Aerys Hae-Oma

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

A beautiful light blue and green chrysalis sat in the middle of the thick underbrush, a very sharp contrast to the darker foliage around it. Slowly it cracked, a soft whimper escaping as a small, white figure emerged, slowly crawling out of the chrysalis. The jagged edges nicked her cheek, making her yelp softly as she fell with a small oof onto the floor beside the little egg like thing.

Her eyes blinked slowly, flinching against the strange new light that she saw. She was confused, new to the world, and unsure what was happening. Slowly she lifted her head up, and tried to call out, but accidently ended up using her ability, making her fall back in surprise, landing on her back. Everything was strange and scary, and she couldn't stop the cry that escaped her, her eyes closing tightly in fear.

"Speech"

Home was Cetus. It had always been, even when Erasmus had not known the name of the cave and had called it their territory instead. But it had become a home with memories of Alek, with memories of raising children here.

The Crags were where the vampire, now lightly armored thanks to dear Alek, and strongly enchanted with a protective spell thanks to friend Onyx-Three and kind Yanyue, tended to linger most. Where shattered chrysalises that had once housed their children existed, as well as the chrysalis that was Alek’s still unhatched child.

But everywhere amongst these mists was home for the vampire. They moved through the mists with ease when they heard the sound of a crack, a sound that meant life, they realized.

Erasmus hesitated until their too-keen senses, so keen as to overwhelm, caught the familiar hint of blood in the air. Then they hesitated no more.

A thump and a cry, they noted distantly as they ran. Then they paused, as the mists cleared enough for them to see the frightened child.

Instinctively, their attempt to soothe rose to their throat, a rough croon that was raspy as the rest of their voice, but trying to soothe regardless.

They wished, right now, that they had Alek’s musical tones, far better for soothing a child.

”Child,” they murmured as gentle as their raspy tones could. ”Child safe. No need scared,” they reassured, or tried to. They took off their helmet holding it under an arm, and their face was revealed.

Uncannily beautiful, humanoid but not at all when one looked close, with eyes that were like a viper’s in a vivid shade of green before they were hidden behind hair. ”Won’t let child hurt while am here. Erasmus able to protect,” they added, trying to sound more confident than they felt. They could keep a child safe, but they hated needing to turn towards violence. But they would, for a child so young, so in need of help.

”Name is Erasmus,” they added. Hopefully their speech was decipherable to the child. They knew their way of speaking was different, but they had lost speech from disuse and relearned it and while they generally could make themselves understood and were comfortable with their speech, right now they were anxious.

Anxious to help.

@Aerys

Aerys Hae-Oma

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

She sniffed slightly, the cut on her cheek stinging but that wasn't what she was crying about. Well, it partially was, but that was nothing compared to the feeling of fear and confusion she was feeling. However as she caught scent of another, she scrambled quickly to her paws, stumbling slightly as she tried to take a small step back, whipping around quickly to see the new stranger. Her eyes narrowed slightly in confusion, unsure what that creature was. But... but they didn't attack her. That was a start, right?

She heard his words and cocked her head to the side for a moment, though remained quiet. Her eyes softened a little and her hackles lowered, but she made no move to go closer to them, not yet. She seemed to hesitate, unsure what to do for a moment. Her body was still low to the ground, feeling rather dwarfed standing anywhere near this creature in front of her, small even for her own species.

He gave a name and she blinked a few times, mentally remembering it as her head cocked slightly to the side. Slowly, hesitantly, she spoke up, unsure if they would even be able to understand her, but she could understand them... so that mean this should work... right? "Aerys...." Was all she said and in all honesty, she wasn't sure where that came from. But something about the name, if felt right, like it fit perfectly and honestly, that was all she knew about herself.

For a moment she glanced down at her own body, realizing that she didn't even really know what she looked like, lifting one paw and then the other as she examined herself, small and fragile, much unlike the figure before her. Slowly her gaze lifted back up to them and though she hesitated for a moment, she finally took one small step towards them, and then another, stopping only about a foot away from them, her ears pinned back, her body shaking slightly as she waited to see what they would do.

"Speech"

Erasmus did not smile, because their mouth was full of sharp teeth and for all that they were a humanoid, they were a predatory humanoid with all that meant. But their face softened kindly, relaxed some from former worry, at the child voicing a word…

No, not a word, they realized quickly. A name, they thought. ”Child is Aerys?” their raspy voice asked to clarify, not wishing to misunderstand. Misunderstandings hurt, after all. It was better to be sure than to assume.

The child walked towards Erasmus on her shaky legs, and Erasmus became very still, then slowly crouched down, making themself smaller than their height. Erasmus safe,” they quietly offered. ”No harm Aerys.”

A thought occurred to them, a reminder of their own children’s hatching. ”Aerys hungry?” their voice was gentle despite the constant rasp to their voice as they asked their question.

@Aerys

Aerys Hae-Oma

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Slowly she moved closer, watching with bated breath, waiting to see what they did, but poised to run all the same. Though she honestly doubted she could get far on her shaky legs, but she'd damn sure try. However, they didn't seem to want to eat her and instead, crouched down, making themselves smaller, though still much larger than Aerys herself. But it was the thought that counted at least. Her ears perked up at the sound of food and she quickly nodded, her eyes widening a little. She hadn't realized she was hungry until they had said something and now she could feel the pull in her stomach, the want for something to eat.

She hesitated for a moment before slinking closer, still keeping her body mostly against the ground, but moving close enough to sniff at them, her nose touching against their leg if they didn't pull away. They smelled odd, different than herself, but it wasn't unwelcome, even as the new scent on her untrained nose made her sneeze slightly, the force causing her to stumble backwards a little, landing with an 'oof' onto her ass.

She blinked up at him, still not really talking much. She could talk, she knew that, but she just didn't.... know what to say.

"Speech"