Chaos-Two still held the small piglet as they made their way out into Pegasus, darting into the trees and quickly disappearing. They didn't stop until they came upon a particular set of tree roots, carefully crawling inside.

The dirt was packed down from plenty of naps, but there was little there aside from a few stray leaves. But it would do for now, and the den kept the rain out.

The valkhound curled up tightly against one wall, holding the piglet close as they tried to wrap their head around what just happened.

"... I'm so sorry," they mumbled, "Maybe I can find someone out here willing to take you in? But who is even out here? Can I trust them?"

So many unknown variables... it was terrifying.

@Porkchop

Like a sleeping toddler at the end of a road trip when the car pulls into the driveway, Porkchop opened his eyes with a bleary snorting sound. "Whhhrrrrg," he began, tongue feeling more than a little thick from sleep. If he hadn't been a newly-hatched piglet with zero emotional intelligence, he might have noticed that Chaos-Two seemed oddly concerned. Might even have connected it with the fact that a giant purple monster had recently expressed extreme disapproval of the piglet and flicked his nose with a massive claw.

But Porkchop was a newly-hatched piglet with zero emotional intelligence, and he realized none of that. All he knew was that it was really nice being cradled in the arms of this twelve-foot-tall monster, and that it was pretty comfortable, but that he was hungry.

"Yellllllll," he oinked plaintively. "Yell squish." His face wrinkled up a little. Was there a one-word solution for this problem? "Buh- buh-" Yes, that was it! Getting there! "Ba-na-na?" That's the word! "Banana! Bananabananabananabanana--"

@V-Chaos-Two

Chaos-Two huffed and gently patted Porkchop's back, getting to work on summoning a banana.

"One moment," they said softly, holding out a hand.

They focused for a moment and put more magic into it, aiming to create a banana big enough to sate the piglet for a while. They were surprised, then, when a banana bigger than two of Porkchop appeared in their hand.

"... Huh," they said, and started to peel it, offering the massive fruit to the tiny pig.

"Here," they said, "Eat up so you can regain your strength. Maybe later you'll be able to join us, but you'll need to be strong first."

@Porkchop

Porkchop perked up immediately at the sight of an enormous banana appearing out of nowhere, squealing with delight. He didn't question where it had came from, why it was so big, or say thank you. Oh, no. He was interested in this banana for one reason only: it was food. Sweet, sparkly, and delicious.

He quickly got to work on the banana, munching messily at the white flesh (although he did pause occasionally to clean up the fallen pieces of fruit. By eating them, of course). At last, his belly was filled! Porkchop belched, leaving the partially-eaten banana to nose at Chaos-Two's hand.

For a second, his snout moved weirdly, as though he were about to sneeze. (He was, in fact, simply trying to get a piece of banana unstuck from the band of sapphire in his mouth. "Stuh-strong," he declared, finally acknowledging Chaos-Two's words. It was probably a miracle that they'd stuck in his memory this long. "I AM strong. PORKCHOP! I'll-" he sniffed, swallowing a dislodged piece of fruit. "I'll CHOP. their PORK."

It was entirely unclear whose pork Porkchop was referring to, or what the heck he'd meant by "chop their pork." Heck, he didn't even know himself. It just sounded like a good, threatening thing to say. Powerful.

@V-Chaos-Two

Chaos-Two laughed softly and held Porkchop up against their chest, setting the banana down, "Mhm, I'm sure you will. Are you Porkchop? That's a nice name."

They curled up in the little hollow with the piglet, content to entertain him until they had to go back to the Forge. They rather liked experiencing an actual child. Porkchop was funny! He was chaotic in a way that was amusing rather than disheartening. He was messy and determined and very food-motivated, it seemed.

"I hope you grow big and strong," they whispered softly, "Because someday I might be able to come back for you properly. We're going to change the Chaos Forge for the better, you know, make it a place of kindness and loyalty."

At least, they hoped.

@Porkchop

"Mhmm," Porkchop mumbled in agreement, snuggling into Maximus' chest. 'Nice' didn't have the exact vibes he'd been going for, but he didn't know enough words to name the right adjective anyway, so it was good enough.

He nudged Maximus' chest with his snout affectionately. "Yeah, yeah," he enthused. "The biggest! And strongest!" Unable to keep still for any longer, Porkchop wriggled free, practically bouncing with his excitement for a future strong Porkchop. "Like this! HWUH-CHA!" He kicked at a stray leaf. It was a leaf, so it didn't fly through the air in a very satisfying way. But that'd get better when he was bigger, probably! Maybe he'd get big enough that he could even boss the purple monster--what was it called again? Fart Gus?--around!

Yeah, that sounded good, the piglet decided, scampering back into Maximus' arms.

@Maximus (wooo!! new name for our favorite tiny bipedal monster!!!) exit here?

Chaos-Two laughed as Porkchop proceeded to show off his magnificent skills, clapping gently in praise.

"Perfect!!", he applauded catching Pokrchop as he jumped back into their arms, snuggling him nice and close.

Maybe they liked kids... They just didn't like miniature monsters. This little guy was pretty okay.

"Big and strong and mighty," they said softly, booping the piglet on the nose before curling up, opting to tell some stories to pass the time.

Name change!!! Exit max uwu
@Porkchop for vis