ORIGIN

The cold and damp was the exact thing Thirty-Five loathed. It was inherently wrong to every part of him. He didn't belong- he stood out like a sore spot, his body grown heavily accustomed to the sands of Hydra compared to the wet of Pisces. The water itself threatened to wash away his gem, even, and he found himself folding his right ear inside out despite the discomfort to protect his gem from ever dropping a grain of substance. He'd cursed his creators more times than he should under his breath as the rains let down.

It wasn't any better in Pisces. Here, he had to wade in the waters, edging around pits of pools. In some way, the clear waters marked even more danger than the swamp of Hydra for the sand based creature. Granted, Desert Rose hated both places, though he could put this high on the list of upsetting places for the time being.

He'd come this way not from the curiosity of his being (well- some of that was it), but the urging and infectious sensation of exploration he'd caught from Labradorite. They needed to see the caves and fill in the gaps of their memories. Perhaps, even, they could encounter an Overseer and get set back on track, though part of him wished to never see the angled, alien face of Vargas again.

Desert Rose relished the time away from those who drove them through the trials. He didn't have to run for his life from monsters, play allegiances and avoiding the warnings of waking to daggers sticking from his back. No, he had to deal with this infernal weather. Was it always raining like this? It set the champion's teeth to grinding against each other- a poor habit to have, and a tell for his clear discomfort, along with the way he walked with his wings tight to his sides.

Still, he was glad to exist freely beside his brother. Here in the bluish-green of the cave, their pelts had reversed roles. While Desert Rose blended well with the first part of his namesake, Labradorite had been (un)fortunately gifted with his neon blue. The dragon almost admired him, the way Five-Four-Six's form gracefully flowed unlike the hefty pace Thirty-Five kept. The ground was not his native land. His light weight and broad wings were designed for soaring in thermals, things he wouldn't find in this water-logged portion of cave.

He kept good pace with his brother, a thread of anxiety driving him to stay near. Despite being old, everything was invariably new, and Thirty-Five still had no idea how to approach it all.

Unbeknownst to him, the clusters littered throughout Pisces's ponds weren't natural, only springing up few days prior to the brothers’ arrival. They weren't in the forefront of the dragon's mind until a dull claw brushed the top of one. He wouldn't have given a second thought to it if it weren't for the odd texture against his nail. Curious, he stepped back and squatted like a hunting cat. His elbows folded out to his sides as he reached forward, taking the offending cluster in a callous paw.

He found himself lowering his haunches and sweeping them to the side as his neck continued to crane towards the object. Eyebrows furrowed, he turned it over and over. It reminded him of his own gem, or, at least, the vision he'd seen of it when he contorted his neck in front of waters long ago. He couldn’t place the memory, and the moment he focused on it it flitted from grasp.

These clusters were odd, though. Despite being damp with wet, they were fuzzy under his paws, and set an odd sensation tingling over his scales. Desert Rose relished the feeling, eyes grow wide as he stroked the object with dull nails. He cautiously turned his head to where he heard his brother last, not daring to take eyes off his prize. "Hey, check this out," he called at a regular volume. Something about these things made him want to relax his jaw. He resisted, clenching his mouth further as he inspected the cluster with another eye, a rock forming in his gut. Something was wrong about them. They nearly reminded him of the Spire Spiders plaguing Hydra, and yet… They didn't seem like animals. After a short experiment, he found that cutting eyesight didn't help to resist the allure.

They couldn't be all that bad? Now that he'd brought attention to the one, Thirty-Five could spot numerous others, some floating in pools of their own while others gathered in clusters of clusters. Long tail sweeping and treading the waters behind him, he huffed as he brought his closer, lifting the front half of his body into a seated position.

"Be careful," Labradorite Five-Four-Six had said, repeatedly, since leaving the arid quadrants of the caves and into new, far wetter land. In their brief travels, he had been shocked to discover that some rooms were even cold, and that sensation was unfamiliar-- but not unpleasant --on his thick pelt.

He was also surprised to discover that some places, like Orion (which he was quite fond of), were dark. In those places, he blended neatly into the shadows. Even the neon-green lining of his fur was duller, less of a target for dangerous creatures lurking nearby.

Which, there were shockingly little of.

Of all things about the caves that bewildered him, Labradorite was mostly confused by the lesser gembound. They seemed... harmless. The deer did not have huge teeth or quills sticking out of their hides, and the birds were smaller and seemingly harmless. Most of them even sang, carefree, rather than shrieked at each other and squabbling loudly.

There was also rain-- and floods. They reminded him of the most recent excursion through Hydra-- when the running water had swept some gembounds off their paws and down the canyon --but aside from disliking the sensation of his belly getting wet, Labradorite didn't see much harm in this kind of weather. It was just unpleasant, nothing more and nothing less, but for his brother it must have been worse.

Hence, "be careful."

The new room they had entered seemed dark and wet and grey. Not unpleasant for him, but the rising mist and trickling water sent a brief chill up his spine. He didn't like the look of water pouring out of the crescent-shaped hole in the ceiling either. Water should not be crashing and roaring like that, in his humble opinion.

