his eyes opened slowly, and for a moment, all he saw was a blurry mess. honestly, the first few moments he could barely see anything at all. he couldn't really do much but blink. naturally, he tried moving, and noticing whatever wall was surrounding him moved at the touch, he shoved his body against it, trying to... do something. break it. sure, let's go with that, he's not sure either. his breathing sped up every second he remained in there, something telling him to get OUT already. he shoved, and shoved, and shoved, until about 57 seconds later-
the walls of the chrysalis broke very suddenly, sending the poor boy tumbling violently out and down into a small patch of plants and ferns, scraping his cheek on the rocks and dirt below. he whined, shaking as he tried to move again. he tried to get up, wobbling intensely as he did so. he moved a paw to his cheek, wiping the blood off. he looked around, unsure of his surroundings, taking in the earthy scent. his breathing heavy, he sat back down, lying within the patch of ferns and he continued to survey the area. where... was he?
He wandered, eyes narrowed, trampling loudly through the undergrowth of Eridanus, his many eyes open, searching the green cave for any sign of life - any sign of her. His nose twitched and worked in overdrive, to try and catch any whiff of the fungal growth that was so familiar. He knew there'd been a hive somewhere deep in this cave and if there were any stragglers coming back to visit and maybe regroup...he would kill them.
But there was nothing - he'd visited the spot and had found nothing but a blackened pile of ash - already destroyed. He'd added his rage to the destruction with a burst of fire, but now he walked aimlessly through the cave, searching for anyone that might still be entangled in her grip. Because that was the last task he had that made sense to him. The last thing he had before...what was left, then, after that? He'd been caught in her grip for so many cycles and now he felt strangely lost. What do I do now?
The cracking of the chrysalis alerted his attention. He turned his head, snorting, and changed direction. Perhaps one of Mother's children, in hiding. Perhaps they were still infected so he could obliterate another enemy. But as he pushed through the undergrowth and laid eyes on the little thing...no, it was only a child. A single whiff told him that it was free from any mind-controlling fungus.
Huh. Now what? He didn't particularly know what to do with children. He hadn't actually seen any in such an innocent light in a very long time. He squatted next to the little canine and tilted his head, reaching forward with a paw, claws curled in so that it didn't cut the pup, and poked it gently on the shoulder. "You're new?" he rumbled. He noticed the streak of blood and snorted again. "You are bleeding. Are you hurt?"
He crawled deeper into the ferns as he heard the loud galloping, afraid of whatever creature may be sharing the area with him. the noise that erupted from the sudden burst of flame somewhere in the cave made him squeak. he looking around, turning his head away as he slowly exited the bush.
the sudden voice and tap on his shoulder made him jump, yipping in surprise, cowering as he turned to face Azrael. he nodded slowly, and his eyes diverted to his cheek, putting a paw to it again. he seemed to be lacking most if not all verbal communication skills, all he could say in response came out as a confused chirp. he stayed rather curled in on himself, but tilted his head in silent curiosity at Azrael.
Azrael frowned when it did not respond. Typical, children not learning how to speak. But that was rich coming from the guy that didn't know how to string sentences together until he was full grown. Why was he bothering to stay here? It wasn't like he was going to get anything out of hanging around with this kid that didn't know how to speak. But...then again, what else did he have to do but sit around? After all, he had nobody. Only his old family that he felt nothing but contempt for. And deep within he desired others. Friends. Allies. He wanted to hoard them like treasure. And now that he had his full range of intelligence at his side, he could start taking strides towards that goal.
The demon sat himself fully on the ground, crossing his legs and holding out two of his hands. "You are new. You must be hungry." On his palm, there was a small spark of magic before a sparkling banana suddenly appeared with a small popping sound. Taking a third limb, he began peeling the skin from the yellow fruit, revealing the soft, mushy interior and held it out for the fox to eat. "It is tasty. Try it."
he cautiously moved forward, nibbling on the banana slightly before smiling, taking a larger bite out of it, munching happily. he looked up as he ate at Azrael, his paws tapping in satisfaction and appreciation. he wasn't quite used to the area yet, but this creature seemed to mean no harm, right?
as he finished eating he looked around at the floor, clawing at it until he found a particularly shiny pebble. he then clumsily picked it up, turning back to Azrael and holding it up to him, as a small gift in return. he didn't really get the concept of gifts but it felt natural to try and give something in return, Azrael gave something of his afterall. rocks are nice gifts, right?
