At the question Ketur visibly frowned. They did eat both meat and plants, but Ketur had never hunted a day in their life. They refused to take any lives away, even if it was from a Lesser Gembound. Some of them had to have families, right? They could feel pain just like any other could, they had feelings too. And that only made Ketur even more scared of trying anything - or maybe it wasn't fear. Maybe it was their body deflecting at thinking about taking a life.

"I eat plants." They decided to respond.

Even if they were supposed to eat meat, too, there was no reason to say it if they didn't eat it.

@Comet

So. They ate plants. Comet wondered why they would even have sharp teeth like that then if it were not for eating meat. Maybe for fighting? Anyways, that was a slight disappointment to her that they didn't like meat. She had hoped that perhaps they could do some hunting.

They looked sort of... weak. Perhaps they trained their magic instead of their body. Comet wondered if she would be able to defeat them in a battle, not like she was going to have a fight with them, but still. "Well, I'll just leave..." There was really nothing to say, and she didn't want to intrude on their privacy any longer. It wasn't like the twin pools belonged to them, but she had a feeling they lived here.

"Exit Comet unless stopped"

@Ketur

The child watched the wolf for a moment, the silence settling in which some may find unsettling. Ketur, was used to it. They were used to the silence that having no one would bring. When that snake asked Ketur if they had parents before, Ketur hadn't understood. And even now, a cycle since then, they did not understand.

The wolf mentioned that she was going to leave, and Ketur raised one leg in a motion.

"Wait. I have a question." They waited to see if the canine was going to go without answering or not.

They wanted to know what this wolf thought parents were. Or if she knew what they were.

@Comet

Comet was about to leave, as the silence seemed to stretch longer and longer. She had walked almost all the way into the trees when her ear caught the sound of the creature calling them back. Turning mid-step, she walked back to them. "Yes?"

@Ketur

Ketur felt weird asking questions, especially ones that some may not know the answer to. Their body language was puerile, but they were young anyway. The wolf did turn back, and Ketur was able to ask their question. About if she knew what parents were. But what if she didn't? It would just make them seem weird - and Ketur already looked weird enough. After some moments of silence they finally decided to come out with it.

"Do you know what parents are?"

@Comet

The question wasn't a silly one, and she had heard a question very similar to this one before. And the answer was not that simple. "Well, I think parents are animals who give life to you. And..." Comet tried to think back on this. This concept had been explained to her before! If only she could remember... but the thought left her mind, and she decided to elaborate on her own.

"I have parents, but they did not give me life. I think the word is... adopted?" she hoped the explanation would be satisfactory for them.

@Ketur

Ketur still didn't understand even with the small explanation Comet gave. Parents were the animals that gave life to you? Did they have one of those? Ketur didn't have anyone around when they hatched, no one was there. Only the young snake that had asked if Ketur had parents in the first place. Did that mean they abandoned them? Did Ketur's parents leave them to rot alone in the forestry? Did that mean they didn't want them?

The thought made Ketur sad. Was Ketur a disappointment?

"Oh.." Yes the explanation made sense to the child. They still didn't understand why no one was there, but it sounded like Comet didn't have anyone, either.

If they had visible ears, they would have pulled back.

"If you wanted to go - you can now." They replied with a frown on their face.

Maybe they would just need to go looking for those gembounds.

@Comet

Comet could see that her answer had disappointed the animal. Their sadness was expressed in their voice by the single "Oh". She hadn't meant to make them sad like that, but was it what she said? Or was it the conclusion that they had derived from her words?

Either way, she chose to gave them some privacy to ponder over the meaning of parents. She slipped away into the trees.

"Exit Comet"