Chaos-Two sighed, almost in relief as Master Vargas didn't pick up the music box. They carefully put it back into their hiding place and turned back to Vargas, facing him again.

"I understand," they said in response, referring to all Vargas had said about Isra and their current state of punishment.

They'd have to earn their wandering privileges, but they were expecting that anyway. All they had to do was continue to do as Vargas asked, to complete their trial, and then profit.

Chaos-Two blinked as Vargas stalked away, trotting to keep up with the Master's long gait. They ended up taking to all fours to follow, wincing at the description of their panic attack. A tantrum... they'd never heard Vargas call any of Draconua's fits a tantrum.

"Empty... it?", they asked, looking at Master Vargas for a moment before swallowing, "Okay..."

Looking down into the hole, they hesitated for just a moment, only to figure out how to get inside without loosening a foothold and tumbling down. After a moment they descended, hooves scraping on stone as they clambered down, peering around the hole for a moment. But they didn't protest, didn't show any signs of displeasure.

This wasn't going to be easy, but they could do it.

Chaos-Two started with the small rocks and pebbles, gathering them up and tossing them out of the hole. Then they moved to smaller rocks, lobbing them up (careful not to hit Master Vargas, if he was still waiting).

They started to try and lift one of the boulders once the hole was half-empty, their fur glistening with sweat as they pushed and heaved, bowing their head to try and get their shoulders under it. Their hooves scrabbled for footing as they pushed and shoved, grunting with effort as they managed to hook their fingers under and lift it up just a few inches.

Their foot slipped and their fingers got caught, a pained squeal leaving their mouth as they yanked their hand out, quickly checking to see if their fingers were broken. It wasn't a huge rock, but there was still a risk. Thankfully, they just seemed to have been jammed.

The valkhound thumped their head against the rock and rested for a moment, chest heaving as they took a minute to catch their breath, fur standing on end from Vargas' gaze on them.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas studied Chaos-Two.

Whatever his intentions were, he was holding them close to his chest; he only really stirred when Chaos-Two injured itself, shifting to eye it over. It must not be bad, was his only real note on that, when it seemed well enough. "Out, for a moment," he said at length, after allowing the spawn a few moments' rest.

He gave it a few seconds, and then began to sweep all the rocks back in. Not the heaviest, mercifully--not the big slabs--but he filled back in about half of what had been removed already, using long limbs to sweep in all the little rubble that had already been painstakingly removed.

"Continue," he said, at last, and stepped back again.

@V-Chaos-Two

Chaos-Two looked up as Vargas spoke, quickly climbing out and sitting down, wondering if he'd called them out for a break. They stared in disbelief as Vargas swept it all back into the hole, more baffled than angry. Their eyes flicked up to him, blinking stupidly, puzzled.

Slowly, they stood up again, wondering what Vargas was doing, but they jumped back into the hole and started to dig again.

Rocks were thrown up and slabs that Chaos-Two could feasibly push up without too much effort. The boulders were going to be a problem, though, so they were leaving them for last. They hoisted up a larger rock and pushed it against the side of the hole, pushing it up and over with a bit of work. Back down into the hole they went, heading for another boulder to try and hoist up.

Chaos-Two rubbed their hands together, wiping the sweat off of them and onto their legs. They got their hands under it and lifted, hoisting it higher and higher before they were able to get their head under it, using their antlers as a lever to push it up. With one last shove and a grunt of strain it was lifted over the lip, rolling off a bit and coming to a stop.

A little more than halfway done again, now.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas waited. It was a long wait, a patient wait, but he'd waited longer than this before, for other things. Hunts, mostly. Kills.

This was not to be a kill--well, not unless it somehow went drastically, unexpectedly wrong. Draconua-level wrong. Right now, he simply waited.

Chaos-Two rested at a little more than half-done. Vargas waited a little longer--waited for it to rest, waited for it to get back to work again. When there was perhaps a third of the hole left to dig out (though maybe Chaos-Two would not know how deep it went) he pushed back forward again.

And filled it back in. Not all the way--and he still did not explain himself. He was silent for the duration. He simply undid all the hard work that Chaos-Two had done (or, half of it; the hole went back to two-thirds or so full) and then sat back down at the edge of the little pit.

"Continue," was all he said.

@V-Chaos-Two

Chaos-Two watched all the tiny little rocks filter back into the hole, then the bigger ones, and then they looked up at Vargas, making a helpless sort of, 'what the fuck?' gesture, arms slightly spread.

"I fail to see what this is supposed to be doing," they said, "Is this a test?"

But they got to work, deciding to work on the bigger rocks instead. Their energy mostly went into those, so getting them out of the way first would be essential if they didn't want to collapse from overexertion. Though Vargas was still pushing the rocks back in, so they'd have to push them back up again.

May as well call them Sisyphus at this point.

