[Very Backdated, Beginning of August]

As Oliver had said, Lior was plenty warm tucked up in his bird-form's claws. It was much quicker being flown than it would have been if the tiny baby alligator had walked, even if he had gone as quickly as possible, and Lior was stunned that birds could fly so fast! Maybe it was because Oliver was a special bird because of that wishing stone thing he had mentioned?

They weren't sure, and they didn't want to ask too many questions while Oliver was flying. Oliver was just high enough up that Lior really didn't want to fall. But as the sight of a murky marsh came into view, Lior piped up in their squeaky voice, too excited not to speak.

"Are we there?!"

They could hardly believe they were about to meet another alligator!

@Oliver

His flight was eerily silent. Even clutched within his talons, Lior would near nothing of the rush of wings through feathers that another bird might display; the bonus, perhaps, of an owl form. It allowed him to listen, ear-tufts pitched high, enormous eyes wide as he scanned this way and that.

His travel through the tunnels had been swift enough--high and careful, with Lior held up against warm feathers as best Oliver could manage. But now, in Cetus, he slowed. "I need to find him, now. This is Cetus. It's big." Soft clicks of his beak punctuated speech--words were still unfamiliar to him, in this form. But at least the ache of the transformation had mostly faded.

Wings beat again, lifting him a little higher, and he dipped in and out to weave among the trunks of the dark, enormous trees. Fog flitted past in waves. And at last he banked, magic finally, weakly speaking to him. He could sense... everything, really; the stir of air, the humidity the plants felt, the coolness. The tread of a small animal on earth. It almost made his flying dangerous, to focus on such an intense sensation while also flying, and he resolved not to do this again without practice. But for now, he did sense something large, heavy--about Dragon's size--displacing water in a slow path along the reeds at the Heart.

"Dragon?" he called down, and there--the ripples were in sight, the log-like shape drifting languidly along. "Don't eat me." Then he was landing, a little ahead and along the shore--hovering, gently dropping Lior into the muck, and slapping down beside him with folding wings. "It's me, Oliver. -Eve's son. This is Lior! They wanted to meet you."

(i'll probs dip Oliver out after a couple posts but lemme just slap dragon in here-)

...All right, that was odd.

The shape off ahead--the one claiming to be Oliver--was most certainly not Oliver. Dragon knew Oliver. Oliver was twice the size, at least, of this bird. He had a long, pointed face. He was black. He had ears, or at least huge ear-tufts. He wasn't... an owl.

Can changes in the gemstone be this severe..? he thought, alarmed.

At the moment, he mostly resembled a distant, floating log, but as Oliver landed he turned, the extremely slow sweeps of his tail becoming powerful side-to-side thrusts. He rose a little higher in the water as a result, arrowing toward them and leaving a soft ripple of a wake. Lior, he thought to himself, too, committing this to memory.

His jaw hit the wet mud of the shore at some speed, by necessity--he had to come in fast enough to get onto land or the ground would just give way beneath his bulk, toppling into the Heart with every attempt to climb out. So he slid up and onto land, webbed forefeet gripping down--and then lifted himself with a grunt, hauling himself over at a slow high-walk. As he drew closer he dropped back down again, dragging his bulk, and here it became clear that his right hind leg was twisted, withered and scarred, half-limp behind him. Scars, too, criss-crossed his snout, head and back in fine, pale lines, and a thick, bark-like armor had joined the heavy scutes that naturally covered his body. And for his size--he was a very large bull gator, given an easy diet, and a long and relatively easy life. Nothing had prevented him from growing, and growing. He was, in a word, fat. "Oliver?" was the first word from his mouth--a deep, rumbling voice, one that held confusion in it. "You do not look the same. You sound the same," he acknowledged, eyeing him over.

Then he turned his attention to Lior--and blinked dark eyes, feeling himself immediately warm. He lowered himself down, head nearly resting in the muck, and fell still. An alligator! Someone like him--that was rare, indeed! -Perhaps of his line? Or was it a fresh spawn, unrelated to his people entirely? "Ahh... hello, little one," he breathed, pleased. (His breath smelled like fish.) "I am Dragon. I welcome you to Cetus--home of Aquarian, and the Children of Rot. It is a pleasure to meet you."

He sounded as though he very much meant it.

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@Lior

Lior's anticipation was overwhelming as they waited for a response.

Their thirst for knowledge had led them to this moment, where they would finally meet another alligator. And so they did, as Dragon climbed onto land.

All they could do at first was stare at the very large creature that was apparently an alligator too, missing the words Dragon said to Oliver. He did have the same general shape as them, but Lior was absolutely tiny in comparision.

"You're so big! Will I get that big?" The tiny alligator finally blurted out, then belatedly remembered their manners, somewhat. "I am Lior!" They repeated, despite already being introduced. "You look so much like me! Sort of. Like, me if I was very very very big!"

"...Who is Aquarian?" The little alligator looked around, as if there was another gembound nearby that they were missing.

@Oliver

Oliver ruffled his feathers, hopping back and out of the way. He'd need to go back, he knew, and get his basket of seeds and so on--but for now, he'd stay and make sure Lior was settled in.

"I can change shape," he answered matter-of-factly, eager to help Dragon understand. (That was what he wanted, right? To know?) "It was a gift from the Wishing Stone! I'm using it to help, where I can. ...But it hurts," he added--a mild, cringing addendum.

