In the gorge of Monoceros, surrounded by the swirling heat and dry air of the cave of winds, a large, smooth, egg-shaped rock was growing in plain sight. It was black and streaked with brown and gold colors and, for the past few minutes, had begun to wobble.

A small crack appeared in its surface, a little far down, a crack which grew into a spiderweb across the egg's surface. The wobbling stopped for a moment before a sudden foot came thrusting through the center of the crack, followed by a stream fluid, tinged with a brown-gold color. It paused for a second, the toes stretching and testing the air before it retracted and punched through another section of the egg, a little higher up. The spiderwebs had grown too numerous as the rest of the shell collapsed around the creature revealing a small, scraggly little bird. Her quill-like feathers were wet and damp from the chrysalis's fluid but her eyes were wide open and she regarded the cave around her with a sharp gaze.

Hesitantly, she stepped away from the remains of the crystal-egg on long, reptilian legs, and opened her wings just ever-so slightly. The warmth and the wind around her felt nice. She could hear it howling somewhere else and her first thought was that she appreciated that she was in a place were the winds were gentle, but still hot enough to help dry her off.

She stood like that, shaking out her feathers and letting the softer winds of the gorge flow through them and dry her off, feeling her first bit of enjoyment out of life.

The blue bird-hybrid had fled as far as she could, from Eridanus--to what she could only imagine was the end of the caves. Like Viola, she'd found a surprising calm, a true "first enjoyment," in the soothing warmth of the cave's dry winds. But she'd remained lost, here, alone; scrounging what little food she could, hiding in darkened corners and sunning herself only when she was certain that no one else was near.

She was out foraging now, and the cracking of the chrysalis drew her near. She wasn't sure what the sound had been, though she'd heard a hatching once before. A falling rock? A stick, perhaps, snapping underfoot? Cautiously she approached, her feathers ragged and her ribs thin, until at last the ostrich chick was in sight.

It was-... a strange thing, she decided at once, though no stranger than others in the caves. Hell, her own family had rather specialized in "strange, half-bird creatures," and it most certainly looked as though Viola fit that bill: long birdlike legs, and feathers, but a long serpentine neck. Like her own, a little; like Blackberry's had been, a long goose's neck, though the feathers were mere fuzz--and thick with stripes. Cloudberry--or Azure, as she'd taken to thinking of herself, now--watched uncertaintly.

Once upon a time she'd have reported dully back to her family that there was a new hatchling--one, undoubtedly, to take in. But her family was gone. She couldn't raise another Gembound, that much was for sure. Her family would have wanted her, then, to prove herself--to attack this thing, perhaps to kill it. To show her strength and claim this cave for her own.

Uneasy, she watched the child. She wasn't aggressive. She'd never been like them and she had no idea, really, how to handle this. Leave it alone? No. Her anxiety grew.

Screw it, she thought abruptly, and fiercely. She'd do the exact opposite of what her family would have asked of her.

Azure had meant to stride out from behind her rocks with confidence, radiating good intent. Instead she stumbled, a little--weary and hungry--and her scraggly appearance made her look a little menacing, instead, the way an unstable, starving animal might. But she showed no ill intent, her gaze strong as she approached Viola. She stopped a few feet off, hesitating for a moment as the winds howled overhead, and then she spoke.

"Hello," she started, and her voice, at least, was strong. ...Right, what now?

"My name is Azure," she decided. So it was finalized, then, in a sense... A strange sense of giddy freedom, and of fearful change, swept over her as she pushed on. "You're safe here with me. You're--new? Do you know your name?"

This last was said in a bit more of a jumbled rush. She'd never been good at conversation. She'd never been tasked with conversation. But... the questions seemed right, at least. Or at least to the best of her (granted, limited) judgement.

@Viola

As soon as there was a flash of color in her sight, the chick's head snapped around to focus on the creature stumbling out of its hiding spot. She stepped back a bit, her wings fluttering and her feathers ruffling with surprise as this scraggly creature came close. Her beak clacked, as if a small warning, and her eyes narrowed to gaze at the hybrid.

