Layla grinned happily. Dragon was happy that she'd found someone to help them, and that she still remembered to look. She had not forgotten like his other children. SHe was a good child.

"No, not yet. I brought him to you because I figured you could tell Aihaxas better, since you know more." Layla replied, then turned to Aithaxas. "I'm a snow leopard. I had a friend snow leopard a long time ago, but I haven't seen him in a while. I wonder what happened to him...." Layla slowly got off topic, but trailed off before too long.

What had happened to Carcino? Her twin but not twin. She still wanted to know. But that wasn't the current topic. The current topic was telling Aithaxas what they were doing, and how he could help them.

@Dragon @Aithaxas

Dragon settled, huffing some as he listened. A maned wolf? He'd never heard of that before, but he accepted it at face value, promptly dismissing it from his mind after filing it away in some tiny memory which was unlikely to ever be accessed again.

As for himself, he was Dragon, of course, and repeated such, loudly.

"I am Dragon." This, to him, was who and what he was. He listened more sombrely as Layla spoke of a missing friend--but that was what happened in the caves. You were born, you lived, and you died--unless you survived, and found the truth of things.

"You are both young, but I will tell you what I know. If you listen, perhaps you will learn," he rumbled thoughtfully.

He chose his words carefully, and he gave them slowly, and as clearly as he could. There were too many who would see it as ranting, or miss details that might be important to their survival, and so he had to make sure they understood as much as possible. The more they knew, the better their chances--the better all their chances.

"Many cycles ago, the caves began to awaken. I awoke into a battle within the black lake, here. There were others, but all were young--very young. There were no adults. Before I continue, I will say: we do not know what came before, do you understand..? There are those who are old--vast, and powerful. I will tell you of them in a moment. But they will not tell us what came before. There are caves full of bones, where things hid, and died. There are caves with structures, and there are pictures on the walls. There is a throne where a leader perhaps once sat. There are things built throughout the caves. Yet, we do not know what made them."

He stared at the two, dark eyes intense, words solemn. He wanted them to understand how serious this all was. "Whoever came before, whoever built it all, died. And we do not know how. Or why. And so we began to awaken: young things, from stone, with no grown Gembound to tell us what had happened. But there are grown Gembound. Raheerah, the great dragon, has turned to chaos. Aquarian, my father, lays within the black lake, and he survives, and teaches us that to survive, we must find knowledge--and to find knowledge, we must survive. The Betrayer, Nemean, she buzzes about with her lights and tampers with what happens, for her own amusement or for some goal we do not know. She is dangerous," he added slowly.

"The rest--the stag Astraea, the phoenix Tenzin--the birds--they serve their own ends, now. They know things... they know, perhaps, what came before. How the ones who came before us, died--and why. But they will not tell us. They serve some other master, one that keeps them silent out of fear, I believe. If they tell us why we are here--how we came to be; what might become of us... then something will be taken from them. Their lives? Our magick? I do not know." Dragon eyed the two cats closely. "That is why you must seek it yourselves--why we must all seek the truth ourselves. You must not let them know that we seek it. That we are learning. We must keep it a secret--we must remain safe."

Dragon sighed through his jaws, looking off with a distant stare. "When I was younger, those who were born into this cave--I cared for them, watched over them. We hunted together, and we brought my father his food, and he taught us. We called ourselves the Children of Rot, the children of those who had come before, and died. We intended to survive, and to find the secrets of the cave. But one by one the Children have gone, and only I am left here. Perhaps the Children could rise again, if enough sought the secrets. But... Now you know what I know. Whatever disaster befell those who came before us--it could happen again. Whatever killed them all may return to kill us as well. We must find out what happened before it repeats. Seek knowledge wherever it may be found. Steal what secrets you can from those who will tell us nothing. Learn, yourselves, from the memories of rock and magick. Look to the carvings on the cave walls. Find the truth, and perhaps we will find survival."

@Aithaxas @Layla

Aithaxas turned to look at Layla. A snow leopard? It felt good, being able to know what she was. He gave a small nod, acknowledging her response. Aithaxas did not say anything when she began to talk about an old friend. It was not his business; while curious, this was something he would not pry into.

While still confused, as Aithaxas didn't know exactly what a 'dragon' was, and the Gembound had only given his name, he accepted it as an answer. Dragon was a dragon, then? Perhaps?

He listened throughout. A room of ruins, a throne upon which a leader once sat; a room of bones, where things hid. Someone had to have built the city, the throne, but who? Why where the others hiding, and from what? The thought of such a place-- of a room filled with bones--gave him chills down his spine. As Dragon continued, he remained quiet. Dragon mentioned others that Aithaxas had never heard of before. They may be of help... if only they bothered to speak.

And, as Dragon continued still, Aithaxas found it to be a good point. When it comes to a cave of bones-- surely from something bad happening-- who is to say that the same thing wouldn't happen again? Was there a plague? A murderer? An uprising, against who had been on the throne? Are the two even connected? Aithaxas had never been, so he could not see the scorch marks on the remains. Not that it would help him out too much. He would have remained confused about what happened.

Were they Children of Rot, in their own sense? Not exactly, he knew; but the concept was the same, Aithaxas thought. They all wanted to know the secrets of the cave. And they would have to find them themselves, most likely.

When Dragon fell silent, Aithaxas did not speak, doing his best to fully absorb the information.

