ORIGIN - crab crab food scared crab frightened

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Vanyel had two kinds of movement. Upright, which included toddling and running (which ended in falling eventually), and all-fours. On all fours he could gallop, run, jump, and play just fine, but it hurt his back after a while and he had to rest to get it to stop.

But at the moment, he was much more occupied with something else...

”Azzy!”, he cried to his sibling, ”Come look!!”

He stared at the beetle, his mismatched eyes big and wide with awe, ”Look... it's pink!”

He picked up the beetle and turned it over, gaping at it. All the other beetles were green or black, not vibrant pink. It was amazing!!

”This is the coolest bug in the whole cave!”, he squawked, wings flapping with excitement, ”I bet you can't find a cooler one!!”

@Ascent

The dragon followed their brother, watching each of his movements. How different their bodies were, even though they had been hatched from the same nest...! It was all fascinating. Meanwhile, their side-eyes watched their surroundings with intense focus. Eridanus was so full of life, they thought they could spend eternity here and never be able to truly take it all in.

"...Pink," they echoed, drifting over to fix their gaze on Vanyel's beetle. They had never seen a pink beetle. "The beetle is different. Cool." Ascent tilted their head at their brother's challenge. "What is cooler than pink?"

They cast their gaze around them. There was certainly no shortage of insect life here, but which should they pick? If colorful was the measure of coolness they were going by, then the flittering fairyflies certainly fit the bill. "They land on flowers," Ascent said, gesturing to a nearby fairyfly with bluish spots on its wings. "And they have colors. But all bugs like it have many colors, so it is not..." they searched for the word, "special."

@Vanyel

Vanyel looked over at the fairyflies and squinted, ”Hm... I guess you're right. But rainbow is cooler than all the colors, mostly because it is all the colors.”

He grinned and put his hands on his hips, ”Let's find a rainbow bug! We can go and show it to mama and Talys when we find it- it'll be so cool!”

He tromped off through the bushes, his thick skin and scales protecting him from sharp thorns and sticks, and from the bugs that tried to bite.

”Bugs, bugs, rainbow bugs,” he sang, ”Pink and yellow and blue and green, all to be seen on the rainbow bugs!”

He grabbed a stick and held it aloft like a sword, hopping onto a log and pointing off into the distance, ”Yah! We shall find this rainbow bug and do our mother proud!!”

@Ascent

As the pattern had been lately, Vanyel led and Ascent followed, drifting a few inches off the ground while their wings flapped at a leisurely pace. "Find the rainbow bug," they repeated, and one who knew them well would find enthusiasm in their voice. "The rainbows have all the colors."

Their eyes searched in every direction as they paused to pull out some twigs that had snagged in their feathers. "The rainbow bugs eat the flowers," Ascent declared; they hadn't quite figured out the concept of nectar yet. "I go to look for flowers! —You make much sound. Will you scare them?" For as much as they wanted to go along with their brother—he always found many interesting things to do—they did not want to frighten the little creatures they looked for.

@Vanyel

”Of course I won't scare them,” he said, ”I'll be as quiet as a mouse.”

He snuck off, dropping to all fours and disappearing into the brush with a giggle, his finned tail disappearing with him.

Vanyel crept through the brush, searching up and down for this rainbow bug. It couldn't be too hard to find. It took a few minutes but he'd managed to find one, much to his surprise.

”Azzy! Found it!”, he crowed, gasping as the thing flew away.

He ran after it, trying to catch it.

@Ascent

Ascent stared after their brother for a beat, then followed dutifully. Vanyel had indeed managed to find a rainbow bug, and their mouth curved into a smile. Happiness was contagious, they found, and their brother's joy became their own.

"The rainbow bug flies away," they noted, then lunged after it with perhaps surprising speed. The dragon felt the impact of branches and fern fronds on its wings, but did not look back until they had the rainbow bug clasped gently in their front feet. It had not been painful, in any case; they had not hit themselves that hard.

