ORIGIN

It was lucky that the bat chose this area to emerge - the fire had not come to touch the area and Rift happened to be patrolling it that day. Although he longed to return to the charred, ash-covered expanse of Eridanus, he forced himself away - he had started the growth necessary to regrow the destroyed parts of the forest. Letting nature do its work would revitalize the cave in time.

So lost in his thoughts about the restructure of Eridanus and the cloud of anger and sorrow that still weighed down his stomach, he almost missed the sound of cracking. He almost jumped a foot in the air with surprise and immediately jumped up to the closest branch and followed the sound silently through the trees. Eventually he came upon the spot where the bat was hatching and Rift paused, staring down closely with interest. The last time he had attended a hatching had been Enka's and it had gone pretty well - she was a student now that lived somewhere in the forest and helped him breath life and protect the trees. Perhaps this would be similar.

The chatterbox began to speak to no one in particular and Rift chuckled to himself. They were certainly eager and full of life! Sometimes he found himself forgetting the goodness that was still present all over the caves. Sometimes it was easy to think of all gembounds as just dangers to the forest. But this little creature didn't seem bad at all, nor any kind of creature that would bring harm.

Once it was done talking to itself, he stepped to the base of the branch and climbed down the tree trunk. He hopped down and landed softly just behind the young back. "Hello, Zepto. And welcome...both to the caves and to Eridanus."

Rift flicked his tail and felt a stab of pain in his chest at the mention of the fire. "There...was a fire. It only just went out." He felt the burns on his flank and the singed plants still clinging in his skin much more clearly now and he quickly shook himself a bit, scattering ash and soot to his sides. He willed something to grow again along his skin and after a bit of hesitation, some flowers and moss sprouted across his back. It wasn't much but he felt a little more comfortable with their familiar weight and coverage. He had felt exposed before with his plants burned off. He felt a lot better now.

He smiled and took a small step closer. "Yes, everyone's okay...I think. Eridanus is a big cave. So far there haven't been bad injuries with the people I've met but it's possible that there are some in other areas." He felt an appreciation for the little bat and their concern for the wellbeing of creatures they had never met. They had just hatched among the ruins of a burned forest and they were worried about others. Yes, this was a good creature and one that would prosper in Eridanus...at least when it was regrown. "I'm Rift, by the way. I'm the protector of this forest."

Rift couldn't help but feel a little bashful at Zepto's compliments. "W-well, there were a lot of different creatures helping out! We helped as many as we could escape the fire." He didn't really want to take all the credit - after all, he certainly hadn't been the only one helping out. But remembering what had happened, with the fire and...with Sebastian, it hurt. He didn't want to tell this to Zepto, though. She was so young and either wouldn't understand or it would confuse or sadden her. So the offer to talk about his magic was most welcome.

He looked along his back, his good ear raising tall. "Oh, that's my magic! I can will plants to grow or move on command. I control the very essence of the forest!" He gave a small tap on the ground, giving the ground a slice of his magic as the grasses in front of Zepto began waving in unnatural patterns.