Howling winds blew their way through the room. A chrysalis sat alone, nearly ready to be hatched from. Some time passed, and soon enough, a crack appeared on the surface. Soon, smaller cracks spread from the first crack. And then is shattered. Fragments of the chrysalis fell, and soon revealing a red fox. He was rather large for one that just emerged, slightly bigger than the average height of a fox at this age.

Rimese blinked open his eyes and looked around. The room had deep gorges carved into it. As he continued observing, he realized there was a wind swirling around him. At the time, it was a rather weak breeze, hardly noticeable. He got up and began to start walking when the wind picked up and knocked him off his paws with an indignant squeak. He got back up, fur fluffed against the wind. He tried again, digging his small claws into the ground to try and keep himself on the ground. He walked slowly, one paw in front of the other, until the wind picked up again and he flopped over, once more letting out a squeak of surprise.

---

Things had been grinding to a standstill and he hadn't seen Diamondfang for a long time. Wherever she was, he wanted to settle with her that he was going to be running this establishment from here on out. But assumed leadership was just as good as actually being leader in his opinion. Louie could at least get stuff done as the others continued to show him the respect that he had garnered through his strength. Children with Magdalena had been a blessing and a curse, but he was proud of Odyssey and his achievements in the art of battle.

Shattering caught his attention, it was so distinct that he immediately knew what it was as he made haste over the ground in front of him. The twister wanted him, it pulled at his fur and licked at his scars but it wasn't its day. Teeth clenched, he hoped that whatever it was wouldn't put a strain on the Merry Men. If it was weak, it would be thrown out into the elements as it wasn't worth attempting to train a newborn who showed no promise in their blood. Louie stepped around the corner, his head raised proudly before his odd-eyes settled on pitiful excuse of a fox kit as it lay, defeated and accepting of the wind.

The proprieter of the Merry Men wasn't exactly sure what to do. Whatever reason that Origin Cave had for birthing another of his species into the cave couldn't be a good one and he narrowed his eyes, scowl setting in place. "Pup." It was angry.

The sound of a voice startled the fox, and he looked up to see what looked like a larger version of himself. It was clear this was a red fox, just like him. He jumped up and faced him. He wasn't sure why this other fox was angry, but he paid it no attention. As he continued to observe the fox, he realized that he had a rather large scar surrounding his left eye, which was green rather than the amber color that his right eye was. It also appeared to be glowing slightly. He tilted his head, wondering how that had happened.

"Hi! What happened to your eye? It looks really cool!" Rimese asked, jumping up after his fall excitedly. After a bit of time after he landed, another gust of air blew. Rimese had dug his claws in earlier in case another wind blew. This time, he managed to stay upright. This fox looked tough, and he wanted to be tough too! He wasn't going to let some stupid wind knock him over again!

@Louie

---

There wasn't really much else to look at, the cave hadn't changed apart from the addition of the fox. Monoceros was relatively boring minus the giant tornado that wanted to eat all the debris. When he was actually noticed by the young boy, it caused such a strange reaction and he sighed.

Gemlings were stupid.

That much was obvious and he had to stop himself from smacking a paw on his face in complete disbelief that a creature could just be so. Well that word he'd thought of before did the trick. "Melted out of my skull and regenerated. Nothing special," his voice was so heavy with sarcasm he wasn't even sure that he could detect it. Rimese was too much like him to be entirely comfortable. Giggle's predictions continued to play in the back of his head. Was this some sort of weird divine sign that something had gone wrong? Maybe he should drag the kit to her so she could toss him in the bone pit and see what happened.

"Do you have a name?" That determination to stay upright was... mildly amusing and he smirked. If he could learn to stay upright he'd do well in Origin caves. Walking was important.

Rimese blinked as the fox spoke. "Whoa, really? That's so cool!" Rimese jumped up and down some, not for any particular reason. The other fox's voice had a strange tone to it, but he didn't really know what. It sounded a bit...mean, if anything. Then again, everything about this fox seemed mean. Mean and tough. "How'd it melt out of your skull? How'd it regenerate?"

