Tiny paws padded his way down the caverns. Ears pinned hard against his skull, tail between his stiffened legs. Walking with a limp in his hind legs. This time the tunnel opened to a forest.

Purple eyes darted to the ground, within a little time he'd leap forward. Keeping his body silent, pressing against any shadow he had to hide into. Drifting back to thinking about that tiny cave mouse earlier. How he barely got it in his jaws. They were so much quicker than he was.

And he was hungry

Staying pinned against the forest, his eyes were amazed by the pretty sight around him. No longer was it much of a barren rock among the tunnels. This one opened to be one of color. For the neat sights, he was relatively cautious. Careful where he placed his paws. Every sound he could hear, he'd flinch.

---

"Speaking"

@Diem Dark

Diem Dark stood silent in the fields beyond. She probably looked like a forboding figure: dark, her wings held out so that they half-mantled around her, her skull-head tipped upward so that glowing violet eyes (half-lidded) were visible to anyone beside or before her. At one point, the wings flexed slightly, but otherwise she stood silent, bag limp at her hip, taloned hands slack at her sides.

Really, though, she was just taking in the fresh air and the light: stopping to smell the flowers, at it were. It's nice there's people out and about again, she was thinking just then. The caves had gone quiet, for awhile, making her think maybe she'd arrived too late. Or well, so late that she wouldn't get to do much before they inevitably slid back into hibernation.

A reprieve, then: and she was out looking for new friends, eager to meet any strangers that might be about. Before her, a little ghostly alligator hatchling (perpetually tiny) was skittering up out of the river; it chirped loudly at her and she looked down, and smiled. Then it was gone back in the water, a whirlwind of miniscule energy.

She didn't see the wolf cub, yet, slinking along into Pegasus and maybe that was just as well: she'd hate to frighten someone, especially a little kid. As it was she cleared her throat and started to sing. Normally her voice was... well, she thought it was bad. But now she enhanced her lyrics with magic, so that she managed to somehow mimic all sorts of sounds into a whole song: a few notes of a piano, a thump of drum, and then vocals. It wasn't all at once--not even with magic could she do that. But it sounded pretty good, nonetheless.

"Don't look to me, I ain't right... And I don't knooo--oow enough, but how much do... I want to know... It's perfectly clear, I'm where I should bee-eee, yeah, ooooff the wall, and back to reality..."

At the very least, she didn't seem dangerous to approach--surely someone breaking into song wasn't dangerous?

@Cardan

The second something started moving, singing, he flinched. Cowering to the ground near tree bark. Purple eyes darted for the reasoning. Darting from the canopy of the trees to the ground. His tail fluttered, the hackles on his neck rising.

What was shocking to the pup the most? Is that the singing was… good. It wasn't what he expected it to be. Or rather he wasn't sure what to expect. Tiny paws hid themselves under his body. Brown fur sparked up by the tree bark.

Uncertainty rose in his chest. The further along she sang, he felt soothed. Stillness wavered, he didn't near the loud thumping. The noises that drive him crazy.

One paw at a time he gently moved forward from the bark, in any attempt to move towards the sound. Every fur stood up, rising in fear and uncertainty. Surely.. she wouldn't try to attack him? If they did, could he.. outrun?

---

"Speaking"

@Diem Dark

She switched to humming halfway through, then stretched, wings flaring out in a black-feathered cloak before folding loosely at her back again. She turned, then, and did a double-take as her eyes fell by coincidence on Cardan.

Quite suddenly, she screamed. It wasn't a loud or particularly drawn-out scream, though, and it wasn't horror--it was, if anything, excited. "AHHHH! Baby! -Puppy!" she corrected herself immediately, turning fully and dropping into a crouch with arms out. Almost at once she blinked and pulled them back a little (but left them out... also a little... maybe hopefully). "Oh! Sorry, I forgot you're probably-... Can you talk? You're not just a--I mean, you're a Gembound, right?" she asked, voice softer now. Her head tilted a little, quizzically, the strange beak-face curling into a friendly smile.

