ORIGIN - Welcome to a New Age

Pages: 1 2 3

Ru had only gone as far as Canis before. There were three tunnels in Canis -- the one that led to Hydra, one that was empty and grim where not even mold crept, and this one. Of the three, this was by far the most inviting among them. Ru had simply been walking through, careful and admiring the shining stone all around, but had stopped, now.

There were carvings on the walls. Crude ones, mostly, vague and uncertain, but somehow, Ru was able to pick out some of them. There -- a sharp, angular thing, spiked and scary. Master Vargas, Ru guessed. A sloppy, scrawled image -- upright, with a circle above it and what looked like wings out to the sides. Ru tried to remember -- there was a savior, that had been whispered in some of those longer trials. Ru could not recall the name. A Master who was on their side, with wings and fragile skin.

Ru had never placed much stock in fairy tales. Drawn by some poor fool who was hoping, Ru decided. There was no savior. If there were, all those generations of bones wouldn't have been in Canis. Ru saw other things -- vague depictions of various creatures, probably drawn by themselves. Valkhounds and slaves who were allowed to venture outside of Hydra. Those who had survived.

Ru reminisced, for a moment. It was a rare pleasure, one rarely allowed. Being able to stop and stare without fearing for one's life was a luxury few from Ru's time could afford. Being able to make carvings at all... even more so.

note: refer to ru with any pronouns for the time being, i'm intentionally not using any!

After her talk with Sheng, Yew did know she wanted to help create safe spaces just in case things all went wrong. The Edenfolk's fears were... Smart, she thought. At least with the things that were said in the meeting she overheard. Still, getting the word out would be some form of helping right? Yew still needed to figure out what she was going to do, but she would do something.

Hood of her cloak covering her head, Yew wandered through the tunnel - she'd not visited this one before. At least, not from what she could remember. The crystals lining the area were dull and almost sad looking, some of them brought into shapes she did not recognize. They were obviously carved into, but Yew did not know what the shapes belonged to, or who could have carved into the crystals in the first place.

She was able to spot the shape of a stranger standing in front of one carving, another she did not know. Was that one the one carving into the walls? They didn't look like they were doing any carving, at least not yet. Still, the curiosity burned and Yew became curious.

"Di- did you." She nearly forgot about how she spoke like that. "Make- ake thatt?"

@Quartz Five-Two-Four

Ru was aware of her long before she spoke. The first sign of company was the heat, naturally. A body produced warmth, at least some of the time, and now was no different. This tunnel was not hot enough to hide Yew from Ru's awareness. Then, of course, the feeling -- Ru had always been attuned to vibrations in the earth. They were amplified tenfold, or so it felt, across solid stone and crystal rather than the shifting sands of Hydra. In the past, the ability had allowed the creature to avoid Sand Worms by knowing who they were going to target -- now, it let Ru be aware of what was around. The next sense was the most jarring -- the sound of footsteps, reaching the long ears and painting something akin to a picture. Ru was not used to being able to hear that well. The feeling was... almost uncomfortable.

However, Ru did not turn around until Yew spoke. The lizard-like head turned, eyes catching cave lights in the shadows. "No," the creature said. "But I think creations like me did." Creations. Not people."What is your designation?" Curiosity. Now, it was time to categorize. "Do you have a name? Why do you speak like that?" Perhaps the question was rude, but Ru wouldn't have known. The Gembound did not know of any design that had ever spoken in such a manner. Some had been impeded by their stones or been unable to speak at all, but Yew spoke like she was cold.

Ru was not sure if cold was familiar, and decided to test it later.

@yew

Yew was unaware the elder gembound knew she was there, but the hybrid had not intended to hide in the first place. She didn't want to hide, not in that moment anyway. It was normal, hiding. Except she wanted to explore - she wanted to have stories to tell like everyone else! Ones that didn't involve the war, or being attacked by her own mo- by Jayberry. This stranger wasn't there, not that Yew could remember. She had no reason to hide from this stranger.

Creations? Is that not a gembound?

Before she could ask about what the other meant, Yew's thoughts were interrupted by the other being asking her designation. What was a designation? Yew had never... Been asked that before, or, really ever questioned that in her entire life so far.

"What is is a desig- des-." A huff. "What is thatt?"

Yew felt like it was an appropriate question to ask. At least, it didn't seem like it would be wrong. With the other asking questions too.

"My -y name is Yew." A pause, she might have frowned if her beak allowed it. "Didn't- idn't heal right - ight."

At least... She assumed that was the case.

@Quartz Five-Two-Four

Ru blinked. Ah, right -- the new ones, they did not know their designations. "An identification," Ru replied. "Your stone plus whatever number you are. I am Quartz Five-Two-Four -- there were many Quartzes." A long, batlike ear flicked. "But my name is Ru."

Oh, she had healed wrong? Well, that must have meant that she'd fought before, and had survived to tell about it! Quite a severe fight, if the little of what Ru could see of Yew's face was anything to go by. The Gembound's head angled to look over more of the cloaked body. There was a beak, and paws, and that was where Ru stopped. Whatever it was, it looked just as random to the creature as any other of this time -- or before it. "Are you a he, a she, or a they? Or something else?" Ru asked suddenly. This was a question occupying much of Ru's thoughts, at least at the moment. "Do you have a family?" came next.

These questions were seemingly random, but they were, ultimately, anything but. Ru was categorizing, as usual, and also trying to get some answers to some questions.

@yew