It did not take long. No one was surprised. Ashtoreth had left her nest, absolutely unfazed by the horrors of her hatching or anything else. Who cares about some dumb dark room! She was excited-- too excited-- as she bounced and hoped through the room, eyes bright and shimmering. This place was the absolute best! She had that big huge mutt's six eyes on her as she bounded into the new room, the glow of white crystals above. Forget the spooky room of bones, this was the real treasure!

... Ash was, however, quite glad that a certain three-headed mutt took his door duty more seriously than keeping-an-eye-on-her duty. As she slipped around the corner, he only made a single whine, and then there was nothing else from the massive puppy. She was alone, off on her own to explore this great expanse of wonderful hiding places! Eagerly, she scampered up walls and into cracks, worming her way up on to higher and higher ground, eyes bright and tail wiggling the whole way.

This was a pup who knew what she wanted, or rather, a noodle who knew what she wanted. Today, she wanted to fly... Or at least, fail miserably at trying to fly. Perhaps she would inherit her fathers' luck-- both of which, were pretty terrible to say the least. Not that she knew, and even if she did, she probably wouldn't care.

Finding the perfect perch was easy, as she crouched on a corner of a broken down, ancient stone building. She had a nice clear path to the ground-- she just had to spread her wings-- and-- and--

Nope.

The poor baby, she sank like a rock, wings flailing, as the wind seemed to be as still as a held breath. A gasping squeak came from the noodle's body as she hit the earth nose first, buttwings high in the air. She plopped down on to her belly and quietly grumbled to herself.

Definitely her fathers' daughter.

@Eosphoros

Another day spent wandering through the caves, and another new locale to rest in. Eosphoros cantered through the rubble of Orion, weaving in and out of half-demolished buildings, hopping over piles of rock and snuffling at dust clouds. Every once in awhile, he would stop, gazing up at the star-covered ceiling with wide eyes, wondering just how he could create something that marvellous. "Oh, the stars above shine, but what of mine? How will I master such a glorious aster?"

The foal's voice was, as always, entirely too loud and booming, echoing through the glowing cave like a shout - though an in-tune one. Heavy hooves beat out a rhythm to the bard's singing, though his songs eventually tapered out. It was a bit tiring, to croon so often, and yet not hear a response. Idly, Eosphoros' ears flicked, and he settled down for a nap beneath the shadow of one of the broken monuments, trying to quantify just how mad his mom would be when he finally found her again.

He came to the eventual conclusion that she would be... very. Very mad.

Movement on the ground, like something had landed quite heavily nearby, had the foal blinking awake, standing up on unsteady legs and turning his head this way and that, ears twitching about uselessly. A few steps in each direction, before he finally spotted the cause - a... thingy. A fluffy thingy with wings, like his mom, who seemed either hurt or upset or both.

With a soft snuffle, Eosphoros trotted towards the noodle bird, craning his neck down to huff at its fur, concerned. For once, his voice was intentionally lowered - though it wasn't a whisper; instead of it's normal yelling, it had settled down to general speech. "Alright, little one? Didn't look like much fun."

Woah there, cowboy! What a huge steed!

Ash blinked, bleary eyed, as a loud beast greeted her with concern, ears laying back as she squirmed on to her haunches and reached up her forepaws to fix her crown of feathers. A pink tongue poked out to dampen her pale toe beans. She peered up at him with one dark eye, the other shut as her paws adjusted her fluff.

He was just so big! What did she do? How would she answer him? She shook her head, raising a paw to touch his nose, and put on a playful grin. Her pink tongue seemed to be forgotten stuck out, but if one looked carefully, she seemed to push it out harder between her pointy teeth. She was fine, really! Just a couple of bruises. Her tail wagged softly, her butt wings stretching out to keep her balanced upright.

Just who was he, anyway, she wondered with a tilt of her head. She had no idea how to explain her supposed name to him, so she didn't bother with that, instead reaching up at the foal with her forepaws. Maybe if she was lucky, she would get a ride from the big guy.

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts
@Eosphoros

As Eosphoros watched, the little noodle seemed to recover from her... fall? She had to have fallen, he supposed with a huff, blinking, too socially inept to move away from the kit at all, still quite close - perhaps a bit too close for some. A dark gaze met his own, and the foal braced himself for more mouth movement that he would never be able to understand.

Instead, something incredible happened.

