Time had passed again, but this time Adenium was awake to notice it. It was present in the way the air cooled and quickened, awakening as she had. It was alright, but she wished she had kept her cloak. She had not been taught the art of making clothes, and her attempts at it had been ill-fated and quickly abandoned. Having absorbed as much warmth as possible from the light in Pegasus, the tunnel of caves drew them away, and they were regretting it now.

Still, it brought them comfort, being surrounded by trees. Their brethren? A stretch, but they still felt kinship. Maybe it was just fondness. They kept close to the trees, deciding on whether to turn back or continue. Behind was warmth and beyond... Well, they didn't quite know, but if it was also warmth, Adenium would take it.

@V-Labradorite-One

It wasn't used to traveling via land- the underwater tunnels of the caves were faster, safer, and generally overall preferred. It wasn't sure why it had opted to go through Tunnel F instead. Curiosity? Boredom?

It didn't know where it was going, either, except that it had to go somewhere.

The tunnel widened up to make room for The Labradorite as it made its way forward- the trees suddenly shrinking away from the path perhaps being the first thing to notify Adenium of its presence. Not that Labradorite was being very stealthy, at the moment. It was a pitch-black lumbering mass of spikes and dripping ooze, accented with a dozen glowing red lights. It was as eye-catching as a boogeyman.

It was quick to note the lone bipedal figure in this tunnel- and their similarities to others it knew. It was startlingly similar to its Selenite sibling- given a sleeker and more pink-hued form. It would stare with a silent, ominous intrigue, looming where it stood. Then it realized, with a dull sort of horror, that this was probably the beginning of a social interaction. At the very least, it should say something first before the other does. It is always ideal to strike first.

"What is your designation." ...This wasn't one of the forge. They may not know what that means. "..or name." It added, belatedly.

@Adenium

As they stuck to the trees, it occurred to them that they couldn’t identify them, at least not with a passing glance. They paused, examining the plant properly, outstretching an arm to hold one of its branches gently, squinting as they did. They were given a few moments of quiet interest, before the tree shrank away. The suddenness left Adenium with a small handful of leaves. Though it was hardly enough to noticeably effect the tree, they still felt a little bad.

Why had it done that? The dryad moved to look around, but it took only one turn of her head to catch notice of the creature, a living, dripping void. Panic did not overtake her; all she could manage was a quiet ”Oh.” She stayed her ground, six cotton-candy eyes staring back at six red ones. It addressed her, still a ways away. She blinked at the word ’designation’, met it with a slight tilt of the head.

”Adenium.” Of the Elenya clan? She wondered if it was fair to call herself such, with her family scattered to the wind. There was hardly an a Elenya clan left. ”What’s your designation?”

@V-Labradorite-One

That whom it was talking to seemed caught offguard, only making a quiet noise in response, at first. It would watch, quietly dripping oil amongst the trees. Crimson eyes regarded Adenium with a strange sort of interest. What did it want with them? Labradorite itself wasn't sure what it wanted.

"Adenium." It echoed, "I am V-Labradorite-One, of the Chaos Forge." It wondered if it should explain what the chaos forge WAS, or if by chance Adenium already knew. It hoped for the latter- it wasn't exactly sure HOW to describe the Chaos Forge. Where monsters were created and strengthened in order to serve the masters and Dhracia? Chaos's lair within this broken, dysfunctional nest? Home?

It would take a couple steps forward, lowering it's head a bit in a display of a non-threat. This gave it a better chance to look at Adenium. In the low light of the glowing waystones and their own eyes, it caught a glint of light off a cluster of delicate white stone. It SWORE it had seen that kind of gemstone before.

It would gesture with a slimy claw at the bloom tucked into one of Adenium's ears. "..Are you a Selenite?"

@Adenium

Adenium watched the stranger with silent curiosity (Well, silent for now) as its oil pattered on foliage below, constant and erratic. It wondered how welcome it was indoors, and how hard it’d be to get the liquid out of clothes or carpet. The dryad chewed on its title, wondering if its parent had named it, or it had chosen the name for itself. Someone involved had peculiar taste, that’s for sure.

The Chaos Forge- that one stirred old memories. It was the deathmatch were it heard of them first, hadn’t it? But as it tugged at the string, all it got was fog in return; It still couldn’t remember the details. So, it’d pretend as if they’d never heard of the group at all. ”The Chaos Forge?”

Labradorite came closer, and both got a better look at the other. Adenium took note of its gills, the flippers pressed against its chest- They imagined it was better suited to the water.

It asked about their gemstone, which was unexpected. ”Yeah, I guess. What about it?”

@V-Labradorite-One

The beast's gaze remained steadfast on Adenium- partially because of it's curiosity about their design, and partially because that was the one rule of polite conversation The Labradorite was aware of. It stayed silent for the most part- so for a couple awkward moments Adenium's question about the forge hung in the air.

It's snout scrunched slightly- perhaps in thought- as it spoke. "The chaos forge is a group led by Master Vargas." It began, simply enough. "We serve this nest and ensure it is productive. Sometimes Master Vargas will create a.. monster, that will be trained and sent somewhere else." It had seen a few of those- trained a couple of them- although it had never stuck around when Dhracia came to collect them. "The rest of us- we protect, and train, and ensure The Forge has what it needs to thrive."

