ORIGIN - BIRTH OF A FLAME

(private to COR pls)

Water lapped up to the chrysalises during high tide that early morning-- as much as morning could be, for a cavern shrouded in darkness aside from the glow of lamp lights. It was a familiar noise to the babe asleep in her egg, cozy as could be. Nearly as familiar as the heavy, heaving gasps of the boar that lulled her into the world, a noise that she could count on at nearly any hour. It was natural to her, and even before her birth, she loved the sound.

Mm, but the tiny flicker of flame inside the shell was beginning to grow restless. There was more, and she knew it, just beyond the world she was acutely aware of. Slowly, she twisted about, scratching up against the dark stone, making small noises that would be muffled by the babble of water and snore of pig. Whining to herself, she pushed harder and harder-- desperate to get out.

There was a whole world that had to feel her dragon's breath, after all.

@Czernobog @Dragon

Despite the combined efforts of Cayenne and Tal'at, Czernobog could not be moved from his post. He'd only inched away for the family meeting, and he'd raced back as fast he could, half in a panic, only resting when he was absolutely sure that the eggs were both okay, whole, heartbeats gentle and solid. Since then, he'd only moved for food and water, at least giving in to the lemur's request he try to take care of himself. For now, he was still too thin, weak, but the nest was safe and protected - which was all that mattered, as far as the pig went.

Snoring away peacefully, the giant hog's shadow shaded the eggs from the electric sun, ears flicking lazily. Unconsciously, he curled tighter around the chrysali, resting his head between them, snuggling them in his sleep. Twin heartbeats lulled him back into the dark, and he sighed, content in his Purpose.

@Merrow

Like a brutish noodle, the child inside trashed about violently, struggling against her shell. Along side of her, her brother began to rock as well-- unbeknownst to her. All she was aware of was how impossible it was to move, how much she hated it where she was, and why she couldn't get out. She could hear the pig nearby, and she tried to cry out to the snoring beast and the rippling water nearby. She could hear the world outside, watching her, taunting her, and she knew she'd eat them all for making a fool of her!

Just as soon as she got out of her shell, of course, which was proving impossible. After a fit of thrashing, the noodle child let out a defeated whine and stopped moving entirely, trying to get her energy back for another burst. Hatching was rather difficult-- a lesson her father, the smol father, knew all too well. After all, he had been trapped in his gem when he hatched, until someone else came along to save him.

Perhaps the daughter would be the same, in the end.

@Czernobog @Imp

Inside the stone, the tiny bat-alligator hatchling wriggled.

He writhed.

He could hear sounds, he was stifled in here, he wanted out.

There was a whine, a tug at his spirit. Something was calling for help and while he felt already that normally he'd want to eat such things, something told him that this cry was somehow important to him. He had to get to it. He had to-... Help? Maybe.

Or! Or... He could set things on fire.

He wasn't sure how he knew he could do that, only that he could, and with a tiny squeal of his own, which would have been a roar of rage if he didn't weigh about a pound, he pressed his tiny clawed wing-hands to the smooth brown surface before him.

It took some curling and twisting to get there, but he managed. With another somehow miniaturized squeak of rage, Imp called on that power inherent in him, searing the stone. It burned, it cracked, it fell to pieces around him with a plume of smoke and holy hell it hurt.

He came out screeching, tumbling and bolting in a tiny fold of brown leather skin until he'd run straight into the patch of swamp water a few yards away. There he sat, ranting in squeak-tongue at the pain of this new dark universe, eyeing it all with a baleful little gaze.

He hadn't even noticed the giant black boar nearby--not yet.

((ooc - no table yet my sorries - @Czernobog ))

Unfortunately - or perhaps fortunately, considering he'd begun to worry about the eggs - the thrashing about continued, and Czernobog woke up in segments, one pitch-black eye finally rolling to focus on the twitching egg. Moving to snuffle at it, gently nosing its walls, he clinked his broken tusk against it, a hum starting up in his throat. A strange, broken mimic of Dragon's long-past song weaved through the air, and the boar checked on the other chrysalis, wondering if it, too, was stuck within, like he had been so many cycles ago. Tapping his snout to the surface, he startled back at the heat, snuffling and snorting, ears flicking backwards in concern.

