What Master Vargas said spoke volumes: this was training, came the patient reminder. The garnet did not yet have experience. It would make mistakes, and it had much more to learn. It was still hesitant, and Master Vargas's own words emphasized this. It did not always have a plan of action; it could react, but its reactions were sloppy still. Mere minutes prior, it had been startled silly by its Master's approach.

But, it was going to learn. Hind claws sank into the stone, wings aching from the effort of being used to support it in place. It was still weak in so many areas... Inexperienced. Its Master called up with approval-- apparently, it had succeeded in blending in. The partner-bat it had been watching startled at the sound of Vargas's booming voice, and Garnet-Delta reacted in kind, scrambling further up the stone, and leaping to a new spot higher up, trying to keep its act up as its ears twitched and listened. It acted as its bat did, freeing up its mind to think.

It took Garnet-Delta a moment to come up with a plan. One-hundred percent. It would try it once, and should its magic fail it, then it would try a different approach. It did not feel the need to rush, but it felt like the longer it took, the sooner its Master may notice a discrepancy. It needed to concentrate to use its magic, and so for a moment it fell still with ears quivering.

There was a colony of bats, of which kind, the garnet wasn't certain. It could sense them, and with familiarity it grabbed at one's bloodstream. Garnet-Delta made it thrash suddenly, bumping into the other bats surrounding it, trying to stir up the group. It waited for irritated chirps and clicks, a sign that it had indeed made a disturbance in the nest, and then sent that bat dropping off from the group, and hoping that the sudden change in behavior would cause the rest to startle and take flight too. It sent the bat sweeping, flying down the catacombs at an angle close, but not directly toward, Master Vargas.

Meanwhile, Garnet-Delta waited a heartbeat, and then another. The bat it was controlling went whipping past it, and so the sentinel scrambled away up the stone, before taking flight itself. Let its Master be distracted by the bat-- hopefully bats?-- and if it could send the bat to strike its Master for it, that would be perfect. (The bat wouldn't make it that far, it was a clumsy puppet at best..) Master Vargas would likely strike it down before it succeeded, or its Master would move away, and then it could intercept him. Regardless, the more chaos it caused indirectly, the more preoccupied Master Vargas was, the more opportunity it would have.

Its goal was to strike its Master; every inch closer it got while undetected was one inch closer to proving itself.

@Vargas ; i'd tag a gm but you're a gm! haha. (im good if you want someone else to dictate what happens with the bats tho)

The first bat, its blood gripped, emitted a strangled few squeals. The rest shuffled rapidly away and indeed their hisses, clicks and slapping of teeth against teeth began to echo in the dark.

When the first took flight, hurled Vargas' way, what seemed like a colony of a few of them startled. It was, in fact, a group of feral Batcat spawn, and when the first three or four dropped and took wing, their chatters became loudly alarmed.

There was a shuffling in the vents above as over a hundred more began to shift and squeak, jostling each other for a view to 'see' what was going on in the cave down below--but the whole pack, at least, didn't explode out into Canis in a bone-picking cloud.

Instead, the single batcat thrown at Vargas pulled up with a shriek just before it hit him, its terrified control breaking free of the magic just before it struck; and the other four flew in all directions, scattering from the spell.

@Garnet-Delta

So it hadn't gone exactly as planned. Garnet-Delta's connection was cut loose, but the bat cat had gotten tantalizingly close. A few more had followed suit. Long black ears twisted at the sound of dozens more waiting in the wings, but that was a minor distraction.

No, it hadn't gone as planned. It went even better. The air was rife with warning calls, furious flaps of wings, and the actual "bat" it had sent its Master's way was actually one of the nastier things-- the things that looked more like cats, more like... itself.

It still had to act quickly.

Garnet-Delta dove after the first one, coming at Vargas at a sideways angle. Its fur bristled on end as it reached out a paw-- claws, perhaps foolishly, extended-- and swept in close for a drive-by swipe toward Vargas's flank.

Judging by the other batcat jr's around, however, neither of them would probably want to stick around. Garnet-Delta sure didn't, especially if they actually started swarming, but more than that-- the plan wasn't to "straight on" attack its Master. It was to get in a hit.

A single hit. Then, if it wanted to carry on doing its missions, it needed to not get caught. It didn't slow down for a second, driving back upward toward the sky and sweeping off before Master Vargas could catch it and teach it a lesson about one-hundred percent plans. No hesitation.

@Vargas !

- THE LEVIATHAN -

The first creature that came straight at him, he was half-sure it was Garnet-Delta--except that it was coming straight at him. His head jerked the other way, alert, even as the first Batcat Jr. swept for his face.

The Garnet, he wasn't even sure if that was Garnet--but the Garnet was swift as hell, as well, and between it and that bat he had only fractions of a second to react.

Head dipped, the batcat missing him by sweeping inches--luckily it was pulling up and away, too, with a screech; and his entire form leapt, pivoting on the spot, as the second thing swept toward him. It was too fast for him to even register what it was--another bat? How the hell had Garnet done that-?--but he felt the rattle of claw across his quills nonetheless.

