Beneath the drone and hums of insects, beneath the murky green water, glassy and still, a chrysalis vibrates. The misshapen lump of bloodstone had sat here for many months, already spiderwebbed with thin white lines from unseen trials. began to hatch. It stirs up the mud at the bottom of the swamp as a shard falls from it. A shape, the newly born Usi, darts out of the hollow left by the shard, before the rest of the chrysalis can crumble, bee lining for the surface of the water.

Her snout touches the air, and she pauses. Then she puffs out a breath. It's her first, and fills the newborn with wonder and excitement. She flicks her mauve tongue out to taste the air, rich, earthy, and warm. She tilts her head back and forth to view the new world around her with her good eye. The sky above is foggy, and the murky water from which she'd been born is filled with patches of duckweed and towering cypresses, jutting out of the water like spears. How far does it go? She muses to herself.

She begins swimming to the far shore, slithering over logs and through lillies and duck weed as if she were racing, keeping her good eye pointed at the grassy bank. So it is not an overstatement to say she was not expecting it when the water beneath her suddenly turned into something smooth and slimy, and she certainly wasn't expecting it when she bumped into a fluke. She seizes up at the sudden contact, and her burst of energy ends there. She flicks her tongue out, slow as growing grass, more on instinct than anything. She was utterly bewildered by this new black flesh pile beneath her. She blinks slowly. Then tilts her good eye down at the thing beneath her.

"Hello?" She says, her voice scratchy and unused, barely above a whisper.

@Phlegethon

This seemed to happen on the regular.

Young Gembound running aground upon it, at least.

Phlegethon stirred from its spot, chin half-buried in the muck and mire. All that was really visible was the glimmering labradorite just above its nostril. So, could it really blame this neonate for finding herself nose-to-fluke with a near-eldritch monstrosity. The texture of its skin shifted, goosebumps marring the edges of its tail. A soft voice, barely decipherable other than as a vibration, came from nearby --- not just a Lesser.

With an audible plop!ping sound, the monstrosity drew its head up from the mire and pushed forth slightly. It had learned from its encounter with Lamia, each motion slow and careful; there would be minimal disturbance in the near pitch-black waters. Propping up on its fins and craning the full length of its neck, Phlegethon searched for the source of the interruption. Cracking open its jaw, revealing a glistening red eye within, the monstrosity failed to see anything immediately.

So, it did the next best thing.

A low hum reverberated from the enormous being's body, bassy and shaking the water immediately around it: "yes?"
@Usingizi

Usingzi had been staring at what she would soon realize was the tail intently, expecting it to have eyes somewhere and open them, or atleast a mouth. Instead, small bumps started to spread over it. Were these...were they the eyes? They looked kinda small. She thought. p No creature so have so many. It's ...weird. She blinked. How did know that most things didn't have so many eyes? Maybe she was the weird one. She was mulling over these thoughts when a plop sounded from further ahead.

She tensed back up immediately. It was huge. Much bigger than she initially thought. It was big enough that its shadow could've swallowed her. If she could've, her eye would have widened. Instead, she blinked slowly, head tilted. It had an eye its mouth. Was that normal? She was unsure. Her gem was in her mouth. Was her eye supposed to be there instead?

She was so deep in thought, that she almost didn't notice it had talked, and even then it took her a good while to process the one word question. She pressed the gem in her mouth with her tongue, then flickered her tongue out. When it seemed as if she wouldn't reply, she spoke again, having finally decided on an answer.

"Will you eat me now?"

@Phlegethon

The monstrosity's tail shifted carefully, slowly. Phlegethon wondered idly for a moment if the neonate would flee instantly or strike at its flukes — neither did occur, but silence. Its red eye shifted in its socket, pupil still yet scanning for another presence when, ah— there: a small, serpentine creature lying in the muck, head tilted up to stare right back at it. Somehow, this being was even smaller than the fish-not-fish had been. There were no fins or… limbs to speak of. How did it move? It wouldn't be a stretch to state that a snake was new to Phlegethon. Involuntarily, its head swayed downward, eye peering ever-closer. There were scales like Dragon's, yet they seemed smooth like its own skin when relaxed.

It was not relaxed.

Goosebumps continued to swarm up and down Phlegethon's body as it shifted about the silent neonate. It swore it had spoken. Lessers would have fled at the sight by now, no matter how fresh their blood was. After a few cycles, the monstrosity had realized the extent of its size, and how unusual it truly was. Driving its keeled chest into the muck and propping up on its flippers, the creature closed its mouth; it had a good idea of this creature's appearance, now. Soon, Phlegethon would have an idea of its voice, wondering very casually if it would be eaten.

