"My power gives me the command to rule," Vargas responded coolly, wasting no time in offering this lesson to the little one.

He was debating what to do--to snap its leg, perhaps, or drop it from this height and just see if it survived. Or perhaps to rake his claws through its flesh or, really, just to eat it. He decided, after a moment, to give it a chance to change its own mind--by sharing his own.

"I wonder, should I snap your bones like twigs? Or peel off your hide, or simply drop you? Or dangle you in the air until you give in? -I can switch arms, you know," he added, with a conspiratorial tone, as if sharing a great secret. "Perhaps once you have the power to free yourself, you will need not call me Overseer. But until then--" and here Vargas tightened his grip enough to perhaps be painful--"I'd suggest teaching yourself respect before you force me to teach it to you. I do not think you will survive a fall from this height," he added, mildly pointing it out.

...She still didn't grasp the concept of an Overseer, still insisting that Underseer was a thing, but honestly Vargas had no idea how to teach her otherwise. Logic could be used to justify complete idiocy or utter madness, at times, and he could not really argue hers.

@Adelaide

Adèlaide

I'm rotten to the bone, but my heart's still beating

She held her tongue now, there was no knowing exactly what he had done to make himself believe he was this all-powerful creature, whatever it was he was definitely not afraid to show her and her bravado was beginning to crumble the longer he held her high. Her eyes could not remain locked on him, especially as she kept trying to wriggle herself into more comfortable positions, and each movement brought the floor back into her sight and how one single forgetful movement of his would send her tumbling to her death. She could feel tears beginning to prick her eyes, from the pain and thumping in her head, definitely from nothing else.

He began talking to her, less annoyed in tone yet she knew that it would be even more foolish to believe he was actually talking to her like an equal. She needed her bones, they were important, that much she knew, and peeling back her hide would not be comfortable, dropping her was completely out of the question. She was trying to think it through as an actual question, if she was in his position, what would she do? Probably put the thing down so it could run away and she could chase after it, a game of cat and mouse but she did not want him chasing after her until his temper had gone down, and her life wasn't being threatened. "Put me down!" Her head was in a lot more pain now, her eyes with throbbing and tears were beginning to leak out her eyes. This was not a good idea. "Please." No, no, no. This was not how it was supposed to go. He wouldn't see her cry! That's a weakness he doesn't deserve. "I'll get more power, you'll see me as an equal one day -" She gasped, scrunched her eyes, bite her tongue then let her pride go "Overseer."

falling victim to your fantasy

@Vargas

That was better. Vargas was rather relieved it was dealt with; as arrogant was he was, even he would gain little satisfaction from tormenting a newly-hatched cub.

He still wasn't sure why she'd tried to drool, but that was a question for another day.

"Good," he praised her, and his tone was earnest and booming. He lowered her carefully--well, relatively carefully--to the rock while speaking. "You are brave, but you must know WHEN to be brave, or it becomes merely 'foolish.'" This advice thus offered, he turned to look up at the Spire. As he did so--his attention seemingly diverted--a strange, eerily-distorted voice came from him.

It sounded like Adelaide, certainly not a voice that such a massive creature as Vargas could naturally make. Magic whispered through it as he spoke. "Is this your magic, then? The magic of sounds and whispers? It is a good one, if you use it well. Have you begun to hunt, yet?"

His demeanor seemed somewhat calmer, now, less aggressive, as he turned to peer at Adelaide. For whatever reason--perhaps due to the little wolf's courage--he appeared ready to offer a lesson, now, in place of threats.

@Adelaide

Adèlaide

I'm rotten to the bone, but my heart's still beating

Oh, solid ground! Sweet mercy, she could kiss it! His words meant nothing for the few nanoseconds that she took to gather her bearings. Real, solid rock under her paws, blood rushing to the rest of her body rather than just her head, and she was beginning to feel her leg again, the one that had gone numb from hanging from it! Yet, the praise seemed to resonate through her, and after being on the ground she actually puffed out her chest and her eyes gleamed with pride, this was a lot better than being threatened, that was for sure. She could only nod her head, the smallest movement for moving it too much had given her whiplash and seemed to wack her brain against the side of her cranium, accepting his advice even if she didn't want to. Pride was perhaps one of the things she had to work on.

