ORIGIN

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He'd started off by stalking to Tunnel P. And into that he'd opened his maw and bellowed.

"I AM HOSTING A LESSON," he called, at the top of his lungs--a message repeated in Canis itself. Now he waited amongst a honeycomb of boulders not far from the Tunnel's trophy-adorned mouth, highly-visible in all his vibrant violet, uh, 'glory.'

"I expect all the new brood to be here," he added toward the tunnel mouth, in what sounded like a warning tone.

Hopefully Garn-... Hemlocke! he reminded himself, and Desert Rose would herd them here. And maybe they'd want to stay and learn something, too.

Open to any and all Sentinels of the Sands members/kids who wanna join. Lemme just try and remember all these tags...

@Selenite-Gamma (Desert Rose Thirty-Five?) @Orthoclase-Alpha (Hemlocke?) @Ruby-Beta (Palefur?) @Garnet-Epsilon @Garnet-Delta

Delta did not wander out of Tunnel P often, and as a result, was very aware of whenever Vargas returned to the tunnel. In fact, it was aware of most of its kind's coming and going. It did very well to keep track of these things, and right then it was nestled up on a small ledge it had decided was its new perch.

At Vargas's call, Garnet-Delta's ears swiveled to their forward facing direction, and it pulled itself upright. Determined to be the first to answer, it spread its wings and jumped off of its ledge.

Getting use to the whole "flying" deal was taking some luck, however-- its limbs were a bit gangly and it hadn't figured out that tucking them in prevented drag, and its tail still kept trying to "right" itself every time it started to "fall", so Garnet-Delta quickly found itself dive bombing to the ground right in front of Vargas.

It threw its paws out in front of it, landing with a thud into the dirt, and promptly toppling head over heels until it landed on its back with a grunt.

... oh, Overseer Vargas. How much Garnet-Delta looked up to the Overseer. It helped, of course, that Vargas was a towering giant and there wasn't much the little aliencat could do but look up to him. Especially when it had crash landed on to it's back, looking rather horribly foolish in the process.

"Overseer Vargas!" It chirped, tail puffing out as it hastily tried to right itself and sit up straight before the others arrived. "Sorry!"

Alpha lumbered quietly towards the summons, mostly to not jostle its passenger. Its passenger who'd complained with little grunts every time it maybe had to climb over a boulder or a pile of bones. At least, somewhere along the way, the bleeding in the ruby's paw had subsided, but now both of its hands and most of the larger Vargas-child's back were covered in blood.

That and the fact that Beta was pretty much dead weight on Alpha's back with the pain and apparent effects of blood loss. Its breath was still ruffling quills, at least.

Once Vargas came into view, Alpha shouldered the ruby awake with a muffled grunt through two mangled rats. It kept up the pace though, and settled down alongside Garnet-Delta, carefully sloughing off Beta.

Dropping the rats and shuffling one back towards Beta, the orthoclase shook itself off and sat as politely as one grubby, gore-covered kaiju-child could. "Overseer." Alpha looked like it'd been run over four times over and rolled in rat guts, exclusively on its front half and back.

Hemlocke had been giving some impromptu flight lesson to one of its garnets (since the other one was apparently AWOL, climbing some rocks or causing mischief, it assumed) when the call resounded. Ruby-red eyes widened, ears at attention as it chirped up at Garnet-Epilson. Tossing its head, the odd alien chirruped, "new brood means you, Epsilon. Follow me."

It stayed on foot where it usually would've taken to air, taking up a rather brisk pace for being so flat-footed.

It dearly hoped the garnet was still behind it as it arrived, spotting three of the experiments already present. Now - Hemlocke fluttered up to a higher rock, watching the Overseer with an acknowledging bow separate from the younglings - where's the Selenite?

Gamma was, well, at the other end of Tunnel P, hoping against all hope it could find one of the dangers it'd learned about when warnings came around not to wander too far in either direction.

Nothing ever seemed to come for it. Disappointing. But, it heard the call when it was put out, its head twisting around to the depths of the tunnel it called its home.

Its head rose with its feet, first starting slowly until it began to charge forward. It couldn't bring back something to make the adults impressed with it, but it could attend a lesson and try to show off there. As long as it didn't become another example of slapstick comedy.

It slowed when the three hulking beasts came into view, its Overseer towering high above them all. Except, one wasn't entirely hulking, then. Mustering up air that it huffed out in its run, Gamma slinked closer and tested the air with parsed lips.

It looked to the others, looking at the scene before turning back to its half-sibling, sharp teeth showing when it asked a "Wuh happen?"

