Mongo perked up. proud to have gotten it right. Well, at least somewhat right. Vin and Vinnie were the same thing, weren't they? The little Gemling made a sound not unlike a purr and, if his tail were prehensile, it would be wagging.

He startled at a sudden, loud sound from the Seagull, looking at him with his eyes wide. What had that been? He didn't think he could make that sound without years of practice, if even then.

The Fossa's eyes widened at the sudden speech that came from the Seagull. Had that excited him? Did he like being called Vin? Or was he glad he had spoken? It seemed the latter, so he paid close attention incase he wanted him to say something else.

'Name? What's my name?' he frowned, furrowing his brow to think. What was his name? But, slowly, something began to come to mind. "Mon...go? Mongo?" he struggled, before nodding. Yes, Mongo, that was right.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

VINNIE THE VOICE
The gull listened, and delight filled him.

"Eyyy! Mongo, there ya go! Great job, kid!" he called happily, raucous voice perhaps slightly too loud. He reached out a wing to awkwardly pat the fossa.

Weird name. Bit exotic. But aloud, Vinnie didn't voice the 'weird' part. He was a nice guy, after all.

"Real uhh, good name you got there, champ! Strong, uhh, exotic! Real exotic. The ladies'll dig it. Uhh--assuming you're not a lady. Or maybe you're a lady into ladies-... Ya know, never mind, just--it's a great name." He bobbed his birdhead up and down in enthusiastic nodding. He paused, then spoke a bit more slowly, so the little one could better understand.

"So uhh, I'm Vinnie. I think you got that bit. I'm Vinnie, you're Mongo. And uhh, this is--well. The caves," he explained, looking around. "Nobody really knows where we came from, why we're here, but hey, we're here and we gotta make the best of it, ya know? Keep your head down and your eyes open--and your nose clean--and you'll be all right, kid."

________________

@Mongo

Well, that seemed to make Vinnie happy. The bird's voice was loud but happy, with that odd harshness that seemed to belong solely to it. Great job? That sounded good! He liked doing a great job! And he liked making Vinnie happy. He made a soft sound in his throat as Vinnie patted him, leaning into the soft touch.

Champ? What was that? But... strong? Exotic? He liked the sound of that! However, he couldn't help but to tilt his head in confusion as Vinnie began going on about ladies. "Ladies?" he echoed, sounding confused. What were those?

"Caves? Nose clean?" he sounded rather confused. What did keeping his nose clean have to do with anything?

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

VINNIE THE VOICE

"Ohh, ehh." He considered.
"Never mind the ladies bit for now, eh? You're young, yet. Ehh. Keep your nose clean, it's like-... Don't get into trouble! And yeah caves! Uhhh. Big... rock-rooms, yeah? Like we're in now?"

He hesitated.

"Is this, uhh, helpin' or am I just confusin' you more, kid? Maybe I should ask--Mongo--you got any questions of your own? Before I babble anymore?"

He settled down beside the fossa, peering at him with his bright gold eyes. He felt bad for him--he knew he talked fast, and he talked a lot, and he was afraid he was being overwhelming.



________________

@Mongo

The Fossa stared at Vincenzo, trying his best to take in all that the bird was saying, but he was left in the dust. '...what?' he wondered, staring at the older Gembound without comprehending. He had no idea what he was going on about, and it showed on his face. However, Mongo do understand some of it, at least. Big rock-rooms? That was understandable. He still didn't quiet get ladies, though. "Okay," he nodded. Stay out of trouble? Sounded easy enough. "You too?" If he was going to promise to stay out of trouble, he wanted Vin to do so as well.

"Helping." he answered with a nod. It was... somewhat. "What arewe?" he stumbled over his words, still not used to being able to speak.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

VINNIE THE VOICE
The seagull tilted his head to and fro.

"Huh? Me too what? --Stay outta trouble, you mean? Yeah, sure! You gotta stay outta trouble. 'Course, sometimes trouble finds you." He gave a quiet laugh, and looked around the cave.

"Sheesh, kid, 'what are we?' You're jumpin' right into the big questions here. Uhhh. We're things. Living things. Yeah. Animals, with rocks in us. 'Gembounds,' I've heard some say. I guess it means we're bound to our rocks. Look."

