ORIGIN

They had emerged, talked, bonded---bonded. Elspet had already begun to hold her companion in hatching in regard higher than friendship. It wasn't a feeling that she could name quite yet, but it was most certainly called love. Immediately, she had vowed to become strong. The mightiest in the caves. She would protect her beloved and ensure that no harm came to her. As soon as she made sure that Ayr was safe in Eridanus (not that she doubted her for a single second), the infant had gone to venture beyond, searching for further caves to explore, and perhaps a gift for her love.

So far, she had only found stairs that had her confused for a moment. It was something to suddenly discover depth perception as she tumbled clumsily down the first few steps, nearly falling head over heels and rolling. It didn't help that her limbs were spindly and not quite developed for steps. Those didn't just occur in nature.

As she finally made her way down some, though, her confidence surged. Elspet, in her eagerness, paused and drew herself onto her haunches. Chuckling and clasping her hands together, she urged magicka forth. Without an ounce of hesitation, yellow sapphire sputtered to life, crackling like a live wire before sounding off an enormous cascade of thunder. It seemingly rolled away, boiling down to distant echoes. That was so cool! Maybe, just maybe, someone had heard that and would come to investigate. Hopefully it was someone to fight. In a friendly manner.

@Pride

The silence was shattered. And shattered in a dramatic form.

The white fawn, quietly perusing the carvings along the walls, was sent leaping in terror off to one side, scampering away in limb-tangled fear, stumbling and wide-eyed. Only when he had gone halfway down the tunnel did he stand, trembling and staring, half-deafened ears swivelled toward the now-quiet tunnel.

What-... was that? For a long moment he simply stood, sides heaving, the unpleasant sensation of the adrenaline rush quieting in his veins. He then drew himself up, gathering himself back together. I would--seek the source but... It sounded dangerous.

He considered, then turned, trotting even farther off. Once there, he tucked himself into a relatively quiet crevice--darker but still well-lit in this bright and well-travelled corridor--and focused on his own magic, determined yet fearful.

At length, he stepped forth--and he remained, too, in the cave crevice. Pride--the real Pride--remained hidden, guiding his flickering, unsteady doppelganger down the tunnel. This false one moved with a swift and gliding gait, almost jaunty, heading to investigate the sound's source.

When it rounded the corner, Elspet at last in sight, it paused. It then stared, blinking, as Pride back down the tunnel was blinking. Is this the source..?

As she hoped, someone came to investigate. It may not have been an actual someone, but it wasn't as if Elspet was at the liberty to differentiate. Instead, she smugly placed an elbow onto her knee, resting her cheek on the knuckles of that same hand. "You look kinda weird. Your legs are long," she said matter-of-factly, "like, really long." Hi kettle, meet pot.

She wouldn't linger on appearance, though. There were more important matters, such as congratulating herself. "That big noise was me! I'm strong and I'm going to get stronger!" Then, she launched herself back onto all fours and whispered conspiratorially to the doppelganger: "wanna help? Do you have powers too?" Without even waiting for an answer, her yellow eyes shimmered with an eager glee as she looked the other gembound up and down. "Show me! I want to learn and get strong so I can defend Ayr."

@Pride

Pride listened, quietly curious, as the stranger spoke. At length he decided that she did not, in fact, seem particularly dangerous; in fact she seemed relatively friendly. He hadn't ever tried to extend his mind a vast distance before, but he tried to link to her briefly, just to inform her he'd be coming along shortly--the real him.

Instead, as had happened once before, he received a cacophony of backfiring magicka bombarding his own mind with screaming whispers that were never quite words, but as if he was hearing the flow of magic itself. He staggered down, letting out a pained, startled bleat, for a moment shocked right back into flight--his doppelganger down the tunnel vanishing.

This time he fled straight toward Elspet, careening off the walls, so that when the little white fawn bounded into sight of the gorilla it was all he could do to draw himself sharply to a halt, panting. He blinked pale eyes at her for a long moment, aiming for some modicum of regained dignity.

"That was not--the real me. Magic," he explained between tired pants. He quickly tried to remember what else the stranger had said, blinking rapidly as he did so. "I am--Pride. You mentioned... ahh. Ayr?"

There: some attempt at being composed and calm, though it wouldn't do a lot of good what with his dilated pupils and heaving flanks.

Elspet was about to start tapping her little foot impatiently when the gembound just up and vanished and she gave a surprised shriek of surprise. Furthermore, she yelped as the very same long-legged creature came tearing down the corridor, hitting the wall slightly. Then, like nothing really happened, he started right in. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't impressed, but only managed a small "cool, but---" before furrowing her brow. "Are you alright? Like, for real? Not gonna vanish? How'd you do that?"

Like a weird little human being, she stuck her hand out, fully expecting a handshake. "I'm Elspet! Tordn! I have big loud powers and love Ayr!" Despite her better judgement, she flew into a little tirade. "She kinda looks like you! But with one horn! And fluffiness!" She gestured vaguely to her own nape and the stranger's little tail. In her thoughts, Elspet appended: 'she's way, way more beautiful. The most beautiful in the whole wide Caves.' "But don't you touch her! I'll beat you up if you do!" Depending on how this went, that could be either the most hot-blooded threat ever or the emptiest.

