Before Egahi had a moment to breathe after stating she'd like to meet his father, he was gone, screeching out the whole way. She made haste to slither along, but going to fast put too much a strain on her muscles. She chose to follow the tracks he left in the mud, which was - thankfully - a relatively straight line. It was also quiet helpful that he was now screaming at the top of his lungs for the Dad, which confused her a bit, but she would soon understand. In good time, she rediscovered the painfully loud Imp, hissing loudly while he did so. Did he really need to be so loud? Was this how he influenced his magicka to call for it? What the hell was Dad, and why was this thing so painfully obnoxious at times? —————— "Speech." Thoughts. OOC: out of character Tag: @Dragon

As Egahi approached, a large, dark shape slowly bobbed up from the dark waters, rotating to face them. At first it would look like a log--slicked black with water and moss, rough-textured and thick. It was perhaps fifteen feet long, or a bit less, and broad. On closer inspection, however, the end was thickly ridged--the way Imp's tail was; and now two eyes at the front opened, staring at the two before him. Before Dragon could speak, however, Imp was already chattering at him.

"DAD! I brought someone to see you! It's an EGAHI! You could eat it. Or kill it or something but it says my PLOYS are weak! I tried to but it lived! I tried to feed it to the spiders but it KILLED ONE and then I fed it a fish, I cooked it and now it's here to meet you but you could eat it, what do we do?!

Surely he will be pleased!

Throughout his little speach the hybrid bounded around the large pool of black water--scampering, sometimes spreading his wings to land right in alongside Dragon. He swam alongside him, clambered onto his back, raced along his spine and bounced away again, earning an irritated hiss from the far larger creature.

Whatever the 'Dad' was, it did not seem amused.

((ooc -- @ ))

Imp was, and always had been, a troublesome child. Dragon considered him to be high in potential, but very low in his current usefulness. He'd tried to teach him to hunt, tried to teach him how the world worked--but the hatchling's attention span was atrociously bad.

He was admirably loyal, at least--and Dragon remembered a day when he'd been almost as bad, almost as hyperactive and aggressive and brightly fiery. Age had slowed him considerably--perhaps it would do the same for his son, some day.

For now, though, he had utter aggravation to contend with. And who was this stranger? This long, white, sinuous thing, large and apparently cunning enough to have taken down a cave spider? It--

Dragon's thoughts were interrupted by Imp scampering along his back and bouncing away. He winced, hissed, and spoke--voice sharp, if deep and rumbling.

"SIT. DOWN," he growled fiercely. Imp obeyed, peering at him with bright eyes, tail lashing from side to side like a cat's. Dragon growled again, and turned his attention to the stranger, lifting his large, boatlike head from the water to eye it.

"If you tried to end it, and it was strong enough to escape, to survive, and to win--then it has won," Dragon said firmly. "It is a survivor, an equal and it has bested YOU, in your impatience, Imp. It will be greeted as an equal, and you can cease your nonsense. I," he continued, turning to Egahi, "am Dragon. I am a Child of Rot, a Son of Aquarian, and I have not seen you before. What is it that you seek?"

He looked the cobra over, pondering it. It was of a purity, a white shimmer that was somehow both beautiful and repulsive to him. As if it were something unique, yet sickly. He wasn't sure to make of it.

And what is an Egahi?

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

@Egahi

Something odd began to happen in the water. It rose up like an ugly log, but was certainly not that. A creature with eyes and scales. A reptile, it seemed, but of a different kind. Aside from snakes, she'd come to realize, these two were both reptiles. Similar, but not the same to both each other and herself. It was peculiar and she found herself looking between them, noting the differences while not paying much mind to the antics of Imp now that his obnoxious behavior was directed elsewhere. However, there was that issue of Imp attempting coerce this Dad - who was a someone rather than a something - into eating her. Unsettling, but she stood her ground, not relaxing until his speech to Imp was given about how she had bested him and was an equal. Someone with some sensibility. Thank goodness. The introduction was quite blunt and mighty. Her head slowly weaved back and forth as his deep rumbles came from maw and muffling water. A proper introductory; one Egahi could match and know would be understood. A true relief after spending all this time enduring Imp, who was entertaining, although a menace to even this Dad, whose name was Dragon. He seemed wise, maybe had information to share. "I am Egahi and of the Bonebound. I have never... seen the likes you either. I came here upon a hunt... and always find myself hungry for knowledge," she said. Perhaps these words would encourage him to share what he knew, no matter the topic. Canis only had so much to share among it's fast secrets. In this place of fog, perhaps there would be as many answers. Some, maybe, from this large reptile who floated like a log. —————— "Speech." Thoughts. OOC: out of character Tag: @Imp Word Count: 289

Imp listened, intently bright, though it probably wouldn't last very long.

