Following the whole deal with the alien Santa, Aure had yet to go home. He knew his family probably worried for him, but he wanted to explore Polaris some more so that he could give far more detail to Mother and Tanny. If he missed a single detail in his stories, oh, he'd be a shameful little wyvern! The first thing he did was circle around the biggest dang crystal in the cave, which he was unaware was called the Spire. It crackled with magicka that made his feathers stand up on his own. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about the feeling, though, and was quick to abandon that endeavor. There had to be more interesting things about, like the strange box in the river!

Now, that was weird, right?

The little wyvern had alighted near it, tucking his wings close to his side so that he could assume his pigeon-like walk around the river bank. There was a great big circle stuck to the box with all sorts of little circles inside. Of course, he wasn't aware that this was what gave the Caves their light. Yes, this simple little box did all of that! Aure simply peered at it, bobbing his head up and down and staring at the various moving parts that powered it. Carmine eyes blinked once or twice at each little bit and bob before moving on to the next. He distantly wondered what would happen --- if anything --- if he made some mushrooms grow inside of the mechanisms. Would that make it stop? Or would it just keep going? He didn't really want to test that, though. That didn't seem like such a good idea.

@Black

Black had seen the figure--small, and quite possibly young--circling near the Spire. He'd headed that way almost at once, at a lopsided lope, urgency driving him. He'd learned only recently--through Many's ordeal--the the Spire had more hostility than they'd prior realized.

By the time he reached the little one it had already moved on, flying and then landing some distance off. Black slowed his pace, now, not quite so hurried--but still worried by the thing's prodding around near all the dangerous bits. He had the heart of a guardian, and so it was--in his mind--immediately his responsibility to rush over to warn the stranger.

Once he was close enough, he barked out--not hostile, yet his voice was a deep and rumbling bass nonetheless.

"Little Wings," he began, pale blue eyes sharp with concern. "Do not draw too close to those places. To the great wheel, or to the Spire. They hold great dangers."

He came closer, and could see it more clearly now; and it reminded him vaguely of something. Hadn't there been a bird something like this, once? He couldn't quite remember, but he recalled the group in Canis--he and Fisher had gone there, hadn't they, looking for someone? They'd spoken to a hyena, and--hadn't there been a bird, someone Fisher knew? He shook the thought away--along with a stray string of slobber. This wasn't that bird; it had a different face, different pelt. And it was young, he thought--as he'd guessed from farther away.

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@Auré

The sound best described as a boof startled him witless.

"Ack---!" Aure stumbled over to the side a little, wings flapping as he attempted to simultaneously whirl around and take flight. Unfortunately, he managed to do neither of those things and remained in a crumpled little heap on the ground. Fortunately, this stranger seemed nice with a bassy voice that the little wyvern could feel in his bones. It wasn't like anything he'd heard before and... it was soothing. All of his fearful puffiness smoothed out immediately. Rocking onto his legs, Aure listened.

At the weird box's mention, the little wyvern peered toward it. Oh, so it was called the Great Wheel! Okay! All the more detail for Mother, later. And, he presumed, the big shiny rock was called the Spire. Despite the apparent dangers they held, they were fascinating and had interesting names fitting them.

To make sure that Black knew he wasn't mute, Aure immediately started in with that chipper little voice of his: "Hi! I'm Auré! Uh-rae! I was just looking and thinking about growing mushroom inside of the box but it didn't seem like a good idea so I didn't. What's it for? What does it do? And the Spire?" A breath. "What's your name? Do you know magic? Do you know my Mother? Her name's Giggle." The last bit was added with a suspicious squint and grin, noting that this strange dog indeed reminded him a little of Mother.

@Black

The Black Dog listened, his massive head tilting, to the sudden flood of--were those words, or squeaks?... words, he decided--from the little one.

Slowly, he catalogued each question, and considered it, and slowly, he began to rumble out his responses. As he did so, he padded more slowly over, and moved to sniff Aure over, checking him for odors of adrenaline and blood, an air of guardianlike concern about him.

"Do not grow mushrooms inside of the box. When the box does not work, all of the lights do not work," he began, and then, perhaps rather less clearly, added--"When the Lightbringer returned the lights last, it was a cat that was a storm, and a stone within the box." Yes, that would obviously enlighten the young one. "The stone of the hero was removed and the lights returned from darkness."

The Dog gave a wag of his tail as he determined that Aure wasn't bloody or dying or terrified, and then backed up, content. He moved, steadily, on to the next question. "The Spire holds powerful magic. Harm comes to many who get too close. Some are spared. Others are driven mad or harmed. Fisher has climbed it, and yet Many's mind was damaged. It is strange; but you are small and young. Do not go too close."