He had half-forgotten, somehow, that Desert Rose was behind him until he turned to look at him at the sound of his voice. His brother was crouched down, picking at something silvery-white on the ground and asking him to look at it.

Instinctively, he bristled. Suspiciously.

He knew a bit too well the stories of certain overseers tricking gembounds into their own maws, hunting them for sport, taking their lives for whatever reason. Anything that looked particularly unusual and that his brother was fawning over seemed, in his eyes, mostly cause for alarm.

Labradorite plodded over regardless however, his oversized ears pinning back to his skull as he bent his head down, sniffing at a slight distance. He shifted, frowning-- "move," he then instructed Desert Rose, shaking himself out briefly.

The agile creature opened his mouth, his muzzle crinkling briefly with the concentration. The hunk of labradorite fused into the roof of his mouth glittered briefly blue and green, shining off pale teeth, before static electricity bristled his fur.

A sharp bolt of lightning-- pale blue and flashing --bounced off his own fur and onto the silvery, flower-like cluster that Desert Rose was inspecting, though had.. hopefully shifted away from by now. He too, kept a slight distance after casting, his body tingly and sore, as he watched the results of his magic.

And he'd replied "I'm fine," each time. It was a lie through his teeth, hissed out especially near the beginning of their travels and muttered by the end. He hated the act. Even with little white lies, they stung deep further than any piercing claw. It shattered him to even utter falsities to his brother.

And yet, he didn't want to worry him. They had enough on their minds collectively, with the new world to explore. It was concerning how mundane it was, though. By this point, he expected something horrible to overtake him, to destroy their gems and separate them forever.

Though, he may have spoken too soon about that.

Almost child-like, Desert Rose glanced to Labradorite with wide eyes. He didn't want to remove himself from this... Flower. This beauty. It still itched at the back of his brain that this was an odd offshoot of the Spire Spiders he knew, and yet they had caught him in his tracks. It didn't... Seem like the spiders? It didn't have a mouth (as far as he knew) to eat him, and he didn't feel anything but a growing inkling of admiration for it.

Still, he followed orders, dipping his head and backing up slowly. His eyes glanced between the flower he'd toyed with. It was like being cut from family once more, a tense feeling in his heart as he experienced the mixture of emotions once more.

An upset whine rose carrying Thirty-Five's voice through the air as he recognized his brother preparing to attack. "No- Wait, you don't have to-!" He cried, stamping a foot forward before jumping back with a surprised flap of his wings.

He'd never get used to the bolts of electricity Five-Four-Six could release. It sent a shiver through him each time, though this time the movement was backed by something else. It tainted his tongue, his mind.

Anger.

It was a mild anger, one that could easily be missed, and yet the shock of feeling it threw a halting pause through Desert's psyche. His pupils drew tight. Why- why was he angry? It was just a cluster of... Things.

And yet, Desert grew even more infuriated at the thought. Things? These weren't just mere objects to be tossed about. They were flowers, gorgeous flowers, almost like him. He had to protect them, like a shepherd to his flock. Patriarchal feelings flowed freely through Desert as he stepped forward, tail thumping unhappily in the muddied water below. "You didn't have to-" He began to hiss, head low and glaring at his brother.

He stopped. No. This- this was wrong. This was all wrong. He was being tainted by... Whatever magic this thing forced over him. With the rot hitting his nostrils, he took a step back and coughed, huffing through his nostrils to release the smell. This was wrong, wrong wrong! Unnatural!

And yet, there was no resisting. His toes curled in protest as he closed the gap between the broken flower. His nostrils refused to flare as he looked down to it, lips curling in partial disgust. Labradorite had done this- had harmed a precious flower. He could probably see the constant hesitation, perhaps desperation behind Desert's eyes at this point as his head shot up, staring about the room. The flowers had them in their hold, and yet Desert had no room in mind to complain. His one thought was to hoard, to collect and share and protect. He would be their savior. And he needed more.

"Look at how many there are," he murmured wistfully, his wings flexing in place and dipping their tips in the water. He could see many- so, so many. They had gathered like a field, and they were gorgeous. Not even rotten stench in the air nor the water lapping at his feet could set Desert in a funk anymore.

He certainly didn't feel like himself anymore. In the back of his mind the suspicions screamed against his quickly guarded obsession. Casually, Desert drifted to more floating clusters, entranced by their structure. He needed them, needed more. he waded into higher and higher waters, the wave slapping at his pebbled belly as he drew a floating swarm of them. "A perfect bouquet." He hadn't recognized that he spoke. His only movement while he admired his gathered flowers was his tail, slowly floating and drifting back and forth in the clear water it laid across.

"We should show this to others," he murmured, gathering up as many as he could under his wings. Yes... More, more was always welcome. They were his children now; they were to be protected by him. Soothed, he got as many as he could and emerged from his wading position, glancing back to Labradorite. "Let's go."

Sighing, Desert shook out his mane and paced away, eyes set for one of the various tunnels leading from this wet, wet cave.