Storms were a natural part of life, and the Orarian felt the ocean's anger as one of its own. This time felt different than the usual storms; the sea spat up relics on its shore, and the leviathan stayed deep bellow the surface. From the safety of deep, turbulent waters, the Orarian watched as several outsiders approached. Glaive's bacteria, familiar, drew close to them; white nebulas searching what the sea had brought up.

In a voice so deep that most surface creatures wouldn't be able to hear it-- those that could would find it heavily distorted from the crashing waves-- the Orarian called out. "T̛R̵͟É̢̕S͡P̢̕A͢S͘S͝҉E͞R̶S̢.́.͏͏.͝ ̷C̸H̴̢I̛҉LD ͠҉̀Ơ̶͢F̡̕ ̢T̨H̶̶È̶̸ ̷O͜͏C̵͡ÈÁN,́ W̵A̢͞Ŕ͡N̴͞ ̢͏T̴͏H̵̢́Ę̷̴M̨.͜ ̡͜T͠͡͡H̸E O̢͡C̕É͟A̶҉N҉ ͠K̨͘̕NO͢͞W̸̡Ş ̷̡͢N҉̛͘Ò͟ ̨́̀M͠E͝͞R̕Ć̶͢Y̢̛ F̕͠O̷͠R̷̡̀ ҉̡I̷N̷̛TR̕U̧͞Ḑ͟E͏R̨͘S͢." This would not be the first time war troops had stormed the shore, ready to wage war on the ocean. So the Orarian waited, deep bellow the surface, scanning the thin barrier between the surface and the water with a storm in its belly. "TḨ͟Ę̀ ̀͜O҉̢C̕͡͠EA̧̕͟N͡ ͞͏̶W̨͟I̴͡͡L҉̨L ͞PR̷̶͞O̡T͞E̢͟C̴̀͡T҉̡͟ ̕Y̧͝Ó̷Ų.̨͏ ҉T̸̨H̢E̸̷ ̢̡͡O̧͠͏R̵̢A̶R҉̡́I̕A̡͟Ń̨̢ ̕͡W̶͠Í͞L̴͏͘L̶̡̛ ̡̛͡P͏͠R͠Ó̷̕T̨EC̸̵T͏ ͝͝Ţ͟͝H̢͏E͘͜ O̡C͜͢͝E̵͜͠A̶̡N.҉̶"

Never mind that if any creature drunk on hallucinogens were to stumble into the choppy waters, they would likely drown, with or without the wrath of the ocean's protector laying in wait.

Even with all the commotion he didn't tear his nose from the fish, he did, however, bite down harder on his treasure. They could have the purple fish around him, snapping their teeth on them and swallowing them whole.

They could have the black thing and the rocks, weird and normal if they wanted them, but this treasure was his, it was with him from hatching, it would be with him to the end.

He watched several of the others eat the fish but he didn't dare, especially when he looked at the fish again and heard a soft but high-pitched humming coming from it when his eyes focused on the purple color. He felt his head spin and he swallowed nervously as he tried to steady himself. He laid his ears back and glanced away, the sound fading just slightly, before he looked back and it returned in full force.

The new sound, it having not been there before, caused him to panic and scramble backwards, kicking up sand around him in his haste and unstable steps. No, no he didn't like this fish, not one bit. It made him see things differently, colors made sounds and left various tastes in his mouth. He couldn't imagine how it would taste.

No. He thought as he carefully crept away from the fish, never turning his back to it. When he finally felt safe enough distance away, he turned and let his eyes scan the various creatures around him. This place was full and new, he didn't know if he liked it much. But, as his eyes landed on the smooth worn down stone with the strange markings, he wondered if other things would offer a different reaction.

So Daryl approached it on uneasy legs, nervous of the other things around him, and let his nose touch it very gently as he sniffed it.

Effluvium stood, still as a squirming thing could be. Visions of swirling patterns and pulsating fractals had taken over its vision. It reaches out, grasping at them with limp limbs. Which it realized were bigger than its' face.

It patted its face, a gurgling chortle at the bright colors and bright noises its hands made. The sand was colorful too. Bright, sparkly stuff that stuck to its hands. Second fish forgotten, Effluvium rolled over, rubbing the sand over it. Watching the shapes in the sky. The Orarian's voice rumbling background noise to the shapes of the world.

It rolled back over, coated in sand, and began the process of devouring mouthfuls of sparkling sand. Shovelling them into its gullet with its pair of hands, barely leaving room to breathe. Unbeknownst to it, sharp, thin teeth began to sprout within its mouth. DNA assimilated from the form of the fish.

(got the OK from charlie that Binh is tagging along with Haven!)

Curled up between the shoulder blades of a dragon was a snake. Not a special snake, mind you, just Binh, crystalline head vacantly staring upwards. He hadn't been paying attention for most of the flight, indulged in his own thoughts, but the ever-growing humidity-- and Haven's call for her companion-- caught his interest. Eridanus was moist, but it wasn't this wet, and certainly not so warm. With some difficulty, the cobra adjusted his (still sprained) head to peer over Haven's shoulder, looking down at a endless expanse of water.

