ORIGIN

The star-room was easy on the eyes. Other places like the bone-room hurt to be in, Vivilene had found. She didn't like having to squint in the bright light, she preferred to walk the darker sections of the caves or move around when the lights had gone out or were dimming.

This room, though-- Orion, Azure had called it --was always dimly-lit with pretty white lights in the ceiling. Vivilene didn't really have any real desire to find out what the pretty lights were, however. It didn't occur to her that it might be something to ask Azure about.

She followed the other hybrid with a rhythmic click click click, relaxed with travelling for the first time in.... ever. It was nice to not be alone anymore, it made the caves a whole lot less frightening, she had found. Even the throbbing rat bite sunken into her hand had started to hurt a lot less, so all in all, things were looking up.

She didn't have much to say. She rarely did. But she did want to say something, even if it was just beginning with trying to answer the question that Azure had asked some time prior, before they left. She took a long breath, concentrating, and then reached out for the older hybrid.

"My name is Vivilene," she said, a distant murmur only just touching Azure's ears. For the time being Vivilene allowed herself to be proud of herself-- Azure said it was impressive magic --as she followed her through the dark room.

It was a change from being scared, at least.

Vivilene didn't quite understand why they were moving in this way-- creeping around, almost, as if hunting. Perhaps Azure was hungry but it didn't occur to her that she could simply just ask, and be done with it.

She did, at least, recognize where she was going now. She remembered passing these ruins before, before she went to the bone-room. She did begin to wonder about them-- perhaps the first time she decided to wonder about anything, in fact --but with no actual way to verbally ask Azure, she merely... pointed at the crumpled buildings in dead silence.

Helpful.

When the rock floated over towards her, she turned towards it curiously, ear flicking in Azure's direction. She gave a nod in confirmation-- though to what was unclear --and moved to take the rock into her small hands. Types of magic didn't make much sense to her but she did, decidedly, want to try a different spell. She'd seen Azure make something glow, right?

Vivilene shifted to focus for a moment, her fingers curling around the stone. She took a little breath and, with moonstone gem glowing, light flooded from her fingertips and into the rock. It was a gentle light that came from it-- white but not abrasive, capable of bleaching darker colours silver. It almost seemed translucent in her hands.

The hybrid was proud of herself, decidedly-- good magic, Azure had kept saying. She handed it to the other hybrid with the faintest of smiles, though she still didn't speak.

Vivilene wasn't exactly able to comprehend just how old the ruins were other than inferring that they were, in fact, very old. She at least made the mental note to stay away from dragons, whatever they were, and to ask her father about it later once they got home.

Her head turned towards one of the buildings. It didn't seem like anything livable to her; she couldn't imagine anything here with cool rocks and pretty lights and things. She couldn't imagine sleeping comfortably among the rubble. Burning was bad, she decided. Poor Azure.

She turned her head quietly towards her, thinking. She tried to cast again but she found, fairly suddenly, that it was tiring. Enough so that she was unsure if she could do it. The hybrid shrugged it off for a moment and made another note to ask Attikias if Azure could stay with them in Eridanus and find somewhere new to live in the jungle.

Maybe she'd like the flowers and trees and stuff there.

When Azure spoke again, Vivilene sort of blinked herself back to attention. She let the stone be taken out of her hands with another nod-- yes, she did just learn how to do that --and then dropped her arms loosely to either side of her again.

Was it okay? Yes, of course? Vivilene's nod was a little more quizzical this time, unsure why Azure thought to ask about it. People were supposed to keep gifts and do what they wanted with them, right? Perhaps it was more complicated than Vivilene really realised; but again, she wasn't going to ask.

Looking around as Vivilene continued trotting quietly after Azure, looking around. After a few beats she pointed at another building, but what she meant by this was entirely unclear-- especially since the hybrid didn't make any habits out of actually talking.

Vivilene could see exactly where this was going. She didn't want it to-- it would frustrate her, and it would frustrate Azure. She wished she could just talk but when she tried again the same noise came out of her, a croaking sort of wheeze that sounded more like choking on small bones.

She could try magic again, she supposed. The hybrid took a deep breath and held it, eyes going shut. And she held it, and she held it, for potentially much longer than anyone should reasonably hold their breath for (largely made longer, considering the only thing poor Azure was looking at was a child holding her breath) until she felt the small, familiar tingle of magic.

WHEEZE.

And then, finally, fingers of magicka laced the back of Azure's head. "No," it said, like tree branches creaking in the wind. "Who else lived here? Where did they go?"

Vivilene was breathing heavily, but at least not fearfully so this time. She looked out to the buildings for a moment, and then back to Azure. She might as well spill out every possible question while she had contact with her own magic. "You could live in the jungle with me and my dad," she added. "I have three sisters, I think, and a brother."

She did not, in fact, elaborate on what she meant by I think.

Vivilene looked around. It didn't look like anyone could reasonably live here. The desolate area made chills creep up her spine. She missed home, and the camp, and dad and her sisters and her brother. She couldn't really imagine losing your home, and not knowing where your neighbours went.

.. not that Vivilene even knew who her neighbours were, come to think of it.

When Azure spoke again her head swivelled over to the other hybrid, blinking gently. She hadn't met anyone that could be considered not a friend, unless the monster counted? Was Eridanus full of monsters? Surely not-- Azure said it was safe, and that she'd be fine.

Vivilene blinked a few more times. She summoned up her magic again-- merely to ask, "You won't come into it? Eridanus? Because people were bad?"

A few seconds passed, quiet, as the cervitaur spend the time thinking. "I know where I live," she answered idly in the meanwhile. She tried to think what she would have done if someone were a not-friend to her, and soon realised she would do what she always did when something bothered her. "I can tell my dad. My dad is really good and really brave, and he could make the bad people go away? So you can stay there?"

It was flawless logic, in her mind.