Dragon was not as invisible now, and Phlegethon vowed to at least make some attempts at imitating that magic; perhaps not now, while its throat was still so raw and bubbling with molten slime. It did not what to imagine the consequences of that backfiring. Unfortunately, the monstrosity began to do so. The first image to come was simply blinking out of existence, unable to return. That wasn't ideal.

What was ideal was how straightforward becoming a Rot-Child seemed to be. To be a Rot-Child was essentially to have a family, as Nox had described it. A family to protect, to fight for, to know. There was also the whole thing with the Elders, but Phlegethon did not think it would encounter any others besides the ones Dragon had described. Knowledge-gathering and -sharing seemed fundamental, though. The creature did not know much, but when it knew more, it would share this information readily.

With the very same readiness, Phlegethon's head bobbed up and down, jaw closing and drowning its vision in darkness once again. "I desire this. Allies and knowledge is strength," it warbled confidently.
@Dragon

The alligator rumbled his approval.

"Good!" he cried, enthusiastically. "Then you are one of us. I will share knowledge and protection, as will you. So!"

He settled himself contentedly in the muck.

"Do you hold any questions?" His demeanor was easygoing and amenable. It was clear that, so long as someone wasn't stealing from, taunting or otherwise aggravating the alligator, he was relatively good-natured. Helpful, even, to those who seemed to meet his approval.

@Phlegethon

"Knowledge will come as I gain it," Phlegethon warbled, lamenting its lack of it so far. "Hunger is a child of Nox. I have not heard it since awakening." When one was a creature reliant on vibrations rather than sound, hearing was key. Swallowing down some charred slime — what? It was nourishment it did not want to lose — the monstrosity drew further from the mire, barrel-like chest dragging through the mud. The slime tasted, well, burnt. Phlegethon did not mind it. You see, it wasn't a connoisseur of fine tastes. Don't ever think that it was. Its tongue had no purpose other than to lie there since it gulped food down so quickly.

Speaking of food… Phlegethon was hungry. No surprise there.

"I ask one thing," it began, maw cracking open to judge any physical reactions, "may we hunt as two?" It fell silent, glimmering red eye awaiting rather eagerly. Who cared if it had just choked down half of a carcass; it was missing the other half of it.
@Dragon

Dragon laughed heartily.

"Yes!" he boomed in response. "Now?" He eyed the youngster, briefly, wondering how best to tackle this. One could spook out prey while the other lay in wait, perhaps, or they could both chase it down--or ambush together? That would hardly be necessary. Still, finding it, rather than laying in wait, was always the challenge.

"Do you have a good sense of smell? Have you learned to use it, in hunting?" he asked. His own was strong enough, but more often than not he didn't need to use it in the slightest. Prey tended to come to him, after all, and the stench of the swamp was strong.

As an afterthought, he added--"Or do you have another way to find prey? It is harder to find, and sneak up on something, than to lie in wait, of course!"

@Phlegethon

"Now," it intoned with a nod, already beginning to push itself backwards into the swamp. Phlegethon's skin squirmed with excitement, already attentively searching the duo's surroundings. Sense of smell? It snorted quietly, "I do not have a nose." Lowering its head, the monstrosity showed Dragon its blowhole, located just behind its skull. No nose. "I listen and feel," Phlegethon continued, skin churning smooth again, "the air shakes when creatures stir in it, breath it."

Despite its poor vision, the little one cracked open its mouth to peer at Dragon, rumbling, "I do not need to see or smell you; I know you, now. Slow breaths, slow heart. Straight paths and goals." The alligator moved with purpose, breathed with necessity. "Those who cannot speak have fast hearts and travel many ways," it closed its mouth, continuing, "no purpose other than food and intercourse belongs to them." A slight bit of humor crept into its deadpan speaking, somewhat chuffed by the notion of Lessers only caring about eating and making smaller ones.

Now, on to its hunting tactics, yes? Phlegethon moved further into the swamp, top of its head and dorsal fin only visible. "I swim slowly and wait for the birds. Their wings may be silent but the air still tells me about them." Then, much like a shark, the creature would leap from the waters and snap them up. "Or, I chase fish." Hmm, it had not considered the logistics of hunting together, had it? The monstrosity fell silent, humming in thought. Perhaps one could chase prey into another. Dragon had four limbs and seemed adept in moving on land and in fire. Phlegethon could strike quickly and efficiently, even from a couple feet away.

"You could bring something to the water, and I can take it below."
@Dragon

"There are ways to see, without eyes. To see in the darkness--I can sense the beating hearts you've mentioned. They're red," he added, matter-of-factly. "I will see what I can find. You lie in wait, then, and do so near the pile--but not too near. I do not think this will work," he added. "When fleeing, a thing is likely to go every which way, and not straight in one direction. I also--" Misgiving siezed him, and he decided, abruptly, not to admit his lameness too deeply. He'd been about to say that he couldn't run far, but no. "I cannot fly quickly for very long."

