The family was so noisy, so loud! Always talking always teaching always eating and playing with the bones. And mama was always pacing and the siblings always sparring. Sometimes it drove Huckleberry mad! They had to leave sometimes, times like these, when quietness and loneliness were easier to bear. When thoughts were not so wild in their head and they could calm, even for just a moment.

They sat on the ground and folded back their wings, taking a few deep breaths. Their heart was racing! Why? Who cared! It just was! Calm the heartbeat, control. His magic surged from his gem to his heart, gently lowering the furious beating to a calm rhythm. Now he could breath, now he could think. But could he? Even with his heart calm, there were so many things buzzing around. He tried to sift through them, to make sense, but they disappeared and were lost in the mess every time he tried.

And, suddenly, anger rolled forth. A sickening twist in her gut. Why was she like this? Nobody else had so much trouble sorting thoughts! Why, why WHY! She jumped to her feet and shook out her pelt as if she were shaking away the frustration. But nothing changed, nothing at all! She couldn't think of anything! She trembled with fury at herself, hatred for the creature she was and how utterly messed up her own mind made her. Unable to contain this anger, she threw her head back and let out an absolutely horrifying noise, a cross between a moose's roar and a goose's honk. She hated herself, she hated the world! No wonder Mama wanted to destroy everything and kill everyone. She hated them! Well now Huckleberry hated them too!

@Eve

Polaris was good for finding shinies, primarily because it had a gigantic, moth-spewing shiny in the very heart of it. The crow fluttered around, staring down at the ground, hunting not for prey, but for things that would glitter and shine.

It was fun. It was better looking for things here rather than in Cetus where everything was dark, dank, gross, and she had the occasional fat gator mistaking her for a Hallowed Caller and almost biting her tail feathers off.

... Bastard.

The crow had flown for some time now and, still adjusting to a very long rest, she didn't have the energy to stay aloft for very long. She settled down on a rock and peered down.

Then something did catch her eye. It was either very small or something fairly new-- judging by the mish-mash of limbs, it must have been a hybrid. It looked not unlike her own dear daughter, though considerably... uglier.

Not many things could be as precious and as beautiful as her own children, however-- though she did feel herself begin to pity it. She had seen many hybrids that just didn't work, or seemed a little broken because their parents were... too strange.

The children between a three-headed dog and a bird came to mind.

But that didn't matter-- this thing, although fairly ugly, would at least survive. Which means she could mess with it without feeling that much guilt. Not many people that Eve knew would necessarily approve of it, but did Eve care?

Hell no.

As the crow slinked just out of sight, she hoped that doing this wouldn't actually call on the damn thing, but the bellowing voice of the sprite-betrayer would be good enough to give the hybrid one hell of a fright. The crow shifted, focused, and with her gemstone glittering, took a very deep breath.

"WHAT A FANTASTIC SHOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

The voice that left her beak was not, in fact, her own-- but an exact replica of Nemean's voice. To be precise, Nemean, three years ago, during the battle against Raheerah in Polaris. The grandiose, powerful voice boomed against the cave walls.

"HOW ABOUT A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THE LEADING ROLE OF THIS EVENING'S MARVELOUS SHOW!"


That should be enough, at least, to give the hybrid a fright-- she did not want to actually summon the damn thing. The crow shifted and watched for the hybrid's reaction, croaking with great amusement.

@Huckleberry

A sudden booming voice snapped Huckleberry immediately out of their hatred. They quite literally leaped with surprise at the suddenness of the voice. So loud and powerful that they became quite envious of it. Nobody in their family had a voice like that. Mama's voice was scratchy and hoarse, Papa's voice low and deep. Perhaps Baneberry could reach levels like that, but she certainly did not have the awesome tone that this one had.

They shuffled their talons, looking around for who had made the noise, as if to ask them how they had done it or maybe just to see the person behind the voice. Their eyes raked the cave, up and down and they twisted around, trying to find them. But the voice had seemingly come from everywhere. Oh, how this was difficult! Whatever creature it was, they certainly knew how to stay out of sight! If only they knew how to do it too.

But then his eyes went up to a certain spot and just barely spotted something over there, a little thing on top of a rock. That couldn't be it, could it? A tiny little bird? Huckleberry narrowed their eyes, trying to see closer, and realized that it was, in fact, a bird. Well, even if it wasn't the thing that made the noise, he was curious to see. He knew that it could be dangerous, though, Mama had always warned him to be careful around strangers as many would prey on little things like him, even other little things. But he was suddenly feeling very very brave and wanted to see the bird.

He opened his wings and clumsily hopped into the air, beating his wings as strong as he could for a new flier, aiming for the spot on the rock where the bird was sitting. "What was that? Who are you? Did you hear that voice, was that you was that you? No, no, you are small! Very small, yes very small little thing. Who are you? That voice couldn't be you."

