Navigating Draco without a sound to chase was difficult, but what had Relic been expecting? Of course it was a maze. Nothing was ever easy, not for her. Well, running was. She'd hoped thinking would be as well, maybe even while running - was she wrong? Because if the judgement was made on sheer quantity, thinking would be the easiest thing she'd ever done. Quality was a different matter.

As her feet pummeled the [uncomfortably moist] rock floor, she reflected on the minutes past. She hadn't called anyone an asshole before then. She didn't even know what it meant, and maybe still didn't - it'd just manifested itself into her vocabulary when she needed it most. Was that a good thing? A blessing? Should she use it again?

And then the lizard; Actually, NO. Let's not think about him. Because if she thought about him, all the ways he might fail both her and whatever was going to burst out of that stone, she'd realise she what a hypocrite she was, and then she'd be forced to challenge whatever was lying behind that instinctual defensiveness. That ugly, ugly knot of insecurity that had twisted its way into her heart, with no one to blame for its existence but herself: Was Relic going to be a good parent? Or was she just going to make another, equally freakish, if not more tortured, tiny little version of herself?

While she didn't have any concrete evidence, she didn't think more of her was what the caves needed.

She then she realised she wasn't moving towards anything, and she wasn't naïve enough to think she was running for the sake of it. She didn't like it that much.

She stopped, looking back at the distance she had left between her and the moment. The stone. She was terrified, and she knew that terror would eat away at any chance she had to make this work, to salvage this strange opportunity - but she didn't know how to deal with it, not alone. How could anyone do this alone? "Hello?" She called out into the dripping dark.

@Nidhogg

His voice--a distant, breathless squealing--came first; high in pitch and then, as he bounded back past Relic like a giant idiotic ferret, sounding slightly lower. (Sound waves, and all that.)

There was a scrabbling sound as his screech went silent--and then he was scrambling back toward Relic, feet tangling among one another yet somehow not quite tripping him up. He skidded to a halt before her, blinked six eyes unevenly, then licked his lips. "I found Vargas!" Panic, exhilaration and more panic threaded through each word--as though he knew he would be punished, but knew Vargas (that asshole) could somehow fix everything, too.

He had to, right? He was a Master, or whatever. Like Stod. This sudden stray memory pitched Nidhogg into a short, coughing fit of snickering giggles, which he clamped shut with a snap of his jaw and another uneven blink. "He'scomingbuthesaidtoputitinthetunnel-"

Nidhogg scrambled for the gemstone, trying to snag it up in awkwardly hooked claws and carry it for the tunnel exit.

- THE LEVIATHAN -

The heavy sigh would reach Relic before the thumps of the Leviathan's swift footfalls. He was... annoyed. Unsurprised, but annoyed. As he strode from the depths of Draco toward the tunnel, just in Nidhogg's trail, he flashed a glance Relic's way. "Accidental child-?" he asked, his question even and toneless. His gaze lingered just too long before he passed, moving toward the tunnel. Curious, maybe, or doubtful, or something else entirely.

Maybe he was just tired of Nidhogg.

"Find me if you have questions." He didn't break his pace, instead continuing on with haste toward... dealing with this mess.

Relic would find Nidhogg lingering a bit near the tunnel mouth, should she look--clearly afraid of approaching Vargas more closely, but unable to ignore the fact he'd accidentally made another child.

enter and immediately exit Vargas, unless he is spoken to!

@Relic

Two answered, one more than she was expecting. Nidhogg was there and gone - which appeared to be a fairly consistent trait of his - but Vargas was at least a little slower. Still in a rush of course, but comprehensible. Maybe that was worse.

Relic had a bad habit of forgetting exactly how small she was, and compared to the hulking purple gembound, she was miniscule. Regardless of the feeling behind the look he gave her [it was hard to decipher], she felt like a bug pinned to the ground. Would their paths cross more once the chrysalis hatched? How do any of the Forge deal with that proximity? She let him leave, unwilling to disturb the Overseer. She'd have to speak with him eventually, but she'd put that off for now.

She followed behind with her head hung low, almost ashamed. The Valkhound left, leaving just her and Nidhogg to... Talk. She shifted her weight from paw to paw, stealing a glance at the stone. It had grown a shocking amount, even in the time she had left it. In its presence, regaining any sort of composure or dignity seemed like an impossible task.

She broke the silence she had left to fester. "So... What'll happen to it? After it hatches?"

@Nidhogg

Nidhogg sidled up to Relic, leaning in with a conspiratorial air--and a conspiratorial whisper. Or an attempt at one, anyway. Realistically? It was still way too loud, but if Vargas overheard, the Leviathan did not slow. "I think I'm in trouble," he told her in that too-loud whisper, sneaking a (three)side-eyed glance after the departing Master. He then looked at her, pulling back sharply as though he hadn't realized he'd gotten so close and was suddenly confused by his proximity to the winged hyena.

"Oh, the baby?" he blurted, jerking his head back around to look at the budding chrysalis. "Uhhh." He squinted.

He didn't really know. "It'll probably be stuck with us. With him," he sneered, and though he did not name Vargas, the way he slunk his head and neck back around (close to the ground) to stare at where Vargas had gone made his meaning clear enough. It was venom, dislike, plain and simple. He looked back at Relic. "I made two other ones. They made a bet," he explained. "Someone said they're good parents. Whatever that is! Who cares. It's stupid, probably! ...But they keep one and we keep one and we see who wins." It was clear, from this rather patchwork explanation, that Nidhogg didn't fully understand. He had the basics of the wager down, but that was it, and he took a breath to continue. "But this one?!" He hissed, dropping low again, clearly confused and disturbed by that confusion. "I don't know! I-" he glanced at Relic again.