She had gone into her own mind slightly, making sure she could still breath and shaking out her legs whilst she contemplated whether she regretted anything she said or not. She came to the conclusion that no, she didn't. That was until she started speaking. ...She started speaking? Her mouth wasn't moving, she hadn't told herself to speak. What? Then she realised, perhaps a bit late but she was still a bit slow, that it was him that had imitated her voice. Far too well for him to be just mocking her though. This was some of the power he was talking about. This time her eyes widened out of sheer glee and she did start to jump up and down, her head nodding vigorously. Sounds and whispers, yes! "I can do this whisper thing with my voice, but not that! That's so cool!" She did keep some distance between them but she was willing to forgive him for dangling her since their dynamic seemed to have gone back to normal and she wasn't ready to provoke him again...yet. Adelaide was willing to be the student as long as she learnt useful information. "Hunt? No, I will soon though." As if to prove it she bent down so she was crouched against the floor, facing away from the spire, and the pushed off with her back legs to pounce on an unsuspecting rock, grasping it between her paws. "I was exploring first, I still don't exactly know where I am but I'm having fun." When not swinging upside down she decided not to add.

falling victim to your fantasy

@Vargas

Vargas reconsidered; perhaps, given her description, the pup's magic was somewhere more along other lines. But it mattered little; one could serve almost as well. He watched her testing her limbs for injury, waiting patiently. When she spoke, he responded.

"Well," the hulking brute began--and here he actually lowered himself to sit on massive haunches, his too-long forelimbs jutted up like spider-legs--"I have a hint for you, for when you do begin--you will be hungry soon enough."

Was it that young, then, never to have needed food? Or had another, perhaps, cared for it? Vargas didn't know, and he didn't quite care enough to ask. "Would you like to hear it? A gift," he added, and his massive jaws seemed to split into something of a grin, "from an Overseer himself?"

@Adelaide

Adèlaide

I'm rotten to the bone, but my heart's still beating

She tipped her head to the side to look at him over her shoulder, still leaning over the rock, eyes gleaming and hungry for knowledge. He was right, she would be hungry soon enough, but it was the more the way he knelt down, got smaller, that grasped her attention. She turned back to face him fully, leaving her prize, to sit, with tail wrapped around her limbs, in front of his still tall form, a rapt student. She felt as if he was letting her into some well-kept secret that only she could know. "I would." It was a whisper, a proper whisper with a softened voice, not one that required the use of her mind, for she felt as if talking normally would be too loud for this situation. "You're not so bad once you get past your grumpy exterior." She mimicked his grin to let him know she was teasing him and not insulting, although there was still no guarantee how he would take it.

falling victim to your fantasy

@Vargas

Vargas' response was both without humor and without hostility. He answered matter-of-factly, indifferently, this as much a part of an education as his hint was promised to be.

"I am tasked with killing the weak among your kind, and the rebellious. I am not so bad once I am afforded the proper respect, so long as you remain strong." He gave the pup a long look--not quite hard enough to be a stare, but enough to convey the truth of his words. "Your existence in this place continues at the pleasure of the Masters, and will end if they so choose. As for that hint, however," and now Vargas seemed again to be somewhat more easygoing.

A soft sound seemed to interrupt him, off to one side--a fearful whisper, echoing over the rocks. The big predator swung his head to peer toward it. "Help... help me..." it seemed to say, though garbled and difficult to understand.

"An imitation of a voice is a potent lure," he explained. Suddenly the whisper took on another quality--a soft, frantic squeaking, though garbled, as before. "That is the sound of a rat--a prey creature, placed here for nothing more than hunting, killing, and eating. You will learn the noises of your prey, given time," Vargas continued. He turned his big head back to face down toward Adelaide.

"And the sounds often draw in whatever it is that you are imitating. Has anyone taught you, yet, of magic?"

Vargas eyed the glittering gemstone at Adelaide's ear. He wasn't sure how much grasp of magicka she had--though he guessed, given the fact she'd never hunted for herself, that the answer was "not much."

