They blinked, as they realized what Anala had been trying to say. For all that Rhapsody was a child, they understood when others spoke. And... it seemed to them like Anala was trying to take back the words, but that meant this was probably even more important to know.

Anala might have wanted to drop this, but Rhapsody did not. Magic interruption sounded useful to know about but... This was important, they thought.

On top of their head, big ears were now quite alert. "Similarities?" they repeated, very confused. "What do you mean...?" Rhapsody had never known, still didn't quite know, that families meant shared traits sometimes.

"My father's Archimedes. He's... like you, sort of," they searched for the right words. "...Simple-like?" they tried. "In form, I mean," Rhapsody elaborated, since that was... a bit rude sounding. "He's a rat. Not the same kind as lessers, though."

@Anala

ANALA
From a spark to a flame

Anala wasn't sure what to say. A rare occurrence for the wolf who often spoke before thinking. She was either wrong and that was that, these traits were just coincidences, somehow, or... She was right, and Rhapsody did not know. For some reason. There was still so much about Doru that she did not understand, though she did try.

"Coincidences, maybe!" She began, another redirection. "There are all kinds of gembound out there, I was only comparing to one I have met. They have a venom like yours." She explained with a twitching ear, a nervous habit of hers. "And uh-" She was in way over her head, here. Would Doru be upset with her? If she was right? If Rhapsody was distanced from them for a reason? "A few other things. You just remind me of them, is all. Doesn't have to mean you're related." She shrugged, glancing towards the water.

Anala tried to find anything rat-like that she could connect to Rhapsody, some reassurance that she could just be mistaken. It could just be a coincidence. "You have paws kind of like your dad's." She decided, hiding her uncertainty. "And we share traits too. Doesn't mean you're mine!" She added with a lighthearted chuckle, shrugging off the 'simple' comment. It was true, and she knew it was not meant to be mean. "Not a hybrid?" She offered. "It's not offensive, don't worry. Most gembound are simple-like." She reassured with a warm smile. She didn't know how true that comment was anymore, given the number of hybrids and mutated gembound she had seen, but everyone knew the laws of the caves. Most were born as upgraded lessers, for lack of any better description, and the cave's magic tended to improve upon them once they were old enough to withstand the changes. Once they had earned them, so to speak.

OOC Notes:

@Rhapsody

It took Rhapsody a moment for things to click as they blinked at Anala. They honestly wouldn’t have thought much of sharing traits with another. Some gembounds looked a bit similar, some didn’t. That was all there was to it, they’d thought.

Suddenly, they realized that childish conclusion might be wrong, especially when Anala tried to find features of a rat in them. Their hands were a bit rat-esque, this was true. But… Otherwise, they didn’t seem to share any traits with their father other than that one, if that resemblance was even more than a coincidence.

Even the word hybrid, it meant mix, didn’t it? Or something like that.

Rhapsody had a memory come crashing back to them of when they had hatched. Their father hadn’t been sure what they were supposed to eat, they were pretty sure. They’d never really thought much of that before now.

But they weren’t sure if they should let Anala know they were still suspicious. For the first time in their life… the fox-child deliberately lied, sort of. Or, at least, they masked what they were really feeling. ”There are a lot of gembounds out there,” they agreed, finally accepted the change of topic.

Then they made a change of topic of their own. ”We should spar again sometime! Was really fun,” Rhapsody told Anala, but their grin wasn’t as wide now even if they were trying.

”I think I’m gonna go find my father, but I’ll seeya around, Anala!” The child waved then took to the air with their wings. Their stomach felt weird, kind of like being sick. They didn’t like this, at all.

@Anala

[Exit Rhapsody?]

ANALA
From a spark to a flame

Anala worried still as Rhapsody just sat there for a moment, blinking, processing. She let them, waiting patiently, ear still twitching until they were ready to speak again. "Many!" She agreed, relieved that she didn't just accidentally destroy a family. It was true, in the end, that there were many, many gembounds in the caves. Who was she to say that the one gembound she met that happened to look kind-of-a-lot-like-them was actually related?

"I would love to. I'll practice before the next time, so I'll have more to show you!" She returned the smile, oblivious to the other's torment. "I'm here often, so I won't be hard to find. Say hi to your dad for me, alright?" She said her own goodbyes cheerfully, though she was still a little nervous about the whole ordeal, and watched Rhapsody take off.

She would hang around for a short while, chiding herself while she drank from the very river she fell into earlier, and then she too would head out (minus the flying) to find something to eat. The spar had taken a lot of energy, and she wasn't very keen on trying to train further today given the consecutive failures.

OOC Notes: Exit!

@Rhapsody (visibility)

Character: Rhapsody Age: +2 (2 Cycles) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) ROUND 1 Attempt: +4 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +2 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +2 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +3 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +3 Penalties: - ROUND 6 Attempt: +17 Penalties: - Total: 34

Character: Anala Age: 25 (50 Cycles) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) ROUND 1 Attempt: +2 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +10 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +11 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +1 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +9 Penalties: - ROUND 6 Attempt: +8 Penalties: - Total: 67

WINNER: Anala (but can we really call it winning)

@Rhapsody @Anala