Sniffles had practically claimed the child as their own - and, to be fair, it seemed like the little ferret didn't mind too much. Unless he was faking it, but Sniffles hadn't even had an inkling of that thought. Instead, they found themselves, small ferret on their back (as to not get him in the muck) slithering to their home in Cetus, and where the group they were in lived too.

If the kid didn't want to stay, the snake wouldn't mind. The place wasn't the nicest to look at, but Sniffles liked it. They were born here, raised here, and stuck here for most of their time alive so far. Still, at least introducing the child to their leader would be good, to let Dragon know Callahan would be sticking around for a little bit maybe. If Sniffles could use language enough to explain it.

"Here!" And this was where the snake decided to stop moving - before the swamp got too deep to the point Sniffles would have to put the kid on their head.

"Home! Dragon!" The snake called out, after.

@Callahan @Dragon

It didn't take long for Callahan to get used to the back and forth slithering that came with riding on Sniffles' back. At first he had held on tightly, scared of falling off, but as soon as the rhythm settled, it became soothing. So soothing in fact, that he awoke at some point with no recollection of actually falling asleep. The caves looked completely different now. Where the cave of his hatching had been too bright, this one was nearly too dark. Mist pulled at his fur and he shivered slightly. It didn't seem a very welcoming place, but then again, what did he know of the world to judge? Sniffles had brought him here, and that would be good enough.

Callahan jumped slightly hearing the snake's voice sound as they stopped. "Where's here?" He squeaked, looking around curiously. Sniffles' ooze mixed with something else below that looked ominous...water. The little ferret gripped Sniffle's back tighter. The last thing he'd want to do now is slip off and land in that!

Home. He liked the sound of home. Dragon, however, was a very different word. That sounded about as friendly as the cave they were in. "What's dragon," he whispered loudly up at his friend's head. It seemed like Sniffles was waiting for something, so he strained his ears and eyes to notice anything. Unfortunately, at that same time, some bubble of ooze or gas splashed upward from the water below, right into his eyes. He gave a shrill shriek, certain he was under attack, lost his footing, and splashed into the swamp.

@Sniffles @Dragon

He heard the call through the swamp, as he so often did when summoned, as a distant, mist-muffled call. It took him a moment to recognize the voice; Sniffles was one of the Children of Rot as surely as anyone was, but like many of them, did not often simply socialize. He honestly did not know too much about Septiezal's spawn, other than that he liked it well enough and recognized in it the sign of Nox's spawn (many of whom he considered his own, though only one of them truly was).

Magic and intent shaped wings, drew them forth from him in a flare of chaotic swirls--crimson and onyx, as ominous as could be. But he hadn't designed this shape; this magic had been granted to him. Not that he would ever turn it away. The curling horns that swept back from his head, a temporary draconic feature, were interesting enough--but it was the flight those shadowed wings granted him that he relied upon these days. With one lame hind leg, a slow trudge through the muddy high ground of Cetus was always unpleasant--and water channels weren't always available to more quickly traverse through swimming alone. The wings bypassed that, though he had to be careful to stay away from the trees that seemed to jump out from the fog when he flew quickly.

He lifted off--not gracefully horizontal, but heavily vertical and rather silly-looking--and went toward the voice. A further, sharper cry alarmed him and he swept forward more quickly, the magic wings beating heavily with soft, bass whoomphs.

Ahh, there they were--the curled orange-splotched form of Sniffles, and a strange... stranger, by their side. A wet one, by the looks of things. Quizzically, Dragon glanced about--a sharp look, a check for whatever danger might be threatening the pair--but he saw nothing, and after a moment he landed some dozen yards away from them with a loud squelch of reptilian heft dropping into mud.

The magic wings and horns quickly faded, and the fat alligator began to haul himself toward the two.

"I am here!" he boomed, at last, as he drew closer. "It is good to see you, Sniffles--and who is this? I am Dragon," he added, eyeing the child over. "Are you in some danger? I thought I heard a cry."

A quick once-over by eye alone showed no real signs of harm, but he was sure he could be missing something. He came to a slowly-sinking halt a couple yards away, looking around again (as much as his limited neck-mobility would allow) just in case.

@Sniffles

Sniffles hadn't even thought about the idea that the ferret could fall off of their back. It wasn't a worry at all in their head, which, it should have been. Sniffles knew they were wiggly, and had to move like that to get around. Either way it didn't matter too much.

"Here home!" Sniffles replied to the question.

