"Alright, farewell, sir," they said, giving Vargas a nod.

They scooped up Agate-Two and placed her on their shoulder before taking their staff again. They slowly lead Sentinel off, its hand clasped in their own. They looked between the two and sighed. Vargas made cute kids.

"What do you two crave? Sweet or savory? Fruit or meat?", they asked, wanting to know their diets if they had such knowledge.

Chaos-Two lead them to their nest and let go of Onyx-One's hand so they could lift up the nest, revealing a hole underneath. They pulled out two apples and the remains of a deer, half of one, still relatively fresh. They set all three things down and sat.

"Eat," they said, "Eat if you are hungry, if not..."

They drew a thick branch from under the nest, decorated with twine and feathers, partially chewed. A makeshift toy, or at least something to wear down growing teeth with.

"If you aren't going to eat, play with this if you want," they said, "Or with me, I suppose. But no drawing blood."

Oh thank the caves, the grape was leaving. Vedette wiggled as she was picked up, snapping at Chaos-Two's fingers before grumbling and settling down on their shoulders. They watched them go through the motions and grumbled more.

"Meat," she hissed, jumping off as soon as she was able, landing in the nest and sitting down, pointedly trying to claim the bed as her own.

Chaos-Two pulled out half a deer and she lunged, tearing viciously at a leg, clawing at the haunch until she reached bone and popped it out. She scuttled off with her leg and tore into it, ravenous.

"Mine," she spat at Sentinel, huddling over it as she ate.

She eyed the toy and shook her head out, growling at Chaos-Two as they set the toy down. She continued to eat until her belly was fat, and then she lunged for Chaos-Two.

@The Sentinel

The Sentinel watched Vargas depart, indifferently, and then plodded along with V-Chaos-Two. He held the hand, at first, using it to balance himself to walk upright--awkward, but doable. And when he was released he stumbled, falling briefly to his knees before pushing back up again. There he wobbled, watching and waiting.

When Agate went to the deer carcass, he watched for a moment before doing so too. He moved methodically, with intent and focus, half-ignoring (but fully aware of) the other child's tearing at the deer's haunch. He, instead, went for the deeper scent of organs, pulling free what he could and stepping back. He tumbled a little, falling to his rump, but stayed there, eating his food with slow precision.

Still, he did not speak; ghostly blue eyes slipped to Agate, observing, then to Chaos-Two. Nobody had taught Sentinel, yet, of manners--of please and thank you--and so he simply ate in silence, perhaps obedient or simply blank, learning as he watched.

There was no telling what he ascertained or what he assumed from these interactions: from the Agate hoarding food or attacking; from Chaos-Two making slow and unaggressive offerings. But it was clear that the Sentinel did watch, and whether he was learning or whether events were simply flowing in one set of eyes and out the other was entirely unclear.

@V-Chaos-Two

Chaos-Two lifted their head to face Agate one and narrowed their eyes. Her teeth latched onto their fingers and they snarled. They pushed their hand down and smushed Agate-One into the ground, using their other hand to pry her head away and press that into the ground instead.

They pulled their hand away and grumbled, shaking it as if it would help it some hurting. They pressed a talon to Vedette's snout to keep her from speaking.

"Shut up and listen," they said, voice soft, "Attack me. Attack him. Your death only comes closer. Listen to me. Let me teach you everything I can, let Vargas teach you everything he can. And you will be powerful. You will be an instrument of chaos."

They lifted their claw but didn't let her up yet.

"I do not wish to be your enemy like Vargas is," they said, and then turned to Sentinel, "I will teach you both what I can, and when I can't teach you anymore, then Vargas and the others will teach you more. Disobedience will not be tolerated here. You'll learn and you'll learn quickly, or else."

Chaos-Two released Agate-One and nursed their hand much like they remembered Vargas doing so.

"Do not bite me again. I do not want to hurt you," they said.

Vedette tasted blood and was about to taste more before she was shoved to the ground, a claw set on her nose. She didn't dare speak, lest that thing go through her snout. She stared up at Chaos-Two, ears pinned.

She was allowed to speak and did, growling, "... Fine. FINE! Let me up!"