He fidgeted, not appearing at all perturbed by Dragon's reproachful words, instead rocking back and forth, twitching his tail, and flicking his ears. His eyes blinked far too much, and his tongue darted out to lick his teeth more than once.

Egahi responded, and Imp piped up before Dragon could answer her.

"Knowledge! You HUNT knowledge? I hunt fish. Fish! And snakes and lizards and rats and mice and birds and bats and fish. And spiders!" he added, as an afterthought.

"But if you're hunting knowledge--does it run away? Dad has ALL the knowledge." Imp's voice was smug, and he looked for all the world like a rather scaly cat as he pulled himself into an upright sitting position, proud and obnoxious.

It was only Dragon's baleful stare that silenced him--but even that couldn't quell his idiotic cheer. He just stared at both of them, bright and content, and wholly oblivious.

"I am Egahi and of the Bonebound."

Dragon's eyes immediately widened a fraction, and he hauled himself slightly onto the shallows of the bank--but then Imp was chattering, and Dragon had to restrain himself from bellowing "SILENCE." Instead he simply stared, clenching his powerful jaws, until Imp--for the time being, at least--settled down.

Then the alligator turned his attention--and his massive head--back toward Egahi, staring at her.

"I know of you. I had sent summons, and none came. There was knowledge to be given to you--freely--to your group. There was to be a call for solidarity. Have you come to listen, then, to what I offer? Have you come to take the information back to your people? Have they finally seen what comes, and what will come, if it is not stopped?"

The massive alligator was tense with interest, his full attention focused--even fixated--on the white cobra before him. Bonebound. She looks a bit like a bone; long, pale. Perhaps their group fades, becomes white, and dry? The way the Rot grow wet, and hung with moss?

The alligator clacked his jaws abruptly, nostrils flaring so that the faint glow of embers was briefly visible far within.

"If you wish to hear of it, Egahi of the Bonebound, I will tell you the secrets of this cave, and what has yet to be uncovered. If you wish to hear it, I will tell you of what lurks. If you wish to hear it, I will offer you salvation."

He fell silent, dark eyes boring (very metaphorical) holes in the cobra, his thick, ridged tail slowly sweeping to and fro in the black waters behind him.

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

@Egahi

Imp was, of course, wearing down on Egahi's patience, his voice and words increasingly annoying in the precence of a meaningful conversation. Still, the Dad seemed in charge, so as long as he was telling Imp to shut up, she wouldn't say anything on the matter. No matter how annoyed she might be at the little rattle-box. He did confirm Dragon had knowledge, though. Suddenly, the beast began to speak and there was a skip in her pulse. He had summoned the Bonebound? Nothing had been said to her, but of course this could of been before her birth... maybe not, though. She didn't spend a lot of time speaking with Azazel, as nothing important was needed to be said to him. He certainly hadn't sought her out, either. Still, though, this big monster wanted to share the information anyway. To his question, she gave an enthusiastic nod. What serendipity! "I would be honored to know this knowledge, Dragon, Child of Rot and Son of Aquarian. I will share it with all whom I care for." Egahi reared upward, coiled the last 3/4ths of herself up into a comfortable ball, and stared at Dragon, waiting for the words she was sure would follow her acceptance of his wisdom. How her people could pass up free knowledge was beyond her, but perhaps she would come to find out. There was a faint sense of doubt in her mind, though. —————— "Speech." Thoughts. OOC: out of character Tag: @Dragon Word Count: 239

"Oooh! I know! Dad! DAD! Dad! Tell her about the--Dad! Tell her about the way dead stuff--strong stuff lives and weak things die and then the strong survive and feed and make more and how-..."

This time, Dragon DID bellow "SILENCE," and so Imp fell obediently silent. Henceforth he sat catlike, listening to the exchange but not interrupting--not yet, at least. He sat erect and almost still, seeming to grin with his toothy maw simply by virtue of the shape of his jaws. His eyes blinked, wide and bright and uneven, and his swishing tail slowly lashed to and fro, making a constant, quiet splashing sound.

He let the two speak, for now, and mostly listened attentively. Aside from when he was pouncing a bug. Or a ripple in the water. Or a particularly fuzzy bit of mist floating past.

Or that blade of grass over there, or...