The little ghostly alligator, unhelpful but also nonthreatening, offered a bright laser-sharp "chirp" before scurrying back for the water.

@Cardan

His hackles rose. The front paw of his took a step back. The voices of the bird scared him. Causing him to flinch, to cower close to the ground. Practically as low as the earth would let him.

"I.. I guess? I dunno what that is..."

Is that what he was? A gem bound? What about that large Dino lady he met? Or his friend? Is.. everything a gem bound? It all made him want to return back to his little chrysalis. Cardan didn't want to leave it yet. But he felt like he needed to. To learn more..

He certainly wasn't happy about being out though.

---

"Speaking"

@Diem Dark

Diem let herself fall onto her rump in the grass, using a hand to adjust a long, furry tail not unlike a wolf's that protruded a little from the bottom of her robe, or cloak, or whatever those clothes could be called. "Sorry," she apologized, even more quietly now. "A 'gembound' is someone with a gemstone. One of these," she added, pulling up the t-shirt to tap a purple topaz set amongst the black feathers of her chest. Her claw made a little "clink" as she did so.

She looked Cardan over but saw no immediate sign of a gem, and so she just smiled, shrugged and let the shirt drop. "The stone's where your magic comes from. -You found your magic, yet?" she went on, keeping her tone and body language easygoing. "Or, um, a name?" she asked, second-guessing herself. This kid looked like a new, new hatch. She was probably asking a little too much of him.

"I'm Diem," she offered, in the interests of politeness, and leading by example. Maybe if he didn't know what a name was, that'd help him figure it out?

@Cardan

"Oh.. Is that what this is?"

The pup would only move a bit to show his stiffened leg. Where his claws would be a different color, Zincite. And whenever he tried to flex it, it hurt.. A lot. It was stiffened and unable to be flexed. That's what he found out. How to walk without a fourth leg. Why even have it if he couldn't feel like he couldn't use it?

Purple eyes gazed towards her stone she pointed out. One on her chest. Purple topaz. A pretty color he thought.

"Gem bound.."

He repeated quietly. Cardan wasn't sure exactly what it meant. But it was enough for him to want to understand it better. Why he looked.. different. Eyes drifted back to the bird-like creature before him. Shaking his head.

"I dunno about the magic.. Every once in a while I hear really loud things.. Like a loud thumping sound."

In his mind, he went back to the time he was with that really big Dino creature. Who helped soothe him when he heard all those noises at once. To the sounds that felt like they lasted forever.

"But, uhm, I’m Cardan"

At least that's what he decided to call himself. A very new pup, a new hatchling with little idea where to go. What to do. He wasn't even sure what this ‘power’ was. What she really meant.

---

"Speaking"

@Diem Dark

For a split second after Carden showed off shiny hind claws--clearly gemstone--Diem was ecstatic. She started to coo over them; to say how cool they looked. Then, a minor realization hit. He's... limping, she realized, mind darting back to go over the last few moments. It was subtle. She wouldn't have noticed it at all if he hadn't just showed her where the stone was, but the way it'd remained somewhat stiff even when he cowered and moved... Damn.
She wished she could do something for him. Maybe-... no. Her mind had, briefly, flicked to her enchanted sheets--but those only worked for unhatched children. Damn, she thought again.

"Pretty stone," she offered aloud, keeping her tone light. Better than what I'm really thinking. 'Dude, that stone location sucks,' would be a little mean.
"Nice to meet you, Cardan." She smiled easily, then thought over what he'd described. "...Some kind of pressure magic, maybe?" she guessed, completely off the mark. But it was the first thing she'd thought of that could affect sound.

