SHARP

Hidden among the gorges of the howling room laid a gem. A small one, painted a deep peach, though the eternal wind hid it's true colors under a layer of dirt. For unknown eons it laid undisturbed, oblivious to the world around it-- that is, until it was imbued with magic. Whether it was a natural occurrence or the result of some magicka practitioner's misfire lays unknown; either way, the now-living crystal latched onto the surrounding rock, tripling in size and forming a tiny body within.


But of course, Sharp didn't know any of this.


To her, all she felt was nothingness. As she grew within the confines of her crystalline womb, all she was aware of was the comforting darkness and her own tiny heartbeat. But with each passing day the neonate became a little more conscious of the warm container she lived in, until the moment came that she opened her eyes and thought I have to get out of here.


Her senses were very weak, but she could still feel the claustrophobic press of the stone walls against her and the vague notion that there might be something beyond them. She needed to get out of here somehow before it crushed her alive, but how? Her little, newborn brain pondered on this for a good few minutes before it came up with the only thing it could-- push.


And so she did. The lizard scooted around in the little space she had until all four of her tiny legs were up against the stone. And then, gathering all of her strength, she kicked violently, straining to look for that tell-tale crack in the walls to prove she made it.


A tiny sliver of light cracked open. It was barely visible, but it was most certainly there, and she felt her heart nearly leap up her throat. She was doing it! With a renewed vigour she slammed her feet down, watching the crack grow bigger and bigger until the stone shards floating past forced her to shut her eyes. And then with one last push--


Smash!


The glittering chrysalis shattered. Amniotic fluid and a tiny, reptilian body plopped down onto the sandy floor. For a brief moment she was still, shivering from the sudden cold wind, before she instinctively reared up, face towards the sky and opened her eyes--


And saw nothing but cold rock, far above her.


She blinked. For one she was awestruck by the sheer ability to see, and move, and feel, but also oddly disappointed. She couldn't exactly put it down, but for that moment before she opened her eyes she swore she was expecting something there. Something warm, and light, up there in the sky...


Oh, well. Within a few moments the thought was out of her head and the gemling began investigating her surroundings. So there was that funny sky, and around her was lots of the same gray rock, and down at her feet were stringy, wavy green stuff and funny bright shards. In fact, more of those shards made up a colorful, broken shell right next to her-- where I came from-- that now seemed incredibly small compared to the world around her. Her gaze moved down to herself. Lizards don't exactly have a spectacular range of neck motion, but from what she could see she was a dull beige with little, pointy diamonds all over. Another shiny shard was on the end of her tail, but this one was much larger and seemingly attached to her.


As soon as she got herself acquaintanced with the strange world she was now in she scampered her way out of the ditch and into the great unknown, shrieking a bit as the brunt of the wind hit her tiny body. Looks like that was something she's going to get used to.

thinking | "speaking"

If Serendipity wasn't waking up because of the nightmares it was because of something else entirely; a dragon, Laurel, Azure. Today, at least, it was something new-- cracking and splintering until there came a crash and Dip was on her feet immediately, blinking the sleep away.

The den was empty, at least. No one to have to worry about if something had come to set it on fire. If a dragon was going to set Monoceros on fire a la Orion, Laurel and Azure were better far away from it. In a fluid movement, Serendipity hauled her coat on and grabbed her spear.

The metal spearhead was lifted to her mouth as she stepped out into (a very not-on fire) Monoceros, amber eyes searching the barren rock. A flicker of magicka-- glittering light formed near her palm, and coagulated, reddish-orange saliva poured out of her mouth and clung like glue onto the silvery spear.

No, she did not consider how gross this was.

And then, the humanoid was off, tail flicking behind her as her alert gaze continued to scan the room. Her ears were perked, almost vertical on either side of her head, right up until she realised what the sound had came from. A newborn stood, next to its chrysalis, still wet with fluids.

She paused, the spear twisting in her hands. "Heeeey, buddy," she called out-- as softly as a rasping voice would allow her, at least. When she stepped forward the spear was lowered, just a little, into a less... threatening position.

