ORIGIN

James bobbed his head as he wandered Orion again, this time much more carefully, in case of any kaiju that may be hiding. He was certainly wary now, and a bit traumatized, his ears constantly perked and anxiety making his heart pound a bit too quickly for his tastes. It felt like a river rushing every time it constricted, before relaxing, then constricting again, the cycle repeating.

He took a deep breath and let it out, trying to reassure himself that, no, there was no scary monster hiding behind those rocks, and there was no need to side-step every corner so he could see around it sooner and have an opportunity to run in the opposite direction, should anything be there. He'd already been spooked quite badly by a stone that happened to fall due to a breeze, and had taken off a good distance before stopping to see what had fallen, and berated himself quite badly for it.

Needless to say, the encounter did not help his poor self-esteem get any better. Thanks Alpha.

James yelped as a voice crowed out at him, not expecting anyone to be here. He stood off at a dead gallop and dared to look back, slowing down as he realized that he wasn't being chased by anything scary.

"... Hello," James spoke, "Um, thank you. I just got startled, a-and I tend to run away when something spooks me."

Having to explain to someone that he was a coward was a bit embarrassing, but it was really the only explanation that made sense. From what he could tell of the circling bird- he thought they were a bird, at least- they seemed peaceful. Nice, even, for telling him there was nothing there. It reassured him, definitely.

"I'm James!" he called up to the other, "Who are you?"

Maybe he was another member of the Seven, someone he could possibly befriend.

"Oh... I am. New, that is," James said softly.

He looked in the direction Ethan pointed, ears perking up before he looked back at Eythan, "Oh... Thank you... Um, I live here, in Orion. Pride brought me here."

James looked up, ears perked, "Are you part of the seven?"

He seemed alright after his scares, and calm again, though his heart was still coming down from the adrenaline surge he'd had. Aside from that, he was alright.

James immediately lit up, grinning, "Bone bound!! Like Dragon! I met them in Cetus where I hatched, they were super nice!".

He shook his head and neck out and pointed his nose off in the distance, "I don't live here... I live over there, in one of the ruins! I have a grass bed and flowers, and even a big gem piece that Pride made for me as a gift. It's really nice."

James flicked his tail and glanced up at Eythan again, head cocked.

"So... what's your name?"

Bonebound, Children of Rot... same general theme, he thought.

"What's Canis like?" James asked, ears perked up as he listened to Eythan explain everything.

Slowly, he started to pace a bit and nudged Eythan with his nose, "Can we go somewhere a bit less exposed? I ran into a monster last time I was here... I think his name was Alph... Alphie? Alpha?"

He wasn't good at names. Except his own, of course. He already felt bad about having to ask Pride's name two days after they'd met and come here to Orion because he'd totally forgotten.