What the hell is going on down there Was the first thought through its head when it was woken up by a ungodly cacophony of screeching and yelling. At first it clambered down from it's sleeping nook and just watched from some distance away as the two valkhounds screamed and fought.. a rock?

It didn't recognize either of the valkhounds, and while many of the forge were unfamiliar to it, it had a hunch that these two were simply brand new. The big bird-looking one looked distinctly damp, although some gembound were just... like that... so who was to say.

Shouldn't Master Vargas be dealing with this? Teaching them their designations and the rules of the forge and that rocks can't be eaten or killed? It was just about to go fetch him when it spotted a familiar red skull, and then the lights went out. Fuck. not HER.

It isn't exactly sure why it intervenes- sure, Fenmyre is definitely going to make things magnitudes worse, but it's sister isn't it's problem [at least, it keeps trying to tell itself that] Valkhounds- particuarly the chaos-influenced ones- fought all the time. As long as nobody died, it didn't really matter.

So maybe it was really only doing this for some peace and quiet.

"Fenmyre, don't make this worse. They're new." It called bluntly in her general direction. It know that, if anything, this would probably egg her on, but it was worth a shot. The unnatural darkness didn't phase it much- it had a couple dozen heat-sensing pits that gave it a pretty good sense of it's surroundings- the two noisy newborn valkhounds, it's sister lurking at the periphery, and the infamous rock, splattered with boiling-hot bile.

It would pick up the rock, careful not to touch the bits covered in bile. "This is... a rock. You can't eat it. You can't kill it, and it can't kill you. There's no reason to attack it. You'll get just tired and you might hurt yourself." Was there any point in reasoning with two gembound that, when combined, were probably still dumber than the rock? Probably not. But today was seemingly a day of exercises in futility. It turned, walked a couple paces away, and placed the rock back down, which would HOPEFULLY be enough to to break whatever rage-spell it had cast on the two whelps.

@Fenmyre @Timir @Tsvetok

As was previously stated, Tsvetok had no real sense of camaraderie and friendship. However, it did loosely understand that Timir had gone out of his way to try to help. Two new Valkhounds arrived and before Tsvetok could bellow or do anything, darkness surrounded them, right as even more rocks appeared. Like Fourteen, Tsvetok had heat sensing pits-- but did Timir? This was an important decision.

Timir helped Tsvetok, so Tsvetok helped Timir.

It turns out, funnily enough, that friendship does always save the day. Pulling from its magic again, Tsvetok's already-heated insides turned even hotter, to the point where it shone through its feathers and brightest out of its skull, cutting through the darkness. Totally useless if Timir had other ways of seeing than with his eyes, but worth the thought either way.

Still roiling with firelight, Tsvetok turned its head to where Fourteen was. "WELL IT ATTACKED ME!" It roared, much louder than everyone else, because it was still under the assumption it had to assert dominance. "AND IT ATTACKED HIM!" A talon pointed at Timir.

Explain that, atheists.

Not knowing which was worse: Rock, Fourteen, or Fenmyre, Tsvetok tapped its talons against the cave floor agitatedly, its head swinging between all three.

@Timir

Confusion, darkness, firelight, voices. Timir was beside himself, too much happening at once, and all he could do was stand shaking slightly with adrenaline, tongue hanging from a mouth that panted in distress. His snarl faded, at least, as V-Chaos-Fourteen's voice cut through the shadows. It rang with almost bored authority, or at least knowledge, enough that Timir's brain recognized with immense relief that here was someone who Actually Knew Stuff.

A moment after V-Chaos-Fourteen picked the correct rock from the field of mirrored versions, the mirrors themselves simply vanished.

Timir straightened, struggling with all the words, but Tsvetok beat him to it. He looked at his friend, and then at the newcomer, and wondered if his face was shaped like theirs--all masky skull--and then he looked at the rock. "It did attack," he agreed, the new words still coming halting. He then remembered to RAISE HIS VOICE, as Tsvetok had taught him, although... this new person wasn't shouting? Was that... right?

