Bloodstone dragged their body along the stone floors of Orion, seeking the refuge of what was once Beta's hibernating place. It was where they went after training when their bones ached and they were too tired to fight amongst themselves. Their eyes were drooping and their heads sagged, and they finally sat down in the small crevice, too tired to move but not enough that they could sleep.

Restless, yet exhausted. A dilemma they couldn't wrap their heads around.

They spent a good amount of time there, resting their sore body. They hadn't started truly training, but they were certain that it wouldn't be long until aching bones turned to bruises, and bruises into something worse. Hunting alone was difficult, and they were after rabbits! What would it be like trying to catch something that fought back? What would it be like to spar with something ten times your size, like Alpha? Not good.

Not good at all.

But it kept their minds from running too rampant, and got them to get along. Pros and cons.

@Ruby-Beta

Ruby-Beta was sore and tired and ready to nap for another three cycles. In the last few days it had been more active then it had ever been in its entire damn life, running from one room to the next, hunting everyone in sight. The last, a full training exercise with that magically powerful kitten had been the most tiring one so far - chasing her all through Canis was a huge pain, but it had won in the end, and discovered its other edge besides speed, agility, and ability to stay silent - endurance.

It was satisfied, no longer feeling the sting of humiliating defeat to the dragon. It had learned quite a lot and it was feeling better about returning to Master Vargas. Perhaps, though...a little longer.

It was returning, now, to the place where it had slept, perhaps for another nap in a place where others knew it had been. Alpha and Bloodstone would be around there, right? In case it accidentally went into hibernation...again. But it was a little surprised to find the hydra already there, resting in the crevice it had slept in for cycles. "Oh, its you again!" it called out to the young gembound. "What are you doing? Why aren't you with the Overseer?"

@Bloodstone

The heads perked up to look at Beta, but only one remained up, the other two hanging back down again, eyes closed.

"... We made off when they told us we were dismissed," Char said quietly, which was a rarity on its own for the spitfire to be.

The hydra settled down into a laying position, their ears down and two out of three heads resting on their paws, one on top of the other.

"... We caught a rabbit, but the Overseer got upset and berated us. Not our fault he-" Char cut himself off before he insulted Alpha in their anger, and shook their head, "... Nevermind. We were careless and had to go catch more rabbits. We're tired, now."

Char looked up to Beta and raised a brow, "Why are you here? Come to sleep away a few more cycles?"

Smartass...

@Ruby-Beta

Beta rolled its eyes, although it wasn't exactly obvious, given the glowing and rather formless nature of its eyes. Of course, just like Alpha to get made about catching a rabbit, although it could tell there was a little more to this story. "No, no, you don't have to stop. I'm not going to tell the Overseer what you say. Your secrets are safe with me." And it meant it - as far as Beta was concerned, Bloodstone was family now and it could relax around it. If they were being trained by Alpha, then Vargas had probably seen their potential.

It snorted at the jab and slipped down onto its stomach, splaying out its front legs in a very cat-like fashion. "Nah! That sounds really nice right about now, though. I've never done so much work in my life. But no, I'm just here to rest. Been really busy the last day. Lost of training, you know?" It stretched out, working its sore muscles, jaws opening wide in a great yawn.

@Bloodstone

Char stared at Beta for a moment before huffing softly and looking away, "Mmph... well, okay. If I get in trouble... anyway, it's not our fault they're so big and hulking and doesn't know how to be quiet. I swear they did it on purpose..."

Inferno lifted his head to listen, opening his eyes to glance between them before settling down, Condemn flopping her head on top of his. It was sweet.

"Probably worse than ours. We're hunting rabbits and you're off sparring and doing whatever you older Gembounds do," Char huffed, placing his chin on a clawed paw, which seemed to have four fingers and a thumb. Useful!

Condemn shifted them over to press up against Beta's side, ignoring the protests of the other heads. She wanted to be warm, thank you.

@Ruby-Beta

Beta snorted and felt the jealousy in its chest dissipate just a little bit. It wasn't just them that resented Alpha, even if it was for a petty little reason. And if it wasn't going to tell anyone about this conversation...well, then it supposed that it would be okay to let loose for a moment. "You got that right. No sense of elegance at all, just brute force with the Overseer. I thought I'd do that too, a few cycles ago, but Master Vargas set me on the right path. Definitely like the quiet method better."