Wasn't that obvious? This was home! This was the swamp! This was where the Children of Rot resided! Where Sniffles hatched and grew into the snake they were now, even without their parent being in most of the picture. If Callahan ever met Sniffles' parent, it would be obvious who it was. Their colors were different, but Sniffles was just about a carbon copy of the other snake.

Before Sniffles could answer the next question, the familiar shape of Dragon appeared in all of his alligator glory. The wings were new - the magic ones, and so were the things that came with it. It made Dragon look more like a dragon (hehe) but Sniffles didn't know what a dragon even was. With the splash, Sniffles gasped and moved to splash down and grab the small ferret before he decided he couldn't swim.

"This is Dragon!" Sniffles was finally able to reply, despite the soaked ferret that was now on their head.

"He fell in." The snake huffed, motioning to the water with six red eyes.

@Callahan

This was home. If it was home for Sniffles, Callahan was certain it would do perfectly as a home for himself too. Especially when he learned how to slither like his friend and could move through the water so easily.

Speaking of water, the little ferret was very thankful for Sniffles' help as he was pretty sure it wouldn't be very good otherwise. What if Sniffles hadn't noticed him fall? Or hadn't been there? He was very lucky indeed to have such a good friend, and he clung to Sniffles' head with all four paws. He completely missed alligator's entrance, but he heard the splash and booming voice, and instantly all of his wet muddy fur stood up on end. So this is what Sniffles meant by Dragon. He leaned down and whispered none too quietly into Sniffle's face "Dragon has lots of teeth." Then, feeling a little more at ease since Sniffles didn't seem to be scared and this is who they had come to meet for whatver reason, Callahan sat up on his friend's head and began feeling with his dirty paws in his own mouth. Yup. He definitely did not count a million teeth, which is the amount that popped into his head for how many Dragon had.

Not understanding the questions weren't necessarily meant for him, he replied in his squeaky voice "Hullo Dragon. I'm Callahan. I don't have as many teeth as you do. Are you Sniffles' friend too?" His words were muffled short as he stuck one of his paws further into his mouth to see if he could feel any teeth further back.

@Dragon

Dragon's brief curiosity about whether Sniffles had gained any linguistic complexity in her absence was quickly answered: their communication, though clear enough, was still done in short bursts of a few words at a time. Which was fine, really; he just made a mental note to be cautious not to speak in too complex a manner, in case they couldn't understand. He wasn't entirely sure how much they comprehended, himself, but it wasn't at all unusual for the denizens of the swamp to be even completely non-verbal.

The ferret, though--ahh. This one was another story. He caught an overly-loud whisper that he was fairly certain had been about his teeth, and he snorted a soft huff, an amused exhale. Sniffles's comment of 'he fell in' was given a quiet chuckle and a murmured, and amused, "I see that." But when the little one addressed him, he gave him his full, and patient, attention.

The alligator was often unforgiving, cold, or calculating; but when it came to children he was invariably fatherly. The same instincts that drove him toward wary and logical survival also reinforced, again and again, the fact that children were to be protected, nurtured; and so he did. His tone, then, was indulgent and polite as he spoke, treating Callahan respectfully--like an equal, well enough, and not particularly patronizing or the like. "Callahan, is it? An interesting name," he observed. "Do you not? I have never counted my teeth." If he could have smiled, or grinned, he would have, but his big shoe-shaped face was rigid leather without malleable lips. "I am Sniffles's friend. I am Dragon, of the Children of Rot. We live in this swamp; it is called Cetus."

He paused, glancing at Sniffles. Often, someone bringing a child here would explain their reasoning--was it a visit? A mere introduction? She had called on him, but why-? Without some sort of cue, he had to guess. Ahh, well. He looked to the ferret, again. "Are you newly-hatched? If you need someplace to stay, you are welcome to stay here. There are not nearly enough visitors!" he boomed, but he was thinking children, really. Adult visitors were a pain in the ass, more often than not--or even dangerous. But having kids around was nice. "If you are a friend of Sniffles, you are under our protection; if you need food, or wish to learn whatever I can teach, you are welcome to it. Sniffles?" he added, again looking to them. Carefully, watching them closely to try and gauge how well they understood, he spoke again: "How have you been?"

@Sniffles

Sniffles never thought about how many teeth Dragon had before. Maybe the both of them could count how many later, then again, Callahan had a small mouth so seeing all of his teeth would be hard. Their tongue flicked, catching the smells of the cave around them. There wasn't much notable about it, the muck and Sniffles' own scent masking much of what was around.

