ORIGIN

If White wasn't on the road with Caravaggio, she was in Polaris. She had missed home and, more importantly, she had missed seeing home with the lights on, and without mysterious dark clouds billowed over it. She'd missed her parents and her brothers-- though she had no idea where they where --but for the time being, she was happy enough just to see Polaris again.

For a time, she wandered. She hobbled along the shores of the crystal river and she stared out across to the generator for a while. She kept a little distance from the dam, wary of the wandering golemns and wary of potentially getting into a fight with them. She could, at the very least, try and fly away from them, should they come over anyway.

Finally, she came to the spire. If she looked hard enough, she would find the spot where she used to nap- a little alcove near the spire, where it was warm. She was, now, a little too big to comfortably lay within it, however. Her back legs didn't quite sit right and her wings jutted out uncomfortably when she tried to sit in it.

But! That didn't matter. Of course not-- it only meant that White could spend a while finding a new, better place for napping. Which is exactly what she began to do. She spent a time sniffing around the base of the spire, testingly sitting and laying around different rock formations.

Nowhere felt right. Nowhere quite fit, and nowhere gave her the sense of comfort and security that her old spot would give her, when she was a pup. A chick? A hatchling? A pupling? White had no idea what you were supposed to call a baby bird-dog. But that hardly mattered.

White lay on the ground a little uncomfortably, laying on her side before rolling directly onto her back, her talons sticking out in air and her wings sprawled out on the ground. It wasn't great, but it would have to do for now.

The hybrid shut her eyes, preparing to doze off.

Paige giggled.

The little Fox cub bounded after the funny looking little bug, with the light up butt. It flew eratically ahead of her, unable to go much higher after she'd accidentally hurt its wing. She leaped, teeth snapping shut a few inches shy, before thudding back to the ground with a laugh.

The bug took a sudden, sharp turn, and she skidded as she tried to keep it in sight. Unfortunately, she was distracted, and didn't see the rock. Her oversized, ungainly paws stumbled over it, and she began to tumbled over. By the time she'd gotten back up, the lightning bug was gone.

"No, come back! I just wanted to play!" she whined, looking around. But it was long gone by then, and so she began to wander once more, attempting to find something to do.

And then her dual colored eyes landed on a thing. It was large and white, with both fur and feathers, and legs stuck up in the air. It looked funny! The little fox giggled, and crouched down, butt wiggling as she stalked forward. Finally, once she determined she was close enough, she'd kick off, hoping to land on the bird-dog playfully.

White had safely began drifting away, eyes shut. She wasn't quite asleep, but she was in some form of limbo between being aware and being unconscious. Her only current movement was lazily kicking one ridiculously oversized talon into the air.

Somewhere, in her semi-conscious state, she heard a voice. It didn't take long for the hybrid to choose to ignore it in favour for continuing to sleep, to which may have been a mistake, because precisely twelve seconds later she was under attack.

White was not a fighter. She hated fights, and she hated getting hurt and hurting others. Unable to actually do anything, instinct kicked in. "DAAAAAAD," she squawked with an abrupt volume her mother would be proud of, immediately twisting around.

Her aim was to fling the fox off her, wide-eyed, using both paws and talons to try and pry Paige off her-- though not particularly hard. With Paige fended off, the crow-dog scrambled quickly to all fours, skittering some distance away and flapping her wings once with a deep whumph, getting some few feet of air as well.

Only a moment after White called out--as if lingering nearby, and waiting--a black dog barreled into the cave. He was silent, as much as a galloping mastiff could be. His claws scratched stone, but he did not growl, or bark.

As he charged in his magicka flared up defensively, prepared for a savage battle: darkness swarmed up and around him, coiling over his coat in flickering shades of not-light. Someone had put his child in danger! She was calling for aid. A predator, perhaps something as the dragon Raheerah, or a large and monstrous--fox...?

The dog skidded to a halt, staring quizzically, pendulous ears pricked up and brow deeply furrowed. His pale blue-grey eyes regarded the white fox doubtfully, and he looked to his daughter in some confusion. Perhaps the fox had attacked her with magic, but she looked unhurt.

"Are you harmed?" he asked, but the concern in his voice was twinned with puzzlement.

