Azure settled back, taking a breather.

"Oh, rainbow flare sounds good!" she exclaimed. She liked the sound of that one. "I'd say put the word 'Spire' in there but then it might be too long a name," she added. "Rainbow flare sounds good."

She took a breath, then leaned down, dipping her beak toward Dewberry.

Magicka flickered, then flared, and she held quite still with concentration as it worked to fix the dye fully in place. "...There. I think that did it."

At last, Azure turned, looking over the spots that Dewberry had painted on her wings. Her eyes widened, and she spread a wing, flexing it--then batted it gently, watching the motion-blurred gleam of the End's Sky--or Rainbow Flare, as the case now might be--streak through the air.

"Ooooh, that looks great, Dew! I'm gonna make this one stay, too! -What made you think of using the Spire, anyway? Just the color?" she asked, glancing curiously back to the snake. The fresh glance had her blinking, impressed by the striking look the dye gave her. "That actually looks really good on you," Azure complimented, and she meant every word.

@Dewberry

"Rainbow Flare it is, then!" Dewberry declared, a smile in her voice. She held still as Azure poured magicka into the dye, fixing it in place, then watched her sister move her wings through the air. The eye spots flashed, leaving a short-lived trail of light after them. She could only imagine what they might look like when Azure flew. "Thank you so much! You look great, too!" Dewberry wound herself around a front leg, bumping Azure affectionately with her head.

"I guess I did it just to experiment," she replied, and wished she had shoulders to shrug with. "The Spire has its own magic, so I was curious if it would pass it on to dye I made with it. I also didn't know if it would even keep the magic when it left Polaris--but it did, clearly," and this was said with a little laugh. "It does make me wonder why there's only a Spire in Polaris, though, if the magic follows it everywhere. What's so special about that cave...?"

Dewberry trailed off, thinking back to her encounter with the Sentinel. "Actually, I met someone a while ago who said they'd seen another Spire, and that it was black--?" There were so many curious things about that simple statement that she didn't even know where to begin asking questions--and perhaps it was best not to, if she wanted to keep her distance from the Masters--so she simply looked toward Azure to see if her sister had anything to say.

@Azure

Azure brightened--Rainbow Flare! "Great name," she confirmed, cheerfully. "Experimenting's a good reason. That's how I learned, like, everything. Don't be afraid to fail, either! A lot of stuff doesn't work but that just teaches you how to get to stuff that does," and she offered this as encouragement, really. "Not that you need the advice. It looks like you're doing better than I did!" There was no resentment in this, only joy for her 'sibling.' She focused for a moment on her own dye, content with Dew's staying in place--and with the little serpent slithering around one leg. She was happy for the company, really, and the affection.

The mention of the Spire had her thinking, though, past the light swell of magicka that anchored the eye-spots more permanently.

"That's... a good question. I guess I never thought about it, before? I figured the Spire was what made it special, not the other way around, like-... There's nothing special about Polaris that brought the Spire there, just the Spire's the special thing-? But maybe you're right. Where's this other Spire, anyway? Black doesn't sound... good," she added, a little worriedly.

Maybe it was a dumb assumption, but the image of a giant black crystal gleaming in a cave struck Azure as rather ominous.

@Dewberry

"Oh, keep giving advice!" Dewberry said quickly. "I wouldn't even know where to start making paints if you hadn't taught me all this. Actually--where did you get the idea of grinding up gems to make dye?" chiseling away at rock until it was turned into powdered pigment was a long and laborious task, and Dewberry knew she would never have thought of doing it herself. She didn't think her sister had ever mentioned a teacher... had she?

Azure's theory about the Spire got her thinking again. It was possible that the Spire had just appeared in a cave at random, but what made Spires into Spires, if not the magic of the surrounding cave? The Spire had its own magic, but where had it all come from? It was a mystery that Dewberry didn't think they'd get answers to anytime soon.

