Many scars were left behind by a number of heinous actions. Actions of which she could not elude to. Still, the new born found herself lingering around her newly opened chrysalis and gently pawing at the blackened marks left upon the stones and nearby vegetation. It smelled starkly of something, something that triggered a single word in her young mind. Fire. Her head with ears too big rose up and glanced around the cavern once more. The well it area giving her a clear view of all the things she’d be greeted by when taking her first breath of this new world. Several types of glowing crystals made up the space she had yet to leave behind, her own chrysalis sticking out of the side of some incline in the dirt. Fungi of all sorts were nestled up against the crystals and rocks, and she was but a small thimble compared to these giant things.

For now, the young fox who had come to name herself Muirine was content to contemplate what it was that might have left behind these burns. For a while the young gem bound wandered around a set of burns, even inspecting a spot of vegetation and fungi that had been burned up completely and left behind little more than ash. When little paws became blackened with suit the sound of water not to far from her chrysalis echoed to her. A sudden thirst rolled up in the back of her throat and though apprehension kept Muirine from wandering right away, eventually her desire began to outweigh it. Her little form, streaked with gray and pale oranges slipped between the clusters of crystals with a fair amount of ease, wandering well worn paths to the sound that drew her from her birth spot. The river came within view not to long after she began her walk, though she was forced to further navigate an easier way to the waters edge do to there being a steep incline along most of the embankment. When the fox kit found a safer route to the waters edge she had to slide a bit to get to the rocky shore but found the water was well worth the trip as she began to clean her pelt off from the ash and then quench the thirst that had bothered her before.

All this time Mui was alone, but it was hard to tell for how much longer that would remain. Perhaps always. Perhaps never again. Only time would tell.

table by Sara

Each time something came to drink at the water's edge, the alligator would sink just a little into the river. His injured body was dark against the nearly unlit water, black on black, and the moment his snout and eyes submerged he became nearly invisible.

Each time they arrived, he'd prepare to launch an attack--he was hungry, recovering here in the burned cave, with no deer to ambush and eat. And each time, they'd turn out to be sentient gembound. This one seemed no exception; it was small, delicate, but it had a small carnivore's frame, and the alert but slow, seemingly considering, movements as it inspected the scorchmarks that seemed to indicate sapience. Dragon had no intention of snapping up and swallowing fellow greater Gembound, so he sighed beneath the river--a brief twist of bubbles that rose and was dragged away by the current--and popped back up.

Damn. Ahh, well, at least I'll get company, for a little while.

He broke the surface a few feet from the fox kit, his front legs still holding him in place against the bank so he wouldn't merely float away. He eyed it with dark eyes; along his own back pink flesh was visible through his armored scutes where deep wounds were still healing.

"Hello, little one," he rumbled, a little smoke twisting from his nostrils. Then, with Raheerah and Nemean in mind, he added "This is a dangerous place to be alone."

{ art by dark } ~ { table by aura . edited by banshee and dark }

since learning to fly, the eaglet was everywhere all the time. he flew here and there, there and here, everywhere. he felt no limitations, nor exhaustion. instead, he felt exhilarated, as if the flight was euphoric. and it was indeed euphoric, pushing adrenaline through his body as he was able to make quick work of the cave with an ever fast pace. his wings gave a beat as he soared above, looking about until something down in the river blew bubbles. with a cocked head, he swooped a circle, looked back down near the river and out popped a weird creature he'd never seen before. something that was wounded, no less. a sinister smile began to spread across his beak, but was suddenly ceased when the sight of a brand new gembound came into view. newly hatched, no doubt, and ambrus grunted a bit, swooping another circle as he'd passed the two gembounds below.

with this next swoop around, he lowered in altitude, slowed in momentum. azurite eyes observed the two, the new gembound quite small compared to the other creature. he lowered himself even more, finding a perch above the two, but still visible.
"what a sight,"
the bird mumbled, as if to shake his head in disapproval as the unassuming hatchling meandered about. so young, fragile, vulnerable. the wicked grin returned as he looked from the large lizard to the other critter which looked too much like lunch.
"brand new, so delicate."
his words of moderate tones expressed, clearly hungry for more than just conversation. just then, clover's words pierced into his head, 'now ambrus, remember what it was like when you were that little? you should be kind.' the grin morphed into a sneer and he shook his head once, fidgeting now useful wings.