"You speak," the monstrosity stated in its bassy hum, "you are not food." Its head swayed, again, skin smoothing down, now. "I am Phlegethon. Where is your name, new-hatch?"
@Usingizi

Usingzi relaxed slightly when the larger thing revealed that it had no plans to eat her. Even though its pure size, and the way that its very voice seemed to make the earth vibrate, intimidated her. That, plus the fact that it's skin kept rippling in bumps. She didn't think she'd ever grow used to that.

"Ah," she sighed. She flicked her tongue out, memorizing the scent of the 'Phelgethon', so that she would not be taken by suprise by it again.

"My name...?" she mused. "I am.."

She blinked, clear eyelids flicking over her eyes. She didn't know. Her mind had felt murky since she escaped from her chrysalis. But slowly, as if a scrap of driftwood floating up from the depths, a name supplied itself from the depths of her psyche.

"I am Usingizi." She declared proudly. It was the first sentence Usingizi had spoke that she could have been sure of. Phelgethon was a friend, apparently, and she scraped at the dregs of her courage to craw up its back, slowly and cautiously. She kept her good eye fixated upon it, in case it decided to change its mind suddenly. Perhaphs it was what an older her was supposed to look like. She just had to wait for her fins to come in. And her bumpy skin. "Am I... going to look like you?" She said. "I have a gem in my mouth. Will it become an eye?" She opened her mouth to show it off.

@Phlegethon

The new-hatch was uncertain --- not unfamiliar to Phlegethon itself, once it began to have semi-conscious thought. Not being instinct- or hunger-driven had left the monstrosity with little sense of identity. As such, it was dutifully patient, gazing at the serpent with a closed snout. A beat. Usingizi, the neonate said. A name.

"Usingizi," it imitated perfectly, aside from the bass-hum lying beneath the tones of the serpent's small voice. The monstrosity's skin rippled, unsettled slightly by the sensation of this odd creature slithering up its back. Phlegethon stayed still, though, for fear of somehow causing injury. Goosebumps settled into place, no longer churning but allowing for something for the young anaconda to actually grip --- unintentionally, of course.

Would the child grow to appear like it, she wondered. The creature craned its neck, nearly turning its head 180 degrees in order to gaze at the presented mouth. Phlegethon thought back to its juvenile state. No scales, perpetual eye in the mouth, fins. It shook its head, a clear no. "I look like this, then and now. I will in time." As far as it knew, there was no metamorphosis that Gembound underwent beside chrysalises. "You will look like you in time," Phlegethon articulated rather poorly, but blankly, "you will grow if you eat. Do you hunger?"
@Usingizi

"Ah." She says quietly. The skin of Phelgethon finally seems to settle into some form of pattern, and it allows her to to climb much easier. She settles on the middle of its back, draped like a lax vine. She thinks over its words for a moment. The moment of thought offers her no further clarity. How would she look like herself in time? She already looks like herself. Its words are simple, yet the thoughts are far too much for the newly hatched snake to understand. She hums for a moment, and then says as much.

"I dont understand." She does, however, understand hunger. That was a simple enough concept, much easier to understand than her looking like her. She thinks for a moment, recognizing that she was, in fact, hungry. Would her new friend Phleygethon help her find food?

Exitement coursed through Usi and she was filled with energy once more. Her coils loosened, and her previous caution exits her mind. She begins looping in an excited circuit on its back. Usi adjusts her jaw in preparation for the upcoming meal. She flickers her tongue out excitedly, and pauses in her circuits. Usi lifts her head to give Phlegethon a bright-eyed stare.

"Yes! I am hungry. Will you help me find food fel-phil-flay-faygo." It had been much easier to say in her thoughts. If the snake had eyebrows they would be scrunched in concentration. She touched the gem in the bottom of her jaw. "You have a hard name."

"Phley." She settled on. That was easy enough for her to say. The snake didn't realize it at the time, but she had quickly adopted Phley as her older sibling.

"We will find food now? Food does not talk." She says, repeating what it'd said earlier. "Will we talk to the food first? To see if food talks back?"

Her eye darts through the murk, and she flicks her head side to side in a rather bird like manner. Looking for what could be called food. She would say hello to her food, and if it did not reply, she would eat it.

@Phlegethon

Phlegethon fell silent for a moment, if only to figure out how to better articulate its own point. Mentioning hunger seemed to send the little serpent into a frenzy of joy, giving the monstrosity plenty of time to go through its entire vocabulary --- both in the air and in the water. "Same," it rumbled, not entirely of its own accord, "I have looked the same, no matter how I grew. My siblings --- hatched at the same time as me --- too." Hopefully that wasn't simple to a fault, again.