Did a hit against his quills count-? Perhaps not for an assassination, but then, he hadn't clarified. But had that even been Garnet-? Vargas didn't stop, his figure perhaps a little comical as he wheeled this way and that, still watching for his attacker. Or attackers. But the little hybrid was already well gone, having scored its glancing hit, and when nothing more came after a few moments had passed, Vargas called out.

"Garnet-Delta! Was that second creature you-?" Half hilarity, half puzzlement; how had it done that..?

@Garnet-Delta

Garnet-Delta scrambled up into another divot in the ceiling, panting, fur still puffed out on end. It had half of a mind to tuck its tail back in, to shove its wings forward, to resume the posture of a damn bat once more, but it was trembling with adrenaline as it barely kept its balance.

... did I really do that? It thought to itself, heart thumping loudly in its chest. Master Vargas's voice boomed up after it, sounding just as bewildered. I... I DID! Triumph filled its head, made all the sweeter by the confusion coming from its Master.

Deep breath.

Focus.

Garnet-Delta-- still, perhaps, a bit bewildered and uncertain about the batcat's that it had disturbed-- reached out to answer Vargas with its mind, avoiding revealing itself should this still be part of the test. (It really wasn't.) Master Vargas, it greeted firstly, making the connection strictly for communication, and not daring to prod into its Master's thoughts. That was me. I made the lesser attack first, then struck myself.

The alien hybrid replayed the moment, showing Master Vargas its perspective where it had been perched; the batcat it had grabbed with its magic, and sent toward him. Then, its own launch, and its frantic, urgent flight to get the blow in while it had the chance. It didn't dwell on where it had gone from there, instead thinking, it was not a particularly effective blow, but I hope it suffices. It felt sloppy and rushed in hindsight. The confidence came in spurts, and even now it was trying to pick apart pieces of how to improve. Oh, how badly it wanted to impress him.

... I didn't want to give you the opportunity to stop me, but I barely touched you. I will have to commit to the action in the future, if I want to succeed. I wouldn't catch a rat by a single whisker, much less take down a Greater with such a fleeting effort.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas gave a loud, delighted laugh. A proud one, even; pleased. "Come down!" he boomed, with the tail-end of the whispers still surging through his mind. He felt its distant touch of eagerness, so feather-light that he hardly registered it as a conscious realization. But its words were right, and its plan had been, quite frankly, brilliant.

He waited for it to approach, his own senses on half-alert watch for further Batcats.

He watched, too, for Garnet's approach--curious to compare it with its prior sweep. How was it so silent? Was it as quick as he'd thought-? Would its approach be so swift as he'd imagined..?

"That was very, very good!" he praised, and it was not intended to be condescending. It was honest and straightforward praise. "I would not have thought of using another creature as cover, let alone several of them, by controlling its behavior. That can be an interesting use of that magic, in and of itself, if you are hidden! On a target, on someone near a target--remember that trick! It is a good one, and you did well in thinking of it. I was expecting you to be hidden among them, and for only one creature to move, and so many of them at once most certainly flustered my senses. And for something with so little time to plan, it was excellent resourcefulness. You are a very quick thinker, Delta." He had no further praise to give: the action's genius had been self-evident and there was only so much he could say about that. "Certainly a success, and I hope that this first lesson has been helpful to you?"

Vargas paused, thinking.

"I will task you, then, with finding others to teach you of these other magics we discussed. To learn magics to watch from a distance, whatever methods you choose to use for that. You will find me again any time that you have questions--and whenever you have an update to give me, whether on that magic, or on something else. That is our schedule. As for your other task, I was going to task you with a false 'assassination' on me: but given how successful this was I am sure it would be little challenge. And anything more dangerous risks harm to you from my reflexes..."

Vargas eyed it, thoughtfully.

"I think I will send you on a real mission, instead. No practice mission, but a genuine and dangerous one. But you must not tackle this until you are truly ready--not merely to impress me. Remember my age, Delta; patience is the trait of the survivor." He remembered now that brief spark of eagerness--he had to use caution not to throw it into something it wasn't ready for, something it might tackle with all too much enthusiasm before it was wholly prepared. "The dragons of Monoceros are powerful, and I have long been mulling over finding a way to... remove them, if it became necessary. I do not want you to kill them, harm them, even to be seen--but find them and watch them, and return to me with potential plans for their removal. A foolproof plan--as best you can imagine one. But as I say, do not tackle this now. Only when you deem yourself ready, do you understand?"

A pause, then, to ensure that it did; and then Vargas asked, "Now; do you have any comments, or questions of your own?"

@Garnet-Delta

Come down into the rolling laughter, to where Master Vargas could look upon it and be proud; it took it a moment to shake itself, and then it dropped from the ceiling, sweeping down on wings more akin to a parachute than anything else. It landed clumsily at its Master's feet, tail puffed up like a bristle brush but held high just like its white-dotted chin.

