Ruby-Beta fulfilled its duty - guarding the tunnel, staying close to the Master while he tested the human, not daring to watch what he was doing and instead watching carefully and guarding his task. Of course, this gave it the wonderfully perfect opportunity to rest, laying down on its stomach and just watching. No need for any serious training, no need to hunt or to push itself. All it had to do was watch and protect.

But still, it had been yearning to have a talk with Master Vargas for some time now - about why it had been away and the training it had done in its absence. To report on all the creatures it'd met (and to apologize for attacking a dragon when they were trying to make peace) and maybe even show off how good it had become? How useful it could be to Vargas and the Sentinels.

It was sitting where it usually guarded, looking pretty antsy - at least as antsy as it could look with a face like that. "Master Vargas?" It called out, if he was nearby. Otherwise, it'd get his attention when he returned.

In the panic that had consumed it since it had awoken some time ago, Ruby-Beta hadn't stopped to consider that Master Vargas had other things to worry about. All it could think about was the distant threat that had been hanging over it for cycles - succeed and live, fail and be remade. It very much would like to continue living, and it also very much would like to impress Master Vargas, for the sake of impressing him, and it would very much like to not fall behind its peers.

It stood up tall, at attention when it heard its voice, and immediately bounded over, sitting tall before his master. "Reporting," it rumbled. "Apologies for my absence. I sat down for a rest after a hunt and hibernated without meaning to. I will be more diligent in the future - it will not happen again."

It's tail curled up behind it, almost cat-like in its expressions, and it shifted briefly. "I have been doing as you asked - perhaps late - but I have been doing it regardless. I have hunted many creatures, Lessers and Greaters, and I have come across many interesting creatures since awakening. Some weak, some very strong and of interesting designs. I have gotten quite good at staying hidden, being in the shadows, as well as some magic. There's a number of useful skills that I've taught myself, to be used at your disposal." It blinked slowly, considering going off on exactly what it had learned, but it realized that Vargas might not want the full report at the moment.

So instead, it asked - " Permission to give you my full report?"

Beta felt a shiver down its back at Master Vargas's veiled thread, some of its quills rattling a bit nervously. But it only offered a nod and a sharp, "It will not." And it certainly would make sure that it did better now. It would ensure that it improved - that it got stronger and better and be no longer as lazy as it had been before. Change itself to stay alive.

It noted what Vargas had to say about its word choice. Okay, then it had gotten it wrong. This was...a little embarrassing and it was already getting a sinking feeling in its stomach at how this was turning out. It hadn't even begun its full report, yet Vargas already had two scathing comments for it. Dammit, it really was as big a failure as it thought it was. If it kept this up, it would surely be remade. And it wouldn't appreciate that.

Still, there was always its report and it planned to go quite into detail, to have Master Vargas know exactly how it had progressed - the ups and downs and the potential for allies and enemies. "You gave me the assignment to practice hunting - I did as you asked and went out to find both Lessers and Greaters to practice my skills on. I successfully hunted a greater while it was fishing - it was easy, since he was blind, but he knew you. He was a crocodilian, with fur and bat wings and no eyes and he called himself Imp. He...insulted you a lot. And Nemean. But I taught him a lesson." It nodded to itself, apparently not remembering or choosing to forget that it had ended in more of a draw then anything, with Imp flying out of its reach. "From there I practiced some forms of magic - I can now detect the presence of gembounds, darken the area around me, make my voice whisper in the distance, and create traps that will hold a gembound down should they walk through it. I have grown much better in hunting, however. I have become very good at stealth and sneaking in the shadows, and I've also picked up some knowledge of disguising myself - I figured that it might be obvious that I am related to you, with my color and my head shape, so I've been practicing finding ways to change that if I need to. I've also come up with a way to poison my fur and quills, as well as some basic fighting techniques, should I need them."

It took a second to take a few breaths and clear its throat before continuing. "Once I woke up from my hibernation, I got to work immediately, training all of these things as well as continuing your mission of practicing hunting. I ran into many strange creatures around the caves, including a very large mantis that I thought was a mutated lesser, but was actually intelligent, and I also ran into Alpha and Delta, as well as the Bloodstone. I...may have wandered into Monoceros without any knowledge of our feud with the dragons and I ran into one of them. And...I may have tried to hunt her. She was big and white and she breathed ice and unfortunately overwhelmed me quickly. I had to run. Later, through, I ran into another dragon - it was very small, only about this big." It lifted a paw and attempted to maneuver its claws in such a way to show off the height of the teacup dragon. "She called herself Lass - I think she's with the dragons too. I believe she thinks of me as a friend." It did not comment on if it thought the same way back - it doubted that Vargas would be interested in this.

"My most interesting finds, though, were two gembounds extremely gifted with magic. One was a cat, funnily enough, called Wilder. She was very small and black and seemed to be a little foolish, but she could do some amazing things with magic - moving things with her mind, holding me down without even looking at me, creating copies of herself, and I believe she could see into the future as well. I defeated her by chasing her down until she got too tired to cast anymore spells. The other was a large creature that stood on two legs and called himself Azrael. He had four arms with eyes in each palm and giant wings. We hunted each other and it was a very close match - he could create darkness - a lot of it - and he breathed fire as well. I only managed to defeat him by luring him into the gravity trap I mentioned earlier, and striking the back of his neck."

