The chrysalis lay tucked between two ridges, blending in rather nicely into the gloomy environment. It was within this trapping of oilstone that held a valkhound. Consciousness entered for the first time, a feeling of awareness that spread from simply knowing that one was alive, to knowing that one had limbs. They wiggled their many toes. Attempted to stretch their tail. Well, attempted to at least. The oilstone was holding them inside, preventing freedom of movement. But they were a lizard. Although it was not an uncomfortable feeling by any means, they would rather not be inside of this thing. And something told them that it was time to emerge.

There was not much strength in their body. They were not meant to brute force things. But this would not stop them. Pressing outwards with their legs, the chrysalis shattered open, shards of oilstone clinking against sharp rocks as they fell. Wisperia stayed in her chrysalis which looked like half of a broken eggshell as she took in the scenery. Glowing purple eyes inspected her surroundings, which she found to her liking. Dark, gloomy, and perfect.

@Erasmus

An almost equally young creature, though still visibly adolescent unlike valkhounds, was prowling through the mist, patrolling a section of the eerie cave. It was not the first time the vampire had passed by the oilstone chrysalis, but it was the first time that they realized what it was, as they heard it crack.

Instincts had them freeze, though it was a moment of brevity. They watched warily with green viper eyes as the chrysalis shattered. The creature that came out was longer than the vampire child was tall, not even taking the tail into account.

It was dangerous. But the vampire had no claims to wisdom. This was not the first being that Erasmus had approached with hostility.

So out of the mist emerged the vampire child, approaching not too close and hissing. Like the last time, it sounded more like a disgruntled feral kitten than any true intimidation. Tension was clearly visibly in their form.

@Wisperia

It did not take long for her eyes to lock upon Erasmus as they emerged from the fog, standing out among the darker foliage of Cetus. They were easy to spot even without the night vision her eyes granted. Although she was large, much larger than this child here, Wisperia still took caution. It was a good thing perhaps, that Erasmus had opted for a method of communication through sounds rather than speech. She was newly hatched after all, and words were not something she understood very well just yet. Hissing however, was instinctively taken to be a noise indicating a threat.

Moving slowly, the valkhound left what remained of her chrysalis, and positioned herself upon the side of a ridge, gecko-like toes keeping her in place. Now she was able to stretch out to her full size, eyes continuing to inspect the gembound. It could possibly be dangerous. Or maybe not.

Maybe it would be a good idea to relieve the tension. There was a tingling feeling in her gemstone, and she pulled upon it. And out came a wisp, flickering into existence in the space between the two. How delightful, how absolutely delight- PWOOSH! The wisp exploded, backfiring and blinding her with its light. Wisperia lost her grip in shock and fell into the trench.

@Erasmus

The other moved slowly. Whether this was because of newly being hatched, unwillingness to provoke, or an interest in assessing them in return, the vampire was uncertain. The being was even larger than they had thought.

Instead of tensing less when the wisp came out, the young vampire's tension increased. A low growl started in their throat at the light. They did not like it. Was this a threat? And then the wisp exploded, and the child did not know it was an accident on the valkhound's part.

Perhaps they should have realized, since the other creature had fallen from shock. But magical backfire was not something the vampire child understood. All it knew was that the light, already overwhelming to their senses, had become blindingly bright for a moment.

Clearly, it must have been a threat. They did not throw themself into a fight, senses still reeling, but their claws were outstretched and their teeth bared in threat.

@Wisperia

Now soaked in some sort of water, Wisperia lay there, dazed. Although she was able to see well in the darkest of places, the skill did not work when the opposite happened. Eyes recovered from the temporary blindness, allowing the trees and ridges Cetus to reemerge into view. They pulled themselves out of the trench.

Erasmus had clearly not liked their efforts at attempting to forge some sort of mutual understanding. Though perhaps that was only reasonable considering the wisp had straight up exploded. She was careful to remain out of their reach, understanding the general posturing that told of hostility. Wisperia tried again to summon some sort of wisp, but this time it failed. At least it was better than what had happened the first time?

Perhaps speech was a good try here. "Ssss..." She knew what she wanted to say but it was hard to put into words. Into a word. "Safe."

@Erasmus