ORIGIN

The chrysalis that was encasing the American Alligator opened and the tiny creature was now brought to the world. He was brought to light in a place that had the water... It encased the ground like that of a solarium, keeping the things under it safe, unable to come to the surface and survive on land like some would. Elias was the kind of creature to survive on both water and land. Able to keep his nose above the surface and hide his body into the water, normally well hidden, though his colors would be something to reveal where he was if he ever was to hide in the deep blues.

The rocks that he was standing on top of were slick and wet, though it wasn't something that he would not be able to handle. He was born for conditions like this, made for it. The small creature let out a squeak before approaching the water, though not slipping into it just yet.

[AW OPEN thread!]

The black dog padded to the edge of the water, peering down. Wet nose touched the surface; tongue dipped down to lap up frigid water.

It was always so cold.

He showed no discomfort as he drank, instead drinking his fill, then shaking himself and looking around. He was travelling the caves--doing a circuit to see how everything was. When he was done, he would no doubt return to lingering in Polaris, but for now he observed the lagoon, the waterfall, with interest. It held an ethereal beauty to it, and he watched, for a time, as if entranced.

Elias, perched where he was atop the rocks, at last drew Black's eye. The hound blinked, and then paced over to be in earshot, his great head tilting.

It was, though obvious in color, small--and for a moment, he thought that perhaps it was only a very small creature. But as he studied it, he realized that he'd seen its like before, in a creature that had grown to some fifteen feet in length.

"You are very large," Black informed it, at last breaking the silence with what might have seemed like nonsense. "But for now, you are small. Are you new, Spotted Thing?"

His body language appeared entirely nonthreatening, though not overtly friendly, either--matter-of-fact and almost aloof, yet somehow, if vaguely, benevolent. It was like some grandfather coming across a child he'd never met, with fatherly instincts but the restraint of age guiding him.

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@Elias

Elias hadn't noticed the canine at first. He was too busy staring at the clear water. Wanting to touch it. Swimming wasn't a thing that he was aware he could do yet, being so small it would be a possibility that he would get caught under the waterfall's grasp and drown. The waters were pretty nonetheless. Elias wouldn't have any sense of danger for some time, not at all if he could get away with not being messed with until he was older. Being young could be such a strange thing.

Elias was only able to notice the canine when he moved closer to inspect the small Alligator. Elias could end up tattered if the canine was out to crunch on his small bones. Alas, it didn't seem to be the case, especially with the sounds that left the creature's mouth. Large? Elias was certainly smaller than anything he'd seen before. Even the rocks and plants that could be scouring every area would be larger than he for some time. Proving to be good hiding places if he were to so need. Of course, at the notion that he was small for now, Elias still didn't understand. Maybe moreso than some would, but it was still a confusing topic for his small mind to handle.

The rather large canine in front of him didn't seem to want to eat him, and Elias wasn't sure if he'd be able to get away with how big the creature was in the first place. Being called spotted, however, was something he knew. Even if he was new to this place and life entirely. His body was composed of white splashed on top of the normal coloring of his species (the normal coloring wasn't something he knew).

He could only supply a squeak in response to the question. A small gator squeak, some would find it endearing, though with how often he'd be making the sound, some could get annoyed at the small creature's sounds.

@Black

Black stepped carefully closer, never taking his calm gaze from the hatchling. Paws picked up, and put down, padding into the dampness atop the rock, tracking droplets of water along with him.

Closer, closer, and he lowered himself to his haunches: sitting, watching Elias attentively, his ears pricked.

"I know that you are a thing-that-speaks," he informed him--as if to tell the young gator that he could speak. "I have seen one like you before. Darker. But the same." The guardian hound lowered his head, and a moment later a banana simply sprang into existence. Wet, black nose pushed this toward Elias.

"It is for eating. You are a thing-that-eats-meat, and a thing-that-eats-fish. This is not fish. It is not meat. It is fruit, but it is magic," the dog explained.

It certainly looked like a new hatch, but Black's mind didn't exactly run the same paths as others', and to him, speaking to a newborn as if it were an adult, but patiently, teachingly, seemed quite normal. And anyway, he knew from experience that the newly-hatched were often hungry--and that the magical bananas were delicious even for carnivores to eat.

Why, he couldn't have said; but magic was magic, and he didn't always understand it.

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@Elias

Elias didn't understand much of the art of speaking. But, he was aware that he could talk. Was he going to? Nah. Where was the fun in that! Squeaking was far more fun and he liked the sound a lot more! He turned his body to look up at the canine stranger. He squeaked again. He was curious of the creature that the canine met that was like him. But bigger? He did remember hearing the canine say something about a bigger version of himself. Ah, how curious he was to meet that being.

