ORIGIN

Ghanyarah tilted his head slightly, briefly forgetting that she was atop his skull - then righted himself again. She should have magic, most Gembounds did - but what, he didn’t know. He didn’t even know what her name was. He was sure that he had asked her before, but she must have forgotten. “My magic is cruel and cold. I use it to defend myself. But I can also use it to create beautiful things.” Ghanyarah explained. He had no desire to make anything right now, as most of his focus was on the bat and keeping up with her sudden volley of questions. “You also have magic, but I am unsure what kind. It could be like mine, or it could be something different. I have seen many types of magic.” The reptile went on.

Water. Fire. He’d seen the air bend with heat and spark with lightning. He’d seen the ground quake beneath his feet and felt the atmosphere around his head tighten. He’d heard of Gembounds that were capable of shifting reality, slowing time, even speak to one another with their thoughts. There was no telling what kind of magic she would have.

One of his spines tingled as she descended its length, moving closer to his body. The corner of his lip twinged slightly, a playful grin coming to form on his maw. “Only half fish.” He answered lightly. Ghanyarah didn’t used to be half fish - but the new additions of his body certainly helped him survive longer in the water. He wasn’t fully aquatic, which was a shame, but he made a pretty fierce aquatic hunter.

“Tell me,” he said suddenly, adjusting his body weight in the loam, “what should I call you? You are so ready to learn about the world, but the world has yet to learn anything about you.”



@Lituus <3 i love them!!!

During the responses to the bat's inquiry, she decides to continue this hapless flutter-flittering of her wings. Elongated fingers stretch at her size and spread the dark, veiny membrane as taut as it could possibly be. Was she even listening? The attempt had been no more futile than the last. At least persistence will get her somewhere at some point, one would think.

Half-fish. The fluttering stops and a childish chuckle empties from her diminutive snout. It was more akin to a series of squeaks than a laugh, but the sounds' intent would be discernable. Now she was wondering how well he could swim with those stumpy legs of his. The long tail must have helped, she thought. But what did she know about water dynamics.

The target of question shifts, however, for now it was Ghanyarah's turn! He was more than deserving after humoring her of so many details. Unfortunately, the question leaves her no more stumped than the result of her prior internal conundrum. On who she was. Who knew? She sure didn't. Twas her hope that he would have a better idea than she did, but gauging by the order of his words, such was not the case.

A silent stare is earned. Silent, but.. thoughtful. Troubled. "I thought you would know." Fuzzy shoulders shift uncomfortably. The bat could hope-- perhaps she could even dream. And maybe those dreams would birth answer to these unending curiosities. Though her disturbance in a failure to answer shifts soon enough, and a clawed thumb points to the faces carved into the tree's trunk. "What are their names?"

@Ghanyarah

Surprisingly, the bat didn’t have an answer for him. Or was it really that surprising? After all, she was newly emerged. Not every Gembound immediately knew about themselves, though he had seen some that instantly had names lodged in their minds, some took a while to figure out what to call themselves. Ghanyarah hadn’t had a name upon emergence. He didn’t understand naming conventions, and when prompted, Ghanyarah wouldn’t know what to say. How did he identify himself, other than… as himself? It had taken a trip to Cetus, to the ancient great tree in its heart; an epiphany, likely a memory wrenched from the recesses of his still developing mind. A whisper among his thoughts. Then he had his name.

He didn’t believe that all Gembounds should go through such an ordeal though. Ghanyarah was positive that if she searched, she could find a name. He just feared that if left up to him, he wouldn’t do her justice. He was a poor creator when it came to names. He was better with working with what he already had.

As she asked about the drawings, Ghanyarah looked at them again. They reached all the way up the trunk of the tree, some completely out of reach. With the bat still on his back, Ghanyarah slowly positioned himself at the base of the tree, one hand supporting himself against the bark while the other reached up to gesture at each carved face. “Temoria,” he began, tracing the outline of a small canine. “Little Hairy Big Teeth. I found her when I was still small. She was a wolf and played with glowing light.” But Temoria hadn’t stayed long. She was eager to explore, and Ghanyarah had to let her go before he was ready.

“Arkrael.” He said, now tapping his nail on the drawing of a bigger wolf. “Another wolf. Big, strong. We are friends, though I am unsure if she views me as one. I have not seen her in a long time. When I heard of her last, she was battling a stag. I believe he is dead.” That had been when Arkrael waged war against a group of herbivores. Back then, Ghanyarah would have snickered and said they had it coming. All of them, regardless of side. Now he just wished that he’d been more involved.