You see, despite the ambition it may have held from its father, it didn't inherit his speaking prowess. Not yet. Its own words were still awkward, akin to a toddler rather than what its siblings had begun to speak. It'd been getting better as it spoke to the others, but it wasn't fast enough.

At least its mind was as quick as its legs. Even if it couldn't speak well, it certainly knew it had to impress its Overseer and the adults. It hadn't seen an issue with how it spoke- only saw the need to rise to the best of its siblings here and now.

And so, it stared up with wide green eyes at Beta, nose twitching in concern.

Beta had eventually passed out on the way to the Overseer, the amount of blood lost having finally knocked it unconscious, but apparently holding it in its mouth, despite the pain, had been the right move, as the blood flow had gone down...just a little bit.

When Alpha shook it awake, though, it opened its eyes blearily, barely awake as it moved mechanically, sliding off of its larger sibling's back and collapsing to the ground, jaws still clamped down hard on its paw. It struggled to get to its feet - the Overseer was here, after all, and it would be rude to just pass out on the ground in front of him. It managed to get on three of its limbs, but it trembled with the effort.

Still, it managed a small bow that almost knocked it over with how unsteady it was. "Ober-eer," it mumbled through the paw still in its mouth. "'lease excuse my aheearance."

Garnet - Epsilon

They'd been trying their best to learn from it's parent- now knowing the word thanks to close listening, if nothing else- and felt confident that they'd made some decent progress, given that they were in the air.... and rolled their eyes at the second call from Hemlocke. Yeah, no shit. Hard not to figure that.

Deciding to try and glide into the adjoining room, they tilt their wings and hold speed above Hemlocke, finding a boulder to attempt to land on. They skitter slightly on the landing due to their speed but otherwise, land solidly, turning their head from their perch to keep an eye on the room. The sharp smell of blood, and the battered appearance of their larger sibling makes its stripe of mane rise, sharply analyzing the situation and, deciding that no-one was in any imminent danger, focused on more important things.

Perking their ears, they turn to Overseer Vargas, flap their wings to clean them and bow, tucking one foot in and extending the other while their wings tilt and frill.

If they're acknowledged, they sit up and focus intently on the purple alien beasty, a bit more fuzz than than the week before now present on their chest as they puff it out.

He watched them arrive, one by one, their various behaviors and quirks not escaping his notice. Already he was assessing them, everything about them. Garnet-Delta was not... off to a great start. He stared down at it; at least it had the respect and common sense to both acknowledge him and apologize! He grunted at it. "Work on that," he said simply.

Orthoclase-Alpha arrived with Ruby-Beta on its back. His two creations. He'd have been watching them proudly except it seemed that one was already... crippled? Dying? He stared at the scent of blood and the limp, dizzy-looking Beta, with its paw shoved into its mouth, muffling its words. Beta's words were correct, though, and Orthoclase-Alpha's close enough. Respect. That was the thing. Vargas grunted again, six eyes flicking to the foot, and tentatively reached out his magic. It was strong, but he was no Master; his skill was in brutal combat and not in shaping magic's form. He was hoping to stop the blood flow, but nothing happened; magic flared out and dispersed, shapeless. "Yes, good. What happened? Are you going to die?" he demanded, peering at them.

Hemlocke bowed, and Vargas offered the briefest of nods back. Selenite-Gamma stuttered something and he stared at it. A question, about Beta, he thought. So it could barely speak, and it had failed even to greet him-? "ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR OVERSEER," he boomed toward it, like a bellowing drill sergeant.

Garnet-Epsilon earned perhaps the most 'points' of all. It had clearly been practicing its flight (unlike some) and landed relatively neatly. Its observational skills and deductive abilities were clearly strong; it took rapid note of the situation, judged it not immediately dangerous to it, and then provided the requisite, respectful bow. Vargas inclined his head to this one, and this one alone. "Good," he rumbled, pleased.

"You are all young, yet," he began, getting right to the point. "When you are grown, you will be tested. The weak among you may be culled, by circumstance or by me; the strong, the clever, the quick will survive, and flourish, as your creators have." He eyed them over, and continued, head lifting a little.

So this was the new generation, hm? He'd have to see where they went. And as brutal as he was, he intended to give them the best possible start. Training. Learning. A fighting chance. "I am here not only to judge you when you are grown, but to teach you how not to die! One of the first lessons you must learn is about hunting, and how to do it. How to stay hidden. How to mislead your prey. And THEREFORE, how to avoid traps like this!" Vargas stood, pacing a little to one side, staring at the children. "Tell me, how many of you know how to hunt? Can you show me what to do?"