@Adelaide

Adèlaide

I'm rotten to the bone, but my heart's still beating

She was about to roll her eyes, mock his inability to have a little bit of fun, maybe he didn't know what humour was, maybe his brain couldn't understand it. She could help him with that sometime, her own lesson for him. Yet the mention of Masters caught her attention more than her desire to muck about, she did not ask about them. Best to hold back for a bit. She did store it away for later use though, to ask him about, or someone about, they sounded interesting and something interesting was worth knowing. What were the masters of? Just creatures like her, or creatures like him as well?

Her ear responded to the noise, flicking and trying to find its origin, her head and eyes turning soon after to skim over the rock and search the shadows. She would find nothing, this was her trick. Although much better applied than what she had previously tried, she had only used it for confusion and entertainment. He held her complete attention now, eyes still staring out away from them knowing full well she would find nothing, but mind trained on the Overseer's words and advice. Rat: High pitched, squealing noise; prey, made to hunt. She nodded slowly, gently, still wary of her head although the after-effects would have surely worn off by now.

The conversation moved off from the prey but it was still going through her mind. What did the rats look like? Were prey small or large? Did they all talk? Could she hunt something that wasn't prey? So much to know! Now there was magic? This guy was a goldmine! "No, I found out myself that I could make my words and sounds come from somewhere else, but that's all so far. How much more is there? Can we all do the same? Can I do that thing where you sounded like me?" How long were they going to have to talk? Each new sentence brought more questions and each answer saw more doors to open. "Is that spire connected to it? Could you do this stuff when it wasn't what it is now?" She was full of energy again, her two front paws playing with a stray rock in front of her as she sat, unable to remain still but still wanting to pay attention.

falling victim to your fantasy

@Vargas

Ahh, there it was; the newly-hatched ones' flood of curiosity. Vargas waited patiently for her questions to--at least temporarily--abate before replying.

"How many more magics? Many," he assured her, and focused for a moment on his own. Nothing happened, which reminded him to tackle the topic of magic failing. "Ways to hide yourself. To harm others. To hunt your prey. To utilize the life of the world around you... plants, sickness, fungus. Fire, and energy--pure destructive power. But rely always on your own body above all," he advised, though he knew many Masters who might disagree with him on that. "Magic is fickle, at best. Your magic," Vargas went on--and reached out to attempt to lightly, gently tap one hooked claw upon the gemstone that hung in Adelaide's ear--"comes from this, and, I think," he went on, turning to point the same claw at the Spire, "from that. We could always use magic--but it varies, who can use what."

"As for the magic to mimic sounds--you can learn that, yes. With practice. You can learn any magic." At least, that's what he understood of it; who knew what might have changed, since his sleep?

@Adelaide

Adèlaide

I'm rotten to the bone, but my heart's still beating

Perhaps this wasn't how her day was planned, although it wasn't exactly planned per se, but she did not expect to find out so much in such a short amount of time or to annoy some creature that acted like he knew all and as if there were many things unknown to her, but to more than just her. That she could also find out later. For now, magic was enough to keep her hunger satisfied. He listed them off, and there were many, some sounding more enjoyable to play with than others, and some sounding more powerful. She already knew that she didn't always get what she wanted when she used this 'magic', she didn't know why but maybe he didn't either, other than it being fickle, so for once, she did agree with his advice about trusting her body first. Causing her to look back at herself, small and furry, compared to him she was probably the rat. But she was no prey! Were there non-prey rats? She was one of those. Then his claw was coming towards her and she tensed, body going stiff, before she felt him press against something in her ear, and then looking at the spire. "So I could learn them all?" How wonderful! Knowledge to gather, magic to learn, body to train. This was going to be one busy life. That was all she needed.

The young pup jumped up, a sly grin on her face as she stared at the creature before her. Perhaps he hadn't tormented her enough because it was definitely not hate she was feeling now, he had become her teacher until she decided against it. At least in her mind. "You'll see me again! I'll be more powerful." She's got to make him see her as an equal yet, just as she had promised him he would. She dropped her head, almost like a bow, a silent thank you, then she bounded away, light on her feet only as a child might. "I've got stuff to learn!" She threw over her shoulder as she went, no good-bye for him. She'll be back.

falling victim to your fantasy

Exit Adelaide

@Vargas