Chaos-Two heaved another boulder, one of the largest, up the side of the hole, muscles straining with exertion before they stumbled, the rock reaching the top and rolling away. They shook their head and went to another, hoisting that one up too and trying to push it out. They were a runner, though, not a heavy-weight lifter, so their strength would end up failing them at some point.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

"Everything is a test," Vargas answered non-committally--a non-answer if ever there was one.

And then, he waited.

When only a quarter of the rubble remained, he went back to work, himself: sweeping rocks in again en masse, filling the hole back up a little over a third.

"Tell me," he said, at last, as he worked: "you have said you have continued to think over my words." He paused again in his speech, pushing and shoving another cascade of rocks down into the pit--not to hit Chaos-Two, of course, but simply to add to its workload. "What perspectives have you considered?" he asked. "What do you imagine my meaning was?"

Would it remember what he had said?

@V-Chaos-Two

A deadpan expression crossed Chaos-Two's face. What an answer...

They watched the rocks tumble down and got back to work, shoving rocks up the side of the hole even as their muscles weakened, their limbs turning to lead. It hurt to continue, now, the burn in every muscle nearly unbearable.

"My will," they grunted, struggling to lift a boulder up the side of the hole, "You spoke of my will, and I thought about it. But that is not what you asked."

Chaos-Two pushed harder and harder, hissing as their arms cramped and threatened to give.

"'What do I think strength is?' That is what you asked me," they said, bracing themselves for a moment, "Strength is courage. It is determination, it is will. Strength is not physical prowess, it is having the strength to go on, to become greater, to become more. To push past your boundaries!"

With a pained cry they pushed the boulder up and over the edge, gasping as they slid down the wall, gripping one arm as their muscles spasmed.

"... Strength is getting up when you have fallen. It is never, ever giving up," they said, and staggered to their feet, reaching for another stone and picking it up.

Chaos-Two threw it over the side and silently continued, sweat dripping down their brow, soaking their tawny fur.

"I think that is what you wanted me to learn," they said, throwing more rocks and debris over the edge, bending down to pick up more, "This is the test you are giving me now, I think. To keep going, to not give up even when someone is throwing rocks down the hole you are trying very hard to empty."

Chaos-Two hoped this was what Vargas was trying to teach them and he wasn't just being a giant dick (or maybe it was both), because if he threw more god-damned rocks down they might just collapse.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

"That," Vargas said slowly, "is not the thing I asked you to consider. It is not the thing I told you you misunderstood." His tone was even, calm, emotionless.

He paused, watching Chaos-Two at work. He let it move rocks, for a time, and then went on. "I agree with your general definition of strength." He didn't say whether it was why he was tossing rocks back into the hole, or not--didn't confirm, didn't deny. Instead he went on. "What you misunderstood--what I told you to consider from other perspectives--I will clarify: it was when I told you that I stayed my hand not because of anything I saw in you, some perceived value, something worthwhile. I told you that I did not spare you because of something that I saw in you. That is what I want you to consider until you understand it." It was after those words--and the ones that had come just after, too--that Chaos-Two had sagged, and it was these words that held true meaning.

He pushed another few armfuls of rock into the hole. Then he stood back, and watched.

Chaos-Two was making progress--gradual, with the obstacles Vargas kept throwing at it--but he allowed each period of digging to get a little deeper. His spawn--even with his interference--would be nearing the bottom soon enough.

@V-Chaos-Two

Chaos-Two hissed in frustration, though not at the rocks as they pushed them up the side, struggling to not react to the pain in their arms.

"Then why?", they asked, "Why spare me? Out of the goodness of your heart? Because you wanted to be merciful?"

And finally, their muscles gave out.

They'd been pushing a rock up, trying to get it over the edge like the others, only for weakness to hit like a truck and send them and the rock falling to the ground. They collapsed to their knees and shook, their muscles aching and burning, lungs full of oxygen and yet they still felt like they were suffocating as they panted.

"... Did you spare me because you wanted to see if I could become useful?", they asked, resting against the rock, closing their hands to hide the skin that had been rubbed raw and scraped, "You said that strength comes in many forms. Is that it? Did you think that in my physical weakness, that something else could grow from it?"

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas watched Chaos-Two struggle, and did nothing to help. He didn't push any more rocks in, but he didn't help. "No," he answered, "it was not an attempt to be 'merciful.' And no, I held no other hopes for you, no expectations, only a... mild horror at my mistake." The pause was thoughtful: within its space he'd been wondering, what do you call the emotional equivalent of realizing that you've made a terrible mistake? At a failure that will ruin another's chances, cause it to suffer, to never reach its full potential? Horror? Shame? He'd settled on "mild horror." That seemed to suffice. He didn't actually clarify, either, what the point had been--he almost seemed disinterested.

His attention remained, mostly, on Chaos-Two's work. He was watching the stones, and watching them closely. Another few moments, and it would have reached the bottom of the pit.

@V-Chaos-Two