@muirine
@dragon

It was surprisingly quiet here. Even for a new born, Mui could sense something was amiss. There should be others around yes? There should be creatures, like her roaming around the cave…Yet it was deathly still. Something quite horrible had to have happened to run everyone off and keep them away. The idea of slipping off into the shadows ran through the foxes head, yet the desire for water pushed her that much deeper. Considering the silence it was possible the danger had passed but the linger fear for what had happened had not quite done so, keeping the place relatively vacant. It was next to impossible to know if she was in any danger here. Her life could be ended before it ever began. Regardless, attentive and cautious the tiny fox dipped her head to the surface of the water. It soothed to the dryness of her mouth and she felt that much rejuvenated afterward. The river was in constant motion, so the ripples in the surface didn’t draw her attention as they should until the thing that created them broke the waters edges and eyed her from a few feet away. Instantly, little Muirine stopped drinking and looked upon the other with curious, wide eyes. Whatever it was, it was the first thing she’d seen since being awake but the words to greet him did not come to her easy. Instead, she merely offered him a kind smile, the ears to big for her head laying back against her skull.

Then he spoke, calling her ‘little one’ and saying this place was much too dangerous to be alone in. Then, before Mui could even begin to organize her thoughts and project them into a coherent sentence, a new sound fluttered through those oversized ears and forced the one pound fox to turn her head skyward to the creature perching above. The bird’s words were a little more confusing to her. None the less, when she tried to speak what came out was a series of high pitched chips. This actually went on two or three times before words began to form out of these calls. ”Who-who, are ah yo-you?” Her little tail flickered about in an awkward manner, trying to keep from falling into the water seeing as how her sense of balance had yet to be perfected. The question was aimed at no one in particular and both were free to answer.

table by Sara

@Ambrus @Dragon

The alligator's rumbling sigh left him bobbing low in the water for a moment, and then he inhaled again, popping slowly back up. Dark eyes laced with glittering gold lifted to search the air above for the speaker of the mumbled words, but even with their sound as a clue it took him a moment to pick the dusky-colored eagle from the rock behind it. He looked from the eagle to the fox.

I don't intend to eat the fox... but if the bird does, I'll have them both.

The thought was fleeting, passing quickly, and after a moment the alligator was left with the fox's question.

"I am Dragon, son of Aquarian." (And in his mind, somehow, he was.) "I am resting here, and I am very hungry, so I suppose the question I should be asking is--who are you?"

He looked between the two, his tone deep and almost bored, words slow--but it was obvious that his question was directed at the both of them.

{ art by dark } ~ { table by aura . edited by banshee and dark }

@Ambrus

the eagle stifled the urge to caw a mighty cackle at the wee little creature's peeps. what a vulnerable thing. he wanted to swoop and have her, just to see her squirm. but instead, he remained perched, and as the fox asked who they were, his wings unfurled for a moment to furl again comfortably. the larger creature spoke, dubbed dragon son of whoever. and ambrus's head cocked to the side. was it customary to speak who the parents were? wasn't that dangerous, for the parent? creating enemies was inevitable, and some enemies would want to get to one by harming one's immediate family. ambrus decided against voicing his brother, mother, father, aunt, and the like. stark yellow beak gave a clack as he looked from dragon to the little foxy.
"and i am ambrus."
he offered with a transparent politeness, a wicked grin still remaining as he kept to his perch.
"do you have a name, newborn?"
he asked the fox, wondering if she yet could recall her appellation. he was unsure, for some took a long time to figure out their name. some took only seconds. his mother being one to wait cycles before her name was discovered, his brother not as long but longer than himself. whereas ambrus knew the moment he was hatched. it was quite a spectacle.

in any case, the bird crept closer to his perch's edge, where azurite lenses observed both the marred creature and newly hatched gembound. so much fun to be had here, and oh how he wanted to test out his newly acquired flight. but he also didn't want to risk his own hide - not yet, he wasn't that confident yet. he then wondered, what magic did this dragon have? and what magic did the little fox have? anxiously, the bird loomed overhead, waiting impatiently.

@muirine
@dragon

It mattered not how young you were. The sense for danger was implanted in all of them. A heightened awareness meant to keep you alive, and even though she was perhaps only a few hours old something deep in the pit of her stomach told her something was wrong. Something she couldn’t quite deduce and it was that lack of understanding and presence of lingering fear that kept Muirine glued to the rock by the edge of the water. To answer her question it was the larger beast of the water that spoke first, addressing himself as ‘Dragon’ and another name, part of which she did not understand but also did not ask for him to elaborate. Instead, her head turned upward when the other creature began to talk, with his sharp beak, announcing himself as ‘Ambrus’ and if she had a name. The fox nodded, allowing a kind smile to linger on her delicate features for a moment.