Timir was mostly confused, at this point. "TIMIR. BUT... there were... MANY. It made more." He paused, turning, glancing at the bare rock where the twenty-odd mirrored versions had been ominously hovering. They were gone now, though. Were they... just mischievous? Tricksters, fakes? He hesitated, realizing now just how overwhelming this new existence was going to be.

And the Valkhound part of him, settled firmly in his Oilstone, decided that the best way to deal with all of that was probably to kill and eat it. This, despite everything he'd just been told. So despite all this information, he ended his brief study of V-Chaos-Fourteen--and his glancing check on Tsvetok--by halfheartedly snarling at the removed stone.

He wasn't aware enough yet of social interaction to register that Chaos-Fourteen had called out to someone else--someone who hadn't yet fully revealed themselves. He was standing instead, braced and uncertain, tail twitching like a cat's as he eyed the rock.

@Fenmyre

Fenmyre bristled. "I will not listen to a dog. I will do as I please."

Had it considered the fact that making it worse was funny? Did every Hound of the forge have a stick up their ass? This was harmless. It was tempted, though, to do something seriously damaging if it continued to pry. It spoke to her self-restraint that she did not.

It was difficult to speak to a crowd, even more than one sent her mind into endless tiny loops. Who to focus on? Who to dissect first? But this wasn't a professional endeavor, she reminded herself. This was just a game.

"It lies. They all do. The..." What was it they were panicking about again? "The rocks. They are predators. They cull the weaker hounds. You must defend yourselves, by any means necessary."

Oh wait. Idea.

"That one... is a rock also." It jabbed a claw towards its sibling. "It will strike when the time is right. Do not be fooled."

@V-Chaos-Fourteen

"Go rot under the spire with your life-giver." It snapped at Fenmyre, accented by the clicking of teeth.

It was rapidly regretting getting involved.

It sighed, a zygodactyal palm softly slapping across it's faceplate with a chitinous clink. Everything about this was a headache. The bird one was ACTUALLY going to give it a headache with how brightly it was searing into it's heat-pits. "It didn't- It CAN'T attack you. That was probably just a spell you cast on accident." It had seen mist and some kind of mirage before it chose to intervene, and it knew of the unpredictable magics that members of the chaos forge could call upon. That was probably it. Or maybe one of them just tripped over it. Who knows. Who cares.

And then, as predicted, Fenmyre decided to make things worse.

"Fenmyre-" a whip-like tail lashed in her direction, just barely grazing her, "Lies for the hell of it, because she thinks it'd be funny if all tore each other to pieces." Briefly, it wished it had the same cataclysmic, chaotic power it's siblings had, so it could put her in her place. "Just ignore her. I don't want to fight." Still, it's posture shifted into something more defensive, in case either of these two decided to trust Fenmyre of all people over itself.

@Tsvetok

At around six months old, a baby begins to show signs of cognizant thinking. At six minutes old, Tsvetok had its first cognizant thought. Why does he keep saying that? It was more out of irritation than real curiosity; Timir kept saying Timir, and Tsvetok didn't know what a Timir was. Perhaps this was an anti-climatic first thing to think, considering there were two older Valkhounds telling them to do different things, but man I'm just the narrator for Tsvetok, don't shoot the messenger, will you?

For a beat, it stared at Timir, unhearing or perhaps just flat unaware of the two siblings arguing with each other. It wasn't until Fenmyre said the magic words: "You must defend yourselves, by any means necessary," that some deeply-rooted, animal instinct was activated.

Now, whether it was Vargas, Totum, or simply Fate itself that ingrained this particular quirk in this particular Valkhound-- who's to say? It was there regardless, and it had Tsvetok bolting into action. The length of its neck swung the moment Fenmyre finished spitting the command out, facing V-Chaos-Fourteen.

Rock or not, Fenmyre didn't have to specify that. Tsvetok was already beginning to move, its claws scrabbling on the cave floor, though it didn't get very far before a second, different command was uttered. "Just ignore her."

In emergency situations, commands often change and overlap. What good is a creation that obeys the first command it ever hears, and none afterwards, after all? Unfortunately, no one programmed 'only take orders from one person' into its system, because it seemed more than happy to completely ignore Fenmyre for now (until, inevitably, Fenmyre told it not to do that, of course.)

Either way, Fourteen had spared itself of having a giant chicken attacking it. For now.

