ORIGIN - for what it's worth

feel free to use this thread as an attempt to get the blood of the savage for the three kings!
try any method you want: talking, trading, outright attacking, et cetera... see what works!
or just thread with alpha Just Because

just... if your character attacks or plans to, please respond quickly aaa
i don't want to be threadlocked for another two weeks sdfkasdklfg
Ducking beneath the door's threshold, Alpha strode into the Forum - an arena fraught with broken stones and old stands. Toxic green eyes ranged over the place, quills pricking lazily. No dragons. It paced along the broad circle of the floor and snuffled passively at the dirt.

There'd been rumors of a sort of... Olympics coming soon. It'd found out that they were a series of competitions (friendly, ugh) to demonstrate physical prowess, agility, magical skill... perhaps the perfect method of gathering information on the strong Gembound that might be necessary for combating the Ursa guardian.

Its Master had said something about this being a fighting pit, when half of the caves assembled. It seemed fitting that the combat displays should happen here, then. Besides, this was a broad space to work with. The orthoclase sneezed softly, having sniffed too hard, and continued on its way with the strange perimeter check.

She was a little stiff, stretching every time she woke up as if there was a particular crick in her neck that just would not come loose. And who did she blame it on? That no-good, useless, green eyed, really tall and cool looking but super scary coward! Everyone else had at least tried to help when she was being literally torn to shreds but nope, not him, let's just hide behind a rock until all the bad guys go away, what a meanie.

She had stuck around Orion since that day, though had mostly kept her eyes up so those things could not get the better of her again (it helped that there was no guy-who-throws-rocks-at-the-ceiling around). "Hey! Hey!" She could see him, down in an area that seemed to be surrounded by more rock and a little bit more rock, and there was no mistaking who he was. Her little blood boiled at the sight of him. Why did he have to be the one she saw, why did he stick around? Where is my reward? "I am potent and you have something I want!" She had run towards him, as fast as her clumsy growing legs would allow her, watching as he made this strange noise with his mouth and blowing out too much air. Was that really necessary? With a careful thought to get out all of her lessons at once she had to sort through all the mess of paper in her mind. "Please!" One must always say please when they want something. "We can make a deal." But hold it there Akaari, don't let him know what you want, that's a secret. At the mention of a deal, thoug,h a wisp, bright green because apparently her mind was obsessed with that, settled in behind her head and between her shoulders, an eerie light just hovering there in the shape of a perfect sphere.

There was one good thing to come out of this, though, (well two if he would just not be selfish for one moment and let her take a bit of his blood) and that was: she really, really wanted to ride on his back and maybe this would be her chance. "We didn't finish our task!" Because that is what's important here when you're stood in front of a real, actual monster alien. She had come to be a few (quite a few) feet away from him just in case he decided to hit out, but at the same time he seemed to be quite harmless and fearful last time because she had to take charge, so who knows. She still didn't like those eyes though, but you couldn't judge someone on their eyes. ~~She was also eyeing up his leg to see how easy it would be to climb but she had to be hush hush about that.~~

@Orthoclase-Alpha
She likely won't attack (at least not anything that would try to kill him), just a lot of bartering (read: begging)

As Alpha paced, it would find nestled into the edge of the forum, a half buried in rubble (fresh rubble, from when a certain dragon scorched half of Orion and the rest of the caves) a dark red gemstone with dozens of jagged edges of a impressive size. The sharp angles made it hard to make out anything more than a dark shape, but the heat the stone gave off was more than impressive. The egg seemed long dormant, dust collected on its sharp edges, but the heat insisted that what lay inside was more than alive.

Nemesis slept here. She was starting to come to, now. Her mind a thick haze, uncertain of who or what she was-- half between dream and reality.

She could hear now, distant and muffled beyond the stone, a shrill, young voice making demands. For just a moment, the beast stirred. Heavy bones shifted, crystals chinking and cracking under the pressure. Through those cracks, a deep exhale rattled. A burst of heat steamed through the fresh splinters, rolling over Alpha. She wasn't fully aware of herself just yet, but she was awake.

Alpha didn't look up at the initial "hey! hey!" Too many Gembound greeted one another in such a superficial way, or used it to get one's attention. Sure, the voice had seemed familiar, but the orthoclase had a poor habit of not remembering the more mundane denizens of the Caves after the first encounter. It kept sniffing about - and got distracted only as the cub rushed right up to it. Blazing-green eyes stared down, narrowed in a slight squint and... potent? It blinked.

She went on, and the gears started turning. Oh, it blinked again, the birds and their Hunt. Six feet shuffled slightly, and it was turning away from the chrysalis(?) it'd happened upon. Facing Akaari, the kaiju grunted in annoyance, "you're saying that like it's my fault." It growled lowly, "if you'd been quiet or ran, you would have been fine." But no, rocks had to be thrown at the ceiling. Nothing could be patient, and nothing could listen. Alpha was getting pissed just thinking about it. It was supposed to be fighting alongside them soon, and the standard since Cetus had dropped dramatically (or had it's own standards just amped up so much since being an actual child?)

It didn't seem too pissed at Akaari, at least. Dumb kids and all that. But, maybe she'd seen something since whenever-she-woke-up. Alpha glared down and asked as much, "have you found anything to hunt?" By itself, of course. No child supervision needed.