"I don't think it is good, either," she admitted about the black Spire. "The one who came from where it was was part of a group called the 'Chaos Forge', and I think that's pretty bad, too. They're ruled by Masters, who make children to be their servants..." Now that she thought about it, it sounded a lot like the accusations against her own mother, and Dewberry trailed off with a wince.

@Azure

"The idea-?" Cue dial-tone thoughts; Azure struggled to think back. Had there been any one, specific "eureka" sort of moment when she'd come up with the idea? She didn't think so, but she wasn't even sure; her answer, then, was slow and likewise uncertain. "Well, when I first started, I was putting flowers into gemstones. They were really pretty," she began, "and sometimes I'd make them glow, after. Sometimes I made the flower glow, but not the stone. Then one day I had an idea. I glowed up a different stone, ground it into dust, and scattered the dust around the flower before forming a gemstone around it all. I guess that was my first... paint, sort of? Glowing dust spread through the stone? Then I messed with different colors, then started using them for different things. It was, uh--by chance, I guess!"

While she was still thinking this over (second-guessing herself, and hoping she hadn't forgotten some major step on her own) Dewberry started a rather ominous fork of the prior half-conversation. Azure's attention was sharpened at once, worry sparking in her. "The 'Chaos Forge?' Holy shit, that does sound, uh. Bad. Child-... Servants?"

Azure had... a bad history, indeed, as did Dew. For a long time she'd cowered from memories of Blackberry--hidden away in the recesses of Orion, of Monoceros. But for an instant, the idea of children raised as slaves to Masters sparked something else in her--something she'd kept tightly tamped down for fear of becoming like her mother: rage.

It was not mindless, but indignant, and it was white-hot: but it was a flash gone a moment later, with no real knowledge to sustain it. The concept of it sat metallic and awful on her tongue, and she lay frozen for a moment, stunned out of thoughts. When she could think again, it was with fear and anger both, though both minor. She didn't know for sure what this was all about--if she'd found kids in shackles she'd have been boiling with righteous fury. But right now it was more... the possibility of anger.

"Child servants..? Can you tell me how to get there?" she asked, glancing to Dewberry with knotted brow.

@Dewberry

By chance? It seemed incredible, that Azure's dyes could have been discovered through random luck and creativity. How many other beautiful things were still unknown, waiting only to be chanced upon? It was a wonderful thought.

It was also, however, quickly eclipsed by their shared worry over the Chaos Forge. "I didn't ask him where to find it," Dewberry admitted. "I thought maybe it was best if I didn't go there? The person I met, he called himself the Sentinel. I think he's nice." From what she could tell, he had been created with the intention to protect. And she didn't think he was dangerous to a random stranger, judging from his restraint in their spar. "At least, I don't think he's--unhappy or anything? But I don't think they really teach morals there? Just to follow orders."

She shook her head. "It's probably best just to stay away from it all. I told him he could visit me in Orion sometime, if he wanted? He might not, but we could talk to him a little more if he did."

@Azure sorry for the wait!

For a moment, Azure felt wholly and shockingly alone. Not just... alone in the room; it wasn't that she'd forgotten Dewberry there beside her.

But she felt like... she stood alone, the vast dark empty universe churning around her. So what if she was upset about Masters making children to be their slaves? What was she going to do about it? Her, alone? Where could she even start? What, would she march down to--somewhere she didn't even know to search? And demand information? She wasn't powerful. She wasn't even strong.

She couldn't do a damn thing.

She stood there, metallic taste on her tongue, feathers ruffled in near-fear at even the concept of it all. She wanted to do something, but she didn't know what to do. Blackberry could've acted, she thought, suddenly, bitterly, and it was a shock of a thought. Never had she thought something positive about her mother's rage.

And Blackberry was the one making children to be her slaves, anyway. Her little monsters in violence.

Something quietly snapped in Azure--or maybe it was suddenly put aside, tucked away, buried. She had to focus, for a moment, to get away without upsetting Dewberry.