((ooc -- @ ))

Dragon would have curled a lip in disgust, if he could. As it was he simply turned his broad snout to point back at Egahi, nostrils again flaring. So the Bonebound had not sent her...? No matter. He would not waste this chance. He would speak; they would be given what he knew, freely, and perhaps this meeting would be as fruitful as it was unexpected.

After a moment of thought, he began to speak, his voice coming slow and rumbling. Yet he seemed quite intense in his speech--almost desperate, ranting on and on as if all of their lives truly depended on what he had to say. On him being able to speak his mind, to say all that lingered in his thoughts, all of his information, his questions, his doubts.

"The caves hold many secrets. And the truth is: no one knows why we are here. How we came to be here. The truths of those who came before. Aquarian--our father--lies within this lake, as large as any who has ever been, and larger.

He tells us that if we survive for long enough, we will learn the cave's secrets.

Yet if we do not know how we came to be--or where, truly, we are--then how can we live? You must tell your people this. You must tell them we must seek hints. Clues. Knowledge, if we are to survive. You have perhaps not heard of Nemean: the Betrayer. You have not heard of Raheerah, the great black dragon who breathed flame on Polaris, and nearly destroyed all of those within the caves. All life."

Dragon paused, dark eyes glinting in the dim light of the orbs high above. He took his time, thinking, breathing, and then continued. He wondered what the cobra was making of all of this.

"He came from nowhere: from we-do-not-know-where, and he crashed through the walls and the stone, and he killed, and harmed. What is to stop another coming? What secrets do the statues in the walls hold? What hidden knowledge is gripped beneath Orion's throne?"

The alligator huffed, again thinking, again eyeing Egahi.

"I will tell you this: the greatest knowledge in this cave is ignorance. There are groups--your own, and others--that merely bicker amongst themselves." And here, dragon slammed, or rather slapped, one large clawed foot into the water for emphasis. "They fight over mates, over territory, over nothing. Mindless. Beasts. When they should be looking to survival. And the knowledge we require for survival is there for the taking: we need only share. And so I will share what I have with you, and you will perhaps pass this plea to your people, so that we may survive together."

Again, Dragon fell silent for a moment; again he eyed Imp, thinking. Considering. Then he turned his head back to Egahi, and told her all he knew.

"We are born from stones, and yet we do not know why. The stones of the dead may be imparted with life, and grow anew. Yet this is not always how it was. Our father knew not of this. We are but children, in his eyes. Nemean was the Creator. The Betrayer. In the past, our kind did not exist. And yet--now we do.

There are stone beasts that walk ancient constructions in Polaris. Magic surges there. There are creations of stone throughout the caves, carved by unknown hands. There are creatures of magic beyond our own, that bicker and battle, and we do not know how, or why--only that our lives mean nothing to them. Faces that leer from the stoneworks, and thrones belonging to unknown kings.

Why?

Perhaps the Bonebound know things we do not. Perhaps our Father can tell you what you do not know. Will you go to them? Will you tell them?"

Dragon paused--there was more he could tell. Preaching he could offer, philosophical knowledge. But the question was whether this stranger understood this much--understood all he had said so far.

And whether she believed him--and whether she wanted more.

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

@Egahi

The moment he began to spoke, she began to "listen," head bobbing and weaving intently as she captured his words and agreed along with them, immediately engulfed in the wonder of his information. He relived experiences she wasn't alive for. History to the caves which, as he claimed, were full of young creatures. His pause brought forth suspense, her coils gravitated her toward him a little, just shy of water's edge; pearled scales slightly tainted by mud, but the smooth shine held it's gleam. A beast that crashed through walls? As Dragon carried on, Egahi became more and more intrigued, leaning into his words. How right he was! Everything he said felt right. Survival... she was a survivor, she knew it. A snake of instinct and intellect all in one. Her tongue flickered to taste the air, glee swallowing up her being like a sinkhole of newfound emotion. There was so many secrets to these caves and he spewed more upon her, but with information she hadn't had before. Beings of before, monsters of now, and the mysteries that could very well end them all. At last, Dragon, the wise Son of Aquarian, asked if she would spread the word to Bonebound. She was so charismatic that her hood flared out, unbeknownst to her. An enthusiastic nod followed, tongue taking one more taste. "Yes... yes! I will tell them all; I'll tell Azazel!.. but... what if they do not listen?" What if the sulking bird did not care? —————— "Speech." Thoughts. OOC: out of character Tag: @Imp Word Count: 248