...Next question. "I am the Black Dog. I have been Void, and Black, and other names. I know of darkness and the shadow answers to me. I know your mother," he added, tilting his head to look over Aure in some surprise. He knew the concept of "mother," and "father;" he was a father himself, after all, of two children. He the father, Eve the mother--a black crow. Their children were good--both of them winged dogs, one a bright and happy, energetic albino who was the apple of his eye, the other a shy black mender who had taken on the mantle of guardian in his own and meek way. Black adored them both, as best the near-emotionless dog could.

But Giggle--that was a name that he knew. And he knew it fairly well. It was, in fact, twined with the lights here--and Black sat abruptly, haunches plopping onto the ground, his wrinkled face wrinkling further as he peered at Aure.

Story time.

"When last the lights went out, when the stone was in the box and the storm became a cat," he began--was this nonsense..? A fairy tale?--"the two cats went back to the room of the Red Throne." Okay, so Orion's throne wasn't really blood red, anymore, but Black had seen its past, and his mind was already moving on. "I and the Lightbringer followed, to see if they needed aid! They spoke of a punishment, the storm-cat's body taken for the shadow-cat's punishment. I wished to learn more. Yet others came, and the shadow-cat Senka became upset. The stone of the storm-cat was lost. The others vanished into the darkness. Your mother was there, yes. She is a seer. I have met her before, and she has read the bones. Her bird was there. When the stone was found, they returned from the darkness, and your mother was very angry. I believe she hates the cats, the storm and the shadow," he added, though this was with a quizzical tone. He still didn't quite understand why Giggle had hated Senka so. "We returned to the place of bones, and she read them, and spoke of chaos, and victims, with the shadow-cat's past. I knew another, who looked like you," Black abruptly added.

It did look like the bird he'd once seen. And Black's memory was not always so sharp; the incident with Senka was relatively recent, but Aza'zel had been many cycles ago. He remembered, though, being with Fisher, as he'd thought--and now he remembered that they'd been looking for the white kitten, the one who had been lost. He remembered his joy at finding her well, after her near-drowning--and his tail wagged now, even here in the present, in Polaris, sweeping to and fro over the floor at the image. But he remembered the bird, the one Fisher had spoken to, and he remembered them--playing? He could not quite remember why they had been there to begin with, with Aza'zel--perhaps asking where the white cat had been, he was uncertain. If even he had ever known. "Aza'zel," Black rumbled at last, eyes refocusing on Aure. "The King of Bones."

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@Auré

Aure didn't so much as flinch as the black dog — literally named that, it seemed — plodded over and sniffed at him. If anything, he was happy to stretch himself upward for ease of sniffing. Even as he did so, the little wyvern's ears were perked forward as far as they could go, capturing every rumbling sound that came from the stranger. So, his gut instinct was proved correct. "No mushrooms," he nodded solemnly, making sure to not even think about conjuring magic to do that. Mother didn't like the dark too much, and making the box not work would put darkness everywhere. But— "who's the Lightbringer?" Aure stared pensively toward the box and back to Black, "are they the hero, too?" Then, there was something to be said about the Spire, and his bright eyes inadvertently trailed toward it. "Is the Spire where magic is born? Why is it mean if it gives us magic? Is it angry? Who's Many?" Easy, son, that's a lot of 'who' questions. Now, it was time for a 'what' question. An epiphany fluttered across his mind, and he gasped softly, "is it a chrysalis?"

For a moment, the little wyvern's eyes narrowed into a rather hostile glint, hearing the word Void. Oh, Mother didn't like that! By proxy, Aure didn't either. But the Black Dog didn't seem to be angry or evil when introducing himself or when he spoke of darkness. Plus, the one that controlled the Void was a nasty naked cat covered in shadows, right? The little one had never heard of Gembound changing their shape and disguising themselves, so all suspicions melted away again. "I'll call you Black, then! Can you control light, too? I've never seen shadows without light!" It was true! He had yet to see pure blackness. Taking Black's cue to sit down, Aure made himself comfy on his own haunches and stomach.

Oh! Story time! He loved stories! They made him think and contemplate things and also taught him things he didn't know — like that there was another cat but made of storms! Was it related to the evil shadow cat? It must be, since Black mentioned two cats returning to some room with a Red Throne in it. Orion, maybe? But… that whole room was blue as blue could be. No trace of red in there except for his own eyes. "Her name is Senka? The naked cat? What about the storm-cat?" Then, beginning to contemplate life itself, he peered down at the floor. "How can someone exist without a body or a stone? And be a storm and a cat?" There was an unsaid little hope in his tones, as he looked back up. Could he do that, someday? Become a storm or some other form of pure magic?