Tsvetok turned to Timir, and finally asked the question it'd been thinking about for all of fifteen seconds now. "WHY DO YOU KEEP SAYING THAT??" It demanded, voice deep and bellowing. "WHAT IS TIMIR?"

@Timir

Timir stood, deeply unsettled and uncertain. His head was held low, ears pinned, as his gaze shifted suspiciously between Fenmyr and Chaos-Fourteen. He was struggling with this; he was less than an hour old, and being told two opposite things by two separate entities was a jarring experience. He was still wavering as to who to believe, and what to do about it, when Tsvetok turned and made its loud demand.

Timir blinked at it, looking... vaguely hurt. "...Me. That's-" (be loud, remember?) --he blinked again--"THAT'S ME."

He then swung his head back to the others, considering. His tail twitched again, and he had his first stroke of what he'd have probably imagined to be genius, if he'd been old enough for literally any form of self-reflection. Mostly, though, it was vague memory of a conversation from thirty seconds ago, combined with some vague application of logic.

"We... WE ARE HUNGRY." It held the tone of a challenge, his own best attempt at a bellow, and he directed it at both Fenmyr and Chaos-Fourteen. Surely if one were being truthful... helpful, even... it would guide them? Maybe even feed them?

If V-Chaos-Fourteen was actually a rock in disguise, it'd try to eat them, right? Not get them food? Brilliant.

@Fenmyre

Fourteen sputtered its venom toward her as if she actually cared what it thought, which was twice as offensive than any insult its hollow little head could muster. But she wouldn't lunge, swipe or snap... She was the picture of meditative calm, despite circumstance and company.

The younger hounds didn't take the bait, but they didn't dismiss it entirely. There was an opportunity here still. Fenmyre snapped it up.

"...Rocks are edible. I've eaten plenty. Why don't you start with the one next to me? Its giving me a headache."

@V-Chaos-Fourteen

For a moment it looks like the blinding bird might actually start a fight. Fourteen hisses softly, quills rattling and posture shifting lower as it prepares to dodge and counter.... And then the bird just.. stops.

Fourteen straightens, blinking. It can't quite tell if the avian valkhound was ACTUALLY listening to it or if it had just abruptly gotten distracted. It hesitates for a moment, but when it seems like Tsvetok has genuinely lost interest in attacking it relaxes.

"Your name is Timir?" It clarifies, "Did someone grant you that name?" Fourteen isn't sure if it wants to encourage it to use a name it hasn't earned, but it isn't sure what designation either of them would be. Hopefully Vargas will clear that up, whenever he decides to show up and do his job.

It's tail flicks to indicate the tunnel the two baby valks had just crawled out of. "If you want to hunt, go to Pegasus. Just make sure you return to this cave afterwards." Fourteen debates chaperoning. It would be the responsible thing to do- to make sure they actually return, and to see how their first hunt fares- but it really REALLY doesn't want to. "It's full of prey that's far easier to kill." Because apparently these two struggle to defeat a rock. It glares warningly at Tsvetok, in case it decides eating Fourteen would be more convenient, and a tail lash grazes Fenmyre's ankles, to let her know exactly how thin it's patience is getting.

@Tsvetok

Timir was a name. This vaguely registered in Tsvetok's head before it focused on something that was much more important.

It didn't keep its eye on Fourteen. Instead, it swung its scarlet head towards Fenmyre, its feathers bouncing. It knew one thing: rocks were not edible. It'd tried already and it was too hard. "YOU'RE A LIAR!!!" the oversized chicken screeched at the top of its lungs.

Half-ignoring Fourteen, the valkhound started scrabble-running for Fenmyre, claws wailing against the floor. It got about halfway towards the other valkhound, white-hot bile raising in its throat. Through the thin skin of its crop, the glow was visible, illuminating beneath its feathers.

But something went wrong.

There was a horrific HRRRKKKKK as Tsvetok choked on its own bile. Its head reared back and its jaws split, gargling and out of breath. Before it could actually reach Fenmyre to attack her, it fell back and landed with a hollow thunk, choking and coughing up bits of lava-like substance. At least it was a valiant attempt.

@Timir