@Eve

Oh, yes. This was hilarious. Upon seeing the strange-looking hybrid leap up in the air, the crow let out a bark of squawking laughter. Nemean was good for one thing, at least, and it was being loud enough to scare other people.

When the creature moved up onto the rock Eve was on, however, she turned and instinctively fluttered up into the air and onto an even higher rock. Being very small, of course, she couldn't risk being directly under another gembound and where she could probably get eaten.

She had that issue enough with Dragon.

This thing, however, seemed to-- and how dare it --doubt her ability to be loud. For a moment, the little bird stared downwards at the hybrid, not too far away from it's own face, and focused. Blue-white light illuminated her belly briefly as her gemstone talon began glowing.

Then, she took a deep breath, and roared.

Aquarian's roar, to be exact-- deep and bellowing, potentially louder than Nemean's own voice, and aimed directly at Huckleberry's face. The spell, however, wasn't perfect. The deep-bass bellow was interlinked with the raucous shriek of a bird, though one would have to listen very carefully to hear Eve's voice among Aquarian's.

After a solid five seconds of roaring, which was a very long time for Eve to maintain, the crow fluttered back and took some more distance from the hybrid, ruffling her feathers in great amusement and pride in her own spell-casting.

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry was upset when the bird fluttered away from them. Pouting, they landed on the rock that the crow had been on previously and looked up at them, their tail waving. They frowned with disappointment. They had wanted to talk to them, hadn't they? What had they done to make the bird go so far away? "H-hey, I just wanted to talk, yes to talk, that's what I want!" Their chirp wasn't very loud as they were struggling to hold back tears. Did they do something wrong? Were they ugly or something?!

But then the bird roared, a sound that Huckleberry had not expected to come from something so small. But, having already been startled by a loud noise, the hybrid was not quite as surprised by this one and their only visible reaction was their ears twitching back to cover themselves against the extremely loud noise. Hadn't they said at some point that they didn't like loud noises? Well, then again, they did scream and screech sometimes themselves, but this was something else!

Sudden affection for the bird sprung into her heart and, once the loud sound was over, her ears perked up and her face lit into a huge grin. This bird, they were amazing! She wanted to try and get close to talk some more, but she was scared that the bird would fly away again. She didn't want that, no, she wanted to keep it close. Maybe try to impress it? "Wow, wow, you can be loud! Super cool! Wow, it's an honor to meet you, bird! I'm Huckleberry! I can make loud noises too!" There was a faint flash of light in her gem as electricity built up within and then, suddenly, it was released into the air, violently and a huge clap of thunder blasted throughout the room, causing many pebbles to clatter from high places. Once again, Huckleberry moved her ears back to cover them as best she could. Once the loud sound was over, she impatiently pawed at the ground as she gave the bird another large grin. "I'm Huckleberry!"

@Eve

Oh, yes. Although this blatant ego-stroking might not be good for Evening's head, it certainly made the situation a whole lot better for her. The bird puffed up her chest for a moment.

.. and then deflated. Although there had been a prior warning to the loud noise, she had only half-expected the clap of thunder to actually occur. The crow, silent for a moment, turned her head to stare upwards for a moment.

She'd have to top this somehow. Her next spell, unlike the one she uses to mimic other noises she's hard before, was risky. It rarely worked, though when it did, it raised her voice to extreme levels. Her gemstone glittered briefly, but quickly died out.

Hell. Her own voice would have to do. "EVE," she shriek-squawked as loudly as possible, feeling her vocal chords ravage themselves in the process. "MY NAME IS EVE."

She could not keep this up for long, decidedly. The crow ruffled her feathers and choked briefly, clearing her throat. She'd need water to get through this one, but regardless, she took a moment to eye the hybrid. "Who made you?" She asked, voice hoarse but still strong and-- naturally --fairly loud.

"Parents, you got 'em, kid? Or did you hatch alone?" She leaned over, head tilting from side to side. There was no way in hell, surely, that this thing hadn't been made from two other gembounds. Maybe it was revived, or maybe just abandoned. "Y'got like.. brothers, sisters, whatever?"

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry prepared himself for another loud sound to come from the bird, but there was nothing. And then a voice, a voice that surprised him a little. It was still loud, but a lot quieter then it had been before. A little disappointing, but worse things have happened. He didn't feel crushed, but still happy that the bird still had a voice left after all of that. Even a quiet one.

But Eve's question confused her. Made her? Nobody made her. At least as far as she knew. She did not understand the creation of life nor how her parents have created her and her siblings with stone and life. She would not come to understand this for some time, so she did not elect to answer the first question. But the second she happily replied! "Oh, yes! I have wonderful parents! And a whole family as well!" She loved to talk about her family because she loved her family! It was one of the cored ideals Mama had pounded into her head: protect and love the family. So that was what she did. "Yes, there's me, Huckleberry, and also Baneberry and Elderberry and Mulberry and Jayberry and our Mama, Blackberry and our Papa, Blueberry! Do you have a family like my family?"