After he heard the other's question, he thought for a bit. "Rimese. What's yours?" Another wind blew and caught Rimese by surprise. With a squeak, he flopped over in a ball of red, white, and black fur. Blinking in surprise, he quickly scrambled back up. "Why's it so windy in here?" he complained, tired of falling over. He wanted to stay upright! He had to show that he was tough, just like this other fox. How was he supposed to do that if he kept falling over?

@Louie

---

Perhaps this was a bad idea, he was regretting wasting his time on the gemling who really had no idea how the world worked. It was dumb to assume that he would, considering the fragments of his gemstone lay literally a few feet away from him. Were they stupid questions? No. But was this guy stupid? Yes. So he opted not to answer them as he focused on the part where is name was given. That was all he really cared about. "My name is Louie." Again he was blown over by a particularly sturdy gust from the tornado as it tore through the gorge with ferocity. Even his own fur was upset by such a blast and he took a paw step forwards to balance himself. The child just bounced right back onto his paws and whined.

Louie wanted to smack him. Really. He wasn't one to be afraid of hitting children. One just out of the egg was a bit harsh though so he inhaled slowly and steadily. "It's a neverending tornado. It has been here since the day I came to this cave. During the presence of the great dragon though, it faded. Not entirely sure why it's now back. I guess the balance was just disrupted by Raheerah." Something like that anyway. Nothing just stopped out of randomness there was always a reaction that triggered it. "This is the territory of the Merry Men. Whether or not you agree you will become a part of it. Your choice is merely as a slave or a participating member." Actually why had he done that? He didn't give a rat's ass if he stayed or not. Superstition over the fox's existence was his main cause for this to happen.

"Louie, huh? Nice name!" The fox bounced up and down some more. He then stopped, slightly tired of bouncing up and down so much and also wondering if maybe Louie didn't like him bouncing up and down so much. Had the other even noticed? He sat down and tried to ignore the raging wind as he listened to Louie.

"A neverending tornado? Huh. I wonder why," he murmured. "Also, what's the great dragon? And who's Raheerah?" Rimese tilted his head and continued to listen. "The Merry Men? I'll be a part of it? Cool! Well, I guess. What is the Merry Men? Are you a part of the Merry Men?" Rimese started bouncing up and down again. Now that he thought about, surely Louie would be in the Merry Men-whatever that was. He was here, wasn't he? And this was the territory of the Merry Men, right? Louie said it was. So it obviously was. "Slave or participating member? I'd much rather be a participating member, not a slave!"

@Louie

---

A good name. Yeah, perhaps it was. Naming in the caves was always something that struck him as odd, they just hatched from their cocoons and then picked a random name to call themselves by. That obsessive bouncing was stopped as he chose to stand up straighter when speaking. Hurriedly, his words began to spill over themselves and he chose to tune out for the majority of it. Who cared about Raheerah now, he was merely something that would carry on as a legend. Remembered by the old and eventually forgotten as they all passed their bodies back to the earth. "Yes. I am leader of the Merry Men." Re-assuming leadership had been a no-brainer.

That stupid jiggling up and down started up again and he just shook his head. "If you're wanting to be a participating member you need to learn a few rules. Rule number one. Always listen to your leader. Got that?"

"Oh, you're the leader? Cool! The first member of this Merry Men that I meet is the leader!" Rimese continued bouncing up and down. He didn't know why, though. He just liked doing it. He had a lot of energy it seemed, and just had to jump up and down all the time! Well, not all of the time. Most of the time works too. A part of him wondered if Louie didn't like it, but at this moment he found he didn't really care.

"Alright. How many rules are there?" he asked, tilting his head. "Listen to the leader? So listen to you? I can definitely do that! What's the next rule?" He stopped bouncing. It was starting to get kind of tiring. His paws ached just a bit from repeatedly hitting the ground. Besides, he had nearly fallen over multiple times from the wind. So now he sat down, his bouncing stopped. He tended to go from bouncing to not bouncing, back to bouncing and then no longer bouncing. He decided to stop jumping up and down. At least for now.

@Louie