ORIGIN - Pretty Little Princess

Orion was definitely a beautiful room.

The ceiling glistened with crystals, as though it were covered in millions of stars. And on the walls there seemed to be even more, the walls filled with quartz deposits.

And high above the room, on a raised platform, sat the Throne. No one knew who used to occupy it, and it gave off a certain air of mystery.

And, at the foot of the Throne, sat a Chrysalis. It was fairly small, and rather round, glistening an eye catching bright blue. It began to tremble, before beginning to crack, and then all of a sudden gave way.

A small, fuzzy fluffball would tumble out, catching herself and sitting back on her butt, blinking rapidly as she tried to orient herself.

On occasion, Eve liked to revisit the place she had hatched.

Or more accurately, the place where she had tumbled out of the ceiling.

The specifics did not quite matter-- not to Eve, anyway. Orion was a good place, a pretty place, especially for hatching-- though the little crow had definitely seen one too many gembounds hatching at the throne. There must have been something within it that had power akin to the Spire, because the mess of shattered chrysalises at the throne was beginning to get concerning.

She fluttered by the throne, briefly, and then settled down on a boulder not too far away from it. Now was a good time as any to practice making lights, at the very least, and Orion could get pitifully dark at times. Focusing quietly onto her foot, where the moonstone gem lay, she felt magic flowing down from her and into the boulder, filling it with warm, yellow-gold light.

Satisfied, the crow hobbled off the boulder and stepped back to peer up at her work. Perfect! As usual, of course. Making light and being loud was, in fact, one of Eve's greatest talents. To remember this moment, in fact, she should take something back to her nest in Cetus.

She turned, preparing to take off when the cracking of a chrysalis caught her attention. She turned her head, catching sight of a dog tumbling out of... the throne.

Of course.

Eve shut her eyes for a moment, then opened them and hobbled over, tucking her wings away again. "Hey, kid, you alright there?" She asked with a rasping croak, one eye on the puppy and the other on the splintered shards of the blue opal chrysalis.

Pretty, yes. But nest-worthy? Maybe with a few touch-ups.

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@Shae

The pup blinked, looking around as she oriented herself. It was, in fact, a pretty room around her. And why wouldn't it be? She was born here, wasn't she? And she was pretty! So it only made sense that her born-place would be pretty as well. Everything glistened, seeming to glitter, and there were shiny, pristine crystals dotted here and there. She surveyed it imperiously, like a queen looking over her kingdom.

A glow drew her eye, and she looked over, seeing a boulder begin to glow a bright yellow gold. Pretty, yes, it was. It belonged here as well. Without thinking, her Magick reacted, light weaving into her fuzzy fur, giving her a faint, almost angelic, glow.

A sound drew her attention, and she quickly found the creator of the glowing rock. It was a bird, about as large as her, with dark colored feathers. She tilted her head, looking the bird over. It was plain looking, definitely.

"I'm fine." she nodded, looking around. "Where is this? Who are you? What are you?" she demanded.

@Eve

After the puppy spoke, Eve decided exactly three things. The first, that this newly-hatched-thing was a thing like Black, but considerably less droopy.

Second, it looked dumb.

Thirdly, she didn't like it.

Her feathers ruffled as Shae made herself glow, turning to flutter up onto one of the arms above the puppy. She settled herself down there, more comfortable being elevated than standing around at floor-level. A rat could kill something as small as her if she was caught unawares, after all.

Perhaps part of the reason Eve had suddenly decided to dislike a child, of all things, was because it held a similar shape to Oliver and White, as well as having their magics as well. She missed her children more than she could put into words, and words were not something Eve was particularly good at-- unless one were to measure talent by how loudly someone uses them.

Regardless, it took the crow a few seconds to remember that she had been spoken to. "What? I'm Eve," the raucous creature squalled. "I'm a crow. This place is the place of shinies, Orion, but the whole thing is called the Caves."

"I'm a crow," she repeated helpfully, as if Shae had somehow not heard her shouting it the first time. "I've faced off against dragons and dead things that crawled back to life, and I've out-roared a massive swamp-serpent. I ride on the backs of Dragons--" technically not a lie, Dragon often let her ride on his back --and I'm the most fearless, loudest thing you'll ever meet. Who are you?"

The crow was, of course, being needlessly dramatic. She had done very little in the battle against Raheerah and in the fight against the undead, she had done very little other than blow out her own ear, causing her to be half-deaf.

But-- the puppy didn't have to know that, of course.

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@Shae

The little pup's bright blue eyes stayed on the crow as it spread its wings, suddenly taking to the air. Could it teach her to do that? Well, no, she didn't think so, after all she didn't have those funny looking things it had instead of front legs. She turned her head to follow it as it settled down on an arm of the throne, having to tilt her head back to keep it in sight. Her butt plopped delicately to the ground, and she tilted her head, waiting for an answer.

It took the black bird an irritatingly long amount of time to reply, to the point she began to get annoyed, thinking it had forgotten her. She huffed, and only moments later the bird finally replied in a rather rough voice that was very loud.

Eve, the bird said its name was. And she was a crow. And the room was the place of shinies, Orion, within The Caves. And then she was repeating herself, hollering again that she was a crow. Alright, alright, she'd gotten it. And then it was bragging about things it had done, fighting dragons and un-dead things, and swamp serpents (whatever that was). Apparently it thought that made it impressive, but she didn't agree.

"I am Shae. I am an Aussiepom." what that was, she didn't know, but it came to mind quickly, and easily, and so she went with it. "I have not done any of those things, yet, but I will soon be known throughout the Caves." She sat up, tall, and proud.

@Eve

"That's a stupid thing to call yourself," the crow immediately blurted out, a little cruelly. "You're a dog. There's plenty of hero-dogs out there already."

Her mind was immediately cast towards Black. The puppy might be better in his presence-- he was a guardian, and he was mildly terrifying. He could, at the very least, teach her how to be a less dumb-looking dog.

Eve shook out her feathers. "Do you even know what you're gonna do?" the raucous bird squawked. "You can't just say you're gonna be well-known if you don't know what you're doing. You need to set out a plan and you need to know how you're gonna do it."

The crow shifted absently on the arm of the throne as she spoke, quickly realising it wasn't the best perch. Her head turned briefly, searching for another, as she added. "You'll end up looking like an idiot."

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@Shae

The crow told her she was calling herself a stupid name, and the pup bristled, delicate muzzle wrinkling back in a snarl, revealing small, delicate, sharp white teeth. She stood tall, as tall as she could at least, puffing out her chst and revealing the gleaming blue gem that wrapped around her neck like a collar, parting her fuzzy fur. "I am Shae! And that is a name the entirety of the Caves will know some day! There may be Hero-dogs, but I do not intend on being a hero! I will live only for me, and mine." she declared proudly, not lowering herself to snarling.

The bird ruffled its feathers, and Shae's fur stood on end, feeling as though it were speaking down to her. Who did this rat bird think it was!? Her nostrils flared, and she snapped her teeth. "I will find favor with the powerful of the Caves. I will collect favors from those who run the Caves, make them see me as useful. I will worm my way into the powerful's good graces, until I, myself, am powerful in my own right!"

@Eve