@Eve

For a moment, Eve stared. It was a big family-- and for some reason, they all ended with the name 'berry.' She supposed it was something like how Black fathered White, so they have similar names-- but Oliver wasn't particularly related to Evening at all.

She supposed it didn't matter too much, though the question was biting away at the back of her mind. The crow lifted a talon, itching her neck for a moment. "I'm a mom," she croaked loudly. "My children-- I have a son named Oliver who hatched near my nest with me, and my daughter is named White who hatched with her father."

"White looks a bit like you, but she's partially dog instead of..." Eve paused, staring, and took a guess. "Deer? She has paws. She's very white. Oliver is black, and has wings on his legs instead of his back. They're both good things. Kind. Friendly. They wander the caves. I know Oliver helps people."

For a moment, she rambled. Loudly. But proudly. She loved her family, and she loved her children and even, to an extent, Black. Though he could be a little too odd, at times.

The crow shook her feathers out. "I have a second family, too," she continued. "There's Dragon, who isn't a dragon at all, if you've ever seen one. There's a few in the caves. He's like-- a wingless dragon, but I think he wants to fly. There's Ghanyarah, too, and Tal'at and Czernobog, though I've not seen those last two in a long time."

She missed them. She hoped they were okay.

"There's Aquarian, too, and he's very loud. He's kind of our father," she then said, lowering her foot back to the rock and fluffing up her feathers, getting comfortable.

"Why do all your names end with 'berry'?"

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry listened, wide-eyed, to Eve's ramble about her own family. Something they had in common, a fact that Huckleberry did not ignore. They had always thought that family was the only thing that mattered, that only family would be her friends. But this commonality seemed to give Huckleberry a vague concept of understanding. And this calmed the heartbeat that had begun to race again.

He nodded along with all of Eve's names, committing them to memory, even though he would absolutely forget them within a few moments. "Moose," he corrected. "And goose. Mama's a goose...kind of and Papa's a moose." But he didn't know what a Dragon was. He wondered if they could fly, like Eve said. Did that mean they were small, too? "Are you loud because Aquarian is loud?"

But once Eve's rant was over, Huckleberry raised her head, ready to start her own talk about her own family. "Our last names are berry because that's what Mama said! Mama and Papa were both called berry so they named their children berry as well! Mama is super strong! She's got a necklace of all sorts of pretty things like gems and feathers and talons that she said she'd gotten from enemies she's defeated! Papa's really big and gentle and I like to ride on his back. Baneberry is really big too and he's got wings on his arms and antlers like papa. And Elderberry is really quiet and has a funny long neck and wobbly legs. Mulberry and Jayberry look weird, though, they've got a lot of fur and no wings or feathers. But they're still awesome too!" Huckleberry would have sat to get comfortable as well, but she was just too excited now about her family and how much she loved them that she couldn't sit still. She flexed her talons and gave light stomps to the rocks, her wings twitching with excitement. "We're called the Bloodberries! Yes, that's our name! Our name!"

@Eve

Eve stared for a moment longer. Moose. Goose. There's no way that was supposed to be a coincidence, but Eve also barely knew what either of those things were supposed to look like. There wasn't exactly an abundance of either in the caves.

Regardless, the crow got herself good and comfortable on the rock above Huckleberry, staring down thoughtfully. At the mention of Aquarian, however, she let out another raucous shriek of laughter.

"Aquarian is loud because I'M loud," she shouted amusedly. Aquarian was, of course, potentially thousands of years older than she was. In reality, Eve was loud because she just was. There was no deeper meaning to it. "Aquarian is loud but I can be even louder."

She supposed the 'berry' thing made sense in theory, but Eve still found it strange. As Huckleberry went on about a necklace of 'pretty gems,' her interest piqued for a moment. Then, realisation.

Death stones. Hell. The crow turned her head to stare briefly and grimly off into Polaris for a moment. She had no idea what a goose was meant to be, but it was obviously dangerous if it was going around killing other gems and taking their stones.

She'd have to warn Black. If the goose's child was here, the goose was likely nearby. He could keep an eye on things, at the very least, and he could potentially help someone if they were in danger. She'd have to warn the Children of Rot, too, just in case.

Hell. She didn't want to even imagine the kind of rage that Dragon and Ghanyarah would go into if one of the Children got killed by a serial-killing goose. The crow ruffled her feathers again and turned her head back to Huckleberry.

Gathering information was something Eve was good at, at least. She was a messenger. Judging by the hybrid's excitement to keep talking, this was a prime opportunity to find out everything she could before issuing a warning to the other gems in the cave.

"Where'd you all stay, or do you travel? My children travel, sometimes-- my daughter is on a journey with a cow, right now." The crow paused. "Do you know where all the places are called, in the caves?"

@Huckleberry