Sniffles let Dragon speak now, about the Children of Rot - they themselves didn't know how to explain it in so many words, but they might have been able to if they tried. Sniffles hadn't entirely ever tried to use more words than they always have, so they had no idea that they were entirely capable of normal speech. Of course, someone could just ask Sniffles to try.

Hearing their own name, the goop snake peered at Dragon through ruby red eyes.

"I'm good! You?"

@Callahan

Callahan beamed as Dragon called his name interesting. Interesting was a good thing, right? "Thanks, I picked it myself!" he squeaked, bouncing up and down on Sniffles' head. He then pulled back his lips with his front paws to show off the baby fangs. "I can't count." He said simply and shrugged. "Maybe you could teach me that too!" He whispered loudly once again down at Sniffles.

"Whats...the Children of Rot?" He tilted his head, curious. "Is Rot where you're from? I'm from a tight nasty hard place..." He shuddered slightly, thinking of being trapped in the shell again. It was interesting that the place was home, the place was a swamp, and the swamp had a name too -- Cetus. Lots of names, but he felt like there were lots of spaces to fill in his mind, so he didn't mind learning it all. It all filed away and then more space seemed to arrive.

"I arrived today! And thank you, thank you!" His squeaky voice reached an even higher excited pitch and he started dancing around on Sniffles' head, unable to contain himself. He wasn't worried about falling either -- with Sniffles there, everything would work out perfectly as it always did! "I love learning, Sniffles is going to teach me to hunt too! I'm ready for you to teach me as well! What is it you teach?? I want to learn everything!" Oh how the future was opening up! He couldn't believe his luck...Sniffles and Dragon, two friends to help him, and not a care in the world!

@Dragon

Ah, it seemed they understood him perfectly. A creature of few words, then. Well, he could appreciate that. And if he could have grinned, he would have. Alas, he was always grinning. "I have been well!--Thank you. Bar the hunt that came rampaging through, and the creature that attacked the swamp." There was amusement in his tone, but he had heard nothing from Draconua since her attack on Cetus. It hadn't helped that she'd left him in his chrysalis for a few weeks, of course.

His attention shifted to the little one, then. "Hm? Counting? Yes, I can teach you that. I think I can manage it, at least," he added, good-naturedly. "Rot is not a place. It is what happens to things that die," the alligator explained, launching into a rather grim explanation without any apparent concerns that it might disturb a child. No, gross things were interesting, right? "They decompose, into oil, into rotten meat! And the ones that are left alive are shaped by the ones who have died, who have taken their shapes away. Like carving clay." Well, a child probably knew what neither of those things were-... But never mind. "The name means, we are the ones thare are left when others die. We are the survivors. As for what I can teach you? I can teach you anything I know. Everything I know. Of magic, and the Masters, and the history of these caves. Of surviving, hunting, staying alive. For now, what do you say we find you someplace safe to rest? And what of food--are you two hungry?"

Dark eyes flicked between them. He had no doubt that he could find a few fish for them easily enough, if they wanted it--assuming they hadn't already eaten on the way here.

@Sniffles

Sniffles' tongue flicked when Callahan bounded around atop their head - the little thing wouldn't be small enough to do that with enough time, but maybe Callahan could figure out how to travel through the trees to not touch the water? He didn't seem to like the muck much, which, they could understand. It stuck to their scales and made them an off-color, but their body was about perfect to camouflage in places like this. All dark blacks and reds that were hard to see when it came to hunting or hiding from other gembound.

Sniffles was aware of the hunt, though they didn't partake in it themselves. Choosing to stick away from that stuff, since they didn't want to get injured in the process. If they knew how to do magic, and knew that the wings Dragon used beforehand were from it, then they might have been jealous. The snake, though, did not know how to use magic, or that it existed really. They'd never watched anyone use it before (of course, Dragon's but he never said it was magic specifically.)

They once again stayed quiet while Dragon did the explaining, holding back the mention that the rot was much alike the goop that came from Sniffles' own body despite them not being dead. Sniffles was very much alive thank you very much! They had seen a dead thing turn into the goop before, and it wasn't pretty. Sometimes it made Sniffles wonder if they were slowly deteriorating from the inside out, but they've been alive for cycles at this point - it didn't seem like it was happening. At least not anytime soon.

"Not hungry." The snake replied, though they tried to peer up at Callahan to see his answer, it failed miserably and the snake was left keeping their head in a position that wouldn't make the rodent fall off.

@Callahan