The soft warmth of his fortress had become suffocating. The crystalline walls confining his ever-growing body in ways that would not suffice for much longer. His cocoon of safety slowly becoming a tomb of rot. The fluid inside having gone stale hours before and the shell of red beryl weakened with every pulse of his heart. His cub legs moved, pressing against the glass-like chamber. The crystal shattered, hatching the newly formed fledgling out into the world. Fragments of beryl crystal surrounded him, the first few breaths of life being taken in through his heaving lungs. Cerulean eyes taking in the new bright light of the world. A low hiss escaped his young maw, the brightness of this world making his sensitive eyes hurt. A few moments going by before he could properly open his eyes. Large canines hung from his maw, his lower jaw hovering open as a low mewl escaped his lips. Hunger began to prick at his small stomach and he pulled himself to his paws. Young limbs stiffly wandering forward, the gait clumsy and uncoordinated. A low chuff escaped his lips, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings, the instinct to hunt boiling in his veins. Large drooping plants and skeletal remains were all that his developing senses could detect. He waddled forward a few more steps, strengthening his limbs and steadying his balance. It was challenging work, his body not working with his mind. Missteps were common his his large kitten paws, and his damp fur was an irritating feeling. He finally sat down underneath a large fern, a yard or two away from his hatch site. He followed what his body told him to do, he groomed his fur. Cleaning away the fluid from his cocoon and allowing his fur to properly dry before attempting to walk around again. "speech." | Magic | Link/Familiar

It wasn't often now that Greed left the confines of the room of bones, especially now that he plan was moving into action. With the creation of the group of Sins under way, things seemed to be rolling at their own pace. She knew that Pride and Envy had already connected, as had Envy and Lust. As for Gluttony, Wrath and Sloth, they would be around. She knew this, as if it were a certainty. They would all come together soon. And they didn't need her right now. She could merely sit back and watch her plans unfold.

But restlessness and boredom plagued her yet again, as it seemed they always did. She didn't particularly feel the need to explore, nor did she feel the wonder of exploration. Simply the primal, bestial instinct to do more, eat more, and find more territory to settle in. And Eridanus was such a place that she had not yet claimed as a place for her.

She had once been driven away by a cat claiming to be its protector and had not returned since then. If she could feel, she would probably detest this place. But her greed and desire to become completely independent, unbeatable, and unquestionable, beat every other instinct in her body. So she found herself prowling the dense undergrowth of the Maw of Mosses.

She was keeping a close watch on the trees for any sings of the foolish cat or any other enemy that would dare confront her presence in the forest when she heard a soft sound. She had never heard it before, almost like a small grunt. She altered her course so that she was going towards the sound, not particularly interested, but at least giving her a reason to be there.

She stepped through the ferns and found herself face to face with a small cub liking its pelt clean. Mammals were strange like that, she decided, always using their tongue and always needing to stay clean. Why didn't they just go into water? Why did they even bother at all? They would just get dirty again. This opinion definitely showed on Greed's hide. There were bits of dirt, dust, and grime stuck to her skin that she hadn't bothered to wash off in a cycle at least.

Why did her path always lead her towards children? She had been to many a hatching in her lifetime. She didn't quite care as young ones were more easy to influence then older gembounds. She stepped forward and leaned towards the cub, her tongue flicking to taste its scent. It was newly hatched, right? She could still sense the fluids on its fur. "You are new?" Her question was abrupt, but spoken in her quiet, smooth voice as she always used with the new ones.

@Symphr

Cerulean eyes snapped to attention at the new creature that had presented itself. Smoothed syllables falling from reptilian lips floating around young impressionable ears. Low rumbling syllables came from his mouth in an attempt to imitate whatever had been spoken to him. All that came out were unintelligible rumblings. The words far to foreign and unknown to him to truly understand what had been said. A solitary paw would raise, attempting to tap the creature before him gentle upon the snout. Curiosity claiming the young kit by the horns. He wanted to know what he was looking at, and that it was actually real instead of a fissure within reality. A low chuff would escape his lips in greeting along with the tap. The movement he was attempting already putting him off balance with his weak kitten legs. The noise was akin to a childish babble, his larger canines slurring his speech somewhat. Little kitten puffs would be escaping his nose as he sniffed, trying to take in the new creatures scent. Perhaps he would find a parental figure this day? @Reseda "speech." | Magic | Link/Familiar

The curiosity of the young one intrigued Reseda briefly. She didn't visibly react in the slightest as it carefully patted at her nose. The sound was unfamiliar, but she could tell that it wasn't aggressive at least. She had no knowledge of the language of cats. She knew few cats in her cycles and none of which were her 'friends'.

But it seemed they couldn't speak as many young children couldn't. That was certainly very annoying, but she knew how to solve the problem. It was the same solution she had used with Pride. Reaching out with an invisible tendril of magic, she connected their minds and allowed the emotions to flood both ways. As for her end, where there was nothing but emptiness and darkness, she conjured up what she thought was a feeling of friendliness towards the tiger. But that was really all she could think of at the moment. How did a potential mother treat her children? She had precious little experience in raising Chaos, as the snake had been gone for most of its youth. As for the others, well, they hadn't gone so well.

Hear me, young one. This was always a good way to teach speech for, although she passed the words along through the mental connection as if she were speaking them, they came with meaning and thought as well - each word both something to hear and something to understand.

@Symphr

The young cub offered a small look of curiosity when he dropped his paw, no closer to finding out just what he was with. Not having any reaction to what he had just done, he sat down, watching this new reptile with interest. He felt the touch of magic within his mind, the coax of a nice enough energy. Then her words met his mind, mixed with understanding. His eyes widened and the barrier within his mind broke, the way of speech flooding his brain. It made more sense, her words understood and his mind being able to come up with a coherent reply. 'I am listening, I hear your words.' His mind would have thought it clearly, his body unfortunately not capable of handling speech. Having uncoordinated mouth muscles, not yet ready for the task. His eyes were bright, showing intelligence and understanding. A willingness to listen, and to understand. His fur was slowly drying, jeweled teeth gleaming in the daylight. Darker fur clashing with stripes and white stood out starkly against the greens of this place, but the tall ferns blended with his stripes well enough. @Greed "speech." | Magic | Link/Familiar

Reseda felt the snap of intelligence light in the cub and heard their words pass through the connection. She was right. This was a good way to communicate with the young. This is good. I am Reseda. Do you have a name or should I name you? It was a simple mundane greeting that she passed along. She was neither hostile nor particularly friendly, not warm or cold towards the young creature, but gentle at least. She found that being harsh with newborns did not really give a good impression.

But all this she hid from the young one, of course, as she had much practice hiding her mind through the connection. Instead, she only allowed them to feel from her a simple feeling of comfort and contentedness, hiding all the workings of her brain behind the curtain.

@Symphr