Ruby-Beta grumbled to itself as it stared at the empty spot in front of it. It had been practicing its building skills for the past couple of cycles in Pegasus, trying this and that to build a suitable shelter, but it wasn't nearly as easy as it had thought it would be. No wonder Master Vargas had given the task out freely to those without assignments. But, even if Beta had spent a large portion of its time in Pegasus napping, hoping a better idea would come to it in dreams, it was nothing but persistent when it came to fulfilling orders and it had eventually come up with a fairly stable method of building that would hopefully pass as a decent shelter. It wasn't as nice as a good, deep cave, but with those running in short supply, and with Master Vargas's command to build, it would do as a base.

Nearby was a large, thin, flat slab of rock that it had found and tied up with vines, atop which was a large pile of mud, still a bit wet. It hadn't been easy dragging it all the way here from Pegasus, but Beta, at least, was strong after all that training. It had also gathered a fairly decent collection of large stones, all piled up against the wall, ready to be stacked atop each other. It was already sore and tired from just getting everything here, but it had already taken its nap (multiple, actually) for the day and it needed to get to work. It just hoped that the shelter it had come up with was up to Master Vargas's standards.

Without anymore delay, it began laying the first layer of stones along the ground - with a gab for the entrance, and patting mud atop them to seal them in. It was slow, tedious work, and Ruby-Beta hated every moment of it, but it had come to a realization as time had progressed. As the Forge had moved forward, new recruits and valkhounds (and valkHANDS) coming and going - it wasn't as special as it had thought it was. All it could do was do its best for Master Vargas - and the Forge - with whatever it had at its disposal right now.

In the meantime, V-Chaos-Six had no care for a house.

Not because it believed itself to be unworthy of creature comforts, but because it just seemed like unnecessary effort. Draco did not experience extreme weather on the scale of Ursa or Hydra (allegedly, because it had never been); Hell, it didn't so much as rain. Six did not care much for privacy or protecting its things, because the Forge wouldn't tolerate thieves and it could easily take back whatever was stolen—if it cared enough to, which was seldom. Ownership didn't bring too much delight to it.

Whenever its hands were idle and it took note of one of its Forgemates working, though, it scarcely hesitated to offer assistance. The shorter biped—Attikias, he had called himself—had taught it the basics of construction like any of the others. Overlong claws were a little unwieldy for lashing together thatch for roofing, but otherwise... ? A rather fine grunt for the work.

It was eager enough too, what with the eyestalks ogling at the ruby's progress from a distance of not-very-far-away-at-all. Mandibles shuffled as it lumbered forward on all fours (no use straining one's neck to look down, is all) and it tilted its head to the side. When it was done uselessly watching Ruby-Beta do all of the work, it offered, "Tell me where to put the stones. You do the mud."

Already moving to take a stone from the pile, Six heaved itself onto his hind legs and squatted down. Offhandedly, it glanced at the pile of mud with a cursory sort of look. "Did you mix grass into it?" it chattered, easily taking a stone in each hand with an obnoxious scraping of claws.
@Ruby-Beta

Ruby-Beta worked in silence for a time, slowly building up the walls of a crude shelter, and letting its mind wander aimlessly. It was easy enough for time to pass when it did this - probably the only reason it hadn't become incredibly bored the last few cycles - but it slowly came out of its working haze when it realized that someone was watching.

It paused, glancing over its shoulder, although it wasn't too concerned. Its not like enemies would find their way into here without raising some kind of alarm. And, of course, there stood one of the many strange creations of the Forge. V-something-some number. It hadn't really bothered to learn everyone's designation, what with the sheer number of them popping up like daisies. It was still a little embarrassing that it didn't know its own family (?) so maybe it would just avoid having to say its name for now.

"Oh, it's you." Nice dodge, there. It looked at how it carried the stone and realized how grateful it would be for its help here. It wasn't like Beta was incapable of carrying the stones around, but it wasn't easy or natural to lift them up from the ground on two legs when it was made to be on four. This would go a lot faster and a lot smoother. And it could finally take another break.

It turned and raised its front claw, gesturing towards the rounded shape it had already built up with the first couple of layers of stone and mud. "Do one row of rocks at a time. Once they're covered, start the next." Easy enough.