Cr - cr - crack! Mane puffing in slight alarm, Alpha got out from between Akaari and the wulfenite, keeping either in its sights. The blast of heat was setting off warnings in its head, and it preemptively gnashed its teeth, salivating slightly in case of a need for venom. It was a massive chrysalis. If there was a dragon in there, it'd head for the hills.

@Akaari

Oh, she was so confident in herself, she could feel her chest puff out with the brilliant pounding of her heart and could relish in the growing muscles in her form. Yet, as soon as those toxic eyes landed upon her, narrow and perhaps scolding, she couldn't help but feel her pulse jump or her legs shake. She wondered where they came from, where he came from (did he remember the city?), and what thoughts swirled beyond those eyes, probably: I wonder how many naps I can fit in today. An important question.

Quiet and ran? Who does he think he is giving orders? "One, I don't do quiet, that's so boring!" Though, at those words, her head suddenly swam with a hundred rustling wings bearing down on her, the air being sucked away, the clashing of claws and nattering of teeth. "Two, I did run! ...in a circle." But the technicalities were not important. It was still his fault that she got hurt, that she couldn't stretch too long and her skin felt as if it was dried leather ready to shatter at any moment.

Oh, a question! The anger of their last encounter faded slightly when he proposed a question. Ya gotta do better than almost get me killed to get rid of me. Her mind was constantly all over the place, one moment seething and blood boiling, ready to throw down a glove and demand a duel, the next all smiles and tapping feet: eager, alert, and excited. "Not to hunt, but I have an idea! We both want whatever those king, paladin, leader guys will give us -" I mean, she didn't actually know that he wanted the reward but who wouldn't? "I have a plan." Draw him in, you're doing great sweetie!

Then the monster/coward guy was jumping back and heat was against her skin. Caves, she hated this heat, stifling, suffocating. A sound was breaking through the rubble, cracking and creaking, something ready to show itself and an adit being formed. Oh, she hadn't seen anyone hatch before, other than herself! "Hello~" A shout into the dark, again what was the use of quiet, eyes trying to search for what was going on. A new ally? Someone to join her little club? "Do you want in on the plan?" Was something even there?

Sorry for my absence!
@Nemesis

The fiery stone shell that adumbrated the bulky cow continued to crack and splinter. The chrysalis began to shatter, entire chunks sloughing off as the mutated rhinoceros pushed away stone with a swing of her head.

One flat foot reached forward and found purchase on Orion's earth, head swinging back the other way and tossing an entire chunk of stone away. This was no dragon: no wings to speak of, body built sturdy like Orthoclase, with a massive frill and an assortment of horns on her face to protect her most vulnerable spots. Huffing and puffing, Nemesis stepped free of the cocoon, dark eyes finally focusing on the strangers. Amniotic fluid dripped off of her in thick, mucus sheets, sizzling against the heat of her body as her sides heaved.

Where... was she? Who were these...

The first was massive, big enough to intimidate her, with an array of quills that told her to piss off and stay far away... The other... A little cat. Her first instinct was to chase them away from her home, but this wasn't her home. She blinked slowly, lowering her head as her ears swiveled with each word.

"... Plan?" She asked with a worn, rasping voice that had not been used in cycles. "Well, aren't you a brave little thing." Or stupid. At least it wasn't a lion-- too fluffy for that. "... What, exactly, are you going on about?" She had a million more questions... How long she had been asleep, for one. Where was she? Was this Orion? It smelled different from how she remembered.

Okay, that question warranted asking. "... And while we're at it, who the hell are you two?"

@Orthoclase-Alpha

Alpha just grunted in response, "you ran like a useless idiot." It didn't see the importance in acknowledging the others that had run in to protect her; that was all their own faults, not hers. Nostrils flared. Maybe a bit of her own fault, in an indirect sort of way. "The others, too," it added abruptly - sharply. Let that news move down the grapevine. They were all fools, even the one that did manage to get away again. James. The kaiju licked at its chops in agitation and paced a foot or so to the right.

Its claws clutched at the dirt with every step, radioactive spotlights all fixed on the cub. "We both want..." Bold of her to assume. "... I have a plan." If the monster were any more dramatic, it would've put a low, derisive laugh before "do you?" Alpha somewhat knew it was being baited, but the tap-dancing cub wouldn't let the conversation proceed if it didn't take the hook.

Put a pin in it for a second, though - enter Nemesis. A massive, admirable beast that Alpha immediately wanted to fight (because that was the monstrous hybrid's way of swooning, one supposes...) A frill to protect the neck, heavy plating all over, massive feet, horns. Everything that was sweet about a dragon without the advantage of flight. She was almost like itself, but missing the carnivorous predator bits and a third pair of limbs.

The orthoclase'd wait until she was properly awake to ask for a spar, but the wary enthusiasm was palpable. Finally, someone to respect. Unlike someone - the kaiju took a hunkered step forwards, pointedly shifting in front of Akaari, and introduced itself: "Orthoclase-Alpha. What is your designation?"

Designation, in lieu of name, because surely something this mighty wouldn't have one. Unless she were a champion like Athelia had been - Alpha grunted, "were you a Champion?"

@Akaari