ORIGIN - Sticks and Stones

The little white dragon hatchling had found Pisces a little cold for her liking. Her sibling and she seemed to get along, and her mother was kind but damn was it cold. And anyway, being cooped up--even with plentiful food, and fish--wasn't quite her style.

She'd decided that she wanted to explore, a little, before returning back home: and that had brought her out the tunnel to Polaris, here. It was wholly different from Pisces. Warmer, for one thing, and drier; more colorful, with splashes of bright crystal lining every wall. And the whole place was suffused with magic, lending her an energy she had not expected. But then again, she didn't know what to expect, did she?

Right now, she was perched atop the crumbled wall of the golem dam, peering down at the scattered gemstones. She'd flapped clumsily up--still new to flight--and peered down; she wondered what all this shattered stone had come from. Why it was there. It was pretty, anyway; but so far, empty.

She stretched her wings and yawned, blinking blind-looking eyes as she looked around. She wished Svartis were here to see this, at least. But who knew who'd turn up?

Ghost-white eyes regarded the glittering gemstones, and--after a moment's consideration--the hatchling swept down with wings spread.

A quiet clatter of rock, shifted at her landing, announced her arrival; her ignorance of the nearby, motionless golems left her peering curiously at them before wrongly disregarding them as scenery.

Snout dipped down, gently scattering and moving the various rocks here, and the jewels of myriad shining colors. And her magic--that little touch she'd learned, that strange other-sight--cast out toward the nearest one.

The faint clinking of its pink-red glow refracted a beam of light: faint, but rich, passing over her the pale skin of her face. And she held still, for a moment, as the image swept through her.

It was faint--broken; weak. But it was a rush, movement in the half-dark, beings racing and leaping over stone, rushing past a wall, cornering hard. A light flared bright, swinging down toward them as if on a chain or rope, and then it went dim.

As it faded, she paused, puzzled. Had they been fleeing something? Chasing something? Playing, perhaps? And what had they been?

The young dragon sat lost in the past, oblivious to the soft and grinding shift as nearby golems turned to face her.

Her first stop was Polaris. Linea's Overseer- wherever he must be- should be around in..

Well. Not here, that was obvious. A certain bluewas rather different, however, and she was stuck staring at it for a brief time before continuing on her way. It was something to categorize away, not something to wonder over. No; that was not her job here.

One job, though, was to see the changes she'd missed. Golems were not lessers, but the dam they gathered around drew her interest, the broken rock and sounds of activity drawing her closer. Movement atop it drew her head up and ears forward to watch the commotion through her other senses. There was a being there- something not made of the pure magic coalescing around rock.

She blinked slowly. Who was this? What was their designation- their purpose? She bent down closer to the floor as she slinked forward, ears swiveling cautiously to the golems. She couldn't predict what they'd do, but she could get near this dragon and try and shoo them away. Were they this dragon's consorts? Perhaps they commanded them. Maybe she shouldn't get them away, then. But- she'd never even really interacted with the golems before, instead shuffling them away as things she needn't be worried about.

She went along with the idea of respect. Her quills raised as she came as close as she dared, waiting for a free moment from... Whatever were they doing. What were they looking at? A few quiet clicks of her mandible expressed her mind turning in a process of waking up after however long she slept.

@Bone

The little white dragon lifted her head, looking over the stones and gems--still oblivious to the golems. It was only when they started their grinding, crunching advance--a surprisingly fast one--in her direction that she looked up with alarm, and lifted up and away with a startled flap of her wings. This took her to the dam's wall, and she crouched there, wide-eyed as she stared down at them.

Wings flared out, fear sending her into shocked trembling, her tiny jaws snapping wide and a squeaky little shriek escaping her. With it came the coalescing of her own magic, and a small, shimmering blast of hot air--which served little but to draw the golems in closer.

Mutely she stared down at them, unaware of Linea's presence, unaware of anything bar the fear that roared through her--she was in danger, now, and she knew it. She could fly away--but would they follow her..? What if her wings failed her?

She took two careful steps back along the Golem Wall, stone shifting quietly underfoot.

@Linea