It turned back to the mud and took another pawful, turning to slap it over the rocks and patting it down so that it made a nice cover over the stone. "I did," it replied without turning around. "And sand. Makes the mud dry better so it doesn't just fall apart." Ruby-Beta would have never guessed it would find itself here, with that kind of knowledge. And building.

It glanced over at V-whatever-whatever, its paws slowing for a moment. "You don't have better things to do? Like hunting or training or doing some important assignment from the Overseer?" It managed to catch the bitterness from seeping into its voice as the last second, passing it off as a casual question, but it couldn't help but look at the creature with envy. Was it one of Vargas's newer creations? It looks like a fairly good design, with two legs and arms. Surely he had something better planned for one of his newest creations?

@V-Chaos-Six

On instinct, Six gave a deferential dip of the head. A mandible scraped some errant scrap of meat or something from its teeth, and it took to its task like a fly to honey.

Toxic eyes paid careful mind to the arrangement of stones that were already there, watching as Ruby-Beta molded the mud around it. They measured out the space between each addition—because surely the hybrid had calculated this all out in advance and had just the right amount of material—and waited for the whole row to be adequately covered. Then, one-by-one, Chaos-Six laid stones around the wall.

"Attikias did not teach me about the sand," it clacked and hissed as it twisted around to grab another armful of rocks, "from the river in Pegasus?" The wetness would negate a need for water transport when mixing, the monster supposed. A few jugs had been left for their sake and such a purpose, but so few of the Forge had the hands to not just drop and shatter them. It turned out that clay wasn't too easy to put back together without it leaking.

Six muttered a soft "curious" while setting another stone down. Because it was.

It was unconcerned at the ruby's abrupt stop and turn. The phrasing would imply that it should reply in some acerbic, acidic way like mind your business, but V-Chaos-Six was unaffected. It merely shrugged its oilstone-ridden shoulder, and squatted to take yet another armful of stones for when Ruby-Beta resumed its work. "Not now, no. I'm helping you," it replied simply, rocking down onto its haunches with its arms held toward its chest. "That fits well within our description of busywork for the Forge."

And now, it was V-Chaos-Six's turn. Eyestalks twitched as it asked, "Why are you building a house?" Quills knocked against one another in easy interest, and its tail wagged and rattled against the floor. "A reward from the Master?"
@Ruby-Beta

Their teamwork really was streamlining the process. Together they were working far faster then they would have been if it were just Beta building the structure. And it definitely wasn't feeling as strained now that it didn't have to carry all those stones awkwardly. It continued working, patting the mud down, collecting more, patting that down, repeat, repeat, and before it knew it, another row was complete.

It snorted at the response. "Attikias? No I figured it out by myself. Spent a while in Pegasus testing building materials. This was the best. Plenty of sand in the river, yeah." It had come in close second to straight up using wood, but it didn't think that it would be efficient to heck down Pegasus trees and drag them all the way over. Sure, there were some that could do it, but it has been working on it alone. And it had trouble knocking over the thinnest of trees. Besides, there were only so many trees, but a nearly endless supply of rocks, mud, sand, and grass.

It was a little surprised at the casual, almost friendly tone that it responded with. A lot in the Forge just...weren't like that. It was kind of refreshing, to be honest, to not have some intense, deadly serious, borderline unfriendly monster glowering at it. This was just...a guy. And Beta appreciated that. "Well, thanks for the help, I appreciate it." It was quick to continue its building, laying down mud over the waiting row of stones.

It responded as it worked this time. "Yeah, Master Vargas said we need structures - dens I'm assuming. There's only so many caves here, I guess. I don't have any designated jobs at the moment, so I figured I'd get working on it." It was better then farming, after all. There were others in the Forge better suited to that. Or training nonexistent children.

@V-Chaos-Six

V-Zoisite-One loved working. Being useful. It ran down one side of Vargas's family line, at least.

Now that she had an outlet, one that Master Vargas approved of, and one that made her feel useful even in its humble simplicity, she had taken to it like a fish to water. Draco had been strung with lights just like the rest of the caverns, though the oilstone fragments she used often shimmered and shifted in painful hues with the pulsing of the Black Spire's iridescence the closer they were to the heart of Draco. It made the entrance of the cave more inviting, less like the dingy, dim lighting it had when they had first arrived and more like a place where actual creatures lived. This process had been slow, interspersed with her work on the gardens with the other gardeners into Pegasus. More and more, she had more time for gardening than she did for lightwork, but both things suited her wonderfully.

