She uh. needed a minute after that last time.

She had run home as fast as she could when she woke up. the memory she saw shook her to her core, and it took ages and probably too many cups of tea to calm her down.

She pushed it away. violently. with every shred of reminder she would force it away and got mad at its persistence. but she had WORK to do. she's so close, she can feel it.

Maybe she'd be able to do this in a safer way if she found someone else to teach her?? someone better at magic than her, who already knows how to do these things.

well. one of the best ways to get anyones attention is screaming, right? so..

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

someone would hear her, and MAYBE, if she's lucky, they know magic!! flawless plan.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

He was halfway through a cave deer when he heard the screams. And at first, he was certain that someone was being slaughtered, such was the sheer volume and the deafeningly screeching pitch. But--no. Vargas, as Overseer, had heard real terror, had heard agony and this was-... not that.

Whatever it was? It was not that.

He grunted, wincing irritably at the sound, glancing over toward is that a rainbow? His thoughts stuttered for a moment at the sight, and he shook his head; he hooked the small deer up over one arm and, on three limbs, began a crabbing stride toward Bebby.

"WHY," he bellowed as he approached, half to get her attention and half to drown out that wretched squeal, "do you make that sound?" It was not exactly a demand, or an order to stop, and it wasn't exactly curiosity.

It was more... exasperation, really.

@Bebby

The moment she heard someone call out to her, she stopped. she looked up at vargas as he approached, smiling will ALL of her teeth, light glinting off her pearly whites.

"HI!! I'M BEBBY!" she greeted, still loud. "I was trying to get someones attention!! and it worked, cause you're here!!"

she looked at him, head moving up and down. "You're purple!! Purple's a smart color. do you know magic??? i'm looking for someone who knows magic!!" she asked, wiggling in place and wings fluttering.

Her eyes were something else. they seemed locked onto him in the same way someone would lock onto prey, but there didn't seem to be an ounce of tension in her shoulders. just. incredibly intense focus on the person in front of her.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas stared down, wincing a little at the sheer volume of the creature. As was his wont, he took quick stock of her through an Overseer's eyes. Feline--good. Winged--but insectoid, fragile. Too fragile. Colors not intended for camouflage--toxic? he wondered.

Assessment mostly complete, he tore a limb from the carcass, lobbing it down to land in bloody splatters in the grass, in offering. "Lower your volume," he instructed. Another might have wondered at the comment on his coloration, but Vargas grunted his agreement. "Purple is a smart color," he agreed, though he wondered if she knew why. He hadn't the time to explain it now, in any case. "I am Master Vargas." This statement--granted with booming power and authority--was followed by a pause as he allowed this to sink in. He wondered if Bebby even knew what a Master was, but he'd soon find out, he assumed.

"I 'know magic.'" What sort of question was that-? Everyone knew magic. Was this some kind of trick? He wondered, pondering, if Bebby was some creation of Nemean. If it were, and it were new, did that mean that the fairy had escaped her boiling prison? Or perhaps it was an older creation, left to fend for itself, and that was why it was wandering here--likely loud, and aimless, as befit a lost Nemean spawn?

It hardly mattered, he supposed. Not now, anyway. "It is not my... focus. But why are you seeking someone who knows magic-?" Curiosity laced his words, now, and his gleaming toxic gaze. It was a strangely conversational question from the towering, shark-toothed beast, but Vargas was hardly a mindless monster.

He very much had a mind, thank you very much.

@Bebby

She slapped her paws over her mouth, nodding. "oops. sorry."

She tilted her head. "thats a cool name. what're you the master of?? is it magic??? You and Nemean both had Master in your names, that must be cool." she said in quick succession, seeming wildly disinterested with recieving an actual answer to any of her questions before carrying on.

"I'm tryna get better at magic, but i keep either passing out or seeing bad visions. i was HOPING to find someone who was better at it than me who could teach me!!" she explained, voice still QUITE high pitched, but that seemed to be her natural tone, and atleast it wasn't as LOUD. "nobody i know uses it as much as i do, and even if they did only one of them has MY kind of magic. its all bright n stuff."

she kinda flexed her claws into the dirt, kind of a distracted stim-like motion, as she spoke.she seemed to find it mildly amusing to watch them sink in and out.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

"No, it is--Nemean is also--SILENCE," he barked, at last, but she seemed to already be finished. He took a breath. "If you ask questions," he growled, looming a little closer, "it is best to await an answer." He gestured toward the deer leg he'd thrown down in offering. "Do you not eat meat?" Did cats not all eat meat-?

He paused, studying her for a moment longer. ...Quartz, he settled on, at last, staring as if through her, straight to her heart. And...

Ahh.

"I am a Master in the same sense that Nemean is. We run this nest for its intended purpose," he explained, in a tone that was short, barking and full of authority. Yet no real part of his speech, despite his instructions, was cruel or overbearing... and he was answering, at least. "Nemean is currently being punished for certain transgressions. Your element," he went on, "is Light. That is something that we share. You should not be 'having visions' with this magic--unless you have delved into another element, or are accidentally creating visions by bending light itself." His explanation was matter-of-fact, and he slowly lowered himself to his haunches.

"I will spare some time for you. What is it, exactly, that you need to learn?" He hoped that she'd know enough, at least, to be able to gauge her own abilities and what she needed--but then, the Gembounds... tended to lag rather far behind in that regard.

Some of them, at least.