The fluffy noodle began to "speak" in movements, something he could understand, finally, and Eosphoros grinned, whinnying in excitement as he tried to follow what she meant, long golden tail swishing contentedly. She was... okay? Not hurt? She didn't seem hurt, and she wasn't pointing to any wounds... that must be it, he decided, nodding with a slow blink.

A tilt of her head, and the foal snuffled again, leaning to huff out a hot breath over her head, as if in greeting, lowering his voice even further - or attempting to, anyway. Unable to hear himself speak, Eosphoros' timber ranged from speech to whisper, slurring and cracking on some words, but mostly understandable. "Little bird is alright. Tried to take flight?"

He eyed the noodle's wings with another breath before turning his gaze back to her snoot with another whinny. "Up, up, up!" For once, he was too excited to rhyme, bumping his snout towards the babe before turning his head to gesture to his back. "Birds of a feather flock together, but birds of the herd stay safe, not stirred!"

@Ashtoreth

The baby gembound's eyes sparkled as the horse spoke roughly to her, as though he was expressing emotion with each word's meaning instead of his emphasis and tone. She noticed it as she nodded slowly back to him, her tail swishing softly behind her black and white feathery behind. A bit too young and undeveloped to draw much of a conclusion from that single fact, she quickly moved on to more important things.

Like the fact the big horse was offering her a ride. She wriggled from nose to tail, her paws digging at the hard rock under her squirming form, excitement flowing through her body. Yes, yes, yes! She opened her mouth to make a noise, but the foal was not alone in being unable to hear her joy. At best, she just made a small wheeze, but just for a moment, a faint light was emanating from deep in her throat.

And then it was gone! Her sharp white teeth clashed together in a fierce smirk, and she tried to leap into the air, trying to hop on to the horse's face, so that she could scramble up on to his back. The wind rushed up under her tiny chocolate tummy, her wings flapping furiously, as she did her best to wriggle her way against gravity and on to the mighty steed.

She had officially made her first true friend, she thought.

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts
@Eosphoros

At the baby bird thingy's excited noodling about, Eosphoros flicked long ears towards her, whinnying once again, lowering his face closer for easy access. With a great flap of tiny wings and a lunge, the noodle lifted from the ground - and landed directly on the foal's snout, like a fluffy rock.

The horse, for his part, seemed enamored rather than annoyed, grinning as his eyes crossed in an attempt to look at the mini-noodle, already imagining what his mom would say when he showed her his new friend. She'd be so excited! She'd have to be - after all, his friend had wings, and she could fly, and she could talk in a way he could understand!

Gently, Eosphoros tipped his head back, letting the fishbird slide from his snoot to his head, giving her access to... well, wherever she wanted to sit. The bard didn't mind much; he simply cantered in a tight circle, snorting and dancing happily, like a child might clap his hands. "Tiny friend flies high and far, as high as the ceiling, covered in stars!"

Unfortunately for his passenger, it seemed excitement had gotten the better of him, and once more the foal's voice rose to a bit of a shout. A perhaps just a bit deafening shout. Well, nobody's perfect.

@Ashtoreth

The tiny baby had never rode a horse before, so when he raised his head and she started to slip down his neck, she abruptly realized she was quite tall. Being tall two moments ago hadn't frightened her, but the building had been stable and the horse was a living, breathing, moving thing under her paws. She made a barely audible squeak as she twisted around and grasped at his mane before she could fall to the ground, and carefully got herself situated on his shoulders, legs clinging to the hair on his neck.

The mustelid seemed to be overjoyed with her new perch for a moment, until he jerked into motion. She squeaked again, her wings fluttering out behind her as she frantically tried to get used to being on something that was moving... Yet, soon little Ash seemed to realize that the horse was actually quite wide and stable, and even bouncing all about she wasn't about to fall off any time soon.

As Eosphoros let out a loud, musical bellow, she opened her jaws to cheer along silently, throwing her muzzle back to squawk and scream at the sky-- though no noise escaped her throat. Her wings flapped behind her haunches in her excitement entirely now, her tail wagging this way and that to keep her balance.

She didn't seem to mind the noise, as it flooded her senses. He was more than loud enough for the pair of them, and somehow this brought her a sense of joy. Clutching his strands of mane in her paws, she tugged gently on the side opposite of the way he was spinning in a circle, as if asking him to go off the other way, or turn, or... Or really, anything. She was testing the waters!