He turned, huffing, and then added over his shoulder (so to speak; he could hardly crane his thick neck very far) "And you must share what we catch! If we work together, we are rewarded together."

There was a leathery rustle as batlike wings snapped out of his hide, darkly ethereal. Horns curled from his head, leaving him distinctly draconic--and proudly so--as his heavy body lifted vertically from the muck. He seemed to hang there, heavy and near-limp, as the great dragonlike wings beat their dramatically ebony-crimson streaks through the mist.

He waited, a beat, for Phlegethon's agreement.

@Phlegethon

Seeing the hearts, was that another kind of magic? Or was it something innate? Phlegethon could not make out shapes too well, and its sense of color was even worse. The monstrosity drifted carefully away from the corpse pile, circling closer to a clump of cattails. Falling water seemed to thrum in the distance, however far away it was from the cavern's walls. Curious. It hadn't noticed that before. "I will wait." Its head disappeared beneath the water's surface for a moment, neck winding up like an eldritch jack-in-a-box for ease of striking. "We must try it. We will share."

Dragon would have to do the tearing, given that the monstrosity was not blessed with teeth. Instead it had weird stringiness in its mouth that it still had yet to discover the purpose of. It was off-putting and Phlegethon did not like to touch it with its tongue. As such, any instinct of licking its mouth was completely gone. Just thinking of the weird texture made its skin shudder imperceptibly.

The alligator rose into the air, and it stared for a moment, reverently and rather in awe instead of fear. Phlegethon's chin lifted from the waters, eye visible. Just in case, the creature offered another one of its own hunting tactics: "If you fall, chase them with smoke. Things will run from smoke; they do not want to suffocate." Being slow on land needed some overcoming, didn't it? Life always found a way.
@Dragon

"That is all well and good--but smoke also does not always go where you want it!" The image was ludicrous, to him--billowing smoke going every which way, cave deer leaping and scampering in all directions. Surely there was no way to control it.

Still, he'd have to find something fast, before these wings wore off--and so off he went, a vertical alligator bat-fairy, his wings flapping through the misty dark.

He headed a good way into the swamp--so far that Phlegethon was out of sight--and it occurred to him that the other might be sending him off in order to steal further from the pile. Dragon considered the idea, then disregarded it. If it did, he'd fight it the next time he saw it, and certainly keep it from joining the Children further. But if it wasn't, well, he'd find out soon enough. It was a good test of loyalty, he supposed.

Though the pile wasn't really large enough to tell when something had been taken.

He flapped onward, then lowered himself down into the muck as the wings faded. Instead he focused on his other abilities--his magicka coalescing, aiding him in seeking heartbeats in the darkness.

There.

There was something up ahead--he wasn't quite sure what. He considered, for a moment.

It was on the wrong side of him--if he gave chase now, it'd simply bolt off into the swamp. He had to get around to the other side, so that it headed toward the water. Whatever "it" was. His magic was too faint for him to identify the creature properly.

Slowly, as quietly as he could, the alligator began to haul himself through the muck in an attempt to circle around his prey. He felt that all of this was rather pointless--silly, even; but maybe it'd come in handy should they ever have a real enemy again, like that massive black dog. Something powerful that fled.

Either way, he'd humor Phlegethon, for now.

@Phlegethon

Ah, perhaps Dragon was right about that. Phlegethon was not yet aware of any smoke-controlling magics, but considered the possibility. It spent the next few moments digging deep into its stone and the subsequent stores of power. No, no smoke-bending. Instead, it decided to entertain the thought of stealing a snack or two from the pile. The alligator may return sooner than anticipated, despite being far out of sight — which, to be fair to him, wasn't too far — and beyond its sense of feeling. Phlegethon did not even so much as chance it; it just stared longingly at the offerings.

Speaking of, it wanted to be a little further from that, lest Aquarian burst forth from the depths of the swamp and eat it alongside the pile. Head turning away from the rotting deer and rats, Phlegethon shuffled back in the muck and swam around in lazy circles, ever attentive for any frantic steps coming near. It remained in the shallows, breast scraping mud at some points — just for extra springing power.
@Dragon

Well, it was--as it turned out--only a rabbit. The alligator grunted softly to himself, and pondered how to proceed. There was no way in hell he'd make it all the way around without the rabbit hearing him, and spooking--not slogging through the mud. Had there been a water channel, Dragon could have quite easily slipped around it.

He thought, for a moment, and then--taking aim at a point quite beyond the creature. He inhaled, jaw slowly cracking open, focusing on a tree beyond it. His magic welled up, then launched forth, splattering over the tree--and as it struck, the rabbit turned and bolted, before the old bark could even smolder or steam. Dragon glanced back, watching it race back toward the water.

There'd be nothing to share, here--assuming Phlegethon even managed to snatch this one. Assuming, even, that the rabbit went all the way to water without swerving off.

"RABBIT INCOMING," he bellowed, though he was far enough that he wasn't sure Phlegethon would even hear him past perhaps a muffled, distant call. But at least it might scare the rabbit onward.

@Phlegethon