It paused again, thinking about if there was anything else of note to report, but when it came up with nothing, it nodded. "And that is about it, Master Vargas."

Beta had mixed feelings about Vargas's reactions to its reports. It was pleased that he seemed to approve of some of its antics - the training and the hunting - but its angering of the dragon, and not reporting in right away...yeah, those were mistakes. It shook its head at his first question. "No. It may be blind, but its crafty. It flew away before I could finish it off." It failed to mention how it had more or less let it fly away, taking the time to sit and chat with it instead of, you know. Hunting it properly.

Quills rose with faint pride at Vargas's small compliment towards its thinking. "Thank you. I can continue to work on more alternative skills, if you think they would be useful." It hesitated. "I think they would be," it added in as an afterthought, not sure just yet if it could interject its own opinions.

However, it deflated a little bit at Vargas's irritation. Damn, it knew that that was going to be a sensitive hit. What an idiot it had been. "Uh...I don't know. She was certainly furious but I didn't run into any of the others. I understand, I should have come back here immediately. It was rash of me to try to squeeze in so much training without knowing the state of things." Its head lowered in shame but then lifted back up a moment later. To be honest, it had crossed Beta's mind, to use Lass as a way into the dragons, but the thought had been...oddly disturbing to it. She might have considered it her friend, but it didn't quite see that the way back, mainly because it didn't know what it meant to have a friend. But still, the thought of hurting her was almost upsetting to Ruby-Beta. She was small, young, and innocent, and didn't deserve to be treated poorly. But it quickly reminded itself that things like that weren't important. What was important was carrying out whatever missions it was giving. Helping the sentinels. Being useful to Master Vargas. "I believe I could," it forced itself to say. "Quite easily too." Why did it say that? Why did it have to add that? A war started in its stomach - the side of Beta that wanted only to impress and be useful and the side that just wanted to enjoy its time. It didn't want to hurt Lass. It didn't want to capture her for anything. But it had to admit that it would be easy to capture her, and she would make a valuable tool.

It was more then happy to move on from Lass, to talk about the two that it, personally, had put the most interest in. "Ah, yes. I thought about it. From what I gauged of the cat, she would be extremely easy to manipulate. She has some very useful skills that we could take advantage of, and I believe she's a part of the Bonebound as well. If we ever needed to...she could offer a way in. As for the other, his design was impressive. I'm not sure if it would be possible to reign him in like we could with the cat, as he's incredibly prideful and independent, but it could make a useful ally, or perhaps a subject in future spawns. It can fly, run fast, and has four arms to grab things, and six eyes to see from. It's only an idea for now...maybe to be pulled out when we need, but...yeah. That's about it." It hoped that its analysis would be impressive enough...

The last question, however, caught it a little off guard. It hesitated for a moment before it shook its head. "Ah...no. No, I haven't killed anyone for training." It paused again, something on the tip of its tongue, wondering if it should dare to say it, but then it had to - it couldn't help itself. "If I may, Master Vargas...I think that killing for training seems a little wasteful, you know? What if I killed someone we could have made use of? I'm not against ending a life, don't get me wrong, but...I'd prefer to keep that to the ones that need to die, rather then strangers we know nothing about." Its quills were quivering a little nervously and it clamped its mouth shut suddenly. It...might have said a little bit too much there.

Ohhhh, no, it'd messed up. It had really messed up. The ten seconds in which Vargas was quiet was the longest ten seconds of Ruby-Beta's life. Its heart was hammering in its chest. It really had to open its big fat mouth, it really had to think beyond what it had already been told, try to come up with its own, gentler opinions. But there was no room for that, was there? Dammit, why did it have to think that way?

It couldn't help it, though. Because if only the strong were allowed to survive, then creatures like Lass didn't belong. Because it could have crushed her easily, with one flick of its paw. She could have been dead if it wanted her dead. But that wasn't right. It couldn't be right. They were all alive, didn't that mean something? But then, that inner voice rode over those thoughts.

No, it means nothing. The only important thing is survival - strength, cunning, fighting for life. Training the strong. Culling the weak. That's why Palefur is dead - she was not strong enough for life. I won't be the same. I'm strong. That's right. Beta was going to live. Beta was going to be strong. It had no desire to kill those that had done nothing wrong, though it didn't quite understand why it was necessary to "cull the weak" and who would deem them a failure, but if that's what it had to do to survive...then it would do it. Without question.

It nodded, throat dry. "We're clear, Master Vargas. Thank you, I think I understand better now. I will think again about what I've said." And that was all it had to say in response. Better to keep its mouth shut in case some other stupid shit came spilling out.

It nodded silently and waited for Master Vargas to leave, in a show of respect and submission, ready to get back to guarding the tunnel - fulfilling its duty.

*exit, unless stopped