptance of Dragon as his lord and master.

But Dragon was one to rise to a challenge, so...

He puffed himself up a little, rumbling.

"You did not have control over where you were born, but it does not matter. Still, you may not be safe here. Come."

The alligator turned, hauling himself through the marsh water, pausing now and again to make sure the puffin could keep up. As he went, he answered the tiny creature's question.

"This is Cetus. It is my home, and the home of my family, the Children of Rot--the sons of Aquarian. It is a swamp," he added, perhaps unnecessarily, but who knew if the tiny creature knew what a "swamp" was.

"I am Dragon. Do you have a name?" he asked, his fat ridged body pushing the reeds aside as he passed through.

Hopefully he'd be leaving an easy-to-travel trail through the marsh; if not, the puffin could always hop on for a ride.

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@Pietro

All this compliance came from the very real threat of a larger creature being here. Pietro knew no one else, this place was foreign and if Dragon wanted to he could snatch him up. With the mighty reptile showing him kindness and politeness, he in turn offered it back. The bird child just felt it appropriate to address the older male as something more formal.

Might not be safe here? Thankful that the creature wished to aide him in getting away, he bobbed his head and began to bounce behind him, careful to avoid being taken out by the metronome of his tail. Aquarian. "Sons of Aquarian. Is that a person?" Certainly sounded grander than just being another of them if they were all his sons. Was he also a son then? He wasn't sure where his chrysalis had come from.

"My name is Pietro. I'm a puffin." That was all he had hatched knowing.

Dragon was about to ask what a puffin was, but he realized that this would be a rather stupid question. This, was a puffin, clearly. The little one would probably be unable to explain further, anyway.

"Aquarian is the one who lives in the Heart of Cetus. The deepest swamp. He is a hundred times larger than me, and he protects the strong, who feed him. The Children of Rot have the honor and responsibility of keeping him content... and making sure everyone in this cave survives."

The last bit was rumbled a little more darkly. Dragon had been hearing rumors of death and illness, destruction, fighting, throughout the caves. He'd meant to gather the other leaders for a meeting, yet now, to his knowledge, at least one of them was dead.

They might need a little reminder of what teamwork meant, in the end; he'd see about that after he'd met the new one's replacement.

He pushed the thought away as they approached the clearing up ahead. The large black boar Czernobog would hopefully be there, and the little twin chrysalises he was guarding. He wondered what Bog would make of the puffin--and what the puffin would make of Bog.

"Bog. I have found a... a baby. This is Pietro. Pietro, this is Bog. He is one of the guardians of the Children of Rot. My son," he added. Okay, so Czernobog wasn't technically his son, not any more than Pietro was, but did that matter?

He'd adopted Bog and taken him in as his own blood, and even if he'd considered eating him from time to time, he still loved the little-... Err, big pig.

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@Czernobog ; @Pietro