Wilder brightened at the prospect of sharing information and she lifted her head, looking much more like her normal self again.
Dragon considered, as he listened. The little one was speaking a great deal, and some might have been annoyed by it, but he paid attention with the ageless patience of a reptile.
The black dog, he knew; Aquarian, of course, rarely answered. He started to open his mouth to say as much, then slowly closed it as Wilder went on. He did not know many of the names she listed, nor the Gembound that she described, but he knew of Canis. The mention of a tiger that hung corpses made him wonder. Prey? Decoration? If it were as savage as "corpse decoration" would suggest, it would have likely eaten Wilder.
...Though, he himself was comfortable with her presence here, and hadn't he once decorated the Divine with entrails? Never mind, he thought to himself.
"Hmm. That is a great deal of good information. I will trade you fairly." He thought, for a moment, and then he began. "There are two pools of silver water in the cave of many plants. Do not swim in them. There are nightmares and cold beneath, and it will consume you. Here in this cave--and in many others--you may be tempted to hunt in dark crevices, for your rats. Be very careful, for the cave spiders hunt there with snares of web, and many are far larger than you. There are large rats that mimic sound; they can trick you into fleeing if you believe their noise--but always be careful that it isn't a trick." He paused, thinking. That was three helpful pieces of survival information. He considered, and then went on. "The ice phoenix Tenzin and the stag with the mushroom-antlers have fought alongside us before, though it does not make them our friends. Our allies, temporarily, against the dragon. " And he had already warned her of Nemean. "At times, the lights in the caves go out. It is good in those times to know magic to create light. Usually it is a problem with the round thing that turns in Polaris, near the Spire. You can seek it there."
There. That seemed fair.
Dragon thought, again, mulling everything over in silence. The idea of someone gathering "family" in Canis interested him, moreso with Wilder already claiming she'd join them, as well. He realized almost at once that she was likely young, and may forget the Children as soon as she'd wandered out of the cave; she was too young, certainly, to be depended upon as a stolid member. Still, she might be of use to them.
"I have a task, little one, that I would ask to set you. If you are willing, would you speak to this Aure, and tell him that I--father of the Children of Rot--would speak to him?" He'd have asked of the Bloodberries, too--it would do well for a leader to meet with others--but she had already described them as savage and he had no desire to send her into danger.
Perhaps he could pay them a visit himself, at some point; for now, the Canis "family" held his interest.
@Wilder
Wilder listened closely to the alligator's words and nodded. She was thankful for the information but she couldn't help being curious about things. Giant spiders? What did they look like? What did their webs look like? And what would really happen when she swam in the two silver pools in the cave of plants? But Dragon told her not to and she trusted Dragon's wisdom.
She didn't know the ice phoenix Tenzin nor the stag with mushroom antlers. She had never met them before but she knew that she very much wanted to, the same way she very much wanted to meet Aquarian. She wanted to be friends with them.
But when Dragon spoke of the caves going dark, and she needing to have a source of light, her face lit up.
She nodded again.
He did not warn her to avoid the Bloodberries--he'd only just now heard of them, for the first time, and Wilder knew more of them than he. If she described them as savage, but chose to go to them regardless, that was wholly her decision. He did not think it either foolish or wise; he did not know enough about them to form an opinion.
Well, aside from their name being rather foolish; but then, he hardly knew all of the caves' plants. Perhaps there were red berries, somewhere, called "bloodberries," and these had named themselves after them.
"The light is good, for when the darkness goes out," Dragon said at last, his deep tone as close to "approving" as it ever got. "As a Child, you may rest here if you wish. Take from the pile if you hunger; but do not linger there or Aquarian may swallow you by accident. When you go, pass on my message, and you will have my thanks."
He couldn't think of much more to say, or do, though he did add--after a brief and thoughtful pause--"Do you have any questions?"