Moving his claws over to an alligator, Ghanyarah ascended slightly higher. “Dragon, another friend. A brother. He used to live here as well and he was my opposite. Fire. Hot, rash, but very intelligent. He led us, the Children of Rot. The chaos beast nearly killed him.” Ghanyarah’s heart ache in memory of Dragon’s near death, and more so remembering that Dragon was no longer here. Where was he, exactly? Had he died? “Gracie.” Ghanyarah took his attention away from his brother. “Gracie, my most beloved friend. She was gentle and kind. Her magic enchanted plants and flowers. She is gone too.”

There were a few others that Ghanyarah could have told her about, but they were higher up and the reptile’s heart was aching again. He dropped back down to his feet and craned his neck to examine the images briefly, then looked away, puffing.

@Lituus

Small wings beat rapidly with his movements, striving to keep herself balanced with the awkward shifting of his elongated spine. As he's stretches out and gestures to each face with a clawed hand, she attentively cranes her neck to get a better look at the trunk. There were more drawings carved up the trunk than she realized.

"Hard to imagine you small." She expels an amused breath- well, still a squeak, really. High-pitched and endearing. Ghanyarah was just so.. big! Like a log. Or a.. a rock! Will she grow to be that big too? Regardless her often wandering thoughts, she does listen. Each name and story carved into her mind as the very bark they had been immortalized upon. That his friends were possibly dead. It was sad, wasn't it?

"Gracie sounds lovely.." her voice was considerably lower. Out of respect? Compassion? "..I'm sorry that happened to you." Surely it wasn't her fault, but the words come easily, intending to assure him that she cares. "You have me now!" the childish chirp is accompanied by the spreading of eager wings at her sides once more. "Why, if you let me stay with you here, we can talk about all sorts of things. And go on adventures! I can.. pick bugs from between your toes, or.. or... uh.." She couldn't stop flapping-- such beautiful anxiety. Props for trying, little bat. There were other questions that had come to mind, but the words 'children of rot' and 'chaos beast' had been shoved to the back of her mine in lieu of growing the camaraderie she was apparently forming with the large reptile.

@Ghanyarah

Ghanyarah uttered a throaty snicker at the bat, who couldn't imagine that the komodo dragon had ever been small. But he had - maybe not as small as her, but small enough that he feared being eaten by every other Gembound he encountered. It certainly didn't help that when he first emerged he'd been chased by a lynx that thought he would make a quick meal. He was grateful that he managed to grow into something so massive and weighty; his mass helped him take down lesser animals to eat, and his mouth was filled with tiny, razor teeth that made him a fairly impressive predator. But before he was this, he was something far weaker. He was just glad that he had surpassed that stage.

His smile faltered, thinking of Gracie. She had always been a quiet and modest creature - a type of bear, but nothing like the one bear he knew, the one with fire. She was black and white; the dark spots over her eyes made them look bigger than they really were, and they were purple. Gracie charmed plants in a way that Ghanyarah had never seen before, and sometimes he wished he had her around to fill his home with vibrant colours. When Lituus expressed her sympathy, Ghanyarah shook his head slightly. "That is life." He said, knowing that no matter how much he pitied himself, it wouldn't change what happened.

Ghanyarah flicked his tongue with intrigue as she reminded him that she was there. Or rather, he had her. And that she wanted to stay. Wasn't that what Ghanyarah had wanted in the first place? He was worried because she hadn't spoken, and hadn't indicated in any way that she wanted to stay. But now she was saying the words herself, expressing that she wanted to stick around and talk and pick bugs from between his toes, making Ghanyarah grin and laugh again. "Of course you can stay here. It has been terribly quiet for the longest time. I would like to have a companion." He told her. Such a thing would have twisted up his heart and pride if he'd tried to speak it several cycles ago, but Ghanyarah had formed an incredible modesty in his solitude. There was no other way around what he wanted besides being direct.

"I believe we should find you a name. It took me a while to find mine, but I found it at a tree. Perhaps you would like to visit that tree?"

@Lituus

Dark wings fold inwards once more and cling to her sizes. The response to his question is met with a series of quick nods, that perhaps she too would find her name at this tree. "How long did it take for you?" she asks calmly. "Is the tree as nice as this one?" For her, this was only day one, and it already felt long. Not that the prospect of long days or being unnamed bothered her overmuch. There were other things to worry about, and some innate part of her knew that if it truly mattered, it would come. And when it did, she would have it, and it would be hers. Her eyes wander to his back, nose tilting to point at the scales layered decoratively alone his brownish hide. How unlike her he was. Were there others within the caves that looked more as she did? A small head tilts at the unsung inquiry, though she whips her head back to Ghanyarah in the following moment.

@Ghanyarah

NEW TABLE!! NEW TABLE!!!

