ORIGIN

Asimona stood a little slower and stepped up after her, diving off the edge with a little more grace. She gasped for a moment when the dragon seemed to fall, ready to dive down and catch her, but she righted herself before Asimona needed to react. She sighed with relief and followed her to Svartis's cave, only needing to glide freely to follow her.

She landed smoothly and pulled in her wings, and ducked in after her, sitting down as Carja began to dig through her pile. She reached forward and carefully took the stone, holding it up to her eye to admire it. "Wow, it's quite beautiful! This is a very good find." She handed it back, then, unless Carja had already bounced off, in which case she'd set it down next to her, looking up for the next presentation.

She carefully took the fish scale next, admiring its beauty. She'd never really bothered to think about how beautiful fish scales were, only just scarfing them down. But perhaps she just hadn't caught the right fish with the right kinds of scale. "Wow, this was also really beautiful. I wish I could have seen the fish it came from!" She handed it back to Carja before leaning forward to admire the rock.

She carefully took half to look at it closely. "Oh wow, this is a geode! I don't think I've ever seen one before, but I've heard they're beautiful. This is a really rare find, well done, Carja!" She smiled wide, taking a moment longer to admire the geode before handing it back to her. "Those are all really beautiful finds!"

She rumbled with amusement as Carja tried to tell her tale. "Wow, that sounds very scary! You must have been very brave to face something like that. I don't think I was that brave when I was your age." Speaking the truth, she doubted that she was. She probably would have run or begged for Father's help to give her strength, despite all he did to hurt her.

She watched, curiously, as Carja did something with the dried vine and the geode. She'd assumed that Carja would just give her half to but in her collection, but she didn't expect the little dragon to hand her a crudely made but quite wearable necklace. She blinked with surprise as it was handed to her and she stared at it for a moment. She'd...she'd never been given a gift like this before. Dread had given her 'shinies' from his pile before, but usually for ice sculptures that she made for him or just as a token of friendship, but she hadn't been given something...personal like this. It was warming and adorable and she quite happily slipped it on her horn, letting it rest snugly at the base. It felt a little weird, but she was sure she'd get used to it. "Thank you, Carja," she rumbled, warmly. "That's a very wonderful gift - I'll treasure it!"

She had a sudden idea, remembering a small, and very special, pile of treasures at her den, that she'd actually moved here, to Monoceros, unwilling to leave it back at her den in Pisces. "Actually, I have something for you too. Would you like to see it?"

She climbed back to her feet, smiling at the affectionate huge that Carja gave her. The little dragon was so sweet and innocent...she hoped that things stayed like that, that she didn't ever damage her spirit.

Asimona followed a little more slowly, but once she was out of Svartis's den, she opened her massive wings and jumped into the air, soaring not far away to a den a little higher on the wall of Monoceros. A small ledge outside offered her a place to land and she stepped inside - this was her own cave. Freezing cold inside, the walls covered with ice, but she barely noticed, forgetting that Carja may not be so comfortable.

She had her own little hoard pile that she began to dig through until she brought from within two necklaces. They were delicate and beautiful, made of silver and studded with crystals. She offered one to Carja. "I got these a long time ago, from a creature called Naskital that gave us all gifts for helping to repair his sled. I meant to give them to my children...but they never came home." There was a tinge of distant sadness in her voice for a moment, but she still smiled. It was an old pain that still hurt, but one that she had moved beyond and healed from.

She smiled at Carja's interest in the jewelry and slipped her own over her other horn, fitting it snuggly at the base, just as the geode necklace had on the other side. Now, at least, it was more balanced. The interest in her children caught her a little off-guard, but she decided that it wouldn't hurt to talk about them. Well, maybe it would - she never had, not with anyone, but now was as good a time as any, with a young dragon she was beginning to trust and saw as a part of her family - her new family.

"Well, yes, and no. They were like Svartis because they were all a bit like me, but none of us knew their stone givers - they all came from gemstones I found in Pisces. I gave them life and waited for them to hatch. There was...Abeni, she was smaller then me and didn't look much like a dragon, really. Four legs, black and white fur, a very strange little creature, but she was sweet. A lot like you, actually - very curious and enthusiastic. And there was Jotun - he was a bear with white hide and scales, a lot like me. He was very quiet and stoic, very protective of his family. He hatched very late, I was so worried about him for a long time. And then, there was Wyvern. She was kind of like Svartis in shape, using her wings as arms, but she was covered in beautiful white and blue feathers. She was my pride and joy, she stuck around the longest...but I was a little too protective of her. I spoiled her too much and when she eventually left me in a fit of anger, I never saw her again." She sighed a little sadly. "But I'm sure they're all still out there, living their lives. Happy. I just hope I was a good enough mother to them."

She sat there quietly for a moment before blinking out of the memory and looking down at Carja again, smiling warmly. "It's okay. I love them still, and even if I don't see them anymore, I still have them in my heart. And I have this family now, that I will love and protect with my life."