Its head swayed, then tilted as if its neck were suddenly broken; Usingizi hungered, yet seemed to devolve into a cacophony of sounds it didn't immediately recognize as its own name. If it had eyelids, the monstrosity would be blinking. Instead, it just stared blankly. A beat. Phlegethon started with a moment of clarity. "I do not know where my name came from," it rumbled softly, beginning to shove off into the shallow (at least, to the monstrosity) swamp. With an almost teasing tone, Phlegethon added, "you have a hard name, Usingizi." To the monstrosity, it wasn't that difficult to pronounce, given its excellent mimicry skills, but still---

"We will see if food talks or if it runs," it affirmed, drawing in its elastic neck, preparing to strike at a moment's notice. Phlegethon wanted the serpent to learn to hunt for herself, and so it simply milled along, sensing carefully where the water and mud met.
@Usingizi

Usingizi nodded. She understood that better than before.

She paused. Usingizi was hard as well, she supposed. "I suppose I do. We both do." She says, voice light. She flickers her tongue out. Usingizi stays tense when Phlegethon moves, trying to stay alert for when she spots something.

It doesnt take long. She spots movement beneath the waves-there. She rears her head back, and launches herself off Phelgethon's back, into the water. However, halfway through the air she panics, and flails upon realizing there is no solid surface or fluid beneath or around her. She hits the water belly side up with a splat, but doesnt let that deter her. She rights herself, feeling embarrasment start to flutter into her gut, and dives into the water. Usingizi spots the fleeing form of a fish. She tries to whisper hello, but swallows water in her attempt. In any case, it flees, which gives Usingizi more than enough reason to chase it. The water is too dark and muddy for her to make out much, but she can see the vague shape of the thing she chases.

She darts forward, and feels her fangs wrap around something. She thinks she feels it wriggle, and she grips harder, coiling around it until it stops. She feels pride well up, and swims up to show Phlegethon what she'd caught. As she surfaces, she becomes aware of the fact that the thing in her mouth tastes distinctly not-fish-like. She drops it, realizing she'd caught an algae ridden stick.

"Ah," she sighs. The embarrasment settles heavily. "I think," she pauses again, pressing the gem in her mouth. "That went badly."

@Phlegethon

Its skin relaxed subtly, a sign of relief. The little serpent understood better. Phlegethon vowed, quietly, to think through its explanations more thoroughly and check every corner of its magically-appearing vocabulary. For example...

"Hunting takes practice. You must try again and again in order to succeed," it began, after watching the anaconda shoot off after an innocuous branch coated in green (not that the monstrosity could properly see or identify what the object had been.) After a pause, Phlegethon gave a deep rumble of satisfaction, shaking the water slightly, "you swim very fast, Usingizi. Faster than many fish. Aim true and you will eat." To demonstrate, it momentarily disappeared beneath the water's surface. Utilizing the weak-sighted eye-gem atop its head, the monstrosity caught Usingizi with ridged, slimy skin. Delicately and easily balancing the neonate on its head, Phlegethon milled across the swamp once more. Its skin, minus where the little snake lay, shifted and churned, catching any and all sounds.

At first, there seemed to be nothing in the reeds but frogs and other small life that'd be impossible for it to accurately snatch up. After a time, there was finally something: a fluttering of wings. Perfect.

Silently, Phlegethon raised its head out of the water and conjured up a bit of magicka. Very casually, the monstrosity began to retch without even moving its head. That elastic neck it had churned and shifted, gag reflex in full force. With a mouth absolutely filled to the brim with thick, heavy slime, it gargled slightly. In a few seconds, the creature spit a very dangerous 'missile' of dark, flammable gelatin at the possible prey item.

It paused for a moment, cracking its jaw open to watch. The projectile nearly fell short, but managed to strike the fledgling bird's wing. Such a soft impact upon water could only be sensed by Phlegethon, most certainly fatal to the bird within seconds. In one, smooth motion, the monstrosity had slunk forth, taken the bird halfway in its mouth, crunched down --- killing it swiftly and painlessly --- and swished it about in the swamp water, as if that would make the thing any more sanitary. "Adapt. Improvise. Overcome," it rumbled, shifting back slightly and down, allowing Usingizi a chance at the dead bird.

Hopefully it was small enough to fit in such a small body. Phlegethon was not good at actually chewing.
@Usingizi