ORIGIN

Amras waited patiently for the feline to recover. Now that she was no longer in danger of dying he had time to note how strange it was not only to see another sentient life, but to see one whose form was so different than his own. He'd been alone for so long he had begun to categorize knowledge of other greater gembounds as a passing fancy from before emerging into the world. Even his own name, the title of Amras, he had begun to think of as a useless construct created only as a self-indulgence. Knowing now for sure that he was not alone, and hearing that there were definitely others aside from the wounded one before him, having a word to use to describe himself didn't seem so silly after all.

"I cannot imagine what it must have been like to live one's life under the influence of another. You must be strong to have been able to break free of a system of enforced violence, going out into the unknown." he spoke with a clear and smooth voice, a coo of sincere flattery permeating the undertones.

The gryphon sat down, mirroring the much smaller creature's position. She seemed uneasy, though that much was to be expected given her condition. It would have been simple for him to strike a killing blow before, and had it not been for the power of language he might have done so without realizing what an opportunity had passed by. He felt fortunate to have stumbled upon this one, and even more so to be able to put the theoretical skill of speech to practice in so hasty a manner.

"Truth be told, I have no way to even begin to understand your troubles. Never before in my existence have I encountered another creature whose thoughts rose higher than base instinct. I have lived out my life content to stay in a single state of existence burrowing into the stone with nothing but the deadly winds above keeping me company and the occasional lesser one keeping me alive."

Realizing that his curious gaze might be disconcerting the blue gryphon allowed himself to relax, his vision now darting every so often to objects in the distance or the stars above. "That said, long ago I seem to have started referring to myself as Amras. Do you have a similar means of referral or do you simply think of yourself as a cat?"

The more this other spoke the more it was apparent just how sheltered he had been in his own little corner. Compared to what he had expected the cave was absolutely teeming with life... yet somehow he had never known. Perhaps that was for the best if there was as much fighting as she described; he had not always been as physically or magically strong as he was now.

"It is good to meet you, Li." he replied with as much corduality as before. "It sounds like you have come through many trials to get here. Are you going to be okay?"

Perhaps he was being overly curious, but it would be a shame for Li to come this far just to waste away from hunger or something of that sort. There was also the threat of others who she had fought before, that that might find her now that light had appeared in the caves. He couldn't quite discern why but the concept of facing off against another appealed to him now tha the knew there were others to face off against. Was that why there was fighting? Was the drive for competition something inherent to the greater gembounds?

Amras's face showed no change of expression at these thoughts. After all that Li had been through he was certain that even entertaining the concept of fighting for the fun and novelty of it would mark him as an enemy in her eyes.

"Aside from learning more about this place I have nothing that needs to be done right now. My dwelling is sufficient and I have some time before my hunger becomes intolerable."

Amras breathed in deeply, exhaling as tension seemed to flow from his body. His newfound acquaintance was indeed looking better and better by the moment, and he was inclined to believe it when they indicated that they would be okay. Obviously they were still hurt, still think, still hungry, but their speech came easier and some life seemed to have returned to their face.

"I'm honestly not extremely familiar with this area, unfortunately." he explained with a vaguely embarrassed look, lifting his left talon and pointing into the direction he had originally come from. "Usually whenever I'm hunting I sit on top of one of those structures next to the tunnel leading to my part of the cave. More often than not some creature large enough to fill me up will make noise in the brush below within a few hours and I have the chance to use magic to stun it."

The gryphon paused as his ears focused in around them. Any life that might have been hanging about had probably moved away as they were talking. They would almost certainly have to move somewhere else in the room to find anything.

"I did see some tracks from something large back where I found the box for the water. Perhaps a lesser one has created a nest there?"

Amras nodded solemnly at the feline's firm declaration that she would not use her magic. Though energy magic had been an important component in his survival thus far, she had obviously come from a much darker background. No doubt it would take some time before she engaged in anything that would remind her of those times, if she ever would again.

"I hope you will not take offense to me using my own in the hunt in that case. While I may be larger than most of the prey around here I haven't yet tried catching it through physical force alone."

With wings folded the gryphon stood up, his taloned forelimbs gripping the ground before him as he lightly stretched out. Li hadn't had quite so much luck with her ascent, but the fact that she was standing at all was a victory in itself in his mind. With head raised high to keep himself oriented he padded forward, first moving beside her and then with a nod taking the lead.

Surely they would be able to find something before too long, and then he'd be able to continue his journey exploring this new land of light.

-Exit Amras-