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Black stared up as the great guardian dropped its head to peer at him, and he couldn't help but take a couple quick, stumbled steps back. Then he held his ground, tense--but the thing didn't attack. It spoke, tilting its head to peer one great eye at him. His mind worked, churning the question over slowly; the others spoke, but he hardly heard them.

Children of what? We are young, therefore, we are children. What are we children of? We were born from the stone. The others have rocks. I do not.

(For Black did not know that his stone was hidden within his body).

He glanced at the nearby deer as she spoke, his mind in agreement. He looked forward, again. Eventually, he spoke, these thoughts rumbling forth slowly but inexorably.


"Born of stone. Children of rock."

And he cocked his head to one side, eyeing the great beast quietly for a moment, again as others spoke. The memories whirled through his head again: the buzzing, the water, the scurrying, the shivering darkness above the tunnel in which he had been born. This was not the thing that had fled. What had fled, had fled from this. Perhaps it had fallen down, down and away through the water, after all? Whatever had run from this, was it loose in the tunnels they'd left behind?

Head still tilted, the Black Dog addressed this as best he could--he wished to know what this thing was, and what it had to do with the thing-that-had-run. His words were again brief and to the point, though slightly more cryptic, this time. He slowly sat down, legs trembling with exhaustion now that his adrenaline was wearing off--but his focus, as he spoke, was absolute.


"You are not the darkness."

________________

________________

He had been shaken off, tossed aside, and then sucked in with a tidal surge. He sputtered, blinking away water--perfectly ready to rejoin the fight... in fact, excited to--but then he saw that the fight had, rather abruptly, stopped.

Why've they stopped?!

He arrowed to the shallows, propelled by his powerful tail, then scampered up among the others. Like them, he was now trapped in Aquarian's coils. He looked up and around at them, his large, gold-green eyes unblinking. Then he looked up at the monster, tilting his head and calculating.

It ought to at least be crippled, he thought. If not dying! Certainly he'd beat it in a fair--

The creature's head swung low, just overhead, to peer at another Gembound, and Dragon flinched. Hard. In fact he flattened himself briefly to the ground, moving again only when he realized that he wasn't about to be eaten. He scurried around so that he could see the thing's face, again.

Oh, wow, look at those TEETH. And those claws! And these scales. And--had he hurt its eye? Well, -that- one looked fine, anyway--

It was asking what they were. Children, of what? He scrambled a little closer, peering almost straight up into Aquarian's eye, utterly and stupidly fearless once more.

"I don't know, but can I be whatever you are?" he chirped, bright-eyed and perfectly serious.

________________

The low rumbling in his throat emerged as a constant growl, moving in and out in time with his heavy breaths. It took a few moments for the dog to answer, but when he did, Aquarian found the answer to be quite unsatisfactory. Born of stone. Children of rock. Weren't they all. The growl increased in volume, displeased with the dog's words. They did not answer his question. His great head inched closer to the dog, tempting to swallow him whole for his answer - and then he had the gall to make another claim. If only the dog knew the true relevance of what he'd just said. Aquarian's eyes widened, and then he withdrew his head, tilting it back with a booming, chattering laughter. The sound shook the room, until it cut off and Aquarian immediately pointed his snout back down at the group. "WE ALL ARE. FOOL!" He snarled, snapping his teeth at the dog.

Immediately, another one had spoken, the small lion. Aquarian swung his head towards the feline, looking him up and down. He only reinforced what the dog had said, that they were born here from stone. But that - that wasn't right. They must have had creators. They could not be forged from stone alone, could they? The deer spoke after, she too believing that they had come from nothing but rock. Hatched from stone! Like a made monster, but who were their creators? She asked why he ate the bird. The little alligator wanted to be like him. They obviously didn't know. They didn't know a thing. This was an outrage. His snarl only grew, fury mounting again within the beast. He swung his head back up to the ceiling, eyes darting around the space. "WHAT IS THIS JOKE?" He roared, calling out into the nothingness. Even the buzzing had ceased. "CREATOR! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? CREATOR!" Aquarian's shrieking calls grew louder and louder, more desperate as he screamed into oblivion. Nothing answered him.

The silence only fueled his anger.

"NEMEAN! CREATOR! ANSWER ME!"

His shrieking voice echoed through the room. It bounced back at him, demanding answers, screaming names that seemed to belong to no one. Aquarian's wide eyes stared past the cave ceiling. He slowly began to shrink, rapidly beating heart a quaking thump against the still marsh air. His body lowered as realization of his fate had set in. How could they? Betrayal. They betrayed him. They left him. His lips curled, and the beast erupted in another furious roar, louder than ever before. It made the entire cave tremble. How could this have happened? Did it happen while he slept? How could they just let this fate consume him? His angry roar tapered away into a mournful cry. He had been faithful.

Aquarian's eyes suddenly darted back to the Gembounds. The beast struggled, caught between rage and desperate sadness. "HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?" He cried, but they wouldn't know. They were just children. He looked out to the jungle. The buzzing... The buzzing brought them here.

He was wrong.

One of them remained.

The fury swelled in him once more. "YOU HAVE MADE A FOOL OF ME!" The beast howled into the cave air. "I AM NOT A DEVICE FOR YOUR GAMES! YOU KNEW!" Aquarian shook his head, let loose another angry roar, then dropped his front half back onto the ground. The impact of his body hitting the mud sent quakes beneath the feet of the Gembounds. He slithered around the group; as his moved, his coils followed, slowly freeing them from his grasp. "YOU ARE MY QUARRY NO LONGER." He hissed, eying each creature as he glided past them. "I HAVE BEEN BETRAYED!" The beast scowled. His head swayed to and fro as he circled around the creatures again. "AQUARIAN'S ALLEGIANCE IS YOURS! FEED ME AND I AM YOURS!" Aquarian chattered. He slowed only momentarily, raising his snout up to the emptiness of the cave around them. The monster let loose another shattering cry. Defiance. He then swerved his head back towards the marsh, and his body followed its course. Aquarian dove back into the black water, surprisingly graceful against the surface now. The rest of his body would slip into the marsh until the very tip of his frilled tail disappeared. There was stillness.

Quest Complete! Aquarian has been unlocked as a neutral NPC. He will aid your characters should they provide him an offering of some kind (food, treasures, etc), but if they come seeking him or disturbing his waters without an offering, they may find themselves in trouble.

You are now free to have your characters exit this thread.