It would've been hard to miss. A massive Oilstone chrysalis, tucked in the shade under the hill. By now a showering of flower petals, brought on the winds, had settled on and around it, a serene blanket for the Valkhound contained inside.

Karst did not dream, not yet. But she stirred, the voidlight shining in through the thinning chrysalis walls. Strong legs ached from being curled up, and a sturdy neck craved to stretch long. Too small... need more room, their not-quite-awake brain manages.

The Valkhound shifts, and finds something catches on the walls of its current enclosure. Growing increasingly frustrated, she makes her gambit, headbutting the walls with a loud CRACK! It's enough for the chrysalis to crack, fluid starting to pour out. Another push, this time with her legs in it, and Karst finds herself out, tumbling onto the grass and taking a deep breath of fresh air.

She lays there for a while, catching her breath, sprawled out. Not that they particularly have anywhere to go. And the air on her face, room to stretch... this is nice.

A giant oilstone is hard to miss, but Plover did initially anyway.

Xe was simply too busy being elbows-deep in the river down below the knoll; at first to catch fish, then to distractedly splash mindlessly in the water once xe had scarfed down an arbitrarily sufficient quantity of them and more accidentally scared the rest of them away.

(Not unlike how xe had been scared away from the Palace by those absolutely fucking horrible birds with more teeth than xe had. Not worth it, not yet, but Plover hoped that one day xe could sneak a proper taste of one in one go... Wait, distracted—)

Even though Plover's fists are buried three inches deep in the mud and pebbles, the stream's still too quiet to drown out the sound of a great CRACK! resounding from uphill, and Plover isn't going to be one to ever ignore the perkings-up of xir own ears. Where there is noise, there might be food; and Plover finishes that thought by traipsing off in the direction of such a noise, with no follow-up thought to properly wash the mud off xir mitts.

Which brings xem to the newly-hatched Valkhound, which xe initially mistakes for a long, not-so-wriggly snake before xe catches sight of the rest of her as xe grows closer— not that xe really knows to be fearful of snakes or strangers, but—

Canting xir melon from one side to the other, Plover lifts a curious, muddy hand to xir chin. She has a vague semblance of hooves like the creatures in the next grassy cave over, but... Oh, that hide is so craggy. It'd be terribly hard to chew through even with xir teeth, and she's just big and perhaps actually someone thinking-and-talking, because Plover doesn't think xe has actually seen where the food supply comes from. Not from a rock-shell like that. Only little shell.

Leaving a brown stain on xir face, the oversized child-beast squats down next to her resting form and nudges her shoulder with an open palm that leaves a clump of mud and a stick on her too.

Having not yet discovered an inside voice, Plover drones: "HEY. ARE YOU FOOD?"

@Karst

For a while, Karst is oblivious too, turned the other way. And when Plover comes into view, she still doesn't quite connect that xe are something important - or at least something that she should pay attention too. Their green eyes do glance over xem occasionally, but its with just as much focus as the rest of the grass and trees get.

Then xe speak. A rough nudge on her shoulder, too, to rouse the Valkhound from her reverie. They blink away some of the drowsiness from just waking up, planting one foot down. Her voice is quieter than xirs, uneasy, as she answers, "I-I don't... think so?"

She takes the moment to get her feet underneath herself, going from awkward sprawl to sitting on her heels. And Karst actually pays some heed to studying the talkative thing that has waltzed on up to her. Green... Very green. She's not quite sure if xe has eyes? It looks like xe should... "What? What are you, then?"

@Plover

"OH." Plover grins at the answer, trying to be reassuring and probably failing with all of those pointy teeth. "OKAY! I DIDN'T THINK SO." Doesn't hurt to check, right? Now xe won't have to break xir teeth checking beyond that rocky hide, which means...

The green-thing rocks back onto xir haunches, then flops forward onto xir stomach to relax in the not-sun with xir new friend. She just looks so comfortable, even sitting up. ... ish? Maybe she's sitting up now? Rock-worms with legs are weird—

"What are you, then?" Propping xir chin up on muddy, slippery palms with the radar dishes stapled to the top of xir head perked straight upright, Plover chirps, "GOOD QUESTION!"

Then, xe slouches into a dismayed frown, grumbling. "MY NAME IS PLOVER, AND I'M... HUNGRY." Always. Always so hungry ...

Ears prick again. THERE'S A BUT.. ! "BUT, YOU PICKED A GOOD SPOT TO, UMM... UH, BE BORN! NICE SHADE TREE ... SMELLS NICE ..." Xe sniffs, then rolls onto xir back and luxuriates in the feeling of the soft grass underneath. "FEELS NICE ..."

@Karst

Karst just blinks at Plover's grin, a bit too young to be bothered by too many sharp teeth. And they watch xem plop xemself down in the grass, getting comfortable right next to her. What does she call this? Is the green thing now a... friend? The word is supplied by her brain from somewhere, and it would take a moment for the Valkhound to puzzle out what that is.

And then the green-thing - no, Plover - declares xemself with gusto. "Plover. Hungry," she parrots, and in doing so commits it to memory. "I'm. Hmm." The valkhound isn't quite sure what she is - at least until something else wriggles around in her head. "Karst. I'm Karst."

Plover has made xemself comfortable, rolling in the grass. Karst finds herself chuckling, as she agrees with xir words. "Yeah. It is pretty nice. I don't know how I did it."

@Plover

The rock-thing repeats after xem, and Plover nods proudly. "YEP," xe chirps, popping the 'p'.

Then, xe gets a name for xir new friend that grants extra validity to the idea that she's a friend, not food: "KARST!" Plover parrots in turn, grinning up at Cepheus's ceiling and stretching a great, big stretch to get even cozier, despite xir own reminder of xem being hungry again.

"YOU MIGHT JUST HAVE A KNACK FOR IT," xe chuffs, tail wagging hard against the grass.

A single moment of comfortable relaxation passes before Plover rolls back onto xir stomach, staring at Karst with beady eyes wide enough with pleading want to show their whites. "DO YOU THINK YOU'RE THAT GOOD AT FINDING A SNACK, TOO?"

Being born or whatever is hard, hungry work isn't it? It had been for xem! BETTER CHECK AND SEE: "... ARE YOU HUNGRY?"

@Karst