ORIGIN

A small russet brown pup peered into the dark tunnel debating with himself whether he should enter or not. He'd spent the past couple weeks weaving in and out of every dilapidated structure in Orion he could find, growing stronger with every passing day and finding new ways to judge distances quickly and accurately. He was actually getting pretty good if his past couple successful hunts were any indication.

A quick sniff at the air inside told him... nothing. It was cold, he saw it was foggy, and he was pretty sure that there had been others pass through this way at some point in the past but beyond that it was a mystery. With the stale air inside he wouldn't have even been surprised if the tunnel manifested a ghostly apparition.

To be honest he wasn't even sure why he was considering going in this deathtrap. If it wasn't traveled that often surely that meant that there was something dangerous down there, and he wasn't nearly strong enough to take out whatever it was the others were so afraid of, least of all the black and orange horror he knew was probably in here somewhere.

Even so, he had to press on, if for no other reason but to be aware of what lurked in every dark corner. Strength was only half the equation, without knowledge it was worthless. Thus the young pup took a deep breath and ventured inside.

Not too long passed before the sound of shattering reached Xireidi's ears, causing him to wince noticeably and look for possible places to hide or flee should the need arise. He listened carefully, and indeed a voice pierced the void.

"Perhaps," he thought, "it would be best to stay quiet. In a place like this it could be anything, and I might be able to sneak up on it before it sees me."

Then again the voice didn't seem too threatening, and he had been tracking all the hiding spots and possible paths of escape on his trek in, so surely it wouldn't hurt to just check, right?

"Hello?" he called out, maneuvering silently toward the voice while trying to stay hidden in the thickest parts of the mist and shadow, changing position between each spoken cry. "Are you a good guy or a bad guy?"

"Not that I can expect an honest answer, idiot."

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away

The pup continued to flit through the fog, catching glances every now and then of the unknown creature in the distance that had made itself heard. A white wing here, a... black wing there? Xireidi held himself low to the ground as he moved in a bit closer, finally getting a good glimpse at the bizarre creature that completely dwarfed him in size. She didn't seem hostile, but he couldn't be completely sure in a place like this.

There had been a couple outcroppings further back where he suspected he'd be able to hide out and she wouldn't be able to follow if she were to turn out to be a danger. Despite his apprehension, though, she sounded friendly. He was almost certainly worrying over nothing, letting his fear of the unknown get the best of him.

He straightened himself up as best he could so as to hide his apprehension and stepped close enough for the fog and shadow to no longer conceal his form. "I am Xireidi." he spoke with feigned confidence, "I'm a good guy, which means I don't want to try to hurt you."

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away

Xireidi visibly relaxed as Ash professed herself to be a good guy. That was one less worry off his mind in this creepy tunnel.

Though that's about as easy to lie about as imaginable

I can't go assuming the worst in everyone just because they are in a scary place, he chided himself, having some difficulty pushing aside the dark thoughts.

The pup approached cautiously, circling slowly as he examined this new creature. He still kept a short distance, though now it was as much to keep Ash from being taken aback as it was for his own safety.

"I've never seen someone like you before." He noted with some small degree of wonder. "Do your kind live in the caves beyond these scary tunnels?"

And if so that might have been some comfort. If more of her kind existed there and were 'good guys' then perhaps there was less to fear from the mist and shadows than he thought.

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away

The russet brown wolf cub stopped at the mention of Ash being new to the world and his eyebrows rose with slight pangs of guilt. That cracking sound, it hadn't been anything more than an emergence had it? As huge as this creature was she was only a newborn. Now that he'd circled around some there indeed was a broken shell of pink and black large enough to contain the being before his eye.

And that's why I should be careful not to jump to conclusions

Having got his thoughts straight again Xireidi sat down and looked about the cavern around them. Either the fog was so dense of this section so wide that he couldn't quite make out the edges of the room. Luckily it was also fairly well protected, with their location not easily seen from what was likely the main path. They probably didn't have to worry about unwelcome company.

"I don't know what this place is." he said with some degree of uncertainty, "I was..." Oh how to say this without sounding like a fool? "I was exploring to make sure if there was anything dangerous I'd know where to watch out for it."

He sighed and continued to watch the being, his ears still twitching every which way as he monitored the sounds of the cavern. "You look a bit anxious, are you okay?"

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away