She was let up and she shook herself out, glaring at Chaos-Two before returning to her shank, gnawing on the bone and sulking harder than ever before.

"Hate you," she said, sniffling, "Want to bite him."

She lashed her tail back and forth and shot a glare at Sentinel, "... You talk? Talk. Say something!"

Vedette was lashing out at everything she could, embracing the chaos raging in her blood. Oh how she hated.

@The Sentinel

The Sentinel listened quietly, mind still clearly elsewhere--or so heavily focused on all that was happening that it left no room for speech or interaction of his own.

It wasn't clear. Perhaps he merely had nothing of use to say, as yet. Agate's demands earned her nothing but an empty stare.

But something V-Chaos-Two had said struck him, and his little, dog-skull head cocked slightly to one side. Gaze intent, he asked a first question of Chaos-Two. It struck him as important to know, somehow. "Vargas... is... enemy?" he asked. He already grasped who Vargas was, but he had assumed him to be their master, parent, guide, guardian, boss, whatever. 'Enemy' struck a different chord in his mind: one of combat, blind battle; one of violence and hatred.

This jarred with what he had assumed, and so he asked now for this clarification. V-Chaos-Two's answer would, of course, be... formative, in the little one.

Yet he said nothing--acknowledged nothing--of the Agate's tantrums; it was as though she were on another plane of existence, apart from him and separate to him entirely.

@V-Chaos-Two

Oh they'd have to word this carefully. This one was like a baby picking up swear words, they'd have to watch how they spoke.

"... No," they said, "Not to you. Not to me. Agate-One sees him as such and that's both wise and stupid. A normal Gembound born outside of these caves would be right to be wary. We need to be wary too, but he is not our enemy. He is our Master and we listen to what he says because he wants us to live. He is not our enemy. He shouldn't be. But he is also not a friend."

Chaos-Two left Agate-One alone to sulk and turned to Sentinel, lifting a hand gently to take the pup's in their own, "I ask that you listen, Onyx-One. Listen and learn, and do not ask questions unless told to. You can ask me anything, but I can't promise I have all the answers. Vargas is our Master and he is doing his best to allow these caves to live. You may not understand, I may not understand either, but we have to trust he knows what he is doing."

They sighed and hoped that the black dog understood at last half of that.

Vedette had scuttled away the moment Chaos-Two stopped paying attention, teaching something to Sentinel. She didn't care. Escape, even a small amount of rebellion, was in her grasp. She'd listened, oh yes, but the urge to cause mischief and trouble had been irresistible.

She darted past Chaos-Two as quietly as possible, only having to worry about sound since their blind spot was, well, everywhere. They made their way to the nest as quietly as possible and stopped at the wall, walking along it and looking for good footholds.

Nothing. It was practically flat.

Well, she'd have to try anyway.

@The Sentinel

The Sentinel had sat in calm silence, and his attention was on Chaos-Two until the moment that the Agate moved. The ears on his head faced to the side; their eyes saw sideways.

He had been told to watch V-Agate-One. 'It is your duty, for now, to keep close watch on V-Agate-One. To keep it under control, and to keep it from fleeing. Do you understand-?'

The Sentinel had understood.

When she moved he was in violent, sudden, chaotic motion an instant later--a clumsy puppy body, but he didn't hesitate to throw himself after the other child. He was up and chasing, an attempt to outrun her as she hit the wall--and he was about to try and stop her.

He ignored V-Chaos-Two, or so it seemed: he had his command from the Master, and he would stop the child fleeing if he could.

@V-Chaos-Two

Chaos-Two watched as the pup suddenly took off, and whipped their head to glance at where Agate-One had been. Of course she'd tried to run.

They turned and stood, taking to all fours and watching the struggle. Hm. Perhaps this was a good training opportunity. A game of chase. Perhaps unfair to the Sentinel, lacking claws and unable to climb like Agate-One could, but learning to overcome the odds was a valuable lesson.

They walked forward and circled around, unable to see the two very well against the dark colors of the cave, only occasionally catching eyes or tawny fur. They'd interfere if injury were to occur, or if Agate-One tried to escape.