They shrugged and leaned over to lick the shoulder they'd injured earlier. "The training's rough. Well, uh, I actually wouldn't know much, since I kinda kicked back for most of my youth. And I don't train for fights, more like...hunting. Sneaking. Chasing rabbits isn't bad. You gotta learn to hunt, after all." It looked down with faint surprise when one of the heads moved over to press up against its side, but it didn't move away. It wasn't like she was bothering it or anything.

@Bloodstone

Bloodstone soon moved to press right up against Beta, seeking some sort of warmth and comfort, a childish instinct that hadn't yet been fulfilled. The hydra was quiet for a few moments before Inferno lifted his head instead.

"We're too... clunky to be sneaky. Not to mention we'd end up arguing and alert whoever we're sneaking up on," he said, "The Overseer wants us to learn to fly soon so we can practice uh... aerial attacks. Our scales aren't hard enough for real training, they say."

They shrugged and shifted a bit more, and Inferno huffed, "I can't wait until we're useful... then we can start showing our worth. And maybe stop the Overseer from being so... ugh."

@Ruby-Beta

Beta raised one of its paws as it sat there, relaxing with Bloodstone, beginning to clean out the dirt from between its claws and on its pads, very cat-like in its movements. "Eh, don't worry about the sneaking then. There's other ways to hunt and be useful. Flying would be nice - no need to stay quiet because nobody looks up." They chuckled, wishing that they had wings. They bet that Master Vargas would be really impressed with them if they did. Maybe if Palefur had had wings...

They paused their paw-grooming and looked over at the hydra. Carefully, they set their paw on the ground, tail twitching behind them thoughtfully. It'd always been in the back of their mind, a subconscious thought of how messed up some of this was, how harmful all of this could be. This creature, with three heads and wings and so much potential...was feeling worthless.

It could feel its own heart resonate pitifully with that sentiment, buried beneath layers and layers of apathy and brainwashing - the fear that if they didn't get useful soon, then Vargas would do as he had promised. Remove their stone and craft it into something else. Deem it a failure, just like its stone-giver, and Ruby-Beta would be no more. In this moment of realization and the faint spark of fear, it huffed and gave Bloodstone a friendly nudge. "Hey, don't worry too much, okay? They'll see it soon - that you're amazing and worth more then all of us. And if they don't, then they don't deserve you."

Damn, when had they become so soft?

@Bloodstone

Inferno huffed and set their head down, the exhaustion finally setting in, "... Thank you, Beta. You're great too. I just... hmph. I dunno. I admire Master Vargas and Overseer Alpha, but... I swear their personalities are based on power. Power is-"

"Life," Char interrupted, "Power means you can sleep at night, power means you can eat. Power is how you get by, down here."

Inferno snapped his jaw shut and sighed softly, shaking his head. He didn't say anything in return as he faced away from Char and joined Condemn in snuggling up against Ruby. When it seemed the two of them were out, Char shifted a bit.

"... What happens if you don't meet expectations?" Char asked, sounding much too wise for a hatchling barely a cycle old.

But it had been bugging him. If they slacked or failed... what was the punishment?

@Ruby-Beta

Ruby-Beta nodded. Bloodstone's admiration...it was so similar to theirs, wasn't it? Perhaps not for Alpha, as that relationship was...one of siblings? a rivalry? conflict? enemies? It had no idea. It hadn't properly interacted with its hatchmate for a long time, and things had changed in its absence. "Admiration, huh? Me too. At least for Master Vargas - I respect him, his power and his position. I've been raised to follow his orders because that's why I was created. To be a tool, his tool."

It nodded again. "You get it, then. If you aren't strong, then you die. And if you die, then you weren't worthy of surviving in the first place. So few gembounds really understand that - and they usually end up dead. That's what we've always been told, that survival is more important then anything else. And to survive, you must be strong." It sighed. Honestly, it didn't really care. It was content with its place, right? It was a tool and as long as it could enjoy its life and be satisfied, then it didn't matter how that came about. As long as it had the Master's respect...that was all it needed.

Right?

Beta paused when Bloodstone asked the question that had been on its own mind since Vargas had given it the answer. It didn't want to say, Bloodstone was young and didn't need that on their conscious, but it wasn't cruel enough to lie about something like that. "If you fail, then you are discarded. Thrown out, killed, whatever. Or maybe they'll remake you, if they like your design, and remake you and test you again. I don't know - I've never seen it happen. But the Overseer warned me. I didn't take it seriously back then...but I sure do now."

@Bloodstone