It was the damp tunnel that was silent... no life within it whatsoever aside from the occasional Gembound hatching... and perhaps the beast that lurked in it's darkest recesses. Even then, such a large beast was deathly silent, waiting in silence for her minions to come... to return to their creator with a meal, their intent was only that. Let nothing get in the way. So she waited, and waited.

It would be cycles... YEARS later before even one of her incompetent children returned. The subordinate raptor of her squadron had offered a scraggly and thin little rabbit to the starved monster. "Pathetic!" Raptor Mom bellowed, forcing her minion to stand still with her control. Powerful legs worked, and she bent down, promptly devouring the creature and the rabbit. "Such incompetent children, such a simple mission cannot even be completed by them." Turning to face the floor before her, the golden citrine point embedded into her sternum glowed among fluffy feathers.

Great skull lowered to the floor, a bulging shape beginning to form in her neck. The gilded gem in her chest began to glow brighter as the shape grew larger and larger, until it ceased growth. Recoiling sharply, Raptor Mom released a new creature into the world, one she hoped would be more useful in her mission for food, and not to starve. "Now... GO!" Squealing sharply, the raptor skittered off into the darkness, searching for the rest of the squad. Perhaps that one would take its place as the new alpha of the group. For now, Raptor Mom returned to the shade, watching for any unfortunate souls to wander into the tunnel.

Oh, well this was a disappointing turn of events.

Hen wandered away from her original home with the dogs of I, in search of her missing family. They hadn't been back in days. It was upsetting. It was devestating. It was...

...well, honestly, it was all the tiny chick knew. She toddled side to side as she went, clucking softly as she walked. She had been many places; one such place was full up with scary rock monsters, so she'd left that place behind in favor of someplace quieter.

A sudden commotion startled her from her thoughtless wanderings. Another feathered thing, bigger but not by much, ran past her squealing, not even seeing the tiny yellow chick as she inched her way up an incline. Once it was gone, she turned away and headed in towards where it had come from- curious, and stupidly oblivious to danger.

The sight that met her there was fantastic, a fantasy she could never have dreamed up on her own. Sitting not too far into the tunnel, a giant bird, just like the one that had run off, and just like her- but scalier, with teeth and a longer tail. Oh, she was pretty though! Hen didn't know the danger, nor did she care- the baby chick ran clumsily over to investigate, making soft churring noises in her throat as she went, not too unlike the sounds the speedy scared thing had been making. Was this new face friendly? So big, would she be a new friend? A new protector?

Tal'at was on a mission from Dark. He was to seek the world, to grow wiser and "see" more things, "see" so that his owl friend full of fluff could see and then show him the world. It excited the small bat, who was still too young, too sweet, to know of the danger. Yet as he heard the squeal of a dying rabbit, he flew up and up until his frail body collided with the ceiling. He grasped at it desperately, his ears straining to hear. There was something big here, and many smaller but still huge things scrambled away at her command.

Tal'at shivered, afraid, and sent out his magic, trying to seek the Heartbeat of the beast. His furry body quivered, his tiger eye gem glowing a crisp, deep red It flashed brightly for a moment and then dulled, the gem taking on the crimson hue while he used his magic to "see".

... And boy did Tal'at see. He saw more than he usually did. The usual heartbeats of creatures became quite clear to him, large red blotches in the nothing, like huge radar blips. He could also sense the shape of the beings, the huge raptor and... and a tiny, tiny chick. A tiny bird. Like his friends, yet even smaller. Who was this?

Truth be told, Tal'at was quite afraid for the tiny Hen, but there was nothing he could. He simply crawled closer, sticking to the ceiling with his tiny wing thumbs and dexterous back feet. He watched the Red Heartbeats, and he waited.


!!! ...

It's in the eyes!
I can tell, you will always be danger!
We had it tonight! Why do we always seek absolution?

Golden eyes narrowed to feral slits, nostrils bellowing out tendrils of frosty mist. Primordial senses let the cognizant beast sense everything she could in the room, inhaling the scent of something other than cave musk and the blood that stained her sharp teeth. Yes, there was definitely something else nearby. Massive feet led the monster from the recess she had hidden in, baring massive teeth as she gazed down at the small yellow and brown puff. It looked like it had feathers. Was it perhaps one of her misfit children? It was so tiny... not mighty at all like her beasts.

Tilting great crown, Raptor Mom bellowed simply, "Who... what are you?" As far as she knew, she didn't know much of the other gembound in the cave, just knowing that this... miniature raptor? was here and staring up at her. She'd spare the hen until she knew more... this could be the source of food she had been waiting for.

The giant bird approached her with bloodstained teeth, but having never seen blood before, or gore of any kind, Hen just stared up with nervous adoration. So big! So beautiful! It- oh, SHE- asked her who or what she was, but the little chicken just cocked her head to the side with a trrrpt? sound. She looked down at those feet and then back up at the big raptor's pretty eyes, and with a ruffle of premature feathers, she stamped her own little talons about.

After a second of showing off how mighty and strong she could be, the little hen darted forward rather suddenly and bounced towards the raptor's leg, coming to stand beside her, staring up with big, wide, excited eyes. Another chirping sound, mimicking the raptor's voice the best she could, seemed to ask, am I safe with you?

