Dragon was laying in the darkness of the swamp. Darkness, because it was dark.

It was, he rather thought, somewhat darker than usual; but it was hard to be sure. In order to properly address this conundrum, he was lying with his head tilted, one dark eye peering toward the ceiling.

Of course, all he could see--all that he could ever see--was a thick mist. Oh well. It had seemed dimmer for days; the birds were calling less, and the air had been feeling a little bit cooler. Or maybe that was his imagination, but either way, he didn't like it. With a grunt, the alligator shifted, summoning up as much magicka as he possibly could in an attempt to blow fire quite high--to disperse some of the mist. He knew it was pointless--he knew the mist reached hundreds of feet into the air, or something like--but he had little else to do.

What he managed to do instead, though, was to inhale a great deal of this mist. He knew better--he really did; and he was already kicking himself mentally as he choked out rolling fog rather than spewing a plume of elegant flame.

The alligator lay there loudly hacking up water in the swamp, grumpy with himself, with the cave, with the cold, and just generally everything. Grumpy, and noisy.

@Hikari

Hikari hopped through the murk of Cetus, chirping quietly as he walked through the swamp and thought of the baby birds. Nox had been away for a bit, and he had gotten bored, so he wandered off, walking through the swamp and looking at all of the trees.

The swamp had gotten darker, lately, so dark that he had been able to wander farther than he had ever been before, into the places where he would normally have to hide under Nox or do his special magic to avoid the light. He adored the new darkness, reveling in being able to go wherever he wanted without fearing being burnt.

A hacking, coughing noise interrupted his reverie. His head shot up at the sound- was something choking? He toddled over to the source of the sound, perching on a nearby dead log and looking down at a scaly, toothy thing, laying there. His eyes widened. "Are you a swamp monster?"

@Dark

Dragon was just finishing coughing up what felt like half a lung (but what was, in reality, just some moisture) when he heard the trilling little voice. He hadn't heard anything approach, and--startled--he swivelled to face it. "It" turned out to be a sprightly little chick, fuzzy and bright-eyed.

Dragon blinked.

Was he a swamp monster? He half-chuckled before managing to subdue it, turning his tone very sombre. "Yes, I am a swamp monster," he replied--his voice bass and rumbling, but his tone friendly, if somewhat mischievous. "But, I am a nice swamp monster, and I do not eat little ones like you."

He eyed the chick over again, wondering just how it'd gotten so far on its own--and where "so far" was, exactly. For all he knew, he reflected, it could have hatched right in the water over there. But he'd not seen it before, nor heard it around; it likely had travelled some way, and managed to avoid being eaten thus far. But how long would that last..? Well, assuming it didn't run away from him, perhaps he could teach it a thing or two.

This was, after all, something of a hobby of his. Or, at least, a habit.

"My name is Dragon. Do you yet know yours?"

@Hikari

He smiled happily at the monster. Of course he wouldn't eat him- swamp monsters didn't eat birds, they ate fish, duh! "I'm- I'm Hikari!" he said, after a moment's pause. The name came to him almost instantly, and yet, he had no idea where it came from.

Well, it was his name, and it was fitting, so he accepted it as his own willingly. "Why were you choking? Are you okay? Did you have a bit of food stuck in your mouth?"

@Dark

The alligator snorted lightly.

"No food, no. I was trying to use magic, and sometimes, it backfires. Do you know what sort of magic you have? --And I am okay. Thank you for asking!" Dragon was pleased at this creature's presence. It was small, yes, but it was bright, and polite, and it seemed intelligent enough.

After a moment's consideration, he added--"You may perch on my head, if you want." This was delivered in very dignified tones. Clearly, it was an honor to be offered such a thing. Or perhaps Dragon simply felt better with younger ones closer, where he could better protect them, see them, and carry them about.

@Hikari

"Oh, magic! I can do take-light-away magic!" Hikari proclaimed proudly. "It makes light not burn for a bit!" He tried not to think of his other magic- the magic that he used before.. before the bird. It didn't help. His eyes watered as he attempted not to cry in front of the swamp monster.

But they only watered for a moment, a fraction of an instant, where if one wasn't looking close, they wouldn't see the tears that had threatened to well up in reminder of the incident with Nox. Then, they were gone, and Hikari was back to his 'cheerful' self. "Of course I'd ask! Even swamp monsters need to be okay and not choking on things!"