She kept to herself typically when she was home(at the gardens she could be a bit more, well, outgoing...), though when a new structure was being built she took notice. Ruby-Beta, one of the eldest of the Chaos Forge, was working on something. She hadn't noticed until the conversation had started-- Chaos-Six was lending a hand, now-- but the sound of idle chatter made her head raise, her golden eyes seeking the source with quiet curiosity.

They were working on a new home, it seemed. Maybe a place for Ruby-Beta to sleep...? If it was a den, then it would need some lighting. She had spare stringed stones courtesy of Attikias, that simply needed magic to glow. But maybe they would like a different sort of lighting, like a big slab or something that could easily be covered or hid when they wanted to sleep. It would mean having to talk to the older forge member, which gave her pause... Maybe she should wait until they came around asking.

But working in the dim wasn't the best, either. She pushed herself to her feet, talons gripping the stone underfoot with a tighter than necessary grip. She took one of the strings of stones by one end in a forelimb and pulled it to her chest, walking over with her head cocked at a funny (but functional, she needed to have it tilted to see regardless of awkwardness) angle as she stalked closer.

As the insectoid relative came skittering over, a ball of golden light formed beside it and drifted upward, casting long shadows and providing useful peripheral information for it to avoid bumbling into any piles of stone that had been left laying around. It had a secondary benefit: announcing its approach in a way that felt more natural than an awkward greeting that interrupted their conversation.

V-Zoisite-One stilled once it got close enough to look like it was merely peering curiously at the structure they were building: polite, not too close, and certainly not in the way of anything. Its mandibles clicked, both front and tail, and it eased backward, its front half shifting upward so it could more easily meet either of their gazes as needed.

"... would you like some lights?" The zoisite offered in the next appropriate conversation lull, its magic orb drifting helpfully to brighten the area that they were working in.

He did not... ? Now that was interesting.

V-Chaos-Six paused mid-motion, skull angling to the side with prickling quills. No wonder why the method of construction was so different. It hadn't spent much time thinking on why they were using so much mud, but... "Good job," it uttered, less as praise and more as genuine compliment. An almost awed-sounding question came next: "Does it hold together better than putting mud just between the stones?" Would it crack and fall apart as it dried? Or would it be even sturdier than cobblestone?

If the monster of a beast could've smiled politely, it would have. As it were, it merely quirked its eyes with a quick nod. "You're welcome." It was almost glad to help, and close to grateful that Ruby-Beta took the assistance for what it was: nothing malicious. (It remembered the selenite's distantly sour face rather well.)

They finished another row—the wall was just about at their knee when they stood upright, now—and Six easily set more stones with the ruby following behind. It listened idly as its companion (feels nice to think that...) spoke, nodding along to show as much. Mandibles pinched together with focus as it nudged a rock a mere inch to the right. Then, it knelt down to get more rocks from the efficiently-dwindling pile. "That makes sense. I think you need more roc—ah, hello."

A light had danced into their field of view, and of course Six would greet its fellow prickly, purple monstrosity. It regarded the worm with its own mandibles clicking, and gave a simple nod to the head hoisted upward. Toxic eyes appreciated the addition of extra light that was not hypersaturated or contrast-heavy. But, it left the decision and answering to Ruby-Beta.

'twas the cat-beast's den, after all.

But, it could still offer a clattering, insectoid-hissing "thank you for that light."
@Ruby-Beta

The conversation, Beta was finding, proved to be a much more welcome time-passer then simply letting its mind wander aimlessly. It felt...warmer, in a way. And far more enjoyable then silently disassociating. And at the others' question, Ruby-Beta felt a strange need well up in its mind, one that it hadn't felt in a very long time - the need to explain.

It had worked hard to come up with this. Experimented a lot. There were lots of mini walls crumbling over or rendered to a pile of mud in different areas of Pegasus, left behind by Beta's many experiments, and this mixture was the result. And someone was showing actual interest besides "it works." The words came tumbling out of its mouth before it could stop itself, but it didn't find that it minded so much. "It does. The sand combined with the mud makes it hold together stronger once it dries and makes it last longer then a few days. The grass gives it structure and holds everything together. It would fall apart real easy without it. And the stones are for support...and to cut down on materials. They're not totally necessary, but it's easier to find rocks up here then dragging the mixture all the way from Pegasus." It hoped that the other had listened through the whole thing, as it continued its work as more words then it had probably ever spoken at once poured out of its mouth.