"I can do a few different bits of magic, but here's one," she said, holding out one clawed hand. A pale little wisp flashed into existence, dancing slowly over her palm; when she retracted her hand it hovered there. "You can learn more magic as you go. Did you just hatch here?" she added, glancing over Cardan's shoulder, as if expecting to see more wolf pups appearing out of nowhere. But kids-... they wanted certain things, usually, after hatching. Food, or information, or adventure. She could try to provide--unless he wasn't a fresh hatch. Well, even then. But he might want something else. Or--nothing at all. Maybe he was aimlessly exploring, like so many of them did, at first.

Hell, she could get behind that, too.

@Cardan

"I.. I don't like it.. It hurts sometimes.. I can only leave my leg like this and it doesn't hurt as much…"

Cardan blurted out. A soft shift of his weight on his paws. Anxious crawled in his veins.

"I.. I mean.. Yours is pretty.. Does it hurt sometimes too?"

Cardan shook his head. Blinking his precious purple eyes.

"I dunno.. I can feel the beats and thumps. It's so loud but it goes away.."

But it didn't mean he wanted it. To hear beating, what was that going to do for him? All it did was stress him out. He hated every lick of it. It could stay very far away from him.

His eyes brightly shined against the willow wisp the other created. From nothing!? Why couldn't he have something like that?

"Uhm.. yeah.. I had another around me but I've lost her.."

He's been wandering ever since. Partly looking for her. Keeping up with her running around was hard. Especially since he seemed limited in range of motion.

Had she truly asked him what he wanted.. Cardan wouldn't shy away from telling her. Something about him didn't like to spit lies in the face of someone much older than him.

"So uhm.. I don't really live anywhere at the moment. I..i uh, just wanted to see these.."

His head would turn to look up at the large sticks. That sprouted from the ground. Cardan wanted to learn more about them. But was too face shy to really ask.

He would like that, he thought. A place to himself. Where he could feel safe and sound. Not worry about the danger of the drums beating in his ears.

---

"Speaking"

@Diem Dark

...Damn. This poor kid. Being hatched with a stone like that-? It was cruel, was what it was. Diem turned slightly, firing a scowling glance vaguely upward, as if in disapproval toward someone or something. After her eyes had narrowed for a moment, she softened, turning back toward Cardan. "I'm really sorry you have to deal with that. Mine doesn't hurt. I think it's because it's in a joint--a spot where your leg is meant to move, you know? It's possible," and here she glanced meaningfully upward again, "that you could return to your chrysalis at some point--like if you hurt yourself there really badly--and it could fix itself somehow. Your leg could grow differently around it, maybe. Better if it happens sooner rather than later, so it has time to grow."

She shook her head a little, then. The words "beating and thumping" made her eyes spring wide. "Oh-! Like a heartbeat? I think you're sensing a heartbeat! That's, um. We have hearts, they pump blood around our bodies." She didn't get too much into detail, in part because everything in the caves varied anatomically. Some of the Valkhounds probably had four or five hearts or something. "You can use a kind of magic to find those! It should help you hunt for food. You can eat the Lessers--mice and things. They can't talk. They're here to be food." Maybe having the explanation in-hand would help him? And heck, it meant he probably had the same element she did! Best not to get into that, though. It'd probably just be confusing.
She followed his gaze, noting to herself that it sounded like he meant he'd... what, lost a companion, somewhere? She wasn't sure, and she didn't press it. He seemed so uncertain. So--almost lost? Diem suppressed a grimace of sympathy. "Oh--the forest? The trees?" Diem squinted off at them, then smiled at Cardan. "Pegasus is a nice cave. The forests are beautiful. You could spend some time in there, and you'd probably find some stuff to eat. But if not! -I guess you came through uhhh. Cepheus?" The alternative was Draco, and... she doubted that very much. "The cave with the weird light, and the white buildings? If you get hungry, you can go into the big building and ask around for the Chef, Nedes. You can get free food, there." Another kind smile was fired at the wolf pup. She couldn't help with his unfortunate gemstone placement... but maybe she could make sure he knew where a safe haven was, at least.

@Cardan