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The little fox yipped excitedly when she landed atop the feathery-fluffy thing, only to startle as there was a sudden, loud squawk right next to her ear. She jolted, and was taken aback when it began to twist, feeling a pair of paws, and pair of talons, slam into her, tossing her off the thing. "Oof!" the fox kit squeaked, tumbling head over fluffy tail.

Head spinning, the fluffy white fox kit looked up, seeing a massive black dog standing in front of her. Near him was her target, a white dog-thing with the wings, tail, and hind legs of a bird. Paige sat up with a giggle, tail thumping on the dirt. "I just wanted to play!" she yipped, not finding anything wrong with what she'd done.

@Black
@White

At the sight of her father, White flutter-hobbled towards him, slinking behind the black mastiff and folding her wings away behind her back with wide eyes. She wasn't hurt, of course-- but she was fairly frightened.

"I don't know," she croaked with alarm, paws kneading against the cave floor anxiously. "She hit me while I was asleep? Or almost asleep, and- I don't-"

The hybrid took a breath and shook out feathers and fur, pacing around a bit behind Black. Her would-be attacker looked... young, at least, and probably didn't know any better. Maybe someone had to teach her.

Or maybe it was an act

Maybe she was actually small and evil-- maybe not unlike Nemean --and just pretending she wanted to play when she was actually after big evil murder. White shuddered quietly, hesitating.

She'd have to be told, either way. "You can't just do that when people are asleep?!" She squawked a little too loudly. "It's bad!" Red eyes flicked towards Black, with this, as the hybrid frowned nervously.

Black paced over, after taking further stock of the situation. The faint black swirling around him faded, and he padded to the little white fox; his head lowered, the wrinkles on his face all bunching together as he offered her a few sniffs, tail wagging.

"Hello," he rumbled at last, stepping back. He then looked to White. "You are unharmed. She is very small. The small require our guidance. Our protection."

Perhaps his daughter could--make a friend? She was normally very outgoing, this nervousness unlike her, but... she had been startled. Still, she should not be so cruel to the little thing, and as a father, it was his duty to inform her of such, every bit as much as it was to stand guard over her from every creepy shadowed corner, every hour of every day.

Obviously.

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Paige looked at the funny bird-dog thing, as it walked oddly to hide behind the large black dog. She smiled at it, trying to show that she only meant to play, but it seemed she had frighten it, as it stumbled over its words, speaking to the large black dog she'd called 'DAAAAAAD'. Was that it's name? DAAAAAAD? What an odd name!

Her tail tapped, as the white dog-bird looked out from behind the black dog, calling out to her. However, she was reprimanded, and she drooped, ears flopping over. "I'm sorry!" she whined. "I was playing with a light-butt bug, but then it flew off and I saw you, and I thought you'd want to play with me!" she explained.

Her attention was drawn to the large black dog as he approached, her fluffy white tail tapping on the ground in a friendly manner. "Hello!" she smiled up at him, leaning up to sniff at him in return, "I'm Paige!"

@White
@Black

"Nemean is small, too," she replied quietly. She did not take a moment to consider that, maybe, Caravaggio's melodrama was beginning to rub off on her. Regardless, she had no reason to outright rebel against her father's wishes.

Shaking herself briefly, the white hybrid stepped over next to the mastiff, sitting herself back on her haunches. "Uhh, it's okay," she said, trying to find her cheerfulness again. "It's just scary when you-- try to jump on people when they're sleeping."

White's gaze flicked briefly to Black, and then back again. "Hello. I'm White. My dad's Black."

When Paige greeted him--and sniffed up at him--Black's canine instincts kicked in. His own tail began to wag, brow and entire face wrinkling up as he sniffed more excitedly down. His dog mind was telling him, "friend, and "play," and he let out a soft "Wuff," before hopping back and dropping into a play-bow. His forelegs spread out along the ground, rump in the air, leaning his head gently forward to invite the little one to play.

His magic spread around him, too, and multiple Black-shadows play-bowed alongside him. He then stood upright, a little more dignified, and gave White an approving glance.

She is right. The Betrayer is tiny. But-- "Young," Black corrected himself, but then added, "It is good." This--clearly--meant that he approved of White's actions. She might understnd this, though others... might not grasp Black's rather eccentric words.

He padded a bit out of the way, as if to let the two younger ones speak.

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