"Baaaaaby..?"

As soon as his murmur left his maw, the egg splintered open with a great cloud of smoke, a screaming figure flailing from inside to the water - and Czernobog was frozen stiff, locked in a panicked remembrance of his brother, burning alive, his heartbeat slowing until it stopped. The squeaking eventually broke him out of it; when it did, he was off like a shot, stumbling as he raced after the newborn, skidding to a stop and inadvertently splashing the little one with water. Massive head lowering to inspect it, he lapped at its fur and scales, not caring that his tongue began to redden from the remaining warmth - he'd kept them safe all this time and he'd be damned if something happened to them now, after all the danger had seemingly passed.

Grooming done, he snuffled at the child, blow-drying it with hot puffs of breath, lungs pumping through the hole in his chest cavity, one eye on the nest. "Okaaaaaay?"

@Imp @Merrow

Tap. A Tap. The noise vibrated around her, stirring her from her hiatus. Snorting, she stretched again, struggling against the walls, as her ears heard the muffled grumbles and grunts of the boar who's breath she slept to for nearly a cycle.

Perhaps it was the help of the Bog, but after her strongest push yet, the child's shell broke after her brother's, and she came spilling out with a high pitched squeal. Her beady eyes whipped around the confusing, huge world, and she hissed as she thrashed around to her winged limbs, tail swishing to get her to her belly. That done, she locked on the boar and the creature she knew was her kin-- instinctually. A dragon. She knew it, deep in her core, just like her father had.

With a roar that sounded more like a squeak, she wriggled into the shallows of the water, wanting to get closer to all of the fuss.

@Czernobog @Imp

Imp stared at the tiny creature that was racing toward him. He opened toothy jaws wide and hissed--a combination of threat, of gloating, of triumphant ferocity in his egg-escape. He was--...

AHHHHHHHHHH.

THERE WAS A GIANT BLACK FURRY THING IN HIS FACE.

...What was "Baaaaaaaaaaaby?"

Imp shrieked, snapping tiny jaws up at Czernobog's snout, trying to bite him. Of course he was far too tiny, far too low, and so with the boundless energy destined to shape his personality, the tiny batgator began to shove forward in swift, leaping hops back to shore. He hissed every step of the way, long thin ridged tail lashing. Winged forelimbs propelled him forward, the tiny hybrid racing over the reeds with a tiny spit of flame from his jaws and a twisting thin plume of smoke from his nostrils.

Then he turned. Wait.

The other thing that was like his sister or something--it was back near the water, now, and he wanted to jump on her. To bite her and say hello and beat her up and greet her and show he was better and maybe compare fire but what about the big black thing?

Was it going to EAT her?! ...Was she even a her?

Imp turned and barreled right back, half tumbling over his own limbs on the way, to plow first into Merrow and then Czernobog in a tangle of wings and feet.

The entire time, he shrieked quiet, high-pitched challenges.

He was dragon! ...THEY WERE BOTH DRAGON!

@Merrow ; @Czernobog

Merrow splashed into the water but promptly found her brother had disappeared. Hissing, she twisted around, ignoring the aftertaste of swamp water that had soaked through her snout, baring her teeth at everything.

A roar hit her ears and she spread her wings, flapping her weak limbs at the mini-dragon as it roared, screeching, flopping into her face. She tried to nip at his face, pathetically, her tail lashing so hard that her body flopped over on to its back, sending her down into the shallow water.

For a moment, she had managed to submerge herself, but she came thrashing back up in a splash of mud, screeching just like her brother.

She totally wanted to fight her brother but the other dragon had bumbled into Czernobog, their apparent protector. With a huff, she spread her wings and frantically flapped towards the boar, grabbing on to fur, and she tried to haul herself inside of the perch of the chest on the monster-- as though she was completely unaware that Bog was even a living thing. He was more like a mobile playhouse, to her.

@Czernobog @Imp