Tal'at listened as the tiny, birdshaped Heartbeat chirped and peeped, trilling gentle in response to the great, loud raptor mom's voice. He trembled and, eventually, he let go of his perch above the great raptor and gently, like a leaf, came swinging down slowly until he came to rest on the large beast's head. He was afraid of her, certainly, but she hadn't noticed him... and perhaps she still wouldn't as he delicately became her hat.

He had to be close, ready to swipe at her eyes-- he could tell from how she moved her head that she saw with eyes, for she didn't have great sweeping ears and her head tracked the movement of the tiny bird. He could tell-- ready to swipe at those oh so useful eyes if the beast decided to attack the hen. He had to protect his fellow birds.

For now, however, he simply stay put, very still, hoping that the dinosaur wouldn't notice her fantastic new hat.




!!! ...

It's in the eyes!
I can tell, you will always be danger!
We had it tonight! Why do we always seek absolution?

Tunnel O was a part of Origin that Usui wasn’t too familiar with, never choosing to pause in this place where the air was damp and infiltrated his otherwise golden health. He’d decided to trek place this particular part of the cave after some consideration to see if he could scavenge for anything. Bits of metal, gems and the likes were things that the boy sought after, and feathers – he needed feathers for his the next big craft he envisioned in his mind. On and on he plodded, muffled footfalls tirelessly thudding gently as Usui shuffled along with satchel slung over his back. The ground started to vibrate a little though as something ran forward. He saw a raptor shadow swoop past in the wall ahead and immediately dived to his right behind a cover of rocks. The next moment, a shrieking long raptor ran by and disappeared round he bend. The lion gasped in horror, recognizing the ferocious beasts which had managed to bring him down, and was at that moment, very glad that he’d managed to avoid fighting that thing. The last time it’d happen, bad stuff happened and he almost destroyed himself.

Usui now fixed his gaze into the deeper recesses of the cave from where the raptor had emerged. Was that…where it’d come from? Curiousity pricked at the cub and so he ran towards the inner portions, partly because he was afraid of being spotted by that raptor, and partly because he was keen to see what was there. The lion skidded to a halt as he saw a curious sight. A chick nuzzling up to a gigantic raptor with a bat on its head for a hat. Usui stared, pale green eyes latching onto the raptor’s in shock, not daring to say anything. This one was HUGE and…and, if possible, he didn’t want to fight it. “Well, uh, nice cave?” he managed and tried to smile in a friendly manner, giving off a nervous laugh.

Something was strange. Lurking within the tunnel she normally preoccupied when she trained her magic. Several other scents grasped at her sense. All three unfamiliar. All except one. Usui was here. She had met him briefly before. Her paws moved silently through the tunnel, head held low and ears perked up high. She wasn't close enough to see anyone, but she also didn't want to be just yet. She needed to know how many there were and if that stronger, much stranger scent belonged to a gembound.

Almost instantly her gem thrummed to life, growing in sound until it was humming and vibrating against her chest. Small flashes pierced through the stone, catching the many colors that flecked through it. Four gems responded. Giving off their own particular humming that only her ears could hear. Her head lifted as she stared forward. Usui she could remember. The others she was unfamiliar with. They were all gathered in the same area. So perhaps that meant it was just another gembound gathering? With that thought in mind Arkrael crept closer and closer until she finally came upon the scene.

HEr body froze instantly as she saw the massive beast. Or, at least to her it seemed massive. Sure it was not as large as Svarog, or Beast, and was definitely not nearly as close in size to Acquarian, but it was still rather large. Her nostril's flared again, taking in all the scents that were now stronger in this particular area of the tunnel. Usui stood not far from her and then there were two smaller bird things standing relatively close to this new creature. Slowly she padded to the side of them a little bit, not yet wanting to say anything and bring any of their attention to her. There was no telling what kind of situation they were going to be thrown in. Her audits jumped up when Usui spoke followed by a nervous laugh and Arkrael's heterochromia eyes danced back over towards the raptor, curious to see it's response.

---

"Arkrael Speech"
"Vazi Speech"

OoC:

Raptor Mom narrowed her eyes as the fluffy blob hopped closer, and she bowed down a little to get a closer look. What was it? The monster had only seen small gembound like rabbits, rats, and mice brought to her by her minions. There was nothing like this in the caves... or perhaps she was wrong. The beast definitely was wrong. A chirping noise later and the reptile tilted her head further, huffing. "What do you want from me?" She felt a fluttering being atop her crown, atop her head. Deserting the chick at her feet for a moment, she looked up... searching for whatever had landed upon her crown. Raptor Mom couldn't see what it was, so she almost dismissed it as nothing.

A few more little creatures approached, watching warily and curiously. One was of interest, the lion cub. Inhaling his scent, she instantly recognized it. Raptor Mom had found it on one of her squad not long ago, or sensed it at the very least. "I appreciate your comment, but who... what are you?"

The chick was oblivious to all but her newfound giant bird mom with all the teeth. She spoke to her, and for the first time, Hen thought the words sounded right. Not that she knew what they meant. Another sound, and the chick turned to look. A larger animal- a familiar shape, but not color nor face- a canine. The tiny bird hopped back and ducked between the legs of her new raptor mom, trilling with anxiety- she didn't like dogs. They disappeared.

She looked up with a chirp at the Raptor and then glanced back down, spotted finally the lion cub. It had spoken- that had been the noise then? The canine just happened to be familiar- and thus, noticeable. This new creature wasn't familiar, and Hen stepped backwards again, further hiding herself behind her new protector's foot.