"Wait, who are you?"

It was an incredibly stupid question, on the surface, given that they'd met and even fought side-by-side multiple times. But Nidhogg wasn't very good at paying much attention to anything other than himself. At least now, Relic seemed to have it in full.

@Relic

Relic hoped Nidhogg didn't take offense to the shuffling of her feet as she scooted away. She was uncomfortable with the lack of distance between them, something she assumed the valkhound hadn't noticed.

If he was in trouble, what the hell was she in?

Her eyes followed the Overseer as he left, almost tasting the venom in Nidhogg's voice on her own tongue. Was he someone she could trust with that? God, she couldn't screw this up - the panic rose again and she pushed it back with another deep breath. She studied his face, though the amount of information she could glean from it would be limited. "Do you think Vargas is a good parent?" Never mind the other [or others] for now. It was a loaded question, but she'd take any answer.

She was surprised it took him so long to ask her a question, considering there were plenty to ask. But there had been plenty of distraction thus far. "We've uh, been in the same area a couple of times. I was with the group that discovered Lacerta, and I was there to beat up that big snake that came from the walls here. I'm Relic." She didn't have much more to offer him.

@Nidhogg

Nidhogg studied her for a long moment, staring and scrutinizing. At last, he blinked all his eyes (again, unevenly) and made a sort of "aha!" expression. "Your FACE got weird," he crowed, as if in recognition. He stared at the jack-o'-lantern head a moment longer before swivelling his attention back to the chrysalis, and Relic's question.

"No. He's a stupid parent." (Nidhogg was still not entirely sure what 'parent' meant and he slid a sideways glance at Relic, hoping for no expression of confusion--an indication he'd got it right--before continuing.)

"He's big." (Relevant? No.) "And stupid. And he bites things." Nidhogg paused, again, thinking. "Wait, no. He doesn't bite things." That's me. I was thinking of me. "But he's the MAAAASTER and you have to LIIIIIISTEN to EEEVERYTHING he SAAAAYS," he wailed dramatically, flinging his head up to the vertical each time he raised his voice. And when he was done, he glanced behind himself to make sure Vargas was nowhere to be seen.

He slid his stare to Relic again. "He sent me to my uuuuuuuuh. Alligator. To learn." Fuck, he couldn't remember Dragon's relation to himself. It hadn't been his lifegiver, right-? No, great-grandfather? Grandfather? ...Who cared. "HE couldn't do it. He said we have too much fire. But this was my stone so... it won't have my fire?" He paused, considering, head tilting--and his voice had gotten just a smidge softer. He slunk up to the stone, placing a clawed foot on it, tilting his head as he looked down. He seemed almost troubled, for a moment, before physically shaking the feeling away with a wet-dog shake of his head. "It'll have, uh. Whatever you have?" and he squinted back at Relic. "HEY-! Do you think it'll have your FACE?!"

Nidhogg sounded almost hopeful.

That'd be pretty funny.

@Relic

Relic's laugh was quiet and dry, some kind of miserable desert breeze. "My face did get weird. Not on purpose, but I've been stuck with it a while now - guess I'm used to it." The Doctor was less a sentient thing and more of force of nature to her now, changing and tampering with what had been perfectly fine beforehand - but she wasn't about to get angry at the weather.

Vargas was authoritative - that was good, right? A firm hand could be a caring one, but the idea of the behemoth treating anyone with more than vague impatience was distant. And the news he had to outsource his own parenting in the past didn't stir a great amount of confidence. Nidhogg did seem to be a bit of a handful though, from the little she'd seen of him. Maybe it was a good thing this kid wouldn't be her responsibility.

She wanted to kick herself for even thinking that. Of course this kid would be her responsibility - regardless of what anyone said to the contrary, it would be hers. Not hers alone, but still.

"Maybe - I'd feel a little bad if it did." 'Better that than my crippling self doubt and loneliness!'

She let the moment fall into silence.

@Nidhogg

"Your face isn't too bad. It's kinda cool." There it was; the most coherent speech the serpent had ever managed. Maybe "his alligator" had had some impact, after all. But then Nidhogg fell silent.

He didn't know what to say next.

His brain was buzzing. His eyes were locked on the tiny chrysalis.

"So, um."

He didn't even know what he'd been about to say. Nidhogg hesitated, fidgeted, then glanced sidelong at Relic. "Are you, uh. Forge?" That, at least, seemed a safe question to ask.

And...

"...You ever done this before?" Maybe she'd know how to be a parent.

He sure as hell did not.

@Relic

While a little meek, Relic did appreciate the reassurance. Compliment? A bit of both, to its own detriment. "Thanks. I miss my ears." She did - a lot. They were handsome ears.

While she was comfortable with the silence [she'd been blessed with a depressing amount of time to grow familiar with it], she got the sense that this kind of stasis was far from the valkhound's natural state. Better enjoy it while she could. She soaked in it. It was like oil.

It didn't bring her the peace she expected.

Maybe it was unfair to expect such a thing. "No, I'm not. Almost was." She admitted. The structure had drawn her - but the apathy drove her away again. "Until the war that is. You guys really screwed that one up." She didn't know they had lost, but did it matter? Half the caves where untraversable. Neither side really cared for the little guy, that had been made crystal clear in Canis.

She sighed. "No - you haven't, either." She studied Nidhogg for confirmation, though she was fairly confident in her assessment.

@Nidhogg