Then they felt a sharp flash of pain on the sensitive palm of their right hand, and opened their hands with a surprised hiss. Now that had hurt, and it was already beginning to feel warm as the blood vessels in the area widened in inflammation.

"Ow," Ascent said blankly, staring at their palms and watching the bumblebug fly away with one pair of eyes. They turned to their brother, and only then did they realize: they had left a broken frond and several flattened ferns in their wake.

Did that hurt, as my hand hurts? they wondered, hanging their head. "Sorry."

@Vanyel

Vanyel ran after Ascent and came into view, blinking as the bug flew away. He frowned and pouted for a moment, stepping forward towards his sibling.

”Why did you let it go?”, he asked, before looking down at their swollen hand and gasping, ”Oh hell- it stung you!”

He leapt forward and took her hand, ears pinning, ”Oh no... I'm so sorry I should have remembered they did that!”

He looked around and grabbed a leaf, wrapping it around her paw and tucking it in, ”I'm so sorry Azzy...”

He looked upset, shoulders hunched and tears welling up, his ears down as he flicked his tail and rubbed his hands together. He stood up and backed away, sniffling.

”We gotta get you to mom,” he said, ”Unless you're okay?”

Was Ascent dying? Maybe!!

@Ascent

Ascent did not understand why their brother was apologizing. It was they who had made the mistake, after all, and they who had gotten themselves hurt. Dimly, they realized that tears were rising in their eyes, and they tried to blink them away. It was a sight to be seen, blue eyes opening and closing all down their body. They had many eyes, and they did not want their vision all blurry and wet.

They looked down at their palm and at their brother, who was also beginning to cry. Was I'm so sorry what you said to people when they cried, to help them feel better? That made sense. "I'm sorry," Ascent said, moving toward Vanyel with a combination of flapping and awkward steps.

Their palm hurt when Vanyel touched it, and Ascent drew in a soft breath despite themselves. But seeing them hurt made their brother upset, and Ascent didn't like it when their brother was upset, so they tried to talk to distract from it. "I'm okay. You're okay. We're okay." Their soft, feathered tail flicked up, brushing Vanyel's face in a clumsy attempt to wipe away tears.

"But I like mom," they continued, flopping onto their belly. Mom was gentle and snuggly and warm with lots of love. "We can get mom anyway."

@Vanyel

Vanyel reached forward and hugged his little sister, bunching his fingers in her soft, downy feathers, not fully fledged. She couldn't fly right away like he or his mother could, but she could float, which was basically the same.

He buried his face in her shoulder and sniffled, ”Don't be sorry, you only apologize for doing something wrong. I should have remembered they stung. Gosh I'm so sorry.”

He nodded into her feathers as she spoke to him, trying to soothe like their mother did. He was clumsy on his two feet, and he'd bumped himself a number of times trying to walk, resulting in his mother cradling him to her chest and cooing a sweet lullaby to him to calm him down.

”We can get mom,” he agreed, ”Come on.”

Vanyel wiped his eyes and took her other paw, pulling her along since she could float instead of walk on her injured paw. Well, she had her wings to walk on too, but it made Vanyel feel better to pull her along, like he was helping.

”Can you call? You got better pipes than me,” he said.

@Ascent

Vanyel was also snuggly and warm, Ascent realized, and they liked this too. Hugs were comforting, and soothed the pain of the bumblebug sting in their palm. "I also... could have remembered. But all forgiven now, yeah?" They allowed themselves to be pulled along, content to hold their brother's hand.

There were more similarities here than they had initially realized, Ascent noted: four toes (fingers?), a thumb, talons and paw pads. Seeing the features they shared with their brother made them happy, too, and they tried to slip their fingers between Vanyel's as well as their more limited dexterity would allow.

"I can call," they agreed, and took a huge breath. "MOOOOOOOM?"

@Vanyel

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