Regardless, her stone itched in the proximity to another, begging her to use it more. "We should fight! But nicely?" Was there such a word for that? Pride seemed like he might be a bit older than her, so she looked at him imploringly.

@Pride

Pride took a moment to gather himself, blinking bemusedly at the stranger."It is--good to meet you, then. Elspet." White ears twitched as he listened.

"You want to-... spar? Train?" he asked. He was a bit put off his balance, to say the least, mentally-speaking; in the past he'd only trained with those he knew, had at least spoken with a little. And usually it was for a reason. To challenge others who had merely made eye contact whilst travelling nearby seemed--odd, to say the least.

But, he had been given this challenge and he would hardly back away. Still, there was no reason to rush into it. "I-... do not mind, training?" he responded bemusedly, still a bit off-balanced. He considered, sounding as if he were choosing each word carefully--simply his method of speech, each sentence precise. "But--why? I do not know who Ayr is; why must I not... touch them?"

"If it is--training that you wish, I will train, but I would ask we do not... truly harm one another..?" Did he trust this stranger? Well, not entirely; she was, after all, a total--well, stranger. Yet if she wanted to attack him and harm him, she would do so regardless of what he said. Her asking permission did hint that she meant no real threat. The only danger might come from a lack of control and--never having met her--he was perhaps understandably wary.

Still, he waited politely, now catching his breath at last, focusing on what magic he might cast.

Eye contact had been made and the moment she was introduced to the word 'training', she bounced up and down in place. At the tail end of one bounce, she rocked up into a standing position awkwardly aided by her long arms. "Yeah! Training sounds good!" Elspet fell onto all fours again and paced to the left slightly. She stopped to dramatically stroke her chin. "I mean, you can touch Ayr but don't hurt her! Or I'll hurt you! If she doesn't first. She had big sharp things on her feet. Sharp!" The unicorn was definitely bigger than her and probably would stay that way. Unlike her soft, tender little hands, Ayr had hooves. They were kind of noisy on stone and made a hollow noise when they hit something. A clear indicator of being dangerous, apparently.

With all of the exuberance of a newly emerged neonate and more, she smirked, baring all of her teeth. "Yeah! No real hurting, I'll try!" Trying to psych herself up, she scampered off a few feet and stood on two legs again. Briefly hamboning, she conjured up a bit more magic, like the thunderclap before. Just a little something to show off. Maybe, just maybe, she could bring up something like that cool disappearing doppelganger trick the deer had! Luck was on her side, as her stone obeyed and beckoned forth a billowing cloud of subtly burning fur. Moving side to side, she dispersed it outward, trying to obscure where she really was.

Pride blinked. Concern did not begin to describe his mental state, but if this stranger was already about to attack--and also assuring him that she would try not to harm him, well--he would defend himself, at the very least.

Thoughts of Ayr and her sharp foot-things flicked through his mind, committed to memory and dismissed. He could hardly consider all of that now.

Pale eyes blinked once more as a smokescreen began to form around the stranger, black and billowing. He quickly focused, drawing on his magicka. It answered powerfully to his call, this time, and he directed it to create another double, with which to hopefully draw off the stranger.

Pride stepped forward--and the real Pride scrambled back and to one side. The two were nearly identical--both with wide eyes and twitching ears watching and listening for Elspet's attack.

With any luck, she'd emerge from her cover only to find the false Pride stood before her--the real one sinking back, hiding a bit among the tunnel's stones as best he could as he prepared a more powerful attack.

Her smokescreen was met with a great deal of success, which was pretty astonishing to her considering the fact that she had literally been born---what, yesterday? Elspet didn't really take into account her own line of sight, and found that she had completely obscured Pride and his magic-casting prowess from her line of sight. Unfortunate, because she was just gonna have to come out raging and blind. Plus, her eyes kind of hurt. She wasn't even sure where she was. At least she was facing forwards. She hadn't moved on that axis yet.

Unconscious to her will, the infant's horns began to glow again, likely piercing the veil of darkness she had formed. Nothing much actually came from the whole deal of her making her gem glow other than a slight spark sputtering away from her nape. Regardless, she came crashing out of the smog and crashed uselessly through the doppelganger, staring at its nonexistent remains in confusion.

From behind his double, Pride was gathering himself again--coalescing his magicka, concentrating it. He stood braced, head down, out of some unknown instinct, though he was not truly about to charge.

He concentrated on an area within the smoke--behind it, even--on creating a sudden empty space there, on directing his magicka to provide the violent thrust to fill it. And, hopefully, to knock anything in its path flying. An action, to create a reaction.

Abruptly, though, the gorilla came hurtling from the smoke--and Pride scrambled back as she plowed through his doppelganger, startled out of his casting altogether. The magic was a complete failure, dispersing from him entirely, and he snorted in alarm and irritation at himself.

I should have been expecting that, he thought.