Recently, Carja had felt a pang in her heart. Yes, Attikias was fantastic and amazing and like a father and brother at the same time, but she missed her family. She missed Svartis and Asimona and Bone. She wanted to have other dragons! Like her.

She was curled up under a tree beside one of the main paths through Eridanus, worn down by foot traffic coming through from Polaris to Orion and back again, or by the Eleynas to their camp from the various tunnels.

She was thinking, and thinking hard. She wanted someone to hug and cuddle without worry she'd break them. She... she wanted a sister. A daughter? Hm.

So she stood herself up and started searching. For a gem, for something alive to share her magic with in hopes of creating someone to hopefully be hers to love and appreciate.

@Temperantia

Temperantia wandered Eridanus. They did not look well for wear. Their eyes leaked oil. And the angel rarely stopped in their single minded quest to rid the caves of Mother. Temperantia's mind had become a broken record. The same two words repeating ceaselessly. Their skin was still blackened, feathers still burnt and shredded. Their innards had healed, yes, but outwardly and mentally they would always be scarred. Changed. A reminder of the past.

Temperantia had been lucky enough to happen upon a half-rotted rabbit, leaking oil. It was only then that Temperantia stopped, to consume. Not a moment later, Temperantia continued upon their search. Had Temperantia been a normal animal, they would've appeared leaner. They did not eat as much. Single-minded in their quest. Temperantia, at some point, noticed Carja.

It was difficult to miss them. She , quite literally, glowed in the dark. Temperantia gave the dragon a brief glance. Eyes narrowed as they thought. The dragon was not someone they knew. Temperantia turned their eyes forward. Flapping once, to give themselves more forward momentum.

Their presence was a distraction. She was not doing anything suspicious. Anything that would warrant investigation or cleansing from Temperantia. The angel was here to root out Dontacael's influence, wherever they found his tendrils reaching. It had become Temperantia's existence. Temperantia's existence was not to fraternize with unaffiliated gembound.

"When I speak."

When I think.

+2 points from oil consumption

@Carja

Carja spotted Temperantia in the corner of one of her eyes, her head turning and each eyeball rotating to face the angel, head raised. She inhaled, snorted, and stepped forward, head cocked.

”Hello?”, she said, ”Are you well?”

With oil leaking from their eyes, Temperantia certainly didn't look well. Scarred with blackened feathers... what had this gembound gone through?

”Are you okay?”, she asked next, offering her kindness to the gembound, whether she be good or bad.

She had no spells to heal but she did have a nest to share, should the gembound be weary enough to wish for a bed. Eridanus was damp and wet, and if you weren't used to it, sickness could come easily, either by the fungus in the soil eating at the dampness between your toes, the bacteria lurking, waiting for vulnerability, or the rain causing a chill in your bones that never went away, and then pneumonia.

But then again, those were drastic examples.

@Temperantia

"As well as we'll get." Temperantia said. They offered no further explanation. Temperantia squinted. Studied Carja for a moment, trying to figure out why she had chosen to speak to Temperantia. The angel had not approached or been approached by a gembound in quite some time. The silence had been enjoyable, in a way. It allowed their thoughts to become wholly consumed by their task.

It allowed Temperantia to dig themselves deeper and deeper into the belief what they were doing was right. They were improving the world, somehow, by following their cause. But Temperantia had found themselves almost missing speech, in the moments of rest between searches. And so, they would humor Carja, if only for a moment. Temperantia tucked their wings in close. They could spare a minute or two.

"Are you from the Seven? Some other group? We have not seen you before. We are on a task. We have little time for ackamarackus." Temperantia said, twinned voices monotone. Somehow, they'd said that completely straight-faced. "But, you may speak. Is there some purpose for which you talk to us?"

"When I speak."

When I think.

@Carja

Carja blinked and shook her head, ”Um... no, not really. I'm sort of a part of a few groups but I've yet to find somewhere I belong.”

She swallowed, somewhat discouraged, and shuffled for a moment, before breathing in and just saying it.

”I was searching for a donor,” she finally said, ”S-someone who could give me a piece of their stone so I could give life to it. I-I just... I want a child. Someone to keep me company and I-I just... I don't know, I want a family.”

She often made split-second decisions, but she just hoped this one wouldn't be a mistake.

”It would only take a moment, if you're willing,” she said, ”My nest is only through those trees, so you could drop your stone off and continue on with what you were doing before.”

@Temperantia

"Family. You would use our stone for this?" Temperantia said. Its' voice still monotone. They didn't know this gembound. They had no attachment, negative or positive, to the idea of casting another being into the caves. Nor attachment to the idea of raising it. Temperantia was eternally busy with doing what they could to rid the caves of Dontacael.

But...family. It brought to mind the meeting, not so long ago, that Temperantia had attended. It was attached to the idea that its spawn would serve no greater purpose. This gembound was not attached to any group. For now, at least. It would not work for any cause. Especially not go on to work for Astraea's cause. Except, perhaps, they could continue Temperantia's own cause. Pure spite, ultimately, was what fueled them to say what they said next.

"We...may accept. Conditionally. The child must be warned of Astraea, Dontacael, and the Creator. It must never interact with any of these forces. If it does, it is to destroy them. To ruin them, should we fail. Should we fall." Their mind drifted to Astraea's speak of the exalted, rising to the surface. Could that be a future for them? Or was it another lie by Astraea? No, Temperantia could not trust whatever words the deceiver used. "Should these conditions are broken, we will learn. And we will add you to our enemies."

Temperantia was not interested in visiting Carja's nest. The knowledge that Carja was not infected was enough for them. "Here, then." Temperantia willed the stone to split from them. It had been a while since Temperantia used their magic, least of all to share their stone. And it really did show. A stone dropped. A mere shard of Temperantia's actual stone. Small, but it still contained their spark of life. Their eyes flicked to the shard below, then back up to Carja."You may take it." Temperantia offered no further words, and moved to leave. Off to eradicate what lessers they found carrying Mother's mark. Off to leave the dragon with her new shard.

"When I speak."

When I think.

;exit unless stopped ?
@Carja

Carja picked up the small sliver of stone in her massive claws, breathing out slowly. Her eyes hardened at the mention of the creator of that horrible fungus, growling.

”My children will never know the pain and suffering I did,” she mumbled, ”They will be warned and protected, I can assure you that. And if you ever wish to come see them, just return here, and I'll welcome you.”

She nodded once and turned, trotting off through the trees. She was gone within a moment or two, excited.

She set the stone down beside it's brother, allowing more than enough room so that the two chrysali didn't accidentally feed off of each other, and closed her eyes.

Carja's wings flared out and a powerful surge of magic burst forth into the stone, filling it with power, with greatness. She smiled gently down at the little stone as it formed a chrysalis around itself, and collapsed, flopping down between the eggs, nosing them both.

She set her head down, exhausted... and slept.

Exit Carja to sleep
@Temperantia for vis