There was patience in the questions, in any case, and as he settled in--resting on his haunches--he lifted the rest of the deer and tore into it with his teeth, as though he were eating fast food chicken from a bucket rather than the raw entrails of a prey-beast.

@Bebby

She peeps a bit when he yells, but still smiles back. "okay!"

she looks down at the deer leg, freezing for a second, expression slightly empty. she popped her head back up in delighted surprise. "i do!! i didn't realize this was for me, sorry! hold on-" she said, and rolling onto her back, a loud CRACK as she did so.

she stood back up and from where she lay was a small pile of broken rocks. she picked 2 up, one purple and one blue. she shoved the blue one into her mouth as she took a bite of the deer leg, horrible crunching mixed with fleshy smacking sounds, and held the purple rock up to vargas. "rock candy?" she offered back. it was only nice, right?

past that, she listened intently, focused, seemingly learning quickly. she tilted her head with a small frown at the news nemean was being punished. she thought so, but the news did visibly bum her out, letting out a sad little "aww... and i was such a good steed for the few hours before that." she muttered to herself. she had a cool new friend that was just like her and then she was gone!! oh well, she guesses.

she perked back up. "I want to learn how to have better control over the magic i have! i can do some light stuff, like make rainbow lazers or create a cool big spotlight, or even make shadows or fun dancing lights! but i can also do some stuff with plants, and-" she paused. how could she describe it? "I touched something in one of the tunnels and i saw a memory, i think? i think i saw someone get killed. yuck."

she shook her head. "But i mostly do light stuff. it just keeps running away from me! one moment i'll be on a roll and the next it won't work at all. i wanna learn how to make sure it works like. more than it doesn't." she explains, before taking another excited bite of her deer leg, blood messily running down her chin.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

He shrugged off the apology--it was for her, after all, the meat. He had enough to share. And when offered the strange purple rock ('candy?' a structure from her body-? She eats herself..?) he took it with morbid fascination, lifting and turning it to catch the light.

He then settled back to his haunches, not eating it just yet. ...Good steed? She was one of Nemean's, then, and--ahh. Intended to be her mount. The bug wings made sense, then. ...Bebby kept talking, and he waited, his attention sharpening further as he took inventory of her listed magic. And as he did so he glanced at the rock candy, giving it a brief taste. ...Grape? he recognized, utterly baffled. He shook his head, and crunched some of it down, wondering if this were not some kind of strange trick.

Never mind it, now.

"My advice to you," he began, "is to be start with mastering your own element as best you can. Have you been trained, already, in using light? By Nemean perhaps?" It had been her sphere, as Master--still was, he supposed. It made sense that her 'steed' had been made in her image, so to speak, in all respects. "If you have not, I can do so now. It is important to understand the theory of light, in order best to wield it as your weapon."

His tone was solemn, only slightly undermined by the gradual crunch of grape rock candy between rows of sharp teeth.

@Bebby

She seemed delighted when he took the candy from her claws, and would occasionally follow bites of deer with another crunch of candy. if any of the candy were poisoned she was either completely immune to her own toxins or it was just candy. it sure as hell wouldn't taste like anything else, pure synthetic grape overpowering the senses, and vargas might be able to practically feel the sugar coating his teeth, like one might be able to feel the fuzzy type feeling in their mouth after eating a rich cake.

She listened to his words, nodding along until he asked about previous training. "Nope! i was only her steed for a few hours before the big crab and tree lady dragged her off, and i don't think she wanted to train me, though she did also seem to like the candy. i've been practicing by myself, kinda just a MAGIC COME FORTH type of thing. sometimes it did what i wanted." she explained, shrugging.

she smiled. "That sounds good! one of my friends is aaalways talking about the theory of stuff. not magic but like, i assume its important if its brought up alot. where do we start, mr master vargas?!" she asked, excitedly, hopping into gentle flight, sugar flakes falling off her wings as they moved.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Ahh, so she'd been there, even, when Nemean had been dragged off--by Artio and Farina. And they spared this one? Surprising, all things considered. He'd have expected them to kill--even torture--Bebby first; to destroy one of Nemean's creations before her eyes. She hated losing servants--not necessarily for sentimental reasons. It was just her 'stuff,' Vargas assumed.

Back on topic--"Light is a force like any other. We think of the world around us as being lit--chromatic, in colors and in bright light, or even moonlight if you are generally a night-creature. We do not think of the world's natural state as being pitch black, impossible to see. Yet the light is not part of that world. It's a force," he repeated, "like sound, or heat. It travels impossibly fast to the eye, but it does travel. It is blocked by objects, and the shadows behind those objects are where that light can't reach."

He paused, trying to let this sink in. (He still didn't understand the physics behind it, no matter how much it'd been explained to him--not completely.) "When you manipulate light magic, you are affecting the flow of that invisible force--or rather, very visible force you never really think about! You are stopping it in its tracks, moving it in directions you wish to move it, intensifying it or blocking it entirely. Do you know when you see light rays through the trees, or leaves above-? Try and imagine that all light travels that way--in straight lines."

He paused, concentrating for a moment on his own magicka, setting down the remains of the deer.

It didn't come--of course it didn't; frustration briefly washed through him, weak and distant. He was used to it, by now. "Give it a try," he said, not telling Bebby what had happened--there was no point in it. "It will not always work--magic is a fickle power. I find it better to rely on my own body, my own strength--but you may find it easier to work with, knowing what I've told you. Try to bend or stop the light from hitting you, if you can, or intensify it in a certain spot."

@Bebby