Her voice managed to sooth the chick a bit. And she stopped backing away. Instead, her long neck bent down a bit, stretching forward to get a closer look at the creature without actually stepping forward. It had feathers but it didn't look like her. All dark with some white and blue. A small chirp came from her beak and she stood back up, still gazing at the creature with slight mistrust.

It, however, did not seem all that bad. Her introduction was gentle enough and the ostrich cocked her head, thinking. A name, huh? Was that something that everyone had? Assuming there were others around. Did they all need something verbal to identify themselves with? Weird. But she wouldn't argue. "Viola," she chirped in a gargled speech. That was, really the first combination of sounds she really put together, more of an attempt at speech then anything. "Azure?" Did that name mean anything in particular? Perhaps it was also just a sound that she had made at some point in her life. It didn't really matter to her and she quickly hopped over the question so that she wouldn't have to listen to the answer.

"Safe. Safe? Here?" She looked around, at the stone walls, at the blowing wind, the rocks beneath her feet. "Where is here?"

@Azure

Azure was immediately at a loss.

...Err. Where is here..? She looked around, feeling a little foolish, her heart still hammering in her chest. This "social interaction" thing was proving to be more stress than it was worth--and what was worse, she was feeling this stupid in front of a hatchling! Somehow, this made it even more terrible, and she had to struggle to push all the thoughts away--reminding herself harshly that she was free, now, and had to learn this stuff on her own. -Shut up--so where is here? she asked herself.

"We're in... caves. I don't know the name of this one. Most are a little cooler, uh. Darker, wetter." Azure babbled on, as if hoping that all of this vaguely-related information would cover the whole "I don't know the answer" thing. "This cave is hot, and dry. And windy." She cast a brief glance skyward, eyeing the little bits of dust and stick caught in the air currents above. It was a dangerous place to fly. But-...

She glanced to Viola again. Could this bird even fly? Even later on? Its wings seemed rather stubby--but then, she supposed, so had hers at hatching.

Awkwardly she fell silent, fidgeting briefly as she sat herself down. Viola was clearly a little nervous of her (and some part of Azure was hurt, a little, by that--given her past, and all), so she kept her distance. But she didn't really know what to offer. For a moment she nearly asked if Viola had just arrived here, out of some stupid instinct, then pushed that thought roughly aside. Why would I even ask that?! Of course she's new, she just HATCHED. Why am I so stupid? Fool, she berated herself, out of habit. Her mind drifted, a little, detached and nervous, and she looked over at the remains ostrich chick's chrysalis as if to distract herself. But this reminded her that the bird must have a gemstone, somewhere, and her gaze flicked curiously back to Viola.

Ooh. It's kind of like mine. "I know you can't see it, but your stone--we all have stones, like the ones we hatched from?--it's on your head. It's very pretty," she went on. She'd never tried just... complimenting someone before. She was really just stating the truth; she liked Viola's gem. But almost immediately after speaking, she felt foolish for even having said it, falling silent again at once.

@Viola

At Azure's mention of other caves being damp and cold, Viola's features twisted in obvious disgust as she looked at her surroundings. Why would anyone want to live where there wasn't dry heat, wind that pushed through the feathers and warm rock and sand beneath their feet? Who wanted to be wet? That didn't sound pleasant at all. "Yes," she confirmed. "Hot. Dry. Windy. Good. I like it." Looking around the area for a little while longer, Viola found it more and more to her liking. It was perfect. And she didn't need to run around looking for it.

She nodded her head, to confirm the decision she had made to herself. "It is good. It is mine now. This place is mine." Her head suddenly snapped back towards Azure and she narrowed her eyes. Technically, Azure was her first intruder, but she didn't particularly feel like chasing her off. "You...you are nice. You can stay here, if you want." It wasn't exactly clear if she meant stay here for now or live here, but she didn't really seem to mind, either way.