When something appeared to come out of nowhere, Elias was extremely confused. Eating... It did not look like it was for eating. But maybe it was? He wriggled himself forward a little bit as the thing was pushed to him. Yellow. Not fish... Not meat.. Magic? It was magic? Ooh! He bit into whatever it was, getting even more confused at the odd texture of whatever it was.

It didn't taste bad however, so he chomped down the magic food item. Looking back up to the canine after he ate. Maybe asking questions was a good idea. "Name?"

@Black

Black peered down, his brow furrowing. Ahh, but that was a harder question than it seemed. And where some Gembound might have simplified things for a child, the dog didn't think to, not this time. "I am the black dog. I have been called Void. Or Black. You may call me what you wish. I do not know your name," he added, and it wasn't a question so much as a... statement.

He waited for the banana's sparkling to take over the hatchling, waiting for it to finish eating. But as it did, he spoke. "You are new. There are things that would eat you. Some small things grow large. Some do not," Black added, seeming to be rambling, a little, despite his studious focus. "You are a thing-that-will-grow. And then you will eat the smaller things," he assured him. And then, thinking--"The other one of you that I have seen lives half in water. It floats. It is quiet, when it is not loud."

Helpful.

With that said, the dog thumped his tail twice on the wet rock, droplets jumping. "The black dog is guardian. Does the Little Thing wish protection?" He paused, tilted his head, and asked--"Knowledge?"

Absently--as was habit, now--he tugged at the threads of the strange magic he still held. But nothing happened, and he sat quiet, toying with it the way one might idly play with string in the hand.

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@Elias

Elias was well aware that Black, he'd decided to call the canine, didn't know his name. Elias hadn't told the canine his name in the time that they talked briefly so far. Elias was new to the world... There was no way for anyone to know him. He made a little squeak noise before deciding to tell the canine his own name. "Elias. Name." He said. His words may be hard for some to understand, with how broken everything was. Though it seemed like the canine understood the question he'd asked before. Of course it was pretty obvious of what he was asking.

Things that would eat him... He was small, but he would be able to hide! He also had sharp, pointy teeth. Not as sharp as they would be in the future, but they would be able to provide limited protection over some smaller creatures that could potentially attack. ...If anyone really did decide to attack him.

"Protection?" He asked. Elias was rather confused. "Knowledge?"

@Black

Both, then, Black concluded, with a questionable leap in logic.

"Then I will protect--Elias. Which knowledge do you wish?" The fact that the child had been questioning those things seemed to be utterly lost on the hound. "There is much to know. Of Masters, and Magic. Of hunting. Of places within the caves."

These topics laid out on offer, like Elias's own personal search engine, the black dog sat waiting: silent and attentive. It seemed like some sort of menu, given to the hatchling to ask which concept--or concepts--he wanted to pursue.

Black seemed to be in no hurry, either; he simply sat, stoic and silent, his eyes on Elias. It was if he had nowhere better to be--as if he had come here purely to find the child, and offer him his aid.

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@Elias

Elias was still confused at what Black was telling him. Had he wanted protection from the other beings in the caves? Was there really a lot of creatures that would be out to hurt him? He wasn't sure. Elias wasn't that avarice for protection like a king would be for riches. Though, it didn't look like he could change the mind of the canine with what limited knowledge he had of even living right now- Elias, that is.

What did Elias even want to know? Hunters... Magic... Places in the caves? There was so many things he could ask, and he wasn't sure if he even wanted to ask. The tiny Alligator was still looking up at the large and tall canine. "Confused." Was the only thing that was said in reply. Elias wasn't sure if Black the canine would understand that... but hey. He was confused and he would voice it.

@Black

Elias was confused.

Well, then.

Others might have decided to take it slow, but Black decided that this was an indication that the entire universe needed to be explained. He had, however, at the very least, the sense to back up and begin from the start, and simply.

"You are a child. I am an adult. We are in caves. There are many who live in these caves. Many have gemstones in them. I do not," he added, unaware that his heart was a jewel. Elias, though, had an obvious shining point atop his nose, and Black pushed up from his haunches to pad closer, to nose gently at it, should the gator hatchling allow it. "And all of us have magic. We have different magic. Darkness, light; fire, water, and others. And there are different caves. They are large. Some have forests, and some water, as here. And we have different forms. And we eat different things." He paused, face wrinkled up as if deep in thought.

"...Does it understand?" he asked, and it was not clear if he was asking Elias, or asking himself, aloud.

All the while, he toyed with that magic--pulling on its frayed threads--but still, nothing happened.

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@Elias