The young capybara walked with confidence as she happily strut through Canis. She was now an official part of a water dwelling group. She finally had a family, and all the adults were looking after her until she turned four cycles old. She would be a full fledged adult by then. Now though she was a small cute looking thing. Since capybaras are naturally semi-aquatic, she instinctively and by choice, loved the water. She sniffed around as she explored, looking for any vegetation to eat. Unfortunately there were none. Even at such a young age, she had very excellent senses of hearing and smelling. When she gets to four cycles, those senses will be even more so, and may end up surprisingly scaring others. Fornax was her home, but she wondered. Did Canis belong to anyone? She paused as she looked around, wondering why bones where everywhere.

@Aure

Unbeknownst to the little capybara, she was being intermittently stalked on broad, near-silently beating wings. Crimson eyes flickered in the half-light as she approached the shore of the water (which wasn't the most potable in Canis) and down the Bone King went.

Until... Aure realized that this wasn't a particularly small cave rat. A few feet above Aquamarine, he flapped his wings frantically, whirlybirding to the side and landing sloppily on one leg. Hopping forward a few feet to disperse his momentum, the wyvern smoothed down his feathers. Running his wing-claws over his ears and down his neck, the Bone King turned and peered at the not-rat. She was looking all around, curiosity sparking in those little eyes of hers. Definitely a Greater, Aure noted before actually taking a good look. He wasn't sure how he'd mistaken that soft silhouette for a rat at all. Hell, she didn't even have a tail!

Ever so casually he greeted, "hey, kiddo." His brows raised, trying to look friendly, as if he hadn't almost pounced on her. "What's your name? I'm Auré."

@Aquamarine

Aquamarine turned to see what looked like a part bird and part canine. Weird, but nice and respectful. She looked up at him, her (British) accent clear in her voice as she spoke happily. "Hello Aure! My name is Aquamarine, but you can call me Aqua for short. I am a member of The Sea Kingdom! My ruler is called Tethys! She's a leopard seal and she's very kind to me. We live in Fornax in the water." With that said, she would let the hybrid speak. She may have been small now, but at four cycles she would get much, much larger. The pup would decide to say something else as well. She then sounded a bit worried. "Um, is there a deer called Astraea here?" She now spoke very quietly as soon as she asked the question and was shaking a bit. "Our ruler Tethys told me to stay away from him, and for good reason. He's very scary from the truth I heard of him." A lot of gembounds had no clue of how violent and malevolent he was.

@Aure

Aquamarine was the name of a stone, Aure last thought, but - ah, well. Who was he to judge about names? His was pronounced completely different from how it was spelled (not that he knew that either. Birds can't read.) Uh-rah, as it went. Something else, huh? He didn't have any nicknames to offer to the not-rat, so he stayed quiet on that part. Bright eyes lit up in mild interest at the mention of a Kingdom; it wasn't any name that rung a bell. It must be recently formed, he thought, but I haven't heard a single peep about it from anyone. The membership must be small, or isolated.

Thinking back to Black, the wyvern had to restrain a bit of a grimace at the mention of a ruler. There were plenty of those undeserving of that title, as the guardian had told him. That was, essentially, the basis of why Aure didn't refer to himself as the Bone King for a few cycles into the Bonebound's lifespan.

He blinked, though, at the mentioning of Astraea. How does a kid know him and fear him - ? Ears flickering forwards, brows furrowing, Aure hummed, "uh, he was here a while ago but - I don't think he spends much time here." His wings adjusted at his sides, wing claws tucking in and out of view. (Telling the stuff he's done to a kid - she's so little - that's - hrm.)

"You'll be okay here, don't be, uh, afraid, Aqua. As long as you avoid him or - uh, making him mad, you'll be alright." The wyvern blinked again. "You don't have to worry about any of that kinda stuff, Aqua. Leave it to the adults, y'know? Just go and be a kid for a bit. Play around, practice your magic, meet others."

After a brief pause, to make sure the not-rat was reassured, Aure asked, "how many - are there in this Kingdom? I've never heard of it. Not even a rumor that it was coming around."

@Aquamarine

Aqua was happy that Aure told her to just be a kid, and leave adult stuff to the adults. It was nice to see that he cared. The small pup walked over to Aure, and sat on his foot. She looked up at him with a smile on her face. "Thanks Aure! I know I should just be a kid, but I want to know about the caves just as much the adults do. I want to do exciting stuff too. I know it's adult stuff, but I don't want to be left out. But if you really want me to stay out of adult stuff, I'll do my best. You're really nice Aure!" When Aure asked how many were in the group, she perked up. "Well there is four of use! Me, Zelk the polar bear, Orlaith the tiger, and lastly, Tethys who is the ruler of the kingdom." Suddenly she felt her magic working, and she used hindsight for the first time. Suddenly a vision appeared from Aure's past. She used her power on accident, unfortunately.

@Aure

lol idk what that attempt's for. disregard

"There's plenty of time to learn about the caves," Aure chirruped as he moved his foot out from underneath the not-rat, setting it free from her minute weight, "but not much to be a kid."

A vision came to little Aquamarine before she was shifted off, though: electricity arcing through the air, crackling, the smell of slightly burnt flesh. Cutting a rat in half. Offering to another. "... shouldn't have to ... permission to live ... good." It was vague, blurry, filled with only faint shapes seen through the wyvern's eyes. The orange blob in front of him was indiscernible.