It thought, for a moment, that if it were, say, Master Vargas or Orthoclase-Alpha listening to its ramble, they would have had it shut up or let it go on without caring in the slightest. Even if their co-worker wasn't quite keeping up, at least it had asked a question that had allowed it to go on their little tangent. And that, in itself, was really nice.

Ruby-Beta glanced back to check the rock pile, just in time to see the zoisite crawling over, light dancing into their workspace. It narrowed its eyes at its...it wasn't quite sure of what the word was, but a fairly close relative that it had never bothered to get to know very well. It paused its work for a moment, glancing at the light that it had created, and then to the lightrs strung over their heads. Had she done that? It had never bothered to wonder.

"Lights would be nice," Beta supplied. "But maybe not too bright, since these will be for sleeping...I think. But a light over the area for now is a big help, thank you." It glanced back at the dwindling pile of rocks, gears in its head turning. "...You're right, we're gonna need some more rocks soon."

@V-ZOISITE-ONE

As the Zoisite's light flooded the area, providing some much needed visibility to the busy worker bees of the Forge, Chaos-Six offered it a strikingly warm hello. "Hello," it clicked back in response, head tilting slightly to one side. It remained perched up on its back limbs, holding forelimbs closer to its chest with the string of stones in its talons.

Ruby-Beta agreed to the lights, and even offered the insectoid a thank you. It might have been a bit strange to witness the shift in mood among the Chaos Forge now that they had been given tasks and purposes that actively improved their lives, but the more Zoisite did the more it, the more Draco felt like home. Originally, it had felt like it would never be what the old warren had been, but it had more positive memories built up at the farmland than it ever had when it was a hatchling.

Suffice to say, the kind words brought a soothing ripple through the beast's quills as they lay flat and relaxed. "I can do that," the Zoisite responded, tail-pincers clacking gently over the stone that held its magic. The insectoid lowered itself down to all sixes again, lowering its head to stare down intently upon the stones, and began to enchant each one with its magic.

A faint, pale green took hold in each stone in turn. It was no brighter than a small flame, and the color matched that of the watchful eyes of Master Vargas, Ruby-Beta, or even-- well, the Orthoclase. The poisonous color of quills, protective and comforting to the Zoisite. Hopefully they would provide that same feeling to whoever would sleep there, like they were being towered over by a protective guardian.

There were other good colors to use, of course; Zoisite loved reds and blues, and itself was best connected to the warm golden glow at the heart of a bright flame. This one felt right to use, though, so it was confidently applied at (hopefully) the correct brightness to give a predator enough light to see by without keeping them up when they were resting.

The Zoisite listened to their chatter, considering the need for more rocks. "... There's plenty in the fields where we farm," Zoisite offered, "we dug up a bunch to plant food." Another short pause, filled with the quiet click of mandibles. "I can help move rocks too. Lights won't take long to make."

@V-Chaos-Six

- THE LEVIATHAN -

The coming and going had barely drawn his eye, but as a Master, it was sort of his duty to keep watch on what the Forge was doing. And as an ex-Overseer whose instincts and habits ran strong, he did wonder at the gathering (and new bright lights) at the far wall.

The first approach he cut short, realizing belatedly that he could serve at least a minor purpose in what appeared to be a building task. And so, for awhile as the group gathered and worked, Master Vargas went about a different, if brief, job. The armor was old, barely suited, but it would do.

When Vargas came striding to the group a little while later, it was with a series of old helmets clutched under one arm. His three-legged walk was still swift enough, and his booming voice was cheery as he addressed them--his eyes lingering on the construction-in-progress. "Well done! You are all working hard-? Do you need my aid?" Belatedly, he realized that the structures were based in mud--mud that wasn't around in Draco. "Is that mud brought in from Pegasus-?" he added, impressed despite himself.

Ahh--but as to why he was really here!

He walked around between them, handing out ill-fitting old helmets. "If you are hoisting rocks you must not forget to protect your heads! Skulls are easily broken," he offered, enthusiastically.

Then he moved away, stepping back to look over their work thus far.

possibly exit but will wait for any replies!