At least she continued listening to Azure's words. She did not know about stones, but she understood that those rocks around her were called stones. Did she have one of those on her head? She suddenly made a very strange movement, as if arching her neck down to try and see what was on top of her head but gave up after a second when she realized it was pointless. Instead, she turned back to the remains of the egg-chrysalis. The chunks of black and gold rock were, indeed, pretty and her feathers smoothed at the compliment, a smug gleam appearing in her eyes. "Thank you. I want to see. Where is your stone?" She didn't actually recognize the circlet on Azure's head to be any kind of rock and so remained oblivious.

@Azure

Azure felt herself in agreement, calming a little, at Viola's assessment of Monoceros--warm, windy. Good.

And there was nothing particularly strange to Azure about claiming an entire cave. Her own family had done the same, and invaded another--though they'd been destroyed, for that. Viola's implication, though, that Azure "could" stay because she allowed it, pricked some nonsensical pride. My family owned. My family killed. I could crush you-... She took a deep breath and paused in her thoughts, trying to push them away. It didn't matter, to her--where it really should have--that Viola was just a chick. And where some might have tried to guide the ostrich chick with friendly advice--suggesting, perhaps, that many shared the cave, or that there were stronger Gembound about--Azure had access to no such experience. To her, her entire life had been take, or be beaten.

"I'll stay," she agreed instead, roughly. It was half a confirmation, half a threat, as if to say that yes, she lived here now, and it didn't matter what the chick said. But she didn't know what more to say, and she felt her mind shutting away into cold and distant once again.

Such a mountain, formed from such a molehill.

When Viola asked about her stone, though, Azure tilted her own head downward. She displayed the blue-sparking sapphire over her head, and spoke. "Mine's on my head, too. Those are the best ones," she decided--hers was pretty, as she knew from seeing her own reflection. Perhaps the only pretty part of her strange, misshapen body. This ostrich's crown, too, looked pretty--shiny and regal. Azure tried to imagine what Viola would look like without it, and could not.

"If you're going to live here, too, do you want me to tell you where food is? And show you safe places..?" There was a sort of cold cunning behind the question, and she watched the ostrich chick, curious to see what she would say.

@Viola

Viola picked up on the hidden thereat beneath Azure's words and her eyes narrowed, her head moving forward a bit, as if she were stretching her neck to inspect the hybrid again. She didn't quite understand why she was being threatened by someone that had seemed fine before, but Viola didn't take it very well. Her beak snapped and her feathers ruffled.

But then it occurred to her that this cave was quite big. Maybe she shouldn't claim all of it, yet. She paused her rising anger and her head swiveled around more. "Not all is mine. Just...just this place." One of her half-formed wings opened and gestured around. The trench they were in, one of many, was hers now. She nodded back at Azure, sure that this was a good enough compromise. But still, her eyes stared at her with more suspicion then they had before.

Her suspicion was sparked again at Azure's question. She didn't know what was going on and why Azure had changed so suddenly, but she didn't like it. She made a small, indignant chirping sound. "You said safe already. This place is safe. And..." Viola's head swiveled around, looking around her small territory for some kind of food and her eyes rested on a scraggly little bush growing out of the cracks in the walls. She stepped over and stretched out her neck, ripping the leaves off of their branches and swallowing quickly. She turned back towards Azure. "Food is here."

@Azure

"I said safe with me," Azure responded, tilting her head. At least the ostrich was retracting her possessiveness, a little. "There's places to hide, and places--not to hide. There's others in this cave. I've seen other birds, they fly--I think you'll fly eventually--and a--a big thing, it might be a bird but it has no feathers."

She ruffled her own feathers at the thought, glancing around.

She'd never seen any of them up close, the inhabitants of this cave, but at a distance? Oh, yes. Yes, she'd hidden away in her darkened nooks, silent and still as she listened to their distant, echoing cries, as she watched then pass and circle and hunt.

Azure ruffled her feathers, again, considering. Okay, so Viola ate leaves. That was--good to know. "Eating leaves is good. Not everyone eats leaves," she observed. "Means you won't have to learn to hunt. I hear that's... hard." Well, not hard. Honestly she had no idea what it was like, aside from maybe "tedious" or time-consuming. She herself ate plants, but also never turned down a juicy bug when she came across one.