@Garnet-Delta

"Work on that," the words caused the small gemling's white-tipped ears to prick. Yes. It would work on it. It's ruby eyes gleamed as it stared up at Overseer Vargas, giving a short nod of obedient acknowledgement, ears twisting to listen to the approach of Alpha and the remainder.

As Overseer Vargas began to address the others, Garnet-Delta glanced toward the others, nose wrinkling at the strong odor of blood in the air. It was surprised to see the state of Beta most of all, though it only showed it's concern by narrowing its eyes further. Blood did not belong outside of the Sentinels, it belonged inside. This was enough to cause a quiet drum of concern inside it for its compatriots, as it dug its claws into the dirt under foot.

Epsilon received outright praise, as opposed to all of the others, Garnet-Delta included, and there was a small twitch of disappointment in the child's tail. It stubbornly avoided looking toward its gem-mate and instead continued to focus on the concerning amount of blood on the outside of Beta.

It felt like if it could simply focus enough, it could do something; its heart beat like a drum in its thin, long ears like a rhythm it could hone in on. Yet, all it got for its effort was almost missing what the Overseer was saying. And, maybe, raising its own blood pressure. It was fine. With a wince as the Overseer raised his voice, the small black masked gembound turned its eyes up toward its elder, opening its mouth and clicking its tongue off of its sharp teeth.

"Overseer," the little one mewled, lowering its head with deference. "I do." With a swish of its tail, it rose up to its feet, and then flattened itself so its weight was balanced across its paws, spreading its wings low and parallel to the earth. I can prove it. "Have to find the prey before it finds you, and striking before it knows what's happening." Its tail continued to lash behind it with impatience despite its serious posturing, somewhat ruining the effect entirely. "Or..." It glanced toward Alpha, eyelid spasming as it caught a glimpse of Beta again. "Have a good distraction."

... didn't the Overseer say something about a trap? Belatedly, the Garnet-Delta was starting to feel like maybe it was going to be used as a guinea pig. Why did Beta look so messed up?

@Orthoclase-Alpha

Grubby and infantile as it was, Alpha could manage to be a very attentive and observant child. Sometimes, yes, it instigated fights and participated in a healthy bit of bullying as far as its hatchmates went, but that just came with having a lot of extra weight to throw around, okay? So, when Epsilon received a tilt of the head and commendation from Vargas, the hybrid monstrosity noticed.

It responded by reaching with a lanky, armored arm to give the garnet a hearty pat on the head. The feeling was more like a brief, but gentle squish. Alpha was getting a little more precise with its movements.

The Overseer had questions about Beta's injury, and while Alpha couldn't speak for its status of dying or not dying, it could provide a story with strangely perfect clarity for such a youngling: "Overseer Vargas, I was hunting and smashed rat. Ruby-Beta watched and tried to. Rat attacked back." Acidic eyes regarded the paw a bit worriedly. "Blood never stop," it rumbled in a tone that implied "jeez, how come you can't keep your blood inside of you?"

Little did Alpha know, it'd lose its blood at a much quicker rate, if it got cut so badly.

It sat at attention as the Overseer began to speak, though, head raised high and posture as straight as can be when one has two entire torsos. He talked about tests, survival - and Alpha had a foolish hope and thought that all five of them would endure, carry on as they did now. They would be a perfect bunch and live through whatever trials were thrown their way... right?

Alpha would not cope with death well.

Waiting its turn, for Delta to finish with its hunting crouch, the orthoclase strummed against its magic flow. The feeling was feeble, and it hadn't practiced much, but it found that it could take to the shadows like a thief in the night. While the vast percent of its hunting strategy relied on outrunning its prey, it wouldn't help to work on ambushing a little better. The glowy bits made it hard, but this magic could help with those matters and impress the Overseer.

"Hide and strike like Delta - but strong strike. I smash rat!" It rumbled, and seemed to disappear into the harsh shadow of some rock. Dropping as low as it could (ass in the air and tail swinging) the hybrid child prowled towards an unfortunate victim: Selenite-Gamma. With a grunt, it lurched fowards and clamped both sets of claws around the poor drake like a cage. Alpha relinquished its hold immediately, plopping down so it loomed over Gamma and rumbled proudly, "like that! But with more smash."

(skip hemlocke because it's just sittin there lol)
@Selenite-Gamma

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Vargas

Cain

Orthoclase-Alpha

Hemlocke

Wolfsbane

Scion

Garnet-Epsilon

Vargas

Cain

Orthoclase-Alpha