@Dragon @Layla

Layla listened quietly to what Dragon had to say. She had heard of Aquarius and Nemean before, but not of the others. She hadn't known what she was searching for, she hadn't known why they were searching for it.

But as Dragon finished, she understood. There were things within the caves that hid, and didn't want the new Gembounds to know of their past, and their future. The caves were shrouded in ignorant bliss, none knowing or wanting to know of the past. None except them.

Layla nodded slowly. "So that's why. Maybe... maybe we could start the Children of Rot again? If we found more to join us?" Layla asked tentatively. She wanted to recruit as many as possible to learn, to find, to explore. "But this time, we'd be more careful. We'd have it different."

@Aithaxas @Dragon

Dragon listened quietly. Aithaxas, the-... "maned wolf," he had said?--seemed to be taking in his words. Layla spoke, however, and Dragon felt quiet pride--and warmth, a rare thing for the reptile--as he looked at her.

"Perhaps!" he rumbled thoughtfully. "I would be proud to call you family, child of Rot, child of Cetus. A child, perhaps, of survival and of knowledge. But you are right--others should ever be found to aid in this. I have always tried to gather all the children of the cave--but too many wish merely to eat, mate and die, to fight their petty squabbles and ignore the larger truths around them."

Slowly he turned his gaze between the two. Layla had brought, it seemed, a worthy ally and student--one with a thoughtful mind. In fact, that bore mentinoing. "Your minds are your strongest weapons," he informed them. "Tell me... how would you proceed?"

I wonder what perspective the two may hold that I have perhaps not seen. I wonder in which direction their minds would send them.

@Aithaxas @Layla

The maned wolf liked the sound of that. Together, they could find out the secrets of the cave- find out what happened. Who was first, what happened to them. Perhaps even why the Gembounds themselves are here, if that related to the quest.

Aithaxas was still very, very young- but he was thinking on how to answer He decided to speak his thoughts. At some points he stumbled over his words, but for the most part, what he was saying was clear.

"I think everything is... connected, in it's own way. The cave of bones and the throne, perhaps. But I have not seen these caves myself, and it would be easier to understand if I have." A short pause. "I cannot know how they are related, if at all, until I see both of the places. But then I would be able to make a decision on how to continue." Aithaxas quieted, thinking it over. "The older ones do not seem to be of much help to us, if they don't tell us anything." He directed his next part to Dragon. "I assume you've spoken to them, but at the very least you know them better. You've heard of them more, maybe. But... would they ever give hints? Even minor, unintentionally; would something spill that could be of possible use to us? Anything." He fell silent.

@Layla @Dragon

Layla listened closely to Aithaxas. He was very wise and thoughtful for one only a half day old. But perhaps some Gembound's were just that way.

"I think perhaps, we go to the room with the lights and ruins. While I was there I was some marks on the walls. I think maybe they mean something. I can take Aithaxas with me, so he can see the room too.And then, maybe, we could find more like-minded Gembounds?" Layla proposed. They could both have their ways. Aithaxas would get to see the rooms, and Layla might be able to see if the scribbles on the walls meant anything.

But how would she figure that out? She had no clue where to begin. Shaking her head, the feline looked back to Dragon. "What would you do next?"

@Dragon @Aithaxas

Dragon listened, appraisingly. Aithaxas, whatever a "maned wolf" might be, seemed intelligent and calculating, at least--logical, methodical. This was good. Layla, too, was approaching all of this with a reasonable nature, and Dragon was pleased.

"Whatever you choose to do," Dragon said quietly, and in a tone of warning, "I would keep it quiet. Tell others you seek secrets, but not what I have told you of the elders. I believe they might think it necessary to harm us--if they know that we know. Perhaps we can be Children of Rot once more. Perhaps these secrets can be given to those who bear the name."

Dragon turned his attention then to Aithaxas. "Your words are wise, little one, and it is through their own admissions that I know much. They themselves have said that there is much that they cannot tell us. The phoenix, Tenzin, is one of those."

Dragon considered, for a moment. Was there a point to it? Some part of him mourned the missing--mourned Eve, and mourned Czernobog, and where was Ghanyarah? Tal'at? Those who had been his Children, who had fought side-by-side against the great dragon, who had fought to near death for the survival of the caves as a whole. Where were they now? Would the Children even be the Children at all, without them?

We are all, in some way, the children of rot. The children of the deaths of this cave's prior lives, those who passed and left only secrets and bones. Perhaps... there is merit to her words.

"Do as you see best, young ones. If you find those of like mind, bring them here. Perhaps-... we can plan further. There are things that could be done. Those with certain magics can be sent to certain places, to seek their truths. Those for whom memories and stone echo. They could be organized. The answers that we get, could be gathered and shared. Find them, then, little one," he said to Layla--though she was not so little any longer.

"I have something to do, then--someone to seek, far from here. And then I will return to this swamp. Bring me those you find. Perhaps together, we might survive."

@Layla @Aithaxas

Aithaxas continued to listen to both of them. Layla made a good point, and her plan made sense-- at least to him. He could see the room, the marks. Perhaps they could find other curious Gembounds who wanted to know the secrets. But why could the others not tell them? Was someone forcing them to stay silent? Why? Too many questions.

He took note. It made sense not to tell too many; perhaps the elders would catch on. That would not end well for anyone involved. Dragon himself might not even be safe if that happened.

He bowed his head. "I will keep an eye out for others."


@Layla @Dragon