That said, a bunch of the plants here had thorns--scraggly, dry things that tended to be spiny in the rock cracks. She couldn't see whether Viola's had any, not with the ostrich chick blocking the way--nor did she notice the other's suspicion in any way. She also wasn't really sure she wanted to be here, anymore. Somehow she didn't feel like she had much to do; she wasn't a parent, she wasn't a good or experienced Gembound. She'd been tricked her whole life, she knew nothing of the world, she had no business talking to a chick newly-hatched. But... somehow, after being alone for weeks, she wasn't in a rush to run off and be alone again.

Not just yet.

"Watch out for thorns," she offered, a little roughly.

@Viola

Viola stared at Azure and sized her up. They were technically around the same height, but most of Viola's size was a thin neck and long legs. Azure was much more massive then her and longer too. Perhaps she was right and being with her meant safety. Viola wasn't sure exactly how she felt about having to rely on other people for safety. If a threat came to intrude on her territory, she'd fight it off as best she could but if it was a lot bigger, she was at least smart enough to know she wouldn't stand a chance. So, perhaps, Azure was right. She was safer with her.

But she wouldn't hide behind her feathers like a frightened chicken, she'd defend herself and her territory if anyone threatened to hurt or take her things. She looked up at the sky and became aware, again, of the howling wind. She stepped around in place unconsciously, thinking about what it would be like to fly. Use those wings at her side to take to the sky. The thought was strangely uncomfortable. She felt much more stable and sure on the ground. Her feathers ruffled in what could be described as a shrug. "If I do not fly, I do not care. Rocks and ground are fine."

Without really thinking, she turned around and nipped more of the plant, but this time she caught thorns in her mouthful, just as Azure predicted. It stabbed at the roof of her mouth and she flinched, spitting out half-chewed leaves. "Ow!" A metallic taste filled the inside of her beak and she stepped backwards, flinging her head around and spitting, as if trying to rid herself of some disgusting meal. Red spots splattered the ground from the blood that welled from the puncture in her mouth. The place where the thorn had stuck hurt a lot and no amount of spitting was making it any better.

Her wings opened and flapped angrily. "Why does that hurt so much?!" She didn't really care about her suspicions anymore, she was filled with anger and embarrassment. She was showing off her independance moments ago but now there was red on the ground, blood, she realized, and her mouth hurt.

She suddenly whirled around and lunged forward, jumping up to catch her claws on the bush in the cracks. She could feel some thorns stabbing at her scaly skin as she ripped the entire plant out and threw it across the floor. Her claws flexed as she nursed the small wounds she had gotten from the thorns and looked at Azure, her features still twisted with anger. "All plants have thorns?"

@Azure

Azure watched, flinching heavily as Viola cried out. For a moment she didn't know what to do, but her concern was with the ostrich.

Then she saw the drops of blood.

Unbidden, memories flashed through her mind--raised voices, thrashing bodies, ripping claws. She froze, for a moment, and emotion threatened to pour over her. As before--as always before--she shut it down at once, cold fear flowing through her and stifling anything else whatsoever. Her face went still, and she looked back to Viola.

For a moment she heard only the blood rushing through her own ears. A quiet rushing, yet it distanced her, somehow--as if she were quite far, just watching, from this distance, Viola standing there. Her beak moving--her beak moving--she's talking. Oh.

Azure blinked, listening. There'd been a question. ...Oh.

"No," she answered, her voice void of... anything. She was her old self, for a moment--cut off, away from anything, her tone empty. "They don't all have thorns. You have to look for them first," and she managed to cut off a mindless, habitual insult that she nearly (emptily) spat on the tail end of the warning. She paced forward, then, nudging her snout at the plants.

In case it wasn't clear, she explained. "They're those sharp parts. Look for those. Before you eat. You can try to eat grass, too. And other green things. And maybe bugs. Those are... small things with legs. They run around fast. They have shells or they're small and black. Usually."

Her voice was a little distant, a little hoarse; her mind was absent. But the advice was there, at least.

@Viola