The praise made every nerve that wasn't already tingling vibrate, a purr from its throat almost making itself jump. It buzzed, awkwardly trying to quiet the subconcious source of the sound, blinking with crimson eyes as Vargas spoke at length. "Thank you, Master Vargas," the garnet replied to the praise, and lowered its head in a nod. "I have a lot to think about, and much to practice."

Master Vargas went on to remind it of its tasks, which it nailed to the wall of its mind like sign posts. The floor was open to speak to Vargas when needed, and also, pressing it to report its findings. Both made it feel as though its responsiblity was being expanded, as though it was being taken more seriously than ever. Each breath was filled with gratitude, as though purpose was finally being drawn into its lungs.

False assassination on its Master? It had thought on how it could kill its Master, but even trying to broach the subject in its mind was met with staggering resistance. Its Master was its world, after all; how could it? It felt both relieved and frustrated at the task being taken from it, but... if Master Vargas felt that this would be an easy thing, then the alternative would--

a REAL mission.

More than just the vague task of killing a gembound, like its Handler had given it (one which it was biding its time on, somewhat unbeknowst to Master Vargas), something with direction and serious consequence weighted behind it. Its Master warned it to be patient, and it nodded once more, settling its haunches on the dirt. It would not go reckless, desperate to prove itself, only to fail or bring burden back home to its Master.

No, only one hundred percent. Its eyes gleamed, as the fur on the back of its neck rose at the mention of the dragons. The dragons that nearly killed Overseer Orthoclase-Alpha, that had it hiding amongst the Overseer's quills as a youth. A nightmare it had not faced, a threat it saw smarter to avoid. It was bewildered when Master Vargas insisted this was not a task of murder or harm, but... to watch them? Its ear twitched, remembering the magic it was to learn. If it learned how to see from afar, through scrying magic... Then it could.

Planning was another beast, and Garnet-Delta realized with a jolt that Master Vargas was giving it a gargantuan problem, one that the Master wanted it to solve. A weight that, given the duties given to him by higher powers, he could not afford to dwell on, perhaps... But one that needed a serious mind behind. This was not the same as praise, but something even more than complimentary. Master Vargas was putting his trust into Garnet-Delta.

It felt a bit numb with shock. "I understand," it said. Belatedly, it realized that its quiet answer was insufficent-- it did not cover the weight it was feeling, nor the swarm of thoughts that Master Vargas was expectant of. His follow-up question stirred that from it.

"I... I do not have any questions, yet. I suspect I will meet some stumbling blocks, but should I have trouble or concerns, I will bring the matter to you." It rose back to its feet, spreading out its wings and shaking out its pelt, raising its tail high. "I understand why it is crucial for me to learn the magic to see remotely. If I can master that, then it should be no problem for me to avoid detection while I investigate and plan around these dragons. If there's nothing to detect, then..." Its lips drew back into a derisive snarl of a grin. "I'll figure that first, and prepare, and by then I should be ready. I won't go blindly after them." That was a promise, to protect its Master's asset-- itself.

It bowed its head, wings held aloft at its sides as though apart of the reverent gesture as well. "Thank you again, for the lesson. I've learned, but more importantly, I think I have a better sense of direction. I know what I must do, and I am grateful for the opportunity. I'll continue to impress you," it insisted in return, perhaps a touch too cocky and confident, but hell. Garnet-Delta had earned some ego, and Master Vargas would expect nothing less than perfection, so why not insist that it would provide.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

He waited, and listened, eyes gleaming. And he observed.

A bow--deference--the spread of wings. Good. Coherent thought, and comprehension. Good. Planning, understanding. All very good, and Vargas gave a stern nod. "Stumbling blocks are to be expected. There may be some that attain perfection in their servants and followers by killing each who fails, but I find that to be... a waste of potential. And you hold potential; so do not fear a misstep." He'd known Overseers like that. And it was, in his mind--if rigorous--foolish.

Its promise that it would continue to impress had him belt out a single guffaw of laughter. "You had better," he said, and there was clear humor in it; "But I believe that you will." He paused, thoughtful. "Your stone-giver was never created to stand in a position of authority. Only to run these trials, over and over; to see how long it survived, how useful its design was. But Garnet Five-Seven-Nine turned out to be something more than merely a tough body or swift instincts. It rose to the challenge of commanding, in turn; it holds a calculating mind that we did not expect. Not merely a trial-runner, but a perfectionist, a sharp creature with a strong attention to detail and a powerful sense of duty. It seems it passed that on to you; and you share its strongest aspects." Where was he going with this-? It was an observation, as much as encouragment, really. "Thus far you are... equalling its potential, and I suspect you will surpass it, should you continue on this course. Go, now; find me when you have need of me."

A nod, and Garnet-Delta was dismissed. He offered no 'you're welcome' for the thanks; truth be told he ought to be thanking the creature for having this much interest, this much of a sense of responsibility toward its duties, but he'd already praised those qualities well enough. Its work ethic was strong, and Vargas respected that; he hoped that luck did not offer it failures where its skill should lead it to success.

Of course, it should plan for such things... but he would have to wait and see.

exit Vargas; @Garnet-Delta