ORIGIN

V-Chaos-Two had been practicing their growing magic, eyes half-lidded as they stared at the baubled item in their hand, glowing gently in the gloom of Draco. They yawned and rubbed their eyes, a bit tired. They stretched and prepared to flop down in their nest to nap, before a shout startled them from their day-dreaming.

They smoothed down his quills and grabbed their staff from nearby, turning towards the little trinket they'd brought from Ursa. They closed it and hid it away, afraid a sibling or Vargas might break it. They stood up with a pained grunt and took a moment to balance before limping off towards Vargas, leaning on their staff. It seemed like they were getting worse every passing day.

"Greetings, Master Vargas," they said, resisting the urge to rub their eyes again, "Is there something you need of me?"

Was Vedette back? Or Sentinel? Perhaps Vargas had another task for them, or more training to do.

They shook themselves out of their thoughts and looked up in the general direction of the Leviathan's head, standing as tall as they could without causing too much pain.

"Ah-" Right. This would be no casual conversation, they guessed. "I believe I've advanced in my magic. It comes easier now and I don't fail as often. The trip to Leo with Overseer Alpha-"

They weren't aware that the Overseer was taking a break, as they'd maintained a respectful distance the moment Vargas even suggested privacy.

"-And the Sentinel went well, and though I haven't yet learned the process of enchanting myself, I believe I'm very close to doing so. Oh, and the garden that Kethri and Doctor are making is on it's way, and the earth has been freshly tilled and ready for plants to be either moved to that soil or seeds planted.", Chaos-Two was rambling a bit, but at least they weren't going off topic.

"The Sentinel has moved on from my own training," he said, "Though I can continue to do my best to train him with his weapon, anything else is beyond my own physical capabilities."

Vedette was a mystery. Right now, he didn't know where she'd gone.

V-Chaos-Two looked down all of a sudden, "... The Overseer, they've been distant. Yes, I've been training, and they taught me to use a new sense to be able to detect life, to further use my other senses to get around, but... aside from that, they tend to give me a task and then tell me to do it. I suppose I've been learning a little. Is... Are they well?"

They looked up at Vargas, though slightly to the left of his actual gaze, unable to exactly pinpoint where his eyes were.

"But the training with Garnet-Delta has been um... limited," he mumbled, a tiny bit ashamed, "As hard as I try, it seems that stealth isn't possible- or is just extremely difficult with my legs as they are. But I have developed a bit of a technique of laying in wait before pouncing on prey and such."

They'd been able to take down deer using the technique, by throwing rocks and waiting for them to come close enough that they could grab a leg or a neck and break it. It was a lot like how cats hunted, laying in wait before going in for an easy kill. Being taught by Delta, it was clearly their influence.

But otherwise, stealth was difficult. Either they weren't quick enough to be detected or they ended up in a mishap like a trip or a stumble that instantly had Delta alerted to his presence. Perhaps they just weren't meant for such a thing.

V-Chaos-Two looked up at Vargas, head cocked and brows slightly furrowed, "But... a proposition?"

Like a name? Had they truly done enough to deserve that?

They were about to say something about 'doing is learning', but then they understood. As long as what Garnet-Delta taught actually sank in, then they didn't need to succeed in order to pass the knowledge on.

"Apologies, I misunderstood," they said, picking at the ground, "It seems I have, but I confused learning with success, thinking that if I actually was able to do it myself then that's what you wanted. But if I can at least pass it on to others- sorry."

Rambling again, they had to break that habit-

Wait. What?

Their head shot up and they stared at Vargas, mind whirling, "You can... do that? I thought it only worked on unborn creations."

V-Chaos-Two needed a moment to think. Their disability had molded most of their character. Their determination to succeed despite their flaws, despite they themselves accepting that they'd never match up to anyone else. They still pushed to be good enough that Vargas was satisfied.

But now they wouldn't have to. They could do the things they couldn't before. They could run, jump, fight, play. They could see the colors Khavur told them about.

"... Alright," they said, only the slightest bit hesitant that they'd lose a bit of themselves in the process, "Could I have... hm. Could I have time to myself to get used to things? I don't think it'll take much time at all to figure out my legs, but I'm concerned about sight. I've lived my whole live without it, and I don't think it'll be an easy change. I'll have to learn to identify a lot of things others learned right out of their chrysali."

Having legs with no pain would be easy compared to what they'd have to learn about sight and colors. To identify plants and animals, to see weakness in prey that they simply heard by listening to footsteps to tell if they were uneven or not. Hopefully Vargas agreed.

God damn it. Of course they'd gone off rambling like an idiot again, not answering questions and just saying stupid things. That was Twobutt for you.

They hated how a child had sowed such seeds of doubt and self-hate into them.

"... Sorry," they said, breath hitching, thinking about Vedette and how her failures gained beatings, "I-I..."

They didn't want to end up like Alpha, deteriorating from the inside out. They also didn't want to end up like Vargas, either.

"... Yes," they said, "I meant I misunderstood your orders. I've learned the basics, yes, but executing them has been my issue and I think I misinterpreted that I had to be able to do such things flawlessly, like Garnet-Delta demonstrated. But I'm only supposed to teach such things, as I'm not going to be sent out to do missions any time soon."

So he had succeeded in learning the basics, he just couldn't really perform them well.

"I've learned how to stalk," he said, "How to stalk prey- well, targets, and how to hide both in plain sight and to use my surroundings to hide too. I can also fashion weapons quickly, like a spike out of a branch by stripping the end into a sharp point with my teeth."

Chaos-Two's teeth, despite cutting him frequently, were sharp and useful otherwise.