He stood, turning and splaying one webbed foot to show Mongo the gem sat on one toe, ring-like. It shifted blue and green, a dark color with flashes of light that caught brightly over it whenever he moved. "Color reminds me of somethin," he said absently, eyeing it, "but I can never remember what. ...Anyway. Yours. Yours is your eye, I guess? I think magic comes from there but ehh, I was never real good at that. Maybe you are?"

The gull realized he was babbling again, and stopped, settling back down and peering at Mongo. He'd have to give the fossa some time, he figured, to go over all of that in his head.

________________

@Mongo

The Fossa mimicked the Seagull, tilting his head side to side. Why did Vinnie do that? Was there a reason? Did it help him any? Or did he do it just because? To be frank, it only made him a bit dizzy. "Yes!" he nodded emphatically. 'If I have to, you do, too!' he thought, wishing he could vocalize his thoughts better.

'Big questions? I just want to know what we're called. I don't look like you at all, clearly.' However, it seemed Vinnie had misunderstood him, as he began to go on about Gembounds. Well, he supposed, that was one way of answering his question. So they were Gembounds?

He tilted his head as he looked at Vinnie's toe-gem, sitting on it oddly. It switched from blue to green depending on how it moved, and he wondered what, exactly, it was. "Pretty." he said simply, nodding.

"Magick?" But even before the word was barely out of his mouth, he felt as though his 'missing' eye was crackling. And then, without him meaning to, his Magick released. The ground around him shook, very weakly, but still did so, his Gem glistening brightly, flashing color after radiant color.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

@Vincenzo

VINNIE THE VOICE
Vinnie listened, and paid full attention to Mongo, content that the little creature understood at least some of his words and was intelligent enough to listen. Smarts, he thought, are underrated. If he keeps learnin' at this rate, he might just make it yet.

And then the ground started shaking.

The seagull stood upright with an alarmed squawk, glancing sharply around--was it an earthquake?! He could see nothing huge thundering toward them, at least--but a worried glance to check that Mongo was all right, and Vinnie saw that the fossa's gem eye was shimmering.

As the quake subsided, he blinked.

"Did... you do that?" he asked, surprised. He was, too, both worried and impressed--if it hadn't been Mongo's doing, they might be in trouble.

And if it had, well, the little guy was far more magically powerful than he himself had ever been.

________________

@Mongo

Feeling the ground, which had before been a sturdy constant under him, begin to shake, Mongo made an alarmed sound, which was quickly echoed by the Seagull, although Vinnie's sound was louder, and more alarmed. The Fossa huddled against the feathered Gembound, whimpering in fear. What was happening? 'I'm scared!' he thought with a whimper, claws digging into the dirt.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before the ground stopped shaking, and slowly Mongo removed his claws from the dirt, stepping out from where he'd huddled into the older Gembound. He looked up at Vincenzo, tilting his head as he spoke. 'Did I do that?' he furrowed his brows, wondering if he'd done so.

"I... maybe?" as he said so, he became aware of a pulsation in his gem, and asked, "My magick?"

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

@Vincenzo

VINNIE THE VOICE
Vinnie nodded enthusiastically.

"Maybe? Look, here, this is mine--I mean it ain't much different just--with air." He focused, the gem at his foot shimmering up a brighter blue, like sun cast over the surface of a sea.

The air began to vibrate with a distracting hum, a buzzing that seemed to fill the air all around like invisible bees. Vinnie looked around, bobbing his head in approval of his own work, then looked back to Mongo. The buzzing faded.

"Ehh, I know it ain't good for much but it's a base, ya know? If you're startin' with shakin' the ground maybe some day you can throw rocks and stuff. Magic gets pretty crazy. Pretty strong. Dangerous, though--be careful with it, yeah? One wrong move you can hurt yourself pretty bad."

He settled again, thinking. "Also, if you get thirsty, drink water but don't faceplant the rivers, right? Never ends well. Take it from me, trust me." He sat and thought, wondering if there was anything else he should be teaching the youngster. He should teach him to fish, probably, but--that was better done elsewhere.

"Listen, kid, when you're up to it, you think you could try for a little journey? After you've slept. I can get ya to the jungle caves. Or the swamps. Teach you how to fish for yourself, right?"

________________

@Mongo