"Yes, the tree is far nicer than mine." He spoke immediately, reverently. The Divine was a strange tree; it seemed to respond to the actions of Gembounds around it, as he had witnessed the tree dump disrespectful creatures into the water before. When he and his kin decorated it with innards, it barely responded - he vaguely recalled it dropping a leaf, and that leaf turning to ash, or something malicious like that. They kept their distance from it after that. But hopefully, the tree would harbor no resentment for Ghanyarah.

The reptile still dwelt on the first question she asked and fell silent, thinking back to when he had found his name. Time was a strange concept to him - he couldn't remember how much time had passed between the moment he hatched and when he found his name. He could barely even remember what events had taken place between then. One he remembered vividly was his encounter with the monkey, who had attempted to steal the morganite crest atop his head. It left him with a scar on his cheek where the monkey had cursed him with fungi; the scar was still visible among the malformed scales that tried to cover up the wound. "I cannot remember." He said finally.

Ghanyarah had begun to move away from his tree, striding on squat legs back into the undergrowth. A narrow trail wound through the trees, the leaf litter below having been trampled by Ghanyarah's many passages. Bushes and leaves still hung in his way, but he walked through them without flinching, as though unfeeling of their light tickling on his scales while his long, whip-like tail dragged behind him. "This tree, it is called the Divine." He started. "There is something strange about this tree that makes it unlike any others. It knows." But what it knew, Ghanyarah didn't know. Only that it knew. "You must treat it with respect, and only then may it relinquish your name."

@Lituus

A tree that was nicer than his? It would have been hard to imagine, but she did not know very many other trees. In fact, she had only known one. The bat's still developing mind went wild with imagination. Did it glow? Was is bent in an odd way? Could its bough touch the tippity top of the cavern ceiling? She quietly slings to the webbed of his spine as she considers every conceivable possibility her childlike mind could conjure.

He would only feel the weight of her moving when her wings flitter to balance herself after being grazed by low hanging leaves and branches. Diminutive size aside, she manages to keep her balance. Those little claws on her feet sure knew how to CLING to things, didn't they. Watching the length of his tail drag along the ground behind him offers distraction for her eyes as he speaks to her of the three he'd mentioned. "What does it know?" Of course she'd ask that once he was finished. "Can it sing?" Why would anyone even think that a tree could sing? But the prospect of a singing tree would be kind of rad.

Relinquish her name. Could it really do that? His final sentence leaves her silent in thought. If it could tell her her name, then obviously it could sing. Right? Yes. That is the conclusion she came to. Did Ghanyarah know any songs? She'll have to ask. Though in reality it's more likely she will forget. Singing was respectful, right? Being respectful just meant not being a huge jerk, and she was confident she could pull that off.

"Is it far?" The alternate version of 'are we there yet'.

@Ghanyarah

He shook his head slightly, about to say that he didn't know exactly what the tree knew. It must have known something, given its penchant for punishing Gembounds that misbehaved, but then she asked if it could sing. Ghanyarah cracked open his jaws and laughed. "I have never heard it sing. But perhaps it can, and we just cannot hear it." That would certainly be interesting, wouldn't it? The reptile had to wonder how a tree would sing. Maybe it was the way the wind blew through the leaves, that could be a form of singing. Or maybe the way its roots crawled through the mud, squelching and cracking. No way that it could sing the way Gembounds sing.

"You may be able to see it." Ghanyarah answered, evading her question slightly. In truth, it had been a long time since Ghanyarah visited the Divine. He had to wonder if it still had the remains of the organs strung along its branches. "It is taller than most trees. If you can clear the canopy, I'm certain you'd see it." The reptile added, lifting his eyes up to the trees around them. But he didn't know if she'd be able to fly yet, being so young, and he didn't want her to risk it if she'd been unable to get the hang of it while they were still back at his tree.

He lowered his head and quickened, eager to see the tree. His own curiosity was soaring, wondering if the tree would recognize him. Would it dump him in the water too? Would it do anything?

@Lituus

The more he speaks of it, the more her tiny body fills with anticipation. Perhaps she and this tree could be friends too. 'If you can clear the canopy' he says, making her wings instinctively clamour along the web of his spines. She isn't even trying to fly at this point, just aiming to get a feel for her wings. How far they could reach, how much they could pivot and bend. It still feels strange to her. Alas, it was difficult to see much of anything in Cetus. If it wasn't for her near-sightedness, then the perpetual fog is certainly culprit. It wouldn't be long now until their arrival, not at Ghanyarah's dutiful pace. So she rides along, anxiously awaiting. "Ghanyarah, do you know any songs?" the words slip out with a childish air. Sad thing is she doesn't even have knowledge to any sort of song. "I don't know any. I think." And yet she knew what a song was, and knew that she wanted to sing. How queer this all was.

@Ghanyarah ((Should we make a new thread in The Divine? :0))