He was a little confused by the Black Dog's uncertainty about how Mother hated Senka. "She really hates the shadow! She told me to stay away from her and the Void. She takes you into this dark, scary place and Mother couldn't come back without Omen!" Remembering that this stranger may not know the bird, he added: "Omen's her bird. She has one eye." It was kind of spooky honestly, only because he had yet to see another bird like it — with one eye, at least. He'd seen crows and other corvids. Aure's attention quickly waned from that subject, as Black mentioned having known the Bone King. With a small oh! he perked up and shuffled closer, waiting to hear more. "Was he nice?" was the simplest, but most effective question he could muster. Then, swallowing, he blinked. "Am I like him?"

@Black

Black remained firmly on his haunches and listened dutifully to each of Aure's questions. When the little one had asked his last, the dog then set himself, again quite conscientiously, to answering every one as thoroughly as he was capable. It wasn't clear why he felt himself responsible to do so, but clearly--at least to one older, it would have been clear; perhaps not to Aure--he did.

"The Lightbringer was a white wolf. Your mother foresaw her returning the lights, and so she did. I do not know where she has gone. She kept another name." For whatever reason--perhaps he thought it unimportant--the black dog did not bother mentioning what that name actually was. "The hero was another. Long ago there was a great, black dragon. Many of us fought it. A winged creature came from above, and did not speak, but fought it too. It died in the battle, and I believe the stone in the box was its own. It was not the Lightbringer," he clarified, as if he had to explain that the winged creature, which had died long ago, was not in fact the recent white wolf.

At the spate of questions regarding the Spire, his head swivelled abruptly to peer at it, his wrinkled skin and pendulous ears moving of their own accord in a sort of delayed flap. "I do not know if a thing is within it. I do not know if it is where magic is born; but magic is stronger, there. I do not know if it is angry but it has harmed, before," he repeated. "Many is the creature who was harmed perhaps the worst. It has pieces that look like other creatures, like many in one. Stripes of a cat, yet the face of a goat. It is kind. But the Spire held it down, and harmed it, and it is alive but it cannot think any longer. It said that I am a tiger. I am not a tiger." And the facts stood up, under scrutiny. He was not, in fact, a tiger. "You may call me Black."

This last was said in an agreeable tone, and the dog looked back to Aure before continuing to respond to the little one's litany of questions, slowly and methodically. "I cannot control light, bar to control how the shadows move. To remove darkness is to brighten the light. To fill a place with darkness is to end it. But I cannot brighten light, which already is."

"The naked shadow cat is named Senka. She is not to be harmed," he added in a warning tone, down at the little one. He remembered well Giggle's hatred for her, but Senka--in his eyes--had been only a victim, a poor and lost, rather alone guardian of the other victimized cat. "Her sister--the storm-cat--was Vathrahi. Vahi. It held two names. It was punished for what the shadow-cat had done wrong. I do not know what she did, or who punished. I do not know how storm-cat existed, but it did have a stone. A... chrys..." He paused, uncertain. What had Senka called the stone? He made a guess. "Chrysophil? I do not remember its name. It was, I think, yellow, but it was not within her body. She existed outside it. This," he added, "was the punishment. Your mother has been within the void. The bird, I have met."

He paused, looking over Aure closely, inspecting him, at his question about his father. Were they similar..? He took this a little bit literally. "He appeared to be kind. I remember him playing with Fisher. You look similar. The colors, and you have feathers, and the face, perhaps. And wings."

He did not answer about a personality; but he had not known Aza'zel well. They did seem to share the same carefree friendliness about them, at least.

Black did not mention his suspicion that Aza'zel had deliberately damaged Fisher's stone, in play. After having learned how reproduction worked, he was no longer particularly certain that it was a possibility--and anyway, he'd not thought of it in quite some time.

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@Auré

Oh, so the Lightbringer had been a wolf, like the swearing one from the little crystal-quest that had occurred recently! But she was white and full of purity --- at least he assumed. Aure couldn't be too sure on that. Mother had never mentioned any such Gembound, although the wolf didn't seem too relevant to Canis or any of the bones; unless she was dead and nothing but, now. Nothing Black said seemed to imply that, though! Which was good! Not entirely meaning to be rude and interrupt, the little one chirped. "I'm sure she's okay!" Not that the dog seemed to need any reassuring; he seemed content not knowing the whereabouts of his apparent companion. He meant to ask about the winged creature, mind already flying to some strange thing with feathery wings and big alien eyes like Naskital, but he got distracted by the next question and answer.

"Maybe... it's a chrysalis for magic!" Aure swung his own head toward the Spire, staring deep into it for some miscellaneous shape within. It glowed and pulsed softly, but intensely. No response to his wistful thoughts. Perhaps it was still too young, whatever was in it. It was really big. The glimmering crystal easily dwarfed anything that had ever walked these caves, at least. Well, anything Aure had ever met. The bar was set rather low. Oh! There had been that big ice dragon in Pisces! Still, she was too small to even come close to the Spire's size. "Many sounds weird. I hope they get to think again." The little one nodded sagely at Black's notion of not being a tiger and standing to present his lack of stripes. "I don't know what a tiger is but I've seen cats! Is it like a big cat with stripes?" Of course it was, but Aure was just a little baby, unaware of the world he had emerged into (again.) With a smile, he nodded again, "you may call me Aure!"