It sat quiet for a moment, once again quietly regarding Adenium. "I have a sibling who is a selenite." It explained thoughtfully. "And they also stood on two legs." It wondered why it was so interested in this. What was family if they weren't in The Forge? What was family if they were strangers? Why did it see this gembound who bore the stone and shape of their sibling and thought it meant something?

@Adenium

She tried to grab a solid hold of the déjà vu each name brought, but to no avail. It was strange to feel like it had been yesterday, but to remember it for how long it had been since. It was as if she was still waking up. "You don't look like a monster." She blurted. Well, it kind of did. "I mean- you don't seem like one." The label seemed harsh to her- but then Labradorite finished its sentence, and Adenium kicked herself for saying anything at all.

"Oh. Do you know where those ones are sent?" Originally an attempt to divert attention from her blunder, but as the query hung in the air, she found herself interested in the answer. For what purpose are monsters created?

It described the selenite it knew. Bipedals seemed uncommon, aside from their own relatives. Wait, perhaps? "My dad is Attikias, he's who I got my stone from, and he stood on two feet as well. My other dad is a tree!" They offered what they knew of their direct heritage, hoping it'd help them join the dots. "His name is Titanite, same as his stone."

@V-Labradorite-One

Adenium's statement made it freeze. It had never considered Monster to be an insult- well, maybe to others, but not to It. Not to The Chaos Forge. It had always wanted to be a monster- the ideal of ruthless efficiency, unparalleled violence. That was never something it was able to achieve, though.

It wasn't a monster.

"I am a spawn, not a creation. My design is less.. perfected." It said, as if an explanation. An excuse, rather.

Adenium's question wasn't something it thought about much- out of sight out of mind was a motto it lived well enough by. A deep rumble in it's throat preceeded a response. "They go Elsewhere. Away from The Nest. These Caves." It said simply. It did not know what was Elsewhere, and it tried not to think about it. Not like it would ever go there. And it didn't want to, it would be leaving behind it's siblings and everyone else. "It is not very important where they go."

That name caught it's attention- familiar, however vaguely. One of those bipedal creature- an elf?- speaking with Vargas, even bringing in a fresh creation. It was certain as it was permitted to be."Attikias is allied with the forge. I.. wouldn't be surprised if you're related to my Selenite, through him." The second part of The Adenium's statement, however, confused it. This creature being part tree made sense, in retrospect. The name 'Titanite' also struck it with curiosity, with how much it resembled a lesser forger member's title. "I do not know any gembound designated Titanite, however." Nor was it entirely familiar with the gemstone itself.

@Adenium

Adenium winced at Lab's pause. Well, winced as much as they physically could, which was little more than a tug at corner of their lip (thankfully). It clarified, but it seem every attempt at an explanation drew more questions into their head- What would be a "perfected" design? Perfected for what? (V-Labradorite-One already seem pretty efficient in their opinion.)

It was fortunate for the other gembound then, that focusing on more than one question at once was kind of hard. she still tried, but the conversation was shifting elsewhere and they wouldn't fight it. "That... kind of does sound important. For them, at least.

On the topic of family though - she didn't know how to feel about her father and the Chaos Forge. Not to draw judgements or anything, but the motivations of the group seemed... Questionable? All this talk about monsters and perfection didn't bring the kindest of intents to mind. He probably had his reasons, and it wasn't like Adenium could ask him right now.

It took Labradorite's last statement as an invitation. "Well, he's about..." It thought for a second, before raising an arm ceiling-ward. "About this tall, when he feels like it. He looks... Actually, he looks like you a little bit. Six eyes, kind of pointy face, he glows like you do too. But with bark all over him instead of oil." And minus the flippers, and the gills, and the second torso.

@V-Labradorite-One

It thoughtfully regarded Adenium's viewpoint. 'Thoughtfully' but ultimately dismissive. They were from outside the forge, so it supposed it could see where the naivety came from. Naivety and curiosity for things that are above their station. "It is not worth knowing." It replied, almost in a placating manner. "They are gone, and they will never come back."

As Adenium began to describe 'Titanite,' it tried to think of the gembound it had seen before. Six eyes, pointy, glowing bits.. "I know many valkhounds have similar features. It is.. a design choice favorite by masters." It did not know why. The glowing bits made stealth a bit hard- but it supposed if you're wreathed in chaotic fire and lightning, stealth is already out of the question. "Valkhounds have chaotic magic-" and because Adenium had already been asking a lot of questions, it preemptively answered "Powerful, dangerous magic that dissolves reason. You do not seem to be like that." Another hum rumbled loosely from it's throat. There were others, though, that looked like a valkhound without the magic to match. It's entire line- Vargas and Orthoclase-Alpha were not corrupted, but Vargas especially had the eyes and glowing bits and pointy face.

Actually, the similarities between The Adenium and itself some gembound it knew was rather.. interesting.

It wondered if they could possibly be related.

@Adenium