Brown eyes shifted between the two, the green gem upon her chest shinning in the glow of nearby fungi. ”Muirine.” She chirped out, and then did something oddly out of her age range. She bowed her head to them in a show of respect. When the fox returned to her standing position her gaze flickered over the both of them, over the entire cavern before she cleared her throat to begin speaking again. ”Something bad happened here, didn’t it?” The question was directed at either who wished to answer. Inwardly, it was just these sense of dread that seemed to linger on every rock and tree, engrained into the stone and burning itself into the forefront of her mind. Perhaps it was mere a coincidence. Or perhaps she could sense the residue of the awful happenings this cave was forced to endure.

table by Sara

@Ambrus @Dragon

"If you count the crushing of a vast insect, then yes, something terrible happened. Perhaps he would have called us 'friend,' or perhaps he was mindless," Dragon replied, amiably enough. He was thinking of the moth.

"Otherwise--no, something grand happened here! A battle," he explained--and suddenly he realized that he must look like a battered, gruesome war veteran. Maybe he could embellish a tale for the two, if they wanted--though how did one embellish a story about a massive dragon, a phoenix, and a giant moth...?

He rumbled a laugh, then eyed the two more solemnly, one, then the other.

"A great dragon fought a wondrous battle here, against an army of our kind. He may return at any time--as may his enemy, the traitor Nemean," he rumbled (for Ghanyarah had not yet returned to him to warn him not to talk smack about the cat-fairy). "I remain here, for now, to tell the tale to those who would hear it."

He said all of this grandly, ominously, with a tone of deliberate and theatrical mystery and a gruff edge to his voice. If they didn't want to hear it, he'd sulk for a moment but that would be that; if the little fox and the eagle wanted to hear Dragon tell a tall tale and probably fail at it, he'd indulge them--and himself.

It was boring, after all, lying here in the cold current day after day--alone and hungry.

{ art by dark } ~ { table by aura . edited by banshee and dark }

@Ambrus

muirine was the name of the small fox, who then offered a bow and in that moment ambrus was reminded of clover. a sneer replaced the wicked grin and not because he disliked his mother, no. but because he could barely find it in him anymore to be so cruel to the little fox kit. his head barely turned toward dragon as he spoke of, well, a dragon here - fighting a battle against the gems and then something named nemean. ambrus had little interest in it, for it involved him none - to his knowledge.

in any case, the eagle made an inward promise to swoop the little fox up and jet out of here should that dragon come back, and he wondered why the creature named dragon wasn't even more harmed then he is. eyes of scrutinizing disbelief fell upon the water dwelling critter, before speaking.
"hello muirine. what a lovely name, little miss."
his attitude was less manipulative and more genuine, as the thought of clover now imprinted on everything the fox did. he couldn't bring himself to be brutal to the likes of her. in small, futile protest, the eagle rolled his eyes. more at himself than anything.
"a dragon you say, dragon? that's quite a story. i wonder, will the threat be eradicated indefinitely? or will the monster return to finish the job?"
cruel eyes scanned dragon's back for a moment, as he questioned the large beast.

@muirine
@dragon

Dragon began, yet his words and the weight of their meaning were lost on her. He spoke of a great insect being defeated, and that nothing terrible had happened here but rather something magnificent. Regardless of the fact that little Mui didn’t know who nor what the water dwelling creature spoke of did nothing to lessen her attentive nature. In fact, because she did not know, she wished to know. She wanted to know what it was he spoke of, why it was important, who it had affected and what there was she could do to perhaps alleviate the situation. A slow nod came with the foxes undivided attention, though as he spoke of the battle her brown eyes, quick as lightening found the markings upon his hide she had missed before that moment. She could not begin to explain how she knew, but she just did. Knew that those were not something he was born with, not something he was supposed to have. He gained them in the battle, and the vixen’s heart dropped into her stomach. Even despite Dragon’s enthusiastic opinion of it all. Large ears flickered when the bird above her spoke again, successfully diverting her attention for a moment as he remarked upon her name and how lovely it was. ”Th-erghmm-” She coughed, clearing her throat. It was still a strange business, this ‘talking’. ”Thank you, sir.”

As quick as before Muirine’s attention fell back upon the alligator as a rumbling laugh rolled up from the waters edge. He began again, explaining that a great ‘dragon’ had fought a battle against many gembounds and an enemy…a thing named Nemean. Brown eyes became troubled, but she with held her questions until the other was finished speaking. Dragon explained that he had remained here to tell all who would listen of the tail, and in that moment Mui took a calm seat upon the rock, despite the linger knot in her stomach. ”If I may sir, eerrrumm.” She cleared her throat once more, her tone gentle regardless of it. ”But you are named Dragon, and there are creatures that are Dragons. Are you simply named for it or are you one yourself?” Onyx tipped tail swung around herself, coming to lay neatly upon her paws as she regarded the other. ”And I would be very, eerrghm, interested to hear your tale.”

table by Sara

@Ambrus @Dragon