The dog fit his namesake, controlling only the darkness that followed light. That was fun, he supposed! Aure did not see the positive benefits of darkness, if there were any, but at least he was interested. "Oh, that's cool! Shadows beat light! Even though light makes shadows." Then, as if Black had asked about his own magical prowess: "I can grow mushrooms like my Mother! And I want to someday learn how to control the wind and stuff like my Father, the Bone King!" With a flourish, the little one puffed out his chest and rose to his feet so that he could flap his wings in the dog's direction. Someday, those wingbeats would hold the power to shape the wind, he just knew it!

Then, came Aure's second moral grey ground and alternate take on the world. First had been the knowledge that Eythan killed both his Father and possibly his Uncle Carni; the little one still had not asked for confirmation on the latter, not that he wanted to know. And, now, there was the conflicting views on Senka herself. On one hand, he should truly trust in his very own Mother that the cat was pure evil and cruel, locking innocent Gembound away in a place void of any sensation. But, on the other, he could believe that the cat did not deserve harm for her actions, that she was behaving on impulse and that she was punished. Wait, punished? By who? Aure looked up from his toes abruptly with a small peep!, "who was punishing them?" Eythan had been impulsive, too, in killing Father. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so guilty-feeling! But Mother never said that Senka wasn't wholly evil. There was no room for error there.

Oh, his brain hurt. Aure fell back onto his rear, closing his eyes for a moment as the dog looked him up and down. The dizzying sensation of contemplation had vanished within seconds, making way for his next blip of attention: connecting with his Father, his stone-giver. The little one opened his eyes again, peering up at the enormous mastiff. It was a little disappointing, to be honest, but he could understand it. Maybe Black just didn't know the Bone King well. At least Aure looked similar to t!he fallen King! That merited some brownie points, right? Yeah. "Eythan --- that's my brother! --- told me that I can make my feathers red and orange like the Bone King's were, if I wanted to! I was thinking about doing that!"

Congratulations, Mr. Black Dog, you've graduated from temporary babysitter to fashion director.

@Black

The Dog looked to the Spire.

"I do not know if it is a place for magic, any more than I know if it is a place where a great beast sleeps. Perhaps," he conceded. "Shadow and light are equally powerful. Each banishes the other. Yet both must work in unison." Rather than... explain this rather cryptic comment, he simply went on. "I do not know how you can make your feathers orange."

He tilted his head, eyeing Aure up and down, looking over the cream color of his base coat. Why does he wish to be orange? He did not really remember the rust tones of Aza'zel's feathers, whether they were red and orange as Aure said--nor did he really realize that the hatchling might wish to emulate its father.

At length, he simply asked the question. "Why do you wish to change color?"

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@Auré

"Maybe it'll hatch, someday," the imaginative little one whispered dreamily, beginning to imagine some immense dragon emerging from the wreckage of the Spire. Its scales were pearly blue like the many facets and edges of its previous home, and it had a belly full of glowing white fire. Pretty. The coldness of its scales and aura balanced out the broiling sensation in its stomach, much like light seemed to be in perpetual balance with darkness. Did some place opposite to the Void exist, then? Somewhere warm and full of light? Was this --- the Caves he walked and flew in among others --- the anti-Void?

As for turning his feathers orange, Aure blinked once or twice. His head pointed downward a little as he squinted, trying to remember what exactly Tanny had told him. "The water and rocks in Canis have a lot of this red kind of stuff called... rust, I think? It's from all of the dead stuff in there. The Bone King was pale like me and used to kind of just pick up the color? I might be the new one and feel like I should fit the image, maybe? Plus, my Mother's red too!" Then, bashfully, the little one met Black's gaze, should he be looking Aure's way, "plus... I think it'd look cool."

@Black

Black peered rather quizzically at Aure for some time, bewildered. Cool..? But red, orange--those were the colors of blood and flame. They were not cold; they were warm. But instead of pointing this out, he simply stared for a long while before rumbling--"Very well." He then looked back to the Spire. "The dragon Raheerah wished it as his own. Whether something lies beneath, or not, I do not know; but he desired it. This cave was full of his fire, and many were harmed in fighting him." Had he already said this..? Oh, well. He turned his attention back to Aure.

"Why are you here? Has the Seer sent you, to seek a thing? Or are you travelling, merely to learn, and to watch?" Curiosity lit in his tone, now, as he continued. "And she yet lives, yes? This is good. And your father?"

Oof.

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@Auré