A Meeting of Minds - Printable Version

Dragon hated this tunnel. It was cold, icy--though he kept now, at least, to the entrance near Eridanus. That was greener and warmer, with bent trees providing some measure of protection from the winds that blew through here.

It was a neutral ground: a relatively central point in the cave, and one at least halfway between Eridanus and Cetus. The last time he'd tried to call a meeting between the groups, nobody had come--perhaps because they hadn't trusted him enough to enter Cetus. Word had been sent out this time by Eve and by others, a quiet murmuring, a request for a short meeting in this tunnel, and on this day, near dusk.

This time he waited quietly, outside their home. He'd asked the Children if they'd wished to come--though also asked them to hang back, a bit, so as not to seem like a waiting ambush, or army. It was long past time to speak with the others in the caves--to share knowledge, to share information, to offer aid to one another.

It was to improve all of their chances at survival.

Still, he fretted over exactly what to say. If he outright said not to trust Astraea and the other elders--well, who knew which Gembound had his ear, which owed him their loyalty? He was pondering, still, exactly how to put this.

'Take me to your leader,' Eve had said fuck-knows-how-many-times the last few days, followed by a mimicried message. 'Tell them that DRAGON, the leader of the CHILDREN OF ROT, requests their presence in tunnel H in two days' time at dusk--near the grassy place. Eridanus. That side. They will know the place, I hope.'

It'd been a rough time for her-- though she'd been previously excited to go flying through the caves again. She flew with her lantern, found each leader, relayed the message, and went back. It was a long flight, and she'd used a lot of magicka to do so quickly. She was exhausted enough that she went straight to her nest and took a nap.

That had been two days ago, though it felt like only two minutes had passed when Dragon was calling for a meeting, to depart into the tunnel to meet with the other leaders. 'Come if you want to,' Dragon said, roughly. 'Five more fucking minutes,' Eve replied, fifteen minutes ago.

She left her lantern in her nest, this time, but she did eventually get up and came splitting into tunnel H like a shadow, drifting easily along the tunnel before coming to land neatly on Dragon's head. She yawned, stretched, and snapped a couple of joints back into place.

"Think they'll come?" She asked quietly, still sleepily.

Giggle paced up more unconcernedly. She was relaxed, it seemed--so much so that when she sat beside Aure, it was with eyes half-lidded and muscles slumped. In fact, she yawned hugely, and started to scratch behind one ear idly.

She'd consulted the bones, before they'd come. They'd been clear: the start of a journey, a journey worth making, it seemed--and they spoke, too, of communication, of wise advice, of leadership. Lastly of wealth--of the fruits of their labors. She trusted her readings enough to truly believe, then, that there would be no betrayal--no sudden fangs in the back, or ambush by unknown enemies. When her hind paw reached the ground, again, she cast dark eyes around the cave.

"Hello, Dragon. Is Serek coming?" she asked, her masculine voice rasping hopefully. She hadn't seen her son in many cycles, and she missed him--she wanted to see how he was doing.

Of course, she was also quite curious as to the purpose of this meeting. Dragon hadn't been particularly clear on that, it seemed, but Giggle had taken the "wise advice" portion of the bone reading as suggesting that she ought to be there--a wise presence, indeed, to advise her Bone King.

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ROLL THE BONES

The alligator watched with mounting satisfaction--and interest--as various Gembound turned up, offering a quiet "It seems they will," to Eve. He nodded a greeting to each as they arrived, an acknowledging rumble following. Giggle asked him a direct question, and he spoke, if briefly. "I do not know. The Children have all been informed. Though we did not know you were coming," he added. Giggle was Serek's mother, certainly--but he'd had no idea the hyena would turn up. Serek might come, or then again he might not.

When the rest had arrived, the alligator got right down to it. There were no displays of magic, no bellowing whatsoever--but he was careful to keep close watch with nose and eyes and magic on the tunnel itself, watching constantly for any intruders. Too, he kept his voice low enough that only those quite close could hear it.

"I am Dragon, of the Children of Rot. I thank you all for coming." He looked briefly at each of the others. Some he knew; some he'd never met. Rift he'd met--what, once, perhaps? The cat looked different; quite so. He gave him a long stare, curious, and then went on. "We Children are not many, but we have lived long, in the safety of the swamp. I am told that each of you--King Envy, and Rift, and Aure--you are each leaders of groups of your own."

He paused, his thick, ridged tail slowly sweeping the damp rock behind him. He considered his words, judging his audience as he went on. The same questions plagued him. How specific could he be with his warnings? How free with his information? They were not many, at least, and so that was something good. If their secrets leaked from here--well, they might spread, but at least there weren't fifty Gembound present to hear it.

"For many cycles we have listened to the advice of Aquarian--our great Father who dwells in Cetus. He told us that to uncover the secrets of the caves, we must survive. And so we have. Yet there is still much we do not know. There are many older than us--more powerful--here in the caves. The black dragon was one of these; the phoenix and the stag who fought him with us are more. The serpent Skahan, the Three Kings, Nemean the Betrayer!--the tree of Cetus; all beings far older than we, with more knowledge. I called you here today," he continued--and here he took a breath--"to ask that we form a pact. To share with one another knowledge as we find it--and to keep this knowledge secret. We do not yet know which Elders are truly our allies... and which may harbor goals of their own, counter to our own of survival. They fight among themselves, after all; Astraea the stag has lied to the Kings and kept them captive; Nemean has betrayed Aquarian; many have fought Raheerah. In time some of them may turn on us--there is no way of knowing."

"I propose," the alligator went on, his voice an ancient bass growl, "that we seek knowledge together, in our different areas of the caves. That we use our magic to seek the past; to sense the history that lies in stone and bone," and here he nodded in turn to Envy and to Aure, "to learn what secrets are held by the water and the plants." A nod to Rift. "To listen to what we can find--and to share with one another, but never with these Elders. If you agree to this, I will tell you all that we Children know of the caves; perhaps there is something you each might share in turn. If your loyalties lie purely with the Elders, however," and here his voice at last took on a more threatening note, a tone of warning, though not authoritarian--"I would ask that you depart, and not consider this pact further. But if you are willing... then perhaps, together, we can unravel the history of our home, the meaning of the stones and their carvings, the purpose of our lives and the plans that set it all into motion. Perhaps we can learn the future intended for us... and whether we wish it for ourselves. And most of all--perhaps we can learn how best to ensure our mutual survival."

Eve puffed up with pride, if briefly. She'd done her work in sending messages and now all the leaders-- or at least the ones she and Dragon knew of --were here, some accompanied by others. She didn't know most of them, but she knew enough.

For once, the raucous crow was silent. She remained on the crown of Dragon's head, looking up and down the tunnels for intruders or potential ambushes, the only sound she gave was a faint trill of agreement towards the alligator she was standing on.