"Damn, man," she said hollowly, without having heard much of what her sister had even said. She struggled to rethink the last few seconds, to remember Dew's words. "Sentinel, huh?" -Yeah, Sentinel; she'd said that, at least. "Yeah, it's probably best to stay away. I'm guessing you're right! Anyway, they probably don't have cool dye," she added.

A front, a 'smiling' happy fake shield held up to protect not only herself but Dewberry before her. Fake cheer. It was... believable enough; though maybe Dewberry would see through it, she didn't know.

"Anyway, uh--awesome work, again! We both look great! Hey, do you mind if I go take a flight? I'll be back," she added, at once.

I just need to clear my head.

@Dewberry

Her sister simply stood there, looking shell-shocked, and Dewberry waited uneasily for a response. Should I have told him I was in Orion? she had time to worry. Did Azure fear for their own safety—? But they had been undisturbed in their lives so far, and she did not think the Sentinel would have told on them. Unless he did it without thinking, used to reporting details?

It was unfair of her, Dewberry told herself. She didn't know what the Sentinel's job was like, nor whether it involved spying on Gembound with inconvenient morals—which it probably didn't. He'd been sent out for combat training, and hopefully nothing more. And again, nothing had happened. They were safe, so long as they didn't stick their noses into this further. The Masters' actions might be abhorrent, and their children might never receive the warmth of love, but at least their darkness was far, far away.

Azure's sudden cheer, after her silence and previous concern, could have given her whiplash. … Should she be concerned about the flight? No, Dewberry decided, Azure was not one to do stupid things. And she said she'd be back. Her sister probably just needed something to distract herself after the sudden turn their conversation had taken. "Go ahead", she said, gently bumping her sister's leg with her head. "I'll clean up."

@Azure

An unexpected flicker of gratitude rose in her. She really liked Dewberry--and she didn't have a clue if her sister had any idea how upset she really was right now. But she'd accepted her excuse without question, and the relief Azure felt was a powerful surge.

She suppressed a sigh of this relief, instead dipping her head down to offer a friendly nudge.

"I'll bring you back somethin' cool, huh?" she answered, and then retroactively, Dew's remark clicked. 'I'll clean up.' She glanced around--man, she'd really been about to leave Dew with this whole mess? "Oh, damn, no, Dew. I won't be long! Just leave stuff, unless you want to mess with it. I'll get it when I come back!" She didn't state the obvious--that with her size, beak and claws, moving everything where it belonged would take only a moment, where little armless Dew would need to struggle with magic to put anything back piece by piece. "Don't worry about it! I'll be back in a bit. But--uh, thanks," she added, and the word was a little quieter--she knew she was thanking her for more than just the cleanup offer.

With a rustle of feathers she turned, dipping out the door. And a moment later, she was airborne, all her prior thoughts and worries coming back in a flood, sending her shivering to circle out over Orion.

What the hell would she do?

________

It would be almost an hour before she returned, with the gift of a striated, rainbow-hued gemstone--a little thing, something Dew could use or grind into multicolored dye.

exit Azure?
@Dewberry

she will bring the pretty stone back to Dew offscreen if that's okay!

Dewberry watched her sister fly away, worry pricking back at her heart. Had there been anything else, anything better she could have done? Obviously she wasn't about to stop Azure from taking whatever flights she wanted. And some air would probably help, maybe.

She just hoped things would turn out okay. That Azure wouldn't become dreadfully unhappy, thinking of the Masters and their questionable machinations. That they could just live a normal life in Orion, secluded from danger.

Exhaling softly, Dewberry turned her attention to the mess. Azure could do it, of course, but she didn't want to leave all of it to her sister. Besides, it was an opportunity to use magic, which was not unwelcome. The jar of water capped itself and drifted into its corner without incident. She could get a lot done in an hour.

hi it's me finally exiting