Azrael watched the fox as he ate, feeling a small rumbling in his own stomach. He tried to conjure something else - something that would be more fit for his ferocious appetite, but no magic came to him. Instead, he shrugged and tossed the banana peel into his mouth. Stringy, chewy, but he was no picky. He would eat anything, which was further supported by him suddenly turning around and tearing some of the leaves from the bushes next to him and chewing on them while the fox ate as well.
He quickly swallowed and paused his eating when the pup rolled a little pebble forward for him. He leaned forward and, as gently as possible, reaching forward and picked it up with his claws, careful not to scratch the pup's little paw with his talons. He held it up to his face, looking at it closely. It was not a bad gift - he was appreciative of the fair trade. A banana for a token. "Thank you. It is a very nice rock." He let it drop into a palm and closed his fist around it so that he would not lose it. "I am Azrael. Tell me your name when you know it or when you learn to say words." He took another bite from his big bunch of leaves, watching the fox carefully, in case it did anything else.
@Forgrave
He smiled as Azrael took the pebble, wagging his tail gently. he tilted his head at the name, he thought that was a very nice sounding name. he tried to think of his for a moment. nothing came up, for now, so he stayed silent, nodding in confirmation.
he sat for a second, looking around and up at the area more calmly. he let out a soft "oo..." at the sight of it all. how much more was there out there? where did Azrael come from? there was so much to look at! as he looked above he saw the massive ferns towering him, and wondered, could he climb them? what was it like to be higher up? he was afraid of going by himself, though.. Azrael was nice, but was every creature that way?
He watched silently, still munching on leaves, as the fox looked around at his surroundings. Azrael followed his gaze at the massive ferns and towering trees, wondering if he wanted to see more. There was, after all, a lot more then just this little corner of Eridanus.
Taking the initiative, Azrael stood up, dropping what remained of his leaf snack and leaned down, carefully picking up Forgraves with one arm, one against careful to keep his talons from scratching him. "I show you the cave," he rumbled. "There's lots to see." He raised the wolf to sit on his shoulder - there was plenty of room. His bicep alone was probably bigger then his whole body.
One he was settled, Azrael looked ahead - he couldn't really turn his head to see the fox - and huffed. "What do you want to see? There are many plants here. Pools of water. There are other caves, with stars, with bones, with swamp, with water and other things." Remembering that he didn't know how to talk yet, he quickly added on - "Tap me once if you want to see here, tap twice if you want to see another cave."
@Forgrave
Forgraves squeaked as he was picked up but did not protest, giggling in fact, as he was set on Azrael's back. he looked around, he was MUCH higher up now! so cool! he clung tightly to him however, he did not want to fall.
he hummed at the question, hearing of all the cool things that were out there, and more caves? how fun! he didn't know what stars or bones were yet but he wanted to see it all! he hummed, tapping once. he wanted to see everything this place had to offer first! "h-..here?" he managed to squeak out, hoping he used the word right.
Azrael hugged - whatever claws Forgrave had, if he was digging into his shoulder, he didn't react. Maybe he didn't even feel it, it was hard to tell. But he waited patiently for the taps that he'd instructed.
When it first came he gave an approving grunt and took a step forward before pausing, glancing down as best he could with surprise. "You speak?" Ah, the young pup's first word! He tried to remember what the first thing he'd said had been, but the memories of his earliest cycles were hazy at best, the simplistic nature of his mind vastly different from the creature he was now. If he was remembering correctly, then his first word had, in fact, been "food."
That was appropriate.
"I will show you here, then. There is a garden - I don't know why it is there or who made it, but it is pretty. Overgrown, but pretty." He continued forward then, taking care not to swing his top arms too much as he stomped through Eridanus, brushing through the undergrowth with his lower set of arms until they reached a break in the trees.
Before them spread what was once the garden of the Kingdom of Eridanus, set against the massive oak tree that had once been their home, although Azrael did not know who'd once owned this one. Much of the garden was overgrown by now, some of the plants dead, others consumed by weeds, many eaten through by lessers or other Great Gembound. Still, it was beautiful and Azrael paused so Forgraves could see for himself.