Rhapsody had come to the decision to show the caves to their new dependent, the bird who gave excited trills at each new find. Their familiar was so small compared to them, but infinitely precious to the gembound already.

Currently, the purple tinted bird was hopping between different trees with a sense of eager excitement to explore. Meanwhile, Rhapsody had landed on the rocky ground, gaze scanning for prey. They had been neglecting their meals lately.

Their two pairs of eyes alighted upon a lesser deer herd, and they fell still as they thought of how they could catch these swift looking deer.

Perhaps... they had might have gotten stronger, so perhaps magic would do?

They had failed, but they sensed potential behind this idea. The deer had not yet noticed them, still as they remained. Perhaps they could try again...

For a moment, they thought they had once more failed. But then, a deer was forced to ground, and Rhapsody leapt forward with long strides, eagerly pinning their prey.

The rest of the herd fled.

Rhapsody bit at their prey's neck with too sharp teeth, and the deer immediately relaxed despite how it should have been struggling, Rhapsody's venom overpowering natural instincts, turning what should have been pain into a sense of euphoria.

They let go with their mouth, not killing the deer immediately. The blood poured out more easily if the heart still beat, after all. And so their unnerving tongue lapped at the wound they had made, drinking. If the blood grew slow or their prey began to twitch to escape, they gave another bite and then fed off that new spot.

Finally, they felt sated, at least mostly. A part of them also hungered for magic, as well. Always, they were consumed by hunger for both blood and magic. But it was doubtful their random pick of deer held a stone on it.

The deer was limp, even after they stood. They had taken quite a bit of blood and used quite a bit of venom... After some consideration, they leaned down to briefly snap the deer's neck. It would have died regardless, so such was more a mercy than anything else.

With a musical hum of their voice, their familiar came flying over, landing on their shoulder and idly began to preen their fur, much to their fond amusement.

Mirrikh enjoyed hunting in Cetus, though the most interesting prey here were the variety of spiders. They were not the tastiest of prey, per say, but they were some of the largest prey Mirrikh could take on alone.

Yes, Mirrikh was a hunter, a predator, but... even though they had traits that should have made them an apex hunter, they were ever so small.

Their stonerot venom, their paralysis powder... They were meant for hunting. They had never seen a creature with more natural attributes to aid in hunting than themself.

At least, that had been the case. Until now.

Using magic to hunt was not too exceptional. It wasn't a bad quality at all. But that had not been what had caught Mirrikh's interest as they observed the figure that somewhat resembled a tall, bipedal mystfox, orb and all.

Somehow, this other hunter had made their prey relax to the point where it stopped struggling with just a bite. And that fascinated Mirrikh. Perhaps... Perhaps this was the apex predator they had been looking for?

Mirrikh hungered to know, and so they approached, flying towards the other gembound. "How did you do that?" they asked, voice louder than one would expect from a six inch fairy, and voraciously curious.

Rhapsody had not heard the footsteps of another gembound on the ground, distracted though they may have been they should have heard... But there was a voice of another here nonetheless. Their dual gaze snapped to looking around, but at first, they didn't quite see anyone.

A spell came to mind, their gem sensing spell. If there was a living being with a gemstone nearby, like a greater gembound, they would be able to sense it. At least, if the spell worked.

"How did I do what?" Rhapsody asked back as their gaze flitted around, searching for the other gembound.

Mirrikh was too busy being fascinating by this being to realize they hadn't even seen Mirrikh yet. The fairy eagerly answered the question posed to them.

"Your prey didn't even try to struggle much at all once you bit it, it even relaxed," Mirrikh spoke with interest. "How did you do that?" they inquired, intent on knowing the answer.

Rhapsody tried once more to reach out magic to locate this gembound.

This time, their spell succeeded and they located the much, much smaller gembound. They hadn’t met a gembound quite this small before, but their father was fairly small compared to them now, as well.

But this one’s shape was somewhat odd, as well. Another creature like this one, they had never seen.

As the question registered, Rhapsody considered briefly whether to tell or not. In the end, they deemed no harm in answering the question. They doubted the gembound was planning to use the knowledge with bad intentions, with that kind of demeanor. It was possible, of course, always possible. But, they deemed it unlikely enough.

”I have a kind of toxin in my teeth and claws. It results in my prey relaxing and helps enable me to get to blood easier,” Rhapsody told the smaller gembound.

”My name is Rhapsody- What’s yours?”

@Mirrikh

Mirrikh's fascination did not decrease even with an answer to their question. In fact, it might have increased. Because this being was an apex predator- or could be. With just a few additions... They could be perfect.

"I am known as Mirrikh Lucifari. ...Lucifari is a shared family name, not my personal name," They answered, pondering the ideas that were coming into their head, idly explaining their second name.

So long they had spent collecting stones, telling themself that they would make children of them one day, so they were not wasted.

And maybe they still would.

But there was an opportunity here, beyond any other. "I possess toxins as well, as it happens. Paralysis powder coats my wings... My father had a larval stage that had deceptively fine paralytic quills in lieu of fur. And my teeth and claws can cause stonerot... Though only a small amount. Stonerot is not something that can be cured by entering chrysalis, unlike other wounds, if you have not heard of it before."

They were proud of these traits of theirs.

But they could be made something more... If this being was interested. Together, they could perhaps create an apex predator.

"Have you ever considered creating children, Rhapsody?" they wondered, a question that would have seemed idle if not for the focus behind them.

@Rhapsody

A shared family name? Rhapsody had never heard of anything exactly like that. All their own family was part of the Organization, but that was different than this concept.

It was interesting, but Mirrikh seemed like they had more to say, so Rhapsody let them keep going without interruption.

Mirrikh described the toxins that ran in their own family- which were, admittedly, fascinating. But by the focus in their eyes, there was a point to this explanation beyond sharing.

And then came the question. It gave Rhapsody a bit of pause. They knew their answer, but they did not know the answer in context to this situation, which was implied to be more than just a question from the way Mirrikh looked.

Ever since Rhapsody’s familiar had hatched in front of them, Rhapsody had known the answer. ”I would like to raise children,” they admit honestly.

”But you ask with purpose. What are your intentions, here?”

Mirrikh could read some interest in the other's gaze and their mention of their own venoms, which was promising. At least, they hoped it was.

Then Rhapsody answered their question and Mirrikh resisted the urge to purr. Rhapsody would be a protective parent, they realized. Which was good, because Mirrikh had no idea how to be a parent themself, even if they were interested in creating strong children.

"I have an offer for you," Mirrikh stated, in answer to the other's question. "I think that combining... your magic, I think, and pieces of my stone, we'd create very strong children. They would be apex predators, if they inherited every trait of ours. I... Probably wouldn't be involved too much in the parenting process, but they could share my family name, and if you wished, my father might be willing to be involved in helping raise the children."

Then they give a shrug on small shoulders. "If you want to do something like that, that is."

@Rhapsody

Rhapsody was startled by the offer, for all that they had kind of expected something of the sort. They studied Mirrikh, whose words, though somewhat awkward, did seem to mean the offer.

Yet Rhapsody did not understand why.

"Let's say I wanted to do that, hypothetically- What do you get out of this offer?" Rhapsody questioned, dual gaze intent.