When she grew up? Did that mean she could be this thing called a 'mom' or 'dad' someday? Though she wasn't sure how exactly she could give a piece of her stone, especially since she couldn't see it. She wasn't sure what magic was either, but perhaps that was what had made the banana appear out of thin air. Hm, magic and stones. Now that this idea was planted in her mind, it would be quite hard to get rid of. And hatch? Out of walls? Man this was all too much for her to comprehend.

Sakhira followed Bug's gaze to the shards of her chrysalis scattered on the floor. "Bug can keep." Despite the cat's request for a 'little piece', she went over and picked up the biggest chunk she can find, about length of an apple, and placed it in front of the dragon cat. "Here. Stone for you." Sakhira was grateful for their help in hatching, also also in teaching her so many interesting things! The least she could do was give them a shard of her stone as a gift. Especially if they requested it. It wasn't like she had any need for it herself.

She smiled, "Thanks!" And if she ever felt like Sakhira didn't fit her anymore, she could always just... change her name? Right? If she could give herself a name that meant she could probably also change it. Yeah. That made sense. Though she probably wouldn't ever plan to. Whatever, she could think about that if it ever came to it.

"Okay." The distance down suddenly seemed infinite. That was a long way down. A long way to fall. Take deep breaths now, deep- Sakhira let out a surprised huff, not expecting to be picked up by what seemed to be nothing. Magic? She tried very hard not to panic, but when you were being lifted into the air by something you couldn't see, it was only natural to feel scared. The trip wasn't incredibly smooth, but it wasn't like she was straight up dropped. And after a bit, she found she even enjoyed it.

And then, she touched ground. Solid ground. A part of her was relieved that she was safe, but she was also a bit disappointed it was over. "Safe!" she called back up at the cat. "Thank you Bug!" Sakhira hopped around for a bit, then noticed that there was a tunnel. Out of this cave. To Orion. But she didn't know that. "This... Monoceros. That also? Monoceros?"

@Bug

Oh. Okay. That was a big chunk of stone. Bug eyed it with some confusion (how am I gonna carry that?) and then carefully set it aside.

Once Sakhira was safely down, she picked it up in her teeth and flew down to join her; there she sat the stone back down, following the sphinx's gaze to the tunnel. "Oh, that? That's a tunnel! The tunnels go between the different caves. And uh, every cave is different!" Wait, she'd just said that-

...Anyway!

"Hey, you're welcome!" she answered brightly. A child with manners! That was nice!

"So, Monoceros--that's here!--is hot, and dry, and windy! And the next cave's um. Orion. That's dim, and cool, and it's full of shiny rocks. There's Pisces and Eridanus past that, which are caves with water, and lots of plants. Stuff like that! So, they're all different," she tried to explain.

She'd never really taken a kid under her wing before. Well--aside from her weird nephew, and she'd barely been more than a kid, then, herself.

"We can go look at one, if you want?" she offered, with a light shrug. Or the kid could go her own way. Bug wasn't the pushy sort.

@Sakhira

There were other caves? Monoceros was huge! She couldn't comprehend how many more caves there could be, not to mention with other environments. The massive scale of this place just blew her mind. So much places to explore! The possibilities were endless! "Wow," she breathed, gazing into the tunnel as she imagined what those other caves could look like. But, what caught her attention most of all, was the mention of Orion. A cave that had shiny rocks? That was the coolest thing she had ever heard of!
"Yes! Can we go? To Orion?" Sakhira's eyes shone in excitement. She wondered how many rocks she could collect! She would find the prettiest ones. And Bug would be accompanying her too. A journey like this one her own would've been very scary. Just walking into a random tunnel with no idea where it led was not something she was brave enough to do. Yet.

@Bug

Bug was distracted, for the moment, trying to figure out how to carry the huge chunk of gemstone that Sakhira had given her. She wasn't small--not really cat-sized--but it was still big, and it meant she wouldn't be able to walk and talk at the same time. Unless I can-...

Bug scrunched up her nose, concentrating. Her mind reached out, magic delicately plucking the stone from the ground where she'd just set it, lifting it and carefully depositing it between two spines just behind her shoulderblades. She wriggled a little, nestling it firmly there.

"Yup, that's not going anywhere," she breathed, some distant instinct telling her that one had to say this or things would fall down later.

Then she blinked at Sakhira. "Huh? Oh, yeah, dude, definitely. Let's go! Right now! I'm right behind you," she added, nodding forward and ready to follow. "That's a figure of speech, it means I've got your back. But, also, I'm walking behind you. Unless you want me to lead, I don't mind..."

She chattered on for a moment, but it was easy and idle, cheerful talk.

Well, it was something to do; and it'd be fun! It wasn't like she'd had other real plans for today, anyway.

@Sakhira

Bug showed so much control over her magic. Picking up a giant chunk like that in what looked like an effortless and controlled fashion was incredibly impressive. Could she do that someday? Sakhira wondered. That would be a true achievement! Though she didn't understand how it worked, or what exactly it could do, she knew she wanted to learn. She had been lucky to meet Bug, who she definitely looked up to now. Would this be too much to ask though? "And-" there was a moment of hesitation, "could you teach me magic?" Sakhira surprised herself a bit. That was quite a long sentence. To her at least. She was getting better at this whole communication and talking thing. It did help that Bug was easy to talk to.

She tried to decipher the dragon cat's words, not quite following the string of thought. Not that it didn't make sense, but there were a lot of long sentences all at once so it would take some processing power to just. Think through all of it. "I am also. Right behind you. But also. In front." Sakhira tilted her head as she said this. Did she interpret that right? Now she was replaying what she said over and over again in her head and wondered if what she was saying made sense at all. And- anyway. She would just start walking now. Sakhira proceeded first into the tunnel, feeling safe since she knew Bug would be behind her. Literally. And also not literally. Both worked.

Exit Sakhira

@Bug

Bug peered sidelong at Sakhira. "Teach you magic-?" This question elicited a few blinks of surprise. She wasn't about to outright tell the new hatch no, but... "I mean, sure! But it's not that strong. My magic, I mean. And everyone has different magic! But I'm happy to try!"

She was going to go on, but Sakhira's other comment gave her pause, again. Right behind--but in front, too? She burst into short, good-natured laughter. "You sure are!" she agreed cheerfully.

As for the magic, well-... they could talk as they walked, probably!

exit Bug
@Sakhira (for visibility)