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts
@Eosphoros

Unfortunately, as the insides of Eosphoros' ears looked quite similar to ground meat, he couldn't hear his passenger's squeak of fright, only slowing to a stop at the feel of a tug on his mane. The foal whinnied, dancing in place, tail swishing to and fro, tilting his head up and back to peer just a bit at the bird noodle.

She was... trying to tell him something! A soft snuffle, and the horse refocused on the world around, slowly turning in the opposite direction of his dancing, beginning to trot that way. "Little bird would like to travel, tramp the earth and tramp the gravel?"

Nodding to himself, the bard padded through the rubble of Orion, ears flicking about aimlessly, the weight on his back a comfort. It was nice, not to be alone. Eosphoros had been desperately lonely for a good week, now, and to not only find a friend, but one with feathers, one who could talk to him, well, how could he not regale her with song and story?

"Ooooooh," the foal, bellowing, began, "we go here, we go there, we go everywhere! Where angels fear to tread, we bards have no dread! Naught in this world scares the guard, not he who stores the song, for what could scare the mighty bard? Not even the brave and strong!"

Gaze on the stars, it seemed Eosphoros was quite distracted, though he kept his pace even and true, so as not to buck his noodly passenger off.

@Ashtoreth

Little Ash listened to her new friend as he began to sing and dance through the crystal room, and shortly a small feeling started to build up in her heart. This was what she wanted, to be free to explore these wonderful, fantastic lands with her new friend. She felt not only safe, but set free from all of her worldly concerns. Nothing seemed to matter, and quietly, she tried to summon her windy magic to lift not only her own spirits, but help Eosphoros trot around just a bit quicker and lighter.

The mustelid-bird seemed to get used to the whole riding thing so quickly, as though she had been born to ride a horse (something no one would suspect, given her clumsy fathers) and she was starting to enjoy it more and more. She loved listening to him go on and on about what they were doing, where they were going, and how nothing would stop them. It all seemed like something dropped right out of a fairy tale, and although she didn't know the word for her position, much less that her noodle father would agree, she felt like a princess. Like royalty.

Her small paws began to work at Eosphoros' mane as she did so, gently pawing through his hair. Her dark eyes stared up at the glistening, breath-taking glow of the ceiling, sparkling like distant stars to her wonder-struck gaze. Perhaps it was some sort of forgotten instinct, but her tiny paws were spinning his mane into little twisted braids, sorting and straightening and decorating his long hair with loose weaving pattern of plaits.

After a moment, she blinked and looked down at the start of his braided mane and abruptly gave another gentle tug on his hair, this time straight back. She wanted him to see her handy work, and she hoped, perhaps, that he might like her to continue. She was nearly grinning, though she didn't show her pointy teeth, and her wings wiggled behind her furry behind.

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts
@Eosphoros

Soon enough, his passenger's weight became as natural as the ground beneath his hooves. Eosphoros didn't continue to sing, apparently calmed down a bit by his newfound friend - it made one wonder whether he sang only to comfort himself, like a babe would cuddle a chosen toy. The foal's neck was straight, chest puffed forward with pride as he trotted along, humming loudly but not quite singing, the buzzing of the sound settling him.

There was pressure on his mane, tiny paws, and the horse's ears flicked, curious; but he dare not turn to peer, afraid of dislodging his tiny noodley companion. For now, he tried to begin another song, seeing as she seemed pleased by them, unlike his night-mom. "Under the light of the crystalline stars, we bards sing along to newfound bars! Through ruins and tunnels, caves and rubble, we the brave do decree! We are the few! We are the free!"

The song was abruptly cut off by a gentle tug to his mane, and the horse slowed to a halt, craning his neck to gaze at the baby noodle-bird quizzically. She was grinning, her tiny wings wiggling, and he knickered, pleased at her contentment, only noticing her handiwork after snuffling at her fluffy face. His eyes widened, and he let out a soft "Oh!"

Watery eyes flickered from the braids to his passenger, before a wide, toothy grin split his muzzle, and a tiny, high-pitched squeal of glee eked forth from his throat. "So pretty! So fine! Oh thank you, thank you, 'tis most divine!" His voice fluctuated wildly in volume and degree of bordering-on-happily-crying, practically trembling due to holding back from dancing.

@Ashtoreth