"Yeah! I'm gonna ride the swamp monster!" Hikari cried, half-fluttering, half-leaping over to Dragon's head. It didn't matter that he was really just perching on his head- he threw himself into it whole-heartedly. Anything to distract himself from his bad memories.

@Dragon

Dragon snorted with amusement at the little one's enthusiasm--and in the manner of a grandfatherly old thing he turned and started to waddle toward the water. One rear leg dragged weakly behind, damaged in some way.

"I will take you out onto the river, if you want. I will not let you drown. You do magic that takes the light away? Fire, too, I wonder?" He pondered this. He had seen light magic--Eve had used it to make things glow for the Children--but he had never seen... well, take-away-light-magic. Darkness? He supposed, upon some reflection, that it stood to reason that if there was light, there must be shadow magic as well.

With a thoughtful huff he tried to peer up at the little one. "Can you show me? It can be very helpful to--well, to staying alive. Your mastery of magic, that is. What," he added, "do you eat?"

That was what little ones generally needed--food, shelter, some warnings about predators, and a bit of a push with their magic. This thing, however, seemed precocious--or else someone else had showed it a thing or two, Dragon wasn't sure. Either way he didn't feel particularly rushed in offering it lessons; he was merely, now, making conversation, though for Hikari's sake.

He thought for a moment. The little Gembound had never seen a large body of water before, much less been present with one. The swamp was damp and comforting- perhaps water was like that, but with less dirt? He'd have to find out. "Yeah! Onwards, to the river!"

Hikari tilted his head, confused, at the next question. "What's the difference?" Light burned, seared the skin beneath feathers, made the rest of the world uninhabitable- at least, he hadn't seen anyone besides the lightwalker in the bright room. Wasn't fire the same? "I dunno if you'd see my not-light spell. It's already real dark in here- it's why I don't need to use it!"

"Plants!" he said, almost automatically. Bugs would be tasty, too, he felt, but bugs were tiny and cute and crawled up your legs; bugs were not for eating unless you were real hungry. "Seeds an' stems an' stuff!"

@Dragon

Dragon slowly hauled himself into the water channel as he reached it, and began a slow and gentle floating close by along the shoreline. As Hikari spoke, he chortled.

"Light is just that. Light! Fire burns! It creates smoke, and it consumes that which it touches. Fire can kill." Dragon sounded faintly pleased by this, or at least content--fire was, after all his own element.

As he slowly wafted his thick, ridged tail to and fro behind them, sending them gliding gradually forward, he considered the rest. "I could show you fire, if you wish, if you get onto my back."

And then there was the matter of Hikari being a plant-eater. For a brief moment Dragon was faintly disappointed--but no, he realized; every plant-eater meant less competition in Cetus, for his father Aquarian. Or would he eat plants..? I have never thought to ask him, the alligator reflected thoughtfully.

"I wonder what sort of creature you are?" Dragon wondered aloud, at length. "I think a bird, but I cannot tell what type." He was half-wondering if Hikari knew it himself, but he doubted it; very few seemed to be able to tell their own species by name.

@Hikari

Hikari shuddered. This fire Dragon spoke of sounded even worse than light was- he would have to avoid it at all costs. "No thanks. Fire sounds scary." he replied.

A reflection caught his eye, and he turned to look down at the water. There was a bird mirrored in it. "I dunno. I just know I'm a birdie." he responded distractedly, trying to see the mirror image clearly through the ripples of Dragon's steady movement through the water.

A revelation came to his mind. Was this bird.. him? Hikari leaned closer, looking from himself to the reflection, matching up the spots of white that had begun to show through in his feathers to the bird in front of him. He was standing on the very edge of Dragon's head, leaning forward precariously. His talon slipped, failing to keep a grip on the swamp monster's scales.

Hikari's wings flailed, and he fell, head-first, into the water. The bird splashed in the water, failing to keep himself up. He kicked at the water, but he was unable to keep himself afloat among the murky swamp water. He was sinking, his breath coming out in short, panicked bursts. "Dragon!" he called, before his beak went beneath the water.

@Dragon