When close enough, she popped a squat, settling her free arm across her lap and gazing down. It was pretty small, all things considered, and pretty dragon-like, but without the wings. Maybe it was one of Dread's new kids, who for whatever reason, hatched without wings.

Serendipity chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment. "How are you feeling? Pretty good to be out, yeah?" Not that she could remember-- Dip had no memories of hatching and she'd never actually been around gembound fresh-outta-the-rock before. "I'm Serendipity, or, uh, Dip. I couldn't say it either as a kid, so."

Another pause as she studied the newborn. "You got a name for yourself yet?"

@Sharp

SHARP

Well, this certainly wasn't a rock.

The lizard let out a little eek! of terror as something giant came towering over her. The large-thing was covered in strange, smooth lilac scales and cloaked in strange things she didn't even know the words to describe. Something long and wet was in one of her paws, which was way too sharp and pointy for her liking. Was she going to kill her? Eat her? Her tail lashed around her instinctively as she looked for a means of escape--

"Heeeey, buddy."

Oh. So she was not-mean. Immediately her body loosened and a goofy, reptilian grin spread across her tiny features. "Mmmmyuh!" she chirped. Her mouth felt weird and slack (probably because it was the first time she ever spoke), so she tried it again. "Mmyuh. Yuh. Yeah!" Her feet did a little happy dance in celebration of her newfound ability to speak. She could do things now, just like not-mean!

Not-mean continued speaking-- well, she guessed she'd call her Dip now-- and asked her about her name. Are names like "Dip"? She assumed so. The bumbling little lizard took a few moments to mull over this, kicking a few grains of sand into the wind with a claw.

"...Am spiky," she declared matter-of-factly. "Spiky is... sharp. I sharp?" Another pause, and then her grin grew even larger, showing off her tiny, nubby teeth. "Sharp I like! I is Sharp!"

Her gaze turned back to the ever-so-windy cave around her. "Where Sharp and Dip is?" she asked. Man, her speaking skills were going to need a lot of work.

thinking | "speaking"

FROM MITZI WITH LOVE

@Dip

Serendipity was already sure of it beforehand but now it was fairly cemented-- the kid was not, in fact, that dangerous. She set the spear down flat next to her and set her other arm onto her lap as well, nodding along to the little lizard's words.

Sharp might have been an unusual choice for a name if Sharp were not, in fact, talking to someone who calls themselves Serendipity and has a sister named Azure. "You sure are Sharp," she agreed with a few nods, hair bouncing. "You'll probably get Sharper when you grow, too."

Her head angled briefly upwards to the room, and then back down. "This is Monoceros. It's one of the dryest and hottest rooms, maybe second to Hydra. I like it, though. It's windy in some places, which is fun. Not a lot of water, though."

Thank the caves she could just make water now-- it made blacksmithing a lot easier, too.

"There's a bunch of other rooms, too, if you wanna hear about them? Or do you wanna go-- I dunno, eat? Get water? I have some food in my den." She extended a calloused, mauve hand with this in offer-- to either be accepted or refused.

@Sharp

SHARP

Sharp listened intently to what her new friend had to say, tail flicking around her in a weird form of excitement. So many new words were being flung at her she had a hard time keeping up: Monoceros, Hydra, fun, den, food (well, she understood that one)-- she practically felt like she was going to explode with new information.

Now that she knew it's name she took another moment to look around her birthcave. She hadn't noticed it beforehand, but all along the steep walls were all sorts of hidden ledges and winding paths (is that where people live?) that went nearly to the top of the cave, where a sharp, hot wind blew. And deep into Monoceros, just on the edge of her vision, she could see a flurry of dust perpetually spinning in fierce winds- she definitely didn't want to get close to that

Wait, what did Dip say?

Right, what to do. Sharp wasn't exactly sure herself what she wanted, she was just born, after all. She wasn't an indecisive type, though, so she considered her options with her wee brain. Food did seem nice, and it wouldn't hurt to also learn where she was, too...

"Can eat!" the lizard extended a tiny paw and laid it on Dip's, curling his miniature claws around her finger. "And maybe talk other rooms?"

thinking | "speaking"

FROM MITZI WITH LOVE

@Dip