Back to reality - "being a kid's pretty exciting." The King's voice dropped low, conspiratorial as he moved to stand directly across from the capybara and lowered himself to be eye-level. "You don't have to have any responsibilities, for one. You can just go anywhere you want and do whatever you want," he chirped, gaze flickering, "if you don't like hanging out with bones, you can go somewhere else - you saw that room with the sparkly ceiling, right? It's pretty cool, yeah?" Aure hummed softly. "Even when you're not looking around and - nosing into stuff, you'll learn things. What to eat, where things are. Look at the big stuff first, y'know, before you get into the nitty-gritty."

Curiously, two of the names were familiar. Ah, so that's where they've run off to - but I thought Orlaith was in Eridanus? Zelk had disappeared shortly after, soon after being named a full Bonebound. That hurt a little, but living Canis wasn't a binding decision, Aure supposed. "I know Zelk and Orlaith. You'll be safe with them, too. They used to live here, when they were little like you. My brother sort of - adopted them into our group." Another hum. "I've never met Tethys, though."

@Aquamarine

Aquamarine listened to what Aure had to say. That all did sound fun after all. Aure was right, being a kid was awesome! But so was being an adult too! But before she could answer him, Aquamarine remembered the vision she saw when she touched Aure. It hit her that she obviously did that herself. Tethys explained to her about the different types of magic before, and it seemed she had arcane magic. She looked at Aure, trying to find the words to say what she saw. "Aure....um...I think I saw something when I sat on your foot. I saw electricity arcing through the air, crackling, the smell of slightly burnt flesh, cutting a rat in half. Then the rat being offering to another." She quickly remembered about him saying he did not know Tethys. She perked up happily to tell him. "She is a leopard seal, and she is really big! She is graceful in the water, and she is a strong queen too! Tethys is awesome, and with her lead I'm sure we are gonna have more aquatic members in no time!" She lifted her leg to show Aure her webbed paws. She was a semi-aquatic creature after all.

@Aure

Aure huffed softly, only vaguely recollecting what exactly it was that the kid was describing. He hadn't been thinking about that encounter but she'd seen it - the wyvern supposed it was like the marrowsight the Bonebound possessed, slightly different. Clairvoyance for a more broad past. It was invasive, nonetheless, but he couldn't blame the child. "Ah, I see," he chirped down to Aquamarine, "it's not nice to use magic on others without their permission." But in... ? "It's okay, only in self-defense or when protecting others, okay? Some might not be okay with it, Aqua."

The wyvern wasn't sure what a leopard seal was, other than that leopard was a kind of cat and cats were furry creatures that landed on their feet more often than not. But, Tethys seemed the sort to unnecessarily share information with children - particularly that that might make them fear for their very lives. That, Aure couldn't agree much with. He was going to keep his opinions of other adults to himself, though, and called instead, "is your - entire group meant to be just creatures of the water?" Limiting. "There's not very many Greaters in the water. If there are, they're all in Cetus - have you been there? It's full of fog, like the tunnel to here."

Ah, speaking of tunnels -

"Oh, I do need to tell you, if you're going to be exploring around, Aqua," he paused to indicate towards Tunnel P's entrance, sandy, "wait until you are older and more practiced in your magicka, little one, to go into that tunnel. There's nothing but danger through there." Aure hoped he didn't have to say more on that, except for - "there's no water or food, and hardly anything safe lives through there. It's unnecessary danger."

@Aquamarine

Before she could speak to Aure, she heard her stomach growl. Oh my, she needed to find food and quickly. She looked at Aure and gave him a small smile. "I get it Aure! I promise not to use my magic unless it is self defense or to protect others!" It seemed that Aure did not understand, so she would explain. "Yep, it's just meant for creatures who are compatible with water. For example, semi-aquatic creatures like capybaras and polar bears are allowed in, because they spend a lot of time in water, and are partly made for it. It's a kingdom for these kind of creatures to be in one kingdom, and live in and share the magic water has to offer. It's a kingdom meant for those who wish to make water their home, and delve beneath it whenever they so choose. It's a place to acknowledge those meant to be in water, that's why certain creatures are allowed. There's magic in the water Aure, and those who live in it. That is why the kingdom was formed." She did not expect Aure to understand. He did not belong in the water after all. She acknowledged what he said about the sandy tunnel. "I promise not to go into that tunnel Aure! I need to go find some grass, because I am quite hungry. I hope to see you soon!" With that said, she scampered off to find Eridanus. She had heard there was a ton of vegetation there to eat, so that seemed like the ideal place to go.

-Exit Aquamarine

@Aure

With that lesson square away, Aure listened to the rather roundabout way to say that the Sea Kingdom was just that - a kingdom in the sea that was Fornax. His beak clicked once or twice in thought; he couldn't fault the group for having a rather simple concept at its core, with little by way of identity. It couldn't possibly be older than this little thing. "I suppose it's the same as settling in a room full of bones - I can't imagine being in Fornax all the time. It's too hot and humid for my liking," the wyvern admitted, after a long pause. It wouldn't hurt to at least have good relations with the group, new as it was, if it endured. Friends in far places, and all that.

And off the child went, in quite a hurry to find some food. Distantly, Aure remembered that he was pretty hungry, but made sure to call after Aquamarine: "the Bone King sends his regards!" Then, he took off in search of some actual rats.

;exit aure