That was odd. It was all water, endlessly deep and dark, and dotted with islands. A forked tongue quickly peeped out and the smell of dead fish hit him, Binh's face wrinkling in vague disgust. But something else was there too, and sure enough he could see several blurry figures clustered along the shoreline. Some of them seemed to be eating the stink-fish, causing his maw to crumple even more.

"Sssee... maany otherrs," the child drawled, half to himself and half to the eyeless aviator. "Ssoome eat weird... fissh... some not..." His tail flicked against the dragonet's smooth scales as he watched, with vague amusement, as some of those briefly eating recoiled away from their meals. "Theey don't liike it, I thinnk," he chucked. As much as he hated the smell, they seemed to be enjoying themselves down there. He hoped he could join in, too, despite his virtual immobility.

]

Just remember, darling, all the while. You belong to me.

~ ~

She half noticed as other's started roaming the place too, happy only that she was able to claim the shiny black thing before any others could even think about it. She had thought everyone would ignore each other, go and claim their own things like she had done - though she wasn't sure how Archimedes would react to that, probably tell her to introduce herself or something, all those rules he had - yet, those thoughts were interrupted by the sudden announcement of someone's name. Glaive Cave. She liked it. That was the last thing she was conscience enough to understand or notice.

~~
Darkness began to consume her, suffocate her though she was breathing, its claws around her mind, her heart, her lungs, her eyes. The surface began to fade away from her, she could not feel the cold metal beneath her nor the wet mud in her paws, the anger of the ocean nor the chattering and grunts or shuffles of the others. They became ghosts in her eyes before they dissolved into the darkness too. Out of that void, reaching towards her silently, was stone she had never seen before, long pieces that had more structure than the cave walls, complex spires that reminded her of the gem tower near where she hatched. She felt as if she had been there for an eternity, staring at the monuments that both got closer to her and fell away into the darkness once more, before there was light again. She had never experienced such darkness and now there was light, even as dilute as the violet was, still pierced her eyes but she could not close them. Could not look away. She was suspended. Watching everything pass her by, seeing a maze though unable to go into it, patterns etched in a horrid, poisonous green on walls, she wanted to get closer. Study the symbols. The light felt as if it would fill her bloodstream with venom if she looked at them too closely. Her body had fallen away, she forgot what it was like to have paws, to have fur, to have real eyes and reactive ears, a tongue in her mouth or the unconscious flick of her tail. She was nothing now but a long body. A body that was both her and not hers. Suspended there, pillars surrounding her, she could feel the metal around the not-her body, she knew in that moment that any attempt to move would be futile. Those pillars were too strong, the green too bright in her eyes, burning the sigils there - oh, she really wanted to know what they were - and the chain grasping her too tightly. Where was she? Who was she? Was this below the cave she was in, was she even in the cave anymore? Who was she?

Fish, she recognised those fish, wasn't she just by those fish, no she was there, in the darkness, no where else. The green was beginning to get at her, green in their eyes, green on the pillar, green etched patterns, green lights. Potent. A voice, was it there, where was it, behind her, not behind her, those eyes, the fish, too dark, she was not herself but she was something, what did the voice mean, why were the fish watching, where was she.
~~

She was gasping when the vision faded, as if her body had forgotten how to breathe in the seconds she was gone, eyes clenched shut for the light of the cave was now too much compared to that darkness. She could still see the green behind her eyelids. She had eyelids. The chain was beneath her and she could feel it again, hear the movement of the others. "Give attention! I am potent." It was shouted at the others as her eyes slowly began to blink open again, she knew not what that meant, and also knew that it was about the not-her, but at the same time she was the not-her. At least, her mind could not completely separate the two.

She was on a high, the images both vivid in her mind and fading away, she needed to find out what those markings meant but more pressing matters were ahead. She didn't care about the others, her potency and other questions could be answered later, for now she watched the other things she had noticed. So many gathered around the fish, they were acting a bit...weird - well, the meat thing that she wasn't sure would be edible but it spoke so was not food, kinda, was acting weird - so instead her wide eyes focused on the creature by the strange stone. He was sniffing at it. But she needed it.

Scrambling up to stand again, bending down to grab the chain in her mouth - her mouth had to stretch and it was very uncomfortable but she was not leaving it there - she dragged herself and the chain as fast as she could over to the curious sniffer and the stone. Could she just claim it as hers? No, if she flopped on it like she did the chain she would probably just hit the other guy too. Instead, the chain still in her mouth, she stared at the four-legged creature as she bent her own nose down on the opposite side of him to touch it too. Perhaps getting a bit too close to him if he didn't move away, but she didn't really have a concept of personal space. If she touched this would the same thing happen? Would she become the not-her again?

She had to know.

Electrum

Electrum had been following Haven, keeping an eye on his hatchmate and her odd new companion- maybe he'd consider Binh a true member of the group in time, but for now he saw the snake as Haven's.

Not really aware of the irony of letting the blind one of the trio lead, he'd been following the same instincts as Haven- a search for warmth, and they had been drawn towards Fornax, and now he was drawn forwards to stand abreast of his companion.