@Wilder
Wilder's ears perked happily. She was part of something now. The Children of Rot! Part of, maybe not a family, but something! Her tail twitched and she wanted to jump up and go meet the rest of them.
She glanced around, sniffing, wanting to try and sense anyone close by but the scents were just too new and heavy for her to discern anyone. The Children were well hidden in this swamp.
The alligator rumbled thoughtfully, and then turned, shuffling himself to face into the swamp.
"I will try to find out."
His jaws cracked open, and a plume of flame roared high into the air, illuminating the mist in many directions. "ARE ANY OF THE CHILDREN PRESENT," he bellowed. "THERE IS ONE WHO WOULD MEET WITH YOU."
He then pausd, listening into the mists--wondering if anyone would even answer.
The Children were rarely sociable; they were often off, and doing their own things. Were any even close enough to hear..?
@Naja @Ceicei @Sizzle @Septiezal
Serek saw the fire blaze through the trees and frowned. Dragon was calling the Children for some reason. He was lying in a tense, rather uncomfortable-looking position wedged in the roots of a tree. Should he go out and see what was going on? It didn't seem to important to him. Then again, very little seemed important to him now. There was no purpose, no motive, no drive to anything. He had truly fallen into a pit of depression and uselessness.
But, since he was close by, he decided that he might as well see what was going on. He wiggled out from his cramped spot and scrambled to his feet, trudging through the wet foliage and mud that he had become used to, but still despised.
He was met with Dragon, just Dragon, and a tiny little black cat that didn't even make it halfway up his leg. He scowled as he came to a halt next to Dragon.
That was Dragon's flame. His scale-brother was calling for a meeting. He wonder if it had to do with the.. recent harrowing events. Septiezal slithered towards the flare, his curiosity spiking. He could not remember the last time Dragon called the Children together.
This must be important.
As he pushed his way through the ferns, Septiezal picked up the scent of Serek, along with a familar smelling feline, but not of the Children. His ember eyes shone as he peered through the darkness. New blood? From the misty veil, the serpent silently slithered into view and lifted his head.
Septiezal arched his long neck forward.
Wilder jumped again as Dragon released a torrent of flame from his jaws and her eyes widened with awe. That was so amazing...she wanted to be able to do that too someday! She would have to learn how sometime!
She waited for a moment, her tail slowly curling and padding softly in the mud before there was a shuffle in the ferns and a creature stepped out. She hadn't seen anything like him before, although he was shaped similarly to the white stag she had met. Her ears twitched and she stood, watching him as he came closer. He looked kind of...down. Depressed. And his snarling tone came as a little bit of a surprise. But she refused to let that dampen her spirits! She gave him a large smile and purred, stepping forward to greet him with a touch of her head.
Another sound and another creature was appearing. She sniffed and she thought, for a second, that he was familiar too but she couldn't place where she knew him. Wilder didn't really have that good of a memory, though, so she gave up after just a few seconds of thinking.
Dragon rumbled in surprised pleasure as a couple of the Children crept out of the dark. He pushed aside the grass and a few other calamitean reeds as they spoke, listening.
"I wished to introduce you," he offered, before immediately adding--"It is good to see you both."
Wilder had introduced herself, and so he added on information without again giving her name. "The little one bears knowledge, and travels perhaps where we do not. She speaks of other groups within the caves: in Canis, some called the Bonebound, led by one named Aure. And elsewhere, she speaks of savage ones called... Bloodberries," he went on, still bemused by the name. Perhaps Wilder had misheard it..? "I have asked her to ask this Aure to arrange a meeting. It would be good to know them. Serek, you are from Canis, are you not? Do you know of them, at all?"
Dragon was curious, curious about these others--what their goals might be, what they might intend to do. He'd swear he knew the name "Bonebound" from long ago, but he couldn't say how, or when. It held no emotion with it, in any case, so perhaps he had merely heard it in passing.
"How are you both faring?" he added, glancing to them.
@Serek