"Anyway--Lior, will you be okay here? I'd like to go back and get my seeds and things. Dragon can take care of you. But if you want me to wait so I can fly you back later I can!" and this, too, was hastily tacked on.

Dragon listened, that fatherly warmth that he always felt in the presence of the very young taking him over. He lay content, tipping his head a little so he could better see the hatchling.

"Yes! Probably," he assured them. "I am old, but I grew this large in... a few cycles." A year? Perhaps two? He wasn't sure, exactly. "Aquarian is even larger! He is not an alligator, but he is our father, and he lives in the water, here." Dragon shuffled in the mud, nodding off toward the black depths of the Heart. "He sleeps deep down, and we gather him food and feed him. And in return, he answers questions for us." He'd used to insist that Aquarian protected them, but that hadn't worked out too well when Order had come.

"His head is larger than my whole body!" Dragon's tone was the gently enthusiastic one he used to tell stories to his own children. And now he sat back a little, resting comfortably in the mud. "Did you want to meet me because I am also an alligator-?" he asked. "You know, for a very long time, I thought I was a dragon. That is why I am named Dragon!" and he laughed, good-naturedly.

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@Lior

Lior flinched at the reminder of Oliver's pain from his transformation. They may have seen nothing, but they had heard it all, and it had been horrific. Lior had genuinely thought him to be dying for a moment before being reassured.

But they were quickly distracted from that by Dragon's words. So many details were being revealed, and Lior had so many questions!

When Oliver spoke up again, Lior was quick to reply. "'Course you can go if you need to! Thank you, Oliver!"

"Is Aquarian my father too? I didn't think I had any dads," The curious little alligator asked. "Having someone to answer your questions is awesome! I like knowing things. Do you also like knowing things?"

Lior looked awed by the idea of the size of Aquarian. They had thought Dragon was big, and the idea that he could be small compared to an even larger being was both startling and amazing. "Wow!!! That's really really big!"

"Yes! I was wondering if there were any other alligators around!" Lior enthusiastically agreed.

Lior looked confused at the idea of another animal existing that was called a dragon when there was an alligator named Dragon.

"What's a dragon? Other than you, I mean. I know horses are the creatures with hooves, and hyenas have manes. And us alligators have lots of teeth!" Lior was eager to share their learned knowledge, limited and somewhat incorrect as it may have been.

@Dragon

Oliver dipped his head. He reached over with one soft, silent wing, aiming the lightest friendly brush of feathers across Lior's head like a pat of farewell.

"Okay. I hope everything goes well. Dragon--if you ever need me I go between Eridanus and Polaris and Canis a lot. I'll try to visit more often," he assured, with a glance around. And with that he turned--a few squelching steps of talons in mud and he took flight, lifting off soundlessly and gliding away with noiseless beats of those broad, black wings.

exit Oliver

Dragon laughed good-naturedly at the barrage of questions from Lior. The child was bright--and he admired that. His answers were gently enthusiastic, as before, and patient. "I do not know! Some of us spawn from rocks; mine was in his waters, and I hatched when he surfaced. I did not know who I was, or who he was, or who it was that he was fighting--and so I fought him! Which was very foolish. But he did not kill me." (Very nice, when one thought about it.) "But you may have come from a stone in a wall; or you may have parents. There are others of my line--I have many children--so perhaps you are a long-lost grandchild! I have no way of knowing," and he seemed content either way.

"It is really big," was his amiable response to that, and if he could have grinned, he would have. His grin was permanent, though, so it was still there.

"I have seen one or two something like myself! My children look like me, at times." Imp, Brandle and Hunger looked quite like him in one way or another; Merrow held a passing resemblance, at least. "And as for dragons..." Mischief sparked in Dragon's eyes. Abruptly, swirling magic--blood red and onyx black--began to swirl from snout to tail. It took ethereal shape--twisting horns back along his head and jaws, flaring draconic wings up from his back which rose and towered above him.

He rose from the mud briefly, the gentle whumph of the magic wings leaving a trail of reddish color lingering in the air. "A dragon is this! -Sometimes, with longer necks," he admitted. It should be noted here that Dragon did not hover in an elegant, draconic way. He was enormous, heavy, his belly and tail the vast bulk of his weight, and so he hung perfectly vertically as if someone had put him over a clothes hanger to dry. "A dragon has come to Cetus before, to do battle against our enemies alongside us. I flew by his side, and we breathed flame together. I was better at it," he added, with a playful wink, as he settled back into the mud.

It seemed he liked showing off--or maybe he'd enjoy getting an enthusiastic reaction from Lior. Either way, the wings beat once more and faded, and Dragon grinned. "Now! You asked if I like knowing things. I did not ignore this question! Knowing things is the most important thing that you can do," Dragon assured Lior, leaning forward to emphasize the significance of this statement. "If you know your enemy, or your prey, you hold a great advantage in a fight! If you know your abilities, and your magic, you will succeed far more than you will fail! If you know where you are going, and what you will run into--that is better than encountering things blindly, without preparation, yes? Knowledge is the greatest treasure in these caves!"

It was, of course, only the first of many questionable "lessons"--plenty that he would offer this warmly welcomed new guest.

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@Lior

exiting due to inactivity