"Binh's got it. Lots of people here, I think..." he flicks his ears, and watches some recoil and other stumble around from their meals, "The fish might be bad. They look a weird color, from here. But I can't see much else other than that. Let's go investigate, yeah? Stay near me, I don't like the look of the one eating sand..."

He takes note of two beings, one messing with the clanking... vine? While it joins another nudging an object in the sand.

"C'mon, lets go."

He strides off, his long and low body leaving a winding, sweeping trail in the sand and his claws and scales scraping the small rocks that were buried, and he heads towards the two near the stone and chain.

@Haven
@Binh
@Akaari
@Daryl

Ok. Alright, who is this with a thing in her mouth?

She doesn't seem to want to push him away and she doesn't seem to want to take his treasure. In fact she has one of her own. He can respect that.

She seems to be like he is, curious about the stone. He doesn't mind sharing it. It seems like it's new to everyone, so long as she doesn't try to take his treasure she can stay.

He's less comfortable as more approach the two of them. This is feeling very cramped at the moment, but, as he tightens his grip on his treasure, he'll stay and give them space if they need it to investigate the stone before them. But if they try to take his treasure he'll run.

He backs off just a little to give them room to look at it as well, but doesn't leave a whole lot of room, he still wants to know about it as well.

@Akaari
@Electrum

Haven twisted her neck to glance at Binh before swooping forward to follow Electrum down, entrusting the small cobra to stay safe in the hollow of her back, looped around a small back spike. She landed behind Electrum, wings flaring as she landed a bit more clumsily than she liked, and soon galloped forward to join her hatch mate, head swiveling around like a radar dish.

"It stinks,", she complained, "Do they not know that it smells like death here? Why are they eating the fish?"

Haven poked her head forward as they approached the coyote, sniffing at him curiously. She'd really only encountered Electrum and Bihn, who had scales... what was this soft stuff that covered this creature?

"You're soft!", she said in amazement and turned to Electrum, head bobbing up and down, having felt it on the tip of her sensitive nose, "Look- look! Soft!!"

Who cared about treasure when fur existed?

@Electrum @Binh @Daryl

Kaimana hadn't been doing much of anything but wandering around, trying to keep track of what she already knew. So, fish, pets, and Glaive-rhymes-with-cave. Luckily for Kaimana, one of those things was in abundance where she'd wound up, and the other two were hard to forget.

Following scents, sounds, and sights mainly, Kaimana found herself wandering into a new room, and a very new situation. Crowds of unfamiliar creatures, with one among them standing out to Kaimana. The features of the beast were unmistakable; it had to be Glaive! Whoever anyone else was, Kaimana hadn't a clue. She didn't really... feel like caring. Mostly she just felt hungry, and tired, and (now that Glaive was here) in need of some pets.

The cub would try to waddle over to Glaive as best she could manage. If she made it, she'd try looking up at the big friend and calling out with a snarl-like sound. It wasn't meant to be scary. It was meant to be a lazy form of hello. Hello! except tiny, tired, and in need of pets. Perhaps she should've added a tinge of 'What's that smell' to the sound she'd made, but on second thought, she wasn't sure she could even correctly make such complex sounds. Two meanings in one? Sounded like a lot.

@Glaive (attempt to interact with Glaive)

Much to her chagrin, none of them actually took the conversation starter. They were all too interested in looking around to actually engage - and, sure enough, Glaive suddenly was. She could barely hear the Ocean speaking to her, and managed to mutter a brief, "hey, guys, be careful!" before the full brunt of the hallucinations struck her. Fornax blurred into a confusing miasma of greens and blues (grues, her addled conscious offered) and a warbling noise accompanied every colorful inclusion from the other Gembound present. It was almost like sheet metal being rattled around.

The spinosaur was doing rather well outside of that. Her balance was somehow not impeded, and she could keep a level head on her shoulders... as much as an overly-enthusiastic child could. Even with her vision smearing into an awful piece of abstract art, she could feel around with magicka and keep track of where the others were. The fish was left half-opened, and she cooed again, "heyyy, careful! Don't... uh - attack the Ocean! It's not very nice and Orarian'll attack you! I don't want that."

Sand was part of the ocean, right? Glaive trundled over to the oozing pile of sentience shoveling pound after pound into its mouth, grimacing for a moment at the fittingly wet sound echoing in her ears at the sight. "Psst... no..." One whap with a claw, and she moved off to the next child to mother over.

"Give attention! I am potent," Baby: located.

Glaive trundled over and chirped, "hey, hey, what's that?" Her snout bumped clumsily against the chain, jerking back as it rattled, "I can't see it right right now, but can I smell it? What do you think it is?" The whelp - mindful of the relatively tiny Akaari's form in her sixth sense - plonked down into a bow, trying to position her nostrils directly underneath the chain. She had an equal lack of personal space knowledge.

Unfortunately for Kaimana, the spinosaurus had a one-track mind and was too distracted by trying to process the constant clanging of links to hear her tiny, precious greeting.